The invigilator's face turned dark. As a Chinese language teacher, she sat at the podium and began answering the test paper. Her speed was extremely fast, but she had only completed all the questions except for the composition half an hour ago. This meant that with her speed as a Chinese teacher, she had only started the composition half an hour ago and definitely could not finish it.
At this moment, a student actually wanted to hand in the paper? Undoubtedly, this student must not have taken the exam seriously, hastily dealing with the previous questions, and might even have left large blanks. The invigilator glared angrily. As a teacher, she detested such students who didn't take exams seriously, they were simply beyond help! If Chu Yi were her own student, she would have gone over and pulled his ears with a textbook!
"Teacher, I did answer the questions seriously," Chu Yi awkwardly stood up and replied, "I've almost finished the composition, about 1,100 words."
"It's only been an hour and a half since the start of the exam, and you have completed all the questions? Do I, as a Chinese teacher, not know how long it takes to answer questions?" the invigilator scolded loudly in anger, "Sit back down and check the previous questions! If you think you haven't done well, then rewrite them properly! It's almost the college entrance examination, and you're still so careless! If you don't want to take the exam, then don't come!"
The whole classroom's attention was focused on Chu Yi, and many people were smirking behind their hands. They thought: You handed in your paper so early, now you're being criticized by the teacher.
Chu Yi sat down helplessly. He admitted that his answering speed was indeed very fast, but the teacher didn't believe him, and he could understand that. At this point, arguing was meaningless, he could only prove it with facts. So he picked up the test paper, quickly walked to the front of the podium, and handed it to the teacher: "Teacher, you should take a look before deciding whether to let me go. If you are not satisfied, I will go back and redo it."
The invigilator frowned and checked Chu Yi's test paper. Originally, she was ready to erupt in anger at any moment. She thought: How could a paper completed in an hour and a half have any quality? Surely every question was just perfunctory, with only a few words written. However, to her surprise, Chu Yi's entire answer sheet was filled with writing! All the answer spaces were densely packed with words! Although the handwriting was a bit messy, she felt the content should not be made up.
The invigilator chose a reading comprehension question to check, and gradually, her anger disappeared from her face, replaced by astonishment. Chu Yi had answered this reading comprehension question in great detail, very well! Every small section of the answer hit the scoring points, and if graded according to this standard, he would almost get full marks!
The invigilator realized that something was wrong and began to check from the first question. She looked at Chu Yi's answer sheet while comparing it with her own answers written on scrap paper. As the check progressed, the invigilator's astonishment deepened! The first question was correct! The second question was also correct! The third question was still correct! Looking further down, she found that every question was answered very well! Not a single multiple-choice question was wrong! Even the most challenging task, the translation of classical Chinese, was flawlessly translated. She looked for a long time and was shocked to find that there was no place on this paper where points could be deducted! The only place to deduct points was the handwriting, this student's writing was really bad, a bit like chicken scratch.
The invigilator suddenly realized that even if the previous questions were answered correctly, it did not guarantee that the composition would be equally outstanding. In our class, there is a type of student who performs well in general questions, but when it comes to writing, they are like idiots. Every time they write, it's either nonsense or leaving it blank, causing their Chinese scores to be dragged down because of the composition.
The invigilator, lost in thought, turned to the back of Chu Yi's answer sheet to review his composition. The next moment, the whole class heard the invigilator's exclamation! Many students looked up at the invigilator, only to see an expression of disbelief on his face as he looked down at the answer sheet in his hand, as if he had seen something shocking.
At this moment, the invigilator's heart was filled with waves of emotion! This composition... was actually... written in classical Chinese! A composition written in classical Chinese?! How is that possible!
As the invigilator was still immersed in astonishment, Chu Yi, somewhat impatient, spoke up, "Teacher, I really did it seriously. I have something to do tonight, can I hand in my paper and leave first?" The invigilator was taken aback and quickly nodded, "Yes."
The group of students waiting to laugh were all stunned. "Yes?" What's going on? Didn't he just say that it's impossible to finish the test paper in an hour and ten minutes? Didn't he just criticize Chu Yi? Why did he suddenly make a 180-degree turn in attitude and let him go? Does that mean... his answer sheet was really well done? But how is that possible? It's only been an hour and ten minutes, what kind of speed would it take to finish everything?
Chu Yi ignored the doubts of the other students in the exam room and paid no attention to the invigilator who was still staring blankly at the composition. He left the classroom without looking back, and ran away in a hurry. He had to rush home for his livestream. He had promised to play games with Strawberry tonight! School ended early on exam days, so he could seize the time to livestream a few more rounds!
