Chapter 18: Who Doesn't Eat Dumplings for the New Year?

“Now distributing the math exam papers.” Wang Lixin picked up a stack of test papers.

“Students whose names are called, please come up to collect your papers.”

Wang the invigilator had a very “scientific” way of handing out papers—he would loudly announce the scores from highest to lowest.

This not only gave the top scorers a sense of honor to encourage them to keep striving, but also spurred the lower scorers to catch up, creating a “subject MVP” vibe.

“Chen Zishi 148, Deng Qian 144, Lin Cheng 142... Zhuang Sijing 130, Cai Songqi 128... Li Siqi 126...”

Wang Lixin recited the scores mechanically, one by one.

Every time someone scoring above 140 came up to receive their paper, the other students felt both envy and nervous anticipation, hoping their own names would be called soon.

But when the last few students with the lowest scores came up, those poor kids didn’t dare to raise their heads.

Wang the invigilator deliberately emphasized: “Xu Jiesi 102; Li Hang 100...”

Xu Jiesi and Li Hang’s faces flushed deep red with embarrassment.

After handing out the math papers, Wang Lixin picked up the physics test.

“Names called, come up! Chen Zishi 142, Hu Wanzhong 140, Lin Cheng 140... Zhuang Sijing 136... Cheng Sisi 95...”

This physics test was really tough. After all, it was the advanced class, with several Olympiad champions.

There was no shortage of students with impressive high scores!

Lin Cheng was again among the top scorers. Zhao Guangtao looked a little dejected as he looked over his paper.

He had scored only 100 points. He stood up, grabbed Lin Cheng’s test paper, and compared the mistakes.

Next came the chemistry papers. Zhuang Sijing scored 141, Chen Zishi 131, Song Yu 138—sure enough, the scores didn’t differ by much.

But Lin Cheng scored only 100 points, dragging his overall performance down.

Exams are the most fair form of competition; scores don’t lie or pretend.

Next was English.

Lin Cheng scored 138 points, causing a ripple of surprise.

Zhao Guangtao scored 112 points, which was relatively good for him. The highest score was Zhuang Sijing’s 145.

Lin Yueyue looked at Lin Cheng in astonishment.

She had done the math—Lin Cheng’s total score was even higher than hers. She found it hard to believe and felt a burn of jealousy. Had she really been holding him back? Or would he have studied better if he had left her?

She glanced at Chen Zishi, who happened to meet her gaze. Lin Yueyue’s face flushed crimson.

“Now, continuing with the Chinese scores.”

Wang Lixin picked up the last stack of test papers and suddenly paused. He quickly scanned the whispering students, lingering for a few milliseconds on Lin Cheng...

“He Yueyue 138, Zhuang Sijing 137, Lin Cheng 136... Lin, Lin Cheng...”

Perhaps Wang Lixin was a little surprised by Lin Cheng’s English score, but had he also made such a rapid leap in Chinese?

Wang Lixin cleared his throat and said:

“Lin Cheng, 136!”

“What?”

A sudden murmur swept through the classroom; the students instantly lost their composure.

Lin Cheng scored 136 in Chinese?

Come on, this was Chinese—poetry analysis, classical text translation—could you bluff your way through that? And the essay, could you fake that?

It was common knowledge that male students in their final year could rocket up in math, physics, and chemistry scores.

But how on earth did he improve by thirty or forty points in Chinese within a month?

Under all the students’ gaze, Lin Cheng walked up to the podium to collect his paper.

Wang Lixin, who must have already been surprised, handed the paper to Lin Cheng and added:

“Your essay was actually discussed among the Chinese teachers. They originally wanted to give you a full score, but in the end, the head of the teaching group decided to give you 58 points.”

Lin Cheng smiled. “That’s because they didn’t want me to get conceited. Fair enough!”

Chen Zishi instantly lost his cool: Wang Defa, you scoundrel!

The essay was worth 60 points in total, and 58 was practically a perfect score.

In Jiangdong Province, a region rich in cultural heritage, although some students had scored full marks on the college entrance essay, it was still extremely rare among classmates.

Lin Cheng returned to his seat and grinned at a bewildered Zhuang Sijing.

“What? You impressed?”

Zhuang Sijing ignored his teasing. “Did you know? Your total score is 656!”

Lin Cheng blinked, “Huh?”

Math 142 + Physics 140 + Chemistry 100 + English 138 + Chinese 136!

What did a 656 mean in this era?

In 2007, Peking University used the national standardized test papers in Jiangdong for Chinese, Math, and English under the “3+1+2” mode, with a total score of 750 points.

That year, the cut-off for the top-tier university admission was 596 points.

A score above 620 could get you into a 985 Project university.

A score of 660 got you knocking on the door of the prestigious C9 League (that year, Tsinghua and Peking University scored 683 and 680 respectively).

Because the total was out of 750 points,

Lin Cheng’s 100 points in Chemistry (with a full score of 150) was low.

For top students, 120 was the basic requirement in this subject.

This showed that Lin Cheng had huge room for improvement!

If he could score 130 in Chemistry, he could aim for the top two!

Lin Cheng had gone from barely making the first-tier university to “guaranteeing 985 Project admission, even aiming for the C9 League!”

No wonder Zhuang Sijing was so surprised.

Zhao Guangtao overheard their whispers and felt like he had swallowed something bitter; their scores were not far apart before, and he had a total of 580 points!

Compared to Lin Cheng’s 656, it was as if he had missed an entire subject!

Amid the buzzing discussions, Wang Lixin approached Lin Cheng.

He tapped Lin Cheng’s desk lightly with his knuckles and said quietly, “Come with me for a moment.”

Being called aside by the teacher?

Zhuang Sijing playfully stuck out her tongue at Lin Cheng.

The corridor was quiet, but Wang Lixin’s footsteps echoed as he walked away.

The corridor lights seemed to watch Lin Cheng; photos and portraits of famous figures hung on the walls, telling the stories of Wuzhou High School’s past...

Inside the teachers’ office, nearly every desk had a student standing in front of it, likely those who had underperformed.

Zhou Luoyao was also in the office.

But she wasn’t standing; she was sitting in Teacher Chen Yan’s seat, tidying up papers.

Seeing Lin Cheng, she squinted at him sharply, as if saying: “Lin Junjie, you fool, causing trouble again?”

Being called in for a meeting showed that the teacher still had expectations for the student.

If the teachers ignored any result, it meant they had given up on the student.

Wang Lixin sat down in an armchair, unhurriedly sipping some wolfberry tea from his thermos.

Lin Cheng stood at the edge of the desk. These middle-aged key teachers were not only health-conscious but also tended to treat students like air.

After drinking his tea comfortably, Wang Lixin leisurely said:

“Lin Cheng, your improvement this time is remarkable. It seems that changing seats helped, and you really put in the effort.”

He smiled and added, “Especially your Chinese score. Even the entire Chinese department finds it unbelievable.”

Lin Cheng pressed his lips together. “Teacher, I didn’t cheat.”

“I know! Unless you missed a question!”

Lin Cheng was speechless.

“Missing a question is impossible. If you had that skill, why not use it in the college entrance exam?” Zhou Luoyao interrupted.

Zhou Luoyao was a top student who often helped Teacher Chen Yan grade papers and was well acquainted with teachers from various subjects.

“Zhou Luoyao, are you aiming for the heavens? Missing a question in the imperial exams meant immediate disqualification!”

Chen Yan, who had returned to the office, heard this. He had been the main advocate for giving Lin Cheng full marks on his essay and was secretly delighted.

He scolded his overly talkative class president, “Just joke around with Teacher Wang a bit and get back to work!”

Zhou Luoyao chuckled.