After My Rebirth, I Stole Away the School Genius - Chapter 8

The first evening self-study session today was with Liang Hongying. Typically, this session would turn into a writing class. Liang Hongying first showed them a few writing prompts, then assigned an essay to be completed within forty-five minutes. After submission, the essays would be randomly redistributed for peer review before being collected again.

As soon as Liang Hongying assigned the topic, the students immediately sprang into action. Some flipped through composition books, while others searched for writing materials, all anxious about not finishing in time.

The classroom buzzed with chatter for a while before falling silent under Liang Hongying’s stern gaze.

Holding her teacup, Liang Hongying took a leisurely sip and said, “Whether it’s the college entrance exam or regular tests, the time allotted for your essays will be just like this at most, I’m giving you an extra ten minutes today. I’m already being generous. How to score high within such a short time depends entirely on your usual accumulation and training.”

Most college entrance exam essays are argumentative, with the three key elements being the thesis, evidence, and reasoning, among which the thesis is the most crucial. Additionally, a strong title can immediately catch the teacher’s attention.

The central theme of today’s material-based essay was quite clear: youth and dreams. It was a common topic, but making it stand out was challenging.

Lu Shinian wasn’t aiming to write an outstanding essay that was better left to the top students. As someone who had been reborn into this life with only half-baked skills, she planned to stick to the basics. After chewing on her pen for a moment, she wrote down her title: “A Youth Without Regrets, Chasing Dreams Toward the Future.”

Forty-five minutes passed quickly. As Lu Shinian put down her pen with the final stroke, she nodded in satisfaction, this should easily score above forty points.

Yu Jingjing, noticing she had finished, exclaimed in surprise, “You’re done already?”

Lu Shinian grinned. “Yes, I write fast.”

She glanced around the classroom, many were still scribbling furiously.

Liang Hongying checked the time and clapped her hands. “Time’s up. Hand them in. The college entrance exam won’t give you this much time to write.”

The notebooks were exchanged between groups, with Lu Shinian’s group swapping with the neighboring one. When Lu Shinian received her assigned essay, she smiled at the name on the first page.

It was Yu He’s. What a coincidence.

Now she could admire the genius’s exemplary work.

Eagerly, Lu Shinian flipped open the essay, only to freeze for a solid two seconds.

The title read: “Youth + Dreams = ∞”

Lu Shinian: “?”

Well… algebraic symbolism in titles wasn’t unheard of. It was straightforward, and maybe Yu He was going for that effect.

Nodding to herself, Lu Shinian continued reading.

Ten minutes later, she was speechless.

Yu Jingjing, having finished her comments, nudged her. “Done yet? We have to hand them in soon.”

Lu Shinian turned to her with a grimace. “I might not be cut out for grading essays.”

“Why do you say that?”

Curious, Yu Jingjing leaned over to read.

“Dreams are an innocent word, but realizing them is a cruel one… 0.99 to the power of 365 equals 0.03, while 1.01 to the power of 365 equals 37.8. What astonishing numbers! Mathematics teaches us that putting in a little more effort each day brings us closer to our dreams. Let us strive within our finite youth to realize our dreams and achieve ∞-fication.”

Lu Shinian gave her a pained look. “Do you get it?”

Yu Jingjing’s lips twitched as she couldn’t help bursting into laughter. “This is hilarious! It must be Yu He’s essay, right? Hahaha, it has to be Yu He. Only Yu He could write something like this. You’re so unlucky to have gotten her test paper.”

Lu Shinian: “……”

At the front row, Xu Man and her deskmate turned around. Their cheerful atmosphere made Xu Man frown. “Keep it down.”

After laughing her fill, Yu Jingjing explained, “I forgot to tell you, Yu He excels in every subject except Chinese. Her essays are particularly weak and never score high. Do you know what our teacher used to say about her? That her thought process when writing essays is completely different from everyone else’s.”

Lu Shinian massaged her temples helplessly. She’d never noticed before, even academic gods have their flaws.

But it was strange. In her previous life, she’d never once drawn Yu He’s essay notebook, yet now she’d gotten it on her first try. Was this the butterfly effect?

Yu Jingjing patted her shoulder encouragingly. “Do your best.”

“I’ll try.”

Collecting her thoughts, Lu Shinian reread the essay from start to finish. Mining her brain for all usable phrases, she wrote her comments: “Neat and beautiful handwriting. The paper is clean and tidy. The writing is concise with a novel perspective, demonstrating the author’s unique way of thinking…”

Her pen paused, then added one final line, “The essay hasn’t scored high yet, comrade still needs to work harder.”

After evening self-study, Yu Jingjing invited her to grab supper at the back gate.

