By the time Cheng Che ran home, it still wasn't dark.
With his improved strength and stamina, running five kilometers was a breeze. Cheng Che even felt he could become a sports-track student.
He pushed open the door, and the aroma of cooking drifted out of the kitchen.
Jiang Xue was busy at the stove in an apron. Hearing the door open, she poked her head out to glance at him.
"You're back? Go wash your face. Dinner's almost ready."
Cheng Che murmured an acknowledgment, changed his shoes, and went inside.
Jiang Xue carried out the dishes, stared at his face for a couple of seconds, then suddenly smiled.
"Cheche, I've noticed your complexion's gotten a lot better these past few days. It used to look yellow and dull all the time, but now it's much clearer and brighter. You even look like you've shot up a little."
Before Cheng Che could speak, Cheng Jianguo chuckled from the couch.
"What's so strange about that? The boy's growing into his looks. I was just like that when I was young. Back when I was seventeen or eighteen, the girls chasing me lined up all the way to the alley entrance..."
At this, Cheng Jianguo couldn't resist rubbing his chin, looking lost in memories of his younger days.
"Oh, give it a rest."
Jiang Xue rolled her eyes at him and couldn't help taking a jab.
"Cheng Jianguo, you were still catching fish in the river at seventeen, wearing patched-up shorts. Lining up to the alley entrance? They were lining up to watch you fall into the river."
Cheng Jianguo was left speechless. He rubbed his nose and said nothing.
Watching them, Cheng Che couldn't help the corners of his mouth lifting.
This was home, full of noisy bickering, yet every word carried warmth.
After dinner, he went to take a shower.
The hot water felt comfortable against his skin. He stood with his eyes closed for a good while before picking up the facial cleanser from the shelf.
He squeezed it once. Only a tiny blob came out.
He squeezed again, getting a pitiful amount of foam.
Cheng Che turned the bottle upside down and shook it, then squeezed out the last little bit, barely enough to wash his face.
He looked at the bottle opening and frowned.
His mother had bought him this bottle of cleanser last semester.
He hadn't thought much of it then, leaving it on the shelf to gather dust. Now, after nine days of using it diligently, it was already empty.
There was only a little toner left at the bottom of its bottle, probably enough for another day or two.
He worked it out. A set of cleanser and toner would cost over a hundred yuan at the very least.
Ask Mom for it?
His mother wouldn't refuse, but he knew perfectly well how things stood at home.
Last year, his grandfather had been hospitalized, swallowing all the family's savings. His parents worked from dawn till dark, and once rent, utilities, and material costs were deducted from their meager monthly earnings, there were barely a few coins left.
Cheng Che tossed the empty bottle in the trash. By the time he returned to his room, drying his hair, he had already made up his mind.
I'll find a part-time job on Saturday.
Guo Xin had started looking for part-time work in his second year of high school to pay for going online. Cheng Che would ask him about it when he had time.
Cheng Che sat down at his desk and pulled three math papers out of his schoolbag.
These were the "daily practice" papers Old Xu had handed out. Before, he couldn't grind through even one in three days. Today, he wanted to give it a try.
"System, activate Total Concentration."
Almost the instant it activated, his state changed.
The smile vanished from his face, and he sank into a state of extreme calm.
The sounds around him grew distant too. The running tap in the kitchen and the television in the living room all receded far away.
Cheng Che picked up his pen.
He began the first multiple-choice question.
As soon as he finished reading it, the given conditions laid themselves out in his mind.
The function's expression, its domain, its parity, its monotonicity. He eliminated the four options one by one, and the correct answer jumped out on its own.
The second question. The third. The fourth.
His hand barely stopped, the tip of his pen rustling across the scratch paper.
It all flowed so smoothly, like water pouring out on its own once a pipe was unblocked.
The formulas and theorems he used to puzzle over repeatedly now came as naturally as pulling something out of his pocket.
With this state bolstering him, Cheng Che finished all three papers in one go.
Cheng Che put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, and looked up to check the time.
He froze.
Three papers, finished.
He checked the time again: exactly ninety minutes had passed since he started.
Three math papers in ninety minutes. An average of thirty minutes per paper.
One paper used to take him an hour and a half, and he still might not finish it, never mind whether his answers were right.
His heart pounding, Cheng Che dug out the answers and began checking.
First paper: one multiple-choice question wrong, one fill-in-the-blank wrong, and essentially all the long-answer questions correct.
Second paper: all the multiple-choice questions correct, two fill-in-the-blanks wrong, and a few marks lost for his working on the long-answer questions.
Third paper: all the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions correct. His answer to the second part of the final long-answer question differed from the answer key. He studied the solution carefully and immediately understood where he had gone wrong.
Cheng Che sat blankly in his chair, not moving for a long time.
"I..."
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out.
He stared at the dense handwriting covering those three papers, his eyes growing hot.
So this was what it felt like to be gifted?
This felt way too good!
So ordinary people and top students really did see completely different worlds.
But that was all right.
From today on, he could see this world too.
Cheng Che took a deep breath and deactivated [Total Concentration].
The next instant, an unprecedented wave of exhaustion surged from the depths of his mind. Like water released through floodgates, it washed away every ounce of strength in his body.
His vision immediately went black, and sleepiness crashed down on him with the force of toppling mountains and churning seas. It felt worse than spending two whole nights awake at an internet café.
Cheng Che braced himself against the desk and stood. His legs were weak, and his head felt as though someone had stuffed it full of wet cotton.
He staggered to the bed and collapsed headfirst onto it.
He fell asleep without even pulling the covers over himself.
An unknown amount of time passed before his bedroom door was gently pushed open.
Jiang Xue stood in the doorway with a plate of sliced apples.
She was just about to call her son over for some fruit when she saw the boy curled up on the bed, still in his school uniform and without a blanket over him. His breathing, however, was steady. Clearly, he had been so exhausted that he had fallen straight asleep.
Jiang Xue stood there for a couple of seconds, her gaze soft.
She tiptoed inside, set the plate of fruit on the desk, then pulled over the blanket and carefully tucked it around Cheng Che.
"This child..." She reached out and brushed aside the sweat-damp hair on his forehead. "Why push yourself so hard? There are still ninety days until the college entrance exam."
With that, she switched off the desk lamp and quietly withdrew.
The sound of the door closing was as soft as a sigh.