Back to high school, Peking University is beckoning me

After Lu Youning and Lu Yixiao looked at each other, they gladly accepted Lin Anran's invitation.

They followed Lin Anran to the volleyball court and joined the classmates who were playing.

Sunlight streamed onto the playground, a gentle breeze ruffling her hair. Lu Youning tossed the volleyball high, then swung her arm, accurately hitting it across the field.

The ball drew a beautiful arc in the air, and the student on the opposite side caught it steadily and passed it back quickly.

They ran, jumped and laughed to their heart's content, releasing the stress brought by the exams.

Happy times always pass quickly, and it’s only half an hour before the scheduled self-study time.

Lu Youning and Lu Yixiao said goodbye to them and went back to the dormitory to quickly wash up. They didn't even have time to eat dinner before hurried back to the classroom.

The teachers at No. 1 Middle School were as fast as ever in grading the papers. By the next day, all the test papers had been graded, and all that was left was the statistics.

Sure enough, by the time the big break came, the school had already posted the grade rankings on the office bulletin board.

Just after the exercise, Lu Yixiao asked Lu Youning, "Ningning, do we want to check the grade rankings?"

Lu Youning thought about it, shook his head and said, "No, we won't go. There will definitely be a lot of people there when we get there, and we won't be able to see it. The teacher will hand out the test papers soon."

"Then let's go wash our faces and go back to the classroom." Lu Yixiao said.

"Yeah, let's go." The two girls walked towards the bathroom arm in arm.

They had just returned to the classroom when the bell rang. Brother Dian came to the classroom door with a math test paper.

The originally noisy class quickly quieted down after seeing Brother Dian. Brother Dian coughed lightly, placed the test paper in his hand on the desk, and slowly swept his eyes over the whole class.

"This exam is the first major one since we were divided into classes. Everyone's performance is mixed.

Lu Youning is still the top student in the liberal arts grade and is very stable. Liu Yufei is third in the grade, and several other students have made great progress.

But the younger students, I don’t know if they’ve relaxed since entering the key classes, or if they haven’t adapted to the teacher’s teaching style. Their grades have declined.”

Dian Ge's voice was steady and powerful as he continued, "But I hope everyone can learn from this exam and keep improving.

Time flies. I feel like my classmates have only been in our class for a few days, but I didn’t expect that the midterm exam is over.

So, don't think you have plenty of time and wait until your second or third year of high school to study hard. By then, you will be far behind others and won't be able to catch up even if you try hard.

Look at the seniors. They only have a little over a month until the Gaokao. After the Gaokao, there's only a little over a month until the final exams. So, at most, they only have two months left to study, and then it's vacation time again.

Okay, I’ve been a bit long-winded today. Now the class representative will come and distribute the test papers.

I did okay on the midterm exam this time, and I got the highest average score in math. Of course, I can't compare to the science class. So don't get too proud."

Lu Youning took the test paper and took a look at the score. It was 110 points, which was not bad. It was much better than he expected.

Before I could finish explaining a few test questions, the third class was over. Lu Yixiao sighed and said:

"After hearing what Brother Dian said just now, it feels like the end of the semester is coming soon. No, Ningning, you have to ask me to study with you tomorrow. I have to work hard."

Lu Youning smiled lightly and said, "Okay, let's not wait until tomorrow, let's start at noon."

Lu Yixiao gritted her teeth, looking ready to fight to the death, and said, "Okay."

So, the two began a frenzy of internal competition. They woke up at 5:30 every morning, arrived in the classroom at 5:50 for self-study, listened carefully to the lectures and took notes. After class, they reviewed the key points and did homework to consolidate their knowledge.

They only slept for half an hour during lunch break and would not return to the classroom until ten minutes before lights out at night. Because they had overworked their brains during the day, they both fell asleep shortly after the lights went out.

After two weeks of this, Lu Yixiao gradually got used to this intense study routine, and her face even looked a little thinner. Lu Yixiao hadn't expected such an effect, and it only made her even more motivated to study.

The May Day holiday is coming, and teachers are starting to assign homework like crazy. Each teacher brought over two or three papers.

So, the wailing scene before the holiday was repeated.

"It's only five days off, and I already have over ten papers to do, plus tons of exercises. I might as well not have had a holiday at all."

"It sounds nice to say it's a vacation, but in reality it's just a change of place to study."

Brother Dian, who had just come over to ask about safety, heard the wailing and replied, "The revolution hasn't succeeded yet, how can you even think about taking a vacation? That vacation isn't for you."

The classroom suddenly became quiet, and the students wanted to refute but didn't know how to say it...

The baby feels wronged, but doesn't say it.

Everyone packed up the test papers and exercises to take back with tears in their eyes.

Brother Dian continued, "Well, in two years you will be free, and by then no one will care how you want to rest or how you want to play.

Finally, a word of caution: When you return home for the holidays, please be careful and don't take unlicensed vehicles. Also, be careful with electricity when you return."

The students nodded in agreement while packing their test papers and textbooks to take home.

Lu Youning weighed her schoolbag and realized it was incredibly heavy. She wondered if her wish to grow one centimeter per year for her three years of high school would come true. She felt her hope was slim.

After returning home, Lu Youning took out her test paper and began working without stopping. She felt that although Brother Dian was harsh, he did have a point. The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard!

If you can't endure the hardship of studying now, you will suffer the hardship of life in the future. Lu Youning had experienced this deeply in his previous life.

Then she sat at the table and wrote until dinner time.

When Lu's mother came back, she saw her daughter doing homework at the door, so she went to cook. Now the meal was ready, but Lu Youning still hadn't come out to eat. So she called out to the living room, "It's time to eat!"

Lu Youning had just finished two papers when she heard someone calling her to eat. She quickly replied, "I'm coming." Then she got up and left the room.

Lu Youning came to the restaurant and looked at the table full of delicious food, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart. "Wow, my mom made so many delicious dishes."

Mother Lu looked at her daughter's slightly tired face and said distressedly, "Ningning, don't overwork yourself with your studies. You need to take care of yourself. Eat more vegetables later."

Lu Youning nodded and said with a smile, "Mom, I know. I will pay attention."

The family sat around the dining table, eating and chatting. Lu Youning shared some interesting things about school with his parents:

"You don't know, we only have five days off for May Day, and every teacher assigned homework. There were more than a dozen test papers in total. A classmate in our class was whining, and our homeroom teacher happened to catch him. He started scolding him right away."

Father Lu smiled and said, "Haha, your teacher is really strict. But this is also for your own good. Doing more exercises will help you master the knowledge more firmly."

Mother Lu also agreed: "Yes, Ningning, although you have a lot of homework, you must arrange your time reasonably and don't exhaust yourself."

Lu Youning took a bite of the dish and said, "I know. Yixiao and I have planned it out. We'll supervise each other and do a part every day. We'll definitely be able to finish it."

That evening, Lu Youning was working on math problems when she suddenly received a few messages on her phone. She opened them and saw that Teacher Li had sent a message in the group chat, announcing the "Xingchen Cup" National Painting and Calligraphy Competition and inviting interested students to sign up. She also included the website.

I even tagged her in the group and asked her to try it.

It was only when Lu Youning clicked on the website that he realized that this "Star Cup" had a certain influence.

It is hosted by a national institution and is organized under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and the General Administration of Sport of China.

After checking the content and requirements of the competition, she found that it was divided into several groups, and clicked to register for the high school group.

The next morning, she prepared all the calligraphy tools, wrote an essay "On the Love of Lotus" and sent a PDF scan of the work to the designated email address in the examination group.