Jiang Li thought she was going to be scolded, but to her surprise, Teacher Sun calmly said, “Come up and share your solution to the last problem with everyone.”
Feeling like a duck being pushed into a butcher shop, Jiang Li gloomily walked to the whiteboard under the sympathetic gazes of her classmates and briefly explained her solution.
After she finished, many students showed enlightened expressions, realizing Teacher Sun wasn’t trying to trouble Jiang Li but genuinely wanted her to share her solution. Jiang Li didn’t let him down and shared not just one, but two methods.
Teacher Sun didn’t let Jiang Li go immediately, “Did you come up with these two solutions yourself?”
Jiang Li shook her head, “The first one was mine, the second one I referred to someone else.”
Recently, her big nephew’s enthusiasm for study seemed to have surged, often urging her to send him problems to discuss together. Remembering how he used to sleep during class, Jiang Li felt like this guy had transformed into a different person!
Teacher Sun nodded slightly, “Go back to your seat, and make sure to pay attention in class.”
Jiang Li, feeling like she’d received a pardon, quickly returned to her seat.
Seeing her rush, Teacher Sun chuckled, “You didn’t run this fast when you were coming up here.”
Jiang Li: “…” Naturally, she’d run faster when released than when being led to the execution ground!
For the remaining half of the class, Jiang Li was completely focused, even the usually distracted Wang Simin paid close attention.
After the class, as soon as Teacher Sun left, Wang Simin looked apologetically at Jiang Li, “I’m sorry, it was because of me you got called up.”
Jiang Li dismissed it, “He just wanted me to explain the problem. Even if I hadn’t spoken, he would have found an excuse to call me up.”
As Jiang Li started packing up to leave the classroom, several third-year seniors approached. “Jiang Li, would you like to join our study group?” one of them asked.
Another added, “We share resources regularly in the group, and if anyone encounters a difficult problem, we can discuss it together.”
Jiang Li immediately nodded, “Of course I’d like to join. Thank you, seniors.” Although she had several ‘cheats,’ they were busy with their own things, and it wasn’t good to always bother them. Joining the third-year group would be much more convenient for discussing problems.
After scanning the QR code to join the group, Jiang Li saw that besides herself, there were only three people, all using real names, so she also quickly changed her user name for the group.
The senior who invited her introduced himself with a smile, “I’m He Suwei, this is Chen Jie, and there’s also Da Shuangjiang who’s sick today and couldn’t come. He’s the most impressive one in our group.”
Jiang Li quickly introduced herself, “I’m Jiang Li, new to competitions this year. I don’t know much yet, so I hope you’ll look after me.”
Chen Jie blinked, “We all know about you. You are new, but already so impressive right from the start! Let’s aim for the provincial team together.”
They invited Jiang Li not because they thought she was much better than the others, but because Teacher Sun valued her, which meant she must have something special. Her unique approach to problems also piqued their interest, so they believed adding her would be beneficial for their group.
Facing the friendly senior, Jiang Li politely responded, “Then I would like to congratulate seniors in advance for joining the provincial team.”
Chen Jie laughed, “It’s not easy to get in, I’m just hoping to win the first-class prize to add points to my college application.”
He Suwei added, “Chen Jie and I have similar goals, but Da Shuangjiang aims for the national team and direct admission to a top university in the capital.”
Hearing this, Jiang Li immediately thought of Qin Zheng from the novel, who got a first-class provincial award but was just shy of making the provincial team because his score did not meet the cut.
She looked at Chen Jie and He Suwei, “I have two friends here, Qin Zheng and Wang Simin. Can they join the group too?”
After a glance between them, the two seniors nodded, “Of course, now our group will have six members. We might not be the school’s ‘Golden Triangle,’ but we can certainly help each other.”
“What’s the ‘Golden Triangle’?” Jiang Li asked curiously.
