Chapter 86

ps: It's tough, I didn't finish coding before work, so I used my phone to finish it on the way. Now I've found a chance to upload it using my phone. I'm not sure if there are any乱码 or formatting issues, I'm worried...

The meeting place was set at a relatively high-end restaurant near the Second High School. Zhang Qiu took a taxi there ahead of time to reserve a private room and waited inside.

A message was sent on QQ, and before long, Ning Lan arrived, accompanied by Chen Lan.

As soon as she arrived, Ning Lan said, "I was originally planning to invite Ye Zhuyun, but when I asked if it was just you, Brother Qiu, doing it yourself, I said it was at a restaurant. She said she wasn't interested in restaurants, so she didn't come."

"Uh..." Zhang Qiu was speechless. However, Ye Zhuyun's taste was indeed picky. Her coming might have given Zhang Qiu a pleasant surprise, but her not coming wouldn't disappoint him. After all, although they were in a landlord-tenant relationship, they weren't very familiar with each other.

Compared to Ning Lan, who was his childhood friend, Zhang Qiu knew Ning Lan better than anyone else, except for his mother. It was like having a younger sister, and no other woman could compare.

As for Chen Lan, although they hadn't known each other for long, they had gone through many things together. From the moment she came to warn Zhang Qiu and Ning Lan about Cheng Jianwu's revenge, Zhang Qiu had been involved in tasks related to her, and he had even carried her several times.

Not to mention, in terms of physical familiarity, he knew her better than Ye Zhuyun.

Xiang Yufei, on the other hand, had experienced life and death with him, and they had even exchanged their first kisses. Zhang Qiu's feelings for her were the most special, but in terms of familiarity, he knew her less than Ning Lan.

Although he knew her tragic background, he didn't fully understand her personality, habits, and many details of her life. However, she was still the woman Zhang Qiu knew best besides Ning Lan.

With this comparison, Zhang Qiu naturally wouldn't be disappointed.

"Ah, this joint exam was so difficult! After the exam, I have no confidence in the college entrance exam at all," Chen Lan sighed.

Chen Lan also chimed in, "Yeah! The difficulty this time was insane. I think I can only score around 400 points."

"Don't worry too much. Joint exams are generally more difficult than the college entrance exam, right? If you can score 400 points in the joint exam, you should be able to score 500 points in the college entrance exam, and you can choose any university you want," Zhang Qiu comforted.

"How can it be that easy! I've heard so many examples of seniors scoring high in the joint exam but low in the college entrance exam. Not to mention those who scored low in the joint exam, who would do even worse in the college entrance exam. It's not just a matter of difficulty!" Ning Lan said.

"Right! It doesn't matter if you do poorly in the joint exam. The higher the difficulty, the better the mindset, and the higher the score. The college entrance exam only has one chance. If you do poorly, it's over, so the mindset is different," Chen Lan said.

Zhang Qiu wanted to say that from the way they were worrying, their mindset didn't seem to be that good. But as he was about to speak, he realized it would be suicidal and quickly swallowed his words.

Since getting the system, he had made up for the years of not interacting with girls. After dealing with so many girls, his insight had gradually improved. Although he sometimes still said things he shouldn't, at least he wouldn't doom himself to a life of loneliness.

He could sense when a comment was inappropriate before he even said it.

So Zhang Qiu smiled and said, "Don't worry too much. At least the college entrance exam isn't a one-shot deal. If all else fails, you can always retake it."

"Retaking is even more stressful... Every year, so many students retake, but very few can turn things around. Those who score much better than before are often celebrated. More often, they score lower or about the same," Chen Lan said.

"I think you two are overthinking it. I'm a poor student and I'm not stressed, so you shouldn't fail to do better than me," Zhang Qiu said. The two girls were getting more and more pessimistic, so he had to use a bit of reverse psychology.

"How did you do in the joint exam?" Ning Lan asked, "Brother Qiu, you promised to strive for improvement! You haven't reported your scores to me since then!"

"The last few weekly and monthly exams, I passed," Zhang Qiu said.

Although he had the skill to excel in exams, reaching the average level of top scorers in various cities, he had been low-key in the previous monthly and weekly exams, just slightly improving to pass.

