Chapter 13: Establishing a Genius Persona

Chapter 13: Establishing a Genius Persona

Ye Qing was genuinely surprised.

Mainly because, before she had traveled through time, she was a student at a prestigious university. Although she hadn’t graduated before the apocalyptic event occurred and hadn’t received her official diploma, that was due to unforeseen circumstances and wasn’t a reflection of her abilities.

So, ever since she arrived in this world, she hadn’t given much thought to the fact that her original body hadn’t finished junior high school, nor did she think a junior high school diploma was particularly important.

That’s why, when she came to give a thank-you gift to her homeroom teacher, she hadn’t considered asking Song Chunhua for any backdoor favors.

It was only when Song Chunhua mentioned that she would take her to see the Principal that Ye Qing suddenly realized such an option was even possible.

"Why are you standing there? Hurry up and follow!"

Seeing that Ye Qing was still standing still, Song Chunhua couldn’t help but turn back and urge her again.

Ye Qing quickly sped up and caught up with her.

As they walked, Song Chunhua explained:

"When I went to your house for a home visit and saw how polite your parents were, I thought there might be hope for you to resume your studies. So, I didn’t follow up on it these past few days, but—"

Song Chunhua didn’t finish the sentence, probably thinking it would only upset the girl if she continued. Instead, she shifted the topic and began to ramble about other things.

"In recent years, there’s been a lot of turmoil outside, and many students have become unruly. The school hasn’t dared to impose strict discipline, and even the Principal has relaxed the requirements for issuing diplomas. Many students who didn’t take the final graduation exam were still given diplomas.

"However, your situation is a bit more complicated since you still have a year of school left. But given that you’re about to be sent to the countryside, the Principal probably won’t be too harsh on you."

"You shouldn’t take this lightly or think a junior high school diploma isn’t important."

"Let me tell you, it is very important! You haven't been to the countryside, so you don't know the situation there. I have distant relatives in rural areas, and the education rate there is quite low. Just finishing elementary school is considered an achievement."

"With a junior high school diploma, you’d be considered a legitimate educated youth. It’s possible that when you go to the countryside, the villagers might see you as weak and young and assign you lighter tasks like being a scorekeeper or an accountant. They might even let you teach at a rural school to help with literacy campaigns. That would certainly be better than doing hard labor in the fields every day."

Knowing that this child’s family wasn’t reliable, Song Chunhua was deeply worried. She was practically spelling everything out, trying to make Ye Qing understand that she needed to use every advantage she had to avoid heavy labor in the countryside.

As she spoke, the teacher kept looking back at Ye Qing, her eyes filled with deep concern for the girl’s future.

Ye Qing, following behind Teacher Song, listened carefully, her heart overflowing with warmth and gratitude.

In the sixteen years the original body had lived in this world, the only person who had genuinely cared for her without expecting anything in return was Teacher Song.

Her eyes involuntarily turned red, and she could only keep nodding:

"Teacher, I understand. I will do as you say. Once I’m settled in the countryside, I will write to you!"

When they arrived at the Principal’s house, before Ye Qing could even say anything, Song Chunhua had already explained the situation and handed over the basket of mountain goods Ye Qing had brought.

Seeing the two plump pheasants and the fresh mushrooms and wild fruits in the basket, the Principal’s wife’s face immediately lit up with a smile. She quickly carried the items into the kitchen, and before the Principal could even respond, she spoke up first:

"Sending children to the countryside to support rural construction is in line with national policies. This is a good thing, and special circumstances call for special treatment. My old man isn’t someone who is inflexible. He will definitely take care of issuing the diploma for the child!"

Principal Chen was just about to deliberate further when his wife overstepped her bounds and answered on his behalf, much to the old Principal’s annoyance.

"What does this have to do with you? Put the basket down. Who told you to accept these things?"

The Principal scolded his wife before turning to Ye Qing with a serious expression:

"There are regulations for issuing diplomas. You still have a year of coursework unfinished, so technically, I shouldn’t issue the diploma to you in advance."

"However, Teacher Song does have a point. Having a diploma might significantly improve your situation in the countryside, so as a Principal, I can’t be completely unreasonable."

"If I’m going to make an exception for you, there’s one condition."

"I have a set of mock junior high graduation exam papers. I only require you to take the Chinese and Math sections. You’ll have two hours. Let me see how well you can complete them."

"As long as you pass both subjects, I’ll issue the diploma!"

Upon hearing this, Song Chunhua’s heart tightened, and she was about to say a few more pleading words for Ye Qing, but before she could speak, Principal Chen cut her off.

