He felt regret because he thought the exam paper was too simple.
He often discussed academic problems with Jiang Mianmian and Tian Wei, so he knew very well that this paper posed no difficulty for the three of them.
It seemed his intention to use this exam to see who was superior was not going to be realized.
"It’s good there’s no issue, focus on answering the paper well," the teacher instructed before returning to stand at the podium.
The teachers at the town middle school were much more numerous than those at the commune primary school. Each class teacher only needed to grade the papers of their own students, so the midterm exam results were released the next afternoon.
Just as Zhong Yuan had thought, all three of them scored full marks, tying for first place in their grade.
Jiang Mianmian noticed that Zhong Yuan had been in low spirits ever since the exam ended, thinking he felt he hadn’t performed well, so she comforted him, "Zhong Yuan, don’t think too much. Even though we couldn’t tell who was the best this time, we still have the final exams, right?"
"Yes, we can only wait for the final exams now." Even if Zhong Yuan felt regretful, sadly, he had to accept reality.
However, Zhong Yuan’s regret lasted only two days. On the morning of the third day after the exam, as soon as he entered the classroom, he gave Jiang Mianmian a very bright smile.
"Zhong Yuan, what’s the good news? Why are you so happy?" Jiang Mianmian asked curiously.
"Of course there’s good news, great news, look, what are these?" Zhong Yuan said, pulling out three sets of test papers from his backpack.
"What grade are these papers for?" Jiang Mianmian asked, puzzled.
"They’re also for the first year, but these are from City First Middle School. My cousin goes there, and yesterday after hearing me complain about how easy our school’s papers were, he specifically asked his teacher for three blank test papers and sent them to me. How about it? Jiang Mianmian, want to do them together during lunch break?"
Jiang Mianmian was also curious about the level of City First Middle School’s papers, so she readily agreed, "Sure."
After discussing, Zhong Yuan put away the papers to wait for the lunch break. Then, he called Tian Weiwei over.
The three of them used the lunch break to start working on the papers.
Zhong Yuan first handed out the Chinese language papers, saying as he did so, "Let me make it clear, I didn’t peek at these papers when I got them. Once I say start, we’ll all do them together. After finishing, just raise your hand to signal."
"Okay, got it," Jiang Mianmian took the paper and obediently said.
"Mm-hmm, got it, let’s start quickly," Tian Weiwei said, unable to hide her impatience.
After distributing the papers, Zhong Yuan sat down, "Alright, start."
At his signal, they all picked up their pens and began working on the papers.
Jiang Mianmian didn’t rush to answer the questions. She first skimmed through the paper and found that although the papers from City First Middle School were slightly more difficult than those from Town No. 1 Middle School, they were still very easy for her.
Jiang Mianmian took forty minutes to finish the Chinese language paper, checked it again, and upon finding no issues, raised her hand, "I’m done."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Yuan immediately sped up his writing. He was just a hundred words short of finishing his essay, so he needed to hasten.
Tian Weiwei also hadn’t finished her essay and felt the pressure, so she too hurriedly sped up.
Once the two of them had completed the Chinese language paper, they started on the math and English papers...