Pei Zhi started climbing the stairs, Xie Ran was already following behind him.
Xie Ran observed Pei Zhi walking up the stairs, Pei Zhi’s dead calm expression and his lack of hesitation when writing down the answers.
After observing him for a while, Xie Ran realized that Pei Zhi might be living in his own world. In simpler terms, Pei Zhi was a very enclosed and self-contained person. Unbefitting for someone his age.
The scariest part was that he looked extremely plain on the surface but hid his true potential within himself.
*
Top Floor of School Building, Elementary School Exam Room.
When Pei Zhi entered the exam room, all the children turned their heads toward him. Some of them started to salute him, and not knowing which child started it; everyone started applauding.
Some children started to cheer, some started to slam their desks, and some started to whistle as if welcoming the arrival of a hero. However, Pei Zhi didn’t feel like the cheers were for him. He went in and sat in the corner of the classroom.
The cheers of the children were so loud that Vice Principal Zhang (No relations with Zhang Liang) who manages the Summer Camp came to investigate.
“What’s happening?” The vice principal asked the invigilators.
Xie Ran briefly explained what happened and the vice principal got a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Show me her test papers.”
Xie Ran went into the exam and brought out Lin Zhao Xi’s test papers.
Vice Principal Zhang put on his old man glasses and read through the papers. He then asked, “She did this in around half an hour?”
“Yes.”
Xie Ran took the vice principal to the window. Outside a girl was sitting under a tree, going through her bag.
“She did pretty well.”
Vice Principal Zhang’s expression softened, but when he saw the three blank questions, he frowned.
Just because you don’t want to carry your bags upstairs, you sacrificed three questions. Your attitude towards studying was way too relaxed!
First Floor.
The girl flipping through her bags yelped in surprise; she then happily took out a bright plastic package. She held the bag in the air with excitement. On the package, it says: “Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles.”
When Vice Principal Zhang saw this, he shook his head. He put away Lin Zhao Xi’s test papers and walked back into the exam room. He then walked directly to Pei Zhi’s desk.
Pei Zhi was currently solving a question; his cap was hung very low.
When Xie Ran saw this, his face paled.
It had just been 3 minutes, and Pei Zhi was already on the second page. He quickly read through the questions and wrote down his answers. Pei Zhi didn’t use any scrap papers given but just wrote the answers directly. If Xie Ran hadn’t memorized the answers, he would assume that the boy was writing nonsense.
Pei Zhi read the question once and blindly wrote down the answers. Every answer was so accurate beyond any description.
Precise… every answer was just so precise.
Upright and mature sitting posture, even intervals between breaths, neat handwriting. Everything was calm and even. It was like this child was programmed by codes to act like so.
Gradually, the smile on Vice Principal Zhang’s face was no longer hidden. Any teacher will be ecstatic once they meet a true genius.
He circled Pei Zhi’s desk a few times before doing it to Zhang Liang as well. He finally mutters, “They’re both very good, Pei Zhi, is it? Why haven’t I heard of him before…”
How am I supposed to know?? Xie Ran thought.
“Are you sure nobody secretly gave Pei Zhi the answers?”
“I’m sure.”
“Then it’s true, compared to Zhang Liang, he’s pretty good.” The vice principal said, he then stopped walking. “If Pei Zhi finished first, bring his test papers to me.”
Xie Ran nodded.
However, Vice Principal Zhang’s words were in vain since Pei Zhi wasn’t the one who finished first.
There wasn’t much time for the test in the first place. When the alarm sounded indicating the end of the exam, the majority of the children were still anxiously writing.
“Times up! Hand in your test papers!” Xie Ran shouted as he subconsciously looked at Pei Zhi.
Pei Zhi actually finished long ago but just hadn’t handed it in yet. He didn’t want to take the lead and be the first one to submit his test papers, so he waited when they would hand the papers in together.
The female teacher has to take exam papers off some children forcibly. There were some screaming, “Please wait, I still have one page left!” before bursting into tears.
Xie Ran looked at the heartbroken children and felt uncomfortable. However, exams were always cruel.
It took the teachers a while to collect all the papers. Xie Ran told the female teacher to hand Pei Zhi’s test papers to Vice Principal Zhang, and he will take the rest downstairs.
……..
Outside the building, Under the Tree.
Lin Zhao Xi finished her exam way too fast. She started to get anxious as she was the only one downstairs so she started eating crispy noodles to calm her nerves. When she was eating her second bag, she heard movement at the stairs.
There were footsteps and voices behind her, so she hurriedly stood up.
The first group was some students that she didn’t know. The second group that came down was Zhang Liang’s friends of experimental school students. She looked around before finally finding her friends.
