With Zong Wenxiu's successful emotional guidance, the little troublemaker, Zong Jincheng, had his heart unburdened and returned to his normal study routine, once again picking up his colorful pens to doodle.
Every day after breakfast, the two brothers would head to the large study to attend their lessons. Zong Wenxiu would glance at his younger brother's focused profile, noticing the youthful vigor returning to his face, along with the concentration he had retained from his studies.
He couldn’t help but smile to himself.
Just then, their tutor, Baili Xi, suddenly called out, "Wenxiu, can you repeat what I just explained?"
Caught daydreaming, Zong Wenxiu hesitated for a moment before replying, "I'm sorry, sir. I was wrong."
...
After the educational crisis was resolved, the three private tutors happily resumed preparing lessons and guiding the two children. At this point, there were only two days left until the joint exam results were announced.
Pan Hongzhi chose a moment when Zong Jincheng was in a good mood to tentatively ask, "Jincheng, you know that the papers for this joint exam are being graded by the teachers from Hanlin North Academy, right?"
Zong Jincheng, engrossed in his calligraphy practice, didn’t even look up as he replied, "Yeah, you mentioned that before the exam. What about it?"
"The teachers at Hanlin North Academy aren’t familiar with your handwriting, so they might not be able to read it clearly. As a result, your ranking might not be very good." This was the conclusion Pan Hongzhi and Xu Wan had reached after discussing it.
They had decided to be upfront with Zong Jincheng beforehand to prevent him from being too shocked when he saw the results.
The method of pushing someone through harsh motivation was only suitable for the little troublemaker during his overconfident phase, not now, when he was still rebuilding his confidence after a recent setback.
Xu Wan was also worried that sticking to the original plan might backfire, undoing all the progress they had made so far.
After finishing a page of green-inked poetry recitation, Zong Jincheng happily kicked the table legs with his little feet and casually replied, "I know handwriting affects grades, but don’t worry. Even if my handwriting were perfect, I wouldn’t make the rankings this time."
"Oh, as long as you know..." Pan Hongzhi sighed in relief, but then quickly realized something was off. "Wait, you know? What do you know? Since when did you know?"
The last time he had brought this up with the little troublemaker, the boy had been daydreaming about defeating Qin Ye, completely oblivious to the fact that his handwriting could affect his exam results.
Zong Jincheng shrugged nonchalantly. "I’ve always known. Isn’t that common sense? Didn’t you know, sir?"
Pan Hongzhi was speechless.
Of course, it was common sense.
But did he really think I didn’t know?
You’re the one who was most likely to be unaware!
Zong Jincheng continued chattering, "Only 120 students can make the rankings in the joint exam. I’ll probably be somewhere around 150th, so I won’t make the cut."
This statement left not only Pan Hongzhi stunned but also Zhao Yin and Cheng Zhidong, who turned their heads as if they had seen a ghost.
Zong Wenxiu, sitting nearby, was even more horrified.
The little troublemaker, who was now spinning his brush and calmly accepting that he wouldn’t make the rankings, was this really the same arrogant and boastful brother who used to declare he would top all four academies?
If this were the old him, wouldn’t he have thrown a tantrum, yelling about how Hanlin North Academy didn’t recognize his talent and how all three academies were blind to his potential?
"Jincheng, are you okay?" Zong Wenxiu leaned over and asked.
He was now deeply suspicious that his brother had only recovered on the surface, but not internally. Otherwise, how could he accept this reality so easily?
"I’m fine," Zong Jincheng replied, confused. "Brother, didn’t you tell me? I still have three years ahead of me. There’s no need to rush. Wins and losses are part of life, and exams are no different. Besides, it’s not like I didn’t make the rankings because I did poorly. It’s because I skipped grades too quickly. It’s not my fault. I’ll just focus on preparing steadily for the upcoming Child Prodigy Class test. The joint exam results don’t matter."
Zong Wenxiu was at a loss for words.
That was what he had said, and he had indeed wanted his brother to take it easy, but this was taking it *too* easy. The speed at which he had moved on made even the unpredictable June weather seem slow in comparison.
Pan Hongzhi slapped his forehead in exasperation.
It seemed that the little troublemaker’s neglected handwriting lessons would need to be revisited soon. "It doesn’t matter," he muttered. Clearly, Zong Jincheng still didn’t take practicing his handwriting seriously.
When Xu Wan found out about this, she took Cheng Zhidong to Qingbo Academy for a visit.
With the exam results about to be announced, the academy’s teachers were busy compiling scores and finalizing the student rankings. However, when Xu Wan arrived, the dean quickly made time to retrieve Zong Jincheng’s exam papers and handed them to her.
"Ranked 140th in the joint exam and 36th within the academy," the dean said, surprised. "Jincheng’s handwriting is still not great, but it’s noticeably neater this time. It looks like he deliberately slowed down his writing speed to make sure the graders could read it."
"Wait, it’s neater?" Xu Wan was almost certain she had misheard.
She had come this time expecting the little troublemaker to have performed poorly due to his handwriting, bringing Cheng Zhidong along to assess his actual progress.
But instead, she had stumbled upon an unexpected revelation.
The little rascal, who usually finished his exams in half the allotted time, had actually taken the time to write more carefully this time. No wonder he hadn’t been worried about the graders at Hanlin North Academy not understanding his papers. He had planned ahead.
Xu Wan chuckled helplessly. "This kid... I really thought he didn’t know anything."
Turns out, he was well aware that his private tutors graded his papers carefully, which was why he had let his handwriting deteriorate. He had been using the time saved by writing faster to catch up on his studies. But when it came to the actual exam, he had taken the time to write neatly.
His logic was clear, and his actions were reasonable. He was practically a time management genius.
Unintentionally, the little troublemaker had fooled everyone into thinking he didn’t realize the consequences of his messy handwriting. In reality, he knew all along—he just didn’t want to practice his handwriting, at least not right away.
Thankfully, he wasn’t aware that he had fooled them all. Xu Wan thought with a mix of relief and lingering unease.
Cheng Zhidong also breathed a sigh of relief on behalf of the other two tutors. With the young master’s exam results turning out better than expected, their generous salaries were safe.
Cheng Zhidong sincerely remarked, "Madam, Jincheng’s progress is truly remarkable. Ranked 140th in the joint exam—it’s even higher than he expected."
Xu Wan smiled. "Yes, this little rascal is clever. He’s catching up quickly. When Wenxiu took an exam of this level last time, he only ranked 53rd. Jincheng got 36th... It seems he’s ready for the Child Prodigy Class in a few days."
The dean, standing nearby, was so envious he felt like banging his head against the wall. He timidly asked, "Madam, your family’s tutors are truly exceptional. In just half a year, they’ve guided both children into the Child Prodigy Class. I’m extremely curious—could you perhaps share some of their methods?"
Xu Wan smiled sweetly but firmly declined. "Perhaps in three years. Otherwise, wouldn’t I just be helping my children create more competition for themselves?"
