Living Only For Myself: Make Those Who Hate Me Regret It-Chapter 39 - 38: The Romance of the Top Student and the School Belle

With midterm exams over, talk of splitting into liberal arts and science tracks began to pop up frequently in class. At an age where they didn’t fully grasp the word "future," they already had to start planning for it.

The actual split would happen at the start of their second year. At that point, all twenty-six classes would be formally divided into liberal arts and science tracks. Many students would have to leave the classes and head teachers they had only just grown accustomed to. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

That was only a little over half a year away.

On the day the midterm results were officially released, Teacher Wu made a special trip to the classroom during evening self-study to chat with the students, mainly about the upcoming class split.

As the head teacher of the Rocket Class and a math teacher, he would only be leading science classes. This meant that students who chose the science track would remain in the Rocket Class; neither their classroom nor their teacher would change.

If they decided to choose liberal arts, however, they would be assigned to other classes. City No.1 High School had only one Rocket Class, and it was the science class led by Teacher Wu.

The Rocket Class was equipped with the school’s top teaching staff. Every year, during the college entrance exams, its students had a better chance of getting into first-tier universities. That wasn’t to say students from other classes had no chance, of course.

Whether it was the liberal arts or science track, there was always a leading class. If the Rocket Class was the leader for science, then the leader for liberal arts was undoubtedly Class 1.

After briefly explaining the situation, Teacher Wu’s tone became uncharacteristically gentle. "I’ll be leading the science track, so those of you who choose science will most likely have me as your teacher in your second year as well. But don’t worry if you want to choose liberal arts. Based on our class’s grades, if you do get split off into the arts track, you’ll go to Class 1, which is led by your Chinese teacher."

The Rocket Class’s Chinese teacher was Mr. Chen. He was the head teacher of Class 1 and also held the title of "City’s Outstanding Teacher."

"You’ve all seen Mr. Chen’s teaching ability for yourselves. The graduating class he led last time also had excellent results, and the other subject teachers in Class 1 are also quite good. If you’re genuinely interested in liberal arts, you should feel perfectly fine choosing that path."

Teacher Wu’s tone shifted, becoming more serious. "I’m saying all this so that when you’re choosing between liberal arts and sciences, you don’t worry about other factors. Students who truly don’t have an aptitude for science don’t need to force themselves to stay in the Rocket Class. Going to a liberal arts class is also a good choice."

This midterm exam had already given many students a clearer picture of their own performance. Most now had a general idea of whether they were better at liberal arts or more interested in science.

However, they were still just students. A major decision like this, which would affect their future majors, still needed to be discussed with their parents.

’Xu Su, on the other hand, had no intention of discussing it with her parents. Even if she wanted to, Xu Weiping and his wife probably wouldn’t bother themselves with her affairs. After all, in their minds, the idea of their daughter going to college never even existed.’

This time, Xu Su’s midterm exam rank had improved by two places compared to the last monthly exam. She was now ninth in the entire grade and seventh in the Rocket Class, not far from her high school entrance exam results.

She planned to go to the science track. In her past life, she had chosen liberal arts. But due to various factors, her grades had slipped again and again. Then, on the eve of the college entrance exams, her maternal grandmother had an accident. She performed poorly on the exam and didn’t even make the cutoff for a second-tier university.

In the end, it was Zhou Mochen who pulled some strings to arrange a school for her in Beijing, where she barely managed to get a bachelor’s degree.

’Since heaven has given me a second chance at life, I should walk a completely different path from my previous one. Choosing the science track is more challenging, but it also offers a wider range of potential majors.’

’In fact, in the few months since school started, she had actually developed an interest in math, physics, and chemistry. The feeling of solving one difficult problem after another was incredibly addicting.’

Compared to Xu Su’s decisive choice, Huang Feng was extremely conflicted. She knew, of course, that studying liberal arts would be easier for her. She was already good at those subjects, while math, physics, and chemistry always dragged down her scores. If she chose the arts track, she would be like a fish in water.

But she didn’t want to be separated from Xu Su, which made her very hesitant.

After seeing her looking gloomy for several days, Xu Su finally couldn’t stand it anymore during lunch in the cafeteria. "It’s still a long time until the class split," she coaxed. "There’s a whole other semester next year. It’s not too late to decide then. Why are you worrying so much about it now?"

Huang Feng wasn’t the type to stay gloomy. Her friend’s words made her crack a smile, and she turned to Qian Jia. "You still haven’t said if you plan to study arts or sciences."

First High School only had one free afternoon each week. Qian Jia’s family lived in a nearby county, so she was a boarder and hadn’t been home in two months. When asked about her choice, she couldn’t make a decision on the spot; she needed to go home and ask for her parents’ opinion.

Among the three, only Xu Su had her mind made up. She added, "It doesn’t matter if we end up in different classes in our second year. We’ll still be at the same school, so let’s just promise to keep eating together, all three of us. What do you say?"

Huang Feng’s worries finally cleared up. She smiled. "Class 1 is right next door. If I do end up there and I miss you guys, it’s just a few steps away. The only thing is, if I have a question I don’t understand, I won’t have a ’study god’ to ask anymore."

The "study god" she was referring to was, of course, Xi Zirong. As the class monitor, he would always help his classmates with difficult problems whenever he had the time.

Qian Jia sighed as well. "Yeah, if we choose the arts track and leave the Rocket Class, we can’t be classmates with the study god anymore. It’d be hard to find a private tutor out there who’s as all-around amazing as our class monitor."

Although City No.1 High School only gave students a break from Saturday afternoon through the evening, many students were unwilling to waste a moment of it. They used this time for extra tutoring in their weakest subjects. Those who were well-off hired private tutors, while others with fewer resources would sign up for tutoring centers.

Xi Zirong, however, was an academic ace who knew everything a professional tutor did. While he couldn’t provide the same patient, one-on-one guidance as a private tutor, he was versatile and, more importantly, free.

At the mention of Xi Zirong, Huang Feng’s eyes lit up with gossip. She looked at Xu Su. "So are you actually dating him or not? Come on, just tell us quietly. I swear I won’t tell anyone. Don’t you trust us?"

Qian Jia leaned in too, whispering conspiratorially like an underground agent making contact. "If you two are really together, could you ask him to be a little more patient when he’s teaching us? A lot of the time he just scribbles down the answer, and we feel bad pestering him about it."

Xu Su shook her head, finished the last bite of fried noodles on her plate, and said with utter exasperation, "I’m really not dating anyone. How about this: I promise, if I ever do get together with him, I’ll tell you guys first thing, okay?"

Only then were Qian Jia and Huang Feng finally convinced.

Qian Jia said, "No wonder Old Wu hasn’t made a big deal about it, even with all the rumors flying around. So you’re not interested in him at all. I thought for sure he would have separated your seats by now. I can’t believe you’re still sitting one behind the other after all this time."

The rumors had indeed been spreading like wildfire. In an era with so few forms of entertainment, a little bit of scandalous gossip was a popular pastime for students—especially a rumored romance between the academic ace and the school belle.