"Foreign?" Xiao Han was dumbstruck.
"Yes!" Li Hengzhong nodded and said, "Young man, I never said that the papers I had were domestic."
"This..." Xiao Han was flabbergasted.
"There are twenty-nine minutes left," Li Hengzhong stated.
Not daring to delay, Xiao Han quickly sat down across from Li Hengzhong and grabbed the fountain pen on the table, swiftly filling out the paper with answers.
Despite the entire paper being in English, Xiao Han, relying on his memory of English and a mix of guessing and deduction, could more or less grasp the meaning of the questions. He quickly moved past the multiple-choice and true-or-false questions. The last three problems, one on functions, one on probability, and one on geometry, were the real challenges. Moreover, the foreigners' way of setting questions was particularly tricky. There were many obstacles within the problems, and to get to the solutions, one must first eliminate these obstacles before delving deeper into the analysis.
Xiao Han, with his head down, worked on the problems, while Li Hengzhong on the side seemed quite intrigued. Seeing Xiao Han's serious demeanor, appreciation gleamed in his eyes. Just by his attitude towards mathematics, one could tell what kind of person he was.
Time ticked away second by second.
Half an hour passed quickly, but Xiao Han was still analyzing the last geometry problem. Li Hengzhong did not interrupt his train of thought but watched curiously throughout.
Forty minutes passed, and Xiao Han put down the pen, his forehead covered in sweat.
"I'm sorry, I..." Xiao Han said with a dejected face, "I went over time."
Li Hengzhong scrutinized the paper, and the answers deeply moved him. He had committed this set of answers to memory. Normally, ninety minutes would be a reasonable time for it: twenty multiple-choice questions, twenty true-or-false questions, and three major problems—all requiring time for calculation.
Yet, this young man had managed to complete all the questions within just forty minutes, and moreover, his accuracy rate was above ninety percent. Especially the last three questions, which were considered extremely difficult, he had solved.
Seeing that Li Hengzhong kept his head down and paid him no heed, Xiao Han thought today was a lost cause, and getting Li Hengzhong to come out of retirement seemed unlikely.
"Principal Li, I apologize for interrupting you today," Xiao Han said as he stood up, ready to leave.
"Wait!" Li Hengzhong hastily said, "What is your name?"
"Xiao Han!"
"What's the name of your training class?" Li Hengzhong pressed further.
"It's called... Hanmen Training Class," Xiao Han came up with the name on the spot, which seemed pretty good.
"Hanmen?!" Li Hengzhong murmured twice to himself and chuckled, "That's a good name. From now on, I shall be the image endorser for Hanmen."
"Ah? You... you agreed?" Xiao Han was delighted.
"Yes!" Li Hengzhong nodded and said, "Your perseverance, your determination, and your capabilities have moved me."
"Thank you, Principal Li!" Xiao Han quickly expressed his joy.
"What do you need me to do for you?" Li Hengzhong asked.
"You just need to say a few words at our opening ceremony," Xiao Han said excitedly.
"Certainly!" Li Hengzhong nodded.
Carrying a body full of joy and a heart leaping with excitement, Xiao Han sprinted to the rented venue in the city center.
To save on labor costs, Li Dapang had single-handedly moved more than fifty sets of desks and chairs to the second floor and arranged them neatly in the place, giving it quite the feel of a classroom.
"Big Fatty, that's great," Xiao Han ran in excited.
"What's the matter?" Li Dapang, aching all over, was lying on the floor resting.
"I've got Li Hengzhong to be our image endorser," Xiao Han excitedly announced.
"Really?" Li Dapang exclaimed in surprise, "Principal Li agreed to be our image endorser?"
"Of course!" Xiao Han nodded and said, "Now we won't have to worry about attracting students."
"Damn, I need to hurry and get another fifty sets of desks and chairs here," Li Dapang quickly got up from the ground and excitedly said, "I predict our business will boom tremendously."
"Hey, hey, don't rush," Xiao Han hastily pulled Li Dapang back and then said, "We should now focus on advertising and promotion."
"You say, what should we do?" Li Dapang asked.
"With our current financial state, we can only distribute flyers at the school entrance," Xiao Han glanced at Li Dapang.
"Right, no money," Li Dapang sighed, "Over twenty thousand dollars are almost gone. Xiao Han, if we can't recruit students this time, we might just take a loss."
"Heh heh, if we don't give it a try, how will we know if we can succeed?" Xiao Han pursed his lips and smiled.
The two discussed in the classroom and made further arrangements at the scene. Made it look like a big classroom.
The two stayed busy all day.
............
Monday, it's time for class again. After two days of careful preparation.
