From Slacking Off To Becoming A Top Student - Chapter 7 - Chapter 7 – I Still Have Much To Learn!

Yan Xiaoxi took the paper and turned to the essay section. After just half a minute, shock and disbelief appeared on her face.

What… what the heck!
Did he really write this?

As Chen Xiaoxin’s deskmate, Yan Xiaoxi knew better than anyone what was happening during that Chinese exam. In just half a class period, Chen Xiaoxin had finished the entire exam, including the essay at the end. At that time, she thought he was just scribbling nonsense, but now, reality slapped her hard in the face.

It seemed… it seemed like his essay was even better than hers! Although her own essay was simple and easy to understand, she couldn’t deny that the flow of his essay was much more polished. What’s more, he used many obscure words, and yet they didn’t affect the overall coherence of the article at all.

How could this happen?
How did he manage to write this?

At this moment, Yan Xiaoxi felt a mixture of anger and helplessness. She was angry because Chen Xiaoxin had outdone her, but helpless because, honestly, she was no match for him.

If he were an average student, Yan Xiaoxi wouldn’t have been so upset, but after his daring actions at noon, which had left her dumbfounded, now, not long after, he had stunned her again with his essay. The mental and emotional blows were too much to handle.

But facts were facts, and denying them wouldn’t change anything.

Meanwhile, the teachers gathered around her, their expressions a mix of shock, confusion, helplessness, and a hint of unspoken reluctance. At that moment, these teachers knew that Chen Xiaoxin’s classical Chinese essay had earned the recognition of a super student.

“Yan Xiaoxi, what do you think of this essay?” Teacher Zhang eagerly asked.

Yan Xiaoxi pursed her lips and lightly replied, “If my essay scored fifty-eight points, then this one could score sixty. Actually, it could even score higher, but essay scores are capped at sixty.”

Although she wasn’t on the best terms with Chen Xiaoxin, Yan Xiaoxi still gave a fair evaluation. After all, there was no way around the fact that her skills were lacking compared to his.

Soon, the office buzzed with discussion, as everyone speculated how Chen Xiaoxin had written this essay. But in the end, no one could come up with a satisfactory answer. After all, during the last monthly exam, Chen Xiaoxin had scored barely above fifty in Chinese, and now he had suddenly written a top-scoring essay, with the highest level of difficulty—classical Chinese.

“Alright.”

“Let’s stop guessing. Let’s have Chen Xiaoxin come in.” One of the Chinese teachers said, “Let’s have him write down the annotations for all the obscure words in his essay. If he could write this essay, it means he must be familiar with those words.”

Then, Teacher Zhang called Chen Xiaoxin in.

“Chen Xiaoxin, can you write down the annotations for the obscure words in your essay?” Teacher Zhang asked.

Chen Xiaoxin paused for a moment, looked at the teachers around him, and probably understood what they were getting at. They were all suspicious that the essay might not have been written by him, but without any proof, they were trying to verify it in this way.

“Sure.”

“Then, please give me a pen and three sheets of paper, Teacher Zhang,” Chen Xiaoxin said.

Soon, Chen Xiaoxin sat at one of the teacher’s desks, surrounded by teachers, including Yan Xiaoxi. Taking a deep breath under their gaze, Chen Xiaoxin began to write on the blank sheets of paper.

“Ye Ming: Referring to the moon, from Li Ji – Ji Fa: ‘Ye Ming, we worship the moon.’”

“Nong: Referring to the appearance of flourishing flowers and plants, from Shi Jing – Shao Nan – He Bi Nong Yi: ‘He Bi Nong Yi, like the flowers of peaches and plums.’”

“Shu: Referring to rain that nourishes the land.”

“Yu: Referring to a wooden fish-shaped letter, from Xiao Xing: ‘The western house is bidding farewell today, the northern fish and southern geese will meet someday.’”

As Chen Xiaoxin wrote the annotations, the surrounding teachers were frantically flipping through dictionaries and wordbooks. However, Chen Xiaoxin wrote at an incredibly fast speed, and the teachers could barely keep up. The dictionaries and wordbooks were almost smoking from the speed of the flipping.

Meanwhile, Yan Xiaoxi looked at the annotations on the white paper, her face turning pale. The proud Yan Xiaoxi couldn’t accept this cruel reality.

Ten minutes later, Chen Xiaoxin put down his pen and said to Teacher Zhang, “I’m done.”

Teacher Zhang snapped out of his daze and looked at the densely packed annotations on the white paper. At that moment, he completely believed that the classical Chinese essay had indeed been written by Chen Xiaoxin, but with it came even more confusion and bewilderment.

Clearly, Chen Xiaoxin had such a high level of mastery in classical Chinese. Why had he never shown it before? Why was he only revealing his skill now?

“Teacher Zhang, if there’s nothing else, can I go back to the classroom? I want to memorize a few English words.” Chen Xiaoxin asked.

“Hmm, you can go back.” Teacher Zhang nodded absentmindedly, then turned to Yan Xiaoxi and said, “You can go back too, Student Xiaoxi, you’ve worked hard.”

With a dazed expression, Yan Xiaoxi followed Chen Xiaoxin out of the office. Once they left, the office was immediately filled with a cacophony of discussions, interspersed with exclamations of surprise.

“Is this… is this really Chen Xiaoxin? Does he have such a high level of mastery in classical Chinese?”

“A genius! This is a genius!”

“If he had been at last year’s city-level competition, he definitely would have taken first place for the entire city!”

As the Senior Year Chinese Department teachers expressed their shock and amazement, Teacher Zhang looked at the three sheets of paper filled with annotations, a smile of satisfaction spreading across his face. Who would have thought that the usually inconspicuous Chen Xiaoxin was secretly a genius in classical Chinese?

“Hey, Chen Xiaoxin, wait a second!”

Suddenly, Yan Xiaoxi called out to her deskmate Chen Xiaoxin, biting her lip and saying seriously, “Even though you surpassed me in classical Chinese, you… don’t get too cocky. Give me some time… I will definitely overtake you!”

After speaking, the previously dejected Yan Xiaoxi suddenly transformed into a proud swan, lifting her head. She quickly walked down the stairs, leaving behind a bewildered Chen Xiaoxin, who just stood there, not quite sure what she meant.

“…Did she just get triggered or something?”

“Even after scoring a 145 on her mock exam…? Seriously.”

Chen Xiaoxin shrugged, not taking Yan Xiaoxi’s words to heart. The real focus was on how to slack off.

In the afternoon, there were English and Physics.

These two subjects were a bit harder to slack off in. The homeroom teacher taught English, and the Physics teacher was a strict middle-aged man who wouldn’t tolerate any nonsense.

But still, the saying goes: The bigger the storm, the more precious the fish!

On the other side, Yan Xiaoxi returned to the classroom and sat in her seat, not saying a word. She just sat there, lost in thought.

After experiencing this painful failure, she suddenly realized something.

I still have much to learn!