When Qiao Yu got home, he saw that the parent group on Qiao Xi's phone had also received a notification from the homeroom teacher.
It was similar to what Lan Jie had told him, basically stating that all ninth-grade classes would be taking a second full-scale mock exam organized by the school, and hoping parents would supervise their children's weekend study efforts and so on, a perfunctory message.
For kids in other classes, this is probably the most important mock exam aside from the city-level mock exams. Because, generally speaking, the second mock exam is indeed the hardest of the three. By the end of May, students in other classes have mostly reviewed thoroughly, and the next month is mainly for identifying and filling gaps.
By the time the third mock exam comes around, usually one or two weeks before the actual high school entrance exam, its main purpose is to boost the confidence of the kids who are about to take the exam, so the questions are generally not designed to be too challenging.
Qiao Yu actually didn't care about these because he lost interest in exams a long time ago, even though back in elementary school, teachers would always praise him after each test.
The reason is actually quite simple: if something is too easy to achieve, it easily feels less interesting, and over time it becomes tedious.
For Qiao Yu, studying was just the same. Getting high scores with little effort wasn't really challenging.
But making money is different.
For Qiao Yu, this has always been full of challenges. If you add in the fact that spending money is particularly easy, it becomes even more interesting.
Qiao Yu always thought a real man should be tough on himself. In practice, this means making a lot of money, and then spending it just as hard.
Currently, his biggest goal is to have endless money, and then turn it into everything he wants to own.
For example, a lavish, grand house, luxury cars that everyone admires, yachts, private jets, and all kinds of delicious foods...
But most importantly, to be able to afford a highly skilled private medical team on call anytime, complete with the most advanced medical equipment, so that Qiao Xi can receive the best medical care at the first sign of discomfort, even if this seems a bit selfish.
No choice, when you rely on each other for life.
So the most effective guidance from Lan Jie to Qiao Yu was probably linking studying directly to making money.
No need for far-fetched planning, but directly monetizable, this made Qiao Yu passionate about learning once again, even though math was indeed a little more difficult than foreign languages, chemistry, or Chinese, it didn't matter.
This is akin to why Qiao Yu would choose to skip classes to play games at an internet cafe, not because he was addicted to games, but simply because playing games at this stage could help him make money. Those workshops didn't care if he was underage, and even offered him accounts, giving him a quick monetization opportunity.
Otherwise, trying to make money at fifteen was very hard, with all the rules strictly limiting everything.
At least in Qiao Yu's mind, Teacher Lan was not only a good person but also a guiding light.
Of course, Qiao Yu still couldn't muster much interest in the exam itself. Qiao Xi mentioned it, Qiao Yu glanced at it, and it was over. Neither of them took it too seriously.
Until Sunday night, when Xia Keke, who didn't have evening self-study, came to the Qiao Family as usual, and the three of them sat on the sofa watching TV, the topic came up again.
"Ah, the second mock exam is tomorrow. After making up the classes last night, they had us clean the classroom for half a day. The teacher said this time the questions will be quite difficult, and we should be mentally prepared. I'm so nervous, what if I don't do well?"
Such words Xia Keke wouldn't say at home, but in the Qiao Family, she could say them without any restrictions. That's probably one of the reasons she liked hanging out with Qiao Yu.
As usual, Qiao Xi casually asked, "What is the second mock exam?"
"It's the mock exam before the high school entrance exam, everything is done according to the requirements of the real exam. You can't go home after the exam, you have to stay in the classroom for self-study." Qiao Yu explained to Xia Keke.
"Oh, then you should ask Qiao Yu, you know, even though he's quite useless now, he used to be pretty good at exams in elementary school." Qiao Xi gave a fair evaluation of her son.
Xia Keke agreed wholeheartedly, then openly looked at Qiao Yu, her gaze sticky.
"Why are you looking at me? I can't help you cheat. Besides, aren't exams simple? As long as you get all the questions right, you'll get full marks." Qiao Yu felt the girl's gaze beside him but kept his eyes on the uninspiring movie on TV, blandly saying.
Xia Keke was so agitated, her little hand secretly reached out to Qiao Yu's waist, and twisted it hard.
"Ouch..." Caught off guard, Qiao Yu let out a cry, finally withdrawing his gaze and looking angrily at the girl beside him,
Qiao Xi also looked at the two little ones upon hearing the sound, pursed her lips, and said solemnly, "Keke, Qiao Yu is clearly acting. Let me teach you, next time pinch only a little flesh through his shirt, and twist hard, it hurts the most. If you pinch too much, the pain isn't as intense."
Xia Keke's cheeks reddened, then she covered her mouth and giggled.
Qiao Yu glanced at his mother, for the Nth time, doubting who between him and Xia Keke was truly her biological child.
"So, brother, are you aiming for a perfect score this time?" Perhaps to ease the awkwardness, Xia Keke asked.
"Getting full marks in Chinese, Daoism, and history is a bit difficult; I'll aim to lose within five points. As for the others, they must be full marks." To avoid Xia Keke practicing what she just learned from Qiao Xi, Qiao Yu answered seriously.
"Wow, that means 120 in math, 115 in Chinese, 100 in English, 95 in both Daoism and history, the percentage scale for a hundred-point test is 57, combining physics and chemistry adds up to 120, eliminating physical education, biology, and geography, you can score... 569? That's way higher than the first place in the previous mock exam!"
Xia Keke exclaimed in astonishment.
Qiao Yu looked at Xia Keke earnestly and said, "It's okay, even with those three subjects, my total only amounts to 627, it won't cause any special trouble for your Rocket Class. I scored 18 in biology and geography, was I ever proud?"
"Full score is 80, you only scored 18, what is there to be proud of?" Qiao Xi couldn't help roaring.
"Huh, on a percentage scale, it converts to 40, during the exam I had to calculate how many points would appropriately make both subjects add up to 18, that's difficult, okay? If there were a few more or fewer points in those essay, experiment, and short answer questions, I wouldn't have scored 18."
Qiao Yu couldn't help but retort.
After all, having his meticulously designed scores ignored by family still made him feel quite hurt.
"Hmm, so did you answer those long questions?" Qiao Xi dismissively asked.
Qiao Yu was silent, after a while could only shake his head helplessly, then honestly answered, "No."