Sold into a ghost marriage? Four-year-old and his thuggish father go on a killing spree.

"Quiet! Quiet!"

In the classroom of Class 1, Grade 2, the young female teacher held a stack of mimeographed test papers that smelled of ink and slapped the podium hard.

"The midterm exam results are out!"

One sentence silenced the once noisy classroom instantly.

All the children held their breath, craned their necks, and nervously stared at the stack of test papers in the teacher's hand.

In those days, exam scores were everything to students.

It determines whether you receive praise from your teacher, rewards from your parents, and envy from your classmates.

The only standard.

"Some students in our class did exceptionally well on this exam, and they deserve praise!"

The teacher's gaze swept across the classroom, a smile of approval on her face.

"Some students have very poor grades and need to reflect on their performance!"

Zhao Xiaohu's heart sank.

He instinctively shrank his neck, wishing he could bury his head under the desk.

He knew the teacher was talking about him.

"Now, I will read out the grades."

"Zhou Xiaomei, Chinese 85, Math 88, total score 173, fifth in the class!"

Zhou Xiaomei exclaimed "Yay!" happily, her cheeks flushed, and she proudly puffed out her little chest.

"Zhao Xiaohu..."

When the teacher read the name, he paused noticeably and frowned.

"52 in Chinese, 45 in Math, 97 in total... the lowest score in the class."

"boom--"

The whole class burst into suppressed laughter.

Zhao Xiaohu's face instantly turned a deep liver color.

He glared fiercely at the students around him, his eyes seeming as if he wanted to devour them alive.

The teacher cleared his throat and continued reading:

"Now, I'd like to announce the top student in our class for this exam."

Her voice carried an undisguised excitement and amazement.

"Gu Niannian!"

"Chinese language score: 96!"

"Mathematics, 100 points!"

"Total score: 196! First in the class! And first in the entire second grade, and the whole grade!"

"Wow--"

This time, the whole class erupted in a unified, heartfelt exclamation!

All eyes were focused on the small, thin figure in the last corner of the row.

196 points!

What kind of concept is this?

Especially in math, he got a perfect score!

This was something that had never happened before in the commune primary school!

Gu Niannian stood up from her seat, walked to the front of the classroom, and took her test paper from the teacher.

Her face didn't show much expression.

There was neither pride nor excitement.

It was as if all of this was perfectly natural.

Only she knows how much effort she put into preparing for this exam.

Every evening, when her father returned from the farm machinery station, she would already be hunched over the table, having finished previewing the next day's textbooks.

She had turned the pages of that Xinhua Dictionary so many times that the edges were frayed.

She took first place without a care in the world.

The news, as if it had grown wings, quickly flew out of Class 1, Grade 2, spread throughout the entire commune's primary school, and then flew back to Chengjiawan.

The entire brigade was in an uproar!

"Have you heard? Yanqiu's daughter, Niannian, got first place in the whole grade!"

"What? First place? Really? That girl is only five and a half years old!"

"Really! He got a perfect score of 100 in math! Even Principal Wang from the commune was alarmed!"

Those mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law who used to call Gu Niannian a "jinx" and "a cursed woman" under the old locust tree now all seem to have changed their tune.

"I knew it! That kid's been clever since he was little, his eyes are like they can talk, he's definitely a genius descended from heaven!"

"Absolutely! Yanqiu must have had some incredible luck!"

When Cheng Tiezhu heard the news, he was so happy he couldn't stop smiling.

He went to the commune specifically to get a copy of Gu Niannian's report card from Principal Wang.

Then, he took that thin piece of paper and showed it off all over the village.

He tells everyone he meets, "See that?! Our Chengjiawan has produced such a talented child! This five-and-a-half-year-old has already outdone all the seven- and eight-year-olds! What do you call that? That's what you call showing promise!"

His voice was loud and proud, as if Gu Niannian were his own granddaughter.

When Gu Yanchun and Sun Xiufen heard these words, they felt their faces burning as if they had been slapped countless times in public.

At home, Sun Xiufen was so angry that she smashed another of the dishes she had just washed.

"It's fake! It must be fake! How could that bastard be so smart! She must have copied it! Yes! She must have copied it!"

She kept repeating the same sentence over and over.

It was as if this could soothe her heart, which was twisted by jealousy.

This matter even alarmed the education officer in the commune.

The officer went to the school specifically to retrieve Gu Niannian's exam paper.

When he saw the math test paper with a perfect score, he was just as stunned as Principal Wang had been back then.

This test paper is not just about getting all the answers right.

What's even more surprising is Gu Niannian's way of answering questions.

The last and most difficult problem, which accounted for fifteen points, was the chicken-and-rabbit problem.

The standard answer given by the teacher is one solution.

Gu Niannian wrote three different solutions densely in the blank space of the test paper!

The first method is the assumption method taught in textbooks.

The second method was the listing method, which she saw in an old math book given to her by Chen Zhiyuan.

The third method is... setting up equations!

X + Y = 35

2X + 4Y = 94

Although she doesn't know how to solve a system of two linear equations yet, she has already written out the equation completely and clearly!

This...this is far beyond the scope of elementary school knowledge!

The education officer's hands were trembling as he held the test paper.

He looked at the math teacher beside him, a look of shock on his face, and asked, "This child's mathematical thinking... how did you teach it?"

The math teacher shook his head with a wry smile.

"We couldn't teach her like that. I've been teaching for twenty years and I've never seen a child like her. She... she was born that way!"

The news was relayed back to the county agricultural machinery station.

Upon hearing this, Station Chief Han immediately granted Gu Yanqiu a half-day leave.

"Go! Hurry up! Go pick up your daughter! This is such a joyous occasion, we must celebrate!"

Gu Yanqiu was so excited that he could barely speak. He rode his old bicycle at breakneck speed all the way to the entrance of the commune primary school.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the school term.

The children poured out of the school gate like a tide.

Gu Yanqiu craned his neck, anxiously searching through the crowd.

Soon, he saw that familiar little figure.

"Nian Nian!"

He shouted.

Gu Niannian ran out from the crowd, her little face covered in sweat, holding high the report card with "100" and "96" written on it, smiling like a sunflower blooming in the sun.

"Dad! First place!"

Gu Yanqiu picked up his daughter, lifted her high above his head, and happily spun her around twice.

"Well done! My daughter is amazing!"

Under the sunlight, the laughter of the father and daughter was crisp and loud, even more radiant than the wildflowers blooming in the fields.

Not far away, Aunt Wang watched this scene, quietly raised her sleeve, and wiped the corner of her eye.

"Oh, this child, how much hardship and suffering he has endured to get to where he is today..."

The halo of being number one made Gu Niannian a "star student" and "someone else's child" throughout the entire commune.

However, the big tree attracts the wind.

The dazzling light, while illuminating the way forward, will always sting the eyes of some hiding in the shadows.

Some people were very dissatisfied with her first place.

What other ways will this "someone" use to vent his incompetent and vicious jealousy?