Li Yanwang stood on the podium, hands gripping the lectern, and unceremoniously lambasted Qin Tian.
Qin Tian could only offer an embarrassed, wry smile.
He felt more criticized than when he was at the bottom of the class rankings!
This was quite embarrassing for him, the straight-A student who had made such a remarkable comeback!
Beside him, Xia Nuannuan covered her mouth, stifling her laughter, clearly amused.
After criticizing Qin Tian, Li Yanwang then took the opportunity to praise several students whose Chinese scores had improved significantly.
Xia Nuannuan was among them. Chinese had always been her strong suit, and this time she had performed beyond expectations, scoring an impressive 140.
In terms of Chinese alone, she ranked third in the class, trailing only Qin Tian and the class monitor, Mu Nan.
Following this, Li Yanwang instructed the class monitor, Mu Nan, to distribute the answer sheets.
Wu Xin, upon receiving his answer sheet and glancing at his score, crumpled it into a wrinkled ball with a displeased expression and shoved it into his drawer.
This action was noticed by many students who were watching him, as well as by Li Yanwang, who stood on the podium.
Li Yanwang's expression darkened, and he directly called out, "Wu Xin, take out your answer sheet and flatten it for me!"
As his voice echoed, all attention in the classroom immediately shifted to Wu Xin.
Wu Xin reluctantly clicked his tongue. Under Li Yanwang's stern gaze, he slowly retrieved the answer sheet from his drawer.
"You have been very disappointing to me lately."
Li Yanwang looked at him with an expression of fierce disappointment, then suddenly roared, "Wu Xin, tell me, when we studied 'The Old Man and the Sea,' what spirit of the protagonist did I ask you to learn from?"
Wu Xin flinched from the roar, his mind momentarily in a muddle, and he couldn't answer.
Li Yanwang then looked at the other students.
"Everyone, tell him together."
"A person can be defeated, but not destroyed!"
The students responded in unison.
This was a phrase Li Yanwang often used after teaching the article "The Old Man and the Sea," and everyone remembered it clearly.
"Very good!"
Li Yanwang nodded, then turned back to Wu Xin and said, "Wu Xin, did you hear that!"
Wu Xin lowered his head, not responding, his heart filled with unwillingness and humiliation.
Having been the "model student" his entire life, he had never experienced such a setback in his studies and found it difficult to accept it so quickly.
Li Yanwang sighed inwardly. He decided to stop for now and find an opportunity to talk to this student properly after class.
Students who viewed academic performance as everything could be quite troublesome when faced with setbacks and failures.
"In addition, the scores for integrated science have also come out, and I have the overall ranking for this exam here."
As Li Yanwang spoke, he took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
Below the podium, apart from a few students who had already given up, everyone looked eagerly at the ranking list in his hand.
To everyone's disbelief, Li Yanwang surprisingly revealed a long-lost smile on his face.
"First, I must commend you all. Our class performed exceptionally well this time, with an average score ranking third in the entire grade, just behind the two key classes, and the score difference is not significant."
"Hiss..."
Several sharp intakes of breath echoed through the classroom.
The students became energized, as if injected with chicken blood.
It was important to note that in the current academic year at Yucheng High School No. 4, there were a total of fifteen graduating classes, and the two key classes had consistently held the first and second positions in the grade.
The average score of their Class 10 had always been at a medium level.
This time, they had soared ahead, ranking first among all the regular classes.
With this realization, a sense of pride and self-satisfaction was evident on everyone's faces.
"Teacher, is Qin Tian the top student?"
A girl in the front row suddenly asked.
The classroom instantly fell silent again, with curious and expectant gazes directed at Li Yanwang on the podium.
Xia Nuannuan's beautiful eyes sparkled, and her hands, resting on the desk, unconsciously clenched into fists.
She was even more nervous than Qin Tian himself.
Qin Tian remained calm and collected; he had a pretty good guess of the outcome.
Integrated science consisted of objective questions with definitive answers, making it the area where he was least likely to make mistakes.
"Yes, Qin Tian also scored full marks in integrated science, with a total score of 745. He is not only the first in our class but also the first in the entire grade."
"Furthermore, his total score is a full thirty points higher than the second-place student."
"One matter at a time, this still deserves commendation."
Li Yanwang looked calmly at Qin Tian and encouraged him, "Keep up the good work, and don't deliberately score lower next time!"
Qin Tian looked speechless and subtly rolled his eyes.
Hey, hey, hey, your praise is not even on the same level as your criticism just now!
Do it again for me!
And that last sentence wasn't praise; it was more like a threat, wasn't it?
Regardless of his thoughts, all the students in the classroom were too stunned to speak.
Three subjects with perfect scores, a total of 745 – what kind of divine being was this!
In the twenty-plus years since Yucheng High School No. 4 was established, the highest score in the college entrance examination had never been this exaggerated.
At the back of the classroom, Wu Xin was dumbfounded, his brain seemingly frozen.
Even he, who had always been confident in his academic performance, could never have achieved such a high score.
"I lost, I lost..."
He murmured softly, his face filled with bitterness.
The overwhelming disparity had crushed his courage to continue competing with Qin Tian.
"Xu Ying, I'm sorry."
He looked guiltily at Xu Ying beside him. She, too, seemed lost in a daze, her gaze fixed in Qin Tian's direction, completely oblivious to his apology.
"So... so amazing, Qin Tian, you're truly incredible, first in the entire grade!"
Xia Nuannuan, snapping out of her shock, exclaimed with shining, dewy eyes, her voice trembling with excitement.
"I know, I know, calm down, calm down."
Qin Tian, seeing her flushed cheeks from excitement, quickly and amusedly tried to placate her.
"Hoo... hoo... Right, right, calm down, calm down."
Xia Nuannuan realized she had lost her composure and quickly patted her chest and took a deep breath.
Qin Tian's eyes widened slightly, and he reluctantly shifted his gaze.
This girl had no idea how much damage her unintentional actions caused!
"Alright, after class, I'll have the monitor post the ranking list on the blackboard at the back for everyone to see. For now, continue with your self-study. Qin Tian, come out with me for a moment!"
Li Yanwang spoke again.
Qin Tian was taken aback.
What was going on? Was he being called for another private chat?
"Okay!"
He responded with a sigh, stood up, and walked over, following Li Yanwang out of the classroom.
They were in the same spot in the hallway as before.
Li Xueping recalled the few words he had exchanged with Qin Tian in this very spot during the evening self-study session, and his mood was rather complex.
He stared at Qin Tian with a nuanced expression and said, "You successfully played the 'pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger' game this time. Feeling quite smug, aren't you?"
"Ah? No, no, how could that be? You're overthinking it."
Qin Tian repeatedly shook his head in denial.
"Heh heh!"
Li Xueping didn't bother letting him continue the pretense and got straight to the point, "Your exam results this time have caused a huge stir in the school. You've truly announced yourself to the world, but with you getting perfect scores in three subjects, my Chinese score being deducted has made me lose face!"
Qin Tian stared blankly, his expression wary, and asked, "Teacher Li, what do you mean by that?"
"Come find me during lunch break from now on, and I'll give you some proper tutoring on composition and reading comprehension."
"Huh?"
"What? Is there a problem?"
Li Yanwang glared at him.
"No, no."
Qin Tian shook his head like a rattle.