Two days later, the monthly exam results were released.
Cheng Yan immediately checked Ye Qingyang’s ranking—and was so shocked she was speechless on the spot. If she had not previously asked Ye Qingyang to solve problems on the board and seen that he had been seriously reviewing lately, she would have suspected he had cheated.
This improvement was way too fast!
Beaming with delight, Cheng Yan walked into the classroom holding the test papers and the ranking sheet, her eyes and brows full of smiles.
Ye Qingyang was lying on his desk. Seeing how happy their homeroom teacher was, he even thought her birthday might be coming up.
He did not think much of it and continued planning his trip home for the week. Then he heard Cheng Yan say, “Although our class’s overall performance this month is average, there is one student who improved dramatically—jumping nearly thirty places. It shows that over the past month, he has been studying very hard.”
The entire class quietly turned to look at Ye Qingyang.
Ye Qingyang: ????
No, why are you all looking at me? I only planned to move up ten or so places—there is no way I jumped nearly thirty!
He gave an awkward yet polite smile. When he looked up, he saw Cheng Yan gazing at him gently.
That expression—kind and benevolent, almost like Guanyin herself—radiated compassion.
Ye Qingyang: …No way. It cannot really be me, right? This is not how I planned the script to go!
Cheng Yan said warmly, “It looks like everyone has guessed who it is. That is right—it is Ye Qingyang. Previously, when Ye Qingyang solved problems on the board, his thinking was clear and his answers were correct, which proves that, just as he said, he has been reviewing seriously after class. That is why he was able to make such great progress this time.”
“This shows that as long as you work hard, you will definitely improve. What is truly frightening is not poor grades, but a lack of effort. Do you understand?”
The students nodded. “We understand.”
What they did not understand was how he studied to improve so much!
Ye Qingyang: …This is truly a beautiful misunderstanding.
After praising Ye Qingyang and boosting morale, Cheng Yan called out names and handed out the test papers.
Looking at his math paper, Ye Qingyang saw that his score was five or six points higher than he had expected. He checked it carefully and realized that for the big questions at the end, he had only written the first part. He had assumed those would earn just two or three points, but most of them were actually worth three points. One of them even got him four points—probably because that problem only had two parts, so the points were split six and four.
That was genuinely surprising.
Propping his head up, he half-listened through the class. Afterward, Cheng Yan called him to the office.
With a gentle smile, she said, “Did I not say before? Whoever improves the most this time, I will treat them to a meal or convert it into a personal scholarship as a reward.”
Ye Qingyang said awkwardly, “There is no need, Teacher Cheng.”
“How could there not be?” Cheng Yan pulled out a chair for him. “Sit.”
Ye Qingyang had no choice but to sit down.
“This is what I am thinking,” Cheng Yan said. “Your family situation is not very good, and a meal is not a necessity, so I will not treat you to dinner. I will convert it into a personal scholarship instead. You can use it to buy study materials or daily necessities.”
Ye Qingyang: …
China’s best teacher! A nationally touching role model!
But Teacher, I really do not need this!
“Teacher, maybe you can give it to someone else,” Ye Qingyang said. “I did not expect to receive any reward.”
I did not truly improve, Teacher! I just stopped being lazy and switched to a low-power mode—doing everything the simplest way possible.
I do not deserve this!
Hearing this, Cheng Yan felt even more that he was not having an easy time. “As teachers, we keep our word. It is fine, Ye Qingyang. Take it, and just keep improving next time.”
Ye Qingyang: …
As she spoke, Cheng Yan took out her phone and added him from the class group. “Accept it. I will send you a red envelope.”
Ye Qingyang: “…Really, there is no need.”
“If you keep refusing, then I will wait until the midterm parent meeting and give the red envelope to your aunt.”
Ye Qingyang: !!!
That is absolutely not acceptable!!! No matter what, he could not let Ye Hong get that money!
He immediately stopped refusing, took out his phone, and accepted Cheng Yan’s friend request.
“Done.”
Cheng Yan nodded in satisfaction. “Keep working hard next time.”
“I will.” Ye Qingyang nodded.
“It would be even better if you could bring Lu Jingcheng and the others along,” Cheng Yan added. “You two seem to have a good relationship. You were always together during military training. Help guide him—and his friends too. Progressing together is real progress.”
Ye Qingyang thought about it. That did need some planning.
Previously, he had not intended to tutor Lu Jingcheng because that was part of Yu Wan’s storyline—she was supposed to get closer to Lu Jingcheng through tutoring.
But now that he had no intention of letting Lu Jingcheng interact with Yu Wan anymore, it would not be appropriate for him to ignore Lu Jingcheng’s grades.
The only question was whether Lu Jingcheng would be willing to listen to him and study properly.
He should be, Ye Qingyang thought. They had made a deal before—Lu Jingcheng himself said that if he scored higher than him this time, then Ye Qingyang could supervise him in the future.
So there should not be any problem, right?
Ye Qingyang nodded. “Okay.”
Even if there was a problem, he would still make Lu Jingcheng study seriously. Otherwise, if Lu Jingcheng could not get into college during the college entrance exam, the consequences would be huge.
After returning to the classroom, Ye Qingyang had barely sat down before the rest of the class surrounded him.
“That is amazing, Ye Qingyang! How did you study?”
