083 Preliminary Assessment

The first class of the day was mathematics. Ma Guoqiang entered the room with a stack of test papers tucked under his arm. The corners of his mouth lifted in a rare smile, a stark contrast to his usual stern demeanor.

Looks like the class did well this time, Xie Xitong leaned over to whisper to Lin Xia.

Lin Xia nodded slightly in agreement.

After setting the test papers down, Ma Guoqiang swept his gaze over the class. Seeing everyone sitting upright, eyes fixed on the podium with bated breath, he felt a surge of satisfaction. In this recent grade-wide exam, all fifty-one students in his class ranked within the top hundred of the school—it was a tremendous accomplishment that brought him no small amount of pride.

He cast a pleased glance at Lin Xia, inwardly affirming his decision to let her and Xie Xitong sit together. Xie Xitong’s ranking had improved dramatically this time, and Principal Chen had expressed his satisfaction, strongly hinting that the bonus this round would be quite generous.

Thinking of this, Ma Guoqiang’s satisfaction with Lin Xia grew. Ever since this girl had joined, not only had Xie Xitong become more obedient, she was also putting in more effort, and the whole class had become more studious as a result.

Aside from a substantial bonus this semester, the small gifts from parents, grateful for their children’s improved grades, all added up to a considerable sum as well.

But he couldn’t let them become complacent. Reminding himself of this, Ma Guoqiang cleared his throat and said, “The results of last month’s exam are out. Overall, the scores are quite good. All 51 students in our class ranked within the school’s top 100, which is worthy of praise.”

As soon as he finished speaking, murmurs broke out below the podium as students began chatting in small groups.

Xie Xitong leaned in again, “Hey, do you think Xiaoxiao did well this time? Otherwise, her mother would never let her go out and play—she’d really be in for it.”

Lin Xia rolled her eyes. “It’s almost finals, and you’re still thinking about playing? I’m going to review seriously for the next little while. Not everyone’s as abnormal as you—scribbling in class, reading extracurricular books, flipping through the textbook at random during breaks, and still managing to rank in the top three.”

Xie Xitong pouted and slumped over her desk, bored. “You’re so dull. Sometimes I really wonder if you’re actually a junior high student—all you do is study. How boring.”

“That’s right, I’m not a junior high student. I’m thirty-two this year—believe it or not.”

“Haha, if that’s the case, then I must be your great-grandmother.”

“Believe what you like.”

Ma Guoqiang let the class chatter for a while before calling for order. “Everyone, quiet down. Although you did well, Class Two produced a dark horse this time—You Xin and Lin Xia tied for first place in the entire grade.”

“You Xin?” The four girls in Xie Xitong’s group exclaimed softly.

“How did he suddenly rise to the top?” Xie Xitong asked in surprise. “He’s always said he hates being in the spotlight and isn’t used to all that attention.”

“Yeah, it’s really unusual. Although he made it into the top ten last time, suddenly jumping to first place is a bit shocking,” Sun Xiaoxiao said, patting her ample chest, making Lin Xia feel a pang of envy.

“With a chest that big, I’d be shocked too,” Lin Xia muttered.

“What did you say?” Xie Xitong pressed her.

Lin Xia just shook her head, as Ma Guoqiang resumed speaking. “Alright, the overall rankings are posted on the information board. I’ll now hand out the test papers. Xie Xitong—full marks; first in mathematics for the class, tied with You Xin for first place.”

As Ma Guoqiang finished, a few gasps were heard. Scoring full marks in math wasn’t too difficult, but this test, perhaps due to the question setter, had included some content from the third year’s curriculum.

So getting a perfect score wasn’t easy—even Lin Xia, who placed first overall, hadn’t managed it.

Lin Xia pinched Xie Xitong’s waist as she gave way for her to head to the podium, whispering, “You little rascal.”

Thus, the class saw Xie Xitong frowning as she collected her test paper from the podium.

“Second place, Chen Fan, 119 points.”

Chen Fan quietly breathed a sigh of relief as he went to collect his paper. As class monitor, he felt tremendous pressure. It was one thing for the vice monitor to be so smart, but now this new girl from some rural area was always pressing him for the top spot. His position as monitor felt increasingly precarious.

Fortunately, the girl showed no ambition and had no interest in class affairs. He was sure that if Lin Xia ever showed a hint of wanting to be monitor, his days in the role would be over.

“Third place: Lin Xia, Zhao Qian, Li Qiang, 118 points.”

Lin Xia rose to collect her paper, taking Zhao Qian’s as well. Sun Xiaoxiao hadn’t done well in math this time, just barely making it past a hundred, placing her in the lower middle of the class.

She glared at her test paper in frustration, as if she could burn a hole through it with her eyes.

After all the papers had been handed out, Ma Guoqiang smiled and said, “This was a good performance overall. There were a few difficult questions, but with some simple logical reasoning, you could eliminate the incorrect options. That’s why both Class Two and Class Four had a student with a perfect score. Lin Xia and Chen Fan didn’t lose points on that question, either.”

“I’ve told you many times, don’t be careless when answering questions. Always check your work at the end. I’ll talk more about this in a bit. Many of you lost points on question fourteen. I really don’t understand it—such a simple logic problem, yet so many of you got it wrong. The error rate in our class was among the highest in the grade. It seems you focus too much on advanced material and neglect the basics.”

“Now, let’s go over this logic problem—the one with the most mistakes. Let’s see how you managed to overcomplicate such a simple question.” As he began teaching, Ma Guoqiang’s seriousness returned. With chalk in hand, he became a different person, and the classroom immediately fell silent.

Glancing over Xie Xitong’s test paper and comparing the steps with her own, Lin Xia had to admit that some people’s minds truly worked differently. Faced with the same problem, her approach was rigid and convoluted, while Xie Xitong solved it in just a few simple, clear steps, minimizing the chance for error.

It was precisely because her own process was so complicated that she’d substituted the wrong numbers during her calculations. Looking at Xie Xitong’s neat paper, then at her own densely packed formulas, Lin Xia gave up on the sciences altogether.

Some things, like intelligence, can’t be gained just by living another life.

After class, Sun Xiaoxiao slumped over her desk, sighing weakly, “Ah, I can already see how miserable I’ll be when I go home.”

Lin Xia, sitting across the aisle, tried to comfort her, “Don’t worry—if it comes to it, we’ll go home with you and talk to your mom. We’ll help you review, and as long as you do well in the final exam, it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, Xiaoxiao, it’s just one test,” Zhao Qian added. “Look, you and I have both been overshadowed by these two. Stay calm, it’s not a big deal.”

(To be continued.)