From any perspective, the pandemic is a huge watershed moment. From the fate of nations and the global situation to personal achievements and future prospects, this three-year-long pandemic has divided our lives into two completely different ends.

Take us, for example, during our student days. The pandemic provided a breeding ground for decadence for some, but also a stepping stone for growth for others.

Without a doubt, Shang Yunmiao, who is diligent and hardworking and even more self-disciplined at home than at school, belongs to the latter category.

After three weeks of online classes, Shangping County is gradually returning to normal. Shangping Experimental High School is also recovering its vitality.

The second year of high school will start school on November 1st, according to the school's arrangements. This timing isn't ideal for some of the more unruly students, because just seven days after school starts, it will be the first midterm exam for the new second-year students.

This exam was undeniably important, being the first graded exam since the subject divisions began, with a maximum score of 750.

After all, the exam's score and timing are the same as the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao), and many people vaguely feel that this exam can reflect their Gaokao performance two years later. Faced with such an important exam, and considering how poorly they had studied during online classes, many people couldn't help but feel dejected and helpless during the evening self-study session the day before the exam, staring at the exam syllabus they hadn't learned at all.

But whatever is coming, will come.

Amidst anxiety, helplessness, and frustration, the past few days have flown by.

One night, everyone will face judgment on their own fate.

Although Shang Yunmiao was very serious during online classes, even if she did well on the test, she would still care about her grades.

Fortunately, she was able to control herself. On the evening of the day the results were released, she diligently did her homework, patiently waiting for the results to be announced during the third period of self-study.

Her calm and composed demeanor left Chen Bing at a loss for words when trying to comfort her.

At 9:20 p.m., Hu Jianjun appeared in the classroom on time after finishing the homeroom teacher meeting. His expression was very calm, which made everyone feel uneasy.

Based on experience, if everyone does well on the exam, Hu Jianjun should be beaming with joy.

Sure enough, the first thing the homeroom teacher said confirmed everyone's bad suspicions.

"I know that online classes are not very effective, but I really didn't expect you to be this bad."

Starting with this sentence, Hu Jianjun harshly criticized the poor performance of his classmates during online classes. For example, Zhang's morning reading recordings were sloppy, Li's homework was a mess, and Wang frequently missed classes. There were countless examples like these, and Hu Jianjun kept nagging about them for several minutes without finishing.

Hearing this from below the podium, Shang Yunmiao began to feel nervous, because the class's grades were generally not very good, and she probably wouldn't do much better.

Her nervous little hands were crossed in front of her lower abdomen. Noticing this, Chen Bing reached out to comfort her.

After giving the girl a reassuring smile, Chen Bing held her hand and listened together to Hu Jianjun's next speech.

In the entire Class 12 classroom, apart from Hu Jianjun's reprimands, there was no other sound. Almost all the students were pretending to study with their heads down.

However, there are always exceptions. For example, Chen Bing kept her head up and listened silently to the homeroom teacher's speech.

After scanning his face countless times, Hu Jianjun thought to himself that he had scolded him enough and it was time to encourage the outstanding students.

So he changed to a kind tone and started praising her again.

"Of course, there are also some students who are able to persist in their studies and maintain self-discipline during online classes. For example, Wei Xiaosheng, I still remember that at 11:30 pm on the 20th, this student was still asking me and his teachers about homework on WeChat. He also completed his daily learning tasks on time and never missed a class."

Thanks to Wei Xiaosheng's hard work, he has made tremendous progress this time. His scores are: Chinese 109, Math 77, English 125, Politics (with full marks) 85, History 89, Geography 80, for a total of 565 points! He ranks 5th in his class and 94th in the whole school. Compared to the end of the first semester of his senior year, he has improved his ranking by 178 places in the school. Let's give him a round of applause!

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted, and many people cast envious glances in Wei Xiaosheng's direction.

Before they could recover from their envy, Hu Jianjun continued, "Of course, Chen Bing is still the top student in our class this time. She got 144 in Chinese, 150 in Math, 150 in English, and 95 in the other three subjects. Her total score is 729, ranking first in the grade. If it weren't for the fact that the three minor subjects could only be given a maximum of 95 points this time, I believe Chen Bing wouldn't have been so far off from getting a perfect score."

The students in the class already had a deep understanding of the Ice God's power, so although they were surprised, they were somewhat used to it.

It was Shang Yunmiao, whose little hand was being held by our Ice Goddess. While she was happy to hear the teacher praise Chen Bing, she also felt worried. She feared she hadn't done well on the test and the teacher wouldn't mention her at all. But to her relief, her worries turned out to be unfounded.

"What surprised me the most wasn't Chen Bing. Everyone has been in the same classroom with Chen Bing for almost a year, and everyone should know how capable he is. Honestly, his achievement has little to do with me or his teachers."

After looking around the classroom, Hu Jianjun focused his attention on Shang Yunmiao, and then revealed who surprised him the most.

"What surprised me the most was Shang Yunmiao. In this midterm exam, she achieved an outstanding score of 706, with 138 in Chinese, 150 in Mathematics, 147 in English, 93 in Politics, 95 in History, and 89 in Geography, ranking second in the grade! She surpassed the third-ranked student by 19 points, making her the only student in the school to score over 700 in this midterm exam!"

Upon hearing this, gasps of surprise rippled through the class. Shang Yunmiao herself couldn't hide her delight, and even the little hand she was holding with Chen Bing unconsciously tightened its grip.

706! 706! Qingyan's cutoff score is only 680+!

Although midterm exam scores cannot be used to measure the college entrance exam results, 706 points! This is definitely the greatest reward for Shang Yunmiao's self-discipline during the pandemic.

Overjoyed, Shang Yunmiao couldn't resist grabbing Chen Bing for a kiss as a reward shortly after leaving the teaching building on her way home that evening. She even teased the boy further, asking, "Dare to sleep in my room tonight?"