Chapter 4: I like "hard-working geniuses".
These past few days, Ning Yanzhao has continued to attend school in a routine manner. Her daily schedule, as arranged by the school, consists of morning reading, classes, morning exercises, recess, evening self-study, and recess.
"Students, please listen very carefully to the points I'm about to make. They are extremely important, and it would be best if you could write them down in your notebooks..."
Ning Yanzhao is now listening to her teacher's teachings again for the second time in her life, while copying English words that she already knows by heart. Having gone through the CET-4 and CET-6 exams, although she has been out of college for several years, high school English is still a piece of cake for her. Therefore, while copying words, she is actually thinking about some things in her mind.
During the intense study period of high school, everyone's ears are always filled with various admonitions and teachings from teachers and parents. They say that these three years of high school are also three important and crucial years in life. The college entrance examination that lasts for several days in the summer after these three years will be enough to determine the future trajectory of life. Everyone must not relax in the slightest.
At that time, Ning Yanzhao thought that the future would really be like this. Although she was very playful in her first year of high school, she began to be cautious and careful in every step she took after she "realized" the importance of the college entrance examination.
The declining scores and rankings, the conspicuous red X's on the test paper, the various shakes and sighs of the teachers, and the parents' deep expectations or perhaps fear of hurting their child's feelings were all signals reminding the student to work harder. Although Ning Yanzhao's grades were still among the best, she had to accept all the hidden messages, whether she wanted to or not. At that time, she felt that she needed to "wake up".
The learning atmosphere in the classroom is always contagious; once a certain time arrives, everyone will instinctively want to catch up with their classmates.
Needless to say, the female students who have been working hard to change their own destiny will only work harder day by day as time goes by and their studies progress.
However, the most noticeable change is among the male students who used to joke around and play. Their conversations have shifted from discussing games and basketball stars to debating various topics.
They would also tacitly settle down and sit in the classroom all day long after they "woke up," repeating the steps of attending classes and doing practice problems day and night. This long-term battle about their future was one that no one dared to easily unload from the mountain weighing on their shoulders, especially since they were in the same classroom and came from similar backgrounds.
Because of this learning environment, Ning Yanzhao felt like the sky was falling every time her grades dropped in high school. However, after she went to college and started working, she realized that there were many other things that felt like the sky was falling. She also belatedly discovered that everyone had said the same thing over the past ten years.
For most people, every stage of life is a "critical" moment, with each stage seemingly carrying an inescapable "mission" in a worldly sense. These crucial years last at least one or two decades. However, many people treat marriage and having children with a "casual" attitude. Ning Yanzhao has heard so many typical quotes that she's practically sick of them, such as, "We're all doing this for your own good, would we ever harm you?", "How do you know he's not a good person if you don't try?", "What are you being so picky about? If you keep being picky, you'll be too old and no one will want you anymore"...
Although every setback in the past is inevitable in the process of growth, when a person looks back on the past, they will regret the scenery they missed.
It was a chance to stroll leisurely on the playground and enjoy the scenery during a sunset, or perhaps a chance to miss during a heavy snowfall. It could even be said to be the only chance to have a snowball fight with classmates, since it doesn't snow in this city every year.
We are all trapped in a maze of life filled with various "temptations." Although we are confused, most of us can only choose a certain "correct" path and cannot break free.
After a few years of not-so-mature reflection, Ning Yanzhao also came to understand a principle: in this era, education can no longer play the same role in completely changing one's destiny as it did in the older generation, but it can still be a stepping stone for ordinary families to have the ability to embrace a better life in the future.
"Ding ding ding ding..." The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class. Ning Yanzhao finished copying the English words, and the English class came to an end.
"Since the bell has already rung, students, you can leave now. We'll continue with today's lesson tomorrow. Later, the English class representative will collect all the English words that the class copied down today and hand them in for me to check."
Goodbye, teacher.
Goodbye, students.
Since it was the last class of the morning, the English teacher reluctantly announced the end of get out of class so as not to delay everyone's lunch, even though she still had a lot to teach.
High school teachers know how important the college entrance examination is to students' future, and they wish they could cram all the knowledge into their students' heads at once, so that students could remember all the knowledge points after a single glance, master all the exam techniques, and finally get high scores.
Ning Yanzhao thought she had forgotten this feeling, but after so many years, returning to this intense study mode still brought out her muscle memory. For example, as soon as she heard the school song that the school always played during lunch break, her legs would itch, and she would think about running to the cafeteria to line up for food as soon as possible. That's what she was talking about right now!
