Chapter 9: A Brand New Simple Life

1. The Start of First Year*
*[First year of high school]

In the past, my favourite movie star was Brad Pitt. It had nothing to do with his acting skills, it was only because of his handsome face, perfect body and an unrestrained personality that bewitched me.
Nowadays, my favourite movie star is Kate Winston. It has nothing to do with her acting skills, it was only because in the show business circle that went crazy for beauty, she still admitted that she had flab on her belly and and that her breasts sagged due to breastfeeding.
She loved her imperfect self with confidence.
How to love yourself with confidence is a question even more profound than how to love someone else.

*[Quick reminder that the school names are usually in numbers eg. No. 1 High school, being No. 6 doesn't necessarily mean the school is 6th in the city.]

The class name sheet for the first year new students was out. Altogether, there were nine classes, and each class had fifty or so students.

Guan He and Zhang Jun were divided into Class (4), I was divided into Class (5) with Shen Yuan Zhe and Tong Yun Zhu.

Our class monitor was naturally Chen Yuan Zhe and our arts monitor, Tong Yun Zhu. Class (4)'s arts monitor was Guan He and their class monitor was actually...Zhang Jun.

When I heard this news, I really froze for a bit but when I thought about it some more, I felt it was actually quite suitable for him. Zhang Jun's probation points were cancelled before the high school entrance exams and his results for that was quite good. Added to the fact that he had experience being a class monitor, choosing him was pretty normal.

The high school department had three buildings, each building had four levels and each level had three classrooms. Every year level had their own building and because there were only nine classes in the first years, the fourth floor was completely empty.

Class (4) and (5) were both on second floor meaning that not only was Zhang Jun one class away from me, we were only separated by a wall. I can't really express what kind of feeling I have being so close to him. On one side, I felt an irrational secret happiness but on the other side, I wanted to hide far, far away.

As No.1 High School was the top high school in the province and had an exceptional reputation, apart from us students who got in through exams, there were a group of specially enrolled students.

This group was special. Some of their families were very rich and they paid their way in, some were very powerful and with one phone call, the headmaster let them in and others got in because they had a special talent such as dancing, singing and sports that bought the school reputation.Thus, in the top school, not all the students were good at studying.

Class (4) had the best teaching staff of the year level and the few that came in through power were all in Class (4). The student that attracted the most attention was the vice governor's only son. As his last name is Jia, everyone called him Prince Jia. He was considered as not studious nor skilled but he wasn't considered as a rich playboy either. I heard his father was very stern so he was very obedient and never stirred up trouble. He was also very respectful to the teachers but no matter how he tried, his grades never rose.

Our Class (5) was the worst class in the year. According to the gossip from students, none of the teachers were good. The maths teacher was infamous in the high school for being sloppy, the English teacher was a female university graduate who had just been allocated to the school, and she would blush when she talked. Our biology teacher was a fat man who would make himself dizzy just by talking about the topics. Our homeroom teacher was an inexperienced politics teachers.

Thankfully our class monitor was good. Chen Yuan Zhe was historically, the most prestigious president of the student committee in our middle school. Technically, it should be a breeze being a class monitor then but it was not so.

In No.1 High School, there was a traditional division between the old No.1 students and the new No. 1 students. The old No.1 students were students who had been here since middle school, such as me, Chen Yuan Zhe, Tong Yun Zhu, Zhang Jun, Guan He and so on. The new No.1 students were students from other middle schools who got in through the entrance exam.

No.1 Middle School didn't accept boarding students so the old No.1 students all lived close to No.1 and were considered as people from the city. Also, because we had already been in No.1 for three years, were were quite familiar with the school teachers, especially people like Chen Yuan Zhe, who the teachers all recognised. Naturally, they would find him for everything whereas because we all knew each other, and may have even been in the same class once, it was easy for us all to become close with one another. In the new No.1 students' eyes, they thought we formed a clique and the teachers were also biased towards the old students so it was hard for them to blend in, especially for boarding students. As they were far away from their parents, they became close and bonded with one another both day and night. They really despised us old No.1 students and always tried to make things difficult for us. Mysteriously, this started accumulating and the conflict between the new and old students because a tradition in the high school department.

Due to this conflict, the new students all disliked Chen Yuan Zhe and tried to make things hard for him so his life as a class monitor was exhausting.

We also had a few students in our class who got in through money, the more money they had, the lazier they were. Especially a boy called Ma Li who was the worst. On the first day of school, he stuck a little mirror on the tip of his shoe. He raised his hand to ask the English teacher a question and while the young English teacher explained the answer to him in detail by his side, he stretched out his foot underneath her dress and saw her underwear. After he saw it, he told all the boys in the class. The next day, none of the girls who sat around him dared to wear skirts or dresses.

During self revision class, he pretended to have a question to ask the girl sitting in front of him and purposely used his hand to push her back. Then, he touched her bra strap and pretended to be surprised, "What is this? Why do you have binding on your body? How weird!" Then, he intentionally asked the boys around him, "It's really weird, why does she have binding?"

The girl was so embarrassed, tears started forming in her eyes. She ran out to find the homeroom teacher to change seats. When the teacher asked her for a reason, she was to embarrassed to say and only cried. The teacher swapped her seat with another girl's who Ma Li also made cry.

This gave Chen Yuan Zhe a headache, he couldn't run to the English teacher and tell her that Ma Li's seen her underwear, nor could he tell the homeroom teacher that Ma Li's touched a girls back.

High school students were half adults already and were long over the age of worshipping teachers. Not only were they over worshipping, they started to fight against the authority so when students fought, no one complained to the teacher any more. If Chen Yuan Zhe told the teachers, perhaps there would be a short term result but he would definitely lose the trust of the students and be looked down on by all the boys.

It's better to do nothing than to choose a bad plan. Chen Yuan Zhe couldn't do anything for the moment. He arranged for a boy to sit in from of Ma Li but naturally, Ma Li's stream of dirty tricks was endless and every few days, there would be a girl who would end up crying of embarrassment.

I owed Chen Yuan Zhe a favor, plus, I really couldn't stant Ma Li so I decided to voluntarily change seats with the boy sitting in from of Ma Li.

All the girls in the class looked at me in astonishment and could not understand my action.

During night self revision class, Ma Li stretched out his foot to mine. Maintaining my composure, I used my foot to pull out a compass I had put under my desk earlier. I stepped on the end of it so that the needle was pointing out. Ma Li stretched his foot closer and closer then grunted and quickly put his foot back. I smiled and continued revising biology.

A while later, he started pushing me with his hand, while pushing, he started feeling my back. I closed the biology textbook I was just reading and held it. Then, I turned back smiling. He also smiled back at me naughtily and just as he opened his moth, I whacked his face with the textbook.

The sound shattered the tranquillity in the class and everyone raised their heads to look at us. Ma Li was also completely dazed.

