Momo's Gradual Change - VOL. 1

C23. Lame in Liberal Arts.

Chapter 23: Lame in Liberal Arts

Sitting at the door, someone whispered, "The teacher is here."

The classmates rushed back to their seats, and Song Yimo finally made her way back to her own seat.

Chen Bilin scanned the room and paused a little longer on Song Yimo, who had cut her hair, before satisfactory and heading towards the podium after not finding any vacant seats.

"The midterm exam results are out, and the highest scores in math and science are from our class."

Everyone looked at Song Yimo without any surprise.

"But even with nearly perfect scores in three subjects, she didn't secure the top spot in the grade. Song Yimo, reflect on your performance."

Even with such excellent results, she was being asked to reflect. The classmates felt a little sympathetic towards Song Yimo. Her desk mate, Chen Qiao, whispered, "You might as well not do so well!"

Song Yimo lowered her head and truly began reflecting. She knew her weaknesses - she was fine with subjects that required thought like math and science, but the purely liberal arts subjects like language, politics, and history were a nightmare. There was too much to memorize, and she simply didn't have enough time; she couldn't keep up.

"The class monitor will come up and distribute the test papers."

Initially, Song Yimo was the monitor for the Chinese class, but when she started writing novels, she went to the homeroom teacher to resign, and Chen Ying took over.

The first sheet that the monitor put down was Song Yimo's. Looking at the bold, red 130 points written atop the paper, Chen Ying winked at Song Yimo.

In Chinese, this score wasn't really high, no wonder the teacher was upset.

Flipping through the paper, Song Yimo scored 67 out of 70 in the essay, which indicated how many points she lost in the basic questions.

And this was just Chinese; history and politics were probably even worse. Song Yimo was beginning to worry.

While the test papers were being distributed, Chen Bilin took the opportunity to announce, "Today, we will be reassigning the class leaders. The class monitor, vice class monitor, and study committee members remain the same. Miao Zhiruo is the new sports committee member..."

"Huh?" Miao Zhiruo, pointing to herself, and the others were a bit slow to react.

A female sports committee member?

Was that really alright?

"If you have any issues, take it up with your PE teacher." Chen Bilin glanced at her lesson plan book, then continued with a list of the new class leaders.

It was exactly the same as what Song Yimo knew.

Looking at the teacher's serious face, Song Yimo drifted off a bit. In her three years of high school, she rarely saw the teacher smile. Who could have known that beneath this serious facade, there was a soft-hearted person?

Yet, such a good person had ultimately met with such a fate.

Xinghu County was just a small town; the high school wasn't as modern, and teachers still used chalk. Many teachers who inhaled chalk dust developed lung cancer. She couldn't control what others did, but she must help the teacher, even if she had to force it. The debt of gratitude from her past life was so significant; she had to repay it in this life.

The newly appointed sports committee member, Miao Zhiruo, was both happy and worried. Riding her bike energetically, she kept asking, "Mo Mo, do you think I should go to the teacher and ask her to choose someone else? Can a girl like me really be the sports committee member? Won't the male classmates be jealous? Do you think they will cause trouble for me? You have to support me at that time. They may be fierce in front of others, but in front of you, they're like kittens. Hey Mo Mo, it feels good to suppress men, haha, it's so satisfying."

Song Yimo just smiled.

Liu Xing caught up from behind, "I heard you were criticized by Teacher Chen?"

Chen Bilin had a nickname, Chen Wupo, which she was often called privately. However, Liu Xing figured that Song Yimo wouldn't like it, so he cleverly referred to her as the teacher.

Song Yimo swayed her leg, "Yeah, I didn't do well in Chinese."

More accurately, she didn't do well in liberal arts. She was a science major in her past life, not that she was biased, but in both lives, she didn't have much time on her hands. The sciences didn't require as much memorization as the liberal arts did.

"With your grades in those subjects, you managed to squeeze into the top twenty in the grade; that's quite an achievement."

Song Yimo hadn't seen her math and science test papers yet; the teacher had taken them to discuss the correct answers, but she felt a little proud in thinking about it. However, "I still need to improve my liberal arts scores; the teacher seems a bit disappointed."

Miao Zhiruo in front sped up and shouted, "Charge, Song Yimo, take the first spot on the podium!"

Song Yimo quickly grabbed her waist and patted her bottom with her other hand. "Warn me before going crazy next time; you almost threw me off."

"Hehe, I'm just a bit excited today."

As the sun began to set in November, the weather cooled down a bit. Looking at the red glow on the horizon, Song Yimo smiled lightly, feeling good. This was youth, hopeful youth. She had prepared herself to face all challenges fearlessly and with determination!

Liu Xing's heart raced as he looked at that smiling face; his steps slowed involuntarily. When he realized he had fallen behind, he hurriedly caught up. He didn't want to lag behind, not now, not ever.

On the eighth day of the month, the first check for her writing arrived. After taxes, she had twelve thousand yuan. Song Yimo clutched the check, feeling a surge of energy course through her.

This was the beginning she had been hoping for, a turning point. With this money, she could change her circumstances and finally shed the shadow that had haunted her for years.

Since she had no classes on Sunday afternoons, Song Yimo also took the morning off. When Chen Bilin learned the reason, she sighed but signed the leave slip without further comment.

Song Yimo was probably the student who took the most leave. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she lowered her voice and said, “I’ll work harder on my liberal arts scores.”

“That’s the right attitude,” Chen Bilin said earnestly. “There’s no secret to liberal arts; it’s just about reading and memorizing more. As long as you don’t lose too many points in liberal arts, getting into a good university will be no problem. Tsinghua or Peking University are even possibilities. The better your grades, the wider your options will be. Don’t waste this opportunity.”

“I’ll remember that, Teacher Chen.”

If possible, she also wanted to attend the best university. Then she could take her grandmother away from this small town and let the old woman, who had never left the province, see more of the world.

The older generation had a special fondness for Beijing. If she could get into a university there, her grandmother would surely be delighted.

After dinner, Song Yimo pulled her grandmother onto the sofa solemnly. “Grandma, I have something to tell you.”

“Go ahead,” Grandma Song replied, putting on her glasses and taking a box of walnuts from under the coffee table. Walnuts were good for the brain, and she made sure to give her granddaughter a few pieces every day.

Song Yimo snatched the box away. “Listen carefully.”

Grandma Song looked up at her over her sliding glasses. “Picking out walnuts won’t stop me from listening.”

“No, it won’t do,” Song Yimo held the box and sat down beside her grandmother, wrapping an arm around her. “Grandma, we’re going to the city tomorrow.”

“For what? Are you buying textbooks? Grandma will give you the money. You can ask Zhiruo to go with you.”

“To the hospital. Don’t worry, I’m not sick.” Song Yimo put the box down and sat closer to her grandmother. “Grandma, you’ve been having stomach aches often, haven’t you? I looked it up online, and it could be serious. Let’s go to the city hospital tomorrow and get you checked.”