The Reincarnated Science Whiz

Chapter 5: Exams

In the blink of an eye, a month of senior year had already passed. They also faced their first comprehensive exam of senior year—not just a class test, but an exam for the entire senior class, with two subjects tested each day. The first subject was Chinese—a subject you simply couldn’t afford to fail. Chinese might seem unimportant, but it’s actually crucial: out of a possible 150 points on the college entrance exam, it accounts for a very large portion. Moreover, students in the science track often struggle with Chinese, which can significantly drag down their overall scores. Qin Yuanqing picked up the exam paper and skimmed through the questions at a glance, getting a clear sense of the key topics and test items. He didn’t begin answering until the teacher gave the go-ahead. Chinese is one of those subjects where you either know it or you don’t—it’s very clear-cut. Only the essay allows for some flexibility. As for reciting poetry and prose by heart, filling in the blanks, and classical Chinese passages, these are strictly fixed; a single character out of place means the entire answer is wrong, with absolutely no room for leniency. Qin Yuanqing spent fifty minutes completing all the questions except for the essay before he began writing it. The essay required a minimum of 800 characters. For Qin Yuanqing, regardless of whether he knew the material or not, he had to reach at least 800 characters. As long as he hit that mark, he was guaranteed at least 40 points; if his writing was neat and had some substance, 45 points were practically guaranteed. In the past, Qin Yuanqing would have just jumped right in—writing down the essay topic first and then following a classic argumentative essay format. But recently, he’d read quite a few perfect-score essays and some articles from *Reader* magazine, so he began trying to emulate their style. After a month of practice, his handwriting had improved somewhat and looked much neater. Qin Yuanqing wrote very slowly, one character at a time, making sure there were no typos and striving to use elegant sentences wherever possible. Sometimes he’d even include a line or two of poetry as a touch of flair. He didn’t know if this would improve his essay score, but he had to try—otherwise, his essay would struggle to score higher than 50 points. Just as Qin Yuanqing had written over 900 characters and put a period at the end of his essay, the bell rang, and the teacher announced that the exam was over. After the exams were collected, Qin Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, while the other students began to discuss the test. Some sighed in frustration, some flipped through their books and stomped their feet in anger, and others rushed to the restroom—the chemistry exam was set to begin in ten minutes. It was currently the first semester of senior year, and chemistry, physics, and biology had not yet been combined into a single comprehensive science exam; that wouldn’t happen until the next semester. For now, the three subjects were tested separately, with each exam worth a maximum of 100 points. Qin Yuanqing felt very confident about chemistry. As long as he understood the types of chemical reactions and electron transfer, he could derive chemical equations. The only things he needed to memorize were the experimental procedures and the colors resulting from certain reactions. If we’re talking about strengths, chemistry could barely be considered one of Qin Yuanqing’s—he spends the least amount of time on it, yet consistently scores above 90. When the chemistry exam began, Qin Yuanqing picked up the test paper and, after a quick glance, felt a sense of satisfaction. The chemistry exam repeatedly covered just a few types of questions; sometimes, Qin Yuanqing didn’t even need to do any calculations—he could simply select the answer. After all, he could easily rule out two incorrect options, leaving him with a choice between two, making it much easier to deduce the correct answer. Even for the chemical reaction equations later in the test, as long as he balanced the equations, it was easy to calculate concentrations, volumes, and the like. As for precipitates, there were only a few common types. Qin Yuanqing wrote with divine inspiration and finished the exam quickly. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw that only half the allotted time had passed. Qin Yuanqing didn’t even check his work; he simply handed in his exam on his own initiative. The other students glanced at Qin Yuanqing in surprise. How could he turn in his paper so quickly? Was he out of his mind? Once the papers were returned, he was sure to get an earful from the “Old Rascal.” Their chemistry teacher was a veteran educator with nearly forty years of experience. Standing just 1. 6 meters tall with a head full of white hair, he resembled the mischievous character Zhou Botong from the classic novel, so everyone affectionately called him “Old Mischief-Maker.” Old Mischief-Maker’s lectures were full of wit, and everyone enjoyed his classes. If you were to name the most popular teacher at Jinpu No. 1 High School, Old Mischief-Maker would undoubtedly top the list. Like other teachers, the Old Prankster always emphasized to everyone: after finishing a test, don’t rush to turn it in—check it from start to finish. Be careful, careful, and even more careful! A little extra care can sometimes earn you several extra points! Qin Yuanqing walked straight out of the classroom. After all, except during midterms and finals, everyone kept their books under their desks, and with teachers walking back and forth, no student dared to cheat. Qin Yuanqing left school and headed back to his dorm. Since the second semester of his freshman year, he hadn’t lived in the school dorms—he found them too noisy, and lights-out was at 10 p. m. —so he rented a place off-campus for 1,200 per semester, a private room. Qin Yuanqing took a shower, had a bite to eat, and then started reading for a while to relax before taking a nap at 1:00 p. m. When it comes to an afternoon nap, longer isn’t necessarily better—a deep sleep of fifteen minutes to half an hour is usually enough. The afternoon exams would cover math and physics, both of which emphasized