Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 216 - 215 days - flowers - board

The end-of-term exams had finished, and it happened to be Friday, so there were noticeably more people on the playground.

Li Zheng should have been playing basketball as usual, but instead, he quietly watched Zhang Xiaoke and Liu Xin leave, packed his backpack, and headed to the physics research group with Lin Yujing and Jiang Qinghua.

This had become a routine, and because of it, Li Zheng had to temporarily give up his daily basketball relaxation.

He was actually reluctant about this schedule.

His ideal schedule was to play basketball from after school until half past six, eat dinner until seven, and then study chemistry competitions with Tao Feifei until ten.

That would really be killing two birds with one stone.

However, Tao Feifei could never accept such a schedule; it would ruin her.

In an ordinary school like Lake Ying, to accommodate the learning progress of most students, whether they are competition students or tutoring teachers, it’s tough to squeeze in competition studies during regular class hours. These activities must take place in the evenings or on weekends, which requires sacrificing more personal time.

It’s only natural for students to invest time for better grades.

But teachers have it harder, at most getting a bit of extra performance pay, which is hardly worth mentioning compared to the effort invested.

That’s where the advantage of elite schools becomes apparent- they have specialized competition classes, with much of the coaching taking place during regular classes. That’s why Wu Shu and Ou Xingzhuo could earn their "Dragon Balls" so easily; often, it was just a case of casually listening to the lesson.

Such gaps can only be bridged by effort that is multiple times greater, for both teachers and students.

Therefore, even though the whole school had already entered the holiday vibe, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing showed no change in attitude, climbing the stairs with the same steadiness as on the first day of school.

But Jiang Qinghua seemed a bit restless.

He glanced out of the window as he walked.

It was unclear whether it was the shouts from the courts or Shi Tong’s stirring words that moved him.

Li Zheng certainly noticed.

Jiang Qinghua was messed up, Jiang Qinghua had changed.

Gone was his initial resolved dedication to the Chem Competitions.

Only a nostalgia for the colorful world remained.

There was, of course, nothing wrong with that; it was normal and healthy.

But it wasn’t the kind of mindset for those like Lin Yujing who aimed to excel in competitions.

Such normalcy made it impossible.

Li Zheng no longer looked at Jiang Qinghua but just stared straight ahead as he ascended the stairs, indifferently saying, "There’s no need to pretend."

"Huh?" Jiang Qinghua was startled back to reality.

"We started off at a disadvantage, aiming for accomplishments requires burning our boats, committing several times more effort than others," Li Zheng sighed softly. "If you’re not determined, you might as well just prepare normally for the college entrance examination."

"I... I have been trying," Jiang Qinghua mumbled, looking down and responding, "I just got distracted... "

Unexpectedly, Lin Yujing also sighed, "What a wasteful guy you are, Qinghua, you’re wasting time."

Facing the assault from both sides, Jiang Qinghua’s face drooped, growing pitiful: "But Teacher Tao said I’m almost at the provincial level three... "

"Provincial level three is meaningless," Li Zheng retorted. "Back then, Teacher Mengxi could have attained it too if she wanted, but she made the rational choice."

Lin Yujing nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and Mengxi was more diligent and more focused than you."

Li Zheng continued, "And even just within our class, Zhang Xiaoke is more suited for the competitions than you are. "

Lin Yujing chuckled softly, "Xiaoke is way too keen, doesn’t even think twice about competitions."

As they talked, they realized Jiang Qinghua had stopped, frozen on the stairs.

"Am I... disturbing you guys?" Jiang Qinghua said, his face stern. "If so, then I’ll leave."

The two were simultaneously shocked.

Without a second thought, Li Zheng turned back, walked over, and punched Jiang Qinghua in the arm.

"Have you gone mad?" Li Zheng scolded. "Isn’t it better to spend this time improving your other subjects instead of wasting it?"

Lin Yujing, less patient, turned her head and delivered a fierce rebuke.

"Small-minded, losing hair!"

Jiang Qinghua’s face flushed with what they said.

It seemed he was being overly sensitive... They weren’t really dismissing him.

Li Zheng, carrying Jiang Qinghua’s backpack, continued up the stairs, explaining, "We’re all in this together; I wouldn’t have said it if I was afraid of embarrassing you. If it upsets you, I’ll just stop."

"Hey..." Jiang Qinghua scratched his head, "Now that you mention it, I was indeed being too stubborn... I got your point, I’ll talk to Teacher Tao later."

From above, Lin Yujing commented sympathetically, "Still scratching, still scratching!"

"..."

