3 Worrisome

Li Zheng came to his senses in a fluster. He stood up and said, "I… I want to hand up my test."

"Hm…" Lin Yujing turned her head in shock.

She no longer cared about her image when she saw the filled out paper in Li Zheng's hands. The tip of her pen raced around manically as she hurried to finish her answers like a lunatic.

Hu Chunmei looked at Li Zheng and asked, "You answered all the questions?"

"Yes."

"You're not going to properly check through it?"

Li Zheng had already checked through the paper twice, but he was too embarrassed to say so.

This speed was a little too strange. What was more, he had always kept a low profile in the past. He hated show-offs.

Lin Yujing, for example. She had been showing off all day long.

She did not realize that a genius like her indirectly harmed the people whose talents could not be compared to hers when she showed off.

"I have some family matters to attend to, so I'll not check my paper today." Li Zheng maintained his low profile as he walked toward the podium.

Hu Chunmei scanned Li Zheng's paper from far away and said, "You have definitely passed this test. You can leave first since you have family matters to attend to."

Bam!

Lin Yujing suddenly slammed her table and stood up. She grabbed her test paper and jogged to the front, then placed her test on the podium before Li Zheng.

She panted and only cared to wipe away her sweat after she handed her paper in.

Her shirt was wet.

"Are you alright?" Hu Chunmei asked in concern, "Go home quickly if you have a fever. We can go to the hospital if you can't manage it."

Lin Yujing shook her head forcefully, then pointed at her script.

"Oh, right, I said that I would mark it on the spot," Hu Chunmei said as she pushed out the tip of her red pen. She flipped open the test paper and started to grade it.

Tick, tick, tick. The paper was covered with ticks.

She became happier the more of the test she graded.

She even licked her lips and murmured as she graded it.

"Look, look at Lin Yujing."

"She finished the paper in just over 40 minutes."

"Multiple-choice questions, all correct."

"Fill-in-the-blanks, one question wrong… The numbers are correct, but there's a symbol missing. You must have been in too much of a hurry when doing the paper and forgot a step."

"The big questions, these words are a little sloppy. The first question, correct. Second question, correct, correct, correct… Oh?"

Hu Chunmei suddenly knitted her brows. She pointed to the last big question and asked, "Your flow of logic is correct. You're already close to proving it, so why not hand in the test after you are done with your derivations?"

Lin Yujing tilted her head and mumbled as she cursed her luck. She did not answer.

"That's because she wants to be the first to hand in her test." A short girl who sat at the front row smirked. "After all, Lin Yujing is always the first one to hand in her test. She's famous throughout the school for that."

Her tone was extremely bitter even though she was speaking the truth.

Lin Yujing lowered her head after being criticized, but she did not defend herself.

"Zhang Yue, you sure are talkative," Mrs. Hu scolded. "What did you score on your exams? Do you even have half the score of Lin Yujing?"

"Hahaha," Liu Xin slammed his table and roared with laughter.

"You're awake? Do you even half of Zhang Yue's score? Are we doing geometric sequences here?"

"Hahaha!" More laughter rang out.

Amidst the roaring laughter, an aura of vitality seeped into the pitiful class.

In front of the podium, Hu Chunmei shook her head and handed the paper back to Lin Yujing, "143 points. If this were a formal exam, you would be the first in the school. However, you were too anxious. Never mind, tell me if you are feeling unwell. I am not that heartless."

"Uh…" Lin Yujing lowered her head and took back her test. She grabbed onto the test paper with force. She did not care about the state of it.

After all, she had not expected Li Zheng to be able to submit his test in just over 40 minutes. If not for that, she was confident that she would have scored full marks.

"Alright, you can leave now," Mrs. Hu said, nodding.

Lin Yujing slowly walked back to her seat and packed her bag meticulously. However, her eyes remained fixed on Li Zheng.

Li Zheng could feel that she was suppressing a smile. She was waiting for the teacher to announce his score.

In front of the podium, Hu Chunmei fetched Li Zheng's test paper and started to grade it.

"Not bad, Li Zheng. You filled out the entire paper in such a short amount of time.

