A band, or a battleground?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The early summer days are gradually passing by, and in the blink of an eye, the exciting midterm exams are here.

In the past, although Qi Yuan didn't do his homework, he still had to participate in these school-wide exams. However, he would just fill in the multiple-choice questions randomly and leave the rest of the questions blank, which resulted in him being one of the last few in his class.

This time, Qi Yuan certainly wouldn't do that.

The first subject was mathematics. He walked into the randomly assigned examination room, and as soon as he sat down, he heard a gasp of surprise from the person next to him.

Turning my head, I saw a slightly chubby boy wearing glasses.

Qi Yuan asked in a low voice, "Do you know me?"

The boy subconsciously shook his head, but after a second of hesitation, he nodded vigorously.

Qi Yuan laughed: "What do you mean?"

The slightly chubby boy hurriedly explained, "I...I know you, Brother Yuan, but you definitely don't know me. I don't know either, does this count as knowing each other...?"

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "Don't be so nervous, I'm not going to eat you."

However, the slightly chubby boy didn't relax. Clutching his pencil case with his plump hands, he hesitated for a long time before whispering, "Brother Yuan, you can copy if you want, but I can't help you cheat any further..."

Qi Yuan was both amused and exasperated: "I didn't ask you to cheat, don't overthink it."

The slightly chubby guy still couldn't quite believe it. Clearly, in his mind, how could the school bully not force the nerdy guy next to him to help him cheat?

Qi Yuan couldn't possibly admit that he was a homebody at heart, so he put on a disdainful expression: "I got to the bottom of the rankings through my own ability. I never do anything sneaky. Cheating? Pshaw."

The slightly chubby boy was stunned for a moment before he relaxed a little.

At this moment, the proctor entered carrying the exam papers, and the loudspeaker in the classroom began playing a school-wide announcement:

"Attention students. The exam is about to begin. Invigilators, please distribute the exam papers and answer sheets. After receiving the exam paper, please do not rush to answer the questions. Be sure to accurately fill in your name, class, and exam number in the designated places, and check that the exam paper has all the required pages and that the printing is clear..."

As the announcement was made, the proctor distributed the exam papers.

Qi Yuan took a look at the test paper and grinned.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

024 The truly magical part is yet to come.

Mathematics has always been the subject that gives Fu Hanwen the most headaches.

Scratching his head and biting his pen, he struggled for a long time before finally finishing the first half of the exam. Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he turned the page and gasped again.

Why do I have trouble understanding the first big question?

Fu Hanwen sighed, subconsciously glanced at her, and immediately held his breath.

Before our eyes, Qi Yuan, the undisputed school bully from Class 7, was writing with lightning speed! Moreover, a quick glance revealed that he wasn't just randomly filling in multiple-choice questions, but was actually working on the more challenging ones!

How is this possible?

Wait, could it be that they wrote something insulting about the teacher on the exam paper?

Fu Hanwen glanced at it again.

Something's wrong, absolutely wrong! Qi Yuan isn't writing Chinese characters, he's writing formula symbols!

Just then, the proctor's stomach blocked Fu Hanwen's view. He subconsciously looked up and met the proctor's eyes.

Fu Hanwen shivered.

The proctor pointed at Qi Yuan and asked Fu Hanwen, "Did you copy his?"

Fu Hanwen quickly shook his head.

The proctor said coldly, "Then write your own."

Fu Hanwen quickly lowered his head, staring at his exam paper. But with the proctor beside him, he felt increasingly nervous, and the questions seemed even more incomprehensible…

At this moment, the proctor's attention was not on Fu Hanwen at all, but was staring straight at Qi Yuan.

The teacher was puzzled.

He had not only heard of Qi Yuan's reputation, but he had even proctored this troublesome boy's English exam last time. Back then, he had watched Qi Yuan carelessly fill in the answers and then fall asleep on the desk. When it was time to hand in the paper, he not only had to wake him up, but also find tissues to wipe the drool off the boy's exam paper.

But what's going on now?

After staring at him for several minutes and ruling out all possibilities of cheating, the teacher had to admit that Qi Yuan was indeed doing the questions, and doing them quite well.

Suddenly, Qi Yuan finished the third-to-last solid geometry problem, checked it to be correct, looked up, and made eye contact with the proctor.

