“You did very well, little girl.”
Jiang Chan opened her eyes, greeted once again by Qingyuan’s familiar opening line. Jiang Chan had completed three tasks. Although they were all beginner level worlds, Qingyuan felt that no matter how difficult the circumstances were, Jiang Chan could always quickly find a way out and complete the task cleanly and beautifully.
Looking at the somewhat unfamiliar dormitory, Jiang Chan suddenly understood. She had only stayed in this high school dorm for two days, so it was only natural that it felt unfamiliar. Overall, the third task had not been difficult, it had simply taken a long time.
She was not sleepy, so she sat up, planning to find a book to read.
The door was gently pushed open from outside. Yu Jie lowered her voice. “After the exam, I saw Jiang Chan come back to the dorm. She might still be asleep. Let’s keep our movements quiet.”
Jiang Chan raised her voice. “I’m already awake. Go about what you need to do. Don’t worry about me.”
Wen Jing’s loud, carefree voice followed. “Exactly. Xiao Chan, come over. We bought lots of snacks. Come try them.”
Jiang Chan climbed down from the bed. Sure enough, the girls were all holding big bags. Wen Jing was a foodie, and everything in her hands was snacks. You could smell them as soon as you stepped into the dorm.
Wen Jing held a jianbing guozi. Even while chewing, her speech was crystal clear. “When are the placement test results coming out? I seriously can’t wait to see people’s jaws drop all over the floor.”
Yang Liuqing waved the fried chicken leg in her hand. “I asked around. They say all the results should be out by tomorrow.”
Yu Jie politely picked up chicken strips with a toothpick. “Not bad. You’ve already figured things out after just two days here?”
Yang Liuqing lifted her chin proudly. “Of course. Do you know what my nickname is? They call me the walking gossip network.”
Jiang Chan watched Yang Liuqing showing off and thought to herself, did she always end up with someone like this around her, no matter where she went? Still, it was not a bad thing. With Yang Liuqing around, she could get to know the school better.
“I heard something privately,” Yang Liuqing said mysteriously while gnawing on her chicken leg. “Sun Xi, who entered the school as first place, is watching things closely. He’s determined to keep his number one spot.”
Wen Jing snorted. “He can think whatever he wants. We’ll see the truth once the results are out.”
Jiang Chan nodded in agreement. No matter what Sun Xi or Wen Jing was thinking, the results would tell the real story.
The grading speed at City High was extremely fast. By evening, scores for individual subjects were already coming out. Naturally, Chinese, math, and English were the first.
He Ya, the class academic monitor of Class One, was pulled away by He Qinxue during the first evening self study period to help tally scores. The class monitor was Sun Xi, who naturally took charge. After all, he had entered the school ranked first. He Ya, who came in second, became the academic monitor.
As soon as He Ya left, the classroom grew lively. Sun Xi sat on the podium and knocked on the desk. “Everyone quiet down. Don’t disturb others who are studying.”
His words still carried some authority. At least the classroom quieted a little, though whispers continued. More people started passing notes. Sitting alone in the last row, Jiang Chan had no one around her, so no one talked to her.
Others might see this as Jiang Chan being isolated, but she enjoyed the quiet. This time, she was not reading an original language book. Instead, she carefully went through the textbooks that had been handed out.
In the second world, she had been a top student, but by the time she completed the third task, more than ten years had passed. Even if the knowledge felt familiar, she still needed to review it carefully.
Fortunately, once she flipped through the textbooks, the knowledge came back quickly. Only then did Jiang Chan feel reassured. She did not want to stumble at the last moment. She still needed to maintain her consistent top student image.
After all, good students did have certain privileges with teachers.
It was not until the third evening self study period that He Ya returned to the classroom, looking dazed. When she entered, she subtly glanced toward Jiang Chan’s seat. Seeing Jiang Chan propping her head up while reading, He Ya sat down with complicated feelings.
Although she had gone to help tally scores, it was not limited to Class One. The entire grade’s scores had to be counted. She had only tallied math scores, since their homeroom teacher, He Qinxue, taught math.
He Ya had scored 125 in math this time, which was already quite high. The diagnostic test for first year students was always very difficult. Its purpose was to knock students down a peg after a summer of play so they would settle down and study.
With such a score, He Ya naturally stood out among a sea of students who had failed. However, comparisons were always cruel. She had never imagined that someone would score a perfect mark on such a difficult math exam.
While responding to classmates’ questions, He Ya kept discreetly glancing toward Jiang Chan by the window. Jiang Chan usually read quietly, and when tired, she would look out the window for a while.
Just seeing Jiang Chan’s math paper and recalling the teachers’ comments about a dark horse emerging in this exam, even though no name had been mentioned, He Ya’s intuition told her that the person had to be Jiang Chan.
When He Ya returned to class, He Qinxue had instructed her not to disclose any scores. So even though classmates crowded around her to ask, she deflected them all skillfully.
Evening self study for first year students lasted until ten. Although there was constant talk about quality education and reducing student burden, it was mostly lip service. No one wanted students to lose at the starting line, especially in high school, which was a critical stage.
Jiang Chan put her hands in her pockets and only headed back to the dorm after most of her classmates had left. Why rush? Walking slowly allowed her to see scenery she usually missed.
As soon as she reached the dorm, she heard Yang Liuqing speaking animatedly. “I heard our grade produced a real monster this time. According to someone from our class who helped tally scores in the office, even though the math exam was so hard, someone in Class One actually got full marks.”
Wen Jing sounded a bit regretful. “That definitely wasn’t me. It was too hard. I didn’t even finish the last two math questions.”
Yu Jie spoke timidly. “Same here. I don’t even know if I passed math this time.”
When Jiang Chan entered, Yang Liuqing immediately bounced over to her, eyes shining brightly. “Jiang Chan, I heard Class One had someone score full marks in math. Do you know anything about it?”
Jiang Chan shook her head. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything.”
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