Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Perfect Score on the In-Class Test
In less than a day, Summer Beckett successfully transferred into Class 7 of the third-year students.
He frowned when he saw Chloe Sinclair was still in the back row. "Why are you still sitting here?"
"It’s easier to slack off," Chloe Sinclair joked.
Mr. Stern had wanted her to move to the front, but she refused.
The back row was spacious, and she was more comfortable sitting alone. When she was studying with the System, she could pile her books high on the desk to hide her head, which helped her avoid suspicion.
This time, however, Summer Beckett’s seat was quite far from hers. He was right in the front row, making him a prime target for the teachers’ attention.
The moment class began, Chloe Sinclair would bury her head in her work, grinding through practice problems. In less than three days, she had completed every math exercise book on her desk with an extremely low error rate.
She took all the completed workbooks home, and during class, she would find problems to solve on the official math competition website.
As a result, every time Mr. Stern came by to check on the class, he would see Chloe Sinclair hunched over at the back, seemingly scrolling on her phone. Her desk was piled high with textbooks, like a small mountain, with just the top of her dark little head peeking out.
Whenever the subject teachers mentioned Chloe Sinclair, they would invariably shake their heads in disappointment.
But during a routine quiz, Kyle Stern was left stunned.
Pop quizzes were a weekly occurrence, and Class 7 was no exception.
This week’s Physics pop quiz was one Mr. Stern had written himself. It was quite difficult, and a lot of students failed, but he patiently continued grading the papers.
"Huh?"
In the teachers’ office, Mr. Stern thought he was seeing things. He turned the test paper in his hands over and over, examining it several times.
The math teacher across from him, who was sipping tea, had no idea what Mr. Stern was doing and asked, puzzled, "Mr. Stern, is something wrong?"
Kyle Stern said excitedly, "A student in my Class 7 got a perfect score on the pop quiz!"
"That’s impressive. Who was it?"
The math teacher wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, pop quizzes were usually easy, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for a student to get a perfect score.
Mr. Stern, however, clearly wasn’t about to explain. But when he saw the flamboyant, scrawling name on the test paper, his expression became a mixture of emotions. "Chloe... Chloe Sinclair?"
"’Just Chloe Sinclair, nothing special...’" the math teacher mumbled, not yet processing the name. He took a sip of water, but then it clicked. He was so shocked he nearly spat the water out. "You said Chloe Sinclair? That’s impossible!"
Chloe Sinclair had become rather famous among the third-year faculty lately.
The girl was gentle and seemed frail, never saying a word even when she was bullied. Then, out of nowhere, she’d had an outburst, not only learning to report others but also successfully transferring classes.
She was practically a legend at their high school.
’But for this girl, who’s always been ranked dead last, to get a perfect score in Physics?’
The math teacher found it utterly unbelievable.
"It’s really her," Mr. Stern insisted. "I wrote the test myself. Many of the problem types aren’t in any textbook, and the answer key couldn’t have been leaked, because half of her solution methods are different from mine."
Hearing this, the math teacher immediately perked up.
He took Chloe Sinclair’s paper and studied it carefully for a long while before nodding in agreement. "These solution methods are certainly novel. I didn’t expect the girl to show so much progress so soon after transferring to Class 7. Mr. Stern, you should cultivate her talent. Maybe your class will produce a student who gets into a top-tier university."
Mr. Stern clearly thought the same. He was beaming as he looked at the test, but he remained modest. "I heard Chloe’s parents make time to tutor her every evening."
After that, he added a few more words of praise for Chloe Sinclair.
It was already afternoon by the time he finished grading all the tests.
By then, Chloe Sinclair had already left school and was in a small alley practicing parkour.
When she got home, she could hear Ethan Sinclair discussing the plans for Mr. Sinclair’s sixtieth birthday banquet.
It was only then that Chloe Sinclair remembered.
"Chloe, at the party, if you see anyone you don’t recognize, just give them a nod," Ethan Sinclair said, a little worried about her.
After all, Chloe Sinclair had been home for less than three months. People in their social circle had heard that the Sinclair Family’s true-born daughter was back, but almost no one had actually seen her.
Mr. Sinclair’s birthday banquet would be everyone’s formal introduction to Chloe Sinclair. Thinking of his little sister’s temperament, Ethan couldn’t help but worry and felt compelled to give her a few words of advice.
"Just stick with us during the banquet, Chloe. I’ll take you home before it’s over," Landon Sinclair added.
"Thank you. I’ll be ready."
After she spoke, Chloe Sinclair’s gaze drifted toward Nina Sinclair.
In her past life, she had also attended this banquet. Thanks to Nina Sinclair and her so-called friends, she had become the laughingstock of high society.
Mr. Sinclair, watching from the side, saw it all clearly. An indescribable sense of relief washed over him. He didn’t want to put any pressure on Chloe Sinclair. "Just relax on the day of the banquet."
With Mr. Sinclair’s birthday banquet drawing near, Chloe Sinclair was completely run off her feet for the next two weeks.
Ever since Chloe Sinclair got a perfect score on that pop quiz, Mr. Stern often had her come to the front of the class to explain problems, which earned her a large following of fans.
Many students were actually curious about which of them was the Sinclair Family’s adopted daughter, but they felt it would be rude to ask and eventually dropped the idea.
However, once they learned that Chloe Sinclair’s second older brother was the genius physicist Landon Sinclair, they developed a strange sense of faith in her abilities.
Before every pop quiz, her classmates would always bring her lots of fruit.
Chloe wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but she felt as if the classmates giving her gifts were one step away from bowing down and worshipping her, as if that would magically help them pass their tests.
At that moment, Summer Beckett finally understood what Chloe Sinclair had meant back in Class 1 when she’d told him, "You don’t have to wait for me."
With midterms fast approaching, Summer Beckett was out of options. Finally, he swallowed his pride and asked, "Chloe, can I borrow your notes?"
Chloe Sinclair looked at him, confused, clearly not understanding what he was asking.
Summer Beckett, however, took her confusion as a refusal, and his expression immediately turned pitiful.
"I really don’t have any notes."
Summer Beckett: "?"
After a long pause, he asked quietly, "So when you told Nina Sinclair you didn’t have notes, you weren’t just brushing her off?"
"Right."
Chloe Sinclair nodded. "If I had any, I would have given them to her."
She didn’t really care how Nina Sinclair’s grades were. All she wanted was for Nina not to bother her in the time leading up to the college entrance exams.
But now that they weren’t in the same class and she ran to school in the mornings, she rarely crossed paths with Nina Sinclair.
This had become the most peaceful period Chloe Sinclair had experienced since her rebirth.
"I don’t have any notes, but I can highlight the key concepts for you. You’ll definitely be able to pass."
Summer Beckett’s eyes lit up, and he thanked her profusely.
In less than a single class period, Chloe Sinclair had marked all the key topics.
The moment he got the book with the highlighted sections, Summer Beckett began memorizing everything with all his might.
When some of the boys from Class 7 asked him to play basketball, he refused without a second thought.
"Can’t. I have to memorize the key points Chloe marked for me."
