Li Zheng hurriedly snapped back to reality and stood up.
"I... I'm submitting my paper," he said.
"Hmm..." Lin Yujing turned her head in surprise.
Seeing Li Zheng's paper filled with answers, she could no longer maintain her composure. Her pen tip started to fly across the paper, answering questions with a frantic speed.
Hu Chunmei looked at Li Zheng and asked, "You've answered everything?"
"Yes."
"Not going to check your answers?"
Li Zheng had already checked his paper twice, but he was too embarrassed to say so.
This speed was a bit too unusual, and he usually kept a low profile, disliking those who showed off.
For example, Lin Yujing, who was always so pretentious.
She didn't realize that her 360-degree genius act unintentionally hurt those less talented than her.
"I have something to deal with at home tonight, so I'm not going to check," Li Zheng said modestly as he walked to the podium.
Hu Chunmei glanced at Li Zheng's paper from a distance.
"With this much written, you should definitely pass. If you have something to deal with, you can go," she said.
BANG!
Suddenly, Lin Yujing slammed her hand on the desk, grabbed her paper, and ran up, slapping it on the podium before Li Zheng.
After submitting her paper, she finally breathed heavily and wiped her sweat.
Her shirt was soaked.
"Is your body okay?" Hu Chunmei asked with concern. "If you have a fever, go home quickly. If it's serious, we can go to the hospital."
Lin Yujing shook her head vigorously, then pointed to her paper.
"Oh, right, I promised to grade it on the spot," Hu Chunmei said as she clicked out the red ballpoint pen and started grading.
Check mark, check mark, check mark, all check marks.
She grew happier as she graded.
She even mumbled as she scored.
"Look at this, Lin Yujing."
"Finished in just over 40 minutes."
"All multiple choices correct."
"One mistake in the fill-in-the-blank... got the number right, but forgot a minus sign, probably too rushed."
"Big problems... the handwriting is a bit shaky. First one, correct. Second one, correct, correct, correct... Hmm?"
Suddenly, Hu Chunmei frowned, pointing to the last big problem.
"Your approach is correct. You were almost there. Why didn't you complete the derivation before submitting?"
Lin Yujing tilted her head in silence, internally cursing her luck.
"Just to be the first to submit," said a short girl in the front row with a mocking laugh. "After all, Lin Yujing is famous for always being the first to submit."
Though her words were true, her tone was filled with jealousy.
Lin Yujing lowered her head slightly but did not argue.
"Zhang Yue, stop being so petty," Teacher Hu scolded. "Do you score half as well as Lin Yujing?"
"Haha," Liu Xin laughed as he slapped the desk.
"You woke up? Do you score half as well as Zhang Yue? Playing with geometric series?"
"..."
"Haha!" More laughter.
In the midst of the laughter, the class's tragic aura was somewhat buoyant.
At the podium, Hu Chunmei shook her head and handed Lin Yujing her paper.
"143 points. If this were a formal exam, you'd likely be first in the school, but you were too rushed. If you feel unwell, tell the teacher. I'm not heartless," Hu Chunmei said gently.
"Hmm..." Lin Yujing took the paper with her head down, gripping it tightly, not caring for its condition.
She hadn't expected Li Zheng to finish in just over 40 minutes. If not for that, she was confident she would have scored perfectly.
"Alright, you can go," Hu Chunmei nodded.
Lin Yujing slowly walked back to her seat, packing her bag methodically but keeping her eyes on Li Zheng.
Li Zheng could feel it. She was brewing a smile, just waiting for the teacher to announce his score.
Hu Chunmei grabbed Li Zheng's paper and began grading at the podium.
"Impressive, Li Zheng, filling all the answers in such a short time."
"Not bad, all the multiple choice questions are correct."
"And the fill-in-the-blanks, all correct, getting every point possible. Great accuracy."
"As for the big problems... Hmm..."
"This question... there's another way to solve it?"
"Wait a minute, let me check the teaching materials."
"Hmm..."
"Did I cover this formula in class? Let me check the curriculum..."
In the end, she had to call for outside help.
"Old Zhao, didn't you leave yet? I'll send you a picture on WeChat... I can't be sure about this question... His method looks right, but I can't understand two steps... It seems correct but might be beyond the curriculum... No, it's not Lin Yujing, it's another student..."
After taking pictures and sending them, she was sweating profusely.
She put down her phone, pointing to the paper with a trembling voice.
"This, your solution to the last problem, might be beyond the syllabus, but I can't be sure. The head of the teaching team is reviewing it. If he approves, you get... full marks," she said.
Whoa!
The whole class was in shock.
Even though it was a paper Hu Chunmei devised on the spot, a perfect score in math was still a myth.
Even Lin Yujing had only achieved a perfect score three times.
But in Li Zheng's heart, there was no ripple.
It was an open-book test, and they had just covered this type of problem and basic knowledge points.
He simply studied the material thoroughly.
"So if it's beyond the syllabus?" Li Zheng asked.
"Then we'll have to deduct 5 points, making it 145," she replied.
Thud!!
A cartoon rocket water bottle fell to the ground.
Lin Yujing sat frozen at her desk, at a loss.
The smile she'd been holding back for so long was hard to suppress.
"Her face..." Hu Chunmei quickly directed, "Hurry, take her to the hospital."
"I-I'm fine," Lin Yujing said, covering her mouth and picking up the bottle. She grabbed her bag and fled the classroom.
Just then, Hu Chunmei's phone rang too.
She looked at the screen, barely containing her surprise.
"The head of the teaching team says your solution, though beyond the syllabus, is derivable on the paper using the syllabus knowledge. It's considered an on-the-spot derivation and can be given full marks."
She wrote a big "150" at the top of the page.
"Although this paper was simple, getting a perfect score is still an achievement. You must be praised for it," she said, handing the paper to Li Zheng with a smile. "Very good. Keep working steadily, and aim to put some pressure on Lin Yujing in the midterm exam."
"You're being too kind, Teacher. It was mainly because your questions were so well-crafted, opening up my thinking," Li Zheng said, accepting the paper with both hands and lowering his voice so other students wouldn't hear. "I hope you can make more excellent papers like this in the future."
Hu Chunmei covered her face and laughed.
"It wasn't that excellent. I was just impromptu, really annoyed by them," she said.
Taking the opportunity, Li Zheng said, "About the family matter... it's not that urgent. Can I stay for self-study for a while longer?"
Hu Chunmei nodded. She was in a much better mood now and picked up her phone to continue discussing the problem with the head of the teaching team.
In Hu Chunmei's smile, the students seemed to see a glimmer of hope, all secretly cheering.
Such situations heavily relied on the teacher's mood.
Since Li Zheng made her happy, their survival chances today were much higher.
Li Zheng walked back to his seat from the podium, almost reverently by the others.
It wasn't just because he saved everyone.
The key reason was that he became the only one who had directly defeated Lin Yujing.
What was precious was that Li Zheng had none of that off-putting show-off vibe.
From start to finish, he had been genuinely himself, exposing his hard work.
From him, everyone felt true humility and genuine steadiness.
He didn't have the arrogance of a top student, nor the awe of a godly student.
Just the simplicity of being human.
Only the demonic laugh just now was a little concerning.