"No more! She hasn’t completed a year of schooling, and this is already the lowest requirement I’m giving her out of consideration for you. If she can’t meet this condition, she won’t get the diploma!"

But Ye Qing smiled and said:

"Alright, let’s do it your way!"

She had thought the Principal would set some harsh conditions, but it turned out to be something like this.

Although she hadn’t seen the graduation exam papers the Principal mentioned, how difficult could junior high exams from the 1970s be? As a former undergraduate student of Tongzhou Medical College, if she couldn’t pass a junior high school exam in this era, she might as well not be here.

The Principal was quite surprised at how readily the student agreed.

It was good to be confident, but Principal Chen was worried that some students were overconfident and would end up failing miserably.

However, at this point, it wasn’t the time to pour cold water on her enthusiasm. His conditions were clear: if she couldn’t meet the requirements, she would have to leave. He wouldn’t open any backdoors without principles!

Once the exam papers were found, Ye Qing sat down at the dining table in the Principal’s house and began her test.

The Principal looked at the clock in his house and started the countdown, while Song Chunhua waited nervously beside her.

But clearly, her nervousness was unnecessary.

Ye Qing worked through the problems quickly, barely needing to think or calculate before swiftly writing down her answers.

At first, the Principal, seeing her speed, thought she might be filling in the answers randomly, his brows furrowed tightly.

But soon, his assumption was shattered.

An hour later, Ye Qing submitted her exam paper.

Not only was her paper neat and her handwriting elegant, but her answers were almost identical to the standard answers. Except for the composition, there was nowhere to deduct marks for any of the other questions.

The Principal was truly shocked.

He had no idea that their school was hiding such a talented student!!

A second-year junior high student had completed a third-year graduation exam perfectly. Was she a learning genius?

Even the Principal was dumbfounded, not to mention Song Chunhua.

After teaching Ye Qing for two years, Song Chunhua knew her student’s academic situation well. Ye Qing was a hardworking student who loved studying, but her grades were only average in class, far from top-student level.

Yet now, this student had easily solved and gotten every single question on the third-year exam correct. How was that possible?

Ye Qing, of course, knew the original body’s capabilities, but she had no intention of hiding her talents. If she did, it would put her in a passive position when she stirred up trouble after going to the countryside.

After all, if her performance changed drastically before and after going to the countryside, it might raise suspicion.

In this alternate dimension, identities were self-given! She intended to establish a new academic genius persona for herself, laying the groundwork in advance. That way, if someone really came to investigate her past in Shanghai in the future, everything would fit together logically and plausibly.

So, facing the astonished and skeptical gazes of the Principal and Song Chunhua, Ye Qing shrugged deliberately, a wry smile on her face.

“There are too many children in my family. The opportunity to go to school was something I begged for. But every time I did better than my older siblings, my mother would start throwing tantrums at home and assign me more chores. So later, I didn’t dare to score too high, so my parents wouldn’t focus too much attention on me, and maybe they’d let me finish junior high.”

Of course, this explanation was half-truth.

When the original body was in elementary school, her grades were indeed good. But every time she came home with first or second place, her parents weren’t happy. Instead, they would belittle her, saying that it was useless for a girl to study so much. They even assigned her a lot of chores after school, constantly interfering with her studies.

Ye Qing’s parents’ thinking was simple. If she studied too well, she might be able to pass the high school entrance exam in the future. At that time, would they continue to send her to school or not?

Naturally, Ye Qing’s parents didn’t want to send her, but they were afraid of the neighbors’ gossip. If Ye Qing’s father’s reputation was damaged, it might affect his chances of getting a promotion at the factory.

So the solution was to keep the child too busy to study, ensuring her grades would drop, thus eliminating their concerns.

It must be said, Ye Qing’s mother’s strategy worked. The original body was in poor health, burdened with heavy labor every day, and subjected to emotional neglect by her parents. As a result, her academic performance worsened after entering junior high school.

Now, Ye Qing used this fact to explain the original body’s declining grades, framing it as deliberately hiding her abilities.

Through subtle narrative techniques, she crafted an image of herself as a pitiful child, unloved at home and forced to bear hardships in silence.

Sure enough, this explanation immediately enlightened Song Chunhua.

“No wonder… I was wondering why your grades were decent when you first entered junior high, but got worse later. There were so many underlying issues…”

Both the homeroom teacher and the old Principal filled in the blanks themselves, their gazes at Ye Qing filled with both shock and sympathy.

In the end, not only did Ye Qing smoothly receive her junior high graduation certificate, but she also got a complete set of high school textbooks from the old Principal.

The old man even left her a mailing address, telling Ye Qing that if she had any questions about her studies after going to the countryside, she should feel free to write to him for guidance.