Chapter 19

Due to being overly excited last night and working hard, Zhang Qiu woke up late the next morning. When he got up with dark circles under his eyes and looked at the clock, the preparatory bell for the morning reading class had already rung.

Suddenly, his whole body shivered, and Zhang Qiu dressed and washed up at lightning speed. He rushed to the classroom, which was 300 meters away from the dormitory, at a sprinter's pace, but the class bell had already rung for 10 minutes.

In these days with only about 60 days left until the college entrance exam, both teachers and students were fighting for every second. Various slogans encouraging students to work hard for the exam were hung in every blank corner of the school, and the classroom was the most important place of all.

In such a special period, any violation of rules was unforgivable, especially tardiness and skipping classes, which were the most intolerable for teachers.

The morning reading class was the first class of the day, scheduled for students to recite. All the knowledge points that needed to be memorized were arranged in the morning reading class, and today's morning reading class was an English class.

The English teacher was the one who disliked Zhang Qiu the most, and Zhang Qiu also disliked her the most, simply because she was a member of the anti-English language cult. Since entering high school, Zhang Qiu's English scores had never been passing, and it was strange if the teacher could look at him favorably!

"Report!" With a not-so-loud report, the entire class's attention was drawn to Zhang Qiu. Suzhen High School was known for its strict discipline, and there were very few students who dared to violate the rules. Even if their grades were poor, they were all trained to be well-behaved by the school. Those who couldn't be tamed had already been expelled or transferred.

Thus, Zhang Qiu's blatant tardiness and his bold stance at the door immediately caught the attention of his classmates.

"Zhang Qiu, where have you been? Why are you late? Did you oversleep?" The English teacher was a very strict middle-aged woman, known as the "Tyrannical Teacher." Before the education bureau issued a strict order against corporal punishment, she was the vanguard of the corporal punishment corps.

Such a formidable teacher was passed down from generation to generation to warn future students. This also solidified the English teacher's reputation as the "Tyrannical Teacher." The students couldn't help but secretly laugh, thinking that Zhang Qiu had picked the wrong person to run into.

Without waiting for Zhang Qiu to answer, the English teacher spoke again: "You only come to class now! Didn't you go for the morning run? I think you don't need to attend class. Go to the playground and run for a period to make up for the morning run."

This was too harsh, worthy of the vanguard of the pre-corporal punishment era. A single command to "make up for the morning run" could almost kill Zhang Qiu.

With Zhang Qiu's small build, running for a period would be like peeling off a layer of skin. Moreover, you couldn't say anything to the teacher, accuse her of corporal punishment? No! She was just urging students to exercise and make up for the missed morning run.

As some students watched Zhang Qiu with schadenfreude, hoping to see him in trouble, Zhang Qiu walked into the classroom and said, "Teacher, I stayed up late last night memorizing words, so I woke up late this morning. I didn't mean to be late!"

What? Zhang Qiu stayed up late memorizing words? He must have been playing games. This guy's English had never been passing. If he had been willing to stay up late memorizing words, he wouldn't be in this situation. He always said that he hated English and wanted to push for the abolition of mandatory English education in society. Who wants to learn it? He didn't want to be forced to learn it, and he didn't want to force others to learn it!

A person with such thoughts would stay up late to memorize words? Even if he was lying, he should at least come up with a plausible lie! Was he looking for trouble?

The students didn't believe him, and the teacher naturally didn't believe him either. She coldly laughed and said, "Oh? You stayed up late memorizing words? The sun must be rising from the west!" The English teacher couldn't help but be deeply impressed by Zhang Qiu as a student.

No matter the big exams, small exams, weekly exams, monthly exams, joint exams, or school exams, this guy had never passed. He had already made her a laughingstock at Suzhen High School, a thorn in her side. Now, he was lying with his eyes wide open, saying he stayed up late memorizing words... He couldn't even lie properly. Was he taking the teacher for a fool?

"Yes. I feel that the college entrance exam is approaching, and English is my biggest weakness. I'm preparing to make a breakthrough."

Although Suzhen High School had strict discipline, the teachers had a tradition of leniency for students who worked hard.

Zhang Qiu insisted that he was late because he stayed up late memorizing words, hoping to take advantage of this tradition and get lenient treatment. After all, he hadn't skipped class, which wasn't a major violation.

As for whether others believed he had memorized words, it was no longer important. He was confident that he could make others believe that he was proficient in high school English exams.

"Did everyone hear that? Zhang Qiu has seen the light and is determined to memorize words. You all need to work harder too." The teacher said to the class, deliberately mocking him. But who could say anything? She was using a real example to encourage students to study hard.

"Since that's the case, let's have Zhang Qiu come to the front of the class for today's word dictation. If he gets a perfect score, he won't have to make up the morning run, and I won't hold his tardiness against him. What do you think, Zhang Qiu?"

The last 15 minutes of each morning reading class were for word dictation. Usually, the teacher would call two students to the blackboard to write, while the rest wrote in their notebooks and submitted them to the group leader for grading.

"No problem, teacher!" Zhang Qiu's response was loud and confident, making people look at him with new respect. But in a moment, they thought he was just putting on a brave face.

The dictation began, and Zhang Qiu picked up a piece of chalk with a casual demeanor and stood in front of the blackboard.

The teacher read a word, and he wrote it down. He wrote so smoothly, like flowing clouds, without any hesitation.

This situation made the English teacher's face change, and she began to wonder. Could this student really have had a breakthrough? Did he really stay up late memorizing words last night?

Students who knew Zhang Qiu well also blinked, staring at the blackboard in disbelief. How could he write so smoothly? But their actions were met with a glare and a reprimand from the teacher: "No looking at the blackboard! Write your own!"

Ten minutes later, the dictation of 100 words was complete. The group leaders quickly collected the students' notebooks, and the main event began. Everyone's attention was drawn to the blackboard.

The teacher began grading Zhang Qiu's dictation, one correct, two correct, three correct... 100 correct! Oh my God! What happened to Zhang Qiu? Even staying up late to memorize words shouldn't have such an immediate effect. It's not real, not scientific! This can't be true!

Did this guy eat too much old platinum? He got all 100 words correct! He set a record since the teacher started dictation! The previous record was set by the top English student in the class—98 correct!

Now, this record, thought to be unbreakable, was broken by Zhang Qiu! 100 words, completely correct! A perfect 100!

Those who liked to swear couldn't help but think, "Damn! This is really blinding my eyes!"

Zhang Qiu was very pleased inside, but his face remained calm. This composed demeanor made people admire him even more, and several attractive female classmates began to look at him with interest. However, Zhang Qiu already had a crush on the school beauty, Lin Lai, and was not interested in the ordinary girls in the science class.

"100 points! Zhang Qiu, you did a great job. However, it's good to want to improve, but don't stay up late in the future. Just make good use of class time, and that will be enough to ensure your study time. Be careful not to overdo it and harm your health, affecting your final push!" Although the English teacher was strict and known as the "Tyrannical Teacher," she had no choice but to let Zhang Qiu off. His performance was impressive, and she had to keep her promise.

But inside, she was seething with anger. This guy had made her lose face. In her conflicted state, she could only think, "You got lucky this time, escaping a punishment!"

As Zhang Qiu returned to his seat with confidence, many people began to look at him differently. This was his first successful battle to turn his life around.

"I will study hard and strive to become a better person! Lanlan, I won't let you down!"