MM | Chapter 13

English Paper

Yang Jing held the paper and lectured for five minutes. When she looked up, she noticed the sick student spinning his pen, ruler, and eraser. Anything within reach, he could spin.

This was probably a common trait among teenage boys.

She glanced a few times and finally remembered, “Sheng Wang?”

“Hmm?” The one being called stopped his pen.

“I almost forgot. Do you have a paper to look at?” Yang Jing asked.

Sheng Wang chuckled dryly, thinking, “You didn’t almost forget, you completely forgot.”

Yang Jing used to borrow Qi Jiahao’s paper, never worrying about follow-ups, as Qi Jiahao would always share with the student next to him, bringing a pen and notebook.

Class A students were divided into two groups: those who “check answers everywhere after exams” and those who “don’t care after exams.” Qi Jiahao belonged to the former.

Members of this group had a knack for “photographic memory.” They could recall the entire process and answers of the questions they did, including essays. For English papers, mostly multiple choice, it was a piece of cake to remember.

So even if they looked at someone else’s paper, Qi Jiahao knew which questions he got right or wrong and corrected them in his notebook.

As for Sheng Wang…

He was obviously part of the “don’t care after exams” group.

Yang Jing couldn’t stand students being idle, even if they got the answers right. So she nodded toward Sheng Wang and said, “Find someone to share with.”

Sheng Wang replied, “Oh.”

Finding someone to share with was easy. He stood up, grabbed his chair, and was about to move forward when Yang Jing added, “Move your chair to the back and share with Jiang Tian, okay?”

Not okay.

Sheng Wang thought, “That guy owes me a beating. I don’t want to share.”

But Yang Jing’s reasoning was solid, “I guess your accuracy is about the same as Jiang Tian’s, so you two can work together. As for Gao Tianyang, just spare him some dignity, okay?”

Sister Jing’s routine of teasing Gao Tianyang was unstoppable.

Dragging his chair to the back, Sheng Wang sat on Jiang Tian’s right. Although he didn’t remember his answers, he still pretended to bring a pen.

At first, he was restrained, sitting a foot away from the desk, needing to lean forward to see the paper.

Jiang Tian glanced at him several times and finally couldn’t help but say, “Is there a nail on the desk pricking you?”

“No.” Sheng Wang absentmindedly replied. After a couple of seconds, he realized Jiang Tian was mocking his posture.

Sheng Wang gave him a sidelong glance and moved his chair closer.

Once he started, he couldn’t stop. Within five minutes, Sheng Wang moved bit by bit until both hands were on the desk.

Yang Jing’s pace wasn’t slow, but with three papers and 150 questions, those with many mistakes were busy, while those with few were bored.

Due to his illness, Sheng Wang was already a bit dizzy. Coupled with Jiang Tian’s nearly flawless paper, he soon felt sleepy. He leaned lower and lower, his arms taking up more space.

Resting his chin on his hands, he nodded off, occasionally bumping into someone else. The warmth of another’s body against his skin startled him awake.

At sixteen or seventeen, everything felt awkward. A word, a glance, or a touch could make someone withdraw, unclear and unsure.

Sheng Wang pulled back his elbow, and Jiang Tian changed positions, removing his arm from the desk.

The avoidance was too obvious. The young master felt a bit displeased, thinking, “Would touching you kill you? Why move away so fast?”

Yang Jing happened to reach the end of the second paper, and Sheng Wang, feeling uneasy, finally found a mistake.

Finally having something to do, he uncapped his pen, marked an X on the paper, and corrected it, even jotting down notes.

He added a flourish to the last “g,” and when he looked up, he saw Jiang Tian holding a red pen, staring at him with an indescribable expression.

Sheng Wang asked, “What, got a toothache?”

Jiang Tian said, “It’s my paper.”

Sheng Wang: “…”

He looked down at the paper. His messy handwriting stood out, bold and slanted.

Sheepishly, Sheng Wang capped his pen and said, “Oh.” Due to his illness, he appeared deceptively lonely when he lowered his eyes, but in reality, he was just zoning out.

He hadn’t been dazed for long when he heard a soft “swish” on the desk. Looking up, he saw the paper had returned to him.

Jiang Tian tossed the red pen aside, leaned back in his chair, and gave up on listening to the lecture.

He pulled out an English competition workbook from the desk and said without looking up, “Write, so you don’t get bored.”

Yang Jing timed it perfectly, finishing all the questions in two periods.

Sheng Wang, graciously helping Jiang with corrections, even calculated his score. Out of 150 questions, he got 5 wrong, translating to a 120-point scale, only losing 4 points.

Jiang Tian finished a page of competition questions, checked the answers, and folded a corner of the page. When he looked up, he saw a bright red number at the top of his practice paper: 116.

Without even looking, he knew who had written it. Jiang Tian pursed his lips, took back the red pen Sheng Wang had borrowed, and gestured for him to leave.

