Chapter 93

Ding Jianhui: “?”

Discussing competition questions.

A completely normal scenario.

However, this continuous stream of ideas coming out of Jiang Zhihuo’s mouth…sounds very off!!

Classmate Jiang, the school bully, is making rapid progress!

Does he look like someone who can solve a competition question?!!!

Ding Jianhui didn’t reveal much of his emotions as a teacher. He simply turned to Jiang Zhihuo with a puzzled look. “?”

Jiang Zhihuo: “……”

He cursed inwardly.

Telling the truth willingly and being forced to admit it were a whole different thing.

The top students’ eyes were glued on Jiang Zhihuo. They were itching to know after waiting for the whole night for the answer.

Jiang Zhihuo acted like he didn’t notice as he rigidly took a seat.

Ding Jianhui didn’t dig further the moment the class bell rang. He opened the video he had initially planned to play and started the lesson.

Jiang Zhihuo supported his chin, scribbling nonchalantly on the test sheet, while Ding Jianhui was writing on the blackboard. Next to him was a translucent folder containing various qualification reports and identification documents..

Jiang Zhihuo’s plan wasn’t at all complicated, for how to make things clear with the top students regarding his pretense as a slacker. He could completely rely on the teacher’s help. Jiang Zhihuo didn’t need to do anything at all, given his role as a student.

Some words couldn’t be explained to many people. Having Ding Jianhui as the talker would be much more effective than repeating oneself all day long.

Jiang Zhihuo followed Ding Jianhui into the office the moment the bell rang.

“Teacher.” Jiang Zhihuo said, “I have something to discuss.”

Ding Jianhui put down his teaching materials, added goji berries to his cup before turning to fill it with warm water, and held it in his hand.

Other teachers weren’t in the office. Ding Jianhui asked, “What’s the matter? Are you having a hard time with your studies?”

“Not exactly.”

“Right, what is the thing with that variety show?”

“That’s what I am here about.” Jiang Zhihuo took out documents from the folder one by one.

Ding Jianhui tilted his head and glanced at the thing placed on the table. His body paused slightly.

—A Certificate in Criminal Profiling, assessment certifications in Criminal Investigation and Criminology, along with grade certificates for various other course assessments.

In addition, there was also a piece of identification document.

To participate in case investigations, one must pass identity verification, adhere to the sequences of arrangements, and also complete every course with passing grades. The investigation team wasn’t something that anyone could blindly join.

Jiang Zhihuo took two classes off this morning because he went specifically to retrieve these things.

?

Ding Jianhui blinked hard.

Then he blinked again.

The words he saw hadn’t changed.

Ding Jianhui suspected he had misread things; thus, he read out aloud the words written on the identification document one by one. “Jiang Zhihuo, Police Supervision Department…Senior Investigator?”

“I used to be, but I am currently not.” Jiang Zhihuo said.

“Mhm???” Ding Jianhui put the goji berry tea down, picked up the identification document, and went through it again. He then continued to flip the grade certificates that lay out on the table one at a time before turning back, staring at Jiang Zhihuo in shock, and was about to speak—

“I am very sorry, Teacher.” Jiang Zhihuo admitted it before Ding Jianhui could ask. “Due to its confidential need before, I have never mentioned anything about this.”

Jiang Zhihuo explained concisely the part that he was allowed to say to Ding Jianhui.

Ding Jianhui took a sip of goji berry tea with a trembling hand. He was in disbelief. “You were participating in the case investigation before. So, to hide your identity and eliminate suspicion, you have been…pretending to be very bad at studying all along?”

“Mhm…” Jiang Zhihuo nodded with difficulty. “It’s impossible to explain everything to many people at once. I hope the Teacher can help me in this matter.”

He wasn’t at all worried that Ding Jianhui would go around talking nonsense. Ding Jianhui wasn’t that type of person. Presenting the identification document could make things clearer and quicker.

