Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

On Wednesday afternoon, Jiang Shan walked into the classroom carrying a stack of test papers.

The classroom fell silent immediately.

Every time exam results are released, the atmosphere is the same – some are nervous, some are expectant, and some are indifferent.

"The results of this month's exam are out."

Jiang Shan placed the test paper on the podium, adjusted her glasses, and said, "I'll start with the total score."

All forty-five pairs of eyes in the class were fixed on her.

"First place, Lin Xiaotong, 632 points."

A low murmur arose in the classroom.

Lin Xiaotong is the top student in the class, consistently ranking first, so there's no doubt about it.

"Second place, Zhang Haoran, 601 points."

"Third place, Wang Siyu, 593 points."

Jiang Shan read them out one by one, from first to twentieth.

By the time they called out the twentieth name, the classroom was quiet; everyone was waiting for their name to be called.

"Twenty-first place, Liu Kai, 482 points."

Liu Kai sat in the front, turned around and glanced at Fang Yuan, his expression somewhat complicated.

Jiang Shan continued reading.

She paused when she read out the thirtieth name.

"Thirtieth place, Sun Yue, 401 points."

Fang Yuan leaned back in his chair, calculating in his mind—

He wasn't in the top 30, so he must be ranked after 30.

He ranked 45th out of 48 students at the end of last semester.

"Thirty-first place, Zhao Lei, 398 points."

"Thirty-second place, Li Mengyao, 395 points."

"Thirty-third place, Fang Yuan, 390 points."

Fang Yuan was taken aback.

Three hundred and ninety.

I scored fifty points more than at the end of last semester.

Jiang Shan continued reading the names that followed, but Fang Yuan was barely listening anymore.

He looked down at his desk, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welling up inside him.

It wasn't excitement, nor was it pride.

That feeling of putting in effort and then seeing the results.

Although this result is not good enough, it tells you that you did the right thing and you are on the right path.

Jiang Shan read out everyone's scores and posted the report cards on the wall at the back of the classroom.

"I'll have the class representative distribute the papers. You can check where you went wrong yourselves. We'll start reviewing them tomorrow."

After Jiang Shan finished speaking, she left with her lesson plan.

Fang Yuan went to the back and glanced at the report card.

Chinese: 110 points.

The highest score in the class was Lin Xiaotong's 126 points, while Fang Yuan's 110 points ranked ninth in the class.

English: 122 points.

This score ranks sixth in the class, only behind a few girls who are good at English.

Mathematics: 38 points.

Fang Yuan looked at the number and his lips twitched.

Thirty-eight points.

The lowest in the class.

Chen Xia, who sits at the next table and sleeps all day, got 45 points, while he got 38.

Comprehensive essay: 120 points.

The scores in history, geography, and politics were all around 40, which is neither high nor low, but rather below average.

Total score: 390; rank: 33rd in class.

They improved by twelve places compared to the end of last semester.

Fang Yuan stood in front of the report card for a while, memorizing each score.

Chen Xia had somehow gotten close to them.

I glanced at his score, then at him, my mouth opened, closed, then opened again:

"Fang Yuan, you got 110 in Chinese and 122 in English?"

"Um."

"You only scored 82 in Chinese and 78 in English last semester."

Chen Xia's voice was a little unsteady, "How did you do that?"

Fang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Memorized."

"Carried on your back?" Chen Xia's eyes widened.

"Can you memorize reading comprehension passages? Can you memorize essays?"

Fang Yuan smiled but didn't explain.

The last period in the afternoon is self-study.

Liu Kai ran over from the front seat, sat next to him, and said in a low voice

"Fang Yuan, tell me the truth, did you hire a tutor?"

"no."

"So how did you pass the exam?"

"I told you, I memorized it."

On Friday afternoon, the last period was Chinese class.

Jiang Shan finished explaining the essays from the last monthly exam. With ten minutes left, she said she had something to say.

"Several students in our class showed significant improvement in this monthly exam."

