Chapter 425: Chapter 425: Preparing for Exams

Shen Jinju jiggled the child and said, “Then we’ll give it our all together, and when the time comes, we’ll take Niuniu to the city. Anyway, your family doesn’t really care about you, so the three of us can stay together.”

Dong Liangcheng replied with a “hmm.”

He patted his shovel at the door, went inside, and warmed himself by the stove to shake off the cold, “I’ll work hard.”

Shen Jinju raised his hand to touch his face, “Don’t stress too much; if we don’t pass this year, we’ll try next year.”

“Okay!”

But he didn’t intend to take another year to pass.

He had heard from Xingye early on that there might be opportunities in the future, so he studied diligently.

He picked up his daughter, while Shen Jinju went to cook.

He held his daughter while reading, and soon she fell asleep.

The couple had dinner, but Dong Liangcheng had something on his mind, so he said he would go out for a walk and left.

If he wasn’t going to work, he rarely went out. Shen Jinju got up and stood by the west window to watch him; indeed, she saw him heading towards Jiang Xingye’s house.

Jian Jingchuan was playing with two children, while Jiang Xingye was doing homework, encountering tough problems, with Xu Qinghuan guiding him nearby.

From the courtyard gate, one could see two heads side by side through the window.

Jian Jingchuan saw Dong Liangcheng, didn’t recognize him, and shouted, “Ah Ye, a guest has arrived!”

Jiang Xingye looked up and saw Dong Liangcheng, standing up to call, “Liangcheng, come in and sit!”

Only then did Dong Liangcheng enter.

The many years spent in a child-like state had a significant impact on his personality.

Xu Qinghuan also came out.

“Brother Xingye, I came to consult you on something.” Dong Liangcheng was actually looking at Xu Qinghuan, “I’ve heard that policies may change, many are preparing for the college entrance exam, and I want to give it a shot myself. Do you think I have a chance?”

Xu Qinghuan understood his intention and beckoned him to sit, “I’ll give you a set of papers to try. See how much you can do; after that, we can talk about the odds.”

Dong Liangcheng’s eyes lit up, but he was also very apprehensive.

Jian Jingchuan took the children inside, placing them on the kang to play.

Xu Qinghuan handed over the simplest set of math papers that Jian Jingchuan had brought to Dong Liangcheng, “Give it a try.”

Dong Liangcheng looked a bit embarrassed, “Isn’t this inappropriate?”

Xu Qinghuan said, “There’s nothing inappropriate; this set of papers is too simple for Ah Ye. Anyway, we can’t use it, so you try it. Two hours for math.”

Dong Liangcheng had never done a test paper before.

He held his breath for fear of getting the paper dirty, working cautiously and devoutly.

Time passed by second by second.

To not disturb Dong Liangcheng, Jiang Xingye and Xu Qinghuan went to the western wing to study. Jiang Xingye was working on a paper inside, facing a challenging competition-style problem that had him deep in thought.

The two hours quickly passed.

Xu Qinghuan came out, and Dong Liangcheng was still pondering the last question, speeding up his process, prompting Xu Qinghuan to wait a few more minutes.

After he finished the question, he handed the paper over to Xu Qinghuan, sweating profusely, feeling very nervous.

“Don’t worry, there’s still time.” Xu Qinghuan took the paper and started to grade it.

A total of one hundred points, and Dong Liangcheng scored fifty-six.

Upon seeing the score, his expression soured.

But Xu Qinghuan saw potential, explaining the wrong answers and the thought process behind them to him, correcting the paper, and gave him another notebook, writing down several similar problems for practice.

Furthermore, Xu Qinghuan handed him a language paper of equal difficulty, “Take this home and complete it within two hours like the previous one, including the essay. Bring it to me tomorrow.”

And the notebook, “The questions you got wrong on the test paper, and those whose thinking you didn’t grasp, as I just explained, do them repeatedly, then complete these new questions to solidify the learning. You won’t make mistakes with similar questions in the future.”

