Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

Chapter 125 Little promotion

During these days of exam preparation, Li Zhao went through the junior high school knowledge that he hadn't quite figured out before.

The exam itself is not difficult. If Li Zhao can get the first-class score in the essay, his total score in the three subjects will not be lower than 355 points, which is a level that can reliably get first place no matter what.

Therefore, Li Zhao's real pressure is not the entrance exam, but the start of the school year.

It's one thing if he can't grasp the concepts from junior high school, but it's another thing when it comes to the actual exam.

Especially the large amount of content to be memorized —

In the Experimental Class 1, you'll either be a true genius or a test-taking prodigy. Maintaining your prestige upon entering the class won't be easy.

At the same time, Li Zhao also took on the role of a junior teacher.

Originally, he was just explaining the test paper to the four people in the suddenly formed study group. However, more and more people listened in, and gradually a pattern was formed in which everyone took turns asking questions, and Li Zhao used this as an opportunity to review and reinforce his knowledge.

Strangely, more and more unfamiliar faces came to "attend the class," and Li Zhao sometimes couldn't answer them all, forcing the teacher on the podium to step down and tell everyone that she was actually the teacher.

Share some of Li Zhao's burden.

Li Zhao's mini-class managed to bring back some of the students who had chosen to study at home.

The experience of being a junior teacher added 3 points to Li Zhao's happiness level, for a total of 22 points.

Exam-oriented learning certainly doesn't seem like a happy thing—it's so slow!

Li Zhao also wanted to know what the rewards would be after the upgrade.

Before we knew it, it was July 11th.

The entrance exam for junior high school is special because it was actually an irregular exam that was abolished after a few years. Therefore, it was not officially organized and was essentially a matter for individual students.

Therefore, unlike the middle school and college entrance examinations, schools will provide ample logistical support.

Li Zhao vaguely remembered that during the high school entrance exam, his homeroom teacher led everyone to gather in the exam room, saying encouraging words while giving each person a crispy shark.

He said he wanted to replenish his energy so he wouldn't faint while writing.

That was the first time Li Zhao had ever eaten Crispy Shark. Later, he almost got into New Taipei High School, which made him so angry that he had no liking for the food at all.

The transition from primary to junior high school seems very free, with parents bringing their children themselves.

The exams start at 8 a.m., and all three subjects are completed in one morning. There is only a 15-minute break between each subject, which is enough time for people to go to the toilet.

Although the test paper is worth as much as 120 points, the number of questions is not large, and the difficulty level is relatively high.

So each subject takes 1 hour, and the exams finish at 11:30, just in time to go home for dinner.

The gates opened at 7:30, starting at 8:00. Li Zhao walked over and found that some children were already waiting at the door, almost dozing off.

It's obvious that they're poor souls who were forced to come early by their parents' anxiety. How can they maintain a good state of mind for the exam when they're mentally exhausted and uncomfortable?

This is an exam that requires a high degree of concentration.

The same thing happened to Li Zhao in the past. Her parents’ anxiety was transferred to her. Let alone something as important as an exam, she had to arrive an hour or two early to catch a high-speed train, as if missing the train would ruin her life.

Waiting an hour in the high-speed train hall is not a waste of life, and even if it is, so what?

But Zhou Xiaoyun's attitude today is that Li Zhao can arrive whenever he wants, it doesn't matter if there's no exam.

That's reasonable; there's no need to take the exam in the first place.

This was Li Zhao's third visit to Xinbei High School, and he knew the way like the back of his hand.

Unfortunately, I wasn't assigned to the same exam room as any of my familiar classmates, but I did run into a familiar proctor—Wang Wenzhao.

Taking advantage of the preparation time, Wang Wenzhao walked directly towards Li Zhao. "You actually came?"

"How could you not know?"

"Why would I know?"

"I've registered, doesn't the school know?"

"Ah—" Wang Wenzhao nodded, "It's a point that needs attention; the information exchange between departments is not smooth."

The children around him looked completely bewildered.

First, there was the Chinese language exam. The material I memorized wasn't beyond the syllabus, but the classical Chinese text analysis and reading comprehension questions were relatively beyond the syllabus, and the composition was far beyond the syllabus.

Li Zhao glanced at the exam paper and felt quite pleased with himself.

Having studied classical Chinese extensively throughout high school and possessing a strong foundation in reading, Li Zhao naturally had a solid grasp of the subject. Furthermore, the selected classic texts were ones he had systematically studied, making the task effortless for him.

The reading comprehension questions go without saying, but the parts beyond the syllabus require analysis in conjunction with the historical context of the author's writing. And this author is one of Li Zhao's favorite writers, Lu Xun.

The essay was far beyond the syllabus; it was essentially an argumentative essay, and it was the kind of question that required reading a brief passage and then brainstorming based on the passage's theme—very close to the college entrance examination essay.

For elementary school students, the pressure is indeed considerable. Writing is not difficult, but writing something meaningful is very difficult.

Not to mention that the theme isn't something that elementary school students would find relatable like family, growth, or hard work, but rather genuine education.

