In the blink of an eye, one month of senior year had passed.
They迎来了 their first comprehensive exam of Grade Three—not a class test, but a grade-wide examination, with two subjects tested each day.
The first subject was, as always, Chinese.
Chinese might seem unimportant at first glance, but in reality it was crucial. The college entrance exam allotted 150 points to Chinese, a massive proportion. Moreover, science-track students were often weaker in Chinese, making it a subject that could easily widen score gaps.
When Qin Yuanqing received the test paper, he skimmed through it rapidly, reading ten lines at a glance. The test points and question types quickly formed a clear picture in his mind. Only after the teacher announced the start did he begin answering.
Chinese was straightforward in one sense: if you knew it, you knew it; if you didn't, you didn't. There was little ambiguity. Poetry recitation, sentence completion, and classical Chinese reading were rigid—one wrong character meant the entire answer was wrong, with no room for negotiation. The only flexible part was the essay.
In less than fifty minutes, not even a full hour, Qin Yuanqing finished everything except the essay. Only then did he begin writing it. The requirement was no fewer than 800 characters. For Qin Yuanqing, regardless of quality, reaching 800 characters was non-negotiable. Just meeting the word count guaranteed at least 40 points; if the handwriting was neat and the content decent, 45 points was almost assured.
In the past, he would have unthinkingly used a standard argumentative format after writing the title. But over the past month, he had read many full-score essays and articles from Reader. He began trying to imitate that style.
His handwriting, after a month of practice, had improved noticeably. It wasn't beautiful, but it was far better than before. He wrote slowly, character by character, making sure there were no typos, and tried to use elegant phrasing whenever possible. Occasionally, he even inserted a line or two of poetry as embellishment.
He didn't know whether this would actually boost his score, but he had to try. Otherwise, his essay score would never break past 50.
When he finished more than 900 characters and placed the final period, the bell rang. The teacher announced the end of the exam.
As the papers were collected, Qin Yuanqing let out a sigh of relief. Around him, classmates immediately began discussing the test. Some sighed in frustration, some flipped through books to check answers and stomped their feet in anger, while others rushed to the restroom—chemistry would begin in ten minutes.
In the first semester of senior year, chemistry, physics, and biology had not yet been combined into a single science paper. That would only happen next semester. For now, the three subjects were tested separately, each with a full score of 100.
Qin Yuanqing was very confident in chemistry. As long as one mastered reaction types and electron transfer, chemical equations could be deduced logically. The only real memorization involved experimental procedures and post-reaction color changes.
If he had to name a strength, chemistry barely qualified. He spent the least time on it, yet his scores were consistently above 90.
When the chemistry exam began, Qin Yuanqing glanced through the paper and felt secretly delighted. Chemistry exams repeated the same patterns over and over. Sometimes he didn't even need to calculate—he could immediately eliminate two wrong options, leaving a simple choice between the remaining two.
As for the later calculation problems, once the equations were balanced, concentrations and volumes were easy to compute. Precipitates were limited to a handful of common types anyway. His pen moved smoothly, as if guided by instinct. By the time he finished, he checked the clock—only half the allotted time had passed.
He didn't bother reviewing and handed in the paper directly.
Several classmates looked at him in surprise. Handing in that early—was he crazy? Once the results came out, the "Old Imp" would surely scold him.
Their chemistry teacher was a veteran educator with nearly forty years of teaching experience. Barely 1.6 meters tall, with a head full of white hair, he resembled Zhou Botong, the Old Imp from martial arts novels. That nickname stuck. His lectures were humorous and engaging, making him one of the most popular teachers at County No. 1 High School.
Like all teachers, he constantly emphasized: don't rush to hand in your paper. Check it carefully—from beginning to end. Carefulness, carelessness, and then even more care.
Sometimes, being careful could earn you several extra points.
Qin Yuanqing walked out of the classroom, breathing in the fresh air outside.
He left the campus and returned to his rented room. Since the second semester of his first year, he had stopped living in the school dorms. They were too noisy, and the lights went out at ten sharp. Instead, he rented a small place outside—1,200 yuan per semester for a single room, about 100 yuan a month, with utilities included. Thinking about how, a few years later, 1,200 yuan wouldn't even cover a month's rent made one acutely aware of how harsh life could be.
