But before putting this ambitious goal into practice, the first thing to do is to look at the results this time.

Holy crap! I actually got an 81 on my math test!

"Pshaw, I only got 82. The math questions this time were either very difficult or very easy. Getting around 80 is normal. You'd be really good if you could get over 90."

"Oh no, I only ranked 89th in the grade this time, almost at the bottom of the class... Holy crap! How is Bing so amazing! He still managed to get full marks on such a difficult test!"

"Wow, that's amazing! This must be the best in the whole county, right?"

"Nonsense, even a perfect score isn't enough to be number one, so what is number one?"

Hearing the discussions around him, Ma Shaolong first looked at his own appalling grades—seventh from the bottom in his class and over 120th in the grade—and then at Chen Bing's neatly arranged rows of 1s and all whole numbers in her subjects. He immediately became depressed.

He tried to find confidence in some acquaintances, so he looked down the list.

Chen Bing ranked first in the grade, with a score of 510.

Second place: Shang Yunmiao; Third place in the grade: 478.

Third place Wenxin, fourth in the grade, 472.

Fourth place: Song Ze, eighth in the grade, 459

Fifth place: Ma Lele, tenth in the grade, 455

...

Zhang Xinyu ranked 10th, 21st in the grade, with 428 points.

...

When Ma Shaolong saw that Zhang Xinyu's grades had unexpectedly fallen out of the top ten in her class, he was secretly pleased. Although this was not good, he was still happy that he and she were on the same page.

So he immediately turned around and looked at Zhang Xinyu to his left and said, "Class monitor..."

Turning around, Ma Shaolong noticed that Zhang Xinyu looked terrible, and her long, slender fingers were gripping the report card tightly.

The girl's eyes held disbelief, her lips trembling slightly. Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, and her face was deathly pale. She sat there blankly, as if all her energy had been drained away, utterly lifeless.

Her once straight back gradually hunched over, as if she were carrying a heavy burden. Her eyes were lost and helpless, as if searching for answers but finding no clues.

(The above is Ma Shaolong's opinion)

Xinyu!

My initial happiness vanished upon seeing Zhang Xinyu's appearance, as if I had been shot or engulfed in flames, instantly turning to ashes.

However, a heart that is dead does not mean a dead end, because there is another word: rekindling the flames.

After regaining his composure, Ma Shaolong put on a smile and earnestly comforted Zhang Xinyu.

Self-deprecating remarks such as "It's okay, look at me, I'm even worse than you," "I'll always be lower than you," and "Actually, you're already very good, you're so many points higher than me" came out of Ma Shaolong's mouth like a barrage of cannon fire.

However, it seems that his comforting words did not achieve the desired effect, and instead made Zhang Xinyu feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Although I know he was trying to comfort me, it still made me feel uncomfortable.

After giving the other party a few perfunctory replies, the mentally strong Zhang Xinyu quickly recovered from the double blow of her grades and Ma Shaolong's performance. She first objectively analyzed the subjects where she lost points, and then recalled the problems in those subjects.

After briefly considering her winter break study plan, Zhang Xinyu got up and went to learn from Shang Yunmiao and the other three.

A closer look at the academic rankings reveals that the top four students in the class sit in a row, one in front of the other, one in front of the other, and one in the right. Even Ma Lele, who is fifth in the class and tenth in the grade, is only separated from this group of four by an aisle.

This place has now become the academic hub of Class 1, Grade 7.

So, Zhang Xinyu came here to learn from their experience.

She chose to sit in the empty seat behind Ma Lele and then began to discuss things related to studying and final exams with the three girls.

Seeing this, Ma Shaolong felt a pang of unease. He wondered if his words had hurt her feelings. But that didn't make sense; he himself had ranked outside the top 100 and hadn't shown any distress. No, he still needed to talk to Xinyu, explain things, and comfort her.

After fidgeting and getting anxious for a while, Ma Shaolong observed the situation and wisely chose to talk to Chen Bing and Song Ze first, and then use that to get closer to Zhang Xinyu next to them.

Upon seeing Ma Shaolong approach, Chen Bing, who had been watching him closely from the beginning, revealed a subtle, mocking look.

Another piece of entertainment is coming, and it's from Ma Shaolong again.

"Hey, Bing-ge, Lao Song!" Ma Shaolong stood in the aisle on Chen Bing's side and greeted the two of them warmly. Beside and in front of him were Zhang Xinyu and three others chatting animatedly.

"Hey, you look great today, haven't seen you in a few days." Chen Bing didn't hold back his praise, deliberately speaking loudly in response to Ma Shaolong. He knew that Ma Shaolong would be pleased by this compliment, which "might be heard by Zhang Xinyu."

As expected, upon hearing such praise, Ma Shaolong turned his head slightly to look at Zhang Xinyu beside him, then confidently puffed out his chest and started chatting with Chen Bing about the topic.

"Ah...you mean this down jacket? Well, my family bought it for me when we went to the provincial capital a while ago. It cost almost a thousand yuan."

"A thousand yuan? That's so expensive! We grow so fast at this age, we won't be able to wear them for long, right? What a pity, all my down jackets cost two or three hundred yuan."

Hearing this, Song Ze occasionally chimed in with a few words. His casual remarks kept Ma Shaolong engrossed in the conversation, and he even forgot for a moment why he was there.

Fortunately, after chatting for two or three minutes, Ma Shaolong finally stopped wanting to continue discussing the price of clothes and instead, like Zhang Xinyu, started discussing studying with the two of them.

"Speaking of which, you two did really well on the exam this time. Unlike me, do you have any tips?"

This man is completely lying; he doesn't care about any methods or anything like that. All he wants is to keep the conversation aligned with Zhang Xinyu's side and then bring the people from both sides together.

Having guessed his thoughts, Chen Bing found it interesting. She first looked at Song Ze beside her, wanting to hear what her deskmate had to say.

"Hmm... well, there's really no other way, how about discussing the questions more?" Honest Song Ze offered his suggestion, little did he know that the listener with the burning gaze had no interest in this at all. "Why don't you ask Brother Bing? His grades are much better than mine."

Ma Shaolong then turned his attention to Chen Bing, eagerly anticipating whether the top student's method sharing could attract Zhang Xinyu.