Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

Li Zhao couldn't resist popping his head out to observe the three Chinese language teachers' performance.

Huang Keyun, who was standing next to her, watched with a smile on her face.

They really are just kids; they care a lot about what others think of them.

...It seems like adults are too.

Teacher Wu took the test paper, leaned back in the rattan chair, crossed her legs, and looked like she was reading a newspaper.

He had only read a few lines when he blinked rapidly, sat up, and straightened his back to read.

He quickly glanced through it, his brows furrowed, and he bent down to spread the exam paper out on the coffee table.

After watching it again, I finally spoke:

"Um?"

Team Leader Liu chuckled, "It seems Teacher He was right. Let me see."

The old man initially had a smile on his face, but as he looked at the test paper, he began to take deep breaths and frown. After a while, he also spread the test paper out on the coffee table.

He Lin hurriedly and carefully moved the water glass away from the coffee table, afraid of getting the test paper wet.

Team Leader Liu stared at the page for a long time before flipping it back to the other side. "No score?"

He Lin replied, "It hasn't been revised yet. After all, our No. 6 Elementary School has never given full marks for Chinese, so I'm really not sure about this article."

"Teacher Wu, what do you think?" Team Leader Liu asked again.

Actually, you can tell what kind of attitude Mr. Wu has just shown from his various actions.

"That's pretty amazing."

"Right?" He Lin clapped her hands. "I knew it was too exaggerated. Now I suddenly understand..."

At this point, she suddenly turned to look at Huang Keyun.

Fortunately, Li Zhao had anticipated this and immediately buried his head.

"Teacher Huang, I understand how you feel now. Li Zhao is truly incredible!"

Huang Keyun returned a meaningful smile, then looked at Li Zhao, who was awkwardly scratching his head beside her, and couldn't be happier.

"This article..." Teacher Wu began to comment, "It actually made me empathize with it. It's supposed to be a primary school student imagining the future, but it feels more like an adult pretending to be a primary school student reminiscing about their own life."

The Chinese language group at New Taipei No. 6 Elementary School is full of hidden talents!

"Yes, yes, yes," He Lin nodded repeatedly, "That's exactly how I feel. The reflections on life in it are far beyond the level of an elementary school student. To be honest, my child is already as old as Li Zhao. If you asked me to write this article, I couldn't do it."

"If you showed me this essay normally, I'd definitely say the kid copied it from somewhere," Teacher Wu said with a smile and a shake of his head. "But it's this Li Zhao. He said to our faces that Tian Suo's essay was pure garbage, and I remember it vividly. The key is that he actually gave a reason why. Speaking of which, Teacher Huang..."

Huang Keyun was called on again and responded with an "Eh".

"Last time you said this kid participated in the national competition, handed in his paper early, and the proctor even praised him, right?"

The ways of Heaven are cyclical; no one escapes the wrath of Heaven.

So it turns out Teacher Huang was quite happy showing off in private.

This time it was Li Zhao's turn to look at Huang Keyun.

"Yes, that's right."

Teacher Wu laughed and said, "It's really hard to understand. Your previous compositions were quite immature, but how come today's composition shows such a high level of skill in word choice and sentence structure?"

Li Zhao thought to himself, "Because you all treat me like a primary school student."

"Speaking of this, Keyun..."

Team Leader Liu called on Huang Keyun for the third time, with each of the three of them doing so once.

Huang Keyun sat up straight. "Hmm?"

"I remember, Li Zhao's English wasn't this good before, was it?"

"Just averagely good."

"Haha, how about that description now?"

Huang Keyun took a deep breath. "This is an excellence that is hard to understand."

"This is definitely an act," Liu Zu nodded. "Ke Yun, have you asked him how he suddenly became so skilled?"

I learned it during winter break.

"...I see."

Li Zhao was having a hard time suppressing his laughter.

