At the grading site, the other teachers grew curious when they heard this teacher's words. "Oh? What do you mean, Teacher Zhang? I remember you were proctoring Exam Room 4 today, right?"
Teacher Zhang nodded. "That's right."
"Don't tell me that student might actually get a perfect score?" one of the teachers joked.
"It's entirely possible," Teacher Zhang said.
Hearing his answer, the other teachers looked at one another.
Really?
A perfect score?
Among this year's second-year students, Shen Xing had the best grades. Since his first year, he had practically never fallen out of the top three in the grade, and most of the time he ranked first. His math had always been the best in the grade as well, almost never anything but first place. On easier exams, he could reliably score 150. When the papers were difficult, like this one, he could still get an excellent score such as 148.
If his overall grades had not already guaranteed him admission to Tsinghua and Peking Universities, the school might even have suggested that he try the Math Olympiad.
And now, a student who could surpass Shen Xing in math had suddenly appeared?
And the student was even from Exam Room 4?
Teacher Zhang did not say much, only saying, "Let's grade slowly. When we get to Exam Room 4, you'll know."
Hearing that, the other teachers stopped talking and continued grading. Somehow, their grading speed also picked up.
Could a student really get a perfect score on a paper this difficult?
Time passed quickly. They graded according to exam rooms, so after finishing Exam Room 1, they began grading the papers from Exam Room 2.
According to the statistics, the highest math score in Exam Room 1 was indeed Shen Xing's 148. Second place had 145, and third place had 141. Only those three students in that room had scored above 140.
Before long, grading for Exam Room 2 was also complete. This time, there was not a single score above 140.
The same was true for Exam Room 3.
"Alright, we've finally reached Exam Room 4. Teacher Zhang, we've been looking forward to this for ages."
The grading teachers all spoke to Teacher Zhang.
Teacher Zhang waved a hand. "Don't worry. Exam Room 4 will definitely bring you a surprise soon."
Just then, the door to the grading site suddenly opened, and Grade Director Qin Song walked in.
"Oh? I could hear everyone discussing Exam Room 4 from outside. What surprise can Exam Room 4 bring us?"
"Director Qin."
The teachers present all greeted Qin Song.
Qin Song nodded and smiled. "You still haven't answered my question."
"Oh, Teacher Zhang just said that a student in Exam Room 4, which he proctored today, might get a perfect score in math—higher than Shen Xing from Class 1 of Science Stream," one of the grading teachers said.
Qin Song immediately raised an eyebrow and turned to Teacher Zhang.
After watching the surveillance footage for so long today, he naturally knew that Teacher Zhang had proctored the math exam in Exam Room 4.
It seemed Teacher Zhang had already noticed Xiao Yi's performance.
Then he nodded and said, "Indeed, Exam Room 4 may well have such a student. You can certainly look forward to it."
When Qin Song said the same thing, the teachers immediately became puzzled.
"Does Director Qin know something?"
Qin Song smiled without answering. He merely said, "Continue grading first. You'll find out soon enough."
Of course he knew. That was precisely why he had come here.
But when the teachers heard that, they all grumbled inwardly.
Come on, another cryptic speaker?
The wording was exactly the same.
Still, they said nothing more and continued grading even faster, hoping to find that student as soon as possible.
And so, time passed quickly.
They graded on computers. Each teacher handled one question, and after finishing each exam room, they compiled the statistics once, making it easier to spot omissions and errors.
Therefore, to learn the final results for this exam room, they needed to finish grading all thirty papers.
Time passed quickly, and at last, all the papers had been graded. The statistics began.
In the end, all the results for Exam Room 4 were out.
Every teacher present stared at the computer screen, looking toward the first-place position. Then, almost everyone's eyes widened.
It read: Xiao Yi, Class: Class 3 of Science Stream, Second Year, Math: 150.
"A student really got a perfect score!"
The teachers cried out in surprise.
Someone had actually gotten a perfect score on this paper!
And the student was neither from Exam Room 1 nor from the elite Class 1 of Science Stream, but from Class 3 of Science Stream!
For a moment, all the teachers downloaded this student's complete answer sheet and began examining it.
There was no need to discuss the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. Every answer was correct. What they mainly wanted to see was the student's final, most difficult solution problem.
Even Shen Xing had gotten this problem wrong!
Then Xiao Yi's solution to the final problem astonished them all.
"This method is far more elegant than the standard solution."
"Yes, it's much more concise by comparison."
After expressing their amazement, the grading teachers could not help turning to Qin Song and Teacher Zhang.
"This student named Xiao Yi really is impressive."
"Still, it's understandable that Teacher Zhang knew Xiao Yi could get a perfect score, since he was responsible for proctoring that exam room. But Director Qin, how did you know?"
Qin Song laughed heartily, then said, "You all know about what happened on the third-year side last week, right?"
The teachers all nodded. They did know about it, but apparently Director Chen from the third-year side had requested that the student's true information not be revealed for the time being. Thus, these second-year teachers did not know exactly which student it was.
Naturally, this was what Qin Song and Chen Liang had agreed upon earlier: not to publicize Xiao Yi's situation before the results of this monthly exam came out.
At that moment, the teachers finally understood. "Could it be that, Director Qin, you mean Xiao Yi is the student chosen by the Gifted Class?"
Qin Song smiled and nodded. "That's right. It's him."
At once, the teachers at the scene burst into exclamations.
Before this, they had all assumed that student had to be from Class 1 of Science Stream. They never would have imagined that he was not in the elite class at all, but in Class 3 of Science Stream!
It was... far too unexpected!
But just then, after his initial surprise, Teacher Zhang revealed an expression of sudden realization.
"So that's it. Now it all makes sense!"
Before you continue