Jiang Chan glared in Wen Jing’s direction. “If we’re not talking about height, we’re still friends, right?”
Wen Jing burst out laughing. “Looking at it now, you’re probably the youngest in our entire grade. Hurry up and call me older sister so I can hear it.”
Yang Liuqing and Yu Jie were not about to be left out. “So Xiao Chan is actually the youngest. At least now we’re not the youngest anymore.”
“Why did you lie about your age in the first place?” Wen Jing asked. She was observant and immediately caught onto the key point.
“Wasn’t it for the sake of the orphanage? Our orphanage is small and already struggling to get by. If I reported my age as older, I could leave two years earlier and ease the burden on the orphanage.”
The dormitory fell silent at once. After a long pause, Wen Jing suddenly said, “Forget about treating us to beef noodles. When the time comes, just treat us to a meal at the cafeteria.”
Yang Liuqing and Yu Jie both agreed. They had already guessed that Jiang Chan’s circumstances were not very good, but they had not expected things to be this hard.
Jiang Chan knew her roommates were being considerate and did not say much. “Hard days will pass eventually. I won’t always be this poor.”
Yu Jie nodded. “That’s right. Xiao Chan, with your grades, you’ll definitely make something of yourself in the future.”
“Don’t mention Xiao Chan’s age to anyone else,” Wen Jing said seriously. “If it causes trouble, that wouldn’t be good.”
“Especially you, Liuqing,” Wen Jing added pointedly. “You love gossip. Let’s keep dorm gossip inside the dorm.”
Yang Liuqing was displeased. “I like gossip, that’s true, but how many times have I actually spread it? I just like asking around.”
Yu Jie hurried to smooth things over. “Wen Jing is just worried you might get tricked into talking someday. She’s not targeting you on purpose.”
Yang Liuqing muttered, “Am I really that stupid?”
During morning exercise the next day, they did not do exercises. Instead, the first year held a placement test summary assembly. At the meeting, Jiang Chan was singled out for praise, and this was in front of the entire school, not just the first year.
When the principal of City High saw Jiang Chan, his eyes nearly crinkled shut from smiling. This was an excellent seedling for a top scorer. If her grades stayed this good, City High would never have to worry about enrollment again.
As a result, the scholarship given to Jiang Chan this time was unusually generous. In the past it was five thousand, but for Jiang Chan it was doubled straight to ten thousand.
Jiang Chan felt the thickness of the envelope and immediately gained a deeper understanding of just how financially powerful City High was. If a placement test already paid this much, then if she won awards in competitions, would City High give even more?
Originally, the reward was not meant to be this large. However, He Qin Xue knew a bit about Jiang Chan’s situation. The contact address she filled in upon enrollment was Cixin Orphanage, so he guessed that her background was not good.
The school leadership also valued talent. After hearing this from He Qin Xue and wanting to strengthen Jiang Chan’s sense of belonging to City High, they decided to double the scholarship.
Jiang Chan became completely famous at City High. Everyone knew that an absolute monster had arrived in the first year this year. Across nine subjects, she lost fewer than ten points, and her Chinese essay was a perfect score. When the second and third year students heard this, their jaws dropped.
At the same time, they could not help but feel relieved. Thankfully, they were not in the same year as this freak and did not need to endure that kind of pressure. At the same time, they silently mourned for the first year students. For the next three years of high school, there would always be a massive mountain looming over their heads.
Some people who thought further ahead said, “With grades like that, do you think she’ll just stay in first year obediently? She might skip a grade at any time.”
As soon as this was said, the second year students fell silent. The third year students were less affected. They only had one year left before graduating. No matter how monstrous Jiang Chan was, she could not possibly skip straight to third year.
At noon, Wen Jing, Yang Liuqing, and Yu Jie accompanied Jiang Chan to deposit the scholarship into her bank card. Looking at the balance, Jiang Chan rarely curled her lips into a smile.
At this point, she no longer needed to consider other ways of making money. As long as she brought honor to City High, money would naturally come rolling in.
She treated her three roommates to beef noodles at the shop outside the school gate, and then everyone returned to the classroom. Once they arrived, Jiang Chan was called out by He Qin Xue. Her grades were simply too outstanding, and the school intended for her to take the competition route.
It was like falling asleep and being handed a pillow. Jiang Chan had been thinking about when to ask He Qin Xue about competitions, but he came to her first.
The two sides hit it off immediately. That very evening, Jiang Chan took her notebook and went to the physics competition class. She had discussed it with He Qin Xue. Biology and physics both had preliminary rounds in early September, so Jiang Chan could try her hand at them. There was not much time left until the preliminaries.
At most, there were just over two weeks left. Since she was only in first year, the focus was on participation. Second year students were the main force in competitions. To be honest, He Qin Xue had advised Jiang Chan to sign up for math and chemistry competitions instead. Those preliminaries would not start until April the following year, giving her more preparation time.
However, seeing that Jiang Chan insisted on physics and biology, He Qin Xue did not say more. Young people were full of ambition. After running into a wall, they would understand.
Of course, Jiang Chan was not the only one signing up. Sun Xi and the rest of the class’s top five also registered. However, among them, only Sun Xi chose physics and biology along with Jiang Chan.
The others mostly chose math or chemistry, or only signed up for one subject. When Jiang Chan and Sun Xi entered the physics competition class with their notebooks, the room immediately became lively.
The teacher leading the physics competition class was an older teacher in his fifties. He was a provincial level gold medal teacher who specialized in competition classes. When he saw Jiang Chan and Sun Xi, he smiled.
He had already heard Jiang Chan’s name the day before. In fact, he was the one who had suggested she participate in competitions.
“You’re here? Find a seat and sit down. Listen to whatever you can understand.”
Jiang Chan sat in the last row. Looking at the problem on the blackboard, her brows furrowed slightly. This was already university level content. After thinking carefully, she could roughly work it out.
However, she would still need to consult books. Jiang Chan frowned. It seemed necessary to buy reference books. Relying solely on high school textbooks would not be enough.
While thinking this, Jiang Chan’s hands did not stop moving. She neatly copied down the problem from the blackboard, pondered briefly, and began solving it.
The competition teacher looked at the students below. Everyone was scratching their heads in frustration. Only Jiang Chan stood out, calmly working through the problem. He could not help but feel doubtful. Could it be that this girl did not know how to solve it and was just writing nonsense?
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