The Last Question
The time during student days is a mysterious thing. The routine of daily classes would seem unbearable, but once exams were involved, time flew by.
On Thursday afternoon, the exam room and seat numbers for the monthly exam were neatly posted on the information board downstairs of the senior building. A group of students in red and white uniforms crowded in front, craning their necks to find their exam room and seat numbers.
The last class on Thursday was the only physical education class of the week—Fang Xing was surprised that Shaojiang High School could still manage to have one physical education class per week. Although it usually involved casually running a couple of laps on the field and then letting the sports committee members fetch basketballs and volleyballs from the equipment room, some continued activities on the field, while others returned to the classroom, and a few took advantage of the time before other classes were dismissed to grab a quick meal at the cafeteria.
Since there were too many people when the exam room assignments were first posted, Fang Xing didn’t go down to check. After the teacher announced free activities, he played ball with Xu Hang and others for a while. Only in the last few minutes, when the crowd had dispersed a bit, did he take a quick look.
The exam rooms and seat numbers were arranged based on the ranking in the opening exam. As a transfer student who hadn’t participated in that, he was placed directly in the last exam room, the last seat.
Exam Room 24, Exam Number 717.
Fang Xing quickly memorized it.
In the evening, there was a math self-study session. The math teacher, probably in his fifties, was about to retire but still lively. Perhaps due to nervousness about the upcoming exam, he enthusiastically covered a range of topics without even taking a sip of water for over an hour. A small group of students, including Fang Xing, could keep up, but most had fallen behind, and a handful, led by Xu Hang, seemed to be in pain after an hour and a half.
When the bell rang to end the class, the math teacher was still reluctant to leave and hastily assigned a challenging problem.
“The eleventh set of Bai Pi’s papers, the last additional question. There are three parts: the first two are quite simple, and the last one is a bit challenging. Give it a try, everyone.”
The deep male voice drowned out the sharp sound of the dismissal bell. “If you can solve this completely, then there’s basically nothing to worry about. By the way, let’s assign some weekend homework as well—two special topic papers. Class monitor, come to my office to pick them up, and the rest can leave after class.”
When the old teacher left, sighs of relief echoed from all corners. Xu Hang’s voice was the loudest.
“I swear—I’m about to burst my bladder!”
Laughter filled the classroom.
After a minute of non-stop math for an hour and a half, not many people could endure it. The sounds of dragging chairs and desks began, and Fang Xing heard someone in front, Jiang Xinxin, say softly to her desk mate, “Let’s go get some fresh air; my head is pounding.”
In just a few minutes, the classroom emptied out, leaving only four or five people chatting or playing with their phones. Fang Xing didn’t feel particularly tired; he even opened Bai Pi’s papers and glanced at the additional problem assigned a moment ago.
It was a sequence problem. The first two parts seemed straightforward; you could substitute the given conditions and apply a few formulas, continuously simplify, and obtain the answer. The last part required proving the existence of the assumed value “β” and finding its range.
At first glance, it seemed quite routine. Fang Xing wrote down a few steps on his draft paper, only to realize it was somewhat complex.
He stared at the problem for a while, his whole person motionless, frowning as if lost in thought. His right hand, however, continued to move quickly across the draft paper.
He usually wouldn’t stop writing when encountering a challenging problem, unless he really couldn’t proceed at all. He would work through all the conditions he could identify, sparking inspiration in the process.
This method was effective for him. After about five minutes, he had roughly clarified his thoughts and started to provide a proof on the draft paper. When he had almost written out the answer, Xu Hang returned.
“Why are there so few people left—where’s your exam room, desk mate?”
Xu Hang’s naturally loud voice could probably be heard throughout the entire building with just one sentence. Fang Xing, still writing, responded, “The last one, Exam Room 24, 717.”
“At least I’m better than you.” Xu Hang instantly became confident, and his voice grew even louder. “I’m in Exam Room 21. Phew, that was close—I almost entered the last hundred.”
Fang Xing finished the last stroke, finding Xu Hang’s words amusing. Xu Hang continued to chatter, “But I think I might not make it this time, really. I have a premonition. I’ll go home early tonight and inform my parents in advance. Let them prepare early.”
Laughter echoed from the students chatting up front, and one turned around and said, “What preparations do your parents need to make for your exams?”
“Prepare for a good mindset,” Xu Hang said with a serious expression. “If this one is too difficult, prepare..”
“Bang!”
A loud noise interrupted Xu Hang’s words, and laughter filled the entire classroom.
The sudden sound was too unexpected, drowning out all other noises. A girl was startled and let out a scream, plunging the entire classroom into silence.
Fang Xing, who had just finished writing, felt a bit irritated by the noise. Along with everyone else, he turned to look at where the sound came from.
Tan Zhuo had slammed a book shut.
He looked at Xu Hang, his chest heaving violently, his expression somewhat unpleasant, and his tone extremely rude.
“Can you guys keep it down? I need to do my homework.”
Xu Hang, who had been clowning around, was momentarily stunned. He blurted out, “Sorry, didn’t notice—”
Then he realized, “Wait… isn’t it the end of class, big bro?”