Lu Zhi Zhao was the first to come down, and he had a depressed face.
Then there’s Hua Juan, then Xie Ran. One by one, they started coming down the stairs.
And last was Pei Zhi…….
“How did it go?” she stood in front of them and nervously asked.
“There are too many questions, there’s not enough time to finish them all.” Lu Zhi Zhao said.
“There are too many questions! I’m reporting them!” Hua Juan yelled.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at Pei Zhi, who stepped down from the last step and nodded at her.
The wind blows through the forest around them.
His nodding means, “No problem.”
Lin Zhao Xi laughed. His nodding was like a warm sun, cool and refreshing.
She let go of the stone in her heart, this seems like it was the first time she and Pei Zhi had cooperated on something, and it went better than expected.
She subconsciously tried to hand her Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles to Pei Zhi, but she stopped midway. She saw his clear eyes and suddenly felt embarrassed.
She thought that she had already eaten from the bag and Pei Zhi might be a clean freak. But she was already handing it to him, and it was way too embarrassing to take it back.
While she was contemplating, Pei Zhi suddenly reached out his hand.
He grabbed the bag.
Lin Zhao Xi relaxed and let go.
Pei Zhi opened the bag and poured a few crispy noodles onto his hand. He then handed the bag to Lu Zhi Zhao, who was beside him.
Her fingers were stained with Cumin flavoring powder (similar to MSG). She can only hear Pei Zhi’s breathing. Her heartbeat raced mainly because she was overwhelmed with joy.
Lin Zhao Xi thought that Pei Zhi was very polite and disciplined. She felt emotional.
“By the way, how many calories are in this bag?” Lu Zhi Zhao asked.
Lin Zhao Xi was quiet for a while before jokingly replied, “Around 10,000 calories?”
Hua Juan took the bag and poured the rest of the crispy noodles into his mouth. When he heard this, he looked at Lu Zhi Zhao and pointed at his mouth, telling Lu Zhi Zhao he shouldn’t eat this much.
“You’re the one eating too much!” Lu Zhi Zhao can’t stand him.
Many students were eating snacks. Before, everyone was all tense because of the exam, but now they’re in a relaxed state.
The happy children all gathered around Xie Ran and asked, “Teacher, what are we doing now?”
“We wait for the results.” Xie Ran said. He then pointed at a classroom. “Children, we will wait for them in that classroom. Shall we go?”
***
School Building, First Floor Classroom.
The students put all their bags at the entrance and were led into the classroom. They’re all bewildered.
“Sit down, everyone.” Xie Ran said with a smile.
Lin Zhao Xi sat in the corner near the entrance, and Lu Zhi Zhao sat beside her. Pei Zhi sat behind her and shared the table with Hua Juan.
Children were fighting each other for seats, and some started screaming:
Xie Ran got test papers and said, “Everyone, I will soon begin the marking. I will first write the answers on the blackboard so you can check if you got anything wrong. Please prepare your mind.”
Lin Zhao Xi raised her head.
The class was silent for a while before finally exploding.
“Teacher, does this count as a lesson?”
“When will you give out the results?”
“Will you leave immediately once you get eliminated?”
This summer camp course was too fast and cruel. Walk up the stairs to do an exam and get the results almost after the exam? The Summer Camp introduction hasn’t even started and some of them will have to leave, the children can’t handle the tension.
Xie Ran ignored the questions and happily replied, “The results will come out soon, give me 20 minutes.”
“That’s too fast!”
“Why is this so scary?”
“I can’t take it. I’m going to the toilet.”
The classroom was full of chaos, suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps outside of the classroom.
The female teacher that supervised them in the exam room rushed in and whispered something to Xie Ran.
The whole class became silent, observing the two people in the front.
Xie Ran was stunned for a while before nodding. He looked around the classroom before saying, “Student Pei Zhi, please follow Teacher Wang.”
“What the h*ll, it’s him again.”
“Where is he going?”
The students whispered to each other. Lin Zhao Xi frowned. She ignored all their comments.
When Pei Zhi heard Xie Ran calling him out, he stood up, walked around Hua Juan, and went towards the entrance. Teacher Wang said something to him before taking him out of the classroom.
It was not until Pei Zhi left that Lin Zhao Xi and Hua Juan looked at each other. They both have a worried look in their eyes.
Xie Ran suddenly clapped his hands, grabbing the attention of everyone.
“I will write down the answers now.” He grabbed a piece of chalk and started writing on the blackboard.
There are a total of 30 questions on 3 pages. When the answer to the first question was written, everyone instantly forgot the event that had just happened and paid focus on the blackboard.
