Chapter 9: The Sword Leaves Its Scabbard

  Xia Meng quit the school basketball team due to a foot injury.

  The head teacher talked to her and said straightforwardly: "Xia Meng, the school leaders have given your grade a hard target this year. We must take back the liberal arts champion (last year Xia Meng's high school only kept the science champion). Your batch of students is the best in history, and the principal has allocated the best teachers in the school to you. You and Zhang Li are the school's key candidates for winning the championship. After class, you and Zhang Li should exchange learning experiences more often. By the way, try to participate less in extracurricular activities!"

  The pressure on him is the greatest, he is the champion of the city's middle school entrance examination, and his mother is also a school leader, so the school has the highest expectations for him.

  The head teacher provided Zhang Li and Xia Meng with a lot of learning materials, and also asked the teachers of each subject to give them extra lessons after class.

  After Xia Meng stopped playing basketball, he spent most of his time with Zhang Li, doing all kinds of exercises and exchanging problem-solving skills.

  Zhang Li has a solid foundation in learning, extensive knowledge, quick thinking and is diligent; while Xia Meng has an extraordinary memory, almost everything she reads is unforgettable, her attention is concentrated, and in class, she can often achieve the state of being the only one with the teacher. Therefore, she rarely puts effort after class, and the time she spends on learning is minimal, she is just a successful learning speculator.

  But because it's speculative, her performance isn't as stable as Zhang Li's.

  Xia Meng always thought that attending classes attentively and doing the homework assigned by teachers was enough, without needing to engage in excessive practice of exercises, whereas Zhang Li consolidated her knowledge through a large amount of practice.

  Through contact with Zhang Li, Xia Meng was immediately attracted by Zhang Li's extensive knowledge of astronomy, geography, history, politics, art, literature, natural science, and humanities, among other things. He had also conducted in-depth research on many subjects; while Xia Meng, due to his lack of diligence, only had a superficial understanding of many areas of knowledge.

  When facing a much stronger opponent, Xia Meng was overwhelmed with admiration. Zhang Li particularly appreciated Xia Meng's lively and cheerful personality, her youthful and vibrant energy, doing things quickly and efficiently, never dragging her feet, clever and agile but also a bit reckless, similar to his own mother, haha, but she is much more beautiful than his mom, no wonder his mom likes Xia Meng so much, often asking him about Xia Meng's situation at home.

  Xia Meng definitely couldn't have imagined that the person she feared most would be especially fond of her.

  Seeing Xia Meng and Zhang Li sticking together, especially seeing Xia Meng's eyes filled with admiration and fondness for Zhang Li, made Li Han feel increasingly anxious.

  Zhang Li is indeed outstanding, handsome and elegant in appearance, profound in knowledge, gentle and considerate, with a majestic demeanor. Wherever he goes, as long as he opens his mouth, he can attract the attention of everyone around him. Xia Meng's liking for Zhang Li is so natural and logical. Li Han is jealous of Zhang Li, and he has to admit that Zhang Li is excellent.

  It's Saturday again, the day we agreed to have a supplementary lesson, but Xia Mengxiang didn't show up.

  Li Han sent a text message to Xia Meng, and Xia Meng replied that the math teacher was tutoring her, Zhang Li, and other top students in their grade for the national high school math competition's preliminary round, and she would find another time to tutor him later.

  Seeing the message, Li Han felt particularly uncomfortable. He drew his sword and took the initiative to attack, he couldn't just sit and wait for death!

  Li Han found the math teacher and asked to sign up for the national high school math competition, and solemnly promised that he would work hard to learn math afterwards, guaranteeing that his mid-term exam scores would be among the top three in the class.

  The math teacher was delighted that a student who had just barely passed the math exam for junior high school had the courage to sign up for the joint tournament, and readily agreed to Li Han's request. However, the list of students for extracurricular study for the joint tournament had already been finalized, so he couldn't attend classes. Li Han said he would review on his own, which didn't bother him.

  At the end of September, the results of the national mathematics competition city preliminary were released. To everyone's surprise, Li Han was listed on the final list. Li Han still had that innocent expression: "Haha, I'm lucky!"

  Actually, Xia Meng and the math teacher also think so, but Zhang Li doesn't: his deskmate Li Han is a hidden mastermind! Not just a pretty face as outsiders see him!

  Zhang Li's judgment is correct! Li Han's IQ is over 145. When he was in the first grade of elementary school, he found that he could complete all the math courses within the fourth grade of elementary school. All his mathematical knowledge was self-taught, so he devoured many math books and other subject books.

  Li Han's grandmother was a high school math teacher, and after discovering his talent, she began guiding him in learning high school math from the third grade of elementary school. Unfortunately, his grandmother passed away when he was in sixth grade.

  He not only self-studied mathematics, but also began to self-study philosophy, art, and humanities. He bought a large number of books and devoted himself to the ocean of knowledge, forgetting to sleep and eat. In fact, he had always invested a lot of time and energy in deeply studying two other mysterious subjects.

  He didn't want to be a prodigy, this world wasn't short of prodigies, but Xia Meng was one-of-a-kind for him, his life couldn't leave her behind, he had to slow down his pace, so that he could walk side by side with her.

  The results of the municipal mathematics competition have been released, and Zhang Li, Li Han, and Xia Meng have entered the national mathematics competition.

  Li Han's nomination was like a bombshell dropped into the calm lake, shocking the entire school, including the math teacher and Xia Meng, who couldn't believe it! Was this really Li Han, who had grown up with them and followed them around every day?

  Xia Meng is a bit dazed!

  In mid-October, Zhang Li, Li Han, Xia Meng and other schoolmates represented A City to participate in the National High School Mathematics Joint Competition in X City.

  The topic was a bit difficult, Xia Meng struggled all the way, but Zhang Li and Li Han came out of the examination room with a smile, looking relaxed.

  In mid-November, the results were announced, and to everyone's surprise, Li Han and Zhang Li, who had never received math training before, ranked second in the city. Summer Meng was left with nothing. The math teacher excitedly informed them that both Li Han and Zhang Li had qualified for the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) to be held in January, but both of them expressed their intention not to participate in the CMO.

  The mid-term exam was held as scheduled, and the results were released. What surprised everyone was that Li Han's total score ranked second in the grade! Only 1 point less than Zhang Li, who ranked first in the grade.

  Li Han's performance thoroughly shocked everyone, including Xia Meng. She was at a loss for what to think, wondering how Li Han had done it.

  Li Han still had the same old expression, a naive and bewildered look accompanied by a silly smile.

  Li Han became a celebrity in school, an undisputed celebrity, not only because of his tall and handsome appearance, his dominance on the basketball court, but also because of his exceptional academic performance! Li Han became the math teacher's favorite.

  The math teacher can't wait to show him off as her student; chemistry and biology teachers also invite him to participate in national competition training. Wherever Li Hang goes, there are countless eyes staring at him, making him a legendary figure, including Xia Meng's eyes.

  But Xia Meng stared at Li Han's eyes, full of doubt, incomprehension, and astonishment! Li Han, what kind of person are you?!