Chapter 22: Special Tutoring

“What’s wrong? You really that reluctant to see me?” The physics teacher adjusted his glasses, a glint flashing across the lenses, but the curve at the corner of his mouth betrayed a teasing tone.

He pulled out Lin Yumo’s physics test paper. The large red-ink comment—“Force analysis incorrect”—stung her eyes, making them prickle with heat.

“Sixty-five points isn’t your real level. I heard your math is already touching the ceiling, so why are you getting stuck on physics?”

Lin Yumo lowered her head, staring at the tips of her shoes. Her head kept sinking lower and lower until her face was almost hidden.

She thought of the online lectures she’d rewatched in the library over and over, of those electromagnetism formulas she just couldn’t untangle. Her throat tightened.
“Teacher, I… I’m really trying.”

“Trying isn’t enough.” The physics teacher suddenly set the paper down in front of her.

“Stay during the big break; you can skip morning exercises. I’ll give you one-on-one tutoring. Bring me the problems you can’t solve every day, and take these test papers to work on.”

As he spoke, the physics teacher handed her a thick stack of physics papers.

“Start from Newton’s laws—tackle them one formula at a time. I want to see whether physics is really that hard, or if your determination is harder.”

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yumo accepted the papers with resignation. “Okay…”

The physics teacher waved her off. “Go on, don’t be late for class. I think your next period is Chinese, right?”

Hugging the heavy pile of papers, Lin Yumo trudged out of the office, already calculating how late she’d have to stay up that night.

When the early-study dismissal bell chimed like shattering jade, Lin Yumo slipped in through the back door of the classroom and returned to her seat.

Like a curious little critter, Song Xingran immediately turned around, her ponytail brushing against the back-row classmates’ textbooks.

“What did Mr. Zhang want with you? Was it because you got third in the grade and he’s giving you an award?”

The girl’s eyes sparkled like they held starlight, her fingers gripping the edge of Lin Yumo’s desk and shaking it eagerly.

“So curious?”

Lin Yumo flipped through the stack of papers in her hands and pulled out the competition class schedule Mr. Zhang had given her—the edges of the sheet still warm from the printer.

“He wants me to join the math competition team. From now on, I’ll be in the competition class during evening self-study. And the physics teacher gave me this pile of test papers to do. Want to help me?”

Song Xingran shook her head like a rattle drum—then realized what she’d just heard.

“Huh?” Her face immediately fell, and she collapsed onto her desk with a muffled groan.

“Then who am I supposed to ask questions to? The class committee member explains things like he’s chanting a scripture—nowhere near as clear as you…” She poked at Lin Yumo’s strawberry-pattern pencil case, making it bulge with each jab.

“I’m not asking Wang Changyu again. Last time he explained something, it made zero sense! He doesn’t have your patience.”

“Can’t you just ask me after class?” Lin Yumo was amused, flicking her forehead with her fingertips.

“Or during PE free time—we can go under the trees and go over problems? The class committee member’s explanations may be fast, but his logic is solid.”

“Then you have to promise to come whenever I call!” Song Xingran suddenly sat up straight, her eyes lighting up again.

“Pinky swear!” Two little fingers hooked together over the desk like a crescent moon. Lin Yumo gave a helpless smile—she had barely hooked hers when the other girl gave her a vigorous shake.

During the ten-minute break, Lin Yumo opened her English notebook. Morning light streamed in through the window; next to the word “abundant”, she underlined key vocabulary with a highlighter in wavy strokes.

The Chinese class bell rang, and the Chinese teacher stepped onto the podium with a stack of essays, the lenses of his glasses glinting in the light.
“This monthly exam, our classmate Lin Yumo’s composition used classical allusions with precision…”

As the teacher’s praise rose and fell in tone, Lin Yumo could feel dozens of eyes turning toward her in unison. The tips of her ears gradually heated up—she just wanted the class to end quickly.

The rest of the morning became a “Lin Yumo compliment showcase.”

During chemistry, the teacher was explaining precipitation reactions when he suddenly switched topics:
“Lin Yumo’s organic deduction was excellent, but remember to distinguish the precipitate colors of copper hydroxide and iron hydroxide—one’s blue and flocculent, the other’s reddish-brown…”

The teacher’s voice mingled with quiet snickers from the back row as Lin Yumo scribbled notes furiously.

