Chapter 7: How Was the Exam?

June 15, 3:00 p. m.

Zhang Wei, homeroom teacher of Class 5, Grade 9 at Yucai Middle School, stood under the shade of a tree by the school gate, cooling off.

Next to him was Teacher Wang, homeroom teacher of Class 6.

"Your cohort has turned out quite well," Teacher Wang leaned against a branch, speaking with a hint of envy. "Two students from your parallel class got early admission, and one of them is the perennial grade-topper."

"Among the rest, there should be two or three candidates for Fuyi High School, right?"

"Shao Heqi is definitely one. Xu Yinghuan too. And Jin Yuting has a chance."

"You're a damn lucky bastard."

After counting them up, Teacher Wang felt even more envious.

You need to know.

Yucai Middle School has two key classes per grade, and the other ten are parallel classes—student resources are worlds apart.

Under normal circumstances, except for a few students who can't keep up under pressure, nearly all students in key classes dominate the top hundred exam rankings.

In parallel classes, having two or three students crack the top hundred is already impressive.

Among them, it's rare for a parallel-class student to enter the school's top thirty—those spots are almost always occupied by key-class students.

But.

This year, they had Ying Chanxi—a freak.

As a parallel-class student, she effortlessly outperformed key-class students, long held the number-one rank, and secured early admission without breaking a sweat.

If that were all, it might be acceptable.

But besides Ying Chanxi, Zhang Wei's Class 5 also had Zhao Rongjun, consistently in the top thirty, and Shao Heqi, in the top fifty.

And class study representative Xu Yinghuan, and English monitor Jin Yuting, were regulars in the school's top hundred.

Such teaching results were nothing short of spectacular for a parallel-class homeroom teacher.

Still, Zhang Wei shook his head modestly: "Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not worried about Shao Heqi, but Xu Yinghuan and Jin Yuting have big score fluctuations—until results are out, nothing's certain."

After discussing their reassuring students, the two teachers turned to others, including Li Luo.

"Li Luo and those few are the most worrying," Zhang Wei sighed. "He's stuck right on the cutoff line—no one knows if he'll pass."

Teachers naturally hope their students score as high as possible.

Especially students like Li Luo, who are just barely below the regular high school cutoff—teachers all hope they'll perform exceptionally well on the entrance exam.

After all, it affects their teaching performance, school bonuses, and professional titles.

The better the class's overall results, the more benefits the homeroom teacher gains.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of the final English exam.

A few minutes later, students emerged from the exam hall with varied expressions.

Some looked confident, some hopeful yet anxious, others gloomy.

"How was the exam?" Ying Chanxi asked Li Luo as she met him at the school gate.

"Trust me, I've got this," Li Luo patted his chest confidently.

Ying Chanxi narrowed her eyes at him: "You never even pass English. How am I supposed to trust you?"

"Last night, you unblocked my Ren and Du meridians. Today, when I looked at the English paper, I recognized every single word."

"You're full of nonsense. I'm not talking to you."

"These days, no one believes the truth?"

As they bickered, they walked toward Li Guohong by the roadside.

On the way, Shao Heqi and Jin Yuting, who had just left the exam hall, came up to them.

"Li Luo, how was the exam?" Shao Heqi greeted cheerfully. "The English paper was pretty easy—you might even pass."

"She helped me review last night," Li Luo pointed to Ying Chanxi beside him. "I think I'll score over a hundred."

"You're dreaming," Jin Yuting, still upset about her poor science exam, snapped, eyebrows raised in mockery. "The paper looked easy, but the reading comprehension had plenty of traps. I doubt you'll even pass."

Li Luo didn't care about Jin Yuting's sarcasm. He just smiled and said to Ying Chanxi: "Let's go. Dad's waiting."

"Mm." Ying Chanxi nodded, waving to the two classmates. "Bye, we're heading home."

"Hey, wait!" Shao Heqi suddenly remembered something and called out to them. "I'm going to talk to Teacher Zhang about organizing a class dinner after results come out. What do you think, class president?"

"That?" Ying Chanxi stopped walking, thinking for a moment. "Fuyi High's early admission students start their summer prep class in a few days, so we should schedule it for the weekend."

"I'll be attending classes at Fuyi High, so arranging this might be a hassle for you."

"Or if you need help, you can ask Li Luo."

"No problem, no problem!" Shao Heqi immediately puffed out his chest, loudly promising. "I don't need Li Luo—I'll handle everything with Teacher Zhang."

"Thank you for your trouble," Ying Chanxi said politely. "If there's nothing else, we're going home."

After chatting with Shao Heqi and the others, Li Luo and Ying Chanxi continued toward Li Guohong by the roadside.

