Zhu Hongbo was not at all surprised by Li Zheng and Lin Yujing’s attitude, and even felt a bit of schadenfreude.
If they were only looking to prep so mathematical tricks out of sheer pragmatism, they would indeed be missing the point.
Tricks, no matter how deeply you drill into them, do not require emotions,
but scholarship, no matter how superficial, needs the support of faith.
A person who loathes driving can still easily learn to drive.
Yet, a person with no love for mathematics will never truly encounter it.
However, love alone is far from enough.
Li Zheng and Lin Yujing were currently full of enthusiasm for learning.
24 years ago, Zhu Hongbo had been no different, right?
He had even been much more fanatic than these two before him.
He loved the elegance of Gauss, the acun of Euler, the shyness of Riemann.
He loved the broad vision of Hua Luogeng, the tenacity of Zu Chongzhi, the obsessiveness of Chen Jingrun.
These great mathematicians, like stars against the cold, lonely night, were brilliant and as warming as candlelight.
He too wanted to beco a star, illuminating the night sky for those who followed.
In the 1995 High School Mathematics League, Zhu Hongbo, who had mainly self-taught, entered the Yu Nan Province competition with the highest score in his county.
His final ranking was 135th in the province.
For the first ti, he realized how vast the world was.
In this one province alone, there were 134 stars shining brighter than himself.
In 1996, against the opposition of his family and school, Zhu Hongbo largely forwent his comprehensive college entrance exam preparation and resolutely competed once again.
This ti, he placed third in the county and 177th in the province.
The number of stars that shone brighter than him was increasing.
A full-hearted devotion to love, even until one’s fiery demise.
Every boy becos a man in just such a way.
After graduating from college, Zhu Hongbo chose to beco a math teacher.
In another way, he beca the star in the eyes of the children.
Now, he had t the students he most wished to et.
The students who needed him the most had also t him.
At this mont, as Zhu Hongbo looked at them, he truly felt grateful, envious, and hopeful.
Li Zheng and Lin Yujing were also looking at Zhu Hongbo.
Full of anxiety.
"Teacher Zhu, what is it..."
"Did I say sothing wrong... please don’t feel upset... it’s not just about providing reference books for us, you can also set the papers..."
"It’s alright, it’s alright," Zhu Hongbo wiped his eyes, put on his glasses, and tried to speak solemnly.
"Let confirm once more, are you both certain about systematically learning true mathematics?"
"I’ve discussed with Teacher Tao, and also studied so physics competition questions."
"Though the mathematical calculations in those are heavy, they are relatively routine."
"If you’re confident about making it to the finals, I could start by teaching you so mathematical tricks for solving physics competition problems, which would be more pragmatic."
"Otherwise, starting from scratch with mathematics is unlikely to produce quick results."
"And as I said before,"
"mathematics is the subject where you’re most likely to end up with nothing."
This ti, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing didn’t even look at each other.
Li Zheng shook his head, "Teacher Zhu, the tricks you ntioned, we probably already have them down."
"Ceiling!" Lin Yujing stood on tiptoes gesturing upwards, "Hmm! Ceiling!"
"Alright then," Zhu Hongbo finally stopped fussing, "Let’s all go back and get ready. The textbooks are one thing, but scheduling ti is the main issue. I’ll send you my free periods later, and you send the classes you don’t need to attend. We’ll set up a small titable for weekly tutorials according to that schedule."
"Brilliant," Li Zheng clapped his fist into his palm, "I’ll go back and organize it right away and send you the schedules for English and biology."
"Chinese is okay too, right?" Lin Yujing said.
"Teacher Tang is a bit sensitive, so it’s best to pretend to listen."
"How do you even know so much about Teacher Tang?"
"People with high EQ are also better at understanding others."
"..."
...
After leaving the mathematics research group, the two headed back to class just as the last biology lesson ended.
Seeing Li Zheng and Lin Yujing return together, the class had already grown accustod to no longer showing much emotion.
Sohow, they had gained the privilege to freely enter and exit any class at any ti.
In other words, they had the right to go to any place in the school at any ti to do anything they wanted.
Even Sun Xiubin had to avoid them.
True school domination, this was what it ant to be the real school tyrant.
And a school tyrant, undoubtedly has a following.
"Master~~ I’m so bored~~" As soon as Li Zheng sat down, Zhang Xiaoke began to massage his arms, "Spring is here, ti for a new outfit, shall we go shopping?"
"I’m recently returning to simplicity with a school uniform style, no need for shopping," Li Zheng said as he packed up his school bag, "Besides, I regularly go to Uncle Fei’s place to be a shopping guide, so I don’t need more shopping."
"Ah! I’m going crazy with studying all day," Zhang Xiaoke turned to look at Lin Yujing, licking her lips, "Jingjing, do you want to go to the kennel and pet dogs this Sunday?"
"I dislike doggies," Lin Yujing shook her head firmly, "And there’s an experintal exam this Sunday."
"So soon? Didn’t we just have the theory exam?"
