Chapter 647: The Course

St. George Primary School.

This was the name of the school Wu Ming attended.

After paying a year’s tuition fee, James obtained for him a school badge, serving as an access pass to the campus, two sets of uniforms identical to those of other students, and several textbooks. Immediately afterward, he was led into a classroom.

“Class, this is your new classmate, Steven Sterling!”

A stern-looking, somewhat cold older woman from the administrative office personally brought him into the class, introduced him to everyone, assigned him a desk, and completed the formalities.

Wu Ming glanced around; all the children were about seven or eight years old. Due to his good physical development, he looked about the same age as them, so he didn’t seem out of place.

“Welcome to our new classmate. Now, let’s turn to page five of our textbooks…”

On the podium, a young female teacher clapped her hands, and immediately the class was filled with the synchronized sound of flipping pages. “Today’s subject is mathematics. Arithmetic is a wonderful discipline; everything in the universe follows its own laws. Through the power of mathematical planning, we can make boilers boil and machines roar, unleashing unparalleled power…”

Wu Ming looked around. James had already hurried away after dropping him off, and the students nearby were all listening attentively, carefully memorizing everything.

Obviously, those who managed to study here were all gifted children from originally underprivileged families who had struggled to provide for their education. They were quite mature for their age, fully aware of how precious this opportunity was.

The school itself also had no intention of slacking off. The curriculum was tightly packed, vividly demonstrating the ideas that knowledge is money and knowledge is power.

“Fast-paced cramming education and high-intensity coursework… there are no slackers or time-wasters here, since no one would recklessly waste money like that…”

Recalling the scenes from when he first entered the school, Wu Ming couldn’t help but liken it to an assembly line.

Throughout the school, there was a sense of urgency similar to that of a factory, as if it were a feature of the era. Amidst rapid development, everything was evolving toward an increasingly fast-paced rhythm.

Clearly, those who received such education would eventually become quite capable talents.

“Education elitism…”

He sighed inwardly. Finding that the teacher was now only teaching the most basic arithmetic operations, he grew somewhat bored and turned to another textbook.

These textbooks were newly printed, exuding a fresh ink aroma, and were accompanied by detailed illustrations.

The primary school curriculum was relatively simple, including only literature, arithmetic, geography, and history. Literature was basic reading instruction, and geography was quite general, but the history book was thick, providing a comprehensive overview of the past thousand years of world history, finally giving Wu Ming an understanding of the world he now inhabited.

“Originally… the country I’m in is the Kingdom of Golden Oak, a once-monarchical state that, after several reforms and coups, transitioned to a constitutional monarchy…”

Wu Ming opened the history book and turned to the page of the national map in the geography textbook.

The Crimson Clover Federation, the Kingdom of Golden Oak, and the Pandorn Empire are the three largest nations in the world. They were the first to complete industrialization and enter the steam age. Most smaller countries serve as colonies or markets for the goods of these three major powers… however, tensions also exist among the three nations. For instance, the recent declaration of war and standoff between the Crimson Clover Federation was ultimately resolved through mediation by the Pandorn Empire, restoring peace.

“The discovery of steam power is the greatest invention in modern times, profoundly changing the course of the world. From then on, humanity could conquer nature, the skies, and the earth, conquering everything…”

At the end of the history book was this extremely arrogant sentence, but after reading it, Wu Ming fell into deep thought.

The development of this world was quite interesting, especially regarding steam engines and boilers, whose efficiency and functionality likely far surpassed those of James Watt’s improvements in his previous life, thus propelling the entire world into a more magnificent and bizarre steampunk era.

“Steven!”

The young female teacher on the podium adjusted her glasses and finally noticed Wu Ming’s minor distraction. “I understand your feelings on your first day of class, but please note that this is an arithmetic lesson; don’t read unrelated textbooks!”

She continued earnestly, “I know that being able to attend school means you must be a clever little boy, perhaps even a genius, but here, there are many geniuses!”

“Do you know how many people there are in the kingdom? One hundred and fifty-two million! And how many schools are there across the entire country? Less than one hundred thousand! This includes those elite and girls’ schools. Just our single campus recruits students from the entire Danube Corridor. Do you know how many people live in this region? And how many geniuses there are among them? Therefore, you are not special. If you want to become a decent person in the end, you must work hard!”

After delivering this lecture, the female teacher was quite satisfied to see young Steven obediently put away his textbook. “Now… Steven, come up and solve this problem!”

