Chapter 994: The Crushing Continues
Translator: Lordbluefire
Jiang Zizhong stood in the shade of a tree, leaning against a wall while eating a pastry. He was also trying to look for Li Ziqi’s silhouette.
Today, the results would be released.
As a victor, he naturally wanted to see the disappointed expression of his enemies. This then would be the most perfect fruit.
Swiftly after that, Li Ziqi’s group, who was chatting happily, entered his vision.
Jiang Zizhong quickly finished his food in two to three mouthfuls. He then stretched out his tongue and licked the grease on his fingertips before he moved forward.
(Very soon, you guys will no longer be able to smile.)
In the meantime, the announcement board had been erected. Also, the results had been pasted by the staff during the early morning, but they were being covered by red silk.
Once the time was up, the red silk would be removed.
The law enforcement group from Saint Gate was patrolling the surroundings to prevent people from removing the red silk cloth in advance. They were also here to stop people who might go crazy.
In the past, such a situation had occurred before. An examinee had gotten a result that differed too much from his expectations and he started making trouble. Some had also started crying from extreme joy and became crazy or idiotic.
“Sun Mo is here!”
A balded examinee shouted, but he was scolded by others in the blink of an eye.
“How rude, you should address him as Teacher Sun!”
“It should be Sun-laoshi!”
Some people spoke out.
In the great teacher world, those with no stars were referred to as intern teachers. They couldn’t use the word ‘Teacher’ plus a ‘surname’ to address a great teacher.
Bluntly speaking, their rank was too low and they were unworthy.
“A bunch of simps.”
The balded examinee felt depressed. But when he saw Sun Mo looking over, he immediately squeezed out the most friendly smile he could muster, friendlier than even when he met his own tycoon father.
Before the announcement board, there were plenty of examinees, and this place could be said to be fully packed to the brim. But as Sun Mo arrived, they took the initiative to open up a path for him.
“Many thanks, but there’s no need to.” Sun Mo nodded. “I’m fine just being here!”
The announcement board was very high. Given the prowess of Sun Mo’s vision, he could see it clearly even if it was further away.
Sun Mo originally didn’t want to come here too early, as he trusted in the little sunny egg’s standard. Hence, when he reached here, it was only about 10 minutes before 8 a.m.
After idly chatting for a few minutes, the time finally arrived.
When Tong Yiming appeared, a commotion immediately appeared. After that, the place fell silent. Sun Mo could even hear a few people gulping down a mouthful of saliva.
There were still people saying prayers right now.
At such a time, no matter how many gods there were, it was best to pray to all of them.
Although Tong Yiming was a strict person, he had a touch of friendliness within him as well. He knew that the examinees were impatiently waiting for the results and so once 8 a.m. arrived, he didn’t say anything and directly pulled the red silk cloth down.
Even the last-ranking students had dreams of being number one. So, even they started looking from the top to the bottom.
First place: Li Ziqi, full marks!
Second place: Zhou Wenbin, 99 marks!
Third place: Jiang Zizhong, 98 marks!
…
Because of her status as Sun Mo’s eldest disciple as well as her shocking performance during the first segment, Li Ziqi’s name was quite widely known.
Now, after seeing that she obtained full marks, many people didn’t feel surprised. Instead, they felt a sense of relief.
Just think about how impressive Sun Mo was. The person who could become his eldest disciple was definitely someone with extraordinary talent.
In the crowd, Jiang Zizhong was dumbstruck. This was the third time he was rubbing his eyes.
(Did I see wrongly? I’m actually not the top scorer? But this shouldn’t be the case? Also, why am I ranked third? There are actually two more fellows more impressive than me?)
(I admit that Zhou Wenbin is strong. After all, he is deeply learned and is the great grandson of Secondary Saint Zhou. But this Li Ziqi… Even if she’s overflowing with talent, she has merely followed Sun Mo for two years, right? She only used such a short period and is now already more outstanding compared to me who have worked hard for over ten years? Damn, I have no way to accept this!)
