Chapter 61: The Bet Takes Effect, the City-wide Mock Exam Arrives
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the day of the city-wide mock exam for high school seniors arrived.
"Su Hanhan, we have a deal. You can’t go easy on me, you hear?"
Gu Yifan said with a stern look at Su Qinghe in the breakfast shop across from the school gate.
"Oh, okay~"
"I get it."
Su Qinghe put down her chopsticks, looked at Gu Yifan, and nodded, speaking in a small voice.
"Good, as long as you know!"
"Don’t worry, this time I’ll definitely keep you under me!"
Gu Yifan said casually, wiping the oil from his lips.
"..."
Su Qinghe’s face flushed slightly.
’She glanced at Gu Yifan. What was he talking about? "Keep you under me"... Why did that sound so weird?’
But she was too embarrassed to say anything, so she just lowered her head and quietly took small bites of her noodles.
A few minutes later, Gu Yifan put down his chopsticks and asked Su Qinghe, "Hanhan, are you full?"
"I’m... I’m full."
Su Qinghe said, nodding gently.
"Alright then. It’s about time. Let’s head to the exam hall."
Gu Yifan said with a nod.
With that, he got up.
"Hm?"
Seeing that Su Qinghe hadn’t moved, her mouth slightly parted as if she wanted to say something, he asked in confusion, "Hanhan, what’s wrong?"
Su Qinghe’s delicate, arched brows furrowed slightly, her expression conflicted.
After a moment’s hesitation, Su Qinghe finally spoke. "I... I’m not a hanhan," she said in a small, feeble voice. "I’m quite smart."
"Er..."
’Gu Yifan froze for a moment. So that’s what she was hung up on!’
When Gu Yifan didn’t reply, Su Qinghe, afraid she’d made him angry, quickly explained in a low voice, "’Hanhan’ is... it’s an insult where I’m from..."
"Oh, I see."
Gu Yifan gave her a long look, then nodded.
Seeing him nod, Su Qinghe quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, Gu Yifan spoke again. "Alright, we don’t have much time. Let’s go, Hanhan!"
Su Qinghe: "..."
She pouted and shot Gu Yifan a look of utter resignation.
But ultimately, she didn’t say another word.
’What could she do?’
’It’s not like she wanted this!’
’This guy was just too overbearing.’
’Sigh...’
Su Qinghe sighed to herself, then obediently got up and headed back to school with Gu Yifan.
By then, the exam was set to begin in less than twenty minutes.
After returning to the school, the two parted ways and headed to their respective exam halls.
...
"BRRRING—BRRRING—"
As the exam bell rang, the first city-wide mock exam for high school seniors since Gu Yifan’s rebirth officially began.
The first subject was Language Arts.
Aside from rote memorization, the only slightly difficult part of Language Arts was reading comprehension. But for someone like Gu Yifan, who had lived into his thirties in his past life, it was a piece of cake.
As for the essay?
That was even less of a concern. With the experience from his past life, couldn’t he effortlessly smoke these youngsters who had yet to leave their ivory towers?
So, for Gu Yifan, this Language Arts test was as easy as breathing.
After receiving the test booklet, Gu Yifan began writing as soon as the proctor announced the start of the exam.
In less than half an hour, Gu Yifan had finished all the preceding questions. All that remained was the essay.
The essay prompt for this exam was a discussion on whether the times make the hero or the hero makes the times, with a minimum length of 800 words.
Gu Yifan smirked when he saw the topic.
As a veteran "keyboard warrior" in his past life, he’d argued this type of dialectical point online more times than he could count!
So for him, this essay was a complete freebie!
After a moment of thought, Gu Yifan picked up his pen and wrote a grand, flowing title on the essay sheet: *Born to the Times, We Are the New Wave, We Are the Light!*
...
Half an hour later, Gu Yifan set down his pen and let out a long breath.
Looking at the neat, forceful yet elegant script on the essay paper, Gu Yifan nodded with satisfaction.
’Not bad!’
’I can’t believe that after all these years, my writing skills are still as sharp as ever!’
He checked the exam from top to bottom and found nothing missing.
He glanced up at the clock above the classroom’s blackboard. It was only ten-thirty, and there was still an hour and a half left until the end of the exam.
There was no point in just sitting around, so Gu Yifan raised his hand to get the proctor’s attention.
The proctor was a middle-aged woman with gold-rimmed glasses. She looked to be about the same age as Gu Yifan’s mother, though perhaps due to the stresses of teaching, she appeared slightly older than she was.
She was surprised to see Gu Yifan raise his hand at this point in the exam, but she quickly walked over to his desk.
"Young man, is there something you need?" the teacher asked Gu Yifan in a low voice.
Her voice was quiet, as if she were afraid of disturbing the other students.
"Ma’am, I’d like to turn in my exam early. Is that allowed?"
Gu Yifan said.
"Hm?"
The teacher frowned. She glanced back at the clock on the wall and saw there was still nearly an hour and a half left. Her frown deepened.
"Turn it in early?"
"The exam isn’t over. Are you finished with everything?" she asked, trying to be helpful.
"Yes, I’m all done."
Gu Yifan replied.
’All done?’
’It’s only been an hour, and you’re telling me you’re completely finished?’
The teacher shot Gu Yifan a look that seemed to say, ’Do I look like a fool to you?’
As a veteran teacher with twenty years of experience in Language Arts, she knew better than anyone that it was the most time-consuming subject of all.
And now, this student before her was claiming he’d finished in just one hour!
’Who does he think he’s fooling?’
In her mind, she immediately slapped several labels on Gu Yifan: "frivolous," "defiant," and "not a good student."
Gu Yifan noticed the teacher’s strange look and had a pretty good idea of what was going through her mind.
However, he didn’t care, nor could he be bothered to explain.
"Ma’am, may I turn in my exam?"
Gu Yifan asked again.
"Hm?"
The teacher’s frown deepened. She looked at Gu Yifan and reminded him one more time, "There’s still a lot of time left. Are you sure you want to turn in your exam?"
"I’m aware."
"Ma’am, I’m sure!"
Gu Yifan said with a firm nod.
’This boy is a lost cause!’
Seeing his persistent expression, the teacher’s attitude grew considerably colder.
"Fine. Leave your exam on the desk, gather your things, and leave."
"Be quiet, and don’t disturb the other students," she said to Gu Yifan, her voice frigid.
"Alright."
Gu Yifan paid no mind to the teacher’s cold attitude.
He gathered his belongings, stood up, and walked out of the exam hall...