Chapter 609: The Taste of Knowledge—Only Yu Jie Knows

June 1, morning.

Li Luo and the others didn't wake up early; they slept until half past six, when the alarm woke them.

By the time he arrived at the classroom with Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng, he realized the classmates were even more nervous than he was.

But their nervousness stemmed mostly from the upcoming Gaokao, not from the release of his new book.

Having stayed up until past one in the morning, he posted five pre-written chapters right at the deadline, and within just one hour, the first-subscription count broke past five thousand.

When he got up in the morning to wash up, Li Luo checked again—the first-subscription count had already surpassed ten thousand.

Breaking through the twenty-thousand threshold was no longer an issue.

So once he got to school, Li Luo put the matter out of his mind and fully immersed himself in the Gaokao review atmosphere.

Starting today, Thursday, through Saturday, and including next Monday and Tuesday, all Gao San classes at Fu Yi High School were suspended and replaced with self-study sessions.

Subject teachers sat in their assigned classrooms according to the schedule, answering students' daily questions and filling knowledge gaps.

Li Luo had already prepared thoroughly in every aspect and had no real room for further improvement, so during self-study he let his mind wander, writing in his head.

When he got home at night, he'd just sit down and type furiously.

But just after the first English class ended and before the next Chinese class began, during the break, Zhu Yufei beside the aisle suddenly opened his backpack and carefully pulled out something.

Li Luo, returning from the restroom, caught sight of the gesture and paused mid-step: "What's that?"

"My secret weapon," Zhu Yufei said mysteriously, holding up a palm-sized wooden statue. "It's Confucius."

He placed the statue on the desk and bowed three times solemnly: "Next class is Chinese—I'm asking the Master to give me a buff."

Li Luo: "..."

"Then why not invite more?" said his desk mate Zhang Guohuang, unimpressed. "For physics, invite Newton or Einstein? For chemistry, Mendeleev or Curie? What about English?"

"I'm only weak in Chinese; I don't need the others," Zhu Yufei rolled his eyes. "You're bad at English—look up who compiled the English dictionary and bow to them."

"I don't think it's necessary," Zhang Guohuang pulled out his earphones, glanced around, opened his phone, started playing his usual English listening audio, then placed the earphones on either side of the Confucius statue. "You're last-minute praying—why not pick up English too? And while you're at it, bless me as well."

"Get lost!" Zhu Yufei recoiled in disgust and shoved him away.

"I suggest you make a statue of me," Li Luo teased, watching the two fools. "Confucius has too many worshippers—he might not notice you."

"Then why not make a statue of the grade's top student and worship him?" Zhu Yufei retorted.

"Because I'd kill you," Li Luo glanced at him sideways, a faint smile forming. "Want to try?"

"Nah, forget it," Zhu Yufei shook his head rapidly.

Ying Chanxi, who had also gone to the restroom but returned a moment later, heard their exchange and forcibly suppressed her smiling lips, muttering under her breath: "Childish."

Li Luo heard it.

He immediately turned around, raised an eyebrow, and said: "Where's it childish?"

Then he placed his hands on Ying Chanxi's shoulders and gently shook her: "Top student, bless me—let me win the Gaokao top scorer."

"If you win the top scorer title, what do I get?" Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes.

"I was just joking—why are you taking it seriously?" Li Luo laughed.

Ying Chanxi huffed: "Isn't it because someone said if I became the top scorer and still chose Qianjiang University, that'd be big news?"

"Old Kong's mouth isn't tight—he just blurts things out."

"You have a problem?" Kong Junxiang's voice came from behind Li Luo.

The next second, Li Luo felt a tap on his shoulder—he turned and saw Kong Junxiang standing right behind him, startling him.

"Teacher Kong… I'm the school's pride—you should care more about my mental health."

"You're just guilty, otherwise why would you jump?" Kong Junxiang chuckled, then glanced at Zhang Guohuang. "I'll let it slide this time, but don't play with your phone in class—it's only a few days left."

Zhang Guohuang grinned sheepishly and quickly shoved his earphones and phone into his desk drawer.

