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Chapter 3 - There's only one thing on my mind: learning

As everyone knows, the last row of a classroom is the leisure and entertainment area. At that time, most junior high students living in a small county town didn't have a cell phone. Their parents probably didn't have one either. Therefore, playing cards was one of the most popular recreational activities in class.

According to his grades and height, Jiang Xiao was situated in the last row of the classroom. He and Ye YingYing sat in the corner, not far from a pile of brooms and the garbage can. Two other boys sitting next to them brazenly walked over. One grabbed two decks of cards from his school bag, while the other took out more than ten packs of spicy sticks and shrimp snacks from inside a desk. The four students gathered around like they were having a small party.

Since the beginning of the first year, Houlin No. 3 Middle School divided students according to their scores. There were about ten classes per grade, commonly known as fast, medium, and slow, and there was a rotation once a semester. Jiang Xiao had dropped all the way from the best class down to Class 15. At first he wasn't worried about the high school entrance exam, but when he actually reached it, he'd spent so much time in this environment that his brain was empty. He couldn't do any of the questions.

Most teachers had trouble controlling Class 15, made up of the most difficult group of troublemakers ranked at the very bottom. Their female English teacher, a recent graduate, was young and soft-spoken. She was doing well if she managed to cover all the lecture material while maintaining order.

But Houlin No. 3 Middle School as a whole was relatively strict. The students in Class 15 had bad grades, but aside from that their behavior wasn't terrible. It was true that the front rows liked to sleep, the middle rows liked to read novels, and the back rows held small parties, but the students didn't cause a ruckus or make trouble for the teachers. Ye YingYing and the others were still scared of the ruthless teaching director. At most they did their own thing and ignored the lectures. They kept their voices down while playing, revealing a trace of respect amid rebellion.

The students were good at adjusting to their audience. In the next class, the political science teacher was a bit more strict, so Ye YingYing and the others didn't dare to continue playing cards. Instead they switched to private snacking or novel sharing sessions.

Jiang Xiao followed Ye YingYing to his desk. As soon as he sat down, memories of the past gradually returned to him.

Usually, all four boys joined up to play fight the landlord1, but now Ye YingYing stared like he saw a ghost while Jiang Xiao sat upright at his desk, opened his English book, and listened carefully to the teacher.

"Xiao Ge," Ye YingYing asked, "Are you crazy?"

Jiang Xiao wasn't crazy, but he was seriously evaluating his current level of learning, which was basically zero.

It was now the first semester of the third year, so there was still a year to go before the entrance exam. Out of all nine courses, Jiang Xiao had basically forgotten everything. After all, he'd been out of school for nearly twenty years. His English might be a little better because he studied it for business, but that was mainly in application, not for tests. That is, he could speak a few sentences in ordinary conversations.

For the time being, he didn't have high requirements for himself. All he needed to do was pass the high school entrance exam next year. After that, he'd have three more years of studying in high school. The most important thing was the college entrance exam.

Jiang Xiao had dropped out of school in his last life. There was no alternative. First of all, he didn't have any money. Secondly, he really couldn't go on studying in that high school. After he grew up, he started a business and opened a factory to make money, but he always worried about his lack of schooling. Later on, when the factory deteriorated, Jiang Xiao had money in his hands, but his regret grew even stronger.