Chapter 17: Perfect Essay

Under the gaze of the entire school, Li Luo stood up from his seat.

Even though he had already lived thirty-five years.

Yet this was the first time in both his lifetimes that he had ever stepped onto the stage to receive an award before so many eyes.

Following Ying Chanxi, Li Luo walked through the rows of classmates' seats, still feeling a slight tension and a small thrill.

That sensation of adrenaline surging, causing his arms to go slightly numb and his heartbeat to quicken, was rare indeed in Li Luo's life.

But when he looked ahead and saw Ying Chanxi walking calmly toward the podium, her expression serene, Li Luo couldn't help but sigh.

No wonder Ying Chanxi, who had won awards since childhood until her hands were tired, treated stepping onto the stage and giving speeches like daily meals.

Even a thirty-five-year-old man like himself had less poise under pressure than this little girl.

It was a bit embarrassing.

Thinking this, Li Luo straightened his posture, squared his shoulders, and walked toward the stage with a calm expression.

There were eleven people total—one more than the number of outstanding teacher slots—but no one cared.

When they reached the podium, the teacher assigned to take photos wanted Ying Chanxi to stand in the center.

But Ying Chanxi stopped at the edge of the stage, bent down, and tied her shoelace.

By the time she stood up, the other ten students had already formed a line.

So Ying Chanxi naturally stepped to the far side, beside Li Luo, and accepted the award from the principal.

The two stood side by side, captured together in the group photo.

Among these eleven outstanding graduates were top performers like Ying Chanxi and Liu Shaowen, whose academic records and competition awards were overwhelming.

There were also students who had excelled in sports, music, painting, and other fields, each having won at least provincial-level awards.

In addition, there was one student who had done a good deed and been featured on local television.

So Li Luo standing among them wasn't out of place or conspicuous.

"How's that surprise?" As they descended from the podium, Ying Chanxi whispered to Li Luo with a smile.

"It really was surprising," Li Luo nodded, still savoring the feeling of looking out over the field filled with heads, oddly exhilarated, "My slot was added last-minute, wasn't it? There were supposed to be only ten."

"Who knew you'd perform so well on your high school entrance exam?" Ying Chanxi laughed. "I think it fits perfectly."

"True enough," Li Luo accepted the praise from his childhood friend without shame, then added, "But I didn't even know my essay got a perfect score."

"After this ends, I'll go ask Teacher Zhang for your essay," Ying Chanxi said as they walked. "You always scored only twenty-five or twenty-six points on essays before—how did you suddenly get such a high score? Even Zhao Rongjun never got a perfect score on his essay. What did you do differently?"

"Maybe I'm just more insightful," Li Luo said brazenly. "The inspiration just forced its way into my head during the exam—I couldn't stop it."

A perfect score on a Chinese essay is something you can only hope for, not plan for.

During the exam, Li Luo simply followed the standard structure of introduction-body-conclusion, mentally recalling three anecdotes about famous people that fit the prompt, each paired with a famous quote.

Then he naturally summarized three supporting arguments, merged them into one overarching thesis, and completed the argument.

He added a few sentences that sounded impressively literary, and his eight-hundred-word essay was done.

He had no idea how he ended up with a perfect score.

Thinking this, Li Luo had already returned to his seat with Ying Chanxi.

Zhao Rongjun, sitting behind him, leaned forward and took the award from Li Luo's hands, examining it curiously: "I'm jealous—I didn't get one."

"Humility, modesty, nothing special to look at," Li Luo took the award back, carefully laying it flat on his lap. "I have to show it to my parents when we get home—don't wrinkle it."

Shao Heqi and Jin Yuting, sitting in front and behind, were practically drooling with envy.

But Li Luo's score really was higher than theirs, so they had nothing to say—only swallowed their frustration.

Especially Jin Yuting, who now realized she might not even reach the cutoff for the First Affiliated High School, while Li Luo had already secured his spot.

