Happy New Year, everyone!
I hope you all have a wonderful and prosperous 2026, filled with health, success, and great stories.
Because of the New Year celebrations, I wasn't able to upload new chapters over the past few days. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.
From now on, updates will return to normal. Thank you for continuing to read and support.
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Huang Yifan?
Was that really Huang Yifan raising his hand?
Not only was his deskmate Zhang Huiping stunned, but the entire class was also in disbelief.
Huang Yifan raised his hand. Could he solve it?
What a joke.
They were all classmates and knew each other well; who didn't know about Huang Yifan's grades?
Though he wasn't at the very bottom of the class, he was still in the lower tier.
And now, on a problem that no one else in the class could solve, Huang Yifan had actually raised his hand?
"Huang Yifan, can you do it?"
Somehow, seeing him raise his hand, Jiang Weiwei blurted out.
"Sort of, I think I can manage it."
The two of them only muttered softly, but Lin Jinfen, standing nearby, wore a perfectly calm expression and gave a knowing smile as she looked at Huang Yifan.
"Just as I thought, a great reward draws out the brave. Huang Yifan, I think you've long wanted an excuse to stop doing homework."
The entire class burst into laughter.
"But it doesn't matter whether you want to do homework or not. Since you've raised your hand, go to the blackboard and solve the problem."
Huang Yifan walked to the front as instructed.
In truth, he really didn't want to do homework. After all, how many adults genuinely enjoy it? But because he was a student, he didn't have a choice. He didn't want to appear too brilliant, but he also didn't want to seem like a total slacker. To avoid drawing attention from either the teachers or his classmates, he'd been reluctantly doing homework all this time.
Originally, he hadn't intended to solve this problem either, since it clashed with his desire to keep a low profile. But the reward of no more homework was just too tempting.
Picking up a piece of chalk from the podium, Huang Yifan solved the problem on the board in under a minute.
The entire class was stunned.
What just happened?
This guy actually solved it?
Even though they couldn't solve the problem themselves, the class could still tell whether the answer was correct.
No question about it, Huang Yifan's solution steps and logic were flawless.
And that made it even harder to believe.
Even Jiang Weiwei couldn't solve it. How had Huang Yifan managed?
But Huang Yifan didn't bother explaining. Once he finished, he returned to his seat. Just as he sat down, worried that the teacher might go back on her word, he reminded her, "Miss Lin, I've finished solving the problem."
No one else caught the subtext, but as an adult, Lin Jinfen certainly did.
On the surface, the sentence was straightforward, but its real meaning was clear. Miss Lin, you'd better keep your word.
"Good, very good! I didn't expect such a tough problem would be solved by you."
Seeing him solve it correctly, Lin Jinfen was absolutely thrilled.
Still pretending, huh? Caught you red-handed.
Kid, you might be a genius, but you've finally been found out by your teacher.
Suppressing her excitement, she deliberately asked, "But I'm a bit curious. How did you figure it out? Even Jiang Weiwei couldn't do it."
"Miss Lin, I saw this problem in a math workbook before. One of those past exam compilations you mentioned. You know, for students like me who don't have a solid foundation, it's already too late to start from scratch. So we just keep reviewing old problems and hope something familiar shows up in the real exam. I didn't expect that you'd actually give us one I'd already done."
Even though solving the problem went against his usual low-key approach, Huang Yifan had already thought of how he'd explain it before stepping up. When the teacher asked now, he smoothly gave his prepared answer. Sure enough, the class had an epiphany.
Ah, that made sense. No wonder he could solve it.
Turns out he'd already seen the problem in a test prep book.
What ridiculous luck! Now he wouldn't have to turn in math homework anymore.
Totally unfair.
Some students even chimed in, "Doesn't count. He'd already done that problem before. Of course, he could solve it; that shouldn't count."
They looked eagerly at Miss Lin, clearly hoping she'd revoke the reward.
Huang Yifan found it amusing.
