A street urchin turned academic genius, starting by saving the blind school beauty.

Chapter 54 Xu Qingwan's Awakening

Upon hearing Lu Zhaoye's words, Xu Qingwan burst into tears and cried loudly, like an unwanted child.

Then, she forcefully stretched Lu Zhaoye's muscles and threw herself into his arms.

Lu Zhaoye was stunned for a moment, looking at Xu Qingwan's black high ponytail, which was soaked by the rain and stuck to her neck, her small body trembling uncontrollably.

And there were the fragmented cries amidst the heavy rain. Lu Zhaoye gently stroked Xu Qingwan's head with his hand, without saying a word.

After a while, Lu Zhaoye slowly spoke.

"What's wrong? Did you not do well on the test, or did you twist your ankle and it hurts too much?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingwan cried even harder, clinging tightly to Lu Zhaoye's body.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

I couldn't solve the derivative problem you taught me... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry.

Lu Zhaoye gave a wry smile. "It really is like that," he thought for a moment and offered some words of comfort.

"What? What's there to be sorry about?"

"What? I don't remember the derivative problem I taught you?"

Xu Qingwan continued to wail, stammering as she spoke.

"It's the second to last question... You taught me that question so many times, but I still couldn't solve it, sob sob."

Lu Zhaoye exclaimed in surprise.

"Damn, I don't know the answer to that question either. I didn't even figure it out."

"This math test felt really difficult. I don't even know how many points I can get."

Hearing Lu Zhaoye's words of comfort, Xu Qingwan felt much better and continued...

"Lu Zhaoye, I feel like I won't be able to go to the advanced class, sob sob sob."

Lu Zhaoye continued stroking her head, pondered for a moment, and then continued,

"Then let's not go. It's not like you have to be in the advanced class to get into university. We can do it in the regular class too."

"And that way, we can go to the balcony together to recite our lessons during morning reading."

"No one will bother us, and we can study while watching the sunrise."

"If it rains like today, we can listen to the pattering of the rain."

"When winter comes, it might snow. I'll bring you gloves then, so you won't be cold."

"But you'll have to remind me more often, since I love to sleep and always forget things."

Xu Qingwan's crying subsided a little as she imagined the scene of the two of them reciting their lessons on the balcony based on Lu Zhaoye's words.

This was the first time in her life that someone had comforted her.

However, she was still a little afraid, afraid of the gossip and the ridicule.

"Lu Zhaoye, am I really that stupid? All the girls say I'm just faking my efforts..."

"But I really gave it my all. Do you know what time I went to bed in the dorm at night for this placement exam?"

"I study until the early hours of the morning every day, just to solve one more problem. I never play, and I never waste a single second."

"But why are my grades still stagnant? It seems... I'm just pretending to work hard..."

Lu Zhaoye smiled, wanting to pull the girl away a bit, then squat down to talk about the topic slowly.

But Xu Qingwan wouldn't let it go. Noticing Lu Zhaoye's actions, she quickly grabbed the hem of his clothes and said, choking back tears.

"No... please let me hold you a little longer..."

Lu Zhaoye smiled, glanced at the still torrential rain, leaned down and whispered in Xu Qingwan's ear,

"Xu Qingwan, are you trying to fake your efforts?"

Xu Qingwan's mind exploded, and she was stunned for a moment.

Lu Zhaoye continued,

"Xu Qingwan, nobody wants to fake hard work."

Xu Qingwan's eyes blurred again as she opened them. She saw the umbrella lying in the rain, unable to catch up.

As gusts of wind blew by, the umbrella began to flutter in the wind.

"Does succeeding and getting good grades mean you've truly worked hard, while failing and regressing means you've only put in the effort?"

Xu Qingwan subconsciously wanted to nod, but Lu Zhaoye's hand was on her head, preventing her from moving.

Yes, having been surrounded by a results-oriented system for so long, she has long since lost the ability to distinguish between genuine effort and feigned effort.

Lu Zhaoye, who was holding her in his arms, seemed to have seen through her thoughts and said without any mercy,

Do you really think that someone can overshadow all your hard work just by opening and closing their mouth and saying a few words?

"Are your sweat and tears, the illnesses from staying up all night, the countless exam papers and draft paper, really so cheap?"

Lu Zhaoye knew that Xu Qingwan was already deeply trapped in the vortex of achievement-oriented thinking, and only by shattering everything could a new one be created.

"Xu Qingwan, you just said that you actually figured out that derivative problem. It's very similar to the one I taught you."

"But just because you didn't write it down, do you feel like you're not really trying?"

Don't you think those three words are too violent and too superficial?

"If it were me, I would only say that you're going in the wrong direction, your strategy is wrong, or you're just a bit stupid and don't have the talent for learning math."

"But I would never say that you are faking your efforts, because those three words cannot cover up the hardships you have endured along the way."

Xu Qingwan's crying gradually subsided. Hearing Lu Zhaoye's calm voice, she was filled with mixed emotions.

She suddenly remembered that during her English test today, she clearly understood the entire article, but when she checked the answers, she found that she had gotten them all wrong.

Even a stranger next to me was bragging to the student in front of me that he had gotten all the answers right even though he hadn't understood the article.

Xu Qingwan started memorizing the 3500 words when she was in the first year of high school, and her test scores were consistently above 100.

But despite spending so much time on it, her grades haven't improved; in fact, they've regressed.

This inevitably plunged her into even greater self-doubt.

"Xu Qingwan, sometimes you have to admit that it's not that you lack effort, it's that you lack some skills."

"..."

Lu Zhaoye's voice continued to come, intruding into her mind and penetrating her most vulnerable spot.

She watched as the umbrella fluttering in the wind seemed to become clearer, and Xu Qingwan assumed it was because she had stopped crying.

But when she raised her hand to wipe her face, tears still welled up like a tide, only... the umbrella was a little closer.

Lu Zhaoye knew he had said what he needed to say, and all that was left was to do what he needed to do.

"Okay, you're all wet, you'll get sick."

Lu Zhaoye gently pulled Xu Qingwan's hand away, then slowly pulled her out of his embrace.

Xu Qingwan did not resist, but looked at Lu Zhaoye with tears in her eyes.

Lu Zhaoye smiled, then bent down and squatted in front of the girl, grabbing her trouser leg again.

"It's all soaked. Let me wring it out for you, or you'll really catch a cold."

Xu Qingwan did not answer, tacitly approving of Lu Zhaoye's actions, and looked up at the umbrella, her eyes glazed over.

As Lu Zhaoye finished his actions, Xu Qingwan suddenly realized that the umbrella she had lost had floated back to her at some point.

Lu Zhaoye picked up the umbrella, shook it twice to remove all the dirty water, and then said with a smile,

"I didn't expect your umbrella to be so sturdy; it didn't even break apart in such heavy rain."

Lu Zhaoye handed the umbrella to Xu Qingwan and said with a smile,

"Here you go, this is your umbrella. There's no dirty water on it, it's very clean."

Xu Qingwan stretched out her trembling hands and barely managed to take it, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.

She parted her lips slightly, gripped the umbrella tightly, and said with a smile through her tears,

"Lu Zhaoye, you're right, nobody wants to fake hard work."