Chapter 4: A Relaxing Exam (Seeking Reviews and Monthly Votes)

As soon as Mu Fei returned to his seat, the math teacher and class advisor, Mr. Liu Keqi, walked in carrying a stack of test papers. He glanced at Mu Fei meaningfully as he entered, clearly indicating that the argument with the Chinese teacher had reached his ears. A scolding was inevitable.

"This exam is primarily designed to challenge you, so some of you might find it difficult. Start with the questions you know, and leave the ones you don't for later. Do not cheat; the most important thing is that your scores are genuine, regardless of how well you do," Mr. Liu Keqi said, dividing the test papers into four parts and distributing them to the first student in each row, who then passed them back.

Mu Fei took a look at the test paper and found that the questions were indeed not easy. In his usual exams, questions that could be solved in three steps were considered basic, those requiring five to seven steps were slightly more challenging, and questions with eight or more steps were rare, usually only one or two per test. However, this time, even the fill-in-the-blank questions required five or more steps to solve, let alone the calculation and proof questions that followed.

After a quick glance at the questions, Mu Fei didn't want to waste time and quickly took out his scratch paper to start solving the problems. For the first few questions, he still did some calculations on the paper, but after a while, he realized that he could solve those seemingly difficult questions with mental arithmetic alone.

"It's not that hard after all," Mu Fei thought, feeling a bit proud of himself, but he didn't let his guard down and continued to focus on solving the problems. For the later questions, Mu Fei hardly used the scratch paper; the answers seemed to be imprinted in his mind, and he knew the results just by looking at the numbers.

When Mu Fei finished the entire test and checked the time, it was less than half an hour. Even he was surprised. Normally, it took him about an hour to complete a test, so why was he solving a more difficult test faster today? Could this be some kind of "sudden enlightenment" from web novels? Could he really be a genius?

Mu Fei touched his face in a self-indulgent manner but didn't dare to say it out loud. With time to spare, he had to check his answers again. Upon reviewing, he realized that the questions were not only complex and required a lot of calculations but also had some tricky types that were completely different from his usual problem-solving methods. He had tried similar difficult questions yesterday and couldn't solve them, so why was he able to solve them so easily today without even using scratch paper?

"Could it be that after breaking up, my mind is calmer, and I have clearer thoughts?" Mu Fei thought, unable to find any other explanation.

After finishing and checking his answers twice, Mu Fei was bored and looked around. The other students were still busy calculating, with the exception of the class representative, Lin Ruoyi, who had also finished her test. She habitually looked back at Mu Fei, who was sitting in the last row. However, when she saw him, she felt a bit angry. "Mu Fei, are you really going to give up on yourself just because of a breakup? I'm disappointed in you." If it were any other time, Lin Ruoyi would have rushed over to lecture him, but it was an exam, so she pouted and went back to checking her answers.

The class advisor, Mr. Liu Keqi, also noticed Mu Fei looking around and quietly walked up to him, picking up his completed test paper to check. He was surprised to see that Mu Fei had finished the entire test and that the answers to the questions he checked were completely correct.

Mr. Liu Keqi looked at Mu Fei with surprise, thinking, "This kid has a strong ability to adjust. He just broke up with his girlfriend yesterday, and today he's performing exceptionally well. Could it be that the breakup has motivated him to focus more on his studies? If so, that's a good thing for him."

"Mu Fei, come with me. I need to talk to you," Mr. Liu Keqi said softly.

Mu Fei walked out under the watchful eyes of his classmates, who had various expressions, including surprise from Gao Yuan, anger from the beautiful class representative Lin Ruoyi, and ridicule from Qi Ying.

"Mu Fei, I heard you're sick?" Mr. Liu Keqi asked, noticing Mu Fei's pale face.

Mu Fei could hear the concern in Mr. Liu Keqi's voice and scratched his head. "I felt pretty bad last night, had diarrhea all night, and didn't get up until around nine this morning."

Mr. Liu Keqi smiled gently, full of kindness. "There's only half a year left until the college entrance exam. Every day is crucial. Don't let anything go wrong, okay? Take care of yourself and let me know if you have any difficulties."

Mu Fei was moved by Mr. Liu Keqi's words. When he first started high school, he was a problem student, often skipping classes, fighting, and smoking. No teacher liked him, except for Mr. Liu, who had given him a lot of help in both academics and life.

Whenever he was sick, Mr. Liu would accompany him to the hospital. In his sophomore year, when Mu Fei had a severe cold and was hospitalized, Mr. Liu would take care of him at night after teaching during the day. After three days, when Mu Fei recovered, Mr. Liu had to take a sick leave.

As a teacher, Mr. Liu had done a lot for Mu Fei, so even though he could be indifferent to other teachers, he always listened to Mr. Liu and never argued with him.

"Thank you, Mr. Liu. I understand," Mu Fei said softly.

"Alright, let's get to the main point. Do you know why I called you here?"

Mu Fei knew exactly what she meant. It was about the argument with Wang Chunlan.

"Mr. Liu, I admit I was a bit impulsive."

