Rich in the 70s: I Made a Rugged Veteran a Millionaire-Chapter 21: I’m Too Eager to Improve

Despite Shen Xing being so young, he had gone through too much, and the young boy showed a weary expression and said:

"Alright!"

Jiang Cheng happily took the cloth ticket, patting Shen Xing’s head and said, "Sister will buy you something tasty, be good!"

Shen Xing shook his head to avoid it, stubbornly saying, "I’m not a little kid!"

"Alright, alright, you’re a big kid!"

Shen Xing had enough.

Jiang Cheng laughed heartily and went back to her room, while Shen Yue covered her mouth and giggled.

The next morning, the four of them had a thick millet porridge, golden and fragrant.

Grandma Shen also cooked two poached eggs, cut them into four pieces, and each person got half.

At first, Grandma Shen didn’t want to eat it, but under Jiang Cheng’s comment that "if you don’t eat, you’re hurting Shen Xing and Shen Yue," she started eating.

After breakfast, as usual, the three walked together until they split at the intersection.

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

Entering the office, she swept the floor, boiled water, and organized the office.

When Sister Wang arrived, Jiang Cheng was already sorting out the materials.

"Sister Wang, these are the materials I’ve organized. Could you please check them? Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease."

In one sentence, she mentioned the work she did and gave Sister Wang enough respect.

Sister Wang felt comforted inside, not sure why but simply enjoying working with Jiang Cheng, even just chatting made her happy.

The day at the recycling station passed peacefully.

At the end of the day, Jiang Cheng grabbed her backpack and lunch box covered in a net, and zoomed off.

"Slow down! Don’t fall!"

Sister Wang shouted worriedly.

"What’s Xiao Jiang up to? I see her get an extra meal every day."

Sister Kong came over at some point.

Sister Wang smiling proudly said, "Xiao Jiang is going to night school. This kid is just so smart and eager to learn!"

Sister Kong simply uttered an oh in response, without saying anything more.

So it turns out she was attending night school.

*

Jiang Cheng rushed all the way to night school.

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

"Keep these to munch on!"

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

Jiang Cheng ran straight into the classroom and quickly started eating from her lunch box.

There’s no time to waste!

She had hidden two big pieces of chicken drumstick meat in her lunch box!

When Principal Wang came over, he saw Jiang Cheng gobbling down her food.

In an instant, he felt a pang of sadness.

So this is how geniuses race against time.

Jiang Cheng noticed Principal Wang.

"Mm—mhmh?"

She couldn’t open her mouth; she hadn’t finished chewing the chicken yet!

Principal Wang walked in with a thermos, but couldn’t find a place to pour water despite looking around.

"Mmm mmm mmm"

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

The sound of water splashing started.

"This is the thermos from Uncle Wang at the gate. He can’t leave his post, so he asked me to bring you some water."

Jiang Cheng squinted her eyes with a smile.

Principal Wang looked at the dried radishes in Jiang Cheng’s lunch box, used to relieve the greasiness, and felt even sadder.

The child is suffering too much!

Just eating radishes, where’s the nutrition?

Principal Wang poured the water and went downstairs, feeling so sad he could burst into tears.

Jiang Cheng quickly finished eating, 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 on the class.

This class, they switched to studying the Russian dictionary.

The learning from the dictionary completely shattered Zhao Chengde’s pride.

At the end, Zhao Chengde stood up and blocked Jiang Cheng, saying, "You’re better than me."

"Is that your conclusion after auditing two classes?"

Zhao Chengde didn’t understand what Jiang Cheng meant.

Jiang Cheng’s pretty face turned serious.

"Mr. Zhao, you need to understand something; I’m stronger than many people, and in the future, there will still be many who can’t match me. You’re not the only one."

Zhao Chengde was stunned.

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

"But so what if I’m strong? In Hua Xia, every battle in decades has been about winning more with less, and the weak defeating the strong. Winning—comes from having a steadfast goal and an unyielding spirit."

"My will is taller than the mountains, wider than the seas, and I always believe tomorrow’s me will be stronger than today’s me! I believe that as long as I keep moving forward, I’ll reach my goals."

"Remember, Teacher Lü is nurturing not just you but talents for the country’s development."

"To devote oneself to the nation, what is there to fear?"

"How can you give up on your love for the country just because someone is better?"

"I haven’t!"

Zhao Chengde’s face turned red as he vehemently exclaimed.

Jiang Cheng stayed silent, staring at him.

"I believe you!"

Those two firm words filled Zhao Chengde with energy as he spiritedly returned to the classroom, to study.

Starting today, study as if nothing matters more than studying!

The office was silent; Teacher Lü was lost in thought for a long time.

"Teacher Lü, please assign Zhao Chengde more study tasks. Right now, he’s in a great learning state, don’t let it go to waste."

The solemn Jiang Cheng quickly reverted to the laid-back demeanor of a girl next door, holding her lunch box without any sense of formality and saying, "Teacher Lü, I’m going to pour some hot water, my throat’s a bit dry."

The sound of water splashing made Teacher Lü shake her head and smile.

She could tell that Jiang Cheng had aimed those words at Zhao Chengde but also meant them sincerely.

"Teacher, I’m going to class!"

Jiang Cheng walked off with her lunch box.

In the evening, during physics and chemistry classes, Jiang Cheng once again exemplified her diligent and eager-to-learn self.

After class, unsurprisingly, the two teachers left the classroom with "homework sheets."

Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng, carrying her backpack, also arrived at the office and blocked the math and geography teachers.

"Teacher Yu, Mr. Li, did you solve the problem I asked yesterday? I’m just too eager to make progress!"

Teacher Yu and Mr. Li exchanged glances before taking out a few sheets of paper from yesterday and handed them to Jiang Cheng.

"Jiang Cheng, the problems on here are quite challenging, and it’s not something that can be understood just by looking at the solution process. Find some time, and I’ll explain them to you."

Just as Teacher Yu finished speaking, they saw Jiang Cheng quickly glance through the math pages.

"Oh, so that’s how it is!"

"Teacher, can you wait five minutes for me?"

Under Teacher Yu’s watchful gaze, Jiang Cheng took out a few sheets of paper and swiftly jotted down several questions, handing them back to Teacher Yu.

"Teacher, can you check if these questions are an advanced application of this knowledge point?"

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

How did she go from solving to creating questions?

"Yes!"

Teacher Yu, holding the "new homework," asked, "Jiang Cheng, did you really never attend school before?"

"No! It’s thanks to the teachers’ excellent instruction; otherwise, I couldn’t have improved so quickly."

Teacher Yu & Mr. Li: If it weren’t for attending just two sessions, we’d buy it.

As Jiang Cheng spoke, she had already finished looking over the solution by the geography teacher regarding latitude and longitude questions.

"Oh, I see! The teacher wrote it in a simple and understandable way, I got it immediately."

After Jiang Cheng spoke, Geography Teacher Li had a premonition.

"Mr. Li, I’ve memorized the geography textbook, but could you help me with these few questions when you have time?"

As expected, his premonition was correct, he was again left with reverse homework.

But...what does memorizing the geography textbook imply?

Where is this inexplicable sense of pressure coming from?

The most ridiculous thing is, he’s supposed to be the teacher!!