Thursday morning, the classroom atmosphere became heavy as Ms. Ingram walked in holding a stack of graded test papers.
Actually, most students already had a good idea of their test scores.
"This test was a bit special, so it's understandable that quite a few students failed," Ms. Ingram began, summarizing the test results.
Then, she habitually started handing out the papers from lowest to highest scores.
After handing out ten failing papers in a row, Ingram held the eleventh paper, a slight smile appearing on her face.
"In this quiz, one student's score improved significantly. Everyone should learn from him." Then, Ms. Ingram called out, "Georgie, congratulations, you passed a test for the first time this school year."
Hearing this, Georgie excitedly walked to the front of the classroom. He took the paper, saw the 'C' (Pass) marked in red ink, and smiled happily.
Then, realizing something, he turned and glared at Sheldon in the first row, who was about to raise his hand to speak, with a look that was both a warning and a plea.
Only after the other party no longer intended to raise his hand did Georgie feel relieved and return to the back row.
Seeing the 'C' on Georgie's paper, Sheldon was once again caught in a dilemma.
However, he quickly lost interest in Georgie.
As Ms. Ingram continued to hand out papers, only two remained in her hand.
"Sheldon, you only got one question wrong on this test, you performed well. Keep it up…" Ms. Ingram picked up the second-to-last paper and praised him.
However, Sheldon, who received the paper, stared blankly at the 'B+' on it. He didn't hear anything Ms. Ingram said afterward.
This was the first time Sheldon had ever received a score other than an 'A' since he started school.
To him, it was no less than the end of the world.
"Alright, Sheldon, go back to your seat," Ms. Ingram prompted him when she saw Sheldon dazed.
Mechanically returning to his seat, Sheldon finally broke free from his dazed state.
Then, he heard Ingram continue, "The last two questions on this quiz were a bit beyond the scope. However, I'm glad to see that someone still got a perfect score."
In public middle schools that advocate for 'happy education', getting a perfect score is very difficult.
Of course, one must first exclude unexpected factors like Sheldon.
Ms. Ingram was very pleased that another student with greater mathematical talent had appeared in the class. She smiled and said, "Mike, please come up and get your paper. I have some good news to tell you in a moment."
Mike did not seem surprised to get a perfect score. He calmly walked forward to take the paper, then quietly returned to his seat.
"Mike, how did you do the last two questions?" Sheldon asked softly, a hint of unwillingness on his face.
"Just plug them into the calculus formulas, it's very simple to do," Mike paused, explaining, "Oh, by the way, calculus is a twelfth grade course, we haven't learned it yet."
Seeing that Sheldon was upset, Mike's original intention was to comfort him, but the effect was not very good.
"How could this be…" Sheldon fell into self-doubt.
He was unwilling to lose to anyone in academic performance. Being surpassed by Mike this time gave him a sense of urgency.
[Intelligence attribute +2]
Because of Sheldon's strong emotional fluctuations, Mike unexpectedly received another intelligence light cluster.
'What a good person!' Mike crushed the light cluster in his hand, and in a great mood, he wondered if he should care for Sheldon, this excellent sheep, again.
However, just then, Ms. Ingram said, "The rest of you can look at your papers for now, I have something to discuss with Mike outside."
Then, Ms. Ingram walked down from the podium and called out to Mike, "Mike, someone is waiting for you. I'll explain on the way."
It didn't seem like a bad thing, so Mike got up and followed her, and the two left the classroom together.
"You know about the school's Math Olympiad Team, right?" Ingram asked on the way.
Yesterday, Mike had heard about the school's Math Olympiad Team from Cady. So, he nodded in agreement.
"Very good. What I'm about to tell you is that this Math Olympiad quiz was specially prepared by Ms. Sharon to select Math Olympiad Team members from the eleventh grade," Ms. Ingram continued to explain, "Oh, by the way, Ms. Sharon is the twelfth grade math teacher and the leader of the school's Math Olympiad Team."
Ingram had been very optimistic about Sheldon for this Math Olympiad Team spot, but from the test results, he still lacked some accumulation in mathematics.
Fortunately, a perfect-scoring Mike appeared in the class, so the eleventh grade didn't lose face.
Soon, the two followed the hallway and arrived at the twelfth grade math office.
Mike saw Ms. Sharon there; she was a woman around thirty, wearing a vintage white velvet blouse.
From her serious expression, this Ms. Sharon seemed to be a meticulous person.
People with this kind of personality, in a way, can feel very difficult to approach.
And standing beside Ms. Sharon were two twelfth grade students. Mike recognized a familiar face among them: Cady.
Cady saw Mike walk in.
First, she was a little surprised, and then she gave a bright smile and nodded slightly at Mike, as a greeting.
The other twelfth grade student was a slender boy.
At this moment, he looked at Mike repeatedly, his expression very surprised.
He was Kevin, the captain of the school's Math Olympiad Team.
On the other side, Ms. Sharon first greeted Ms. Ingram and saw her off. Then she turned to Mike and asked, "You are Mike?"
Apparently, Mike's excellent looks didn't fit the image of a studious nerd.
Generally speaking, the more attractive students are in school, the less time they have for studying.
Those who understand, understand; those who don't, don't need to delve deeper.
"Yes, that's me," Mike nodded slightly when he heard the question.
"I know you —"
Before Ms. Sharon could make her next move, Kevin, the captain of the Math Olympiad Team, who was beside her, spoke in a familiar tone, "Mike, he's the star of the school's football team, I didn't expect his academic performance to be so good too."
Saying this, the cheerful Math Olympiad Team captain approached Mike with an envious expression, trying to hook his arm around the latter's shoulder.
However, Kevin, who was under one meter seventy, ultimately found that he couldn't reach the other's shoulder at all.
So, in the end, he could only awkwardly pat Mike's arm.
"Alright, Kevin, be quiet for a moment," Ms. Sharon also seemed to have a headache with her lively student.
Then, the twelfth grade math teacher began to explain the benefits of joining the Math Olympiad Team to Mike.