The proctor's eyes were full of doubt.

Qi Yuan's eyes showed only calmness, not panic or boasting, as if he were doing something very ordinary.

Unable to find any fault, the proctor shook his head, finally stepped away, and continued to patrol the other students.

Fu Hanwen's back was soaked with cold sweat. He still hadn't solved that difficult problem. Even more terrifying, Qi Yuan seemed to have solved it—what was happening to the world? Was he trapped in a nightmare, not yet awakened?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A week later, the midterm exam results came out.

Mr. Zhao, the homeroom teacher of Class 7, is a man in his thirties who teaches biology. He usually wears black-rimmed glasses and always appears calm and composed.

During today's class meeting, when Teacher Zhao walked onto the podium, she was actually shaking her head.

This made many students uneasy, especially those sitting in the front row—they were wondering what was wrong with Teacher Zhao? Could it be that everyone did poorly on the test?

Our school doesn't have strict standards like experimental classes or regular classes, but there are still subtle distinctions.

Of the nine classes in this grade, Class 7 consistently ranks in the middle to lower range, and even the best student in the class rarely makes it into the top fifty in the grade. Unlike Classes 1, 2, and 3, where the top fifty are everywhere. Moreover, students like Qi Yuan and Xie Jinpeng, who don't study at all, are placed in Classes 4 through 9.

At this point, everyone started to speculate: Could it be that they failed to stabilize their mid-to-lower-tier position and accidentally ended up at the bottom?

Ms. Zhao was holding a piece of paper in her hand; clearly, it was the class's report card. The midterm exams had just ended, and it happened to be class meeting time, so the homeroom teacher wouldn't be holding anything else.

"Ahem, this midterm exam..." Teacher Zhao's facial expression was a little strange, with twitching lips and twitching eyebrows.

This made the students even more uneasy, because none of them had ever seen their homeroom teacher like this before.

Finally, Teacher Zhao controlled her facial expression and did not continue speaking immediately. Instead, she picked up the chalk, turned around, and wrote four numbers on the blackboard.

42, 10, 373, 98.

The same expression appeared on the faces of all the students in the class: bewilderment.

Teacher Zhao put down the chalk, clapped her hands, and then said, "For this exam, I must praise one student. What's on the blackboard is his improvement. In our class of forty-two students, he went from last place to tenth. In the grade of three hundred and seventy-four students, he went from second to last to ninety-eighth, making it into the top one hundred."

At this point, many students have already guessed who it is, but they feel like they haven't guessed correctly.

How could such a thing be possible?

However, Teacher Zhao's next question was: "Qi Yuan, can you tell me how you did it?"

In an instant, the eyes of all forty-two people focused on the corner by the window in the last row.

Qi Yuan sat there, not even standing up, leaning steadily against the back of the chair.

He said calmly, "There's not much to say. I find fighting a bit boring, so I've been reading some books lately."

Teacher Zhao then asked, "Did you listen in class?"

Qi Yuan: "I barely listened."

Teacher Zhao gripped the lectern with both hands: "You didn't do your homework, you didn't listen in class, you just glanced at the book, and that's how you got this score?"

Qi Yuan crossed his arms: "Yes, and it should be this kind of result in the future, but there is a condition."

Teacher Zhao: "What premise?"

Qi Yuan smiled slightly: "Just leave me alone, as before. I still won't do my homework, and I might be late or leave early often. Of course, I won't cause trouble or disrupt class. But as long as you leave me alone, I'll basically maintain this level of academic performance from now on."

Teacher Zhao asked, "If we discipline you, will things return to normal?"

Qi Yuan nodded.

Teacher Zhao gripped the lectern tighter. He felt as if the world was somehow surreal.

If it weren't for the repeated assurances from the proctors, Teacher Zhao would definitely have thought that Qi Yuan had cheated. But thinking about it carefully, what would he gain from cheating?

The treatment of good students? The freedom of bad students? No, he doesn't want the treatment of good students, but he already has the freedom of bad students!

Of course, the teachers at this point could never have imagined that this was just the beginning.

“Okay, but only for you,” Teacher Zhao glanced around, “The rest of you, those not in the last row, listen up, Qi Yuan is an exception, don’t follow his example…”

At this moment, Xie Jinpeng, who was sitting next to Qi Yuan, couldn't contain himself and lowered his voice, but his tone was unusually excited: "No, Brother Yuan, you were really cool just now!"

