This humble Taoist priest wants to take the college entrance exam.

Chapter 171 The Little Cicada Came to Visit My Class

There's a saying in the college entrance exam: "Get one more point and you'll be ahead of a thousand people."

In Class 5, the top science class, everyone has already assumed that their Chinese scores are about the same, and that there won't be much of a difference in scores.

Who would have thought that the highest score in Chinese in this monthly exam wouldn't be in Class 11, but in Class 5, and that it was a whopping 145 points!

Chen Shi'an's 145-point test paper is truly a rare find, almost a rare find!

After Zou Xiaokun announced Dao Ye's score over the loudspeaker, Chen Shi'an's test paper never returned to his hands, instead being taken by a swarm of astonished classmates to examine and scrutinize.

Improving a Chinese score from 120+ to 130+ is nowhere near as difficult as improving from 130+ to 140+.

After all, 130 is common, but 140 is truly rare. In Class 5, there are only six or seven students who can usually score 130 in Chinese. In this monthly exam, most students' Chinese scores did not change much, except for Daoye, who improved the most, and even improved the highest level of difficulty.

"It's the essay! The essay dragged down my score so much!"

"59 points! And it's in classical Chinese! Daoist, are you even human?!"

Zhuangzi once said: "Do not listen with your ears, but listen with your heart; do not listen with your heart, but listen with your spirit." These words reveal the secrets of heaven and earth and illuminate the mysteries of humankind. Those who listen with their ears follow the surface of sound; those who listen with their hearts observe the subtleties of reason; those who listen with their spirit resonate with the truth of the Way...

"Is it possible to write such a classical Chinese text in such a short time during an exam?"

Everyone knew perfectly well that although Dao Ye's classical Chinese essay was deducted one point, it was probably just a formality by the teacher. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a perfect essay.

Looking at the other students' essay scores, apart from Chen Shi'an, the highest score was Zhong Ying's essay with 52 points. Just in the essay alone, Dao Ye pulled Zhong Ying up by 7 points!
Zhong Ying scored second in the class in Chinese this time, with 137 points. The difference in scores from the composition is roughly the gap between Zhong Ying and Dao Ye's Chinese scores.

Zhong Ying was also looking at Chen Shi'an's test paper at this moment.

For high-scoring students in Chinese, it is difficult to differentiate themselves from others in terms of basic knowledge and skills. To gain an edge in scores, they basically have to rely on their essays.

Although she was told she only missed the mark by seven points on her essay, Zhong Ying knew better than anyone that she simply couldn't write an essay like that...

Chen Shi'an's classical Chinese essay was the only one among all the answer sheets in this monthly exam. The teachers in the marking team had all read it. Because the students' information was sealed during the marking process, the teachers did not know whose subordinate the student who wrote this essay was.

Originally, we were going to give it full marks, but after some discussion, we decided that since it was an internal school exam, we should deduct one point as a token of encouragement...

Chen Shi'an's Chinese test paper was passed around the classroom and finally returned to Chen Shi'an's hands just before class started.

Before he could even pick it up and look at it, a small hand suddenly reached out and snatched the test paper from his hand.

Zheng Yining and Xie Mengxuan, who were sitting at the table in front of us, also turned around:
"Chen Shi'an, may I borrow your exam paper to take a look?"

"..."

Chen Shi'an shrugged, indicating that there was nothing left.

Zheng Yining and Xie Mengxuan turned their heads and saw that Lin Mengqiu was looking at the 145-point test paper in her hand. They had no choice but to obediently turn around and wait for the class monitor to finish reading it before they looked at it.

As the saying goes, calligraphy reflects the heart, and one's handwriting reveals one's character.

Whether it's the examiners, other students, or Lin Mengqiu who is currently looking at the paper, the first thing that comes to mind when they see Chen Shi'an's paper is 'divine paper'.

There are many places to write on a Chinese language exam paper, and for someone whose handwriting is terrible, the exam paper will be a disaster.

