Chapter Fourteen: At Ease

Wu Tong raised her hand and stood up to hand in her paper. Even though the movement was light, it still drew the attention of some in the exam room. Surprised glances swept over her—she was already turning in her paper? Had she finished answering everything, or just given up? But everyone else was still anxiously working on their exams, so they could only spare so much attention for her.

Wu Tong’s early submission also served as a silent prod, prompting the others to quicken their pace—someone had already finished! As the first student to hand in her paper in this session, the proctor personally came over to collect it. He’d originally planned to remind her that there was still plenty of time, that she should check her answers carefully and not give up on any question too easily. However, upon seeing her exam paper, densely filled with clear and organized answers, as well as her scratch paper covered in meticulous calculations, he changed his mind. Though he didn’t teach math himself, he could at least recognize the signs of true effort—a student capable of such work could not possibly be handing in a paper done carelessly.

Even the top students in Class 1 and 2 rarely completed their exams at such speed. Was this exam room about to produce a dark horse? He hadn't heard of any hidden talents in this group before. Quietly, he took her paper and signaled for Wu Tong to leave quietly if she wished. At the same time, he gave a time update and a stern reminder to the room: “Half of the exam time has passed. Please focus on your work and refrain from looking around or whispering. Anyone caught cheating will receive a zero and a formal report will be filed against them.”

After submitting her paper, Wu Tong had over an hour before the next exam. Since her classroom was occupied as an exam room, she couldn’t return there. She wasn’t a boarder, so going back to the dormitory wasn’t an option. Instead, she found a quiet reading nook on campus and flipped through her biology textbook. She was retaking this subject for the second time—a chance to review before tomorrow and reinforce her memory. Biology had once been her weakest subject, but now that she’d patched up her shortcomings, she felt it worthwhile to go over it once more.

In the afternoon, the second exam was chemistry, taught by her homeroom teacher. Wu Tong had a solid foundation in the subject, and having already finished high school chemistry, tackling these problems now felt effortless, almost like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Equations, reactions, structures—all flowed smoothly from her pen. From the first word to the last, she completed the paper in one sweep, her thoughts clear and her hand quick. After half an hour of focused, careful work and a thorough review, Wu Tong once again handed in her paper early.

There were no evening study sessions scheduled during the exam period, so after turning in her paper, she could go straight home. She planned to work through a few sets of English and biology practice papers that evening, to warm up for the next day’s exams. Saturday’s tests started at eight in the morning: the last two subjects, English and biology.

With a greatly expanded vocabulary, mastery of all the words required for high school, plus reinforced memorization of textbook passages and diligent listening practice, English had become easy for her. She had completed the high school biology curriculum before the exams, and had used the free time won from early submissions these past two days to reinforce her biology review. By the time the exam came, her preparation was sharp and thorough—she breezed through it.

For the final subject, she once again finished ahead of time. The proctor had now thoroughly remembered Wu Tong, the student who, apart from Chinese, always handed in her exams halfway through the allotted time. The entire exam room remembered her as well. Her every early submission marked the halfway point of the exam for everyone else. For the others, who had only finished half the paper while Wu Tong was already done, it was both a shock and a spur.

Who was this hidden master, pretending to be a commoner only to reveal her power in their shallow pond? Surely she wasn’t just showing off or treating the exams as a joke. The students in Exam Room Eleven had quietly discussed her among themselves, but since it was exam time, everyone was focused on last-minute cramming, and curiosity remained subdued, spreading only among a few without causing much of a stir.

After the Saturday exams, Wu Tong handed in her paper half an hour early. With no afternoon classes, there was no need to hurry home. She told her parents she would stop by the bookstore and come home later. Teacher Jin Yu reminded her that if she got hungry, she didn’t need to rush home—she could stop by her grandfather’s house for a snack, or just buy something herself.

Wu Tong wanted to look for some advanced mathematics materials, as she had planned before, and now she finally had time to do so. Before she left, Teacher Jin even gave her a thousand yuan for books—three times the usual amount. Last time, Wu Tong had bought two large bundles of materials, and apart from the set she’d given to Jin Xin, she had nearly finished the rest in just two weeks. Her diligence and earnestness had not gone unnoticed by her parents, who were only too happy to support her fully.

So this time, Jin Yu had specially tripled the usual book allowance. Previously, they had worried that she might spend unnecessarily, buying trinkets or junk food, but now they deliberately gave her more money, hoping she would feel freer to relax and enjoy herself a little. They used to worry she didn’t study enough; now they worried she might study too much and become withdrawn.

Such is the heart of parents everywhere—contradictory, but always out of love.

Just three intersections from New City No. 1 High, there was the county’s largest Xinhua Bookstore, which Wu Tong had visited before, right near her grandfather’s home. There was a bus stop outside the school, but since Wu Tong had her own bicycle, she rode there herself. Last time, she had gone straight to the high school study aid section, which was the only area she was familiar with. Now, wanting to buy some advanced mathematics books, she truly didn’t know where to start.

Wu Tong wasn’t one to pretend knowledge she didn’t have or to wander aimlessly. She headed straight for the counter and asked a staff member who was restocking the shelves, “Excuse me, I’d like to buy some university-level mathematics textbooks. Could you tell me which section they’re in?”

Gao Ming, a long-time employee at the Xinhua Bookstore, was surprised to look up at Wu Tong. This child looked so young—surely still a high schooler?

Wu Tong’s youthful face, still round with a trace of baby fat, made her appear even younger.

“Don’t you have any?” Wu Tong frowned slightly.

If they didn’t, it was likely that the whole county didn’t stock them, and she’d have to go to the city or even the province to find what she wanted. No one would let her go that far alone, which would mean troubling her parents to accompany her—quite an inconvenience.

“We do! We carry all official textbooks,” Gao Ming replied. It was just that, since there was no university in the county, college textbooks rarely sold and sat on the shelves for years untouched. That a high school student would come in to buy them was certainly a first.