Rong Yu changed her shoes and stepped inside.
She spoke calmly, "I really had something to attend to. I was studying at the homeroom teacher's house."
"Studying until this hour?" Rong Wangtian scoffed in disbelief. "Do you think I'm a three-year-old child who’d fall for that?"
"It is indeed a bit late," Rong Yu mused. "Senior year is hectic, and commuting back and forth wastes too much time. How about this—starting tomorrow, I’ll live on campus."
Returning to the Rong household meant endless drama, and she had neither the time nor energy to deal with it.
Rong Wangtian’s face turned livid.
Living at school would just make it easier for her to stay out all night, wouldn’t it?
If she really ended up pregnant out of wedlock, the Rong family would lose all face in Haicheng!
Just as he was about to retort, his phone rang.
A glance at the screen showed it was Rong Yu’s new homeroom teacher, Pei Yaru.
Suppressing his anger, he answered the call.
"Hello, Mr. Rong. Has Rong Yu made it home yet? The thing is, I took her to my place for extra study sessions tonight, which delayed her return..."
Rong Wangtian froze.
She really had been studying.
"I’ve discovered that Rong Yu has an exceptional talent for physics. After having her complete several test papers, her performance far exceeded my expectations. There’s a high school physics competition coming up—if you permit it, I’d like to register her for it."
Rong Wangtian was stunned again. "She has a talent for physics?"
"Yes," Pei Yaru replied, barely containing her excitement. "Your decision to allow her to switch from liberal arts to sciences was absolutely brilliant..."
After hanging up, Rong Wangtian’s expression was complicated.
Rong Yu looked up. "Can I move into the dorm starting tomorrow?"
Rong Wangtian had no reason to refuse.
Rong Ruoyao’s face was a picture of disbelief.
Her sister—participating in a physics competition?
She’d heard Song Huai mention this competition before. Each science class at their school had only one spot. How could Rong Yu, who had just switched to sciences and was still considered an underachiever, qualify?
This was absurd!
Rong Yu packed her belongings in her room. The original owner of this body had only moved in a little over two months ago and hadn’t accumulated much—clothes and books fit neatly into a single suitcase.
Early the next morning, she went straight to the teacher’s office at school. "Could you arrange a dorm for me? I’ll likely be staying there most of the time."
Pei Yaru nodded. "I’ve registered you for the physics competition next week. These next few days, focus on reinforcing your foundational knowledge and practice more problems..."
Rong Yu smiled faintly. "Do you really think I need more practice?"
Pei Yaru fell silent.
True.
With her lightning-fast problem-solving and flawless accuracy, extra drills were unnecessary.
"Then just relax," she conceded. "Don’t put too much pressure on yourself."
Rong Yu left the office and headed to class.
The moment she was gone, the math teacher Wu Su leaned over. "Pei Yaru, did I hear right? You’re sending Rong Yu to the physics competition? Did the school approve?"
Pei Yaru chuckled. "The school’s rule is that each class nominates one student for the preliminary round. The physics teacher and homeroom teacher decide together—no further approval is needed."
Wu Su: "..."
Right. Since Pei Yaru was both the physics teacher and homeroom teacher, the decision was hers alone.
After a pause, he asked, "Rong Yu just transferred from liberal arts. Is her physics performance really that outstanding?"
Pei Yaru nodded emphatically. "She’s a prodigy. Once the competition results come out, you’ll see I wasn’t mistaken."
Wu Su was about to say more when his phone buzzed with a notification.
To his shock, it was a friend request from the highly esteemed Professor Min in the mathematics community.
Hands trembling, he accepted.
Professor Min: "Hello, Teacher Wu. I read the paper you published on the platform. The calculated parabolic convergence region is quite remarkable. But there’s one step in the equations—from step fifteen to sixteen—that this old man can’t quite follow. Was there a skipped process?"
Wu Su stiffened.
He had wrestled with that exact transition at least a hundred times but could never fully grasp it.
Working backward from the final result, the equation held—so while the reasoning wasn’t airtight, the conclusion was sound.
His paper had caused a stir in mathematical circles these past few days. The principal had even hinted at a promotion, possibly to head of the math department.
But if he could connect with Professor Min and earn his recommendation... perhaps he could even secure a university teaching position...
Wu Su stared at the screen for a long moment before typing, "Apologies, Professor Min. I’m in the middle of a class. I’ll respond in detail later."
That afternoon, during math class, Rong Yu was absorbed in a book borrowed from the library.
Suddenly, a hand lifted the volume from her desk—Stability and Bifurcation Theory of Parabolic Equations.
"Can you understand this?" Wu Su’s voice cut in.
Rong Yu looked up. "More or less."
His face remained neutral, but internally, his mind was reeling.
He’d noticed Rong Yu reading advanced texts ever since her transfer. At first, he’d dismissed it as a show to impress.
But now she claimed to understand them?
What did "more or less" even mean—that she could barely follow?
A high school student comprehending this material?
Unbelievable!
Wu Su picked up her scratch paper and scanned it. His eyes widened—the wild, hurried handwriting matched that draft perfectly.
"Teacher, is something wrong?"
"N-no, nothing." He forced a smile. "You seem to have a solid math foundation. Since Pei Yaru says you’re gifted in physics, I assume math isn’t a weakness either. How about solving a problem for me?"
Rong Yu: "..."
She really didn’t want to waste time on basic exercises.
But Wu Su was already scribbling a set of equations, asking her to derive the next steps.
She glanced at it.
Finally—something beyond high school level.
After days of immersing herself in modern mathematics, she’d gradually caught up with current developments. This equation seemed to be a focal point in ongoing mathematical breakthroughs.
She’d already solved it before.
Originally planning to jot down just the answer, she remembered Pei Yaru’s constant reminders to show her work. Reluctantly, she began writing out each step methodically.
As the reasoning unfolded on paper, Wu Su’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Excellent, excellent..."
He couldn’t help exclaiming aloud.
Snatching up the paper, he took a deep breath. "Rong Yu, would you consider being my research assistant for paper drafting?"
Rong Yu replied, "Sorry, Teacher. My schedule is already packed."
With seventy years of rapid national development to catch up on, she had no time to spare...
Wu Su composed himself. "Keep reading, then."
He hurried back to his office, reformatted the derivation, and sent it to Professor Min.
