Ye Fei, the Language Arts teacher for Class 2, Grade 9, held a stack of exam papers in his arms and felt a bit of a headache coming on. He pressed his right hand against his temple.
Last night, Ye Fei had stayed up late grading, but still hadn't finished.
So this morning, he had no choice but to use the early self-study period and stay after work to catch up.
Fortunately, there wasn't much left. Only the essay sections remained.
"This piece about school days is decent."
Holding up a paper, Ye Fei nodded.
"Jiang Weiwei is quite sharp, her writing is delicate, and her handwriting is neat. I'll give her 54 points."
The essay was out of 60, giving 54 was already a very high score.
"Zhang Hua's 'My Homeland, I Love You' is passable too. 50 points."
"This kid Xia Hui actually wrote something pretty entertaining. Sigh, this kid is just too unbalanced in subjects."
Ye Fei casually gave Xia Hui 53 points and continued grading.
But after finishing the essays by Jiang Weiwei, Xia Hui, and the others, the remaining students' essays left Ye Fei with a massive headache.
What were these even supposed to be? Hundreds of words without saying anything at all. But Ye Fei had seen plenty of this before. Essays had always been the hardest part of Language Arts. How many middle schoolers could write a good essay these days? Even high schoolers didn't always do a great job.
To be honest, even Jiang Weiwei and Xia Hui's essays felt childish to Ye Fei. But considering their age, that was only natural. How could a middle schooler possibly write something that would truly astonish even a teacher?
Still, these were the students Ye Fei taught. No matter how poor their writing was, he had to read through them one by one.
Phew. Just one paper left.
After reading dozens of essays in a row, Ye Fei felt a bit tired. But he didn't take a break. Only one more remained.
Once this was done, he could hand the papers back and go over the answers with the class.
There wasn't much time left before the high school entrance exams. At this point, most revision methods involve either reviewing previous material or taking mock tests and analyzing them afterward. Clearly, going over tests was more effective and targeted than just reviewing old content. That's why, during exam season, the school regularly holds small to medium-sized exams.
"Huang Yifan."
The final paper belonged to Huang Yifan.
Luckily, the kid hadn't scored zero.
Ye Fei couldn't help recalling the conversation between Teacher Lin and Teacher Huang last night. He chuckled and felt a bit baffled. How had that kid ended up with a zero in English? Scoring zero in English was harder than scoring full marks.
Thank goodness Language Arts wasn't like English. Not so many multiple-choice questions, and there was an essay section. Even if he just scribbled something random, he could still get some points. Ye Fei didn't expect much from Huang Yifan's essay. He just wanted to finish grading quickly.
"Huh? This essay…"
He had planned to grade it quickly, but Ye Fei was hooked just from the first few lines.
This time, the essay question was open-ended. No set prompt; students could write whatever they wanted. Huang Yifan titled his piece 'My Dream'.
The title wasn't anything special, but the beginning took Ye Fei by complete surprise.
The essay began like this:
"Maybe everyone should have a dream.
When I was younger, I didn't have one. But after seeing others dream of becoming scientists, or celebrities, or school principals, I began to reflect. Should I have a dream too? It was mostly because I felt that if someone asked me what my dream was and I said I didn't have one, it would ruin the flow of the conversation.
Alright then. Just to maintain friendship with classmates and friends, even someone like me who had no dream, ended up with one."
The opening was very humorous. Ye Fei only skimmed it, but he was already stunned.
Was this really written by a middle school student?
He kept reading. Ten minutes later, Ye Fei was completely speechless.
If the opening had surprised him or caught his eye, the full essay had left him in absolute shock.
Starting with a humorous tone, the essay quickly shifted from the topic of dreams into a more serious theme about ambition and resolve. Then, through an anecdote, it presented the idea of "always setting new goals" versus "sticking to one constant goal." Finally, it delivered a powerful closing line:
"People with no resolve often set new goals. People with true resolve stay focused on one."
That line wasn't just the thesis. It was a profoundly thought-provoking quote.
Even more astonishing, Ye Fei realized he had never seen that line before.
Yes, don't underestimate that sentence. With his degree in Chinese Literature and over ten years of teaching experience, Ye Fei was certain this line could stand alongside the great sayings passed down through the ages. And yet, he found it strange. Why had he never come across it before?
There was only one explanation. It was original.
But Ye Fei found that hard to believe.
Not just the quote, the entire style of the essay didn't feel like something a middle schooler could produce.
How could a student this age write something so polished?
Could it have been copied?
With that suspicion, Ye Fei copied the essay and searched it online. Nothing came up.
He didn't give up. He searched just the sentence: "People with no resolve often set new goals. People with true resolve stay focused on one."
Still nothing.
Seeing no results, Ye Fei began to wonder.
Could it be that this essay wasn't plagiarized, and really was Huang Yifan's own work?
Utterly stunned, Ye Fei read the essay 'My Dream' again.
No doubt about it. It really was Huang Yifan's original piece.
After reading it once more, Ye Fei slapped the table and exclaimed in disbelief.
Even though the essay's style was extremely mature and didn't read like something a middle schooler could write, maybe more like a college student or even a literature major, everything in the essay, the dreams, the characters, the events, all pointed directly to Tieshikou Middle School. It was an essay grounded in that school's setting.
There really was a strong possibility that Huang Yifan had written it himself.
At that moment, Ye Fei's emotions surged wildly.
On one hand, it felt almost unbelievable.
By normal standards, a middle schooler couldn't possibly write something like this.
But on the other hand, Ye Fei couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope.
Maybe this kid had been hiding something all along?
Thinking of that, Ye Fei naturally recalled Huang Yifan's English zero from the night before.
Did Huang Yifan really score a zero?
Ye Fei didn't teach English, but he understood it well enough.
He had even joked earlier that scoring zero in English was harder than getting full marks.
A sudden spark lit up in his mind as that thought returned. Ye Fei felt like he had just realized something.
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