Chapter Summaries

Yan Xiao fabricated explanations for archaeological clues while discussing Lin Fangxin’s thesis, then his educational interview gained attention online. Sun Lili decided to guide her students through Yan Xiao’s study methods in class, leaving the class waiting for a teacher-led trial.

• Yan Xiao went to school to discuss thesis revisions with Lin Fangxin and was questioned by Wei Yujian about his archaeological deductions.
• Yan Xiao invented historical explanations for the clues, and Wei Yujian found them convincing.
• Yan Xiao’s interview in Education Reference became popular, and readers praised his study methods and advice about adjusting one’s mood.
• Yan Xiao’s former classmates read the interview and debated how its advice compared with what he had told them before.
• Sun Lili told Class 6 that she would guide them through the study method in their next mathematics class rather than let them try it on their own.

Yan Xiao prepared for the second district-wide mock exam and accepted Lin Fangxin’s challenge to compete for the higher score. He arrived at the exam site, found his assigned room, and settled into a secluded seat just as the test began.

• Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin submitted their papers, and Yan Xiao gave Wei Yujian second-author and corresponding-author credit on his paper.
• Lin Fangxin challenged Yan Xiao to compare scores on the same district mock exam, and Yan Xiao agreed to take it.
• On the way to the exam, Yan Xiao chatted with a girl named Li Li on the subway before getting off at his stop.
• Yan Xiao went to the wrong floor at Jida Affiliated High School, then found exam room three on the fifth floor.
• Yan Xiao recognized Lin Fangxin in the room, took a test paper, and chose a seat in the back corner.

Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin ate skewers and discussed whether their joint paper would win an award, before Yan Xiao recited a poem and explained his belief in existential nihilism. Lin Fangxin rejected his reasoning and urged him to live a splendid life without regrets.

• Lin Fangxin invited an exhausted Yan Xiao to eat skewers, then asked whether their paper could win an award.
• Yan Xiao told Lin Fangxin to accept either outcome calmly, then claimed he had written poetry in the past.
• At Lin Fangxin's insistence, Yan Xiao recited a poem about struggle, ideals, and seeking a soulmate.
• Yan Xiao explained his existential nihilism by arguing that human life and inheritance ultimately have little lasting value.
• Lin Fangxin told Yan Xiao he was wrong and repeated her father's advice to live a splendid life without regrets.

The National Agricultural Science Essay Competition’s evaluation panel debated Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin’s paper on insect phototaxis and decided to meet them and inspect their experiment. After failed attempts to reach them, the panel arranged a school meeting for the next morning, and Yan Xiao agreed to attend.

• The evaluation panel praised Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin’s paper but agreed to verify its findings with another experiment before deciding on an award.
• Zhao Xiaolei failed to reach either student by phone and arranged a meeting at their school for ten-thirty the next morning.
• The school secretary checked with Lin Fangxin, who confirmed that she and Yan Xiao had submitted the paper to the competition.
• Lin Fangxin called Yan Xiao repeatedly while he slept, then told him about the meeting after he called her back.
• Yan Xiao agreed to attend the meeting and promised to be there on time.

After dismissing Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin’s paper as unoriginal, judge Zhao Xiaolei watched their experimental video and realized their Black Light insect-killing network could be a major agricultural discovery. He called the conference chairman at three-thirty in the morning to share the news.

• Yan Xiao told Lin Fangxin that his life goals were to relax, play games, and eat takeout, then they went home after dinner.
• Zhao Xiaolei read Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin’s paper about a Black Light device that reportedly increased electric-grid pest-control efficiency nearly thirtyfold, but initially moved it to the trash folder.
• After finishing about a hundred papers, Zhao Xiaolei watched the attached video and saw the device had killed 11.62 kilograms of insects in nine hours.
• Zhao Xiaolei reread the paper three times and concluded that, if its results were genuine, it deserved major agricultural science awards.
• Zhao Xiaolei called the conference chairman at three-thirty in the morning to report the discovery.

Yan Xiao met with Zhao Xiaolei and the other National Agricultural Science Essay Competition judges to discuss his paper on insect phototaxis. He agreed to repeat the experiment after new equipment was ready, and Zhao Xiaolei was astonished by Yan Xiao’s agricultural knowledge.