Li Zheng explained, "The physics teachers grade papers really fast, experints even faster, the results co out the sa evening."
Zhang Xiaoke’s eyes lit up, "Then, have the two of you already received your theory results?"
"I guess so," Li Zheng nodded.
"Aren’t you going to check?" Zhang Xiaoke’s eyes grew brighter, her hands rubbing together in anticipation.
"It’s not interesting, as long as we can take the experintal exam," Li Zheng chuckled, "The total scores of the experint theory are what matters, there’s no rush for now."
"True," Zhang Xiaoke looked at the two, then twisted her body to entice Jiang Qinghua with a suggestive eyebrow raise,"Qinghua, don’t you feel tempted by this situation?"
"What... What does this have to do with ," Jiang Qinghua earnestly sorted her biology notes, "Right now, I’m just a learning machine, don’t disturb ."
"Liu Xin?" Zhang Xiaoke had no choice but to turn to Liu Xin, "Such a good opportunity, aren’t you going to take a gamble?"
"You really are hopelessly persistent," Liu Xin laughed, pointing at Li Zheng, "Alright, alright, I’m all in on Brother Li."
"Hold on, the rules haven’t been announced yet."
"Doesn’t matter, all in on Brother Li."
"But do you know what you’re betting on?"
"I don’t, but betting on Brother Li is always right."
"Well then..." Zhang Xiaoke glanced at the other three, "There’re still spots open~~ who’s in, who’s in?"
No one paid any attention to her.
After calling out for a while, Zhang Xiaoke’s head drooped as she gave up as well.
It’s not that she didn’t like to bet.
The main problem was, if only Liu Xin participated... winning wouldn’t get her anything she wanted, but losing would definitely an a lot of loss.
"Ah." Li Zheng suddenly let out a short cry, looking at his phone, "The group chat posted a notice about the experintal exam... Dress code prohibits school uniforms..."
"Oh?" Zhang Xiaoke’s eyes brightened again, "I get it, it’s to prevent the invigilators from recognizing which school you’re from, to ensure fairness."
"Probably..." Li Zheng shook his head, "This rule is ridiculous, might as well just cover the face. No choice then, let’s go shopping on Saturday."
"Super excited!" Zhang Xiaoke raised her arms, exclaiming excitedly to everyone around, "Anyone else joining?"
Still, no one responded.
"Humph..." Zhang Xiaoke was not discouraged in the slightest, her mouth curled up as she began her performance.
"Listen up, this isn’t just ordinary shopping, but rather—Fantasy Character Creation Battle!"
"Look, everyone has a preferred style or fetish for the opposite sex, right?"
"For instance, you guys probably like nurse outfits, JK uniforms, and such."
"Girls might like special triangle briefs or tight shirts."
"And this shopping trip isn’t for choosing clothes for ourselves, but for others."
"Whatever you want them to wear, they wear it, for a whole day."
"How about it, interested now?"
Still, no one paid attention to Zhang Xiaoke.
But Zhang Xiaoke had noticed that everyone’s breathing had beco heavy.
Especially Li Zheng, even his nostrils had enlarged.
Whatever she wears... she wears what?
Exciting!
Although this activity was quite childish.
It sohow brought about an inexplicable excitent.
```
On the other side, Lin Yujing’s face gradually flushed a rosy hue.
"With this..."
I can make him wear that...
Can’t wait...
Behind, Jiang Qinghua—
Although it’s none of my business.
But I really want to see so excitent...
Liu Xin—
I don’t understand, isn’t there a nurse’s outfit involved?
"Hehehe..." Zhang Xiaoke flexed her fingers, everything was under control.
"You guys don’t need to be coy, you all want it, don’t you..."
"On one hand, there’s the anticipation of making the other person wear embarrassing clothes.
"On the other, there’s the sha of potentially having to wear strange clothes oneself."
"It’s okay, no need to struggle over it."
"Place a bet, and you’ll have it all."
"The odds are already coming to your lips, they’re this physics competition’s theoretical scores."
"Choose between Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, whoever bets correctly gains ’Pinching Rights’."
"The person who gets it wrong, uh-uh-uh~~ poor thing~~ will just have to be at the rcy of others~~"
"Each victorious bettor with pinching rights can order one loser to wear a costu of their choosing."
By the end, Zhang Xiaoke confidently looked around, "How about it?"
Li Zheng and Lin Yujing didn’t respond to her.
Instead, they first looked past Zhang Xiaoke at each other, trying to gauge the other’s thoughts.
Upon noticing that the other was probing, they hurriedly averted their gazes.
And both simultaneously realized a fact—
[He/She wants to pinch !]
"Hahaha, that’s right, this is the thrill of betting, the temptation is great, but what you can lose is also significant." Zhang Xiaoke pounded the table, turned her mouth to both sides like little loudspeakers, and announced, "Xiaoke’s Royal Casino now open, with the promise of sexy outfits, off-line pinching~~"
Li Zheng and Lin Yujing remained at an impasse.
But Liu Xin was the first to speak up.
