Chapter 11

The bell rang, signifying the end of class. Michelle curiously leaned over, holding a workbook and pointing at a math problem, looking frustrated. "Jonathan, how do you solve this question?" Jonathan glanced at it, quickly coming up with a solution. "Have you learned about the sum of the first n terms of a geometric series?" He needed to find out where she stood in terms of her current learning progress. "No." She blinked, tilting her head, clearly confused. "What is a geometric series?" He flipped open his high school textbook. "Let me first teach you the basics. You can work on the problem later." "Okay," she said eagerly, her eyes sparkling. "Jonathan, you're so amazing." She gave him a bright, sweet smile. "Can I ask you for help if I don't understand something in the future?" Jonathan smiled. "Of course." "Thank you!" Michelle grinned, showing her dimples again. Nearby male students overheard their conversation and began mocking him. One of them said, "Michelle, you're new here. You probably don't know yet, but Jonathan is just a total slacker!" Another added, "He's ranked 1000th in the whole school! What can he teach you? Honestly, you're better off learning on your own than asking him. He'll just mislead you!" A third student chimed in, "Jonathan was always late, skipping classes in the first two years! Even in class, he would either be playing games or daydreaming. He came last in the final exams last semester! He's such a loser, and now he wants to teach others? Ridiculous!" At that moment, Frederick walked over, speaking gently, "Michelle, if you have any questions, feel free to come to me or Stella. We'll help you with your studies. As for Jonathan…" He looked at Jonathan with a cold expression. "You shouldn't mislead new students if you're not good at studying." Jonathan spoke flatly. "That was in the past. Every dog has its day." The students snickered. Frederick couldn't help but grin, a hint of mockery in his eyes. "Really? There's a math test this evening. How much do you think you'll score?" Students didn't have self-study sessions for the first two years of high school, but the pressure of studying intensified from the third year onward, and every third-year class had mandatory self-study sessions. During this time, the teachers would either hold tests or finish covering content from class. "I'll be taking first place in the test," Jonathan said slowly. The other students burst out laughing. Getting the highest mark? They all knew Jonathan's academic ability very well. They wouldn't believe him if he were to claim he could pass the math test, let alone get first place. Frederick and Stella usually get the top spots. Jonathan was just daydreaming! Frederick couldn't help but smirk, looking at Jonathan as if he were a joke. Stella frowned when she heard Jonathan boast about getting first place. She felt embarrassed. Did he really have no self-awareness? Didn't he know his own capabilities? Angrily, she stood up and glared at Jonathan, who was casually lounging at his desk. "Are you trying to embarrass yourself further? Getting first place? How dare you challenge Frederick head-on?" Jonathan responded lazily, "Frederick, how about a bet?" Frederick's expression darkened. "What do you want to bet on? Jonathan, if it's about academics, you've already lost." He was confident, considering himself the top student in the class since the start of high school. "Well, it is. If I get first in the class, you'll have to write a ten-thousand-word apology letter for today's false accusation and apologize to me in front of everyone at the flag-raising ceremony next Monday. How about that?" Jonathan's tone was nonchalant and full of swagger. Frederick's face darkened at the mention of the false accusation. With Stella present, it would seem like he lacked courage if he refused. Besides, he was sure he wouldn't lose, and he wouldn't apologize in front of everyone at the ceremony! "I agree," he said, his voice slightly trembling. His attitude was submissive. "Jonathan, whatever you want to do, I'll cooperate. But if I lose, you can't mislead the transfer student anymore." Jonathan was getting impatient. "I'll teach her well. You don't need to worry about it." Stella felt uneasy inside, glancing at Michelle, hiding behind Jonathan. She instinctively knew that Michelle wasn't as innocent and weak as she appeared. Realizing she had been distracted by Jonathan again, Stella felt frustrated and invited Frederick to have dinner together. At 7:00 pm, their math teacher, James Scott, came in with a stack of mock test papers. "Class, the test this evening covers basic high school knowledge. The questions are relatively easy, so pay attention. You have two hours. Your time starts now!" Jonathan didn't worry about the math test. He had printed a "Physics Competition Key Points and Typical Examples" document at the school's printing shop. Since phones weren't allowed in class, he found referring to the printed material easier. He had already memorized the content, but he decided to review it a few more times—after all, aiming for perfection was important, and there was a significant difference between scoring 99 and 100. Jonathan immediately recognized the solution when he got the math test paper and quickly started answering after writing his name. James, leisurely sipping his peppermint tea, suddenly noticed Jonathan writing rapidly and raised an eyebrow. "Why is he finishing so quickly? Doesn't he need to think carefully about the questions?" he thought. Less than half an hour later, Jonathan stopped writing, turned in his paper, and sat back down to review his physics competition notes. James was stunned. Although the test was on basic knowledge, it covered much of high school math. It wasn't so simple that someone could finish it in less than 30 minutes. He had just started teaching the third-year class this semester. On the first day of school, he thought this test would give him a sense of the math abilities of the students from Class 1. However, he had already examined the results of the previous semester's final exams, and Jonathan's name was not among the top ten. James even checked Jonathan's score from last semester's finals on his phone—he ranked over 1000 in the whole school, coming last in the class with a miserable score of just 12 points in math. With that in mind, he was convinced that Jonathan had randomly answered the questions because he didn't know them and had given up, turning in his test early. He marked the paper with a red pen, sipping his tea casually. His eyes widened in shock the more he read Jonathan's answers.