Behind Yanning No.1 High stretched an entire street filled with restaurants and entertainment, all kinds of snacks, hotpot joints, and several internet cafes. Besides their school, there was also a vocational high nearby, making the street crowded with students after school.

Lu Shinian used to frequent this area for meals, especially loving a particular spicy soup stall. But Chai Ping deemed it unsanitary and later forcibly converted her allowance into meal cards, insisting she eat at the school cafeteria.

The invitation was tempting, it’d been ages since she’d experienced the snack street atmosphere. But the Lu family had curfews, and returning late meant punishment.

So Lu Shinian politely declined, promising to join next time.

When Lu Shinian got home, Chai Ping emerged from the study with a dark expression, settling onto the living room sofa.

On the balcony, Lu Zhenhong was on the phone, apparently handling court matters.

Testing the waters, Lu Shinian asked, “Mom, did Dad upset you again?”

Chai Ping scoffed. “Your father’s court issues are secondary. Today it’s mainly about you. I called your teacher and heard about your recent ‘astounding’ math exam results.”

“Mom… actually I—” Lu Shinian swallowed nervously.

Chai Ping raised a hand to cut her off. “I don’t know what’s going through your mind lately. With scores like this, don’t give me excuses about underperforming. I’ve already contacted Teacher Wang Jing, he’s agreed to take you into his tutoring class starting this weekend.”

At the name, alarm bells rang in Lu Shinian’s ears. “I don’t want to go.”

Chai Ping said, “Teacher Wang is a renowned senior instructor in the city. Others can’t even get into his classes.”

In her heart, Lu Shinian thought bitterly: Some senior instructor, he’s just a scumbag.

In her previous life, Chai Ping had only found her a tutor after the first monthly exam. Unexpectedly, because she had reincarnated and messed up her math test this time, the timeline had moved up earlier.

This Wang Jing appeared to be a refined middle-aged man, but in reality, he was utterly disgusting. Under the guise of teaching, he would take the opportunity to grope her hand. She had cursed him out on the spot, but the next day, that bastard went and badmouthed her to Chai Ping. She had even told Chai Ping that he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but Chai Ping remained skeptical, thinking she was lying to avoid tutoring.

Later, unable to bear it any longer, when Wang Jing tried to touch her hand a second time, she kicked him straight in the crotch and sent him to the hospital. Though she was later dragged by Chai Ping to apologize, at least she never had to attend his classes again. This was the coolest thing she had done in high school, a bold stroke in the annals of her personal history.

A year later, a girl, humiliated and harassed by Wang Jing, chose to jump to her death. The incident caused a huge uproar, prompting a police investigation that uncovered numerous other offenses. In the end, Wang Jing was sentenced to five years in prison, a verdict personally delivered by Lu Zhenhong. For two days after the news broke, Chai Ping treated her exceptionally well, filling the dining table with her favorite dishes. They tacitly avoided mentioning the matter altogether.

All in all, she really didn’t want to relive that experience, though she wouldn’t mind kicking Wang Jing hard again.

Lu Shinian spoke in a gentle, placating tone, “I can improve my grades on my own, I promise.”

Chai Ping held her water glass, eyeing her leisurely. “With scores like these, what kind of promise is that? You’ve made plenty of promises growing up, how many have you actually kept?”

“Mom, believe me this time.”

Lu Shinian was truly at a loss. She couldn’t outright say Wang Jing was a scumbag from Chai Ping’s perspective, since they hadn’t even met yet, she’d just assume she was lying.

“There’s no room for negotiation here. And don’t think about asking your dad for help, I’ll personally take you there this weekend.” Chai Ping finalized the tutoring arrangement with firm, deliberate words.

Lu Shinian stood by the entryway, unmoving and silent, trying to sway Chai Ping with her attitude.

Chai Ping added, “If you were like your sister, would I have to go through all this trouble to find you a tutor? I’m doing this for your own good, and yet you’re the one resisting.”

Here we go with the comparisons again.

Lu Shinian said, “I’ll listen to you. I’ll take the tutoring.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lu Zhenhong walked in from the balcony. “Done talking?”

“Yeah,” Lu Shinian nodded. Total defeat in this battle.

Chai Ping snorted. “When it comes to the children, you never lift a finger.”

From childhood to adulthood, Lu Shiyin and Lu Shinian’s education had been entirely managed by Chai Ping, while Lu Zhenhong busied himself with upholding justice outside, never interfering in their upbringing.

Chai Ping had long held grievances about this. Lu Shinian had lost count of how many times she’d witnessed her parents debating the issue, though it never led to any resolution instead, it became a sort of marital pastime.

With unspoken understanding, Lu Shinian quietly slipped back to her room and closed the door, leaving the old couple to their banter.

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