Is It That Hard?

The news had spread throughout the department. Even those in the younger batches knew about it.

"Do they really think they'd win? Class 1 will definitely tower over them."

"Teacher Xi didn't even agree to it. Yao Tang was the one who agreed to the bet."

"Did she really think that she's going to win this?" one of them whispered. "She may be pretty, but she doesn't have the brains! Who competes with Class 1 in terms of their results? Are they courting death or something?"

"God, they're going to be so embarrassed."

The entire school was stuck in the heated discussion.

When the news had reached Class 12, the entire classroom unraveled into chaos.

Everyone was complaining as they slammed their fists onto the table. "Why the hell did you decide on this without us?" they yelled, pointing fingers at Yao Tang, who couldn't care any less. "It's your fault!"

In the end, they've been all suppressed by Meng Yang's fist. At this point, they all had to swallow their anger and stared at their seemingly empty notebooks.

"Do you really want to be continually looked down upon by those assholes? We have to save our reputation!" Meng Yang continually slammed his fists onto the table, surprising them all. "We have to do this! We have to learn."

Song Lang snorted. What the hell? When did this asshole ever love to learn?

However, upon being at the receiving end of his friend's glare, he immediately straightened his back.

"Brother Yang is right," he stated seriously. "We have to love learning–take the road less traveled. Who says we couldn't do it? The road may be hard, but we're just going to have to try even harder."

Seeing the troublemaking group spouting pep talks left and right, the entire class burst into laughter. "Aren't you talented, Brother Lang?" they all teased, and the tense atmosphere ultimately died down.

Meng Yang glanced at Yao Tang

Yao Tang was still seated in her place. There was a faint smile tracing across her lips, and her features softened. Leaning against the back of her seat, she started scribbling onto her notebook.

They were going to lose, he had initially thought. However, upon seeing Yao Tang finally growing serious, he couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort in his heart.

However, as he moved closer, he immediately spotted her scribbling a fox-like creature on the edge of her notebook. "Are you–" he sputtered, feeling his leg grow weak. As soon as he met with her cold gaze, he immediately turned away.

Whatever. He needed to go back and find Class One's Lu Yan to make up for things.

He'd have to rely on her this time.

..

Seeing that the bet was becoming a reality, Xi Yan hurriedly called Principal Kong. "You won't believe this, Sir," she immediately said, with a panicked tinge in her voice. She didn't even wait for him to reply as she told him everything.

By the time she was finished, however, Principal Kong simply replied, "You don't have to worry about this. Yao Tang would be able to handle this herself."

"I..." There was a small pause. "The results on Yao Tang's file–they're fake, right?"

When she had seen the student's file then, she couldn't help but feel disbelief. How could someone score zero marks on their test? They could've gotten at least one right if they were merely guessing. Could it be that she purposely avoided them?

Principal Kong was a little surprised to see her catch on so quickly, but he didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he stated, "All I know is that our No. 1 High School has lagged behind Foreign Languages High School for the last few years. If she's able to reach her full potential, then Yao Tang will be able to restore the glory of our high school. It may even advance your teaching career."

Xi Yan blinked.

He had said it with such certainty. Maybe Yao Tang really wasn't as simple as she had thought.

..

More and more people had started to attend their morning sessions. Even the substitute teachers noticed the evident change in rigor and vitality from the classroom. Even then, they couldn't help but find the situation even more piteous. Did they really think they stand a chance against Class 1?

During their lunch break, Yao Tang and Lin Xin went to the cafeteria to eat. As soon as they had returned, they noticed the entire room falling into another heated discussion of today's events.

"Do you know that 99.9% of the school betted on Class One?" one of them said, chewing on their sandwich. "It went viral on the online forum!"

"What?" Li Meng pursed her lips. "Ugh, I don't even know why we're being dragged into this. Yao Tang was the one who agreed to the bet."

"Yeah, but Luo Hua was talking about our entire class. Not just her."

"God, this is going to be so embarrassing for Teacher Xi. She's been so nice to us, and now..."

Even if they were known to be rowdier than the other classes, they always had a special spot for Teacher Xi. After all, she was the only one who had ever bothered to defend them against all their one-sided remarks.

Li Meng didn't say another word. Instead, she held her breath and continued to study, shooting Yao Tang a glare every now and then.

The tension in Class 12 was unprecedentedly thick. While a part of them knew that they were never going to beat the genius class, they certainly don't want to embarrass themselves too much.

Seeing this, Meng Yang exited the classroom to do something.

Lin Xin came over and sat beside Yao Tang. "I've looked at last week's exam results, and I'm a little bit behind from the person holding last place in Class 1," she stated.

"Hm." Yao Tang supported her chin with one hand, as she held her phone with the other. Glancing up at the panicked look on Lin Xin's face, she couldn't help but sigh.

Taking off her earphones, she shoved it into her pockets.

"Is the exam really that difficult?"

Lin Xin nodded. "The content's the same, but the difficulty of the questions is different in each school. No. 1 High School was said to have the most difficult exam," she explained.

That difficult, huh?

"That doesn't matter."

"Yeah, but..." Lin Xin took a deep breath. "It would've been great if we had Qingshui High School's test papers and internal review materials. I've heard they're one of the best in the country if we had them...Maybe we'd be able to stand a chance.

Yao Tang narrowed her eyes.

"But the materials are being given to their own students. They aren't allowed to leak it so..." Lin Xin sighed regretfully, waving her hand. "Forget it. I'll just study. We still have three days left anyway."