Despite his young age, Shen Xing had already experienced too much. The young boy wore an expression of exhaustion as he said:

“Bag!”

Jiang Cheng happily accepted the fabric coupon and, while smoothing Shen Xing’s hair, said, “Sister will buy you something delicious, be good!”

Shen Xing shook his head to avoid her hand and stubbornly replied, “I’m not a little kid!”

“Alright, alright, you’re a big kid!”

Shen Xing was utterly defeated.

Jiang Cheng burst into laughter and returned to her room, while Shen Yue covered her mouth and giggled.

The next day, the four of them enjoyed a thick, golden millet porridge, fragrant and delicious.

Grandma Shen also boiled two poached eggs, dividing them into four portions, so each person got half an egg.

Initially, Grandma Shen refused to eat, but under Jiang Cheng’s argument that “not eating is harming Shen Xing and Shen Yue,” she finally started to eat.

After breakfast, as usual, the three of them walked together before parting ways at the fork in the road.

When Jiang Cheng arrived at the recycling station, she chatted warmly with everyone for about a minute.

After entering the office, she swept the floor, boiled water, and tidied up the office.

By the time Sister Wang arrived, Jiang Cheng was already organizing documents.

“Sister Wang, this is what I’ve sorted out. Please take a look, otherwise I won’t feel confident.”

With this sentence, she not only took care of the work but also gave Sister Wang enough face.

Sister Wang felt comforted, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. She simply enjoyed working with Jiang Cheng and found joy in chatting with her.

The day at the recycling station passed peacefully.

When it was time to get off work, Jiang Cheng grabbed her schoolbag and lunchbox, and dashed off.

“Slow down! Don’t fall!”

Sister Wang called out worriedly.

“What is Comrade Jiang doing? I see she takes an extra portion of food every day.”

Sister Kong had appeared at some point.

Sister Wang smiled like a proud mother and said, “Jiang is going to night school. This kid is just so smart and eager to learn!”

Upon hearing this, Sister Kong simply said, “Oh,” and didn’t add anything more.

So, she was attending night school.

…

Jiang Cheng ran all the way to the night school.

At the entrance, she didn’t forget to greet Uncle Wang and left a handful of pumpkin seeds.

“Keep these to nibble on!”

Before Uncle Wang could even respond, Jiang Cheng had already dashed into the school building.

She ran into the classroom, took out her lunchbox, and started eating quickly.

She had to hurry!

She had hidden two large pieces of chicken thigh in her lunchbox!

When Principal Wang arrived, he saw Jiang Cheng devouring her food.

For a moment, his heart ached.

So, this was how geniuses fought for every second.

Jiang Cheng saw Principal Wang.

“Mmm—uh uh?”

She couldn’t open her mouth; the chicken wasn’t fully chewed yet!

Principal Wang walked in carrying a thermos, but after a few glances, he couldn’t find a place to pour the water.

“Mmm mmm”

Jiang Cheng, having almost finished the chicken, raised her aluminum lunchbox and nodded with a smile.

The sound of pouring water followed.

“This is Uncle Wang’s thermos. He can’t leave his post, so he asked me to bring you some water.”

Jiang Cheng smiled, her eyes narrowing.

Principal Wang looked at the pickled radish Jiang Cheng used to cut the greasiness in her lunchbox, and his eyes grew even more sorrowful.

This child was suffering too much!
How could she get any nutrition just eating radish?

After pouring the water, Principal Wang went downstairs, his heart aching so much it felt like it was about to burst.

Jiang Cheng quickly finished her meal, rinsed her mouth, and went to find Teacher Lü for class.

Zhao Chengde was still there, and Jiang Cheng, as usual, didn’t greet him, focusing entirely on the lesson.

This time, they switched to a Russian dictionary.

The dictionary study completely shattered Zhao Chengde’s pride.

At the end of the class, Zhao Chengde stood up and stopped Jiang Cheng, saying, “You’re better than me.”

