Awakening Elementary School System in University
Chapter 38 - 35: Preparing for the Final Exam

Chapter 38: Chapter 35: Preparing for the Final Exam

At 8:30 on Monday morning, Chen Lin’s phone alarm yanked him from a deep sleep.

He groggily sat up in bed and rubbed his still-sleepy eyes. His whole body felt unusually comfortable.

Last night’s incident had been dangerous, but thanks to the timely enhancement from his "Little Champion" title, he was mostly fine aside from some muscle soreness in his back.

Starting last week, Chen Lin had completely left behind his old self—the one who would occasionally skip class to work part-time—and was gradually getting used to a healthy routine of sleeping early, waking up early, and not missing a single class.

On Monday and Friday mornings, he had Appreciation of Chinese and Western Literary Trends, a major-specific course that ran from 9:30 to 11:00 AM.

In order to have a leisurely breakfast and a slow stroll to the classroom, Chen Lin had deliberately set his alarm half an hour earlier.

He grabbed the phone from his bedside, unlocked the screen, and glanced at it out of habit.

A few red dots hovered over the WeChat icon. He had quite a few messages.

He first tapped on the chat with his mom. She had sent the message a little after six in the morning, asking when he was planning to come home for summer break and if he would leave right after exams at the end of June, just like last year.

Chen Lin thought for a moment. He had already promised Shen Yan he’d go with her to the award ceremony and conference for outstanding teams in the modeling competition in mid-July. But that event would only last two or three days. He could totally go home for a couple of weeks first and then head to the conference. It wouldn’t be too late.

So, he sent a simple reply: "About the same as last year."

Just as he exited his mom’s chat, he saw that his dad had also sent him a message at seven this morning.

He opened it. It was a screenshot of the high-speed rail schedule from Jinmen to his hometown of Jiangdu. Below it was a string of reminders to set an alarm two weeks in advance to snag a ticket, lest he be slow on the draw like last year, miss out on a second-class seat, and end up spending over two hundred yuan more for a first-class one.

The corner of Chen Lin’s mouth twitched as he read it.

’Jeez, are these two hitting me with a combo? A real one-two punch.’

But despite his internal grumbling, a warm feeling still spread through him. He smiled and replied, "Got it, I won’t forget."

After dealing with his family matters, the only messages left were from Shen Yan and Yunqing.

Yunqing had sent three messages in a row:

"Junior, junior!"

"Don’t forget to go to the hospital for a check-up, okay?"

"Let me know what the results are when you get them!"

Chen Lin replied, "Okay, Senior."

The moment he sent it, Yunqing’s reply popped up instantly: "Good, good. I feel so much better now that you’re replying to my messages."

Chen Lin smiled, backed out of the chat, and tapped on Shen Yan’s profile picture.

Her messaging style was as concise and to-the-point as ever.

"Chen Lin, remember to go to the hospital for a check-up today."

"Let me know when you get the results."

Chen Lin replied: "Okay."

Shen Yan’s reply was almost instantaneous, too: "Mm."

After sending that, Chen Lin’s finger hovered over the screen. He mulled it over for a moment, then tapped out a few more lines.

"Finals week is in a month."

"I’ve fallen pretty far behind in my major courses, so I probably need to spend some time catching up."

"So we’ll probably have to pause our math tutoring sessions. We can continue during the summer break. What do you think?"

This wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment excuse. Lying in bed last night, he had carefully reviewed his past week and suddenly realized he was spending a bit too much time with these two girls.

With Shen Yan, he could at least claim it was for the five-hundred-yuan-per-hour consulting fee—it was to make money.

But what about Yunqing?

’In the end, it’s because my own mindset isn’t steady enough.’

’A top-tier beauty takes the initiative to get close to me, teases me with a few jokes, and I completely lose my bearings.’

Since he had decided to take life seriously, he couldn’t just talk the talk. Whether it was his side hustle or his own major, he needed to put in more effort to improve.

Shen Yan’s reply was quick as always: "Mm, no problem. I have to prepare for finals too. I’ll schedule something with you during the summer break."

Chen Lin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her reply.

He made up his mind to use the same reason if Yunqing contacted him again. Preparing for finals was a good excuse, and besides, it was the truth.

This semester, besides Appreciation of Chinese and Western Literary Trends, he also had two other major courses: Modern Chinese Literature and History of Ancient Chinese Literature. Although he hadn’t skipped them much, the time he spent studying after class was practically zero.

He planned to get started this week by borrowing notes from a classmate in his major he was on good terms with, and then combine them with the professor’s PowerPoints for a solid review session.

Chen Lin didn’t expect to score over ninety in every subject and win a scholarship, but since he had decided to be serious, he had to at least give it his all and perform to the best of his ability.

...

...

「At 10:58 AM, in Classroom 232 in the Main Building of the School of Arts and Sciences.」

"Alright, that’s all for today’s class." Professor Wang, with his graying hair and reading glasses, closed his lesson plan and looked at the students below with a chuckle. "I hope that when you go home, you’ll prepare well using the key points for the final review that I outlined today."

He pushed up his glasses and said in the gentle tone of a seasoned veteran, "My personal teaching philosophy has always been that the main purpose of a final exam is to help everyone systematically review and organize what you’ve learned this semester. I won’t create obscure or tricky questions just to deliberately lower your GPAs. You can all rest assured on that point."

The moment he finished speaking, a wave of suppressed, quiet cheers erupted in the classroom.

Chen Lin also let out a long sigh of relief. He glanced at his notebook, spread out on the desk and filled with notes, and felt much more at ease.

He didn’t have a perfect grasp of the key points Professor Wang had covered today, but he had at least heard them in class and had some recollection. As long as he spent time reviewing, he had a good chance of getting a decent score.

’I hope the professors for my other two major courses are as considerate as Professor Wang.’

He quickly packed up his books and laptop, stuffed them into his backpack, and followed the stream of students out of the classroom.

Right as he stepped out, he saw his counselor, the young Zheng, standing in the hallway by the door, seemingly waiting just for him.

And next to Zheng stood a young man in his mid-twenties.

The young man wore a neatly ironed white shirt and dress pants, along with a pair of black-framed glasses. Though he had a scholarly air about him, his brow revealed an unconcealable exhaustion and anxiety. He gave off a strong "corporate drone" vibe from head to toe, and it was clear he wasn’t a student still on campus.

When Zheng saw Chen Lin come out, he immediately waved him over.

"Chen Lin, come over here for a second."

Chen Lin walked over, a little confused.

"Zheng, you were looking for me?"

"Not me," Zheng said, gesturing to the young man beside him. "It’s this Mr. Sun Yu who’s looking for you. He came to the school’s office first thing this morning, said he was your friend, that it was urgent, and specifically requested to see you."

’Sun Yu?’

Chen Lin froze for a second. He’d never heard that name before.

As he was trying to place the name, before Zheng had even finished speaking, Sun Yu dashed forward and gripped Chen Lin’s hands tightly.

His palms were sweaty, and his bloodshot eyes were now frighteningly bright, filled with a complex mix of excitement, ecstasy, and overwhelming relief.

Under the astonished gazes of Chen Lin and Zheng, Sun Yu’s voice trembled as he shouted something that nearly petrified Chen Lin on the spot:

"Master! I finally found you! I’m Phoenix Institute Xiong Zhen!"