Chapter 26: Chapter 25: Making the Slow Students Understand
It had been four full days since the monthly exam at Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School ended.
Normally, given the grading speed of the teachers at Seventh Middle School, the tests should have been handed back long ago. But this time, there was still no news.
The students of Class 2, Grade 12, weren’t just sitting around, though. Every one of them was a master gossiper.
So now everyone knew that Li Dong, who had been absent for a few days, hadn’t dropped out of school. He had done something incredible—he’d gotten a perfect score in the physics competition preliminaries, placing first.
During the break between classes, a few boys gathered around Jiang Yizhou.
"Hey, Yizhou, you think maybe the physics competition isn’t that hard? How else could Li Dong get a perfect score? And first in the whole city, too?"
Jiang Yizhou’s expression darkened when he heard this.
’Isn’t it hard? Why don’t you download the test and see for yourself? They post it on the official website after the exam.’
’I recognize every word on it, but when you put them together, I have no idea what the questions are asking. And you’re asking me if it’s hard?’
But as the class’s top student, he had to maintain his image.
Jiang Yizhou pushed up his glasses and said lightly.
"Well, the questions were quite difficult, but it’s actually not that surprising that Li Dong got first place this time."
The surrounding students were stunned. "Huh? Why not?"
Jiang Yizhou passed off some information he’d seen online as his own analysis.
"Our school’s university acceptance rate has been declining in recent years, so they need a perfect score in the physics competition to prepare for next year’s admissions drive."
"How they got that perfect score isn’t important."
"Huh? Are you saying..."
The student looked as if he had just heard some earth-shattering secret.
"But isn’t the final round in person?"
Jiang Yizhou glanced at Li Dong’s empty desk and said with utter certainty.
"Li Dong... will get sick!"
After hearing that, the student had a sudden realization.
"Oh! So that’s how it is! Tsk tsk, you top students sure think fast. You figured it out right away."
Misha, sitting in the front row, naturally overheard Jiang Yizhou’s "grand theory."
However, she paid him no mind, instead looking at the PDF of the Huaxuan Cup preliminary exam questions she had downloaded from the official website, her expression complicated.
Just yesterday, she had timed herself and taken the test, following the official time limit.
Out of a possible 50 points, she only scored 30.
She had no idea how to approach the final, major calculation problem, and she had gotten a full 10 of the multiple-choice questions wrong.
Forget first place; with that score, she wouldn’t even qualify for the final round.
’Is it really just a publicity stunt?’
A bitter feeling welled up in Misha’s heart.
The words Li Dong had said to her in the hallway that day echoed in her mind.
"For students at our current level, it is indeed quite difficult."
*DRRRING!*
The bell for class rang, interrupting Misha’s thoughts.
Old Yang walked into the classroom, a thick stack of test papers tucked under his arm.
And behind him followed another figure.
Misha looked over instinctively. It was Li Dong, who hadn’t been in class for a whole week.
Li Dong looked a little different today. How to put it... he was glowing.
She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but Misha felt that Li Dong’s current state was just like how she’d felt when she found 100 yuan on the ground once.
Old Yang walked to the podium and gestured for Li Dong to return to his seat first.
"Class, the results of the monthly exam are in."
"Due to some special circumstances, they’re a few days later than usual."
"But the good news is, our class as a whole did very well this time!"
A smile hung on Old Yang’s face; he was clearly in a good mood.
"For this class, we’ll first go over the math test."
"Come on, Li Dong. Come up and hand out the tests."
Li Dong, who had barely warmed his seat, looked exasperated.
’Old Yang, are you doing this on purpose? You didn’t give them to me when we walked in, you had to wait until I sat down to make me get back up and get them?’
But he was the head teacher, after all, so Li Dong could only walk back to the podium, take the tests, and start handing them out one by one.
As for the scores on the papers, he didn’t look closely.
’In any case, no matter how well you guys did, you definitely didn’t do as well as me.’
When the test was placed in Jiang Yizhou’s hands, he sat up a little straighter.
points!
This was his highest math score in his three years of high school!
’I’ve got this in the bag!’
Jiang Yizhou was ecstatic.
He even secretly craned his neck to peek at Misha’s test in front of him.
points.
points lower than him!
Looking at the red X’s on Misha’s paper, he was already starting to fantasize.
"Oh, Misha, this derivative problem actually has a trap. Look at how I did it..."
