Chapter 71: The Right Attitude Towards Learning
Chapter 71: The Right Attitude Towards Learning
On Monday, the results of the Midterm Exam came out.
Out of the sixty students in Class One of grade ten, fifty-four had maintained the honor of being Class One students with their excellent scores. Six students, however, had failed to rank within the top sixty of the entire grade. Unwilling yet compelled to follow the rules, they swapped classes with six new, outstanding students…
Su Chunfeng’s result was quite good, ranking twenty-first in the entire grade. However, compared to his top fifteen ranking when he entered County No.1 High School via the High School Entrance Examination, it had dropped a bit.
He didn’t really mind this.
Because he clearly understood that since the start of high school life, the learning drive of his entire class could be described with the word “terrifying.” It was so terrifying that Su Chunfeng almost felt sorry for them—staying up late studying, getting up early to memorize, reading books during breaks, after-school leisure time, even placing a book next to their bowls during meals.
Youth shouldn’t be like this;
Learning shouldn’t be such a desperate, life-draining grind either.
His deskmate Cui Hao’s exam result ranked sixtieth in the entire grade, almost getting replaced by someone else. After class, he sat by the desk, both excited and trembling with lingering fear. His chubby little round face was flushed red. He took off his glasses and wiped his tears lightly, actually letting out low sobs.
Su Chunfeng thought for a moment, then still couldn’t help but console him. “Cui Hao, don’t cry… You weren’t eliminated, right?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just, just a bit happy.” Cui Hao wiped his tears, put his glasses back on, turned his head, forced a smile with his mouth, and said, “It’s just that I don’t know if I’ll be pushed out by the Final Exam next time, sigh.”
“What’s the difference, which class you’re in? It’s all school, right?” Su Chunfeng said with a laugh.
“Huh?” Cui Hao was stunned for a second, then understood the meaning behind Su Chunfeng’s words. He shook his head with a bitter smile and said, “It’s not the same. Being in Class One means you’re the best student. If you get kicked out of Class One because your grades aren’t as good as others’, that’s like taking a step backward. How embarrassing!”
Su Chunfeng waved his hand and didn’t say anything.
After a while, Cui Hao asked curiously in a low voice, “Su Chunfeng, I noticed you usually study pretty casually.”
“Yeah,” Su Chunfeng nodded.
“How can you live so easily?” Cui Hao’s expression was full of envy. “And your grades are still so good?”
Su Chunfeng smiled and said, “Probably luck… But I don’t have much study pressure. In my view, whether it’s Class One or any other class, teachers of the same level are teaching, and the knowledge taught and learned is the same. The only difference is whether the learning atmosphere and environment are good or bad, right?”
“If you got placed in Class Fifteen, how could you study peacefully with those students causing trouble every day?” Cui Hao snorted disdainfully.
Su Chunfeng patted Cui Hao’s shoulder. “For this Midterm Exam, how did students from other classes get into the top sixty? Especially that Huang Yiyu. She was in Class Five before, and this time her exam result ranked fourteenth in the entire grade. Shouldn’t all of us in Class One feel ashamed?”
“Yeah,” Cui Hao nodded thoughtfully. “Looks like my effort still isn’t enough.”
Su Chunfeng was speechless, shaking his head and not explaining further.
Even with his very positive learning attitude, he didn’t expect to be called into the office by his Homeroom Teacher Cao Lan after school in the morning for a round of gentle-yet-firm, kind-but-strict earnest advice…
The reason was none other than Su Chunfeng’s grade ranking having dropped compared to when he entered No.1 High School.
“Su Chunfeng, your usual performance in class is quite good. Teacher has seen it. But compared to other classmates, you still aren’t diligent or hardworking enough. This time your grade could still rank twenty-first in the entire grade, showing you are a very smart, very talented student. But don’t get arrogant.”
“If by the Final Exam you can’t get into the top fifteen, the school might consider revoking your outstanding student subsidy for waived tuition in advance.”
“Have you thought about how sad your parents would be if your grades slip? How would your classmates see you?”
“Class One only has sixty spots. Students from all classes are striving to get ahead. You must put pressure on yourself!”
“With pressure comes motivation!”
“Teacher believes in you!”
“Don’t let your teacher, or your parents, down!”
…
Cao Lan was a little over fifty this year. She had once been rated a provincial-level outstanding teacher, one of Pingyang City’s top ten famous teachers. Her educational achievements could be considered quite impressive—in every high school class she had taught, there were always a few students each year who won awards in various exams at the city or even provincial level. In Pingyang at that time, there weren’t teachers specifically for the college-entrance-exam year. Basically, they taught from grade ten straight through to grade twelve, only reselecting once during the arts/science track split. And the college admission rate for the two batches of high school students Cao Lan had taught actually reached over eighty percent. A few years ago, she even produced a provincial top scorer in the college entrance exam.
Because of this, she had earned the title “Mother of University Students”!
How capable!
