Cma 26

In the first math class of the afternoon, Teacher Yu entered the classroom as usual, precisely on time. His stainless steel thermos was replaced with a white ceramic tea cup, featuring a poorly printed image of a cartoon cat.

The quality of the print was so subpar that the cat's eyes were squished together, giving it a cross-eyed look.

Lin Tiao couldn't help but think that Teacher Yu's taste was something that only a few could appreciate.

Without saying much, Teacher Yu placed the tea cup on the desk and glanced at the group of students below. He cleared his throat lightly, “Alright, class is starting. Everyone, put your phones away.”

As he spoke, Lin Tiao noticed someone already watching a drama on their phone. “Class is starting,” she said.

Jiang Yan looked up at her and replied, “I know.”

Lin Tiao thought to herself, If you know, then why aren’t you paying attention?

With Jiang Yan’s attitude towards studying, she had every reason to suspect that his previous top ranking was because someone else had taken the exam for him.

Teacher Yu began his lecture, but Jiang Yan remained in his previous position, unmoving.

His desk was neatly organized, with a math textbook casually opened to a page, while a stack of books was neatly arranged in front of him. His phone was tucked away behind this natural barrier, just like the low achievers in Lin Tiao's old class.

At least he still retained a shred of respect for the teacher; whether he was watching TV or playing games during class, he kept the volume off and didn’t wear headphones.

Seeing him like this, Lin Tiao decided not to say anything further and opened her book to listen to the lecture.

Teacher Yu was both slow and meticulous. If he encountered an important detail, he would repeatedly use various examples to reinforce the point.

Today, he was covering an important knowledge point, a common exam question for the college entrance examination, which meant that half the class had passed, and Lin Tiao was still stuck on the first page of her math book.

She wasn’t particularly interested in listening anymore.

Fortunately, the class lasted just over forty minutes, and Teacher Yu wrapped up the knowledge point with ten minutes left.

He tossed the tiny piece of chalk remaining in his hand into the chalk box, clapped his hands, lifted his tea cup for a sip, and said slowly, “Students, you are now in your second year of high school, which is practically a third-year student. We must always keep our motivation for learning alive.”

Lin Tiao, bored, twirled a pen between her fingers. She had been hearing this since the first year and was already tired of it.

“We’ve been in class for over half a month now. The school plans to arrange a mock exam at the end of this month, which coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. After the exam, you’ll have eight days off to enjoy yourselves.”

Lin Tiao paused and turned to look at Jiang Yan, discovering he hadn’t changed his position throughout the entire class. She couldn’t help but feel curious.

Leaning over, she lowered her voice and asked, “What are you watching?”

“Einstein’s Mistake,” Jiang Yan replied, rubbing his eyes, which were feeling a bit strained after a full class. He turned his head and noticed Lin Tiao’s puzzled expression, so he casually explained, “It’s a documentary related to the cosmological constant.”

Lin Tiao thought it was fascinating how Jiang Yan had gone from chasing after Today's law to now following Einstein.

The gap between those two figures was like wrapping around the Earth.

She was impressed.

A school bully truly lived up to the hype.

Teacher Yu continued speaking, “The mock exam will determine class placements based on your rankings from the previous semester’s final exam. Since we haven’t divided the classes yet, the class representative will come to my office to collect the materials later.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the class bell rang, and Teacher Yu walked out of the classroom, holding his uniquely designed tea cup.

As soon as he left, the classroom erupted like a pot of boiling water.

Hu Hanghang counted familiar faces he had seen in the last exam hall. When he reached Lin Tiao, he tapped her shoulder and said, “Sister, it looks like we’ll be in the same exam hall again this time. Don’t forget to help each other out!”

Lin Tiao replied with a casual “Ah,” running her fingers through her hair. “I probably won’t be in the same exam hall as you guys this time.”

Hu Hanghang leaned over the desk, surprised. “What? You’re not failing to the point of not being able to take the exam, are you?”

Lin Tiao felt speechless.

Hu Hanghang took pride in the fact that he and Xu Yichuan were already performing poorly enough, but to think that there was someone worse off than them—one scoring ten points and the other nine, consistently ranking last in the class—made him feel a bit smug.

However, realizing Lin Tiao was a girl and probably didn’t want such poor grades, he turned around to comfort her, saying, “It’s okay, little sister! Grades don’t mean everything. Think about Edison; he was thought to be an idiot as a child. But was he really an idiot? No! He became a famous inventor!”

Lin Tiao thought to herself, Thanks for the uplifting words, really.

After Hu Hanghang finished comforting her, he turned to talk with Tao Jia, who was sitting at the back. Lin Tiao paid them no mind and turned to Jiang Yan. “Do you think we’ll be in the same exam hall this time?”

“Probably not,” Jiang Yan replied confidently, assured of his grades. Aside from missing the English exam, he expected to score full marks in all subjects except for Chinese.

In their first year, large exams had been few. The only major exam, the mid-term, had seen him absent, so not many knew his true capabilities.