“How did you suddenly improve so much? Did you hire a tutor?”
“Or did you take online classes?”
“Do not tell me you suddenly had an epiphany?”
“Come on, Ye Qingyang, teach us—just like during military training. Show us the way!”
“Yes, class monitor!”
Ye Qingyang: …How am I supposed to teach that?
“Let me think about it first,” he said. “When I have organized my thoughts, I will tell you all, okay?”
Seeing that he was actually willing to share, everyone was delighted. “Sure! Take your time, class monitor!”
Ye Qingyang nodded helplessly. “Then it may really take a while.”
“No problem. Slow work produces fine results,” Li Lan said, patting his shoulder. “We believe in you~”
Ye Qingyang: “…Thank you.”
After sending everyone away, Ye Qingyang walked to the board where the rankings were posted and took a look.
Sure enough, every subject score was higher than he had expected—especially Chinese, which was over ten points higher, and English, which was nearly ten points higher as well. No wonder he had jumped from fifty-sixth in the class to twenty-eighth. His total score was thirty to forty points higher than he had estimated, so naturally, he ranked over ten places higher than he had anticipated.
Ye Qingyang sighed. It was his first time being a poor student—he lacked experience and had not controlled the scale well. His mistake.
“Happy?” Just as he was reflecting, he suddenly felt a firm weight on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Lu Jingcheng looking down at him.
“It is okay.”
Lu Jingcheng did not believe him. “You improved so much—you must be overjoyed.”
Ye Qingyang pointed at his ranking. “You did not improve much.”
Lu Jingcheng: …That hurt.
He pinched Ye Qingyang’s cheek. “I am talking about you. Do not drag me into it.”
Ye Qingyang smiled. “Brother Lu, do you remember our agreement?”
Lu Jingcheng: …
Ye Qingyang pointed at his own ranking, then at Lu Jingcheng’s. “Starting today, I am going to supervise your studies properly. We will improve together.”
Lu Jingcheng removed his hand from Ye Qingyang’s shoulder. “You can improve on your own.”
He turned to leave, but Ye Qingyang quickly followed. “A deal is a deal.”
“You think you can control me?” Lu Jingcheng glanced at him sideways. “You have got some nerve.”
“A beloved consort needs the nerve of a beloved consort,” Ye Qingyang said without fear. “If you break your promise, I will be very disappointed in you.”
Lu Jingcheng snorted. “Break my promise? Me? It is just studying—who cannot do that?”
“Then we start tonight.”
Lu Jingcheng: …
Seeing his reluctance, Ye Qingyang immediately flattered him. “You are so capable—you would not refuse, right?”
“Of course not,” Lu Jingcheng said, falling straight into the trap—rejecting it in his heart while agreeing out loud.
Ye Qingyang was delighted and returned to his seat to make a study plan for him.
While working on it, a small red notification appeared on WeChat. When he opened it, he saw it was Zhang Ye, whom he had added a long time ago.
They were not particularly close, but they had stayed in touch through WeChat—somewhere between acquaintances and friends.
Zhang Ye: [Did you ascend?]
Ye Qingyang replied: [A temporary ascension.]
Zhang Ye: [Was it really your own ability? No cheating?]
Ye Qingyang thought, even if I had cheated, there is no way I would tell you.
Ye Qingyang: [I will block you.]
Zhang Ye: [Do not! I have something to ask you.]
Ye Qingyang: [?]
Zhang Ye: [You were amazing this time. Sister Yan praised you in our class for a long time and told us to use you as motivation. I am just curious—how did you improve so much all of a sudden? Nearly thirty places! That is a Yellow River-level leap!]
Ye Qingyang humbly replied: [Mainly diligence + effort, plus a bit of talent.]
Zhang Ye: [??? Speak human language!]
Ye Qingyang: [Do more practice, summarize more, work harder, and cut down on gaming time. Got it?]
Zhang Ye did not get it.
Zhang Ye: [How about this—you tutor me, or study with me. Use your method to teach me. We have similar foundations, so your method should suit me.]
Ye Qingyang: [May I ask your ranking last time and this time?]
Zhang Ye sent a shy emoji.
Then he sent a few numbers.
Zhang Ye: [Last time: tenth from the bottom in class, thirty-third from the bottom in the grade. This time: fifth from the bottom in class, tenth from the bottom in the grade.]
Ye Qingyang: …And you still have the nerve to say we have similar foundations? That is not even close!
Ye Qingyang: [My method is not suitable for you. Please find someone else.]
Zhang Ye: [Come on! You are the most suitable! What is the difference between last place and fifth from the bottom? You understand the struggles of poor students better than top students do—you can teach according to aptitude.]
Ye Qingyang: …What are you even thinking? I understand even less!
He was about to refuse when Zhang Ye sent another message:
Zhang Ye: [Do not worry, I will not treat you badly. One hundred per hour.]
Ye Qingyang: …One hundred.
Zhang Ye: [Is that too little? Then two hundred?]
Ye Qingyang: …Two hundred?!
Zhang Ye: [Or three hundred?]
Ye Qingyang: …Rich kid!
Zhang Ye: [Four hundred, okay? That is about what I used to pay my tutors. Does that work?]
Ye Qingyang made a decisive call:
[Deal!]