The fable illustrates the duality of education; what insights do you gain from it?

Even if you give it to college students to analyze, they might not be able to write a well-reasoned and evidence-based analysis within 600 words.

But for Si Kou Dao, a top author at the South China Weekly, this was a piece of cake.

The only problem is that the grid only has 800, so I need to refine it and restrain my desire to express myself.

Li Zhao finished writing in about forty minutes, quickly checked it once, then put the test paper away and stared at Wang Wenzhao.

Wang Wenzhao has been restraining himself from wanting to look at Li Zhao's exam papers.

After all, it's an entrance exam, so we should consider the feelings of the other students.

Li Zhao looked around at the students in front of him; some were scratching their heads, some were writing furiously, and some had already put down their books.

Anyway, my mood wasn't very positive.

However, Li Zhao noticed a boy with a bowl cut hairstyle who stopped writing after about fifty minutes.

The only two students who managed to finish their papers early and then slack off don't count.

Li Zhao looked at him for a while, then glanced at Wang Wenzhao, who smiled and nodded.

Oh—so he's a special admissions student too, how interesting.

What's even more interesting is that this guy didn't come back after the bell rang—

Was he admitted through a special essay writing competition? Just to prove his Chinese language skills?

The math exam was unremarkable, even less fun than last year's. It relied solely on a lot of calculations to increase the difficulty, which didn't do Li Zhao any favors. If there was anything that gave him an advantage over others, it was that he quickly solved two geometry problems using his junior and senior high school knowledge.

Strictly speaking, he didn't really outperform others in this exam; on the contrary, he repeatedly checked the calculations several times out of concern for making basic mistakes.

There's not much to say about English.

If someone can get first place in the national competition, and New Taipei First Senior High School dares to give him a test paper that puts pressure on him, then other kids might as well give up.

In the next two exams, he didn't notice any particularly outstanding students.

The exam ended at 11:30 p.m. The soon-to-be junior high school students had just experienced a surge of energy depletion and looked rather listless.

And it's clear that many people have been affected.

One can imagine how students who usually score 299 points in school would feel if they suddenly faced an exam with less time and more pressure, questions they had to leave blank, and answers they had no confidence in.

Even though I had done the New Taipei First High School test papers at home, the experience was completely different.

For example, Chen Nian, who was waiting for Li Zhao at the door, looked dejected.

"What's wrong?"

"Sigh—" Chen Nian glanced at his father waiting in the car, "I have absolutely no confidence in what I'm writing. Suddenly I feel like we might not have a chance to be classmates—"

"Don't think too much before the results are out," Li Zhao patted Chen Nian on the shoulder.

"I did okay at home, but I felt a bit nervous in the exam hall because I didn't have enough time," Chen Nian said, still frustrated. "Mainly, the exam was really hard, don't you think?"

Li Zhao tried his best to give her a "Do you really want to know?" look.

Chen Nian quickly understood and helplessly shrugged.

The results will be released in three days. For students taking the entrance exam for the top four universities, three days later is the real summer vacation. But for some of them, the three days before the results are released are the happiest time.

As soon as Li Zhao got home and opened QQ, he noticed that all the profile pictures were flashing.

It seems that having a small car is faster.

As usual, Li Zhao first checked He Shuyao's messages: [The Chinese exam seems harder than before, is it just my imagination?]

[No, it's clearly beyond the scope of the curriculum.]

[The last multiple-choice question in math, the last fill-in-the-blank question, and the last essay question—what are the answers?]

The soul of answering questions has awakened so early?

The three most difficult questions.

[D, two-thirds, 4 square centimeters]

[Yes, I got these answers too.]

That means you've found the right girl.

Then the two suddenly started working on the answers at a high intensity, and the result surprised Li Zhao.

Of all the answers he could remember, He Shuyao only got one wrong. Li Zhao's first reaction was that he was wrong, but after analyzing the situation, he realized that He Shuyao had fallen into a trap.

He Shuyao has a high success rate with more difficult questions; it mainly depends on her performance in the essay.

[sharp]

[How could I, the Great Emperor, be confined to this pool? Enough said, my parents are arguing, I'm going to stop them.]

Why were they arguing?

My mom wanted to take me to the temple to pray, but my dad said it was feudal superstition, and they started arguing.

----OK.

As soon as she finished speaking, He Shuyao's QQ avatar turned gray. She seems to have a strange habit—she always closes QQ as soon as she leaves the computer, which is not good for leveling up her QQ account.

Wu Weisong posted a short science fiction story about the Turing Test, without saying anything else, so it seems he didn't take the test.

Chen Nian had already switched to relaxation mode during the short time he was on his way home by car.

[Ah Zhao, I've thought it through. Since we're all doomed in three days anyway, I might as well relax for these three days. Shall we play some games after dinner?]

[Don't fight]

[No, you don't have any exam pressure. It's summer vacation, and you don't even play games. What are you planning to do this summer?]

What are you going to do?

Li Zhao took a deep breath. Originally, his answer was correct, but the past month or so had been fulfilling yet his happiness level hadn't increased much, making him need to think carefully about this question.