Jiang Shan stood on the podium, her gaze sweeping across the classroom. "Fang Yuan, stand up."

Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment, then stood up.

All eyes in the class were on him.

Fang Yuan was never the kind of student who was praised by the teacher.

When he was called on, it was either because he was late, hadn't handed in his homework, or was sleeping in class.

This is the first time I've been called out because of my grades, like today.

"Fang Yuan ranked 45th in the final exam last semester, and this time he ranked 33rd, moving up 12 places."

Jiang Shan said,

"110 in Chinese and 122 in English, both of which are in the top ten of the class."

A low murmur arose in the classroom.

"I know some students might think that thirty-third place isn't anything special,"

Jiang Shan said,

"But what I want to say is that it's incredible that someone can improve from 45th to 33rd place in just one month."

Moreover, achieving such results in both Chinese and English demonstrates that this person is diligent and thoughtful.

This is better than those students who haven't made any progress.

Fang Yuan stood there, his face expressionless, but his heart was filled with complex emotions.

He had never been spoken to like that by a teacher in his past life.

It's not that he didn't care, but rather that he never gave his teacher a chance to care about him.

"Fang Yuan, please sit down."

After Jiang Shan finished speaking, she glanced at the whole class again.

What I'm trying to say is that it's never too late to start learning. What's worrisome is never starting at all.

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

As Jiang Shan finished packing her things and walked to the door, she glanced back at Fang Yuan:

"Fang Yuan, come to my office."

Fang Yuan followed Jiang Shan to the office.

There were few teachers in the office; most had already left work.

Jiang Shan sat down at her workstation and pointed to the chair next to her: "Sit down."

Fang Yuan sat down.

I read your essay for this monthly exam.

Jiang Shan pulled Fang Yuan's paper from a stack of papers and placed it on the table.

"Take a look for yourself."

Fang Yuan looked down.

On the page with the essay, Jiang Shan wrote "50" in red pen. Out of sixty, fifty points is not high, but it is still above average.

"Your language skills aren't the best, but your writing has substance."

Jiang Shan said,

"You wrote about a person's journey from ignorance to clarity. It was written in a simple yet sincere way."

Having been a Chinese language teacher for so many years, I've read too many of my students' essays, most of which are just clichés, empty words, and pretty phrases.

No, this isn't it. This was written after I really thought about it.

Fang Yuan remained silent.

"Is something the matter?"

Jiang Shan looked at him,

"I feel like you've changed recently."

You used to just coast through class, but now you listen attentively, take notes, and even listen in math class.

Although you still failed math, your math teacher said you were paying attention in class.

Fang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "I've figured it out."

"What have you figured out?"

"I've figured out what I want to do."

Jiang Shan nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

She put the essay paper back, leaned back in her chair, looked at Fang Yuan, and said...

"Your Chinese and English are quite good, and you can catch up in the humanities section."

But your math is terrible, only 38 points. That score dragged down your overall grade by a lot.

"I know," Fang Yuan said, "I'm fixing it."

"How to replenish it?"

"Start by reading the first-year high school textbooks, going through each knowledge point one by one."

Jiang Shan glanced at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"You're being too slow with this method."

Jiang Shan said,

"I recommend a math teacher to you. He's a retired teacher who specializes in teaching graduating high school seniors."

He tutors a few students at home on weekends, and the fees aren't expensive.

If you want to apply for a spot, I can ask him if he still has any openings.

Fang Yuan thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, thank you, Teacher Jiang."

"Go back and think about whether you should choose humanities or sciences."

Jiang Shan said,

"Your humanities grades are significantly better than your science grades. Although you are bad at math, the math requirements are not that high if you choose humanities."

If you work hard for the next year and a half, you still have a chance to get into a university.

Fang Yuan said, "I've made up my mind, I'll choose humanities."

Jiang Shan nodded:

"Okay, then you need to focus on math. Don't fall behind in the other subjects either."

"Um."