PCJ – Chapter 493 Leave a Way Out for Others

“Mr. Dong, I’ve been teaching for over twenty years, and this is the first time I’ve heard a student say that they’ve managed to finish all the junior high school content in just over a month, and are so confident about making it to the top ranks. What kind of person is this Zhang Jiaohua who just transferred here? Aren’t you worried that bringing in a student like this could drag down the class’s average score? I heard his math is quite good, but his physics, I’m sure, will definitely lower the score by two points,” Su Zhenming complained to Dong Peijun.

Dong Peijun smiled bitterly and said, “I can’t help it. The school leadership arranged for a transfer student, and they insisted he join the graduating class. What can I do? But don’t worry about the average score. The school leaders said Zhang Jiaohua’s grades won’t be included in the class average since he’s a transfer student.”

Upon hearing that Zhang Jiaohua’s scores wouldn’t count towards the class total, Su Zhenming finally breathed a sigh of relief, though he was still unhappy about what Zhang Jiaohua had said earlier. “What kind of person is he? Do you know what he said to me just now? He said he could catch up on physics and would make sure he ranked among the top in the final mock exam before the high school entrance exam. That’s really arrogant. Does he think our school is like his village’s school?”

“He’s just a kid. It’s normal for him to not understand. There’s no need for you to argue with him,” Dong Peijun also wasn’t happy with Zhang Jiaohua’s boastfulness.

Zhang Jiaohua’s arrogant remarks quickly spread, and soon, everyone in Changqing Middle School knew about the boastful transfer student.

“Zhang Jiaohua, you’ve become famous now. The whole school knows what you said to Su Zhenming yesterday. Su Zhenming is definitely out there telling everyone about it. This guy is really something,” Jiang Yuyang told Zhang Jiaohua.

Zhang Jiaohua was probably the last person in the school to hear this news, as the only person he interacted with was Jiang Yuyang, sitting beside him. The rest of the class completely ignored the new student, and Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t be bothered to get to know his temporary classmates who would only stay for a couple of months.

“Oh,” Zhang Jiaohua said indifferently.

“Hey, aren’t you worried at all?” Jiang Yuyang asked, puzzled.

“What should I be worried about? Everyone will know sooner or later,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“Do you really think you’ll make it to the top ranks in the final mock exam?” Jiang Yuyang asked, amazed. This student was really arrogant!

Zhang Jiaohua kept his eyes on the textbook in his hands. “Maybe I won’t even need to wait until then. The progress has been pretty fast these days. In less than a month, I’ll probably be almost there.”

Jiang Yuyang rolled his eyes. “Oh my, I’m really impressed. You can say that to me, but please don’t say it to anyone else.”

When he got home, Fu Cha Hao Yue quickly came over.

“Kid, what did you do at school? A classmate of mine spent half an hour on the phone telling me all about you,” Fu Cha Hao Yue asked as soon as she saw him.

“Nothing much,” Zhang Jiaohua said, still immersed in his studies, looking for the scientific system Fu Cha Hao Yue had mentioned. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to have any clues yet.

“Did you brag to the teacher that you would rank among the top in the final mock exam?” Fu Cha Hao Yue asked.

“I did say that. I think I might even get there earlier. I feel like I’m progressing faster than I expected. After all, my foundation is still good,” Zhang Jiaohua said seriously.

Fu Cha Hao Yue smiled bitterly, rubbing her forehead. “You little brat, I know you’re good at studying, and you progress quickly. But can we be a little more modest? What if you don’t make it?”

“I’ll definitely make it. I looked at the physics book today, and I didn’t think it was difficult,” Zhang Jiaohua said. He had gone through the second-year physics book and had already grasped most of the content. If he had to take the test right now, he wouldn’t be blanking out.

“It wasn’t hard, but didn’t you hand in a blank physics paper today?” Fu Cha Hao Yue clearly knew all about Zhang Jiaohua’s performance at school.

“Back then, I hadn’t looked at the physics book. I just filled in a few things I knew. But if I do it again now, I can probably score a few points. I’ve completely grasped second-year physics,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

Fu Cha Hao Yue didn’t doubt this. She had seen it for herself. “Jiaohua, next time, when others ask, can we be a little more modest? You’re performing so well, how will others live? Let’s leave them a way out, okay?”

Zhang Jiaohua agreed, “Alright.”

Fu Cha Hao Yue couldn’t help but laugh when she saw how seriously Zhang Jiaohua agreed.

