Hypocritical Woman

"Ah… It's nothing, it's nothing…" Xu Mengxi quickly changed the topic. "I am the Chemistry representative for my class. You're welcome to ask me anything you don't understand."

"Forgive my impertinence." Li Zheng was elated. He nodded exaggeratedly and said, "I have a question right now."

"Alright, don't be so formal." Xu Mengxi was afraid that her classmates would witness the scene and blushed as she pushed Li Zheng into the corridor. She asked, "What do you not understand?"

"I don't understand anything." Li Zheng nodded continuously. "My Chemistry is still poor even after I memorized the entire textbook. I cannot find any patterns."

"Oh? But I heard Jingjing say that you are quite good with your studies…" Xu Mengxi rested her chin on her hand for a moment before she asked, "Are you good at Mathematics and Physics?"

"They are decent, better than Chemistry."

"Hm, that means that it is not a problem with your comprehension. It's a problem with your approach." Xu Mengxi raised her arm and gestured. "Is it easy for you to grasp the concepts when you study Physics? Do you obtain high marks even without doing many practice questions?"

"That sounds about right," Li Zheng blushed as he answered.

"That's it then. People who are good in Mathematics and Physics can usually grasp patterns easily. Thus, naturally, they would be able to answer any kind of question," Xu Mengxi explained carefully. "However, Chemistry is different. The key points are rather complicated, and it is hard to create a refined pattern. You have to accumulate more experience and make sense of it. Rather than call Chemistry a science subject, it is, in fact, more like Language and English."

"There's a saying like that?"

"I'll give you an example." Xu Mengxi hopped a little. She raised her hand spiritedly and said, "Do you think about language patterns when you are talking to me? Do you follow the laws of grammar in your brain before conjuring your sentences?"

"Of course not… I just speak."

"The same goes for Chemistry. You should not think of a set of simple patterns when you are facing Chemistry. The knack for Chemistry questions must be accumulated. The more you accumulate it, the more naturally you'll be able to find patterns. This is just like speaking. The grammar and sentence structure has long been melded into your blood. You do not have to think about patterns and can speak the moment you open your mouth."

"I should study for Chemistry like a humanities-based subject!" Li Zheng thought.

"What an insight.

"What a wonderful thought process.

"It sounds right the more I think about it. I don't have to come up with patterns when I am studying Language.

"I will naturally understand the subject the more experience with the subject I accumulate.

"Instead, it is the English teacher that always tries to analyze the sentence structure and find patterns.

"However, the students who are good at English are those who have a good sense of the language and have accumulated more experience with the language."

"There's not much time left. I'll give you a simple reminder. The key points in Chemistry are relatively more isolated and are not as clearly connected as those in Physics." Xu Mengxi picked up her notebook and showed it to Li Zheng. "I have some of the methods I use here, as well as mind maps. You can try coming up with your own mind map after you are done with your studying and find a way of connecting the key points that is suitable for you."

Li Zheng wanted to cry when he looked at the notes that were covered with highlights and footnotes.

"This is a treasure, a Chemistry treasure," Li Zheng thought.

If not for the fact that the third year was a trying time, Li Zheng would have begged her to lecture on Bali Bali.

Xu Mengxi waved her fist and nodded. "Don't be too discouraged. Forcefully memorizing can also be meaningful. Just like memorizing vocabulary, this is a process of qualitative change. There will suddenly come a eureka moment where everything will make sense. Don't give up!"

Li Zheng's eyes turned red.

He looked forward to the eureka moment.

Ring...

"Oh my, time's up." Xu Mengxi quickly turned around. "I can talk to you in the afternoon if you still need help."

"No, no, no. You have given me enough pointers. Don't let me interrupt your studies." Li Zheng hugged the notes and nodded once again. "Thank you for your great generosity."

"Oh God, if you continue saying things like that… I won't give the notes to you anymore." Xu Mengxi blushed as she ran back to the classroom.

"What a selfless angel," Li Zheng thought.

Li Zheng hurried back to his class.

The second class of the day was still Mathematics.

Hu Chunmei was about to scold the class when she saw that there was a late student. However, she could only smile and shake her head when she saw that it was Li Zheng. He was even carrying a large bunch of study material.

Li Zheng did not waste a second when he returned to his seat. He quickly looked through Xu Mengxi's notes.

As expected, Xu Mengxi had restructured the key points from the textbook.

She had created a way of connecting the key points that suited her. She only listed things that she memorized in a few areas.

