High School Math Mastery

Looking at the slip of paper with a phone number in his hand, Su Ke realized Hong Chen had already vanished. He never expected that catching a thief would lead to meeting two beauties.

One a mature, sophisticated woman, the other a stunning young girl; they were like spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums, each possessing their own unique charm. Tucking the phone number Hong Chen had written into his pocket, Su Ke pedaled his bike toward home at full speed.

First, he had gone to Fangfei Yiren for an interview, then caught a thief, chatted with Sun Yao for a while, and accepted a brief interview from Hong Chen. By now, the sky had turned dark. To avoid worrying his parents, Su Ke rode as fast as he could, reaching their small family supermarket in ten minutes.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Su Ke shouted toward the interior while standing outside the door.

"Go on in!" Seeing that Su Ke had returned home safely, Su Youfu finally set his mind at ease and waved his hand.

Su Ke was in such a rush to get home primarily to verify the rewards he had received from his mission. As soon as he entered the house, he ignored everything else and dove straight into the space of the Flower Picking System.

Two mission notifications appeared on the electronic screen:

"Mission: Catch the thief and return the stolen property (Completed); Reward: 400 RMB."

"Please claim!"

"Mission: Accept Hong Chen's interview (Completed); Reward: High School Mathematics Mastery (Advanced)."

"Please claim!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Su Ke claimed both rewards. Setting aside the four hundred-yuan bills that suddenly appeared in his hand, he felt a warm current begin to circulate through his mind, intermingled with a vast amount of mathematical knowledge.

After lingering for a while, the warmth slowly faded, but the mathematical formulas, theorems, and problem-solving logic had taken root and sprouted within his mind.

Only then did Su Ke fish a math workbook out of his schoolbag. He flipped to a test section and began scribbling furiously on the table. His pen flew across the paper like a dragon in flight, moving so fast that he barely needed a second to think.

"No way! This is too fake!" A moment later, Su Ke checked his work against the answer key at the back and found his accuracy was a perfect one hundred percent. He stood there, stunned in disbelief. He checked the problems over and over again, but not a single error remained.

"No, I have to do another set!" Su Ke shook his head and buried his face back into the workbook.

An hour later, Su Ke looked at the workbook in his hands, his heart blooming with joy. He had completed three sets of exercises without a single mistake, and the time it took him was only what one set should have required.

What kind of feeling is it for a student who usually hovers right at the passing line to suddenly discover they have mastered all of high school mathematics?

Regardless, Su Ke was currently grinning so hard his mouth twitched, clutching the workbook and giggling like a fool.

"What? You want to use your evenings to work a part-time job?" At the dinner table, the smile on Su Youfu's face vanished, replaced by a stern expression, while Zhang Xue set down her bowl and frowned.

"Yes! I've already found a part-time job as a pianist at a beauty salon. It's from seven to nine in the evening, and the salon is on Beichen Road, very close to our house!" Su Ke had practiced his response many times before his parents got home, so he spoke fluently.

"Why?" Su Youfu's voice sounded weary, as if he were disappointed by Su Ke's idea.

"Dad, I'm not a child anymore. After I graduate from high school, I'll definitely leave home for university. I want to get a head start on experiencing society; it will be beneficial for my university life!" Su Ke would never admit he was actually laundering money, but after he gave this reason, Su Youfu's expression softened slightly.

"Su Ke, it's good that you want to experience society early, but I don't want you doing this just to ease the financial burden on your parents!" Su Youfu seemed to have lost his appetite; he set down his chopsticks and turned to look at Su Ke.

"That's right. Even if we have to scrape by, we can still afford to send you to university. Besides, our family isn't in such dire straits that you need to do this. You shouldn't let a passing whim interfere with your studies and end up failing to even get into a junior college!" Zhang Xue doted on Su Ke immensely. Seeing that Su Youfu's expression remained stern, she feared her son would provoke his father's temper.

"Mom!" Only in front of Zhang Xue would Su Ke occasionally act spoiled. He drew out his voice, "Do you really look down on your son that much?" As he spoke, he stood up and pulled the math workbook from his bag.

He flipped to the three tests he had just completed and said, "Mom, look, I got them all right!"

"Son, you didn't just copy the answers, did you?" Zhang Xue looked through them, asking skeptically, before handing the workbook to Su Youfu.

Facing his parents' suspicious gazes, Su Ke let out a helpless sigh, took the workbook back, and began working on a test right there on the dining table.

As if to demonstrate his true strength, Su Ke's speed was even faster than before. Su Youfu and Zhang Xue lost all interest in their meal and simply watched from the side.

When Su Ke handed the workbook back and flipped to the back, he said, "Mom, Dad, the correct answers are right there. You can check them yourselves!"

Su Ke's parents were certainly clueless when it came to high school math, but fortunately, Su Ke had already turned to the answer key. The more they looked, the more astonished they became—every single answer was perfectly correct.

They knew Su Ke's true academic standing; after all, every report card required a parent's signature. Based on their understanding of him, they would have thanked the heavens if he could just scrape a passing grade in math.

Watching their shocked expressions, Su Ke finally realized the perks of having good grades. Although it was entirely thanks to the Flower Picking System, the math knowledge was now truly his own.

"How about that? Even if I tried to memorize the answers, I couldn't have done this well, right?" A look of pride involuntarily appeared on Su Ke's face. Seeing his parents dumbfounded, he continued, "I'm confident I can get into an undergraduate program now. If possible, getting into a key university won't be a problem either!"

Indeed, Su Ke had thought this through carefully. Given his current situation, his English and Chinese scores were above average, and his science subjects had reached the beginner level of mastery. With his perfect math score, getting into an undergraduate program was a certainty. If he could receive similar rewards in the future, a top-tier university wasn't just a pipe dream.

Su Youfu and Zhang Xue were truly startled by the facts before them, and only then did they seriously consider Su Ke's request to take a part-time job.

"Besides, we have our monthly exams in a week. If my grades aren't up to par by then, you won't even have to tell me—I'll quit the job immediately!" Su Ke struck while the iron was hot.

"Fine! Son, you said it yourself. We'll see how you do on these monthly exams!" Su Youfu glanced at his wife, nodded, and finally agreed.

That night was destined to be restless. Su Ke's parents were still discussing his perfect math score in bed, while Su Ke himself felt a jolt of excitement. In his high spirits, he returned to his room and turned on his computer.

A new pinned post had appeared on the No. 17 High School forum:

"To the pervert who touched a girl's butt: listen up, you'd better apologize now while you still can, or suffer the consequences!"