The Reincarnated Science Whiz

Chapter 2: Study Coins

How novel! Qin Yuanqing sat at his desk, watching the blackboard as Teacher Chen went over the Chinese exam. He noticed that the writing on the blackboard was incredibly clear. After all, ever since eighth grade, his vision had been only 4. 7. He didn’t like wearing glasses, and sitting in the back row, he usually couldn’t see the blackboard very well—it was a bit blurry, so he had to rely on guessing and listening. But now, he found that he could see so clearly—his vision was practically the same as it had been back in elementary school, at least 5. 1. Qin Yuanqing felt a quiet joy in his heart. He had always held to the belief that it was best not to wear glasses for nearsightedness, otherwise the prescription would only get worse. And events around him had consistently confirmed this theory—for example, a classmate of his who had been about the same as him in his freshman year of high school had, after starting to wear glasses, reached a prescription of 400 degrees by the second semester of his senior year. Now, to his surprise, his luck had turned, and a miracle had indeed occurred—his nearsightedness was completely gone. “And my memory seems to have improved a lot,” Qin Yuanqing thought excitedly. He found his mind was so clear—he could grasp what was being taught in class instantly, and it was easy for him to understand and remember things. Perhaps it was because he had been reborn, with over a decade’s worth of memories now in his mind. Qin Yuanqing suddenly had a realization: why Brother Qiang had been so deeply distressed, lamenting that male college students’ bodies were falling apart and they’d lost their masculine vigor. Qin Yuanqing thought to himself that it would be best to steer clear of all that nonsense. “Meng Ge…” When the bell rang to signal the end of class, Skinny Monkey looked at Qin Yuanqing with some surprise. He felt that his deskmate seemed different—in the past, he’d never paid close attention in class; it was considered a good day if he didn’t make up an excuse to sneak out to the bathroom two or three times during the lecture. Why did Qin Yuanqing always choose to sit in the back row by the door or the window? It wasn’t just because those spots were breezy and cool in the summer—it was also because they were the least noticeable places, where he could zone out without the teacher calling on him. Skinny Monkey couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Qin Yuanqing pay such close attention in class. “Skinny Monkey, Teacher Chen was right all along. This is our last year of high school, and we have to work really hard—otherwise, we’ll definitely regret it later!” Qin Yuanqing said, patting Skinny Monkey on the shoulder. His deskmate had always ranked in the middle to lower half of the class, at about the level of a second-tier university. However, Qin Yuanqing remembered that during the college entrance exams, Skinny Monkey’s scores weren’t ideal, so he ended up repeating a year at Shuixian No. 1 High School before finally getting into an ordinary second-tier university in the province. Later, he went into the real estate business. On the surface, it seemed like a high-paying job—he wore dress shirts and suits—but in reality, that wasn’t the case. Qin Yuanqing had overheard Skinny Monkey venting in conversation; he actually didn’t make much money year-round. Later, in order to buy a house, he had to borrow money from every possible source just to barely scrape together the funds. After Qin Yuanqing was reborn, although he was still a bit dazed and hadn’t fully adjusted yet, his feelings for his deskmate—the only person he’d spent all three years of high school with—remained unchanged. That bond never wavered, even after they graduated from high school. He wasn’t very sociable, but the two of them would meet up once a year and occasionally chat on WeChat. Skinny Monkey rolled his eyes. “Dude, it’s not like I’m not trying. I pay attention in class way more than you do, and I do my homework carefully—unlike you, who never does it.” But the frustrating thing was, his test scores were always just so-so. The high school schedule consisted of four classes in the morning, three in the afternoon, plus evening study hall—basically, all his time was devoted to studying. Qin Yuanqing was gradually getting used to high school life. He didn’t have a cell phone; phone calls were still made using phone cards at pay phones. The multimedia equipment in the classroom was only good for listening to music after class. It was dull and monotonous, yet Qin Yuanqing found it sweet as honey. As he flipped through his high school math textbook, he felt a mix of emotions. His math grades weren’t great, but they were usually around 130 points. However, because he started reading novels in his senior year—immersing himself in a vast sea of online fiction—he barely opened his textbooks. As a result, on the high school final exam, he scored only 72 out of 150 in math, failing to even meet the passing mark. His college entrance exam score was just 568, falling one point short of the first-tier college cutoff—and that single point made all the difference in the world. After the college entrance exam results came out, Qin Yuanqing felt so miserable that he didn’t even want to continue his studies and considered going straight out to find a job. It was only because his dad kept talking him out of it that he ended up applying to a university on a whim. He was very grateful to his father. If it hadn’t been for his father’s persistent persuasion, he really would have gone out to work. Even if he’d worked as hard as possible, his monthly salary would have been only five or six thousand. Going to college doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. However, it is the surest path to success, and the average standard of living it provides is higher than that of the general population. The most successful investment is an investment in education. Qin Yuanqing flipped through his high school math textbook and glanced at the table of contents first. This volume