I refused to let the matter go and continued to slap the book on his face, while asking, "What are you doing? What are you doing..."

Ma Li finally responded. He clenched his hand into a fist but Chen Yuan Zhe quickly stood up and came over. I said, "I don't need help from anyone! If he dares to make a move, we'll go and settle things in front of the headmaster. I'd like to represent all the parents in asking the headmaster if he thinks money is more important than No.1's reputation. Would parents want to put their children with this scum?"

There was another reason behind not letting Chen Yuan Zhe help me. I was a girl and even if I started fighting with Ma Li, none of the new No.1 boys would lend a hand. However, if Chen Yuan Zhe got involved, it could become a group fight between the new and old students.

Ma Li clenched his fists but didn't move. I stared at him, "Don't think that the girls are really scared of you. Everyone is just embarrassed to become dirty like you. However, my face is already infamously thick, so if you do something, I'm not scared of doing anything either. Do you want to do see the headmaster?" I moved closer, "Do you want to fight? If you don't want to fight then let's go back to revising!"

Ma Li was so angry his eyes became red but he didn't dare to make a move. I I took the biology textbook and hit it on my other hand, "If you dare to bully girls again in the future, I'll hit you every time I see it. Don't blame me for not warning you."

After I finished talking, I turned around, sat down, opened my textbook and continued reading.

Ma Li also went back to his seat. He put his head on the desk so that his face couldn't be seen. I didn't know if he was reading or zoning out.

Silence reigned over the class for the rest of the night.

After the night self revision class, I started to pack up my bag. When people walked past my desk, they would pretend to shoot me a glance by accident. Ever since school started, I've always been sitting in a corner of the class without attracting any attention so most of my classmates probably didn't remember my name. However tonight, I put myself in front of the sight of everyone.

Just as I walked out, Chen Yuan Zhe chased up to my from the back, "Luo Qi Qi."

I turned back, "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to say hi to you. Although I've heard about you long ago, we haven't talked even after school's started so we haven't properly met yet."

I couldn't resist smiling, who said we haven't talked before?

Just as we walked past the door of Class (4), Zhang Jun and Guan He walked out smiling and joking.

This scene had already been played out a thousand times in my head but I was never prepared for the real scene. A stab of pain hit my heart and I quickened my footsteps.

Guan He shouted behind me, "Luo Qi Qi, Qi Qi......"

I pretended I didn't hear but Chen Yuan Zhe had already stopped and turned around to look. He smiled, "Guan He is calling you."

I pretended to just know and turned back with a dazzling smile. Zhang Jun greeted Chen Yuan Zhe smiling but didn't look at me and naturally, I also pretended he wasn't there.

Guan He asked, "How is it? Do you like the new year?"

My smile was nearly oozing with honey, "I really like it, how about you?"

The four of us chatted as we walked. Just as we walked to the boulevard, someone chased up from behind. It was one of the new boarding students. Although it was a boy, he gave off a female presence so his nickname was 'Xiu Xiu'*. Chen Yuan Zhe smiled, "Is anything the matter?"
*[Xiu means beautiful or elegant]

Xiu Xiu looked at me, "Be careful, after night revision classes, it's best not to go home alone. Ma Li threatened that just then, it was because he didn't want to make a move in school but he'll take care of you outside."

Chen Yuan Zhe was a bit taken aback but I smiled. It seems like everyone has a criteria between good and evil and the barrier within the new and old in our class has lessened.

Xiu Xiu worriedly said, "I'm being serious. I'm leaving, you take care of yourself." After speaking, he walked back to the dorms.

Guan He asked in astonishment, "Qi Qi, what happened? Is there trouble?"

I carelessly said, "I fought with a guy during self revision, nothing big."

Guan He's eyes widened, full of shock. I didn't dare to look at Zhang Jun's expression, inside, there was a numbing pain. I've always admired Guan He's elegance to the extent that I secretly copied her actions and words but today, I finally understood that I could never turn into her.

When we got to the school gates, Chen Yuan Zhe said, "I'll send you home."

I warmly declined, "There's no need."

Guan He persuaded me softly, "Let Chen Yuan Zhe walk some distance with you just in case."

I really didn't want to stick with her any longer, mainly because I didn't want to see Zhang Jun, so I immediately changed my answer, "Okay."

After Chen Yuan Zhe and I walked a distance away from them on to the road, I said to Chen Yuan Zhe, "I suddenly remembered that there's something I need to do tonight so I want to walk aloe."

My attitude was very firm so Chen Yuan Zhe could only urge me to go home quickly and choose roads with lots of people. If something happened I needed to shout loudly and not fear them. I smiled and agreed. If I was scared of trouble, the I wouldn't have provoked Ma Li at all.

We waved farewell. I held up my school bag and strode into the night.

There were two roads home from school. One of them took further but it was very busy and there were shops all around. It even went past a night market. In the past, I could ride my bike through that road home but nowadays, I chose the other, closer road and gave up riding my bike.

This road was full of alleys. One one side, there were residential buildings and on the other side, there was a forest. It was very quiet and as it was already past ten, it seemed like there was only me on the road.

As I walked, I gazed up at the starts, my head full of biology questions. I already knew the answers but I wanted to remember the process of answering the questions better, this was what I wanted to do alone.

The twenty minute walk home was enough for me to completely examine a question. Although Chen Yuan Zhe was the prince as many girls' crush and being able to be sent home by him was an honor, ever since the day I decided to go to high school, my only goal was the gao kao.

When I was nearly home, I suddenly felt like there was someone behind me. I quickly turned around but there was nothing there. I shook my head, even if Ma Li needed to call people, he still needed time.

After I got home, I first ate an apple then forced myself to eat two walnuts that I hated.

After I washed my face, I soaked my feet in warm water while memorising English vocabulary. I only needed ten minutes or so. It wasn't long but as long as I could persist, even if I only remembered two words a day, it was still more than six hundred words a year.

After washing my feet, I got in bed and had a good sleep.

Ma Li wasn't even worth thinking about. Actually, I'd rather he invited a few real gangsters out and make the situation big so that Xiao Bo would hear about it. I don't believe that he would show no interest. Sadly, gangsters have their own protocol and no one would take action for such a tiny thing.

The second day, Ma Li smiled at me all throughout. I also smiled back at him.

On the way home that night, I kept feeling like someone was following me. My whole body was prepared to respond to the little gangsters Ma Li invited but all the way home, nothing happened.

In the morning, when Ma Li saw me, he stared at me as if checking to see if I had been 'warned'. Discovering that my smile was normal, his smiled was quite forced.

Every night, when I walked home, I would feel that there was someone behind me but no matter how many times I turned around or secretly glanced back, there was no one. However, that lingering feeling refused to budge and I even started anticipating it.

Finally, I couldn't hold it any more. When I walked, I didn't turn around, I pretended that I knew everything and confidently said, "Xiao Bo, come out, I already saw you."