However, glancing at his desk mate, he felt a bit skeptical but still smiled and asked, “You’re really not that bad, are you? I mean, from what I saw, you were really getting into it. You don’t look like someone who would score lower than Hu Hanghang.”

“Shut up.”

The class placement list was posted after school.

The math class representative, Tian Qiongqiong, went to Teacher Yu’s office before evening self-study to retrieve a copy and pinned it to the back blackboard in the classroom.

Hu Hanghang and Xu Yichuan displayed an impressive level of interest in the placement list. As soon as Tian Qiongqiong finished pinning it up, they rushed to the front, leveraging their physical strength to secure spots at the forefront of the crowd.

Lin Tiao couldn’t understand their enthusiasm. She turned to Jiang Yan and suggested, “How about we make a bet?”

Jiang Yan rested his head on his arms, looking at her. “What do you want to bet on?”

“Let’s bet on whether I’ll be in the first exam hall,” Lin Tiao said. She had checked her grades over the summer, and with her combined scores across nine subjects placing her in the top fifty of her grade, she was confident she would be placed in the first exam hall.

“Sure,” Jiang Yan agreed, pulling out a coin from his pocket and placing it on her desk. “I bet you will be in the first exam hall.”

Lin Tiao was taken aback. What kind of bet is this?

Jiang Yan, resting his head on his arm, couldn’t help but laugh at her astonished expression.

Later that evening, he was called to Teacher Yu’s office, where the teacher lectured him for a long while, emphasizing that he should not be absent from this exam.

The class placement list was spread across Teacher Yu’s desk, and casually glancing at it, he spotted Lin Tiao’s name on the second line, followed by her exam hall number.

Teacher Yu noticed Jiang Yan’s gaze and casually remarked, “There are quite a few students from our class in the first exam hall. Don’t think about skipping this time. I’ll have someone keep an eye on you—like your desk mate, Lin Tiao.”

Jiang Yan sighed in resignation. “I promise I won’t skip. But if my desk mate is such a good student, how come she ended up in the last exam hall last semester?”

Upon hearing this, Teacher Yu took a sip from his tea cup and said somewhat bitterly, “Like you, she missed an exam.”

“You two both only took one subject during the mid-term, and one broke their left arm while the other broke their right. Not being desk mates would be a disservice to fate.”

Jiang Yan could only reply with a silent “Wow.”

Meanwhile, Lin Tiao, who was dozing off in class, was completely unaware of these discussions. She had only intended to bet with Jiang Yan to see him lose a bit.

Little did she know she had dug her own grave.

After some hesitation, she finally said, “Then I’ll bet that I’m not in the first exam hall.”

Once those words left her mouth, she felt foolish.

Jiang Yan looked at her and sat up straight, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “Alright, I’ll take the bet.”

He smirked and added, “The winner gets to decide.”

Lin Tiao was flabbergasted. What the hell?

At the back of the classroom, Hu Hanghang was busy looking at the placement list while reading aloud, “The students in the last exam hall include Tao Jia, me, Xu Yichuan, Song Yuan, Wu Wang, and Yang Tianqi.”

“No way! Just five of us from the class are in the last exam hall? Is everyone else’s grades this good now?” Hu Hanghang couldn’t believe it. During the mid-term in Class 16, they had nearly occupied the last three exam halls.

How could it be that now, in their second year, only they were left?

Yang Tianqi, sharing the last exam hall with them, made a joke, “Looks like we’ve contributed significantly to lowering the class average score. We deserve some recognition for that!”

In a moment of self-doubt, Hu Hanghang glanced at the placement list again and caught sight of a name at the top. He froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. “What the hell!” He grabbed Xu Yichuan’s shirt, shaking him vigorously. “Quick, wake me up! Tell me this isn’t real! Is that Lin Tiao’s name up there?”

Xu Yichuan followed his gaze and was equally stunned.

Just tonight during dinner, Hu Hanghang had specifically told him that Lin Tiao had terrible grades and might not be able to take the exam, urging him to be careful while speaking to her.

But now, looking at the placement list, which had Lin Tiao ranked second overall and placed in the first exam hall, he was completely taken aback.

This can’t be what “poor performance” looks like!

Neither Hu Hanghang nor Xu Yichuan had a single subject score that could match hers combined.

Xu Yichuan felt utterly deceived.

“Tiao Mei, you’re being really unfair! Your grades are so good, how can you deceive me, a pure and innocent young boy?”

Seeing Lin Tiao’s ranking, Hu Hanghang felt his fragile ego take a hit.

Lin Tiao looked at him and clicked her tongue. “I told you, I might not be in the same exam room as you.”

Hu Hanghang thought for a moment and realized that was true; she hadn’t claimed her grades were bad.

Seeing his dejected expression, Lin Tiao comforted him, “Pang Pang, it’s okay. Grades don’t represent everything. That Edison was thought to be an idiot when he was a kid, but was he really an idiot? No, he was a world-famous inventor!”

Hu Hanghang: “…”

“I’m just an idiot.”

Sitting nearby, Jiang Yan leaned against the wall with his arm resting on the desk, his hand covering his mouth as he couldn’t help but laugh.

His little desk mate really held grudges.

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