He took a shower, ate something, and read for a while to relax. Around one o'clock, he lay down for a short nap.
Napping wasn't about sleeping longer—it was about sleeping deep. Fifteen to thirty minutes was enough.
The afternoon exams were mathematics and physics, both heavily focused on logic and reasoning. After a month of intensive reinforcement, Qin Yuanqing had largely patched up his weaknesses in math. As for physics, it had always been one of his stronger subjects—rarely full marks, but consistently above 90.
"These learning points… better exchange them for intelligence," Qin Yuanqing muttered, looking at his 200 learning points. After a moment's thought, he made the exchange.
His attributes became:
Host: Qin Yuanqing
Age: 18
IQ: 145
EQ: 100
Subjects:
Chinese: Level 3 (0/10000)
Math: Level 3 (0/10000)
English: Level 2 (50/1000)
Physics: Level 3 (0/10000)
Chemistry: Level 3 (0/10000)
Biology: Level 3 (0/10000)
Physical Fitness: Level 1 (0/100)
Looking at his IQ stat, Qin Yuanqing clapped his hands in satisfaction. His intelligence had officially reached the genius tier—solidly in academic prodigy territory. Compared to top scorers in the college entrance exam, he was no longer at a disadvantage.
Aside from English, he had made significant progress across the board. Breaking into the top 20 of the entire grade this time was absolutely within reach.
"Reaching level 10 is going to be extremely hard…" Qin Yuanqing muttered while examining his stats. The higher the level, the more points were required. He would need to read more books, solve more problems, and master more knowledge.
He even began to suspect that level 10 meant complete mastery of all high school knowledge—both common and obscure test points—a true top-tier scholar among top-tier scholars. Otherwise, how could the gap still be so large?
At this stage, he clearly felt that leveling up no longer meant dramatic score increases. Instead, it meant deeper and more comprehensive mastery of knowledge. A test paper only contained so many questions—there was no way to cover every single topic.
Even the national exam worked the same way. Most knowledge points would never be tested, or the paper would be impossibly long.
That afternoon, both the math and physics exams felt easy. Physics had always been manageable, but math—previously around 120–130—now felt significantly simpler. With only a few units being tested, everything seemed clear. He vaguely understood why top students always performed so well.
After finishing the math paper, he reviewed it once, found no obvious mistakes, and handed it in with fifteen minutes remaining. For physics, he turned in the paper with more than half the time left. The same few concepts and formulas were tested repeatedly—there was simply no difficulty.
Qin Yuanqing felt that this exam was easier than any he had taken before. His thinking was clearer, his nerves steadier. When encountering a problem he couldn't solve immediately, he instinctively broke it down, reorganized the information, and found a solution through formula transformations.
That evening, there was no evening self-study for once.
Instead of studying, Qin Yuanqing went to the school's small garden. Calling it a "garden" was generous—it was only about a thousand square meters, with a small lake, a pavilion, rows of willow trees along the shore, and water lilies floating on the pond. Under the lights, it looked especially beautiful, making it a favorite spot for students.
He saw students leaning against lampposts reading books, others softly reciting aloud.
School was an ivory tower. A student's only task was to study. There were no利益 exchanges, no social maneuvering. Friends were just friends, classmates just classmates—simple and pure.
As the best high school in Jinpu County, County No. 1 High School had dedicated teachers with impeccable professional ethics. Anyone who mentioned them would give a thumbs-up. The students themselves were top performers from the entrance exams, with generally high overall quality. School bullying was virtually nonexistent.
At least, in his three years of high school, Qin Yuanqing had never heard of such a thing.
"Hey, you're here too?" A crisp, pleasant voice sounded.
Qin Yuanqing turned and saw a delicate-looking girl. She had been his classmate in middle school and again in his first year of high school, but after the arts–science split, she had chosen the liberal arts track.
He smiled. "Long time no see. Memorizing vocabulary?"
"Yes…" Yang Yuqing sat down beside him, smiling as they chatted. She mentioned that among their old group, Qin Yuanqing currently had the best grades, which made the others extremely envious.
Back in middle school, they had all been top students, consistently ranked in the top ten. But once they entered high school, the difference in levels became starkly apparent. For someone like Yang Yuqing, even in a liberal arts cohort of only 300 students, she could only rank around 200.