After years as an overworked engineer, Qin Yuanqing unexpectedly awakens in his final year of high school, given a chance to rewrite his life. Along with his rebirth comes a mysterious Academic Genius System that rewards learning with points and powerful abilities. Determined not to repeat his old regrets, Qin devotes himself to study, rises from an ordinary student to a national academic prodigy, and enters the world of advanced science. His journey soon expands far beyond exam scores, leading him into mathematics, physics, engineering, energy, artificial intelligence, and aerospace research. As his discoveries reshape technology and society, Qin sets his sights on an even greater goal: pushing humanity beyond Earth and toward the stars.
Chapter 35: The
Top Scorer on the College Entrance Exam While Qin Yuanqing was busy with home renovations and writing *The Qin Family Treasury*, the college entrance exam grading process at the Normal University was proceeding in a tense yet orderly manner. The Gaokao grading room in Fujian Province. The graders were intently reviewing the exams and continuously assigning scores, which were then aggregated through a computer program. It was precisely because of computer assistance that the grading process was so fast; otherwise, they would have had to grade the papers, then tally the scores, and finally rank the results. Now, however, all of this could be handled by pre-programmed computer software. Apart from the Chinese language exam, which requires a relatively large amount of manual grading, the multiple-choice questions on the math exam are graded directly by computer, and the fill-in-the-blank questions also have unique answers, so only the open-ended questions need to be graded against the answer key. Since the vast majority of students cannot even solve the first open-ended question, the math exam is graded very quickly. In the science comprehensive exam, multiple-choice questions account for nearly half of the total score, so only the fill-in-the-blank and calculation questions require manual grading—but since the answers are unambiguous, these are the quickest to grade. Of course, the English exam is the fastest to grade. Since the vast majority of the English exam consists of multiple-choice questions, only the final question requires manual grading. Therefore, among all subjects, English is the first to be graded and the first to have its scores released. Even so, the graders are not allowed to leave the compound and can only move within its boundaries. Only after the scores for all subjects have been tallied can the graders resume their normal activities. As the grading of each subject’s exams was completed one by one, the date for the release of the college entrance exam results gradually approached. June 25, in the afternoon Qin Yuanqing’s home was filled with people—relatives and friends—all eager to be the first to know his college entrance exam scores. In addition, many reporters had arrived that day, eager to get their hands on Qin Yuanqing’s scores as soon as possible. Qin Yuanqing was now the darling of the media, and the release of his scores was sure to be a hot news story. “Qin Yuanqing, how many points do you think you’ll score on this college entrance exam?” one reporter after another asked him. “Um, I naturally think I should be able to score 750 points, but unfortunately, I don’t know if the Chinese examiner will deduct points from my essay,” Qin Yuanqing said somewhat sheepishly. There were more than twenty reporters present this time. Since they couldn’t work from home, they naturally couldn’t brew tea, so each had to make do with a single bottle of mineral water. He secretly admired these reporters’ professional ethics—they were willing to endure any hardship or fatigue to get the scoop. Upon hearing this, the reporters rolled their eyes in unison. What a joke—no one had ever scored a perfect 750 on the college entrance exam. “All right, the provincial department has announced the launch of the score-checking system—scores are now available,” one reporter suddenly said, and everyone turned to look at Qin Yuanqing. Qin Yuanqing opened his laptop, navigated to the homepage, and clicked the link. After entering his name, ID number, and exam admission ticket number in the pop-up window, his scores for each subject of the college entrance exam appeared: “Chinese: 150.” “Math, 150.” “Science Comprehensive: 300.” “English, 150.” “Total score: 750.” “Just as I expected… I got a perfect score in every subject, with a total of 750 points!” Qin Yuanqing thought to himself. At the same time, he noticed that both tasks in his system task bar had been completed, and his Study Coins had increased by 1,000, bringing his total to 10,500 Study Coins. Reporters rushed to photograph Qin Yuanqing’s college entrance exam scores. Combining these with the photos and interviews from earlier, they immediately published their edited reports. “After winning a gold medal in the Math Olympiad, Qin Yuanqing has once again claimed the top spot in the science track of Fujian Province’s college entrance exam!” “750! A perfect score! Top scorer Qin Yuanqing sets a new record!” “750+20—this top scorer is about more than just a perfect score!” “The top scorer with 750+20—his college entrance exam results…!” “The First Perfect-Score Top Scorer in History—A Star Emerges from a Humble Background!” News reports poured out one after another, hyping him up—pushing the hype to the absolute limit. In a situation like this, if they didn’t hype