The rest of the concepts were refined into mind maps.

Li Zheng was enlightened. He took in the knowledge impatiently.

…

Time moved startlingly fast.

With his energy at [24/27], Li Zheng forced himself to end his study session early.

At the same time, he turned his study efficiency back to its normal speed.

"I'll spend the last three hours on today's lessons," Li Zheng thought.

Li Zheng looked at the clock. The second lesson was nearly over.

As for Chemistry…

Li Zheng was still uncertain.

He had not actively tried to consolidate his memory during his hours of study just now.

Instead, he had developed a stream of knowledge by following the arrangement of Xu Mengxi's notes.

He also attempted the practice questions that Xu Mengxi had selected.

"I wonder if it had any effect," Li Zheng thought.

"Let me check."

[Chemistry: 74 ↑]

It improved by nine points.

However, Li Zheng did not know where the improvement was.

He wanted desperately to test it out by doing practice questions.

However, he did not have enough energy left.

"Damn it," Li Zheng thought.

"I want to do a test.

"F***.

"I have to relax doubly hard today. I'll go all out.

"That way, I can study more tomorrow."

Li Zheng took out "Science Fiction World" and started reading when he arrived at that conclusion.

He read until the next class started.

The third class was Chemistry. He could not study on his own anymore as he did not have the teacher's permission.

The Chemistry teacher, Yu Jing, was a female teacher around 50-years-old. She was tall, large, and enjoyed wearing bright-colored dresses. She had an imposing aura when she walked. She seemed insufferably arrogant and even talked like a parrot with its head held high.

Rumor had it that her family was extremely influential. It was said that she had been like that since she was young and could no longer change.

However, she was still very dependable when conducting her lessons.

She almost always recited the textbook verbatim.

Thus, the students had given her a nickname -- The Repeater.

On a side note, Hu Chunmei's nickname was Old Mother Hu.

At this moment, Mrs. Yu stepped onto the stage in her usual high-profile manner. She surveyed the class with insufferable arrogance.

"We'll spend this class explaining the monthly exam.

"Before we start the class, I'll tell you about your results.

"The average score of your class is 56.8. You are ranked last amongst all of the second-year classes.

"I also teach the elite class. They averaged 72.

"Please reflect on where the problem lies. I shall not say anymore.

"Furthermore, your class has a unique characteristic.

"The better the stronger students are, the poorer the weaker students perform.

"Don't look around. I am talking about you, Liu Xin.

"You got three points. That's normal.

"But you actually filled out the entire paper.

"You only scored three points despite the effort you put in. That's not easy."

Liu Xin awkwardly scratched his head amidst the throes of laughter.

On the stage, Yu Hong slowly turned to look at the area by the window. Her high-strung, arrogant expression relaxed slightly.

"'The better the stronger students are' is obviously praise for Lin Yujing.

"Honestly, the Chemistry test this time around was very difficult. Even students who blindly put in effort failed.

"This was especially so for the last question. The standard of the question rivals those set in the Chemistry Olympiad. I did not expect anyone to obtain any points.

"I wanted to see if there was a one-in-a-million genius amongst the second-years.

"I didn't waste my efforts setting the last question.

"I found such a genius.

"Lin Yujing, full marks. She scored 12 marks higher than the student ranked second in Chemistry.

"This is no longer a matter of whether or not you work hard."

Yu Hong nodded as she praised, "Lin Yujing, you have a bright future on the path of Chemistry. I would suggest that you seriously consider my alma mater, the Department of Chemistry at Thistle University, during your college entrance exams."

Even though Yu Hong was the Repeater, she had always expected her students to meet a very strict standard. She had not taken a fancy to any students in the past.

Lin Yujing was the first student she had ever praised.

Furthermore, there was a good deal of weight behind her praise.

It was as if she was begging Lin Yujing to pursue Chemistry.

Even though the students from Class 2-4 had been sick of teachers praising Lin Yujing, they could not control themselves this time around. They turned to look at Lin Yujing in unison.

There was not much to be jealous about when facing a Study God like this. All they felt was reverence.

However, Lin Yujing was not being irksome this time.

She tried her best to lower her head and not let anyone see her. It seemed as though she was embarrassed.

"Hmph, what a hypocrite," Li Zheng thought.

If Li Zheng had been the recipient of such praise, he would have accepted it with his head and chest raised high.

"Just like a soldier receiving a medal, where's the logic in avoiding honor?" Li Zheng thought.