Chapter 4: Unfortunately, We Are Both So Young

Chapter 4: It’s a Shame We’re Both So Young

Setting aside the other minor subjects for now, where progress was limited, the main improvements were in mathematics and English. Previously hovering around the passing line in math, he now scored 76, ranking fourth in the entire class; even more impressive was his English score—92 points, the highest in the class.

This delighted the English teacher immensely. She had just started teaching here this year, handling two regular classes. It was rare for anyone to pass English, let alone suddenly have a student with such outstanding results. Even if placed in the advanced class, this score would rank him among the top ten, though many in that class scored over ninety, so ties were common.

Naturally, Li Jingkun’s name suddenly appeared on the roster of the advanced class for the third year of middle school. This change was mainly suggested by their English teacher, since it was so rare for a student from an ordinary class to achieve such excellent results.

Had he been overlooked when selecting students this year? Next year, he must be transferred to the advanced class.

Thus, Li Jingkun was moved into the advanced third-year class earlier than in his previous life.

“Li Jingkun?” a boy in the advanced class said, somewhat puzzled. His name was Zhou Zhiqin, a top student who frequently ranked first in English across the grade, and consistently placed among the top three in total scores. He was the favorite of all the teachers and admired by every girl.

This was no exaggeration; those with poor grades or who couldn’t reach that level had no idea how easy it was for Zhou to chat and flirt with girls.

To put it bluntly, ordinary boys couldn’t imagine how proactive girls could be toward boys who were wealthy, handsome, or talented.

During school years, boys didn’t need to be particularly handsome or rich; as long as their grades were good enough, it was quite normal for girls to approach them first.

“Why? Do you know him?” his deskmate Lin Huanran asked.

“We used to be very close,” Zhou said.

In fact, they were more than close. In the first year of middle school, Zhou and Li Jingkun sat together and had a very strong bond. Zhou was even upset at the end of the first year, worried they wouldn’t be in the same class in the second year.

But time erodes all things, and their relationship had cooled considerably; truth be told, their interests were almost completely different.

Zhou rarely engaged in extracurricular activities, dedicating more than eighty percent of his time to studying.

Li Jingkun, on the other hand, was very different. His interests were wide-ranging—he enjoyed table tennis and basketball, had natural talents in drawing and singing, and loved reading extracurricular books, especially literature and novels.

So aside from Chinese, which barely met Zhou’s standards, Li Jingkun’s other academic scores were not comparable.

Therefore, Zhou was the most surprised when he heard about Li Jingkun’s dramatic improvement in English.

He remembered Li Jingkun’s English scores often failing, with vocabulary frequently unmemorized properly, sometimes even having to stay after school to recite words.

Had he really changed that much?

***

Six months later.

As time passed, Zhou Zhiqin was no longer surprised by Li Jingkun’s academic transformation.

Over the past half year, his class frequently heard his name from teachers. His English scores were better than most of their class, and his overall scores ranked near the top. When ranking, there was no way to bypass him.

In other words, Li Jingkun had become the top student in his own class, as well as the highest-ranking student among the seven regular classes (there were eight classes in total, including one advanced class). Across the whole grade, he ranked in the top twenty or so.

***

In the second semester of the second year, another change occurred: Li Jingkun and Xiao Jun were moved from the last row of the first group to the front row of the fourth group. This meant he was no longer sitting directly behind Zhang Linlin.

To be honest, Li Jingkun felt a bit sad. After all, he had a good relationship with her, and there were feelings involved. In his previous life, their relationship had similarly cooled and become less close over time.

Distance had a way of doing that.

But this time, he was no longer so naïve; sometimes after class, he would chat with her, cracking a few jokes.

Besides her, he also had other classmates nearby with whom he got along well, and they would occasionally keep in touch.

“You seem to be playing basketball less now. Don’t like it anymore?” Zhang Linlin asked.

“No, I play once or twice a week. It’s just that I’m focusing more on studying now, so I don’t have much time,” Li Jingkun replied.

“Yeah, you’re so smart. It’d be a waste not to study hard.”

“You’re smart too, just that you haven’t put your mind to studying. But the most important thing is to be happy. If you can always keep a bright mood, it’s okay if your grades aren’t perfect.”

“Ha ha ha, are you saying I’m a little slow-witted?”

The second year was coming to an end, and many students began passing around autograph books. Zhang Linlin’s was soon handed to Li Jingkun.

Her autograph book was beautiful, with an ornate cover and high-quality paper, probably quite expensive.

He flipped through the book; it appeared to be newly purchased, with few entries so far.

After a brief look, he handed it to Xiao Jun, asking him to write first while he prepared what to write.

That afternoon, having composed his thoughts, Li Jingkun took the book back and prepared to finish writing his message.

The first pages were for basic information, such as name, phone number, birthday, zodiac sign, hobbies, QQ number, and motto. He filled in all the fields as best as he could.

But his family was poor, and his experience limited. He hadn’t used a computer yet, so no QQ number. He didn’t have a mobile phone either, so writing a home phone number felt strange, but he wrote it down anyway. He didn’t know his blood type, so he left that blank, filling in only what he could.

The most important part was the messages and blessings afterward—this was what he truly wanted to write carefully.

He had already drafted it in his mind, so he quickly wrote:

Zhang Linlin:

Hello,

I didn’t expect the semester to end so quickly. I’m sorry we couldn’t continue sitting one behind the other in the second semester of the second year.

Last semester, the few of us got along very well. Your personality is wonderful, and you treat friends and classmates kindly.

Thank you also for the gifts last semester. I will always remember your laughter in the classroom and cherish the friendship between us.

It’s a pity we’re both so young; many things take years to understand.

But I’m glad we’re young, with a million possible futures ahead.

I sincerely hope you remain happy and joyful forever. No matter how hard or difficult the future may be, always keep a bright and kind heart.

Your deskmate from the first semester of second year,

Li Jingkun

***

Naturally, in the third year, Li Jingkun entered the advanced class again, once more sharing a class with Zhou Zhiqin.

This mirrored the path of his previous life, though last time his scores hadn’t been this high.

His parents were of course very pleased with his academic turnaround, though not surprised, as he had performed well in elementary school and earned some awards. Later, he had become distracted by play and neglected his studies, causing his grades to slip. Now, having matured and grown wiser, he had begun studying diligently again.

Thus, Li Jingkun once again became the exemplary child, with many classmates coming to him for help with their studies.

In truth, once you have a solid foundation, teaching others helps you learn even more, so he didn’t mind being interrupted at all.

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(End of chapter)