My IQ Increases Year by Year

Zeyang City, July. Two in the afternoon.

The sun was blazing, softening the asphalt road. Stepping on it left the soles of your shoes feeling slightly sticky.

On the tree-lined path outside City No.1 Middle School’s junior high division, the lush branches cast huge, soft-edged shadows on the ground.

The cicadas in the trees chirped endlessly.

Chen Zhuo stood under the thickest tree.

The shade blocked the direct sunlight, and the occasional breeze brought a hint of insignificant coolness.

At the entrance of the corner store, there was a freezer covered with a thick quilt.

Chen Zhuo walked over, lifted the quilt, and slid open the glass door. A cloud of white, cold air instantly billowed out.

He rummaged inside and grabbed two cans of Coke.

He pulled out some change, handed it to the owner dozing in a rocking chair, and walked back under the tree with the two Cokes.

He shifted the two cold drinks from hand to hand, enjoying the chill spreading across his palms.

He glanced at his watch.

A quarter past two.

In the distance, a chubby figure appeared around the street corner.

Zhang Qiang was running hard, wearing a baggy basketball jersey.

He panted heavily as he ran, the flesh on his face jiggling with every step.

Spotting Chen Zhuo under the tree from afar, Zhang Qiang picked up his pace.

In one hand, he tightly clutched a crumpled piece of paper.

"Brother Zhuo!"

Before he even arrived, Zhang Qiang’s booming, raspy voice preceded him.

He ran under the tree and stopped abruptly, bending over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air.

"Brother Zhuo..."

Zhang Qiang was panting too hard to form a complete sentence, his chest heaving violently.

Chen Zhuo didn’t rush him.

He walked over and handed him one of the cans of Coke.

"Don’t talk yet. Have a drink and catch your breath."

Zhang Qiang straightened up and snatched the can of Coke.

The cold touch made him squint his eyes in comfort.

He hooked a finger under the pull tab and yanked it open.

PSSH~

Zhang Qiang tilted his head back, aiming for the opening of the can.

GLUG, GLUG, GLUG.

He chugged more than half the can in one go.

The cold soda rushed down his throat and into his stomach, chasing away the heat from his long run.

Zhang Qiang lowered the can, holding his breath for a few seconds with his mouth closed.

Then he let out a long burp.

"Ahh, that’s the stuff!"

He wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand and held out the hand clutching the test paper to Chen Zhuo.

He had been gripping it so tightly that the edges of the paper were slightly torn, and a small patch was damp with sweat from his palm.

Zhang Qiang carefully unfolded the crumpled test paper as if he were presenting a rare treasure.

"Brother Zhuo, look!"

Chen Zhuo looked down.

It was a printout of a report card for the standardized middle school entrance exam.

In the score section at the top, an extremely conspicuous number was written in red ink.

"82."

The number was scrawled hastily, with two bright red lines drawn next to it.

Zhang Qiang grinned so wide his eyes nearly disappeared.

His chubby face was an open book of undisguised pride and excitement.

"Eighty-two, Brother Zhuo! I got an eighty-two on the standardized math exam!"

Zhang Qiang’s voice was so loud that an old man riding by on a bicycle glanced back at him.

But he didn’t care in the slightest.

"I just followed that strategy guide you gave me!"

Zhang Qiang excitedly pointed at the questions on the paper.

"Those last two big problems—I took one look, realized I didn’t understand them at all, and just gave up. I didn’t write a single word."

He pointed to the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions at the beginning.

"I just focused on grinding through these basic questions. For any I didn’t know, I used that substitution method you taught me, plugging in the answers one by one. If I still couldn’t figure it out, I just picked C!"

The more Zhang Qiang spoke, the more excited he became, spittle flying from his mouth.

"And that word problem—I didn’t set up an equation. I just brute-forced it step by step, checked my work several times, and only wrote it down after I was sure it was right."

He refolded the test paper, carefully tucked it into his pocket, and even gave it a pat.

"Eighty-two points! I passed!"

Zhang Qiang looked at Chen Zhuo, his eyes shining with astonishing brightness.

"My dad said that since I managed to get an eighty-two in math, he’s more than happy to pay the school selection fee. I can go to City No.1 Middle School now!"

He took a step closer, unable to contain the excitement on his face.

"Brother Zhuo, when school starts, you’ll be in the eighth grade and I’ll be in seventh. We can hang out together again!"

Zhang Qiang puffed out his thick chest, full of bravado.

"We’ll be a dynamic duo! You’ll be at the top of the class, and I’ll be your muscle. If anyone at City No.1 Middle School dares to bully you, just tell me, and I’ll use my hundred-plus pounds to sit on them until they’re squashed flat!"

This had been Zhang Qiang’s sole motivation for the past six months as he’d grinded away day and night on math problems he couldn’t understand at all.

He was the stubborn type.

He had decided that Chen Zhuo was the person he admired most in this world, his brother.

He had to follow him, and he had to protect him.

Chen Zhuo listened quietly as Zhang Qiang, waving his arms in excitement, laid out his plans for their next three years of junior high.

He looked at the sweaty, chubby boy before him.

He looked at the pure, unadulterated joy and longing in his eyes.

Chen Zhuo switched the can of Coke in his hand to his left.

He reached his right hand into his pocket.

And pulled out a small, transparent plastic box.

The plastic case glinted in the sunlight.

Inside were two high-speed motors with purple copper coils, along with a set of intricately crafted metal gears and bearings.

He held the box out to Zhang Qiang.