Chu Yi was passionate about livestreaming now, after all, going live meant gaining more followers and receiving gifts while playing games. Is there anything better than this? And thinking about the photos of Strawberry he found online last night, Chu Yi became excited again. Having such a beautiful girl as a teammate makes playing games so much fun!
As Chu Yi left, the invigilator continued to stare at his composition. The more he looked, the more astonished he felt. This composition written in classical Chinese... was actually quite decent? For an average student, it would be extremely difficult just to translate classical Chinese, even memorizing the classical Chinese text from the textbook is not easy. Yet this student called Chu Yi had directly written a composition in classical Chinese? Moreover, after a cursory examination, it was indeed very standard classical Chinese without any errors or language issues. What was even more surprising is that if translated into vernacular Chinese, it was also a well-structured and clear argumentative essay, fully meeting the requirements of this composition topic.
Suddenly, the classroom door was pushed open, and the headmaster walked in. Every time there was an exam, he would inspect the situation in each exam room and happened to arrive at this one at that moment. Surprisingly, he was also a Chinese language teacher.
The invigilator immediately approached and handed over Chu Yi's answer sheet to the headmaster.
"Principal, take a look at this student's answer sheet," said the invigilator in a low voice, "He handed in the paper five minutes ago, and the composition part is written in classical Chinese."
The headmaster was taken aback, a composition in classical Chinese? A senior high school student writing a composition in classical Chinese, it's simply absurd! Classical Chinese is so complex, it's already quite difficult for high school students to grasp its basics, how could they possibly use it to write an essay?
The several students sitting in the front row were shocked when they heard the invigilator's words. What did they just hear? Was the composition written in classical Chinese? Is the student who just turned in his paper so capable? Such a talented student is actually here in this examination room?
The invigilator handed over the answer sheet to the headmaster and explained in a low voice, "I quickly reviewed it twice and didn't find any major issues. However, my expertise is in Western literature, and I'm not proficient in classical Chinese. You are an expert in classical Chinese, could you pass judgment on it?"
Taking the answer sheet, the headmaster, initially with a frown, thought it must be a nonsensical essay. What decent piece could a senior high school student write in classical Chinese? Nevertheless, as he read a few lines, his impatience gradually disappeared, replaced by astonishment.
"This beginning... has quite a flavor to it?"
Continuing to read, the headmaster's expression became more and more serious. When he reached the middle of the paper, he even began to silently read aloud:
"In the beginning, several front-row students pricked up their ears to listen, intending to copy some sentences from Chu Yi's composition. However, as they listened, these students were dumbfounded, wearing looks of confusion on their faces.
What is all this written? Why can't I understand it? It really is classical Chinese!"
After finishing reading, the headmaster was so excited that his face turned red.
"This composition can be called a masterpiece!" The headmaster's eyes sparkled with excitement, and his hand holding the answer sheet trembled slightly. "This is definitely a master-level piece! And flawless!"
The invigilator was stunned. The headmaster was an expert in classical Chinese studies, and his praise made the invigilator develop a strong interest in this composition.
"However, can a senior high school student really write such a piece? Could it be that he memorized a classical Chinese text and then wrote it down?" the invigilator raised a question.
"I usually have impressions of the classical Chinese texts I've read, but this one is completely unfamiliar." The headmaster's excitement subsided a little, "Your doubt makes sense. If this article came from a university professor, it might be more convincing. But for a senior high school student, it's unlikely. Let's check online."
So, the headmaster took out his phone, took a photo of Chu Yi's answer sheet, and then used optical character recognition to copy and paste the text into a search engine, hoping to find related information or the original text.
However, the search results left him somewhat disappointed. Although some content related to this composition appeared, they seemed to have no direct connection. He tried several different search engines, but the results still puzzled him.
"It's really strange, I can't find the original work anywhere," the headmaster frowned deeply. "Could it really be his original creation?"
"With the internet being so developed nowadays, if it's not found online... perhaps it really is his own writing," the invigilator also couldn't help feeling shocked.
"So where is this student? Where can I find him? I want to talk to him," the headmaster looked around the classroom, only to see Chu Yi's empty seat.
"He left after turning in his paper, he should have already left," the invigilator replied, gazing at the empty spot where Chu Yi sat.
The headmaster fell silent for a moment, holding Chu Yi's answer sheet, and then walked out of the classroom. He went downstairs and headed straight to the Chinese language office for the senior class. This was where a group of talented Chinese language teachers gathered.
At this time, most of the teachers in the office were still there, drinking tea, grading homework, or chatting. They greeted the headmaster as he entered.
"I have a composition just written by a student, and I'd like each of the teachers skilled in classical Chinese to help take a look," the headmaster said