He still had a somewhat joking tone. Tan Zhuo sneered, “Not everyone skips studying like you.”
This remark was a bit harsh. Xu Hang kicked his chair away, stood up, and walked towards Tan Zhuo. “What did you say?”
Fang Xing also stood up, ready to intervene when he saw Xu Hang getting close to Tan Zhuo.
“What did you mean just now? Do I have to revolve around you during break time?”
“Enough.” Fang Xing blocked in front of Xu Hang and turned his gaze to Tan Zhuo.
“Can we talk civilly?”
“How can I talk civilly,” Tan Zhuo glanced at him with sarcasm. “Didn’t you see I was solving problems? The noise made it impossible for me to concentrate. He doesn’t do his homework; that’s his business. Can he not disturb others?”
Has this guy never been beaten before?
For a moment, Fang Xing was stunned by his theory of “the whole world has to consider me,” completely unsure of what to say. He could only once again stop Xu Hang, who was about to rush forward, and took a look at Tan Zhuo’s desk.
On top of it was Bai Pi’s papers, and the open page was the additional question from the eleventh set, the last part of which was only half solved.
Fang Xing looked for a few seconds before speaking, “You can’t solve it because you made a mistake.”
Tan Zhuo’s gaze, which was originally on his papers, suddenly turned towards Fang Xing, staring at him.Fang Xing met his eyes and pointed at the other’s answer.
“Under the condition of 0<x<1, for β to exist, the equation must have a positive root; otherwise, let alone different sequences, you won’t even find a unique solution.”
“Your initial assumption was wrong.”
After saying this, there was a brief silence in the classroom.
No one spoke, not even Xu Hang, who was just as loud as a suona, suddenly became quiet. Tan Zhuo lowered his head and looked at his test paper for more than a minute, then slowly raised his head to look at Fang Xing.
Then Fang Xing realized that the other’s expression had become even worse.
If Tan Zhuo’s expression just now was angry and mocking because he couldn’t solve the problem and despised those who ranked at the bottom, now his expression added a bit of embarrassment. His entire face, including his neck, turned red, and his complexion was so ugly that his breathing became short and urgent, as if he might not be able to catch his breath at any moment.
Fang Xing even felt that the hatred Tan Zhuo harbored towards him instantly surpassed that of Xu Hang. It made him recall the words he had just said.
No emotional tone, no foul language, and even to make his words more convincing, his tone was very sincere.
… Ridiculous.
Seeing this, Xu Hang became even more angry, staring at Tan Zhuo and scolding, “My desk mate was correcting your homework, what’s with that expression?”
Fang Xing sighed silently in his heart. Just at this moment, the bell for the next class rang, and more and more people returned to the classroom. He took advantage of this opportunity to push Xu Hang a bit.
“Let’s go back.”
Xu Hang, staring at Tan Zhuo, cursed, “Damn,” turned around angrily and went back to his homework. Fang Xing walked a bit slowly and clearly heard the sound of tearing something behind him.
Tan Zhuo tore up that test paper.
… Is this mentality appropriate for the college entrance exam? It seems tough to handle even for a monthly exam.
In contrast, Xu Hang’s mentality seemed a bit overly positive. He still looked unhappy before self-study, not saying a word throughout the session. However, by the time the night self-study arrived, he had become active again.
Because the exam room for the next day’s test had to be arranged in advance, this night self-study would end half an hour earlier. When it was time, the entire class started to move—books stored in transparent storage boxes under the desks were carried to the back of the classroom, and extra desks and chairs were dragged out. The sound of dragging tables and chairs echoed through the entire teaching building.
Xu Hang shuttled through the class like a butterfly, helping to move tables for a while and fetching books for others. He even asked Fang Xing, “Desk mate, do you need help?”
“No need.” Fang Xing looked at him. “I thought you would be angry until tomorrow’s exam.”
“That’s not necessary.” Xu Hang waved his hand. “Although my studies are indeed not good, I still have some self-esteem, you know? I wish both of us could leave the last two hundred of the grade together—you look like you have a bit of a studious shadow, very hopeful.”
“Sure.” Fang Xing smiled a bit and then added, “Practice a few sequence problems when you go back for math, and review the unit test on the physics topic we discussed the day before yesterday. There’s a good chance it’ll come up in the exam.”
“Uh, okay.” Xu Hang replied somewhat dazed.
After everything was settled and they left the school, there were still twenty minutes before ten o’clock. There was no sign of Jiang Zhijin at the school gate, and Fang Xing realized that he had forgotten to tell Jiang Zhijin about the possibility of an early dismissal tonight.
The school gate was brightly lit, with a continuous flow of traffic. He stood at the gate, contemplating for a moment, and then took out his phone to send a message to Jiang Zhijin.
“Are you at Cloud Seven?”
After a while, Jiang Zhijin replied.
“Yes.”
“Student Fang, using your phone during class?”
Fang Xing replied, “School ended early.”
“In that case, I’ll come to pick you up now.”
“No need.” Considering that it might be the busiest time at the bar now, Fang Xin Thought for a moment and continued typing.
“I’ll come to Cloud Seven to find you.”
Two minutes later, Jiang Zhijin’s message came in.
“Sure, come over.”