Twentieth Monthly Exam

"How should I put it? I'm actually a bit disappointed," Chen Ran said with a smile at Wang Weidong. "I thought it would be very difficult, but it turned out to be quite simple."

Wang Weidong looked at Chen Ran with curiosity. "Really? Simple? I heard the seniors saying that the math competition is much harder than our monthly exams."

"Is that so?" Chen Ran thought for a moment. "I suppose it's a bit harder in that the calculation processes are more complex, but as for being 'much' harder, I don't think so."

"Are you for real!" Wang Weidong pouted. "You only think it's simple because your grades are so good."

Chen Ran looked up, studying Wang Weidong, who was significantly taller than him, with a serious expression.

Wang Weidong walked over to the tap, washed his hands, and touched his face. "Is there something on my face?"

"No," Chen Ran shook his head. "I just think this might be the first time I've seen you smile so happily."

"Uh..." Wang Weidong froze. "Why are you suddenly saying things like that?"

"Nothing. I just always thought you might be a bit expressionless."

"What do you mean by 'expressionless'?" Wang Weidong blinked, his handsome face showing curiosity. "That doesn't sound like a compliment."

"Well... it means there's something wrong with your facial nerves."

"Damn it!" Wang Weidong cursed. "You, Chen Ran, how dare you talk nonsense about me! Just watch how I deal with you!"

"Don't!" Chen Ran ran off with a giggle. "I won't say it again, I promise."

"You wait there, don't run!" Wang Weidong made a show of chasing him. In terms of both physical strength and height, there was a significant gap between the two, but they were just fooling around, and Wang Weidong had no real intention of catching him. They laughed and chased each other away from school, arriving back at the courtyard just as noon approached.

When they opened the door, Luo Mingxiu was busy cooking.

"Xiao Ran, and classmate Wang, you're back?"

"Mom!" Chen Ran changed his shoes and set down his schoolbag. Luo Mingxiu smiled and said, "It'll be ready in a moment, just wait a little."

"Mom, let me help." Chen Ran walked into the kitchen. Wang Weidong, feeling awkward staying in the living room alone, followed him in. "Auntie, let me help too." Chen Ran carried the dishes to the living room and set them on the dining table, followed closely by Wang Weidong carrying the soup. Once Luo Mingxiu finished and left the kitchen, she asked, "Xiao Ran, how did the exam go today?"

"It was alright, I thought it was quite simple," Chen Ran said with a smile. "Not as difficult as I imagined."

"Is that so?" Luo Mingxiu smiled. "That means our Xiao Ran should have done pretty well, right?"

"Yeah, it should be decent," Chen Ran mused. "I just don't know if I can make it to the second round." Because Wang Weidong was there, he didn't want to discourage him, so he didn't say with absolute certainty that he would make it. In truth, he felt confident; if a perfect score couldn't get him into the second round, it would only be due to corruption. But he believed that such things were unlikely. He wasn't sure how students from other schools had performed, but he knew that at his own school, perfect scores were rare. Even if there were foul play, the school would surely want him to participate in the second round.

The competition results wouldn't be out next week. The province was vast, and Ningchuan had many schools. Although the second round would also be held in Ningchuan, it wouldn't be at his current school. Rankings would have to be tallied, which would take at least a week. With the monthly exams coming up next week, he was running out of time to finish learning all the junior high subjects within his self-imposed deadline.

The thought was a bit of a headache.

"The monthly exams are next week," Chen Ran whispered, looking at Wang Weidong. "Wang Weidong, did you know that?"

"Huh?" Wang Weidong looked confused, blinking. "Monthly exams next week?"

"Did the teacher mention it?"

Wang Weidong scratched his head; it was clear he hadn't been listening when Teacher Gao brought it up.

"Yeah," Chen Ran nodded gently. "Teacher Gao said the monthly exams are next week. But it's only Chinese, Math, and English, and we'll be using the same test papers as the key classes."

"Huh?" Wang Weidong thought for a long moment. "Didn't we use different papers from the key classes during our previous monthly exams?"

"They weren't the same," Chen Ran shook his head. "Our papers were different, and the key classes' papers were more difficult."

"Is that so?" Wang Weidong seemed completely unaware of these details. He scratched his head and asked, "Then... why are we taking the same papers as the key classes this month?"

"I'm not sure, that's just what Teacher Gao said." Chen Ran shrugged and continued with a smile, "I heard their teaching pace is much faster than ours."

