Chapter Summaries

Yang Rui, a struggling tutoring instructor, was struck by a BMW and woke up in 1982 in the body of a handsome young man who had failed the college entrance exam. After learning about his new family and circumstances, he decided he would take the exam again and go to university.

• Yang Rui promoted his tutoring class at a school, fled from the gatekeeper, and was struck by a BMW as he escaped.
• Yang Rui woke to a girl's confession, discovered his new handsome appearance, and passed out again after slipping and hitting his head.
• Yang Rui absorbed the memories of his new body and learned he had transmigrated to 1982 as the son of a township Party official who had failed the college entrance exam.
• Teacher Lu and Yang Rui's mother visited him, and his mother urged him to abandon the exam and join the army.
• Yang Rui rejected his mother's suggestion and resolved to take the college entrance exam and attend university.

Yang Rui resolved to retake the college entrance exam and discovered that he could recall books and study materials with extraordinary accuracy. At the dormitory, he began helping Wang Guohua with trigonometry by teaching him the Hexagon Memory Method.

• Yang Rui told Rui's Mom and Teacher Lu that he would study hard and take the college entrance exam.
• Yang Rui woke early and realized he could recall the contents of books, workbooks, and assignments he had once encountered.
• Yang Rui met his dormmate Wang Guohua, who was reviewing trigonometry in a handwritten notebook.
• Yang Rui taught Wang Guohua the Hexagon Memory Method for remembering trigonometric functions, and Wang Guohua eagerly took notes.

Yang Rui decided to recruit Wang Guohua as the first member of a study group and tutor him for the college entrance exam. Wang Guohua agreed to follow Yang Rui’s plan, beginning with intensive practice in trigonometry.

• Yang Rui taught Wang Guohua a mnemonic for constructing auxiliary lines and explained that it could help with exam problems.
• Wang Guohua admitted that he dreamed of attending Hedong University, and Yang Rui promised he had an eighty to ninety percent chance if he studied hard.
• Yang Rui invited Wang Guohua to join a selective study group, making him its first member.
• Yang Rui set Wang Guohua’s first goal as mastering trigonometric functions and began compiling representative problems for him to solve and memorize.

Yang Rui prepared a study method for Wang Guohua and used the placement test as a chance to demonstrate its value. After Liu Shan challenged his advice based on his Chinese paper, Yang Rui promised to prove himself in mathematics, leaving the question of his study group’s effectiveness to the test results.

• Yang Rui organized test papers and planned how to make use of the knowledge and research materials in his memory while Wang Guohua memorized the practice problems Yang Rui had selected.
• Wang Guohua devoted two days to the problems and told curious classmates he was learning a new method in Yang Rui's study group.
• The repeat-year class began its placement test, and Yang Rui completed the Chinese paper while struggling with some textbook questions.
• After collecting the papers, Liu Shan accused Yang Rui of misleading Wang Guohua and took away his notebook of practice problems.
• Yang Rui accepted Liu Shan's challenge and said he would make a proper effort on the mathematics test so they could judge his method after the results came out.

Yang Rui and Wang Guohua took Teacher Lu’s mathematics assessment, with Yang Rui finishing the paper quickly and Wang focusing on the trigonometry questions he had studied. The papers were collected, and Liu Shan said they would see Yang Rui’s score the next day.

• Teacher Lu handed out the assessment, and Yang Rui began answering the questions while Wang Guohua went straight to the trigonometry section.
• Wang Guohua solved the trigonometry questions he recognized and noticed Yang Rui had already covered much of his paper in writing.
• Yang Rui completed and checked the entire paper in under thirty minutes, then covered it and rested with his eyes closed.
• After the bell, Wang Guohua told Yang Rui he had answered all the trigonometry questions, and Yang Rui encouraged him.
• Liu Shan helped collect the papers and mouthed to Yang Rui that they would see his score the next day.

After Wang Guohua’s boastful talk about the math exam provoked a group of repeat students, Yang Rui protected him and confronted Yan San. Yang Rui used his family’s local influence and the threat of a criminal case to make Yan San back down, then returned to lunch and invited classmates to join his study group.

