My IQ has been increasing year by year.

The dumpling restaurant wasn't big, but it was very clean.

Old Zhao specially requested a private room, closed the door, and shut out the noise from outside.

"Boss, give me eight pounds of dumplings, pork and scallion, seafood, and beef, all of them."

"And another tomato and egg soup, a big bowl, please."

After ordering the dishes, Lao Zhao didn't even dare to order any alcohol.

Drinking alcohol at this time will likely make these kids cry.

The dumplings were served.

Steaming hot, plump white dumplings are piled on the plate, looking quite appetizing.

But the atmosphere at the table was even more somber than it had been at the entrance to the examination hall.

No one touched their chopsticks.

Li Hao stared at the dumplings on the plate, tears streaming down his face.

It fell into the vinegar dish, creating a ripple.

He was really in pain.

He prepared for this competition for a whole year, doing countless practice problems, but in the end he was defeated by a rice cooker.

That feeling of powerlessness made him feel like he was a complete waste.

Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao, two girls, sat in the corner.

Nan Xiaoyun kept her head down, twisting the hem of her clothes in her hands, while Lin Xiao bit her lip.

"Eat."

Old Zhao sighed, picked up his chopsticks, and placed a dumpling in Wang Yang's bowl.

"No matter what, you have to eat; health is the foundation of everything."

Wang Yang looked at the dumpling, his Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't lift his hand.

"teacher……"

Wang Yang's voice was hoarse.

"I'm sorry to the school... I've practiced similar geometry problems before, but I just can't remember the answer..."

"I couldn't do it either."

Zhao Chen stopped joking and lay down on the table, burying his head in his arms.

"Oh no, when I get back this time, my mom is definitely going to smash my computer."

There were eight students at the table, and apart from Chen Zhuo, the other seven were wailing.

That feeling of despair spread like a plague in the small private room.

Old Zhao and Old Zhou exchanged a glance, their faces full of bitterness.

They wanted to offer comfort, but words seemed too pale in the face of the pressure of grades.

"Raise your heads, everyone."

A calm voice rang out.

Chen Zhuo was holding a vinegar bottle and preparing his dipping sauce.

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chill.

Everyone instinctively looked up at him.

Chen Zhuo put down the vinegar pot, picked up his chopsticks, took a dumpling, dipped it in vinegar, and put it in his mouth.

I chewed it twice and swallowed it.

"These dumplings are good; the wrappers are quite chewy."

He looked around at the group of dejected guys.

"Li Hao, have you calculated the energy coefficient of that rice cooker yet?"

Chen Zhuo suddenly asked.

Li Hao paused for a moment, then wiped away a tear.

"I've...I've done a rough calculation, but I don't know if the formula is correct..."

"The formula is Hooke's Law, F=kx. What's wrong with that?"

Chen Zhuo looked at him.

"Once you've written out this formula, you'll get two points for each step. Have you written it out yet?"

"Listed...listed."

"That's fine then."

Chen Zhuo then looked at Zhang Wei.

"And you? Did you write out the principle of atmospheric pressure for the water pump in the first question?"

"I wrote it, but my drawing isn't very good."

"The examiners don't look at the drawings, they look at the underlying principles. If you understand the principles correctly, you get five points."

Chen Zhuo put down his chopsticks.

"Why are you crying? Do you think you did badly on the test?"

"Let me tell you, I'm probably the only one in the entire province who can get a perfect score on this test."

Upon hearing this, Old Zhao nearly dropped his chopsticks.

This kid really dares to say that.

But Chen Zhuo remained calm and composed, his expression as certain as if he were stating a truth.

"The geometry question in the second math exam was designed for the national training team, and the rice cooker question in physics was for engineers."

"The question setter deliberately didn't want anyone to be able to answer it."

Chen Zhuo pointed to the hall outside.

"Go out and take a look at other schools. How many students are eating with smiles on their faces? They're probably all crying."

"Everyone's stuck in the mud, so no one should laugh at anyone else."

He looked at Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao.

"Especially you two, I looked at the fill-in-the-blank questions in the first test. Except for the last trick question, the rest were all standard questions. As long as you didn't write the plus sign as the minus sign, you got the basic points."

"In a test of this difficulty, getting the basic points is a victory."

"The cutoff score for the provincial first prize will definitely hit a new low this year."

"If you cry now, what if you find out you won an award when the scores come out? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?"

Nan Xiaoyun blinked, tears still clinging to her eyelashes.

"Really...really?"

"When have I ever lied to anyone?"

Chen Zhuo picked up his chopsticks again and placed a dumpling on Nan Xiaoyun's plate.

"Eat well, you'll have the energy to wait for your results."

"If you really don't do well on the test, I'll take the blame for you when we get back. Just say it's because I led the team astray."

"Is that enough?"

Although these words carried a hint of blind confidence, they possessed a strange kind of persuasiveness coming from Chen Zhuo's mouth.

They looked at each other.

It seems...that makes sense?

If no one knows the answer, then it's as if there was no test at all.

As long as I don't come in last place, I have hope.

"eat!"

Liu Kai wiped his face hard and picked up his chopsticks.

"The team leader's right, we'll die with a full stomach!"

He picked up a dumpling, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it with gritted teeth.

The others also started eating.

Although the atmosphere was still a bit somber, at least it was no longer the life-or-death situation it had been in before.

Old Zhao watched from the side and quietly gave Chen Zhuo a thumbs up.

This is Chen Zhuo.

If another teacher said this, the students might not believe it.

But Chen Zhuo said they believed it.