Translator:

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Editor:

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“Here’s the case. I had practiced on a few exams from past years before taking this exam. During the exam, I realized that it was similar to last year’s papers therefore, I was able to answer the paper quite easily!” Yang Ming wasn’t sure whether the other subjects were the same as mathematics where it was similar to last year’s papers. However, such a probability was still high, so he bet on it.

“En?” Teacher Li was stunned and so were the other teachers! They all knew the exam papers this year were similar to last year’s! When they got the exam papers, they complained that the teachers from the other school who made the exam papers were too lazy. They were trying to deceive the others with last year papers! However, their schools were directly under the Ministry of Education so they had much more power than the four schools from the province. Therefore, the teachers didn’t say anything. Now they were speechless when they heard Yang Ming’s explanation.

I never imagined that was the truth! I thought he was cheating on the exam. It looks like it was just a coincidence!

When Yang Ming saw Teacher Li, he knew he was right! He was pleased with himself, I’m such a genius! My mouth is so good at lying that I never fail to do it! To avoid any more doubts from Teacher Li, Yang Ming said immediately, “Teacher Zhao can prove this for me!”

Zhao Ying nodded, “That’s right. I gave him last year’s exam paper. Zhao Ying only spoke about the mathematics subject, but Teacher Li thought she gave him all the others subjects as well. Then her doubts were cleared.

“Yang Ming, I know that you have put a lot of effort into studying. You worked on last year’s exam papers, which means you’re really motivated. However, there were too many coincidences in this exam and this doesn’t say anything about your real results. So don’t be too proud of yourself!” Teacher Li was relieved, but she thought of another problem which was that Yang Ming might be too proud of himself.

“I understand, Teacher Li. I will put in more effort!” Yang Ming promptly nodded his head and assured her. Deep inside, he was feeling lucky. Looks like I did bluff it out. If not, I wouldn’t know how to explain that! If Teacher Li asks for my experience in studying, then I’m screwed!

However, Yang Ming really did jinx it. Whatever he thought about came. Whatever he feared also came.

“Oh right, Yang Ming. I have seen your papers. Even if you did it before, there are some difficult questions in the paper. The knowledge required comes from Grade 10, Grade 11 and Grade 12. I made some calculations, it has only been around one month since you started working hard. How did you manage to do it? Can you teach some of your techniques to your teacher?” Teacher Li asked cheerfully.

“This…” Yang Ming really didn’t know how to explain.

“Why? Are you still trying to keep it a secret? Not willing to share with your teacher? If it’s a good technique, I can promote it in our school!” Teacher Li said.

“Teacher Li, but I…” Yang Ming stuttered, but his brain was running quickly. How should I solve this crisis? Introduce my techniques for learning? What kind of international joke is this?

“Yang Ming, are you afraid that others might be better than you if they learn your technique?” Teacher Li noticed that Yang Ming’s expression was unnatural and thought he wasn’t willing to share. After all, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination is like a single-log bridge, no one would be selfless for others. Yang Ming couldn’t be blamed for this. The competition in our society was too intense!

“Teacher Li, what are you saying? I’m not that kind of person!” Yang Ming thought, if he didn’t explain clearly, Teacher Li and Zhao Ying would not let him go easily! For Teacher Li, Yang Ming could still pass the buck but if Zhao Ying asked him, he had no choice but to tell her!

“Teacher Li, I actually don’t have any special technique! I have a strength that the others don’t have which is an outstanding memory. I’m especially fast at memorizing things!” Yang Ming might just as well tell another lie.

“What? Memorizing?” Teacher Li frowned. Is this even a learning technique? But this technique seemed to be a really useful magic bullet for the exam.

Yang Ming noticed Teacher Li was dubious of his skill, so he decided to spice it up, “Teacher Li, if you don’t believe me, you can pick a sentence from any book and let me read it one time. Afterward, I can recite it immediately!”

“En?” Teacher Li was interested once she heard it. Other teachers were looking at Yang Ming surprisingly too. They never expected that Yang Ming, an underachiever for three years, could have such an amazing skill!

“Really?” The language teacher was intrigued too. He simply picked up a Reader’s Digest and flipped a page, “Yang Ming, I have a magazine here. Look at this… En, this paragraph, starting from ‘I like how the spring brings everything back to life’!”

“Alright, let me read half of it!” Yang Ming took the Reader’s Digest and acted like he was reading it.

The essay was prose. It was not that long – only about a thousand words. Yang Ming read it out loud once, otherwise, he was afraid that he wouldn’t be smooth when he recited it.

After about ten minutes, Yang Ming returned the book to the language teacher. He said, “Alright, let me try!”

The teachers in the office were all standing behind the Reader’s Digest curiously – even Zhao Ying wasn’t an exception!

“I like how the spring brings everything back to life, like the earth in the summer after a storm comes a calm, like the sadness that comes with golden autumn; I love to leave footprints in the snow in winter, hoping that I can walk with my dear man through spring, summer, autumn, and winter…” Yang Ming looked at the magazine cover and read it out loud his x-ray vision.

Yang Ming read the paragraph from the magazine but he purposely made a few mistakes in the middle section and omitted some auxiliary words.

Silence! The office was silent! All the teachers stared at Yang Ming with unbelievable eyes.

Yang Ming was satisfied with the effect he created! This was what he wanted! He could easily find an excuse, even if he had to cover up a more shocking performance.

“Teacher, how’s my recitation?” Yang Ming was the first to break the silence.