By the time Lin Murun left the infirmary after his IV drip, the lunch break had already begun. The classroom for Class 2, Grade 11, was filled with students; aside from a few napping on their desks, most were engaged in self-study.
Lin Murun returned to his seat, put on his earphones, and began organizing his desk.
The two experimental classes for the Arts stream had small enrollments, originally consisting of only thirty students each. The classroom was divided into five single-column rows with six people per row; as a transfer student, Lin Murun became the seventh person in the first row.
He quietly organized the practice papers handed out that morning and tucked his corrected exam papers into his desk drawer.
"You're back?" The girl sitting in front of Lin Murun, who was the class representative for Chinese, put down her book and turned around to whisper, "You were on leave this morning. Our homeroom teacher said there’s an opening test this Thursday and Friday, so we should get ready."
Lin Murun took off his earphones and nodded. "Okay, thank you."
Seeing the medical tape on the back of his hand from the IV, Li Qian kindly added, "Take care of yourself. Just do your best on this test; it’s only a routine assessment, so don't feel pressured."
"You should worry about yourself," the student sitting next to Li Qian straightened up and said lazily. "If your math score drops below 110 again, your parents are going to be called in."
"Mind your own business!" Li Qian huffed and rolled her eyes.
There were two math periods scheduled for the afternoon. As soon as the bell rang, their homeroom teacher, Ms. Li, walked into the classroom with a stern expression. She placed the summer homework assignments on the lectern, her eyes sharp behind her glasses as she scanned the class.
"First, let's talk about the summer homework. The accuracy for the general practice and past exam questions was decent, but for the advanced training section, I can only describe it as 'disastrous.'" Wherever her gaze landed, the students lowered their heads like frightened quails.
"I won't say much more; I'm sure you all have a good idea of what your own work looks like. Class rep, come up and hand back the summer workbooks and the test papers. We’ll spend these two periods going over the test, and we’ll start new material tomorrow."
The math class representative hurried to the podium to collect the workbooks and papers.
"I’ve finished grading the advanced assessment from the summer remedial sessions. The questions were quite difficult, yet most of you somehow scored between 110 and 120. In the entire Arts stream, only Si Bin got a perfect score." Ms. Li paused, her tone turning solemn. "If this were the College Entrance Exam, calculate it for yourselves—could a 110 in math get you into a top-tier university?"
A cloud of gloom instantly settled over Class 2. Students who received their papers began whispering, checking each other's scores and comparing answers.
"Once you have your papers, correct your answers first. Figure out how many points you lost due to carelessness and how many were because you haven't mastered the concepts."
Li Qian wilted the moment she got her paper. Looking at the bright red 'X' marks, she let out a long sigh and asked her neighbor, "What did you get?"
Zhou Xuan showed his score without hesitation: "136."
The math rep happened to reach Lin Murun's side and said, "You're the new student, right? I don't have a spare test paper here. You should go ask Ms. Li for one."
Lin Murun glanced at the questions on the rep's stack, pulled out the paper he had finished correcting that morning from his drawer, and asked, "Is it this one?"
"Yeah... Holy crap! 140?" The math rep’s voice was low, but it still drew the attention of the surrounding students.
Li Qian quickly turned around and asked in a low voice, "When did you take this?"
"The day before yesterday," Lin Murun replied. "It was for the placement test."
Li Qian tossed a crumpled ball of paper at Zhou Xuan and said with a grin, "Look at that, a real pro has arrived!"
Zhou Xuan ignored her but also turned to ask Lin Murun, "Did you solve the last big problem?"
"Yes," Lin Murun answered.
"Would you mind letting me take a look? I didn't have a clue how to start," Zhou Xuan asked.
"Sure." Lin Murun handed the paper over.
Zhou Xuan took it and offered a word of thanks.
"Oh, Zhou Xuan, now that the new student is here, you won't be able to keep your spot as number one in math anymore!" Li Qian wore an expression as if she were the one who had scored the 140.
Zhou Xuan glanced at Li Qian’s score, which was hovering right on the edge of a passing grade. The corner of his mouth curled into a mocking smirk. "I still have more than enough to crush you."
The damage was low, but the insult was high.
