Making the Slow Students Understand

The monthly exam at Jiangcheng No. 7 High School had been over for a full four days.

Normally, given No. 7 High School's teachers' grading speed, the papers should have been handed back long ago. Yet this time, there had been no movement at all.

However, the students of Senior Year Class 2 had not been idle. Every one of them was a gossip expert.

So by now, everyone knew that Li Dong, who had not come to class for several days, had not dropped out and gone home. He had done something incredible—he had scored full marks and placed first in the physics competition preliminaries.

During the break, several boys gathered around Jiang Yizhou.

"Hey, Yizhou, do you think this physics competition was easy? How did Li Dong get full marks? And first in the whole city?"

Jiang Yizhou's face darkened.

Whether it was difficult or not, couldn't you just download the paper and see for yourself? After the exam, the official website made them public.

I recognized every word on it, but once they were put together, I had no idea what the question was asking. And you were asking me whether it was hard?

Still, as one of the class's top students, he had to maintain his image.

Jiang Yizhou pushed up his glasses and said blandly.

"The questions were pretty difficult. But Li Dong getting first place this time wasn't really surprising."

The surrounding students froze. "Huh? Why?"

Jiang Yizhou passed off information he had read online as his own analysis.

"Our school's college admission rate has been getting lower and lower these past few years, so they needed a full score in the physics competition to prepare for next year's enrollment."

"As for how he got the full score, that isn't important."

"Huh? You mean..."

That student looked as though he had just heard some earth-shattering secret.

"But isn't the second round held in person?"

Looking at Li Dong's empty desk, Jiang Yizhou said with absolute certainty.

"Li Dong will get sick!"

The student immediately came to a realization.

"Oh! So that's how it is! Tsk tsk, you top students really think fast. You figured it out so quickly."

Mi Xia, seated in the first row, naturally heard Jiang Yizhou's grand theory as well.

But she ignored it, instead staring at the PDF of the preliminary-round questions she had downloaded from the Huaxuan Cup's official website, her expression complicated.

Just yesterday, she had timed herself and completed it under exam conditions.

The total score was fifty, but she had only scored thirty.

She had no idea how to approach the final major calculation problem, and she had gotten a full ten of the earlier multiple-choice questions wrong.

Forget first place—this score would not even clear the cutoff for the second round.

Was it really just a publicity stunt?

A bitter feeling rose in Mi Xia's heart.

Li Dong's words to her in the hallway that day echoed in her mind again.

"For students at your current stage, it is indeed rather difficult."

"Ring-ring-ring—"

The bell rang, interrupting Mi Xia's thoughts.

Old Yang entered the classroom carrying a thick stack of exam papers.

And behind him followed another figure.

Mi Xia looked over instinctively. It was Li Dong, who had not set foot in the classroom for an entire week.

Li Dong looked a little different today. How should she put it... his face was practically glowing.

She did not know whether it was an illusion, but Mi Xia thought Li Dong looked exactly like she had when she found a hundred yuan on the ground last time.

Old Yang walked up to the podium and gestured for Li Dong to return to his seat first.

"Students, the results of this monthly exam are out."

"For certain special reasons, they came out a few days later than usual."

"But the good news is that our class performed very well overall this time!"

Old Yang wore a smile, clearly in an excellent mood.

"This period, we'll go over the math paper first."

"Come on, Li Dong. Get up here and hand out the papers."

Li Dong had barely warmed his seat before his face darkened.

Old Yang, did you do that on purpose? You didn't give them to me when we came in. You had to wait until I sat down before making me get back up to take them?

But Old Yang was still his homeroom teacher, so Li Dong could only walk up to the podium, take the papers, and begin handing them out one by one.

As for the scores on the papers, he did not look at them closely.

No matter whether you did well or poorly, none of you could have done better than me.

When the paper reached Jiang Yizhou, he straightened up noticeably.

132 points!

It was the highest math score he had achieved in all three years of high school!

I've got this!

Jiang Yizhou was ecstatic inside.

He even secretly leaned forward to peek at Mi Xia's paper.

130 points.

Two points lower than his!

Looking at the red crosses on Mi Xia's paper, he had already begun fantasizing.

"Ah, Mi Xia, there was actually a trap in this derivative problem. Look at how I did it..."

"You should differentiate first, then construct the function here..."

This was the romance of a top student!