And remembering how she had mocked Li Luo before the exam… Oh my god! How embarrassing!

Now Li Luo had even earned the title of Outstanding Graduate—genuinely earned through his own exam performance.

It was like a knife stabbing straight into Jin Yuting's heart.

She now felt too awkward to even speak to Li Luo or Ying Chanxi.

Fortunately, Li Luo had no habit of holding grudges against children; if Jin Yuting and Shao Heqi didn't talk to him, he certainly wouldn't go out of his way to embarrass them.

With the Outstanding Graduate award in hand, Teacher Zhang's surprise had been fully delivered.

As for what the principal said afterward, Li Luo paid no attention—he only snapped back to reality when the principal announced the graduation ceremony was over.

"It's already half past four," Li Luo glanced at Shao Heqi's watch, stood up, and stretched. "Shall we head straight to Jiangnan Restaurant, Vice-Class Monitor?"

"Oh, right," Shao Heqi responded half a beat late, glanced at Li Luo and his award, then quickly looked away. "We'll put the chairs back in the classroom, then we can leave—it's only a few hundred meters from school."

"Then I'll put my award in your backpack," Li Luo turned to Ying Chanxi. "Be careful not to crush it—give it back to me when we get home."

"Got it," Ying Chanxi took the award from Li Luo's hands, stacked it neatly with her own, then said, "Then I'll leave my chair to you."

Shao Heqi, sitting ahead, sighed, picked up his chair, and walked away with a more desolate silhouette, silently following the line.

After everyone returned to the classroom and placed their chairs, Class Teacher Zhang Wei clapped his hands on the podium, signaling everyone to look up.

"Let's rest a bit, then we'll line up with Class Six and head to Jiangnan Restaurant together."

"There are a few rules I need to remind you of—don't think graduation means you can ignore your teacher's words."

"Stay in line on the way, be careful crossing streets, and never run red lights."

"Once we reach the restaurant, no alcohol—only drinks."

"We still have some class funds left; Shao Heqi, collect thirty yuan from each person."

Thirty yuan wasn't quite enough, but Zhang Wei was thrilled to receive the Outstanding Teacher title, so he paid the rest out of his own pocket.

…

"Careful, put it down slowly."

Just before departure, Li Luo stood beside Ying Chanxi, watching as she carefully placed the award into her backpack, then nodded in satisfaction.

And Ying Chanxi had not forgotten to ask Teacher Zhang for Li Luo's perfect-score essay.

"Here, take this first." Zhang Wei returned from the office and handed over a photocopy of an essay, then smiled at Li Luo, "I don't really understand essays, but yours is truly good—I even enjoyed reading it."

"Ah, you flatter me, you flatter me." Li Luo took his essay from Teacher Zhang and casually slipped it into Ying Chanxi's backpack.

After all the classmates in the class were ready, Zhang Wei called for everyone to leave the classroom and line up in the hallway.

Nearly a hundred students from Class Five and Class Six, plus their subject teachers, marched in a long procession toward the school gate.

…

"What are you looking at? Watch where you're walking."

Lin Yuan, who ranked first in Class Six, warned Hua Xiuxiu, who came in second, as they walked.

Hua Xiuxiu ignored him, still staring down at a piece of paper in her hand—a photocopy of an essay.

The title was "The Cold and Warmth of the Human World, Known Only to the Drinker."

"As the drinker knows, the water is cold or warm." Hua Xiuxiu murmured the origin of the essay's title, savoring it more with each thought.

After arriving at school that afternoon, Hua Xiuxiu had asked her homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, for several full-score essays from this year's high school entrance exam.

To her surprise, one of them came from within their own school—it was written by a boy from the neighboring class named Li Luo.

She had never heard the name before, nor had she ever seen him featured in the school's past collections of outstanding essays.

This made her extremely curious.

So during the graduation ceremony that afternoon, Hua Xiuxiu had sneaked time to read the essay several times.