Xie Ran was evil. He only wrote the correct letter for multiple choice questions, never writing the number.
Page 1:cabdca
Page 2:adbcda
Page 3:ddccab
“What questions was it for that answer, I can’t even remember.”
“The third question, I remember the answer was 18 but was it b?”
“C, I picked c right?”
Lin Zhao Xi already knew her answers were correct, so she just sat there with her hands on the table. She was annoyed, probably because she had nothing to do.
Behind her, Hua Juan asked, “What numbers did you write down for the multiple choice question on page 3.”
Lu Zhi Zhao turned his head and asked, “Which one?”
“All of them!”
“You don’t remember a single one?” Lu Zhi Zhao was surprised.
“Yeah, I don’t have time, so I just guessed.” Hua Juan cried. “What do I do? I’m probably going to get eliminated! I don’t want to part with you guys!”
“Your score shouldn’t be that bad, have some confidence in yourself!” Lu Zhi Zhao encouraged him, he then asked Lin Zhao Xi. “I also didn’t do much on the last page. Lin Zhao Xi, how about you?”
Lin Zhao Xi honestly said: “I… left out three questions.”
“Don’t tell me you left out the three hardest ones?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re so smart!” Lu Zhi Zhao sighed. “When I can’t solve it, I don’t want to skip the question, but instead, I just stare at it and blindly try to solve it.” Lu Zhi Zhao scratched his head, face full of worry. He then said,” Ah, I wonder how Pei Zhi is doing.”
When Lin Zhao Xi got reminded about Pei Zhi, she began to start worrying again. All three of them are confused and anxious about Pei Zhi.
After a short while, Teacher Wang came back, but Pei Zhi wasn’t with her. Lin Zhao Xi estimated Teacher Wang’s speed. She guessed that they went up to the 7th floor and came down in this short amount of time.
Pei Zhi was definitely brought into that teacher’s office.
Suddenly, Lin Zhao Xi felt someone was poking her in the back. She turned around and saw Hua Juan smiling at her. “Don’t worry, Pei Zhi probably had already prepared for something like this to happen.”
At the front, Xie Ran finished writing down the answers, and he put away the chalk.
Xie Ran: “Okay, students, I will start marking the papers now. Teacher Wang will be here to assist me.”
He said while grabbing a red pen, and he began spreading the test papers on the table and started marking.
***
Pei Zhi started climbing the stairs, Xie Ran was already following behind him.
Xie Ran observed Pei Zhi walking up the stairs, Pei Zhi’s dead calm expression and his lack of hesitation when writing down the answers.
After observing him for a while, Xie Ran realized that Pei Zhi might be living in his own world. In simpler terms, Pei Zhi was a very enclosed and self-contained person. Unbefitting for someone his age.
The scariest part was that he looked extremely plain on the surface but hid his true potential within himself.
*
Top Floor of School Building, Elementary School Exam Room.
When Pei Zhi entered the exam room, all the children turned their heads toward him. Some of them started to salute him, and not knowing which child started it; everyone started applauding.
Some children started to cheer, some started to slam their desks, and some started to whistle as if welcoming the arrival of a hero. However, Pei Zhi didn’t feel like the cheers were for him. He went in and sat in the corner of the classroom.
The cheers of the children were so loud that Vice Principal Zhang (No relations with Zhang Liang) who manages the Summer Camp came to investigate.
“What’s happening?” The vice principal asked the invigilators.
Xie Ran briefly explained what happened and the vice principal got a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Show me her test papers.”
Xie Ran went into the exam and brought out Lin Zhao Xi’s test papers.
Vice Principal Zhang put on his old man glasses and read through the papers. He then asked, “She did this in around half an hour?”
“Yes.”
Xie Ran took the vice principal to the window. Outside a girl was sitting under a tree, going through her bag.
“She did pretty well.”
Vice Principal Zhang’s expression softened, but when he saw the three blank questions, he frowned.
Just because you don’t want to carry your bags upstairs, you sacrificed three questions. Your attitude towards studying was way too relaxed!
First Floor.
The girl flipping through her bags yelped in surprise; she then happily took out a bright plastic package. She held the bag in the air with excitement. On the package, it says: “Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles.”
When Vice Principal Zhang saw this, he shook his head. He put away Lin Zhao Xi’s test papers and walked back into the exam room. He then walked directly to Pei Zhi’s desk.
Pei Zhi was currently solving a question; his cap was hung very low.
When Xie Ran saw this, his face paled.
It had just been 3 minutes, and Pei Zhi was already on the second page. He quickly read through the questions and wrote down his answers. Pei Zhi didn’t use any scrap papers given but just wrote the answers directly. If Xie Ran hadn’t memorized the answers, he would assume that the boy was writing nonsense.
