Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

The rain not only fell on the ground, turning into shallow puddles, but also cast a dark cloud over the hearts of the first-year students at Shilan Middle School.

It rained on the day the entrance exam results were announced. I don't know if that's a bad omen, but it's definitely bad weather.

The roads near the school were completely jammed, and the sound of car horns had become a regular occurrence. Umbrellas floated in the air like colorful mushrooms that had sprouted after the rain.

Some first-year high school students, holding umbrellas, would instinctively stop and stare at the bulletin board in front of the teaching building as they passed by. Some would secretly breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing that the entrance exam results hadn't been posted yet, while others would become even more nervous.

Su Xiaoqiang was one of these people. Actually, with her grades, she didn't need to worry about her ranking. Even if she performed poorly, she could still stay in the top twenty.

She had a nightmare last night, dreaming that Lu Mingfei surpassed her in the entrance exam.

Although the dream was as bizarre as telling her that Lu Mingfei was a prince who had been living among the common people, the savior of the world, and the Batman of Gotham City, having such a dream the day before the results were released was hardly a good omen.

That's why the little fairy, who was feeling irritable and unhappy, came to the bulletin board early in the morning to check her grades.

She needed to see with her own eyes that her grades were ahead of Lu Mingfei's before she could feel at ease.

……

Although the list hasn't been posted yet, when the first class started, Mr. Wang, the math teacher and homeroom teacher, still came to the classroom with a stack of test papers that wasn't very thick.

Upon seeing the test papers, some students in the class began to get restless, waiting for the teacher to hand them out. Those whose grades were in the middle of the grade were especially nervous.

Those at the head and tail are actually less concerned.

However, Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang are the few two people who are among the top students but are very nervous about the upcoming math scores.

Liu Miaomiao was naturally concerned about Lu Mingfei's grades and hoped he could do better.

Su Xiaoqiang was conflicted; she hoped Lu Mingfei would perform well, but she didn't want him to do too well on the exam.

It's a situation where they don't want their buddy to suffer, but they also don't want him to drive a Land Rover.

Old Wang carried the test papers to the podium. He didn't speak immediately, but silently scanned the classroom, making everyone tense. Then, seemingly satisfied, he adjusted his glasses and said:

"Our class had the best math scores in this entrance exam. Not only was the average score high, but the top scorers were also from our class."

Upon hearing this news, murmurs immediately filled the classroom.

As if he had expected it, Old Wang suddenly raised his voice and solemnly added a "but." This immediately silenced the noisy discussion in the classroom.

It seems that teachers all over the world like to add this kind of transition.

"However, everyone should remain humble in victory and undeterred in defeat! Don't be complacent after doing well on one test. Avoid arrogance and impatience, and strive to maintain the same ranking next time."

After another moment of silence, and only when he was sure no one was discussing it anymore did he continue:

"Next, we will start distributing math test papers. Students whose names are called, please come up to the front to collect your papers."

"Zhao Menghua, 120 points."

As soon as the results were announced, the class erupted in an uproar, since the entrance exam's math score was out of 120.

Although everyone in the class knew after the official start of the school year that Zhao Menghua was the one who got the top score in the high school entrance exam and entered Shilan Middle School, the feeling of hearing that someone had good grades was different from seeing someone actually achieve good grades.

Zhao Menghua went up to the stage with a smile, took the test paper from the homeroom teacher, Lao Wang, enjoyed the surprised looks from his classmates, and returned to his seat.

"Su Xiaoqiang, 120 points."

When Su Xiaoqiang's results were announced, the uproar that had just subsided a little started to rise again.

Old Wang did not stop the students from discussing it, after all, such praise was actually an encouragement to the high-scoring students and also had an inspirational effect on the average-scoring students.

Su Xiaoqiang walked straight to the podium without looking to the side, took the exam paper, and returned to her seat without leaving a trace of fragrance in the aisle she passed by.

Su Xiaoqiang wasn't particularly surprised, since she had already checked the answers and knew she would definitely get a perfect score.

Next, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Wang, picked up the third test paper, paused for a moment, and then slowly read out the name on the test paper.

"Lu Mingfei, 120 points."

Upon hearing the name, the class fell silent for a moment.

Two or three seconds later, a louder commotion erupted in the classroom than before.

Zhao Menghua and Su Xiaoqiang both got full marks, which is impressive, but everyone knows they were originally among the top three in the entire school to get in.

But Lu Mingfei was admitted at the very bottom of the class.

Even Su Xiaoqiang and Liu Miaomiao were stunned, thinking they had misheard. It wasn't until they saw Lu Mingfei walking up to the podium, scratching the back of his head, that they dared to believe what they had just heard was true.

"When did Mingfei's grades become so good...?"

Liu Miaomiao murmured to herself.

Did he take extra classes during the summer vacation?

But even with extra tutoring, it's impossible to go from a math score that's barely passing to a perfect score.

Liu Miaomiao, who was Lu Mingfei's classmate in junior high school, knew Lu Mingfei's grades for all three years of junior high school very well.

Despite her surprise, Liu Miaomiao was mostly happy.

The better Lu Mingfei's grades were, the more confident she would be in asking her parents to let her take extra classes with him.

Of course, it wouldn't be a good thing if things went too well. If Mingfei became one of the top students in the grade, I wouldn't be confident of getting into Tsinghua University or Imperial University.

……

Compared to Liu Miaomiao's happiness, Su Xiaoqiang was genuinely flustered.

If before, she only felt a sense of crisis from Lu Mingfei, this time she was truly facing a crisis.

She genuinely never imagined that Lu Mingfei could get a perfect score in math.

Thinking of Lu Mingfei's enormous dark circles under his eyes every morning when he came to school, Su Xiaoqiang's mood was seriously shaken:

"Just how many practice tests did this guy do, staying up all night to finish...?"

Even the little fairy's imaginative mind began to conjure up a scene where her final score was lower than Lu Mingfei's, and that guy used that sentence to blackmail her:

"Su Xiaoqiang, you don't want others to know that you're someone who doesn't keep promises, do you?"

"..."

After reading out the names of several people who scored high, Lao Wang then read out the names of several people who scored 108 or higher.

Liu Miaomiao scored 115 points in math, only missing the last part of the most challenging question.

For those who scored below 108, Lao Wang didn't announce their scores directly. Instead, he simply read out their names and let them take their test papers away.

This is actually to protect students' privacy. Students who do well on tests deserve encouragement, but students who do poorly on tests also need their self-esteem protected.

Because the exams had just finished, the class naturally turned into explaining the exam questions.

However, Su Xiaoqiang didn't listen to a word of the entire class; her heart was pounding the whole time.

She wanted to turn back and look at Lu Mingfei, but she didn't dare to look at him.

She was afraid that if she made eye contact with him, he would see her panic.

……

However, this sense of crisis was immediately dispelled during the second class.

In the second period, during the Moral Education class, the Moral Education teacher naturally distributed the test papers as well.

This time, the highest score in the class for Moral Education was no longer tied, but Xiaotiannv took the lead with a score of 98, firmly occupying the top spot. She only lost two points on the subjective questions.

Zhao Menghua came in second with a score of 96.

Lu Mingfei's score was relatively low, just as he had expected. In subjects like Moral Education, which rely purely on rote memorization, he was no match for Xiao Tiannv.

In the end, Lu Mingfei scored 78 points based solely on his vague impressions and intuition, leaving Xiao Tiannv trailing by a full 20 points.

However, he hadn't taken the bet that Xiaotiannv made while drunk seriously. The reason he reviewed it these past two days was mainly to make Liu Miaomiao happy.

Although I may not be able to give her a good outcome, I hope that this process will still make her happy.

Su Xiaoqiang, on the other hand, was relieved of the anxiety she felt during the first class and was completely at ease.

"I knew it! How could that guy possibly surpass me so easily?"

However, while thinking about it, I was secretly glad that when I made the bet, I changed it to an entrance exam instead of all the exams I originally wanted to say.

If we really give this guy some time...

With a huge 20-point advantage, Xiaotiannv finally dared to look back at Lu Mingfei.

However, when he saw Lu Mingfei smiling and talking about moral education with the person next to him, without a trace of regret on his face, he still felt a little annoyed.

Does this guy even care about the bet he made with me?!

……

The second period ended before morning exercises, but because it was raining today and the playground was wet, the morning exercises were temporarily canceled.

The students of Shilan Middle School were naturally delighted by this news, because it meant they would have an extra ten minutes to sleep, read, or chat in the classroom.

In fact, no student likes doing morning exercises during their school days, especially in the summer. Doing exercises makes them feel sticky all over and uncomfortable all day.

However, someone shouted that the results were out, and everyone rushed to the window to watch as the teachers posted the results list on the bulletin board.

And so, in the misty rain, many colorful little mushrooms sprouted.

Although Su Xiaoqiang, who held a 20-point advantage, felt confident of victory, she still went downstairs with the rest of the group who were checking the scores.

As she parted the crowd of onlookers, the little fairy, holding an umbrella, immediately spotted Lu Mingfei's name on the list.

"Lu Mingfei, total score 887, ranked 69th..."

This is actually a rather outrageous score, considering that Lu Mingfei's moral character score was only in the 70s.

If Lu Mingfei had the same moral character score as her, with 98 points, his total score would have broken the 900 mark and reached 907 points.

However, although that guy's ranking is quite high, there is still a considerable gap between him and me.

The little fairy raised her eyebrows and turned her bright eyes to the first row of the list.

Then I froze in shock.

"Wait a minute, where's my ranking?"

Looking at the honor roll where she couldn't find her name, the little fairy was completely bewildered, almost wondering if she had done something wrong with how she viewed the list.

……