Chapter 28: Still So Young

Li Wenhui’s logic was simple: if Xu Ming could raise his scores, then he, through hard work, could do the same. Perhaps, given his own foundation, he might even achieve better results. Then, on the battlefield of the college entrance examination, he would surpass Xu Ming fair and square.

With this thought in mind, he decided to follow Xu Ming’s study schedule, even going so far as to shamelessly ask Xu Ming to wake him up. He chose to ignore Qian Hong’s advice entirely.

"I’ve been a bit slack lately, and I want to make a final sprint," Li Wenhui said through gritted teeth to Xu Ming. "Don't take anything I might have done wrong in the past to heart."

Xu Ming didn't care about Li Wenhui’s true attitude; since it had come to this, he didn't mind waking him up. He replied nonchalantly, "Fine."

However, for the sake of being roommates, he added a warning: "Don't read under the covers tonight. I’m afraid you’ll be sleeping too soundly in the morning and I won't be able to wake you."

"That definitely won't happen," Li Wenhui promised firmly.

Qian Hong, already tucked in bed, heard the exchange and looked at Li Wenhui with a gaze full of sympathy. He figured this kid was done for. Xu Ming’s constitution was the most extreme he had ever seen.

Come to think of it, when Xu Ming first started working hard, Qian Hong had assumed his buddy just wanted to secure a spot at a decent undergraduate university. Now, with the way he had leveled up, he reckoned that before summer vacation, Xu Ming’s portrait would be hanging on the school’s wall of honor by the main gate.

"Youth is indeed a fickle thing," he muttered with a shake of his head, feigning profundity before putting away his MP3 player to sleep.

The next day.

At dawn, Xu Ming opened his eyes right on time. He got up, dressed skillfully, walked to the iron bed by the door, and reached up to shake Li Wenhui awake.

"I’m getting up," Li Wenhui said, rubbing his sleepy eyes before jolting upright and whispering back.

Having done his part, Xu Ming didn't bother with anything else, walking out of the dorm and leaving the other to follow behind.

Li Wenhui felt the silence of the corridor, lit only by a single incandescent bulb. He felt a strange sense of excitement, as if he could already see his grades soaring and himself surpassing Xu Ming to take first place in the grade in the next exam.

However, the smile hidden beneath his expression didn't last long before it suddenly froze on his face. He glanced casually at the clock on the inner wall of the dormitory gate. His world collapsed instantly.

"It’s only four o'clock?"

He had imagined when Xu Ming got up, but he assumed it would only be a little earlier than the wake-up bell; otherwise, it would be impossible to have enough energy during the day. It would be counterproductive. He was quite an expert on that topic.

But what was he seeing now? Xu Ming had actually woken him up before four.

Suppressing his shock, he hurried to catch up to Xu Ming and asked, "Do you always get up at this time?"

"Is there a problem?" Xu Ming countered, confirming the situation. He unlocked the dormitory gate, pushed it open, and stepped outside.

Li Wenhui stood there, stunned. He suddenly felt that it was only natural for Xu Ming to be first in his grade. There was nothing to complain about. After all, what others called hard work was, for Xu Ming, nothing short of life-risking dedication. Once he grasped that key, he felt much more at ease. He couldn't help but wonder if he could keep up such an early rising schedule every day. The answer was clearly no.

The most crucial thing was that for so long, he had sat on the podium during study hall and had never once seen Xu Ming look drowsy. He could only attribute that to innate talent. Now he understood why Qian Hong had said what he said last night; he had clearly known about this all along.

"Might as well just head to class."

Realizing there was no way to go back to the dorm to sleep, he headed toward the classroom. It was the first time in his high school career that Li Wenhui had entered the classroom so early. Looking at the dark sky outside, he felt that the early morning study session was interminably long, and he couldn't settle his mind to memorize or review anything.

When Chen Lu arrived in class and saw Li Wenhui there, she couldn't help but look at him a few times in surprise.

...

Meanwhile, at the teacher's bike shed, Wang Qingtao put down his kickstand, humming a tune with a radiant face. Anyone could tell he was in a great mood.

After parking his bike, just as he was about to head to the office building, he happened to bump into an acquaintance: Cui Zhibang, the homeroom teacher of the key class. Wang Qingtao’s eyes lit up, and he immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"Good morning, Teacher Cui."

When he had gone to find him last night, he hadn't managed to catch him, and he had felt a lingering sense of unfinished business. He had planned to go to his office today to discuss teaching methods, never expecting to run into him at the bike shed so early.

"Teacher Wang," Cui Zhibang acknowledged briefly. He then turned to leave, as if he had something urgent to attend to. But his pace was no match for Wang Qingtao’s lightning-fast reaction.

"Teacher Cui, you must have seen the mock exam results, right? I don't know how it happened this time, but one of our class’s students actually surpassed Zhou Junhao."

Hearing this, Cui Zhibang looked a bit awkward. Usually, he was the one who deliberately sought out the homeroom teachers of ordinary classes to show off. He hadn't expected that this time, the top spot would fall to the science class under Wang Qingtao’s charge. He remembered that when he first received the score sheet, it had taken him several minutes just to accept the reality.

If it had been Chen Lu in first place, it would have been normal. But Xu Ming had improved by over a hundred points, vaulting from the middle of the pack to the top of the school. Beyond the fact that Wang Qingtao now had a potential candidate for Qinghua or Yanda University, the significance was far beyond that of other students. From the perspective of school publicity, Xu Ming’s case was a better testament to the teaching quality of Dongping No. 1 High School.

He knew that with Wang Qingtao’s personality, he would definitely gloat, which was why he had been avoiding him. But now that they had met, he had no choice but to offer congratulations.

"I’ve seen the report card. I haven't had a chance to congratulate you yet, Teacher Wang."

"To be able to nurture such a promising talent, I suppose the next key science class will be handed over to you to lead."

"It’s mostly the student’s own effort," Wang Qingtao said, waving his hands with a smile, feigning modesty. "Actually, being a homeroom teacher for an ordinary class isn't bad at all, though leading a key class is certainly more challenging."

As he spoke, he walked alongside Cui Zhibang, showing no intention of stopping.

After the early study session ended, Xu Ming and Qian Hong returned to the classroom after eating, just about to continue studying higher algebra, when they were interrupted.

"Zhou Junhao from the key class is outside. He says he wants to see you."

"See me?" Xu Ming, hearing the classmate's message, slowly formed a question mark in his mind. His interactions with Zhou Junhao were limited to seeing him speak as a representative of excellent students during school assemblies. It was truly unexpected for him to come looking for him so suddenly.

Before he could react, Qian Hong chimed in from the side: "Could it be because you snatched his first place and he’s unhappy about it?"

"That shouldn't be it," Xu Ming said, shaking his head. After a moment of hesitation, he stood up and walked out of the classroom.