• Lin Fangxin told principal Guo Zhaofu that the competition judges were coming, and the school leaders planned to welcome them and recognize Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin’s achievement.
• Yan Xiao arrived just before the meeting began, where Zhao Xiaolei asked him to demonstrate the experiment behind “Research and Preliminary Exploration of Insect Phototaxis.”
• Yan Xiao said the judges had to keep the equipment confidential because he had applied for a practical technology patent.
• Zhao Xiaolei explained that competition submissions could receive patent protection, while Yan Xiao insisted that they wait at least a week for newly manufactured equipment.
• As Zhao Xiaolei questioned him about the paper, he realized Yan Xiao knew an astonishing amount about agriculture.

Yan Xiao impressed the National Agricultural Science Essay Competition judges with his knowledge but turned down Zhao Xiaolei’s invitation to study agriculture. After learning Yan Xiao had translated newly excavated oracle bone script, Guo Zhaofu summoned him and asked what prize he wanted, and Yan Xiao requested the cash equivalent.

• Yan Xiao answered questions about agriculture, impressing Zhao Xiaolei, Lin Fangxin, Guo Zhaofu, and the other school administrators.
• Zhao Xiaolei invited Yan Xiao to study at Ji City Agricultural University, but Yan Xiao declined because his career plans were not actually in agriculture.
• Guo Zhaofu learned from a newspaper that Yan Xiao had translated newly excavated oracle bone script and ordered the school to give him awards and prizes.
• Lin Fangxin invited Yan Xiao to eat beef noodles and meat skewers after the judges left, while Yan Xiao stayed behind at Guo Zhaofu’s request.
• Guo Zhaofu returned and asked Yan Xiao what prize he wanted, and Yan Xiao asked for the cash equivalent.

Yan Xiao received a reward for translating Oracle Bone Script and became excited about pursuing fame and wealth across several fields, while spending the day with Lin Fangxin. After Lin Fangxin returned home, she praised Yan Xiao’s agricultural knowledge to Lin Wushu, who asked whether she would join Yan Xiao’s next field trial.

• Yan Xiao met Lin Fangxin after leaving Guo Zhaofu and told her he planned to attend Yuanpei College rather than study Ancient Literature.
• Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin ate skewers, celebrated the arrival of his Oracle Bone Script translation reward, and browsed rankings of prominent people in different professions.
• Yan Xiao considered how his abilities and system might help him climb professional rankings, then decided to work toward a life goal; Lin Fangxin celebrated by eating more skewers.
• Yan Xiao bought Lin Fangxin Hawthorn Digestive Pills when she felt overfull, and the two walked together until she reached her home.
• Lin Fangxin told Lin Wushu about Yan Xiao’s Oracle Bone Script translation and agricultural expertise, and Lin Wushu asked whether she would attend Yan Xiao’s next field trial.

Yan Xiao sought an electronic laboratory and an experienced operator to build a safer prototype of his high-voltage pest-catching equipment, while Lin Fangxin helped arrange support through her father. After Yan Xiao’s oracle-bone research became a trending topic, Lin Fangxin explained how genuine online popularity affected the Celebrity Rankings, leaving Yan Xiao bewildered by the system.

• Lin Fangxin told Lin Wushu that Yan Xiao planned to redesign his experimental equipment, and Lin Wushu worried about Yan Xiao’s lack of security after losing his parents.
• Yan Xiao asked Guan Houyi for help finding a place to make a circuit-board prototype, then asked Wu Xiaohong to arrange an electronic laboratory and an experienced operator.
• Lin Fangxin saw Yan Xiao trending for decoding oracle bone script, while Yan Xiao joked with commenters and later called her back.
• Lin Fangxin asked Lin Wushu to find a laboratory and operator for Yan Xiao, and Lin Wushu agreed to help.
• Lin Fangxin explained that trending popularity counted toward the Celebrity Rankings, and Yan Xiao learned that fake popularity would not improve a ranking.

Yan Xiao arranged a bidding process with mould factories to obtain equipment housings, then learned Guan Zhiyuan’s mock exam scores and advised him on what to study. After completing his enrollment paperwork at Jida University, Yan Xiao met Lin Fangxin to await their exam results and raised the stakes on their bet.

• Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin visited four mould factories, and two agreed to participate in his bidding process.
• Yan Xiao saw Guan Zhiyuan’s score report, found his total was 29 points below the top-tier university cutoff, and told him to focus on politics and Chinese.
• Shang Hong’an called Yan Xiao to Jida University, where he completed his enrollment paperwork with help from Wei Yujian.
• Yan Xiao went to the Strongest High School Class to wait with Lin Fangxin for the Haidian District mock exam results.
• Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin agreed to extend their bet to a month of meals, with the winner choosing the restaurant.

Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin sought help building equipment for their Agricultural Sciences Academy competition, then went to Xingxing Mould Factory to order a prototype. The factory mainly accepted bulk orders, but Yan Xiao confidently took Lin Fangxin to the sales manager’s office to negotiate.

• Yan Xiao bought history books at Xinghua Bookstore and jokingly convinced a group of boys that humans had invaded Azure Star, leading them to bury a piece of fried chicken.
• Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin met Wu Xiaohong and visited Zhong Wenrui at Jida University’s School of Electronic Engineering to request help building their competition equipment.
• Zhong Wenrui assigned Shen Chunfeng to study their circuit diagrams and build the equipment, while Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin left to handle other preparations.
• Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin traveled to Xingxing Mould Factory, where a security guard warned them that the factory usually accepted only large orders.
• Yan Xiao reassured Lin Fangxin and led her to the sales manager’s office, telling her to let him handle the negotiation.

After Yan Xiao scored full marks again in the Second Mock Exam, Lin Wushu learned that Lin Fangxin had placed second and mistakenly thought her relationship with Yan Xiao was hurting her studies. He accepted their romance after discovering her score had improved, and the chapter ended with Yan Xiao teasing Lin Fangxin about their dinner bet.

• Lin Fangxin checked the Second Mock Exam rankings and saw that Yan Xiao had earned full marks while her own score had risen to 748.
• Lin Wushu arrived at the classroom, assumed Lin Fangxin's studies had suffered because she was dating Yan Xiao, and urged them to focus on the Gaokao.
• Lin Fangxin clarified that her score had improved by two points but Yan Xiao had placed first with full marks again.
• Lin Wushu praised Yan Xiao and came around to the idea of Lin Fangxin and Yan Xiao dating, recalling his own high school romance.
• Yan Xiao asked Lin Fangxin to take him to a teppanyaki dinner, teasing her about their bet until she screamed in frustration.

After Yan Xiao again earned full marks on his Second Mock Exam essay, readers discovered he had adapted O. Henry’s “The Last Leaf” into an eight-hundred-character flash fiction piece. Literary critic Zheng Yang praised its craft and emotional impact, and the essay made the trending list.

• Yan Xiao's Second Mock Exam essay, a condensed version of “The Last Leaf,” was posted online and attracted a crowd of curious readers.
• Readers tagged Zheng Yang to ask for his opinion, and he discovered the essay after seeing thousands of replies on Weibo.
• Zheng Yang read the story and praised its ending, foreshadowing, and vivid characterization in a blog post.
• Readers discussed Zheng Yang's analysis and shared their reactions to the story's well-intentioned lies.
• Yan Xiao's essay reached number thirty-five on the trending list under “A Star Student's Short Story.”

Wang Yiying raced to secure Yan Xiao’s essay for The Speaker, while Principal Guo Zhaofu mistakenly thought Yan Xiao needed protection. Yan Xiao agreed to offer the magazine his story’s full version instead of the shorter exam essay.

• Wang Yiying asked editor-in-chief Li Mu to replace her submission with Yan Xiao’s essay and learned other editors were pursuing it too.
• Li Mu told the editors to compete for Yan Xiao’s permission, so Wang Yiying hurried to Jida Affiliated High School.
• Principal Guo Zhaofu misunderstood the homeroom teacher’s response and found Yan Xiao surrounded by heightened security.
• Guo Zhaofu told Yan Xiao that The Speaker wanted to publish his Second Mock Exam essay and that the publication counted toward the Literary Celebrity Rankings Sublist.
• Yan Xiao said the essay was not the full version and offered to give The Speaker the complete story instead.

Yan Xiao expanded his short story and secured an agreement to publish it in The Speaker magazine. Over dinner, Wang Yiying learned he might attend Yuanpei College at Jida University, and Guo Zhaofu revealed Yan Xiao had deciphered Oracle Bone Script and entered an essay competition.

• Yan Xiao finished expanding his story, and Wang Yiying praised it and agreed to publish it in The Speaker.
• Yan Xiao signed a publication agreement and promised to send Wang Yiying his future fiction exclusively.
• Yan Xiao, Lin Fangxin, Guo Zhaofu, and Wang Yiying went to a restaurant, where Lin Fangxin reminded Yan Xiao of his promise to buy West Gate Grilled Wings every day until the Gaokao.
• Wang Yiying asked Yan Xiao about his reading and future studies, and Guo Zhaofu said he would likely attend Yuanpei College at Jida University before choosing a major.
• Guo Zhaofu told Wang Yiying that Yan Xiao had deciphered Oracle Bone Script and entered the Academy of Agricultural Sciences' essay competition.

