Chapter 2: On the Making of an Academic Genius

Now.

Jiang Bei stepped out of the exam room. The last test had just ended, marking the perfect conclusion to his high school years.

In front of the exam center, Jiang Bei stretched luxuriously and glanced at the time. There were still about forty-five minutes left before the official end of the exam.

He considered heading home, but he had already agreed with his classmates to go straight to dinner after the test, then have some fun to relax a bit.

Perhaps they would reminisce about the suffering they endured over the past three years in high school.

Yes, his classmates would reminisce about their hardships, but he had no need for that.

His high school life had been leisurely and comfortable, spent lying back and enjoying himself without a trace of suffering—only happiness.

“With this much time, I could just barely make a round trip, but why bother? I’ll wait,” he thought.

Having decided, Jiang Bei started looking around, trying to find a shaded place to wait out of the sun.

But before he could find such a spot, his wandering eyes met those of his homeroom teacher, striding toward him with an intimidating air, as if he was about to pick a fight.

Jiang Bei smiled. He had always found Mr. Liu Tao, his homeroom teacher, particularly amusing.

He enjoyed interesting things, whether people or animals.

“Jiang Bei, you rascal, I just went to the restroom for a minute and you handed in your paper and ran out?” Liu Tao’s face was dark with annoyance.

This reaction only made it more entertaining for Jiang Bei.

“Mr. Liu, scolding your weak and innocent student in front of everyone isn’t very dignified, is it? Let’s step aside and continue,” he said.

Outside the school gates, the area was packed with parents waiting for their children to finish the exam, so privacy was scarce. Jiang Bei pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offered one to Liu Tao, then lit one for himself.

“Sir, I finished early. I really couldn’t sit still in the exam room any longer, so I came out,” Jiang Bei explained.

After three years as Jiang Bei’s homeroom teacher, Liu Tao knew his character well. He didn’t bother to argue, lighting his own cigarette.

“You could’ve checked your answers, though,” Liu Tao exhaled a cloud of smoke. “This is the college entrance exam—can’t you take it seriously? I offered you the direct admission spot before, and you turned it down, insisting on taking the test yourself...”

This was something Liu Tao could never understand.

In all his years of teaching, he had never seen anything like it.

A student refusing a direct admission offer from Huaxing University?

Even after calling in the student’s parents, they simply said they respected their child’s choice.

The whole family was out of the ordinary!

Jiang Bei laughed. “Sir, that was ages ago. Why are you still harping on it? I didn’t need the spot, so I turned it down. Someone else benefited—what’s not to like?”

“Yeah, yeah, enough already. The spot’s gone to someone else anyway. Even if you want it now, it's no longer available,” Liu Tao said, waving his hand. Every time Jiang Bei flatly refused the direct admission offer, it left Liu Tao frustrated, so he couldn’t be bothered to bring it up anymore.

“So, how did you do? Confident you’ll be the top science student this year?”

Jiang Bei made an OK gesture with a smile.

“Not a problem at all.”

A few minutes later, after finishing his cigarette, Liu Tao couldn’t be bothered to continue nagging. The more he spoke, the more frustrated he felt. With a shake of his head, he went back into the school.

As the homeroom teacher, he had several students taking the exam at this center and needed to wait until the final bell sounded.

----------------

Meanwhile, in an exam room over a thousand kilometers away, in another city—

A girl, strikingly beautiful, her youthful style effortlessly genuine, smiled with a radiance that made the stars seem pale by comparison. She kept her head down, diligently checking her answer sheet.

It was her third review already.

She would keep checking until the very last bell rang.

An invigilator had noticed her long ago—and more than half an hour earlier, had realized that this impossibly beautiful girl had finished the exam at a frightening speed.

In fact, as she walked around the room, the invigilator had even snuck a glance at the girl's paper.

She was stunned.

It wasn’t that every answer was obviously correct—after all, she only glanced and didn’t have time to consider the responses in detail.

It was the handwriting. Every character, even each letter, looked as if it had been printed—neat and elegant, putting the invigilator’s own penmanship to shame.

And the invigilator had practiced calligraphy since childhood.

Blinking, the female invigilator didn’t believe this girl was checking her paper over and over because she’d filled it in carelessly the first time...

With that possibility ruled out, only one conclusion remained.

“A girl this pretty, with such beautiful handwriting, and so thorough in her work… Maybe she’s going for the top liberal arts score.”

“Ah, and by comparison, my own daughter—who just thinks about eating all day, either eating or on her way to find food… Best not to compare, or it’ll just make me more frustrated.”

Ding-ling-ling!

The bell signaling the end of the exam finally rang. All the students in the room put down their pens, the invigilators began collecting the papers, and just like that, the college entrance exams—and high school—were over.

The girl packed up her stationery, slung a cute cartoon-printed backpack over her shoulder, and left the teaching building. Outside, teachers had set up collection points; as she approached, her appearance caught the teacher’s eye, and she handed over her tools.

“Thank you,” the teacher murmured, still taken aback by her beauty.

“You’re welcome,” she replied with a smile—so bright it was as if spring had returned, chasing away the sweltering summer in a heartbeat.

Outside the exam center, students emerged one after another—some jubilant, some dejected, some excited. The parents, who had been waiting for hours, burst into a frenzy, like water at a rolling boil.

Because the crowd was so dense, the girl stopped to look for her parents, but after scanning in both directions for a while, she couldn’t find them. So she stepped to the side of a flower bed to wait for the crowd to thin.

The throng ebbed and flowed like the tide, but it didn’t take long for it to dissipate.

While she waited, two girls joined her—they were her best friends.

“Yuan, are you coming to the class dinner tonight?” one asked.

Fang Yuan nodded. “Of course! I’m always up for good food.”

At this, the other friend pouted and pinched Fang Yuan’s slender waist. “We all eat the same, yet you never gain a pound. It’s infuriating!”

Fang Yuan laughed. She had heard that complaint countless times, but it always delighted her. “Envious? It’s just good genes—you can’t help it.”

Both friends sighed.

After a while, the crowd finally thinned to a manageable level. Fang Yuan looked around once more and spotted her parents—as well as a burly, bald stranger.

Who was this tough-looking, bald man? Why was he with her parents?

“Dad, Mom, who is this?”

“Come here, Yuan. This is your uncle. Say hello.”

“….”