Chapter 267: Why Longing Is Stronger Than Hate

On the first day of school, the morning was mainly for student check-in; after everyone arrived, Kong Junxiang announced some key points for the semester, including the schedule for the three-day entrance exam.

After lunch, the afternoon was reserved for the opening ceremony.

Li Luo stood in the line for Class Eight, watching Ying Chanxi take the stage to speak beneath the national flag, followed by Xu Youyu; when the senior students took their turn, he opened an animated series in his Memory Palace.

Today, I'll watch a few episodes of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf to relax.

Fortunately, the March sun wasn't harsh; Li Luo now ran daily to exercise, and standing on the playground for half an hour left him feeling no fatigue.

When he was younger, he hadn't felt much.

Now that he had returned to a young body after being in his thirties, Li Luo increasingly recognized the importance of consistent exercise.

While still young, he should cultivate daily exercise into a habit, so he wouldn't regret it again later.

As he thought this, the opening ceremony ended.

Li Luo returned to the classroom and approached Hua Xiuxiu, tapping on her desk and instructing, "Next Sunday is Women's Day; discuss with a few class committee members."

"We have five female teachers across our nine subjects; each should receive one bouquet, one thank-you letter, and a small gift."

"Write the thank-you letters this week, buy the gifts after school on the weekend, and get the flowers ready before returning to school on Sunday."

Here, Li Luo paused, thought for a moment, then added, "The cost of the flowers will be deducted from the class fund."

"For the gifts, I'll give you a list for each teacher; just buy according to the list—I'll cover the cost."

"Have the subject representatives write the thank-you letters, and have them deliver the flowers; let them know in advance."

After clearly assigning the Women's Day tasks, Li Luo washed his hands of the details and left the execution to Hua Xiuxiu.

The afternoon and evening were both self-study periods.

Even at the First Affiliated High School, many students hadn't finished their winter break assignments; a few had been caught by Kong Junxiang and were now diligently catching up.

Li Luo flipped through a few elective textbooks, then turned to Yan Zhusheng and asked quietly, "I remember you liked chemistry, biology, and geography, right?"

Yan Zhusheng blinked, puzzled. "Why?"

"I reviewed your exam scores from last semester," Li Luo said. "Geography was your best, politics your worst, and the other four were all about the same."

"If the class division reform in Gao Er truly happens—no division between arts and science, and you can freely choose subjects—"

"Your top pick would definitely be geography, then pick two from the other four with similar scores."

"Mm." Yan Zhusheng nodded. "Do you have any suggestions? I'll follow your advice."

"Uh…"

Yan Zhusheng's words instantly silenced all the arguments Li Luo had prepared.

He'd rehearsed his speech, thinking hard about how to convince Yan Zhusheng to follow his plan—yet now he didn't need to say a word…

"My thought is…" Li Luo hesitated, recalling the college entrance exam reforms from his past life.

This cohort of students were guinea pigs for the Qianjiang Province college entrance exam reform.

The changes were enormous.

Li Luo's current goals were mainly two.

One: ensure that he, Yan Zhusheng, and Ying Chanxi all choose the same three subjects, so they can stay in the same class during Gao Er.

Two: prepare early for the three chosen subjects, ideally achieving full marks in all three after the first-term assessments in Gao Er.

In short:

After the reform, Chinese and Math would still be tested only once, in June of Gao San.

The other subjects would each have two opportunities.

And students could begin taking them as early as Gao Er.

English would have one exam each October, alongside the three electives, and another in June alongside Chinese and Math.

The three electives would each have one exam in October and another in April.

Under the new system, Gao Zhongsheng could choose to take each elective exam twice within the two years of Gao Er and Gao San.

The higher score of the two would count toward their final college entrance score.

And the scoring for these three electives wasn't based on raw scores, but on percentile-based scaling.

Simply put: suppose ten thousand students took the exam.

If your raw score is 91, but your rank is within the top 100—i. e., top 1%—your scaled score becomes 100.

Then top 3% is 97, top 5% is 94, each 3% tier drops by three points, continuing down to the minimum of 70.

Under this system, students controlled when to take each exam.

With two chances per subject, students could even choose to take only one or two subjects per sitting, greatly reducing the risk of failure and allowing targeted preparation.

"Let's use this semester's midterm as a reference," Li Luo said. "I'll guide you closely in these electives this term."

