I was a top student in America.

"Iron Box" Gym.

Li Ao pushed the last 45-pound barbell plate onto the rack and rubbed the rust from his palms together.

A message flashed across the panel:

[During continuous physical labor... Strength +0.1].

I've been working illegally here for almost a week now. In the first few days, I was so tired that I could barely lift my arms, but now I'm getting better at unloading metal sheets.

It was just past four in the afternoon, and there weren't many people in the venue.

The bald boss was huddled behind the cash register, flipping through a newspaper, in the exact same posture as yesterday.

Just as Li Ao walked to the squat rack with a rag in his hand, the rusty iron door suddenly creaked open.

The first one to come in was TySean.

Two thugs in red hoodies were trailing behind him; they were the same two guys he had met in the cafeteria last week.

The "Deacon Gang" were the local bullies in this neighborhood, and Tyshaun treated this place like his own backyard, occasionally coming here to practice.

The bald boss was very sensible and quickly sent over two bottles of mineral water.

The three of them stepped onto the black rubber mats and headed straight for the strength training area.

Li Ao didn't look up, clutching the rag as he continued wiping a rusty iron rod.

He didn't want to cause trouble.

The hourly wage is six dollars, but if I mess it up, I'll be freezing in my rented room next month.

But as luck would have it, the slightly chubby one in the red hoodie immediately spotted him.

"Hey."

He casually tossed a ten-pound barbell plate, which slammed onto the cement ground beside Li Ao's feet with a "bang," chipping off a piece of plaster.

"That Chinese kid in the cafeteria, right? Come on, tidy this up."

Li Ao didn't say anything, but bent down and picked up the piece of iron.

The fat man took half a step forward and chuckled:

"Weren't you quite the chatterbox in the cafeteria last time? What happened, did the cat steal your tongue today?"

Another person in a red hoodie leaned against the equipment and whistled.

Tae-Sean was stretching on his own, admiring his muscle definition in the mirror, completely ignoring what he was hearing.

Li Ao hung the iron sheet back on the shelf, wiped the sweat from his chin, and turned to leave.

He knew in his heart that this was not a school, and it wouldn't be worth suffering a loss here.

Seeing this, the fat man became even more emboldened, cursing and taking another step closer, spewing out a string of profanities.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Li Ao frowned – if they retreated any further, the other side would probably make a move.

Just then, TySean, who was already lying on the bench press, waved his hand impatiently.

"Forget it, don't waste time with this kid. Let's get back to training. I still need to go see Coach Durant later; I haven't finished my application form yet."

Upon hearing this, the fat man stopped talking and, while helping Ty Shawn put the weights on the barbell, leaned closer to ask:

"You're really going? Didn't Coach Durant say he'd taken care of it for you?"

"Get it done my ass," TySean said through gritted teeth as he pushed the barbell. "Durant had assured me that Daryl's application would be fine, but it still got rejected in the end."

"He told me that as long as my GPA was high enough, I could just send out the application materials. But I don't think it's that simple. I'd better check them myself."

"Daryl's writing is terrible, isn't it?"

"I can't even pass the first round. I suspect it's not a paperwork problem at all," Ty Shawn put down the barbell, unscrewed the kettle, and took a swig. "Something must have gone wrong, but nobody can fucking explain it."

The gym wasn't big, and Li Ao heard these words clearly.

He paused for a moment while holding the rag.

Taeshorn's intuition was right.

The problem lies precisely in the coach's statement, "As long as the GPA is high enough, it's fine."

That statement is not wrong in itself, but it doesn't work at Wyndham High School.

Li Ao straightened up, his gaze passing over the fat man's shoulder and fixed directly on Tai Shonen.

"Can I get into university as long as my GPA is above the minimum requirement?"

"You're thinking too simply, TyShaughnessy. Do you know how many of those easy courses Wyndham offers are on the NCAA's accreditation list?"

"The GPA printed on our school transcript is completely different from the GPA calculated by the NCAA admissions office."

The gym fell silent, with only the deep bass of hip-hop music emanating from the speakers.

TySean finally sat up from the bench and turned his head.

This was the first time since that time in the cafeteria that he had given this Asian lad who did odd jobs a proper look.

The fat man wanted to retaliate again, but Ty Shawn raised his hand and forcefully shut down his subordinate's swear words.

Having said all he wanted to say, Li Ao draped the blackened rag over the iron pipe and turned around to wipe the next piece of equipment.

The truth has been revealed, and as long as Ty Shawn isn't stupid, he'll know what's important.

Sure enough, before he had taken two steps, he heard the heavy sound of rubber-soled shoes behind him.

Tae-Sean came over in person.

A tall, muscular, dark-skinned man, nearly two meters tall, stopped half a step behind Li Ao, his iron-like body casting a shadow behind him.

"Where did you hear that from?"

His voice was deep and harsh, showing no sign of seeking advice.

"I have a cousin who works in the college application industry at Huaxia University, specializing in North America. I sometimes help him translate some documents, so I know a little bit about the ins and outs of it."

Li Ao didn't turn around, nor did he stop working. "You were right about Daryl. The first round of screening focuses on the hardware, not the paperwork."

"His problem definitely stems from his transcript. If you don't believe me, let him call the admissions office himself and see where he failed."

TySean stared at him for a few seconds, then walked silently to the bench.

He unzipped his sports bag, pulled out two bills, crumpled them up, and tossed them over.

The crumpled paper rolled to Li Ao's feet.

"If you help me with the GPA issue, Qin Chu will settle our score."

Clean and efficient, without any hesitation or fuss.

Li Ao calmly bent down to pick up the crumpled paper and crumpled it up.

There were two Andrew Jackson twenty-dollar bills.

Give me two days.

He responded and casually stuffed the money into his pocket. He was secretly pleased: with today's twelve yuan wages, he was one step closer to getting that winter allowance.

Soon, Tai Shorn led his men to a different area, walking briskly past without glancing at Li Ao again.

The fat henchman wanted to say a few more harsh words, but his companion tugged at his sleeve, so he had no choice but to shut up.

Finally, six o'clock arrived, and the bald boss counted out a few loose bills from the cash register and slapped them on the table:

"The same time tomorrow."

"OK."

Li Ao carefully smoothed out the banknotes. With his hard-earned money in his left pocket and the toll money in his right, he pushed open the iron gate and stepped into the cold wind outside.

……

The following afternoon, the last algebra class.

Old Brown, carrying a stack of graded test papers, walked into the classroom with a dark expression.

The noise below subsided somewhat.

At Wyndham High School, giving out pop quizzes isn't a big deal, but it does keep those who are still thinking about college a little more disciplined.

DeMarcus, who was next to Li Ao, leaned over and tentatively asked in a low voice:

"How many questions did you guess correctly on Friday's quiz?"

Li Ao glanced at him, silently opened his textbook, and didn't say anything.

Brown stood behind the podium, rubbing the edge of the exam paper with his thumb.

"Take your quiz on Friday."

He slowly began to curl each hair one by one, with the curl side facing down.

FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) stipulates that teachers cannot publicly read out grades, ostensibly to "protect student privacy."

Of course, nobody really cares about that. Wyndham's report cards are always pretty predictable – mostly Ds and Fs, and if a B pops up, it's considered a class achievement.

DeMarcus flipped open the paper, glanced at it, and muttered a curse under his breath.

Lin Jinni, sitting in the front row, took the exam paper and placed it face down on the corner of the table without any expression.

The exam papers are almost all handed out.

But Brown paused for a moment as he passed Li Ao's table.

He glanced at the last piece of paper in his hand, didn't put it down, and walked back to the podium with it in his hand.

The people around immediately noticed something was wrong.

DeMarcus turned to look at Li Ao, then glanced at the podium, opened his mouth, but didn't dare to utter a sound.

Brown turned the test paper face down on the table and glanced at the whole class.

There's not much to say about this test.

Brown paused for a moment, then said, "I will verify some of the results that fluctuate wildly."

He didn't look at anyone, but it was clear he was referring to someone.

A faint murmur came from the back row, followed by two snickers.

DeMarcus moved his chair closer to Li Ao and lowered his voice:

"Bro, what did you do?"

"Didn't do anything."

As soon as the bell rang, a few troublemakers who usually disappeared by now deliberately dawdled while packing their bags, listening intently to watch the show.

Brown stood behind the podium, looking at Li Ao.

"Leo, come here for a second."

Li Ao walked onto the podium empty-handed.

"98 points," old man Brown slammed the test paper on the table. "Tell me, you got a C on the last test, how did you get such a high score this time?"

"I learned something."

"Studying? I saw you flipping through the first chapter the other day. If you're so good at that, how come you always got Cs?"

Li Ao didn't know how to explain it; he couldn't very well say, "I'm a time traveler."

Seeing that he remained silent, Brown sneered, pulled a copy of "Algebra II" from the drawer, opened it heavily, and jabbed the page with his rough fingers.

Then they flipped through the pages and ordered a few more dishes.

The range is extremely wide, from basic concepts all the way to the most challenging questions.

Finally, the old man tore off a page of draft paper and pushed it, along with the pencil, to Li Ao's side.

"Come on, now that you've learned it, show me these questions in person."

In Wyndham, a lousy place, fighting and skipping classes go unpunished, but when it comes to "academic integrity," they put on a show of it.

If you cheat and leave a record, you won't be able to graduate from high school, and since the entire school district is connected, transferring schools won't help.

Li Ao took the book, glanced at the first question, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind:

"This problem seems to have two solutions..."

……