Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

"ah?!"

Chen Nian was the first to raise questions, which then caused an uproar in the whole class.

He Shuyao quickly turned her head, her long ponytail sweeping her pencil case onto the ground.

The little girl's eyes were filled with shock, but a proud smile played on her lips.

What are you so proud of? Did you guess right?

Ma Yingying's reaction was quite funny; she quickly turned her head to look at Li Zhao three times in a row.

The first time I was utterly shocked, the second time I frowned, and the third time my face was etched with embarrassment.

So all that talk of being proactive was just praising Li Zhao.

Li Zhao saw that the base of the squad leader's ears had visibly turned red.

Don't mess around, he doesn't want to taste this girl's blush.

"Yes, this is the essay that Li Zhao wrote during the exam." He Lin proudly unfolded the test paper. "I can tell you all that the entire Chinese language group at our No. 6 Elementary School speaks highly of it."

No, it's clearly just the fifth and sixth grade Chinese language group...

"Even the teacher is impressed by this article."

He Lin then launched into a splendid display of praise, complimenting the article's theme, writing style, and structure, as well as the teachers' reactions to it. Sometimes she offered objective analysis, and sometimes she simply expressed her emotions.

It can be said that the praise was given from every angle.

This is truly He Lin's comfort zone.

Li Zhao felt both embarrassed and pleased. He kept getting glances of amazement or admiration from all directions, making him unsure where to look.

Chen Nian was dumbfounded. At first, he kept poking Li Zhao to express his shock, but later he didn't dare to poke him anymore and just stared at Li Zhao with his bright eyes.

Brother, don't do this, I'm a little scared.

"I can tell you frankly that the teachers had a debate about whether Li Zhao's article should receive a perfect score."

The whole class perked up their ears.

Sure enough, grades are still the most motivating thing—perhaps people can't understand exactly what makes an article good, so they can only judge it by the most direct indicator: grades.

"New Taipei No. 6 Elementary School rarely gives full marks on Chinese language tests because when you take the entrance exam for junior high school, the essay is worth 40 points, and getting 37 points is considered very outstanding. In junior high, losing two or three points on the essay means you're among the best students in the city. The teachers don't want everyone to think that essays can be perfect. However, Li Zhao's essay is beyond the level of an elementary school student; it would even be considered excellent in junior high. Not giving him full marks would be irresponsible."

Let alone the other classmates, even Li Zhao felt a pang of emotion upon hearing these words.

Isn't the point of being a person to look forward to these privileges that you earn through your own efforts?

Because you've been given a higher gear than everyone else, we have to give you special privileges.

This experience is a hundred times better than any privilege you're born with.

"So, the teachers' controversy isn't about whether the essay deserves full marks, but rather their concern that everyone will try to emulate Li Zhao," He Lin said seriously. "Like this essay, you can appreciate it, but don't try to copy it. Without Li Zhao's level, it's easy to make big mistakes. Especially for those students who are doing well in the class, you still need to stick to your studies; you can't take risks in exams..."

These words were like a thunderclap.

Elementary school students have a very strong sense of self-esteem.

Especially those with good grades, who doesn't have a bit of arrogance in their heart?

Before the winter break, Li Zhaoming was consistently in the top three of his class, but after the break, he became someone we could only look up to, which is a bit hard to accept.

However, the commotion only lasted for a short while.

Because Li Zhao's record speaks for itself.

Leaving aside the national competition where the results haven't been released yet, just looking at the vocabulary accumulation in English essays, and this essay in particular, even high-achieving students can feel the gap.

Even Zhao Pengwei didn't react.

He Lin stepped down from the podium, returned the test paper to Li Zhao, and then began the normal review.

When Chen Nian saw a bright red "100" on Li Zhao's Chinese test paper, he swallowed hard and licked his lips.

"You want it?"

"No, no, no, I can't even think about it."

"Think of it this way: even though I wrote it like this, I only scored 3 points higher than you."

Chen Nian was genuinely excited for a moment, then gently shook his head, "That's because this test only has 100 points."

"Old Jiu, you're really ambitious now."

"Don't tell me, shh, we also need to look at English and math."

During breaks, Li Zhao seemed to possess an aura that could block people out. There was no one within a meter radius, but outside, there seemed to be a circle of people.

The strange atmosphere of "wanting to find Li Zhao but not daring to" became even stronger.

If things continue like this, everyone will probably have to make way for Li Zhao in the graduation photos...

He Shuyao is still the one who stepped into the entertainment industry decisively.

"Can I take a look at your essay?"

"Here you go." Li Zhao handed it over just as readily.

Then He Shuyao turned around and was about to leave.

"Hmm? What about yours?"

"I..." He Shuyao pursed her lips, "There's no need to look at mine, is there?"

"That won't work."

"..." He Shuyao took a deep breath and handed over the test paper. "The gap between us is too big."

A strong-willed young woman.

"Don't worry about these things," Li Zhao said without further explanation.

In the subsequent math and English classes, test papers were distributed and explanations were given.

Judging from the results, the difficulty has indeed increased. The class average score was 4 points lower than the preliminary test, and the total scores of the top ten students in the class dropped by two or three points.

Therefore, Li Zhaoming's impressive 300 points on the leaderboard were very eye-catching.

Li Zhao himself didn't feel anything special. This was nothing. Getting a perfect score in elementary school wasn't uncommon, but getting a perfect score in all subjects in middle school was truly impressive.

There's not much to say about getting full marks in math. Besides Li Zhao, He Shuyao and Liu Mingyu also got full marks, and Ma Yingying got 99 points.

English... Everyone has become accustomed to Li Zhao's superhuman performance.

Even Huang Keyun was used to it; she didn't take Li Zhao's perfect score on the test seriously this time.

You see, that's how people's threshold is raised.

During the break between the fourth and fourth periods, everyone gathered in front of the grade leaderboard and chattered away.

In today's education system, posting exam results is commonplace, and parents and children generally don't have any objections to it.

There are three things worth noting:

First, Li Zhao got a perfect score.

Secondly, Chen Nian ranked sixth, successfully breaking the curse of being ninth.

Third, He Shuyao's ranking slipped to fifth.

Although the top five students in the class are still the same five, the rankings have changed a lot.

Li Zhao ranked first, Ma Yingying second, Liu Mingyu third, and Jiang Qi fourth.

He Shuyao, who had consistently ranked in the top three and used to compete with Li Zhao for second place, only scored 94 in English, despite getting 98 in Chinese and a perfect score in math.

"It's not even as good as aged rice; there must be something wrong with it." This was Li Zhao's first thought.

Wouldn't thinking this way be a bit too harsh on Chen Nian?

Brother Nian is watching the rain from the corridor outside right now.

Having broken the curse, he now felt like the protagonist of the world, and should experience the storms of life.

He Shuyao was visibly disappointed.

Li Zhao thought of himself in his previous life, burdened by immense exam pressure.

He had planned to chat with He Shuyao during lunch, but Chen Nian, that brat, kept pestering Li Zhao for advice on his essay. Li Zhao gave a brief explanation, and when he turned around, He Shuyao was no longer in her seat.

When he returned after finishing his meal, He Shuyao was still not at her seat.

Li Zhao frowned and looked around, when Jiang Qi, the class monitor, suddenly nudged his shoulder.

"Are you looking for Shuyao?" Jiang Qi asked, blinking her big eyes.

"Yes, did she go home?"

"No, she just finished eating and went out with her umbrella."

Li Zhao seemed to know where she was.

Thanks.

"No need."

Jiang Qi watched Li Zhao pick up his umbrella and leave, then swayed back with her hands behind her back, shrugged, and returned to her seat.