A fat man who was reborn from the dead? He transforms into a perfect male god in a week.

……

After dinner.

The classroom of Class 4, Grade 12 was bustling with activity, as students gathered in twos and threes to discuss the monthly exam questions.

Jiang Chen had just stepped through the main entrance when a figure in overalls darted in front of him.

"Hey, isn't this the Jiangda bottom-ranked student who always comes in second to last in every exam?"

Xu Yunzhou twirled the basketball in his hand, a grin spreading across his face. "The monthly exams are over, and you still dare to walk into the classroom so openly? You have pretty good mental fortitude, huh?"

Jiang Chen didn't even bother to lift his eyelids and turned to walk around.

"Hey, don't go!"

Xu Yunzhou stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "How did you do on the monthly exam? You're at the bottom of Jiang University!"

"I heard you handed in your papers half an hour early for all four exams. You wouldn't happen to be...?"

"Can't even solve a single problem, might as well just give up?"

Huh? Something interesting is about to happen?

The surroundings fell silent instantly, and dozens of eyes turned to look at them.

Jiang Chen stopped and finally looked Xu Yunzhou in the eye: "Get out of the way."

"No way!" Xu Yunzhou puffed out his chest, his voice rising eight octaves. "Since everyone in the class is here, I have an announcement to make: I performed exceptionally well in this monthly exam! My conservative estimate is over 550 points! I'm definitely in the top ten of the class!"

"Whoa!!"

A collective gasp filled the air.

"What? 550 points? Xu Yunzhou is that good?"

"Didn't he usually score around 480 points, barely enough to rank in the top twenty of the class?"

"If he really scores over 550, he'll definitely be in the top ten of the class, while Jiang Chen is doomed..."

"Is Jiang Chen definitely going to lose the bet on this month's exam results?"

Hearing the discussion, Xu Yunzhou raised his chin even higher.

"Jiang, you're at the bottom of the pack, did you hear me? It's not too late for you to admit defeat!"

"Otherwise, when the results come out in a couple of days, you'll not only have to sing 'Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf' ten times in front of the whole class, but you'll also have to crawl around the classroom three times and bark like a dog. Then everyone will laugh their heads off!"

Jiang Chen suddenly smiled.

It wasn't a sneer.

It's the kind of laughter that's genuinely funny.

His eyes curved upwards, and his bald head reflected the light.

"550 points?" he repeated, his tone utterly flat. "The monthly exam was so easy, yet you only managed this low score. And you dare bark at me like a dog? I really don't know where you get the courage!"

"You...!" Xu Yunzhou's face darkened.

"Don't even mention 550 points!"

Jiang Chen shook his head, looking utterly disdainful.

Even if you score 600 points and get into the top three in the class, you're still no match for me!

He took a step closer and lowered his voice, but just loud enough for those around him to hear:

"Little chick, remember how arrogant you are now!"

"I hope you can still smile when the results come out in a couple of days!"

After saying that, he reached out and pushed Xu Yunzhou's shoulder aside. The movement was as light as brushing aside a leaf, but Xu Yunzhou staggered back several steps as if he had been hit hard.

Jiang Chen walked straight to his seat.

All that could be heard from behind was Xu Yunzhou's furious voice.

"Keep pretending! Keep pretending!"

"I bet you're a total academic failure who's always been at the bottom of your class in exams, how long can you keep up this act?!"

"Brother Chen! Brother Chen!"

At this moment, Hao Yingjun poked his head out from behind the pile of books like a startled groundhog.

"Aren't you in a hurry? What if Xu Yunzhou really gets 550 points..."

"Don't worry, he won't pass the exam!"

Jiang Chen pulled out a chair and sat down, then pulled out a physics competition problem set from his bag.

He had just borrowed it from the school library that afternoon.

Since we've already finished all the regular study guides, we can only work on competition books now.

"But what if?"

Hao Yingjun's chubby face scrunched up in a frown.

"Even if he doesn't get 550, he'll surely get 520 or 530, right? That'll still crush you in no time..."

"Old Hao!" Jiang Chen interrupted him without looking up, "Do you know what 'dimensional reduction attack' means?"

"what?"

"that is……"

Jiang Chen turned a page of his book. "While you're still worried about whether you can get 550 points, I'm already considering whether I should control my scores in the future, so as not to scare the examiners!"

Hao Yingjun: "???"

Tang Ruoxi turned around at the table in front of her.

She didn't speak, but simply extended her slender finger and lightly touched Jiang Chen's physics competition problem set. That page contained advanced questions on the basics of relativity, which were never tested in high school.

Jiang Chen looked up.

The two stared at each other for three seconds.

Tang Ruoxi suddenly smiled, the small beauty mark at the corner of her eye twitching slightly: "You know how to do this question?"

"Just finished watching!"

Jiang Chen shrugged. "Actually, the solution using the Lorentz transformation is simpler, but the reference answer uses differential geometry, which is too verbose!"

Hao Yingjun listened with his eyes wide open.

"Wait... what language are you speaking? Is my Chinese bad?"

Tang Ruoxi ignored him, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Jiang Chen: "You can even solve competition problems?"

"So you should be able to answer all the questions on this month's exam, so you can easily beat Xu Yunzhou?"

"More or less!"

