My IQ has been increasing year by year.

Once May was over, the weather in the city suddenly became hot.

The leaves of the plane trees lining the road have completely lost their tender yellow color from early spring and turned into a deep dark green.

The cicadas haven't yet reached the stage of emerging from the soil in large numbers, but occasionally, during the hottest part of the day, you can hear a few tentative, hoarse chirps.

The shade of the trees in the Sunshine Family Compound is very dense.

A thin layer of green moss grew in the cracks between the blue bricks on the ground.

After returning from winning first place in the province from the provincial capital, Chen Zhuo's life seemed to remain unchanged.

The big red banner in the school hung there for half a month, and the color turned a bit white from the sun. Then, after a few days of rain, the academic affairs office took it down and put it in the warehouse.

Life went on as usual.

In the classroom of Class 1, Grade 7, Chen Zhuo was still sitting in his usual spot.

The hallway was still noisy when get out of class ended.

The boys chased each other to the toilet, while the girls gathered by the corridor railing, kicking shuttlecocks.

The only difference is that now, when students from other classes pass by the window of Class 3, Grade 7, they always slow down, whether naturally or unconsciously, and glance at the short boy in the middle of the first row who wears gold-rimmed glasses.

Chen Zhuo didn't care about these things.

He didn't even bother to lift his eyelids.

He has more important things to do.

The calendar on the desk was covered with circles drawn in red pen.

He will be going to the provincial capital in mid-May to participate in the provincial physics team's training camp.

After finishing the exams in early June, the provincial math team's training camp began in mid-June.

The schedule was packed so tightly that there wasn't a single spare moment.

But what he's most worried about right now isn't the complicated university physics experimental equipment used by the provincial team.

It was the fat man sitting opposite him.

......

Saturday afternoon.

Zhang Qiang's home.

Zhang Qiang's family lives in a newly built residential complex in the city called Jinxiu Garden.

In 2002, this residential area was considered high-end in the city. There were security guards standing at the entrance, and a large green belt covered with lawns downstairs.

The house is very large, over 140 square meters, with four bedrooms and two living rooms.

The living room floor is covered with polished marble tiles that reflect your image.

In the very center sits a set of black genuine leather sofas, which look very expensive.

Opposite is a huge modular TV cabinet, inside which is a large Sony color TV.

Zhang Qiang was lying on the coffee table.

The coffee table has a glass top and a marble base.

He was wearing a loose-fitting white cotton short-sleeved shirt today, but his back was soaked with sweat; the fabric clung to his skin, revealing the layer of sweat underneath.

He was fat, his whole body was round and chubby.

Sitting on the carpet, he looked like a steamed bun.

The air conditioner was on inside the room.

The vent was blowing cold air out, but sweat kept dripping down Zhang Qiang's forehead.

Snapped!

Zhang Qiang threw the chewed-up, chipped Zhonghua brand pencil with an eraser on the coffee table.

The pen rolled twice on the glass tabletop and came to rest at the edge of a stack of exam papers.

"I'm not doing it anymore."

Zhang Qiang leaned back and sank into the leather sofa.

The leather sofa creaked softly.

"What kind of ridiculous word problem is this? Car A starts from the east village, and car B starts from the west village, and they even have to spend half an hour repairing their cars along the way..."

Zhang Qiang irritably rubbed his spiky short hair.

"Are those two drivers crazy?"

"What era are we living in? Can't we just make a phone call instead of meeting on the street?"

"You're even fixing your car while driving? Don't bring that junk out in public and make a fool of yourself!"

He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently.

He's 1.5 meters tall and weighs almost 130 pounds.

This size is absolutely gigantic for a sixth-grade elementary school student.

Chen Zhuo sat at the other end of the sofa.

He didn't sit on the carpet, but instead sat properly on the leather sofa.

He was holding a thick book on theoretical mechanics.

The pages are somewhat yellowed.

He was wearing a clean, light gray collared T-shirt today.

Her collarbone was clearly visible through the neckline.

I heard Zhang Qiang throw down his pen.

Chen Zhuo looked away from the book.

He pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

I glanced at the past years' entrance exam papers for the junior high school section of the No. 1 Middle School on the coffee table.

"This question is worth twelve points."

Chen Zhuo's voice was very flat.

There were no accusations, no angry ups and downs.

