The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 30: The Prodigy

While Lin Yuqin was busy preparing lunch in the kitchen, Song Jianqiu—having already gone through all the exam papers—picked up a pen and began answering the questions. At her current age, she would normally be in her third year of junior high, but since third-year students were now in their final semester—and the high school entrance exam was just over a month away—Lin Yuqin would most likely have her repeat the second year of junior high to play it safe. For a typical child, this would naturally be the safer option, but she wasn’t typical. Or rather, even without her extraordinary intellect, given that she had already completed junior high, high school, and college once, repeating eighth grade would simply be a waste of time. It would be better for her to study independently at home for a semester and then take the high school entrance exam directly. That had been her original plan. After all, with her adult mindset, repeating junior high might feel nostalgic and novel at first, but over time, it would inevitably become a form of torture. So she had long made up her mind to stand out enough to skip junior high altogether and take the high school entrance exam at the end of the current semester. Once in high school, she could work even harder, set her sights even higher, and get into a top-tier 985 or 211 university—which would also make up for the regret of having attended only a second-rate university before. Before seeing this exam paper, she felt that this goal was still somewhat challenging—she could skip a grade in middle school, but high school would still require some hard work. However, now that she realized she had apparently become a genius with an incredibly sharp mind, she felt that if she couldn’t even get into those top-tier universities with this ability, she might as well die all over again. Calculating the time, she estimated there was about half an hour left before Lin Yuqin finished making lunch. She hurried to start working on the exam—not aiming to finish everything before lunch, but at least she should be able to complete one section, right? Math exams, which only required solving equations, turned out to be the quickest; she finished them all in less than ten minutes. Next up was English. Her English had been just average in college, but junior high school English was still quite simple for her; she was able to understand it just by refreshing her memory. After writing furiously for a while, she was only halfway through when Song Wencheng returned. Lin Yuqin’s lunch had just been prepared, and she began bringing the dishes out. However, before Lin Yuqin could call everyone to the table, she continued writing with her head down on the coffee table. Song Wencheng walked in, saw this scene, and, feeling a bit curious, asked, “What’s Hengheng doing?” “Taking a test!” Song Jianqiu replied without looking up. Hearing this, Song Wencheng finally recalled the matter he’d discussed with Lin Yuqin the night before—he’d indeed asked her to bring home a set of test papers for Song Jianqiu to work on, to gauge her abilities. It seemed the girl had already started working on them? He’d just gotten home and didn’t know how long Song Jianqiu had been “taking the test,” but he saw that she’d apparently finished the math test and set it aside. Now she was working on the English test, so he didn’t think much of it—though he did wonder if she wasn’t writing a bit too fast. Could it be that she didn’t know the answers and was just scribbling randomly? Just as he was about to step closer for a better look, he heard Lin Yuqin carrying the last plate of food to the dining table, calling out, “Dinner’s ready! Whatever you’re doing, stop it—wash your hands and come eat!” In this household, mealtimes were strictly scheduled. When it was time to eat, that was it—no matter what anyone was doing, they had to stop, wash their hands, and eat. If anyone hesitated even slightly, Lin Yuqin would get angry. Hearing her call, Song Jianqiu put down her pen and went to wash her hands and eat. The rectangular dining table in the small dining room was large enough to seat twelve people, but since the Song family had previously consisted of just three members, only three dining chairs were set out in front of it. The other chairs were only brought out when guests came over or when they hosted a meal. Now, the Song family had grown to four. Although one family member was not at home, his chair was still placed at the table to symbolize that there were four of them. That new addition to the family was Song Jianqiu, who was now sitting across from Song Wencheng and Lin Yuqin. The empty seat next to her belonged to her stepbrother. They’ll probably get to meet him in person by summer break. After eating for a while, Lin Yuqin glanced at Song Jianqiu and asked, “Hengheng, how’s your test paper coming along?” Although the question was directed at Song Jianqiu, before she could answer, Song Wencheng spoke up with a smile, saying, “I just took a look—she’s already finished the math test and is working on the English one now! And it looks like she’s made good progress!” Hearing this, Lin Yuqin was somewhat surprised and asked skeptically, “Hengheng, is that true? You’ve finished the math test?” “Mm-hmm!” Song Jianqiu nodded. She knew Lin Yuqin would surely be skeptical—after all, she’d finished one of the exams so soon after bringing them home, and it was the hardest one, the math exam. If anyone else found out, they’d be suspicious too. Did she really finish the math? Could she have just skipped some questions? Lin Yuqin only let this doubt flit through her mind; she didn’t voice it aloud. A fourteen-year-old is still going through puberty and has a very strong sense of self-esteem. Although the girl seemed relatively mature and level-headed, Lin Yuqin still had to consider whether asking such a question might hurt her pride. “How far have you gotten on the English test?” Although she had some doubts, she