Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 274: Director 273, times have changed

In the library, Li Zheng and Xu Mengxi briefly made eye contact, then both awkwardly smiled and looked away.

Li Zheng walked to the window behind Xu Mengxi and, leaning on the windowsill, laughed and said, "Don’t blame Yu Jing, she just wants to strive in the same field with her good friend."

"Haha, haven’t seen you for a few days, and you know Jingjing better than I do?" Xu Mengxi, supporting herself on the back of the chair, stood back to back with Li Zheng, kicking the chair leg indifferently, "Jingjing is just like that, doesn’t want to bother talking with people she doesn’t care about, but insists on arranging everything for those she cares about."

"Feels like you’re talking about a kindergarten tyrant."

"Haha, now that you mention it, it really does seem like it."

After exchanging these thoughts, the two suddenly fell silent.

After a long silence, Li Zheng gritted his teeth and, with a shamelessly emotional tone, broke the silence.

"Teacher Mengxi..."

"Of course I support you choosing the life you want."

"But please, please... don’t miss some choices because of me."

"If there are any mistakes, they’re all mine."

"I shouldn’t have borrowed the chemistry book, shouldn’t have borrowed notes, shouldn’t have gone to your class, shouldn’t have given you the medal."

"These are all my faults, you shouldn’t have to pay for them."

"Just be a bit selfish, Teacher Mengxi."

"Don’t worry about me, or Yu Jing, or anyone at all."

"Choose what you like, do what you want to do."

"This is the right you’ve fought for 18 years to earn desperately."

"Just this once, don’t let anyone influence you."

"This is your life."

Li Zheng finished speaking, and the library fell into silence once again.

Both turned their backs to each other, yet with each breath, the fluctuations of the other’s emotions became clearer.

"Actually, I... don’t know..." Xu Mengxi bit her lip and grasped the back of the chair, "I don’t know what a dentist’s life is like, nor if I can become an aerospace engineer, don’t know if I will encounter you and Jingjing in the future, nor if I will feel sad or relieved..."

"I don’t know these either, but I know what I think, and if you are worried about some faint possibility, I can tell you—it’s definitely not possible." Li Zheng took a deep breath, his fingernails fiercely digging into the windowsill, struggling to articulate his thoughts, "I really admire you and want to be friends for a lifetime, but it’s definitely not possible to go further, no matter what, it’s not possible, even if we do the same job, even if we work together in the same office for decades, there would never be any other thoughts."

Hearing this, Xu Mengxi’s fingers grabbing the back of the chair also tightened as if they were burrowing into it.

But then, she suddenly relaxed.

Her fingers gradually loosened, and her arms slowly dropped.

"Wow, you really have high emotional intelligence..." Xu Mengxi wiped her eyes and turned around smiling, "Alright, I got it. This way, I won’t be influenced by anyone anymore, right?"

"Well... it’s still necessary to talk to someone about this." Li Zheng scratched his head and finally gathered the courage to turn around and face Xu Mengxi directly, "Regarding the actual life of a dentist and the current situation for aerospace engineers, I suggest you consult someone from the industry, Yu Jing’s mother is really nice, you could really talk to her."

"!" Xu Mengxi covered her mouth in shock, "You’ve met her mom?"

"Is your focus off?"

"Hahaha." Xu Mengxi picked up her transcript, breathed a sigh of relief, and mischievously said, "Then I really will go talk to her mom, don’t worry, I’ll speak well of you."

"Stop, just ask about your own matters, there’s no need for that."

"Yeah, you’re right…" Xu Mengxi seriously propped up her chin, "Mother Lin will naturally grow fonder of you the more she sees you, I would be overdoing it if I spoke too much."

"Teacher Mengxi, you’ve changed."

"Hahaha!"

As they chatted, a few people who had gone out for a walk came back, and Yu Jing started chattering with Xu Mengxi again, soon excitedly making a phone call.

Bixia watched for a moment then suddenly ran over and gave Li Zheng a shoulder bump.

Li Zheng was bumped far away, covering his arm, puzzled, "Why!"

