Chapter 43: 43. Competitive top students
Translator: 549690339
The next morning, September 2nd.
Inside Classroom 1 of the first-year high school students.
Four main subject teachers stood on the platform, taking turns introducing themselves to the forty new students below.
The freshmen were all very quiet, listening attentively the whole time.
It wasn’t because they were particularly meek by nature, but rather because these students were still not very familiar with each other and interacted somewhat cautiously, unsure of what to talk about.
“Alright, students, the four of us on the stage have finished our introductions, and now it’s your turn to come up and introduce yourselves so everyone can get to know each other,” the homeroom teacher said, looking towards the girl sitting in the front row on the left with a smile, “Let’s start with this young lady, and then we’ll go row by row in order.”
The girl seemed extroverted; as soon as the homeroom teacher finished speaking, she stood up from her seat and cheerfully began to introduce herself on stage.
“Hello everyone, my name is Chu Yuxi, and my special talents are playing the lute, chess, calligraphy, and painting…”
After her, the others followed in turn, stepping up to introduce themselves.
“My name is Zhong Yijia, I like watching anime, playing cosplay, and sports…”
“My name is Peng Huoguang, I usually like to stay at home and play video games…”
Lin Zichen was sitting towards the back in the middle, quietly listening to his classmates’ self-introductions.
While listening, he noticed a strand of hair on Shen Qinghan’s shoulder and reached out to remove it for her.
Shen Qinghan felt the touch from behind and turned, thinking Lin Zichen had something to say to her.
Lin Zichen explained, “I saw a hair on your back just now and reached over to take it off and throw it away.”
“Oh, I see,” Shen Qinghan murmured, nodding quietly, and then turned back around.
The two were no longer deskmates but were now seated one behind the other.
Besides, the entire class was arranged with boys sitting next to boys and girls next to girls, no longer mixing boys and girls like during compulsory education.
After all, first-year high school students were normally around 16 years old, with secondary sexual characteristics already well-developed, and it was not quite appropriate to have boys and girls sitting together.
Originally, Lin Zichen, being a genius, could have used his privilege to continue sitting next to Shen Qinghan.
But after some thought, he felt this arrangement wasn’t beneficial to Shen Qinghan’s growth.
Shen Qinghan had grown up, having had another same-age friend, the girl with white hair, only for a brief time in the second grade of elementary school. Other than that, Lin Zichen was the only person in her social circle of the same age.
This was far too introverted and not a good thing.
A teenage girl in the midst of growing up should have not only a childhood friend but also peers of the same gender.
Because many topics and hobbies can only be discussed openly among friends of the same gender and age, and a lot of joys and worries can only be shared and confided with them.
The fastest way for Shen Qinghan to make friends with girls her own age was for her to have a female deskmate.
With this consideration in mind, Lin Zichen chose to sit separately from Shen Qinghan, changing their relationship from deskmates of many years to the current front and back desks.
As time continued to pass, it soon came Shen Qinghan’s turn to introduce herself on stage.
Because of her particularly outstanding looks, as soon as she stepped onto the stage, she attracted the gaze of everyone below.
“Hello everyone, I… my name is Shen Qinghan, I like… like to draw, and… um, please give me your guidance in the future.”
Feeling the stare of so many people, Shen Qinghan became extremely nervous. After quickly and simply introducing herself, she immediately fled from the podium back to her seat.
She had been seriously rehearsing her introduction in her mind, wanting to make a perfect impression in front of the whole class; but once she got on stage, she became so nervous that she forgot everything, which really bothered her.
After several more students had introduced themselves, it was finally Lin Zichen’s turn.
No sooner had he risen from his seat than he attracted the attention of all the girls in the class.
Suddenly, a series of whispers from the girls could be heard around the room, all commenting on how handsome he was.
He paid no mind to these sounds, walked straight to the platform, and introduced himself with a calm face:
“Hello everyone, my name is Lin Zichen, please give me your guidance in the future.”
