Xiao Han hesitated for a moment, and all the classmates showed a look of disdain.
"Xiao Han, go on up." Li Dapang, who shared a desk with Xiao Han, hurriedly egged him on, saying, "Show that old demon woman a bit of color."
Li Dapang clearly did it on purpose to egg Xiao Han on.
To everyone's surprise, Xiao Han actually walked towards the podium.
Chen Zihan looked at Xiao Han with astonishment. Liu Jinmei was even more taken aback. This clearly wasn't Xiao Han's style. Could this kid actually dare to come up? Liu Jinmei was already holding the blackboard eraser in her hand, ready to throw it at Xiao Han without hesitation if he dared to refuse her.
"Good, you've got guts," Liu Jinmei said with a sinister smile, "If you can't solve this problem today, you'll be punished with cleaning the toilets for a month."
"And what if I do solve it?" Suddenly, Xiao Han revealed a mysterious smile.
That smile seemed confident, as if he had a trick up his sleeve, and also seemed like a silent mockery.
"If you can answer it, I... no, Teacher I..." Liu Jinmei hesitated for a moment, then grinned, saying, "I will move you next to Chen Zihan, making you her deskmate!"
Wow...
The whole class was in an uproar, all eyes now on Chen Zihan. Chen Zihan blushed slightly. However, her deskmate Jiang Xiaoliang panicked. If Chen Zihan had the best grades in the class, then Jiang Xiaoliang ranked second. Liu Jinmei always advocated grouping the like with like. Those with good grades should sit together. A low-performing student like Xiao Han obviously could only sit with someone like Li Dapang.
"Fine, it's a deal then," Xiao Han said with a slight curl of his lips, his eyes involuntarily drifting towards Chen Zihan.
Chen Zihan was also curiously watching Xiao Han, their eyes meeting. Chen Zihan showed a warm smile, beautiful like a lovely lily blooming in a quiet valley. The refreshing feeling warmed Xiao Han's heart and touched him. It was a look of encouragement. This made Xiao Han's heart involuntarily flutter.
Without saying another word, Xiao Han walked straight up to the podium.
Swish swish swish...
Xiao Han picked up the chalk and began outlining his solution.
This bonus question had been partially solved by only one among the forty-five students in the class, Chen Zihan. She had used knowledge from high school mathematics, but unfortunately, there was a slight calculation error that led to the wrong final result. However, this had already satisfied Liu Jinmei.
"What is this kid writing?"
"What is this thing?"
The classmates looked at Xiao Han's frantic writing on the blackboard with surprise. The series of formulas and theorems were dizzying.
Hiss...
Beside them, Liu Jinmei took a deep breath and watched Xiao Han's problem-solving with wide-eyed disbelief. It was exactly like the standard answer, even more concise.
Thump...
After finishing the whole process, Xiao Han threw the chalk into the trash bin emphatically, leaving behind a very cool turn and a stunned Teacher Liu at the podium.
"My God, he... he actually used calculus from advanced mathematics!" Chen Zihan quickly realized, her hand over her mouth in shock. Concerning this problem, she had specially consulted her whiz cousin. Xiao Han's way of solving it was exactly the same as her cousin's, not an iota different.
Liu Jinmei was silent.
After a long while, Liu Jinmei asked, "Xiao Han, this is university-level calculus, how do you know how to do this?"
"I looked up the answer after the test," Xiao Han looked at Liu Jinmei.
"You!" Liu Jinmei suddenly felt like she had been duped.
"Teacher Liu, you won't go back on your word, will you?" Xiao Han looked at Liu Jinmei with a chuckle.
"I..." Liu Jinmei clenched her teeth, saying, "Of course I won't go back on my word."
Jiang Xiaoliang panicked, quickly saying, "Teacher Liu, he looked at the answers, it shouldn't count."
"Right!" Many boys in the class chimed in. In their eyes, how could a low-performing student like Xiao Han deserve to be deskmates with their goddess? It was an insult to the goddess in their hearts.
Liu Jinmei was indecisive, then Xiao Han slowly said, "Teacher Liu, you have to keep your word."
"This..." Liu Jinmei hesitated for a moment, then said, "Since everyone is not convinced, how about we do another question?"
"Sure!" Xiao Han readily agreed.
At this moment, Jiang Xiaoliang stood up and said, "I am Chen Zihan's deskmate. Since you want to take my place, it's only right I pose the next problem."
"Fine," Liu Jinmei nodded in agreement. She liked Jiang Xiaoliang's straightforwardness.
"No problem," Xiao Han also nodded and said, "Jiang Xiaoliang, bring out whatever problem you have."
Jiang Xiaoliang walked up to the podium without hesitation and began writing a math problem on the blackboard with chalk. This problem was a difficult challenge from the math Olympiad and also happened to be the toughest open-ended question from the last competition. Jiang Xiaoliang had studied it many times, so his approach to solving it was very clear. He absolutely didn't believe that a poor student like Xiao Han could solve such a difficult problem.