"Do I need a reason to bump someone?" Bixia laughed heartily, "Might not see you again, just leaving you with some memories."

Li Zheng reluctantly said, "Then I should call Liu Xin and Qinghua to relive memories as well..."

"Ah, let’s leave it, saying more is just sentimental, it’s not like we won’t really see each other again." Bixia pointed at herself, "Remember to invite me to your wedding."

"???"

"What’s with that face? You wouldn’t invite me? You haven’t even asked me to your tea ceremony yet."

"Please, please, have tea, have tea."

…

Ultimately, no one knew how Xu Mengxi planned to fill out her college applications, as there was still a month left to think about it.

Bixia had already submitted early, applying to various sports-related courses and colleges.

With this departure from third-grade high school, they might really only see each other at weddings.

But for the second graders, it was not yet time to feel sentimental about these things.

The end-of-term exam that determined class placement was indeed the most important.

As for Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, they had already made one thing clear during their discussions.

For them, ordinary high school exams had lost all their meaning.

After all, no matter what the papers looked like, their scores were always around 730.

Thus, they agreed to stop this arms race in academics and shift their energy towards competitions and their future university life.

But that didn’t mean they could rest easy.

You see, even real heads of state always have untouchable interest groups lurking behind them.

In the power dynamics between the Lin and Li families, parents were the real financial backers.

...

At Lin’s mansion, Lin Yujing was sprawled on the couch, kicking her legs in the air as she read a book, while Ting Lan had gone home early to pack her bags.

"I’m off to Wenhai tonight and won’t be back until after the launch," Ting Lan said while packing her suitcase, "The holidays are almost here; if you’re scared being alone, you can stay at Grandma’s."

"Not scared, not scared," Lin Yujing hummed, turning a page, "Or maybe I’ll just go to Wenhai for the summer."

"Hmm? Not going with Li Zheng?" Ting Lan had just finished speaking when she giggled, "Or are you two planning to spend the whole summer there?"

"Buzz off, buzz off!!"

"Haha, no need, the scenery there is nice, but you’d get bored after two days, it’s not a place for young people to stay long," Ting Lan continued to pack, "By the way, is he willing to rent our house?"

"Willing... I guess..." Lin Yujing twisted her body and continued reading with her head turned away.

"How much then?"

"Ah... um... he’s savvy, really good at bargaining... I couldn’t outtalk him..." Lin Yujing mumbled, "Fifty... a day."

"???" Ting Lan exclaimed in shock, "Nice going, you little landlord, always helping outsiders!"

"No, no..." Lin Yujing shrank back in, "His family is poor... wears his uniform on weekends, it’s enough, it’s enough."

"Sigh, if you say they’re poor, then they’re poor," Ting Lan laughed, waving her hand, "Anyway, if you two have time, you might run to Ji University and apply for some audit courses, otherwise just stay at home and play, or else spending senior year just doing college entrance exam papers at school is a complete waste of life."

"Got it, got it, hurry up and go."

"Oh..." Ting Lan sighed deeply, "In the past, every time I went away for a long time, you used to hug me and cry to make me stay... Who knew it would come to this... Once daughters grow up, you can’t hold on to them... all that little cotton-padded jacket, all that hard work sewing, ends up benefiting someone else’s family..."

"Get lost..."

"The hard-earned money to buy a house... all given away by the little cotton-padded jacket... I’m really struggling."

"2000 per square meter, so hard indeed!"

...

In the living room at the Li’s, Li Zheng was eating healthy vegetables with Old Li, as usual.

"Dad, there’s something," Li Zheng said, sucking on a stem of Chinese broccoli, "Even though I’m over 18, it still needs to be said."

"Ah..." Li Yi paused, "You... started smoking?"

"How could I."

Old Li then breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh oh, then it’s nothing big, go on."

"It’s just, I was supposed to go to Wenhai with Lin Yujing, right."

"Hmm."

"I only found out after asking, we’re actually going to be staying together in her family’s house..." Li Zheng swallowed, "We’ll be in separate rooms, she has the main house with two bathrooms, we’ll only be together for studying, I hope you are aware."