Chen Shi'an's handwriting was beautiful, and his answers were neat, standardized, and pleasing to the eye. There were no corrections made in the entire paper, as if it were written in one go.

Lin Mengqiu compared her own answer sheet with Chen Shi'an's answers, looking at each question one by one.

Chen Shi'an answered all the questions correctly without any doubt, such as basic dictation, recitation, and classical Chinese poetry.
Only in the subjective questions of reading comprehension did I occasionally lose points, but at most I would lose one point per question. Just like with the essay, it is very difficult to get full marks on these subjective questions; there is a bit of luck involved.
Finally, there's Chen Shi'an's essay.

59 points.

This was the highest essay score Lin Mengqiu had ever seen since starting high school. She had thought that the 57 points that Fanren Chan had gotten on her essay was already a bit of luck, but she never expected that Chen Shi'an would actually get 59 points! This was not the same as the 'lucky' 57 points; this was real hard work!
It's definitely a matter of solid skill! This is classical Chinese writing! Could she handle it if it were someone like Fanrenchan?
Lin Mengqiu's usual Chinese language score was just over 130, and she knew she couldn't possibly write an article like this.

The classical Chinese text closely adheres to the core theme of the essay topic, "Levels of Listening and the Choices of Contemporary Youth," and possesses both intellectual depth and literary quality.

Drawing upon the logic of "calmness-stillness-peace-contemplation-attainment" from the Book of Rites, echoing the wisdom of Zhuangzi at the beginning, and clarifying the method of "listening quietly" for young people in the contemporary era, the book ultimately focuses on the connection between personal growth and the times, forming a coherent and rigorous structure.

Let alone writing it, she found it difficult to even read Chen Shi'an's classical Chinese text. It was a complex piece of over 800 characters, full of contrasting ancient and modern elements, interweaving positive and negative perspectives, and quoting classical texts. It was like a compressed file, bursting with information. Moreover, she felt she would have to secretly look up many of the words and phrases on Baidu...

After a while, Lin Mengqiu finally finished reading Chen Shi'an's test paper and his essay in silence.

All I can say is that the 59 points for the essay and the total score of 145 points are well-deserved. This stinky Taoist has the literary talent, and he deserves this score.

The class monitor was convinced.

...Anyway, it's just Chinese language.

The thought of Chen Shi'an snatching first place from Fanrenchan in the Chinese exam made Lin Mengqiu feel somewhat pleased.

"Has the class monitor finished reading?"

"Ah."

Lin Mengqiu unscrewed the bottle cap, picked up the water glass, and took a sip of the warming tea.

"Why didn't you use classical Chinese when you did your weekly test? You're really good at that, aren't you?"

"Teacher Liang told me to practice other writing styles more, so I'll practice them during the weekly test."

"..."

Chen Shi'an finally got his exam paper back.

He glanced at the marks for each question. He scored 132 on the last weekly test, including 49 on the essay. This time, he used classical Chinese, which he was good at, and the essay score improved by a full 10 marks. Combined with his intensive practice in informational reading during that period, getting 145 marks this time was within his expectations.

Once you reach this level in Chinese, it's very difficult to improve your score further, since there are many subjective questions, and the grading will be influenced by the preferences of the examiners.

"Chen Shi'an, may I borrow your exam paper?"

Seeing that Lin Mengqiu had finished the test paper, Zheng Yining and Xie Mengxuan quickly came to borrow it.

Chen Shi'an was generous and handed the test papers in his hand to them.

What scores did you get?

"Ugh! I'm nowhere near as good as you!"

“I got 126 points…” Zheng Yining said.

“I got 128 points…” Xie Mengxuan said.

"It's alright, there's still a lot of room for improvement," Chen Shi'an comforted him.

Lin Mengqiu rolled her eyes.

Are you going to tell me that there's a lot of room for improvement too?
She was quite satisfied with her 136 points on the Chinese test, but compared to this stinky Taoist priest's score, she suddenly felt that 136 points was actually quite low...

The results will likely be available by tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.