At that moment, the bell rang.

Kong Junxiang walked toward the podium.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi returned to their seats, preparing for self-study.

With only six or seven days left until the June 7 Gaokao, the classroom's study atmosphere had grown much heavier.

Self-study was silent; Chinese had no particularly pressing questions requiring teacher help.

So everyone quietly memorized texts or reviewed easily confused words and pinyin.

As for reading comprehension questions?

Let fate decide.

You can't guarantee points just by mastering techniques or methods.

At least in Li Luo's memory, this year's Gaokao Chinese reading comprehension was brutally difficult.

Rumor had it that after the exam papers were released, someone even asked the original author of the reading passage—and the author himself couldn't answer the questions.

Lately, Li Luo had deliberately incorporated questions from his past-life Gaokao papers into the daily review sessions of his six-member study group.

But for this year's Chinese paper—the fish with a flicker of strange light in its eyes—Li Luo had no plausible excuse to let Ying Chanxi and the others prepare in advance.

In the end, he could only hope the butterfly effect from his rebirth might convince the exam setters to pick a different passage.

When he took the elective exam before, Li Luo noticed the test content had already diverged from what he remembered from his past life.

That meant the butterfly effect was real.

With three years between his rebirth and the Gaokao, the butterfly effect would be even stronger.

He just didn't know how much the Gaokao questions would change.

Either way, Li Luo had done everything he could—he'd woven past-life Gaokao questions into daily review, leaving impressions on Zhao Rongjun and the others.

If they actually encountered them on exam day, they'd likely solve them.

Even a few extra points could mean a difference of thousands of ranks.

A change enough to alter a life.

Then again, if this year's college entrance exam paper isn't much different from last time, maybe my ranking could climb a bit higher?

What was the score of the Jiangsu Province Gaokao top scorer last time?

Under a full score of 750, the top scorer's non-core subjects were almost certainly a perfect 300.

So it really comes down to how many points you lose in Chinese, Math, and English.

Among these, Chinese is the most volatile.

For top students, Math and English are both aimed at 145 or higher.

But Chinese? It's truly unpredictable.

For example, last time's Chinese composition topic was "Three Books of Life": the written book, the unwritten book, and the heart's book.

If nothing changes this time, Li Luo could pre-prepare a draft and surely score high.

If it changes, then adapting on the spot will naturally introduce more variables.

But Li Luo doesn't push hard on this—he'll let things unfold naturally.

…

After lunch, Li Luo walked toward the classroom with the two girls.

On the way, passing the small pond between the cafeteria and the teaching building, they saw many classmates gathered there tossing breadcrumbs.

Xu Yinghuan was there too.

Yan Zhusheng walked over curiously to ask, then returned to Li Luo's side.

"What are they doing?"

"Feeding the fish," Yan Zhusheng said honestly. "There weren't any fish in this pond before; they just recently added goldfish."

"So everyone came to feed them?"

"Not exactly," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "Huanhuan heard that if you feed these goldfish and make a wish, your Gaokao will go smoother."

Li Luo: "... Everyone's gotten so superstitious."

"Pfft, pfft, don't talk nonsense like that," Ying Chanxi quickly slapped his mouth. "Better to believe than not. Even if you don't believe, don't say it out loud."

"Alright, alright," Li Luo waved his hand. "You two wanna go feed some?"

"Too many people," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "Let's go back and take a nap."

Back in the classroom.

The afternoon nap bell hadn't rung yet.

Yan Zhusheng borrowed Zhu Yufei's Confucius statue, placed it on her desk, and bowed to it.

"Should I go buy you a Gauss statue? You gotta worship Math too," Li Luo teased.

"Really?" Yan Zhusheng asked seriously.

Li Luo: "... Just go take your nap."

"Then lend me your Math textbook," Yan Zhusheng extended her hand.

"What are you doing?" Li Luo was confused but still handed her a Math textbook.

Then he watched as Yan Zhusheng placed the textbook under her pillow, rested her head on it, and prepared to sleep.

"What's this mystical ritual now?"

"Huanhuan taught me," Yan Zhusheng tilted her head against the pillow, opened her eyes to look at Li Luo, and blinked. "She calls it the Knowledge Penetration Method—when you sleep with a book under your head, knowledge flows from the book into your brain."

Li Luo's lip twitched: "... Did she tell you knowledge flows like water—only downward? You should put it on top of your head."

"It's fine," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "I'm bad at Math. You're better at Math than me. So even though my head is on top, compared to your Math textbook, my head is the knowledge lowland."

Faced with Yan Zhusheng's startling self-awareness, Li Luo was momentarily speechless.

Her logic actually held together!

"Xixi," Li Luo reached out and poked Ying Chanxi's back.

"What?" Ying Chanxi turned, blushing, and glared at him—thinking, is your finger doing it on purpose? Why did it hit my shoulder strap again?

"Why are you blushing?"

"I'm just hot," Ying Chanxi glared again. "Say what you need to say. Time for nap."

"Lend me your Math textbook."

"What?" Ying Chanxi was baffled.

"No need to explain. Just give it."

"Weird," Ying Chanxi muttered under her breath but still handed Li Luo her Math textbook.

So Li Luo rested his head on Ying Chanxi's Math book, Yan Zhusheng rested hers on Li Luo's Math book, and knowledge flowed steadily toward the lowland.

After waking from the nap, Li Luo returned the Math textbook to Ying Chanxi, unsure if the trick worked.

Then again—he could sleep holding Xixi every night. Why go through all this trouble?

Li Luo suddenly thought of this question.

Then he inexplicably recalled a Duan Zi he'd seen in the future.

It was said that men with different educational levels had different tastes due to varying knowledge content—wonder if that's true.

Li Luo glanced down at his crotch and figured this question might need asking Yu Yu—she'd have more theoretical knowledge on this subject.

…

After evening self-study ended, on the way home, Li Luo finally pulled out his phone and checked his first-subscription data.

The results were decent.

With just a few hours left before the 24-hour subscription window closed.

The first-subscription total had already reached 27,000—far exceeding his expectations before publishing.

Even Li Luo himself hadn't expected this.

Originally, he had thought that with his platinum-level popularity and the boost from this chapter's promotion, hitting over ten thousand first subscriptions would be great enough.

But he never expected that after the new book launched, the first subscriptions would be this high.

It's just a pity there aren't many hours left—probably won't break thirty thousand.

But even this current data, right now on Qidian, is truly unmatched, the undisputed number one.

But for Li Luo, this already accomplishes a stage-by-stage goal; all he needs to do now is keep updating well.

Save any extra energy for the upcoming college entrance exam.

"Huh? You're back?"

When Li Luo and the other two returned home, Xu Youyu poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled at them.

"Sis, what are you doing?" Ying Chanxi, seeing her wearing an apron, asked curiously.

"Preparing late-night snacks," Xu Youyu waved at Li Luo. "I've already prepped all the ingredients—hurry and cook, then I'll mix a cocktail."

"Why all of a sudden this fuss?"

Li Luo walked into the kitchen, only to be pushed by Xu Youyu's hand onto the stove and have an apron tied on him by her own hands—he asked, "Why?"

"You just launched today, first subscriptions nearly thirty thousand—don't we deserve a little celebration?" Xu Youyu grinned.

"Then why do I have to cook myself?" Li Luo glanced at her sideways.

"If you don't mind my cooking, I could do it just fine."

"No, I'll do it," Li Luo quickly stopped her. "You just mix the drinks."

"Aye-aye~" Xu Youyu gave Li Luo a salute, then turned to the two sisters by the kitchen door. "XiXi and ZhuSheng, wait in the living room a bit longer—it'll be ready soon."

After sending the two sisters away, Xu Youyu quietly shut the kitchen door and slipped behind Li Luo.

"Sis Youyu… can you please stop messing around?"

"Where am I messing around? This is a reward," Xu Youyu whispered in his ear. "XiXi and ZhuSheng are right outside—don't make too much noise."

(End of Chapter)