pjbooks Chapter 13: The Secrets to Academic Excellence!
Chapter 13: The Secrets to Academic Excellence!
"Breakfast will be provided next semester?"
Han Chuan glanced at Li Hao, a slight smile playing on his lips, and feigned hesitation as he bargained, "From outside the school?"
Li Hao patted his chest confidently and said, "It has to be from outside the school!"
He was secretly calculating in his mind that if he could really improve his math grades by following Han Chuan's lead, he would not only have more pocket money, but he could also easily save up to buy the new CDs he wanted. This deal was a sure thing.
Han Chuan smiled inwardly at his calculating appearance and said, "Okay, you said it."
He paused for a moment, then looked at the podium and added a sentence.
"Pay attention in class. Teacher Cao is going to continue explaining the problems now. We can discuss tutoring after class. I'll make a study plan for you. If you follow the plan, you'll definitely make rapid progress."
He had always intended to help Li Hao.
After all, the two were close classmates and best friends. A helping hand could have changed the course of their lives if they had gotten into a good university.
As for the free breakfast, it wasn't much of a deal for Li Hao.
Although this kid isn't from a wealthy family, his family is quite well-off, and his monthly allowance is almost equal to his living expenses.
.....
When the bell rang, Cao Wen, unusually, did not extend the class time this time.
He carried his enamel mug and walked from the aisle to the back door. He didn't stop when he passed Han Chuan's seat, but he said something to him in a low voice.
"When will you finish solving the differentiation problem? Then you need to redo the last problem using the standard solution method."
"Understood, Teacher Cao."
Han Chuan said to his back, and Cao Wen hummed in response, then left the classroom with his enamel mug.
On the math textbook on the desk, Ge Jun's handwriting appeared: "Your math teacher is actually a pretty good person."
Han Chuan laughed and said, "Our teachers at No. 1 High School are all pretty good, except for the PE teacher, who's always been frail and sickly!"
Upon hearing this, Ge Jun chuckled and wrote in his own words, "Bullshit!"
Before the two could exchange more words, seeing the math teacher leave, several boys in the classroom who were close to Han Chuan immediately rushed over.
Zhou Yu, who was sitting in front of Li Hao, leaned half his body on Li Hao's desk and reached out to grab the test paper in Han Chuan's hand.
"Brother Chuan, Brother Chuan, can I borrow your test paper again? I didn't look at it carefully when I was on the podium."
"Queue up, queue up."
Another boy shoved him from behind, saying, "Why are you acting like you're fighting for food?"
"Don't you guys have your own exam papers? Why are you all trying to steal them!"
"Yes, but Teacher Cao didn't specifically praise my test paper!"
Han Chuan pushed the exam paper to them, and several heads immediately huddled together to look at it, as if they were admiring a historical artifact, discussing it as they looked.
"I only wrote fourteen steps for the last question? I copied almost a whole page of the answer key that Teacher Cao wrote on the blackboard—and that answer key was written by Teacher Cao himself."
Therefore, the reference answer is not necessarily the best solution.
A boy next to him chimed in, "That's exactly the point Teacher Cao was trying to make in this lesson."
Even Li Hao, standing next to Han Chuan, looked at him with utter bewilderment: "I really don't understand, Brother Chuan, how did you develop your brain? Wasn't your math just so-so before? About the same as mine."
Han Chuan smiled and said, "After thinking about it a bit more, it's actually not that complicated."
Hearing this, Li Hao's lips twitched: "Show-off!"
After the boys finished looking at the test papers, they dispersed. Li Hao dragged his chair half a foot closer to Han Chuan and said, "Brother Chuan, you promised to teach me math and make a study plan for me."
Han Chuan nodded, pushed the textbooks on the table aside to make room for a clean surface, and then took Li Hao's test paper from his desk.
Looking at the bright red 83 points, he asked, "Let's talk about the current situation. You got 83 this time, which is almost 15 points higher than last time."
"But let's be honest, are there any questions here that you guessed?"
"Only after I identify your knowledge gaps can I create a learning plan for you."
Li Hao confessed honestly, pointing to a spot on the test paper and saying, "I was a little unsure about this multiple-choice question, so I guessed after eliminating two wrong answers."
Han Chuan nodded and smiled, "If we disregard those 5 points, you've still improved by 9 points, which is quite good."
He paused for a moment and looked at the multiple-choice question that Li Hao had pointed out, which was an arithmetic sequence.
