Chapter 170: Straight-A student, Yang Xiaojin
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Ren Xiaosu asked Yang Xiaojin quietly, “What’s university life like?”
Yang Xiaojin gave it some thought and said, “Classes are rather flexible, but the exams can be extremely strict. There are relatively fewer students admitted into universities, and most of them will continue research with their advisers after graduation. It’s said that universities were very lenient with their admissions in the past, but now they’re recruiting fewer and fewer students over time. They’ve become more like a research base these days, and there are only around 20 universities scattered across the hundreds of strongholds in existence. The heads of these universities have already begun to streamline their student recruitment and organizational structures. They go all-out to make breakthroughs in their identified fields of research.”
“Oh.” Ren Xiaosu nodded. “Do the students get any subsidies?”
“Hmm…” Yang Xiaojin realized her words had fallen on deaf ears. After talking so much, Ren Xiaosu’s only focus was on whether the students would get any subsidies? She said calmly, “No, there are no subsidies.”
“Are you serious?” Ren Xiaosu did not believe her.
Yang Xiaojin said lightly, “You are not suited for scientific research, so don’t go and be a burden to the other university students.”
“How can you say that!” Ren Xiaosu said unhappily, “Why am I a burden?!”
Yang Xiaojin ignored him. Jiang Wu, who was standing at the lectern, said, “If you want to qualify for the university in Stronghold 109, there are only four subjects you’ll be tested on: math, physics, chemistry, and biology. Each subject has a maximum score of 150 points, and the cutoff point for admission last year was 560 points. That is to say, if you want to qualify for university, you’ll have to score above 140 points in each subject.”
Ren Xiaosu gasped. He had taken a mock exam the day before and could only manage to score 140 points in total on four subjects…
He looked at Yang Xiaojin and asked, “How can I get 140 points in every subject?”
Yang Xiaojin glanced at him. “You can get that by skipping a few multiple-choice questions per section.”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless. He couldn’t understand it at all. Was a hopeless student like her who paid no attention in class qualified to act as though she were a model student?! ‘We aren’t that different!’
However, Ren Xiaosu felt that something wasn’t right. He decided to ask his mind palace, “What is Yang Xiaojin’s proficiency in math?”
“Intermediate.”
He was very happy when he heard that from the palace. Although her intermediate proficiency in mathematics was definitely better than his, she still wouldn’t be considered a model student.
Eh, wait a minute!
Ren Xiaosu rephrased his question. “What is Yang Xiaojin’s proficiency in math at the senior high level?”
“Perfect.”
Ren Xiaosu realized that by adding in the two words “senior high,” the assessment was completely different! Fuck! In fact, senior high math was considered the most basic level of mathematics.
“What’s Yang Xiaojin’s proficiency in physics at the senior high level?”
“Perfect.”
“What is Yang Xiaojin’s proficiency in chemistry at the senior high level… Forget it, I’m not asking anymore.” Ren Xiaosu sulked. When a hopeless student like him saw Yang Xiaojin sleeping in class every day, he felt a warmth in his chest, knowing that someone else would be accompanying him at the bottom of the class.
But at this moment, he realized he was the only hopeless student in class.
When does one feel the loneliest? Times like these are when one feels loneliest.
Yang Xiaojin glanced at him and then asked, “Are you aiming to go to uni?”
Ren Xiaosu replied, “I’m not qualified.”
Yang Xiaojin was surprised.
…
For the following day’s exams, Ren Xiaosu went to the examination room after locating it. When he looked around, he found no one he knew in the entire classroom. For today’s exams, Ren Xiaosu had come with the mindset of just participating. The results were not as important as the fact that he attempted it.
In the past, examinations were also held in the town’s school, but they were all conducted by Zhang Jinglin in the form of an oral test. In contrast, the examinations here were conducted on test papers.
Ren Xiaosu felt that Zhang Jinglin was just trying to save money on buying paper, so he tested the students by asking them questions one by one. After all, paper was not exactly cheap these days.
How would Zhang Jinglin feel If he learned his image in Ren Xiaosu’s mind was like this?
At this moment, a girl who was seated behind Ren Xiaosu patted him on his back. “Student?”
Ren Xiaosu turned around and looked at the girl. “What’s the matter?”
“Um, how are your grades? Can you let me copy your answers?” This girl was relatively good at communicating, so she started a conversation with Ren Xiaosu.
The school had segregated the students to prevent those who knew each other from cheating. However, that would not stop everyone’s enthusiasm to cheat.
All of a sudden, the voice from Ren Xiaosu’s mind palace said, “Quest: Help your fellow student complete her exam.”
Ren Xiaosu was shocked on the spot. He wondered whether the palace had positive or negative fundamental values. How could it even encourage him to aid someone in cheating?
But for Ren Xiaosu, nothing else mattered as long as there was a quest for him to do.
Ren Xiaosu looked at the girl and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll let you copy mine!”
The girl beamed with joy. “Thank you so much!”
“Gratitude received from Li Mo, +1!”
Ren Xiaosu thought, ‘This is killing two birds with one stone. Not only can I complete the quest, but I also earned a gratitude token.’
When the exams began, Li Mo was surprised. She observed Ren Xiaosu from behind and discovered he was writing diligently and answering the test questions. What a good student!
Halfway through the examination, Ren Xiaosu shifted his body to the side and allowed Li Mo to copy his answers.
When she finished copying and felt satisfied, the bell finally rang. Then the teacher went around to collect the tests.
Li Mo looked at Ren Xiaosu happily and said, “I never expected you would answer all the questions. You’re amazing. Did you know how to do all of them?”
Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “No, I don’t.”
Li Mo was confused.
It didn’t matter whether he knew the answers or not. He just had to complete the quest. The palace’s quest required him to help a fellow student “complete” the test, so Ren Xiaosu could not leave any questions blank. What would he do if the palace judged him to have failed the quest if he did not answer a question?
To be honest, it was really quite tiring to fabricate answers for every question on the test.
On his way back home at night, Ren Xiaosu saw Xiaoyu waiting at the door of the shop. When she saw Ren Xiaosu, she reacted as though her savior had arrived. “Xiaosu, you’ve finally returned. Old Wang has been arrested.”
Ren Xiaosu frowned. “What’s going on? Tell me all the details.”
“Many people from the Public Order Division came over today.” Xiaoyu explained, “They said we didn’t obtain a license from the stronghold to sell the drugs and that the in-house doctor did not have any medical qualifications. So they arrested the person in charge here.”
Ren Xiaosu let out a sigh of relief. Although Old Wang getting arrested was a serious matter, it was fine as long it wasn’t related to supernatural beings.
He was most worried that his secret would get exposed and lead to the Li Consortium targeting him. If that happened, it would truly be a serious matter.
“Did they say anything before they left?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“Those people from the Public Order Division said that you’d have to make a trip down to their office once you got back.” Xiaoyu said.
Ren Xiaosu thought for a while and said, “There’s no hurry. Fatty Luo should be coming over to the shop later. I’ll ask him about what’s going on first.”
He also wanted to get Wang Fugui out quickly, but he could not be rash when dealing with this matter. He had to check out the situation with Luo Lan first before deciding on the most suitable way to handle it.
