Chapter 9: Nan Xingwan's One-on-One Tutoring
Does Zhang Chen, with his grades, need tutoring?
Of course not!
However, for the harm the original self caused him, I naturally want to make amends as much as possible now.
In Nan Xingwan's eyes, Zhang Chen was an uneducated, academically poor punk, but she never thought of giving up on him; she always wanted to pull him back.
During this time, she didn't know how many times she was met with Zhang Chen's ingratitude and how much grievance she experienced.
Even just now, in the office, she tried her best to plead with Lao Deng to give herself another chance...
She is Nan Xingwan! Within the Seven Sects' main gate, she is a shining 985 star, a Xingxing who never bows her head!
(Within Seven Middle School, students have a new nickname for the academically excellent sect prodigies: 'Stars.' This is because only those who can get into 985 or 211 universities are typically hung on the campus's 'New Star Wall.' Then, as a new star, they are qualified to hang a red ribbon, unique to themselves, on Seven Middle School's old locust tree. The name Nan Xingwan signed there was 'Xingxing Who Never Bows Her Head.')
If I now follow her wishes and slowly make some changes, wouldn't that be the best way to repay her?
But even thinking this way, Zhang Chen wasn't sure if Nan Xingwan would agree.
There was already a rift between them; wanting to completely eliminate it all at once wasn't realistic...
And when Nan Xingwan heard that Zhang Chen actually took the initiative to ask her to tutor him, she was momentarily stunned.
In fact, she had been thinking the same thing!
Even if it was the last bit of hope, she didn't want Zhang Chen to be expelled just like that.
In this last bit of time, helping him improve even a little bit is something; even if he just memorizes a few more formulas, he could get a few more points. If his grades improve a bit more, perhaps the teacher might consider his progress and lighten his punishment, or even give him another chance?
"Can you?"
Zhang Chen's renewed inquiry pulled Nan Xingwan's thoughts back.
"I was thinking the same thing myself," Nan Xingwan said calmly, her eyes fixed straight ahead.
If Zhang Chen hadn't insisted on fixing his hair, she might already be at his house tutoring him...
It's just that whenever she used the excuse of tutoring him to go to his house, she always got the cold shoulder...
Although the drive from Seven Middle School to First Middle School is only a little over ten minutes, the round trip, including walking time, takes at least half an hour.
For a top student like Nan Xingwan, half an hour is very precious time...
"You agreed?" Zhang Chen asked, surprised, his eyes lighting up as he raised an eyebrow.
He already quite liked the character of Nan Xingwan, and now, after interacting with her in person from the office, he liked her even more.
Because there was no plot involving himself in the original book, there naturally wouldn't be a description of Nan Xingwan.
Zhang Chen, based on his impression of Nan Xingwan, thought she might not agree so easily, especially given how much he had hurt her before.
At the very least, she would proudly demand something, right?
He didn't expect...
At this critical juncture, with him facing expulsion, she was so understanding of priorities...
She didn't negotiate any terms and decided to help him first...
Zhang Chen knew that Nan Xingwan certainly still held many reservations about him in her heart...
Nan Xingwan didn't look at Zhang Chen; she just kept walking.
She didn't answer either.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen chuckled softly, a surge of secret delight in his heart, because this was Nan Xingwan's way of agreeing.
"Let's go, let's go, we need to get back quickly, a moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold."
"???"
"I meant studying."
...
Following his memory, Zhang Chen led Nan Xingwan to his rented single room in the market residential building.
Nan Xingwan was familiar with this place; it wasn't her first time here.
Although it was a single room, it was fully equipped.
In the center of the room was a single bed, with a wardrobe beside it. Next to the wardrobe was a window, where a desk piled high with miscellaneous items sat.
Outside the window was a small balcony, perfect for drying clothes. As soon as Zhang Chen entered, he saw his two pairs of underwear fluttering in the wind...
At the same time, the bed was a mess, not with tissues or anything, but with a comforter piled up like a pile of poop and messy sheets...
As he walked into the room, Zhang Chen automatically switched into cleaning mode. Every place Nan Xingwan was about to pass, he would touch first to check for dust or anything...
However, Nan Xingwan wasn't blind; she naturally saw all of this, but she merely pursed her lips at the chaotic state of Zhang Chen's home.
She did understand Zhang Chen, after all.
But she hadn't expected Zhang Chen's two pairs of underwear.
After glancing at the two pairs of underwear outside the window upon entering, her face flushed, and she averted her gaze, sitting upright at the desk, afraid of seeing anything else belonging to a boy his age, and no longer looking around aimlessly.
After finally tidying things up, Nan Xingwan didn't sit idle. She helped Zhang Chen organize his messy desk, then pointed to his schoolbag, asking him to show her his recent homework, including the monthly exam papers from this month, and so on...
These were reasonable and practical questions, but to Zhang Chen, they seemed like new-century problems.
Homework? He hadn't done any in eight hundred years; what the hell did he know?
He randomly took out a practice book from the few books he had with him today and handed it to Nan Xingwan.
"The papers... I don't think I brought them," Zhang Chen lied.
In fact, the monthly exam papers from this month had long been thrown to who-knows-where by the original owner...
In this regard, the original owner was quite similar to him.
"You've only learned up to Unit Two?" Taking Zhang Chen's practice book, Nan Xingwan immediately entered teaching mode.
She tied up her hair with a hair tie while looking at Zhang Chen's homework situation.
When she saw that Zhang Chen had only completed Unit Two of the practice book and hadn't touched any other units, she couldn't help but frown.
Logically, by the second semester of sophomore year, most of the high school knowledge should have been covered. By junior year, everyone would basically be in full review mode.
But Zhang Chen's practice book was still stuck on Unit Two?
And this Unit Two, Nan Xingwan and her classmates had already learned last semester!
"Uh..." Zhang Chen leaned closer to look at his practice book, recalling carefully.
It seemed it was just because he didn't do homework, so he had left it untouched all this time...
"No, we've already learned... Unit Six." Zhang Chen flipped back and indeed found traces of two strokes he had made.
"I... you know, I don't do homework..."
Nan Xingwan: "..."
"Then how do we start? From Unit Two?" Nan Xingwan was embarrassed. She had thought Zhang Chen's grades were bad, but she hadn't expected them to be this bad.
He hadn't learned anything at all!
But the joint exam was next week!
"How could you dare to make a bet with the teacher like this? The exam is next week!" Nan Xingwan's tone was a mix of urgency and reproach, but her hands immediately sped up. She grabbed Zhang Chen's schoolbag, pulled out his textbooks, and prepared to review with him from the very first basic lesson.
With her hair only half-tied, Nan Xingwan tossed the hair tie aside, letting her hair fall loosely over her shoulders, emitting a faint jasmine scent.
Zhang Chen, seeing this, scratched his head with a forced smile, looking like an obedient student being lectured, not refuting Nan Xingwan.
"You didn't take any notes either?"
Zhang Chen: "..."
"Tomorrow, I'll bring my textbook over," Nan Xingwan sighed.
"Okay," Zhang Chen nodded.
"For now, I'll tutor you in math and physics. For Chinese, I'll mark a few classical Chinese texts and poems that we've predicted might be on the exam for you to memorize."
"Okay."
"What about your other textbooks? Bring them all over."
Zhang Chen looked around and dragged out a large cardboard box from under the bed, filled with old textbooks.
"Do you have a notebook? Never mind, I'll bring mine for you tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Then, I'll teach you while we do problems. Look at this question, do you know which one to choose?"
Zhang Chen glanced at the question, a very simple multiple-choice question on physical force equilibrium.
"Choose... A?"
"Wrong."
"Then... B?"
"Incorrect, don't guess. This question tests the interaction of forces, choose C."
Saying this, Nan Xingwan began to draw diagrams and explain the knowledge point of this question to Zhang Chen.
Her profile was chubby, and her eyelashes were long like small fans. The seriousness with which she did her work would make anyone watching her become engrossed.
Zhang Chen lay on the desk, occasionally looking up at Nan Xingwan as she drew. A faint, refreshing scent would always waft to his nose.
"Do you understand?" After finishing the drawing and explanation, Nan Xingwan asked, not noticing Zhang Chen's gaze during the process.
Zhang Chen immediately put on a look of sudden enlightenment: "Oh~"
Seeing this, Nan Xingwan said: "If you understand, then let's look at the next question."
"Okay."
Zhang Chen pursed his lips and agreed, never having been so serious in a class, especially a one-on-one session.
In a humble room, under a desk lamp, a young girl earnestly explained problems to him...
This feeling... was very strange...
"What do you choose?"
"Choose... A."
"Why?"
"Isn't this the same interaction as the last question?" Zhang Chen said with an innocent look.
Nan Xingwan nodded happily: "Yes, then this one?"
"C."
"Correct! And this one?"
"Still C."
"Then you've learned it!"
"I've learned it already?" Zhang Chen lay on the desk, raised an eyebrow, and smiled, still wanting more.
"The interaction of forces is that simple, just remember it. Let's look at the next one, acceleration, unbalanced forces..." Nan Xingwan taught seriously.
"Okay."
Using the same teaching method, Zhang Chen would first pretend not to understand, and then, after Nan Xingwan explained the thought process on the spot, he would make an expression of sudden realization.
He learned almost instantly with each explanation, giving Nan Xingwan a great sense of accomplishment. Her already bright eyes, when they lit up with a smile, looked even more like two stars...
And Zhang Chen was happy to see her joyful expression.
"As expected of Teacher Nan, you teach so well. Even a poor student like me learns instantly."
"Nonsense," Nan Xingwan's pretty face flushed, and she glared at Zhang Chen playfully, "You're not a poor student; you just don't study hard."
"As long as you study seriously, don't you learn instantly?"
Zhang Chen's eyes darkened, then he chuckled softly, looking into Nan Xingwan's eyes and saying earnestly, "I will definitely study hard from now on."
Nan Xingwan was taken aback by Zhang Chen's sudden serious tone, and that familiar feeling washed over her again.
She just felt that he was a bit different today.
Blinking twice, Nan Xingwan turned her head: "Let's just get through next week's joint exam first."
"Okay," Zhang Chen nodded solemnly.
Seeing Zhang Chen's serious demeanor, Nan Xingwan's lips curled into a subtle smile. She continued to review and explain problems to Zhang Chen, feeling a surge of happiness in her heart...
...
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