Chen Jie explained, “They are the three prodigies of our school, members of last year’s national training team. Guo Shen is part of the six-member national team and got a silver medal last year. He’s aiming for gold this year.”
Jiang Li expressed her admiration, “How impressive.”
Chen Jie encouraged her, “You’re only in the first year; there’s plenty of opportunities ahead. Maybe you can be as great as Guo Shen.”
Before Jiang Li could respond, a third-year girl scoffed, “Opportunities are plenty, but there’s only one Guo Shen. Do you really think everyone’s a prodigy?”
Chen Jie frowned at the girl, then whispered to Jiang Li, “That’s one of Guo Shen’s hardcore fans. We don’t need to mind her.”
Jiang Li had no intention of arguing with the girl. After all, this kind of matter needed to be settled with actual results, not words, so arguing was useless.
…
In the following days, Jiang Li was busy both with her regular classes and preparing for the competition. The workload for the first year’s regular classes wasn’t heavy, so she shifted her focus more toward the competition. In the group she joined, everyone would take time every day to discuss their learning experiences, and she found it quite beneficial.
September ended quickly, and just before the National Day holiday, the competition class had another test. Following this test, three more members were eliminated: one from the first year and two from the second year. Now, only four first-year students remained: Jiang Li, Wang Simin, Qin Zheng, and Lin Tian.
Lin Tian had been pestering Jiang Li but had quieted down after being dismissed by her ‘several tons of gold’ comment, finally giving Jiang Li some peace.
The day before the National Day holiday, the competition class teacher had already announced that while the school would have a seven-day break, competition class students would only have the first three days off, and the remaining four days would be for makeup classes.
Jiang Li had no objections to this. After school, she immediately packed up and sent a message to Feng Qi, saying she would pick him up from work.
Tomorrow was Feng Qi’s thirtieth birthday, and she wanted to celebrate properly.
After leaving the school gate, Jiang Li rode a bike straight to the research institute. When she arrived at the entrance, she parked the bike and saw a stunningly beautiful blonde woman standing not far away, holding a bouquet of roses, looking eagerly towards the institute’s gate.
Checking her phone’s clock, Jiang Li realized it was her uncle’s time to get off work and decided not to go in, choosing to wait outside instead. After about three minutes, she finally saw Feng Qi’s figure, but before she could call out to him, she saw the blonde woman rush over to him.
“Feng Qi, happy early birthday.” The blonde woman spoke broken Chinese, seeming quite enthusiastic.
Feng Qi frowned, “I’ve already told you I have no plans to date anyone right now. Please don’t waste my time.”
Undeterred, the woman replied, “You may not plan to now, but you will later. I can wait.”
Feng Qi’s brow furrowed deeper. His gaze shifted and saw Jiang Li, standing not far away with her backpack. He waved her over, “Come here.”
“Oh!” Jiang Li quickly walked over and stood beside him like a statue.
The blonde woman glanced at Jiang Li with a puzzled look, then back at Feng Qi and asked, “So your type is a kid?”
Feng Qi, rubbing his temples in irritation, responded coldly, “She’s my daughter.”
“…” Jiang Li was speechless. That excuse was even more far-fetched than the woman’s Chinese. Could she really believe it?
Seeing the woman’s confused expression, Jiang Li instantly took on the role, taking Feng Qi’s arm and cooing, “Dad, Mom asked me to pick you up after work.”
“…” Now it was Feng Qi’s turn to become speechless. Why hadn’t he realized before that Xiao Lizi had such a talent for acting?
The blonde woman looked incredulous, “Feng Qi, you have a daughter?”
Feng Qi nodded, “Yes, I forgot to tell you.”
With a huff, the woman threw the roses into a nearby trash can and muttered a stream of words that Jiang Li couldn’t understand. It wasn’t the broken Chinese she’d been using, nor was it English.
After the woman walked away, Jiang Li finally burst into laughter, but when she saw her uncle’s half-smiling expression, her laughter suddenly stopped.
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