Qiao Sang choked and was at a loss for words—how could this be her fault? If anyone was to blame, it was that idiomatic choice of 'among the long and short, choosing the short'!
"How many points did you score?" Qiao Sang asked.
"263, a 98-point improvement from the last time," Fang Sisi replied with some pride.
True to being a poor student, huh. Even with two additional subjects, she only managed to score 98 more points.
However, Qiao Sang only ridiculed her inwardly. After all, they were both poor students—no point in hurting each other's feelings.
"Not bad," she said.
Even Qiao Sang didn't feel she was being insincere with that comment. Though her desk mate's score was indeed low in her eyes, it was a recognizable improvement from her usual scores around 200.
"Of course, my mom has been nagging me non-stop lately..."
Before she could finish, the person sitting in front of Fang Sisi turned around and nervously asked, "Is it true or not that Dai Shushu from class nine got recommended for admission to Litian Royal Beast High School?"
Fang Sisi sighed, "It's been talked about so much, it must be true."
Qiao Sang was flipping through a textbook on the side.
The Dai Shushu they were talking about was the top scorer of this mock exam. To Qiao Sang, a top-ranked student being recommended for high school wasn't newsworthy. Right now, what mattered to her was learning the knowledge points in the book.
"I heard she got recommended because she had a cognitive awakening," the student sitting in front of Qiao Sang added, turning to join the conversation.
At this, Qiao Sang looked up.
Beast Taming High School was recruiting future Beast Tamers, and naturally, the ability for cognitive awakening was a priority. Those who managed to awaken on their own often achieved greater success than those awakened through magnetic wave stimulation.
Over 30 million years ago, the first group of Beast Tamers had awakened on their own. Back then, Beast Tamers constituted only 0.01% of the population—a true one-in-ten-thousand rarity.
It wasn't until a researcher named Chen Leshen discovered 2,563 years ago that human brains could awaken the Beast Taming Codex through magnetic wave stimulation that we truly entered the grand era of Beast Taming.
But those who could awaken on their own were still considered the cream of the crop.
"Cognitive awakening, huh?" Fang Sisi mused in deep thought. "Do you think it's too late to start sucking up to her now?"
The student sitting in front of Fang Sisi shook their head, "Forget it. If she's been recommended for admission, she definitely won't be sticking around at school. Would you come to school if you knew you were already accepted into high school?"
Fang Sisi found that very sensible.
"If I were to awaken on my own, could I get recommended even with failing grades?" Qiao Sang asked earnestly after taking a deep breath.
Her question managed to turn all three gazes towards her.
"Fail? Even if you scored zero, schools would want you," the student in front of her quipped.
"Don't even think about it. Those who awaken on their own are always top students. There's no chance for the likes of us poor students," Fang Sisi said, patting Qiao Sang's shoulder. "I had that same dream just the other day."
Qiao Sang bowed her head, saying nothing.
Thinking she was disheartened, the three quit discussing cognitive awakening.
Little did they know, Qiao Sang had to fight back a tremendous urge to burst out laughing.
Cognitive awakening!
She had achieved just that immediately upon transmigrating here!
Back then she had no idea what it was and even thought it might be some kind of 'Golden Finger.' It was only after her memories had integrated that she realized it was the Beast Taming Codex, which everyone awakens to around the age of 15.
Since most people awaken at 15, she didn't think much of it—never realizing the significant difference between awakening on one's own and being stimulated by magnetic waves!
No wonder the original Qiao Sang was a poor student. When their memories merged, she didn't even know the huge difference between the two types of awakening.
...
...
Without the pressure of the middle school exams bearing down on her, Qiao Sang found reading the textbooks a lot less stressful and was even able to make sense of various knowledge points, rather than just memorize them by rote.
"[Deep-haired turtles belong to the earth type and are commonly found in desert tropical regions. They have black rings around their eyes and are not adept at swimming.]"
You're a turtle and you're not good at swimming?
If you are a poor swimmer, why are you even a turtle?
And why, as a turtle, are you earth-type instead of water-type?
"[Steel Resolve Rats should not get rained on, as their bodies are prone to rust. They enjoy sunlight.]"
Why would an extraordinary creature rust?
If you're steel-type and similarly rust when rained on, why do you like sunlight?
Don't you fear oxidation reactions and rusting?
The common knowledge that she encountered was too much—it all invited mockery.
But it was exactly this that made reading not painful for Qiao Sang. On the contrary, she found it quite interesting and remembered the information without needing to memorize it.
School was soon dismissed.
Qiao Sang had just finished packing her things and hadn't left her seat when a girl with black-framed glasses approached her, "Qiao Sang, the class teacher asked you to drop by the office."
Qiao Sang paused for a moment, "I got it."
The girl with glasses was Ma Xiao, the class representative for studies, and she was no stranger to teachers calling for Qiao Sang.
Being consistently the third from the bottom of the class, this kind of summons was routine for Qiao Sang.
The original Qiao Sang was used to it, but the current Qiao Sang certainly wasn't.
Especially when the class teacher's spit was flying in her face.
"What's the matter with you! The middle school exams are upon us and this is how you perform! How do you justify this to yourself, or your parents!" the teacher berated.
Qiao Sang subtly stepped back, "Tea…cher, calm down."
That was close, she almost called him old ban...
"Calm down! How can I stay calm! I've taught so many students and I've never seen anyone as bad as you!" the class teacher intensified his saliva assault.
As a top student in her previous life, Qiao Sang was experiencing this for the first time and took another step back. "There's a reason why I scored like this."
The teacher looked at her coolly, "What reason?"
"Actually, I've had a cognitive awakening, and my mind hasn't quite recovered," she said.
At that moment, Qiao Sang felt somewhat impressed with her own quick wit.
"Heh." The class teacher let out a scoff. "It seems the teachers have been too kind to you all this while."
Qiao Sang looked puzzled. What did this have to do with how kind they'd been to her?
She saw the class teacher pull out a contact book from the drawer, flip through it, and dial a number.
Before long, the call connected.
"May I speak with Qiao Sang's parent? This is Qiao Sang's class teacher. Do you have time to come to the school for a moment?"
Qiao Sang: "..."