"Back! Idiot!"
Just as the scar-faced man was about to leave, a furious roar came from behind him.
"Who are you calling an idiot?" The scar-faced man turned around, and upon seeing the speaker's face, his voice gradually lowered, replaced by a fawning smile. "Captain, what brings you here?"
A man in a white suit pushed the door open. "If I hadn't come, you would have fallen right into someone else's trap."
"Captain, you don't need to worry," the scar-faced man declared, patting his chest forcefully. "I'm not like those good-for-nothings next door. He's just a university student. Even if someone's protecting him, I'm absolutely confident I can take his life..."
The man in the white suit frowned, directly cutting off his boastful speech. "Shut up, you idiot!"
"You can't even see such an obvious trap? He's just a pawn put forward by Dragon Country. Do you really think an ordinary university student could develop so much advanced technology!"
"But," the scar-faced man mumbled, "Newton and Leonardo da Vinci also invented many world-changing things when they were in their twenties!"
The man in the white suit's frown deepened. He slammed the freshly printed document in his hand onto the table. "You know it all, do you! Can modern technology be compared to early modern technology?"
"This exam paper that's circulating online, claiming to stump numerous academicians, involves over ten disciplines. Many of the questions can only be formulated after hands-on operation and multiple experiments."
"Jing Mingqiu is just a kid who's barely turned twenty. Even if he were as smart as Newton, he couldn't possibly complete so many top-tier experiments."
The scar-faced man was bewildered. "Ah! Captain, if Jing Mingqiu didn't create this exam paper, then how did it come about? Are these questions really just fabricated!"
The man in the white suit sneered. "It's a low-level trick of substituting the beams and pillars. This exam paper isn't fake, but the question setter isn't Jing Mingqiu; it was a joint effort by over a dozen professional academicians."
"They deliberately attributed the role of question setter to Jing Mingqiu alone, to make us misjudge and consider Jing Mingqiu a once-in-a-millennium genius."
"Then, using him as bait, they lured us into taking action, intending to capture all our hidden agents in Dragon Country."
"So that's how it is?" The scar-faced man was completely dumbfounded. He slumped back in his chair, giving up on thinking. "I'm good at killing people, but I'm no match for you lot when it comes to these schemes and tricks. Captain, just tell me what you need me to do."
The man in the white suit walked to the head of the table, his icy gaze sweeping across the room. The others dared not meet his eyes and quickly lowered their heads.
After surveying the room, the man in the white suit slowly spoke. "Don't be in a hurry to deal with Jing Mingqiu. He's just a target put forward. Killing him will bring us no benefit."
"Keep him alive. For Dragon Country to continue solidifying his genius image, they will have to continuously introduce new technologies. We can use this to pry into Dragon Country's research directions and reveal his trump cards."
"Jing Mingqiu's laboratory is currently recruiting. Smith, you've always been responsible for Dragon Country's intelligence. Make arrangements immediately. No matter what method you use, you must get our people in."
"Although the possibility of Jing Mingqiu being a true top genius who can surpass Newton is very low, Dragon Country is always good at creating miracles. We have to be cautious!"
"Yes, Commander!"
Smith Lorenz, who was returning to the country for a report, stood up sharply and saluted.
Not just Area 51 in the United States, but also Sakura Country, Kimchi Country, Handsome Country, Germany, Italy...
All countries with well-known names were shocked by the exam paper issued by Jing Mingqiu. Without exception, they dispatched more spies to Dragon Country to investigate Jing Mingqiu's true capabilities.
Amidst the covert struggles of various forces, the discussion about this exam paper online did not diminish. The name Jing Mingqiu, as a new trending topic, soared to the top of the rankings.
Jing Mingqiu, currently at the center of attention, had no time to focus on other matters. He was sitting in front of his computer, diligently grading a large batch of recently submitted exam papers.
"This process is fine, but the final answer is incorrect. Zero points."
"This solution method seems valid too, but it's not in the system-provided options. I need to re-derive it to see if it's correct."
"And this one, where did 'Ouzijibiande' theorem come from?"
"'Ouzijibiande'? I made it up myself! You're messing with me!"
...
The nature of being a joker doesn't disappear just because one gets admitted to graduate school.
Because teachers always taught that exam papers shouldn't be left blank, most people, even if they don't know the answer, will write something on the paper to fill it up.
With truth mixed with falsehood, it was a struggle for Jing Mingqiu, the sole marker.
After spending half an hour finally grading this imaginative graduate student's exam paper, Jing Mingqiu threw down his mouse and resentfully looked at Tang Bei and the others who were playing on their phones on the bed.
Tang Bei felt a chill down his spine and quickly looked up. Seeing Jing Mingqiu's murderous gaze, he hurriedly explained, "Boss, it's really not that I don't want to help you. These questions are too difficult. Even if you give me the standard answers, I wouldn't know if they're correct!"
What he said made sense. Jing Mingqiu's exam paper was rumored to have stumped many academicians. While the vast range of disciplines was a factor, the inherent difficulty of the paper could not be underestimated, especially since it was created by Jing Mingqiu with the help of the system.
"A Qiu," Mo Ruixue entered with a bottle of iced cola, supporting Jing Rou, who had her foot bandaged and was pretending to still be injured. "Let me help you. Although I don't understand the questions, I can still pick out the papers that were intentionally tampered with."
Jing Mingqiu took the cola and took a large gulp. "No need. The papers submitted to me have all been reviewed by their teachers. At most, they'll make a harmless little joke; they won't intentionally cause trouble."
"But?" Mo Ruixue pointed at the total number of exam papers, which had already reached four digits and was still increasing. "A Qiu, with so many papers, when will you finish grading them all! Why don't we ask the teachers for help?"
Jing Mingqiu gently shook his head. "This exam paper spans too many subjects. Other than a versatile genius like myself, no one else truly has the ability to grade it."
Mo Ruixue offered a new suggestion. "A Qiu, I remember your laboratory was only planning to recruit ten people, right? It's a hundred to one. You don't need to be so meticulous. Just glance at them, and if they're different from your answers, just mark them as wrong."
"No, if they answered them seriously, then I must read them seriously."
Jing Mingqiu pulled Mo Ruixue into a hug and recounted an incident from his childhood.
"When I was in first grade, I was very obedient. During the summer vacation, the teacher gave out summer homework. Everyone else just scribbled haphazardly and made notes, but I completed mine diligently. After the summer vacation, I submitted it with great anticipation, hoping to receive praise from the teacher and earn a little red flower."
"To my surprise, after the teacher collected them, she had no intention of grading them. They were all piled up in the office and were directly packed and sold to a scrap dealer the next day. From then on, I never did summer homework again."
Upon hearing this, Mo Ruixue quickly explained, "A Qiu, I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want you to collapse from exhaustion. Grading over a thousand papers by yourself is too much. It feels like it's beyond the intensity of grading the college entrance exam."
"College entrance exam!" Hearing this word, a flash of inspiration struck Jing Mingqiu, and he thought of a perfect solution.