People may lie, but the seal of the Police Supervisor Department would not.

“Wait a bit.” Ding Jianhui looked through the documents once more, and he also pulled out Jiang Zhihuo’s transcript while doing so. He had recorded on his computer about every student’s grades from the subject-tracking in the second year of high school up to now.

Jiang Zhihuo’s early grades were all marked in red. They were so awful and unbearable to look at.

After the third year of high school began, he started to advance by leaps and bounds. Within only a semester, he managed to go from 330 to 530. From having no hope in any university to improving to a score that could get him into a first-tier university.

Ding Jianhui: “Were your previous grades faked?”

“I am very sorry.” Jiang Zhihuo’s tone was sincere. This apology was to be made since he had dragged down the class average score.

Ding Jianhui looked at the screen with a complicated expression. He then turned toward Jiang Zhihuo.

Just as Jiang Zhihuo thought Old Ding would probably continue questioning about the grades, Ding Jianhui let out a long sigh instead. “In that case, you can originally score over 500, right? You skipped class because you have to go out for investigations?”

“Ah?” Jiang Zhihuo was a bit taken aback. “More or less.”

Ding Jianhui patted Jiang Zhihuo on the shoulder. His tone was filled with relief. “That’s great. I had always been worried that you were against studying and unable to find a path for the future. However, I can be at ease now that I know there was another reason.”

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t expect to hear these words. “You’re not going to continue asking?”

Ding Jianhui smiled, carefully putting away the materials in order, keeping them in the folder, and said, “The identification documents are all issued. You are currently needing my help to explain things, and I will make it clear to your classmates.”

“But since you’re willing to come forward and say it, don’t hide your strength in the exam two days later. Show your true ability, understand?”

“Yes.” Jiang Zhihuo nodded in agreement.

Ding Jianhui took another look at Jiang Zhihuo’s grades after he walked out of the office.

The matter that Jiang Zhihuo told him was indeed shocking, yet it truly gave Ding Jianhui a great sense of relief.

Grades weren’t the most important thing for a student. However, they were crucial when it came to the college entrance exam

Jiang Zhihuo’s grades have been improving constantly since the start of the school semester. This result pleased Ding Jianhui. If he could consistently stay above 500 and add some effort to approach 600, then he didn’t have to worry about the college entrance exam anymore.

Ding Jianhui took another sip of his goji berry tea.

In Class 1’s classroom, everyone maintained the same posture, craning their necks desperately looking out of the window.

Jiang Zhihuo entered. The boy sitting in the front row immediately grabbed him while closing the door.

“Huo-ge, what’s going on? Can you tell us now?!”

“What did you talk with Old Ding about?”

“Speak quickly. If you don’t tell the truth, we will give you a severe interrogation!!”

Jiang Zhihuo stepped back a step as the top students circled him. He took a deep breath, bowed seriously, and spoke in a sincere tone, “I am sorry. Due to some reasons, I had to hide this from everyone, and I’ve been dragging down the class average score. I am very sorry.”

This was a genuine and heartfelt apology.

The matter of hiding the grades indeed couldn’t be explained clearly. He didn’t tell the truth when the top students earnestly wanted to help.

Jiang Zhihuo: “I am so grateful to everyone’s assistance before. It’s all my fault, I’m very sorry.”

The feeling of discomfort in the top students’ hearts due to being kept in the dark was instantly brushed off by those two consecutive apologies.

Frankly speaking, the top students didn’t bother much about the class’s average score. It would be great if it could be raised; otherwise, they wouldn’t have wanted to help Jiang Zhihuo endlessly, and even be so close to someone like him, who always dragged them down.

“Why did you say nothing before?” The class monitor asked.

“This really can’t be explained.” Jiang Zhihuo said, “I planned to improve little by little at first. It would be less terrifying that way.”

“If you didn’t want to be found, why didn’t you let the production team cut that part out back then?”