Su Chunfeng secretly sighed in admiration. Even his originally relaxed learning attitude, after Cao Lan’s lecture and his own reflection, suddenly felt immense pressure—he didn’t care about those few hundred yuan in tuition each semester. But he realized that academic performance and rankings, in the minds of school teachers, classmates, family… pretty much everyone in this era, carried extraordinary weight.
It was the sole benchmark for measuring whether a student was outstanding or not!
After receiving the earnest advice and earnestly vowing his determination, Su Chunfeng was finally allowed to leave the office under Teacher Cao Lan’s satisfied attitude.
Walking through the campus where autumn colors were deepening, he pondered as he walked. Did he really need to study as desperately as he did back in junior high after his rebirth?
But now, there was absolutely no need.
After thinking it over, Su Chunfeng made an important decision—he would still live and study according to his current mindset.
Because in his view, this kind of learning spirit and perseverance that neglected sleep and meals, seemingly a virtue almost everyone traditionally approved of, if really persisted in, might bring unknown negative effects to the physical and psychological growth of the vast majority of students. Moreover, he was confident that with his current mindset and learning-life rhythm, he could absolutely ensure his academic performance wouldn’t fall behind. Why must he suffer and struggle?
Thinking as he walked, he happened to run into Zhang Lifei coming out of the cafeteria just as he reached the entrance.
“Lifei, how were your exam results this time?” Su Chunfeng asked with a smile.
“Pretty okay,” Zhang Lifei seemed in low spirits, her pretty little face full of gloom. “Chunfeng, let’s go eat a meal together outside school tonight, okay?”
Su Chunfeng smiled. “Sure.”
“Just you and me, okay?” Zhang Lifei lowered her head, biting her lip lightly as she whispered.
“What’s wrong? Are you unhappy?” Su Chunfeng asked in surprise—given Zhang Lifei’s personality, even if inviting him to eat alone, she wouldn’t show such a shy expression. Instead, she should say it openly and confidently, with a proud, demanding attitude that you couldn’t refuse.
A trace of melancholy showed on Zhang Lifei’s face. “Let’s talk about it then, sigh.” After saying that, she didn’t elaborate, lowering her head and quickly walking away.
Su Chunfeng stood dazed at the cafeteria entrance.
At that moment, Wang Haifei came out of the cafeteria. Silently, she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Su Chunfeng at the entrance, watching the youthful, slender figure of Zhang Lifei in her school uniform, ponytail swaying left and right. After a while, she asked softly, “Chunfeng, how did you do on this Midterm Exam?”
“I slipped a bit. Twenty-first in the entire grade,” Su Chunfeng said with a casual smile. “Just got scolded by the homeroom teacher. How about you?”
Wang Haifei looked somewhat downcast. “A few points short, didn’t get into your class.”
“Oh,” Su Chunfeng comforted with a smile. “Don’t let the pressure get to you, letting grades shackle your mindset isn’t worth it. Studying is important, but we’re in the prime of our youth. We should jump and play more; being happy is the best. If we blindly chase grades, it’s easy to backfire, causing inner resistance and disgust towards studying all subjects. So we should maintain a happy and relaxed attitude towards learning.”
Hearing these quite reasonable words, Wang Haifei’s face showed delight and admiration—Su Chunfeng could always say things more insightful and mature than any of his peers.
“Oh, right,” Su Chunfeng asked. “What’s wrong with Lifei? Seems like something’s on her mind.”
Hearing this question, the expression that had just improved on Wang Haifei’s face dimmed again. She sighed and said, “Did she ask you to eat alone?”
“Yeah,” Su Chunfeng nodded, not at all surprised that Wang Haifei knew this news—she and Zhang Lifei were so close they almost shared pants. They were even willing to share boyfriends; what would they hide from each other? And with Zhang Lifei’s personality, she definitely would have told Wang Haifei about this first.
“Lifei’s father arranged for her to go study at Municipal No.1 High School,” Wang Haifei said.
“Municipal No.1 High School?” Su Chunfeng was slightly taken aback, then said, “That’s a good thing! Pingyang City Municipal No.1 High School, the cradle of university students! The teaching quality is much higher than our County No.1 High School.”
Wang Haifei shot Su Chunfeng a reproachful look. “Lifei can’t bear to leave you!”
“Ahem,” Su Chunfeng coughed dryly twice, an awkward look appearing on his face. He chuckled awkwardly. “What’s there to bear or not bear? It’s not like going abroad or somewhere far. It’s so close. Whenever we friends want to meet, we can hop on a bus and be there in a bit. Right, Haifei?”
“Actually, I’ll really miss her too,” As she spoke, Wang Haifei’s eyes reddened.
Su Chunfeng quickly consoled her. “Alright, alright. Lifei going to study there is a good thing. Why be sad? As friends, we should be happy for her. Besides…” He paused here, revealing a mischievous smile. “With Lifei gone, won’t it be more convenient for the two of us to be together… huh?”
“Stop it!” Wang Haifei blushed bright red but broke into a smile through her tears.