The following day, in the school office, teachers of all subjects were busy grading papers.
A young math teacher frowned: "Team leader, could you come and take a look at this? There's a test paper where the answer is correct, but the process is completely different from the standard answer."
The head of the teaching group looked at the stack of papers in front of him with a worried expression: "They just guessed the answers correctly; if the process is wrong, they get zero points."
"But he got all four extra questions right. You can't just guess that accurately, can you?" The young teacher scratched his head.
"What?" The team leader had graded hundreds of papers and had never seen a single student answer all four major questions, let alone answer them correctly.
The group leader took the paper, looked at it for a while, and then slapped his thigh: "I understand, I understand, this is a genius!"
"The standard answer is solved using calculus, but this student solved the problem using only high school knowledge. Although it has more steps, it is twice as difficult. It is as if he proved calculus first. This kid is a genius."
The head of the teaching group felt like a discerning eye finding a hidden gem, and he rushed to the principal's office with the test paper in hand.
Principal Chen and Professor Liang from Peking University were classmates in the Department of Mathematics at Peking University. Unfortunately, he had limited mathematical talent, so he went to work as a secondary school teacher in the local area.
"Principal Chen, take a look at this paper. Our school has a good chance of winning the competition."
Seeing the teaching group leader rush in, Principal Chen slowly put down his teacup: "Don't be so loud. You're forty years old, how can you still be so unsteady?"
A moment later, Principal Chen stood up abruptly, tore off the confidentiality strip on the exam paper, and Lin An's name was clearly revealed: "Class 7, Grade 3, Lin An".
Principal Chen walked out without looking back, and the head of the teaching group quickly followed: "Principal Chen, where are you going? You have to return my test paper."
"I'm going to see the hope of No. 12 Middle School." Professor Liang had told him when he set the questions that as long as someone could answer both questions correctly, they would have the ability to participate in the competition and win an award. His biggest expectation was that someone would be able to answer both questions correctly, and the reality surprised him.
In Class 7 of Grade 3, the students were having evening self-study. Lin An was assigned to sit in the last row. Ever since the rumors of cheating spread, his deskmate had also asked the teacher to change his seat, leaving him all alone in the corner behind the wall. Usually, only Leng Lin would come over to chat with him. He felt like he had become an isolated island.
Ms. Li, the homeroom teacher, was grading papers at her desk when she noticed the students looking towards the door. She then realized, "Principal Chen, what brings you here?"
"Lin An is in your class, right?"
"Yes," Teacher Li replied, looking somewhat bewildered. She couldn't understand why the principal would want to see Lin An. Could he have really cheated?
"Where are they?" the teaching group leader asked immediately.
Teacher Li pointed to a spot in the corner of the back wall, and the students all held their breath. Leng Lin's deskmate nudged her and whispered, "Your top student, did she cheat again? The principal personally came to punish her. That's too tragic."
"Don't talk nonsense, Lin An is really capable."
Lin An looked completely bewildered as the chubby principal led the plump teaching group leader toward him.
"Hello, Lin An."
Lin An nodded: "Hello, Principal, is there anything I can help you with?"
"It's nothing, I just wanted to personally inform you that you've qualified for the math competition."
"Are the exam results out already?" Lin An asked tentatively.
"Not yet, but you completed four additional questions using the most basic knowledge points, which is enough to prove your strength. The competition spot is definitely yours."
Principal Chen's voice was loud and clear, and his tone was excited: "Lin An, promise me you will prepare well for the competition. I have high hopes for you."
The head of the teaching group peeked out from behind the principal's large frame and said, "I think highly of you too."
Seeing their excited expressions, Lin An forced an awkward smile: "Okay, I'll try my best."
"Teacher Li, what's wrong with you? How could you put such a good student in such a dark corner?"
"Let's get Lin An a better seat."
"Yes, Principal, I'll get him the change tomorrow."
"It's okay, I'll just sit here, it's too much trouble." Lin An didn't care where he sat; he quite liked this quiet corner where no one would bother him.
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. If you encounter any difficulties in your studies or life in the future, please feel free to come to me. You know my office, right? It's 406 upstairs."
"Thank you, Principal Chen."
"Then you can study first, I won't bother you any longer." Principal Chen walked out with a smile.
Lin An was a little confused, while his classmates were in an uproar.
Lin An's deskmate in front of him leaned halfway down on Lin An's desk: "You solved all four extra questions?"
Lin An nodded.
The student in front of me exclaimed in surprise, "You're amazing!"
Lin An said calmly, "Is it that difficult?"
"Of course it's difficult. You know Xu Jia, right? He was the one who always got first place in the grade. He only managed to solve one and a half problems."
The surrounding classmates also gathered around: "I never expected that the academic genius was right next to me."
"It seems his results are genuine."
"It's definitely real. No one in the whole school could answer the extra test questions, so there's no way they could have cheated."
Ms. Li was happy for Lin An; she felt proud to have taught such an excellent student. However, as the homeroom teacher, she couldn't stand by and watch the class descend into chaos and yell:
"Quiet down, everyone, please return to your seats."
"Is Lin An going to participate in the competition, or are you all going? You all got full marks on the test? Hurry up and do the questions."
The classroom finally quieted down, but the news that the principal had personally selected Lin An to participate in the math competition still spread in the chat groups of students in each class.
Lin Rou, who was lying in bed scrolling through her phone, opened the parents' committee chat group and exclaimed in surprise: "Lin An has been handpicked to participate! How is this possible?"
She quickly typed out a line: "The exam results haven't come out yet. Isn't the principal's behavior a favoritism and cheating?"
"Dear parents, if his grades are not in the top five of the grade, I suggest you go to the school to protect your rights."
The group was silent, with no one responding. After several minutes, Liu Ruyun's mother replied, "But I heard he answered all four extra questions correctly."
“How could that be? I know him. He’s just a wild kid from the countryside. Maybe the principal was fooled by him. He’s a very good liar.”
The group fell silent again. Everyone could see that Lin Rou was prejudiced against Lin An. Prejudice was like a mountain that was hard to climb. She became extremely aggressive when Lin An was mentioned.
Lin Rou angrily threw her phone onto the bed, furious at the parents' lack of unity: "A bunch of cowards."
She secretly resolved that as long as Lin An's score didn't make it into the top five, she would definitely find a way to prevent him from participating in the competition.
On the way home from school, Leng Lin was even more excited than Lin An, her eyes crinkling with laughter: "Lin An, you're amazing! I was worried you'd fail your exam."
"It's just an exam." Lin An spoke from the heart. He wanted to go to Tsinghua or Peking University simply to meet those people who could change the times. He didn't care that much about exams or academic qualifications.
When I got home and opened WeChat, a message from Zhou Ya popped up: "Are you free this weekend?"
"some."
"Would it be convenient for you to come to my house for my dad's birthday party?"
"Convenient." Zhou Shengren's birthday banquet is a great opportunity to get in touch with high society.
"That's great, you must come!" Zhou Ya sent the location of the Zhou residence.
Sending out the invitation three days in advance is enough to demonstrate the Zhou family's sincerity.
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