Chapter Four: The Objective

... "Tongtong, it's getting late. I warmed up some milk for you. Drink it and go to bed soon, okay?"

At ten o'clock in the evening, Jin Yu knocked gently on her daughter's door. She set the glass of milk on the desk and watched as her daughter, with a math textbook spread open in front of her, tirelessly filled page after page with mathematical formulas and derivations. Jin Yu felt a surge of delight and pride, mingled with curiosity and puzzlement.

She was delighted that her daughter had become so self-motivated these past two days, studying with unwavering focus. There was no need to urge her; she devoted herself fully, barely leaving her room except for meals or the occasional trip to the restroom.

Jin Yu had wondered if her daughter was secretly playing games or reading novels in her room, but after several surprise inspections and trips to deliver snacks, she always found her daughter deeply engrossed in her studies. From morning until late at night, her hands barely paused; the stack of scrap paper at the corner of her desk grew thicker, every sheet densely covered in writing. Jin Yu was genuinely amazed.

"Mom, I'll drink it in a bit," Wu Tong replied, continuing to work through her exercises.

In these two days, she had been revisiting the mathematics curriculum of her first year in high school. Now, she was tackling the final chapter of the fourth compulsory math textbook. With her mind wholly absorbed in learning, all external distractions faded to insignificance. She answered her mother casually, her attention fixed on the calculations at hand.

"Take your time, but finish up soon and get some rest. Don't forget to drink your milk. I'll leave you to it," Jin Yu reminded her warmly. Receiving no response, she left quietly, careful not to disturb Wu Tong.

"Is Tongtong still studying?" Wu Jingzhong, reclining on the sofa with a newspaper, set it aside and stood up when he saw his wife emerge from their daughter's room. They walked together toward their bedroom. When their daughter was studying, they always kept the television muted or read paper books and newspapers.

"Did your daughter take the wrong medicine these past few days?" Jin Yu, unaccustomed to not having to supervise her daughter's studies, was somewhat unsettled.

"Maybe our daughter finally had a breakthrough and fell in love with learning!" Wu Jingzhong objected to the implication. To him, his precious daughter could do no wrong.

"If Tongtong enjoys studying, that's a good thing!"

Previously, when their daughter showed signs of rebellion and apathy toward her studies, he had been quite anxious.

They had lived through it themselves and understood the importance of education. The college entrance exam was the fairest ladder to advancement for ordinary people like them, without status or wealth to rely on.

He had managed to escape his humble, rural origins through hard work and study. He gained admission to university, secured a job, married a wonderful wife, and after twenty years of diligent effort, now enjoyed a stable, comfortable life free from want. Now that his daughter was studying seriously, he was overjoyed.

"Tongtong has been working hard these days. Tomorrow I'm going to the countryside—I'll buy a couple of free-range chickens for you to stew, so Tongtong can nourish herself."

"So I’m the stepmother? Only you are the real parent?" Jin Yu shot her husband an annoyed look. "You always try to play the good guy!"

Jin Yu, with her strong-willed nature—even as a teacher—reflected that she tended to arrange everything in their mother-daughter relationship, but perhaps had not mastered the right balance.

"Not at all, not at all. Every voyage needs a helmsman, and you are the anchor of our family. We could not do without you. Our daughter is growing up, her sense of pride is strong. As a teacher, you know best how teenagers are these days. Tongtong is obedient, so just try not to say too much to her," Wu Jingzhong, seasoned by years at his workplace, was adept at handling such conversations.

"I'm just worried it’s a passing phase, a three-day wonder, and won’t last."

"Let’s observe for a while. If Tongtong is willing to study, that’s already a blessing..."

As parents, no matter how bitter or difficult life may be, they only wished their child a bright future. Raising a child brings a lifetime of worry; with only this one daughter, they would likely never stop caring for her, not even in their final days.

A new day dawned. Following her recent routine, Wu Tong rose early to practice her exercises, performing push-hands and boxing to cultivate vitality and strengthen her body. Next came her morning reading.

In her deep learning state, it took her two mornings to relearn all the English vocabulary from the compulsory first-to-fourth textbooks of her first year in high school. Today, she began reading and memorizing the short passages in the textbooks, paying special attention to grammar.

With her vocabulary expanded, reading the texts again flowed much more smoothly. She considered adding dictionary words to her memorization, no longer limiting herself to the textbook.

She also planned to prioritize revisiting the key sections of the Chinese curriculum tomorrow, especially the classical texts and the interpretation of ancient poems and prose—areas where she had previously struggled and needed to strengthen her grasp.

Chinese and English were both core subjects, each receiving equal attention in her morning reading rotation.

Yesterday, she had finished thoroughly reviewing all four compulsory math textbooks for the first year of high school, mastering the formulas. After breakfast, Wu Tong took out the practice papers she had previously struggled through.

This time, she finally experienced what it meant to write as if guided by inspiration.

The questions that once made her rack her brains could now be answered with ease. As soon as she finished reading each prompt, the solution presented itself in her mind; a quick derivation and calculation, and she could swiftly write down the answer. The sense of accomplishment was unparalleled.

Their summer vacation started on July 5th and school would resume on September 1st—almost two months. At the start of the break, every teacher would say that the homework was not much: just one practice paper every two days, an hour or two of review daily, merely to prevent the students from completely drifting off. But multiplied by six subjects, the workload became quite substantial.

Wu Tong had thirty math practice papers in total. In the first month, she procrastinated, and under Teacher Jin’s strict supervision, managed to complete only five or six. The rest she had planned to frantically finish just before school started, swapping answers with classmates.

But now, there was no need for shortcuts or copying. She completed each paper in half an hour, forging ahead without pause. In one day, she finished all the math practice papers she had previously delayed, and even reworked the five or six she had struggled through before, correcting her mistakes.

Previously, tackling these papers had felt like an insurmountable challenge, but now, as soon as her eyes scanned the questions, the answers flashed in her mind. Her writing hand struggled to keep pace with her racing thoughts; after a day of nonstop writing, her hand was sore.

Such smooth progress made her almost wish for ten more stacks of papers to conquer.

Now, with no more math textbooks at hand—and knowing that the college entrance exam covered six subjects, all needing improvement, with no room for weakness—Wu Tong moved on, determined to thoroughly review the first-year physics, chemistry, and biology materials, subjects in which she was barely scraping by, hovering just above the passing line.