An examinee beside him couldn’t help but pat Jiang Zizhong’s shoulder when he saw this. That examinee felt sympathy for Jiang Zizhong in his heart.
“Stop rubbing, you might go blind if you continue rubbing.”
That examinee consoled him, “It’s fine, we might have failed this year, but we can try again next year.”
Jiang Zizhong immediately grew enraged. (Did I fall so low to the extent where I need someone who failed to comfort me?)
Pak!
Jiang Zizhong directly knocked the hand of that examinee away and cast a ruthless glance at him.
“Look clearly. This daddy is named Jiang Zizhong. I’m in third place!”
After speaking, Jiang Zizhong headed to the teaching building, wanting to look at his own papers and check the marks.
“Huh?”
That examinee was stunned. After that, he wanted to scold Jiang Zizhong for being mental. (You are still not satisfied with third place and your expression actually looked like you failed.)
When he thought about how rude Jiang Zizhong was, he decided to mock him.
“Is third place that impressive? If you are capable, why don’t you get first place?”
Pu!
Jiang Zizhong was so angry that he coughed up blood.
According to previous years, some examinees would be overly confident and feel that there was a problem with the grading. Hence, they would want to check the papers.
The Saint Gate allowed this behavior but with one condition. Once the papers were confirmed to have no grading errors, the examinee who wanted to check wouldn’t be able to take any examination for the next three years.
Otherwise, if everyone wanted to check it, wouldn’t the Saint Gate’s staff be busy to death?
“Are you sure you want to look at the exam papers?”
The one responsible today was Qian Hao.
“Mn!”
Jiang Zizhong nodded heavily.
“What’s your name?”
Qian Hao asked.
“Jiang Zizhong!”
“Who?”
Qian Hao, who was originally planning to go fetch the papers, started. He then involuntarily surveyed this young man who was 17 to 18 years old. (Could he be that unlucky guy that I graded?)
“You are in third place, what are you checking the papers for?”
Qian Hao was speechless.
“I ought to get full marks.” Jiang Zizhong bluntly spoke, “I have this confidence!”
“Child, the world is very vast. You should understand the logic that there’s always a better human and a taller mountain out there.”
Qian Hao sincerely persuaded him.
“I just want to know why I’m not the top scorer?”
Jiang Zizhong persisted.
“If there was no Zhou Wenbin and Li Ziqi, you would be the one with full marks. But when compared to them, you are a shade inferior.”
Qian Hao sighed/ “Let me tell you something. I was the one who graded your papers.”
“Many thanks, Teacher!”
Jiang Zizhong started. After that, he hurriedly bowed.
As someone from a clan of great teachers, he understood that if it wasn’t for his identity, Qian Hao wouldn’t have said so much. Moreover, Qian Hao definitely wouldn’t lie to him.
Jiang Zizhong was also an intelligent guy. Earlier, he had been fuelled by his emotions. But after calming down, he had more or less guessed the reason.
“Is the spirit rune I drew at the end not good enough?”
Only the last question would cause a difference in who was the top-scorer.
“Zhou Wenbin drew a sixth-level spirit rune and as for Li Ziqi, her spirit rune was no longer a spirit rune. It was more like a work of art.”
Qian Hao spoke truthfully, “Do you understand my meaning?”
“I was the one who made a mistake. I shouldn’t have handed in my papers earlier in advance.”
Jiang Zizhong felt regret.
Qian Hao hesitated, but he still decided to tell Jiang Zizhong that the problem wasn’t about time. If not, Jiang Zizhong might misunderstand and assume that he was at the same level as Li Ziqi.
This mistaken judgment might possibly harm him.
“From what I know, Li Ziqi handed in her papers 30 minutes in advance.”
“Huh? Impossible!”
Jiang Zizhong instinctively shook his head. “I waited for her at the school’s entrance. She came out later than me.”
“She should have gone to the sports field to view the environment for the martial segment!”
Qian Hao sighed. From this point alone, he could tell that Jiang Zizhong was not as comprehensive in his thoughts as compared to Li Ziqi.
