Chapter Thirty-Six: The Whole Class Falls Silent

(Happy Children's Day!) The lighthearted hours of the weekend are always so few, and they slip by the fastest. In the blink of an eye, a new week has begun. In this ever-changing new era, information shifts at lightning speed; what is trending one minute may be replaced by something new just moments later. And today, the hottest topic at Innovation High School was the release of the second mock exam results.

Nearly every student was anxiously awaiting their report card, and the wait for scores always felt like the longest torment. In Class One's classroom, aside from a few top students who remained calm and kept reading, the majority were chattering away about how many points they might score, whether they could climb a few spots in the rankings, or just how long it would be before the teacher returned to announce the results. Xu Tong, Tan Linlin, and their group had already gathered together, their conversation ablaze with excitement. At that moment, Yuan Weiye was craning his neck and declaring loudly, “This time, I’m definitely breaking the 320-point barrier and stepping into the ranks of the elite students.”

“Oh, please. I’ve never seen you break 320 in any exam. If I recall, your best score was back in second year—just that one time you hit 320, but later the teacher realized you’d been given three extra points by mistake and took them away. You were heartbroken for ages, weren’t you?” Wang Tao never missed an opportunity to tease Yuan Weiye.

Hearing this, Yuan Weiye’s nostrils flared as he huffed in frustration, but he had no retort—after all, Wang Tao had spoken the truth.

Just then, Xu Tong jabbed Yuan Weiye in the chest with a fist, flicked his eyes toward the back of the room, and said, “Don’t worry, buddy. Don’t lose heart. The road is long and winding—take it slow. Besides, over there we’ve got a real prodigy who’s never even cracked 300!”

At those words, the group turned to look behind them, where Xiao Lin sat calmly, chatting softly with Wang Yuqing. Judging by the smile on Wang Yuqing’s face, it was clear their conversation had nothing to do with grades. With a sigh, the others turned away. Xiao Lin was on the verge of disaster, and yet here he was, still enjoying a chat with a beautiful girl. Did he not realize that if he performed badly again, the homeroom teacher would be out for blood?

In the teachers’ office, Class One’s homeroom teacher, Old Yan, held two report slips in his hand. His weathered face betrayed no hint of whether he was smiling or weeping; his slightly flattened nose twitched, the flesh on his cheeks trembled, and behind the large glasses, his yellowed eyes were wide with astonishment. His sparse, salt-and-pepper hair stuck out wildly like weeds, and he scratched his head from time to time.

“That Wang Yuqing took first place—surprising, but acceptable. But how did Xiao Lin manage this? Tenth in the class? It’s simply unbelievable!” Old Yan muttered to himself, scratching his head.

On the report, Wang Yuqing was ranked first in the class with 455 points, second in the entire school, just two points behind the top student, Chai Yuan. Second in the class was Lin Xudong, with 445 points, third in the school. But scrolling further down, at tenth place, the name Xiao Lin leapt out with 435 points, ranked twenty-ninth in the school overall.

Old Yan was utterly baffled. If Xiao Lin had managed to improve to just over 300 points, that he could barely accept—after all, he knew Xiao Lin was very bright, and he’d noticed Xiao Lin paying close attention in class and studying hard during the breaks for the past two weeks. But to make such a leap in only two or three weeks—no teacher would believe it.

Yet, it was equally unrealistic to suggest he’d cheated his way to such a high score. Old Yan knew the proctors in the last exam room were a bit more lenient, but only relatively speaking; if you went too far, you’d still get caught. Besides, he’d heard that this time the proctor in the final room was Xu Chunmin, a teacher famous for strictness. That made cheating almost impossible.

The bell for class rang. “This is uncanny. After all the students I’ve taught, I’ve never encountered anything like this,” Old Yan grumbled, grabbing the report slips and getting ready to announce the results. As he rose from his chair, he scratched his head so hard that several more hairs came loose, making him wince in distress. He hardly had any hair left to begin with, and now Xiao Lin’s grades had cost him a few more strands.

Before long, Old Yan entered the classroom. He opened the door without a word, walked straight to the lectern, and swept his gaze sternly across the room.

Every student sat upright, anticipation in their eyes as they looked at their homeroom teacher, hoping for good news about their results. Some, however, felt uneasy, glancing nervously at Old Yan’s severe expression and wondering if they’d done poorly.

Old Yan cleared his throat, as was his habit before speaking. “The results for this exam are in. Overall, our class did fairly well.”

The students all exhaled in relief—finally, a chance to relax. “However,” Old Yan continued, instantly making their hearts leap back into their throats.

“While many did well, someone scored just 250 points, not even reaching the minimum for the third-tier universities. I’ll have to speak to him individually.”

At once, every eye in the class turned to Xiao Lin in perfect unison. Wang Yuqing, sitting beside him, frowned in confusion and glanced at Xiao Lin, thinking he must have done poorly again and wondering how she might comfort him.

Xiao Lin was baffled as all eyes fell on him, and Wang Yuqing’s puzzled look only deepened his confusion. He’d felt good about the exam—surely he’d scored over 300! Even if he’d made mistakes, he couldn’t have done that poorly. Yuan Weiye, meanwhile, was snickering—“Ha, Old Xiao, you’ve set a new record again!”

“Yuan Weiye, stand up!” Old Yan’s sudden shout startled Yuan Weiye so much that he leapt to his feet, trembling.

“Yuan Weiye, what happened to you this exam? Did my words mean nothing to you? Two hundred and fifty points—you really are a two-fifty student!” Old Yan thundered.

Yuan Weiye was stunned. So he was the one who’d done so badly, not even reaching the third-tier university cutoff. He’d thought it was Xiao Lin—and so had the whole class.

“Come to my office after class. We’ll see what to do with you. For now, you can stand and listen.” Old Yan fumed, bristling with anger. Then, after a brief pause, he continued, “Now, let’s recognize a student who made the greatest progress in the class—Xiao Lin. He scored 435 points, ranking tenth in our class. Let’s congratulate him with a round of applause.”

“What? Four hundred and thirty-five points? Tenth in the class? Xiao Lin? Teacher, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?” The class monitor, Liu Xiaoming, blurted out instinctively.

“What did you say? A mistake? How could I possibly make a mistake?” Old Yan’s voice rose several notches.

With that, the class fell silent. Every mouth hung open in disbelief, eyes wide with shock. Such progress was simply staggering, and the students could only smile wryly to themselves.