I believed that I could lie against anyone but, there was no one. The only reply I received was the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees.

After doing this many times, I finally started to understand that I was being too overly sensitive. How could it be like those novels and movies? After I understood, I was a little sad, Xiao Bo had really left my life.

Quickly, a week past by and no one came to bother me. Ma Li also stopped mentioning that he would teach me a lesson and started being good in class. Of course, he would still stir up trouble but he stopped doing dirty tricks. Later, we even became close brothers. It really makes one sigh that fighting can blossom into friendship.

To those of you thinking that I have given up on translations and have disappeared off into the abyss of the internet world, nope, I'm still here!

Hope you guys have a great rest of the week!

2. Dodging Conflict

Not all memories are beautiful and not all people are worth being remembered.
The river of time is endless and most of the people and things will be swept away mercilessly.
However, everything related to the sediment of youth will always form a sediment to the bottom of the river, becoming beautiful memories that won't wear away.
What is unforgettable to us may not be the people of things, but the dreams and emotions that passed.

Every year, the first year students in No. 1 High School would go through three weeks of army training. It was usually held right at the start of the school year but luckily, the field troops were on a special training mission so ours was pushed back two weeks when they could train us after they had finished their own mission .

The school's arrangement for these three weeks were that every morning, we would go to class and in the afternoon, we would receive army training. Every class had an instructor and on the big sports field, each had their own designated area to train in.

The sun in September was ruthless, however, under that sun, we had to walk and run and stand. Everyone anticipated rest time where they could sit under the shade of the trees for a while.

There weren't many patches of shade on the field but luckily, there was a patch close to our area. Due to the distance, naturally, we had the right to use it so the other classes could only enviously look over. We never thought though, that on the second day, when the instructor released us for rest time, Song Peng from Class (4) led a group of boys to our patch of shade and took over it. Song Peng was infamous as a gangster. His brother, Song Jie, had some popularity in our city. The boys in our class were all very discontent but hearing of Song Peng's notoriety, they could only find some other place to rest in.

Army training was extremely difficult and I nearly got heatstroke as a result. Hence when we were released, I rushed over to drink the green bean soup that the cafeteria made for us, but there was already a long line of bobbing heads.

Zhang Jun squeezed out with difficulty through the crowd, holding two plastic cups in his hands. I knew that I shouldn't search for the answer. Sometimes, not knowing is a form of happiness. But, I couldn't control my line of sight so I watched as Guan He smiled as she took a cup from Zhang Jun's hand.

I immediately looked away and squeezed into the crowd holding my own cup. Not only did I get a cup of green bean soup, I also ended up helping Chen Yuan Zhe who came late get one too.

Chen Yuan Zhe saw Zhang Jun and Guan He so he called out to Zhang Jun. Guan He smiled and greeted me. I could only drink my green tea soup while talking happily with Guan He, unable to express that I didn't care.

After we went back to our class' resting place, we discovered that the resting spot had already been taken by Class (4)'s boys.

A few new students from our class purposefully called to Chen Yuan Zhe, "Class Monitor Chen, you have to speak up for us!"

However, Song Peng and the new students from Class (4) said to Zhang Jun, "Class Monitor, we're depending on you to back us up."

A few students told Chen Yuan Zhe about what had happened and Zhang Jun stood beside him listening.

Chen Yuan Zhe furrowed his brows but Zhang Jun started laughing. He drank his green tea soup and continued to chat with Guan He as if it had nothing to do with him.

Chen Yuan Zhe wanted to be the president of the student council so he didn't want any trouble arising. Zhang Jun didn't have any wishes and he knew that Chen Yuan Zhe would definitely think of a solution so naturally, he was very relaxed.

I was really tired and knowing that our resting time was limited, I didn't have the energy to listen to them fight. I walked directly over, squeezed into the group of boys , found the most shaded place, which was also right in the middle, and sat down. When I was sitting down, I called out, "Excuse me, excuse me," forcing two boys to shift to the the side.

All the boys from my class and the boys from Class (4) stopped shouting and silently stared at me.

I drank my green tea soup with an innocent expression, you guys keep chatting, I'm just sitting here! If you guys can sit here, why can't I?

Song Peng cleared his throat, wanting to disregard me but looking at me, he found it a bit hard. His expression turned stern and glared at me, probably assuming that everyone knew of his infamy and also, as he was a male and I was a female, I definitely wouldn't be able to handle it and would voluntarily run away.

Under his influence, all the boys started shooting rays at me with their eyes. In my entire life, all the stares I've received from boys added up didn't amount to this much.

I held my green bean soup with both hands and sat there obediently, smiling back at Song Peng without blushing at all.

Back in the year, when I stood on the table tennis tables and accepted the whole school's stares of awe, he was probably secretly peeking at girls somewhere.

Song Peng's personality was probably quite stubborn so when I didn't blush and avoid his stare like he assumed, it turned into a confrontation and we both glared at each other.

If this was shot through the lens of an animation, you would definitely be able to see lasers shooting from our eyes.

But actually, it was only him who was shooting lasers, I was calm and not the slightest bit angry.

After Song Peng and I 'deeply' stared at each other for a long time, he finally started to realise just how thick my face was*. He patted his bottom and stood up and with a provoking smile, said, "We've rested enough today, see you tomorrow."

When he left, all the other boys left too so there was only Zhang Jun, Guan He and Shen Yuan Zhe standing to a side. Only then did I realise that Zhang Jun had seen the whole thing. I secretly shot a quick glance at his face and saw him smile amusedly but I couldn't guess what he was smiling at.

Our classmates came back one after the other to enjoy the cool. Tong Yun Zhu sat beside Zhang Jun and greeted him then smiled at me, "You're so headstrong! It's only been two weeks since school started but you've already picked a fight and with Song Peng at that. The difficulty is becoming higher and higher."

A girl whose name i didn't remember reminded me kindly, "When Song Peng was in middle school, he called a bunch of gangsters to beat up a physical education teacher. Even our school director doesn't dare to get involved with him."

However, the guys supported me, "Someone like him can fight? Someone like him has brothers outside of school? Luo Qi Qi, don't be scared."

Faced with a foreign enemy, the guys actually overlooked the division between the new and old students. They were united and eager to fight.

However, Chen Yuan Zhe didn't want to start a group fight. He called Zhang Jun to the side and they had a discussion quietly.

The next day, before army training, the headmaster called all the classes together and issued an order. Following Chen Yuan Zhe and Zhang Jun's recommendation, for the convenience of the kitchen staff giving green bean soup, in the future, everyone will be divided into three groups and have free time at different times. Luckily, our class and Class (4) had different resting times so naturally, we didn't need to fight over the shade any more.

A simple solution had resolved everything. I think that even though those new students didn't look like they liked this idea, inside, they couldn't deny that this was the best solution.

