Chapter 32: What Are You Telling Her For? p1
The courtyard was quiet, with only the dim yellow light from the wall lamps in the corners.
In the third-floor study, Yun Jingya had glanced at Zhou Wanfeng more than once, her mind not at all on the mistake notebook she was organizing. After the birthday banquet last time, she had vaguely felt that she was being given the cold shoulder, especially in the study. If she didn’t take the initiative to speak, Zhou Wanfeng’s gaze would never land on her.
It was as if she were the only one in the study.
This feeling of being ignored made Yun Jingya feel a little sad.
“Wanfeng, are your school’s exam results out? What did you score?” Yun Jingya moved her chair closer and saw that Zhou Wanfeng was writing a composition. But apart from the title, there was only the first sentence on the entire composition grid. It seemed she had been thinking for a long time.
Zhou Wanfeng didn’t try to hide it. She pushed the composition book up, preparing to think some more.
Seeing the cautious look on Yun Jingya’s face, the twelve-year-old girl was already very good at reading people’s expressions.
She had indeed been deliberately giving her the cold shoulder. Her conflict with Yang Yijun would not just disappear. Her very existence was a point of contention for Yang Yijun. The conflict would only become more intense and irreconcilable.
At the birthday banquet last time, Yang Yijun had already started to suppress and belittle her to highlight Yun Jingya’s excellence. At the same time, she had used Yun Jingya’s excellence to make her feel ashamed.
In short, Yang Yijun would never want to see her do well and surpass Yun Jingya. It would be best if she just fell into depravity. That might even earn her a smile.
“I got 707,” Zhou Wanfeng said, looking at the girl whose eyes were sparkling with joy because of her answer. She couldn’t help but feel troubled.
Yun Jingya exclaimed, “Over 700? That’s amazing! I was a few points short of 700. Wanfeng, you’re really amazing.” She was speaking from the heart. Zhou Wanfeng’s rate of progress was astonishing to her.
Zhou Wanfeng smiled. “The schools are different. Your school’s test papers are probably more difficult. There’s no comparison.”
“Did you bring your test papers back? Can I see them?” Yun Jingya really wanted to see the test papers.
“I only have the Chinese test paper. I’ll bring the others back for you to see tomorrow,” Zhou Wanfeng said, pulling out her Chinese test paper and handing it to her.
Yun Jingya sat to the side and looked at it seriously. Zhou Wanfeng spread out her composition book again. She had to write one to hand in.
The study was quiet. Yun Jingya was very focused on the test paper, starting from the first question and answering it in her head.
But when she flipped to the back, she didn’t think this Chinese test paper was easy at all. None of the reading comprehension questions at the end were from the textbook. Normally, school-wide tests would have questions from the textbook. Only the mid-term and final exams for the whole city or district would be more difficult.
When she saw the final composition, a whole nine points had been deducted with a flourish.
She turned to look at Zhou Wanfeng, who was writing a composition, and instantly understood.
“You have to rewrite the composition.”
Zhou Wanfeng nodded.
“A composition about describing family, family affection, and so on, isn’t that just about writing about people? I’ve taken a writing class before. The teacher said that if you’re writing about people, you should draw inspiration from the people around you and focus on one characteristic. Um… for example, Auntie Fang in our family is quiet but very capable. Old Dong is honest and always smiles when he sees people. You can combine their characteristics and write about one person. Something like that. If you don’t know who to write about, you can write about the little fatty. He can eat, he likes to eat, and he’s also very competitive. Last semester, he didn’t get a perfect score in one of his final exams. Everyone in the family said it was fine, but at night, he was hiding under the covers, hugging his test paper and crying. He went from crying to wailing, and the whole building could hear him. The entire test paper was soaked with his tears.”
“Is it okay if I write about him?” Zhou Wanfeng looked at Yun Jingya. They were very close, and the slightest expression around the girl’s clear and bright eyes would not escape her gaze.
Yun Jingya’s eyes widened, and she pointed at the composition topic. “Of course you can. He’s your brother.”
Zhou Wanfeng’s lips trembled, and she murmured, “Brother?”
“I know all his embarrassing stories. You can write whatever you want,” Yun Jingya said, pushing her school’s monthly exam paper to Zhou Wanfeng. “This is our school’s exam paper. You can take a look when you have time. Don’t forget to bring back the other test papers tomorrow.”