These kids were so obviously jealous. But he didn't take it to heart. They were still middle schoolers, just children. Like how a kid might get jealous if the neighbor's child got candy and they didn't. As an adult, as someone who had lived two lives, how could he be bothered by that?
Still, he was a bit worried that Miss Lin might say it didn't count. So before she could say anything, he quickly added, "You guys better give it up. Miss Lin is always true to her word; she's not like you all. Right, Miss Lin?"
"Wow, I didn't know you knew me so well, Huang Yifan. Alright, I'll count it. From now on, no more math homework for you. Let's move on to reviewing the monthly test."
Lin Jinfen nodded with satisfaction. The more she saw of Huang Yifan, the more interesting she found him. Still, this was a math class, so she didn't pursue the topic any further and began the lesson.
But during the rest of the class, Huang Yifan couldn't help but notice Lin Jinfen kept glancing at him. It gave him an uneasy feeling. Did she suspect something because of how he acted earlier?
But that shouldn't be possible.
Even though he solved the problem, he had already given a solid explanation. There was no way she could have figured it out.
He thought it over but couldn't come up with an answer. In the end, he just gave up and pretended to pay close attention to the lesson.
…
"Everyone, breaking news! I've got a full report."
The first period ended quickly, and Lin Jinfen, having finally confirmed Huang Yifan's secret, returned to the ninth-grade teachers' office brimming with excitement.
"Whoa, Miss Lin, spill it. What happened with Huang Yifan?"
Huang Yilian eagerly chimed in.
"Yes, come on, we can't wait any longer."
"Alright, alright."
Clearing her throat and sipping some water, Lin Jinfen began. "Remember, I said I'd test Huang Yifan in class? So this period, I gave them a difficult past entrance exam question. Told them anyone who could solve it should raise their hand."
"Miss Lin, that wouldn't work. I bet Huang Yifan didn't raise his hand."
Ye Fei said immediately.
"You're right, Ye Fei. He didn't raise his hand. But I had a backup plan."
Lin Jinfen looked proud. "When I saw he wasn't responding, I made a new announcement. I said that whoever solved the problem wouldn't have to do any more of my math homework until the exam."
"Miss Lin, you really know how to motivate students. I bet Huang Yifan couldn't resist that."
Huang Yilian was laughing.
"Of course! I'm their homeroom teacher. I know these kids. Who likes doing homework? Even Jiang Weiwei would be thrilled to be exempt."
"So what happened? Did he raise his hand?"
They knew he must have, and that he must have solved it, but they still waited eagerly.
"Of course. At first, the little rascal hesitated. But when I said this chance wouldn't come again, he finally raised his hand, and he solved it in under a minute."
"Wow, amazing."
Truth revealed, Ye Fei and Huang Yilian clapped with excitement.
It was incredible.
Discovering a hidden genius in the class, even if it only came up in passing years later, was still something to be proud of.
"Hold on, hold on. I'm not done yet."
"Huh? There's more?"
"What else happened?"
"That kid is too sharp. He seems to know that solving a tough problem might attract attention. Do you know what he said to me after solving it?"
"What?"
"He said, Miss Lin, I saw this problem before in a past exam paper, that's why I could solve it."
"What…"
Huang Yilian and Ye Fei were dumbfounded. Did that mean they'd discovered nothing after all?
"He's way too clever."
"Exactly, just one sentence, and your whole test plan was neutralized."
They were frustrated.
"You two are lucky I was the one testing him. If either of you had gone, you probably would've been fooled again. Let me tell you, even though he's sharp, age brings experience. That whole past exam line? I made that up just to mess with him. I came up with that question myself. There's no way he's seen it before."
With the truth once again revealed, Ye Fei and Huang Yilian were both beside themselves.
"Miss Lin, I didn't know you could be so sneaky."
"Oh, just average. But to deal with a student like that, you've got to be."
She clapped her hands, full of satisfaction.
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