"You’re supposed to find the derivative first, then construct the function..."
This was the romance of a top student!
Other boys only knew how to give flowers and chocolates.
He was different. He gave problem-solving strategies; he gave a golden path to a top-tier university!
Just as Jiang Yizhou was lost in his self-congratulatory fantasy, Old Yang suddenly spoke from the podium.
"Are all the tests handed out? Good. Next..."
Old Yang paused, his gaze falling on Li Dong, who was about to return to his seat.
"Li Dong, you’ll be the one to explain the test to the class today."
As his words fell, the entire class froze, and all eyes turned to stare at Li Dong.
What was going on?
Li Dong explaining the test?
Did Old Yang give him the answer key and tell him to read it aloud?
But Li Dong wasn’t holding an answer key.
Li Dong sighed and reluctantly walked back to the podium.
Actually, he already knew this was going to happen.
Because tomorrow, he was going to Rongcheng to participate in the in-person final round of the Huaxuan Cup.
Originally, according to Zheng Hua and Jiang Yang, Li Dong was supposed to spend this last day in the office doing a couple more Ossai practice tests to stay sharp.
But Old Yang had proposed a different idea.
"Have you ever heard of the Feynman Learning Method?" Old Yang had asked at the time, holding his teacup with a profound and mysterious air.
"The most effective way to learn is to be able to teach the knowledge to others. Especially... ahem, teaching the, well, slower students. That’s what proves you’ve truly mastered it."
"Having him explain the problems is more useful than just solving them."
When Zheng Hua heard this, he felt that Old Yang truly lived up to his reputation as a top graduate from Capital University; he had all these theories down pat.
So, Director Zheng decided to be a little willful.
Li Dong wouldn’t just be teaching math to his own class; he’d also have to go to Class 1 later to teach physics.
At this moment, the expression on Jiang Yizhou’s face, down below the podium, was priceless.
’On what grounds? What right does he have to teach me?’
Jiang Yizhou fumed internally.
’Fine, let him teach! The moment he explains a step wrong or gets stuck, I’ll raise my hand and ask a question.’
Jiang Yizhou secretly resolved to show off the strength of his 132-point score and prove that he was better than Li Dong.
But in the front row, Misha’s eyes instantly lit up.
She, on the other hand, wasn’t having as much inner drama as Jiang Yizhou.
As someone who genuinely wanted to learn, she had been studying Li Dong’s problem-solving methods recently.
When a teacher explains a problem, they often do so from a higher level, sometimes overlooking the sticking points in a student’s thinking process.
But Li Dong was also a student. His thought process might be closer to their own Logic and offer more practical insights.
Misha opened her notebook, her face full of anticipation.
Standing at the podium, Li Dong felt a little nervous.
This was his first time at the rodeo, after all.
He cleared his throat and began, stammering slightly.
"Um... everyone, please look at the first question."
"Given set M={x|-1
Li Dong glanced at the problem, and the answer immediately formed in his mind.
x^2-4x+3
The intersection with (-1, 3) is (1, 3).
"The answer to this one is C," he said, stating the answer directly.
The class was silent. Everyone was waiting for his analysis, but that was it?
Seeing that no one was speaking, Li Dong assumed everyone understood and continued.
"Okay, let’s look at the second question."
"For the complex number z=(1+√3i)/(1+i), what is |z|=?"
This one was even simpler. The modulus of the numerator is 2, the modulus of the denominator is √2, so dividing them gives you √2.
"The answer to this one is A."
Li Dong once again just gave the answer directly.
The students below were completely dumbfounded.
’Dude, we asked you to explain the problems, not just to read off the answers!’
Just then, a girl with average grades timidly raised her hand.
"Um... Li Dong, can you explain why the answer to the second question is A? I calculated B..."
"Huh?"
Li Dong paused for a moment. That reminded him.
To him, the answer to this problem materialized in his brain with just a glance, but that wasn’t necessarily the case for the other students.
It was just like when Newton had asked, "Is it not evident?" Li Dong was now experiencing that same feeling.
Looking at the female student’s confused expression, Li Dong remembered Old Yang’s instructions.
’Make it so even the slow students can understand.’
"Alright."
Li Dong picked up a piece of chalk and turned to face the blackboard.
"There are actually many ways to solve this problem. Since you have questions, I’ll explain a few different methods. Just pick the one you can understand and take notes."
