Chapter 18: Manifesting Miracles in Class

At this time, Cao Shuxian was much younger than what he had seen before his rebirth, and her physical condition was much better. Her eyes were still bright, her skin was rosy, and her complexion was quite good.

Before Wang Donglai's rebirth, Cao Shuxian's body had accumulated a lifetime of aches and pains due to her long years working as a laborer on construction sites. Eventually, she was sent to the hospital due to anemia, only to discover a tumor in her body, which required a moderate surgery.

After the surgery, Cao Shuxian's health collapsed immediately, and she aged significantly.

It was precisely because of this that Wang Donglai had thought about making money; even knowing that working late at night was bad for his health, he would work overtime to ensure he completed the full two hundred hours of monthly attendance.

He did it all to earn a little more money to ease the burden on his parents.

However, until his rebirth, Wang Donglai had never managed to achieve this.

"Donglai, pay more attention to resting lately and eat more nutritious food. This is some food I bought for you; keep it in your dormitory and eat it if you get hungry. Take good care of yourself, do you hear me?"

Cao Shuxian looked Wang Donglai up and down, then reached out to straighten his clothes and brushed off the dust.

"Mom, I know. I've been eating well, eating on time every day. You don't need to worry," Wang Donglai promised, patting his chest.

"By the way, Mom, why did you come to the school? Is something wrong?" Wang Donglai asked curiously.

"Your Sister Nuonuo is having a baby, so I came back to deliver a gift. I'll take a bus over there in a little while."

As she spoke, Cao Shuxian handed the snacks in her hand to Wang Donglai, then pulled three hundred yuan from her pocket and stuffed it into his hand.

"I'm leaving you some money. Buy whatever you need, eat more meat, and if anything happens, call me or your father."

"The Gaokao is coming up soon, and I don't know much about it, but just do your best. Study as much as you can. As long as you get in, your father and I will support your schooling. Don't worry about tuition or anything; just focus on your studies, understood?"

"Go into the classroom and read first. I'll go see your sister, and then I'll be leaving. Hurry back to class."

Cao Shuxian rambled on with a long string of words. If it had been the old Wang Donglai, he might have felt impatient or even a bit embarrassed.

But a thirty-year-old soul could feel that within this incessant nagging, there was a wealth of maternal love.

A mother is great; her love does not diminish regardless of the family's circumstances or the beauty or ugliness of her children.

Cao Shuxian was unaware of Wang Donglai's changes; she had never mentioned his grades when they spoke on the phone, as he had originally intended to give his family a surprise.

But now, he had changed his mind.

"Mom, don't worry. I will definitely get into a good university. My grades have been getting better with each exam. I'll definitely get a high score on the Gaokao. Once the exams are over, our family will definitely get better and better. You and Dad can just enjoy life at home then."

"Alright, then Mom will wait for your good results. But you still need to pay attention to your health and not overwork yourself, okay?" After smiling, Cao Shuxian agreed, ultimately returning her concern to Wang Donglai's health.

"Mm!"

Wang Donglai nodded firmly in agreement.

Cao Shuxian left to find Wang Chenyue in her classroom before taking a bus to deliver the gift.

Wang Donglai stood at the entrance of Class 14, watching Cao Shuxian's figure walk away until she disappeared, before finally returning to the classroom.

The arrival of Wang Donglai's parent had attracted quite a bit of attention, so when he entered the classroom, many classmates looked at him with inexplicable expressions.

Wang Donglai ignored these gazes entirely, sitting in his seat with a calm expression to read his book.

An invisible atmosphere spread around Wang Donglai. Guo Xing, Chen Mengni, and the others did not speak, reading their books in extreme silence.

Under the influence of this atmosphere, Class 14 became eerily quiet.

When the math teacher, Luo Zhibin, arrived to start the lesson, he actually found it somewhat unusual.

Standing at the podium, Luo Zhibin spoke with great passion, explaining math problems with fervor.

"Come, everyone look at the blackboard. Given the function $f(x) = a^3x^3 - (a+1)x^2 + x - 13$."

"First question: If the tangent line to the graph of function $f(x)$ at point $(2, f(2))$ is $9x - y + b = 0$, find the values of the real numbers $a$ and $b$."