him up now, when else would they? Trending topic! Breaking news! Whoever reports it first will seize the news spotlight! Qin Yuanqing’s family and friends congratulated him one after another. His dad lit the fireworks he’d prepared long ago—even though setting them off in broad daylight meant you couldn’t really see much, but who cared at a time like this? Everyone was just there to celebrate. Qin Yuanqing also posted a screenshot of his scores in the class QQ group. Instantly, the group erupted into a frenzy of excitement, with all sorts of well-wishes pouring in. Soon, other classmates began sharing their own scores as well, making the group buzz with activity. Qin Yuanqing saw that the classmates who had posted in the QQ group had all done well on the exam, especially Lin Yuling, who scored 675 on the college entrance exam and stood a very good chance of being admitted to Shuimu University or Yan Da University. This was 70 points higher than in his previous life—a clear example of the butterfly effect triggered by Qin Yuanqing. In addition, Huang Zhong scored 653 points, securing him a spot at a “Double First-Class” university. Several others scored over 600 points as well—a significant improvement over his previous life. “Qin Yuanqing, do you think you could have scored a perfect 750? Do you have any secrets?” the reporter asked. The secret to success? This is a very common question in society; entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and others are always asked about the secret to their success when interviewed. Qin Yuanqing thought to himself, “Here’s my chance to promote myself.” Then, with a smile, he said, “I’ve already summarized the secrets to my success in *The Qin Family Handbook*. It contains my summaries of study methods as well as summaries of the knowledge across all high school science subjects. It’s divided into two volumes—Upper and Lower—and I’ve already finished writing it.” Upon hearing Qin Yuanqing’s response, the reporters all looked surprised—they hadn’t expected him to have written a book himself. This was quickly followed by excitement—another hot news story was in the making. A book written by a top student, sharing success stories and study methods with high school students across the country? Qin Yuanqing was very pleased—this was the best form of publicity imaginable. He had no trouble attracting publishers looking to collaborate; after all, this level of media coverage was far more effective than any “There are methods to studying. Learning how to study is far more effective than just endlessly doing practice problems,” Qin Yuanqing said. “Once you master these methods, you can achieve twice the results with half the effort!” Just then, one car after another pulled up at the gate. It turned out to be admissions officers from major universities who, having received the college entrance exam results early, had rushed straight to Qin Yuanqing’s hometown without a moment’s hesitation. Seeing this, Qin Yuanqing was deeply moved. Who says government agencies and public institutions are inefficient? Who says high-tech companies are inefficient? It’s all nonsense. Less than 20 minutes had passed since the college entrance exam scores were released, yet the university admissions officers had already arrived at his home—a trip that would normally take at least 40 minutes via the expressway from the county seat. “Qin Yuanqing…” One after another, the university admissions officers were fiercely enthusiastic, constantly throwing out offers, all eager to have Qin Yuanqing choose their school. They had no choice. As the first student to achieve a perfect score on the college entrance exam in the 30 years since its reinstatement, they had to compete fiercely for him. Securing him for their institution would significantly boost the school’s reputation. Even prestigious institutions like Shuimu University and Yan Da had to fight tooth and nail. If Qin Yuanqing didn’t enroll at their school, what right would they have to call themselves the best universities in Huaxia? So even though they had all sent Qin Yuanqing their admission letters in advance, they remained anxious until they had a signed agreement with him. This was already the third time they’d extended an olive branch, but there was no other choice—right now, they needed Qin Yuanqing, not the other way around. A full scholarship? No tuition or room and board? Plus a living allowance? The fierce competition among top universities left reporters speechless. “Qin Yuanqing is being courted by Shuimu University and Yan Da University!” “Top universities all showed up at his doorstep—they nearly came to blows in the countryside!” “Shocking! Universities are actually coming to blows—is this a distortion of human nature or a moral collapse?” The reporters who witnessed it all couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness as they recalled their own college entrance exam experiences—the legendary “battle for top students” was unfolding right before their eyes. They quickly broke the news, and it instantly became a trending story. On online forums and discussion boards, comments and debates flooded in, with countless people joining the spectacle as bystanders. “Teachers, I haven’t made up my mind yet. I’ll figure it out when it’s time to fill out my college applications in a few days. I hope you can all wait a few more days!” Qin Yuanqing was at a loss for words; he still hadn’t decided which university to attend, so he could only say this with a worried look on his face.
