Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 88 - 088 10 minutes is genius

"Cough..." Sun Leyang then said, "Regarding the chemistry competition, it was last Friday when your Teacher Yu brought it up to me. She meant that the top students from Lake Ying lack competitive environment; it’s holding them back. If a team could be formed, she would teach."

Li Zheng shuddered.

Maybe we should just mind our own business.

Yu Hong, however, looked at the three of them seriously, "I know what you’re thinking, but Teacher Sun is, after all, a teacher at Ren Da Fu, and his students are in competition with you. For him to coach you would invite gossip. Today’s favor is a personal request from me to Teacher Sun. Whether you compete or not, it must not be shared with others."

All three nodded again and again.

Sun Leyang raised his hand with a smile, "It’s not that serious; anyone would want to cultivate a good student when they see one."

Having said that, he turned to the three and asked, "This test includes all the high school content, and Mengxi has naturally mastered it already. Have you two sophomores gone through it on your own yet?"

Lin Yujing and Li Zheng nodded at the same time.

Then they looked at each other, surprised.

Then each shook their head, revealing a meaningful cold smile.

Studying ahead, how sneaky of you.

"Hehe, don’t be too proud yet, turning the pages doesn’t mean mastery," Sun Leyang said with a shake of the papers and a laugh, "Those who are truly preparing for the competition have been working hard since the summer of their junior high. In high school, they mostly tackle difficult problems, and this preliminary test paper is the hardest among the hard.

Theoretically, it can be done using high school knowledge, but in practice... hehe..."

Sun Leyang’s laughter grew deeper and more unseemly.

He pointed at the paper and said, "In practice, most of the compounds in here are unheard of in high school textbooks. You’ll need to use the knowledge you’ve mastered to infer them. Without training, it’s unlikely one could score more than 5 points."

"How many?" Li Zheng doubted he had heard correctly.

"5 points," Sun Leyang nodded, "So, when you do this set of questions, don’t despair. It wasn’t made for the average person. People who can score 90% in their chemistry exams might score 0 on this paper because there isn’t even a single multiple-choice question. Besides, the three of you have never prepared for a competition, and the intensity of your school’s teaching is apparent.

In theory, it’s impossible for you to score more than 10 points. If you exceed this score, you can consider preparing for next year’s competition."

"As for this year’s competition, don’t even think about it."

"Unless..." Sun Leyang said and waved his hand, "Let’s not disclose the cutoff score just yet. Just do your best."

Lin Yujing clutched Xu Mengxi’s arm, trembling involuntarily.

Xu Mengxi, on the other hand, nodded firmly, psyching herself up.

Teacher Sun had made it very clear.

If Li Zheng and Lin Yujing could score 10 points, it would prove they were promising talents worth cultivating for the competition a year later.

As for herself, there would be no next year.

Only now.

If she doesn’t meet the provincial second-tier cut-off score.

She could give up.

Li Zheng next to her was even more fervent.

Fuck.

All within high school scope?

I can’t even get 10 points?

Just you wait.

Not Teacher Sun, damn it.

It’s these damn questions I’m going to smash.

Without further ado, Sun Leyang swiftly divided the papers.

The three of them sat side by side.

As a master of chemistry with a score of 153, Li Zheng also lacked a chance to measure himself. This time, he opted not to increase the difficulty and answered at normal speed, doing his best.

Xu Mengxi, on the other hand, didn’t harbor any extraneous thoughts and focused on answering earnestly.

Lin Yujing just glanced over the test paper and began to feel a headache coming on. Then, covering her head, she looked over at Xu Mengxi and Li Zheng, who were both busily engaged. She sighed in agony and forced herself to start writing.

Behind them, Yu Hong and Sun Leyang started chatting away, their voices even quieter than that of the proctoring teacher, ensuring that the three couldn’t hear.

"Honestly, Teacher Yu, if their scores aren’t up to par, I wouldn’t recommend them competing," Sun Leyang sighed. "Even if they are intelligent enough, they might lack the stamina. Forcing it could do more harm than good."

"These two are different," Yu Hong observed, looking at the pained Lin Yujing and the fervent Li Zheng, "one has extraordinary intelligence, the other exceptional stamina."

"That is true," Sun Leyang said with a chuckle. "Lin Yujing’s comprehension makes it so that doing one problem is like doing a hundred, and Li Zheng... well, he’ll plow through a thousand problems no matter what."

"I usually frown upon swearing..." Yu Hong said with a smile, patting Sun Leyang, "but that... was well put."

She then asked, "And what about Xu Mengxi? You’ve been teaching her for so long, didn’t you think of fostering a competitive mentality in her?"

"I did, but I’m afraid of holding her back," Sun Leyang said pursing his lips, "Her comprehension in chemistry is quite good, and she works hard. But for competitions, ’quite good’ isn’t nearly enough. I’m worried she’ll chase an unattainable goal, end up empty-handed and lose not only her confidence but also her shot at the college entrance exam."

"There’s no helping it; after all, you’re at Ren Da Fu and have seen too many geniuses," Teacher Yu remarked.

"True, but even compared to our top students, Lin Yujing isn’t lacking," Sun Leyang said, tapping the table and raising his brows. "It might be unpleasant to say, but given the lax academic rigor at Lake Ying, for her to maintain such a high level after more than a year, I really don’t know what to say. If Lin Yujing’s score reaches the standard and she’s willing to compete, I’ll support her.

However, the official coach must be you, and absolutely no one should know of my involvement. Otherwise, if Lin Yujing ends up winning first in the province and pushes our students out, that would be awkward, heh heh."

"Of course, I understand the rules," Yu Hong said, and then asked, "What about Li Zheng? Can he break through with brute force?"

Sun Leyang bit his lip and sighed, "Li Zheng is hard to say, but if he’s simply trying to overpower the sophisticated, he definitely has no chance. Competing isn’t something you can win by cramming; you must deeply understand and integrate knowledge and techniques, and your thinking must be flexible.

If you just grind problems, even if you wear out the problem set, at best you might get a provincial third place. Of course, that problem set is so thick, it might take a lifetime to grind through."

"Ah..." Yu Hong sighed, "Let this test paper be a reality check for him."

"Don’t jump to conclusions yet; like I said, Li Zheng is hard to gauge," Sun Leyang smiled. "Being able to improve so much in just two days shows he’s not lacking in comprehension, especially just now, his answers were quite good, showing an integrated understanding, not simply regurgitating solutions.

To give you an analogy— if Lin Yujing is like a bird, soaring high and fast, then Li Zheng is like a tree, deeply and firmly rooted. Speaking purely of chemistry, Li Zheng’s style might even be better. From Mendeleev to Madame Curie, which one of them wouldn’t have wished to spend 30 hours a day on research?"

Although Yu Hong felt that Sun Leyang’s words were somewhat exaggerated, she still expressed her admiration: "You have insight. My spouse always said you could have easily pursued scientific research."

"Eh, I can’t handle that," Sun Leyang waved his hand, laughing. "Teaching students is more fun, heh heh."

And just like that, he became seamlessly lecherous, causing Yu Hong quite a bit of fluster.