"Teacher He," Teacher Wu said, frowning, "I just took another look, and the writing style does have a bit of that 'Four Knives' feel to it. It has a clear, well-structured, and engaging style. The rhetorical questions are always perfectly placed, making it easy for the reader to get absorbed. However, I still think it's far from the level of 'Four Knives'."

"Four Knives wrote a professional editorial, which is completely different from this short essay of just over four hundred words." He Lin was still arguing, "I would also say that Li Zhao is better in terms of sincerity of emotion and concise word choice."

Stop arguing, we're all the same person.

"Alright," Liu waved his hand, "Why argue about this? We should be happy that such a kid has emerged in our grade. The question is, should we give him full marks or not?"

"I did want to give it to her," He Lin said.

"I disagree," Teacher Wu objected. "This article is far beyond the level of other students of the same age. Giving Li Zhao a perfect score is appropriate, but it will have a negative impact on the Chinese language learning of the entire grade."

Group Leader Liu nodded. "That makes sense. He Lin, giving full marks is a direction. We use the score to tell the children in the class that this is a model essay. I won't talk about learning, but how many children do you think can understand the meaning of this kind of reflection on life and thinking about 'what is happiness'?"

"..." He Lin remained silent.

"If everyone tries to imitate him and ends up with a poor imitation, that would be terrible. Especially for other children who have good language skills, the impact would be even greater," Liu Zu said.

"That makes sense, but if I don't give it full marks, won't Li Zhao have something to say about it? This article is outstanding in terms of its sincerity, conciseness, focus, and depth of thought, not to mention elementary school, even middle and high school. I can't accept not giving it full marks."

Teacher, your skill in using parallel structures is truly impressive; even I, Li, am humbled.

However, this discussion among the three Chinese language teachers actually increased Li Zhao's positive impression of them.

"Happiness?" Huang Keyun hadn't expected Li Zhao's essay to be on this topic, so she turned her head and asked, "What, you're already thinking about happiness at your age? Are you happy?"

My surname is Li.

That's an old joke.

But this meme hadn't appeared yet in 08.

Huang Keyun was stunned for a moment before she reacted, then covered her mouth and leaned on the table, laughing so hard she was convulsing.

"I think you should just tell the truth," Teacher Wu suggested.

"Truly?"

"One point will be deducted, but we want to explain to everyone that this article is only for appreciation and should not be used as a study for exams."

"this……"

Team Leader Liu nodded, "That makes sense. Geniuses have their own path to growth. Completely separating him from them and using him as an unsuitable role model is actually a good thing for the other children."

"Hmm, that makes sense. But I'm not entirely sure what Li Zhao's own opinion is. As you've all seen, this kid can be quite difficult to deal with when he gets into an argument. He asked me why I didn't give him full marks, how am I supposed to answer?"

"Why don't you ask Keyun?" Liu suddenly pointed the finger at Huang Keyun again. "I think she has a pretty good relationship with Li Zhao, so she should know how to deal with him."

As soon as she finished speaking, He Lin got up and walked towards Huang Keyun.

Ms. Huang was completely at a loss, sensing that an incredibly embarrassing incident was about to unfold.

But then Li Zhao suddenly stood up.

All four teachers were stunned.

Li Zhao yawned slowly. "Hello teachers, I came to see Teacher Huang at noon to get some materials, but I fell asleep. I just woke up to hear you all talking about whether or not a student should get a perfect score..."

He Lin blinked.

"What the teachers said makes a lot of sense, so let's just deduct one point from my grade for 'it's too advanced.' Our No. 6 Elementary School is known for its honesty, which has always been a great quality."

"You don't care about getting full marks?" Amidst her many uncertainties, He Lin chose to follow Li Zhao's lead and ask.

"It's not a big exam. Instead, I should use this opportunity to think about how to write an essay that is neither too advanced nor too difficult to get a perfect score. I'll need Mr. He's guidance in this area."

He Lin is under immense pressure.