"If you're talking about methods..." Chen Bing, who had unintentionally aligned with Ma Shaolong's idea, left only half a sentence, which piqued people's interest and even made Zhang Xinyu look over at one point.

Not only her, but also other people around her paid more or less attention.

"It's basically about hard work, perseverance, and most importantly, luck." This is a general overview and, strictly speaking, it doesn't qualify as a learning method.

However, Ma Shaolong was not disappointed, because Chen Bing immediately struck up a conversation with Shang Yunmiao.

"Shang Yunmiao, what do you think?"

Overjoyed, Ma Shaolong looked at Shang Yunmiao with a strange expression, leaving the other woman momentarily bewildered.

Of course, one should protect their own child. Chen Bing, being protective of her own, secretly patted Ma Shaolong's calf, signaling him to withdraw his inappropriate gaze.

After Chen Bing's prompting, Ma Shaolong gave an awkward smile and then looked at Shang Yunmiao with a normal level of expectation.

"Uh... I think that makes sense. If you do more practice questions and memorize more material, even if you don't do well on a test, you'll eventually be able to perform at your best next time, or the time after that."

As Bing Ge's number one underling, even if the other party is spouting common sense, Xiao Shang has to try his best to use his own words to make it sound plausible.

This seemingly casual remark struck a chord with Zhang Xinyu, instantly making her feel much more at ease about her recent performance and brightening her mood considerably. In short, it was a million times better than the thoughtless, emotionally inept remarks of that certain man.

“Hmm…” Zhang Xinyu nodded to herself, her eyes seemingly filled with some affection. Like Ma Shaolong before her, she also looked at Shang Yunmiao with a strange gaze.

Hmm? Chen Bing's eyes widened for a moment upon noticing this, then after a slight hesitation, she returned to normal.

Forget it, she's a girl after all, so let's not try to give her a hint by patting her leg.

Just kidding.

Returning to the top ten students in the class excluding Ma Shaolong, a heated discussion has already begun regarding the "one time I didn't do well" that Shang Yunmiao mentioned.

Wen Xin started by talking about her disastrous performance in a sixth-grade exam, followed by Song Ze talking about his experience of falling out of the top ten in the midterm exam. Ma Lele talked about her poor performance in the first month or two of junior high school, while Shang Yunmiao tentatively mentioned her "poor grades" in elementary school.

When the topic came to Chen Bing, he faced the curious gazes of the crowd and, after a moment of contemplation, began to tell the story of his "cousin".

"I have a cousin..."

As soon as Chen Bing said this, it immediately caught Shang Yunmiao's attention.

Chen Bing started telling his cousin's story again! Mingming's mother had already told her that on her side, there was only one older sister who was older than Chen Bing.

Shang Yunmiao, unaware of where Chen Bing got so many stories from, didn't say anything and listened quietly like the others.

"My cousin did well in his first mock exam in the second semester of his senior year of high school, but I don't know if it was because of the pressure or something else, but as the college entrance exam approached, the more he studied, the worse his grades became."

In the second mock exam, with such easy questions, he only exceeded the special control line by a dozen points; in the third, he didn't even pass the special control line... In other words, he dropped from over 100th in the county to over 200th and then to over 500th.

Upon hearing the explanation that followed, everyone immediately understood.

The special control line and mock exams were still too far removed from the lives of these first-year junior high students. However, when it came to county rankings, they had a more direct understanding of the situation.

Chen Bing ranked first in the county, Shang Yunmiao ranked in the twenties, and Wen Xin, Song Ze, Ma Lele, and even Zhang Xinyu, who didn't do well this time, were all ranked in the top two or three hundred in the county. Looking at it this way, Chen Bing's cousin has indeed regressed too much.

This is equivalent to dropping from fifth or sixth place in the class to the teens, then to the twenties or thirties.

It should be understood that the higher the grade, the less likely it is to fall too low. This is similar to how students in lower-ranked areas find it difficult to progress to truly high-ranked areas, because their foundation is what it is.

"Then, he was puzzled and discouraged. But on the eve of the college entrance examination, when others were becoming more and more restless, he chose to persevere and finally reversed the downward trend of three consecutive exams, achieving his best result ever, ranking among the top 100 in the county and entering a key university."

So what I'm trying to say is that those days when your efforts don't seem to yield results are like seeds sprouting underground. Although you can't see their growth, they are taking root in the dark depths of the earth.

Chen Bing's "cousin's" story is finished. It's a short story, but it's based on a true experience. And it fits the theme perfectly, leaving everyone who heard it deeply moved.

After snapping out of their reverie, everyone silently counted the number of people around them. It seemed that there was one person who hadn't told his story yet.

As a result, everyone turned their attention to Ma Shaolong, including Zhang Xinyu.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Ma's face lit up with joy, and he became excited. Just as he was about to tell a story as exciting as Chen Bing's, his lips suddenly trembled.

Um... what should I talk about?

My grades were okay in elementary school, but they plummeted in junior high. This is the third or fourth time in a row, and my grades have basically followed a downward curve that is very much in line with objective laws.

Speaking of this, Ma Shaolong suddenly realized that all seven people present were in the top ten of their class.

And me? I'm at the bottom of the class?

Ma Shaolong wasn't the only one who thought of this; all the top students had similar ideas.

What does that mean?

In terms of this semester's final grades, we can use the universities that students can attend as a direct indicator.

Chen Bing – either Qinghua or Yenching University is a sure thing.

Shang Yunmiao and Wen Xin – Upper-middle class 985 universities.

Song Ze – from a low-level 985 university.

Ma Lele - General 211.

Zhang Xinyu – a graduate of a top-tier university.

Ma Shaolong – Second-tier university.

Yes, you read that right.

The gap between students ranked eleven or twelve and those ranked over one hundred at Baishi No. 1 Middle School is that large.

Because of the strong hierarchical structure of the science and technology classes, there will likely be a significant dividing line around the seventieth place.

In these ten places, a single change in ranking for Baishi No.1 Middle School can mean a difference of almost fifty places in the county.

In other words, if someone ranked 65th in their grade can achieve the 500th rank in the entire county, then someone ranked 75th would be ranked around 1000th or lower in the entire county, which is quite terrifying.

It is precisely because of this remarkable phenomenon that Baishi No.1 Middle School consistently sets the quota for students entering the science and technology class at the top seventy in every exam. Furthermore, in the final year of junior high, during the crucial final push, the school will ruthlessly increase the number of classes by a large margin.