"You know, after giving it so thought... this ga is getting pretty intense." Liu Xin raised his hand, "I’ll bet on Lin Yujing."
Li Zheng turned around in anger, "Traitor! Just now you said you’d always stand by your Brother Li."
"I didn’t understand the rules... It seems like a safer bet to pick Lin Yujing." Liu Xin awkwardly raised his hand, "Next ti for sure, definitely next ti."
"Maybe I should adjust my bet then, just in ti for buying a few short-sleeve T-shirts." Jiang Qinghua looked up at the ceiling, "I’ll bet on Lin Yujing too."
Li Zheng had nothing much to say to Jiang Qinghua; he too wasn’t having an easy ti.
Zhang Xiaoke chuckled as she took note, "Then I definitely bet on Lin Yujing as well."
All three bets were on Lin Yujing.
At this rate, even if the bet officially kicked off, it would eventually beco aningless.
Now even Liu Xin felt sothing was off.
"That’s not fun." Liu Xin shook his head in boredom, "If everyone wins, isn’t that the sa as not playing?"
"Duh, who would dare bet on the master? That’s just asking to lose." Zhang Xiaoke covered her face with her hands, peeking at Li Zheng through her fingers, "Of course, the losers will be pinched, so if soone’s a pervert who desires to wear embarrassing outfits, they might bet on the master."
"What do you an betting on is asking to lose?" Li Zheng snapped, "Can’t I win just once?"
"Sure, sure, win once~~" The eyes through the gaps in Zhang Xiaoke’s fingers bent into an even more perverse smile, "You can bet on yourself, Master~~ If you win, you can freely make us wear whatever you want to see~~"
Thump!
Li Zheng hamred the table hard.
Dammit, I don’t even dare bet on myself!
The previous score estimate was already 10 points too low...
Although there were still two small questions left unchecked, it was practically hopeless to win.
Even though I know this, to bet on myself out of stubborn pride...
It’s likely that I’ll end up in so perverted briefs.
Definitely, based on Zhang Xiaoke’s perverted gaze, she would surely make wear perverted briefs...
Fucking hell...
Even though I really want to make soone wear that.
```
But you can’t lose your senses and head to your death.
Hold on... hold on...
Stop betting, this is the end.
Gambling like this, the mathematical expectation is definitely a loss.
Rationality, you must be rational at a ti like this.
I had sworn in the past.
No more gambling, to gamble again would make a dog.
This is the end, reason must prevail!
Just when Li Zheng was about to give up, there was a sudden short "hmm" from the window.
Turning his head, Lin Yujing had an intense expression on her face for so unknown ti.
She looked at Zhang Xiaoke and nodded solemnly, "I bet on Li Zheng."
Li Zheng: "???"
Zhang Xiaoke: "?!?!"
Jiang Qinghua: "?!!?"
Liu Xin: "Damn, Sister Jing, you’re into this kind of thing?"
Lin Yujing didn’t bother with any of that, just looked at Li Zheng, squinted slowly, and smirked with disdain.
Li Zheng’s brain had short-circuited, feeling like she was calling him "useless," "chicken," "a chance staring you in the face and you don’t dare."
Fucking hell...
Ready to use this suicidal thod to tempt into betting?
But this thod...
It’s damn too tempting.
At this mont, if you just bet on Lin Yujing...
You could see... that scenario...
In this instant.
Whether it’s the instinctual desire or the rational calculation, neither is wrong.
It’s right, it must be right.
Lin Yujing is betting I won’t dare to gamble, thereby shaming ... her goal is to take a leading position for a long ti into the future.
If I think about it from this angle...
Think about your mom’s thoughts!
I just want to see that!
"Ah!" Li Zheng couldn’t hold back any longer after holding it in for a while, his energy surged as he crazily slamd the table, "Bet, bet, bet! Bet on Lin Yujing, can’t handle you."
No sooner had he spoken.
Tang Zhifei burst into the classroom, eyes full of tears.
"No tricks this ti, no one’s playing tricks, it’s really too hard!!!" Tang Zhifei burst into tears rushing toward Li Zheng, "Li Zheng! You’ve got the highest score in the city in the natural sciences competition, you’ve won! You’ve finally won!!!"
The heavens, they’ve fallen.
Li Zheng felt as if he had been instantly drained, his whole being shriveled up.
His brain also had no idea how to function.
This sensation, it has beco hard to describe with words.
First place... indeed first place... I’ve actually won...
Thought about it my whole life, strived for it my whole life, all for this mont...
But why can’t I feel even the slightest bit happy...
Instead, I feel like smashing my head to death...
Why has it turned out like this???
"Hmph..."
A sly voice ca from the window.
Lin Yujing quietly wiped the corner of her mouth, like a dirty old man.
"You..." Li Zheng held his head and howled in despair, "You just checked the results?!"
"Didn’t say you couldn’t check..." Lin Yujing covered her mouth, laughing madly as she started to lose control, "Hmmhaha... hmmhahaha..."
This demonic laughter, will probably keep appearing in Li Zheng’s nightmares.
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