Sun Leyang smiled, then started to flip through Li Zheng's other test papers.
He felt more and more uncomfortable the more he read on.
This lad clearly didn't have any talent for Chemistry.
Nevermind talent, he didn't even have an affinity for Chemistry.
He would definitely get wrong any question that deviated slightly from the concepts and equations taught in the textbook.
"Who taught you Chemistry?"
"Yhosi."
"Who?" Sun Leyang was flustered. He felt as though he had heard a sped-up cassette tape from 20 years ago. "Speak… Speak slower…"
Li Zheng adjusted his talking speed. "Mrs. Yu Hong."
"Oh… Then I understand." Sun Leyang licked his lips and didn't comment.
He'd heard Yu Hong's public lessons.
They really were…
He might as well have been listening to a recording.
There was no guidance. She made the students try to understand the content on their own.
The students who had an affinity for Chemistry might be able to score decently if they worked a little harder.
On the other hand, it was easy for weaker students to feel despair.
He only managed to listen to the lesson for three minutes before falling asleep.
Thus, after that public lesson...
Yu Hong was given a high-ranking, professional title.
There was nothing anyone could do about it. Her husband was too influential.
A professional title was the least of their worries. What was more troubling was that Yu Hong adored her reputation and demanded to teach the elite class.
The Chemistry grades of this cohort of second-years in Cherry Lake High School was going to be disastrous.
Sun Leyang was thinking this to himself when Yu Hong pushed open the door and entered the office. She had an air of authority.
"You're here," Sun Leyang said, then stood up.
"That, Old Sun, don't just help Chunmei. You have to help me too." Yu Hong brought a student into the office after she returned the greeting. "Lin Yujing of class 2-4. She's just as good as the students in your school. Can you help me give her some pointers?"
"Oh?" Sun Leyang froze as he looked at the female student behind Yu Hong.
The female student hid behind Yu Hong. She had a cartoon spaceship-shaped pencil case in hand. She greeted Sun Leyang respectfully, but still seemed a little shy.
Sun Leyang subconsciously scratched his hair.
This student, at least in terms of appearance, was comparable to the students in Sun Leyang's school.
But in terms of grades…
"I'm not looking down on you, Yu Hong," he thought.
"Compared to the High School Affiliated to the Renmin University of China."
"No one in this school has a fighting chance."
However, what surprised Sun Leyang was...
The insufferably arrogant Yu Hong.
She had brought along her student to ask for help.
There were two possibilities.
The first was that Yu Hong had changed.
Forget it, that wasn't possible.
Thus, the only other possibility was that this student truly had the ability.
Without waiting for Sun Leyang to speak, Lin Yujing suddenly expressed in shock, "Hm?"
She then hid behind the door, grabbed onto it, and clenched her teeth as she stared.
Sun Leyang followed her gaze.
She was looking at Li Zheng, who was doing the practice questions at quantum speed.
"Yes…" Sun Leyang smiled. He found the situation interesting. His expression also started to turn flippant.
That wasn't his intention, but purely a matter of his appearance.
Lin Yujing squirmed even further back.
"Yujing, don't be shy." Yu Hong grabbed Lin Yujing's arm and said, "You're a Chemistry genius. You should be headed to the Olympiads. But as you know, our school isn't in the condition to send you there. Mr. Sun is rarely free. Don't miss the opportunity."
"Hm…" Lin Yujing could only shuffle into the office after she was pulled along by Yu Hong.
She turned her head and looked at the wall.
Sun Leyang gave an awkward smile. "Student, even though I don't look particularly kind, I've been in this profession for close to 20 years."
"Yujing…" Yu Hong pulled on Lin Yujing and said, "You haven't greeted the teacher."
"Good… Good afternoon, teacher," Lin Yujing reluctantly greeted.