He then laughed and said, "Now that I see you two, I feel more confident. I have a good mindset! I might even perform exceptionally well."

"Being able to pass shows that Brother Qiu has indeed worked hard!" Ning Lan said. Although passing was still a big gap from her, and far from her expectations, she knew that what she imagined was impossible. How could a student who couldn't even pass improve to the level of a top student in just two months?

This was clearly unrealistic, so she only imagined it in her mind. In reality, Zhang Qiu had made significant progress. As long as he could pass the college entrance exam, he would have a chance to go to college, even if it was just a junior college, which still counted as higher education.

Brother Qiu didn't become a charming top student, which was a bit disappointing. But the fact that he had worked hard for her words was very comforting.

However, hearing Zhang Qiu boast, Ning Lan was a bit不服 and didn't believe him: "Performing exceptionally well would be great, but I don't believe you can surpass us. Even if you perform exceptionally well, you might only score a few points more. I've never scored below 500 points!"

"Right, Ning Lan is the best," Chen Lan nodded.

Being a top student doesn't necessarily mean being a genius. Someone who studies hard and can score a recognized high score, even if not the best, can still be considered a top student.

"Whether I'm good or not, we'll know after the exam. How about we make a bet?" Zhang Qiu said.

"What kind of bet?" Chen Lan asked.

Ning Lan pouted and said, "Betting with you is too easy."

"Maybe not. To make the bet more interesting and challenging, you can give me a question to solve. Any question will do. It can be a question you couldn't solve before. If you can't confirm the correctness of my answer, you can ask the teacher at school," Zhang Qiu said.

"Hehe! You said it, let's see your skills!" Ning Lan said.

"Sure, I'll join too!" Chen Lan nodded.

The two girls rummaged through their bags and soon took out a test paper. Ning Lan came over first and pointed to a question that hadn't been solved.

"First, solve this question!" Ning Lan said.

After she spoke, Chen Lan handed Zhang Qiu a piece of scratch paper and a pen.

It was a math problem. Zhang Qiu thought about it for a moment, and a similar problem immediately came to mind. However, this question still posed a challenge to him.

Although his current level was at the average of top scorers in various cities, and he knew various problem types, it didn't mean he could solve every problem. Even top scorers don't always get full marks.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Qiu started writing.

The speed at which he wrote surprised Ning Lan, who wondered if he was just scribbling.

However, looking at the writing on Zhang Qiu's scratch paper, Ning Lan found it made some sense, at least it wasn't random.

After a while, Ning Lan suddenly had an epiphany. She realized the problem could be solved this way!

It took Zhang Qiu about three minutes to finish the problem. To Zhang Qiu, this was slow, but to Ning Lan and Chen Lan, it was incredibly fast.

Some difficult problems can take 10 to 20 minutes to solve, and a speed of one minute per point is considered good. Often, it can take 30 minutes to solve a difficult problem.

Zhang Qiu solving it in three minutes was indeed impressive.

"Have you seen this problem before?" Ning Lan asked.

"I haven't seen this exact problem, but I've seen similar ones," Zhang Qiu said.

"Okay, you've finished it. But I don't know if it's the correct answer. The answers to this test paper are with the teacher, and I don't have them," Ning Lan said.

At this moment, Chen Lan also smiled and said, "I didn't expect Brother Zhang to be so good! I was going to give you this problem too, but since Ning Lan did, I'll give you another one."

She rummaged through her bag again, took out a practice book, flipped to a page, and pointed to a problem, handing it to Zhang Qiu.

This time, Zhang Qiu solved it even faster, finishing in just over a minute.

Chen Lan said, "I don't have the answers with me, but I'll check them with you later."

"Uh, if neither of you will grade it, are you really going to bet or not?" Zhang Qiu asked.

"I'm betting with you! Although we haven't checked the answers, your performance just now is worth it!" Ning Lan said, her face puffed up, making her look even cuter.

Chen Lan also smiled sweetly and said, "Brother Zhang can be my opponent now!"

"So the bet is on, but what are we betting on? Think of a good prize, or it won't be exciting enough," Ning Lan asked.

"What are we betting on?" Zhang Qiu also fell into deep thought.

At this moment, the system suddenly popped up a task: "Comprehensive Plot Task: