Chapter 24
Fang Zhao and An Huainan spent the entire afternoon in the library, looking up information and writing their papers.
For the first time, Fang Zhao had a profound understanding of the ancient saying, "Diligence can make up for lack of talent, and hard work will bring sweetness."
No wonder this sentence was passed down from the ancients. It is really applicable to the humanities, but not so applicable to the sciences.
In science, if you can understand, you understand. If you understand, you can solve a whole host of problems without having to memorize them. Even if you master a theorem, you only need to remember the method of evolution, and you don't need to memorize other theorems.
But the knowledge learned in liberal arts classes is only considered as a reserve if you have read and seen it.
Fang Zhao felt dizzy and his eyes were blurry the whole afternoon, and he barely managed to write the 5,000-word paper.
It seems that he is still a long way from being a liberal arts student. Fang Zhao, who has adapted to the simple formulas, suddenly understands the principal's good intentions.
After dinner, everyone gathered in the classroom and started the group selection.
Fang Zhao knew that his paper was not good enough, so he simply hid behind and listened to others' opinions first.
Sure enough, the other papers in the same group explored the characters' minds more delicately. Fang Zhao's habitual thinking, accustomed to explaining everything with logic, made her essay more concise and clear.
Everyone has his or her own strengths.
"I quite like Fang Zhao's articles."
After everyone finished reading, Chen Yingnan was the first to offer her opinion. "Her article is quite logical and well-connected. Although the wording of some sentences is not very beautiful, the overall idea is sound."
Wu Zhifan nodded. This is the advantage of students in science classes.
"I like Shen Xingxing's writing. Her writing is beautiful but not too flowery, and her description of Xiangling's inner world is very rich."
"This is an argumentative essay. What's the point of using beautiful words?"
Several other students put forward their opinions and the discussion became heated.
Fang Zhao took a notebook and carefully wrote down everyone's opinions. In the science class, there weren't many opportunities to discuss articles like this, so she had to cherish them.
When Professor Wen came in, the ten groups were in the middle of a heated discussion. He quietly put down his book and walked around the groups, very satisfied with the students' performance.
"I have a good suggestion."
Seeing that everyone had been arguing for a long time without any conclusion, Wu Zhifan made a suggestion.
"We still have half an hour. We can combine Fang Zhao's and Shen Xingxing's papers. Since they're both describing Xiangling, why not just keep Fang Zhao's logic and embellish it with Shen Xingxing's rhetoric?"
"I agree!"
"I agree!"
This time, the group's opinions were surprisingly unanimous, and they got to work right away. Everyone divided the article into several parts and modified and integrated them separately. Finally, in the last few minutes, they finished revising the article.
Now there is another problem. Who will it be named after?
"Use Shen Xingxing's."
Fang Zhao waved her hand indifferently. She didn't care much about the ranking anyway.
"Is it really possible?"
Shen Xingxing looked at Fang Zhao and instantly felt that her image was particularly great. For Shen Xingxing, the place at Shanhe University was still very tempting. But this seemed unfair to Fang Zhao. Thinking of this, Shen Xingxing's face showed a trace of guilt again.
Fang Zhao nodded. "My goal isn't Shanhe University anyway, so I don't care about the ranking."
Wu Zhifan looked at Fang Zhao, feeling somewhat disappointed. But he was a very open-minded person, believing that there were always women in the world.
The clock struck seven in the evening, and each group began to present their results.
Shen Xingxing has a cute appearance and a sweet voice. Her paper has clear logic, accurate wording and beautiful writing. When she was standing on the stage to present her paper, she attracted the attention of all the judges.
Even the always picky teacher An couldn't help but nod.
In comparison, Li Yihong's paper is much inferior.
Perhaps An Huainan intended to give way to others and did not put his full energy into writing, so Li Yihong was directly chosen to write their group's paper.
When the final scores were tallied, Li Yihong, despite having a high score from Teacher An, still ranked behind Shen Xingxing.
Li Yihong, who had intended to take first place, suffered a Waterloo in her debut performance and was naturally unwilling to accept the result.
"Fang Zhao, thank you. If it weren't for your thesis, I definitely wouldn't have gotten such a high score."
Shen Xingxing came down, took Fang Zhao's hand, and talked happily.
"Yeah, the combination of your two papers is just perfect."
The members of the group nodded.
"You're welcome. We're members of the same team, so we should advance and retreat together. Besides, your high score also increased our team's score by ten points, so I'm an indirect beneficiary."
"Can two people's papers be combined and graded together?"
Li Yihong, who was walking by their group, overheard their conversation and suddenly spoke up. Everyone in the classroom turned their gaze towards their group, even Professor Wen.
"What's going on?"
"Professor Wen, Shen Xingxing's paper is a re-creation based on Fang Zhao's paper. It doesn't count as her own work at all. I think this is unfair."
"Yeah?"
Professor Wen picked up Fang Zhao's paper and quickly skimmed through it. Sure enough, the general framework and logic were exactly the same as Shen Xingxing's.
"Fang Zhao, what do you say?"