"This problem can be solved using the concept of derivatives. According to what I said before, what is the first step?"

Luo Zhibin wrote the problem on the blackboard with passion, then turned back to look at the students, his face filled with anticipation as he waited for an answer.

However, the classroom remained silent.

Seeing the students below either looking at him blankly, looking confused, or lowering their heads to avoid looking at the blackboard, Luo Zhibin felt a surge of frustration.

He shifted his gaze to Chen Yanqiang, Xie Yaolin, and others, only to find that even these slightly better students looked lost, clearly not understanding how to solve the problem.

Finally, he glanced at Guo Xing, but as soon as their eyes met, Guo Xing lowered her head.

"Wang Donglai, you answer this question!"

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Luo Zhibin had no choice but to pick someone directly.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he chose Wang Donglai, who was looking down at his book.

Hearing Luo Zhibin call on him, Wang Donglai stood up without hesitation. Looking at the problem on the blackboard, he didn't spend even a second thinking before speaking: "$f'(x) = 3a^3x^2 - 2(a+1)x + 1$ ($a \in \mathbb{R}$). From $f'(2) = 9$, we get $a = 5$. Therefore, $f(x) = 375x^3 - 12x^2 + x - 13$. Thus, $f(2) = 3$. Since $(2, 3)$ lies on the line $9x - y + b = 0$, then $b = -15$."

As if he had practiced it beforehand, Wang Donglai spoke fluently, solving the problem with ease.

Luo Zhibin, standing at the podium, was also somewhat stunned. He had originally thought Wang Donglai wasn't paying attention because he was looking down at his book, so he had called him up to force him to focus on the blackboard.

He never expected Wang Donglai to solve the problem so easily.

Even more shocked were the students below, because they hadn't even heard clearly what Wang Donglai had said, but they could tell from Luo Zhibin's expression that Wang Donglai had solved it.

This was clearly a math problem, yet it had been solved by Wang Donglai through mental calculation.

No matter how poor a student's grades were, it was obvious that Wang Donglai's mathematical level was definitely not poor.

Those with some mathematical foundation quickly began writing on their paper, reconstructing the steps Wang Donglai had just recited.

Soon, Guo Xing had reconstructed the solution steps based on Wang Donglai's verbal explanation.

"So amazing!"

"Wang Donglai, you're the man!"

"Beast! I didn't expect our class to have such a powerhouse!"

The more one understood mathematics, the more one realized how high Wang Donglai's level was.

A problem they couldn't even understand by looking at it was recited easily by Wang Donglai without even needing a pen.

As Wang Donglai's deskmate, Guo Xing saw it even more clearly: Wang Donglai hadn't looked at the blackboard at all; he had been looking down at his math book the entire time.

It was as if Wang Donglai had solved the problem in his head just by hearing Luo Zhibin read the question once.

If Guo Xing hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it.

But the fact was right in front of her, leaving her no room for doubt.

Luo Zhibin on the podium also reacted quickly, a deep smile appearing on his face, and his gaze toward Wang Donglai became extremely kind.

"Wang Donglai's answer is correct. You may sit down."

After letting Wang Donglai sit, Luo Zhibin did not continue with the problem. Instead, he looked at the students and said, "How many times have I explained this knowledge point to you? You still can't do it every time it appears. The Gaokao is coming soon, and this is a mandatory topic. If you don't know it, you won't be able to do it then, and you'll be left staring blankly."

"Look at Wang Donglai. His grades have improved tremendously in just one month. I heard that Wang Donglai comes to the classroom around six in the morning and doesn't return to the dormitory until eleven at night. What about you?"

"Sleeping in class, daydreaming, staring into space—it's like you have thorns in your butts; you can't sit still on your stools."

"Forget it, talking too much just annoys you, and it's boring for me too."

Suddenly, Luo Zhibin snapped out of it and stopped criticizing.

Instead, he picked up where he left off and continued teaching the problem.

After class, Luo Zhibin walked to Wang Donglai's desk and said, "If there is anything you don't understand in the future, just come to my office and ask. With your rate of progress, there is still a lot of room for improvement in your math grades. Don't let it go to waste."

"Yes, thank you, Teacher Luo."

Wang Donglai naturally did not argue and thanked him earnestly.