Chapter 24: The Little Companions Were All Stunned!

“Hurry up, you two, finish the rest of the food. You can’t just sit here playing on your phones all day.” Chu Lan rubbed her little belly, still thinking about heading out for a stroll to aid digestion.

But the father and son beside her paid no attention to her words. Suddenly, Zhang Bowen looked up and said, “That Zhang Chu everyone’s talking about online—the one who wrote ‘The Death of Red Hare’—that wouldn’t be you, would it?”

“What’s ‘The Death of Red Hare’? What secret code are you two using?” Chu Lan was completely oblivious to the news, utterly confused.

Zhang Chu replied, “No mistake, it’s me. I wrote it for the Chinese essay. I don’t know why it got leaked so early.”

In truth, Zhang Chu was grateful to whoever had leaked his essay. If it had been released alongside the other perfect-score essays from different provinces, the public’s attention would have been scattered. Now, his essay stood alone, commanding all the discussion and recognition, and the reputation points it brought weren’t just in the thousands—within a few hours, they had soared to fifty thousand. The news continued to spread and ferment; Zhang Chu reckoned ‘The Death of Red Hare’ would draw at least another hundred thousand points. Choosing this essay had proven to be the right decision!

“Your college entrance exam essay’s out? I have to take a look.” Chu Lan grabbed her husband’s phone and opened the news report. Before she even got to the main text, she saw the media’s commentary:

[Recently, news from the Jiangdong Province’s exam grading site revealed that a candidate’s essay, written in archaic vernacular, amazed the graders, earning unanimous praise and a perfect score. The essay, titled ‘The Death of Red Hare,’ used the familiar Three Kingdoms tale as a foundation, weaving a touching story of Red Hare’s sacrifice for righteousness, highlighting the theme that true heroes must value integrity. The essay also expressed the ambition to always choose virtue and place trust above all, elevating the core idea. What’s more remarkable is that the author composed the entire essay in pure archaic vernacular—a first since the restoration of the college entrance exam. This has sparked debate: should ‘The Death of Red Hare’ have received a perfect score? Ma Fuhua, a distinguished Chinese teacher from Huiwen High School, believes awarding a perfect score acknowledges the student’s ability, but does not endorse students writing essays in classical language.]

The report ended with the full text of ‘The Death of Red Hare.’ Chu Lan quietly read it through, then put the phone down and examined Zhang Chu from head to toe. “Just how many surprises are you hiding? Tell me now before my heart gives out from the shock!”

“There’s not much more, really. Next time you hear my total score, be sure to bring some fast-acting heart pills.”

Zhang Bowen was in exceptionally good spirits. His friends and colleagues were always showing off various achievements, but now he could simply screenshot ‘The Death of Red Hare’ and post it in his social circle: “My son’s essay for the college entrance exam—who would have thought it got a perfect score?”

He rarely posted anything on WeChat, but this time, after breaking his silence and posting the image, the likes and comments poured in, though the most active users were notably absent.

“Is this really your son’s work, Brother Zhang? It’s brilliant!”

“A tiger father breeds no dog sons—congratulations!”

“I just saw the headline news, never imagined it was your son’s essay.”

“Congratulations, the literary talent must be inherited from you.”

“Second Uncle, was this really written by Zhang Chu? Don’t scare me!”

“How did you raise your child, Brother Zhang? I must learn from you someday.”

Zhang Bowen was elated. When ‘Basic Deduction’ passed the initial selection for the magazine ‘Chronicle of Reasoning,’ even that hadn’t prompted him to announce it widely. Children are, after all, a parent’s proudest achievement.

Chu Lan was at a loss for words to praise him. She waved her hand grandly, not caring whether the dishes were finished or not. “Let’s go, let’s go—we’ll buy you a few new outfits to celebrate.”

…

Being dragged around the mall by his mother was no easy task. Zhang Chu’s idea of clothing was simply comfort. Coming from a working-class family, he couldn’t afford branded attire. His favorites were Uniqlo and H&M—simple, comfortable, and cheap. But now, Chu Lan was taking him to trendy boutiques, determined to make him look sharp.

“How about this one? I think it looks great on you.”

Zhang Chu quickly shook his head. He couldn’t appreciate the aesthetics of the printed T-shirt she held. Though he was the one shopping for clothes, it was Chu Lan who was full of energy, while he trailed behind, fiddling with his phone and offering occasional opinions.

Meanwhile, his buddies were hearing the uproar online. All of them belonged to a group chat, where conversations were usually lively.

Today, the message notifications were popping nonstop, forcing Zhang Chu to mute them.

Wei Wenlin, the chubby guy who had recently bulked up, sent several voice messages to the group, laying out Zhang Chu’s “crimes” one after another.

“Just finished two rounds of League of Legends, opened my phone, and saw your news. Is that essay really yours, Zhang Chu?”

“Man, you hid yourself so well! We should have just asked you to write our essays!”

“A perfect-score essay—amazing!”

Voice messages and memes flew together, but none could express Wei Wenlin’s astonishment. Their longtime gaming buddy, who always played on their team, had written a college entrance exam essay that not only received a perfect score, but was the top of its kind. It was as if their friend had become famous overnight!

Feng Tianrui chimed in, “If I hadn’t seen the news myself, I wouldn’t believe it. What’s going on in your head, Zhang Chu? I always bomb the classical reading questions…”

“Big bro, I’m calling you big bro now. Help me translate the essay—I didn’t understand some parts.”

“I finally believe what you said about aiming for Tsinghua and Peking University.”

Fu Deyu sent a voice message, yelling into his phone, “Just now my dad asked if I knew Zhang Chu, since we go to the same school. I quickly said no, so I wouldn’t get lectured.”

“We all have the same Chinese teacher, but the gap is enormous. Our teacher will probably be so happy she can’t sleep!”

“Zhang Chu, were you raised on the New Chinese Dictionary? Share some of your skills. If I have to repeat a year, I’ll rely on your study materials.”

Their little group was buzzing. Amid shopping, Zhang Chu replied by typing, “Actually, I was raised on Romance of the Three Kingdoms—one page a day.”

Seeing Zhang Chu’s reply, Wei Wenlin and the others bombarded him with memes, wishing they could wring the neck of this show-off!