primarily covered analytic geometry, with key exam topics including the introduction of lines into a coordinate system, followed by various concepts such as the angle of inclination, slope, and related formulas. Next came the introduction of linear equations, the positional relationship between two lines, the angle formed by the intersection of two lines, and calculating the distance from a point to a line. Analytic geometry requires working with diagrams; the first step in tackling a problem is to sketch a coordinate system, draw lines and plot coordinates based on the given conditions, and then solve the problem. Qin Yuanqing glanced through it and felt confident—he had a solid grasp of the relevant material. After all, with eight years of work experience and a background in various calculations, his comprehension and memory had improved significantly since his rebirth, making it much easier for him to understand the concepts. “Congratulations, Host. You have mastered Level 1 Analytical Geometry. You are rewarded with 1 Study Coin!” Suddenly, the system’s voice rang out in his mind, and Qin Yuanqing saw that his Learning Coin count had changed from 0 to 1. “I didn’t expect that just reading books could earn me Learning Coins!” Qin Yuanqing felt a surge of joy. This was great news—there were plenty of textbooks to study in his senior year of high school, which meant he could earn 20 Learning Coins just by reading them. Qin Yuanqing no longer paid attention to the teacher’s lecture—the teacher’s explanations were mostly geared toward average students, and only the solutions at the back of the test book were truly valuable. Usually, Qin Yuanqing studied on his own, combining reading with practice problems to grasp the key concepts more or less thoroughly. Shouhou watched his desk partner, who had been reading nonstop all day without a break, and was speechless. If he’d worked this hard before, he would’ve made it into the experimental class long ago. But Qin Yuanqing was completely oblivious. His entire focus was on his book, and his scratch paper was already covered in dense notes—all key points he’d jotted down to aid his understanding and organization, which he’d then use to reinforce his memory. “Better to write it down than to rely on memory.” Every teacher emphasizes this, but students often forget it. After taking notes, you have to review them multiple times, understand them, and reinforce them; otherwise, they’re useless if you just leave them there without looking at them. Qin Yuanqing understood very well that studying requires specific methods and techniques—and that these determine one’s learning efficiency. Some students don’t put in much effort yet consistently rank at the top, while others wake up at 5 a. m. and go to bed at 11 p. m. yet still end up in the middle to lower ranks—all because of differences in their methods and techniques. So, throughout the first week of school, people were curious to notice that Qin Yuanqing had become quite different—he no longer slept in class or let his mind wander; he spent all his time reading and had become much more diligent than before. Even the teachers noticed Qin Yuanqing’s transformation, but they didn’t interfere; on the contrary, they were quite pleased. For teachers, whether students pay attention in class isn’t important—what matters is getting good grades, and good grades can cover up any shortcomings. On the other hand, students with poor grades—no matter how diligent or well-behaved they are—can drive teachers half-crazy whenever they’re called on to solve a problem. When a student still can’t grasp a problem even after it’s been explained two or three times, the sense of despair is overwhelming. That’s why being a teacher—especially a science teacher—is no easy task; at the very least, they have to be incredibly resilient. “Yay!” After finishing his last high school math textbook, Qin Yuanqing couldn’t help but pump his fist in excitement. Over the past week, he’d earned a full 20 study coins through his reading—it had been well worth all the time he’d spent studying day and night, reading until midnight and waking up at seven in the morning. Studying like this is completely different from reading novels. When reading a novel, you just follow the plot, and a world of imagination unfolds in your mind—reading a million characters a day is a breeze and doesn’t require much mental effort. But studying is mentally taxing; you have to constantly understand, memorize, and form your own insights. Only then does the knowledge truly become your own, and only then is it less likely to be forgotten. Qin Yuanqing’s actions immediately drew the attention of his classmates during evening study hall. Qin Yuanqing felt a bit awkward, but being thick-skinned, he didn’t let it bother him; instead, he waved and greeted everyone. “Meng, what’s wrong with you? You’re not sick, are you? You’ve seemed different lately—could you be losing your mind?” Skinny Monkey swallowed hard and said, his voice trembling with fear. As Qin Yuanqing’s desk partner, Skinny Monkey knew better than anyone how Qin Yuanqing had been acting lately. The thick stack of books next to him included not only the textbooks distributed this semester but also next semester’s textbooks, which Qin Yuanqing had borrowed from the library—even though, by all accounts, those weren’t supposed to be distributed for another two months. The pace of high school was breakneck—like a highway. All coursework for each subject had to be completed by the end of the first semester of senior year, followed by a second semester dedicated entirely to reviewing the entire high school curriculum, continuously distilling key exam points and essential knowledge to prepare for the college entrance exam. “I’m fine—I’m doing great!” Qin Yuanqing was beyond excited at that moment. He had essentially finished studying all the material for his high school career; all that remained was to review his freshman and sophomore textbooks, reinforce his memory of key concepts, and organize the key exam topics and past college entrance exam questions.