Ke Shaobin bumped into Xin Yan at the school entrance the next day. They looked at each other, and Ke Shaobin quickly averted his eyes. With head down, Ke Shaobin walked past Xin Yan, lest classmate Xin Yan say ‘stay away from me’ again.
Yesterday, he took action because he noticed four students bullying Xin Yan. He couldn't just stand by and do nothing. In fact, he would secretly help any classmates bullied in the school.
He wasn’t interested in being rebuked despite showing good intentions.
In the following time, Ke Shaobin focused all his attention on studying.
High school no. 14 was not considered a key high school in his area, and the annual university entrance examination’s online entry rate was only about 30%, so if he wanted to be admitted to a key university, he must rank in the top 30% of the entire grade. If he wanted to get into a prestigious university like Hua’an University, it was possible if he was in the top three of the entire grade.
He was only about 20th in their class right now, not to mention his grade ranking.
It had only been half a month since the start of the 1st year of high school. There were still three years before the university entrance examination, so he still had the time.
Ke Shaobin began to pay attention to the lectures and took careful notes in every class.
He was shorter than the other boys in the class. As a result, the teacher assigned him a seat in the first row. He wore old black-framed glasses and had nearsighted eyes, which gave him a nerdy appearance.
Many classmates in the class privately, called him Nerd Ke.
Ke Shaobin didn’t argue. He smiled all day long and always raised his head to stare at the blackboard seriously during class… Although everyone knew that his high school entrance examination results were mediocre; the teachers loved this kind of student who was willing to work hard and be conscientious.
Therefore, many teachers loved to let Ke Shaobin answer questions in class.
You think ah, sitting in the middle of the first row, staring earnestly at you to listen to the class. As soon as you look under the podium, you can meet the serious gaze of this student wearing glasses—— You can’t even talk about it without asking questions, right?
Once, the chemistry teacher asked Ke Shaobin to write an equation on the podium. Ke Shaobin needed clarification about generating products in the omitted. The teacher looked at him helplessly. “Looking and looking at the chemical reaction. How can the element change ah?” Laughter filled the classroom.
Ke Shaobin’s ears were red. “I–I forgot…”
The teacher said helplessly, “Come to my office after class.”
Ke Shaobin was apprehensive and went to the chemistry teacher after class, clutching his textbook. Of all the subjects, his chemistry was the worst. He thought this time the teacher would split his head and give him a scolding. As a result, the chemistry teacher was very gentle and gave him a candy, saying, “Ke Shaobin, you’re actually quite smart, but do you know what your biggest problem is?”
Ke Shaobin adjusted his glasses. “Not-not careful enough?”
The teacher nodded. “Yes. You’re just too careless. You know, but you fill in wrong on the exam. Carelessness is also essentially not grasping the knowledge firmly enough. From today, take all the equations we have learned in the first year of high school and write them three times, then give it to me…”
At this moment, someone knocked on the door and came in. Ke Shaobin turned around to see that it was Xin Yan.
They looked at each other. Ke Shaobin lowered his head, fearing that Xin Yan would see his jokes. As a result, Xin Yan didn’t say anything. He just came to the chemistry teacher’s desk and gave her the key to the lab before turning to leave.
The chemistry teacher said, “I’ve heard from other teachers that you’re not bad at math and physics. It stands to reason that you shouldn’t be that suck in chemistry. Xin Yan is our class representative, you can ask him if you have any questions.”
Ke Shaobin thought to himself. ‘Won’t it be awkward if I go to ask a question and he says stay away from me?’
But he still agreed. “I know Teacher. If I encounter something I don’t understand, I’ll ask the representative.”
After a while, it was high school’s midterm exam.
Ke Shaobin studied until 00:00 am. He often saw Xin Yan in front of the barbecue stall through the window, reviewing texts by the light of the street lamp.
The tall and thin shadow of the teenager looked unusually thin in the night, but it gave Ke Shaobin more strength—— The other person in such a difficult is serious, and what qualifications does he have not to work hard in an air-conditioned room?
Sometimes, however, no amount of effort could beat talent.
The results came out quickly. Ke Shaobin improved, going from ranking 20th in his class to 10th in midterm exams. Xin Yan came in first place, and he got a full score again for an exam as difficult as chemistry. Moreover, Xin Yan’s ranks also in the top ten in the entire grade, and Ke Shaobin ‘found no such person’ in the top 100 of the entire grade.
Ke Shaobin was simply envious and jealous.
