Chapter 36: I Am the Straight-A Student!

"You are truly a genius!"

Seeing that his nephew was in a bad state, Ji Yangyang’s uncle hurriedly stepped forward to praise He Chen: "Even among professional racers, you belong to the most gifted group! But why must you play the pig to eat the tiger and make things so difficult for Yangyang?"

"This is nothing. In a country with so many people, the one thing we aren't short of is true genius; what we lack are the conditions for these true geniuses to display their talent," He Chen said indifferently. "As long as there is no threshold, just like the college entrance exam, you will find that everyone around you is a genius, and you are the only one who isn't. As for making things difficult? That's not the case at all! I’m simply helping him recognize his own reality early on, so he doesn't end up neither here nor there, skipping his studies to act cool and mimic Han Han by racing, which only misleads ordinary students who don't have his 'Roman' family background to cushion their mistakes."

Ji Yangyang’s face flushed red. He wanted to retort, but he was speechless. Because He Chen’s talent had indeed crushed his own. If a few more people like He Chen flooded into the racing scene, he would likely lose interest entirely, just as he had with his academic studies. Even now, he suddenly felt his long-held dream of racing lose its luster. He then thought of the composition he had written that morning for the Chinese exam titled "My Dream," where he had smugly drawn nothing but a race car, thinking it a stroke of genius. Now, it felt devoid of any coolness—only shame remained.

"Do you accept it?" He Chen had no interest in listening to the uncle’s platitudes designed to soothe his nephew’s frustration; he turned his gaze to Ji Yangyang. "If you still don't, we can go again! But you only have eleven chances left."

"Why eleven?" Deng Xiaoqi asked, her eyes shining as she looked at He Chen, clearly captivated by his every move.

"We’ve already raced twice. Eleven more makes it thirteen races total," He Chen explained matter-of-factly. "If the score hits 7-0, I think even if Young Master Ji has no face left to lose, he wouldn't dare refuse to concede, right? Of course, as long as he dares to keep losing, I dare to keep racing! But there's really no need to go beyond 7-0. I don't have that much time to waste here."

"Again!" Ji Yangyang glared at He Chen, his eyes bloodshot. "Best of five!"

"Fine!" He Chen had no objections and couldn't help but think slightly better of Ji Yangyang. At least he hadn't completely abandoned all pride, which already made him better than many adults.

The third round began. Ji Yangyang was tense, swearing to win at least once. But as he pushed himself to his limit, he could only watch as He Chen executed a drifting technique around a corner that he had only ever seen in movies—a level of mastery belonging to a legendary mountain racer. He was left in utter despair. Losing control of his car, he slammed into the edge of the track.

"Yangyang!"

As his uncle rushed over in alarm, Ji Yangyang climbed out of the kart, ripped off his helmet, and stared at his beloved piece of gear. He slammed it violently onto the professionally tuned kart, let out a frustrated roar, and ran off.

"How could he act like that..." Deng Xiaoqi was startled by Ji Yangyang’s display.

"What’s so strange about that?" After reaching the finish line, He Chen stepped out of his car, removed his helmet, and smiled. "In *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Jia Baoyu is incredibly sycophantic toward pretty girls, always attentive and courteous. But when he truly gets angry—smashing teacups, driving away maids, kicking them in the chest—who else does he resemble? It was always him. These young masters may look gentle and amiable on the surface, but their inner volatility and arrogance are two sides of the same coin; it just depends on whether you get the chance to see it. If Jia Baoyu is like that, what more can you expect from Young Master Ji, who is always ready to start a fight?"

"He Chen, you are truly amazing!" After hearing He Chen’s explanation, Deng Xiaoqi recovered from the shock of Ji Yangyang’s outburst. She held her hands to her chest, looking at him with sparkling eyes and showering him with praise. "You’re so good at racing despite just learning—if you became a professional, you’d definitely be a world champion!"

"No interest," He Chen waved his hand and started walking away. "I don’t need this kind of niche extreme sport with such a high barrier to entry to prove myself."

"That’s true," Deng Xiaoqi trotted to keep up, tilting her head and looking at his face with a hint of infatuation. "You’re so talented, if you took the art exams and became a star, you would definitely be a top-tier celebrity!"

"I don't want to steal your title as the 'Star Academic'," He Chen teased, seeing her bring it up again.

"Stop teasing me," Deng Xiaoqi blushed. "My grades are so bad, how could I be an academic? If we're talking about a real star academic, Wang Yidi is much more likely."

As she spoke, her voice dropped, and her expression became complicated. Wang Yidi was an art student like her, good-looking, came from a great family, and was a genuine academic powerhouse—the kind who ranked in the top thirty of the entire grade. Even if she was at the tail end of that top thirty, she was a true high-achiever capable of aiming for top universities like Tsinghua or Peking. If she chose the art path, she would absolutely dominate.

"Don't be so humble!" He Chen laughed. "In my eyes, once you enter the entertainment industry, with your qualifications, you’ll be a genuine academic! Don't believe me? Let me test you. How much is 68 plus 36 plus 16? If you were born in '98, how old were you in '04? How many years are 607 days? Are 5, 10, and 30 odd numbers? You know your multiplication tables, right? What’s seven times eight? Eight times seven? Seven times five? Three times four?"

"..." Deng Xiaoqi answered quickly at first, but as she realized He Chen was treating her like a primary schooler, asking increasingly simple questions, her smile faded. What did he mean by this? Was he treating her like an idiot? Even if her grades weren't perfect, they were respectable—she consistently scored over five hundred in liberal arts. Why was he asking her these things?

"Don't misunderstand!" He Chen noticed her expression, stopped his questioning, and smiled. "I don't mean to look down on you! I’m just stating facts. Many stars in the entertainment industry honestly couldn't answer these 'foolish' questions you despise. Yet, some of them still dare to claim they often get perfect scores in math. Given the academic standard of the entertainment industry, wouldn't your grades make you a true academic?"

"Really?" Deng Xiaoqi’s eyes widened in disbelief. If that were true, she wouldn't even need to manufacture a persona; she would be a legitimate academic in the industry, through and through! Although she aspired to be a star and followed the industry, it wasn't a decade later yet; the true colors of these celebrities were rarely exposed online. People’s understanding was still limited to promotional materials—who could have imagined it was this exaggerated?

"Of course it's true!" He Chen smiled enigmatically. "The others can't live up to the title of 'entertainment industry academic,' only someone like you can. If you all went to the Nobel ceremonies together, you’d definitely be the one winning the Nobel Prize in Mathematics!"

"It's 'live up to,' not 'rule over,' and there is no Nobel Prize in Mathematics..." Deng Xiaoqi corrected him instinctively. But seeing He Chen’s smile, she suddenly realized he was mocking those stars, fearing that some of them might actually mispronounce words or truly believe the Nobel had a math category.

My god! If everything He Chen said was true, wouldn't someone like her be a complete misfit? Would she even have a future if she actually entered that world?