After he finished writing, Jiang Xiaoliang said, "Xiao Han, if you can solve it, I'll switch seats with you. I'll go and sit with Big Fatty."
"Who, who's calling me?" Big Fatty, who had been dozing off at the back of the room, suddenly stood up with drool still on his mouth.
Hahaha...
The whole class burst into laughter.
"Alright!" Xiao Han nodded.
The problem on the blackboard was indeed difficult, covering knowledge points from all of high school mathematics, including geometry, trigonometry, and probability...
This problem had even left Liu Jinmei, a teacher with decades of experience, feeling perplexed, and Chen Zihan was also frowning, her pen furiously working on scratch paper. After several attempts, she put down her pen in disappointment. Clearly, she couldn't solve it.
Xiao Han stood in front of the blackboard, staring intently at the problem. At this point, Jiang Xiaoliang said with pride, "Just give up, Xiao Han. You can't solve this problem—it's an Olympiad question, and with your math score of thirty, it's impossible for you."
No sooner had Jiang Xiaoliang finished speaking than Xiao Han's eyes lit up. He immediately picked up the chalk and began solving the problem on the blackboard.
The classroom fell silent. Everyone held their breath.
Although they doubted Xiao Han's ability to solve the problem, deep down, they had a tiny hope. They were hoping to see Xiao Han make a fool of himself.
The solution process took a full twenty minutes, with nearly the entire blackboard filled with Xiao Han's writing. Initially, Jiang Xiaoliang was dismissive, but by the halfway point, his mouth had fallen open in surprise. When Xiao Han finished, Jiang Xiaoliang was utterly shocked.
"Right! That's it!" Liu Jinmei was jumping up and down excitedly, as if she had discovered a new continent. As she followed Xiao Han's solution, her own thoughts suddenly clarified, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "My goodness, Xiao Han, you... you actually solved it?!"
"Just a stroke of luck," Xiao Han smiled and said, "I just happened to know the key points of this problem. If it were any other problem, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it."
Wow...
The room erupted into a buzz of amazement.
Jiang Xiaoliang's face went ashen. At that moment, Big Fatty stood up and said, "Jiang Xiaoliang, didn't you son of a turtle say you wanted to sit with me? Hurry up and get over here!"
Hahaha...
The whole class laughed again.
Jiang Xiaoliang, with a helpless expression, quickly looked up at Teacher Liu for help, but she completely ignored him. He then turned to Chen Zihan, but she too was looking down, embarrassed.
Having no other option, Jiang Xiaoliang had to move. Big Fatty squeezed Xiao Han's desk into the fourth row. Patting Xiao Han on the shoulder, he chuckled, "Brother, well done, you're a hidden dragon after all."
And so, Xiao Han took a seat beside Chen Zihan.
In fact, Xiao Han felt a bit embarrassed. He had only used a bit of reverse psychology, and he hadn't expected to be able to solve Jiang Xiaoliang's problem. Sitting next to Chen Zihan, he felt somewhat dazed, especially as waves of her delicate fragrance stirred his blood. Seventeen years old and still so green, he blushed at the sight of women, let alone sitting next to an incredibly beautiful one like Chen Zihan.
"Hi, Xiao Han," said Chen Zihan with a slight blush and her sparkling eyes smiling at him.
"Ah..." Xiao Han said, scratching his head in embarrassment, "Hi... hi."
Pfft...
Chen Zihan covered her mouth and laughed, "You seem very nervous, huh?"
"No... not at all!" Xiao Han hurriedly shook his head.
"By the way, how did you solve that problem? Where did you even start?" Chen Zihan asked curiously.
"It's quite simple..." Xiao Han hurriedly explained his thinking process to Chen Zihan in detail. After he finished, she found it very helpful. She asked curiously, "Xiao Han, if you have such a unique understanding of mathematics, why do you perform so poorly on exams?"
"Just guessed," Xiao Han chuckled.
In truth, even Xiao Han couldn't understand why his brain had suddenly become so much more effective, and his thoughts seemed to race incredibly fast. To confirm his suspicion, he pulled out all the books from his drawer—Huanggang Middle School's diagnostic tests, college entrance exam guides...
Xiao Han opened these textbooks and flipped through the pages. He found that as soon as he looked at a problem, the answer would immediately come to mind. This astonishing speed of calculation sent chills down his spine.
Is this... some kind of supernatural ability?
Xiao Han couldn't help but swallow hard, his brain had suddenly become enlightened.
Should he tell Chen Zihan? No way!
Xiao Han immediately dismissed the thought. Once word got out, who knows what might happen? Taking a deep breath, he made a decision—he must not tell anyone, including his own mother.