There was none of the harshness or disappointment a teacher might have.

It's like stating a simple fact: it's a hot day today.

Zhang Qiang grunted twice.

"Twelve points it is."

He muttered to himself.

"My dad said, at worst we'll just pay 30,000 yuan for school construction fees."

"Thirty thousand yuan, you can buy me into No. 1 Middle School."

"These kinds of problems are driving me crazy. I get a headache just looking at these A, B, C, and D numbers."

The kitchen sliding door was opened.

Zhang Qiang's mother came out carrying a huge glass fruit platter.

Mrs. Zhang had a fashionable perm and was wearing a silk loungewear set.

She wore a jade bracelet with a bright green hue on her wrist, which jingled as she walked.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Mrs. Zhang placed the fruit plate on the glass coffee table.

Inside was half a watermelon, garnished with clean purple grapes and a few pieces of cantaloupe.

The watermelon had just been taken out of the refrigerator, and a layer of white condensation had formed on the edge of the glass plate.

Zhang's mother casually picked up a pack of Heart-to-Heart tissues from the coffee table, pulled out a tissue, and wiped Zhang Qiang's sweaty forehead haphazardly a couple of times.

"Pay school construction fees?"

Zhang's mother glared at Zhang Qiang and tapped his forehead with her finger.

"Why doesn't your dad save that little bit of money for your wedding? Why does he have to throw it all at the school?"

"Look at Xiao Zhuo."

She turned her head and looked at Chen Zhuo, who was sitting quietly beside her. The expression on her face instantly turned into a warm, spring-like one.

"Xiao Zhuo is so easy to manage. He got into the school at the age of nine and was ranked first in the city."

"Now they've won first place in the province again. The big red banner is hanging at the school gate. I saw it when I passed by on my way to buy groceries."

"Qiangzi, you're always hanging out with Xiaozhuo, you're practically Siamese twins now."

"How come you didn't absorb even a trace of that ethereal aura from them?"

Chen Zhuo closed the book "Theoretical Mechanics" in his hand.

Hello, Auntie.

He called out.

"Okay, okay."

Mrs. Zhang smiled so much that her eyes narrowed.

She took a small white porcelain bowl and picked up a long-handled spoon from the fruit plate.

"Xiao Zhuo, stop reading and take a break. Eat some watermelon. Auntie specially picked out a Black Beauty; it's sandy and very sweet."

"Mom, don't worry about it, we'll eat by ourselves."

Zhang Qiang sat up from the sofa and snatched the spoon and white porcelain bowl from his mother's hand.

"Fine, fine, I don't care. You guys eat. Qiangzi, you better do your homework properly and don't bully Xiaozhuo."

Mrs. Zhang muttered to herself, then turned and went back to her room, closing the sliding door behind her.

The only sound in the living room was the air conditioner vent.

Zhang Qiang was holding the aluminum spoon.

Looking at the huge, bright red, chilled watermelon in front of me.

The watermelon was cut very neatly.

The piece right in the middle, without any melon seeds, is the darkest in color and looks sandy.

That was the sweetest, crispest, and best-tasting piece of the whole watermelon.

Zhang Qiang swallowed.

He took the spoon and gestured along the edge of the watermelon.

Then, with a flick of the wrist.

The spoon was inserted directly into the very center of the watermelon.

Dig hard.

A large chunk of bright red watermelon flesh, devoid of any black seeds, was scooped out.

Zhang Qiang put the largest piece of watermelon core into the white porcelain bowl.

Then, he casually scooped two more purple grapes into the bowl.

He pushed the bowl in front of Chen Zhuo.

"Eat this, it has no seeds and it's sweet."

Zhang Qiang looked at Chen Zhuo, his tone matter-of-fact.

After completing this action.

Zhang Qiang took a spoon and started scooping out the seeds from the edges of the watermelon.

They ate while spitting out the seeds.

He vomited into the trash can under the coffee table.

Chen Zhuo looked at the white porcelain bowl that had been pushed in front of him.

There was still a little watermelon juice stuck to the rim of the bowl.

The largest piece of watermelon core lay quietly inside.

Chen Zhuo picked up an iron fork from the coffee table, stuck it into the watermelon core, and took a bite.

It's very cold.

Very sweet.

The gritty texture melts in your mouth, relieving most of the early summer heat.