Genius Fundamentals

Since Vice Principal Zhang was still announcing the results, Lin Zhao Xi did not relax yet. As the surname strokes increased, students’ names started to decrease. 1In China, they don’t organize names alphabetically, but instead by the number of strokes, it takes to write their surnames.2 Lin Zhao Xi knew it was about time for the names of the two geniuses to be called out.

“Zhang Liang, 100%.” The middle-aged man at the front paused for the first time. Then, he looked at Zhang Liang and said, “Very good, keep working hard.”

The children beside Zhang Liang applauded. Some smugly looked at Lin Zhao Xi and held out nine fingers, hinting that Zhang Liang got nine more points than her.

Think about it. He had an extra 20 minutes!
Lin Zhao Xi thought.

Zhang Liang got the perfect score. He was able to intimidate the children. Due to the applauding, the other children subconsciously started to applaud.

Soon every child except for Lin Zhao Xi’s group started to applaud. Finally, Zhang Liang stood up and arrogantly looked at her before saying, “Thank you, principal.”

Hua Juan rolled his eyes. Then, when he was about to sneer at Zhang Liang, the principal put down the list.

Lin Zhao Xi raised her head and looked at him. Zhang Liang was the 49th student, and the last student whose results haven’t been announced yet was…

The middle-aged man’s mouth slowly opened, and he said, “Pei Zhi, 100%.”

The entire classroom, even the big lake, seemed to become still.

The wind drifted across the lakes, over the reeds, and finally reached the students inside the classroom.

The wild ducks quacked a few times before the children had returned to their senses. Then, finally, they all shuddered, still doubting their ears.

In everyone’s mind, they all thought,

30 questions, 10 minutes, and a perfect score. This is too terrifying. Is he still human?

Of course not!

He’s not human… not human!

The children cried out in their hearts. But, they don’t have the words to describe Pei Zhi’s ability.

After a period of silence, the children began to whisper to each other.

“Who is he?”

“He’s from your school, right? How is he this great?”

“Never heard of him before.”

The change was too fast. Zhang Liang and his followers were stunned. Compared to Pei Zhi, Zhang Liang’s achievement was akin to nothing. They all had an ugly expressions; their face looked like frosted eggplants.

Seeing this scene, Lin Zhao Xi wanted to recite an old quote, “How can the light of a firefly outshine the light of the luminous moon?”

The children stopped paying attention to Zhang Liang, but instead, they all went to talk to Pei Zhi.

Child 1: “You’re too great.”

Child 2: “What did Vice Principal Zhang say to you back then?”

Pei Zhi didn’t act indifferent. Instead, he replied calmly and treated everyone the same.

Lu Zhi Zhao turned around and held Pei Zhi’s hand. He was going to pay homage to the God of Studying.

Lin Zhao Xi looked at Hua Juan and laughed, “How was your luck this good? Didn’t you say you did the last page blindly?”

She said this because Vice Principal Zhang had finished announcing the student’s results.

Five people with marks lower than 60 and Hua Juan was placed at the lowest sixth, which meant that he made it to the next round.

“I don’t know either. I’m just fortunate!” Hua Juan’s face looked like he had just escaped death. He patted his chest and said, “Mom said that I almost didn’t survive when I was born, so this was just God compensating me!”

Hua Juan really fits the description of a “Lucky Star.” Lin Zhao Xi took this opportunity to play with his curly hair and said, “Then next time, I will leave all the Crispy Noodles to you.”

“No problem!”

Back at the front, the Vice Principal coughed loudly.

Lin Zhao Xi turned her head and sat down. After that, the whole class became silent once again.

“You all know your grades. Now, Teacher Xue will hand out your test papers. Then, you can take a look and ask questions. However, you only have 5 minutes.” He said.

***
The snow-white exam papers were handed down one by one. Soon, Lin Zhao Xi received her own papers.

She looked at the red circles around the 3 blank questions and ticks on all other questions. She sighed.

In the seats, many children are reevaluating their grades.

Lin Zhao Xi looked at the 5 people who were going to be eliminated.

One of them was still counting their scores, one had a depressed expression on their face, one was crying, and one was being patted on the back by someone on the same table while whispering something.

No one was packing their things. None of them wanted to leave.

The temporary classroom became silent again as if the happy and exciting atmosphere from before was just an illusion.

