Chapter 15: My Son, Xu You, Has Finally Got It

Xu Zhou spoke, "Teacher Liu, I heard from Xu You yesterday that he scored 96 in physics this time, which seems pretty good. How has Xu You been performing in school lately? I've been traveling for work and haven't seen him in a long time."

Liu Yanli responded, "That's right, Xu You has been in a great state of learning lately, and he has made significant progress this time. I'll send you his report card."

As she said this, Xu You opened the report card Liu Yanli had sent over.

Upon seeing it, Xu Zhou almost doubted his own eyes.

"Total score... 649? Second in the class, and sixth in the grade?"

Originally, Xu Zhou thought that Xu You had only made remarkable progress in physics.

Unexpectedly, Xu You had also done well in his other subjects.

For a moment, Xu Zhou felt so excited that he was moved to tears.

"Xu You, you truly are my son!"

Both Xu You's father, Xu Zhou, and his mother, Wu Jing, had excelled academically from a young age.

Not only did they both attend top 985 universities, but they also obtained their PhDs.

However, their son, Xu You, did not show any extraordinary talent from an early age.

Fortunately, Xu You was a very diligent and eager learner.

In elementary school, Xu You could rely on his hard work to achieve perfect scores.

But as he grew older, his grades started to falter.

Especially his speed in solving problems, which was even slower than average.

Xu Zhou and Wu Jing believed that with their genes, Xu You couldn't possibly be this poor.

Perhaps, they thought, he would suddenly improve in middle school.

But neither in middle school nor in high school did Xu You show the kind of talent his parents had.

He barely managed to get into Shengcheng No. 4 High School, a decent high school, through sheer willpower.

This was a far cry from the city's top three key high schools.

Xu Zhou and Wu Jing had to accept that their child did not have their talents.

But they weren't the kind of parents who were obsessed with their child becoming a dragon.

As long as Xu You did his best, they were content to let things take their course.

Putting more pressure on Xu You seemed pointless.

But Xu You's sudden improvement in grades released all the negative emotions Xu Zhou had accumulated over the years.

His son had finally caught on!

After the excitement, Xu Zhou quickly replied to Liu Yanli.

Xu Zhou: "Thank you, Teacher Liu, and all the other teachers for your cultivation of Xu You! His mother and I don't have time to manage Xu You usually, and his improvement could not have happened without the teachers' efforts!"

Liu Yanli knew that besides writing sick notes for Xu You, she hadn't really done much.

As for the other subject teachers... they seemed to have just carried on with their usual teaching.

It was all down to Xu You's own efforts.

But as the class teacher, Liu Yanli still needed to remind Xu You's parents about his intention to sign up for the math and physics competitions.

Liu Yanli: "Mr. Xu, are you aware that Xu You wants to sign up for the math and physics competitions? Outstanding performance in these competitions could lead to direct admission or bonus points for key universities. Of course, preparing for these competitions might impact his regular college entrance exam preparations, so you and your child should carefully consider it."

Xu Zhou had known about Xu You's desire to sign up for the physics competition since yesterday, but where did this math competition come from?

But soon, Xu Zhou realized.

Last night, only the physics results had come out.

And today, the math results were also released.

It must have been the math competition teacher who saw Xu You's potential and invited him to join the math competition as well.

Right, my son Xu You is just that outstanding.

As for affecting the college entrance exam? Xu Zhou wasn't worried.

His son was already so excellent; he could certainly balance these issues.

"Okay, Teacher Liu, Xu You has told me about the competition, and we, as parents, agree and will support his participation in the competition."

Xu Zhou went ahead and spoke for his wife, Wu Jing.

There was no helping it; when Wu Jing got busy, she really didn't spare a moment for her son, and asking her was pointless.

"Alright, then I'll sign Xu You up."

Since Xu You's parents were supportive, Liu Yanli had no more to say.

Given the difficulty of the competition, only a very few could make it through the preliminary rounds.

If he was eliminated early, he could return to his studies sooner and not waste too much time.

After school, Xu You packed his bag, took his leave slip, and prepared to go home.

On

 the way, Xu You saw a familiar figure, also holding a leave slip.

Upon closer inspection, Xu You realized it was Lu Zhiyao.

"Lu Zhiyao is taking leave too?"

Without giving it much thought, Xu You approached and greeted Lu Zhiyao.

Hearing her name, Lu Zhiyao instinctively looked back and saw Xu You.

Lu Zhiyao was quite isolated in class six.

Even outside, if classmates saw her, they usually wouldn't greet her.

"Lu Zhiyao, you're not going to the evening self-study either?"

"Yeah, I'll try studying at home."

In fact, Lu Zhiyao's decision was partly influenced by Xu You.

Xu You's improvement over the past month had been too significant.

And Lu Zhiyao felt that the efficiency of evening self-study at school might not be as high as studying at home.

"I also think that as long as you have enough self-discipline, studying at home could indeed be more effective."

Xu You didn't view Lu Zhiyao with the same prejudice as other classmates.

Especially after the end-of-term results were out, Xu You could understand Lu Zhiyao's feelings even more.

Xu You was curious about why Lu Zhiyao transferred from the provincial experimental school to No. 4 High School.

But since Xu You and Lu Zhiyao weren't close, he didn't ask.

"Xu You, are you really planning to sign up for the competition?"

Suddenly, Lu Zhiyao took the initiative to ask Xu You.

"Yeah, I've decided to sign up for both math and physics. Do you want to try signing up too?"

"I haven't decided yet... I feel like if I can't win at least a national silver, it won't be very meaningful."

Before the citywide rankings came out, Lu Zhiyao was leaning towards not participating in competitions and focusing on the college entrance exam.

But after seeing her citywide ranking, Lu Zhiyao started to waver.

Lu Zhiyao knew that only about fifty students from Shengcheng could get into top universities like Jinghua and Ji University each year.

With her grades, getting into Ji University through the college entrance exam was not a sure thing.

Although Lu Zhiyao hadn't really prepared for competitions, it was another path.

Trying it out, there might be a chance.

"I think it's worth signing up to try. If it doesn't look promising, you can always quit. Anyway, you'll learn something. Teacher Gao recommended some review materials to me today; I can send them to you."

After a moment of thought, Lu Zhiyao took out her phone.

(End of Chapter)