Chapter 9: The Hardcore Senior

Afterward, Chen Meng added all five knowledge points he had gained today to his high school rune book, bringing the total number of pages turned to 501, inching ever closer to the full 862 pages of the book. Once again experiencing the sensation of knowledge flooding into his mind, Chen Meng felt truly wonderful.

He then began to review—or rather, to study—the cultural subjects. That evening, he also attended a tutoring class focused on high school Chinese. The star teacher had once been a student at Jiangzhou University but failed to obtain the potion required for divine body advancement and eventually had to return to live as an ordinary person, becoming a teacher at the Spark Tutoring Center.

Chen Meng carefully looked through the high school Chinese material; in fact, some of it overlapped with what he had studied in his previous life, so it wasn’t particularly difficult for him. However, the exam content had changed drastically. The perplexing reading comprehension sections, which neither authors nor students truly understood, were now gone. Only multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and a simple short essay remained, with a total score of just forty points—less than the average fifty.

For Chen Meng, these forty points were relatively easy to secure. He spent an hour memorizing some ancient poetry from the textbook, which was always tested in the fill-in-the-blank section and typically accounted for five points—points he absolutely could not afford to lose.

By the time he returned from the tutoring class, it was already ten o’clock. He spent another hour reciting poetry, and before he knew it, midnight was approaching. But for Chen Meng, who had once endured the grueling repetition of cramming, this was nothing.

Outside the door, his father got up to use the restroom. Seeing Chen Meng still hard at work, he couldn’t help but show a gentle, fatherly smile.

...

The next day, Chen Meng entered the classroom and, seeing that the seat in front of Tang Wenjing was empty, sat there for a while and asked her what she wanted for lunch.

“Tomato and egg, potato and beef, rice, and a bowl of egg drop soup.”

“Got it. Do you want me to bring it back for you?”

Except for the potato and beef, which cost eight yuan, the tomato and egg dish was only three and a half, and together with the rice and soup, it would be less than fifteen yuan in total.

“Bring it back.”

“Alright.”

After this brief exchange, Chen Meng returned to his seat, completely ignoring the stunned stares from those around him.

As soon as he sat down, Ma Yiqun couldn’t contain himself any longer and blurted out, “What’s going on? Since when are you so close with Tang Wenjing?”

Chen Meng had considered telling him about his business arrangement with Tang Wenjing, but knowing his desk mate’s personality, he realized that if Ma Yiqun found out, he might try to steal his business. Having finally found a path to earn some money, Chen Meng was determined not to let anyone like Ma Yiqun cut in on his turf.

So, he simply refused, “That’s a secret.”

Ma Yiqun pouted. A secret, huh? Just wait—I’ll get to the bottom of this.

Another dull day passed. They had already covered all the required courses, and the teachers had nothing new to teach, so every day was spent going over practice tests and exercises. For Chen Meng, the questions he could answer, he had mastered long ago; those he couldn’t, might as well have been written in an alien language.

At lunchtime, when he brought Tang Wenjing’s meal back to the classroom, it caused quite a stir. Some classmates even suspected that Tang Wenjing and Chen Meng were dating, which would be considered a case of puppy love—how bold of them!

...

Evening tutoring was what Chen Meng looked forward to the most. Today’s subject was high school science, a hodgepodge of physics, chemistry, biology, modern machinery, artificial intelligence, and more. The biology taught here was different from the other high school biology course, as that one focused mainly on the knowledge of demon beasts.

Such a high school science curriculum was truly unique.

Chen Meng had been a liberal arts student in the past, and while he had studied some of these subjects before branching off, it wasn’t nearly enough to cope with the college entrance exam here.

Before he knew it, it was six o’clock, and knowing that the tutor would soon arrive, Chen Meng took out his high school science textbook, along with the brand-new “Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Exams” he had recently purchased.

Knock, knock, knock!

Three knocks sounded at the door, and then someone entered.

Chen Meng mentally gave the Spark Tutoring Center another point of praise—not only did they provide each student with a private study room, but their star instructors were also highly professional in their demeanor.

“Huh, it’s you!”

“Senior?”