Jiang Zhihuo was totally helpless when it came to this. “There was no way for me to know they had started recording, and besides, why did they give a passerby like me so many shots?!”

“Because a passerby is even more handsome than a trainee!”

Along with the apology, Jiang Zhihuo also mentioned that there were special reasons. After the surprise, the top students didn’t continue asking, and the topic naturally shifted. The girls asked about the trainees who participated in Pick U 101 and further inquired about the library recording scene. Jiang Zhihuo answered one or two he vaguely remembered, also sharing Yun Xiaoxu’s and the other two trainees’ signatures.

Shortly after, someone else said, “Huo-ge, I suddenly remembered something!”

“What is it?”

“How much can you actually score in those previous exams?”

The complexity of the couple of exams he encountered so far hadn’t been very high. Jiang Zhihuo said, “I haven’t calculated it exactly, but it’s probably not low, anyway.”

Ding Jianhui gave a brief explanation about Jiang Zhihuo’s situation during the afternoon’s class meeting. “Due to family reasons, our classmate Zhihuo had to keep his true abilities hidden from everyone. As for personal privacy, I hope everyone won’t ask too much. But when it comes to studying, I hope you’ll continue to support one another. I’m looking forward to Zhihuo’s performance in the upcoming exam in two days.”

Curiosity came quickly and left just as fast. Jiang Zhihuo treated everyone in the class to a cup of milk tea, and his relationship with them wasn’t strained by his concealment.

The upcoming exam in two days was just a routine, small test. The teaching and research team would create their own questions, and the entire grade would participate at the same time, from 7 AM to 10 PM. The science subjects were tested separately without needing to cause a stir in changing exam rooms. They could simply take the exam in their classes.

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t need to hide his strength anymore since the matter of his true ability was already exposed. This time, he took the entire day of exams seriously and wholeheartedly without the slightest bit of holding back.

Yan Mu still didn’t take part in this routine test.

The God of Learning Yan got first place in the national competition, and over the past two days, he had been frequently called in for meetings. After deciding to go the guaranteed admission route, he had to start preparing materials and learning the procedures. Although he clearly didn’t need to attend class, he still couldn’t relax from morning until night.

When he returned to the residence, Jiang Zhihuo was on the phone with a speaker on. He sat cross-legged on the sofa, a bag of chips in his arms,  bought on the way back because he was craving something to eat.

“Huo, how did the test go this time?”

Judging by the voice, it sounded like Zong Bei.

“I heard from Chang Luo that you did pretty well on the test?”

“Yeah.” Jiang Zhihuo tossed a chip into his mouth. “The test went especially well. I was pretty worried you’d be frightened.”

“How well?”

“Probably first in the entire grade?”

“Then I might really be frightened.”

Yan Mu stepped into his slippers and walked over to Jiang Zhihuo. He leaned in and kissed him behind the ear. The light touch of his lips made it a little ticklish. Jiang Zhihuo turned his head away and gave him a chip.

Instead of using his hand to take it, Yan Mu pursed his lips and bit it away.

“I am serious.” Jiang Zhihuo gave Zong Bei a head-up. “Due to some reasons, I have to hide my ability. Now that things are over, I will slowly show my strength.”

Zong Bei couldn’t believe it. Jiang Zhihuo had said this to him countless times, and each time was either to avoid makeup lessons or skip exams. “Your words sound exactly like the everyday imagination of being a hidden second-generation heir who can’t reveal his identity unless necessary.”

Jiang Zhihuo shrugged silently.

Yan Mu hugged him from behind. His nose sniffed lightly on the back of Jiang Zhihuo’s neck.

The effect of the pheromone suppressant patch had weakened, so getting close revealed a faint trace of alcohol. The wound beside the gland had long since scabbed over. Jiang Zhihuo thought the dark spot on his neck looked too unsightly; thus, he stuck on a band-aid every day before going out.

Yan Mu kissed the bandage once more.

