After dinner, there were still a few evening self-study classes.
In reality, it was just two extremely boring hours; they couldn't return to the dorms until nine o'clock, and a teacher was on duty every night.
However, basically, the students played on their own below, while the teacher on the podium occasionally checked their watch, ready to clock out, and sometimes went out to chat with the teacher on duty in the next class.
As for the noise in the classroom, as long as the Grade Director wasn't provoked, everything would be peaceful.
The students in the classroom, wearing uniform uniforms, could be roughly divided into several categories based on their seating positions:
The good students in the front row were doing extra practice tests, or previewing upcoming lessons;
These students had clear life goals.
The students in the middle occasionally studied, but mostly chatted quietly with classmates around them, or secretly read novels with their heads down;
These students, whose grades were neither high nor low, lacked self-control; they neither had the courage to completely fall behind nor the perseverance to study hard, so they were the most confused.
In contrast, those in the very back row either snuck out when the teacher wasn't around, or played on their phones, and some even gathered in a corner to play cards… Compared to the students in the middle and front, they were more unrestrained;
These students generally didn't plan to go to university; some even told teachers directly that they were just there to get a high school diploma and didn't intend to take the college entrance exam. Most of them would either work with their families or learn a trade and pursue blue-collar jobs after high school.
Xue Rui was one of the students in the back row, which was why he was so brazen about sleeping during breaks, and no teacher bothered him.
Even though his Class Teacher was his aunt, she didn't really force Xue Rui to study, because his family knew him well; Xue Rui simply wasn't the type to study quietly.
“Which category does Lin Ruoxi belong to?” Xue Rui couldn't understand this girl.
Lin Ruoxi sat in the back rows, but she was studying with her head down, occasionally pressing a gel pen against her brow, as if doing problems, and sometimes staring blankly out the window, looking preoccupied.
“How are Lin Ruoxi’s grades?” Xue Rui nudged Qiu Mengze with his elbow.
“You're asking me? I spoke to her for the first time today, how would I know? Never mind that, are you going to the internet cafe after class? Tell me the truth.” Qiu Mengze was itching to go; he had been cooped up for two months during the summer vacation, and only an all-nighter could be truly satisfying.
Unexpectedly, Xue Rui suddenly stood up and loudly declared to the teacher on the podium: “Teacher! Qiu Mengze plans to sneak out tonight for an all-night internet cafe session, and he even tried to tempt me, but I firmly refused! Still, I feel I should report it to you!”
At these words, the classroom fell silent. Everyone looked at Qiu Mengze's shocked, bewildered, and utterly comical expression. A male classmate in the class couldn't hold back a laugh, which then led to a burst of laughter throughout the room.
“Hahahahaha!”
“Rui Ge is truly Rui Ge…”
...
The teacher on duty felt a headache coming on. She had long heard of Xue Rui’s reputation, and didn't expect him to stage such a farce on her first day with their class.
“Quiet!” She slammed the podium, scolding, and once the classroom quieted down, out of a teacher’s responsibility, she told Qiu Mengze: “I will inform your Class Teacher about this. Study well. There are twenty more minutes until class ends.”
“Xue! Rui! If you're not going, just say you're not going, why did you pull this stunt?!” Qiu Mengze covered his face with a book, cursing in a hoarse voice, practically grinding his teeth.
“Mengze, I’m doing this for your own good. In the future, even bachelor’s degrees will be common. What good is just a high school diploma?” Xue Rui said earnestly.
What Xue Rui said was true; in his previous life, he had graduated from a first-tier university. Although it was a non-211/985 institution, he still surpassed most people.
Xue Rui himself was doing very well. Riding the wave of mobile internet, he asked his father for some money to open a small company, and the business was quite prosperous, earning him a lot of money.
But his classmates weren't so lucky. For example, Wang Huihui, who gave him foot massages, also graduated from a first-tier university, but because she had a child after graduation, there were several years of a gap in her resume, which led to her hitting roadblocks everywhere when looking for a job after her divorce. The decent jobs she could find couldn't support her and her child, so she had no choice but to give foot massages.
“Why are you suddenly like my dad?” Qiu Mengze swallowed, suddenly feeling that Xue Rui had become so mature. He grinned and said, “But with your grades, how can you even lecture me?”