"Is it really that good?" Lin Yuan glanced at Hua Xiuxiu's delicate profile and said, "Full-score essays often come down to luck—maybe the writer just had a flash of inspiration on exam day. Even if they tried again, they might not write it nearly as well."

"Why didn't you ever get lucky in three years of junior high?" Hua Xiuxiu shot him a look, meeting his eyes. "Skill is skill. Didn't you see during the graduation ceremony?"

"That Li Luo from the neighboring class—who wrote this essay—used to score only around four hundred points."

"Yet in the month before the exam, he raised his score to 555—higher than both of ours, right?"

"Maybe this full-score essay on human relationships is his reflection on interpersonal dynamics from when he was still struggling academically?"

"Look at the final line—the perfect touch."

Here, Hua Xiuxiu's tone shifted—growing quieter, more deliberate—as she said: "Nature's cold and warmth turns through spring, summer, autumn, winter; through blossoms opening and falling. Human warmth and coldness shifts from morning toasts to evening's dimmed lanterns."

"This line isn't just well-written—it echoes the meteorological bureau's words mentioned in the essay's title. It's perfectly on topic."

"How could someone write a line like this on an exam day just because of luck?"

Hua Xiuxiu had always been a literary girl, born into a scholarly family with an enormous reading volume.

As Chinese class representative, her Chinese scores ranked among the top in the entire school.

In this year's high school entrance exam, the highest Chinese score at Yucai Middle School was 112—Hua Xiuxiu scored just one point less, ranking second in the school for the subject.

Li Luo, with 110, ranked third.

Beyond them, no one else at Yucai Middle School scored above 110 in Chinese.

But for Lin Yuan, this was unbearable.

Class Five and Class Six usually got along well; the boys often planned basketball games together.

Lin Yuan's height was a weakness—he'd always been around 1.65 meters.

That damn Li Luo from the neighboring class always blocked his shots when guarding him, leaving Lin Yuan fuming every time.

At least his grades were much better, so he could still claim moral victory after losing.

But now this Li Luo had pulled off a stunning comeback—his exam score surpassed Lin Yuan's, and he'd even produced a full-score essay.

Now Hua Xiuxiu kept talking nonstop about Li Luo, Li Luo, Li Luo—it drove Lin Yuan crazy.

But Li Luo's full-score essay really was impressive; Lin Yuan couldn't find any flaw to criticize, so he could only sulk as he watched Hua Xiuxiu admire it over and over.

It wasn't until they arrived at Jiangnan Restaurant and sat down at the table that Lin Yuan finally saw Hua Xiuxiu put away the essay—finally, he breathed a sigh of relief.

But halfway through the meal, when everyone stood up with juice in hand to toast the teachers, Hua Xiuxiu suddenly rose and asked Lin Yuan: "Which one is Li Luo over there?"

"Huh?" Lin Yuan froze, instinctively pointing in the direction—and watched as Hua Xiuxiu walked straight toward Li Luo with her juice in hand. "Wait, hey—hold on."

Lin Yuan hurried after her.

He saw Hua Xiuxiu approach Li Luo, politely greet him, then ask without hesitation: "Could you tell me what your thought process or inspiration was when you wrote this essay during the exam?"

The question… Lin Yuan covered his forehead, embarrassed for her.

But she'd always been like this—when it came to literature, she didn't care what others thought. Lin Yuan couldn't really say anything.

As for Li Luo, who'd been asked, now looked puzzled at Hua Xiuxiu and replied casually: "Just luck—I had a flash of inspiration. Even if I tried again, I couldn't write it like that. Not worth mentioning."

It was almost exactly what he'd just said to belittle Li Luo—but hearing it come from Li Luo's own mouth, Lin Yuan thought: Damn, what a show-off.

How wonderful it would be if he'd written this full-score essay himself!

【Flop Diary】: The new book ranking refreshes at midnight on Monday, so I'm updating early to beg for monthly votes!

The second chapter today will still be posted at 6 p. m. ~