Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

The wording of the article still needs further consideration, but Li Zhao was too tired to revise it.

Feeling tired, even brushing my teeth felt a bit sluggish.

Zhou Xiaoyun thought he was sick, which resulted in Li Zhao only being able to drink plain porridge the next day.

"Actually... plain porridge isn't very nutritious..." Li Zhao murmured.

"Um?"

"fine."

This is a matter of perception between people from different eras, and it cannot be explained in a timely manner.

Although Li Zhao wanted to change his parents, he didn't want to "correct" everything.

A person's understanding of the world is the foundation of their life. The older generation has various limitations; they are not good at accepting things from the new generation, but the new generation does not understand their past.

Long live understanding.

Because of the exam on Friday, the whole class's study mood improved significantly on Wednesday, and more people came to ask Li Zhao questions again—the main reason being that He Shuyao had asked Li Zhao math questions early in the morning.

But today is a little different.

First, Jiang Qi took her essay to Li Zhao for advice. Li Zhao politely declined, explaining that he wasn't particularly skilled in that area. This prompted He Shuyao to look back frequently.

Li Zhao wasn't lying; he didn't know exactly what constituted a good elementary school student's composition.

He Shuyao's "Methodology of Happiness" is very logical, so Li Zhao didn't talk to her from the perspective of "elementary school student's composition". Even so, he didn't mean to "guide" her.

Li Zhao's evaluation, based on his ability and perspective to publish in top-tier newspapers, might actually hinder Jiang Qi's progress.

The class monitor seemed to have a good attitude, nodding to show her understanding and even giving her a bright smile.

Secondly, an extremely rare guest arrived—

Class monitor Ma Yingying.

She came over to Li Zhao with her class notes and asked him a question about English grammar.

The question itself wasn't difficult; it was just that she misunderstood it, and Li Zhao could easily explain it to her.

But Ma Yingying then asked a question that should have been a very good one:

Why did I misunderstand?

This is asking questions from a methodological perspective, which is a correct and excellent learning approach.

Li Zhao even looked at her with more respect because of this issue, thinking that although this class monitor was arrogant and petty, she was still the top student in the class all year round, so she must have her merits.

As a result, Li Zhao couldn't hold back when he saw her notebook.

Seven-Colored Notes.

The neat handwriting was clearly carefully copied, with circles, outlines, and wavy lines drawn using several different colors of pen.

Upon closer inspection, it turns out that what was drawn wasn't the so-called "important point" at all.

For example, if you circle the word "now" in "present continuous tense," draw an arrow outwards, and write "now," what the hell is that useful?

In an instant, many images of his classmates flashed through Li Zhao's mind.

From junior high to high school, there's always this type of person in every class.

I concentrate fully during class, and even after class, I stay in my seat to study. During self-study time, I diligently do practice problems, prepare a notebook for my mistakes, and use different colored pens to take notes. I study and write every day.

But his grades just wouldn't improve.

It's not that they're stupid, it's that they're lazy.

They use seemingly diligent actions to cover up their laziness; instead of actually using their brains, they choose to do things that are like placebos to make themselves feel better.

"I've tried so hard."

Li Zhao had heard this many times in his previous life.

The worst of these types of people can even take the opportunity to mock and belittle classmates who "seem" not to be taking things seriously while they are putting on their own act.

Li Zhao seemed to understand why Ma Yingying's performance declined in junior high school, resulting in a disastrous failure in the high school entrance exam.

"Because your notes are written incorrectly," Li Zhao replied directly.

Ma Yingying was stunned, and Chen Nian next to her was also stunned.

"wrong?"

"Taking more notes isn't necessarily better," Li Zhao said. "Learning is a very subjective thing. Notes are used to strengthen memory and help you overcome areas you're not good at, not to replace 'learning' itself."

Ma Yingying frowned. "I don't understand. What does that mean?"

But judging from your tone, you know what it means.

"To put it bluntly, taking notes simply for the sake of taking notes is completely meaningless."

Ma Yingying's face instantly turned angry. "What makes you think my notes are meaningless?"

"You spend a lot of time taking notes, don't you?"

"Of course."

"How much stuff have you recorded that doesn't even need to be recorded?"

"no."

Li Zhao laughed, "You copied almost all the words, even the word 'a,' and you even changed the color next to it to write 'one'... Do you think this makes any sense?"

Ma Yingying's ears turned red instantly. "Why are you so nosy?"

"Class monitor," Li Zhao handed the notes back, "you were the one who asked me this question, and it was a very valuable one. Reflecting on your own 'learning methods' is a great approach. I didn't mean to belittle you in any way, but you took my comments on your notes as offensive. Well then, I can only offer you one last thing..."

Ma Yingying's eyes darted away.

"Effort is for yourself, not for others. Only you and your grades know whether you've actually put your mind to it."

"Of course I have! Don't be so arrogant..."

"That's good." Li Zhao interrupted, "Class is about to start."

Ma Yingying was breathing heavily and returned to her seat with her lips pursed.

She was unwilling to accept Li Zhao's statement, but Chen Nian's eyes lit up as he frantically memorized it.

"What's wrong with you?"

Chen Nian nodded repeatedly, "It's truly enlightening, absolutely enlightening!"

"There's no need to show off words you just learned..."

"I was wondering why I sometimes study so hard but can't seem to absorb anything. I just looked at my notes and couldn't find the key points at all."

Now it was Li Zhao's turn to have his eyes light up. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

"I should delete all the meaningless stuff in there. For example, in a mistake notebook, you shouldn't record all the wrong answers. Because careless mistakes have no reference value."

"Not bad, old wine, you have a good understanding."

Chen Nian immediately became smug, "After the exam on Friday, I won't just be an old wine... at least, I'll be number eight!"

Maybe we should just forget about this, Chen Nian. The future definition of Lao Ba on the internet isn't very good, so I suggest you don't try to force yourself into that role…

Just then, Li Zhao caught a glimpse of He Shuyao moving slightly out of the corner of his eye, so he turned his gaze over—

She put her right hand under her left armpit and gave Li Zhao a thumbs up.

Girl, you're not hiding anything at all, okay?

At noon, Li Zhao appeared in the office again, but this time all three Chinese language teachers were there.

Huang Keyun smiled when she saw Li Zhao and waved him over.

"Hey, Li Zhao? What are you doing here?" He Lin suddenly asked.

"National Competition".

"Oh, okay." He Lin had just turned around to continue chatting with Teacher Wu when she suddenly realized, "Why is it still the national competition? Wasn't it over?"

"Learning has no end, teacher."

"..." He Lin was speechless. "Sigh, I really envy Teacher Huang. When will you be able to study Chinese so diligently?"

Li Zhao did not answer; the answer was on Friday's Chinese exam paper.

Huang Keyun had turned on her computer ahead of time. Li Zhao glanced at her and saw that she was preparing her lesson diligently, so he didn't disturb her.

Li Zhao logged into his blog account and wrote comments in advance, preparing for the reposting of his own articles.

The rapid clicking of typing kept attracting Huang Keyun's attention.

"How come you're so good at typing?"

Li Zhao didn't even look up:

I learned it during winter break.

Before Huang Keyun could even complain, Li Zhao's words, interrupting his typing, broke into his ears:

"The New Taipei City Planning Institute is preparing to invite this 'Four-Knife' to hold a seminar."