Chapter 14: Every day without effort is a betrayal of life

The conflict between Wang Donglai and Liu Feng was like a pebble tossed into a pond, sending ripples outward.

In every country, every school, every grade, and even every class, there were people like Liu Feng.

They were poor students who, relying on their physical strength, would gather other unmotivated students into small cliques to act like bullies in class.

The "good" ones were merely a bit arrogant and overbearing in their daily lives, while the worse ones were outright bullies.

Class 14 was a parallel class for liberal arts students; the substitute teacher was not the most skilled in teaching, and management was the most lax.

Consequently, even when fights broke out in class, no one went to inform the homeroom teacher, Meng Fang.

And so, the matter seemed to settle down.

Wang Donglai didn't take Liu Feng seriously.

During one's student years, due to a lack of experience and perspective, those delinquent students who dared to fight actually held a certain amount of deterrent power over students who only wanted to study or avoid trouble.

These delinquents relied on this very point, making small gains day by day until they gradually established a sense of prestige.

However, Wang Donglai knew that this prestige was hollow.

Liu Feng’s family had no money, no power, and no connections. If a fight actually broke out and things escalated, he would be the only one to suffer the consequences.

Wang Donglai was not afraid of a physical confrontation, and he had various ways to deal with Liu Feng.

But he wouldn't do so, for a simple reason: Liu Feng wasn't worth it.

He was a classmate with only a few dozen days left; once the Gaokao was over, their connection would be severed. He wasn't worth wasting Wang Donglai's precious time.

Especially at this time.

...

The Teachers' Office.

After returning to the office, Luo Zhibin originally intended to go back to his seat.

However, his brow suddenly furrowed. He moved his feet and walked up to Meng Fang's desk. "Teacher Meng, are you busy?"

Meng Fang was writing a lesson plan. Hearing Luo Zhibin's voice, she looked up. "Teacher Luo, I'm not busy right now. Is something the matter?"

Luo Zhibin didn't stand on ceremony; he pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.

"In this math exam, Wang Donglai scored 15 points. You're aware of this, aren't you, Teacher Meng?"

Meng Fang nodded, her expression looking somewhat grim. As the homeroom teacher of Class 14, the class's performance in this exam was indeed quite poor.

"Wang Donglai has a very serious attitude toward his studies. Having taught him for two years, I can tell he truly doesn't understand math. In this exam, the only problems he could solve amounted to 15 points. During the Gaokao, even accounting for luck with multiple-choice questions, his score probably won't be much higher."

"In another class, his grades wouldn't make him a promising student, but in Class 14, he is the type who is eager to learn. So, I hope that when you rearrange the seating later, you can pair Wang Donglai with someone who is better at math to help him improve his grades, even if just a little."

"What do you think, Teacher Meng?"

Initially, Luo Zhibin had intended to ask Meng Fang about Wang Donglai's situation and perhaps suggest that she, as the homeroom teacher, give him a stern talking-to.

But as he spoke, considering the situation in Class 14, he changed his mind.

In the worst liberal arts class, it was already good enough that any students were actually studying.

"Teacher Luo has a point. I will give it some serious thought."

As the homeroom teacher of Class 14, these matters were her responsibility, so she did not deflect but instead nodded and agreed readily.

...

Tuesday.

Before morning reading even began, Meng Fang arrived in the classroom.

"The exam results are out. It's a good time to rearrange the seats. You can choose your own seats based on your ranking from front to back."

After saying this, she had everyone stand in the hallway to begin the selection process.

Wang Donglai was ranked near the top, so as soon as he entered the classroom, he scanned the room and walked toward the second row.

"Can I sit next to you? Your math is better than mine. I happen to be studying math; can I ask you questions if I run into trouble?"

The person Wang Donglai was addressing was Guo Xing.

Guo Xing hadn't expected Wang Donglai to do this. After a brief moment of surprise, she reacted and said with a smile, "Of course. Let's make progress together."

"Thanks."

With that, Wang Donglai sat down next to Guo Xing.

The seat swapping didn't take long; everyone had settled into their new spots within a few minutes.

Whether by coincidence or not, Chen Mengni happened to be sitting directly behind Wang Donglai.

Because they had new desk mates—and because he had chosen it himself—there was constant whispering and chatter in the classroom during the subsequent lessons.

The teacher at the multimedia podium turned a blind eye, continuing to lecture strictly from the textbook.

Below, some were studying, some were playing, and some were sleeping—a true portrait of diverse human existence.

Guo Xing was actually quite curious about her new desk mate.

A year and a half had passed since the start of their second year of high school.

In Guo Xing's impression, Wang Donglai was an extremely ordinary student: ordinary looks, ordinary family background, ordinary grades, and an ordinary personality.

But starting last week, Guo Xing felt that Wang Donglai had become different.

He was the first to arrive in the classroom and the last to leave.

He sat at his desk reading books with extreme focus, neither sleeping nor chatting with others.

Originally, Guo Xing thought Wang Donglai's exam scores would see a massive improvement, but she hadn't expected that to be the case.

Having been his desk mate for more than half a day now, Guo Xing had observed him several times.

Wang Donglai kept holding his math notes, flipping through them repeatedly with intense concentration.

It was quite clear that Wang Donglai wasn't just glancing at them; he was truly studying them with intent.

Guo Xing approved of such an attitude.

However, she strongly disagreed with his method of studying.

Because for someone like Wang Donglai, simply reading math notes would have very little effect on improving his mathematical proficiency.

After some thought, Guo Xing spoke to him during the break. "Wang Donglai, this way won't work. My math notes aren't comprehensive. If you keep reading them like this, I'm afraid it won't improve your math grades much."

"If you really want to improve your math, you need to do more problems and understand the formulas. Only by understanding them thoroughly can you truly master the knowledge points."

"Every subject is being reviewed right now, so you should follow the teacher's rhythm. Focusing only on one subject like this isn't quite right."

"Of course, that's just my opinion."

Girls tend to be a bit more mature, so after speaking, Guo Xing added that extra sentence.

She did so to avoid making Wang Donglai lose face, which might cause him to reject her good intentions.

Wang Donglai could sense her goodwill.

"Thanks, I've got it under control!"

Wang Donglai understood that what Guo Xing said was very correct, but it wasn't suitable for him.

With a system at his disposal, Wang Donglai only needed to read to gain experience points, which would in turn raise his subject levels.

Therefore, what he was doing now was actually the most suitable learning method for him.

Seeing that Wang Donglai still showed no intention of changing his study method, Guo Xing said no more.

Sitting behind Wang Donglai, Chen Mengni also noticed this scene. Her brows furrowed slightly, her thoughts unknown.