Early Monday morning, Xiao Han and Li Dapang split the chores. Li Dapang was responsible for distributing promotional flyers at the entrance of Linjiang No.2 Middle School, while Xiao Han handled the distribution at Linjiang No.1 Middle School. Li Dapang refused to distribute flyers at the entrance of Linjiang No.1 Middle School, feeling embarrassed due to the presence of too many acquaintances.
Xiao Han had begun distributing flyers at the school entrance by seven o'clock.
"Xiao Han, what are you doing?" Liu Jinmei rode up on her electric scooter, her face full of anger.
"Teacher Liu, I... I registered for a college entrance exam sprint class," Xiao Han hastily explained. "The boss said that if I distribute flyers for a few days, he'll give me a fifty percent discount on tuition. You... know about my family's situation..."
As soon as Liu Jinmei heard this, her heart softened: "Alright, finish this quickly and hurry to class, don't delay class time."
Since it was for studying, Liu Jinmei naturally couldn't complain too much, and she even took a flyer before she left.
Many high school students took a flyer. News about this 'Hanmen Training Class' immediately spread like wildfire.
"Have you heard? A new Hanmen Training Class has started."
"Yeah, I know."
"It's said that our school's principal is their spokesperson."
"Really?"
"Exactly, I went and asked specially, and couldn't believe that Principal Li actually endorsed them."
"Most importantly, they've even hired a national-level Olympiad mathematics teacher to teach."
Around the campus, many people were discussing this. Most importantly, even Li Hengzhong, the well-known principal of Linjiang No.1 Middle School, was endorsing them, indicating that the training class must be reputable.
Class 3, Grade 12.
Jiang Xiaoliang, holding a flyer, excitedly approached Chen Zihan.
"Zi Han, look!" Jiang Xiaoliang excitedly handed over the flyer. "I've decided, I'm going to enroll in Hanmen!"
"You're going?" Chen Zihan was momentarily startled.
Actually, she also received a flyer earlier that morning. Regarding this Hanmen Training Class, she was somewhat skeptical. The advertisement seemed exaggerated; for instance, it guaranteed that one would improve exam scores within a week, and ensured a ten percent improvement within a month…
Moreover, a national-level Olympiad mathematics teacher? What was that? If it weren't for the fact that Li Hengzhong was the spokesperson for this training class, Chen Zihan would have thrown away the flyer long ago.
"Yes!" Jiang Xiaoliang nodded. "My goal is to get into a top university."
"But aren't you afraid this is just a scam?" Chen Zihan was, after all, more cautious. In Linjiang City, such training institutions were numerous. Most lacked credentials and capable teachers, thus failing to meet the standards needed to improve student performance. Thus, Chen Zihan was relatively cautious, more worried about wasting her time than about being scammed.
"I…" Jiang Xiaoliang hesitated a bit and then smiled: "Principal Li is endorsing them, do you think it could be fake?"
"That's also true." Chen Zihan nodded. "I'll go home and consider whether or not to register."
As Jiang Xiaoliang was excitedly chatting with Chen Zihan,
suddenly, a voice came from behind him: "Jiang Xiaoliang, this is my spot!"
Jiang Xiaoliang's face changed slightly; he frowned and said, "Xiao Han, I will take back this spot sooner or later."
"Then it's all down to ability," Xiao Han said disdainfully.
"Ha ha, I won't bother arguing with someone who shines shoes." Jiang Xiaoliang suddenly stood up, laughing loudly.
Many around them curiously watched this scene, and soon two other students began imitating Xiao Han shining shoes in a detailed manner. Everyone laughed heartily, almost to the point of tears.
"Ignore them," Chen Zihan comforted.
"It's okay," Xiao Han shook his head. "Their mouths are their own, let them talk."
"Xiao Han, there's this training class called Hanmen, do you want to go? I heard it seems pretty good." Chen Zihan quickly handed the flyer she was holding to Xiao Han.
"It seems the tuition is quite expensive," Xiao Han laughed. "I'd better not go."
"It's like a thousand bucks for eight classes a month," Chen Zihan laughed. "It's not that expensive compared to hiring a tutor."
Xiao Han shook his head, still smiling.
He had more important things to do now—preparing lessons. As the sole teacher for the Hanmen Training Class, he needed to get his lessons ready in advance. With just five days until Hanmen Training Class officially started, Xiao Han had to make the most of this time to prepare his lessons.
............
After school.
"Xiao Han." Over the past few days, Li Dapang had almost taken on the role of a salesman, squatting in the market after distributing flyers in the morning.
"Big Fatty, you skipped class again today?" Xiao Han frowned.
"Oh dear, why bother with class!" Li Dapang grinned, propped his old bicycle to one side, and pulled a wad of money from his backpack. "Look at this... What is this? What is this?"