The Reincarnated Science Whiz

Chapter 27: Returning Home

in Glory By this point, Fang Jianguo had come to regard Qin Yuanqing as a god of wealth. Ever since Qin Yuanqing’s sudden rise to prominence, Jinpu No. 1 High School had reaped enormous benefits, with even more to come. He chatted with Qin Yuanqing about everyday matters, asked about his trip abroad, congratulated him on his outstanding achievements, and finally gave him some advice on what to keep in mind. Qin Yuanqing wasn’t just an ordinary student; he naturally understood the ways of the world. This was a major event: high-ranking city officials and the director of the Municipal Education Bureau were in attendance, accompanied by high-ranking county officials, the county’s top leader, and the director of the County Education Bureau. This was arguably the most high-profile visit in the history of Jinpu No. 1 High School; in the past, even a visit from a deputy mayor would have been considered quite an honor. As for high-ranking municipal officials, that kind of treatment was typically reserved for Municipal No. 1 High School and Municipal Experimental High School. After spending about half an hour in the principal’s office, Qin Yuanqing took his leave and returned to his classroom. Qin Yuanqing walked to the back door of the classroom and saw his classmates working on problems. He quietly made his way to his seat and sat down. Skinny Monkey was startled and jumped to his feet. The sudden commotion shattered the classroom’s quiet atmosphere, and the students all turned to look at the back door, where they saw Qin Yuanqing, who had just sat down. Everyone froze for a moment. Whoa! The whole class erupted! The study atmosphere collapsed in an instant. “Wow, Qin Yuanqing, you’re back!” “Holy crap, look at those muscles! Weren’t you supposed to be competing? How’d you end up hitting the gym instead?” “Big shot! We underachievers bow down in awe!” The students chattered excitedly, and finally, a round of enthusiastic applause broke out to welcome Qin Yuanqing back. “Guys, don’t do this—I can’t handle all this attention!” Qin Yuanqing scratched his head and said shyly. Even with his thick skin, he couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed at that moment. “Qin Yuanqing, you deserve it!” Lin Yuling declared loudly. “Qin Yuanqing, you’ve brought honor to our country by winning the International Mathematical Olympiad championship. You’re the top math student in all of Huaxia’s high schools—you’re the pride of Jinpu No. 1 High School! You’re the pride of Jinpu, the pride of Shuixian City, and the pride of Fujian Province!” “Exactly! You deserve it!” the others chimed in. The entire class went wild. Qin Yuanqing had been away from school for a month, and they hadn’t seen him, but they’d already seen reports about him on the *News Broadcast*. This was the second time Qin Yuanqing had appeared on the *News Broadcast*, and this time he was featured for 15 seconds. The last time, when he won the CMO championship, the segment lasted 10 seconds—but that was an overview of the entire competition, so Qin Yuanqing himself was on screen for less than 4 seconds. On top of that, all sorts of legendary stories about Qin Yuanqing were circulating on online forums and discussion boards, making them feel as though they were ordinary people gazing upon a god! “It’s not that big of a deal—I just went to a competition and won a gold medal! No need to make such a fuss!” Qin Yuanqing said sheepishly. “Everyone, sit down. Next week is our first mock exam, so you’d better prepare thoroughly!” Now that they’d entered the second semester of their senior year, the school had canceled midterms and finals, replacing them with monthly exams and mock exams. There were two rounds of mock exams, designed to simulate the college entrance exam, with all high schools in the county taking them simultaneously. Rankings were no longer based on individual schools but on county-wide standings. Qin Yuanqing had missed the two monthly exams, but he managed to make it in time for this mock exam. Seeing his classmates poring over their monthly exam papers, Qin Yuanqing said, “If any of you have questions, feel free to ask me!” He then quickly motioned for everyone to return to their seats and remain quiet. Sure enough, as soon as Qin Yuanqing sat down, a classmate came over with a test paper to ask a question, since the papers had just been handed out that day and the teacher hadn’t yet gone over them. Qin Yuanqing glanced at the paper, then stood up with it in hand and walked to the front of the classroom. Question by question, he broke down the key concepts behind each one and shared problem-solving techniques with his classmates. In less than a class period, Qin Yuanqing had already finished explaining the entire math exam, while the math teacher stood at the back of the room—without even entering the classroom—and interrupted Qin Yuanqing’s explanation. “Unbelievable, unbelievable! That level of mathematical thinking and foundational skills is truly impressive—no wonder he scored a perfect score and won a gold medal at the IMO!” Wu Qishan was deeply impressed. He had personally worked through the entire exam himself but had only scored 140 points; it wasn’t until he checked the answer key that he understood the technique behind the final problem. Yet when Qin Yuanqing explained the last question, he immediately provided three different solutions—each drawing on high school-level concepts. “Clap, clap~~” As soon as Qin Yuanqing finished his explanation, Wu Qishan was the first to break into applause, and the rest of the students followed suit instinctively. They all felt they had gained a great deal from listening to Qin Yuanqing’s explanation. “Teacher Wu!” Qin Yuanqing spotted Wu Qishan at the back of the classroom and called out sheepishly. “Qin Yuanqing, you did a great job explaining that. As expected of an IMO gold medalist—you’re truly impressive!” Mr. Wu waved his hand, walked up to the podium, patted Qin Yuanqing on the shoulder, and said with deep emotion, “As a math teacher, I hope you’ll continue down this path in mathematics and go even further!” Qin Yuanqing stepped down from the podium and returned to his seat. Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of class and the start of dismissal. Qin Yuanqing ate lunch outside, then stopped by his dorm. He didn’t have any textbooks in his classroom; the last time he’d left for training camp in Beijing, he’d taken all his books back to the dorm. During evening study hall, Qin Yuanqing noticed that students from other classes kept coming to the doorway—all to see him—which made him feel quite embarrassed. What’s going on? Wasn’t it just winning a team gold and an individual gold? Why, as soon as he came back, was he treated like a panda in a park, surrounded by onlookers! What a pain! Is this even a life anymore? At 4:00 p. m. on Friday, led by their homeroom teachers, the students brought their chairs to the playground and quickly lined up neatly by class. Everyone already knew that high-ranking city officials and representatives from the Municipal Education Bureau had come to inspect the school—all because Qin Yuanqing had won a gold medal at the IMO, and the team had also won a gold medal. Qin Yuanqing looked at the high-ranking city official on the podium and couldn’t help but feel moved. In a few years, this official would become the city’s top leader, then a high-ranking official in Fujian Province, and soon after, a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and a high-ranking official in the political and legal sector—his rise was as rapid as a rocket. Moreover, just last year, this municipal official had been the top leader of Jinpu County; after a brief transitional period, he had moved to the city to take up a high-ranking position. In the end, Qin Yuanqing received a cash reward of 500,000 from the city. In the days that followed, he received additional bonuses from the Municipal Education Bureau, the county government, and the County Education Bureau, which together also exceeded 500,000. This led Qin Yuanqing to reflect that the government truly places great importance on education. He then thought of the athletes who competed for the country at the Olympics; every time they won a gold medal, they were heavily publicized by local authorities—after all, they were bringing glory and honor to the nation. In any case, the bonuses from the city and county this time around meant Qin Yuanqing had made a substantial sum.