I was a prince in the Middle East

Chapter 31 A hopeless student? My god-like comprehension shocked my teacher!

Walid's eyes were fixed on the textbook, his gaze seemingly following the teacher's explanation with great focus.

However, at this moment his mind had already wandered far away.

To integrate into this world, this family, and this identity, Walid's first task is not to dance on the political stage.

What he needs to do first is to solve his academic problems, and that is urgent.

This is dramatic, even absurd.

But in the magical country of Saudi Arabia, it is absolutely necessary.

The royal family values ​​academic qualifications.

Just like when companies are hiring, academic qualifications are just a stepping stone, but if you don't have that stepping stone, it will be very troublesome.

Among the new generation of princes who all hold master's or doctoral degrees, someone without even a high school diploma would undoubtedly be an anomaly.

Although becoming a powerful minister, a great general, a regent, or the ever-shining sun of Saudi Arabia has absolutely nothing to do with academic qualifications, having them will undoubtedly reduce trouble.

Moreover, for Walid, this was a simple matter.

Walid himself had a very solid foundation under the almost strict elite education of his highly educated mother, Princess Mona.

The original plan was to follow the traditional A-Level curriculum route – connecting two years of high school, three years of undergraduate studies, and one year of master’s degree in the UK.

If it weren't for that damned car accident that took away seven or eight precious years of his life, Walid would be a proper second-year doctoral student now.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in this world.

If he were to complete his studies in a conventional manner, it would mean that he would have to spend at least two years in high school, specifically the A-Level system, whereas any other course would require at least three years.

This time commitment is an unbearable torment for Walid at this point.

Fortunately, Saudi Arabia drastically abolished the national unified college entrance examination in 2008.

Instead, a more flexible evaluation system has been implemented:
As long as students meet the required standards, they can apply to take the graduation assessment exam at any time.
"Achievement Test" (mainly tests high school knowledge points) + "Ability Test" (similar to basic IQ or learning potential test).

This is a loophole that was tailor-made for Walid!
Saudi Arabia's high school education system bears a striking resemblance to China's: a mandatory division between arts and sciences.

That is, the "scientific path" (science) and the "humanities path" (humanities).

The economics major that Huang Mao himself studied is a magical all-rounder.

In theory, one can have a say in both the humanities and sciences, with macroeconomics leaning more towards the humanities and microeconomics leaning more towards the sciences.

Moreover, the paths of arts and sciences can be taken separately, and in the end, they can meet at the top.

There is even a third way.

That is political economy.

The distinction between macro and micro is a difference in scale within economics, while the contrast between political economy and them represents a paradigm shift.

In other words, political economy is purely textual.

Huang Mao conducts country-specific economic research, which essentially falls under the category of political economy.

Therefore, he unhesitatingly and shamelessly chose the science path.

That's right, it's science.

The reason is as practical as it sounds.

Saudi Arabia's liberal arts exams are filled with a large amount of doctrinal and religious content that requires precise memorization and absolute obedience.

Walid, a time traveler, still carries the deep imprint of Eastern culture in his soul. Faced with these, he doesn't even have the courage to "talk nonsense."

If one accidentally breaks any taboo, the consequences could be dire.

What's more, his father, Prince Khalid, is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Religious Court!
This is just creating trouble for his own father for no reason; it's a complete disservice to him.

Moreover, regardless of the country, humanities knowledge requires a long period of time to accumulate, immerse, and understand...

This cannot be achieved quickly.

But science is different.

The rules of the science world are clear: if you can do it, you can do it instantly; if you can't, you can study for a lifetime and still not know it.

Besides, he was a science student when he took the college entrance exam in his previous life; he just studied humanities in college.

Although I only got into a non-985/211 university back then.

However, that was a non-double non-student score of 580.

Moreover, it was a non-985/211 university whose admission score was lowered by several tens of points by Zhang Sheng alone.

Most importantly, the difficulty of Saudi Arabia's science subjects...

Walid, who had experienced the ordeal of China's college entrance examination in his previous life, remained completely unmoved.

I even felt like bursting into laughter.

There was no way around it; it was just too easy, so easy that he felt sorry for the Chinese students.

To say that the math, physics, and chemistry here are at the level of a Chinese junior high school would be a bit insulting, but to say they are at the level of a senior high school student would be giving them too much credit.

Mathematics is at the level of the first semester of the first year of high school in China, physics is at the level of the first semester of the third year of junior high school, and chemistry is at the level of the second semester of the third year of junior high school.

Walid felt he could get a perfect score even with his eyes closed.

Geology is a subject unique to Saudi Arabia. Given the country's abundant oil resources, students are required to learn some basic knowledge of earth science, such as rock classification, simple geological structures, and the principles of oil formation.

The content is simple and focuses on memorization.

Computer Science: In Walid's view, this is a completely easy subject.

Basic operations and a little bit of programming logic, especially the graphical kind, were as natural as breathing for him, who had worked with complex financial models and databases.

The geography content is roughly equivalent to the second year of junior high school in China.

