There were only three days left before the monthly exam.
That noon,
I took a short nap on my desk.
When I woke up,
something felt wrong.
I reached into my backpack—
and felt nothing.
My heart dropped straight to the bottom.
I dumped out the entire backpack,
searched through every pocket,
pulled open my drawer,
checked my desk again and again.
—My notebook was gone.
That notebook
held months of my hard work.
All the key points, mistake summaries, high-frequency concepts—
everything.
Without it,
I couldn't review efficiently at all.
Just then—
a stifled laugh came from behind me.
I looked up.
Fat Tiger and his lackeys were standing at the doorway,
each wearing the same smug grin.
Fat Tiger dangled a notebook in his hand.
"Looking for this?"
The next second,
he flicked open a lighter.
And right in front of the whole class—
the notebook turned into ashes.
I rushed forward, rage exploding inside me.
"You fucking—"
Fat Tiger burst out laughing like a lunatic:
"Good students shouldn't swear~
Be careful or the teacher will spank your little butt—
hahahahahahaha!"
The class roared with laughter,
the whole room like a zoo.
My hands were shaking with fury.
The following days,
my entire study rhythm collapsed.
All the knowledge I could once review with a quick flip
now had to be reconstructed from blurry memory.
Worst of all—
the humiliation stayed stuck in my chest,
a thorn stabbing me again and again.
I couldn't focus at all.
The monthly exam arrived.
The moment I entered the exam room,
my mind turned to mush.
I couldn't read the easy questions,
couldn't attempt the hard ones,
the entire paper felt like a black sheet smothering me.
I knew I was done.
When the results came out—
the classroom exploded with laughter.
My total score had plummeted back to last place.
Someone mocked:
"So without your cheat notes, this is the real you."
Homeroom teacher Zhang sneered:
"Told you—this kind of student only gets lucky once."
A stabbing pain shot through my chest,
as if someone had driven a knife straight in.
When I got home,
I took a deep breath.
And forced every emotion down.
Since the notebook was gone—
I'd rewrite it.
I took out a blank sheet
and started recalling everything:
Math formulas, physics concepts, historical timelines…
Anything I remembered, I wrote down immediately.
In class,
I didn't dare drift off for even a second.
Whenever the teacher mentioned something important,
I jotted it down on sticky notes
or recorded it directly into my phone.
I carried a few small index cards everywhere,
recording key points on each one.
That way, even if someone stole, tore, or burned my stuff again,
I wouldn't lose everything.
I had to guard against Fat Tiger's sabotage
while studying like my life depended on it.
To strengthen my memory,
I recorded audio clips of myself explaining the material.
On my way to and from school,
I listened while walking,
sometimes muttering formulas under my breath,
reciting dates without realizing it.
But this was too slow.
I needed a new method—
something that could boost my grades fast.
And soon,
the opportunity came.