"This..." Li Yi sniffed and stared at Li Zheng for a long time, wanting to scold, but not knowing where to start.

After a long silence, he finally said, "Then... be safe."

"Alright, I will train some combat skills during this time."

"Not that... I mean be safe."

"Then... take the train?"

"Be! Safe!"

"Then... I’ll buy a fire extinguisher when I get there."

"You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you!"

...

Wednesday, the final exams officially began.

Lin Yujing and Li Zheng were placed in different examination rooms.

Although the scores had lost their meaning, they still gave their all.

After all, if not for strength, one could still compete in speed.

Wednesday, the Chinese language exam started promptly at 9 am.

10:52 am, Li Zheng submitted his exam paper at lightning speed, not waiting for the teacher’s reaction, he dashed out of the classroom toward the small garden.

However, as soon as one foot stepped into it, he heard a voice coming straight toward him.

"Umm~~" Lin Yujing sat with her knees hugged in the pavilion, breathlessly sending a greeting from afar, "Have... have been waiting for over... over half an hour..."

Li Zheng cursed under his breath, shook his head and walked forward, but suddenly spotted a white sneaker.

"Huh?" Li Zheng bent down to pick it up, with a wide-eyed start, that wasn’t it just like Lin Yujing’s?

At least it wasn’t Tang Zhifei’s, that was for sure.

He carried the shoe, grinning all the way into the pavilion.

Even though Lin Yujing hurriedly tucked her right foot back, her bare white sock was still exposed.

"Ah, your shoe ran away and you didn’t pick it up?" Li Zheng teased, holding the shoe.

"...Give it to me!" Lin Yujing turned her head and reached out her hand.

Li Zheng toyed with the shoe, "Girls’ feet are so small, huh."

"Give it to me!" Lin Yujing snatched it away and quickly slid it onto her foot.

Li Zheng laughed, "I can imagine the embarrassed look on your face as you ran and lost your shoe. I just strolled over here."

"I lost it while strolling too!"

They didn’t know that Sun Xiubin was gnashing his teeth behind a distant tree.

It was getting too much!

Too clingy, always so clingy.

Not even focusing properly on exams.

However, she couldn’t really do anything about it.

After all, their studies were so good, finishing the paper in less than two hours was not something you could complain about.

Still, the results would have to be seen.

You two just keep at it, keep going.

Wait till your results are out; then it will be my turn to handle you two.

...

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the math exam began.

At 2:37, Lin Yujing rushed out of the exam room and ran straight to the garden.

But unfortunately, a man was already standing there with his hands behind his back.

And panting as if his lungs would burst any moment.

1:1.

Sun Xiubin was still hiding in that corner.

She hadn’t seen anyone run this fast even during the sports meet.

So anxious and frantic.

Let’s see how many points you can score!

...

Thursday morning, the English exam started promptly at 9 am.

At 10:41, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing met at the stairwell corner.

Then they...

Went out of school to have lunch together.

Sun Xiubin, leaning against the wall, was furious beyond measure.

Already unsatisfied with just meeting secretly in the small garden, huh...

Okay, okay, you keep going...

Wait until the results come out; won’t you have a reason to call your parents then?

...

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the final exam, integrated science, began.

When Lin Yujing ran out of the exam room.

Li Zheng was already waiting by the wall.

"Umm..." Lin Yujing slung her bag over, gritting her teeth, "Scum Chap, have you started preparing for the biology competition yet?"

Li Zheng sneered, "Not really, just briefly reviewed some problems about fruit fly mating."

"Even biology..." Lin Yujing sighed bitterly, "I hate fruit flies... I couldn’t solve it this time either…"

"Hah, those mistakes made in the past, you always need to learn from them," Li Zheng beckoned, "Come, let me explain."

"Move aside!"

"There’s no end to learning, chromosomes and DNA are really interesting... Listen to me explain..."

The two exited the staircase together and walked away.

This time, Sun Xiubin arrived late and had to call Lin Yujing’s exam invigilator out.

"It was terrifying... This time it was really terrifying..." the teacher said with a dejected face, "Can they be stopped from taking tests in the future? It’s too harsh on other students... Not just academically... Look, our exam hall is just above the small garden, it’s so quiet, hearing what they were discussing... I feel attacked too..."