However, now that everyone has received their Chinese scores, grades are always the most popular topic in the top class. By asking around, everyone can get a general idea of ​​the class's Chinese scores for this month's exam.

The highest score was Dao Ye's 145 points. No other student scored above 140. The second highest score was Zhong Ying's 137 points, and the third highest score was Lin Mengqiu's 136 points. There were only about seven students in the whole class who scored above 130 points, and the vast majority of the other students were in the 120-point range.

The lowest score was achieved by Liu Zhuoran, nicknamed "Instant Noodle Guy," who said his essay went astray and only scored 112 points, two points lower than Xu Zihan's 114 points...

If this were any other time, Lao Liang would definitely be nagging again, saying, "Look at your class, and then look at Class 11..."
Sigh~ But this time the highest score in Chinese was in Class 5, and Lao Liang's bent spine straightened up instantly.

If Chen Shi'an had always scored so high, it would have been fine. But you have to remember that he was admitted as a "stupid student" (someone who missed the cut-off score). If he could get such a high score in such a short time, other teachers would have to compliment him, Teacher Liang, saying that he was a very good teacher!
The God of Literature! This is the God of Literature! Anyone who dares to say that Principal Lin didn't take care of Old Liang back then, Old Liang will fight them to the death!
……

The second evening self-study session has ended.

As the first subject to finish the exam, the Chinese exam paper was the first to be handed out. Nobody knew that the other papers hadn't been graded yet, but everyone was already getting impatient, and the subject representatives were all rushing to the office to find out more.

Chen Shi'an went to get a glass of water and returned to his seat to continue studying math.

Lin Mengqiu also stopped writing and looked towards the classroom door to see if the students who went to the office to gather information had brought back their exam papers.

The girl's gaze suddenly sharpened—

Two pretty figures, who didn't belong to Class 5, appeared at the classroom door.

Wen Zhixia? Yao Jingyan?
The two girls stood hand in hand in the corridor outside the classroom of Class 5, peering into the classroom.

Lin Mengqiu knew without a doubt that the annoying cicada had come to find Chen Shi'an, and Yao Jingyan had probably been dragged along by her.

If it were anyone else, Lin Mengqiu would have reminded Chen Shi'an, but upon seeing that it was Wen Zhixia, she simply pretended not to see her.

Wen Zhixia didn't ask her to help call someone. There were many familiar old classmates in Class 5. She said something to Zheng Yining and Xie Mengxuan, who had just returned from the restroom. Then, when Zheng Yining and Xie Mengxuan returned to their seats, they knocked on Chen Shi'an's desk.

"Chen Shi'an, Zhizhi is looking for you outside."

"Ok?"

Chen Shi'an stopped writing, looked up, and glanced out the classroom door.

Sure enough, he saw Wen Zhixia holding Xiao Yan's arm, standing in the corridor outside the classroom, giggling at him. Wen Zhixia even waved to him, signaling him to come over quickly.

“××××××!”

Lin Mengqiu tightened her grip on the thermos cup and took a sip of stomach-soothing tea.

Heaven knows how this annoying cicada dares to blatantly wander into other classes like this? Is this your class?!

"Oh, you know Xiao Zhi?" Chen Shi'an put down his pen and asked Zheng Yining and Xie Mengxuan.

"We were in the same class before we were separated into different classes in our first year of high school. By the way, Chen Shi'an, how did you two meet? I saw you playing badminton together in PE class last time."

"We're partners."

"A partner?"

"Yes, we usually go to school, go home, and eat together."

"Oh-oh——"

Zheng Yining and Xie Mengxuan laughed and giggled.

Then suddenly I felt a chill run down my spine. When I turned around, I met the class monitor's gaze, which was chillingly cold. I quickly shut my mouth and turned away, not daring to get involved anymore...

I remember that intense badminton match between Lin Mengqiu and Wen Zhixia during PE class. At the time, I thought it was just a pure skill contest.

Looking back now, it doesn't seem to be entirely true...

Chen Shi'an... please don't die in the classroom later!
We dare not eat this melon!!
(End of this chapter)