Yan Xiao visited Jida University to check on the project and took Shen Chunfeng to lunch, where they became engrossed in gossip and forgot to collect the finished circuit board. Later, a courier called to say the moulds had arrived, and Yan Xiao prepared to go sign for them.

• Li Yang shipped the completed moulds to Yan Xiao and called to tell him they were on the way.
• Yan Xiao visited Jida University, where Shen Chunfeng said the circuit board was finished.
• Yan Xiao persuaded Shen Chunfeng to join him for lunch, and they talked until half past two without collecting the board.
• Yan Xiao returned to the Strongest High School Class and began writing a literary submission.
• A courier told Yan Xiao the moulds had arrived, so he told Lin Fangxin he would go to Jida University to sign for them.

Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin tested the assembled high-voltage black light insect traps at a pest-infested field, where the devices produced sparks throughout the night. The Organizing Committee stayed awake to observe while Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin slept, and Lin Wushu resolved to correct their attitude toward scientific work.

• Yan Xiao assembled samples from four mold factories into multiple traps with different bulbs and arranged an experiment with Zhao Xiaolei’s Organizing Committee.
• Lin Wushu arrived with three students, and Yan Xiao and the students set up the equipment at a field infested with the target pests.
• Lin Wushu provided food for Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin while the group waited for nightfall.
• Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin switched on the four traps, and the black light device immediately produced a dazzling, continuous shower of sparks.
• The Organizing Committee stayed awake all night watching the traps while Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin fell asleep.
• At dawn, Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin woke to find the committee still observing, and Lin Wushu decided to correct their attitude toward science.

Yan Xiao’s Black Light insect-killing system produced 13.75 kilograms of dead insects, and the organizing committee agreed to advance his patent and display the equipment. After arranging for Guan Houyi to represent the project, Yan Xiao wrote a short story titled “Lin Xiaoqi's Gift.”

• Zhao Xiaolei and the committee weighed the insects from Yan Xiao’s experiment and recorded a total of 13.75 kilograms.
• Zhao Xiaolei praised Yan Xiao’s results, promised to help process his patent, and asked to keep the equipment for the exhibition.
• Yan Xiao agreed to leave the equipment with the committee and later asked Guan Houyi to continue representing the project for agent’s fees.
• Guan Zhiyuan came to Yan Xiao’s home to study, then tested Yan Xiao’s headphones and advised him to ignore the faint echo.
• Yan Xiao began writing a story based on “The Gift of the Magi” and titled it “Lin Xiaoqi's Gift.”

The Speaker released Yan Xiao’s expanded story, “The Last Leaf,” and readers across the country praised its writing. Xiang Jinming decided to seek translation rights, while Gao Lingyue continued recommending the issue to customers.

• Gao Lingyue noticed that The Speaker’s cover highlighted a high school student’s work and discovered Yan Xiao’s “The Last Leaf” at the front of the magazine.
• Gao Lingyue read the story three times and praised it as exceptionally well written.
• Xiang Jinming read the story, compared it with Yan Xiao’s exam essay, and decided it should be translated for internet users around the world.
• Xiang Jinming bought a copy and left to contact The Speaker’s editorial office about translation rights.
• Gao Lingyue recommended the issue to customers, and readers across the country praised Yan Xiao’s story.

Li Mu approved another hundred thousand copies of The Speaker after demand surged because of Song Yu’s advice on using condensed stories for Gaokao essays. He then read Yan Xiao’s three submitted stories, was impressed by “Lin Youqi’s Gift,” and considered what to do with the work.

• Distributors called for more copies of The Speaker, and Li Mu approved a large additional print run.
• Li Mu found that Song Yu’s Weibo article about adapting short stories for Gaokao essays had driven the magazine’s sales surge.
• Parents praised Song Yu’s method and said it had helped their children improve their narrative essays.
• Li Mu received three story submissions from Yan Xiao of Jida Affiliated High School.
• Li Mu read “Lin Youqi’s Gift” and admired its story of a husband and wife who each sold a treasured possession for the other.
• Li Mu prepared to forward Yan Xiao’s submission to an editor, then recalled Song Yu’s article and considered an idea.