The name "Li Chencan," when spoken by Zuo Hong, immediately ignited the emotions of all the students present as the top student of the grade.
In recent days, Li Chencan had truly experienced a moment of enlightenment. "Deskmate" and "Brother in the Upper Bunk" had stunned everyone, not to mention the two poems, "Twilight Return" and "Waves Washing Sand: Beidaihe," which had left Wu Chuan in awe...
And now, his academic performance had not only recovered but had also soared to the top of the entire grade! It was terrifying! Too terrifying!
When Ye Huanxue heard that she had achieved the top score in the grade, she was both surprised and delighted, feeling proud of her achievement.
However, what surprised her the most was Li Chencan's top score in the grade.
Indeed, after going through so many hardships, Li Chencan had soared to new heights after "Deskmate."
Was there no longer any way to stop him?
"Teacher, did you make a mistake?" Li Dong stood up again, though he knew it wasn't good, he couldn't swallow his pride and couldn't believe it.
Ye Huanxue thought for a moment and volunteered, "Teacher, let me read the scores." Zuo Hong, who was tired of reading the scores that made her feel extremely frustrated, let Ye Huanxue take over.
Ye Huanxue loudly read, "Li Chencan, Math 135 points, Liberal Arts 282 points, Chinese 187 points, total 604 points!"
"Such a high score!"
"Liberal Arts 282 points, this is incredible!"
"Chinese also 187 points... this is truly incredible!" The discussions of everyone almost burst the entire classroom.
Ye Huanxue continued, "Li Chencan's Liberal Arts and Chinese are both the top in the entire grade!"
The commotion continued, and everyone in the classroom was utterly shocked by Li Chencan. Two poems, the principal's recognition, and now the top score in the entire grade!
Everyone had thought he would never recover and would never return to his peak... but now... Li Chencan had proven to everyone that their thoughts were impossible.
When Ye Huanxue announced the scores, Li Chencan lifted his head from the back, feeling the commotion around him. He felt a sense of achievement, but it gradually turned into a bit of boredom—his good grades were merely the result of the terrifying memory he gained from the fusion of two souls and the significant improvement in his mental abilities.
So, there was nothing particularly surprising about it.
In this beautiful world, where China is a superpower, and he has his parents and siblings from his previous life, and the beautiful sunshine shining on the earth, Li Chencan only wanted to live well, without arrogance or impatience, without humility or arrogance, and to enjoy his youth and the beautiful years with the things he remembered from Earth.
Li Chaoyong dragged his tired body home.
Since his business failure and bankruptcy, Li Chaoyong had been working two jobs, washing cars during the day and moving goods at night. He was extremely exhausted after a day's work, and he almost couldn't resist falling asleep as soon as he got home.
In the dimly lit house, Yang Yifang was still embroidering. Embroidery was a handicraft, and Yang Yifang, who was once a wealthy lady, used it as a hobby. Now, she had to use embroidery to support the family. This scene made Li Chaoyong feel sad, but without Yang Yifang's embroidery, the family's situation would be even worse.
Li Chaoyong felt fortunate to have such a wife.
He slowly walked to the sofa and sat down, saying, "Xiaochan and Huanxue haven't come back yet?"
Yang Yifang didn't have time to look at him; they were old married couples and didn't need to be affectionate. She nodded casually, "Not yet... they should be in self-study now."
"Is that so." Li Chaoyong nodded wearily, leaning back on the sofa, wanting to vent all his frustrations from the day.
"We need to think about Xiaochan's future education," Yang Yifang said without looking up. "If he doesn't get into college, we'll have to prepare for him to go to a technical school... to learn car repair or something..."
Li Chaoyong responded weakly, "Of course... we can't let him live on welfare."
"That's right... we can't let him live on welfare." Yang Yifang then sighed, "If only his academic performance was as good as before..."
Li Chaoyong interrupted her, "Don't think about impossible things."
The people of the empire, under their upbringing, were usually taught to have an attitude of 'not blaming heaven or others' and were unwilling to dwell on intangible things.
Yang Yifang nodded and continued embroidering.
Suddenly, Li Chaoyong's phone rang.
Li Chaoyong wearily picked up the phone and saw the caller ID showing "Teacher Ouyang." Instantly, Li Chaoyong felt as if he was holding a hot coal, unsure whether to put it down or pick it up, feeling very conflicted.
If it were a year ago, whenever the head of the liberal arts department, Ouyang Jing, called, Li Chaoyong would be proud and excited because Ouyang Jing would always call to tell them about Li Chencan's glorious achievements, specially to congratulate Li Chaoyong.
However, in the past six months, Ouyang Jing's calls had been to tell Li Chaoyong that Li Chencan's academic performance had declined, ranking at the bottom of the grade, and that they needed to understand the reasons for his rapid decline. Thus, Li Chaoyong had become increasingly afraid of receiving calls from Ouyang Jing... and today, he was calling again.
"Whose call is it?" Yang Yifang saw Li Chaoyong's expression and asked, "Answer it quickly."
Li Chaoyong handed the phone over, "You answer it..."
Yang Yifang saw the caller ID showing Ouyang Jing's name and immediately handed the phone back to him, "You should answer it..." She was also afraid that Ouyang Jing would say that Li Chencan had ranked at the bottom of the grade again.
"Ah." Li Chaoyong sighed, answered the call, and forced a smile, which was mixed with bitterness, like a criminal awaiting judgment, "Teacher Ouyang."
He was waiting for Ouyang Jing to tell him that his son was in trouble again, ranking at the bottom of the grade...
However, Ouyang Jing didn't pay attention to Li Chaoyong's thoughts and spoke with joy and excitement, "Mr. Li, great news, great news!"
"Great news?" Li Chaoyong was a bit puzzled but still asked, "Teacher Ouyang, what great news?"
"Li Chencan, this time in the monthly exam, he ranked first in the entire grade! Both his Liberal Arts and Chinese are the top in the grade! His ancient poem has also been recommended to participate in the empire's ancient poetry competition!"
"Ah?!" Li Chaoyong was stunned by the news, "Xiaochan ranked first in the entire grade?"
Yang Yifang, who had heard Ouyang Jing's words, immediately turned her gaze to Li Chaoyong, and even accidentally pricked her finger because of the sudden movement, "What?"
PS: Thank you, Fanghuang de Meng, for the generous tip. It's a pleasant surprise to receive such a tip right after starting the book. Thank you.