Chapter 39: You Must Be Looking Forward To This
Sunday afternoon. Yang Shikun saw Xu Si enter the classroom: “Brother Si, why did you suddenly stop responding to my messages yesterday?”
Xu Si glanced up at him without saying anything.
“I really wasn’t trying to make fun of how black it is.” “Really wasn’t on purpose.” “Although… it is really black.” “Brother Si, are you angry?” “Brother Si?”
Xu Si looked up at Yang Shikun: “Not angry. Just be quiet.”
“Okay, Brother Si.”
The classroom gradually filled up. Yang Shikun went outside for a round, then came back shouting excitedly: “Holy crap! I just heard teachers from other classes saying our class got a high score!”
The classroom instantly erupted in excitement. Everyone discussed who this exceptionally good student might be.
The rumor from the first day of school had been dismissed as false when people learned Jiang Qiao was a girl. People had laughed it off and didn’t take it seriously.
Yang Shikun went up to Wang Lin: “You won’t be at the top this time?”
Wang Lin scratched his head: “Probably not me. I couldn’t solve the long math questions this time, physics either. I might not even make the top 300.”
Wang Lin was Class 17’s perennial top student, barely maintaining a rank around 200 in the grade. Though his grades led the class by far, he couldn’t quite compete with students from the advanced classes.
The eternal second place was a quiet-looking girl who sat in the front row and didn’t talk much.
Yang Shikun approached Li Jingjing: “Could it be you?”
“Holy crap, did my prayers yesterday work?”
Li Jingjing’s sudden outburst startled Yang Shikun: “Whoa, I thought you didn’t talk much.”
The girl next to Li Jingjing looked at him and calmly said: “That’s never been true.”
Yang Shikun returned to his seat, suddenly remembering his math score and feeling worried.
Though no one knew who this exceptional student was, Xu Si instinctively felt it was Jiang Qiao, calmly solving problems beside him.
As soon as Teacher Fang Zixin entered the classroom, he felt countless eyes on him. He cleared his throat and spoke: “Though I’m also eager about the scores, they’re not all out yet. Let’s focus on evening self-study.”
“Teacher Fang, which subject’s scores are out? Read them to us.”
“Only English is out, nothing else yet.”
“Please read them, Teacher Fang.”
Unable to resist the pleading, Fang Zixin took out his phone and started reading: “These are in random order, not by score.”
“…”
“Yang Shikun, 40 points.”
Yang Shikun almost cried, thinking his mother would beat him black and blue.
He glared at the broadly grinning Hao Ming: “What are you laughing at?”
“Hao Ming, 39 points.”
Now it was Yang Shikun’s turn to laugh, pointing at Hao Ming with a grin: “Look who’s showing off now! Scored lower than me, I beat you by one point!”
Hao Ming: “…”
Hao Ming: “Aren’t they basically the same?”
“Ah, see, this is where you don’t understand. The gap between 39 and 40 points is huge. Though I’m only one point higher, mentally I’m on a whole different level.”
Hao Ming: “…”
After hearing Hao Ming’s 39 points, Yang Shikun suddenly felt his 40 points weren’t so bad.
“Xu Si, 35 points.”
Xu Si played with his pen, expressionless.
“Wang Lin, 125 points.”
Wang Lin sighed in relief; his English wasn’t too bad.
“That’s our Wang!” “Wang just said he did poorly, but 125? How am I supposed to live with my proud 90 points?” “Wang, you’re awesome, haha!”
Wang Lin modestly waved it off: “No, no.”
Yang Shikun started grinning again, happier than those who scored much higher than him.
“Li Jingjing, 132.”
English was Li Jingjing’s best subject, consistently ranking first in class. No one was surprised.
Fang Zixin continued reading several more names.
“Jiang Qiao.” Fang Zixin paused at the number.
“What’s wrong, Teacher Fang?” “Why did you stop?” “Too low or too high?”
Fang Zixin contained his excitement and repeated: “Jiang Qiao, perfect score, ranked first in the grade.”
The class erupted in excitement, more lively than New Year’s.
“Damn, that’s amazing, perfect score!” “I’ve never seen a perfect score in my life!” “Remember when Yang said the new student was a male genius? When I saw she was a girl, I thought Yang was lying. Turns out she really is a genius!” “Awesome, awesome, awesome!” “Don’t know what else to say except: amazing!”
All eyes turned to Jiang Qiao.
Jiang Qiao remained calm, merely looking up briefly before returning to her problems.
After reading the scores, Fang Zixin said: “Other papers are still being graded. Let’s start evening study. The supervising teacher should be here soon.” He then left the classroom.
Xu Si looked at Jiang Qiao quietly working: “Well done, classmate.”
“Thank you.” After speaking, Jiang Qiao wasn’t sure how to compliment his 35 points. After thinking, she said: “You have room for improvement.”
Xu Si laughed softly, seemingly speaking to himself or her: “Scores don’t mean anything to me.”
For a moment, Jiang Qiao seemed to see something in his eyes, but it quickly vanished.
“Damn, Yang, where did you get this information?”
Yang Shikun: “Didn’t hear clearly, just heard our class got a high score.”
“Must be talking about English then.”
The physics teacher supervised evening study. In the summer heat, he entered the classroom with a glass cup and a physics book.
Sitting at the podium, he took a sip of water and said: “Come ask me if you have questions.”
A student at the front asked: “Teacher, aren’t you grading papers?”
Peng Mingyu: “Already finished. Just waiting for them. The scores should be out this class period.”
The physics scores might not be something many in class were looking forward to.
“Don’t be anxious, I’ll read them when they’re out.”
Peng Mingyu put on his glasses and started reading the news.
“Actually, you don’t have to read them, don’t feel that curious anymore.” “Suddenly not so interested in the scores.” “You can skip reading them, I agree.” “I just hope I didn’t get zero.”
If English multiple choice could be guessed and the composition could copy reading comprehension, Yang Shikun had no such luck with physics. After the multiple choice, he just stared at the familiar yet strange long-form questions.
He seemed to have learned it all, but that didn’t help him solve any of them.
Peng Mingyu pushed up his glasses, took a sip of tea, then smiled: “Physics scores are out. You must be looking forward to this? Let me read them.”
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