Shen Qiushan nodded to his old flame, thinking the suggestion was a good one.
Fair, just, and open!
If his son lost, he wouldn't be able to deny it!
However, Shen Yixiao was a bit frustrated. He wasn't worried about losing to his dad but was afraid that if he had to listen and spell words on the blackboard, it would be quite embarrassing!
Though he'd memorized the printed "Comprehensive List of Must-Know Words for College Entrance Exams," his mastery was limited.
If Chen Xiangyu tested with fifty words, he thought he could get about thirty right at most. If luck was bad, it might be a fifty-fifty situation, meaning he could embarrassingly skip every other word.
But at this point, Shen Yixiao couldn't refuse, so he braved it and walked up to the blackboard, standing on the right side near the door. He even deliberately stood a bit to the side, hoping his dad wouldn't copy his answers.
Shen Qiushan positioned himself on the left side of the blackboard and picked a brand-new piece of chalk from the box.
"Are you both ready?"
Standing behind the lectern, Chen Xiangyu became the dividing line between the father and son. She usually faced the students, but now she was back to them, leaning on the lectern to observe the performance of the two.
"First word: Knowledge."
The father-son showdown officially began when Chen Xiangyu called out the first word.
The students wrote down their answers before craning their necks to watch the duo at the blackboard.
With chalk in his right hand, Shen Yixiao scratched his head in frustration with his left. His luck wasn't good; he couldn't recall the first word!
Meanwhile, on the other side, Shen Qiushan quickly wrote down his answer: knowledge!
The students quietly spelled it out in their minds before showing a look of surprise.
Correct!
1:0!
A father-son showdown.
The father takes the lead!
Chen Xiangyu was also very surprised; it's usually difficult for middle-aged people who haven't been in school for years to spell such a long word correctly.
Shen Yixiao peeked at his dad from the corner of his eye, noticing that he seemed to have written an answer, leaving some marks on the blackboard with his chalk.
Must be bluffing!
Shen Yixiao knew his dad well; despite not having much formal education, he was quite sharp, often playing tricks in daily life.
"Second word: Habit."
The class teacher Chen Xiangyu's voice echoed again.
Shen Yixiao happened to know this word, immediately writing his answer on the board: habit.
Feeling smug inside: There's no way dad knows this word.
Current score: 1:0!
In Shen Yixiao's view, his dad wouldn't know the first two words, so zero points were expected.
In reality, in the minds of the class acting as silent judges, the score was: 2:1!
Shen Qiushan also easily wrote down the word "Habit."
"Patience."
Chen Xiangyu called out the third word.
Once again, Shen Yixiao scratched his head: patience, patience...
But thoughts were of no help; if you didn't know, you didn't know.
Alright!
Still 1:0!
Despite only writing out one of the three words, Shen Yixiao's mindset was still good because he thought his dad wouldn't know these words either.
However, he didn't know that in the hearts of the class judges, the score had become 3:1!
Shen Qiushan easily wrote down the word "patience."
patience!
The spelling test continued, with Chen Xiangyu calling out a few relatively difficult words, like "technology" and "investment."
Both of these words are quite long and prone to mistakes.
However, Shen Qiushan wrote them down without any errors.
Meanwhile, Shen Yixiao seemed to be pulling out his hair...
Secretly complaining in his heart: Is Teacher Chen doing it on purpose, testing such hard words, making my advantage look not so great.
By now, eight words had been tested, and Shen Yixiao had written out only three, leaving five blank.
And one of the three words he wrote was wrong.
In his mind, the score was 3:0!
The actual score was 8:2!
Shen Qiushan led by a wide margin.
After these eight words, the whole class had to reevaluate Shen Qiushan's abilities. Initially, when he got two or three words correct, it wasn't too shocking, as many in their parents' generation were born in the '80s and attended college, so knowing English wasn't surprising.
But now, Shen Qiushan getting all eight words correct wasn't something limited English skills could do, especially since Chen Xiangyu had purposely picked relatively difficult words. Currently, only about half of the class had maintained an all-correct streak for eight words.
Chen Xiangyu was also greatly shocked, having never expected her old flame to not only excel at poker but also have such a high level of English, which he hadn't previously revealed, making her view him in a new light.
Hmm, maybe they could try communicating in English during the next poker game for a different experience...
Her thoughts drifted off track.
After a brief moment of distraction, the spelling test continued.
Chen Xiangyu then chose not to pick particularly hard words but rather words that appeared frequently in the exams.
This increased Shen Yixiao's chance of spelling them correctly.
If considering groups of three words, he could usually write two, sometimes even all three correctly.
For a moment, Shen Yixiao's confidence soared, and his previously fidgety left hand was now casually tucked into his pocket.
His originally upright posture changed; with his left foot forward, right foot back, the angle between the extended lines of both feet about forty-five degrees, his weight shifted onto his right leg.
This was a confident and flamboyant stance!
One of the signature moves of spirited youths and ghost-fire boys!
However, Shen Yixiao's confident stance left his classmates confused.
They silently ridiculed him in their hearts: What on earth are you feeling confident about?
His dad was smashing him!
Only Wang Yunpeng, who could guess Shen Yixiao's thoughts, held back laughter, silently cheering: Way to go, my future father-in-law!!
Shen Qiushan, naturally keeping an eye on his son Shen Yixiao, intentionally wrote a few words incorrectly once he knew he was winning.
Given he hadn't been in school for twenty years, suddenly displaying godlike skills was a bit unrealistic, but getting a few wrong made it more acceptable.
Fifty words were fully dictated!
The score for this father-son showdown was already evident in the minds of the entire class acting as judges.
45:30!
Shen Qiushan was leading by a large margin, securing an emphatic victory.
Shen Yixiao, though, was unaware of his heavy loss. With a stylish flick, he tossed the remaining half-piece of chalk into the blackboard groove, dusted off his hands, and cheerfully looked at Chen Xiangyu, "Teacher Chen, you're the judge!"
"My dad said if he lost, he wouldn't accompany us in class anymore!"
"You have to enforce that on him!"
Yet, to Shen Yixiao's surprise, no sooner had he spoken those words than the classroom burst into laughter...