When it came to top students, Class One was full of them. However, to make even the top students feel genuine admiration, there was only one possibility, and that was a true academic god.
Someone with too much time on their hands went and tallied Jiang Chan’s scores. In the first year of high school, arts and sciences had not yet been separated.
Chinese and math were both scored out of 160 points, and English was out of 120. Physics, biology, chemistry, history, politics, and geography were six subjects, each scored out of 120 points. When all of Jiang Chan’s scores were added up, her lead was overwhelming, completely towering above everyone else.
Aside from history and politics, which had subjective questions where she lost a few points, Jiang Chan’s total score was only ten points away from a perfect score. She was nearly two hundred points ahead of the second place student, Sun Xi.
Of course, this was because arts and sciences had not yet been divided. Once students split into arts and science tracks, the score gap would not be this dramatic. After all, once the division happened, the total score would only be 480 points. It was nothing like now, when the total score exceeded one thousand.
No matter what, Jiang Chan became famous in a single battle through the placement test, firmly establishing her title as first place in the entire first year.
What stood out even more was her essay, which the Chinese teacher posted in the display case for others to study carefully. This time, the Chinese essay prompt had been deliberately difficult. It required students to write an essay centered on the concept of a letter.
Jiang Chan took an unconventional approach and began from the idea of trust and sincerity. Almost the entire essay was written in classical vernacular Chinese. The essay made the Chinese teacher slam the desk in amazement.
He was a provincial level senior special grade teacher and had read countless full score college entrance exam essays. Even so, when he read Jiang Chan’s essay, he could not help but feel stirred.
Leaving aside her excellent handwriting, the cultural references woven into her writing were effortless and natural. Especially her use of classical vernacular Chinese, which flowed as smoothly as if it were an extension of her own arm.
The Chinese teacher gave Jiang Chan full marks for her essay and, despite objections, personally chose to post her essay in the display case.
Jiang Chan’s essay truly was exceptionally well written. This was largely thanks to Jiang Sen’s careful guidance in the first world. Jiang Sen often gave her two completely unrelated sentences and required her to write an entire essay connecting them.
Over time, Jiang Chan had developed her own approach to answering essay questions. Compared to classical texts, modern essay prompts were vastly simpler.
Because her classical vernacular Chinese was strong, she was equally capable when writing argumentative essays. After all, she had read so many books. There was a saying that went, read three hundred Tang poems, and even if you cannot write poetry, you can still imitate it.
After evening self study ended, Jiang Chan followed her usual routine and waited until most people had left before picking up a book and slowly walking out of the teaching building. When she reached the red honor board at the notice area, she paused and glanced at it a few times, then raised her brows slightly.
She wandered back into the dormitory and was immediately met with three pairs of glowing eyes staring at her.
Wen Jing was the boldest. She lunged forward and placed both hands on Jiang Chan’s shoulders. “I heard a rumor today. They say the first place in the entire grade this time is called Jiang Chan, and she’s from Class One. That’s not you, is it?”
Yang Liuqing and Yu Jie stood on either side of Wen Jing, both staring intently at Jiang Chan. Jiang Chan almost had to look up at Wen Jing. At her current height, she had not even reached one and a half meters yet, so she had to tilt her head to look at people.
Being short really hurt. Jiang Chan was crying internally.
“If you mean Jiang Chan from Class One, then yes, that would be me.”
“Holy crap. Do you know how much psychological trauma you caused us today?” Wen Jing cursed outright. She was from Class Three, and all day long she had listened to teachers praising Jiang Chan. Her ears were practically growing calluses.
“Exactly. Xiao Chan, you’re way too sneaky. Who would have thought our dorm was hiding an academic god? Let’s see who still dares call us a bottom tier dorm now.”
“You scored that many points. That’s already incredible. Xiao Chan, how did you do it?” Yu Jie asked softly. Aside from Wen Jing, the two of them had also been thoroughly bombarded by teachers all day.
“Xiao Chan, City High’s scholarships are extremely generous. If you get a scholarship, you absolutely have to treat us and properly comfort my poor frightened heart.”
Wen Jing pulled her hands back from Jiang Chan’s shoulders. “My demands aren’t high. Just one bowl of beef noodles from Liu’s shop outside the school gate.”
Yu Jie and Yang Liuqing raised their hands. “We want some too. You really scared us today. We never imagined we’d be sharing a dorm with a top student. If others find out, they’ll be insanely jealous.”
Jiang Chan raised an eyebrow. “I went to check the honor board. You’re all basically in the top twenty. And you still dare complain about me?”
Wen Jing waved her hand. “Don’t change the subject. We were all going all out, not for the bun but for our pride. Who knew we’d be terrified by the satellite you launched?”
Jiang Chan looked innocent. “Believe me, this kind of situation will happen again in the future.”
Wen Jing laughed happily. “Thinking about the expressions on those people’s faces when I saw them at the honor board today makes me feel great. Just because their grades are good, they think they can look down on everyone, acting superior all day long.”
“Who are you talking about? You sound really mad.”
“It’s not anger. I just can’t stand those people who rely on decent grades to look down on everyone else,” Wen Jing said frankly. She was the type to say whatever bothered her.
“Enough of that. Xiao Chan really gave us a huge surprise this time. She seriously slapped those people in the face,” Wen Jing suddenly reached out and tugged Jiang Chan’s cheek. “You little thing, when did you even study all this? We all go to bed at about the same time.”
Jiang Chan felt helpless. She could hardly say she had already gone through high school once. From that perspective, agreeing to Qingyuan’s conditions had actually been beneficial. At the very least, she had genuinely learned skills.
She slapped Wen Jing’s hand away. “Alright, it’s almost time to rest. You should all go to sleep. The dorm supervisor will be coming soon.”
The girls laughed and lay down on their beds. In the darkness, Yang Liuqing suddenly spoke up. “We’ve been in the dorm for a while and still don’t know everyone’s age. I’ll go first. I’m sixteen. My birthday is in May.”
Wen Jing laughed loudly. “I’m sixteen too, but my birthday is in the first lunar month.”
Yu Jie added, “I’m sixteen as well. August birthday.”
Jiang Chan stayed silent. Wen Jing urged her, “Hurry up and say it. How old are you?”
Jiang Chan paused briefly. “On my ID, I’m sixteen.”
“On your ID?” Wen Jing immediately caught the loophole. “So that means you’re not actually sixteen.”
“Yes. I added two years,” Jiang Chan replied without any pressure.
Wen Jing instantly sat up. “Wait, are you saying I just got completely crushed by a fourteen year old?”
Yang Liuqing and Yu Jie were equally shocked. Wen Jing suddenly laughed. “No wonder you look like a little dwarf. Turns out you’re only fourteen.”
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