Chapter 30: I Really Don’t Know Where That Confidence Came From

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During the extended lunch break, Xu Ming and Qian Hong went to the restroom. On their way back, they noticed a crowd of students gathered around the bulletin board.

Qian Hong immediately took an interest and suggested, “Let’s go over and take a look.”

With that, he squeezed into the crowd. Seeing this, Xu Ming had no choice but to follow. The moment his eyes landed on the A4 sheets posted on the board, Qian Hong’s excited voice rang in his ears.

“Look!”

“It’s the schoolwide rankings for the latest mock examination.”

“Zhou Junhao scored only five points below you. No wonder he came looking for you this morning to issue a challenge.”

“No wonder he’s having trouble accepting it.”

Xu Ming automatically tuned out Qian Hong’s commentary. The top ten soon caught his eye.

Xu Ming: 708 points.
Zhou Junhao: 703 points.
Chen Lu: 692 points.
…

Xu Ming was not surprised by Zhou Junhao’s score. After all, he was one of the school’s carefully cultivated candidates for Tsinghua University and Peking University.

With only a five-point gap between them, it was natural for him to believe he could catch up next time.

Unfortunately, although the future he imagined was beautiful, it would never come to pass.

Xu Ming’s score would only continue to rise, widening the gap between him and everyone else at the school.

After taking a brief glance, Xu Ming lost interest in reading further. He withdrew his gaze and was about to turn toward the classrooms on the west side of the teaching building when he suddenly noticed that all the students gathered around him were staring at him.

“He’s the one who ranked first in the entire grade?”

One student’s remark broke the silence, instantly stirring up a lively discussion.

“He actually surpassed Zhou. That’s seriously impressive.”

“Isn’t the average level of Class Three in the science stream about the same as ours in Class Five? When did such a genius appear?”

“Could I shake your hand, classmate?”

“A hand that can earn such a high score must be imbued with scholarly aura. Surely some of it will rub off if I shake it!”

As the excitement on the faces before him grew, Xu Ming and Qian Hong exchanged a glance. Then, without hesitation, they took off at a full sprint, running as fast as if they were competing in a hundred-meter dash.

Only after they had escaped the crowd and reached the corridor did another figure they did not want to see enter their field of vision.

Xu Ming’s brows instantly drew tight.

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Qian Hong was perceptive enough to understand the situation. After glancing between the two of them, he promptly made an excuse to return to the classroom.

“Um… you two take your time talking.”

Xu Ming grew increasingly impatient with Zhang Yingxin, who had come looking for him again. He had thought that, after their last confrontation in front of Zhao Xin, the two of them had drawn a clean line between themselves and were finished with each other. Yet here she was again, appearing right outside his classroom.

Just how thick-skinned could this woman be?

“Xu Ming, I heard you ranked first in the grade this time. Congratulations.” Zhang Yingxin spoke first, attempting to break the stalemate.

As she offered her congratulations, she brushed a hand through the hair over her chest and made her voice as gentle and considerate as possible.

Xu Ming remained unmoved.

With an expressionless face, he said, “Are you finished?”

“If there’s nothing else, I’m going back to study.” He turned as though to walk toward the classroom door.

Zhang Yingxin clearly had an ulterior motive. How could she possibly let Xu Ming leave just like that?

“Wait a moment!” she called hurriedly.

She stopped beating around the bush, stepped closer, and then continued as if what she was saying were perfectly natural.

“I can agree to be with you, but before the college entrance examination, you’ll have to keep it a secret and not tell anyone else.”

Hearing this, Xu Ming’s eyes widened. He felt an overwhelming weariness, as though he had no strength left even to complain. He truly had no idea where she had found such confidence.

After standing there in stunned silence for several seconds, he quickly raised a hand to refuse.

“Go find someone else to torment. Your class monitor, for example.”

“There’s nothing between me and him. He was only being kind and helping me get food,” Zhang Yingxin hurriedly explained, visibly flustered.

Xu Ming had no desire to continue the conversation. He was considering how to rid himself of her once and for all when, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of the homeroom teacher approaching the classroom.

Without another word, he shouted at the top of his voice, “Teacher Wang!”

Zhang Yingxin looked startled. When she turned and saw that a teacher really was there, she could not spare another word. She immediately lowered her head and ran away along the wall, looking exactly like a mouse that had spotted a cat.

After all, for most students, their fear of teachers was practically carved into their bones.

Even years after graduation, they would react the same way whenever they encountered one.

Wang Qingtao glanced at Zhang Yingxin as she hurried past him. Though he said nothing, his expression suggested that he was deep in thought.

When he reached Xu Ming, he asked, “Is that student from the humanities stream?”

“She’s Zhang Yingxin from Class Seventeen of the humanities stream. She’s been pestering me constantly lately.” Xu Ming did not hesitate to make full use of the teacher-reporting skill.

Otherwise, given the way Zhang Yingxin thought, she would probably come by every day from then on.

He had no time to indulge in this sort of drama.

It would only interfere with the speed at which he solved problems.

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When Wang Qingtao heard about the matter, his expression immediately became much more serious. He then said solemnly, “I’ll speak with her homeroom teacher, Teacher Yang, later.”

In truth, he remembered that Xu Ming had once liked someone. Since Xu Ming’s behavior had remained within normal bounds, Wang Qingtao had chosen to turn a blind eye.

But now Xu Ming had finally devoted himself to his studies, and had even achieved outstanding results. Naturally, they had to prevent outside distractions from causing him to repeat his past mistakes. Raising one’s scores was difficult, but watching them fall could happen very quickly.

After receiving his homeroom teacher’s assurance, Xu Ming immediately felt relieved. With a teacher stepping in, he should be able to enjoy some peace for a while.

In any case, once he graduated and finished the college entrance examination, there was no guarantee they would ever see each other again.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, his homeroom teacher brought up the real reason he had come, a faint smile spreading across his face.

“Oh, right.”

“I came to take you to see the principal. He wants to have a word with you.”

“The principal wants to talk to me?” Xu Ming asked, momentarily stunned.

…

The principal’s office at Eastplain No. 1 High School was located on the first floor of the administration building. Xu Ming soon arrived at the door with his homeroom teacher.

“Principal Sun, Xu Ming is here,” Wang Qingtao announced as he led Xu Ming inside.

Xu Ming was certainly no stranger to the principal of his school. He saw him often at schoolwide assemblies.

He greeted him at once. “Good afternoon, Principal Sun.”

Only then did he notice that the homeroom teacher of the honors class was sitting on the sofa beside the desk.

He turned slightly and called out, “Teacher Cui.”

Sun Hai was in his forties and somewhat portly. The moment he saw Xu Ming, he rose naturally from his chair, his face filled with delight.

“Xu Ming.”

“Your mock-examination score broke the record for the greatest score improvement in our school’s history. You are a source of pride for everyone at Eastplain No. 1 High School. I hope you’ll achieve even better results and bring further honor to the school.”

“I’ve already spoken with your parents. If you need anything in the future, just ask the school.”

Compared with the principal’s impassioned speech, however, Cui Zhibang looked somewhat embarrassed.

Only now had he realized that the student who had left early that day to hurry to the cafeteria for lunch was actually the top-ranked student in the grade. He no longer knew what to say. As it turned out, Xu Ming had simply been confident enough in his own abilities.

All he could say was that it was fortunate he had not stopped Xu Ming at the time. Otherwise, he would have found it even harder to hold his head up in front of Wang Qingtao.

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