Vice Principal Zhang looked at his watch. When the 5 minutes were up, his face became cold, but he said with a kind tone, “The students that got the 5 lowest marks, you should already know your grades. It is a pity, but I have to ask you to leave. Outside the classroom, there will be a teacher who will take you home.”

Many kids suddenly raised their heads, realizing that it was really happening.

And that’s their first reaction.

The summer camp was real, the exam was real, and the elimination was real. They will be sent home if they do not get good enough grades.

Lin Zhao Xi was also saddened and felt pity for these children. Although there can only be five people to compete in the Official Jin Cup Maths Tournament, it still felt different seeing someone get eliminated from the beginning.

The 5 children didn’t linger on any longer. When Vice Principal Zhang had finished speaking, they all stood up and walked out with their heads lowered.

Outside the classroom, there was already a teacher waiting for them.

That teacher patted their heads and comforted them in a low voice.

Lin Zhao Xi doesn’t know what the teacher said to them, but she knows she would not want to hear those words. So she will fight to the end and make it into the tournament.

Once the classroom door closed, the atmosphere became a bit warmer. Some children were celebrating; they were glad that they weren’t the ones who would be eliminated today.

On the front, the middle-aged man looked around the classroom and slowly said, “Although they have left, soon enough, some of you will leave as well.”

“Oh…” The children were dragging out their tones reluctantly.

A bold student raised his hand and asked, “Teacher, how soon do you mean by ‘soon’?”

“Did the teachers give you the permission to ask?” The vice principal asked back.

That student quickly retracted the raised hand, and the classroom fell silent once again.

“You don’t need to know when the next exam will start. It may happen while you are eating or even while you are sleeping….”

“Even when at the toilet?” A child from behind her jokingly asked.

Lin Zhao Xi’s face paled. She looked behind her and saw Hua Juan with half his hand raised and a wide grin. It doesn’t matter who’s up speaking at the front. Lin Zhao Xi thought that this boy wasn’t afraid of death.

“Did I allow you to speak?” Zhang Shu Ping’s tone was cold.

“Oh.” Hua Juan said. He lowered his hand and shrank his body. However, there was no fear in his eyes.

Vice Principal Zhang was interrupted twice, but he wasn’t displeased. He still showed his calm attitude and said,” I know that since you guys don’t have to leave this camp, for the time being, you’re relaxed and proud. But, what are you proud of? The full name of this summer camp is ‘Jinjiang Cup Primary School Mathematics Olympiad Anning Division Selection Summer Camp.’ This is a competition between 50 students. No… let me correct myself, 45 students.”

“You may think that I’m cruel. However, learning is cruel. When you go to the real world, you will realize that there will always be people more talented than you. Your little achievement here will not be enough….”

There were small movements behind Lin Zhao Xi. She vaguely heard Hua Juan saying, “Realise my a*s, I already know there are people way better than me. In fact, they are all sitting next to me!”

As if to refute Hua Juan, the man at the front changed his words a bit and said, “You’re not wrong. Indeed, some of you here are very intelligent; however, compared to someone who’s studied advanced mathematics, you are insignificant.” The vice principal pointed at his head. He then looked at Pei Zhi and slowly said.

“Intelligence will not be the decisive factor, but instead diligence. You will find that future maths problems will multiply in difficulty. Even if you were to persevere onward, it might not be as easy as you would expect it to be.”

The more Lin Zhao Xi listened, the more she felt that the message was specifically for Pei Zhi. She recalled when Pei Zhi was called to the Vice Principal’s office and wondered.

What really happened in that office?

She quietly turned around and hesitantly asked Pei Zhi, “When you didn’t answer any of his maths problems, did you offend him somehow?”

“Student Pei Zhi, please stand.”

At this moment, Vice Principal Zhang suddenly called out Pei Zhi’s name.

Behind her, Pei Zhi pushed away his chair and slowly stood up.

Vice Principal Zhang then announced to the class, “Pei Zhi has scored a perfect score and finished all the questions in 10 minutes, let us first congratulate him with an applaud.”

The classroom burst into deafening applause. Lu Zhi Zhao passionately clapped; he was very happy for Pei Zhi.

Lin Zhao Xi frowned. She felt like this was a setup for something.

Sure enough, once the applause ended, Vice Principal Zhang said, “When you are waiting for your results, Pei Zhi was called into my office. I know you guys wanted to know why I called for him and also wanted to know what happened in the office. So then, Pei Zhi, please talk about what happened in that office.”

Lin Zhao Xi turned around and looked up. She frowned and felt that something terrible was about to happen.