Before long, it was almost finals week, and Zhou You was in class highlighting key points for them.
In the past, when their teachers highlighted key points, the entire textbook was considered important, making it impossible to memorize. But Zhou You didn’t want to do that. To be honest, 90% of what they learned in this major wouldn’t be used after graduation. Since that was the case, why make things difficult for them?
He’d highlight enough for a score of sixty or seventy, leaving the rest to their usual grasp of the material, while also leaving room for top students to compete for scholarships. The goal was to ensure everyone could pass, making it a win-win for all.
“This is the first time I’m teaching you, and the first time I’m highlighting key points. I’m doing this out of compassion—just memorize these, and you definitely won’t fail,” Zhou You said with a smile in his mind.
“I know you’ve nicknamed me the ‘Smiling Tiger.’ Well, I can’t help it—I’m scared too. If you all fail, I won’t be able to keep this job.”
“Don’t worry, teacher, we’ll definitely study hard.”
“It’s fine, teacher, we won’t fail.”
The students chimed in one after another, but a few guys remained silent, perhaps lacking confidence inside.
“Haha, I’m just joking with you. The main thing is, if I’ve highlighted the key points and you still fail, that’s really hard to justify, since retaking the course would waste a lot of time.”
The joy of college life came to an abrupt halt during finals week.
Huang Zhenkai and a few other guys hadn’t spoken up in class. After class, they discussed whether to invite the teacher out for a meal.
After all, memorizing was too hard, and they didn’t want to do it. But they were worried about not passing—what then? They wanted to build a connection early on.
Honestly, having this kind of mindset during school would help them adapt better to society after graduation.
The worst off after graduation were those with poor skills but strong pride—too good for low-level jobs but not good enough for high-level ones. They couldn’t swallow their pride to do certain things and would only sink step by step.
But now, during finals week, inviting the teacher out for a meal was too obvious—he definitely wouldn’t come. Huang Zhenkai said, “Whether he comes or not is his business; whether we invite or not is ours. I’ll call the teacher.”
“Hello, Teacher Zhou, this is Huang Zhenkai. Are you free tonight? A few of us guys would like to treat you to dinner.”
Having been through this stage himself, Zhou You understood what they meant.
“No need. After your exams are over, I’ll treat you all to a meal. I’ve been pretty busy lately.”
“Alright, we’ll treat you after the exams.”
The words were said, the gesture was made—nothing else mattered. The teacher would surely remember.
Soon, it was Zhou You’s turn to proctor an exam.
In the college exam hall, Zhou You was busy with proctoring duties. Proctoring was simple in some ways and difficult in others.
It didn’t require much brainpower—just sit there and watch. The hard part was not being able to use your phone, so you had to sit idly. At first, there was a bit of novelty, but after a while, it got boring.
From the front, if you watched closely, you could catch every student’s subtle movements. So, for students to cheat, they had to be out of the teacher’s line of sight.
The key was to act naturally, without any signs of nervousness—like looking up at the teacher, glancing around, or sitting there without writing, which clearly meant they were waiting for a chance to cheat.
Suddenly, Zhou You noticed a student acting strangely. During the exam, he would look down at his paper, then up at the teacher, as if waiting for something.
Then, the student began writing answers rapidly, quickly pasting them onto the paper. His speed surprised even Zhou You, but he didn’t stop to check if the answers were correct.
Even when Zhou You had cheated back in the day, he wasn’t that fast.
Finally, after finishing his answers, the student started sneaking glances at the teacher’s expression.
Throughout the exam, this student kept making small, furtive moves.
Zhou You walked over to him.
*Cough, cough, cough.*
He wasn’t the only proctor. Though not strict, he didn’t want to give others any leverage.
He gave the necessary warning; the rest was up to fate.
Luckily, the student was smart. Seeing that he’d done enough and had no hope of continuing to cheat, he quickly handed in his paper and left.
Once the students finished, it was the teacher’s turn to get busy.
In a quiet office, Zhou You was grading final exam papers. He wore a black baseball cap, a black shirt, and dark pants, holding a stack of papers in his hands.
He carefully reviewed each paper, sorting them into different levels for easier grading and summarization.
As the saying goes, half a day of grading, two days of assigning scores.
Luckily, they were in the humanities, so there was some flexibility.
Zhou You not only had to grade and summarize based on the scoring criteria but also pay attention to each student’s performance and issues.
During this process, he had to patiently communicate with students, as some would call or message him, hoping for leniency or extra consideration.
Zhou You took the chance to understand their exam difficulties and offer improvement suggestions. He spent a lot of time thinking about how to better help these students achieve good grades and graduate smoothly.
As a college teacher, he enjoyed this process and found it rewarding and fulfilling. He constantly pondered how to use his methods to help students learn, grow, and develop their knowledge and skills, all in line with his educational philosophy.
His philosophy was pragmatism.
Many say the top-tier go abroad, the second-tier do research, and the third-tier become teachers.
There’s some truth to that, especially for humanities teachers. They might not earn much outside, but they can find stable jobs in universities.
The older generation still holds onto the ideal of teaching and nurturing, but the new generation of college teachers rarely thinks that way.
Their minds are on making money, day in and day out—after all, they have families to support.
After finishing, Zhou You found a few students who clearly hadn’t studied or listened. But remembering how he felt as a student, he gave them all a passing 60.
No matter how you looked at it, he’d done his utmost.
Next semester, he’d have to crack down on these students. Though he let them pass, he couldn’t let them think he was a pushover, or they might take advantage.
There are many people in this world who take things for granted, thinking others owe them help. Helping is a favor, not helping is just as acceptable.
Those people believe others should help them, yield to them, and sympathize with them.
Honestly, they haven’t been beaten down by society enough.
In the end, fewer and fewer people are willing to help, and the social environment keeps deteriorating.