[169] Helping Wang Ke Cheat

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Shen Chengyan stopped the car and spotted Fang Chang’an from a distance. He waved at him, and Fang Chang’an pointed toward the office. Without a word, Shen Chengyan dashed straight to the office, too lazy to exchange even a sentence with Fang Chang’an.

“Men have no humanity when it comes to women!” Fang Chang’an muttered silently as he returned to the classroom. He first put the dustpan back, then went to his seat. Passing by the front, Feng Yanyan asked, “What’s wrong with Teacher Cheng?”

Many in the class were former classmates from Class Four, along with some new students. Cheng Mengfei treated people kindly; during the less intense times last semester, he even often played music for the students during breaks, making him quite popular. Several students lowered their voices or stopped what they were doing, waiting for Fang Chang’an’s response.

“Nothing serious, just feeling a little unwell.”

Fang Chang’an replied vaguely and sat down. Hearing this, and seeing Teacher Cheng’s husband come over, everyone felt reassured.

“What’s really wrong with Teacher Cheng?”

Wang Ke wasn’t easily fooled, nor were others, but since they weren’t close with Fang Chang’an, they didn’t feel comfortable asking more during self-study. She, however, had no such reservations. As soon as Fang Chang’an sat down, she leaned over and whispered to him.

Fang Chang’an also leaned in, whispering, “She might be pregnant.”

“Ah?”

Wang Ke was momentarily stunned. When their eyes met, she blushed and looked away, then glanced back quietly and asked, “Really?”

“Maybe.”

Fang Chang’an wasn’t certain but guessed it was quite possible. Cheng Mengfei should be about twenty-six or twenty-seven this year; the elders must be urging for a child by now. In today’s environment, pregnancy at this stage is considered rather late.

At noon, back home, Fang Chang’an first called Shen Chengyan to confirm the pregnancy. Voices of Shen Baoguo and Peng Shuyu could be heard in the background, clearly already alarmed.

During dinner, Fang Chang’an shared the news with his mother. Later, Cheng Mengfei went to visit to express her concern.

In the afternoon, Fang Chang’an told Wang Ke the good news. She quietly asked, “Will Teacher Cheng still teach us?”

Fang Chang’an chuckled, “We only have one month left. No matter what, she’ll finish teaching us. If she didn’t want to see us through graduation, she’d probably have gotten pregnant already.”

“Pregnant and still teaching...” Wang Ke seemed to wonder if pregnancy was manageable, but she blushed and stopped halfway. Fang Chang’an found her amusing and smiled at her. The young girl grew even more bashful and gently kicked him under the table.

Though their usual desk-mate interactions included moments like this, as the high school entrance exam approached, Wang Ke grew increasingly anxious. Especially after the final mock exam at the end of May, she had been confident before the test, believing that the “special training” Fang Chang’an gave her had worked well, but the result didn’t meet her expectations.

That wasn’t to say her scores were bad. On the contrary, even with the easier test this time, her 653 points surpassed Liu Bei for the first time, ranking second in the class and third in the grade—a personal best since she enrolled.

However, even with an additional 45 points from sports and experiments, her total was only 698, while the usual cutoff for the city’s top high school was above 700.

Moreover, she wasn’t confident she could maintain such a high score in the actual exam.

After the monthly exam results came out, she was downcast for a while but quickly pulled herself together and resumed correcting mistakes and reviewing.

Her intellect allowed her to study again, but it couldn’t quickly lift her spirits.

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During the break, Fang Chang’an quietly advised, “Don’t worry, there’s still a month left. There’s room for improvement.”

Wang Ke glanced at him, pouted, and lowered her head, looking a bit aggrieved. Fang Chang’an analyzed for her, “Remember when I told you about the stepwise difficulty?”

She nodded but stayed silent.

To distract her, Fang Chang’an spoke casually, “The high school entrance exam papers are made uniformly by the city, or sometimes the province. With so many students, preparing the exams isn’t a small task. Do you know why they take it so seriously?”

Wang Ke blinked and shook her head.

“Exams, or education in general, are about screening and stratification. The most direct result is which school you get into. Fundamentally, it determines your social class and, ultimately, how much money you can earn.”

“The higher-ups always have to leave people a way to live, or provide a path for ordinary folks. At this stage, it’s not about intelligence but about whether you’re serious and willing to study. So most questions are those you can solve if you’re willing to work hard. This accounts for at least 70% or 80% of the score.”

“This tests attitude and effort. If you study seriously, you’ll get into a good school. For example, 70% is over 550 points, enough to get into the town’s top high school. That’s still a provincial key school, isn’t it? Even though there’s only one spot left, every year some students go on to top universities.”

When an institution or organization declines, it accelerates. Nowadays, the town’s top high school still sends students to key universities every year, but when I was taking exams, the best they could boast were annual undergraduate numbers.

“Next is the watershed. You can’t react too slowly. This depends partly on aptitude and also on your previous foundation. Among students with similar aptitude, differences in effort during the early stages translate into aptitude differences by middle school.”

“Improvement is easy at this stage because if you’re willing to study, you’ll improve.”