Army training was divided into learning to stand at attention, the miliary march and throwing military fists.

My military pose and running were okay but I had difficulty in doing the military march. My walking is usually quite normal but when the training officer orders, "Military march", I start getting my arms and legs mixed up. At the start, it wasn't noticeable with the whole class doing it but it was noticed when we were divided into groups of four. However, no matter how he tried to teach me, I couldn't correct my march.

The training officer could only call me out to practice individually.

Our practise time was Class (4)'s rest time, plus their resting spot was right in front of our class so everyone in Class (4) could see me march, including Zhang Jun, Guan He and Song Peng.

Ever since that incident, Song Peng started giving me extra notice thus, finding a good opportunity for revenge, he saw my march as a joke. He provided commentary and applause while he watched me march, causing the boys in Class (4) to laugh along with him. However, I laughed along with him until in the end, his anger dissipated completely.

When it was our rest time, my other 'enemy', Ma Li, ran in front of everyone and copied my military steps. He was originally trying to ridicule me but because I didn't mind at all and laughed louder than anyone else, the whole class and the instructor were able to let our their laughters too.

As Ma Li walked, he actually started making the same mistake as me, getting his arms and legs mixed up too. The more anxious he got, the more mixed up he became. He couldn't correct himself and thus, the instructors had two people to train.

The first time Song Peng saw Ma Li and I stand shoulder to shoulder with out heads high and chests out, he spurted out all the juice he was drinking in laughter. Zhang Jun also couldn't resist smiling. However, his line of sight moved away quickly and he went off to play with his classmates, not caring about us in the slightest.

The expression on my face was bright but inside, that difficult feeling! On one side, I really didn't want him to see me in such an embarrassing manner so I was really happy that he didn't stare but on the other side, I felt that if he didn't care about me even though I was like this, then he must really see me as a stranger and thus, I felt very bad.

As we were under the sun for the whole day, and I also had to work more than others, my face was so sunburnt my skin started to peel. At that time, I didn't know anything about things like sunscreen. Not only did I have no idea about sun protection, often, because I had a tomboyish nature, after I was sunburnt, I would splash my face with cold water then run back into the hot sun.

One day, when I went to class, I discovered a brand new bottle of sunscreen on my desk. The description on it was written in Japanese and traditional Chinese. After reading it, I learnt that this was specially used to protect against the sun.

Under normal circumstances, when a girl receives these things, her first thought would be that a guy has a crush on her. My first thought however, was that someone probably put it on the wrong desk. I put the sunscreen back on the table for that person to come back and collect. After a day, when still no one came to ask me for it back, I started suspecting that it may be a present for me.

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't surprised!

No matter who he was, I definitely wouldn't like him but I had a feeling of vain satisfaction. No matter how early I matured mentally, I was still a teenage girl, yearning for a guy's appreciation and like.

On one side, I was secretly happy but on the other side, I decided to return the sunscreen to the sender. But, who is it?

Two days later, I discovered a 'love letter' on my desk. First, he praised me for being special, then he asked me to go dancing in the evening on the weekend. He filled the four sides of the card with the English words I like you in different letters. None of these were shocking, what was shocking was that the sender was actually Song Peng.

This was my first time receiving a love letter from a guy but I didn't have the slightest feeling of delight. Perhaps this was all planned as revenge. I've seen these kinds of situations before.

The two days of being vainly pleased with myself completely turned into awkwardness and indignation. I grabbed the love letter and took out the sunscreen I had hidden in my bag before walking into Class (4).

Class was about to start so everyone was sitting in their seats. When they saw me enter, they all looked at me strangely.

I strode in front of Song Peng's desk and slammed the sunscreen and love letter on the desk, "I'm warning you, don't bother me again!"

As all the students in Class (4) saluted me with their eyes, I walked out of the room. Just before I walked outside, I shot a glance at Zhang Jun. Apart from gaping, the corners of his mouth seemed to hang a wry smile.

Apparently as soon as I left, Song Peng threw the things into the rubbish bin and resolutely denied sending me those things.

However, not two days later, he stubbornly slammed his desk and said to the guys in his class, "F*ck! I don't believe I won't be able to get Luo Qi Qi."

When the news spread to me, I coldly smiled, let's see how you try.

Probably because of Song Peng's 'care' towards me, even Tong Yun Zhu started noticing me. Not only did she voluntarily start chatting to me, she even lent her sunscreen to me. I started being more careful too. Because of youth, not long after military training, my skin healed without leaving a scar.

During army training, the most enjoyable thing would be singing. We sang class by class and after my class finished, we shouted to our 'enemy' Class (4), "Class (4), Sing! Class (4), Sing!"

Class (4) had no reaction. It was then that I realised, during our song, Song Peng caused trouble and was quarrelling with Zhang Jun. The guys in Class (4) had divided into two groups, one group supported Song Peng and the other supported Zhang Jun.

Probably at this time, Shen Yuan Zhe was grateful the worst person in our class was Ma Li. He was a gangster wannabe, he would tease the girls but wouldn't commit crimes, unlike Song Peng who would be polite to the girls but use knifes when quarrelling with boys.

Song Peng didn't care about being disciplined by the school. He had punched a guy to the ground. The scene became a mess, Zhang Jun prevented his friends from fighting back but the instructor had already been alerted.

Class (4)'s instructor hurriedly ran over and shouted at Zhang Jun, "What happened?" Luckily the headmaster had come to inspect us, he stood to the side watching.

The guys by Zhang Jun's side was about to speak before Zhang Jun loudly said, "We were discussing how to throw military fists. A student was accidentally hurt when we practiced."

Song Peng froze, he didn't expect Zhang Jun would actually protect him. However, he didn't feel grateful and snorted.

Zhang Jun continued, "Song Peng and I want to practice fighting with each other, please correct our mistakes instructor."

The instructor hadn't spoken when the guys in Class (4) had already started shouting in agreement and applauding. The boys in our class joined in and also started wildly applauding. The students in the other classes hadn't understood what was happening but hearing us applaud, also started applauding.

As we weren't real soldiers, Class (4)'s instructor couldn't directly reprimand us. He looked at Class (1)'s instructor who was in charge of all the instructors for help. Class (1)'s instructor called Zhang Jun and Song Peng to the front and after warning them about a few points to look out for, agreed to Zhang Jun's request.

The students all quietened down to watch Zhang Jun and Song Peng's fight.

Zhang Jun and Song Peng both believed that things that couldn't be decided through words can only rely on fists to solve. This was also the only way to make Song Peng lower his head. To real gangsters, power was the most important thing. However, Zhang Jun has started to understand doing things legally and rationally.

At the start, the two pretended to use the military gestures but afterwards, Song Peng got impatient and started listening to his natural instincts. Zhang Jun still patiently used the military style against Song Peng's attacks.

