We Can’t Go Back 44

Chapter 44

As May went on, the upcoming high school and middle school entrance exams loomed closer for the students.

Although B Medical University Affiliated Middle School always advocated for reducing the burden on students, the banners hanging in the school and the countdown timers in the classrooms still created an atmosphere of anxiety and haste.

“Now, let’s look at the next question.”

The blackboard was covered in writing. Jian Wu held the test paper, his eyes falling on the “48.7% error rate” he had written in red pen next to the question number, and he felt a headache coming on.

“Didn’t I already go over this question?” he recalled, “Last month, the second to last question in the exercise book with the yellow cover I printed for you.” He waved the test paper and said to the class: “Take them out and see, isn’t it exactly the same?”

The students rummaged through their desks. Most of them were confused, unable to recall which exercise book it was. Some even whispered that they had already lost it. Fortunately, there were always a few reliable students in every class. The student who found it first exclaimed: “It’s exactly the same!”

“…” Although he was used to the students’ seven-second memory, Jian Wu was still speechless, “I’m really curious, how can half of you get a question wrong that we just went over?”

Silence filled the classroom, then some of the more lively students tried to defend themselves: “Teacher, it’s because this question is too difficult, we can’t remember it.”

“Can you be a little more ambitious?” Jian Wu was exasperated, “You should remember the difficult questions.”

“It’s just this one question,” someone said, feeling wronged, “And didn’t you say our class ranked first in the grade?”

Jian Wu, always fair, said: “One thing at a time. You can be praised for ranking first, but getting the same question wrong twice deserves criticism. Not just biology, but all subjects. You can’t get every new question right, but at least you shouldn’t get the same question wrong twice.”

Someone argued back: “It’s impossible for anyone to never get the same question wrong twice, that’s ridiculous.”

Jian Wu immediately pinpointed the source of the voice: “Tian Xingwei, stand up.”

The classroom instantly fell silent. The boy, whose name had been called, hadn’t expected his words to be heard. He slowly stood up, glancing at Jian Wu’s face.

Jian Wu looked at him: “What did you just say? Say it again.”

“I… I said no one can guarantee they won’t get the same question wrong twice.”

“You think you can’t do it?” Jian Wu asked him.

Tian Xingwei didn’t dare to speak.

“I can guarantee,” Jian Wu’s gaze swept across the classroom, “As long as you listen attentively in class, you can all do it.”

He turned and drew a diagram on the blackboard, “Now, let’s read the question stem, ‘A sunny summer day,’ what does that mean? As soon as you see these words, you should be alert, you should know the examiner is testing your understanding of stomatal closure due to excessive light…”

His deliberate actions had fully awakened the sleepy students, who were now listening attentively. Jian Wu, as he explained, observed their slightly furrowed brows, guessing that this time, the impression should be deep enough for them to remember.

After explaining the question, he added: “Studying is like fighting a war, morale is important. You can’t lose heart and say you can’t do it before you even try. I hope you all understand, if your goal is one hundred, you might achieve ninety, but if your goal is only sixty, you’ll never reach one hundred.”

“But some things are just impossible,” Tian Xingwei still wasn’t convinced, “Teacher Jian, can you guarantee you’ll never get the same question wrong twice?”

Jian Wu walked over to him and said calmly: “Not to brag, but I actually can.”

Although his grades weren’t top-notch when he was a student, they weren’t bad either. His father was a math teacher and had taught him since he was young that it was okay not to know how to solve a problem, but you couldn’t make the same mistake twice on the same problem.

He relied on this solid study habit to get into a top high school, into the top class. Although he didn’t have Song Shuci’s relentless drive, he still did his best within his abilities.

So that day, when Song Shuci asked him if he wanted to get back together, he only hesitated for half a minute before saying “no.”

You can’t make the same mistake twice on the same problem.

He was already twenty-eight years old.

He wouldn’t easily decide to start a relationship just because his heart was stirred, like he did at seventeen.

The meaning of a relationship was to make both people’s lives better, it was 1+1>2. But past experience had already told him that when they were together, it was only 1+1<2. They had to constantly compromise and sacrifice to maintain the relationship.

He acknowledged the physical attraction between them, but he was afraid of repeating the same mistakes with Song Shuci.

But when he brought up the theory of “You can’t make the same mistake twice,” Song Shuci said to him: “You’re a teacher, you should know that changing a word in the question stem can drastically change the answer. Maybe… the question has changed this time?”

“What are you thinking about, Jian Wu?” Ling Meng nudged him with her elbow, “You’ve spaced out several times during lunch.”

Jian Wu took a bite of the meat on his plate, hiding his emotions, “Nothing.”

