The school placed great importance on this joint examination involving eight schools.
All the standards for the exam were designed to simulate the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination) as much as possible.
Even the invigilators were the same, two per classroom.
All procedures followed the standards set for the Gaokao.
Five minutes before the exam, after a broadcast announcement, the invigilators began distributing the test papers.
Upon receiving the papers handed forward, Qin Tian took one and passed the rest to the students behind him.
He then proceeded to fill in his name, class, and examination number.
After completing the information, he casually scanned through the test paper.
As Li the King of Hell had said, the difficulty was not high, likely referencing past Gaokao papers.
"You may begin answering the questions now. Talking to each other is prohibited. Any student found cheating will have their score for this subject invalidated on the spot."
On the podium, a middle-aged male teacher spoke in a stern tone.
Inside the classroom, a few students with guilty consciences darted their eyes around, feigning seriousness by pretending to browse the test papers.
[System Task Triggered: Host, please take this seriously. Make a name for yourself in this mock exam. The reward will increase with your ranking.]
Just as Qin Tian was about to start answering, the system's prompt sounded in his mind.
"Great, a task has finally arrived."
A smile curved his lips.
If the task hadn't appeared in a few more days, he would truly have to spend money to sustain himself, which was far too costly.
In his joyful mood, his pen moved as if guided by a divine hand.
The objective questions at the beginning posed no obstacle to him whatsoever.
The tip of his gel pen moved continuously, scratching out the correct answers on the answer sheet with a soft rustle.
Despite not excelling academically in his previous life, he possessed the ability to write with a strong and neat hand.
Qin Tian calmly and methodically wrote his answers on the answer card, as if practicing calligraphy.
Another female invigilator walking in the corridor was involuntarily drawn to his pleasingly neat answers, standing aside to watch for a long time.
"Teacher Li, you've been standing there for a while. Is something wrong with that student?"
The two invigilators met by the podium. The male teacher lowered his voice and asked curiously.
"A very capable student. His handwriting is excellent, and he answers without any hesitation."
The female teacher smiled brightly and looked in Qin Tian's direction, continuing with a hint of confusion, "Looking at his examination number, he seems to be from Class Ten. But I'm curious, when did Teacher Li's class have such a remarkable student?"
She also taught Chinese and shared an office with Li Xueping, often discussing students from their classes.
However, she had never heard of someone named "Qin Tian."
"Oh, really?"
The male teacher smiled and casually remarked, "Perhaps he's a student who excels in Chinese but is weaker in other subjects. However, in science exams, the key to victory lies in the other subjects."
Upon hearing this, the female teacher's smile immediately faded.
"Teacher Qian, don't you know that in science exams every year, the competition among top students is often decided by their Chinese performance?"
With that, the female teacher left, thinking to herself with a hint of mischief.
No wonder this math teacher, approaching thirty, was still single.
Were all male engineers this low in emotional intelligence?
Teacher Qian's expression stiffened, and he scratched his head in bewilderment, still unsure of what he had said wrong.
What Teacher Liu said was not entirely incorrect.
But as she had said, that was only when comparing top scholars!
These were isolated incidents and could not represent a large sample size.
Besides, if this boy were truly such a top scholar, surely both of them, teaching the senior students, would have heard of him.
...
The Chinese exam was two and a half hours long.
With more than forty minutes left until the end of the exam, Qin Tian had finished.
This was even after he had spent most of his time on reading comprehension and the essay.
The essay required free rein in writing a fairy tale or fable of no less than eight hundred characters.
Conveniently, Qin Tian had recently read several exemplary essays, some of which had similar themes.
After carefully contemplating the fable, Qin Tian settled on "Honesty" as his theme.
After devising a title, he fluidly completed the essay.
His life experiences over the past half-century provided him with ample material.
Overall, he felt he had written quite well.
Achieving a perfect score was unlikely, but securing a high score should be manageable.
"Teacher, may I hand in my paper?"
When the female invigilator walked over again, Qin Tian asked softly.
The female teacher was taken aback and glanced at the round clock on the blackboard.
"Finished?"
"Yes!"
"There's still plenty of time. Don't you want to check it?"
"No need, I've already checked it."
Qin Tian smiled.
"Let me see."
The female teacher picked up his answer card and test paper and began to read.
The more she read, the more astonished she became.
The objective questions were nearly flawless, and the subjective ones, such as reading comprehension and the essay, were also excellently done.
Based on her nearly ten years of experience teaching Chinese, this was a paper that could score over 140 points.
More importantly, it had taken him less than two hours.
The female teacher looked at Qin Tian with disbelief.
When had such a Chinese prodigy appeared at the school?
"Teacher, I need to go to the restroom."
Qin Tian, thinking the female teacher was reluctant to let him leave early, used this as an excuse.
He had absolute confidence in his answers to the objective questions, and even if he wanted to revise the subjective ones, he couldn't. He found it unbearable to simply sit there for forty to fifty minutes.
"Alright, I'll collect your paper. Make your way out quietly through the back door so as not to disturb others."
The female teacher said in a low voice.
"Okay, thank you, Teacher."
Qin Tian thanked her gratefully and then, holding his test paper and stationery, got up and left through the back door of the classroom.
In the classroom, many students were surprised to witness this.
Including Cui Ying, who was part of Xu Ying's social circle.
As it happened, she was assigned to the same examination room.
Seeing Qin Tian hand in his paper and leave so early, Cui Ying was utterly shocked.
He had made a bet with Wu Xin.
What did this mean now?
Had he simply given up?
She absolutely refused to believe that Qin Tian had finished in such a short time; she hadn't even started her essay yet!
Her mind filled with doubt, Cui Ying found it difficult to concentrate.
"Teacher Liu, it's still forty minutes left. Why did you let him hand in his paper?"
The male teacher looked at Liu Xuan, who was walking over, with a confused expression.
"He's finished, and he's done very well. Of course, he can hand in his paper."
Liu Xuan continued to admire Qin Tian's answer card, not wanting to speak to this low-EQ individual.
"Finished?"
Teacher Qian was taken aback and blurted out, "He didn't just scribble random answers, did he?"
As soon as he said it, he knew he had spoken out of turn and quickly shut his mouth.
But it was too late.
Liu Xuan looked up at him with displeasure and asked, "Teacher Qian, are you questioning my proficiency in Chinese?"
"No, no, no, Teacher Liu, I didn't mean that."
The male teacher denied it flusteredly.
Liu Xuan was slightly younger than him, quite beautiful, and also had a good figure. He had always harbored some feelings for her.
However, he was not good at socializing and had never had the opportunity to talk to Liu Xuan.
He was quite excited to be assigned to invigilate together, which was why he kept trying to find topics for conversation.
Unfortunately, it might have been better if he had remained silent.
"Teacher Qian, please stop talking to me. It's not appropriate if it disturbs the students' concentration."
Liu Xuan placed Qin Tian's answer card on the podium and said with a cold expression.
The male teacher felt as if he had been struck by lightning.