Upon reaching the fourth floor, the trio headed towards the physics research group. They hadn’t gone far before they heard a resonant male voice inside—

"Right, right, I didn’t want to distract them either, just wanted to check with you first. Teacher Tao, if you nod, and Li Zheng nods, we can get started."

The three were stunned.

Although there were many teachers at the school, there weren’t many male teachers.

This robust voice could only belong to the math teacher Zhu Hongbo.

As they hesitated, Tao Feifei asked, "Are you really not considering Lin Yujing anymore?"

"Yes, I know, Lin Yujing often seems more talented than Li Zheng, but..." Zhu Hongbo’s volume dropped slightly, as if it wasn’t convenient to speak too loudly, "but there’s a subtle difference in thinking between math and physics. In my view, Lin Yujing’s leapfrog thinking is less promising than Li Zheng’s potential."

Before he had finished, Li Zheng sensed the tension rising.

Turning his head, he saw Lin Yujing’s expression subtly changing, her lips involuntarily pouting and trembling slightly.

This, of course, was a good thing.

But Li Zheng, never one to take advantage of someone’s vulnerability, quietly consoled, "Teacher Zhu is talking about potential, implying you’ve already maxed out, with no room for improvement..."

Before he could finish, Zhu Hongbo added, "Honestly, I believe Lin Yujing has reached her ceiling in math. Her ceiling isn’t really higher than anyone else’s, not higher than Li Zheng’s, not even higher than any average person’s. Her strength lies in reaching her ceiling quickly, but math competitions require total devotion and deep commitment, which is why I favor Li Zheng."

Hearing this, Li Zheng himself couldn’t find any words of comfort.

So it seemed there was no recourse."Indeed, during her teenage years, Lin Yujing had some district-level achievements in mathematics, but I’ve always said that it was only because she could reach the ceiling faster than others. It could be said that she always led the pack before entering the Math Competitions," Zhu Hongbo explained.

"What about after she entered the Math Competitions?" Tao Feifei asked.

Zhu Hongbo sighed deeply, "Well...I have been coaching her for more than half a semester now, and based on my judgment, second place at the provincial level is the best she can do."

"This...I actually don’t believe it, but since it’s Teacher Zhu’s judgment, it must be more accurate than my feeling," Tao Feifei turned around and asked, "How about Li Zheng?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"Yes, I can’t see Li Zheng’s ceiling at all, not even a bit," Zhu Hongbo retorted, "Do you have this feeling that when you are teaching Lin Yujing, before you even start teaching, you can already predict her score, but when teaching Li Zheng, you have no idea at all; there’s always a new breakthrough."

"Now that you mention it... I do feel somewhat..." Tao Feifei was unconsciously drawn into Zhu Hongbo’s discussion, mumbling hazily, "The key is, Li Zheng’s improvement is very stable. He fully comprehends any knowledge he comes into contact with... Lin Yujing, on the other hand, just focuses on solving enough problems to get by. One has a strong foundation, and the other has many methods... I have to say, both approaches work in physics."

"Yes, that’s the difference between physics and mathematics," Zhu Hongbo stood up and smiled, "Okay, I won’t take up more of your time. Then I’ll talk to Li Zheng about the Math Competitions when the time is right, okay?"

"Sure, I’m okay with that, and it’s up to Li Zheng himself," Tao Feifei stood up to see him out.

"Oh yeah..." Zhu Hongbo suddenly turned back, speaking nervously, "But don’t tell Lin Yujing about this. That kid’s ego is too strong; she can’t stand losing to anyone."

"Haha, she also lost in the Chem Competitions."

"It’s different, the Chem Competitions she didn’t like and didn’t want to put in effort," Zhu Hongbo chuckled, "Mathematics, she just isn’t as good as Li Zheng, no matter how hard she tries."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone was knocking.

They knocked with the force used to slam a door.

Even though the door was already open, they still knocked.

The two looked over in surprise.

A highly aggravated state had appeared.

Lin Yujing looked like she had encountered an archenemy, even the angles of her eyebrows had changed.

"Ah...then I’ll be leaving now, Teacher Tao," Zhu Hongbo pretended to be guilty, walking out while hastily saying to Tao Feifei, "I’ll send you his information later, you can have a look and see if it’s suitable."

After speaking, Zhu Hongbo quickly left.

As he passed by Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, he gave an extremely awkward smile.

"Hmm..." Lin Yujing did not rush into the room, but hostilely watched him walk away.

"Alright, what Teacher Zhu said is just his subjective judgment," Li Zheng sincerely advised, "Second place at the provincial level is really low, but you have a chance to fight for first place if you prepare thoroughly."

"I don’t need to exert full effort to be stronger than you," she retorted.

