"Huang Yifan, did the teacher scold you again?"
Back at her seat, Zhang Huiping asked with a hint of sympathy.
These past couple of days, under Huang Yifan's guidance, Zhang Huiping had made rapid progress.
But the more she interacted with him, the more mysterious he seemed.
He could write novels.
He could solve any problem.
And his composition, which Zhang Huiping had secretly looked at, had earned a perfect score of 60.
Someone like that felt like the genius characters from TV shows.
But why didn't Huang Yifan ever show it?
The more she thought about it, the more puzzled Zhang Huiping became.
To her, Huang Yifan was like a riddle, fascinating and impossible to look away from.
"Scold me? Not at all. The homeroom teacher actually said I was a rare genius in our class and specially invited me to compete in the county's academic competition. What do you think, Zhang Huiping? Should I go or not?"
Blinking playfully, Huang Yifan looked at her.
"Of course you should go! Why wouldn't you?"
Without hesitation, Zhang Huiping answered.
"Ha! Silly girl. You really believed that? Do you think, with my grades, the teacher would invite me to compete?"
Huang Yifan had just been joking, but to his surprise, Zhang Huiping had actually believed him. Before she could respond, Jiang Weiwei, who had overheard, interjected.
"Huang Yifan, I didn't think you were such a liar. The teacher clearly asked me to represent the class in the competition. Huiping, you're too naive. You believe whatever people tell you. That kind of personality's not good; you'll be easily tricked by bad guys someday."
"Ugh, this brat again."
Seeing Jiang Weiwei turn around, Huang Yifan was a little annoyed.
Did this girl have some kind of problem? Why did she keep messing with him?
Still, being a grown man in spirit, Huang Yifan wasn't going to stoop to her level. Seeing how smug she was, he played along. "Alright, Jiang Weiwei, you caught me. The homeroom teacher saw me sleeping just now and gave me a good scolding. I had to promise not to do it again before she let me go."
"Hmph, trying to act like a genius? You think it's that easy? Even someone as smart as me doesn't dare call herself a genius."
Satisfied, Jiang Weiwei returned to her seat with a proud toss of her head.
"She's hopeless…"
Huang Yifan was practically in tears.
But Zhang Huiping gently tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Don't mind Weiwei. She's just blunt. I believe you."
As she spoke, Zhang Huiping mimicked Huang Yifan's earlier gesture and blinked at him, her eyes full of innocence.
…
"This kid is obsessed with money."
After Huang Yifan left, the three teachers exchanged looks, amused and exasperated.
They knew he was a genius, but at the end of the day, he was still just a kid.
But none of them had expected him to actually haggle with them, saying 5.000 yuan wasn't enough, and he'd only compete for 10.000.
What would he be like when he grew up?
"So what do we do now?"
Huang Yilian looked at Lin Jinfen, then at Ye Fei.
"We could trick him for now and sort it out after the competition. It's not like we're actually giving him money right away."
Lin Jinfen suggested.
"No way. That would make us look bad. Don't underestimate him; he might end up a true master one day. We may not have achieved much as teachers, but who knows, maybe we'll benefit from knowing him in the future."
"A true master? Ye Fei, aren't you overestimating him?"
Lin Jinfen shook her head, unconvinced.
She accepted that Huang Yifan was a genius, but in a country with nearly 1.5 billion people, geniuses weren't that rare.
But a "master"? Now, that was rare.
"Not at all."
Ye Fei shook his head.
"Think about it. Most geniuses have flaws: arrogance, difficult personalities, things like that. But look at Huang Yifan. He's not arrogant, he knows how to stay low-key, and he's incredibly composed. Compared to pure intellect-type geniuses, he's in a whole different league. I believe when he finally shows his true ability, it'll shake the entire country."
"When you put it like that… I'm starting to believe in him too."
Huang Yilian nodded in agreement.
"Alright, Ye Fei, you have a point. But what do we do now? We can't just offer him 10.000 yuan as a reward. That money isn't coming from us; it's from the school. And we don't have the authority to decide that."
"That's why I think we should talk to the principal."
"To raise the reward to 10.000?"
"Yes."
"But Ye Fei, do you really think the principal will agree? You know how stingy he is."
"There's only one way to find out, let's go now, while he's still in."
Led by Ye Fei, the three of them headed to the principal's office.
"Oh, Mr. Ye, Ms. Lin, Ms. Huang, what brings you here?"
Wang Yang, the principal of Tieshikou Middle School, looked up in surprise as the three teachers entered.
"We wanted to discuss something with you, Principal."
"Have a seat. What is it?"
"It's about the upcoming county-wide academic competition."
"Wasn't that all settled? Is something wrong?"
"No, no."
Ye Fei smiled. "Actually, something interesting happened. Recently, we discovered an unexpected genius among our students. His grades aren't great, so we never noticed him before. But due to a small slip-up, we realized he's extraordinary. After testing him, we confirmed he's a true prodigy. We want him to represent the school in the competition. With him on our side, we have a real shot at winning first place."
"That's great news! So just talk to him and have him compete."
"Well, there's one small issue…"
"What is it?"
"He said the prize money is too low. He wants it raised to 10.000 yuan."
"What…"
Principal Wang froze.
"Did I hear that right?"
"Are you joking?"
"Heh, I know I'm usually a bit strict with you all, but this isn't the time to joke around. I've got work to do, please head out."
He gestured toward the door.
"No, Principal, we're serious."
Seeing that he didn't believe them, Lin Jinfen and Huang Yilian quickly explained everything that had happened with Huang Yifan.
After repeated explanations, Wang Yang finally believed they weren't joking.
"Wow… this kid is really something."
Once they recounted the whole story, Wang Yang's interest was piqued.
This student clearly wasn't ordinary.
Not only smart, but shrewd, already trying to negotiate with the school.
"Oh, right, what's this student's name again? Huang Yifan?"
"Yes, Principal. That's his name. Would you like to meet him?"
"No need."
Wang Yang waved it off, but inwardly, he remembered something the former principal had once said.
Then he spoke again.
"Alright, go back and tell him, the 10.000 yuan reward is approved."
==========
Support the translation and help me keep the work.
patreon.com/Childish_Patriarch