Seeing Song Peng fight, Class (1)'s instructor quickly walked to their side to break them apart. However, seeing Zhang Jun use the proper way of fighting, he stopped and only stood by their side, watching closely.

It was clear that Zhang Jun put in effort and heart into practising the military moves. Perhaps to the instructor, out of us 400 people, only Zhang Jun was considered a student.

Song Peng wanted to kick Zhang Jun but Zhang Jun dodged it and seized the opportunity to pounce and pressed Song Peng to the ground. Song Peng struggled hard but Zhang Jun didn't press down harder. Instead, he immediately stepped back and let Song Peng stand up. Song Peng was furious and shouted loudly, wanting to keep fighting.

The instructor grabbed his hands, "If this was on the battlefield, your life would already be lost."

Song Peng turned from red to ashen white as his body slowly calmed down. The instructor released his hands. Perhaps the instructor had also been a hotheaded youth so he didn't say anything and only quietly walked to a side.

Song Peng's expression was very ugly, but he didn't embarrass his brother- losing was losing. He threw the words, "In the future you're the boss" to Zhang Jun then walked back to his class and sat down.

I had known that Zhang Jun can fight from my third year of primary school but this was the first time I had personally seen him fight. I don't know how to rate it, I can only say that he didn't waste his time out on the streets.

This time, Zhang Jun established the definite authority in Class (4) and in the future, no matter if it was a new student or an old student, they all listened to him. Shen Yuan Zhe didn't take such big risks like Zhang Jun and so, it was only until the first semester was nearly over before he had slowly gotten the acceptance of all the boys.

Although their ways were completely different, in the end, they both achieved their goals.

These three weeks were both long and short, both painful and happy.

When happiness and pain are shared together and glory and failure received together, even the hardest ice can be melted. Although the new and old students from No. 1 in our class weren't completely united, we were no longer hostile to each other either.

The only disappointment was that right up until military training ended, my hand feet co-ordination problem still hadn't been fixed. The instructor couldn't do anything about it either so when it came time to present, I was put hidden right in the middle of the class. Our class wasn't in the position to win the first prize award but we received the award for spiritual civilisation and our instructor was chosen as the best instructor.

All the boys in our class were extremely happy and when the event ended, they carried the instructor right up in the air and walked around the court, singing military songs along the way as if they were really soldiers. Usually, none of them enjoyed these old songs but now, it was as if only the loud and resonant military songs could truly release the fervour and energy inside them.

Quite a number of teenage girls standing by the courts grew teary-eyed and even the instructor's voice was choked with sobs when he spoke. During military training, everyone hated the instructor so much but when saying farewell, everything turned into a beautiful memory.

Chapter 9.3: Becoming famous once again (Part One)

Without single steps, a journey of a thousand miles cannot be achieved, without small streams, an ocean cannot be formed.
Everyone wants to 'achieve a thousand miles and become an ocean'. However, when the steps and the small streams become something to accomplish 365 days a year and turn into a dull repeat, all the aspirations and ideals become a joke.
You can only rely on willpower and daily perseverance, but, does perseverance mean that you definitely will succeed?
Not necessarily, but without perseverance, you definitely won't succeed.

After military training ended, we truly became first years at No. 1 High School. Following the usual practice, we were going to receive uniforms.

I don't know if the high school students now are luckier than we were back then with uniforms but back in the year, our uniforms were really so ugly you wouldn't be able to look at it twice.

There is one thing that I've never understood- how come the uniforms for Japanese middle school students can look so good? How come the uniforms for us Chinese students are always so outdated it's pitiful?

As the past two years of students all grouped together to complain that the uniforms were very ugly, when it was our year, the school decided to accept the complaints of the students and change the style of the uniform. To display the quality education at No. 1 High School, the Headmaster decided that the students could design the uniform themselves. A third year female student's design plan was selected by the teachers as the best.

The students who saw the design all said that it was very pretty and looked as pretty as the uniforms in mangas and Japanese dramas. Pretty much all the girls in the class and even a lot of the boys were filled with anticipation. Uniforms were worn often and whether or not it looked good was too important to everyone as we were at the age where we were the most self conscious and the most careful of our appearance.

Under everyone's anticipation, we finally received the uniforms. When everyone collected the uniform, I believe that even the prettiest and least prettiest people in our year definitely all had tears rolling in their eyes.

How can I describe this uniform set?

It was as if someone went to counterfeit a high quality, custom made, designer piece of clothing but they got the colour scheme wrong, were frugal with fabric so they used the cheapest fabric and made it sloppily too. What comes out is nondescript, even a normal sports set is better.

Basically, it really was too ugly. It was so ugly that no matter if it was a beautiful girl or handsome boy, when they wore it, their disposition turned into dirt.

The school probably also realised that this uniform that was produced by one of the school master's relatives wasn't very good so they didn't require everyone to wear it everyday. Apart from school activities, normally, we were only required to wear it every Monday during the flag raising ceremony.

However, even just wearing it once a week was too much for the students to beat. Very quickly, everyone created a battle plan. Every Monday, they would wear their normal clothing and bring the uniform to school in a plastic bag. When it was time for the flag raising ceremony, they would change into the uniform and afterwards, they would immediately go to the bathroom to change back. No matter boy or girl, pretty much everyone used this plan. The only exception to this was me. Not only would I wear it on Mondays, I would also wear it on Tuesday, Wednesdays and so on.

The reason why I walked around in the uniform all day was the same reason why the students all refused to wear it- it was too ugly!

With such an ugly uniform, you wouldn't care at all about it. If the table was dirty, you can directly clean it with your sleeve, when you're tired and want to read a book, you can sit wherever you are. I didn't have to be like other girls who wore sleeve protectors and worried over getting their pretty clothes dirty. It was so convenient, environmentally friendly, economical, thrifty...

Of course, the main reason was because I was too lazy. I was too lazy to take two sets of clothes to change and too lazy to spent effort and time on my appearance. Of course, my classmates didn't know that I was only wearing it due to laziness.

Because this outstanding uniform made me a chicken among cranes, I quickly became the most infamous person in our year.

It was truly so sad! My fame in the high school department wasn't because of my grades or my personality, it was because of the ugly uniform. Compared to this, I would rather becoming famous through standing on the table tennis tables.

I don't know if it was if I was too successful in repulsing Song Peng but despite saying that he was going to get me, he never did anything again.

When I bumped into him in the corridors, he would only look at me and smile, to the extent that I no longer felt angry towards him.

Actually, although I wasn't being intentional, inside, it felt like I was secretly hoping that something would really happen between Song Peng and I. Hence, I acted so impulsively, embarrassing him by returning the love letter and sunscreen. His brother Song Jie was a famous figure in the city so if Song Peng really wanted to deal with me all he had to do was get his brother to say the word and I'd be doomed.

At that time, when Xiao Bo is the only one who'd be able to save me, would he really watch and do nothing?

