Chapter 29: There Will Be No Such Opportunity

Xu Ming stepped out into the corridor outside the classroom and immediately recognized the person. He approached proactively and asked, “Is there something you need from me?”

Just like during the hundred-day sprint oath-taking rally, Zhou Junhao still sported his standard crew cut and wore a black jacket. Upon seeing Xu Ming, he glanced him up and down before responding.

“Since middle school, through all those exams, you’re the first person whose score has ever surpassed mine.”

“Thank you for showing me my shortcomings. I’ll study even harder from now on, and next time I’ll aim to beat your score again.”

Without waiting for a reply, Zhou Junhao turned and walked away, seemingly afraid to waste any more time.

Xu Ming looked after him, bewildered, not taking it to heart.

“How strange,” he muttered to himself, then turned back to the classroom.

As for Zhou Junhao’s hopes of overtaking him in scores—those chances were slim.

Zhou Junhao’s matter was just a minor episode for Xu Ming. Returning to his seat, he grumbled to Qian Hong before focusing back on his advanced algebra, no longer paying attention to anything else.

The first two lessons that morning were Chinese.

When Sun Zhiqiang handed out the test papers, he made a point of praising Xu Ming’s results in front of the class.

Especially since Xu Ming’s essay was the only perfect score in the entire school.

This caused an uproar among the classmates.

A perfect score in math was impressive enough, but a perfect essay too? That was just extraordinary.

Fortunately, a few points had been deducted from Xu Ming’s Chinese score, giving everyone else a bit of consolation.

Finally, at the teacher’s request, Xu Ming stood and loudly read aloud his perfect essay, finally drawing everyone’s attention back to the classroom.

“Finally done,” Xu Ming sighed in relief as he sat back down.

Before he could even move, Qian Hong took the paper, admiring the handwriting.

“Your handwriting is really beautiful. If I were the teacher, I’d definitely give you full marks too,” he said in awe, not holding back his praise. Then, looking at Xu Ming again, he asked seriously, “Why does your usual handwriting look like cursive?”

“You can’t write like the exam every day,” Xu Ming replied earnestly, clearing his throat.

Qian Hong nodded approvingly. “That makes sense.”

For the rest of the time, Xu Ming didn’t listen to the teacher’s explanation of the test but continued studying advanced algebra, gaining more math experience points.

Sun Zhiqiang watched this scene and, far from being upset, wore a look of satisfaction when looking at Xu Ming.

There was no helping it—Xu Ming’s Chinese score was simply too high.

...

As the first day back after the mock exam, most classes focused on reviewing the test papers to help students identify and correct their mistakes to avoid repeating them.

Meanwhile, in one of the humanities classrooms on the east side of the teaching building, Yang Xing, the class advisor, was delivering a stern lecture.

As one of the few female class advisors at Dongping No.1 High School, Yang Xing was even stricter than some male teachers. It was no exaggeration to say that no classroom rules were ever broken in her lessons.

“Check your papers carefully. Even with such simple questions, many of you still made mistakes,” she admonished.

“I don’t understand.”

“Do you think that since the college entrance exam is so close, there’s no point in working hard anymore?”

Yang Xing’s words came down like a storm, leaving the classroom in complete silence.

Everyone lowered their heads, unwilling to make eye contact.

Though she taught math, the humanities class dealt mostly with simpler problems, far easier than those in the science math papers.

Yet, the average math score for the class was a mess.

How could she not be angry?

But she quickly calmed herself, adjusting her tone to a gentler one.

“Today I want to emphasize this: until you finish and hand in your last English exam paper, you must keep giving it your all. Don’t think that because only a little time remains, you can slack off.”

“Let me tell you something—Xu Ming from Science Class Three, through diligent study, scored an impressive 708 points, ranking first in the entire grade.”

“That’s an improvement of over a hundred points compared to the winter break final exam.”

“Who still thinks that studying before the college entrance exam has little effect?”

The moment she finished speaking, a wave of disbelief rippled through the classroom.

“No way.”

“It’s only been a short time since the New Year. How could someone improve by over a hundred points?”

“If it were from three hundred to five hundred, I’d believe it. But jumping straight to 708? What kind of genius is that?”

“And he’s from the regular class? Amazing!”

Yang Xing observed all the reactions without stopping their murmurs, remaining still.

After nearly half a minute, as the noise subsided, she added:

“If you don’t believe me, check the bulletin board after class. The score sheets should all be posted by now.”

When she first heard about this from other teachers, she hardly believed it herself. But after seeing the detailed scores, she was stunned by Xu Ming’s remarkable improvement.

Especially his perfect score in math.

So she deliberately used him as an example in class, hoping to motivate her students to study harder in the time remaining.

Even if only one student took it to heart, her effort today wouldn’t have been in vain.

What she didn’t notice was that sitting in the middle row on the teacher’s side, Zhang Yingxin and Zhao Xin wore expressions not of surprise like the others, but rather stunned silence, as they tried to process what the advisor had just said.

Xu Ming from Science Class Three?

Top of the grade?

Zhang Yingxin never expected that after parting ways with Xu Ming, his scores would skyrocket like a rocket.

She was well aware of Xu Ming’s previous performance.

Though hard to believe, the class advisor’s words left little room for doubt.

“Xu Ming took first place in the grade...” she murmured, repeating the phrase to herself. Then, as if having made up her mind, she turned to her deskmate and asked:

“Xin Xin, do you think if I agree to Xu Ming now, he’ll be with me?”

When Zhao Xin heard the advisor mention Xu Ming’s score, her mind involuntarily went back to the day in the cafeteria when Xu Ming said he would study hard. At the time, she thought he was just saying that.

Now, facts spoke louder than words.

Clearly, she herself was the one holding Zhang Yingxin back.

Especially since she hadn’t even gotten back the twenty yuan Zhang owed her, and considering her recent attitude, she suddenly lost all desire to talk to her.

“Whatever,” she said coldly, turning her attention back to her test paper, leaving Zhang Yingxin awkwardly alone.