After a while, the bell rang. Zhang Wanbang walked into the classroom carrying a stack of test papers. It was time for his math class.
"Yesterday's math quiz was fairly difficult," Zhang Wanbang said with a stern expression. "I've finished grading all the papers. I'm disappointed. Deeply disappointed!"
"Even if it was difficult, there shouldn't have been only five of you who scored above 120!"
"What on earth is wrong with you? Do you even want to get into college?"
"Hopeless!"
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Zhang Wanbang habitually pounded the lectern. Luckily, it was sturdy wooden furniture; after years of being abused by him, a weaker one would have fallen apart long ago.
The students sat in dead silence, the stillness oppressive.
"There was only one person who surprised me." Zhang Wanbang looked toward Shen Qi's seat and suddenly called out, "Shen Qi."
"Huh?!" Shen Qi sprang to his feet. He was used to standing whenever a teacher called his name.
"Who told you to stand up? Sit down!" Zhang Wanbang told Shen Qi.
"Oh." Shen Qi sat back down.
"I've been teaching for seventeen years and have taught countless students. Of course I've seen perfect scores, but no one has gotten full marks on one of my tests in the past three years." Zhang Wanbang pulled a paper from the stack on his lectern and walked over to Shen Qi's desk. "Shen Qi, you did it. You scored a perfect 150."
"Really?" Shen Qi saw that the paper in Zhang Wanbang's hand was his. A red 150 stood out in the score box.
"150?"
"Full marks?"
"Shen Qi?"
The classroom erupted. If Huang Zikun had scored 150, the other students could have understood it.
But Shen Qi, a dead-last student, getting 150 in math? It was downright surreal.
Huang Zikun smiled and shook his head. "I can't get full marks on Teacher Zhang's tests. Shen Qi, you're impressive. It's true what they say: if you haven't seen someone for three days, you'll be amazed by how much they've changed."
Chen Xiaoting said, "What do you mean, 'haven't seen him for three days'? We see each other every day, and we only get one day off a week. Shen Qi, you said you've been paying attention in class and doing practice problems at home. I've worked just as hard at math as you have, so why can't I get full marks? You must have learned some ultimate secret technique. Come on, teach me!"
Chen Xiaoting was Shen Qi's deskmate. She wasn't exceptionally beautiful, but she made up for it with fair skin and a tall figure.
"Xiaoting, I completely understand how eager you are to learn. Don't rush, don't panic. We have plenty of time. We'll take it slowly," Shen Qi said.
"Mm-hmm. Just don't leave everyone else in the dust and stop caring about us. A man has to keep his word!" Chen Xiaoting was convinced Shen Qi had gotten hold of some math secret manual or received guidance from an expert. Otherwise, his math scores couldn't have improved so dramatically in such a short time.
Xu Rui watched from the side, feeling even more dejected. People these days were so superficial. Did good grades mean you got to have a girlfriend? Did they mean you could act arrogant? How vulgar!
After a brief commotion, the class settled back into its usual rhythm, and Zhang Wanbang began going over the test.
With a perfect score of 150, Shen Qi had made a stunning impression. He had earned the respect of his teacher and classmates, won the admiration of a girl, and found joy in studying.
One piece of good news followed another. Suddenly, the system notified him: "Congratulations, host, on earning your first achievement in real society: first place in the class on a math test! You have been awarded 2,000 Academic Prodigy Points."
The system information had changed:
Academic Prodigy Points balance: 3,143
Awesome! Shen Qi kept a straight face, but inside, he was over the moon. So achievements could earn him a huge number of Academic Prodigy Points. It would have taken him months of grinding to get 2,000 points.
Achievements were a shortcut. A pop quiz was only a small test. If he came first in the class on a major exam, like midterms or finals, wouldn't he make a killing? Shen Qi couldn't wait for the next big exam.
After class, Zhang Wanbang called Shen Qi to the teachers' office alone.
This wasn't Shen Qi's first time in Zhang Wanbang's office. He'd been there more than ten times before, and every time, he'd been chewed out.
This time, Zhang Wanbang didn't scold him. Instead, he handed Shen Qi's phone back. "I've kept your phone for over ten days. It's out of battery. Take it home and charge it."
Shen Qi accepted the phone. "Thanks, Teacher Zhang."
"Nowadays, even elementary school students have phones, let alone high schoolers. That's just the way society is. The school can encourage students not to bring their phones, but it can't keep them from doing so altogether. Shen Qi, I have just one requirement: from now on, don't use your phone right under my nose." Zhang Wanbang was being exceptionally lenient, considering how much he'd said.
"Absolutely." Shen Qi nodded repeatedly.
"I've noticed you've been working hard lately." Zhang Wanbang praised Shen Qi.
As far as Shen Qi could remember, Zhang Wanbang had never praised him since he started high school. This was a first—a real first.
"Teacher Zhang, I've always had a dream: to study hard for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," Shen Qi said with a solemn expression.
"Don't give me that lofty talk. You got a perfect score, and now your tail's in the air?" Zhang Wanbang frowned. He liked students who kept their feet on the ground.
"I don't want to be a bottom-feeder all my life. I hear bottom-feeders can't find wives," Shen Qi said honestly.
"Talking nonsense with a straight face! You're how old, and you're already thinking about finding a wife?" Zhang Wanbang ignored the second half of Shen Qi's remark. But the first half sounded sincere enough, so he decided to believe him for the moment. "In less than two weeks, you've gone from scoring just over 60 in math to a perfect 150. Shen Qi, don't tell me it was good luck. Math has never depended on luck."
"About a week or two ago, on the day you confiscated my phone, Teacher Zhang, a beam of golden light suddenly came down from the sky and shone on me. It was like I'd suddenly woken up and had everything poured into my head. I became really interested in math, and I couldn't stop myself from studying it. You often say that interest is the best teacher, and I believe that. That's the whole story." Shen Qi spoke openly, with complete sincerity.
Smack!
Zhang Wanbang slammed his desk, sending a pile of documents tumbling to the floor. "Shen Qi, have you told me a single honest thing? Are you insulting my intelligence?"
"I mean, I gained some kind of mysterious power..." Shen Qi was being completely frank.
"Why don't you just say you're Superman?" Trust between people was more precious than gold. Shen Qi was telling the truth, but Zhang Wanbang didn't believe a word of it.
"Enough. Go back to class." Zhang Wanbang waved Shen Qi away.
Just as Shen Qi turned to leave, Zhang Wanbang asked, "In the last question on this math test, you used Cardano's formula theory. I never taught you that. Did you study it on your own, or did a teacher at an after-school tutoring center teach it to you?"
"I studied it on my own," Shen Qi replied.
"How far have you gotten?" Zhang Wanbang pressed. The theories of the Italian scholar Cardano on lower-degree equations were touched on in the elective high school math textbook.
Shen Qi answered, "Cayley transformation matrices, and applications of Weierstrass quadratic forms to bilinear determinants."
Zhang Wanbang was astonished. "Shen Qi, are you studying Advanced Algebra on your own?"
"Yeah, but Cayley's and Weierstrass's theories are really hard to understand. I think I've hit a bottleneck and can't make any headway on the core principles of matrix algebra and composite determinants. I'm so frustrated, Teacher Zhang. What should I do?" Shen Qi poured out his feelings. Zhang Wanbang was the only person he could confide in.
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