Zhou Wanfeng nodded.
Yun Jingya smiled happily, the uneasy feeling in her heart dissipating.
But Zhou Wanfeng knew that it was best for her to keep her distance from Yun Jingya.
The monthly exam was just a short-term learning test. After the results came out and the test papers were explained, they would continue to learn new knowledge. As for the knowledge you had learned before, if your foundation was not solid, you had to find time to make it up yourself.
The teacher had to keep up with the schedule, so it was up to the individual.
After the test papers were explained in Class Nine, the scores were recorded. Some people directly folded their papers into airplanes and flew them all over the classroom. Others crumpled them into balls and threw them at people. The test papers with the scores on them, who knew if they hurt more when they hit someone? Several of them had landed in the bucket.
Zhou Wanfeng had created a mistake notebook for each subject.
It was not a regular notebook. She had specifically bought a thick-covered, waterproof notebook, which she planned to use until the high school entrance exam in the third year.
Before English class, Sun Mulan came to the classroom early and instructed, “Later, everyone, please hand in your monthly exam papers.”
“Ah, I threw them away. I don’t have them anymore, teacher.”
“Teacher, mine was folded into an airplane by Huang Jiankang and flew away.”
“The exam is over, and it’s been explained. Why do we have to hand them in again?”
“Teacher, are you collecting all of them? Why is the school collecting the test papers? Are they going to sell them for scrap paper to make money?” a classmate guessed, and the test papers that hadn’t been thrown away were also in a tattered state.
Sun Mulan glanced at Zhou Wanfeng and found that she was doing her problems and not paying attention to the noise in the class. She said, “The test paper is a test of your learning progress during this period. If you didn’t do well, you should have filled in the answers after the teacher explained them. This is also a form of learning. I’m collecting them to check.”
“Oh, the exam is over. Who’s going to look at it again?”
But Sun Mulan insisted, her face stern. “After class, everyone, hand them in at the podium. If they’re thrown away or damaged, then forget it. But for those who still have them, please try to hand them in.”
Only then did she start to prepare for class. Sun Mulan knew that Zhou Wanfeng was meticulous. If she only collected hers, she would inevitably be asked.
If she said that the grade director wanted to see her test paper because he suspected she might have cheated, she would probably not hand it in.
Not only would she not hand it in, but she would even be angry, especially since she hadn’t stopped it this time.
But Sun Mulan thought of what the grade director had said. Zhou Wanfeng might be transferred to a key class, Class One or Class Two, so she didn’t want to stop it.
Looking at the seriously studying Zhou Wanfeng below, she suddenly remembered what she had said before. “…Whether it’s the class president, the class representatives for each subject, the sanitation monitor, or the sports monitor, any class committee position that no one wants to do, I’ll do it all. If there’s no student interaction in class, no one raises their hand to answer, I’ll do it all… I don’t want to be considered a poor student just because I’m in First Grade, Class Nine.”
She had scored 707 on the monthly exam, fourth in the entire grade. She had done everything she had said she would.
Helping to manage the class, helping to suppress the naughty students in the class. Sun Mulan sometimes felt that she was very useless, to have to let a student do all this.
Zhou Wanfeng had originally just wanted to be an ordinary student and study quietly, but she had been forced to stand up.
Sun Mulan wanted Zhou Wanfeng to go to the class she had originally wanted to go to, to let her study quietly and undisturbed, without having to worry about so many things, and just do what she wanted to do.
So, she couldn’t let Zhou Wanfeng find out about this. As long as the school confirmed that her scores were real and that there was no possibility of cheating, she could be transferred to a key class.
Zhou Wanfeng had promised Yun Jingya that she would show her the test papers, so when Sun Mulan asked to collect them, she was not in a hurry. Plus, all her attention was on the experimental middle school’s monthly exam paper.
It was indeed much more difficult.
Just looking at the math test paper, she thought it would be difficult for her to get over 100, but the 116 on the paper was Yun Jingya’s score. With such a high score in math, and her total score still under 700, it could only mean that the test papers for the other subjects were also extremely difficult.
Thinking that the experimental middle school might also collect the test papers, she wanted to finish looking at them and do them once as soon as possible.