Genius Fundamentals

Lin Zhao Xi was poked by Hua Juan and told not to worry about Pei Zhi. She tried to defend herself but to no avail as she sounded like an old hen protecting its chicks.

She also wondered why Pei Zhi’s name was called.

Was it because he was acting too arrogant to beat the rules of the exam, or was it because it was too unbelievable of a feat to finish a 3-page exam in 10 minutes?

After careful consideration, it’s probably the latter. After all, talented students were always eye-catching.

She doesn’t know how Pei Zhi will respond in that situation, but if it’s Pei Zhi, everything should be fine…

Lin Zhao Xi looked out the window at the scenery of a big lake with aquatic plants and geese swimming in the water. It’s the perfect time to play outside happily, but the exam ruined the joyful mood.

From the moment they arrived and entered the building. The summer camp seemed to be putting their psychological capability to the test.

With unreasonable test conditions, the non-stop grading, and the first round of eliminations that were going to be announced, it can be said that this summer camp has a very different standard compared to school and was only fit for elite students.

In the classroom, the voices of children discussing their answers were getting quieter as the voice of Xie Ran reading out the answers written by students was getting louder.

The red pen swiped across a test paper, making a whoosh sound.

Every batch of exam papers that Xie Ran had finished marking, he would put it to the side.

The female teacher will then check the marking to see if there’s an error, and they will exchange words in a low voice.

By reading their lips, they were probably saying,

“Should you give this half a mark?”

“Sure, give it half.”

Their conversation seemed to be random, but it was still disconcerting. The time seemed to stretch indefinitely.

Xie Ran seems to have eyes at the back of his head, and as soon as the clock strikes 12, he stops marking.

The children in the classroom were startled.

Xie Ran looked at them and smiled, “Why so nervous?”

Xie Ran was casual as he grabbed all the test papers and straightened the papers, the sound of the test papers hitting the table was loud and clear, further disturbing the children.

The clock made a clunk noise.

The sound made the children more nervous than before.

At the front, Xie Ran grabbed the A4 paper with the list of names and informed them: “I will now write down the results.”

The female teacher grabbed the test papers and started saying the student’s number and their results to Xie Ran.

Her voice was quiet as a mosquito, but due to the dead silence in the classroom, her voice could be heard by all.

“Number 1, 78%.”

“Number 2, 90%.”

“Number 3, 41%.”

When she read out Number 41, the class had a long face, acting dramatically, and said, “Oh…”

“Lastly, 65%.”

When she finished, there were footsteps outside the classroom.

There are two types of footsteps.

There was the sound of an adult’s leather shoes and sneakers on the floor tiles.

The footsteps were in rhythm, and the boy wearing sneakers entered the classroom and sat beside Lin Zhao Xi’s group.

The chairs creaked softly.

Lin Zhao Xi quietly turned her head.

Pei Zhi has returned.

Hua Juan: “Who wanted to talk to you?”

Pei Zhi: “The vice principal.”

Hua Juan: “F*ck, why did the vice principal want to talk to you?”

Pei Zhi: “To solve maths problems.”

Hua Juan: “Didn’t you just finish a test, and now you have to do more maths questions???”

Pei Zhi: “Mn.”

Hua Juan: “What kind of maths questions did he ask you?”

Pei Zhi: “I didn’t do any.”

Pffffttt

Lin Zhao Xi in the front row couldn’t control her laughter. She imagined Pei Zhi sitting opposite the vice principal, simply staring at the math questions on the table for 20 minutes. The scene must be stunning.

*
The adult that was walking with Pei Zhi walked into the classroom.

Xie Ran stepped away from the front. The man with black leather shoes walked to the front of the class, then he stopped by the blackboard and turned around to face the children.

Thirty seconds have gone by, yet nobody said a word.

The pair of sharp and ruthless eyes scanned the children from front to back and head to tail. Sometimes he looked somewhere else, and other times he observed some children.

The gaze stopped at Zhang Liang and Pei Zhi. Surprisingly, the man also observed Lin Zhao XI before finally saying,

“Hello students, my name is Zhang Shu Ping. I am one of the leaders of the Jin Bei Summer Camp training program and one of your teachers.”

Zhang Shu Ping, 40 years old, was from the Mediterranean. He was slightly fat and had black-framed reading glasses around his neck. When he started talking, the temperature in the classroom seemed to drop.

“I will now officially announce everyone’s results.”

Lin Zhao Xi quivered. Lu Zhi Zhao was too afraid to speak; his hands were trembling. The majority of the children were acting the same way as well.

