Chapter 25: Chapter 25

It was as if she had only just realized the tall person standing beside her, An Ning was startled and shivered. She instinctively tucked away the manuscript paper in her hand. But the next moment, the person before her hurriedly stopped her.

“Wait... An Ning, may I ask how you came up with this method to solve the problem? And the equation just now…”

An Ning kept her head lowered and did not speak.

Seeing the little girl so nervous she might want to bury her head in the ground, and recalling her usual quiet and reserved nature, Ye Jingshu belatedly realized that her sudden excitement had probably scared the girl.

She quickly softened her tone into an unprecedented gentleness:

“Lu An Ning, may I ask how you thought of solving this question this way?”

Ye Jingshu originally intended to proceed step by step, but after hearing this, the little girl seemed even more nervous:

“I’m sorry, Teacher Ye. I didn’t mean to peek at your lesson plan. It’s just that last time when I was delivering… delivering homework, I accidentally saw it on the desk, and because I was interested, I just…”

The original identity was one of the few well-behaved students in the class who still studied diligently. Even though quiet and reserved, she had always been favored by teachers. Occasionally helping to deliver homework was not unusual.

So that’s how it was, Ye Jingshu suddenly understood.

But if she remembered correctly, this question was given by her dad just last week!

That means, at most one week, even her own father, a professional professor, had found this problem frustrating and still hadn’t solved it, yet now a high school girl had just solved it.

Thinking this, Ye Jingshu looked at the girl before her with even more warmth.

“An Ning, to be honest, this question has troubled me for a long time. Could you please explain it to me carefully?” Teacher Ye’s tone was unprecedentedly gentle.

Seeing no anger in the other’s expression, An Ning finally relaxed and nodded slightly in response to her earnest request:

From the very beginning, a certain system spying on her: “...”

Its host was becoming more and more theatrical.

Half an hour later, after politely declining Teacher Ye’s overenthusiastic invitation, An Ning slung her backpack over her shoulder and slowly walked home, mimicking her original self’s manner.

“Host, you did that on purpose today, didn’t you?”

“But it seems it’s useless now. Universities have all suspended classes.”

Biting on the leftover meat bun from the morning, An Ning was in an unusually good mood:

“Doggie, you don’t understand. Suspension of classes is only temporary. Such good connections, if missed, would really be gone.”

Casting the net early increases the chance of catching fish.

And if she remembered correctly, most universities would resume classes in the 1970s.

An Ning had calculated carefully: it was only 1968 now, meaning there were nearly ten years until the college entrance examination was restored. If she waited until then to take the exam, she would be almost thirty years old, past her prime.

Her best years for learning had mostly passed. Unlike now, where there were opportunities and connections—if she didn’t fight for it, she’d be betraying herself.

As for cheating with future knowledge? That was just bullying people of this era.

An Ning had no such idea, nor did she have such high morals. Whether before crossing over or as Ma Jia An Ning in her past life, all this knowledge was earned by her own efforts and used without guilt.

“Host, now I understand why in your past life you often studied math materials.” In the consciousness sea, the system looked like it had a sudden revelation.

An Ning kept biting the bun in her hand and remained silent.

The unknown world required preparing for all possibilities.

No matter the era, math was fundamental and widely applicable. Sudden medical skills might be hard to explain, but grasping math properly opened countless possibilities.

Being good at math was often regarded as a sign of high intelligence.

In fact, An Ning had made the right bet.

Almost as soon as she got home, usually quiet Teacher Ye stormed into her father’s study:

“Dad, look, isn’t this the problem you mentioned last time? Old Comrade Ye, quickly check if this solution is correct.”

Inside the study, the interrupted and lost-in-thought Old Ye hadn’t yet gotten angry. His eyes were drawn to the familiar equation before him.

Without even acknowledging his daughter, Professor Ye started calculating along the line of thought on the paper.

After a while, he looked at his daughter with a face like he had discovered a new world:

“This... this is your solution?”

Professor Ye immediately put on a “That’s more like it” expression and eagerly asked about the solver.

Good grief, knowing that your daughter’s brain can’t solve this, is it fun to make things difficult for others?

Teacher Ye gave the little old man before her a hostile glare.

Feeling guilty belatedly, Professor Ye cleared his throat: “Ahem ahem... It’s through thinking that one makes progress!”

“By the way, you haven’t said—who is the expert that solved this problem?”

“Heh, you won’t believe it!” Proudly holding the paper in her palm, Teacher Ye looked exceptionally pleased with her stage victory:

“It’s not some expert but a high school student in our class!”

“What? A high school student?”

Unexpectedly, Professor Ye was not disappointed but his eyes instantly lit up, almost unable to wait:

“Where is she from? What’s her name? Does she have any intention of specializing in mathematics in the future?”

Recalling the meticulous calculations on the scrap paper just now, Professor Ye’s gaze grew even more passionate.

Such a promising talent must not be wasted.

However, after the excitement, thinking of the current situation, the old professor sighed.

If it were the past, he would have certainly brought this promising student into his circle. With his reputation, even if the student was weak in other subjects, it wouldn’t be difficult to specially admit her. But now…

Still, his love for talent prevailed.

Professor Ye unusually didn’t glare or scold his daughter:

“This young student has helped your old dad a great deal. Comrade Ye, next time don’t forget to invite her home as a guest…”

“Don’t worry, Old Comrade Ye, mission guaranteed.” Understanding her father’s intentions, Teacher Ye nodded quickly.

Unaware that her fishing plan had already succeeded halfway, An Ning had just returned home when her cheap stepsister Lu Qing, extravagantly dressed, walked in.

Seeing An Ning, Lu Qing’s eyes dodged briefly, probably feeling guilty, and for the first time even greeted her:

“Big sister, you just got back!”

An Ning maintained her original personality and only nodded lightly. As she turned, seeing the obvious relief on Lu Qing’s face, she couldn’t help but feel a bit amused.

So it had already started at this moment.

In the consciousness sea, the system grumbled:

“Host, host, your cheap stepsister definitely just went to ‘accidentally’ meet your childhood betrothal.”

An Ning’s only reaction:

“Good, please do bless them, lock it down!”