The main focus is on world geography and an overview of Saudi Arabia's geography, including map reading, memorizing key countries, cities, and resource distribution.

They're all pretty simple.

The main difference is that the goal of Saudi high school education is to cultivate qualified citizens, while the goal of Chinese high school education is to select talent.

The difficulty levels naturally differ.

"Your Highness, please take a look,"

Teacher Bashir pointed to a reconstruction of a trilobite fossil in the textbook and continued,

"This unique segmented structure and tail armor feature are key to identifying Middle Ordovician strata..."

"teacher,"

Walid looked up at the opportune moment, his face showing a kind of "sudden realization" after being enlightened, his eyes sparkling with "desire for knowledge".
"You just mentioned the indicative significance of the compound eye structure of trilobites in determining the depth and light transmittance of ancient oceans..."

I'm wondering if combining the unique planktonic characteristics of graptolite fossils discovered around the same time could more accurately define the distribution range of the continental shelf edge at that time.
I recall a document mentioning a specific combination pattern of graptolite clusters…

He fluently articulated a relatively technical concept from a geological perspective.

There's no way to produce a paper like "An Investigation into the Economic Status of Prehistoric Wheat and Discussion of Related Issues" if you don't understand geology.

Teacher Bashir pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and his eyes behind the lenses widened instantly, filled with an unbelievable light of surprise!

"Your Highness! Your association is brilliant! It's absolutely spot on!"

His voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"This is definitely a high-level research approach!"

Your sensitivity to geological history and your ability to connect different knowledge points are truly... truly a gift!

In all my years of teaching high school, I've never seen a student like you who grasps concepts so quickly, and who can even apply them to other situations and draw inferences from one instance to another!

He lavished every word of praise he could think of on Walid, his face flushed with excitement.

From the next room, Luna could be heard stumbling over the Arabic verb conjugation rules, occasionally punctuated by the stern corrections from her female teacher.

After a while, the sound of reciting turned into suppressed, aggrieved sobs, intermittent, like a lost kitten.

Teacher Bashir's praise reached Princess Mona's ears clearly.

She was sitting in the lounge connecting the two studies, holding a cup of black tea.

He appeared to be flipping through a fashion magazine, but in reality, he was intently watching the movements on both sides.

The teacher's undisguised praise, filled with shock and ecstasy, emanated from the son's study—

"genius!"

"learn by analogy!"

"Unheard of comprehension!" Each word was like a piece of honey, hitting Princess Mona's heart precisely.

Her hand holding the teacup paused slightly, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up in a smile.

It's a sense of satisfaction that comes from having a son like this; what more could a mother ask for?

However, when the neighbor's daughter's tearful, stuttering, and obviously flawed recitation came again, Princess Mona's smile froze instantly.

She put down her teacup, the bottom of which made a slight clinking sound against the tray.

She stood up, her posture still elegant, but her eyes had become sharp as a hawk, and strode towards Luna's study.

"Luna Bint Khalid!"

Princess Mona's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an icy chill that instantly froze the air in the room.

"I've heard you get this simple verb conjugation rule wrong three times already!"

Where exactly is your mind? Has it flown to the garden outside?!

Do you still find memorizing the beautiful verses of the Quran a chore?

The stern rebuke, mixed with Luna's even louder sobs, clearly penetrated the walls and reached Walid's study.

Teacher Bashir stopped abruptly, a hint of embarrassment and sympathy on his face.

Walid, however, seemed not to hear the commotion next door. His expression remained unchanged, still as focused as if he were immersed in the ocean of knowledge.

He even slightly adjusted his posture to make himself look more serious.

Deep in his heart, a faint trace of apology, which he himself almost ignored, was like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, instantly swallowed up by his firm determination that the "academic role-playing plan must succeed."

He turned to the next page of the textbook, his fingertip tracing a line describing sedimentary rock bedding, while his mind calmly planned:

Saudi Arabia's science graduation exam?
It was merely a stepping stone to his true goal—China's top universities.

The knowledge and experience accumulated in the previous life are like a cheat code that crushes everything in this "low-difficulty dungeon".

Princess Mona's anger was like a bucket of oil being poured on it.

The teacher's constant exclamations and praises in the son's study served as the most beautiful background music, further highlighting the "utterly disastrous" state of Luna's situation.

Princess Mona harbored deep doubts about her son's sudden "enlightenment" and his declaration that he would directly take the high school graduation exam.

A child who has been in a coma for many years and has never even entered high school is suddenly going to take the graduation exam?
This sounds like a complete fantasy.

Even though his son had previously displayed an astonishing talent for political maneuvering...

But that's a completely different thing from systematic academic knowledge.

Not only her, but everyone believed that it was the awakening of the political maneuvering genes flowing in the blood of the royal family.

She worried that her son was being impatient for quick results, that his ideas were just wishful thinking under pressure, or even...

It could be an abnormal manifestation following some kind of trauma.

But she couldn't dampen her son's spirits either.

She personally took charge, inviting renowned Saudi teachers to tutor Walid.

These teachers receive astonishing salaries, and their only task is:
While teaching, Walid's true level must be comprehensively assessed, and the results must be kept strictly confidential.