Xie Ran handed Zhang Shu Ping a list with students’ names and their results.

The process was straightforward, but it could potentially destroy the future of 5 students. The wind breeze brought the scent of the aquatic plants to the lake, and Lin Zhao Xi felt a bit cold.

The elderly man put on his reading glasses and started announcing the results.

“Ding Ding, 72%.”

“Wang Cheng, 77%.”

“Wang Rou Lin, 60%…”

There were finally noises inside the classroom. The children with their names called out heaved a sigh of relief and started whispering to their peers.

“Wang Feng, 88%.”

There was a slight commotion in Zhang Liang’s group when they heard this.

Wang Feng was probably someone in their group, so they were probably celebrating.

At this moment, the vice principal called out someone’s name:

“Hua Juan, 61%.”

Hua Juan froze, and his back straightened.

Someone was chuckling in the corner of the class, and when Lin Zhao Xi looked at the noise source, it was Wang Feng who was laughing at Hua Juan.

Wang Feng smiled, looked at Hua Juan, and secretly made a loser gesture.

Hua Juan flipped him off under the table.

“Okay, be quiet.” The vice principal raised his head and said coldly.

Hua Juan was taken aback. He felt sad and aggrieved at the same time; he rested his head on the table and drew circles with his fingers. Then, he softly cried and said, “F*ck, I hate Zhang Liang’s group. I’m done for, I’m going to be sent home, and big sis will kill me. She said she doesn’t want to see my face during summer vacation….”

There were still some people on Zhang Liang’s side poking fun of Hua Juan, but Lin Zhao Xi ignored it. Nine people were called, and only one got a lower mark than him. After a rough estimation based on the elimination percentage, Lin Zhao Xi thinks that Hua Juan is in a dangerous situation right now.

Lu Zhi Zhao turned around and comforted him: “Don’t worry, not all the results are called out yet.”

“Old Lu, you have to avenge me.” Hua Juan lamented.

At this moment, the vice principal called out Lu Zhi Zhao’s results, “78%.”

Lu Zhi Zhao blew a sigh of relief; his entire body relaxed. Fourteen people’s names have been called, and he was ranked 6th. Therefore, he won’t be eliminated.

Lin Zhao Xi patted his shoulder.

“Not bad old Lu!” Hua Juan also yelled.

However, their happiness was short-lived as someone from Zhang Liang’s group was called out.

“Lu Ming, 80%.”

Lu Ming was also one of Zhang Liang’s followers. He looked at Lu Zhi Zhao and mouthed the words “Fat Pig.” Before sighing, wondering why someone was celebrating when only achieving 78%.

Lu Zhi Zhao’s expression turned sad once again. Lin Zhao Xi pinched his cheeks and turned his head towards her: “Don’t be sad. Who cares about them?”

“But he got better marks than me….”

“Then how about this, if I get better marks than him, I can laugh at him, right?” Lin Zhao Xi confidently said.

Hua Juan and Lu Zhi Zhao giggled, and their mood temporarily brightened.

As Vice Principal Zhang read out the names, many were happy, and many were sad. Some groups were acting depressed at a corner, and some small groups were celebrating.

“F*ck, looking at them being arrogant pisses me off.”

What Hua Juan said wasn’t wrong. There were people in Zhang Liang’s group achieving 90 and 89; not only were they acting arrogant, but they also taunted Hua Juan.

Everyone knows that now is the time to communicate and help each other. However, it became a competition, it was very annoying.

At this moment, Lin Zhao Xi heard her name being called.

“Lin Zhao Xi, 91%.”

When Vice Principal Zhang finished reading, the whole class became silent. Then there was an uproar.

“She only left out three questions, isn’t that pretty good?”

“She scored this high.”

“This is a joke.”

Everyone’s gaze was different. Some were looking at Lin Zhao Xi with envy, and some were looking at Lin Zhao Xi with suspicion. But since everyone was competing, they were all unconvinced.

They were all thinking. “She’s a student from the Red Star Elementary School. How did she score so high?”

Beside her, Lu Zhi Zhao pinched her arm and said: “Lin Zhao Xi, you’re too powerful.”

Behind her, Hua Juan started applauding. He then tried to provoke Zhang Liang’s group by pointing his thumbs down at Wang Feng, forgetting that he would probably be eliminated.

And Pei Zhi…

Pei Zhi nodded at her with his clear eyes.

Lin Zhao Xi looked at him and nodded as well.

*

“Chen Cheng Cheng, 70%.”

“Zhang Xue, 76.%.”

“Zhang Zai, 66%.”

……..
***