Yu Hong said quickly, "I'm sorry, Old Sun…"
"It's alright, it's alright, I'm used to it. The female students in my school also hid from me at the start." Sun Leyang swallowed bitterly. "Take out the bottom-most set of papers from my briefcase. It's all first-year content. It's not at the Olympiad level, but it's more difficult than all of the public test papers. There are still 40 minutes before I start my class. Let's see how much of the paper you can do."
"Thank… Thank you, teacher…" Lin Yujing grabbed the paper and immediately fled to the table at the very corner. She pulled back the chair and placed her pencil case down, then started to seriously attempt the paper.
Yu Hong also pulled back a chair and started chatting with Sun Leyang.
"How's Li Zheng's situation?" Yu Hong asked.
"Yes, he doesn't know how to be flexible," Sun Leyang whispered. "He truly isn't fit for Chemistry."
"Naturally, I'm aware of that." Yu Hong glanced at Li Zheng and sighed. "However, he's the most hardworking student in school. Logically speaking, a student who works as hard as he does shouldn't score too badly. But look at his monthly exams. He barely passed."
Yu Hong naturally hid the fact that she had made an oversight when she was setting one of the questions.
Sun Leyang scanned his eyes past the page where the question was at and made an educated guess. Of course, he wasn't going to expose Yu Hong.
"In all honesty, Mrs. Yu, even I can't do much about Li Zheng's situation." Sun Leyang licked his lips and said, "You know, for a paper like this, every student in my school would be able to get above 90 points. I've never once met a student who scored less than 80 throughout my years of teaching… I truly don't know how to give him any pointers… Tell me, it's such a simple paper. How could he not be able to do it?"
"That's right. That's what I thought too," Yu Hong said while wringing her hands. "Then let's talk about the third-year elite class. What has been your experience teaching them?"
"Honestly, they're quite ordinary. They might be the best of a bad bunch." Sun Leyang thought before saying, "That class representative, Xu Mengxi, she's quite consistent in her work. Don't just look at how quiet she is. She does understand my lessons. Also, that Qiao Bixia. On the surface, she looks like she doesn't belong in the class, but she can complete the practice unambiguously."
"I don't know about Xu Mengxi, but Qiao Bixia is quite famous." Yu Hong covered her face and laughed. "I'm already quite authoritative when I walk, but I have to hide when I see her."
"Hahaha." Sun Leyang pointed toward Li Zheng, who was moving at quantum speeds, then smiled. He patted his briefcase and said, "This Li Zheng is quite interesting. He knows that he can't do it, yet he wants to tackle my difficult questions. His spirit is commendable."
"Yes. Don't just look at his average grades. He's a spirited young man." Yu Hong then asked, "What paper is he doing now?"
"A set of foundational questions." Sun Leyang raised his hands and stole a glance at Li Zheng. "At his level, it'll be decent if he can finish the paper in 40 minutes. It's a little difficult for him to pass."
Suddenly.
Boom!
The sound of a pen smashing down onto the table.
Li Zheng wiped off his sweat and stood up quickly. "Has it been 15 minutes, Mr. Sun?"
"???" Sun Leyang swallowed. "It's only been 10 minutes."
Li Zheng couldn't help it.
He could only move at 28 times his normal speed when he activated the ability.
If not for being restricted by the speed of his writing, he would have finished the paper in two minutes.
Even if he wrote slowly, he could have completed the paper in five to six minutes.
He spent the rest of the time checking the paper seven to eight times over.
Logically speaking, he should have recovered to his normal speed and dragged out a few more minutes before submitting the paper. That was more normal.
However, he didn't want to waste a single moment he could spend with Sun Leyang.
If Xu Mengxi was a Chemistry angel...
Then Sun Leyang was an ancient Chemistry sage.
How could he let him go?
Sun Leyang doubtfully grabbed the paper. He adjusted his glasses and gave the paper a cursory glance.
The paper had been filled entirely with words.
"F***." He suddenly slapped himself on the head. "Are you kidding me?"
Yu Hong was also flustered. She disregarded Sun Leyang's use of vulgarities. "That's too fast… Li Zheng, have you done this paper before?"