An Bao looked at the vocabulary book on the desk. It was a first-grade primer with 120 words, complete with a CD and a portable player. He gave himself five hours. He still remembered the KK phonetic symbols, and he was confident that five hours would be more than enough. Once the trial was over, he would have lunch.
But as soon as the trial began, he started to doubt everything. Why was that dog outside the window barking nonstop, causing such a racket? He was already struggling to memorize the words under these conditions. While testing himself on ten of them, he hesitated for just a moment—and the dog erupted into frenzied barking. His focus now was nothing like it used to be. Only now did he realize how easy it had been to be a genius.
In the final minute, he could recall 100 words from memory—but 20 were still missing. The toads announced:
"You passed, but you must still complete the second challenge. You may eat now."
An Bao immediately rushed downstairs for lunch. His mother had already prepared a lavish seafood and rice noodle feast. With concern in her voice, she said,
"Son, I had no idea you would sleep until noon."