Sheng Wang dragged his chair back to his seat as Yang Jing wrapped up. She pulled out her red pen, leaned on the podium, and graded Sheng Wang’s paper, saying, “Overall, it’s pretty good. You got about seven or eight wrong, which is respectable for a formal exam, but there’s room for improvement.”

The classmates shrank back. With the difficulty of this test, only getting seven or eight wrong was impressive, ranking in the top five of Class A.

Yang Jing put away her red pen and nodded to the class rep, Qi Jiahao, asking, “How about you, how many did you get wrong?”

Qi Jiahao, glancing back from Sheng Wang, smiled at the teacher, “Four.”

“Oh.” Yang Jing asked again, “And Jiang Tian?”

“Five.”

“Not bad.”

Qi Jiahao raised an eyebrow, sitting up straight. Yang Jing glanced at him and told the class, “I’ll print some papers later. Class rep, remember to get today’s assignments from the office this afternoon. Alright, class dismissed.”

As the bell rang, Gao Tianyang turned around, holding his paper, saying to Sheng Wang, “Something’s not right!”

Sheng Wang was about to continue his nap and asked casually, “What’s not right?”

Gao Tianyang said, “You didn’t get seven or eight wrong!”

Sheng Wang wasn’t too concerned, “Didn’t Sister Jing say so?”

“I copied all 150 of your answers, and I just checked during the review. No way you got seven or eight wrong. You really nailed it—” Gao Tianyang wanted to continue but heard high heels approaching.

He turned to see Yang Jing coming over with Sheng Wang’s paper, and immediately went silent, winking at Sheng Wang before sitting back down.

“Here you go.” Yang Jing placed the paper on the desk.

Sheng Wang took a look and saw three long check marks on the three sheets, not a single X.

A perfect score?

Sheng Wang was stunned, finally understanding why Gao Tianyang was making a fuss.

But if it was perfect, why did Yang Jing say he got seven or eight wrong?

While he was puzzled, Yang Jing patted his shoulder, saying, “During the break, come to the office with me.”

The Affiliated High School’s break was 30 minutes after the morning’s two classes. Mondays were for flag-raising and criticism meetings, Tuesdays to Fridays were for exercises, and weekends were for free activities.

That day’s break was marred by a downpour after a morning of rumbling thunder. The exercises were canceled, turning the 30 minutes into free time. Students ran around wildly, prompting several teachers to chase after them for discipline.

When Sheng Wang entered the office, Yang Jing was the only one there.

She sat at her desk, hooked a stool over with her foot, and said to Sheng Wang, “Sit.”

“Did you see the practice paper’s score?” Yang Jing asked.

Sheng Wang nodded, “I saw it.”

“Confused? It was a perfect score, but I said you got seven or eight wrong. Are you upset?”

“Should I be honest?”

“What else?” Yang Jing said, half-joking.

Sheng Wang said, “Then no, I’m not upset. I avoided copying several wrong answers. Why would I be upset?”

Yang Jing raised an eyebrow at him, then suddenly laughed. Her raised eyebrow gave her an imposing air, but her smile was the opposite, “Alright, your mentality is good. Do you know why I said you got seven or eight wrong?”

Several students ran past outside, chasing each other to the restroom.

Sheng Wang glanced over, then back, thinking for a moment, “I think I know.”

Yang Jing was surprised, “You know? Tell me.”

“I’ve only been here a few days and haven’t really integrated into the class. The only ones I’m close with are Gao Tianyang and…” Sheng Wang hesitated.

“And who?” Yang Jing asked.

“No, just Gao Tianyang. But our friendship is because he’s easygoing, not because I’m accepted by the class. Most classmates see me as an outsider, like a spectacle. If I score too poorly, I’ll be out of place. If I score too well and take someone’s spot, I’ll be ostracized. So being good enough for Class A but not standing out is best. Right, teacher?”

Yang Jing paused, then looked him over again, “Didn’t expect you to think about this.”

Sheng Wang sniffed, “No, I just thought of it now.”

“Alright, that’s about it,” Yang Jing said, “The dynamic in the honors class is simple yet complex. Because the levels are similar, there are many friends who admire each other, but there’s also competition among friends. Most students are quite straightforward, but some are overly competitive and defensive.”

Sheng Wang nodded.

Yang Jing continued, “I’ve talked to Old He and Old Wu. You’re behind in three subjects, and you’ll need classmates’ help. If you trigger some people’s defensiveness, it might be hard to get help. So, as you said, staying excellent but not enviable is best. Like that paper, you know how good you are. Keep a bit of your strength reserved in front of others, stay low-key. What do you think?”

Sheng Wang chuckled, “I think you’re right, but—”

Yang Jing: “But what?”

Sheng Wang hesitated, “I might not be able to keep that paper low-key.”

Yang Jing: “Hmm?”

“It was passed around before the morning class.”

“How many people?”

Sheng Wang recalled Gao Tianyang’s influence and estimated conservatively, “About eleven or twelve.”

“…”

Yang Jing felt a bit suffocated, thinking her efforts were wasted.

Sure enough, by the end of the break, the whole class knew Sheng Wang got a perfect score on the English paper.