At that moment, Li Guohong was chatting merrily with Li Luo's uncle, Wei Dongrong.

Seeing Li Luo approach, Li Guohong said to him: "I'll make time to visit in a couple of days."

"No problem, anytime welcome," Wei Dongrong laughed heartily. "We'll have dinner together, and I'll give you a proper introduction."

After exchanging farewells, Li Guohong led the two kids home.

Lin Xiuhong didn't come.

She didn't want to be provoked by Zhang Xuefen, so she went straight to the market to buy vegetables.

Li Luo walked behind Li Guohong, glancing at his cousin Wei Chun climbing into a red Audi, and Wei Dongrong's receding figure in the passenger seat, lost in thought.

He looked again at his father, and sighed slightly.

In his past life, because of his rebelliousness, Li Guohong never closed his breakfast stall during Li Luo's exam period, and never came to pick him up at the school gate.

So in his previous life, Li Guohong probably didn't hear from Uncle Wei Dongrong about investment opportunities until a month or two later.

And after restarting, due to a twist of fate, the matter was actually moved up by some time.

Judging by how things look, if Li Guohong checks out that real estate project in a couple of days and gets convinced by Wei Dongrong, he might quickly invest the first sum of money.

Once Mom and Dad taste the sweetness of that first short-term return, no matter how much this little brat Li Luo says after that, it'll be useless.

Thinking of this, Li Luo frowned, feeling rather helpless.

Being reborn back to age fifteen, when facing certain things, there's still some awkwardness—he can't handle them with an adult's mindset.

"How did you do on the exam?" Li Guohong glanced at his son, snapping out of his earlier conversation to ask about the boy's grades.

"Not bad."

"Better than the mock exams?"

"Definitely better than the mocks."

"Any chance for regular high school?"

"Definitely!"

Li Guohong looked at Li Luo's confident face and grew uncertain, so he turned to Ying Chanxi beside him: "Xixi, what do you think?"

"Should… be fine?" Ying Chanxi wasn't sure either—it was Li Luo's exam, not hers.

Even though Li Luo studied especially hard these past two days, Ying Chanxi didn't know whether it actually helped or improved anything.

So she added: "Why not wait until the exam papers are released, and I can check his answers for him?"

"Why go through all that trouble?" Li Luo shook his head. "The final results come out by month's end—just wait and see."

"True enough." Li Guohong thought it over and let it go. "Once the exam's over, it's final—those few extra days don't matter."

Back home.

Ying Chanxi naturally followed Li Luo into his house and ran to the kitchen to help Lin Xiuhong prepare ingredients.

It was still 3:30 p. m. —far from dinner time.

But to celebrate Li Luo's successful completion of the middle school exam, Lin Xiuhong had bought a large amount of food and planned to cook something special, so she'd already started preparing.

"Look at Xixi—now look at you," Lin Xiuhong called out to Li Luo in the living room. "Finished your exam and have nothing to do? Come in and help."

Students are just like this.

Before the exam, they're precious treasures; after the exam, they're free labor.

Li Luo obediently walked into the kitchen and took the task of peeling garlic from his beloved mother, squatting beside the trash bin diligently.

"How did you do on the exam?" Lin Xiuhong asked while preparing ingredients.

"Mom, you've already asked me this for the fourth time," Li Luo sighed. "Repeating the same thing over and over feels like wasting life."

"Why are you so cheeky?" Lin Xiuhong glared at him. "By your logic, me cooking for you every day is wasting life too?"

"How could I say that?" Li Luo shook his head quickly. "According to妇联 data, a homemaker's annual domestic labor is worth 1.24 million—so that's over three thousand per day."

"Just for this meal of yours, it's worth at least a few hundred."

"Mom, you're creating value for society—quietly contributing, great and selfless."

"Shut up," Lin Xiuhong spat. "If it were really worth that much, wouldn't I go work as a nanny for someone else? Who's going to pay me 1.24 million a year? Even 240,000 would do."

"Ask Dad to pay you," Li Luo blinked, nodding toward the living room.

But Li Guohong in the living room had ears sharper than a dog's—he immediately laughed and scolded: "You little brat, I don't even have secret savings—don't you dare blab!"

"Don't change the subject," Lin Xiuhong snapped back. "So how did you really do?"

"Fine, I'll be straight," Li Luo sighed. "Mom, get ready to buy me a new phone."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you say yesterday? If I get into Fuyi High, you'll buy me a phone."

"... Xixi."

"Yes, Lin Yi?"

"Shove that cucumber in his mouth—he's driving me crazy."

"Oh."

"Wait… damn, you're really doing it? The spines haven't even been scraped off!"

【Fallen Journal】: Daily updates are usually at exactly 11 a. m. and 6 p. m.