For years, everyone has been learning a silent English, with a decade of neglect and a knowledge gap. Even the teachers are mixed, let alone the students below. There's no other path than rote memorization.
"Li Shu, we're done for. I knew it was just the twenty-six English letters, what are we going to do now?"
Under the table, Zhang Xue's legs were trembling with nervousness.
Chen Li Shu looked at her with some curiosity, "Then why did you still enroll in the English major?"
Zhang Xue managed a smile that was uglier than crying, "I thought since everyone else was bad, I might be good among the mediocre."
As it turned out, she was indeed good.
Fortunately, the English exam did not count towards the total score, only as a reference for admission. Otherwise, who knew how many people in this class would still be sitting here.
Chen Li Shu patted the back of Zhang Xue's hand resting by her leg reassuringly, "Relax, the fact that you can sit here means everyone's level is actually about the same."
Yes, if she could sit here, it meant everyone was definitely about the same. As for whether they were fifty steps or eighty steps away, it made no difference to the teacher; it would definitely be just one word: bad.
"Li Shu, how is your English? If it's not good, quickly teach me a few sentences so we can at least get through this."
Seeing that the first person had already been called by the teacher, Zhang Xue's heart suddenly shivered, and she grabbed Chen Li Shu's hand for help.
"Tch."
Sun Ling, sitting in the front row, sneered and turned back, "Country bumpkins are just country bumpkins. She herself doesn't even know how to get through it, and you're asking her for help, Zhang Xue? But then again, someone who only knows twenty-six letters only deserves to be with country bumpkins."
From the moment Zhang Xue chose to sit with Chen Li Shu, Sun Ling had automatically classified her as an adversary. Now that she had the opportunity, she naturally had to step on her hard.
"Don't call me a country bumpkin, count back three generations, your family wasn't much better. You haven't even shaken off the dirt on your trouser legs, and you're already pretending to be a city person? Just rest."
Zhang Xue glanced at her dismissively and retorted directly.
"You!"
Sun Ling didn't get her way and was extremely angry. Her gaze fell on Jiang Yu Wei next to her, and she spoke with some pride, "Yu Wei once won first prize in the city English speech competition. A small introduction like this is nothing to her. You two just wait to become the laughingstock of the whole class."
Chen Li Shu chuckled upon hearing her words, "Don't just talk about others, tell us about your own achievements so we can envy you."
"You!" Sun Ling was choked again. If she had any achievements to brag about, she would have already shown them.
"Heh." Zhang Xue sneered at her being put in a difficult position, "So you're nothing."
"How hateful, you two just wait to become the laughingstock of the whole class." Sun Ling was so angry that she twisted her body back.
"Hey, Chen Li Shu."
Li Zhi Wei tapped Chen Li Shu's back with his pen, "If there's anything you don't know, you can ask me. I participated in the city competition."
"Yes, but you didn't win any awards," Feng Pang Zi added from the side.
"Scram, no one will think you're mute if you don't speak." Li Zhi Wei kicked his stool, but Feng Pang Zi was too heavy and didn't budge.
"Participation is important. It's already commendable to have the courage to participate, right, Zhi Wei?" Feng Pang Zi quickly tried to cover up his mistake with a smile.
It would have been better not to say anything! Li Zhi Wei glared at him and was about to say a few more words to Chen Li Shu when he looked up and met Professor Chen's warning gaze, so he had to shut up.
"I've marked the pronunciation of these few sentences for you in Pinyin. Quickly memorize them twice." Chen Li Shu had no choice but to resort to cramming, with Pinyin above and English below. Although the pronunciation wouldn't be very accurate, she heard other classmates' pronunciations were even more varied.
There were twenty-four students in the class, and nearly half of them spoke English with a heavy accent, making the scene somewhat amusing.
Professor Chen listened to everyone's stumbling self-introductions. His already stern face had eyebrows that were almost knitted together. His gaze fell on the roll call, "Jiang Yu Wei?"
Hearing her name called by the teacher, Jiang Yu Wei stood up neither rushed nor slow. First, she introduced herself clearly and generously in Mandarin, then she fluently repeated it in English.
Professor Chen's previously gloomy face finally began to clear up, and he nodded approvingly at Jiang Yu Wei, "Very good, please sit down."
"Please?" Professor Chen actually said "please sit down"! The class immediately started whispering, "Her English sounds so good, much better than our middle school teacher."
"She's also beautiful, looks like she's from a magazine."
"I think the girl behind her looks pretty good too."
"Yeah, I always thought the one behind her looked better. I don't know why, but even as a girl, I can't help but want to look at her more."
Jiang Yu Wei frowned slightly as she listened to everyone's discussion.
She had originally intended to amaze everyone with this speech. For this, she had been silently organizing her language in her mind since Professor Chen announced they would introduce themselves in English. The result was roughly as she had expected. Seeing the teacher's admiration and the envy of her classmates, she was very happy. However, gradually, everyone started discussing who was prettier.
Since childhood, she had been a good student and a little beauty in the eyes of teachers and students. Why should Chen Li Shu steal her spotlight without doing anything?
"Learning English is not something that happens overnight. Instead of trying to take shortcuts here, it's better to face reality early," Jiang Yu Wei said faintly, turning her head.
"Exactly, all of them don't know how they managed to sneak in, they're just rotten mud that can't be plastered on a wall," Sun Ling added gloatingly.
"Worry about yourself first, don't be surprised if you can't say a single word when your name is called later," Zhang Xue said irritably.
"Sun Ling."
Suddenly called, Sun Ling was startled and hurriedly stood up, "Hello everyone, my name is Sun Ling, I am from this city. My middle school was at..."
After the Chinese introduction, when it was time for the English introduction, she suddenly got stuck, her mind went blank, and she couldn't recall a single word.
"Pfft." Zhang Xue couldn't help but laugh unethically at the sight.
Sun Ling glared at her fiercely and then turned back, finally managing to finish her self-introduction with stumbles.
Having lost so much face, Sun Ling, after finishing, dejectedly slumped onto the table and never looked back.
Afterward, the teacher called two more people. When Zhang Xue was called, Chen Li Shu secretly gave her a thumbs-up. Fortunately, she managed to get through it without any major issues.
"Chen Li Shu."
When Professor Chen called her name, the eyes of the surrounding classmates immediately focused on her.
Everyone was too curious. A girl who looked so beautiful, what would her professional skills be like?