Zeng Lei thought Zhang Jiaohua had been scolded by Fu Cha Hao Yue for not doing well on the test, so he said, “Jiaohua, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Studying is something you’re born with. Back when I was in the same class as your sister Hao Yue, we always came in first. You probably wonder how there could be two first-place students in the same class, right? Well, it wasn’t tied first place. Your sister Hao Yue always took first place in order, and I always took last place. No choice, I just don’t have the talent for studying. Otherwise, I’d definitely go to college with your sister.”

Fu Cha Hao Yue shot him a glare. “Don’t get involved if you don’t know what’s going on. Jiaohua told the teacher that he would rank among the top in the final mock exam, and he scared the teacher. And you, you can’t even copy the answers correctly when they’re given to you. How dare you speak up?”

Zeng Lei scratched his head. “I forgot. I accidentally copied your name too. You little brat, you’re really bold. Do you really think you can make it to the top ranks? Aren’t you planning to cheat?”

“With my brother’s ability, why would he need to cheat?” Fu Cha Hao Yue said. “Jiaohua, you should quickly go over the subjects you haven’t learned yet, so you don’t end up in the same situation as the physics test during the mock exam.”

The next day, the chemistry teacher, Huang Jinwang, walked into the classroom with a stack of test papers. “Today we’re having a test.” After handing out the papers, he went directly to Zhang Jiaohua.

“Have you reviewed chemistry?” Huang Jinwang asked.

Since chemistry was a third-year course, Zhang Jiaohua hadn’t studied it. But following Fu Cha Hao Yue’s advice, Zhang Jiaohua had gone over the chemistry book the night before. Some of the chemistry knowledge was related to alchemy in cultivation, so it didn’t seem too difficult.

“I just went through it,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

Huang Jinwang nodded. “Keep reviewing and don’t worry about what others think. As long as you’ve tried your best, even if you don’t succeed, there’s no need to regret it. Don’t you think so?”

His words made sense, and Zhang Jiaohua could only nod.

Huang Jinwang was very satisfied with Zhang Jiaohua’s attitude and stood by him, watching him take the test. Zhang Jiaohua finished it very quickly—he completed the entire test in less than half an hour.

“Your chemistry is pretty good,” Huang Jinwang said. He didn’t need to check the standard answers, as he could tell at a glance whether the answers were correct. Zhang Jiaohua’s performance was clearly better than expected. Originally, he wanted to encourage Zhang Jiaohua and help the student who was in the spotlight, but he had discovered something unexpected.

“It’s alright,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Wait, aren’t they saying you haven’t studied the third-year curriculum?” Huang Jinwang asked, puzzled.

Zhang Jiaohua nodded. “I taught myself chemistry.”

Huang Jinwang nodded. “Your self-learning ability is impressive.”

Fortunately, Huang Jinwang didn’t know that Zhang Jiaohua’s “self-learning” just meant he had flipped through the chemistry book once.

Jiang Yuyang was stunned. He couldn’t believe that Zhang Jiaohua had filled the chemistry paper so thoroughly. He was the only one who knew that Zhang Jiaohua’s textbooks were all brand new, as though he had just collected the entire set of junior high school textbooks. The chemistry book was completely new and had never been touched.

After the exam, Jiang Yuyang immediately asked, “How did you do it? Do you have some kind of photographic memory?”

Zhang Jiaohua smiled. “I just looked through it once, and it didn’t seem too difficult.”

Jiang Yuyang was almost losing his mind. “Are all of you memory geniuses using some kind of memory palace?”

Zhang Jiaohua had never heard of such a thing. “What’s a memory palace?”

“You don’t know?” Jiang Yuyang asked, incredulously. “I heard that some memory experts create a palace in their minds and store everything they want to remember in this palace. Then, when they need to recall something, they can go into the memory palace and retrieve it.”

“A memory palace?” Zhang Jiaohua was surprised. “That’s not a memory palace, that’s clearly the sea of consciousness. Cultivators can use their divine consciousness to scan and store information in their sea of consciousness. However, the information isn’t categorized, but retrieving it with divine consciousness isn’t difficult.”

Jiang Yuyang thought Zhang Jiaohua knew about the memory palace, so he said disgruntled, “You’re still saying you don’t know about it!”

“I really don’t know what a memory palace is, but my memory isn’t bad. Can you tell me more about it?” Zhang Jiaohua was very interested in the memory palace concept.

“I have a book at home, I can lend it to you,” Jiang Yuyang said.

The next day, Jiang Yuyang brought a book from home, printed in traditional Chinese characters. “This was brought back from Hong Kong by my relative. I heard it’s a very advanced memory technique. But no matter how much I look at it, I can’t understand it. Maybe it’s only suitable for geniuses like you.”