The Teacher Apologizes

The image on the blackboard was dizzying just to look at!

Usually, geometry problems only involved one or two simple squares, or a sphere. Sometimes they'd throw in a football-shaped solid, and that was considered an insanely difficult problem.

But what the hell were those cylinders stacked on top of each other? What the hell was that slanted cross-section? And what the hell was that function equation for the line they had to find?

The struggling students in the back row stared with their mouths hanging open, completely dumbfounded.

The top students in the front row had already laid out their scratch paper and picked up their pens, but the pen tips still hadn't touched the page. They hadn't even understood the diagram—how were they supposed to work it out?

At the podium, Chen Zhao also stared up at the diagram without a word or a movement, like a statue.

Seeing Chen Zhao standing there in a daze, his classmates began whispering among themselves:

"Welp, Chen Zhao's lost it."

"Hahahahaha, Chen Zhao just made an idiot of himself in front of everyone."

"Chen Zhao really couldn't solve it after all. Then again, who the hell could solve a god-tier problem like that?"

"The director really is a seasoned old hand. When one problem doesn't work, he just brings out another. He's got a cure for every kind of defiance!"

"Looks like he'll be going home to reflect for a week and getting a demerit."

"Man, why did Chen Zhao have to brag so much? He's just brought this on himself."

"If Chen Zhao solves that problem, I'll eat my Grade 10 math textbook right here!"

At the very front, the three top students exchanged glances.

They could all see the same three words in one another's eyes: "I can't solve it."

This problem was even harder than the last one. They'd at least understood the previous problem, but with this one, they couldn't even make sense of the diagram!

The director said, "You have five minutes."

As soon as the director finished speaking, Chen Zhao waved a hand. "No need."

Everyone in the class looked at Chen Zhao. Was he giving up?

But in the next second, what Chen Zhao did left everyone dumbfounded!

He picked up the chalk and began writing rapidly on the blackboard. An equation appeared in a flash:

"x²/4+y²/3=1"

He'd gone straight to the answer!

The class was stunned. Only then did they realize that Chen Zhao hadn't been standing motionless in front of the blackboard for the past two minutes because he couldn't solve the problem. He'd been calculating it in his head! And now the answer was right there!

"Is that right, Teacher?" Chen Zhao turned toward the grade director and repeated the answer. "x squared divided by four, plus y squared divided by three, equals one."

The director's expression turned complicated. He looked shocked and confused, but above all, incredulous. After a long moment, he nodded hesitantly. "That's the answer."

The whole class was dumbfounded!

The homeroom teacher was dumbfounded!

The other homeroom teacher who'd followed the director was dumbfounded too!

A problem that difficult, solved in less than two minutes, without even writing out his calculations—he'd done it all in his head?! Was his brain a computer?

"Then please give me a third problem, Teacher," Chen Zhao said.

The director shook his head. "There's no need for a third problem. These two problems had a difficulty coefficient of 0.005 on the exam they came from. In other words, only five out of a thousand students got them right. Solving them is more than enough to prove your ability."

"Chen Zhao, I'm sorry. I apologize to you." The grade director bowed slightly.

The students wore blank expressions, their minds struggling to process what they were seeing.

What was going on? Chen Zhao, who always ranked near the bottom in math, had really solved an unbelievably difficult problem and made the furious grade director admit defeat and apologize? A teacher was apologizing to a student?

Chen Zhao dropped the chalk, brushed the chalk dust from his hands, and stepped down from the podium.

At the same time, a system notification rang in his mind:

[Task complete. Reward issued: High IQ Experience Period extended by one day]

Chen Zhao was very satisfied. He'd come up, shown off a little, and cleared his name by solving two problems. And that had extended his High IQ Experience Period? What a good deal! The only slight disappointment was that the reward was so small—just one extra day. The system really was stingy. He wasn't asking for ten days or half a month; even three or four extra days, or a week, would've been nice!

Before Chen Zhao could even get back to his seat, the grade director called him over again.

"Chen Zhao, I have a question. If your math is this good, why have you failed every math exam so far?" the director asked, perplexed.

That question left Chen Zhao stumped. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

The other students were watching him too, eager to hear his answer.

Before, when the class looked at Chen Zhao, they'd seen nothing but an unmotivated underachiever. Now, many of their expressions had changed. They'd all realized that the student supposedly ranked last in the class wasn't nearly as simple as he appeared!

The entire class was waiting for an answer. The homeroom teacher was waiting for an answer. Even the grade director was waiting for an answer.

Chen Zhao took a deep breath. He considered several explanations, then finally decided to go all in!

"The truth is, I've always been good at math. But ever since I started high school, I've been hiding my true ability. In every exam, I write my real answers on the scratch paper, then scribble nonsense all over the test paper," Chen Zhao said.

Everyone in the class was dumbfounded.

Hiding your true ability during an exam was just a joke people made. When they did badly, they'd say, "I've decided to keep hiding my true ability this time." But in Chen Zhao's case, was it actually true? Did someone really do that? Deliberately get low scores—and keep it up for three whole years?

He'd been hiding his true ability since the start of high school, deliberately scribbling nonsense all over his exams. What was he trying to achieve?

The homeroom teacher couldn't help asking, "Why would you do that? What's the point of hiding your ability?"

Chen Zhao thought, Why are there so many questions? I made that excuse up—couldn't you tell? Do you really have to get to the bottom of everything? I definitely can't tell you about the system. You wouldn't believe me anyway! Who would believe that a system that could raise your intelligence had just appeared out of nowhere?

But there was no choice. When the homeroom teacher asked him something, he had to answer.

Chen Zhao's mind raced. "Back in middle school, I realized I was prone to becoming complacent. Whenever I got a good score, I'd slack off in my studies afterward, and then my grades would drop. So after I started high school, I decided to do badly every time to motivate myself and keep a clear head."

The homeroom teacher and grade director exchanged a look. They could read the same thoughts in each other's eyes: "What an incredible student!" "Who knew someone like this even existed?" "We really misjudged him," and so on.

"Are you only hiding your ability in math, or are you doing it in all your subjects?" the grade director suddenly asked.

Chen Zhao didn't dare overstate things. He opened his mouth, about to say it was only math, when another system notification suddenly rang in his mind:

[Task triggered: Counterattack of the Ranking]

[Task description: You've already made the boast, and once a boast is out there, it can't be taken back. To protect your dignity and reputation, tell your teachers, "I'm actually doing very well in all my subjects. I won't hide my ability on the upcoming exams—I'll give them my all," then score highly on the school exams that follow!]

[Task steps: Study hard]

[Task reward: One random draw]

Chen Zhao was at his wit's end!

Why did this system keep triggering tasks?

Didn't it know that you had to stop showing off while you were ahead?

But the system's orders couldn't be disobeyed. Who knew what would happen if he refused a task? Chen Zhao had no choice but to steel himself and recite the line:

"I'm actually doing very well in all my subjects. I won't hide my ability on the upcoming exams—I'll give them my all."

The grade director smiled and nodded in satisfaction. "Good. I'll be watching to see how much you improve."

Then the grade director went out through the classroom's front door and left to inspect the other classrooms.

Chen Zhao returned to his seat and sat down, letting out a long sigh.