Zhuang Lan had been going to bed very late lately.
On this day, it was almost 2 a.m., and aside from his bedroom, there wasn’t a single lit room throughout the housing complex.
Zhuang Lan, exhausted, scribbled some snake-like shapes on his draft paper with a pen.
He guessed he wouldn’t be able to tell what he had written the next day.
He couldn’t hold up any longer and fell straight to sleep.
Right before sleeping, he even remembered to break a superstition, struggling to stuff a blue bag under his pillow
The moment his head hit the pillow, Zhuang Lan was practically asleep already.
Suddenly, Zhuang Lan found himself back at school.
Zhuancheng No. 1 Primary.
He looked up at the class name and found himself dreaming back in the first grade.
He had become a glorious primary school student.
"Why aren’t you going in?" Zhuang Lan felt a gentle pat on his back and looked up to see his primary school class teacher—Shi Hongzhi.
Being there, he might as well settle in. Although he could feel that he was in a dream, Zhuang Lan had no thoughts of doing anything outlandish, so he sat in his old spot.
Standing at the podium, Shi Hongzhi placed a large stack of papers on the desk.
"The end-of-term exam results are out. Our class’ top scorer is Zhuang Lan. Let’s give him a round of applause."
In the midst of the applause, Zhuang Lan was expressionless.
In first grade, shouldn’t everyone score full marks?
Zhuang Lan felt a gaze and followed it, only to find Yue Qingqing looking at him.
The look in Yue Qingqing’s eyes was something he had never seen before.
Admiration, appreciation, envy.
Zhuang Lan’s heart skipped a beat, feeling that such a gaze was very familiar, yet he couldn’t remember where he had seen it before.
"Zhuang Lan, I will surpass you one day," Yue Qingqing said.
Hearing the overly familiar line, Zhuang Lan suddenly understood.
Whenever he thought of Yue Qingqing’s achievements and talent, he would show such a look.
And the familiar challenge declaration...
The flow of the dream differed from reality. Soon, Zhuang Lan was in second grade... third grade... all the way to sixth grade.
He was first, without exception.
"Zhuang Lan is so impressive. You never see him study much; how does he score so well?"
"He’s a genius, of course he’s not like ordinary people."
Hearing these sounds, Zhuang Lan for a moment couldn’t distinguish between reality and the dream.
These scenes and voices were too real.
They made Zhuang Lan start to doubt.
Could he also be a genius?
No... why did he use the word ’also’?
There was only one genius, and that was him.
In the exams for admission to secondary school, Zhuang Lan was recognized as first in the whole city.
Teachers from No. 1 Middle School, No. 2 Middle School, and Experimental Middle School argued fiercely over getting him to enroll.
Yue Qingqing walked by with her schoolbag, a look of loss in her eyes.
"It would be so nice if I were as smart as you."
Before Zhuang Lan could respond, Yue Qingqing had quickly moved away.
Zhuang Lan chose Zhuancheng No. 1 Middle School, where his legend continued.
Regardless of the size of the exam or the subject, he was always the first, without exception.
No matter how hard others tried, they could only aim for second place.
Teachers had high hopes for him, and classmates could only express envy when mentioning his name.
At parent-teacher meetings, his parents were always asked by other parents for advice on his success.
Li Xiaoqin told the truth, "I haven’t really worried about his studies; he usually doesn’t read much at home and often goes out to play with classmates."
Other parents could only sigh, "After all, Zhuang Lan is a genius, and talent is beyond reach."
Yue Qingqing’s mother sighed, "My child works very hard but still can’t catch up to Zhuang Lan."
Li Xiaoqin consoled her, "Results don’t represent everything."
Don’t represent everything? Really?
Then why does everyone show such a look of envy, and why has he, labeled a genius since childhood, received countless praises without really doing much?