He merely said this simple sentence and then stepped down to return to his seat.
This introduction was the briefest among all those who had gone up to the stage, without exception.
“Is this guy always so aloof?”
“Just likes to put on airs.”
“But he really is incredibly handsome, at least ten times more so than the class hunk in my previous class.”
Many boys whispered about Lin Zichen, some not so flattering words mingling in, spoken in very hushed tones.
Lin Zichen’s perception was extraordinary; he heard every word clearly, but he didn’t mind.
Boys of this junior-senior high school age, especially those fresh from middle school to the first year of high school, are most likely to look down on this and be discontented with that; it’s just a matter of getting used to it.
Time flew by.
After the final few freshmen finished their self-introductions, the bell signaling the end of the class rang.
Following the round of self-introductions in class, the freshmen were now much more familiar with one another and not as reserved as when they first arrived in the morning.
As soon as the four main subject teachers left, the classroom suddenly became rowdy.
Everyone was chatting with the people around them.
The most popular topic was the results of the middle school exams.
Class 1 of the first year was the honor class; being assigned to this class meant that every student was a top-notch scholar with a particular concern for grades, always striving to be the best.
At this moment, many were curious about the others’ middle school exam scores, wanting to compare and see how they ranked.
“Qinghan, how many points did you get on the middle school exam?”
Seated beside Shen Qinghan was a girl wearing a Lolita dress with pigtail braids, looking somewhat cute; she watched Shen Qinghan with a curious face and asked.
Shen Qinghan was caught off guard right away.
She got in through backdoor admissions, so her middle school exam scores were not something she could speak of.
After thinking it over, she finally just mentioned her scores from the cultural subjects, meekly saying, “I got 709 points…”
“That’s impressive, more than ten points higher than mine; I only got 698 points.”
After she spoke, the pigtail braids girl asked further, “How many points did you get for the physical test? I really didn’t do well on the middle school exam, just got 95 points, such a poor performance.”
Full marks for the physical test are 100 points; scoring 95 points already marks one as a top-performing scholar.
After all, the scoring criteria for the physical test are quite tough; managing to get 60 points, which is just passing, qualifies one to apply for the Martial Arts Class.
If you score 90 points, you’re guaranteed a spot in the honor class.
This pigtailed girl claimed she had performed poorly by scoring 95 points, which was just her way of subtly showing off.
“I didn’t do well on the physical test either, scored even lower than you did…” Shen Qinghan replied with some guilt.
She only scored 79 points on the physical test, a full 11 points short of qualifying for this honor class.
She simply could not speak of such a score.
Otherwise, once others heard it, they would immediately know she got in through the back door.
However, the pigtailed girl was insistent on digging deeper, continuing to press, “Then how many points did you score? 94 points? Or 93 points?”
“Even lower than that…”
Shen Qinghan didn’t want to lie but couldn’t disclose the exact number either; she could only give a vague answer, hoping to bluff her way through.
Unfortunately, the pigtailed girl was somewhat oblivious and determined to know the exact score before giving up, persisting with, “Is it 92 points? Or perhaps 91 points? Or is it 90 points?”
Pressed by the questioning, Shen Qinghan felt at a loss and grew so nervous that she began to sweat from her palms.
Seeing this, Lin Zichen who was sitting behind, decided to step in and rescue Shen Qinghan, smiling as he turned to the pigtailed girl and asked, “So… can I add you on WeChat?”
“Ah, add WeChat? Yeah, sure, should I scan you, or you scan me?”
Seeing Lin Zichen take the initiative to add her on WeChat, the pigtailed girl was flattered. As she took out her phone, her hands trembled with nervousness.
Lin Zichen was just too handsome, to the point that when talking face-to-face with him, the pigtailed girl’s cheeks blushed crimson, her face nearly dripping with water, completely forgetting about Shen Qinghan’s physical test score.
PS: Put out the bowl, seeking monthly and recommendation tickets!
