Chen Zhuo’s eyes began to glaze over, his focus lost.
He constructed a virtual physics lab in his mind, making the circle on the blackboard spin faster and faster until it flew off and crashed into the ceiling.
"Chen Zhuo?"
A voice pulled him back to reality.
The teacher was standing at the front of the class, adjusting his reading glasses as he looked at him.
"You, answer this. What is the area of the shaded region?"
The entire class turned to look at him.
Chen Zhuo stood up.
He hadn’t heard the specific values the teacher had given, but he glanced at the data on the blackboard.
"21.5."
Chen Zhuo stated the answer.
The teacher paused for a moment, glanced at his lesson plan, and nodded.
"Correct, it is 21.5. You can sit down. Pay attention in class, don’t zone out."
Chen Zhuo sat down.
He didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment, only a deeper exhaustion.
’How much longer do I have to live like this?’
There was still a year and a half until elementary school graduation.
Over five hundred days.
Seven classes a day, forty minutes per class.
That amounted to fourteen thousand minutes of wasted time.
Chen Zhuo did the math in his head.
’What a ripoff.’
The return on this investment of time was practically zero.
’Such a waste.’
School let out for lunch.
Chen Zhuo didn’t go to the cafeteria, nor did he join Zhang Qiang at the snack shop to buy crispy noodles.
He headed straight for the administration building.
Third floor, the principal’s office.
The door was ajar.
Chen Zhuo knocked.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
"Come in."
The old principal’s voice was laced with post-lunch drowsiness.
Chen Zhuo pushed the door open and went inside.
The old principal was holding a teacup, blowing away the tea leaves floating on top. When he saw it was Chen Zhuo, he chuckled.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in. What is it this time? Asking for a day off to go to the library again?"
Over the past few years, Chen Zhuo had made plenty of excuses to get out of class. The old principal had always turned a blind eye. As long as the kid didn’t screw up his exams, he could do whatever he wanted.
"I’m not here to ask for a day off."
Chen Zhuo walked up to the desk.
He was just tall enough to see over the top of the desk without standing on his tiptoes anymore.
"Principal, I want to skip a grade."
The old principal nearly spat out the mouthful of tea he had just taken. He swallowed it, wincing as the hot liquid burned his mouth, and set the cup down to stare at Chen Zhuo.
"Skip again? You’re in fifth grade now. If you skip again, you’ll be in sixth. What, you want to graduate next year?"
"No."
Chen Zhuo shook his head.
"I want to leave this year."
"This year?"
The old principal frowned. Now he was truly confused.
"It’s only May. The final exams are just around the corner. Where do you want to go?"
"Junior high."
Chen Zhuo calmly uttered two words.
"I want to take this year’s junior high entrance exam with the sixth graders."
The old principal was stunned. He took off his glasses, polished them with a soft cloth, put them back on, and scrutinized the nine-year-old child before him.
The school uniform was the same old tracksuit, a little faded from washing. His hair was cut short, giving him a sharp and energetic look.
Through the lenses, the boy’s eyes met his without flinching, holding a decisiveness usually found only in adults.
"Chen Zhuo, do you have any idea what you’re saying?"
The old principal’s tone grew serious.
"The junior high entrance exam isn’t a joke. It’s a district-wide standardized test. The questions are incredibly difficult, especially for the good schools you’re aiming for.
How many years have you even been in school? You’ve just finished the fifth-grade curriculum. Have you even studied the sixth-grade material?"
"I have."
Chen Zhuo lied.
The truth was, he hadn’t specifically studied it. But for him, the entirety of elementary school knowledge was something you could grasp just by flipping through the books.
"Besides," Chen Zhuo added, "it’s painful for me to be here. The teacher lectures too slowly. It gives me a headache."
The old principal was speechless for a moment, then broke into a laugh.
The reason sounded arrogant, but coming from Chen Zhuo, why did it sound so much like a simple statement of fact?
"Which junior high do you want to attend?"
"City No. 1 Middle School."
Chen Zhuo’s goal was clear.
The best key middle school in the city.
Most importantly, City No. 1 Middle School had the best facilities and resources in this small city.
"City No. 1 Middle School..."
The old principal nodded.
"Getting into that school is like thousands of soldiers trying to cross a single-log bridge. They’ve reduced their enrollment quota this year, and they’re starting some kind of advanced science program. The test questions are supposedly insane."
"That’s the one I’ll test for," Chen Zhuo said.
"Are you sure?"
"I’m sure."
The old principal fell silent for a moment.
He tapped his fingers on the desk a few times.
If it had been any other student—even the top student in the school—making such a request, he would have kicked them out immediately.
But this was Chen Zhuo.
There was something uncanny about this kid.
You could call him smart, but he usually seemed rather dull.
But you couldn’t call him stupid. He read faster than most people could flip pages, always got perfect scores on exams, and even his essays were perfectly structured, never straying from the topic.
"Alright."
The old principal slapped his hand on the desk.
"Since you want to take the test, I’ll give you a chance. I’ll register you for it. But let me be clear: if you fail, don’t lose heart. Just come back and finish sixth grade like a good student."
"Thank you, Principal."
Chen Zhuo gave a deep bow.
A perfect ninety degrees.
It wasn’t for anything else, just for the respect of not being treated like a child.
「July. The heat was scorching.」
The main gate of City No. 1 Middle School was packed with parents seeing their children off to the exam.
A sea of colorful sun umbrellas stretched out, and the air was thick with the smell of sweat, mosquito repellent, and anxiety.
Chen Jianguo had taken a half-day off work specifically to bring Chen Zhuo to the test center on his bicycle.
"Don’t be nervous, son."
Chen Jianguo handed a water bottle to Chen Zhuo. Inside was cooled boiled water with a bit of salt and sugar added.
"It would be great if you pass, but there’s no shame if you don’t. You’re only nine, competing against a bunch of kids who are twelve or thirteen. Even if you lose, you’ve already won."
Chen Jianguo had a great attitude about it.
In his eyes, the fact that his son even had the courage to walk into this exam hall was a miracle in itself.
"Mm."

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