Chapter 13: Which class is Xu Jingming in?

The Wu Ke college entrance exam will last a full twelve hours, during which all school principals and class homeroom teachers will remain on-site.

After all, the director of the education bureau is present; they cannot possibly leave midway.

Moreover, since Wu Ke exam scores serve as the standard for distributing educational funding in the second half of the year, principals and teachers are all highly attentive to their students’ results.

Of course, due to the exam’s length, the military district will provide lunch and dinner for the principals and teachers.

More than four hours have passed since the Wu Ke exam began; the time is now 1 p.m.

At this point, most candidates in the exam hall have already begun eating their first energy bar.

Outside the exam hall, principals and teachers from each school have finished lunch at the military district cafeteria and are heading toward the spectator seats.

“Jizhong is as dominant as ever—almost all of the top ten are theirs.”

“Jizhong receives the most educational funding every year and has the best student intake in the entire Jiangcheng; it’s no surprise they achieve these results.”

“That’s true. By the way, our Erzhong isn’t doing too badly this year—we have eight students in the top fifty, whereas last year five or six was already good.”

“Too bad Sanzhong is even stronger this year—they’ve broken into the top ten, leaving us in an awkward position.”

“......”

In the Jiangcheng No. 2 High School teacher group, everyone walked while chatting and discussing among themselves.

Jizhong’s deep educational foundation and its top rankings were no surprise to them.

In their conversation, they only discussed their own school and the third high school.

“By the way, Teacher Sun, how’s Xu Jingming in your class? Why didn’t we know you had a student like him?”

Suddenly, someone mentioned Xu Jingming and turned their gaze toward a middle-aged man in a black suit among the group.

His name is Sun Yang, homeroom teacher of Erzhong’s Rocket Class.

“Xu Jingming isn’t in my class—I was just about to ask you which class he’s from.”

Sun Yang, homeroom teacher of the Rocket Class, looked utterly bewildered.

“Xu Jingming isn’t in your class? But who else besides Rocket Class students could be this strong?”

The surrounding teachers also froze slightly, all asking which class Xu Jingming belonged to.

After students awaken their abilities, every middle school reassigns classes, placing those with potential and strong abilities into the Rocket Class.

Erzhong is no exception.

That’s why, in the Wu Ke exam, nearly all high-scoring students come from the Rocket Class; it’s rare for a parallel class student to appear.

“Old Chen, how did your class do?”

At the back of the group, a bearded middle-aged man sidled up to Chen Fan, homeroom teacher of Class 5, and before Chen could answer, he continued:

“My class did pretty well—the top student has already broken into the top 100.”

Since Erzhong’s best students are all concentrated in the Rocket Class, any student from a parallel class who makes the top 100 is already considered excellent.

“Oh, that’s pretty good.”

Chen Fan glanced at him indifferently.

The middle-aged man was Li Jun, homeroom teacher of the neighboring Class 4; years ago, the two had a disagreement over something and their relationship had never been good.

Over the past few years, Li Jun had openly and covertly opposed him; they were essentially archrivals.

“Not bad.”

Seeing Chen Fan’s reaction so calm, Li Jun couldn’t help but flash a smug smile: “But this year, I’ll probably get more exam bonus money than you.”

To encourage academic discipline, the homeroom teachers’ bonuses are directly tied to their students’ Wu Ke exam results.

If a student from your class enters Jiangcheng’s top 100, you’ll receive at least ten thousand yuan in bonus after the exam!

In this small city where homeroom teachers earn less than six thousand yuan per month, ten thousand yuan is already quite substantial.

Old Chen pretends to be calm, but inside he must be seething with envy right now, right?

Just as Li Jun was secretly delighted, Chen Fan’s voice spoke again:

“Is that so? Then you’ll be disappointed. My class did pretty well too—someone broke into the top fifty.”

“Top fifty? Old Chen, are you joking? That’s all Rocket Class territory—how could your class have anyone rank that high?”

Li Jun reflexively rebutted, his expression dismissive.

“Wait.”

But he quickly realized, his eyes widening in shock: “Is Xu Jingming from your class?”

Compared to Li Jun’s astonishment, Chen Fan’s reaction was far calmer—he simply nodded faintly.

“If Xu Jingming is from your class, then why didn’t you answer when they just asked which class he’s from?”

Li Jun still couldn’t believe it.

“Did they? Maybe I didn’t hear.”

Chen Fan replied with feigned confusion.

What the hell? What do you mean you didn’t hear? You deliberately ignored it!

So you’ve been waiting for me all along, huh?

Watching Chen Fan pretend to be so calm and detached, Li Jun wanted to punch him right in the face!

But the next thing Chen Fan said nearly made him spit blood:

“Xu Jingming just made top fifty—that’s nothing special. The Rocket Class’s top student already reached 18th place.”

What do you mean “just top fifty”?

The bonus for top fifty is over twenty thousand yuan!

And you’re from a parallel class—how can you compare with the Rocket Class, which gathers the entire school’s elite?

Li Jun screamed silently inside.

For years, his most outstanding student had only reached 64th place in the Wu Ke exam.

“It seems Teacher Chen has cultivated an extraordinary student.”

Li Jun took several deep breaths to calm himself, then offered a bitter congratulation.

“It’s nothing much—it’s all thanks to Jingming’s own hard work; I had little to do with it.”

Watching his longtime rival visibly furious, Chen Fan maintained a humble exterior, but inside he was bursting with joy.

You love showing off? Now you’ve been humiliated, haven’t you?

For years, Li Jun always overshadowed him—this time, he’d finally gotten his revenge!

Just thinking of it, Chen Fan felt a quiet thrill.

“So Xu Jingming is from Class 5?”

“Teacher Chen, your teaching is impressive—among all the parallel classes, only your student broke into the top fifty.”

“Next semester, we should invite Teacher Chen to give a lecture on teaching methods.”

“......”

Upon learning Xu Jingming was from Class 5, the surrounding teachers all began congratulating him.

Even Sun Yang, homeroom teacher of the Rocket Class, offered Chen Fan a friendly smile.

The top students had long been picked by the Rocket Class; producing a student like this in a parallel class proved Chen Fan’s teaching ability was truly strong.

The group of teachers chatted and laughed, soon returning to the spectator seats.

After sitting down, homeroom teacher Chen Fan immediately looked up at the virtual screen above, searching for Xu Jingming’s ranking.

Soon, he found Xu Jingming’s name among the rankings:

“#32: Xu Jingming, 328 points. (Jiangcheng No. 2 High School)”

“Huh? #32?”

Seeing this ranking, homeroom teacher Chen Fan froze in surprise.

Wasn’t he just #46? How did his rank jump over ten places in the time it took to eat lunch?

As he puzzled over it, Xu Jingming’s name suddenly jumped again—when it reappeared, it was at a new rank:

“#25: Xu Jingming, 372 points. (Jiangcheng No. 2 High School)”

“This...”

Chen Fan’s eyes widened in utter shock: “What’s going on? How did Xu Jingming’s rank jump so suddenly?”