“An average student with effort can easily achieve a 10% to 20% leap. At this point, progress isn’t difficult, especially for smart people.”

Fang Chang’an looked at her and smiled, “For example, you were only in the thirties in seventh grade, and within a year, you broke through the 70% threshold. Now you’re in the final 1%.”

“Of course, that 1% is within our school. In the whole city, it’s roughly the same level, but with more people and finer distinctions. It’s a proportion.”

“Let’s continue using score values. Cultural subjects add up to 750 points. The difficulty of the last 100 points is much higher than the first 600, and the last 70 points are even harder, then the last 50 points harder still.”

“It’s a pyramid; the higher you go, the harder it gets. To improve at this stage, you need not only effort but aptitude.”

“This aptitude is what I mentioned before—not just innate talent, but accumulation. For example, your effort and knowledge in middle school become your aptitude in high school, representing learning ability.”

“You’ve improved so much in three years of middle school—that’s almost defying fate.”

Wang Ke listened, half-understanding but aware he was comforting her. She gave a grateful smile.

Fang Chang’an smiled back and continued, “Since it’s accumulation, it’s not something achieved overnight. But our short-term goal is scores — the high school entrance exam papers. There are some ways to be strategic.”

“Strictly speaking, this is targeted intensive training, to cover subjects where you haven’t reached the final step. For an ideal score of 750, losing only 50 points, you need to score 140 on each paper.”

“You’re currently lacking in history and politics, with politics holding you back, plus English and Chinese. The improvements in Chinese and English can reinforce each other, especially in writing.”

“Next, I’ll focus on boosting your political essay answers, then predict the English and Chinese essay topics.”

After hearing this, Wang Ke seemed about to say something but held back, pressing her lips and nodding firmly.

If Wang Ke played normally, it would be hard for her to get into the city’s top high school. According to Fang Chang’an’s knowledge from the future, many from their cohort got into the county’s top high school—over twenty—but none entered the city’s top high school.

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He remembered the cutoff scores roughly: the county top high school at just over 660 points, the city’s top high school at over 710. Subtracting 45 points for sports and experiments, both required around 620 and 670 points respectively on the entrance exam.

Based on Wang Ke’s mock exam scores, she needed to improve by 20 points to stand a chance—a nearly insurmountable gap.

So Fang Chang’an had only one final plan: help her cheat!

He knew the essay topics!

He had forgotten the English essay topic for sure, but he still remembered the Chinese one—not the full prompt, but the key phrase: “The stage is as big as your heart” — an advertisement slogan — with the theme focusing on “heart.”

There were also key points: What is the heart? What is the stage?

In other words, the essay must be closely connected to these two aspects.

Fang Chang’an considered himself a principled person, but not inflexible. If there was an advantage to seize, he would. After all, being reborn gave him a unique edge that would be wasted otherwise.

Yet the matter was delicate, requiring caution. He originally planned not to tell anyone, perhaps only hinting vaguely, but to ensure Wang Xiao Ke’s smooth entry into the city’s top high school, he had to take some risks.

In fact, predicting essay topics was common and never limited to just one prompt. No one would think ill of it. Fang Chang’an’s paranoia stemmed from his rebirth mindset—had it been someone else, they would be proud to have guessed correctly and would boast to everyone rather than feel guilty.

For over half a month afterward, Fang Chang’an trained Wang Ke intensively, developing her approach and thinking for political essay questions and prepping her on predicted English and Chinese essay topics.

Mid-June, on the 13th, Fang Chang’an received a thick letter from Shen Mo. Alongside the letter were several densely written pages of “Exam Essentials” she had compiled herself—difficult problems that could widen score gaps.

To avoid suspicion, Wang Ke only took the “Exam Essentials” booklet when Fang Chang’an opened the letter. She flipped through it absentmindedly but couldn’t help sneaking glances at Fang Chang’an, who was reading the letter carefully. When she saw her name mentioned, she leaned closer to read together.

“Greetings to Brother Chang’an, and good fortune to Princess Chang’an:

Hee hee hee, was it fun? I only thought of the second sentence after writing the first—am I a genius?

It’s been a long time since I wrote to you. I’ve been almost exhausted lately. I bet you and Wang Xiao Ke feel the same, right? We’ll meet soon. Have you both grown taller? Don’t let me be the tallest one, hee hee, just thinking about it makes me happy.

I wrote down many key points the teachers summarized, plus some advanced question types. Aunt will have some too, but I still organized a copy for you. Don’t laugh at me if there are mistakes.

I wrote until my back and waist hurt, and my hands and eyes ached. Later, you two must give me a massage, but maybe Wang Xiao Ke can do it—you're clumsy, I wouldn’t want you to.

I ranked first in the class and ninth in the grade on this mock exam, ninth at the city’s top high school, impressive, right? Hee hee, I’m not bragging or showing off. o(∩_∩)o

Alright, I’m going to sleep now. After exams, I’ll come to visit you.

Princess, please rest; your servant is withdrawing!

June 10, 2006

Night breeze, bright moon, solitary lamp

Shen Mo”

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