“My family has two restaurants, so I don’t have to worry about food and drink even if I don’t go to university. What about you? Go sell fish with your dad? Or come work as a waiter at my place? Or a chef?” Xue Rui asked with a smile.
Xue Rui had no prejudice against professions; in his view, no matter which row the students sat in, they would all be important cornerstones of society in the future.
However, Qiu Mengze, at this age, did not have such awareness.
Qiu Mengze believed that smelling of fish made it impossible to find a girlfriend, and being a waiter or chef didn't sound prestigious enough.
“I…” Qiu Mengze’s throat felt blocked, and he couldn't speak for a long time.
He had always known the family gap between him and Xue Rui, but he had always avoided it in his heart, never willing to face it.
His family just sold fish at the market, and his pocket money could only buy a dozen-yuan Huanghelou cigarette;
Whereas Xue Rui's family was well-off, and he could easily get entire cartons of zhonghua from his family's restaurant.
Qiu Mengze had never expected his childhood friend to say such realistic words, and his mood was low.
Xue Rui patted Qiu Mengze’s shoulder: “Actually, there’s another position at the restaurant, called Catering Manager. You can manage a lot of people, but it requires a bachelor’s degree.”
“Manager? Sounds pretty awesome.” Qiu Mengze suddenly perked up.
Qiu Mengze, with zero social experience, suddenly felt that this position seemed tailor-made for him.
He fantasized about himself in a handsome suit, managing a huge crowd of people, with passing beauties looking at him with respect in their eyes. A foolish yet clear smile couldn't help but appear on his face.
Xue Rui stifled a laugh; Qiu Mengze was completely taken in by his bluff.
Actually, a Catering Manager doesn't necessarily need a bachelor's degree, especially in a small city like Hedong; no degree might even be acceptable.
The name sounds impressive, but in reality, the income is not as good as that of a head chef. However, he had to set a goal for his childhood friend, otherwise Qiu Mengze would spend all day thinking about going to internet cafes to play games.
He recalled his previous life, how from the moment Lin Ruoxi jumped, he studied diligently, shocked his aunt, and finally got into a first-tier university, astonishing everyone in his family.
For this, Xue Rui's father, Xue Jianfeng, happily hosted a hundred tables.
No gifts were accepted; everyone, known or unknown, was welcome to eat. He even put up a sign for “Teacher Appreciation Feast” at half price, just to be able to boast, “My son got into a first-tier university.”
With Xue Rui's prompting, Qiu Mengze felt a surge of enthusiasm. He opened his brand new textbooks and began to write his name in each one.
It had been a day since the new books were distributed, and he still hadn't written his name, while the good students in the front had already completed the exercises for the first few lessons…
Xue Rui also picked up a pen and signed his name in the book. He was used to signing various documents, so his handwriting was very “artistic.”
“Who would recognize that if you write it like that?” Qiu Mengze reminded him.
Xue Rui paused, “Are there rules for writing names?”
“Isn’t that obvious? If you lose your book, whoever finds it won’t know who to return it to.”
Xue Rui nodded seriously. He was still not quite used to his student days. He wrote his name stroke by stroke.
“Grade 2, Class 2, Xue Rui.”
When he got to the character “Rui” (Rui), Xue Rui got stuck.
He had written too much in artistic script, and suddenly had to write in standard block characters.
For a moment, he actually forgot the stroke order for that character…
Living in 2024, an era where mobile internet is extremely advanced, there are almost no scenarios that require handwriting besides signatures.
This leads to many people recognizing characters but forgetting how to write them… In a sense, it’s a new era of “illiteracy.”
“Ding-a-ling~”
The teacher on duty walked out of the classroom just as the bell rang, as if unwilling to stay for another moment.
The students also stretched one by one, walking out with their arms around each other's shoulders.
Some were looking for their crushes, others went to the snack bar to buy snacks, and some chatted about popular online games as they headed towards the school's “dog hole” in the corner, most likely to battle all night in the virtual world.
“Finished!” Xue Rui had written his name in every book. Looking at the neatly arranged books, he felt a sense of fulfillment.
Although he hadn't learned anything, he still felt like he had worked hard.