Chapter 515 - 175: The ’80s Drama Queen is Forced to Become a Top Student (10)
Chapter 515: Chapter 175: The ’80s Drama Queen is Forced to Become a Top Student (10)
"Oh yeah? If you’re so smart, why don’t you go study with the upperclassmen? What are you doing in our class?"
All the studious kids were in other classes.
Sheng Leyun calmly looked at the little brats, each one acting like he was king of the world, and scoffed. "So what? I’m smart. I may have never even touched a textbook, but I plan to finish elementary school in two years, middle school in two years, and high school in three. I’ll be starting college when I’m sixteen!"
"Would you dare? You little brats!"
They felt utterly scorned.
These boys were fiercely competitive. To be provoked and looked down upon by some country bumpkin—this was intolerable!
"Who says we wouldn’t dare?" Gong Xiaofei was the first to retort, craning his neck defiantly.
"My older brother skipped grades! Good grades are in our genes. I just wasn’t taking it seriously before!"
"Besides, we’re living the good life. Why would we act like idiots and grind away at studying just to compete with you?" His mind worked fast; he realized Sheng Leyun was just trying to goad them.
He hummed smugly. "Just because we don’t want to study doesn’t mean we’re idiots you can just trick and play with!"
Sheng Leyun clucked her tongue. "TSK TSK. I’d say you’re clever in small ways, but foolish overall. Messing around and not studying seriously, right from the first grade."
"You think you’re so smart? That because your families are rich and powerful, you don’t need to work hard and can just coast through the rest of your lives without a care?"
"Hah. When you grow up and you’re the ones making decisions, what happens when someone hands you a contract with a deliberate trap hidden inside, with the official numbers all fudged? Would you even be able to spot it?"
"Oh, right, I forgot. You’ll have your own little secretaries, won’t you? But what if she conspires with someone on the outside? You’ll probably be scammed out of everything you own, down to your last pair of underwear!"
The boys weren’t convinced.
Sheng Leyun continued, "Wasting time is a disgrace. Your time at school is spent either studying or playing. Is horsing around every single day really that fun?"
"Besides, what creative ways can uneducated people possibly have to pass the time?"
"Wouldn’t it be better to study hard when it’s time to study, and play hard when it’s time to play?"
"TSK TSK. I really don’t know why your parents indulge you so much. They’re probably trying to ruin you with praise, making sure you never amount to anything, so you’ll be a failure later in life."
"Sigh. Being in the same class as you all really feels like a pearl that’s been dropped in a mud pit."
"When we grow up, I won’t hesitate to mock you for being completely clueless..."
Who had they ever provoked to deserve this? Why was Sheng Leyun singling them out and lecturing them nonstop?
"What in the world do you want from us?" a little boy growled, scratching his head.
"Join me in the grind," Sheng Leyun said with a light laugh. "Why should we waste our lives away in school? All this precious time should be spent outside, enjoying our youth and living life!"
"We’re still young now, so we have to rely on adults for everything. Plus, we’re stuck with nine years of compulsory education."
"Since we can’t escape being trapped in school, why not be proactive and shorten this ’prison sentence’?"
This argument caught the boys’ attention.
That was right. They just hated being at school, but they couldn’t win an argument against their parents or the system. So, they just muddled through one day at a time.
"So," Gong Xiaofei said, his little face tense, "you still want us to study hard and skip grades with you?"
The moment they heard that, the boys lost all interest.
They didn’t want to touch anything that required effort. It was too tiring! Even their parents had made their stance clear.
If they wanted to study, fine. If they didn’t, that was also fine. Mommy and Daddy would pave the way for them in advance anyway.
Sheng Leyun started counting on her fingers, laying out the math for them. "Look, from now on, you have another five years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of high school. That’s eleven years in total. A whole eleven years!"
"By then, you’ll be nineteen. Trapped in school for eleven whole years! Isn’t that cruel?"
"But if we do two years of elementary, two years of middle, and three years of high school, that’s only seven years in total. We’d cut it down by a full four years!"
"What couldn’t you do with those four years? Do you really want to just sit here instead?"
Little kids are especially easy to trick. Now, they’d forgotten everything else, their minds completely occupied by Sheng Leyun’s final words!
If they could graduate sooner, they’d have four whole years to squander as they pleased. Their parents and teachers would no longer be obstacles...
The temptation was enormous. Even Gong Xiaofei couldn’t help but look captivated, his face full of longing.
"Let’s do it! Tell us how!" one of the boys caved first, his fierce expression meant to show his determination.
"I’m telling you, if I don’t finish high school in seven years, I’m holding you responsible!" To make sure he wasn’t being scammed, he added an adorably fierce threat.
Sheng Leyun chuckled and nodded. "Of course, I’m not just making this up. I have a plan!"
As she spoke, she picked up a notebook from the desk. It was covered in a page full of circles, crosses, triangles, and squares. No one knew what any of it meant, but she looked at it and began explaining without the slightest hesitation:
"It’s late May now, so we have less than two months until summer vacation. During this time, we’ll find someone to tutor us in the evenings, and we’ll spend our days doing practice problems and memorization to build a foundation."
"We don’t know anything anyway, so we just have to cram as much into our heads as possible. When summer vacation comes, we’ll systematically study the first-grade curriculum. By the time school starts again, we should be able to jump to at least the third grade..."
The boys had never studied seriously before. Hearing Sheng Leyun’s cheerful tone and the rhythm of skipping a grade every six months, they subconsciously started to think that studying was incredibly simple.
They nodded frequently, even feeling that the timeline was a bit too slow.
And so, in the span of one recess and one class period, Sheng Leyun had planned out the next seven years of these boys’ lives.
Finally, she said with deep meaning, "This is going to be a very long and arduous task. We can’t be deserters who quit halfway."
They all shook their heads, declaring that they hated cowards and deserters the most. They were big shots; their word was their bond! How could they go back on their promises like some little girls!
Sheng Leyun smiled. "In that case, once you find a suitable tutor, have them draw up a military pledge for us. We’ll all sign our names."
"We’ll see who ends up becoming the very deserter they hate!"
The little men-in-the-making firmly restated their positions once more.
"Oh, right," Sheng Leyun said, propping her chin on her hand. "If any of you feel like you can’t keep going, feel free to pull your friends in with you. We share the hardships and we share the fortunes, you know."
"The more the merrier. It’s easier to stick to a goal with more people."
The boys were stunned for a moment. They exchanged glances and nodded repeatedly. Of course! This was such an open and honorable way to get out of school early. They had to spread the word and get all their friends to join in.