However, I know that this is only wishful thinking! If Song Jie was such an immature person, he wouldn't have been part of the group who were the first to become wealthy under Deng Xiao Ping when he was only 20 something years of age.

Plus, I also didn't want Xiao Bo to look down on me so I could only secretly think about it while controlling my impulsiveness.

As we gradually got used to the high school life, without realizing, it was time for the mid-semester exams.

After entering high school, every time there was a big exam, the school would publicly announce the scoreboards to show that we weren't just competing against our classmates, we were competing against the entire school, the entire city, the entire province.

On the day when the scores were announced, I was a bit nervous because for the half of this semester, I had truly worked hard studying and revising.

On the scoreboard, I was ranked fourth in the class and fortieth in the year. Guan He was ranked second in the class and twelfth in the year. Zhang Jun was eighth in his class and seventieth in the year.

My mom and dad were very gratified and grinned from ear to ear. The head teacher also specially praised me to them but I felt like I received a serious blow. Fortieth in the year wasn't the result I had wanted!

If this was the result of me studying at the last minute, I would be very happy. However, ever since the first day of school started, when most of my classmates were still immersed in excitement over high school, I had been studying hard.

If this was the result of my hard work, was it that I would only be able to be a student ranked fortieth in the year?

I paced up and down in the school's forest but I couldn't find the answer.

When I returned to the class, I saw that Yang Jun, who was ranked second in our class, was sitting next to Lin Yi Ran who came first in the class and looking at her test scripts in detail.

Lin Yi Ran sat in front of me. As our class average was low, although she was ranked first in the class, she didn't even enter the top ten and was only ranked thirteenth in the year.

I wanted to go over and also look at her test script but I was also embarrassed, not knowing if she would let me. Yang Jun saw me and immediately said, "Luo Qi Qi, can you show me your test paper for physics? I just asked the physics teacher and the teacher said that you were ranked first in the year for physics. Let me have a look, and if possible, lend me the scripts for your other subjects too. Please!" Yang Jun was a boy with bushy eyebrows and big eyes. His appearance was very upright, especially his bright and piercing eyes.

I found my script and handed it to him. Yang Jun and Lin Yi Ran huddled over my physics script. I smiled and asked, "Can you guys show me your scripts too?"

Yang Jun handed me a pile of scripts, both his and Lin Yi Ran's.

I quickly speed read my way through their scripts and started realising what the problem was. First, in English, Lin Yi Ran was pretty much a few points away from a full score but I had only achieved seventy something percent. Next was Chinese, then chemistry, history, politics. Although the errors seemed small, but when two three points accumulated together, I was naturally thrown far off. I thought that my memory was good but this was No. 1 High School, it was where the best students in the city, even the whole province came together. Naturally Lin Yi Ran couldn't lose to my memory.

As Yang Jun studied my script, he suddenly shouted and said to Lin Yi Ran, "Did you notice? If only Luo Qi Qi's three science subjects were counted then she'd be second in our class and only a few points below you. You're in danger!"

I was a bit annoyed inside, why was he speaking like this? Lin Yi Ran laughed, "Yeah, her sciences is really good."

Yang Jun scratched his head, "No, I have to change seats. I want to sit next to you two. In middle school, I was praised as being good at sciences but right now, I'm actually ranked lower than you two girls. I can't take this."

The little annoyance I felt inside dissipated, he was just an honest and sincere person and not as shrewd as I had thought.

Lin Yi Ran smiled. She was very gentle and quiet and didn't attract attention to herself so I never knew that the girl sitting in front of me had such good grades.

Yang Jun did as he said and really switched seats. He pestered my desk mate, Ma Ti, to death about it and begged him every day. Ma Ti was annoyed and finally agreed to swap seats. Hence, filled with joy, Yang Jun moved beside me and started monitoring Lin Yi Ran and I, preparing to surpass us.

I was silent because I didn't really care if he sat next to me. What I needed to think about was how to solve the problem in front of me and the problem inside of that was my English.

Because of Treasure Bowl, English became the reason of my insomnia. How would I be able to catch up to the level of these elites?

After looking through Lin Yi Ran and Yang Jun's test scripts, one thing became clear to me. If my English wasn't good, I would never reach number one in the class.

After the mid-semester exam, the high school department had an assembly compulsory for all the students from first year to third year. The speakers of this assembly was the top ten students from each year level. They would speak about how they studied and their experiences.

In the past, I hated these long and boring assemblies but this time, I was full of enthusiasm. However, when I listened to each one, I started feeling disappointed. Everyone's speeches were different but the essence was the same. It was nothing more than preparing before each class, concentrating in class, revising after class, completing their homework, the homework that the teachers set out are all important so we must do our homework well......

I started wondering if everyone's study methods were the same or, were they just being reserved about their actual methods?

The last one on the stage was ranked number one in third year, Chen Jing. The school clearly required everyone to speak for three to five minutes but he only spoke for a minute. The content was to listen well, do homework well etcetera. I shook my head sighing.

After the assembly ended, everyone started walking out of the auditorium. Chen Jing walked along. Based on his competition results, he could have directly been recommended for admission to Peking University but he gave up on it and chose to participate in gaokao. No one knew what he was thinking. He had already become some kind of weird genius in everyone's eyes.

I wanted to chat to him about my predicament but I was also embarrassed. Back in the year, I played it cool too much, when I walked past him, I wouldn't greet him and now, I was tasting the consequence. On second thoughts though, heck! If worst be worst, he'd be cold towards me, what was there to be afraid of?

"Chen Jing."

He turned back and looked at me, surprised.

I walked to him and discovered that I was now a head shorter than him. Without realising, he had growing so much taller.

I stammered, "I want to ask your advice for something, is that okay?"

He was good tempered and without the slightest arrogance, smiled and said, "Please say it."

I relaxed, "My English and Chinese aren't good, what solutions are there to improve it?"

"Your Chinese isn't good?" He was quite surprised.

"Yeah."

"Go look at other people's test scripts and then analyse your own. See which parts you've lost the most marks at. If you want to solve the problem, first you have to analyse the problem."

"I analysed it already. The main thing is that my essay isn't good."

He laughed," After entering high school, the way the teachers mark essays is completely based on gaokao criteria. The gaokao essay is similar to the eight part essay from the Ming dynasty*. It likes to smother creativity and imagination. If you want to receive high marks, you should first see how people who get high marks are writing theirs. No matter how good your thoughts are, you shouldn't rashly jump out of the square. You may think that your writing is good but the teacher who is marking may not."
*[The eight part essay was the imperial civil exam known for its rigid form and lack of creativity and ideas.]

I nodded, "What else?"

"Actually, your Chinese should be better than everyone else's. Chinese is still fundamentally a language and it relies on accumulation. I've heard your debating competitions before, your reading ability is huge and your memory is also very good. I don't think there's anyone in your year that can surpass you in terms of accumulation.