On the other end of the line, Zong Bei didn’t buy a word from Jiang Zhihuo, and after a bit of small talk, he replied halfheartedly, “Alright, alright, Huo, I’ll wait for you to prove yourself! I’m home now, gonna hang up first.”

“Go on, go on.” Jiang Zhihuo hung up the phone rather helplessly. He tilted his head and met Yan Mu’s gaze.

Yan Mu had been running around lately, handling documents, and within a few days, he still had to go to the capital to take the B University entrance exam.

The exam wasn’t hard for Yan Mu since the God of Learning Yan had already set foot in B University.

Nevertheless, you couldn’t set up a flag¹[T/N: It is internet slang meaning to make a bold prediction or confident statement that tempts fate (e.g., “I’ve totally got this!”] before the exam, or it would backfire.

“Good luck, Yan-ge,” said Jiang Zhihuo.

One sat while the other stood, one looking up, the other down, their gazes meeting in the middle. Yan Mu lowered his head and caught Jiang Zhihuo’s lower lip between his own.

It was a soft, lingering kiss. A shadow fell from Jiang Zhihuo’s lashes as he closed his eyes, then he gave a gentle nip at the corner of Yan Mu’s lip before turning his head aside. He added with a teasing hint of complaint, “Tastes like chips.”

With Yan Mu beside him, Jiang Zhihuo barely checked his phone. Therefore, he didn’t notice the messages in the class group—

How did everyone do on the test?—

Just the usual level, played it pretty normally—

Compared to how I did, I’m more curious to see how many points Huo-ge ends up with—

If he can tackle competition-level questions, his score’s definitely not going to be low!—

It’s definitely over 530. I have a wild guess that it is 600!—

600? I’m calling that too!!—

600 would land you in the top fifteen of our class, right? Let’s have some faith in our Huo-ge. I’m tossing out a blind guess of 610!!—

Your faith in him is only worth ten points??—

What’s wrong with ten points, ah? Ten points can edge out over a thousand people!—

*

Ding Jianhui arrived early at the office in the morning as usual.

The speed of marking papers at No. 1 High School was quick, with all the teachers in the entire grade working together to grade them. Since the exam was held the day before, the results could be released the next day.

After finishing the exam last night, the teachers had already worked overtime to complete the grading and submit the papers to the teachers responsible for statistics and registration.

Ding Jianhui had just finished brewing goji berry tea, this time adding a few chrysanthemum flowers. After pouring hot water over it, the teacher responsible for registering the results appeared in front of him, holding a few exam papers.

“Old Ding.” The teacher said with a grave expression, “Did someone in your class cheat?”

“Cheat?” Ding Jianhui asked, “No, what’s the matter?”

The teacher spread the exam papers in front of Ding Jianhui. “What’s this situation then?”

The exam papers were stacked together, covering the name and the score. However, Ding Jianhui still recognized Jiang Zhihuo’s handwriting at a glance.

It seemed that Jiang Zhihuo didn’t hide his abilities this time; his performance must have been quite good. Judging by the teacher’s reaction, it was definitely over 600 points. After all, 600 points could get you into a pretty good university. For the old Jiang Zhihuo, 600 points was indeed a score that could be quite surprising.

Ding Jianhui took a sip of the goji berry and chrysunthemum tea calmly and explained, “That’s from classmate Zhihuo. There is some background to it. I was also truly surprised when I found out. His results, actually…”

As he spoke, he flipped open the exam paper, and the moment he saw the score, he paused instantly, exclaiming, “What the hell??”

There were a total of six exam papers on the table, with a full score of 750.

Jiang Zhihuo from Class 1 of the third year senior high school, total score of 739.

The science and math scores were almost perfect, with the remaining few points being deducted from the essay.

His total score was 59 points higher than the second place.

Ding Jianhui: ??????

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  [T/N: It is internet slang meaning to make a bold prediction or confident statement that tempts fate (e.g., “I’ve totally got this!”]