The new semester had barely begun, and before even receiving new textbooks, the school issued a notice requiring all tenth graders to be divided into classes based on their final exam results from the previous semester and their future plans.
This division included specialized classes, regular classes, and art exam classes.
Among these, the specialized and regular classes would be further divided into humanities and science streams.
However, this came as no surprise to the students, as it had long been the established practice. The teachers had even given advance notice during the previous semester, urging them to consider their options, discuss with their parents, and have a realistic assessment of their academic standing.
A degree of self-awareness was expected.
For someone who scored only ten or twenty points in math, never passed science exams, but consistently performed well in humanities, the choice was obvious.
As for Ding Yun, if she had followed her own preference, she would have definitely chosen science. Science, after all, had definitive answers; a correct answer meant full marks. In humanities, the "correct" answer was far from fixed, and even the most accomplished student couldn't guarantee a perfect score in Chinese.
However, the original host's wish was for humanities.
So, Ding Yun had no choice but to comply.
After the choices were made, class assignments followed. Ding Yun, having secured the first rank in the previous semester's final exams, was naturally placed in the specialized class. Many familiar faces were gone, her desk mate changed, and everything was a fresh start.
Furthermore, the academic intensity increased.
Study time also significantly extended.
For instance, in the eleventh grade, evening self-study sessions ended around 7 p.m., allowing them to go home. Now, in the twelfth grade, their evening self-study was extended to 9 p.m.
Although called "self-study," classes were still conducted as usual.
Boarding students had an additional half an hour.
Subtracting the two-hour lunch break, their study intensity exceeded the "996" schedule of corporate workers by an hour. By the final year, it would escalate to "715" – seven days a week, fifteen hours a day.
Initially, this demanding schedule naturally met with some grumbling. However, as time went on, young people, inherently adaptable to their environment, quickly adjusted. Those who were motivated seized the opportunity to study, while those who weren't found ways to slack off.
A third-tier school generally had mediocre teaching staff and resources. Such methods were employed to maximize help for students willing to learn and improve their grades.
As for those unwilling to study,
The school couldn't do much. As long as they didn't violate school regulations, most teachers turned a blind eye, pretending not to notice them slacking off or engaging in other activities.
Only a few homeroom teachers, who genuinely cared about their students' futures, were willing to intervene.
However, students rarely saw their homeroom teachers as helpful; they were simply an annoyance, constantly getting in their way.
Ding Yun, of course, faced no such troubles. She attended classes normally. Later, she directly informed her homeroom teacher that she had already self-studied the current curriculum and requested to self-study upcoming material during class. To prove her claim, she completed several mock exams in the teacher's office.
The homeroom teacher had no objections. In fact, he spoke to the other subject teachers, urging them to assist Ding Yun if she encountered any difficulties during her self-study, assuring her that they would be available and helpful.
Before long, Ding Yun became a rather unique presence in the entire twelfth grade. It was permissible for her to not pay close attention in class, or even read math books during Chinese lessons, without facing any criticism.
Initially, some teachers harbored concerns.
They wondered if this approach would negatively impact her academic performance.
However, out of respect for the homeroom teacher,
They ultimately remained silent.
But once the results of the first monthly exam were released, all their worries vanished. Ding Yun not only maintained her position as the top student in the grade, but
She also widened the gap with the second-place student by eighty points.
This score greatly surprised and delighted the entire school staff, including the head of the grade level.
Some even mused that if this score were achieved in the college entrance examination, while perhaps exaggerated to be a provincial top scorer, it would undoubtedly guarantee admission to a top-tier university.
Their school hadn't had a student admitted to a super-elite university in many years, and even the number of students accepted into merely elite universities was scarce, countable on one hand, possibly including an art major.
Therefore, the head of the twelfth grade immediately decided to prioritize Ding Yun's development.
She would receive free tutoring and one-on-one instruction.
Of course, "free tutoring" and "one-on-one instruction" here didn't mean a separate class and a dedicated team of teachers. It primarily involved targeted, free tutoring during evening self-study sessions.
With this enhanced support,
Ding Yun's learning pace accelerated considerably. Before the end of the first semester of the twelfth grade, she had already completed the entire high school curriculum. She also took several college entrance examination mock tests, scoring above 700 points. Her subsequent focus shifted to consolidating her grades, making subtle improvements, particularly in Chinese essay writing.
With full marks achieved in multiple mock exams for mathematics, there was little room for further improvement. Thus, the remaining areas for advancement naturally lay in subjects without definitive answers.
It was precisely the absence of fixed answers that made them challenging.
For example, essays.
As long as an attempt was made, scoring zero was difficult, but achieving full marks was equally so. Identifying the core theme and finding the right approach wasn't overly difficult; most students could manage that. However, writing exceptionally well, making the examiner's eyes light up and warranting a high score, or even full marks, was exceedingly difficult.
Consequently, the school's efforts to further enhance Ding Yun's performance primarily focused on this aspect. To that end, they specially invited a distinguished provincial-level teacher specializing in essay writing to provide intensive training for Ding Yun for over half a month.
Following this, the school organized several teachers to lead Ding Yun
In participating in various competitions.
Competitions that offered bonus points for the college entrance examination.
After some more time passed, the school felt a mix of joy and subtle regret. The joy stemmed from Ding Yun's outstanding performance, winning numerous championships and earning significant bonus points.
The regret arose because many top universities had already extended early admission offers to Ding Yun, inviting her to enroll without taking the entrance exam.
While unconditional admission was highly beneficial for students, it was less ideal for their school, which lacked prestige and had been hoping to gain some recognition through Ding Yun's achievements. After all, a banner celebrating "Student So-and-So Accepted Unconditionally by University X" wouldn't hold as much weight as one announcing "Provincial Top Scorer" or "Second Place."
Through their interactions and understanding of Ding Yun over this period, they genuinely believed she possessed the potential to be a top scorer. With a bit of luck, a provincial top score might be ambitious, but a city or county top score was practically guaranteed.
This would bring considerable honor to their school.
Therefore, they worried that Ding Yun might accept the unconditional offers. However, they couldn't ethically dissuade her, as it presented a guaranteed path to admission versus a path that still involved some risk.
Even if they persuaded her otherwise,
What if something unexpected happened in the actual college entrance examination?
Who would bear the responsibility then?
However, soon thereafter, they received welcome news: Ding Yun had directly rejected all offers.
And she stated that she would definitely participate in the college entrance examination.
She had no choice; the original host's wish was to become the top scorer in the humanities stream, and without taking the entrance exam, how could she achieve that?
Being too exceptional presented its own set of challenges.
She simply had to decline.