“A few of you did exceptionally well on this test,” he says, putting his grimace on hold to smile down at Cyrus, before switching back to it in a blink. “There were, however, some shocking answers—or rather, a lack of answers.” He doesn’t look my way directly, but I can feel his disapproval blowing toward me like the cold breeze off the river. “In the interest of fairness for the upcoming competition, I will be pairing you off into teams based on your scores. Those who received high marks will be put together with those who are struggling. With someone to help you, and your natural immersion in the environment, my hope is that by the end of the trip, you will all see remarkable improvement in your Chinese—even if you’re practically illiterate at present …”

He definitely looks right at me this time.

“As for the specifics of the competition,” Wang Laoshi continues, “it’ll be running throughout the trip in every place we visit: first in Shanghai, then in Anhui, then in Guilin. Based on previous student feedback and lively discussions among the coordinators behind Journey to the East, we’re changing it up a little this year to encourage more participation. You won’t just be sightseeing—you’ll be engaging, interacting, cooperating, absorbing. The first activity will officially begin tomorrow.”

“Excuse me, Wang Laoshi?” Lydia—the same girl who looked ready to perform happy cartwheels when the teacher handed out the tests—raises her hand high in the air, her voice climbing an octave with excitement. “Will there be a prize for the winners?”

“The ultimate prize, of course, is knowledge,” Wang Laoshi says very seriously.

Oliver lets out an audible snort.

“In addition,” Wang Laoshi says, “there’ll be a small prize for the winners of each activity. At the end of the competition, the team who performs the best overall will be selected to deliver a presentation about the trip at a special afternoon tea event held by Jiu Yin He. There, they’ll have the opportunity to meet Dr. Linda Shen, a renowned Stanford professor who’s helping oversee this year’s program. I’ll be emailing her updates for each activity, as well as the test scores from today so she can see where you’re at.”

At the mention of my aunt’s name, my stomach drops. If my goal is to impress her, I’m off to a horrible start. I can only pray Wang Laoshi doesn’t plan on sending her our test answers too; she might actually burn my name off the family tree if she reads my horse-and-mother series.

Beside me, Cyrus sits up straighter, and a faint suspicion stirs inside me.

“Don’t tell me you joined this program just for another chance to kiss up to my aunt,” I mutter to him out of the corner of my mouth.