Chapter 8: His Dashing Entrance

No one expected that Elena could so effortlessly solve all the advanced math problems. "Oh my God, how is this possible?" "Isn't Elena supposed to be a terrible student?" "Could it be that Elena isn't actually bad at school?" "My God, I can't even understand these problems!" The math teacher stood to the side, feeling like his face was burning with embarrassment. His original intention was to challenge Elena, hoping to teach her a lesson about the importance of studying. But who could have predicted that she actually knew how to solve the problems? How was this possible? Even he found it hard to believe! And now, if he couldn't stump Elena, where would that leave him as her teacher? The math teacher felt a headache coming on. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He recalled one of the seven unsolved problems in mathematics—the NP-C problem. This problem had remained unsolved for years, with countless mathematicians burning the midnight oil to no avail. However, about a month ago, a mysterious math genius had managed to solve it. [Hmph, I refuse to believe she can solve this one!] "Ahem, those previous problems were indeed a bit simple. Elena, try solving this one!" the math teacher said, coughing lightly to regain his composure. Elena glanced at the problem on the board and then back at the math teacher, her expression turning slightly odd. "Is there a problem?" the math teacher asked seriously, noticing her gaze. The students in the classroom were equally puzzled. "What kind of problem is that?" "No idea, is it even a math problem? It doesn't look like one!" "Is the teacher just trying to make things difficult for Elena?" The math teacher, seeing that Elena still hadn't started, couldn't help but let a smug smile creep onto his face. "Ahem, Elena, if you don't know how to solve it, you can just admit it. Next time, you should—" Before he could finish, Elena had already picked up the chalk again. The math teacher watched in shock as Elena calmly and methodically outlined the logical steps on the board, filling up the once-blank space. His jaw dropped as he observed her work. When Elena finished writing the last equation, the entire board was covered, leaving her no choice but to move to the back board. Time passed in silence as the tension in the room grew. Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. "It's done, teacher," Elena said, putting down the chalk and walking out of the classroom, leaving behind a room full of stunned students and a dumbfounded teacher. The math teacher stood there for a long moment before he finally snapped out of his daze, swallowing hard as he processed the shock. Later that afternoon, as school let out, Elena was about to leave when suddenly, thunder rumbled, and a downpour began without warning. Caught off guard by the sudden rain, Elena, like many others, found herself stuck at school without an umbrella. "Phebe, isn't your boyfriend coming to pick you up?" one of the girls asked during their conversation. "He said he'd be here any minute," Phebe replied, glancing sideways at Elena with a look of smug satisfaction. The reason Phebe harbored animosity toward Elena was simple: as long as Elena was around, Phebe could only ever be the class beauty, while Elena was the school's beauty queen. "Wow, your boyfriend is so great! I heard he's the son of the Malavor Hotel owner," another girl chimed in. "Oh my God, the Malavor Hotel? That's a four-star hotel in Los Angeles!" The girls all crowded around Phebe, full of admiration. Phebe smiled proudly. "I heard from Ella James that his father has just applied for a star upgrade, and it should be approved soon." "That's amazing! Phebe, you're so lucky to have such a successful boyfriend!" Phebe shot another glance at Elena, unable to resist a smug grin. She snorted softly. "Well, Elena's still got one up on me. Her fiancé is the heir of the Charnelli Trading Company. That's way out of our league." The girls' attention, which had been focused on Phebe, immediately shifted to Elena upon hearing this. "Phebe, didn't you know? Elena's engagement with the Charnelli heir was called off by Mr. Hill. She’s nothing now," someone said with feigned surprise. Phebe put on an innocent face. "Is that so?" She looked at Elena as if she were unaware, then quickly covered her mouth, feigning embarrassment. "Elena, I didn't know about that. You’re not mad, are you?" Elena glanced at Phebe, fully aware of her intentions. In truth, Elena didn’t care enough to engage in a battle of wits with her. But since Phebe had brought it up so openly, it seemed inappropriate not to respond. "Class rep, I think you and the green tea at my house could be sisters," Elena said dryly. Phebe’s innocent facade quickly gave way to anger upon hearing Elena’s words. "Elena, what kind of talk is that?" Before Phebe could respond, someone stepped in to defend her. "Yeah, we’re all classmates. Elena, why would you say something so mean? You should apologize to Phebe!" "Apologize!" "Apologize!" Elena looked at them, finding the situation laughable. "What's so funny, Elena? We said you should apologize!" "I’m laughing because you’re all idiots," Elena said bluntly. She wasn’t being malicious; compared to her IQ of 300, these people truly seemed hopelessly stupid. "Elena, are you calling us names?" Elena stared back, expressionless. "Aren't you?" She glanced at Phebe. "She’s so obviously fake, and you all haven’t noticed. What else could you be but idiots?" "Just because you solved a few math problems doesn’t make you special. You probably just got lucky and guessed the answers!" another girl chimed in. "Bess is right! You're just a lazy student who skips class all the time. How dare you call us idiots?" At that moment, Elena's phone buzzed, and she couldn’t be bothered to continue the argument. She pulled out her phone to check the message. "The old man asked me to pick you up." The message was from Roy Hill. Just as Elena finished replying, a bright red sports car came into view. The classmates who had been arguing with Elena turned to look at the source of the noise. A man dressed in a flashy red pinstripe suit, matching his car, stepped out. "Oh my God, Mr. James looks so handsome! And that car is amazing!" "Are you jealous? Well, it won't do you any good. Mr. James is the class rep’s boyfriend!" "That car must be worth at least a few million!" Amid the praise, Phebe’s face lit up with pride. She walked over to Elena, feigning innocence. "Elena, whether you believe me or not, I really didn’t mean to hurt you." "My boyfriend is here to pick me up. We can drop you off on the way as an apology." Elena glanced at Phebe without saying a word. Seeing no response, Phebe’s eyes began to well up with fake tears.