"Zhi Ying, in a moment, share your exam paper and let everyone know how to answer questions properly"
"Oh." Zhi Ying nodded at the teacher's words.
Zhi Ying had secured full marks in mathematics. For her, the fun of taking math exams was just guessing the teacher's style. The difficulty of the exam papers didn't exist for her at all. Unlike other high-performers in math, she was keen on writing the answers exactly like the standard answer ones.
Jiang Wei's math score was deducted by about ten points. She estimated it was because of the steps in the big question. As a person who had seen national exam papers, Zhi Ying could clearly tell the difference between the answering standards of Beijing and Quan City.
As the harsh words continued, in Class One, the headteacher Zhou Hui had a smile on her face, unlike Lao Han.
They had first place in their class!
This meant that if they divided the subjects, she could become the headteacher of the top student in No. 1 High School's freshman class as long as Jiang Wei chose science.
But Zhou Hui was not so worried.
After all, Quan City paid more attention to science. Looking at the size of the classes, it could be seen that there were more than double the number of science classes as language arts classes in the second year of high school.
Just in case, Zhou Hui called Jiang Wei to her office after class in the afternoon. Acceding to the teacher's call, Jiang Wei closed his book and walked to the office on the sixth floor.
The whole floor upstairs was where the teachers worked.
The chemistry teachers had offices concentrated in one area, while the math teachers were in another. They were divided according to subjects.
Zhou Hui was also a math teacher and had an office at the back of the corridor.
The language arts office was in the first room, and as soon as Jiang Wei went upstairs, he heard a teacher scolding a student, "Is it because the teacher's ability is not good, or do you have an opinion on the teacher? You got such a low score on the test."
Jiang Wei wasn't interested in the least, though. However, just as he was about to walk through quickly, he heard a familiar voice.
"No, teacher, I really can't write essays well," Zhi Ying drooped her ears, and she had the same feeling as when Zhao Qian was scolded by the English teacher last time in English class.
Jiang Wei slowed down and looked at Zhi Ying, who had her back turned to him through the half-opened office door. He couldn't help but be surprised. 'Did she fail the exam? It was probably because she was held down by the first place in the province, which led to her poor performance.'
The headteacher of Class One, Zhou Hui, also confirmed Jiang Wei's conjecture.
"Jiang Wei, this time you are the first place in the grade. Continue to work hard to keep it." Zhou Hui looked at her student kindly, "You will choose the science major, right?"
For a while, Jiang Wei was a little distracted and didn't react.
His unresponsiveness made Zhou Hui anxious. "Although you have good grades in every subject, you have greater potential in science, and you will have more opportunities to choose a good major in the future in college. Our No. 1 High School has always attached more importance to science students, you..."
"Teacher, I will choose science." Jiang Wei abruptly interrupted the headteacher's chatter as soon as he came back to his senses.
"...Oh, that's good, that's good." Zhou Hui immediately laughed, and after a few words with Jiang Wei, she dismissed him.
When he walked to the language arts office again, it happened that Zhi Ying's reprimand was also finished, and she walked with her head hung low.
The two walked side by side down the narrow stairs.
Perhaps it was because Zhi Ying looked too pitiful, or perhaps because Zhi Ying was the daughter of a neighbor in Lugu Mountain, when they were about to reach the fourth floor, Jiang Wei suddenly said, "Next time, work harder to get first place. One exam is nothing."
"?" Zhi Ying was perplexed as she stared at Jiang Wei, who had vanished at the door of Class One right after saying whatever he wanted to.
He... did he just throw down a gauntlet and give her a challenge letter?
Zhi Ying walked into the classroom confused, still thinking about what classmate Jiang Wei said.
"You're back. Were you scolded?" Zhao Qian patted his friend with an "I understand" expression on his face.
"…Mhm." Zhi Ying sat down in a trance, "Just now, classmate Jiang Wei gave me a challenge letter."
Before Zhao Qian could react, the two people in front suddenly turned their heads and stared at Zhi Ying, as if they smelled gossip, and asked in unison, "Challenge letter?"
The people in the classroom, who were immersed in their homework, were stimulated by these two unusual loud voices and frowned. They instantly located the source, looking at them with eyes that seemed to be condemning them.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Li Ge asked excitedly yet in a low voice as he leaned closer to Zhi Ying's table. How could he miss this kind of first-hand gossip?
Zhi Ying scratched her face, "He said that this exam is nothing, but next time he will continue to work hard to take first place."
"So crazy?" Han Jiaojiao pouted, "If it wasn't for your poor score in language arts, how could you be tied for first place with him!"
In the case of near-perfect scores in other subjects, Zhi Ying's language arts performance was very eye-catching.
Zhi Ying quietly defended Jiang Wei, explaining her conjecture, "He's just not used to the way we give questions here, and he will improve after a while."
Naturally, she didn't think getting first place was anything special, so she considered his circumstances as well in a neutral manner.
…
After school, there were still crowds of people in front of the bulletin board. Jiang Wei hadn't come to see it before. He didn't care much about his grades. It wouldn't matter anyway.
But as he was walking by the bulletin board, the figure of Zhi Ying exiting the language arts office flashed in his mind.
He didn't know how she did in the exam. She was so sad, Jiang Wei lowered his eyes and thought, but his feet subconsciously walked towards the bulletin board.
When the people around him saw Jiang Wei, who was recognized as the school grass, they silently moved away to make room for him.
The two big black characters "Zhi Ying" at the top of the row were deeply reflected in Jiang Wei's eyes. He was stunned, and his pupils shrank.
After reading the rankings of the two people, Jiang Wei realized that he was the one who made a joke. His expression was not very good as he walked out of the school with a sullen face.
"Is he unhappy that Zhi Ying has a higher place than him?" The students around him saw that his expression had become sullen, and they whispered to their friends next to them.
"Who would like to have the same total score, but a lower ranking position?" The friend asked rhetorically as if they were stating a fact.