Chapter 23: Third from Last
Teng Yi's figure disappeared down the hallway, and soon, the sound of a door closing echoed from downstairs. In an instant, the spacious house was left with only Ruan Yu and Teng Hao.
"What did he promise you?" Ruan Yu asked.
"None of your business. Just focus on tutoring me."
Teng Hao walked over to the desk and sat down, continuing with his homework.
Ruan Yu glanced around and noticed the chair she had used earlier had been moved to the side of the wall. She dragged it back to the desk and sat down beside Teng Hao.
On Teng Hao’s desk, there was now a tear-off calendar used for counting down, but the number on it seemed odd.
"What’s 'twenty-three'?" Ruan Yu pointed at the number on the calendar.
"We have twenty-three days left until the monthly exam."
Ruan Yu was speechless. Normally, countdowns were reserved for the college entrance exams, but here he was, treating a monthly exam with such formality.
"Do you have a way to get me into the top twenty in this monthly exam?" Teng Hao suddenly looked at Ruan Yu, his eyes carrying a hint of expectation.
"In the entire grade?"
"Not that high—just within the class."
"What’s your current rank?"
"Thirty-nine."
"How many people are in your class?"
"Forty-one."
"You’re really something."
"Just average—third from last," Teng Hao replied shamelessly.
Ruan Yu rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. Teng Hao’s foundation was so weak that expecting such significant progress in just twenty-three days seemed nearly impossible.
"What? Can’t do it? Weren’t you the top scorer in the college entrance exam?" He fired off three questions in a row.
"I was the top scorer, but I’m not the one writing the exam papers."
"So you’re saying it’s impossible."
For a moment, a look of disappointment flashed across his face.
Not wanting to crush his motivation right from the start, Ruan Yu comforted him, "It’s not entirely impossible. Success depends on effort. How much you improve depends on how much you put in. If you work hard, miracles might happen."
"Miracles?" Teng Hao wasn’t buying her reassurance. "Is getting into the top twenty that hard? You’re calling it a 'miracle'?"
"I could’ve called it 'impossible,' but I’m being nice."
Teng Hao fell silent, as if provoked, and buried himself in his homework.
Ruan Yu didn’t know why he was so desperate to make it into the top twenty. All she knew was that from that day onward, Teng Hao suddenly became very diligent. The slightly rebellious boy she had first met seemed to have completely transformed.
Since he was determined to improve, she was more than happy to match his efforts wholeheartedly.
Drawing from her own study experience, Ruan Yu tailored a learning method for Teng Hao based on the new exam syllabus. She highlighted key points, difficult concepts, and typical problems, along with common mistakes, explaining them in depth. She also found similar exercises for him to practice, reinforcing his understanding and helping him master the material to improve his problem-solving skills.
Gradually, she realized that Teng Hao’s weak foundation wasn’t due to a lack of intelligence. On the contrary, he was highly intelligent—he had just misdirected his cleverness, never focusing on academics, which was why his grades were abysmal. But once he set his mind to it, with Ruan Yu supervising him, his progress became evident.
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