"Professor Wen, Shen Xingxing's paper was reworked with my permission. Furthermore, my paper does have some flaws, but after Shen Xingxing's revisions, it's even more perfect. Therefore, the ownership of this paper should belong to Shen Xingxing."
"But this is unfair to other students."
Li Yihong suddenly retorted that if it weren't for Shen Xingxing, she would have won first place this time.
"But Professor Wen didn't rule that we can't do this before."
Fang Zhao explained, "And I volunteered."
"Shen Xingxing, where are your previous articles? Let me see them."
Professor Wen suddenly spoke. Shen Xingxing was shy by nature, and when faced with such a situation, she couldn't say a word. She just blushed, lowered her head, and said nothing.
When he heard that Professor Wen wanted to see his article, he hurriedly took it out from a pile of books and papers and showed it to him.
"Shen Xingxing has a good writing style, and Fang Zhao has strong logical thinking. When their articles are put together, they are truly outstanding."
After Professor Wen carefully read Shen Xingxing's article, he picked up Fang Zhao's article, put them together and praised them highly.
Seeing this, the other team members all gathered around.
"Okay, everyone, sit back down."
Professor Wen looked up and saw that everyone in the classroom had gathered around him. He immediately spoke up and asked everyone to maintain order.
"Shen Xingxing and Fang Zhao, both of you come up on stage and present your original papers."
Professor Wen found a seat in the first row and sat down.
Fang Zhao and Li Xingxing took the stage respectively to present their papers again.
"Now, please, everyone in the audience, please express your opinions as judges."
After the paper presentation, Professor Wen stood up and spoke to the contestants in the audience.
"I think Fang Zhao's paper has clear logic, and her analysis of the causes and consequences of the characters' actions is very thorough. I like her paper. Papers are primarily argumentative, so they don't need too many flowery words. A paper with well-founded arguments and points can be considered excellent."
"However, some of Fang Zhao's wording is indeed not very accurate. Using events alone as evidence is a bit weak and not as good as Shen Xingxing's understanding of the characters' inner thoughts. However, Shen Xingxing's logical analysis is indeed not in place, and some of the arguments later on are very abrupt."
"Compared to Li Yihong's article, these two articles each have their own merits and can be said to be on par with each other."
"Actually, I think Fang Zhao's article is better."
"Li Yihong's isn't bad either!"
——
After everyone had expressed their opinions, Professor Li stood on the podium and waved his hand for everyone to be quiet.
"If you take these two articles individually, they each have their own strengths, but also significant flaws. They are certainly not as good as Li Yihong's. However, I am very pleased to see that you, the younger generation of scholars, have achieved such success."
Professor Wen nodded in satisfaction and thought for a moment, "The paper Shen Xingxing presented on stage was indeed the result of their team's joint efforts. It was the fruit of their labor. Moreover, I didn't explicitly state that the team couldn't do this."
"How about this? Shen Xingxing's individual bonus points will be cancelled, and the individual points will be given to Li Yihong. But the group bonus points will still go to Shen Xingxing's group. How do you think?"
"I don't agree!"
Li Yihong suddenly stood up and objected. "I think we should re-compare these articles together. It's unfair to our group."
Professor Wen smiled and motioned Li Yihong to sit down.
"Well, the public has a discerning eye. Let's vote by show of hands. Those who agree with my ruling, please raise your hands."
The audience cheered loudly.
Eighty percent of the people in the classroom raised their hands.
"Okay, then follow my decision."
Professor Wen picked up the book on the podium, patted it, turned around and walked out, with a look of majesty on his face that did not allow for rejection.
"It's okay, Fang Zhao. It's already great that we can get the extra points for the team."
Wu Zhifan was worried that Fang Zhao would be discouraged, so he advised him.
"I'm fine, I just feel sorry for Shen Xingxing."
Shen Xingxing quickly shook her head. "This is the fairest way. I never intended to get the highest score in the first place."
"It's okay. Today is only the first day. There will be opportunities in the future. I will try to overtake Li Yihong."
Wu Zhifan looked at the time. It was already half past nine and the lights-out bell in the dormitory was about to ring.
"It's too late today. Everyone go back and have a good rest. Don't think too much."
Fang Zhao nodded and began to pack up, preparing to return to the dormitory.
An Huainan took a glass of water and stood behind Fang Zhao. He wanted to give her a sip, but as soon as he opened the lid of the cup, he was bumped hard by someone, and the water in the cup spilled directly onto Fang Zhao.
"Be careful." Wu Zhifan, who was quick-eyed and quick-handed, stepped forward and pulled Fang Zhao, saving her from being harmed.
However, Fang Zhao, who was already unstable, fell into Wu Zhifan's arms, and the weight of the two of them almost knocked over the desk next to them.
In a panic, she saw Li Yihong standing in the distance. She smiled at her triumphantly, then turned and walked out of the classroom.
"Are you okay?" An Huainan put the water cup aside, pulled Fang Zhao up and checked him carefully to confirm that he was not injured.
"I'm fine, thank you, Brother Wu."
Fang Zhao followed An Huainan for a long way, while Wu Zhifan was still standing there. The special scent of Fang Zhao still lingered in his nose, and for a moment he was a little confused about his own feelings.
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