In an arithmetic sequence {an}, given a1 = 3 and d = 2, then a5 equals ()....
Looking at the problem, Han Chuan explained, "The general term formula for an arithmetic sequence is a = a1 + (n-1)d. Substituting the given conditions, a5 = 3 + (5-1)×2 = 3 + 8 = 11."
"Option A incorrectly used n=4; Option C incorrectly calculated d as 13; Option D incorrectly calculated a1 as 5."
"The reason you chose the wrong one is that you didn't pay attention to the coefficient of n-1 in the general term formula of an arithmetic sequence, and confused n and n-1, so you made a mistake in the calculation."
Standing to the side, Li Hao paused for a moment, then thought for a long while before suddenly slapping his thigh: "Yes! That's it!"
"I see. No wonder I always felt there was something wrong with my calculations, but I couldn't figure out exactly what the problem was."
Han Chuan smiled and said, "This question is actually not difficult. As long as you have a solid foundation and can identify the traps in the question, it's easy."
He paused for a moment, looked at Li Hao, and continued, "So your study plan from now on will be the same as mine: strengthen your foundation!"
"If you don't understand a problem and can't solve it, find the basic knowledge points behind the problem, memorize them over and over again, and then slowly connect them together."
Upon hearing this, Li Hao asked in a daze, "That's it?"
Han Chuan nodded: "That's it!"
Li Hao snapped out of his daze and asked with a grin, "Isn't there some kind of study secret? Like a 150-point shortcut to the college entrance exam in 100 days?"
Han Chuan rolled his eyes and said, "I think you're just a complete idiot!"
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Use this test paper as a base. During the lunch break, I'll make a list of basic knowledge points for you, and then you can review it step by step according to this list."
"OK!"
Li Hao nodded, his playful expression fading, and said seriously, "I'll learn exactly what you did back then, Brother Chuan!"
Ge Jun's handwriting appeared on the textbook on the desk.
"His own foundation is so bad, yet he's a natural at teaching."
Upon seeing this line of writing, Han Chuan smiled awkwardly and did not refute it.
After spending about half a month with him, he figured out the math prodigy's temperament, which was somewhat similar to their math teacher, Cao Wen.
He can be very sharp-tongued when he swears, but he's a dedicated teacher and a very nice person.
There's nothing wrong with giving someone a "good guy" card.
Ge Jun's handwriting reappeared in the textbook: "Since you want to teach others, then I'll give you a rule."
Han Chuan nodded and said, "Please go ahead."
Ge Jun: "Don't teach others knowledge you haven't even learned yourself. What you teach them must be something you can work out from start to finish with your eyes closed, without any mistakes!"
"Teaching the wrong thing is more harmful than not teaching at all!"
Han Chuan looked at the line of text, his smile faded, and he silently replied with two words in his mind.
"clear."
.....
After the math exam at the end of the month, the monthly holiday began.
The county's No. 1 High School implements a one-and-a-half-day weekend for first-year high school students, which means they rest on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.
Students in grades 11 and 12 get half a day off every Sunday, and then a two-day holiday at the end of the month.
This allows students in their second and third years of high school to adjust their study pace slightly and avoid becoming too tired.
With a few textbooks borrowed from the library and no luggage, Han Chuan slung his backpack over his shoulder and boarded a minibus in the county town.
The buildings in the county town were gradually replaced by fields of farmland. After a journey of more than half an hour, he returned to the entrance of his hometown village.
Looking at the gravel road that hadn't yet been paved with cement, Han Chuan's expression was somewhat dazed.
In 09, his hometown had not yet been paved with cement roads, and the village road construction project had not yet been implemented there. It would take another year or so before his hometown would be able to raise funds and receive subsidies to pave a cement road that could only accommodate one vehicle at a time.
Taking a deep breath, Han Chuan stepped onto the gravel road and headed towards his home.
A patch of lush green weeds has sprouted in the farmland on both sides of the road, and some have even been planted with alfalfa, the kind with three leaves.
After walking for about ten minutes, a two-story self-built house came into view in the distance.
At the end of March, when early rice was being transplanted, a mini-tiller was whirring and turning in the paddy field in front of the self-built house, emitting gray-black smoke.
"dad!"
Seeing that familiar figure from his memories, Han Chuan could no longer hold back and shouted loudly, "I'm back!"
Not far away, although the clattering sound of the farm machinery masked Han Zhengping's hearing, he didn't hear Han Chuan's shout, but he glanced in this direction as if he sensed something.
