The week of midterms arrived, right on schedule!
In the past month, Yu Fei had relied on his two great talents to review all of his academic subjects.
To review the old was to learn the new.
With his new mind, looking at this knowledge gave him a completely different perspective. Knowledge couldn't just be rote memorized.
You had to understand it, to digest it. The so-called "key concepts" were like individual pearls. You had to string them together into a beaded curtain so that when the wind blew, they would tinkle musically.
Looking back, Yu Fei came to understand something.
Many so-called "study methods" actually had a high bar for entry.
People can't comprehend things beyond their own understanding. The frightening part was that everyone's capacity for understanding was different.
One day, while working on a physics problem about two colliding spheres, he found his mind automatically visualizing their motion. It was as if the problem came not with a static diagram, but with a full video.
When he snapped out of it, he was stunned for a good long while.
He realized that for certain subjects, effort might not even matter that much. Hard work only served to ensure you had no regrets; it just helped you fully accept your fate.
He remembered a roommate from his past life, also from high school. The guy never had any fun and was always studying. He was the very model of a diligent, hard-working student.
But the poor guy never even broke 400 on his exams.
It hadn't struck him much back then, but thinking about it now… 'Is that how Jiang Yifan used to see me?'
'And what about the other geniuses in the world? Jiang Yifan is only blue-quality!'
After mulling it over for a long time, Yu Fei made a momentous decision!
'Aside from martial arts training, I won't push myself so hard in my other studies anymore. The real business is finding an academic ace to teach a lesson to when the opportunity arises!'
The high school curriculum covered a wide range of subjects.
For the college entrance exam, each of the seven standard subjects was worth 100 points, for a total of 700.
The martial arts exam added two extra academic subjects.
The Human Body Scripture and the Great Yu Martial Scripture.
Therefore, the academic portion for martial arts applicants was worth a total of 900 points.
This time, Yu Fei was assigned to the second exam room. In the last monthly test, his grade-wide rank had been 50th.
Humans are a hyper-competitive species, always eager to fight. No matter the time or place, they always want to post rankings to see who comes out on top.
Nine exams in two days. Even Yu Fei was left feeling completely drained. 'Taking tests is such a painful experience!'
When the grade-wide rankings were posted, they were split into two types by default.
One was the standard academic ranking, which excluded the Human Body Scripture and the Great Yu Martial Scripture, and the other was a comprehensive ranking that included them. Since the students aiming for the martial arts track hadn't been separated out yet, the overall grade ranking was calculated based on all nine subjects.
When the results were released: Zhang Qingyu was fifth in the grade and first in the class with 817 points.
Yu Fei was sixth in the grade and second in the class with 812 points.
Jiang Yifan was seventh in the grade and third in the class with 806 points.
The moment the scores were posted, the entire class erupted in an uproar.
The gossiping onlookers chattered endlessly, but the students at the center of it all couldn't care less.
Jiang Yifan knew his focus had been entirely on martial arts lately, so it was normal for his grades to slip a little.
Zhang Qingyu's score was simply her usual excellent performance.
As for Yu Fei, his improvement was well within his own expectations. 'After all, it's not like anyone else knows I've leveled up my brain!'
Lei Xiaoqiang sighed dramatically, wailing all day long.
"Fei, my man, how could you betray your class? Squeezing yourself right between those two... is that really appropriate? You're stuck in the middle, taking it from both the front and the back! ... Oof... ARGH!"
This time, Li Mengyao had placed 62nd in the grade and seventh in the class—a significant improvement.
At the class meeting, Mr. Kun was beaming from ear to ear. While no one from Class 2-6 had made it into the grade's top three this time, they had managed to place three students in the top ten.
During the meeting, he made a point of praising Yu Fei.
"Everyone, you should all learn from Yu Fei. The college entrance exams are still more than a year and a half away, so nothing is impossible! Just look at him—he made huge progress in the monthly test and now again in the midterms... Yu Fei, why don't you come up and share some of your study secrets with the class!"
Yu Fei was called up to the podium. He looked out at the sea of salty faces, thought for a moment, and said,
"Drink lots of yogurt, stay happy, and get plenty of sleep!"
With that, he turned and went back to his seat.