Qi Yuan: "Really?"

Xie Jinpeng: "Holy crap, that's so cool! Look at Lao Zhao, you've got him wrapped around like a grandson..."

Qi Yuan: "Keep your voice down, give the teacher some face."

Xie Jinpeng: "Yes, yes, Brother Yuan!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

025 You are all geniuses

That evening, when Ning Qianyu drove her electric tricycle to the small square, she noticed that the atmosphere of the band was a bit strange.

Qiu Mengxue was playing the guitar, while Qi Yuan stood beside her listening, occasionally offering a suggestion or two.

Jiang Yi stood to the side, holding her bass guitar, head down and silent.

If Ning Qianyu weren't so familiar with her friends, she would definitely have assumed that Jiang Yi was being bullied. But precisely because she was familiar with them, Ning Qianyu knew very well that while it was possible for Jiang Yi to be bullied, it was highly unlikely that the bullies were Qiu Mengxue and Qi Yuan.

At this moment, the square dancing session was not yet over. The middle-aged women, lined up in neat rows, were performing synchronized movements to a popular, upbeat song. The three members of the band stood at the edge of the small square, waiting for the dancers to finish.

Ning Qianyu parked her tricycle and strode over to her lone companion, asking, "Yiyi, what's wrong?"

Jiang Yi raised her head, her small face filled with melancholy.

Ning Qianyu teased, "What's wrong? Do you look like an alien is going to abduct you?"

Jiang Yi bit her lower lip: "More terrifying than aliens."

Ning Qianyu: "?"

Jiang Yi pointed and said, "His grades were better than mine in this midterm exam!"

"Mengxue's grades are better than yours? Isn't that normal..." Ning Qianyu glanced in the direction Jiang Yi was pointing, then suddenly realized, "You mean, Qi Yuan did better than you this time?!"

Jiang Yi nodded with difficulty: "Yes, I am eleventh in the class, and he is tenth, just ahead of me!"

Ning Qianyu stroked her chin: "Your class is tenth, so that's probably one hundredth in the grade?"

Jiang Yi: "...Ninety-eight."

Ning Qianyu breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, they're still a bit far from me."

"I'm now the worst performer in the band!" Jiang Yi covered her face with her hands. "How did he manage to do this when he doesn't study at all?!"

Ning Qianyu laughed and said, "So what? I'm not going to learn it."

Jiang Yi parted her fingers slightly, revealing her right eye as she glared at her: "I hate you."

Ning Qianyu patted her good friend on the shoulder with a smile: "Don't be so fussy. Think about it this way: there are over four hundred people in the whole grade, and you're considered to have done well, aren't you? Besides, your usual performance and exam results, well, you can't say they're completely unrelated, but they're definitely not the only influencing factor. Moreover, I think the most unfair thing about Qi Yuan isn't his grades at all."

Jiang Yi: "Then tell me, what's the most unfair thing?"

Ning Qianyu's smile faded, and she said seriously, "He can't even read sheet music for 'Those Flowers' and 'Blue Lotus,' yet he was able to write two songs like these. So you see, the world is inherently unfair. Some people are geniuses, and some aren't. Everyone is given different talents, and we must recognize this as soon as possible."

Jiang Yi murmured, "Everyone's talents are different..."

Ning Qianyu nodded: "That's right, the direction is different, and the weight is different too. To be honest, some people are born with a fortune, is that fair? You can just treat your talent as another kind of savings account. In the end, we can only compare ourselves to ourselves. As long as we do better than our past selves or achieve our goals, that is success. There is no need to compare ourselves to others."

Jiang Yi asked instinctively, "Is that what you always think?"

However, Ning Qianyu laughed again: "I'm different. I compare myself to others. Qi Yuan doesn't do his homework, and I don't do it much either, but I'm almost in the top ten of the grade. I can find a sense of superiority by comparing myself to others, so why not?"

"……Wow!"

Jiang Yi cried even harder.

Ning Qianyu patted her shoulder again, but Jiang Yi turned away and ignored her.

So the petite, short-haired girl shrugged, walked up to Qi Yuan and Qiu Mengxue, and quickly understood what the two of them were doing.