Chapter 62: Perfect Score? Zhou Qingmei’s Shock
It was only around 10:40 in the morning. The third-year students were taking an exam, while the first and second-years were still in class.
The entire campus was incredibly quiet, with only one or two people seen walking about.
"There’s still so much time left... I wonder how Su Qinghe—that Hanhan—is doing!"
After leaving the examination hall, Gu Yifan glanced at the time and muttered to himself.
After a moment’s thought, he decided to leave the school, find a place to get a drink, and wait for Su Qinghe.
...
In a bubble tea shop across from the school gate, Gu Yifan was smoking a cigarette and idly playing on his phone.
And just as he was contentedly sipping his bubble tea, back in the examination hall, the middle-aged female teacher had collected Gu Yifan’s paper and brought it to the podium. On a whim, she picked it up and started to read.
"Hm?"
She froze for a moment when she saw the elegant handwriting and the densely packed, completely filled-in answers on the test paper.
’I can’t believe that student wasn’t lying. He really did finish it!’
’I’ll give him this, the handwriting is quite good!’
’But still, it’s only been an hour. Even if he finished, so what?’
’He probably just filled it in randomly!’
’Sigh!’
’What a shame!’
’Such a waste of good handwriting!’
The female teacher sighed softly, thinking to herself.
She shook her head and was about to put Gu Yifan’s test down when she happened to see the title of his essay!
"To Be Born in Such a Time: We, the Next Wave, Shall Shine Bright!"
’This title...’
Her eyes suddenly lit up, her interest piqued!
She picked up the essay page of Gu Yifan’s test again and started to read.
"This..."
The moment she finished the opening paragraph, her eyes flew wide open!
She hurriedly sat up straight and began to read with intense focus.
SLAP~!
"Holy cow...!"
"Brilliant, this is absolutely brilliant!"
She suddenly slapped her own thigh hard and couldn’t help but exclaim loudly.
The loud sound from the podium echoed through the otherwise quiet classroom. For a moment, every student looked toward her, confused.
Even the male proctor at the back of the room couldn’t help but frown.
’What’s going on with Teacher Zhou Qingmei?’
He frowned, puzzled.
’After all, the students are all trying to focus on their exams. Making such a loud noise is completely inappropriate!’
Zhou Qingmei also realized she had lost her composure.
Her face flushed slightly as she addressed the students. "My apologies, please continue with your exams. I just got a bit carried away. Don’t let me distract you."
Although annoyed, the students didn’t say anything and simply lowered their heads to continue writing.
A few, however, glanced at the test paper in her hand, a thoughtful look on their faces.
When Gu Yifan had turned in his paper an hour early, nearly everyone had thought he was just showing off.
After all, everyone knew it was hard enough to finish the Chinese exam in the allotted two and a half hours. Completing the entire paper, essay included, in just one hour seemed like pure fantasy.
But now... ’judging by the proctor’s reaction, it seemed things weren’t so simple!’
But it was just a passing thought; they didn’t dwell on it. After all, they still had their own papers to finish!
’If they didn’t hurry, they’d be totally screwed when time was called!’
Seeing the students resume their work, Teacher Zhou lowered her head and continued reading the essay.
This time, however, she made no sound, forcibly suppressing her excitement even as it grew with every word she read.
"Huuu..."
A few minutes later, Zhou Qingmei let out a long, deep breath.
’This central theme... I never imagined someone could approach this essay from such an angle!’
’To express such a grand worldview in an essay of less than a thousand words... It’s truly...’
She was so stunned by Gu Yifan’s essay that, for a moment, she was at a loss for words.
"Incredible. In my twenty-plus years of teaching, this is the most brilliant essay I have ever seen, bar none!"
Zhou Qingmei muttered to herself in a low voice.
"But!"
"It’s a bit of a pity!"
After a moment of reflection, she lamented in a low voice, "If this essay were on the college entrance exam, it would absolutely get a perfect score!"
Suddenly, a thought struck her.
’If his essay is this good, how could his answers to the other questions be bad?’
She hurriedly picked up the first few pages of Gu Yifan’s test and began to read them carefully.
What she saw gave her the shock of her life.
Holding Gu Yifan’s test, Zhou Qingmei’s eyes grew wider and wider the more she read.
As far as she could tell, Gu Yifan had answered every single one of the earlier questions correctly!
She couldn’t even find a single fault in his answers to the reading comprehension section.
’Holy shit!’
’A perfect paper???’
Suddenly, those three words flashed through her mind, and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
’You have to understand, Chinese isn’t like other subjects!’
’Getting a perfect score in other subjects is fairly normal, but to get a perfect score in Chinese... it’s no exaggeration to say that’s something that requires a level of perfection that’s almost mythical!’
’After all, scholars have a tendency to look down on one another; a perfect score in Chinese might not be seen for decades!’
How could she not be excited?!
’She had thought the student who turned his paper in an hour and a half early was some delinquent, but it turned out to be pure, unadulterated confidence!’
’It turns out she was the clown all along!’
Her face flushed red again, her cheeks burning as if she’d just been slapped.
’What the fuck?’
’What’s wrong with Teacher Zhou??’
’Got a vibrator in there or something???’
The male proctor sitting at the very back of the classroom muttered in surprise.
He had been keeping a close eye on her ever since her strange outburst.
Seeing her face go from pale to flushed and her body tremble uncontrollably, he couldn’t help but let his mind go to a dirty place.
’After all, she looked just like a scene out of one of *those* movies!’
After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to go and ask what was wrong. After all, if what he was thinking was actually happening, here in public, it would be a serious breach of a teacher’s professional ethics!
"Ahem~"
He approached her, coughed softly twice, and asked in a low voice, "Teacher Zhou, you don’t seem well. Are you feeling alright?"
"Huh?"
Startled, Zhou Qingmei, who had been completely lost in her own world, snapped back to reality.
"N-No... I’m fine..."
Seeing the male teacher looking at her with a strange yet concerned expression, she quickly waved her hand and replied in a low voice.
"Then you’re...?"
The male teacher pointed at her, then trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.
"Hah~"
Zhou Qingmei didn’t explain. She shook her head, handed him the test paper, and said simply, "Teacher He, take a look at this test. After you read it, you’ll understand."
...