Other boys only knew how to give flowers and chocolate.

He was different. What he gave was problem-solving logic, a golden path leading to a top university!

Just as Jiang Yizhou was immersed in his self-indulgent fantasy, Old Yang suddenly spoke from the podium.

"All the papers have been handed out, right? Good, next..."

Old Yang paused and looked at Li Dong, who was about to return to his seat.

"Li Dong, you'll go over the paper for everyone this period."

As soon as he said that, the entire class froze. Pairs of eyes turned in unison toward Li Dong.

What was going on?

Li Dong was going to explain the paper?

Had Old Yang given him the standard answers and told him to read them out?

But Li Dong was not even holding an answer sheet.

Li Dong sighed and helplessly walked back to the podium.

He actually knew about this beforehand.

Because tomorrow, he would be going to Chengdu for the Huaxuan Cup's in-person second round.

Originally, Zheng Hua and Jiang Yang had wanted Li Dong to spend the final day doing another two sets of Olympiad problems in the office to keep his edge.

But Old Yang had a different opinion.

"Have you heard of the Feynman learning method?" Old Yang had asked then, holding a teacup with an unfathomable expression.

"The most efficient way to learn is to be able to teach knowledge to others. Especially if you can teach those... ahem, slower students until they understand. Only then does it prove that you've truly mastered it."

"Letting him explain problems will be more useful than having him do problems."

When Zheng Hua heard that, he felt that Old Yang was indeed an outstanding graduate of Beijing Normal University, rattling off theories one after another.

So Director Zheng decided to be willful for once.

Not only did Li Dong have to explain his own class's math paper, he would also have to go to Class 1 afterward to explain physics.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yizhou's expression beneath the podium became especially colorful.

Why? What right did he have to teach me?

Jiang Yizhou held back his anger.

Fine, let him explain! As long as he gets one step wrong or hesitates even once, I'll raise my hand and question him immediately.

Jiang Yizhou secretly hardened his resolve, determined to show off the strength of his 132 points and prove that he was better than Li Dong.

But Mi Xia, in the first row, had her eyes light up instantly.

She did not have as much inner drama as Jiang Yizhou.

As someone who genuinely wanted to learn, she had been studying Li Dong's problem-solving methods lately.

When teachers explained problems, they often spoke from a lofty perspective and sometimes overlooked the points where students' thinking got stuck.

But Li Dong was also a student. His methods might be closer to everyone's way of thinking and more useful as reference.

Mi Xia opened her notebook, her face full of anticipation.

Standing at the podium, Li Dong was somewhat nervous.

After all, it was his first time doing this.

He cleared his throat and began somewhat awkwardly.

"Um... everyone, look at the first question."

"Given the sets M = {x | -1 < x < 3} and N = {x | x² - 4x + 3 < 0}, find M ∩ N."

Li Dong glanced at the question, and the answer instantly formed in his mind.

x² - 4x + 3 < 0? (x - 1)(x - 3) < 0? 1 < x < 3.

Taking the intersection with (-1, 3) gave (1, 3).

"This question is C." He directly announced the answer.

The classroom fell silent. Everyone had been waiting for his explanation, but that was it?

Seeing no one speak, Li Dong assumed everyone understood and continued.

"Alright, let's look at the second question."

"Given the complex number z = (1 + √3i)/(1 + i), find |z|."

This one was even simpler. The modulus of the numerator was 2, while the modulus of the denominator was √2. Dividing them gave √2.

"This question is A."

Li Dong directly announced the answer again.

The students below the podium were completely dumbfounded.

Bro, we asked you to explain the problems, not check the answers for us!

At that moment, a girl with average grades usually raised her hand timidly.

"Um... Li Dong, could you explain why the second question is A? I got B..."

"Huh?"

Li Dong paused. That reminded him.

To him, the answer to this question appeared in his mind the moment he saw it. But that did not mean the other students would see it that way.

Just like when Newton had once asked, "Isn't this obvious?" Li Dong now understood that feeling.

Looking at the confused expression in the girl's eyes, Li Dong recalled Old Yang's reminder.

He had to make sure even the slower students could understand.

"Alright."

Li Dong picked up the chalk and turned toward the blackboard.

"There are actually many ways to solve this question. Since everyone has doubts, I'll explain a few more methods. Write down whichever one you can understand."