"Heh," Li Zheng chuckled, "You’re really overstepping now; you’ve grown too arrogant. But don’t worry, your arrogance won’t last much longer. The upcoming standardized test scores will teach you a lesson and show you your own—cei—ling—limit."

"Shut up, loser! I hate that word ’ceiling’."

"Oh, there’s a spider on the ceiling."

"Shut up!"

Tao Feifei finally stepped in, "Enough you two! Go home and quarrel behind closed doors; is this a place to argue?"

Each snorted and, turning their backs, they selected seats far apart from each other, sitting down with their backpacks.

Tao Feifei sighed helplessly, "Teacher Zhu didn’t mean anything else, just came to ask about your situation and whether you are interested in participating in the upcoming math competitions."

"I’ll definitely participate," Li Zheng immediately raised his hand and said, "Teacher Tao, don’t worry, it won’t affect my prep for the physics competition, especially since the two share a lot of common ground."

"Okay, then just go and talk to Teacher Zhu yourself later." Tao Feifei had anticipated this and did not forget to remind him, "One thing I’ll tell you in advance is that Teacher Zhu Hongbo himself comes from a math background and is recognized by our school as a young teacher with high levels of teaching and academic knowledge. His capability is definitely not inferior to those who specialize in training for math competitions outside; in fact, he’s definitely better than me."

"Teacher Tao is too modest," Li Zheng laughed, "We’ve all managed to improve together this time, and this pace feels very comfortable."

"That’s true," Tao Feifei reflected, "After graduating from college, this is the first time I’ve felt such an improvement. It’s tiring, but it’s worth it."

"That’s not right." Lin Yujing suddenly interrupted fiercely, "Teacher Tao is better than Teacher Zhu, Teacher Zhu has... Teacher Zhu has poor judgment."

"Oh, don’t take it so seriously, Yu Jing," Tao Feifei laughed with her hand over her face, "I genuinely have limited understanding of math. At least in my case, my evaluation of you has always been higher than that of Li Zheng. Does that make you feel better?"

"~~~~"

But Li Zheng was quite unhappy, "Teacher Tao... I do have my pride too."

"Oh, it’s not that... You excel in certain aspects just as much as Yu Jing does, everyone has their specialties," Tao Feifei said.

"Oh? And what areas might those be?"

"Like, for instance... in terms of experimental handling, you’re more steady than Lin Yujing," Tao Feifei scratched her head and explained, "It’s not me saying this, it’s Fu Xuefeng, if you disagree you can go debate with him."

"Hmm, Teacher Fu’s judgment in this regard is indeed very accurate," Li Zheng waved his hand in resignation, "Yu Jing, let’s not argue anymore. Everything will be proven by the results, whether it’s the end-of-term comprehensive exams or the current physics competition, or the future math competition."

Saying this, Li Zheng suddenly looked up, as if he had just thought of something incredible, and said in surprise, "Ow ow ow, I forgot, you don’t have math competition... Teacher Zhu doesn’t really want to recruit you, sorry."

"!!!!"

Li Zheng said very loudly, smacking his lips, "Oh well, one less competition, more time to play, one less loss, that’s also good."

"...shut up, loser, you have 3 days left, just the last 3 days." Lin Yujing fiercely pulled off her pen cap, "Once the results of the comprehensive exam come out, you’ll never be able to hold your head up again."

"Exactly, the first place always looks down on the rest."

"Ahhhh!" Lin Yujing, after struggling to come up with the right words for a long time, ended up just frantically clutching her hair, "Where did you learn to talk like that?"

"Heh, being smooth-talking is an entry-level skill for jerks."

"Loser! I hope you make it past rank 500."

"Impossible, even if I miss one subject and cut off 1/3 of my brain, I could still make it into the top 500."

"Tsk... that’s true... even Zhang Xiaoke has a shot at the top 500, that’s just doggie level..."

The argument came to a reluctant ceasefire at this point.

Tao Feifei heaved a sigh of relief and was just about to sit down when she noticed someone still standing at the door, who hadn’t moved from the beginning.

"Ah? Qinghua, you’re here?" Tao Feifei swallowed and waved, "Come sit."

"I... I..." Jiang Qinghua clenched her fists and bowed her head, feeling wronged, "I’ve thought it over carefully... maybe I’ll put the physics competition on hold... and try hard for... the top 500..."

"Ah, that sudden?" Faced with this news, Tao Feifei was shocked, her face lighting up with joy, "Teacher totally understands, no worries, keep it up!"

Lin Yujing also put aside her awkwardness, turned around, and said, "Trying hard is what matters."

With both key phrases spoken, Li Zheng could only go with the flow, and clenched his fists in front of him—

"Be strong."