Wu Ming looked at the simple arithmetic problem on the blackboard and felt rather speechless.

He walked up in a few steps, picked up the chalk, and quickly wrote out the answer, which surprised the female teacher.

“Hmm? Your arithmetic foundation is quite good, Steven. Did you study this before? Let’s give him a round of applause!”

The teacher led the applause, and the classroom was immediately filled with clapping sounds.

“If I couldn’t even solve this kind of problem, I might as well go bang my head against a wall…”

With the teacher present, Wu Ming couldn’t afford to be too provocative and could only behave himself until the class ended.

Being allowed to attend school outside meant at least a bit of freedom in terms of time and a little bit of private space, enough for him to do many things.

As for these courses… no matter how difficult they might be for children, to Wu Ming they were merely jokes.

“Hey! You’re really good at arithmetic. Did you see Miss Lina’s expression just now? Haha…”

During the break, a little boy with a mole on his face approached. “Let me introduce myself, my name is Vedi!”

“I’m Steven!”

Wu Ming tilted his head. “What about Miss Lina?”

“Don’t you think her lectures every time she comes in are annoying, especially that part!”

Vedi had quite a bit of comedic talent, imitating Miss Lina’s words precisely: “That’s how she suppresses geniuses… Take that guy Nathan over there, he used to be smart and lively, but after being lectured by the teacher, he doesn’t even play with me anymore. He just buries himself in textbooks…”

“Isn’t that called striving for improvement?”

Wu Ming rolled his eyes inwardly while glancing at Vedi’s attire.

Although they were all wearing the same uniform, the shiny, fine leather shoes he wore still revealed his family background. It was a rather famous brand; James seemed to have once owned a pair.

“How about we skip class and go play somewhere?”

Vedi urged enthusiastically: “The woods behind the school are great for hide and seek.”

“Just the two of us?”

Wu Ming glanced around.

“They all refuse to play with me!”

Vedi immediately looked sad. Actually, he wanted to say that his previous attempts to skip class had never succeeded, always being ruthlessly suppressed by the cold-hearted female school supervisors.

The break time was very short. After a bell rang from the loudspeaker, a young male teacher wearing a gray jacket entered the classroom and opened his lesson plan: “Hello, class. I’m your history teacher. Today I will tell you about…”

Almost all the school’s courses were taught in a cramming style. Teachers quickly delivered the lessons and received their due payment. Except during class hours, they mostly refused to answer any questions.

Each lesson strictly followed the schedule, and if you missed it, it would never be repeated. The actual learning outcomes depended entirely on the student’s own initiative.

In such a learning environment, as long as students didn’t skip class, most teachers wouldn’t pay much attention to them.

This highlighted the difference in Miss Lina. This young female teacher seemed to have a strong sense of responsibility, although her teaching methods had a few minor issues.

“A well-established social system. To climb to the upper echelons, aside from getting rich overnight, the best path is still education…”

Through his observations at school for a day, combined with what he had previously learned, Wu Ming quickly gained an understanding of the educational system here.

St. George Primary School was a five-year elementary school. If one graduated successfully and passed the exams, they could directly enter the middle school division. After three more years, graduates could generally secure decent jobs in society based on their knowledge.

Of course, this was the worst-case scenario.

After completing middle school, most students could also choose to take exams for various academies.

For example, the Royal Police Academy, comprehensive universities, and military schools, etc.

To participate in these schools’ selection processes, a middle school diploma was a necessary prerequisite. It was said that the elimination rate was very high, but once successful, one would immediately become a respectable person.

Graduates from the police academy could become inspectors, while those from military schools would directly become officers.

Unfortunately, passing these exams was extremely difficult. Not to mention that the admission rates of some elite schools for nobles were worlds apart from those of regular middle schools, with special quota recommendations.

“Do I really have to spend over a decade in school like this?”

Although James and his wife certainly hoped he would follow this path, for Wu Ming, it was quite—frustrating.

“In fact, many people drop out before finishing primary school. After middle school, most can get decent jobs. Those who are truly willing to strive further are ultimately few…”

Starting school at seven or eight years old, by the time one finishes middle school at fifteen or sixteen, they are already considered young adults and important laborers for the family.

Those who truly have spare money to support higher education are ultimately few.

Wu Ming clearly understood James and his wife’s intentions. Because of the talent he had shown, they were very likely to cultivate him along this path.