He worked harder, and he became more like a ‘nerd’ in the eyes of his classmates.
He didn’t mind what others say about him. His goal was clear and he just wanted to get into the Computer Science Department of Hua’an University. Even if in the eyes of many students, this was simply a fool’s dream.
Time flies. Before he knew it, the first year of high school was over, and they began to divide into liberal arts and science.
At that time, the exam was still a 3+3 model, with three main subjects: Language, Mathematics, and Foreign Languages. Science relied on physics and chemistry, and liberal arts took politics, history, and geography. Ke Shaobin did not hesitate to apply for science, but he didn’t expect that after the separation of classes, upon reporting to the new class, the first person he saw sitting in the corner expressively was Xin Yan.
Ke Shaobin was stunned for a moment. “You also applied for science?”
Xin Yan said lightly, “I got the best score in chemistry, should I go to apply for liberal arts?”
Ke Shaobin blushed. He realized that he had asked a nonsense question, so he hurriedly changed his words. “Ahem. I mean, you are also assigned to the class 3 of science…”
Xin Yan didn’t say anything.
THe atmosphere was a bit awkward, but the next moment, Xin Yan suddenly threw a notebook at him. Ke Shaobin flipped it open to see that it was actually the chemistry notes he had sorted out.
Starting from middle school…
Ke Shaobin was dumbfounded. “Notes from middle school? What do you mean?!”
Xin Yan stood up and walked outside.
Ke Shaobin chased after him with his notebook. “Hey. What do you mean by giving me these notes?”
Xin Yan said lightly, “Teacher Zhou asked me to give it to you. She said, you don’t have a good foundation in chemistry, so you can still be saved if you start from middle school to make up for the foundation.”
Ke Shaobin remembered that Teacher Zhou had said he could ask Xin Yan if he had any questions. Teacher Zhou’s favorite student was Xin Yan, and letting Xin Yan give him notes showed the importance he attached to her.
His heart was warm, and he smiled, “Thank you, teacher Zhou.”
Xin Yan didn’t reply. Ke Shaobin paused and said, “And thank you too.”
Xin Yan’s back stiffened slightly as he quickly stepped forward. “No thanks.”
Ke Shaobin returned to the classroom and flipped through Xin Yan’s chemistry notes as if he had found a treasure. Xin Yan’s knowledge points were very clear and concise. He started from the most basic in middle school. As long as he didn’t have IQ problems, his chemistry score would improve if he memorized this notebook well!
Ke Shaobin’s eyes lit up with excitement, completely unaware that outside the classroom, Xin Yan, who was watching this scene through the window, had a faint smile on his lips.
Fool.
How can a chemistry teacher with so many students ask me to send you notes alone?
This is a specially compiled note for your weaknesses. I hope you can gain something and get admitted to a major university.
Xin Yan turned around and left the classroom, riding his bicycle to work at the cake shop.
He spent his high school life in a busy situation every day. He didn't have a father growing up, and his mother's income was low. She fell ill when she gave birth to him, so he had to shoulder the burden of life from a young age.
He was different from the students in his class, who had no worries about food and clothing.
Those students came home from class every day to a meal prepared by their parents and had pocket money from their parents to buy snacks every month.
He didn’t have pocket money. He had to buy everything on his own.
He got up at 6 am every day to cook breakfast by himself. At noon at the fast-food restaurant outside the school, and at night he went home to cook dinner with his mother. He also helped his mother take care of the barbecue stall in the night market.
There was so little time to study.
Sometimes, I memorize the text in my head when I ride my bicycle.
His grades were always top-notch. Maybe God granted him a smart brain and an exceptional memory that never forgot because of his hard life.
***
In the mid-term exam of the second year of high school, Ke Shaobin’s grades improved by leaps and bounds, especially in chemistry. He got 95 points from 100 for the first time.
At every parent-teacher meeting, Ke Shaobin would become a student who was praised by the teachers. After all, he was a typical example of hard work and continuous improvement. From 20th in the first year of high school, to 15th, and 10th in the final exam…
Ranked 4th in the Science class 3 in the second year of high school, and entered the top 50 of the entire grade for the first time!
Thi was simply inspirational.
Ke Shaobin’s father was delighted after the parent-teacher meeting, promising him that as long as he could be admitted to a major university, he would give him a laptop with the highest gaming configuration.
Ke Shaobin was even more motivated.
Xin Yan still took first place in the midterm this time. Because of his aloof personality of doing things his way and not like to talk to others, even if he had good grades, he was very unpopular in the class. No matter what classmate came to him to ask questions, he would say ‘I’m not available’, and he refused when someone wanted to borrow his homework to copy.
