Chapter 45

Cheng Nuo was burying his nose in the math tests. Suddenly, a fragrant smell caught his attention, and he saw a pretty figure sit down beside him through his peripheral vision.

Cheng Nuo looked up and met Mu Leng’s cold eyes, which made him flinch subconsciously.

Cheng Nuo grinned. “Haha, hello, Mu Leng.”

Mu Leng was sitting right next to him, less than one meter away.

Mu Leng stared at his face for a while and then slapped the test in front of him.

Mu Leng pointed at a function problem and said unemotionally, “Tell me how to do this problem!”

“Oh? Should you not ask Old Man Tang?”

“He’s busy.”

Cheng Nuo laughed. “So Old Man Tang asked you to ask me.”

Mu Leng nodded lightly.

“Let me take a look,” Cheng Nuo said, leaning over to look at the problem Mu Leng was pointing at. “Hmm, a hard one indeed. The problem asks us to find the maximum value, but they didn’t give us many conditions. Let me think. How about writing out a function…”

Mu Leng frowned and said, “Cut the crap. Just tell me how to do it.” She was running out of patience.

Cheng Nuo put down his pen and said listlessly, leaning back in his chair, “Sorry! I don’t know!”

Mu Leng paused for a second and left. Before she walked away, she said, “Alright, bye! I’ll come back when Mr. Tang is done with his work!”

Having seen that Mu Leng had no intention to stay, Cheng Nuo immediately stood up and blocked her way. He said with a smile, “Wait, wait! I was just kidding, Mu Leng! This problem is very easy. Of course I know how to do it! In fact, I believe that anyone with a brain is able to do it! Come, I’ll explain it to you!”

Mu Leng was speechless.

“You are mocking me!” Mu Leng thought, even more determined to leave.

In the end, Cheng Nuo put his hands on Mu Leng’s shoulders and pressed her into the chair.

Mu Leng massaged her shoulders and glared at Cheng Nuo bitterly. She said in a frosty tone, “What are you waiting for? I thought you are going to tell me how to do it!”

“Bad attitude, Sister Leng. You are the one who’s asking me for help,” Cheng Nuo complained, spinning his pen between his fingers. “But I’ll be forgiving this time. Don’t do it again.

“Okay. Let’s take a look at this problem.”

Cheng Nuo had suddenly become serious once he had started to explain the problem.

“First of all, we…”

Mu Leng had noticed his change in attitude too. Hence, she paid full attention to his explanation.

Cheng Nuo had formulated more than one way of tackling that problem the second he had finished reading it.

Therefore, to show off his intelligence in front of the beauty, Cheng Nuo explained another method of doing the problem after the first one. That’s not the end yet, because he soon proceeded with the third one!

Mu Leng stared at Cheng Nuo blankly while the latter jabbered on. Suddenly, her eyes lost focus from the math test.

The morning sunlight shone through the window, dancing on Cheng Nuo’s handsome face. His hair was short and slightly unkempt, and the corner of his mouth was gently curving upwards. He was a youthful young man, sitting right in front of her.

Mu Leng’s heartbeat quickened.

“And here, we can substitute this equation in. And then… Huh?” Having heard no response, Cheng Nuo looked up and saw Mu Leng staring at him as if she had been possessed.

Now, Cheng Nuo’s eyes were on Mu Leng.

“Height: 168.54 cm, weight: 52.36 kg, bust: 90.87 cm, waist: 62.92 cm, hip: 90.55 cm… heartbeat: 120 beats per minute…”

“Her heartbeat is so fast! What happened to her?”

Of course, Mu Leng had noticed that Cheng Nuo was looking at her too. But for some reason, she couldn’t shift her eyes away.

They gazed deeply into each other’s eyes for a long, long time.

After about ten seconds of silence, Cheng Nuo opened his mouth. With a tinge of suspicion in his eyes, he asked, “Are you… mind-blown?”

“Mind-blown?” Mu Leng was confused about what he meant.

Cheng Nuo continued, “Are you mind-blown because I can solve this problem using three different methods, but you, a self-proclaimed genius, couldn’t do it? You must be feeling ashamed!”

“What nonsense are you talking about!?”

Mu Leng shot him a cold glare. She picked up the test and walked away immediately.

“Where are you going, Sister Leng? I’m not done explaining the last method!”

“That’s fine. Two methods are enough.”

Cheng Nuo watched as Mu Leng’s beautiful figure disappeared out the door.

…

On the next day, the combined mock exam commenced at the same time in 48 high schools, including the Second High School of Qing Cheng.

The assessment aimed to simulate the Gaokao in every aspect so as to familiarize the students with the Gaokao environment. This was to prevent some incidents, such as forgetting to bring the admission ticket or visiting the washroom thrice in an hour due to anxiety.

Every student sitting for the combined mock exam had an admission ticket, and the candidates would only be allowed to enter the exam hall after they had shown their admission ticket and ID card to the invigilators.

All of the admission tickets had been given to the students in advance and it was their own responsibility to safeguard them. However, some schools had teachers keep the tickets on behalf of the students and the tickets would only be released on the examination day.

Nevertheless, if the teacher was late for the exam… Haha, the entire class would be disqualified!

Cheng Nuo only woke up at 8 AM because the first test was at 9 AM. He spent half an hour washing up and having breakfast before going to school, humming a tune along the way.

The first test was Chinese. Cheng Nuo’s Chinese grade was average. His grade wouldn’t be too high nor too low. After all, there was a certain template to follow, and all he had to do was fill in those blanks.

As usual, the essay problem was very abstract. Cheng Nuo began to write according to his own interpretation.

There were ten minutes left when he had completed all the questions. He spent the remaining time checking his answers and submitted the test once the time was up.

He had lunch with Lin Hu and Hao Shuai at the cafeteria, just like any other day.

The cafeteria was much more crowded than usual because students who had skipped breakfast felt compelled to eat a proper meal during the exam period.

Therefore, Cheng Nuo and his friends had no other choice but to wait in line. Cheng Nuo looked at the people ahead of him and estimated the time he had to wait.

“Distance to the window: 15.87 m, number of people in front: 21 (8 girls and 13 boys), average time taken for each girl: 20 seconds per person, average time taken for each boy: 15 seconds per person, total waiting time estimated: 5 minutes 55 seconds…”

Six minutes later, it was finally Cheng Nuo’s turn to order the food.

“I want all the good food!”

After a filling meal, the math exam finally began in the afternoon.

“Good luck, Cheng Nuo!” Xiaoxiao said to him before they walked into the exam hall.

“You too!” Cheng Nuo replied, smiling.

He took a deep breath and entered the hall.