"Not bad, you got all of the multiple-choice questions correct.

"You didn't miss any of the fill-in-the-blanks. You got all the points you were supposed to. Your accuracy is worthy of praise.

"The big questions… Hm…

"This question… can it be solved like that?

"Wait a moment, let me flip through the teaching material.

"Hm…

"Have I taught you this formula? Wait, let me look at the syllabus…"

In the end, she had no choice but to call for assistance.

"Old Zhao, have you left? I'll send you a test paper through WeChat… I can't be sure of this question… The way he solved the question seems correct, but I don't really understand two of the steps in between… It should be correct, but it seems to be outside of the syllabus… It's not Lin Yujing. It's another student…"

Hu Chunmei was covered in sweat by the time she finished taking a photo of the test paper and sending it.

She put her phone down and pointed at the paper. She said with a shaky voice, "This, your method of solving the last question might be outside of the syllabus, but I cannot be sure. The leader of the teaching and research department is looking at it. If he approves of the method, then you will have… full marks."

"Hm!"

The class was shocked.

Even though it was a paper that Hu Chunmei had made spontaneously, having full marks on a math paper was still legendary.

Even Lin Yujing had only scored full marks three times.

Li Zheng did not feel much emotion.

After all, it was an open book test. Furthermore, the types of questions that were tested had just been taught. The concepts tested were also rather basic.

All he had done was thoroughly flip through his textbook.

"And if I went outside the syllabus?" Li Zheng asked.

"Then I'll have to deduct five points. 145."

Thump!!

A water bottle shaped like a cartoon rocket fell onto the ground.

Lin Yujing stood in front of her seat, disappointed and unsure of what to do.

It was hard to let go of the smile that she had been hiding for a long time.

"Her color…" Hu Chunmei commanded in a fluster, "Quick, quick, go with her to the hospital."

"I'm… I'm alright," Lin Yujing pouted as she picked up her bottle. She grabbed her bag and ran out of the classroom.

At this moment, Hu Chunmei's phone rang.

She looked at her phone and found it hard to suppress her shock, "What the leader of the teaching and research department said is that even though the theorems you used to solve the question are outside of the syllabus, the concepts you used for the derivations you provided on the test paper are all within the syllabus… This is counted as an on-the-spot derivation and can be awarded points."

Hu Chunmei wrote down a large "150" on the paper after she finished speaking.

"Even though this paper is very simple, it is not easy to obtain a full score. I have to praise you for this." Hu Chunmei smiled as she handed the paper over to Li Zheng. "Very good. Continue studying steadily like that and strive to put a little pressure on Lin Yujung during the mid-term exams."

"You are too kind, teacher. It is mainly due to the quality of your questions. They opened up my thought process." Li Zheng received the paper with both hands. Afraid that the other students would hear him, he lowered his voice and said, "Please give us more excellent test papers like this in the future."

Hu Chunmei hid her smile and sighed, "It's not that exceptional. I did this in the spur of the moment because I was infuriated by them."

Li Zheng seized the opportunity and said, "This… My family matter is not that urgent. Can I study by myself for a while before I leave?"

Hu Chunmei nodded her head and agreed. She was feeling much better now. She picked up her phone and continued discussing the question with the leader of the teaching and research department.

The students seemed to see a ray of hope in Hu Chunmei's smile. All of them secretly cried out in joy.

Whether or not their parents would be called usually depended on the teacher's mood.

Li Zheng had made her very happy. The chances of their survival today had increased dramatically.

Li Zheng felt as though he was being worshipped throughout the journey from the podium to his seat.

That was not only because he had saved everyone.

More importantly, he was the only human that had defeated Lin Yujing head-on.

What was even rarer was that Li Zheng did not exude the vomit-inducing vibe of a show-off.

He was authentic from head to toe. He had displayed his hard work ethic.

Everyone could sense true humility from him. They felt that he was truly dependable.

He did not have the arrogance of a straight-A student, nor did he have the divine authority of a Study God.

He just had the simplicity of a human being.

Though his demonic laugh had been a little worrisome.