Chapter 37.4: The Dreamlike Encounter

Tan Wenbin looked miserable as he followed them out.

Then the door to the next room slammed shut, and Li Zhuiyuan heard several cries of pain, mixed with Tan Yunlong’s furious scolding:

"I’ll let the fight slide, but you dared to steal money from your mother to buy a game console? What have I been teaching you? It's fine if your grades are bad, but you can’t turn into a crook! Do you want me to personally drag you to jail someday?"

Tan Yunlong only hit him a few times before switching to verbal chastisement.

During the ordeal, Aunt Zheng knocked on the door several times, but got no response.

Two hours later, the father and son emerged.

Aunt Zheng scolded, "We still have guests! If you don’t want to eat, are you planning to let little Yuan go hungry?"

"Forgot," Tan Yunlong muttered, glancing at his son. "Still, it’s this useless brat’s fault."

Li Zhuiyuan had long left the desk and was sitting on the bed reading a comic he’d dug out from a pile of books. When the father and son entered, he quickly slipped the comic under the covers before Tan Yunlong could see it.

Tan Wenbin wasn’t crying anymore, but his neck was still twitching slightly—he looked pitiful.

Tan Yunlong smacked the back of his son’s head. "Go check how little Yuan did on those practice sheets."

Tan Wenbin went to the desk, flipped through the math sheet, and saw it was completely answered.

"How is it? Did he get them all right?" Tan Yunlong pressed. "I’m asking you!"

"I don’t have the answers… I don’t know."

Tan Yunlong: "…"

Tan Wenbin picked up the other sheets and gasped, "They’re all done!"

This stack had been handed out by teachers ahead of time. Students were expected to complete them at home during the break, and they covered multiple subjects, not just math.

Tan Wenbin discovered that aside from the essay question in the Chinese paper, all the other questions were answered.

He tried solving a few simple ones he knew, and the answers matched.

Harder questions aside, at least it ruled out the possibility that Li Zhuiyuan had just scribbled random answers.

"Well?" Tan Yunlong said. "You’re making me lose face just standing around here."

"Dad, these… these are all correct."

"And the rest?"

"I’ll need more time to check them properly, but judging by the methods and solutions, he seems to understand. If you want a definitive answer, I can ask a teacher tomorrow."

"Here’s what we’ll do. Find some old exam papers, pick the hardest problems from different subjects, copy them down, and have little Yuan solve them."

"Okay."

Tan Yunlong needed to confirm if the boy truly had high school-level skills. If he approached the school about skipping grades and messed up, it would be hard to save face.

Tan Wenbin copied down a question in a notebook and handed it to the boy. "Little Yuan, try this one first."

"Alright."

Li Zhuiyuan stood beside the desk and picked up a pen.

Tan Wenbin copied a second question, and when he looked up after finishing, he saw the boy had already put the pen down and was waiting.

"That fast?"

Tan Wenbin checked the notebook—correct.

Then he watched as Li Zhuiyuan quickly solved the next one.

Correct again.

These were advanced questions, beyond the standard curriculum—only two students in the class had managed them during the exam.

Li Zhuiyuan suggested, "Binbin-ge, just read the questions aloud. It'll be faster that way."

Tan Yunlong nodded. "Go on, read."

Tan Wenbin picked up a math test and started reading the multiple-choice questions. Each time he finished one, Li Zhuiyuan would immediately give the correct answer.

Soon, aside from geometry problems requiring diagrams, Tan Wenbin had read through the entire test, and the boy answered each one without hesitation.

Putting down the paper, Tan Wenbin was stunned.

He had always admired the top students in his class, felt pressured and distant around them—but with this boy, there was no pressure. He felt utterly crushed.

"All correct?" Tan Yunlong asked.

"Yeah, little Yuan-ge got every one right."

Tan Yunlong was overjoyed. He grabbed Li Zhuiyuan’s arm and spun him in circles.

"Hahaha! A genius! An absolute genius!"

Parents always see straight-A kids through rose-tinted glasses, and those with students in the household are especially dramatic. At this moment, Tan Yunlong truly believed a star had descended upon his home.

At last, calming down, he set Li Zhuiyuan down.

Li Zhuiyuan held his forehead—he was a little dizzy from the spinning.

"Little Yuan, I checked. The formal enrollment can only be done at the start of the semester, and we’ll need the education bureau involved. But the high school holds summer classes, so we can go take the placement test early. You’ll be able to attend classes before the paperwork is done. How’s that sound?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "Uncle Tan, I want to spend the summer break first."

"Alright. It's only late July now. There's still a month of break left. I’ll come pick you up when it’s time to enroll."

"Thank you, Uncle Tan."

"No need to thank me." Tan Yunlong slapped his own son’s head again. "Look at him. Then look at yourself!"

Tan Wenbin, still in shock, blurted, "Why don’t you ask what his parents do, or what their education is?"

Smack!

This slap was even harder.

"I’m telling you, you’ll be classmates from now on. Learn from him. He’s younger than you, so you’re in charge of looking after him."

"Got it."

Tan Yunlong nodded. At least his son wasn’t completely hopeless.

If he took care of the boy in daily life, maybe the boy would help him with academics. Parents might say grades aren’t everything, but which one doesn’t secretly hope their kid excels?

That boy’s ability to instantly solve questions and call out the right answers had even stunned a seasoned cop like him. If his son stuck close to him every day, even a pig should soak up some of that genius, right?

"Zheng Fang! Zheng Fang!"

Tan Yunlong rushed out, eager to share what he’d just witnessed with his wife. He knew she’d be even more excited and had to remind her to whip up a few extra dishes. Whether they finished them didn’t matter—it was about the occasion.

Back in the room, Li Zhuiyuan sat on the bed while Tan Wenbin sat in the chair. One big, one small, facing each other.

"Little Yuan-ge?"

"Binbin-ge, don’t call me that. Just say little Yuan or Yuanzi."

"Little Yuan-ge, what do you usually do at home?"

"Read."

"Just read all the time?" The answer was a bit disappointing, but Tan Wenbin pressed on. "Besides reading, what else do you like to do?"

"Retrieve the dead sinkers."

• Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.

Next Chapter >>>