Pei Zhi read the question once and blindly wrote down the answers. Every answer was so accurate beyond any description.
Precise… every answer was just so precise.
Upright and mature sitting posture, even intervals between breaths, neat handwriting. Everything was calm and even. It was like this child was programmed by codes to act like so.
Gradually, the smile on Vice Principal Zhang’s face was no longer hidden. Any teacher will be ecstatic once they meet a true genius.
He circled Pei Zhi’s desk a few times before doing it to Zhang Liang as well. He finally mutters, “They’re both very good, Pei Zhi, is it? Why haven’t I heard of him before…”
How am I supposed to know?? Xie Ran thought.
“Are you sure nobody secretly gave Pei Zhi the answers?”
“I’m sure.”
“Then it’s true, compared to Zhang Liang, he’s pretty good.” The vice principal said, he then stopped walking. “If Pei Zhi finished first, bring his test papers to me.”
Xie Ran nodded.
However, Vice Principal Zhang’s words were in vain since Pei Zhi wasn’t the one who finished first.
There wasn’t much time for the test in the first place. When the alarm sounded indicating the end of the exam, the majority of the children were still anxiously writing.
“Times up! Hand in your test papers!” Xie Ran shouted as he subconsciously looked at Pei Zhi.
Pei Zhi actually finished long ago but just hadn’t handed it in yet. He didn’t want to take the lead and be the first one to submit his test papers, so he waited when they would hand the papers in together.
The female teacher has to take exam papers off some children forcibly. There were some screaming, “Please wait, I still have one page left!” before bursting into tears.
Xie Ran looked at the heartbroken children and felt uncomfortable. However, exams were always cruel.
It took the teachers a while to collect all the papers. Xie Ran told the female teacher to hand Pei Zhi’s test papers to Vice Principal Zhang, and he will take the rest downstairs.
……..
Outside the building, Under the Tree.
Lin Zhao Xi finished her exam way too fast. She started to get anxious as she was the only one downstairs so she started eating crispy noodles to calm her nerves. When she was eating her second bag, she heard movement at the stairs.
There were footsteps and voices behind her, so she hurriedly stood up.
The first group was some students that she didn’t know. The second group that came down was Zhang Liang’s friends of experimental school students. She looked around before finally finding her friends.
Lu Zhi Zhao was the first to come down, and he had a depressed face.
Then there’s Hua Juan, then Xie Ran. One by one, they started coming down the stairs.
And last was Pei Zhi…….
“How did it go?” she stood in front of them and nervously asked.
“There are too many questions, there’s not enough time to finish them all.” Lu Zhi Zhao said.
“There are too many questions! I’m reporting them!” Hua Juan yelled.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at Pei Zhi, who stepped down from the last step and nodded at her.
The wind blows through the forest around them.
His nodding means, “No problem.”
Lin Zhao Xi laughed. His nodding was like a warm sun, cool and refreshing.
She let go of the stone in her heart, this seems like it was the first time she and Pei Zhi had cooperated on something, and it went better than expected.
She subconsciously tried to hand her Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles to Pei Zhi, but she stopped midway. She saw his clear eyes and suddenly felt embarrassed.
She thought that she had already eaten from the bag and Pei Zhi might be a clean freak. But she was already handing it to him, and it was way too embarrassing to take it back.
While she was contemplating, Pei Zhi suddenly reached out his hand.
He grabbed the bag.
Lin Zhao Xi relaxed and let go.
Pei Zhi opened the bag and poured a few crispy noodles onto his hand. He then handed the bag to Lu Zhi Zhao, who was beside him.
Her fingers were stained with Cumin flavoring powder (similar to MSG). She can only hear Pei Zhi’s breathing. Her heartbeat raced mainly because she was overwhelmed with joy.
Lin Zhao Xi thought that Pei Zhi was very polite and disciplined. She felt emotional.
“By the way, how many calories are in this bag?” Lu Zhi Zhao asked.
Lin Zhao Xi was quiet for a while before jokingly replied, “Around 10,000 calories?”
Hua Juan took the bag and poured the rest of the crispy noodles into his mouth. When he heard this, he looked at Lu Zhi Zhao and pointed at his mouth, telling Lu Zhi Zhao he shouldn’t eat this much.
“You’re the one eating too much!” Lu Zhi Zhao can’t stand him.
Many students were eating snacks. Before, everyone was all tense because of the exam, but now they’re in a relaxed state.
The happy children all gathered around Xie Ran and asked, “Teacher, what are we doing now?”
