Chapter 5: Tingting 3

There were only two days left until the monthly exams. Once the results were out, even if others wanted to force a withdrawal, it would be impossible.

Two days passed in a flash. For every monthly exam, students were shuffled and reassigned to different testing rooms. This was primarily based on their rankings from the previous exam; for instance, the top thirty students in the grade would be in one room, and so on.

The room Tan You was currently in held the bottom thirty students of the grade. Sitting at Han Tingting’s desk, Tan You stared at the room for a long time.

She wasn't always in a room like this! By the next exam, she would definitely work hard to get into the first testing room!

Tan You’s confidence wasn't blind. Her grades in the second year of middle school had been quite good; while she wasn't in the top ten of the grade, she could manage to be in the top five of her class.

Moreover, the school Han Tingting attended was just an ordinary township middle school. The teaching quality and faculty were similar to the middle school Tan You had attended, which was why she had such confidence.

As for the future, Tan You didn't think any further. At the end of the day, she was just an ordinary small-town girl. Her horizons weren't broad; one could even say she was a bit of a country bumpkin.

But that was fine. Tan You didn't understand that now, but she would slowly grow over time.

The first subject of the monthly exam was Chinese. As it was her strong suit, Tan You was naturally confident. Especially after skimming through the entire paper, her confidence grew even more.

She had only spent one class period finishing the paper, including the essay. However, seeing that the other students in the room had stopped writing early, she couldn't help but be surprised. Had they all finished?

When her sharp eyes caught sight of some students’ papers being completely blank, she understood. It turned out they didn't know how to do the work, so they simply left it blank.

In a room filled with such bottom-tier students, teachers rarely paid much attention. The teachers knew that since they were all at the bottom of the grade, what could they possibly copy? They weren't going to copy their way to first place in the grade, were they?

Tan You didn't dwell on it; she had always been fast at taking tests. Especially in Chinese and English, she could finish early, sometimes with an hour to spare.

That was why Tan You couldn't understand why everyone else was so slow. She was even more baffled when students in her previous testing rooms were still writing right up until the teacher collected the papers.

In Tan You’s view, the exam time was more than sufficient.

The second-year monthly exam covered Chinese, Math, English, and Physics. History, Geography, and Biology were only tested during midterms and finals. Furthermore, those scores didn't count toward the total, so people didn't usually place much importance on them.

After the Chinese exam ended, students went to the restroom; they had Math next. This was the norm at the school—exams followed one after another with very little time for rest.

Tan You didn't move. She just slumped over her desk, seizing the time to look at her math textbook. Math was the subject she was least confident in, so she naturally took the opportunity to cram.

No one spoke to her while she studied. After all, they weren't in the same class and didn't know each other. They only mocked her in their hearts: *They’re already at the bottom, what’s with the act of being a good student?*

Tan You didn't understand the psychological shifts of the students around her, nor did she want to. Although she had poured a lot of effort into math over the past two days, she knew her own level. She figured math was going to be a struggle this time.

Sure enough, after the math paper was handed out, Tan You’s vision went dark. She had a good habit: after receiving a paper, she would look it over entirely to get a sense of what to expect.

But after one look at the paper, only two words filled her mind: *It’s over.* She didn't know how to do most of it. For someone who struggled with science subjects, she couldn't even gauge the difficulty of the questions; she only knew she couldn't do most of them.

She stumbled through the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. For the long-form problems at the end, Tan You worked very hard. Even if she didn't know how to solve them, she tried her best to write down any formulas she knew.

Some were even formulas and theorems from the third year of middle school, but with her mind muddled by the difficult problems, how could she have realized that? She was just working on the paper very earnestly—she hadn't even been this serious during her own middle school entrance exam.

Back then, Tan You hadn't understood the importance of the entrance exam, but now, she knew how important this exam was for Han Tingting. It concerned whether Han Tingting could continue her studies and whether she could have a different life in the future.

The monthly exam lasted for one day, and by the time it concluded, it was six in the evening. Today was Saturday, and there was no evening self-study on Saturdays. Everyone had a day off and just needed to return to school for evening self-study on Sunday.

After the exam, Tan You returned to her living quarters. By then, her roommates had already left, leaving Tan You alone in the room to pack her things. She had returned late because she was tidying up her exercise books in the classroom.

For the past two days, Tan You had been frantically catching up on Han Tingting’s exercise books. Once she had a decent grasp of Chinese and English, she began to grind away at Math and Physics.

She had a stubborn streak. Even if she wasn't good at science, she didn't believe she couldn't do it if she was willing to spend the time and do the problems. She wasn't counting on getting first in the grade; she would be satisfied as long as she reached the passing line in science.

She was only going home for one day, so Tan You didn't bring many books. She only took her math textbook and one exercise book. She would be satisfied if she could finish ten pages of exercises while home.

Han Tingting’s hometown was a small village on the edge of the town, about a forty-minute bike ride from school. The road was full of small paths and twists and turns. Walking on this path, which was completely different from the ones she knew, Tan You felt a bit excited.

Because her eyesight had been poor, she always had to rush home after school on Saturdays, fearing she wouldn't be able to see the road once it got dark. She also had to be careful not to bump into anyone—her parents had always nagged her about these things.

In this strange world, unable to see her parents, Tan You strangely discovered that she didn't miss them much. Perhaps it was because they hadn't appeared much in her life to begin with.

Thanks to Han Tingting’s excellent eyesight, Tan You rode her bike quickly. In less than half an hour, she arrived at Han Tingting’s old home. Upon arriving, she saw an old man cooking. Seeing Tan You return, he very naturally sat down behind the stove.

Tan You didn't say a word. She just put down her schoolbag and went into the kitchen. Soon, a fragrant aroma filled the room.

Grandpa Han sniffed the air: "Does your school teach you how to cook?"

Tan You’s hand paused, her eyes showing a hint of panic: "I... I learned from the lady who does the cooking."

Tan You didn't have many hobbies; aside from novels, she liked watching others cook. It just so happened that the landlady where she boarded cooked quite well, and Tan You had seen her do it a few times.

Thank you all for adding this to your libraries. New book, please recommend and add to your libraries!

(End of chapter)