Li Qian: *Heh.*
Within a single class period, the entire class knew that the new student was an academic overachiever whose math skills left everyone else in the dust.
After class, Li Qian couldn't wait to ask, "Which cram school do you go to?"
Lin Murun stopped writing and looked up. "Why would I go to a cram school?"
The expression on Li Qian’s face froze for a moment. She tugged at Zhou Xuan and asked, "What about you? Are you enrolled in a program?"
"No." Zhou Xuan dodged her hand and replied without looking up, "No matter which class you sign up for, it won't help."
"Can't you say something nice to comfort me for once?" Li Qian huffed, then grabbed her test paper and scratch paper to move closer to Lin Murun.
"Be a saint, Mr. Top Student. Can you teach me how to do this problem? I didn't understand the explanation just now."
"I can teach you too," Zhou Xuan looked up.
"Go away!" Li Qian glared at him and handed her paper and scratch pad to Lin Murun.
Lin Murun looked at the problem, picked up his pen, and wrote down the steps cleanly and efficiently on the scratch paper.
"Wait, wait! My brain is slow, I can't keep up." Li Qian looked at the problem and then at the steps, her eyes darting back and forth.
"Then let's try another method." Lin Murun drew a line across the scratch paper to separate the two approaches.
He wrote down a formula. Seeing that Li Qian was still frowning in deep thought, he said, "If there's anything you don't understand, just ask, and I'll explain it in more detail." Because he had just recovered from his fever, his voice was a bit soft, carrying a slight magnetic rasp that was quite pleasant to the ear.
"Okay, okay!" Li Qian nodded quickly.
After about seven or eight minutes of effort, Li Qian finally understood the solution. She happily packed up her things and pulled a bottle of milk from her bag, placing it on Lin Murun’s desk. "Thank you so much! A treat for the top student!"
Lin Murun shook his head and returned the milk. "I'm lactose intolerant."
"Oh?" Li Qian blinked. "Then do you like fruit tea? I'll bring you some tomorrow."
"No need." Lin Murun thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you know who Si Bin is?"
Having heard the name twice in one day, it was hard not to remember it. Moreover, Lin Murun knew exactly how difficult that math paper was; getting a perfect score was truly no easy feat.
"Huh? You mean Si Bin?" Li Qian said without thinking, "He's in Class 1. His grades have always been amazing, and his family is filthy rich."
After saying that, Li Qian asked curiously, "How do you know about him?"
"I heard his speech while I was getting my IV today, and Ms. Li mentioned him in class," Lin Murun replied.
"I see." Li Qian nodded. "He's always been great at math. I heard he even participated in the provincial Math Olympiad before."
"He was originally in the Science stream; he was even in Science Class 2 during the summer remedial sessions. I don't know why, but he switched to the Arts stream right as the new term started." Li Qian muttered, "The Science stream is pretty good, isn't it? Grade 11 is the perfect time to join competitions and try for a recommended admission spot. Even though our school's competition level isn't as high as the Experimental High School, we still have a few top students get recommended every year."
After her muttering, Li Qian felt that gossiping behind someone's back wasn't great, so she quickly changed the subject. "I'm a bit of a gossip, sorry about that. Whatever his reasons are, it's not like I need to worry about it! Anyway, tell me, are you good at other subjects besides math?"
"I'm alright..." Lin Murun replied.
"If a top student says they're 'alright,' then they must be great!" Li Qian said with a giggle. "Keep it up! If you can take down Si Bin in this opening test, you'll be number one in the entire grade!"
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
老班 | Homeroom teacher | Informal slang for the teacher in charge of the class (literally "Old Class").
开学测试 | Opening test | A test given at the start of a new semester to assess students' levels.
学霸 | Academic overachiever / Top student | Slang for a student who is exceptionally good at studying.
大佬 | Pro / Big shot | Slang for someone who is highly skilled or influential in a certain field.
家里有矿 | Filthy rich | Literally "has a mine at home"; a slang term for being very wealthy.
保送 | Recommended for admission | A system where top students are admitted to universities without taking the Gaokao.
狙掉 | Take down / Snipe | Slang for defeating or surpassing a rival.
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