"I expect there will be a lot of content on this exam that the teachers haven't taught us yet." Chen Ran gestured with his hands. "How are you preparing?"

"How else?" Wang Weidong scratched his head. "Just getting by, I guess."

After they finished eating, Luo Mingxiu began cleaning up. Back in their room, Chen Ran continued with his homework, while Wang Weidong sat beside him. Both remained silent. With the exams approaching, Chen Ran certainly wasn't panicked. Even knowing the content would exceed what was taught in class and that the key classes were far ahead, he had mostly taught himself the material. Besides, the monthly exams surely wouldn't be harder than the math competition.

After a long silence, Wang Weidong asked, "Chen Ran, how many points do you think you'll get on the monthly exams?"

"Not sure," Chen Ran replied with a gentle shake of his head. "It's hard to say."

Wang Weidong was quiet for a long time before saying, "I haven't really been listening in class, and my last few exams were pretty bad. I just hope this time isn't too terrible, otherwise, my dad will definitely beat me."

Chen Ran looked at him with amusement. "Are you that afraid of your father?"

"You have no idea," Wang Weidong said, still looking shaken. "My dad is terrifying."

"Oh?" Chen Ran looked at him with curiosity. "Terrifying?"

"Forget it. Anyway, he has very strict requirements for me," Wang Weidong pouted. "He'll beat me at the slightest provocation."

Chen Ran didn't know what else to say, so he buried his head back in his book. He personally didn't find Wang Weidong's father to be that brutal; perhaps he was just different with others than he was with his own son.

"Chen Ran," Wang Weidong called him again, whispering, "I think your mom is really gentle."

Chen Ran chuckled and said nothing more.

The weekend passed quickly for students. By the time school started, Wang Weidong was still complaining to Chen Ran that he hadn't even been able to go out and play over the weekend before having to return to school.

After spending the weekend together, Chen Ran felt their friendship had deepened. Wang Weidong was no longer expressionless around him; he showed frustration and laughter. He still wore that robotic mask for everyone else, though.

The winter morning was cold in the classroom. Chen Ran and Wang Weidong arrived one after another. Wang Weidong’s father hadn’t picked him up last night, so he had stayed at Chen Ran's house again. Perhaps because they were busy, neither Chen Ran nor Luo Mingxiu had asked Wang Weidong about it, though he seemed a bit uneasy himself.

On the way to school that morning, he had been chattering incessantly.

Once they reached the classroom, Wang Weidong finally fell silent. The room looked just as it had on Friday. Chen Ran put down his bag and began reading his textbook quietly. They had arrived early, and there weren't many students yet. Seeing the person next to him reading quietly, Wang Weidong began looking around. Last night, Chen Ran had tutored him, guessing what kind of math problems might appear and explaining them thoroughly.

Chen Ran realized that Wang Weidong wasn't incapable of learning; he just hadn't wanted to. In fact, he was quite clever and understood things quickly. It was likely that his lack of interest in studying was the only reason for his poor grades.

If he truly applied himself, he would surely excel.

"Are we really having an exam today?" Wang Weidong muttered. Over the weekend, Chen Ran had insisted that the exams would start today, and he had been forced to study the entire time. He had originally planned to go play basketball, but Chen Ran had kept him home for two full days. The only time he got to play was when Chen Ran was at school for the competition on Saturday. Even at night, Chen Ran had made him study until bedtime.

He had gone to bed early last night, and if there were no exam today, he would be heartbroken. He had spent so much time studying, and being forced to work through those convoluted math problems had nearly made his head spin.

But Chen Ran was truly amazing, Wang Weidong thought. He hadn't understood those complex problems at all, but Chen Ran had handled them with ease, as if they were nothing. No wonder Chen Ran wanted to go to university—he would surely get into a good one.

Students arrived one by one, but the teacher had yet to appear. Instead, many in the room were chatting quietly; there were never many students in the regular classes who took morning study seriously anyway.

The voices of the few who were reading were quickly drowned out by the chatter.

When Teacher Gao walked in, the smile he had been wearing vanished instantly. He said unhappily, "What’s going on? Morning study is not for you to talk about where you went on the weekend, laughing and joking in class!"

"You're only in the first year of junior high, but in the blink of an eye, you'll be in the third year. If you can't get into high school then, will you still be laughing?"

Chen Ran remained silent. Teacher Gao continued, "Move your seats. We're having the monthly exams soon. I'm posting the exam room assignments on the wall; go take a look. Pack your things and head to your designated rooms."

Wang Weidong looked at Chen Ran. "We really are having an exam."