• Wang Guohua happily recounted how easily he had answered the math exam questions while Yang Rui listened over lunch.
• Yan San and other repeat students took offense at Wang Guohua’s remark and crowded around him, with two men moving in to fight.
• Yang Rui stepped in to shield Wang Guohua, and Yan San threatened to beat them both.
• Yang Rui challenged Yan San to strike him and warned that he would seek an injury examination and pursue a criminal case through his police connections.
• Yan San conceded and left the cafeteria courtyard, while Wang Guohua expressed surprise at Yang Rui’s change in attitude.
• Yang Rui urged his classmates to eat and rest before the afternoon exams, and offered to let them join his study group afterward.

Yang Rui took the physics and chemistry assessments at Xibao Middle School, finishing both quickly and considering how to help his classmates study. The chapter ended with him deciding that tutoring chemistry would require equipment and funding.

• Yang Rui arrived early for the physics exam and learned from Wang Guohua that Hu Yanshan was taking the college entrance exam for a third time.
• Yang Rui completed the physics paper in about thirty minutes and quietly offered to help Wang Guohua catch up in physics.
• After the physics exam, Hu Yanshan insulted Yang Rui as the students smoked during the break.
• Yang Rui finished the chemistry paper in twenty minutes and corrected its questions according to the teacher's intended approach.
• Yang Rui decided he would need teaching equipment, chemical reagents, and funding to teach his study group chemistry effectively.

After the exams, Yang Rui finished the English paper with a score he expected to exceed eighty. That night, Teacher Lu discovered that Yang Rui had answered every math question correctly and was left wondering whether he had solved the difficult paper himself.

• Yang Rui completed the English exam and decided not to spend more time on ambiguous grammar questions.
• The teachers stayed up marking the science repeat-year class's exams while the exhausted students slept.
• Teacher Zhou showed Teacher Lu a math paper with every short question correct, then left him to inspect it.
• Teacher Lu recognized the paper as Yang Rui's and found that his long-answer solutions were also correct and unusually detailed.
• Teacher Lu could not explain Yang Rui's performance, while the physics, chemistry, and English teachers were equally baffled.

Teacher Lu withheld Yang Rui’s math paper while handing back the class’s test results, leaving the students to wonder how he had done. Hu Yanshan found the paper and revealed that Yang Rui had scored a perfect 120 points.

• Teacher Lu set Yang Rui’s paper aside because his score seemed inexplicable, then began returning the tests.
• Li Xuegong received the highest announced score of 82, while Xu Jing scored 71 and Liu Shan scored 65.
• Yang Rui recorded Li Xuegong’s name in a red-covered notebook, while Liu Shan blamed Yang Rui for the stains on her paper.
• Hu Yanshan noticed Wang Guohua’s improved score and considered joining his and Yang Rui’s study group.
• After Teacher Lu finished handing out the other papers, Hu Yanshan took Yang Rui’s paper from the lectern and announced that it showed 120 points.

Yang Rui stunned the repeaters’ class with perfect mathematics and physics scores, then demonstrated that he could solve Hu Yanshan’s difficult problem and invited classmates to apply to his study group. After an 87 in English eased some of their disbelief, the chemistry teacher entered, leaving the class waiting to see how Yang Rui would do next.

• Teacher Lu confirmed Yang Rui’s 120-point mathematics score, and Yang Rui dismissed Hu Yanshan’s cheating accusation by solving a difficult function problem on the blackboard.
• Hu Yanshan checked Yang Rui’s solution against his answer key and fell silent when Teacher Lu confirmed it was correct.
• Yang Rui invited classmates to apply to his study group, and students began discussing whether they should join.
• Teacher Lu returned Yang Rui’s mathematics paper and observed him, while Yang Rui earned a perfect score on the physics paper and 87 in English.
• Hu Yanshan tried to reassure himself that Yang Rui was only good at mathematics and physics until the chemistry teacher walked in.

Yang Rui earned a perfect chemistry score and explained a flawed exam question, further impressing his classmates as he recruited for his study group. He planned to submit study articles to magazines for money and began receiving membership applications, leaving Cao Baoming as a reserve member.