Chen Meng was stunned, for the star instructor who had just entered was none other than Yan Ruoxi, who had previously given them a lecture at the Divine Body Science Exhibition.

What a coincidence!

He had always meant to consult Yan Ruoxi but never had the time—now, she had become his tutor.

But wasn’t Yan Ruoxi still a student at Jiangzhou University? How did she end up as a star tutor at the center?

“I’m as surprised as you are, junior. I hadn’t expected the student I’d be tutoring tonight to be you. But let me officially introduce myself: my name is Yan Ruoxi, currently a freshman at Jiangzhou University. On the college entrance exam, the full score for the comprehensive arts section was three hundred—I scored two hundred ninety-six, ranking third in Yangzhou Province. However, due to certain special circumstances, I didn’t get into a top-tier university and entered Jiangzhou University instead. Before you, I’ve tutored over a dozen students, and all of them saw significant improvements in their grades. That’s how I qualified to become a star tutor here.”

Yan Ruoxi spoke calmly; it was clear she remembered Chen Meng.

Chen Meng could understand—unlike in school, here at the tutoring center, as long as a student’s grades improved quickly and the feedback was positive, it was easy to become a star tutor.

“Senior, if I’d known you were this amazing, I would have asked you to tutor me long ago. Oh, that’s right—I just remembered, as a VIP student in this tutoring center, I can choose my instructor. Senior, I’m choosing you. From now on, all my tutoring sessions will be with you.”

Having seen Yan Ruoxi’s lecture at the Divine Body Science Exhibition, Chen Meng had found her knowledgeable and cultured. He was certain that having her as his tutor would be a wise choice.

“You’re taking other tutoring courses as well?”

“All six cultural subjects, from Monday to Saturday evenings, non-stop,” Chen Meng said proudly. Otherwise, how would he have become a VIP at the Spark Tutoring Center? But the look in Yan Ruoxi’s eyes seemed to say something else, as if she were thinking, Are your grades really that bad?

“Choosing your tutor is your right, but I might not be available every day,” Yan Ruoxi replied. “Now, let’s formally begin today’s session. After all, each session costs nearly two hundred yuan, which is more than a typical white-collar worker makes in a day.”

Is she hinting that I shouldn’t waste my parents’ money?

“Senior, my foundation is a bit weak. I don’t think it’s possible to cover the entire high school science curriculum before the college entrance exams, so could you focus on the most frequently tested topics?”

That was Chen Meng’s strategy—learning six subjects in three months was impossible, so he had to focus on the essentials.

Yan Ruoxi was a bit surprised. Is your foundation really that weak? If given more time, would you really try to cover the entire book?

Fortunately, she had just gone through last year’s college entrance exams and had a good grasp of the topics, so she nodded. “That’s doable. If your foundation is really that poor, I’ll do my best to help you at least reach a passing score.”

Chen Meng was quite pleased—this senior was reliable. She was confident enough to say she could help him pass, something he hadn’t dared hope for himself.

“I’ll start with the must-know topics, and then I’ll go over others according to their likelihood of appearing on the exam, from most to least frequent. But even so, it’s impossible to cover every point before the exam.”

“I understand. After all, these subjects are meant to be studied over three years.”

Chen Meng smiled, signaling Yan Ruoxi not to feel pressured.

“Let’s begin, then. Today’s first key topic: thermal weapons!” Yan Ruoxi was decisive, immediately typing out the words on her laptop. Unlike in school, where there was a blackboard—mainly used for rune lessons, since those involved carving symbols that couldn’t be replicated on a computer—here, she just used the projection screen.

Once she finished typing, the words “thermal weapons” appeared on the projection screen.

“First, we’ll discuss nuclear bombs. In the past, we used these weapons to wipe out countless invading demon beasts and relied on them to construct a defensive line at the Wilds frontier. Even now, the most powerful defensive weapons at the Wilds frontier are still nuclear bombs. Over the years, nations around the world have been frantically building them—there may be over three hundred thousand warheads in existence today. Next, let’s talk about the power of nuclear bombs and their different models…”

Listening to Yan Ruoxi seriously explain the details of nuclear bombs, Chen Meng once again had the strange feeling that he didn’t quite belong in this world.

And this senior—she was truly hardcore!