Only physics felt like a block of silent ice. When the teacher walked in carrying test papers, his gaze swept over the class, pausing for just half a second on Lin Yumo’s seat.

Lin Yumo gripped her pen tightly. The force-analysis diagram on her scratch paper suddenly blurred—
A “special tutoring” session for physics… could this be a tough battle?

…

Classroom of Class One, just as the bell for English rang.
Homeroom teacher Ms. Wang stepped onto the podium in high heels, the crisp sound echoing clearly in the quiet room, and with practiced ease, she switched on the projector.

Sunlight streamed in through a gap in the curtains, casting a slender beam across the projected screen.

“First of all, congratulations to our class’s Chi Ling for once again securing first place in this month’s exam.”

Ms. Wang adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, a pleased smile tugging at her lips. Her gaze swept over the tall figure in the back row, then her tone shifted:
“However—”

The classroom instantly grew quieter. Ms. Wang’s smile turned subtly meaningful.
“Do you all know who took third place this time?”

The previously focused atmosphere rippled with curiosity.
Though the elite-class students usually buried themselves in study, many of the boys held the name Lin Yumo in their hearts as that of their goddess.
“We know!”

The chorus of answers was punctuated by a few chuckles.

Lin Yumo’s name was famous throughout No.1 High—not only because of her delicate, beautiful face, but also because of the endless stream of anonymous love letters posted on the notice board.

“This young lady is no ordinary girl,” Ms. Wang said, arms folded and eyes full of appreciation.
“Except for being slightly weaker in physics, her scores in other subjects are nearly hitting the ceiling.

Once she improves her physics, even the top spot in our elite class may not be so secure.”

She deliberately glanced at Chi Ling, speaking earnestly:
“Chi Ling, you’d better take note.”

Chi Ling’s pen paused mid-page. The inky black of his eyes rippled faintly.

He lifted his head, gaze cool and indifferent, and gave Ms. Wang a slight nod before resuming his calm, focused demeanor, his pen flowing smoothly across his notebook again.

Seeing that he’d taken the message, Ms. Wang said no more and quickly summarized the overall results of the monthly exam.

Then she clapped her hands, her tone brightening.
“Alright, now for the main topic—everyone look at the projector.”

An English exam paper instantly filled the screen.
Pointing at it with a laser pointer, Ms. Wang spoke with pride:
“This is the only perfect-scoring English paper in the entire grade. Some of the vocabulary in this test was beyond the syllabus, yet Lin Yumo still performed flawlessly.”

She deftly scrolled with the mouse to the essay section.
“First, look at this handwriting—so neat and beautiful it could have been printed.

Then, look at the essay itself. She skillfully avoided overused vocabulary and instead used advanced terms like merits, drawbacks, algorithmic creativity. Her vocabulary range is impressive. Everyone should take this as a wake-up call—learn from her!”

After meticulously going through Lin Yumo’s paper, Ms. Wang finally moved on to other questions. The classroom was filled only with the scratch of chalk on the blackboard and her steady voice explaining.

Ding-ling-ling— The dismissal bell rang, and the once-quiet classroom burst into chatter.

Jiang Bozhou spun around abruptly, his chair scraping the floor with a sharp screech.

Waving his 98-point physics paper excitedly at Chi Ling and Wen Yannan, he said,
“Our fairy is too amazing! But she’s bad at physics—since I scored 98 this time, if I go teach her now, wouldn’t she totally worship me?”

Chi Ling glanced at him, the corner of his lips curling in a half-smile, his tone laced with dry humor.
“You didn’t even break 120 in Chinese. Sure you can explain your solutions clearly?”

Wen Yannan couldn’t help but laugh, pushing his glasses up as a glint flashed across the lenses.
“Who knows, maybe she’ll have to teach you Chinese first.”

Jiang Bozhou’s eyes lit up, and he slapped the desk so hard the stationery rattled.
“That works too! She can teach me Chinese, and I’ll teach her physics—that’s called complementary strengths! When our fairy’s scores surpass both of yours, don’t come crying!”

Hearing this, Chi Ling couldn’t help but picture Lin Yumo studying earnestly in the library—

The faint furrow of her brows when concentrating, the spark of joy in her eyes after solving a tough problem, and her tireless persistence.

He had to admit, with that kind of drive, she really could break through in physics.

At the thought, he gave a quiet laugh, a faint but genuine sense of long-forgotten pressure stirring in his heart.