“We wait for the results.” Xie Ran said. He then pointed at a classroom. “Children, we will wait for them in that classroom. Shall we go?”
***
School Building, First Floor Classroom.
The students put all their bags at the entrance and were led into the classroom. They’re all bewildered.
“Sit down, everyone.” Xie Ran said with a smile.
Lin Zhao Xi sat in the corner near the entrance, and Lu Zhi Zhao sat beside her. Pei Zhi sat behind her and shared the table with Hua Juan.
Children were fighting each other for seats, and some started screaming:
Xie Ran got test papers and said, “Everyone, I will soon begin the marking. I will first write the answers on the blackboard so you can check if you got anything wrong. Please prepare your mind.”
Lin Zhao Xi raised her head.
The class was silent for a while before finally exploding.
“Teacher, does this count as a lesson?”
“When will you give out the results?”
“Will you leave immediately once you get eliminated?”
This summer camp course was too fast and cruel. Walk up the stairs to do an exam and get the results almost after the exam? The Summer Camp introduction hasn’t even started and some of them will have to leave, the children can’t handle the tension.
Xie Ran ignored the questions and happily replied, “The results will come out soon, give me 20 minutes.”
“That’s too fast!”
“Why is this so scary?”
“I can’t take it. I’m going to the toilet.”
The classroom was full of chaos, suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps outside of the classroom.
The female teacher that supervised them in the exam room rushed in and whispered something to Xie Ran.
The whole class became silent, observing the two people in the front.
Xie Ran was stunned for a while before nodding. He looked around the classroom before saying, “Student Pei Zhi, please follow Teacher Wang.”
“What the h*ll, it’s him again.”
“Where is he going?”
The students whispered to each other. Lin Zhao Xi frowned. She ignored all their comments.
When Pei Zhi heard Xie Ran calling him out, he stood up, walked around Hua Juan, and went towards the entrance. Teacher Wang said something to him before taking him out of the classroom.
It was not until Pei Zhi left that Lin Zhao Xi and Hua Juan looked at each other. They both have a worried look in their eyes.
Xie Ran suddenly clapped his hands, grabbing the attention of everyone.
“I will write down the answers now.” He grabbed a piece of chalk and started writing on the blackboard.
There are a total of 30 questions on 3 pages. When the answer to the first question was written, everyone instantly forgot the event that had just happened and paid focus on the blackboard.
Xie Ran was evil. He only wrote the correct letter for multiple choice questions, never writing the number.
Page 1:cabdca
Page 2:adbcda
Page 3:ddccab
“What questions was it for that answer, I can’t even remember.”
“The third question, I remember the answer was 18 but was it b?”
“C, I picked c right?”
Lin Zhao Xi already knew her answers were correct, so she just sat there with her hands on the table. She was annoyed, probably because she had nothing to do.
Behind her, Hua Juan asked, “What numbers did you write down for the multiple choice question on page 3.”
Lu Zhi Zhao turned his head and asked, “Which one?”
“All of them!”
“You don’t remember a single one?” Lu Zhi Zhao was surprised.
“Yeah, I don’t have time, so I just guessed.” Hua Juan cried. “What do I do? I’m probably going to get eliminated! I don’t want to part with you guys!”
“Your score shouldn’t be that bad, have some confidence in yourself!” Lu Zhi Zhao encouraged him, he then asked Lin Zhao Xi. “I also didn’t do much on the last page. Lin Zhao Xi, how about you?”
Lin Zhao Xi honestly said: “I… left out three questions.”
“Don’t tell me you left out the three hardest ones?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re so smart!” Lu Zhi Zhao sighed. “When I can’t solve it, I don’t want to skip the question, but instead, I just stare at it and blindly try to solve it.” Lu Zhi Zhao scratched his head, face full of worry. He then said,” Ah, I wonder how Pei Zhi is doing.”
When Lin Zhao Xi got reminded about Pei Zhi, she began to start worrying again. All three of them are confused and anxious about Pei Zhi.
After a short while, Teacher Wang came back, but Pei Zhi wasn’t with her. Lin Zhao Xi estimated Teacher Wang’s speed. She guessed that they went up to the 7th floor and came down in this short amount of time.
Pei Zhi was definitely brought into that teacher’s office.
Suddenly, Lin Zhao Xi felt someone was poking her in the back. She turned around and saw Hua Juan smiling at her. “Don’t worry, Pei Zhi probably had already prepared for something like this to happen.”
At the front, Xie Ran finished writing down the answers, and he put away the chalk.
Xie Ran: “Okay, students, I will start marking the papers now. Teacher Wang will be here to assist me.”
He said while grabbing a red pen, and he began spreading the test papers on the table and started marking.
***