These praises were coming from the mouth of a genius so I felt embarrassed by his praises, "But, my results aren't good."

"What you need to do now is connect your accumulated knowledge with the gaokao script questions. I can't help you on this one. Everyone's way of thinking and ideas are different."

I didn't have the slightest idea how I would do so but I felt like I was suddenly seeing the light, "Thanks. Then how about English?"

He lowered his head laughing, "If you knew what was going to happen today then back then on the table tennis tables, you should have been reading English books. English isn't a subject that you can solve with just some brains."

"Yes, I already know that my fundamentals is terrible yet the people I need to chase up to are the best students in the city. I study everyday but so is everyone else; I improve everyday but so is everyone else. I need to find the study method that is most suited to me because it's already been half a semester less to gaokao. I don't have the time or energy to waste."

Seeing how serious I was, Chen Jing was surprised. He looked at me then lowered his head in thought.

We had nearly reached the building for third years. "My situation is different from yours. When I was little, my dad would teach me English songs. When I was in primary, I already knew over a thousand English words. However, you only started touching English in middle school. Plus you haven't studied it properly. My belief that language is something you learn through accumulation doesn't suit you. You have to find the study method that suits you the best. However, I think that you should first catch up on your vocabulary. It's just like how to study Chinese, you need to first know the words. It has nothing to do with being smart or dumb, it's completely based on effort."

"Okay. Thanks so much."

"No worries, what is important is your persistence. I hope that one year later, you can still be as determined as you are today." He stopped then said with deep meaning, "In these three buildings in the high school department, there are many people everyday who set resolutions to study hard. But there are also people everyday who can't reach it. Setting heart is an easy thing but persisting is very hard."

I smiled, "The thing I've decided on is to persist."

On the way home, all I thought about was Chen Jing's words.

After I got home, I found my English book from middle school and decided to copy ten words every day. The way to and from school took an hour so I would memorise them on the way.

Then, I made a new decision: every morning, I would wake up half an hour earlier to memorise English texts. However, my method would be different to the one Chen Jing gave to Xiao Bo. I didn't decide to chase after some illusory feel for the language, but my goal was to be able to recite it fluently.

In the future, what was important wasn't how many hours I spent on English a day but in the 365 days of the year, if I would be able to wake up half an hour earlier everyday to memorise English; if I would be able to persist in memorising ten words a day.

From today until the day of gaokao, if my English results still don't improve, then I will resign myself to fate!

Chapter 9.3: Becoming famous once again (Part Two)

After analysing my weaknesses and planning out study time for English, I started customizing study tactics for each subject so that I could use the time from each class effectively based on the way the teacher taught each subject and the way I studied it.

For instance, I felt that the way our biology teacher taught was very confusing so I stopped listening to him and did my homework instead. When the biology class ended, my biology homework was also completed, plus I was left with extra energy to sum up my thoughts. I did the similar in chemistry. Although the teacher taught well, I felt that I didn't need to listen to her. Our maths teacher was infamous in our school for being sloppy and often during class, he'd either have a trouser pocket hanging out or have all his buttons done up wrong. His hair always seemed to be unkempt. Our classmates had all given up on him, wondering how they ended up with such a bad teacher, but, I felt that he taught well. So sometimes I would choose to listen to his classes while other times I wouldn't.

I never recorded notes for the three science subjects. Although our chemistry teacher requested we all take notes, I tried a few times but realised that my pen speed was too slow. Note taking constrains my thoughts and slows down the speed of my thinking. Plus, when I am deep in thought, I would completely forget to take notes.

However, my tactic towards English was different. As soon as the bell rang, it was as if I had taken a stimulant. My ears would prick up and my eyes would shine brightly as I stared at the teacher. As my foundations were bad, there were many things that I didn't understand. However, that was fine because I would first note everything down then analyse it after class. My English skills weren't good enough to decide which things the teacher said were useful so I would use the stupid way of writing down everything.

I also analysed Lin Yi Ran and Yang Jun's notes often, studying their different ways of note taking.

During English class, my head would be completely locked on the teacher. I would concentrate too much so when the bell ran, I would usually be exhausted. In the ten minutes after class, I would go outside and rest so that my brain can prepare to work effectively for the next class.

For Chinese, I set Lin Yi Ran as my target and I read every one of her essays. I also bought a book of model gaokao essay examples and I read it like a novel, flipping through an essay when I had nothing to do.

For history and politics, I felt that I needed to rely on memorization so I never listened in class. I secretly used the time to memorize the English vocabulary for each day or spend it strengthening my maths or sciences. If I had finished all those, I would do some idle reading.

I never stayed up at night and I also never gave up the time to play. I believe that study lies upon a good rest. People who do not have enough rest don't study effectively.

However to outsiders, it seemed like I had neither learning nor skill. During self revising classes I would be reading idly, during biology I would be doodling. Actually, these were the spare time that I had already planned for myself.

Yang Jun's situation was similar to mine. Although our thoughts, strengths, weaknesses and hobbies were different, we were both people who didn't like to listen during class. This made it seem like we had a lot of 'idle time'.

One day, the Chinese teacher walked into the class and Chen Yuan Zhe called for us to stand. Everyone bowed to the teacher then sat down, but I fell to the floor with a thump. It turns out that Yang Jun had taken advantage of me standing up to pull my chair out so when I sat down, I fell to the floor.

Another day, I stuck a copy of Doraemon between my maths work book to read while swinging on my chair. As I swung, Yang Jun violently kicked my chair and once again, I fell to the floor. The Doraemon comic flew up in the air, spun a few times then fell on my head. The whole class roared with laughter.

Our maths teacher who had been writing on the board turned around. He pushed up his glasses and looked around the class at a loss then asked confusedly, "Where is Luo Qi Qi?" Everyone laughed again. My hand rose from under the table, and my voice although weak, was gritted, "Here."

Another day, as soon as the bell for the end of class rung, Yang Jun rushed outside. I followed him, appreciating my masterpiece. After he sat on his chair for the entire class, his bottom was completely dyed pink by the pink chalk dust on his chair. Stuck to his back was a note with the words in big letters: monkey's butt. Our classmates were long used to our mischievous tricks so they didn't alert him to it. Because he was good at physical education, during broadcast gymnastics, he would be right at the front of our year leading us. As a result, everyone from Class (4) to (6) all laughed. He turned around continuously but didn't know what everyone was laughing at.

However, my satisfaction didn't last long because by the next day, the words "If you see me, please hit me" was stuck to my back. Everyone who passed by me would 'kindly' oblige my request and hit me on the back. I was confused, how come everyone's way of greeting me today had turned in to hitting my back?

As our grades were good, the teachers didn't mind our tricks. However, we weren't blind. We could tell which teachers would be able to tolerate our jokes and which ones couldn't.