Mr. Kun quickly chimed in, "Ah, Yu Fei is quite the comedian. Of course, there's some truth to what he said. Uh... proper nutrition and maintaining good physical health are essential for effective studying..."
It took Mr. Kun quite a bit of effort to steer the conversation back on track from Yu Fei's remarks.
What Yu Fei failed to notice was that when he mentioned drinking yogurt, Li Mengyao's eyes practically started sparkling.
At that moment, Li Mengyao was screaming internally: 'I'm the one who gives my dream guy his yogurt! HAHAHA...'
She thought back on every single bottle of yogurt she'd ever given Yu Fei. Each one was a spark of their love! In just a few seconds, her thoughts had already jumped to how many children they would have, and a look of motherly affection even graced her features.
The moment Yu Fei sat back down, Li Mengyao sneakily passed a bottle of yogurt to him under the desk.
He froze. 'The teacher is still talking,' he thought. 'Has Li Mengyao gotten this bold?'
He looked up and saw the girl giving him a weirdly doting smile. 'She's lost her mind!'
"No thanks, I've been gassy lately!"
Li Mengyao froze instantly, as if she'd just heard the cruelest words imaginable. 'In that moment, her love died!'
The parent-teacher conference was held after the midterms. For the three children of the Yu Family, it had always been Mrs. Yu who attended.
The reason was simple: Mrs. Yu lost less pay for taking a day off. From a purely financial standpoint, it was more practical for her to go.
At this conference, Mrs. Yu was praised so much by Mr. Kun that she couldn't stop smiling. He even invited her on stage to share her philosophy on raising children.
Yu Fei making it into the top ten of his grade was a delightful surprise. Coupled with his achievements in martial arts, she felt incredibly proud of her son.
It was a pure and simple joy—the greatest achievement a parent could feel.
That evening, Mrs. Yu returned home and splurged, making a grand eight-course meal to celebrate.
When Mr. Yu got home, he was quite surprised.
"I was just told at the factory this afternoon. I haven't said a word to anyone. How did you all find out?"
"Find out about what?" Mrs. Yu looked baffled. 'I'm celebrating our son's incredible grades. What are you talking about?'
Mr. Yu spoke as he changed out of his work clothes.
"I got a promotion. I'm the new workshop supervisor for the North District plant! My salary is going up to ten thousand a month!
Didn't you make all this extra food to celebrate for me?"
"There's more good news? Does the raise start this month?"
"It'll kick in after three months. I'm just the acting supervisor for now. After three months, I'll have a performance review, and the HR department will make their assessment. Once that goes through, my salary will be adjusted. It shouldn't be a problem.
I'm bringing some of my trusted guys with me, so there won't be any issues!"
"That's still wonderful! The supervisor position pays over three thousand more than what you make now!"
"So that's why I was asking how you knew! You even prepared a whole spread of our favorite dishes to celebrate!"
After washing his hands, Mr. Yu joined the rest of the family at the dining table.
Mrs. Yu was overjoyed. The pressures of life had taken a toll on her figure and etched wrinkles on her face, but tonight, she seemed to have regained the vitality of her youth.
"Feifei ranked sixth in his grade on the midterms. Now tell me, isn't that worth celebrating?"
Mr. Yu stared in stunned silence for a moment, then his face lit up with excitement.
"Feifei did that well?"
Hearing this news made Mr. Yu even happier than his own promotion!
"Are you guys done talking yet? I'm starving!"
All Yu Wei wanted to do was eat. She'd been eyeing a particular salt-and-pepper shrimp for a while now.
"Let's eat, let's eat!"
Yu Fei took the initiative, picking up his chopsticks to place a chicken drumstick in Mr. Yu's bowl.
"To Dad's success and good health!"
Next, he picked out a nice piece of fish for Mrs. Yu.
"May Mom always be smiling and grow younger every day!"
Then, relying on his lightning-fast reflexes, he snatched the largest shrimp right from under Yu Wei's chopsticks, casually dropping a piece of bok choy in its place.
"Don't be a picky eater, kiddo. Eat your veggies!"
"Dad! Mom! My brother's bullying me!"
"Hahaha..."
...
Yu Fei had always believed that wealth wasn't a prerequisite for happiness; a harmonious family was.
Of course, he mused, 'the happiness of the truly rich might be beyond my imagination. It's not like I've ever been one of them!'