The Mock Exam (Part 2)

Chapter 50

After eating, the three of them sat in their seats to rest for a while, then headed back to the examination room just in time.

The afternoon sun had grown scorching, casting a baking heat on their faces.

Gu Ran drew the curtains and sat quietly in his seat. With his hands resting slightly, he lowered his head and focused all his attention on the test paper.

The afternoon exam was Mathematics, the subject he had poured the most effort into.

However, even with Ye Zhenzhen's help, for an underachiever with zero foundation like him, it wasn't possible to drastically improve his grades in just one short month.

While he was quickly skimming through the questions, a tense atmosphere had already filled Examination Room 1 on the other side.

A gathering of top students were all burying their heads in deep thought. But unlike Gu Ran, they weren't just skimming the questions to see which ones they knew how to do.

Instead, they were doing rapid mental calculations with their heads down, trying to solve as many questions as possible within the limited time.

Basically, the moment the bell signaling the start of the exam rang, everyone would immediately put pen to paper and fill in the answers to the first few multiple-choice questions.

Especially those math competition bosses; in just five short minutes, they could even mentally calculate their way to the seventh question.

For them, high school math exam questions were as easy as chopping melons and slicing vegetables.

If it weren't for the fact that using advanced mathematics to solve some major questions would result in deducted points for the process, many of them could essentially score close to full marks.

Unlike this group of freaks, Ye Zhenzhen took it step by step, working steadily and calculating earnestly.

Although she wasn't as fast as them, her strength lay in her stability. Seeking victory through steadiness applied not only to this subject but to all her other subjects as well.

By relying purely on her total score, she managed to suppress this bunch of weirdos, successfully securing the throne of first place for a long time.

...

The last examination room.

Gu Ran picked up the test paper, his eyes sweeping over the questions.

Realizing he had an impression of most of the questions, a surge of confidence couldn't help but rise in his heart.

After all, Ye Zhenzhen had explained similar questions to him just a few days ago.

His thoughts fluttered as the question types she had just taught him a few days ago danced in his mind.

Closing his eyes to recall for a moment, he remembered the solution for each type of question and confidently began to write and calculate.

Gripping his pen, he started to answer the questions systematically.

Question one, question two, question three... it went as smoothly as flowing water and moving clouds.

It wasn't until the eighth question that he was suddenly stuck.

Looking down at the question, his brows furrowed tightly.

Even though he had the methods for various question types in his head, he couldn't figure out what type of question this was supposed to be.

A somewhat convoluted variation instantly knocked his half-baked skills back to square one.

Frowning deeply, he kept scribbling and drawing on the paper, but still couldn't grasp the logic to solve it.

Finally, left with no choice and afraid of wasting time, he circled it and skipped ahead to start the next one.

Question nine, successfully completed.

Question ten... thought about it for a long time, circled it.

Question eleven... thought about it for a long time again, circled it.

Question twelve... thought about it for another long time, circled it.

Three questions in a row, he didn't know how to do any of them. He couldn't help but knit his brows.

Is this exam really that hard?

He pinched the bridge of his nose and continued to look down and calculate.

Time slipped through his fingers. The pen in his hand constantly glided across the scratch paper, while the rustling sound of pages turning echoed endlessly around him.

He found it difficult, but the people around him found it even harder!

Given the level of the last examination room, faced with a highly difficult mock exam, everyone had already chosen to give up and let it rot.

Doing even the fourth multiple-choice question was a struggle, let alone the ones after it.

The sound of Gu Ran's pen strokes intertwined with the rustling of test papers around him, forming a unique symphony.

Unaffected by them, Gu Ran got serious, fully immersing himself in the problem-solving process with a focused expression on his face.

The sun gradually slanted to the west, and the wind outside the window followed with a whistling sound.

When the golden sunlight shone into the room, the bell to collect the papers had already rung.

Gu Ran's brows were still furrowed. After handing in his answer sheet, he took his test paper and walked out.

Arriving at the door of Examination Room 1, he heard a group of math competition bosses chatting.

"Tsk, the questions this time were a bit tough. I used derivatives for the last major question."

"Tell me about it. I'm going to lose a few points for the process again. I won't be able to hit 150."

"..."

Unlike regular top students, regular top students scoring 140 meant that was the maximum they could achieve.

But for this group of math geeks, scoring over 140 was because they used knowledge points outside the high school curriculum, resulting in deducted process points.

Listening to this was messing with his mindset. Once Ye Zhenzhen came out, he quickly grabbed the girl's hand and left the scene.

He didn't know why, but hearing their conversation, a certain phrase couldn't help but pop into his mind.

You score 100 because your ability is 100.

But I score 100 because the maximum score on the paper is only 100!

"What... what's the rush!"

Having her hand held, Ye Zhenzhen's cheeks grew redder. She glared at his back with a bit of shy annoyance and asked, stuttering.

"I didn't dare listen any longer. I was afraid I'd get the red-eye disease."

Red-eye disease?

After thinking for a moment, she realized Gu Ran was talking about being jealous of those math competition students and couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

"They've all specialized in Math Olympiad since they were kids. Later, they started preparing for national competitions to get college admission recommendations.

When they were freshmen, they had already finished the entire three-year high school curriculum and casually started learning advanced mathematics. Doing these kinds of college entrance exam questions is basically a dimensional strike for them."

Seeing the shocked look in Gu Ran's eyes, she smiled and added, "But you win some, you lose some. They spend so much time focusing solely on competitions that they fall far behind in other subjects.

Moreover, many knowledge points in math competitions contradict high school methods, so it's easy to get them mixed up. If they aren't careful when answering, points get deducted."

Hearing Ye Zhenzhen's words, Gu Ran clicked his tongue.

They're all talents...

He made up his mind. In the future, when he hired people, he would hire those who had studied for competitions.

After all, he also wanted to experience what it felt like to have geniuses working for him.

Normally, after the math exam, they were supposed to return to their classrooms for evening self-study.

But having hung out with Gu Ran for so long, Ye Zhenzhen now skipped class with peace of mind, strutting home without any psychological burden.

It really came down to that saying: the innocent girl was being led down a path of no return...