"Over the weekend, we'll return to Bihai Lanting and study together with Xi Xi and the senior—aiming to get you into peak condition."

"Then we'll look at your midterm scores and see which three of your six electives show the strongest advantage; I'll pick the same three as you, and so will Xi Xi."

For Li Luo and Ying Chanxi, under the scaling system, they could easily score in the top 1% province-wide in their electives.

Three perfect 100s would be simple to achieve.

Especially in the first semester after reform, with sufficient early preparation, it was virtually guaranteed.

Once they secured three 100s, Li Luo and Ying Chanxi could focus solely on Chinese, Math, and English for the next two years.

With planning, they could even take English early—secure a high score now, reducing pressure when retaking it at the final exam.

And this would give Ying Chanxi more time to prepare for the Math Olympiad.

It was truly a win-win strategy.

Without aiming for Tsinghua or Peking University, and only targeting Qianjiang University, this plan had virtually no chance of failure.

After all, given Yan Zhusheng's current scores, entering Qianjiang University's Music College via the arts pathway would be effortless.

Under these circumstances, all three choosing the same three electives posed almost no pressure.

"Mm." After hearing him speak, Yan Zhusheng nodded obediently. "I'll follow your lead, Teacher Li."

Li Luo blinked in surprise, then chuckled. "You're calling me that already?"

"But," Yan Zhusheng added, "you also need to make time this weekend to learn music with me—practice guitar. I can even teach you piano, so…"

"I get it, I get it." Li Luo shook his head helplessly and smiled at her. "Teacher Yan, please guide me."

"Mm." Yan Zhusheng nodded happily, thoroughly pleased with this address.

When the second evening self-study session arrived, with about ten minutes left before dismissal, Yan Zhusheng was about to poke Li Luo's arm when he, at the right moment, set down his pen and turned to look at her.

The two exchanged a knowing glance, then rose one after the other and exited the classroom, meeting at the entrance to the schoolyard.

Yan Zhusheng put headphones on him, and they began jogging slowly around the track.

After completing four or five laps, Yan Zhusheng walked beside Li Luo and said, "Mom has already recorded 'Light' and 'Chaser of Light.'"

"If you're free this weekend, I'll have Mom bring over the new contract."

"And 'The Sky Has No Limits' and 'Under the Flying Clouds'—those should be fine too, right?"

"Mm." Li Luo nodded, then smiled. "So now I'm Mom Yuan's go-to lyricist and composer?"

Hearing this, Yan Zhusheng's eyes narrowed slightly, then she said seriously, "No way. I want some too. Don't give them all to my mom."

Li Luo: "..."

Wow, competing with your own mom for attention? Really?

She's actually fighting over it.

"Actually, 'The Sky Has No Limits' suits your voice pretty well." Li Luo said. "If you like it, maybe keep this one?"

"That's fine," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "Mom's career matters more right now."

"You've got four songs here, and she still needs to invite others to contribute to reach eight or ten."

"The new album's release will probably be by the end of this year."

"Eight or ten songs?" Li Luo muttered, then thought for a moment. "What if I can provide the remaining songs—what would your mom say?"

"Huh?" Yan Zhusheng froze, momentarily stunned.

The next second, Li Luo began humming.

"What rose~ doesn't have thorns~"

"The best~ revenge is~ beauty~"

"The most beautiful~ bloom is~ retaliation~"

After a fast-paced, emotionally intense melody came a deeply sorrowful ballad.

"Finally I know love has wings~"

"Yet how can I embrace it if it must fly away~"

"Even this hollow darkness wants to be set free!"

"Yet longing is stronger than hate~"

After the climaxes of both songs ended, Li Luo looked at Yan Zhusheng and winked. "How does it feel?"

Yan Zhusheng stood frozen, staring at him, the two catchy melodies still circling in her mind.

When she snapped back to reality, she immediately rushed up to Li Luo, grabbing his shoulders and pressing: "Are these just the choruses? Where's the verse? Sing the whole thing!"

Li Luo had never seen her so eager—he found it amusing.

But he still shook his head. "I only have these two parts for now. Let's wait and see what your mom thinks first."

"Then sing it again." Yan Zhusheng opened her phone's recording function. "I'll play it for Mom next time—she'll love it too."

"Alright."