“Is that your conclusion after sitting in on two classes?”

Zhao Chengde didn’t understand what Jiang Cheng meant.

Jiang Cheng’s pretty face turned serious.

“Comrade Zhao, you need to understand one thing: I am better than many people, and in the future, many more will not be as good as me. You are not the only one.”

Zhao Chengde was stunned.

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if she was comforting or discouraging him.

“But what does being strong matter? In the past few decades in China, haven’t we won every battle against the odds, with the weak defeating the strong? Victory—is because we have unwavering goals and a spirit that never gives up.”

“My will is higher than mountains, broader than the sea. I firmly believe that tomorrow’s me will be stronger than today’s me! I firmly believe that as long as I keep moving forward, I will eventually reach my goals.”

“You must remember, Teacher Lü is not just training you for your own sake. She is cultivating talent for the development of our country.”

“To dedicate oneself to the country, what is there to fear?”

“How can you give up your love for the motherland just because someone is better than you—”

“I haven’t!”

Zhao Chengde’s face turned red as he shouted.

Jiang Cheng remained silent, staring at him.

“I believe!”

These two firm words pumped Zhao Chengde full of adrenaline, and he returned to the classroom with renewed determination to study.

From today on, he would study until he dropped!

The office was quiet, and Teacher Lü was lost in thought for a long time.

“Teacher Lü, please assign Zhao Chengde more study tasks. His current learning state is excellent, so let’s not waste it.”

The serious Jiang Cheng instantly reverted to her friendly, girl-next-door demeanor, holding her lunchbox and saying without any reservation, “Teacher Lü, can I get some hot water? My mouth is a bit dry.”

The sound of pouring water made Teacher Lü shake her head with a smile.

She could tell that Jiang Cheng’s earlier speech was aimed at motivating Zhao Chengde, but it likely also reflected her own genuine feelings.

“Teacher, I’m off to class!”

Jiang Cheng left with her lunchbox.

In the evening, it was time for physics and chemistry classes, where Jiang Cheng once again demonstrated her diligent and studious nature.

After class, the two teachers left the classroom with “assignment sheets,” as expected.

At the same time, Jiang Cheng, with her backpack, arrived at the office and intercepted the math and geography teachers.

“Teacher Yu, Teacher Li, have you solved the problems I asked about yesterday? I’m really eager to improve!”

After exchanging glances, Teacher Yu and Teacher Li handed Jiang Cheng a few pages from the previous day.

“Jiang Cheng, these problems are still quite challenging. You can’t just understand them by looking at the solutions. Let me explain them to you sometime.”

As soon as Teacher Yu finished speaking, she saw Jiang Cheng quickly skim through the math pages.

“So that’s how it is!”

“Teacher, can you wait for five minutes?”

Under Teacher Yu’s watchful eyes, Jiang Cheng took out a few sheets of paper, quickly wrote down several problems, and handed them back to Teacher Yu.

“Teacher, can you check if these problems are advanced versions of this concept?”

Teacher Yu looked at them once, then again, and then once more.

How did she go from solving problems to creating them?
“Correct!”

Teacher Yu held the “new assignments” and asked, “Jiang Cheng, have you really never attended school before?”

“No! It’s all thanks to the excellent teaching of all the teachers here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have improved so quickly.”

Teacher Yu & Teacher Li: If it weren’t for the fact that she’s only attended two classes, we might have believed her.

While speaking, Jiang Cheng had already finished reading the geography teacher’s solutions to the latitude and longitude problems.

“So that’s how it is! The teacher’s explanation is simple and easy to understand. I got it right away.”

After hearing Jiang Cheng’s words, Geography Teacher Li had a premonition.

“Teacher Li, I’ve memorized the geography textbook, but I still need your help with these questions when you have time?”

Sure enough, his premonition was correct. He had been assigned homework in reverse.

But memorizing the entire geography textbook? What kind of feat was that?
Why did he feel this inexplicable pressure?

The most absurd part was that he was the teacher, after all!!