Jiang Chen was unusually a little embarrassed, "It's just that writing a Chinese composition is a bit tricky. If I write too deeply, I'm afraid the teacher won't understand; if I write too simply, I feel like I'm doing a disservice to the topic!"

"puff!!!"

Tang Ruoxi laughed out loud, then quickly covered her mouth, her ear tips turning slightly red.

Hao Yingjun looked at this one, then at that one, and suddenly realized: "Class monitor, aren't you worried about Chen Ge at all? Do you perhaps know how many points Chen Ge will get on this monthly exam?"

Tang Ruoxi suppressed her smile, but the amusement in her eyes was unmistakable: "I don't know how many points he can get!"

"but……"

She paused, then lowered her voice.

"I saw his draft essays on paper the other day... the level was so high, he could win the New Concept Writing Competition. His Chinese language skills are already on par with mine!"

She turned to look at Jiang Chen, her eyes filled with an indescribable emotion: "So others think he's just putting on an act by studying like a madman, but I know... he's genuinely studying hard, and his abilities in all six subjects are improving every day!"

Jiang Chen grinned slightly.

Indeed, a good childhood friend understands you best.

Everyone thought he was bound to lose the bet with Xu Yunzhou on his monthly exam results.

Only Tang Ruoxi always trusted him.

"The Great Tang Dynasty!"

He suddenly spoke up, "If... I mean, if I did better than you on the test this time, would you be angry?"

Tang Ruoxi was taken aback for a moment, then raised an eyebrow: "Are you serious?"

Jiang Chen nodded: "Of course!"

"Don't worry, I won't be angry!"

Tang Ruoxi shook her head, her ponytail brushing against her shoulder.

"On the contrary, if you actually surpass me, I'll be very happy, and... I'll even treat you to bubble tea for a week!"

"make a deal!"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

All the unspoken understanding was there.

But Hao Yingjun, who was standing next to him, was completely bewildered.

"Wait, what's going on with these two?"

"Aren't we discussing how many points Chen-ge will get on this monthly exam, and whether he can beat Xu Yunzhou?"

"How did our conversation turn into talking about Chen-ge's monthly exam scores? Will he be able to surpass the class monitor, the top student?"

……

Two days later, on Friday.

"Ring ring!"

The bell had just rung for the first class in the morning.

The atmosphere in Class 4 of Senior Three became extremely strange.

Everyone stood ramrod straight, their eyes all fixed on the doorway, like a group of gamblers waiting for the lottery results.

"Here it comes!"

Someone let out a soft cry.

Then, the homeroom teacher, Pan Zhenhua, stormed into the classroom carrying a brown paper file folder.

"Whoosh!!"

All fifty heads in the class turned to the podium at the same time.

Pan Zhenhua placed the file folder on the lectern, and without saying a word, scanned the entire room.

His gaze, like a searchlight, finally locked firmly onto Jiang Chen's face.

Stopped.

Five seconds, ten seconds, twenty seconds...

Just as everyone's necks were starting to go numb, Pan Zhenhua finally spoke:

"The results for this month's exam are out!"

"Some students in the class have made rapid progress and achieved excellent results, which deserves praise!"

"But some students did very poorly on the test. The total score for the six subjects is 750 points, and you couldn't even get 300 points combined. I really don't know what you were doing in class all day? What was on your minds?"

"Even if you stomped on the test paper, you still wouldn't have failed to get a score of 300, would you?"

Everyone: "..."

This is a typical speech given by the homeroom teacher before the results of each exam are released.

I'm already used to it, so I just skip it.

A full five minutes passed.

Pan Zhenhua pulled out the report card and adjusted his glasses.

"Now we'll announce the class rankings for this monthly exam, starting with the last place!"

Swish!

The classroom was instantly filled with the sound of people swallowing hard.

"Fiftieth place, Hao Yingjun!"

"Chinese 72, Math 62, English 56, Science 99, Total 289!"

Pan Zhenhua looked up at Hao Yingjun.

The latter shrank his neck, but his expression was very calm. He was used to it, really used to it.

"Hao Yingjun!"

Pan Zhenhua said sternly, "Your combined score in math, physics, and chemistry didn't even exceed 100 points. Did you do the problems with your toes?"

Some people below were trying not to laugh.

Hao Yingjun muttered softly, "Teacher, my toes aren't that flexible..."

"Come to my office after school at noon!"

Pan Zhenhua glared at him and continued reading, "Forty-ninth place, Zhang Tieniu, Chinese 68, Math 55, English 60, Science 120, Total 303!"

"Hmm?" someone asked.

As is customary.

Shouldn't Jiang Chen be the second to last in every exam?

Why not this time?

Pan Zhenhua continued without pausing: "Forty-eighth place, Wang Anquan..."

"Forty-seventh place, Yang Lei..."

"Forty-six..."

The names were read out one by one.

Xu Yunzhou was initially nonchalant, but he quickly sat up straight.

"We've already reached number 30!"

"Jiang Chen's name hasn't appeared yet? How is that possible?"

Xu Yunzhou frowned slightly.

Many classmates who love gossip started to stir, glancing incredulously in Jiang Chen's direction.

"Where's Jiang Chen's name? Why hasn't it been called yet?"

"Could it be that Jiang Chen has been reading so many books lately, and he's actually learned something?"

"So that's why he did well in this monthly exam, his ranking improved significantly, and he might even be able to surpass Xu Yunzhou?"