Chapter 17: Such a Simple Problem, Why Would I Copy?
“It seems Zhang Chen studied very late last night.”
Teacher Jia was a middle-aged, somewhat stout man, and also the homeroom teacher of the neighboring key class.
He had a mole between his eyebrows, and when he spoke, he gave people a lively, animated feeling.
During class, his voice was booming. If he saw a student dozing off, he would deliberately startle them, or suddenly fall silent, looking at the student with a hint of playfulness in his eyes. He was a teacher full of wit, unique charm, and charisma.
However, regarding Zhang Chen, he had actually long since adopted a hands-off approach, only occasionally intervening.
It was only this time because after he graded today's homework, he found that Zhang Chen had not only submitted it but also completed it very well.
The two assignments were filled with problem-solving steps and handwriting; it was clear he had taken them seriously.
Before, he had basically never even seen Zhang Chen's homework!
So, when he saw Zhang Chen dozing off while discussing the homework, he suddenly brought it up.
“Come, stand up, perk up. How did you do problem number 9?” Jia Wei did not criticize Zhang Chen but smiled and asked him to answer a question.
“Hmm…” Zhang Chen frowned, slowly stood up, and scratched his hair.
Duan Chenxu, beside him, was almost splitting his sides with laughter. He covered his face with a book, not forgetting to whisper, “Chen Ge? Do you even know what page it’s on?”
He was just like Zhang Chen's former high school deskmate; Zhang Chen couldn't even be bothered to respond to him.
He quickly flipped through the homework exercise book.
“You haven't even opened your book yet?” Teacher Jia said with an exaggerated expression.
This remark made the students in the class burst into laughter again.
Zhang Chen could only give an awkward laugh. He saw problem number nine in the book, which was just a derivative problem asking for monotonicity and finding the critical points.
Typically, by the second semester of senior high, teachers are already teaching content for the third year, and this place was no exception.
And currently, the large unit on derivatives that Teacher Jia was teaching was a headache for any student who hadn't solidly grasped functions before.
A seemingly simple problem on the homework could take an entire evening study session.
The key was, in the end, they might not even be able to solve it!
Finally, not only would they not have done homework for other subjects, but they would have also wasted an entire class!
Moreover, the derivative unit is a pain point for difficult questions in the college entrance exam. There is usually a big question on derivatives in the exam, and it typically has 3 parts!
Zhang Chen glanced at the problem and then blurted out, “Take the derivative.”
“……”
Jia Wei: “I know to take the derivative. I'm asking about your problem-solving approach.”
Zhang Chen frowned again and looked at the problem. Such a simple problem, he could solve it with mental math; did it really need an approach?
Then he saw the notes he had written next to the problem, which Nan Xingwan had made him write down last night.
Good thing he had those.
Zhang Chen then read aloud, “The derivative of fx is greater than 0, so it is monotonically increasing, a monotonic increasing function, so only… choose A.”
Whoosh—
As he smoothly answered, Duan Chenxu's eyes widened, and the students in the class immediately burst into cheers and applause…
What? They're even applauding? Are they treating me like an idiot?
Zhang Chen's tightly furrowed brows were full of confusion. How was this different from treating him like a fool?
Teacher Jia nodded with satisfaction when he saw this: “Hmm, very good. Zhang Chen's homework yesterday was exceptionally well-done, full of notes. It seems he really took it seriously.”
As he spoke, Jia Wei walked over to Zhang Chen, took Zhang Chen's book, and showed it to the students in the class.
“Wow—”
Zhang Chen: “……”
“So sometimes, even you high-achieving students should learn from those who are a bit weaker. Their attitude towards learning…”
While praising him, Jia Wei walked around the classroom with the book, making sure Zhang Chen got the full spotlight.
It was as if completing his homework seriously this one time was like winning a major award, though the rarity was pretty much the same…
However, after one round, the wind caused the book to flip pages, and the students saw that apart from the two pages of yesterday's homework, all other pages were blank…
Suddenly, some students couldn't hold back their laughter.
“Teacher, why are all the pages before this blank?”
“Yeah, why didn't he write anything on the previous pages?”
“Didn't he write on the previous pages?” Teacher Jia was puzzled. He turned the book towards himself, flipped forward, and sure enough, all the pages were blank…
Immediately, Teacher Jia narrowed his eyes and glanced at Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen instantly looked away, thinking, 'Don't look at me, it's not my problem, it's the original owner who didn't write…'
At this moment, Su Yu, sitting in the front row, raised a question: “Did he write it himself?”
She thought Zhang Chen might have had Bai Xiruo do his homework for him. Otherwise, with Zhang Chen's grades, how could he suddenly, out of the blue, do his homework and complete it so well?
Hearing Su Yu take the lead, other students also joined in the teasing.
“Chen Ge, did someone help you copy it?”
“You know in your heart whether you wrote it yourself or not. It's okay to fool your buddies, but don't fool yourself.”
Individually, they might not have dared to tease Zhang Chen much, but because it was Su Yu's playful remark, the situation was different.
Teacher Jia walked up to Zhang Chen, returned the book to him, and asked with a raised eyebrow, “Did you really write it yourself?”
As soon as this was said, the students in the class held back their laughter, watching the show.
They all believed that Zhang Chen could not have written it himself; this homework was, in all likelihood, fake.
But facing the students' mockery and Teacher Jia's question, Zhang Chen pouted and replied calmly:
“Of course I wrote it. Why would I copy such a simple problem?”
The students, who had been waiting to see how Zhang Chen would respond, were instantly choked by Zhang Chen's inexplicably arrogant remark.
The classroom instantly fell silent, as if petrified…
After 3 seconds, everyone came to their senses, realizing what Zhang Chen had just said!
The whole class immediately stirred…
Teacher Jia, as a teacher, was also a bit slow to react, but he didn't lose his composure like the students. He gestured for the classroom to quiet down.
Then he looked at Zhang Chen with interest, his mouth moving up and down, wanting to speak but hesitating…
He was even starting to doubt himself; even the top student in his class wouldn't be so arrogant.
Immediately, as a teacher, he waved his hand, signaling Zhang Chen to come forward: “Then you go up there and prove it to us!”
Zhang Chen shrugged: “How do I prove it?”
“Just go up first.”
Zhang Chen obediently walked out of his seat and went to the podium under everyone's gaze.
He had often spoken in front of the whole school's teachers and students before, so he didn't feel nervous.
Seeing him walk onto the stage, Jia Wei then said to the whole class:
“Do the last problem on the second page. This problem is a real college entrance exam question from last year, and it's a bit difficult. Yesterday I told you that you could do it or not.”
Saying this, Jia Wei turned around to look at Zhang Chen: “I also checked, and only a few students in the class did it.”
“But Zhang Chen did it, and he got it right. Now I'm going to have Zhang Chen take my new book and redo it on the spot to see if he can do it.”
“If he can do it, then you must understand not to judge a book by its cover. When a scholar has been away for three days, one should look at him with new eyes!”
……
……