As the days slowly passed by, I gradually fit in to high school life. I had new best friends- Yang Jun and Lin Yi Ran. Their grades were very good and they were pure and welcoming. They were the most common and normal good students, completely different to my middle school friends.

I knew that in this year level, there were still girls like Lin Lan, Li Shen and Ni Qing with similar stories. I didn't know though, if it was because I had changed or if it was because of the atmosphere I had created with Yang Jun but I attracted friends with good and bad grades, but with personalities all open and positive, bright and simple.

In a group, we would spend the day together reading comics, eating snacks, chatting and bickering. We would annoy each other and have fun together.

Because my grades were good, the teachers liked me. Because my personality was bright and open, I had a group of mates to play with. My high school life was completely sunshine and blue skies without the slightest haze.

The people and things from middle school seemed to drift further and further away from me, including the silent, cold and stubborn Luo Qi Qi.

My high school classmates never saw me as quiet and introverted. When they talked about me, they would shake their head and laugh while praising, "Huh! Luo Qi Qi can kick up a fuss much too easily. She loves playing tricks and she can make you laugh and cry. The teachers are helpless about her. "

They also definitely didn't think of me as cold and stubborn. In their eyes, Luo Qi Qi was lively, energetic and mischievous. She was brothers with all the boys. If the girls had a crush on one of the boys, they liked to get her to help them pass notes.

I think people like to live under brightness and I wasn't an exception. I slowly started to like my current life, enjoying being praised and liked by my teachers, classmates, parents and relatives. Everyday, I laughed loudly, played boisterously and worked hard while enjoying the glory that came with working hard.

I started to slowly hide Xiao Bo and Xiao Fei into the deepest corners of my heart.

Perhaps, this was a person's nature. No matter how big the hurt, we are still able to heal. No matter how painful the loss, we are still able to get used to it.

You can call it being strong, you can also call it forgetting.

When it was close to the mid semester exam, Yang Jun was listless and in low spirits

I jokingly asked him, "Don't you plan on beating me any more?"

He sighed, then sighed again. Finally, he passed me a note. On it he had written, "I think I've fallen for someone."

I resisted laughing and coughed twice. He looked at me depressingly and quietly asked, "Do you think I'm handsome?"

I looked at him stupidly, bro, if you ask a question like this, how am I supposed to answer it?

"Some people say that I look good, especially my eyes. In high school quite a few girls said that I looked good."

This was true, Yang Jun's eyes were honestly quite pretty. His eyelashes were long and thick, his eyes bright. I resisted showing my amusement and wrote on the paper, "Who exactly have you fallen for?"

Yang Jun was embarrassed and dawdled for a while without telling me. Teachers and parents often think that we say the word 'love' too easily but, what they don't know is often, we have a hard time even saying the word 'like'.

I laughed, "Please don't tell me it's me!"

He was shocked and immediately said disdainfully, "You? I haven't lost my mind yet!"

The classmates around us all raised their heads and looked over at the sound of his voice. Yang Jun wasn't like usual where he didn't care. Instead, he lowered his voice.

A long while later, when our classmates all stopped looking at as, Yang Jun said seriously, "You have to promise to keep it a secret for me. You can't tell anyone."

"I agree."

He passed me another small note: "Fourth row, second desk."

Was it the second from the left? Or the second from the right? And he was supposedly someone who was good at science! His logic wasn't the slightest bit strong. However, when I raised my head to look, I knew that in reality, the world often didn't need logic.

Sitting on the second to the left was the pretty Tong Yun Zhu. Sitting on the second to the right was the chubby Zhao Miao Miao.

I didn't need to ask further, common sense had already told me who it was. Tong Yun Zhu was doing her homework with her head lowered. Apart from having a better appearance, she looked no different to any other girl in this class.

Yang Jun threw me another note: "How do you think I should chase her?"

"Do you really want to hear my suggestion?"

"Yeah."

"Even if the truth hurts?"

"Do you think I'm a pig head like you?"

"My advice is to not chase her. She's not from the same world as you."

Yang Jun was in disdain, "Then which world is she from? Pluto or Neptune? I've already asked about her, apparently her ex boyfriend was sent to jail. But what does that have to do with her? She's done nothing wrong."

"I knew that even if I said something it would be like saying nothing at all."

"I've decided to chase her."

I waved my hand, as if waving a fly away, "Go well, I won't see you out!"

Tong Yun Zhu wasn't a maths problem. She wasn't something that could be conquered through intelligence and diligence. I could already see Yang Jun being crushed to pieces. However, no one can stop him.

It was just lucky that this infectious disease came at the right time. It was only first year of high school. If he caught a disease, he'd still have enough time to fully recover before gaokao.

For the end of semester exam, I was second overall in the class, Lin Yi Ran was first and Yang Jun, second.

My Chinese had improved but my English results were too sad to look at. In the mid-semester exam, I had gotten 79% but this time, I only received 71%.

When our results were released, it was already winter break. The school was empty. I grasped the English paper in my hands, continuously walking around in the cold wind without stopping.

This time, the blow was even bigger than in the mid-semester exam, to the extent that I couldn't see the slightest bit of hope.

Basically, I spend three times the amount of effort and time on English than I did on other subjects. My notes were the most well written in the class. In class, I only focused on the teacher speaking so even if Yang Jun was talking beside me, I couldn't hear him at all. Even in the weekend, I would persist in reciting English for half an hour. I memorised every lesson. I don't believe that there was a more hard-working student in our class!

I didn't slack off for one day but instead of improving, my grades had dropped!

If heaven rewards the diligent, then where is my reward? Could it be that the heavens can't see the slightest bit of my diligence?

I wasn't hoping for over 90% but at least, I should improve.

Why was it like this? My half a year of half work ended up like this? After working hard, I didn't gain any rewards. This makes people disappointed. It makes people wonder if there's a point in trying so hard. Since studying or not doesn't make a difference.

I couldn't give myself an answer. After I had walked over two hours in the cold wind, after my entire body was frozen, I decided to forget about this. To forget about this powerless frustration. To forget about this feeling of hopelessness.

I will still memorize ten words a day. I will still recite half an hour of English everyday. Next semester, I will still focus in class and work hard doing my homework.

I made a bet with myself, there is no royal road to learning!* Since I can't find the reason and discover a better study method, I can only bet my wisdom!
*[There is no easy way, you have to lay down the foundations of your path to wisdom.]

I ripped up my English script and threw it into the wind and pushed the half a year's worth of frustration and dejection into the deepest corners of my heart.

~~~~~

I think this story is really realistic in that life has so many set backs. I like the verse at the start of this chapter (last part) -even if you work hard, you may not get what you want but you definitely won't get what you want if you don't work hard. I find it quite interesting how instead of romance, studying is taking the centre piece in this story- that even though Luo Qi Qi has someone she likes, she sees dating and the process of chasing someone as a disease that could prevent you from studying hard.