"Hmph," Sun Xiubin patted the supervising teacher, "Not taking the exam seriously, they are digging their own graves, just wait, I’ll handle it."

...

On Friday morning, the comprehensive science grades were entered.

Sun Xiubin rushed to the photocopy room first thing and grabbed the ranking list for the senior year science class.

Some names, he didn’t even need to search for, they jumped right out at him.

[Li Zheng]

[Total score: 730]

[Rank: 1]

[Lin Yujing]

[Total score: 730]

[Rank: 1]

Seeing these neat scores, Sun Xiubin’s figure trembled, and he staggered back powerlessly.

Do as they please!

Do as they please indeed!

For some reason, he felt like slapping himself to vent.

"Stay calm... Teacher Sun... stay calm..." Zhu Hongbo quickly supported him, "I’m also quite shocked, the top three aren’t from our experimental class."

"Oh?" Sun Xiubin exclaimed, "Not even third place?"

"Yes, look..." Zhu Hongbo pointed to the scoreboard, "Xiaoke has improved too fast..."

"Zhang Xiaoke?" Sun Xiubin’s expression changed, "The one who sneaks around wearing makeup, doing her nails, altering the uniform, organizing prohibited activities, and finding ways to break the rules without getting caught?!"

"Ah... she has quite the story..." Zhu Hongbo sighed, "No way, Ren Da Fu students just have a solid foundation, she scored 650 this time, this rate of improvement, it’s more than the last time with Xu Mengxi, I want to ask them how they study."

Sun Xiubin clenched his fist against his chest, "So... there are no good students among those top ranked?"

"Let me see... eighth place, Jiang Qinghua, he has also improved significantly."

"Whew... finally, a good student..." Sun Xiubin then felt a bit more relieved, "Jiang Qinghua is good, an excellent student leader, excels in morals, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor..."

"Don’t rush..." Zhu Hongbo swallowed and said, "I heard from Zhifei, he’s been striving hard to catch up with his girlfriend from another school."

"?!?!"

"So..." Zhu Hongbo pursed his lips, "Director, times... might have changed, nowadays students might have matured enough to handle both relationships and studies well. Those couples in our class don’t seem to have any negative impact either."

"Couples?! More than one?"

"It’s alright, you’re busy..." Zhu Hongbo swiftly slipped away.

Tang Zhifei bounced in right after, seeing Sun Xiubin holding the score sheet deep in thought, he rubbed his hands and approached to ask, "Director, how many from our class made it into the experimental class?"

"Zhifei..." Sun Xiubin looked up blankly, "You’re young, close to the students, tell me the truth, does dating really not affect their studies now?"

"???" Tang Zhifei gaped, "Director, hold on, don’t let those two lead you astray!"

"Oh?" Sun Xiubin stood up and took Tang Zhifei’s hand, "Are you on my side?"

"Yes, I firmly oppose Li Zheng and Lin Yujing," Tang Zhifei declared resentfully, "It’s just that their academic performance is too good... It’s really hard to discipline..."

"Then we must minimize their impact on others..." Sun Xiubin gritted her teeth and whispered into Tang Zhifei’s ear, "Zhu Hongbo will be transferred next semester, you’ll take over the new experimental class."

"Ah? Really?" Tang Zhifei was shocked, "I... I might not be good enough..."

"Only you can do it, Principal Liu thinks the same," Sun Xiubin nodded firmly and handed the score sheet to Tang Zhifei, "The organization has pretty much decided, please prepare yourself mentally."

"I... I..." Tang Zhifei was both nervous and excited, as a language teacher, she should have been using some beautiful expressions to describe her feelings, yet she was at a loss for words, unable to say anything.

"Anyway, my methods are no longer effective," Sun Xiubin walked away with heavy steps, "Handling Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, I’ll leave it to you, Zhifei."

"I... I... will try my best..."

Tang Zhifei didn’t dare to be too definitive.

After all, having weaknesses that others could exploit.

Thinking that she had to coexist for another year...

She could only force a smile.

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