1025 The Testing Begins
They were not stupid. An old man had randomly come over asking for their help, so this must be a test.
The moment he finished his sentence, everyone volunteered promptly.
“Me! Me!”
The elderly man was stunned by the students’ enthusiasm. He hurriedly replied, “I don’t need that many people. I just need help moving flower pots, so just three to four of you will do.”
“I can help.”
Bryan was the first to step forward.
Pascal also stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”
The two of them had just competed against each other not long ago. After stepping forward in unison, they glanced at each other with determination.
More people stepped forward as well.
The elderly man looked at them and said thankfully, “I don’t know how to thank you. I just need four people to help. How about you, you, you, and you? You can help me with the plants.”
Bryan, Pascal, and two other boys were picked by the elderly man.
The four of them followed the elderly man and walked off.
The elderly man walked very slowly and had to stop and rest every now and then.
A boy called Randy got anxious and asked, “Sir, where are the flower pots placed? Where do you want them moved?”
The elderly man chuckled and said, “I stay at the staff residential area. It was raining yesterday and my grandson was around, so I got him to move some plants into my room. Since the weather is nice and sunny today, I wanted to move them out for some sun.”
Pascal had been quietly standing by the side. He finally asked, “Sir, we are quite far from the staff residential area. Why did you come here to look for help?”
This only made the other three boys more certain that the elderly man was here to test them.
The old man replied, “I usually take a morning walk. I just unexpectedly ended up here.”
As he spoke, the elderly man hammered his legs. “My memory is bad. I thought I was walking back to the residence, and I don’t know how I ended up here.”
Bryan said standing from the side, “Sir, why don’t I piggyback you? You seem to have trouble walking.”
“I appreciate it.” The elderly man was not shy. When Bryan came over and squatted down, he lay prone on Bryan’s back.
The other boys felt a little annoyed with themselves for not coming up with the idea first.
Pascal scoffed inwardly. If this was genuinely a test, he did not think Zi Yi would make carrying an elderly man a part of the test. It did not matter if they were kind to the young and elderly or good Samaritans.
Unknown to them, 20 minutes after they had left, a leader from Metropolis University arrived at the Futuristic School of Technology.
The leader said to everyone, “From today onwards, all of you will undergo testing. The test will last three days. Those who pass can stay and those who fail will have to leave.”
The moment he finished his sentence, he took out a device resembling a remote control, turned to point it at the gates, and pressed it.
After the gates opened, everyone watched in surprise. Even though the gate was open now, they were unable to see anything inside the compound. It seemed as though there was a barrier there blocking their view.
“Is this Zi Yi’s barrier?”
“It looks good.”
“I wonder if this barrier is here to verify our ID?”
As everyone speculated, the leader turned to say, “I’m going to read out your names now. Those who get called will enter one by one. If you do not enter the barrier in 30 seconds after your name is called, you will automatically get kicked out of the test.”
No one took this condition to heart initially.
A woman asked loudly, “Did you send an elderly man to take some students away earlier?”
The leader was at a loss. “What elderly man? I was stuck in a meeting and only just got here.”
Everyone looked at each other on hearing this.
Dani got anxious. “If the university didn’t send the elderly man and those guys don’t get back in time, does this mean they will be automatically dropped from the test when their names are called?”
Barlow did not feel the same way. “If it was really a test, no one would tell us in advance, right? Dani, you’re overreacting.”
Dani still felt something was amiss.
Unfortunately, the leader had already started reading off the list, so she could only stop talking.
After the leader read each name, the students walked through the barrier one by one.
As expected, the barrier was used to verify their identities and details. Once they entered the barrier, the students’ IDs down to all their grades and awards along with every competition they had participated in previously appeared.
Not before long, the leader got to the students from Country Y. When he got to Bryan’s name, the leader noticed no one stepped forward. He asked the students from Country Y in surprise, “Is Bryan from Country Y here?”
“Yes, he is.” One of the students told the leader about the incident with the elderly man earlier.
The leader paused and shook his head. He promptly struck off the name and said, “I already said that those of you who don’t enter the barrier in 30 seconds will automatically get eliminated.”
Dani said anxiously, “Pascal, you are dead meat.”
Barlow was also very worried. He took out his phone to make a call. “I will call Pascal now and see if he can make it back in time.”
“Do you think he can get back in time? 20 minutes have already passed.”
“He might be on his way back now.”
Barlow called Pascal desperately hoping he could make it in time.
The four of them had sent the elderly man to the staff residential area by now.
The elderly man said to Bryan, “Thank you so much. You can put me down now. We’re nearly home.”
He pointed at a building nearby.
He proceeded to bring them over.
At this moment, Pascal’s phone rang.
He took out his phone to answer it and his expression promptly looked worried.
He glanced at the elderly man and the three other boys before he said deeply, “I’ll be right there.”
The moment he finished his sentence, he hung up the phone and took off.
As they watched Pascal run off, the three other boys looked at each other. “What happened?”
“Where did he go?”
At this moment, the rest of the people’s phones rang as well.
They took out their phones in unison and answered them.
“What? The other people have gone in. The old man isn’t here to test us!”
On receiving the call, the two other remaining boys also ran off.
There were shared electric bikes outside. They had to get back in time.
In an instant, three of them speeded off leaving only one boy.
The elderly man looked at Bryan as Bryan stood with his shoulders slumped. He asked, “Do you have somewhere to go? Everyone has taken off. If you have to get somewhere, it’s fine for you to leave.”
When Bryan heard his name was struck off from the list, his mind went blank. In reality, he wanted to go back and try to get his spot back. But since he had already promised the elderly man he would help him, he had to keep his word. After contemplating briefly, he said, “Sir, let me help you move those plants first.”