logic and critical thinking. Thanks to this month’s intensive review, Qin Yuanqing had largely made up for his weaknesses in math. As for physics, his grades had always been in the top tier—he’d never scored a perfect score, but he consistently earned 90 or higher. “Should I exchange these Study Coins for IQ or Friendship?” Qin Yuanqing looked at the 200 Study Coins, pondered for a moment, and ultimately decided to exchange them for IQ. His attributes then changed to: Host: Qin Yuanqing Age: 18 IQ: 145 Emotional Intelligence: 100 Subjects: Chinese: Level 3 (0/10,000) Math: Level 3 (0/10,000) English: Level 2 (50/1,000) Physics: Level 3 (0/10,000) Chemistry: Level 3 (0/10,000) Biology: Level 3 (0/10,000) Physical Fitness: Level 1 (0/100) Looking at his Intelligence stat, Qin Yuanqing clapped his hands in satisfaction. His IQ was now at the genius level, placing him among the top academic achievers. Compared to those who topped the college entrance exams, his IQ certainly held its own. Apart from English, he had already made significant progress, and he was confident that making it into the top 20 in his grade this time was entirely within reach. “Reaching Level 10 is going to be incredibly difficult!” Qin Yuanqing looked at his stats; the higher the level, the more points required. He would have to read more books, solve more practice problems, and master even more concepts. Qin Yuanqing even began to wonder if Level 10 meant having a complete mastery of high school curriculum—covering everything from high-frequency exam topics to obscure ones—and becoming the top student among top students. Otherwise, how could he still be so far behind? Regardless, Qin Yuanqing had clearly realized that at this stage, advancing a level didn’t mean a dramatic jump in scores, but rather a more solid and comprehensive grasp of the material. With only so many questions on a single exam, it was impossible for every single concept to be tested. Even the college entrance exam is no exception—a large portion of the material simply won’t be tested; otherwise, a single exam paper wouldn’t be nearly enough. That afternoon, during the math and physics exams, Qin Yuanqing found both subjects quite easy. In the past, physics had been manageable, and he’d typically scored around 120 to 130 on math. But now, with exams covering only a few units of material, Qin Yuanqing found them remarkably straightforward. He began to vaguely understand why top students consistently performed so well on every test. After finishing his math exam, Qin Yuanqing reviewed it and found no obvious mistakes; there were still 15 minutes left on the clock when he turned in his paper. As for the physics exam, he turned it in with more than half the time remaining—it simply revolved around a few key concepts and formulas, posing absolutely no difficulty. Qin Yuanqing had the feeling that this exam was much easier than before. His thinking was much clearer, and he no longer felt flustered during the test. Even when he encountered a problem he couldn’t solve immediately, he would try to break it down and analyze it, finding a solution by applying variations of the formulas. That evening, for a rare change, there was no evening study session. Instead of studying, Qin Yuanqing went to the school’s small garden—which was actually only about 1,000 square meters in size. It featured a pond and a gazebo, with a neat row of willow trees lining the pond’s edge. Water lilies bloomed in the pond, looking beautiful under the lights, making it a favorite spot for many students. Qin Yuanqing noticed some students holding books and leaning against the streetlights as they read, while others were reading aloud in hushed tones. School is an ivory tower; students’ sole task is to study. There are no ulterior motives here, nor any complex social dynamics. It’s a simple, uncomplicated place where friends are just friends and classmates are just classmates—without any exchange of favors. As the best high school in Jinpu County, Jinpu No. 1 High School boasts dedicated teachers whose professional integrity is beyond question—anyone who mentions them would give them a thumbs-up. As for the students, having already excelled on the high school entrance exam, the vast majority possess high moral standards, and incidents of school bullying are virtually nonexistent. At least, during Qin Yuanqing’s three years of high school, he had never heard of any such incidents. “Hey, Qin Yuanqing, you’re here too?” A clear, pleasant voice rang out. Qin Yuanqing looked in the direction of the voice and saw a delicate-looking girl. She had been his classmate in middle school and again in their first year of high school, though after the track selection—where students chose between the arts and sciences—she had opted for the arts track. Qin Yuanqing smiled slightly. “Dai Yuqing, it’s been a long time. You’re memorizing vocabulary words, aren’t you?” Qin Yuanqing still remembered this classmate. What stood out most to him was an incident in college: he’d gone to another classmate’s house to make tea and invited her to join them. But when she arrived, she simply said, “We’re not that close,” which infuriated Qin Yuanqing to no end. After all, there were only 13 of them from their junior high school, and everyone would get together occasionally during high school; they were on fairly good terms. Although they didn’t talk much, how could they have become “not close” and turned into strangers by the time they reached college? Since that incident, Qin Yuanqing hadn’t been in touch with Dai Yuqing. Rumor had it that she later took the graduate school entrance exam and became the only one in their group to earn a master’s degree, but no one knew where she ended up after that. “Yeah…” Dai Yuqing and Qin Yuanqing sat down, chatting and laughing, and then mentioned that Qin Yuanqing currently had the best grades in their group, which made the rest of them quite envious. Although they had all been top students in middle school, consistently ranking in the top ten, once they reached high school, the differences in their academic levels became immediately apparent. The gap was very obvious—for example, in the humanities track, which had only 300 students, Dai Yuqing could only rank around 200th.