“…”
Jiang Zizhong fell silent. After that, he bowed to Qian Hao before turning around to leave. But his footsteps now displayed a waning enthusiasm.
Qian Hao had wanted to tell him that his answers weren’t as creative as Li Ziqi’s, but when he saw Jiang Zizhong’s appearance, he didn’t dare to say anything more.
What if this little fellow became autistic from the psychological impact and actually failed the 1-star examination because of this?
“Jiang Zizhong, there’s still the lecture segment and martial arts segment. You have not lost yet, please do not give up!”
After Qian Hao finished speaking, Priceless Advice activated.
A moment after hearing it, Jiang Zizhong became encouraged.
(That’s right, I can still fight! I will definitely crush the dog head of Li Ziqi.)
…
Zhou Wenbin was very confident in his results and didn’t want to join the queue too early. Hence, he only went to the Golden Cherry Academy after he did a mock lecture in the guest room.
“I was really too cautious!”
Zhou Wenbin sighed ruefully.
After the written exam, it was the lecturing segment. He would definitely win for sure this time.
As the beloved great grandson of Secondary Saint Zhou, just this title alone was enough to make plenty of teachers and students come to his lecture.
A 300-pax classroom most probably wasn’t sufficient to contain everyone.
“Sadly, it’s impossible for Sun Mo to come and hear my lecture!”
Zhou Wenbin felt very regretful. If Sun Mo came to his lecture, he could ask questions and stump Sun Mo. He would then rise to fame after a single lecture.
After entering the campus, some people would glance over occasionally as they pointed and made comments about him.
Zhou Wenbin was long since used to this. Hence, he still puffed his chest out and maintained the bearing of a great teacher, not feeling any nervousness at all.
“Li Ziqi actually takes first place. Truly, a brilliant teacher produces an outstanding disciple!”
This sentence suddenly drifted into Zhou Wenbin’s ears and caused him to frown.
“Hehe, I actually started hearing things?”
Zhou Wenbin kneaded his glabella. He had been working too hard recently and it seemed that he should take good care of his body. But as he moved closer to the announcement board, the number of students increased and the number of discussions also increased. Li Ziqi’s name began appearing more and more frequently, and his own name was being used as a foil to enhance Li Ziqi.
Right now, Zhou Wenbin had no way to remain calm anymore. He couldn’t help but increase his speed and rush to the scoreboard.
After that, he saw his own ranking.
Number two!
If it was someone else, that person would probably be jumping around with joy like a crazy ape. However, Zhou Wenbin’s expression turned ashen as his fists were clenched tight.
“Damn it!”
Zhou Wenbin felt the surrounding gazes suddenly being so piercing and penetrative. He no longer wanted to remain here, hence, he turned to leave.
Bang!
Zhou Wenbin wasn’t aware of his surroundings, and his shoulder knocked into a girl behind him. However, he didn’t bother with the girl and continued heading forward.
“Oi!”
Pak!
Huang Meibo grabbed Zhou Wenbin’s shirt from behind. “You knocked into me!”
“Don’t touch me!”
Zhou Wenbin roared in a low voice. He subconsciously waved his hand, wanting to shake off Huang Meibo’s hands.
There was no solution to it. Because of his noble status, he had never been treated with violence by another person before.
Pak!
Huang Meibo’s hand, which was grabbing onto Zhou Wenbin, immediately exerted force. (You actually still dared to hit me? Hmph! I will break your fingers!)
Zhou Wenbin wasn’t a softy either. His expression changed as he began his retaliation.
“Halt!”
A few members of the law enforcement group immediately shouted and rushed over. “If you guys continue to fight, both of your qualifications to continue participating in the examination will be stripped!”
Only after hearing this did the two of them suppress their anger.
Huang Meibo glared at Zhou Wenbin before leaving the area swiftly.
Zhou Wenbin ignored her. He was thinking about how he should completely crush Li Ziqi in the lecturing segment.
(There’s no way I will lose again in this round!)