The moment their eyes met, Han Chuan abruptly stopped, as if something was blocking his chest, a sour feeling rising up his nose, and his eyes instantly reddened.
The figure in my memory, who was only sixty years old but had almost a full head of white hair, still had jet-black hair at this point in time, and his face still had a ruggedness that had not been worn down by the years.
Upon seeing Han Chuan, Han Zhengping, who was pushing the farm machinery, paused for a moment, then a surprised smile appeared on his face. He stopped his farming work, his voice filled with undisguised joy.
"Are you on your monthly break?"
Hearing the voice, Han Chuan felt even more aroused. Han Zhengping's voice was still loud and clear, without the weakness that he had later suffered from illness. Even his back was straight as he stood.
Unlike the man he had seen before his rebirth, who had a full head of white hair, this man was suffering from rheumatism and a herniated disc, to the point that he had to apply plasters every night to fall asleep.
Han Chuan opened his mouth, but the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say them no matter what.
Having been reborn after more than a decade in society, he could talk and laugh with others, but he was speechless when facing his own father.
Taking a deep breath to suppress his emotions, Han Chuan strode over, the sand and gravel under his feet making a soft crunching sound.
He dared not walk too fast, fearing that this was just a fleeting dream, fearing that the young and robust father in front of him would turn into the hunched-over, ailing old man in his memory the next second.
He only snapped out of his daze when the man standing in front of him, still smiling and covered in mud, looked at him.
Looking at his father standing in front of him, Han Chuan opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally took out a bottle of Assam milk tea that Li Hao had bought for him from his schoolbag.
"Dad, take a break and have some water."
Han Zhengping glanced at the beverage bottle in his son's hand, which had unfamiliar characters printed on it, grinned, and revealed a set of white teeth: "It's not like we don't have water at home."
Han Chuan unscrewed the bottle cap, handed it over, and said with a smile, "Have some first, I'll bring you water later."
"You can keep this for yourself. Your mom is home; just tell her what you want to eat tonight."
Han Zhengping didn't accept the drink. While talking, he started the mini-tiller again, and the "click-click-click" sound rang out again. He waved to Han Chuan, signaling him to go back first.
Han Chuan stood there, watching his father push the machine through the paddy field, his trousers covered in mud, his shirt soaked with sweat, clinging to his body and revealing the outline of his strong muscles.
"Youth is wonderful!"
Han Chuan silently recited a phrase to himself, then turned and walked towards home.
Before I even reached the door, I saw a woman come out of the house, carrying a hoe and a bag of vegetable seeds.
Upon seeing Han Chuan, the woman's eyes lit up, and a smile involuntarily spread across her face. She blurted out, "You're back, Chuan-zai?"
After greeting him, Han's mother, Li Xiumei, looked him up and down, muttering, "You've lost weight. Are you not eating properly at school again? I told you not to be so stingy. You should eat meat when you're supposed to."
"mom."
Han Chuan looked at his mother and called out, his voice a little strained.
My mother, as I remember her, was almost sixty years old. Her hair was gray, her fingers were bent and deformed from years of farm work, and her skin was dark.
But the mother standing in front of him was only in her early forties. Her hair was thick and black, coiled up behind her head. Although her skin was not fair due to years of exposure to the wind and sun, her eyes were very bright, and her voice was full of energy.
Li Xiumei smiled, took his schoolbag, and asked with a smile, "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Han Chuan smiled and said, "Either is fine."
Li Xiumei thought for a moment and said, "We still have spare ribs and cured meat at home. We'll kill a young rooster later to make something more substantial. Tomorrow, I'll have your dad catch some eels and make a braised eel dish!"
"good!"
Han Chuan grinned, glanced at the hoe in her hand, and asked, "What are you planting?"
"Let's plant some water spinach, since it rained yesterday," Li Xiumei replied with a smile.
"Okay, I'll help you hoe the ground." Han Chuan nodded and reached for the hoe.
Li Xiumei smiled and placed the schoolbag on a chair in the main room, saying, "I just got back, please sit down first. It's not much, I can handle it myself."
Han Chuan looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar home before him.
The cement floor of the main room was swept clean, and a portrait of the leader hung on the wall in the center of the room; everything was just as I remembered it.
Do not!
This is more vivid and newer than I remember.
Han Chuan grinned again.
It's so good that everything can start over!
...