Cutting-Edge Technology R&D Center

Chapter 24: Zhou Xin’s Delight

At that moment, Zhao Yi was sitting in her office, picking up a newspaper and reading it. “Wang Hao.” After glancing at the newspaper—whose front page was filled with stories about the perfect-score top scorer in Xijiang Province—she immediately thought of the student she’d proctored, because she knew that the “crazy” student she’d proctored was also named Wang Hao. But she never imagined he’d be this exceptional. “Sis Yi, what’s the matter? Wang Hao is now the pride of Gancheng—even better than Lan Wei from last year.” Several other teachers were also sitting in the office. Upon hearing Zhao Yi’s gasp, they laughed and remarked; they had already read the newspaper earlier. “That’s the student I proctored. I remember telling you about it,” Zhao Yi said as she recounted the details of the exam. “Now I remember. You mentioned that there was a student who finished every exam in under thirty minutes. Is that this Wang Hao?” One of the teachers exclaimed in astonishment, not doubting the truth of Zhao Yi’s words, since she had previously mentioned discovering an exceptionally gifted student while proctoring. “This isn’t just a top student—he’s clearly a genius…” The other teachers also recalled that Zhao Yi had mentioned that student’s name before. Meanwhile, inside Gan City No. 1 High School, the principal sat in his office, speechless as he watched the two men in front of him. Ever since they met, the two had been arguing… but given their status, he didn’t feel he could say much. One was the director of admissions at Yan’da University, and the other was the director of admissions at Tsinghua University—while he was merely the principal of a high school in a prefecture-level city. “Please stop arguing for now. I’ve already notified Wang Hao’s homeroom teacher—as soon as he arrives at school, bring him straight here. You can discuss the details with Wang Hao yourselves.” The principal of Gan City No. 1 High School rubbed the bridge of his nose, his face a mix of excitement and exasperation as he spoke. Last year, it had been just admissions officers from the two schools coming to his office to compete for Lan Wei, but this year, the two directors had come in person. “Principal, admissions officers from Fudan, Nankai, and several other universities are here.” The principal of Gan City No. 1 High School, who was already dealing with a headache, immediately wore a grim expression upon hearing his assistant’s report... Dealing with these two had already left him completely exhausted; if a few more people from top-tier universities showed up, he’d have absolutely no peace. Just then, however, his phone suddenly rang, and his expression instantly relaxed. Wang Hao had arrived at school. He immediately asked Wang Hao’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhou, to bring him over—then he’d be off the hook. Right now, he was experiencing a mix of pain and joy. “Hao Ge, you go ahead. I’ll head to the classroom first,” Fang Bing said with a smile. “Okay, Teacher, let’s go,” Wang Hao replied calmly. He had barely stepped onto the school grounds when Teacher Zhou stopped him. At that moment, Teacher Zhou’s face was beaming with excitement. She had never imagined that Wang Hao had kept his identity so well hidden—he had actually become the top scorer in Xijiang Province. When she first saw the news, she had marveled at how people with the same name could have such different fates, but after reading the article more carefully she realized something didn’t add up. Just like last year, the top scorer was from Gancheng—so where was Gancheng’s best student? Surely at Gan City No. 1 High School. Yet there were hardly any students named Wang Hao taking the college entrance exam today. At that moment, she recalled the extraordinary things Wang Hao had displayed on Caoshan Mountain, along with the calm composure in his expression, which sparked a glimmer of hope in her heart. However, she didn’t mention this glimmer of hope to anyone, for fear of being thought of as crazy. It wasn’t until the principal called her directly on her cell phone—and explicitly informed her that the directors of admissions from Yan’da University and Huaqing University were in his office, waiting for Wang Hao from her class—that she jumped up in excitement. “Wang Hao, I really never would have guessed you were hiding your talents so well,” Ms. Zhou said with a touch of admiration. “Teacher, you’ve done a great job teaching us,” Wang Hao said with a smile. “Stop flattering me now. I know exactly what you’ve been up to… scribbling and doodling in my classes and those of other teachers every single day—I know exactly what you’ve been up to,” Ms. Zhou said, shooting him a disapproving glance. Wang Hao gave an awkward smile. Since he had already finished the high school curriculum long ago, he often went about his own business during class—pondering Longnao’s code and scribbling in his notebook. His notebook had been confiscated by the teacher a few times, but the teacher couldn’t make heads or tails of what he’d written in code. After Wang Hao made a series of promises to behave, his notebooks were returned. From then on, Wang Hao adapted his note-taking methods to each teacher’s style: for math, he used formulas; for Chinese, he jotted down poetic passages. When teachers discovered this, Wang Hao’s notes appeared to be legitimate class notes—albeit somewhat vague—so they couldn’t bring themselves to confiscate his notebooks again. “I really envy Zhou Xin—she totally hit the jackpot with a top student...” “Well, who would’ve thought? You know what Wang Hao’s usually like—he’s just above average in class. Zhou Xin really is lucky.” The news that Wang Hao, a student in Zhou Xin’s class, had become the top scorer in Xijiang Province had long since spread among the teachers. They all envied Zhou Xin—she’d practically hit the jackpot by having a top scorer in her class, and the school would surely shower her with rewards. “Teacher Chen, you’re Wang Hao’s homeroom teacher, right? I imagine your reward won’t be small either,” one of the teachers said to Teacher Chen standing nearby. Those words immediately drew the other teachers’ attention to Teacher Chen. After all, when Lan Wei had become the top scorer last year, the school had awarded her teacher a substantial bonus. “We’ll have to wait and see,” Teacher Chen replied with a smile. He hadn’t expected Wang Hao to become the top scorer, but if a top scorer emerged from his class, he’d certainly have something to brag about. The other teachers looked at Mr. Chen with envy—this was essentially free money. “Principal.” Teacher Zhou led Wang Hao into the school’s conference room. After entering, Wang Hao glanced around and quickly guessed why they’d moved from the principal’s office to this conference room—there were simply too many people, about seven or eight. “Please sit down. You too, Ms. Zhou—since you’re Wang Hao’s homeroom teacher, let’s all have a chat together.” The principal smiled warmly at Wang Hao and Ms. Zhou. “Principal, I won’t be staying here. I need to get back to lead my homeroom meeting.” Ms. Zhou looked slightly taken aback and shook her head. If she knew Wang Hao well, she would have sat down without hesitation, but she knew absolutely nothing about him. If anyone else asked questions, she wouldn’t be able to answer them. “All right.” The principal of Gan City No. 1 High School nodded slightly, then turned to Wang Hao and said, “Wang Hao, the reason I asked you to come here today is to hear your thoughts. Everyone here represents the admissions offices of top-tier universities. Do you have any universities in mind?”