Until now, Dong Liangcheng had only done textbook examples and after-class exercises, lacking the chance to practice extensively.

At this moment, Dong Liangcheng felt waves of gratitude, “Qinghuan, thank you!”

“You’re welcome!” Xu Qinghuan replied, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I believe both you and Ah Ye can succeed!”

“Hmm!” Dong Liangcheng said, “I’ll come again tomorrow.”

While speaking, he was cautious, always eyeing Xu Qinghuan’s reaction.

“Sure, you and Ah Ye can keep each other company.”

Xu Qinghuan tried not to increase his psychological burden.

Shen Jinju quickly lulled the child asleep. She found a pen and notebook and copied all the questions Dong Liangcheng had done, including those similar ones Xu Qinghuan gave him, then stayed up all night working on them.

Dong Liangcheng completed the language paper.

Dong Liangcheng often had meetings and his work required time-keeping, so last year he bought a second-hand watch, perfect for timing.

Shen Jinju demanded a lot from herself; she didn’t look at the answers, did the work herself, then compared her results to the answers, and ended up scoring just two points more than Dong Liangcheng.

Neither of them passed.

Shen Jinju was somewhat anxious, “What should we do then? What did the educated youth say?”

Dong Liangcheng pursed his lips but said nothing.

He noticed that at Xu Qinghuan’s home, the desk was piled with books, and many sets of practice questions.

“Tomorrow, you go to the waste collection station or xinhua bookstore to see if they sell practice exercises,” Dong Liangcheng stated, “and see if there are meat, canned goods, or candy to buy back.”

Shen Jinju instantly understood his intention, “Are you silly? It’s New Year’s, the supply and marketing agency isn’t open. There’s some preserved meat at home, also a can of goods, and some sugar. You can take them if you need.”

“Hmm!”

Xu Qinghuan had previously arranged for Gong Mingjie to gather the “Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Series.” Her family had several sets, she gave Qiao Xinyu three sets, and left a set each for Jiang Xingye and herself.

She compiled the set Jiang Xingye had completed.

Early the following morning, Dong Liangcheng arrived with a piece of preserved meat, a can of goods, and half a pound of sugar.

No way Xu Qinghuan would accept it; she only took the papers, “Take these back, and if you bring them again, don’t come anymore.”

Dong Liangcheng’s face turned red, but his heart was full of gratitude.

The language results were also not great; the paper was simple, but Dong Liangcheng had not received systematic education; though he could read through the sentences, when it came to language fundamentals like sentence structure, punctuation, etc., he basically guessed.

Additionally, his vocabulary was limited; he couldn’t distinguish between terms with positive or negative connotations.

And the essay, was more like writing a chronological account.

He scored only in the forties for language.

Dong Liangcheng was clearly deflated.

However, as Xu Qinghuan explained these foundational concepts, he listened very attentively.

As Xu Qinghuan reached the composition titled “Don’t Be Afraid of Challenges in Learning, The Praise for Pine Trees,” Jiang Xingye also came to listen, learning how to analyze, tackle, and establish the topic, properly arranging the structure, how to transition smoothly.

By the end, Dong Liangcheng felt as if he had tasted aged fine wine; at this moment, he truly appreciated the beauty of knowledge.

All along, he felt like he was walking in darkness, though guided by Shen Jinju, clearly Shen Jinju also didn’t understand how to learn; she just led him, stumbling in a path without light.

“When studying, correcting mistakes is more important than tackling new problems. Every mistake needs to be thoroughly understood; then, you’ll be able to solve similar problems next time.”

Xu Qinghuan pushed the paper back to him, “Write down the reason for each wrong answer beside it, clarify why each option was chosen or not chosen for every multiple-choice question. Correct thoroughly!

Including the essay, I just explained it; write it and bring it back for me to see.”

Then, she revised similar problems for the questions Dong Liangcheng got wrong, making minor corrections, with just a prompt, Dong Liangcheng understood.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep