From child prodigy to chief scientist

"I didn't expect the classes here to go so fast; my brain is starting to struggle to keep up."

"I've finally made it through the day. I'm actually quite hungry, it's the first time I've ever studied like this."

"There's so much homework! I don't know what time I'll finish it tonight."

Xu Xiao had a pretty relaxed day. He had already finished most of his homework during class time.

He spent most of his time on self-study, accumulating another four hours of effective learning time through the system interface.

Just when everyone thought they could finally relax a little, Liao Qiuju walked in with a stack of test papers.

"There will be a math quiz during the next study period. The time limit is one hour. Those who finish can hand in their papers early."

Liao Qiuju's few simple words dealt a devastating blow to the students.

They had just relaxed after a long day of tension, and now they were about to enter combat mode again.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Liao Qiuju said expressionlessly:

"From now on, there will be a quiz during the last self-study period every day, so don't make a fuss about it."

Frequent exams are also a characteristic of Yucai, since students who want to get into good universities in the future will inevitably have to face exams.

Instead of waiting until the college entrance examination to conduct high-intensity test training, it is better to let students get used to this intensity from the beginning.

Upon learning that such quizzes would be the norm, everyone wore expressions of despair.

After a brief complaint, they quickly returned to their seats and prepared for the quiz.

After all, they are the best among their peers, and their adaptability is much stronger than that of other people their age.

After receiving the test papers, the students immediately focused on answering them.

This test paper covers the content discussed today, but the questions are not easy; they are mostly variations of the example questions.

This made it quite difficult for many students, and they generally looked pained.

Ding Mosen, the chubby boy, had it relatively easy. Although his simple and honest appearance made him seem harmless, he had always been ranked first in his original class.

Before coming to the Yucai Children's Class, he had already studied junior high school math.

This meant he rarely encountered problems he couldn't solve; he only spent a little more time thinking about some particularly difficult ones.

Lu Yihang was faster at answering questions than Ding Mosen. Before Ding Mosen had finished the multiple-choice questions, Lu Yihang had already moved on to the second fill-in-the-blank question.

Mathematics has always been Lü Yihang's absolute strength, especially his mental arithmetic talent, which means he rarely needs scratch paper when solving problems.

He was a first-prize winner in the Hua Cup Mathematics Competition and had virtually no rivals in mathematics.

However, compared to Xu Xiao, Lü Yihang and Ding Mosen are considerably inferior.

As soon as Xu Xiao received the test paper, he slicing through the questions one by one as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

In her previous life, Xu Xiao was indeed considered a top student in her class when she was in junior high school, and she only lost three points in the math section of the high school entrance exam.

Even if his mathematical talent is not as good as the other children, he can still bully them based on his experience.

"Phew... I hope I didn't get any questions wrong."

In less than twenty minutes, Xu Xiao finished the test paper without even using up any brain cells.

Xu Xiao didn't take this kind of quiz too seriously, nor did she plan to check it, and prepared to get up and hand in her paper.

Before Xu Xiao could even stand up, Yang Dun had already picked up the test paper and walked to the podium.

"Teacher, I've finished answering."

Even Liao Qiuju was taken aback when she saw Yang Dun hand in his paper so quickly.

Given the number and difficulty of the questions, being able to finish them within an hour would be considered a very good achievement for a student.

"Okay, just put it here."

Liao Qiuju did not suggest that Yang Dun check the questions again. If Yang Dun really made a mistake because he was too anxious, it would be a lesson for him.

Before Yang Dun could return to his seat, Xu Xiao handed in his exam paper as well.

Although Xu Xiao answered a little slower than Yang Dun, he could accept it perfectly well.

After all, the other party's starting point is much higher than yours, and it will always take time to catch up.

Now that Xu Xiao and Yang Dun had both handed in their papers, Liao Qiuju began grading them together.

For the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions, Xu Xiao and Yang Dun gave the exact same answers, which were also exactly the same as the standard answers.

The two students had slightly different approaches to solving the following problems, but both were correct.

Yang Dun's thinking is more flexible. For some problems, he did not use the methods taught in class, but instead used simpler methods.

Xu Xiao's problem-solving approach is very solid. Although it may lack some creativity, it gives people a sense of stability and reliability.

After grading the papers, Liao Qiuju had to admit that the two children had indeed done very well.

Aside from a few minor nitpicks, Liao Qiuju couldn't find any major flaws in it.

However, in order to be more demanding of them, Liao Qiuju symbolically deducted one point from each of their process scores.

In an actual exam, such minor flaws might not result in a deduction of points.

However, it's always better to be stricter with students in general. That way, even if they encounter teachers with very strict grading standards in the future, they won't lose points so easily.

Forty minutes into the quiz, other students began to hand in their papers.

Even though they spent more time answering the questions, the other people's answers were not any better than Xu Xiao's and Yang Dun's.

Even after an hour had passed, a few students still hadn't finished the test.

Liao Qiuju, however, maintained an incorruptible attitude, collecting the papers on time without giving them any extra time.

After the mini-exam, most of the students looked utterly dejected.

Especially for those students who didn't finish the test, they might not even get a passing grade on this quiz.

It's worth noting that they were all top students in their respective schools, and they rarely lost points in math exams.

But this small test dealt a significant blow to their confidence, and the self-confidence they had built up over the years collapsed in an instant.

…………

Before we knew it, the Yucai Children's Class had already been in session for a week.

After these few days of adjustment, everyone has gradually gotten used to the rhythm of Yucai Children's Class and is no longer as at a loss as they were at the beginning.