C7 Exam

As Qin Anyi pondered, his pen continued to move ceaselessly. No matter the complexity of the questions, they now held no significance for him. The Qilin, though only at 5% of its full capacity, was not to be stumped by mere high school knowledge.

Yet, Qin Anyi noticed that the Qilin's analytical and problem-solving skills were limited by his current knowledge base. It could only tackle questions using the information already in Qin Anyi's mind, including formulas that, lacking any relevant mental imprint, the Qilin had to deduce independently. Despite having autonomous thought post-brain fusion, the Qilin's reasoning remained under Qin Anyi's conscious control, with his brain firmly at the helm.

After handing out the test papers, Wang Yiran routinely patrolled the classroom. Homeroom teacher Zhao Guoping typically sat behind the desk, preparing lessons or attending to other tasks, leaving Wang Yiran to oversee the exam. Given that Qingjiang No.1 Middle School students epitomized the city's highest academic standards, instances of cheating were exceedingly rare, rendering the proctoring largely symbolic.

As she paced the aisle, Wang Yiran's thoughts drifted to other matters. She was aware of the upcoming test's high difficulty, a precursor to a provincial competition among key high schools. The school aimed to use this initial assessment to identify a handful of top students from Changqing No.1 Middle School to compete.

Five representatives were needed for the Changqing No.1 Middle School team. Beyond the three standout students, including Wang Yiran herself, who were leagues ahead of their peers, the second tier of top students were more or less on par with one another. Thus, the remaining two spots would go to the highest scorers in this preliminary test.

The ability to perform under pressure was a crucial aspect of one's overall strength.

The heightened difficulty of the preliminaries, along with their extensive scope—covering a wide array of topics, including some beyond the standard curriculum—reflected this importance.

Wang Yiran felt a twinge of uncertainty about clinching the championship. Despite Changqing No.1 Middle School's second-place ranking in Ludong Province, there was a noticeable gap between them and the top-ranked Provincial Experimental Middle School.

If no unexpected dark horse emerged, it seemed this knowledge competition was destined for the usual outcome—failure.

Wang Yiran let out an internal sigh, her expression unchanged as she meandered down the corridor, casually scanning the other students' answer sheets. Just as she predicted, the abrupt spike in difficulty had left most of her peers stumped, their papers dotted with far too many blank spaces.

Huh?

Wang Yiran's automatic stride came to an abrupt halt, her gaze locked onto one particular paper.

This answer sheet stood out starkly from the rest. While other students were furrowing their brows in deep concentration over it, struggling to conjure up solutions, their progress was painfully slow.

But the answers on this paper flowed swiftly! So rapidly, in fact, that Wang Yiran wondered if the step of mental deliberation had been skipped entirely!

The pen never ceased its dance across the page, unfazed by even the most intricate of calculations, not pausing for a single second.

For the first time, Wang Yiran witnessed the act of taking a test transformed into something akin to art. The pen moved with a rhythm that was deliberate yet fluid, precise and clean. Each number was spaced with such uniformity that they seemed to be carbon copies of one another.

The collective visual impact was nothing short of stunning. When had such an enigmatic figure emerged in her class?

Wang Yiran's inner turmoil was unparalleled. After two years of coexisting with her classmates, even her detached nature had led to some familiarity with them. Yet, the scene before her was completely unexpected.

Curiosity piqued, she glanced at the person behind the paper. Her surprise intensified—it was Qin Anyi? The same Qin Anyi whose academic performance was consistently above average but who interacted so little with his classmates that he was practically invisible?

How could it be him? The guy whose absence would likely go unnoticed even if he skipped a week of classes?

Suppressing her astonishment, Wang Yiran continued to observe Qin Anyi working through the test. However, it didn't take long for her to notice something peculiar.

The multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions were manageable; the heightened difficulty wasn't insurmountable for Changqing No.1 Middle School students. A quick perusal and some mental tallying were all it took for Wang Yiran to verify that Qin Anyi's answers were indeed correct.

However, the more complex problems that required detailed solution steps were somewhat peculiar. Qin Anyi's approach to solving them was wildly imaginative, far beyond what most people could conceive. Yet, it was undeniable that his methods were incredibly accurate!

Even if Wang Yi considered those same questions, she couldn't possibly come up with a better solution than Qin Anyi's innovative approach! In fact, Wang Yi realized that if she attempted those problems herself, she would never arrive at solutions like Qin Anyi's!

From complexity to simplicity! This reflected a mastery of the material, a level where one could effortlessly transform their approach to problem-solving. With just one look, Wang Yi could confirm that Qin Anyi's methods were not only the most correct but also the simplest among all possible solutions!

What truly puzzled Wang Yi was that despite the correctness of Qin Anyi's approach, the final answers he arrived at were incorrect!

Indeed! Wang Yi was confident there were no errors in her calculations. Following Qin Anyi's problem-solving strategy should have led to a straightforward answer, one that didn't even require meticulous calculation! Yet, somehow... Qin Anyi's final answers were wrong?

How could this be? Unless... was it intentional?

After observing Qin Anyi for a solid thirty minutes, Wang Yi reluctantly reached an astonishing conclusion. She had only ever known students who sought every possible way to boost their scores, never one who seemed intent on lowering them. What on earth was going through this person's mind?

Consequently, Wang Yi found herself deeply intrigued by Qin Anyi.

Could it be that his consistently above-average performance over the past two years was all an act?

But why hadn't she noticed this anomaly during previous exams?

Wang Yi subtly pursed her lips, gently placed her hand on Qin Anyi's paper, and, picking up an idle pen from the desk, she began to write a few words on the calculation paper that had been distributed with the exam.