• Zhuang Musheng announced Yang Rui's perfect chemistry score, and Yang Rui explained how to fix the flawed final question.
• Liu Shan realized Yang Rui's scores could qualify him for a first-tier university, while Hu Yanshan grew envious and resentful.
• Yang Rui invited classmates to apply to his study group and told Wang Guohua he planned to submit articles to magazines to earn money for meat.
• Xu Jing and Cao Baoming submitted applications to join Yang Rui's group.
• Cao Baoming's application copied the Communist Party admission oath, so Yang Rui accepted him as a reserve member pending confirmation of his conduct.

Yang Rui defended his sudden perfect scores to Principal Zhao Dannian, then organized eighteen classmates into a study group with strict schedules and tailored plans. After getting leave to visit home, he learned that his eldest uncle was troubled by defective canned goods and considered helping him.

• Principal Zhao Dannian questioned Yang Rui about his scores and study group, then told him to prove himself in the college entrance exam.
• Yang Rui set a demanding daily schedule for eighteen study group members and explained how they could prioritize subjects to reach university entrance scores.
• Yang Rui spent three days revising the members' study plans, then asked Teacher Lu for leave to return home.
• Yang Rui arrived home and learned from his mother that his eldest uncle had brought discounted cans from the cannery.
• Yang Rui recognized the cans' bulging bottoms as peaking and wondered whether he could help his uncle solve the cannery's problem.

Yang Rui learned that his uncle Duan Hua’s position was threatened because the cannery’s canned pork rib pass rate was too low, and his father promised to find an expert to help. Knowing that the two-month deadline made that plan risky, Yang Rui revealed his knowledge of the production process and offered four ways to address a defect.

• Duan Hua gave Yang Rui a fountain pen and urged him to study for the college entrance exam.
• Duan Hua told Yang Feng that the cannery’s canned pork rib pass rate was just over seventy-five percent and that new Party secretary Han Sen might use the poor results to replace him.
• Yang Feng promised to find an expert in Yicheng, while Duan Hua said he had gathered the technical section to improve the process.
• Yang Rui judged that finding an expert and changing the production process within two months was unlikely to work.
• Yang Rui correctly listed the production steps for canned pork ribs, then said there were four ways to solve the problem of protruding corners.

Yang Rui explained four ways to reduce corner buckling in the Xibao Cannery’s cans, convincing Duan Hua that the vertical sterilization tank was a major cause. Duan Hua left to test a horizontal tank already available at Workshop Three.

• Yang Rui described improving the cans’ strength and controlling the liquid temperature, while Duan Hua explained the factory’s resource and staffing constraints.
• Yang Rui suggested adjusting precooking time and fill weight alongside the liquid temperature, and Duan Hua agreed to consider testing them.
• Yang Rui learned that the cannery used a vertical GT7C3 sterilization tank and argued that uneven cooling caused pressure differences and corner buckling.
• Duan Hua recalled that Workshop Three had a horizontal sterilization tank, then hurried off to switch it over and test the results.

Yang Rui returned to school and explained basic problems to the Study Group and other students, then prepared categorized mathematics exercises for them. Wang Guohua and Cao Baoming secured permission from Principal Zhao Dannian to print the papers, while Zhao became curious about where Yang Rui had gotten them.

• Yang Rui returned to school, met a crowd of students, and explained selected problems according to their levels.
• Yang Rui urged the students to master basic exercises before tackling difficult problems and promised to prepare practice papers.
• Yang Rui wrote several categorized mathematics exercise sets and told Wang Guohua and Cao Baoming to arrange printing and distribution.
• Wang Guohua raised the cost of printing, so Yang Rui agreed that students could pay a few cents or copy the papers by hand.
• Wang Guohua and Cao Baoming asked Principal Zhao Dannian to borrow the mimeograph roller, ink, and paper.
• Zhao Dannian approved the request, took an interest in Yang Rui's unfamiliar exercise papers, and asked for a printed copy.

