As expected, the afternoon classes were spent reviewing test papers.
Jiang Fuyue didn’t listen—nor did she need to. After powering through eight full sets of IMO past papers in one go, she even managed to finish two entire chapters of Engineering Physics before the final bell rang.
“I’ve got something to do—leaving now.”
Wan Xiutong waved goodbye like a lucky cat: “See you tomorrow—”
Liu Bowen leaned over. “Stop staring, she’s long gone. Anyone who doesn’t know better would think you’re secretly in love with her.”
Wan Xiutong’s cheeks flushed, her eyes twinkling: “…You found out?”
“Huh?!” Liu Bowen was dumbfounded. “Seriously? You really have a crush on her?!”
“Jiang Jiang is both alpha and cool, gorgeous, smart—better than any goddess. Why shouldn’t I have a crush on her?”
Lin Qiao nodded. “Exactly! If I weren’t crushing on her, should I be crushing on you? Go take a look at yourself in a mirror.”
Liu Bowen: “?”
Low damage, high insult.
Meanwhile, Jiang Fuyue headed straight to Xu Jing’s office after class. She slapped the finished test papers down on his desk.
Old Xu was stunned. “You… finished?”
“Finished.”
“The eight sets I gave you yesterday?”
“What else?”
“You completed all of them?!”
Jiang Fuyue’s mouth twitched. “See for yourself. I’m leaving.”
“Hey—” Xu Jing clicked his tongue and wiped the surprise off his face. “Well then… be safe on your way home.”
“Got it.” Jiang Fuyue waved without looking back.
“That kid…”
Old Xu shook his head and chuckled.
Then, he opened the test papers and began checking them.
Sure enough—
Not a single mistake. Perfect scores!
Across the table, Meng Zhijian looked over. “She aced them again?”
“Yup.”
“How many sets?”
Xu Jing held up eight fingers.
Meng Zhijian gasped. “My goodness… her speed’s gone up again?”
Xu Jing spread his hands. “Obviously.”
“By the way, have you asked Jiang Fuyue what university she wants to apply to? With her grades, she can get into any top domestic school.”
Xu Jing shook his head. “The principal asked her during the recommendation round, but she didn’t say. I’d guess either B University or Q University. What other school in the country would suit her better?”
“What about overseas?”
Xu Jing waved it off confidently. “You’re overthinking it.”
“So sure?”
“Well…” Xu Jing closed the papers and sat up. “You might not believe this, but that girl’s quite patriotic. I heard from Teacher Cui that she wrote about this in her essay last month.”
Meng Zhijian was curious. “What exactly did she write?”
“Not too sure. You can ask Teacher Cui—she was really moved by it and even pulled me in to discuss. Talked for ages. I just remember she quoted Li He: ‘Why should a man not bear a Wu Hook, to reclaim fifty states of lost land,’ and Lu You: ‘Lying awake at night I hear wind and rain; iron horses cross frozen rivers in my dreams.’”
“Whew—this kid’s got perspective.”
“Right? Teacher Cui said she cried for two minutes straight after reading it. Eyes were almost swollen.”
Meng Zhijian frowned. “But didn’t she use to not get along with Teacher Cui? I remember her being called out in class and totally flipping the situation—reciting all the source references and even page numbers, practically left Cui speechless.”
“That was then. People change. So do opinions. Now Teacher Cui’s crazy about her. Gave her full marks on the last few essays—you can tell, right?”
Meng Zhijian nodded. “She’s an impressive young lady.”
Xu Jing assumed a wise look. “To be precise, her skills are strong enough that public opinion naturally follows.”
In the end, it’s all about ability.
“But Old Xu, let me remind you—it’s best to personally ask her about her university choices.”
Xu Jing blinked. “What do you mean by that?”
“I just feel that if she really wanted to go to Q or B University, she wouldn’t have turned down the guaranteed admission. I mean, if she didn’t like not being able to pick a major, I could understand. But those two schools offered her free choice of major—no restrictions. So why the hassle?”
“She… said she wanted to take the college entrance exam to finish what she started. Maybe you’re overthinking?”
