Chapter 39: He Is the Top Student in Our School

For over an hour afterward, Xu Ming remained completely absorbed in contemplating the new inequality related to the weighted Gram matrix. He paid no attention whatsoever to how the other candidates in the exam hall were faring.

It wasn’t until the bell rang and everyone finished submitting their papers and began exiting the classroom that he noticed the situation seemed quite different from what he had imagined.

Standing in the doorway and looking down the corridor, he saw a crowd of students pouring out, most of them wearing distressed expressions.

A few girls walking together had red, tear-streaked eyes. They took tissues from their classmates and wiped away their tears as they walked.

“What’s going on here?” Xu Ming couldn’t help but wonder, puzzled by the scene before him.

Just then, a group of boys passed by, their conversation catching his attention.

“Did someone steal the math paper again? They must have swapped in the backup one last minute—how else could the questions be this hard?”

“Don’t say another word. I saved half an hour for the final question, and I couldn’t even finish the first part.”

“I’m going to go find the homeroom teacher later and ask for a spot to repeat the year.”

“Looks like I’ll have to try again next year.”

Listening to this, Xu Ming’s gaze settled on the backs of those boys until they disappeared into the crowd. He muttered to himself, bewildered, “They all found it really difficult?”

Reflecting once more on the questions from the exam, he began to doubt whether they had even been working from the same paper.

His eyes then caught sight of Chen Lu standing by the door of the neighboring classroom. An idea struck him, and he immediately made his way over.

Zheng Zhanpeng was taking the exam at Dongping No. 1 High School. The moment he left the exam hall, he sought out his deskmate to share how he felt.

“Haizi, how did you do? I couldn’t finish the final question.”

Wang Hao followed Xu Ming out of the classroom. Upon hearing Zheng’s words and seeing his face, his expression immediately darkened.

“I totally screwed it up.”

“Everyone’s about the same. This math paper was just brutal.” Zheng Zhanpeng’s reply seemed to comfort Wang Hao somewhat, calming his disappointment.

Before the college entrance exam, he had spent two days playing at the internet café, thinking that relaxing would help him perform better. But as soon as the math section started, he hit a wall.

Thankfully, upon leaving the exam hall and seeing others struggling just like him, he felt somewhat reassured.

Yet Wang Hao clearly hadn’t recovered. He pointed ahead toward Xu Ming and said, “See that guy talking to the pretty girl? He sat in front of me and stared off into space after only about half an hour. I think he just gave up on math, probably had a complete mental breakdown.”

“Do you think he’s planning to repeat the year?” Zheng Zhanpeng asked, following his friend’s gesture.

But when he caught a glimpse of the guy’s face, his eyes widened, and he swore under his breath.

“Damn.”

“That’s the genius I ran into the other day.”

“The one doing math problems at the internet café,” Wang Hao confirmed.

Zheng nodded vigorously. “No way I’m mistaken. After all this time online, I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“I thought he must be some prodigy from another school. Turns out his grades aren’t even as good as mine.”

After analyzing the situation, the shadow that had been cast over Zheng at the internet café suddenly seemed to lift.

While they were talking, a boy with bangs covering his eyebrows approached and stopped before them, speaking with undeniable authority.

“You’ve got the wrong guy. He’s the top student in our grade at No. 1 High School, a legend who scored over 700 on the mock exam.”

At this, Zheng and Wang exchanged stunned looks, their pupils dilating in disbelief.

Top of the grade?

Over 700 points?

As students at Dongping No. 3 High School, they had never even seen scores like that—it was beyond their comprehension.

They doubted the claim.

Coincidentally, at that moment Xu Ming and Chen Lu walked past side by side, their conversation audible.

Xu Ming approached Chen Lu directly and asked, “Did you find the math paper difficult this time?”

Chen Lu thought for a moment before answering, “Compared to the mock exams, the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions were quite a bit harder.”

“For the problem-solving questions, you need a clear approach, otherwise you’ll waste a lot of time on calculations.”

Xu Ming fell silent, absorbing her words.

Earlier, he hadn’t thought much of the paper, but now even Chen Lu admitted it was tough—let alone the others.

It made sense: with math elevated to a second-level discipline and his formula derivation and rapid calculation skills significantly improved, he had long since distanced himself from the average high school student.

No wonder the questions seemed so simple to him.

Chen Lu, curious, asked, “How did you do?”

“About half an hour,” Xu Ming replied absentmindedly, his thoughts interrupted.

“Half an hour?” Chen Lu exclaimed, instinctively surprised.

Though she expected the paper to pose little difficulty for Xu Ming, his answer was still astonishing.

Not far off, Zheng Zhanpeng and Wang Hao, standing frozen, nearly dropped their jaws, waves of disbelief crashing inside them. They never would have imagined that the underachiever in their eyes was actually a genuine genius.

“So, he stared off into space for over an hour because he finished the paper early?”

“Don’t get hung up on it. We’re from No. 3 High School; how can we compare to the big shot from No. 1?” Zheng patted his deskmate on the shoulder, attempting to make peace with reality.

Feeling the support, Wang took a deep breath and tried to steady himself.

“You’re right.”

“Anyway, the exams are done. We should focus on preparing for science and English.”

“Too bad I only just finished my math paper when I handed it in—didn’t even have time to check. Probably scored just over a hundred.”

No sooner had he said this than Zheng froze, his hand still suspended mid-air. He was stunned for nearly ten seconds before snapping out of it, sighing with a deeply rueful expression.

“There’s a thick barrier between us.”

…

That evening, Xu Ming chose not to mention math in the dorm, mindful of everyone’s mood. Instead, Qian Hong cheerfully announced that he had finished the entire math exam and seemed in good spirits.

As for the next day’s science and English exams, having math as a foundation made them easier to accept. Though some still grumbled, no one was wiping away tears.

Xu Ming was very satisfied with his answers and was almost certain he had secured the top science score this year. He thought he’d have his parents look at houses as soon as he got home.

Because many would be absent the following day due to score estimates and college applications, the class monitor, Li Wenhui, organized a gathering at a restaurant outside the school to commemorate the end of their high school lives.

While a handful found excuses not to attend, the vast majority supported the idea.

It was a final farewell to high school and their first indulgence since the college entrance exam. Who knew if they would ever meet again?