Yang Rui used his first manuscript payment to improve his meals and discussed money and business with restaurant owner Shi Gui. He paid Shi Gui a deposit for a month of daily meals, including beef, and Shi Gui went to fetch paper for the menu.

• Yang Rui’s mathematics article earned him twenty-two yuan, and he began eating lunch at a small restaurant in Xibao Town.
• Shi Gui asked Yang Rui about making money, and Yang Rui explained that he had earned his payment by publishing an article.
• Shi Gui offered to deliver Yang Rui’s meals without charging extra, and Yang Rui agreed on the condition that Shi Gui cook with more care.
• Yang Rui asked for beef with his daily meals and paid Shi Gui thirteen yuan as a deposit for a month of deliveries.
• Shi Gui accepted the order and went to fetch paper and a pen so Yang Rui could write a menu.

Yang Rui expanded his training by setting up a barbell bench press at school, while Hu Yanshan and his followers grew jealous of his popularity and suspected he had found a way to make money. The group learned that Yang Rui earned writing fees from magazines, and they began considering how to take over his business as Yang Rui arrived to collect another payment.

• Yang Rui found an abandoned barbell and, with help from classmates and the agricultural machinery station, set up a bench-press area that attracted a growing group of students.
• Hu Yanshan noticed that Yang Rui's workouts drew attention away from his basketball games and rejected Dong Junshi's suggestion to beat Yang Rui, fearing he would be blamed.
• Hu Yanshan and his followers met Shi Gui delivering Yang Rui's meals, and Dong Junshi proposed investigating Yang Rui's income and taking over his way of making money.
• Shi Gui told the group that Yang Rui earned magazine writing fees and that he had seen a remittance slip and accompanied Yang Rui to collect the money.
• Shi Gui said another remittance had arrived and called out to Yang Rui as he approached.

Yang Rui collected letters at the school gate and revealed that Science Pictorial had accepted his long article about the Biosphere 2 Experiment. He showed the crowd a remittance slip for 2,037.40 yuan, leaving them stunned.

• Yang Rui arrived to collect his takeout and mail while Hu Yanshan and his companions watched him.
• Dong Junshi questioned Yang Rui about his manuscript payments and persuaded him to show the group his letters.
• Yang Rui opened an acceptance notice from Science Pictorial for his article "Biosphere," which he had written about the Biosphere 2 Experiment.
• Yang Rui opened a second envelope and displayed a remittance slip for 2,037.40 yuan.
• Dong Junshi and the others fell silent at the amount.

After a 2,000-yuan writing payment stunned his classmates, Yang Rui proposed that Shi Gui sell mimeographed college entrance exam study materials. Shi Gui chose a commission-based arrangement, leaving the business ready to begin without requiring him to invest capital.

• Yang Rui pocketed his writing payment and offered Shi Gui a money-making opportunity, praising his initiative in starting meal deliveries.
• Yang Rui explained that students from other schools traveled to copy study materials and proposed selling affordable exam booklets at schools, eventually expanding to the provincial capital.
• Yang Rui said he would arrange for students to mimeograph and bind the materials, while Shi Gui handled sales.
• Yang Rui offered Shi Gui a partnership, a monthly salary, or a commission, and Shi Gui chose the commission option while asking whether he could buy a share later.

Yang Rui went to the Xibao Town post office to collect a manuscript payment of over two thousand yuan, astonishing Wu Qian and Sister Li. The postmaster arranged for Yang Rui to collect the money in the city the next day, while Wu Qian began considering writing for a magazine and Sister Li teased her about Yang Rui.

• Yang Rui visited the post office, where Wu Qian helped him fill out the forms for his remittance.
• Wu Qian and Sister Li discovered that Yang Rui’s manuscript payment was over two thousand yuan and learned he had earned it at sixty-five yuan per thousand characters.
• Sister Li told Yang Rui the post office could not pay out such a large sum immediately, and Wu Qian accompanied him upstairs to see the postmaster.
• The postmaster, Wang Guohua’s father, called the county office and arranged for Yang Rui to collect the money the next day.
• After Yang Rui returned to school, Wu Qian began writing an article, and Sister Li teased her about finding a husband like Yang Rui.