felt that Song Jianqiu probably wouldn’t lie to her—after all, there was no point in lying about something like this. Once they finished dinner, she could check the test paper and see for herself. “I’ve done half of it,” Song Jianqiu said. That fast!? Lin Yuqin was taken aback; she suspected Song Jianqiu had most likely skipped some questions—otherwise, how could she have finished so quickly? “Were the questions hard?” “Not too bad.” Song Jianqiu nodded. Although she hadn’t paid much attention to it, she knew a little about how the 2015 middle school entrance exam had been so difficult that it caused quite a stir online. But didn’t that just prove how talented she was? If that were the case, surely they couldn’t possibly make her repeat eighth grade, could they? After hearing Song Jianqiu’s answer, Lin Yuqin nodded silently, feeling both skeptical and a little annoyed. She suspected Song Jianqiu was lying and planned to check the test after dinner; if it turned out to be a lie, she’d have to assert her authority as a mother. Song Wencheng sensed that his wife seemed a bit skeptical of Song Jianqiu’s words, but since he didn’t know the full story, he kept quiet and simply watched from the sidelines. Lunch was over quickly. Song Wencheng and Lin Yuqin skipped their afternoon nap and went straight to the living room, where they sat together and began checking the math test that Song Jianqiu had completed. Song Jianqiu paid no attention to the two of them; she simply returned to her original spot and continued working on the rest of the test. Lin Yuqin took the math worksheets and gave them a quick once-over. When she saw that all the problems had been worked out and none had been skipped, she breathed a slight sigh of relief—this at least proved that Song Jianqiu hadn’t lied to her. However, simply finishing the problems didn’t mean much; getting them right was what really mattered. Especially considering how little time had passed between when she’d brought the test back and when she started making dinner—only about half an hour, right? To have completed two full pages of math problems, plus half a page of English—that speed was practically as fast as copying the answers! She glanced at Song Jianqiu, who was buried in her English exam. Her pen was moving so fast—she had no idea what she was writing—but she resisted the urge to ask. Just as she was about to start checking the math exam, she heard Song Wencheng, who was leaning against her, say, “There aren’t any mistakes on this side.” Both of them had attended college and had excellent grades, so middle school problems were naturally a piece of cake for them. Even if they didn’t quite remember the formulas, just by looking at the steps and answers and giving it a moment’s thought, they could tell if they were correct. Before Lin Yuqin had even begun looking at the exam, Song Wencheng had already gone through it once and found that Side A of the first exam contained no errors. However, math exams are structured from easy to difficult; they start off very simple and get progressively harder, with higher marks naturally awarded for the more challenging questions. Therefore, most students can answer the early questions correctly; the key lies in whether they can solve the difficult problems toward the end. If they get those right, passing is a certainty. After hearing her husband’s words, Lin Yuqin also glanced down at the paper and found that, just as Song Wencheng had said, she had answered them all correctly. She then continued reading. Just then, Song Wencheng offered another compliment: “Your handwriting is quite nice!” His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, so Song Jianqiu, who was sitting right next to the coffee table, naturally heard this compliment directed at her and felt a bit pleased. She hadn’t had many hobbies before; her only passion was calligraphy. After all, it was a relatively inexpensive pastime, so her penmanship was quite good—not that it was in a style all its own, but at least it was a pleasure to look at. After the compliment, the living room fell silent once more. Song Wencheng and Lin Yuqin carefully examined the math test in their hands. The more they looked, the more surprised—and delighted—they became. Not only was the paper neat and the handwriting fluid, but every single question they saw had been answered correctly—not a single mistake, and naturally, not a single correction. After checking the math exam, Lin Yuqin still found it hard to believe. She thought to herself, “Could this girl have taken this exam before?” But then she reconsidered—that was impossible. During the 15th-year high school entrance exam, she had just moved up from seventh to eighth grade; how could she have possibly taken a ninth-grade entrance exam? If that wasn’t the case, could she have copied the answers? But she hadn’t even brought the answer key home! Not to mention, the answers on the exam had only one correct answer and no step-by-step solutions. After all, in math exams, showing your work is mandatory—you’re not allowed to just write the answer; otherwise, you won’t get any points. Take a closer look at this math exam: every question has clear, neat step-by-step solutions with nothing omitted, which completely rules out the possibility of copying answers. Lin Yuqin is also a frequent internet user; although she types very slowly, that doesn’t stop her from browsing websites and reading the news online. I recall a quote I once saw somewhere—apparently from a rather famous detective—whose full version goes: “Eliminate the impossible; whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!” Applying this quote to Song Jianqiu now seems quite fitting. After ruling out all impossibilities, there’s only one answer left: her new maid is a genius! Although Lin Yuqin had already experienced this once before, when she was teaching Song Jianqiu to play the piano, it wasn’t until now that she dared to truly confirm it: a stroke of luck had truly fallen from the sky! (End of Chapter)