章 28: And the first place goes to...

Anna quickly masked her surprise, offering a calm smile. 

"No, nothing's wrong," she replied, shaking her head slightly. "Everything's fine, really." 

Leo nodded, but doubt still glimmered in his eyes. 

"If you say so…" he muttered, turning his focus back to the exercises. However, he didn't seem completely convinced by Anna's response. 

As pencils moved across the sheets and the soft whispers of the children doing their math filled the room, the teacher suddenly called for everyone's attention. 

"Listen up, kids," he began, placing the chalk on the edge of the blackboard. "If any group manages to solve all the exercises correctly, I have a surprise for you." 

Immediately, the murmurs among the students grew louder, with some raising their eyebrows, curious about what the surprise might be.