So gradually the class began to isolate him. “Look at his arrogant appearance. What’s the big deal!”
“It’s just that his eyes are about to grow to the top of his head. Can he look down on people just because he gets good grades?”
“I heard that Xin Yan works at the fast-food restaurant opposite the school!”
“Yes. I went to buy food last weekend and saw him working as a waiter there!”
“Is his family so poor?”
“I’ve also seen him seel skewers at a barbecue stall at night.”
“That’s really miserable. Should we crowdfund a donation to him?”
The chatter, the laughter, sounded particularly harsh.
The rumors about Xin Yan had been circulating among his classmates, but Xin Yan ignored them.
Ke Shaobin didn’t have much to do with him on the surface, but he still couldn’t help but feel sorry for him being targeted like this by his classmates.
Although Xin Yan’s sentence of ‘stay away from me’ in his freshman year of high school made Ke Shaobin angry, but Xin Yan’s chemistry notes helped in a lot and made his chemistry grades achieve a qualitative leap!
Let’s call this one even.
So, during a certain extracurricular activity, when XIn Yan was blocked in the restroom by a few male classmates and beaten up, Ke Shaobin, who was passing by, once again came to his aid. He repeated his old tricks, pinching his throat to imitate the teacher’s voice there. “Have you seen Lin Rong and the others? I’ve been looking for them for a long time. Are these bastard kids smoking in the restroom again?”
Those people were so frightened that they ran away without a trace in an instant!
Ke Shaobin breathed a sigh of relief. After a while, he pretended to pass by and walked into the men’s restroom to see the situation.
Xin Yan was not seriously injured, but the corners of his mouth were broken. Ke Shaobin pretended to be surprised and asked, “Why are you injured? Do you want to go to the infirmary?”
Xin Yan: “...”
It’s a pity not to be an actor.
Looking at Ke Shaobin’s concerned gaze behind the thick lenses, Xin Yan said lightly, “It’s okay. I accidentally scratched it.” He turned to leave the restroom and limped out of the door, apparently also suffering a calf injury.
Xin Yan grew up in the alley and fighting with gangsters was commonplace for him. He got used to it when he was injured many times. He also knew how to protect himself from serious injuries when he was beaten.
It was not that he didn’t want to hit back. He just didn’t want the head teacher to invite his parents.
His mother already had a hard life. He didn’t want her to come to school to face these disputes. The parents of those bastard students were not easy to deal with. He could imagine the people accusing his mother of disgusting faces.
So, he endured it for the time being.
After returning to the classroom, Xin Yan took out the iodine and gauze from his schoolbag, quickly wiped the wound on his leg, disinfected and bandaged it. It was done in one go.
Ke Shaobin watched his skillful movements through the window, and his heart couldn’t help but hurt slightly—— He prepared these commonly used medicines in his school bag. It seemed that in recent years, the school violence against him had not stopped.
Those scum would suffer retribution in the future!
Ke Shaobin cursed in his heart, but he also didn’t dare to take the initiative to approach the indifferent Xin Yan. After thinking about it carefully, he turned around and tore off a page of paper, secretly writing a note——
“People with envy are mediocre.
They isolate you, they bully you, and in the end, they are just jealous of you.
Because you are so good, they can only find ways to seek your shortcomings to comfort themselves. In their hearts, they dare not admit that they live in such a happy family and yet they are still inferior to you.
In your life, they’re just a bunch of irrelevant jumping clowns.
One day, you will spread your wings and leave these ugly-faced people far beneath your feet.
They are not worthy of affecting your progress.
Fighting, Xin Yan.”
After returning home, Xin Yan opened the chemistry textbook and saw a large paragraph of small compositions neatly written on the note in the book. He was speechless for a long time.
The night of winter was cold to the bone.
His down jacket was old and didn’t keep him warm. After two kilometers on his bike, he was so cold that his teeth chattered.
It was like a dark, smelly corner, suddenly sprinkled with warm, melting sunshine.
He smiled a bit. His eyes couldn’t help but feel a little sour as he read the note repeatedly, and then he laughed softly and said, “Ke Shaobin, you fool. You think I won’t recognize it if you change the font?”
The classmates in the class said that Ke Shaobin was silly, like a nerd.
But in Xin Yan’s opinion, Ke Shaobin was the kindest and loveliest person among all his classmates.
He’s the little sun in his heart.
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