However, once the lessons began, these well-informed and experienced teachers were shocked one after another.

The math teacher is a PhD from a prestigious European university.

He originally planned to spend three months reviewing the junior high school foundation for the prince who had been asleep for seven years.

But Walid's speed and depth of understanding were astonishing.

In just ten minutes, the teacher realized that reviewing junior high school knowledge was a complete waste of time.

When the teacher tentatively explained a difficult point of knowledge, Walid not only understood it instantly, but could also deduce the answer in a more concise way, and even pointed out a ambiguity in the textbook.

What left the teachers somewhat bewildered was that His Highness's self-discipline was exemplary.

Yes, it's self-discipline, not just being studious.

Clearly, His Highness the Prince was well aware of the value of time to him, and he eagerly absorbed knowledge every day.

Its efficiency is so high that even the teacher's carefully prepared lesson plans cannot keep up with the pace.

Today we were still explaining the content of the second semester of the first year of high school, and the next day we found that the prince had completely mastered and previewed it, or rather, he had already learned up to the first semester of the second year of high school.

Later, the teacher's role became more like a tool for answering questions, rather than a transmitter of knowledge. His Highness led his own learning process, only asking questions when he encountered specific details that needed confirmation or when he had doubts.

Subsequent tests went smoothly, with perfect scores every time.

In just two weeks, Walid "learned" all the math knowledge points of Saudi high school at an incredible speed and with perfect mastery.

He scored full marks on the final test that covered all the topics.

The math teacher, holding the answer sheet, was so excited he was incoherent, repeatedly emphasizing to Princess Mona...

"The prince's talent in mathematical logic and abstract thinking is something I have never seen before in my life!"
This is no ordinary thing!
He absorbs new concepts at an astonishing speed!

The clarity of the problem-solving approach and the simplicity and efficiency of the methods completely surpass the scope of the step-by-step learning of ordinary high school students!
100 points is not the prince's upper limit, because this test paper only has 100 points!

The chemistry teacher, a meticulous German scholar, also went through a process from doubt to shock.

His meticulously planned teaching schedule was completely disrupted by Walid's "lightning speed".

Walid can often apply the basic concepts to other situations after just one explanation, and even deduce more complex conclusions on his own.

After a week of intensive lectures and tests, a rare, almost fanatical smile appeared on his usually serious and rigid face.

"Your Highness, this is by no means rote memorization, but a manifestation of extraordinary comprehension!"

Physics, geology, computer science...

Every teacher invited to "check out" the process went through a similarly shocking journey.

He mastered the core concepts of high school physics in almost two weeks;
He also absorbed the unique knowledge of geology at an astonishing speed and demonstrated insights far exceeding those in textbooks;

Computer basics were child's play for him.

He absorbed the entire Saudi high school science curriculum in just three weeks of instruction, like a sponge absorbing water.

The report cards and evaluation reports they brought back were dazzlingly high, and the comments were full of the highest level of praise, such as "self-disciplined," "amazing," "extraordinary," "learning speed far exceeding the limits of human cognition," and "unfathomable potential."

They eventually became the most fervent advocates of Walid's "super prodigy" theory.

Princess Mona was finally completely relieved.

The enormous doubts vanished, replaced by a volcanic eruption of pride and a certain "I knew it" conviction.

After much thought, she found the most reasonable explanation for her son's sudden outburst:
First, he has become more sensible and understands the importance of learning to him, which has given him a surge of self-motivation.

Secondly, it was precisely my own rigorous demands over the years that laid a solid foundation, which led to my son's "sudden enlightenment" today!
My educational approach is absolutely correct!

This realization was like the sound of a starting gun.

The outcome was naturally a win-win situation for Walid.

Prince Khalid held his son's perfect-score mock exam papers and laughed heartily. His laughter echoed throughout the palace, filled with triumphant pride.

"Hahaha! Good! You are indeed worthy of being my son, Khalid's son!"

That sense of triumph made it seem as if Walid's achievement was a direct victory of his own genes.

Princess Mona could only roll her eyes quietly and reply perfunctorily, "Oh yes, yes, yes," but the smile on her face never left.

The only one who felt the world had suddenly lost its color was little Luna.

After the authoritative teachers unanimously recognized Walid's "academic prowess," Princess Mona's gaze towards her daughter Luna underwent a dramatic change.

I used to think my daughter's grades were average, probably due to her limited intelligence, and that I couldn't force her to improve.

But now, a living example of a "comeback" is right before our eyes.

This only proves one thing: Luna's lack of outstanding grades is definitely not a matter of intelligence, but purely a matter of poor attitude towards learning!
It's because we didn't try hard enough!
It's laziness!
It's laziness!
Thus, Princess Luna Bint Khalid's carefree and wonderful childhood came to an end amidst her mother's sudden and intense educational frenzy.

Those sunny days are gone forever.

She took back what she had said earlier: that she would miss her brother terribly if he went to China!

At that moment, all she wanted to say was, "Get as far away from me as possible!"

……

(End of this chapter)