Mr. Liu poked Mu Fei's head with his finger. "You weren't just a bit impulsive; you were too impulsive, and your words were too harsh. Ms. Wang is one of the best Chinese teachers in the senior year. Her strictness is a sign of her responsibility to you. Even if she criticizes you, it's because she cares. If she didn't care at all, she wouldn't bother with you and would just ignore you, which would be easier for her. Do you understand?"

Mu Fei understood this, but he couldn't stand Wang Chunlan's attitude towards underperforming students. Why should she treat good students well and bad students poorly? Are good students human and bad students not?

Even though he was a bit resentful, Mu Fei didn't want to make Mr. Liu difficult, so he nodded.

Satisfied with Mu Fei's response, Mr. Liu patted his shoulder. "I've talked to Ms. Wang. You should still attend classes and find an opportunity to apologize to her. She won't make things difficult for you."

"Okay."

"Actually, the main reason I called you here is not about that, but about something else. I'll be straightforward, and I hope you don't take it the wrong way. Personally, I don't approve of high school students dating. I knew about your relationship with Qi Ying for a long time, but I didn't say anything because I had confidence in you. I believed you had a sense of responsibility and wouldn't let it affect your studies. You're good at science, and Qi Ying is good at literature, so I hoped your literature scores would improve. But in reality..." Mr. Liu sighed. "I'm a bit disappointed in you."

Mu Fei listened quietly. Perhaps because he had let go, he was no longer as resistant to others' comments about his relationship with Qi Ying. Qi Ying had said she only wanted Mu Fei to help her with her studies, and such a selfish girl wouldn't waste time helping him.

"But it's okay. Seeing your test paper, I'm now reassured," Mr. Liu said, spreading out the paper and smiling. "I was worried that you might give up after the breakup, but you performed even better than before. You're not just the same as before; you're even better. However..."

Mr. Liu's expression turned serious. "I've heard about the reason for your breakup, and I'm very angry."

"I know you're mischievous, like to fight, and even smoke and drink, but I never interfered. Do you know why? Because I knew that although you sometimes fight, you never start trouble, and sometimes it's because you're standing up for your classmates. Although high school students aren't allowed to smoke and drink, you might eventually do so when you go to college or enter society, so I didn't interfere. No matter what, you're my student, and in my eyes, you're unique and irreplaceable. As a teacher, I shouldn't be biased, but when I heard that Qi Ying and that Zu Shaolong said you were worthless, it felt like my own child was being beaten. Can you understand that feeling?"

Mu Fei couldn't fully understand Mr. Liu's feelings, but he could imagine how he would feel if his friends were being bullied. He nodded, feeling her anger.

"Qi Ying wants to go to Tsinghua or Peking University, and she thinks you can't get in. Prove her wrong. Since I know the reason for your breakup, I have a grudge too. Mu Fei, you must get into Tsinghua or Peking University. Only then can you help me get back at them. Can you promise me that?"

Seeing Mr. Liu's serious expression, Mu Fei felt a lot of pressure. Tsinghua and Peking University are the best universities in the country, and only the top ten students in each province have a chance to get in. Could he really do it? But seeing Mr. Liu's hopeful face, Mu Fei couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Mr. Liu, I... I will try my best."

Mr. Liu nodded in satisfaction. "Good, I believe you can succeed. As long as you work hard."

"By the way," she said, suddenly remembering something, and flipped through Mu Fei's test paper. "I remember you had trouble with permutations and combinations. This test had a lot of such questions, which were much harder than usual. Not only did you answer them all, but you did it much faster. Can you tell me how you did it?"

Mu Fei himself didn't understand. "Mr. Liu, was this test really that hard? I felt it was about the same as usual."

Mr. Liu rolled her eyes, a rare display of her losing composure, and lightly tapped Mu Fei's head with the test paper. "Are you indirectly praising yourself? These questions are a collection of the hardest questions from past college entrance exams. If you can solve them without much effort, you can guarantee at least 95 points on the college entrance exam."

"Wow, that's amazing. So, how many points do you think I'll get this time?" Mu Fei asked, surprised.

Mr. Liu glanced at the test paper. "I estimate at least 90 points."

"Ha, so I won't have any problems with the college entrance exam, right?"

Mu Fei was about to feel proud, but Mr. Liu tapped his head. "Don't be arrogant. Learning is like rowing upstream; if you don't move forward, you'll fall behind. Others are moving forward, so you can't stay in place."

"Yes, Mr. Liu, I understand." Talking with Mr. Liu, Mu Fei felt much better. Mr. Liu had a special charm, and even though she was a 50-year-old teacher, students always felt comfortable around her.

"Since you did well today, go rest. You have physics and chemistry in the afternoon, so don't be late. And look at your appearance. Your clothes are messy, and your hair is a mess. Pay more attention to your appearance; young people should have a positive image."

Mr. Liu straightened Mu Fei's collar and waved him back to the classroom. Mu Fei decided to grab lunch while there were fewer people. As he stepped out of the teaching building, he saw a familiar figure.

PS: It's not easy for a new author and a new book. As of yesterday, I got my first收藏 (favorite). I don't know who it was, but I thank you.