“Come on. You can still take the exam after being recommended. If she wanted to, no one would stop her. That excuse doesn’t hold up. I’m just giving you a heads-up. That girl’s got strong opinions and guts—anything could happen. You’d better keep an eye out, or you might regret it.”
“It’s probably… not that serious, right?” Xu Jing was half-convinced.
Still, Meng Zhijian’s words stuck with him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel shaken.
But thinking it over, it still didn’t make sense. If Jiang Fuyue didn’t pick B or Q University, would she go to some random no-name school?
Totally impossible!
“Old Meng, you’re being too cautious. I don’t think it’s worth worrying so much.”
Meng Zhijian sighed. “Let’s hope I’m just overthinking.”
Knock knock knock—
There was a knock at the door.
Ling Xuan stood at the office entrance. When Xu Jing nodded, he walked in.
“Teacher Xu, I’m here to hand in my papers.”
“All done?”
“Mm, finished all three sets.”
“Alright, put them down. I’ll take a look later.”
Ling Xuan nodded, but suddenly froze when his gaze landed on another stack of papers.
He recognized the handwriting. It was Jiang Fuyue’s.
And that stack was clearly thicker than his.
Meaning, she completed more than him… No—the teacher gave her more to do.
Possibly twice, three times, maybe even more.
Which meant, in the teacher’s eyes, his productivity wasn’t on par with Jiang Fuyue’s…
Ling Xuan’s heart sank, though his expression remained calm. “Then I’ll be off now, Teacher Xu.”
“Alright. Be careful on the way.”
“Mm.”
After he left, Meng Zhijian glanced at Xu Jing’s desk. “You assigned them different workloads?”
Xu Jing nodded. “Yeah. Why? Got something to say?”
“Three sets versus eight—that’s quite a gap.”
“I assign based on individual ability. Even Confucius said to teach according to aptitude. Got a problem with that?”
“Who am I to question you, Special Teacher Xu?”
“Get outta here—” Xu Jing chuckled.
Meng Zhijian said, “You’re not wrong to tailor assignments, but I’m worried Ling Xuan might overthink it. From the number of test papers alone, it’s clear how you evaluate the two of them. Isn’t that basically saying he’s not as good as Jiang Fuyue? That kid’s got a lot of pride. Ever since Jiang Fuyue started rising, he’s been secretly competing with her. Why else would he ask to rejoin the physics competition?”
“You forgot? When he started high school, he was in both the math and physics competition tracks, but chose math in the end. Now he suddenly wants to come back? Obviously because Jiang Fuyue is acing both. If he wants to prove himself, he has to stand on the same battlefield.”
“Yikes…” Xu Jing sucked in a breath. “There’s really that much going on?”
Meng Zhijian smirked. “They don’t call me the ‘Puppy Love Terminator’ for nothing. Eyes like a hawk, senses like radar. You think stuff like this can escape me?”
“You win! I guess I’ll assign them the same amount next time. Whether they can finish or not is up to them.”
Meng Zhijian: “Ling Xuan won’t allow himself to fall short.”
Even if he can’t finish, he’ll force himself to.
Otherwise, how can he catch up to Jiang Fuyue?
Xu Jing: “So what should I do? Too much is no good, too little isn’t right either.”
“Simple. Give Ling Xuan as much as he can handle.”
“But isn’t that… unfair to Jiang Fuyue?”
Meng Zhijian’s mouth twitched. “You said I overthink? Look who’s talking. Do you really think, to her, there’s a difference between three papers, eight, or even eighty?”
“There’s… no difference?”
“Trust me. Whether it’s a few or a truckload, she’ll still score full marks.”
Xu Jing: “…”
Fair point.
…
Outside the school gates, Ming Yu was already waiting under a roadside tree when Jiang Fuyue came out.
Though he was deliberately keeping a low profile, the wheelchair still set him apart from the crowd.
Several curious glances landed on him.
And when Jiang Fuyue walked toward him, the stares intensified.
“Done with class?”
“Yeah. Let’s go eat dinner.”
Jiang Fuyue walked behind him and naturally reached out to push the wheelchair.
Ming Yu didn’t resist.
Zhong Hao was stunned.
Not far away, Zhong Ziang—holding a basketball—also stopped in his tracks and stared at them in a daze.