“You’re still thinking about what happened this morning, aren’t you?” The cafeteria was bustling. Ling Meng looked around and teased him in a low voice: “I heard Tian Xingwei argued with you in class?”

“You even know about this?”

“Is there anything happening in the affiliated middle school that I don’t know?” Ling Meng said, “And we’re in the same group. Come on, tell me, what happened?”

“Nothing much,” Jian Wu said, “He’s always been like that, very opinionated. I didn’t argue with him, there were so many other students waiting for the lesson.”

“Ugh, I also have a headache dealing with him. Not only is he not serious about studying, but he also loves to interrupt and argue in class, he never listens,” Ling Meng complained, then gossiped, “Oh right, I also heard you confiscated his phone, that’s harsh.”

“It’s not that I’m harsh, he was too unruly,” Jian Wu sighed, “I walked over and saw him holding his phone. As soon as I took it, his teammates in the game were still sending ‘Request to gather’ messages. The whole class saw it, I had to confiscate it.”

Ling Meng also taught this class and knew the student well: “He must be furious.”

“Yeah, I called him to my office after class, and he even argued with me. I told him I would return his phone if he got a perfect score on the mid-term exam, otherwise, he could forget about it.”

“Can he even get a perfect score?” Ling Meng said, “The exam is in just over a month, if he can get a perfect score, I’ll write my name backwards.”

“He said he couldn’t get a perfect score, so I showed him my game account and told him if he got a perfect score, I would help him get a national ranking for his favorite hero, and then he obediently went back to study.”

“Holy crap… that’s amazing,” Ling Meng exclaimed, “Being good at games has this kind of perk?”

“It just so happens that our hero pools are quite similar,” Jian Wu sighed, “If I had known he played this game, I would have used this trick last semester, and he wouldn’t still be scoring only sixty points.”

“Sixty points is already not bad,” Ling Meng said, “I’m afraid he’ll fail my geography test. Everyone else is scoring eighty or ninety, only he’s always at forty. Why don’t you talk to him again and tell him you’ll help him get another ranking if he passes geography?”

“…” Jian Wu said, “Playing games is also tiring.”

Ling Meng said: “But I saw you online these past few days.”

That was because Song Shuci, taking advantage of their proximity, kept bothering him.

Actually, after that high school incident, when Song Shuci kissed him without his permission, he felt guilty for a while. After Jian Wu rode the bus around City B and came back, Song Shuci said he wanted to move back to his own home, and Jian Wu naturally didn’t try to stop him.

They weren’t even in the same grade then, and the academic pressure was high. Their only contact was initiated by Song Shuci. Since Song Shuci stopped contacting him, they tacitly entered a two-month cold war.

This time, it was different. This guy had evolved and lost all shame. He neither moved out nor started a cold war. He would cling to Jian Wu every day after he came home.

And no matter what time he came home, Song Shuci was always there. It was a weekday, so he couldn’t help but ask Song Shuci, “Don’t you have to work?”

Song Shuci said matter-of-factly that he was still in the onboarding process.

If he watched TV, Song Shuci would come and watch with him. If he lay on the sofa, Song Shuci would sit beside him and work. If he went to his bedroom to read, Song Shuci would knock on his door and bring him sliced fruit.

This made him resort to playing games, turning on his microphone and passionately commanding his team in five-player ranked matches, the only way to prevent Song Shuci, who didn’t play games, from interrupting him.

He didn’t intend to describe this complicated situation to Ling Meng and made an excuse: “I’m broke, playing games to earn some money.”

“Then help me out if you have time,” Ling Meng said, putting him on a pedestal, “You’re the best.” She appealed to his emotions and offered a financial incentive, “I’ll give you two hundred if you can convince him to pass geography.”

“The bonus for getting the whole class to score full marks is only two hundred yuan,” Jian Wu said.

“It’s not about the money, it’s about saving face,” Ling Meng said, “If someone in my class fails, my dad will nag me to death.”

Jian Wu knew Ling Meng cared about her father’s opinion and lowered his eyes: “Alright, then I’ll talk to him.”

The pressure suddenly doubled. He finished his meal and, seeing Ling Meng was still eating, took out his phone and started a game, practicing his skills while waiting for her.

Perhaps because his mind was filled with too many thoughts, he wasn’t playing very well. Just as he was about to make a comeback, Song Shuci suddenly called him on WeChat.

He hung up, but he called again. After several times, he finally gave in and answered: “What?”

To avoid affecting his game, he continued playing, so he had to use the speakerphone.

Song Shuci was silent for half a second, then said: “Are you free? Wenming and I are at the vet, he might need surgery.”

Jian Wu’s hand trembled, and his character was killed, the screen turning black.