The dumpling shop wasn’t large, but it was clean.
Old Zhao had specifically requested a private room. He closed the door, shutting out the clamor from outside.
"Sir, nine pounds of dumplings, please. Pork and scallion, three-delicacy, and beef—give us some of each."
"And a tomato and egg soup. A large tureen."
After ordering, Old Zhao didn’t even dare to order any alcohol.
If they started drinking now, these kids would likely burst into tears.
The dumplings arrived.
Steaming hot, plump white dumplings were piled on the plates, a pleasant sight to behold.
But the atmosphere at the table was even heavier than it had been at the exam hall entrance.
No one moved their chopsticks.
Li Hao stared at the dumplings on his plate, tears dripping down his face.
They fell into his dipping saucer, creating ripples in the vinegar.
He was truly miserable.
He had prepared for this competition for a whole year, grinding through countless problems, only to be defeated by a rice cooker.
The feeling of helplessness made him feel like a complete waste.
The two girls, Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao, sat in a corner.
Nan Xiaoyun kept her head down, wringing the corner of her shirt, while Lin Xiao bit her lip.
"Go on, eat."
Old Zhao sighed, picked up his chopsticks, and placed a dumpling in Wang Yang’s bowl.
"No matter what, you have to eat. Your health is the foundation of everything."
Wang Yang stared at the dumpling, his Adam’s apple bobbing, but he just couldn’t bring himself to raise his hand.
"Teacher..."
Wang Yang’s voice was hoarse.
"I’ve let the school down... That geometry problem... I’ve practiced similar ones before, but I just couldn’t remember..."
"I couldn’t solve it either."
Zhao Chen, no longer his usual wisecracking self, slumped onto the table, burying his head in his arms.
"It’s over. When I get back, my mom is definitely going to smash my computer."
Of the eight students at the table, seven were moaning in despair—all except for Chen Zhuo.
That despair spread through the small private room like a plague.
Old Zhao and Old Zhou exchanged a look, their faces full of bitter frustration.
They wanted to comfort the students, but words seemed so pale and feeble in the face of the pressure of scores.
"All of you, lift your heads."
A calm voice spoke up.
Chen Zhuo was holding the vinegar bottle, mixing his own dipping sauce.
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a distinct chill.
Everyone reflexively looked up at him.
Chen Zhuo put down the vinegar bottle, picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a dumpling, dipped it in the vinegar, and popped it into his mouth.
He chewed a couple of times and swallowed.
"These dumplings aren’t bad. The wrappers are nice and chewy."
He glanced around at the dejected group.
"Li Hao, the spring constant for that rice cooker, did you calculate it?"
Chen Zhuo asked suddenly.
Li Hao froze for a second, then wiped away his tears.
"I... I got a rough number, but I don’t know if I used the right formula..."
"The formula is Hooke’s Law, F = kx. What’s there to be right or wrong about?"
Chen Zhuo looked at him.
"As long as you wrote down that formula, you’ve got the two points for showing your work. Did you write it down?"
"I... I did."
"Then that’s fine."
Chen Zhuo then turned to Zhang Wei.
"What about you? For the first question, the water pump, did you write down the principle of atmospheric pressure?"
"I did, but my diagram was ugly."
"The graders aren’t looking at your artistic skills, they’re looking at the principle. If the principle is correct, you’ve got five points."
Chen Zhuo put down his chopsticks.
"What are you crying for? Because you think you did poorly?"
"Let me tell you something. On this test, I’m probably the only one in the entire province who could get a perfect score."
The moment he said that, Old Zhao nearly dropped his chopsticks.
’This kid really has some nerve.’
But Chen Zhuo didn’t even blush, his expression as certain as if he were stating a fundamental truth.
"That geometry problem on the second math test was national training team level. And that physics problem with the rice cooker? That was for testing engineers."
"The people who wrote this test deliberately didn’t want anyone to solve it."
Chen Zhuo gestured toward the main dining hall outside.
"Go out there and take a look right now. How many students from other schools do you see eating with a smile on their face? They’re probably all crying, too."
"We’re all wallowing in the same mud pit. No one’s in a position to laugh at anyone else."
He looked at Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao.
"Especially you two. The fill-in-the-blanks on the first test—I saw them. Except for that last trick question, the rest were all standard problems. As long as you didn’t mistake a plus sign for a minus sign, you’ve secured the basic points."
"On a test this difficult, just getting the basic points is a victory."
"The cutoff score for the provincial first prize will definitely hit a new low this year."
"If you cry now, how embarrassing will it be when the scores come out and you find out you’ve won an award?"
Nan Xiaoyun blinked, her tears still clinging to her eyelashes.
"R-Really?"
"When have I ever lied?"
Chen Zhuo picked up his chopsticks again and placed a dumpling in Nan Xiaoyun’s bowl.
"Eat. You need to be full to have the strength to wait for the results."
"If you really didn’t do well, I’ll take the fall for you when we get back. I’ll just say I led the team astray."
"Deal?"
His words, though tinged with blind confidence, carried an inexplicable, persuasive power coming from him.
Everyone looked at each other.
’He... kind of has a point, doesn’t he?’
’If no one knew how to do it, then it’s like the test never happened.’
’As long as I’m not dead last, I’ve still got a shot.’
"Eat!"
Liu Kai roughly wiped his face and grabbed his chopsticks.
"The Team Leader’s right! Even if I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die a ghost with a full stomach!"
He picked up a dumpling, shoved it viciously into his mouth, and chewed with grinding teeth.
The others also began to move their chopsticks.
Although the mood was still a bit somber, at least it was no longer the life-or-death despair from before.
Watching from the side, Old Zhao secretly gave Chen Zhuo a thumbs-up.
That was just Chen Zhuo for you.
If a teacher had said the same things, the students might not have believed them.
But when Chen Zhuo said it, they believed him.

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