Without even realizing it, Ning Yanzhao was the first to rush out of the classroom after the English teacher left, and then, as she had done many times before, she ran to become the first person in the class to arrive at the cafeteria.
It wasn't until Ning Yanzhao got to the cafeteria and lined up that she belatedly admired herself. How could she be so skilled? Not only that, she also remembered to order one for Jing Yiran so that when Jing Yiran came over, they could eat right away.
Ning Yanzhao's only proficiency in sports is running; she's only so-so at other sports, and her worst sports are all kinds of ball games—her playing style is simply unbearable to watch.
However, Ning Yanzhao has a very good attitude towards sports. Anyway, it's not like she's going to participate in a competition. This little running skill is enough for high school. If she can't play basketball, she can't play basketball.
That said, Ning Yanzhao and Jing Yiran often help each other like this. For example, Ning Yanzhao runs fast, so she will get a meal for Jing Yiran every day; Jing Yiran has good physical coordination, so she will guide her to adjust her exercise posture during physical education class.
"Yanzhao, Yanzhao, I'm here." Jing Yiran ran over, panting, picked up her tray, and walked to an empty seat. The two of them then started chatting and eating lunch.
In the midst of the intense high school life, for most students, mealtimes seem to offer a chance to "take a break" rather than holidays. During these brief respite from studying, everyone chats freely in the cafeteria, discussing various gossip or their favorite celebrities.
"Wow, look at Xu Yongqing, she loves studying so much, she even reads while eating." Jing Yiran exclaimed in amazement when she saw Xu Yongqing reading "Essential English Vocabulary for College Entrance Examination" while eating.
Ning Yanzhao also glanced back at Xu Yongqing, who was using a water bottle to support the book "Essential English Vocabulary for College Entrance Examination" while eating, her expression focused on the book in front of her, as if all the noise in the cafeteria had nothing to do with her.
Throughout Ning Yanzhao's more than ten years of schooling, she noticed that every school had a group of people who would eat while looking at their books, even while walking. This was true not only in high school but also in university. Ning Yanzhao greatly admired these hardworking people because she felt that she could not do that.
In the battle of the college entrance examination, there are some "geniuses" who can surpass their subject teachers with just a little study and easily create a huge gap between themselves and ordinary people.
However, most people in this world are ordinary. Ordinary people still have to compete with others in the college entrance examination to get into the schools and majors they want. Apart from intelligence, this innate gap can only be made up for through hard work.
Ning Yanzhao really likes a Japanese manga adaptation called "Naruto". For her, the stories of the various characters in the early part of the series are more touching than the later plot where various "gods" become villains and the protagonist unleashes powerful attacks.
In the early episodes, besides the first ending theme "Wind" which moved Ning Yanzhao even more about the story of the male protagonist Naruto Uzumaki and others, there was another character named Rock Lee. He hoped that one day he could defeat his teammate Neji Hyuga, who was known as a genius, through his hard work. Therefore, he was called "the genius of hard work" by his teacher Might Guy.
Although the author later focused on other characters, the character of Rock Lee has given Ning Yanzhao a lot of encouragement over the years.
Geniuses are rare, but hardworking geniuses can create their own through their efforts.
There's nothing wrong with Xu Yongqing making full use of her time to study.
It's such a pity that Xu Yongqing, such a hardworking and ambitious person, died in a car accident. It would be best if Ning Yanzhao could help her then.
"Then let's eat quickly so we can carry more things during our lunch break."
"No, that's too much of a hardship. Let's talk about something more interesting instead."
"For example?" Then Jing Yiran told Ning Yanzhao the gossip she had heard from her classmates that day.
What gossip could there be in high school? It was nothing more than the "relationships" of various classmates. When Jing Yiran talked about these things, she was always particularly excited. She described each piece of gossip vividly. Of course, Ning Yanzhao pretended to be nonchalant on the surface, but if her ears could stretch out, they would probably be almost as long as Jing Yiran's head.
Meanwhile, for some reason, Ning Yanzhao kept hearing An Nianyu's name in the cafeteria today. It was really strange; her hearing seemed particularly good today.
And after Ning Yanzhao and Jing Yiran finished their meal, as they pretended to relax and looked around, they saw An Nianyu, the center of the gossip, carrying his tray and leaving with his classmates.
"Yan Zhao, do you have someone you like?"
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