Lin Fuxi immediately closed her eyes. She held her tears in. She couldn’t cry. That would mean she was a loser.
After realizing that Tan Mo had ranked first in the exam, the class slowly shifted toward looking at the top ten and then searching for their own placings also.
There was no need for them to search row by row for this. Right below the table that displayed the actual marks were the ranking lists.
It was filled with numbers. As long they weren’t at the very bottom, then most people were satisfied with their grades. Rankings didn’t matter that much to them in this test.
But they were also desperate to know Lin Fuxi’s ranking.
It seemed as if Lin Fuxi should’ve done well. And, of course, someone did indeed find her place: Lin Fuxi was ranked at number 79.
It definitely was her name that was written on the site. It was in between the names of students from the Chinese Department.
If it hadn’t been for the entire ruckus caused by Tan Mo, many of her classmates would have been praising her now.
The only names that weren’t from the Chinese Department that were ranked in the top 100 were Tan Mo and Lin Fuxi. Tan Mo had ranked first! It took everyone’s breath away.
Once they all saw where Lin Fuxi was placed, they all scrolled directly to the very bottom.
“Hey, that’s insane! To think that someone got only three points.” Someone laughed in the crowd. It really did prove how some people hadn’t studied or revised at all.
Some people had really just pushed their luck after signing up for this. Weren’t they worried that they’d be made into a laughingstock?
That was another kind of bravery.
Lin Fuxi closed the tab. She then proceeded to shut down her computer.
If it hadn’t been for Tan Mo, she really would have been ranked first for the students outside the Chinese Department.
Who could see that and not praise her?
But now, with all that had happened, the spotlight that was supposed to be hers had shifted to Tan Mo. She had really been left with none of the attention.
Someone’s voice from outside the door echoed into the room. “Is Tan Mo here?”
The crowd looked up. It was Wang Yuemu and Guan Ruyue.
Everyone knew who Wang Yuemu was, especially those from the first-year Finance class. She had gone to find Tan Mo during the early days of their military training.
On the other hand, not everyone knew who Guan Ruyue was. But it seemed as if her relationship with Wang Yuemu was deeper than met the eye.
“Sister Wang, Sister Guan!” Tan Mo stood up and waved at them enthusiastically.
“Give me a second to just shut off the computer. I’ll be right with you,” she said. The two waited outside the door.
Meng Yuxi and Jin Yuelin nodded as Tan Mo told them she would be leaving first.
She met the two who were waiting outside. “What are you two doing here?” she asked excitedly.
We were just in a classroom upstairs,” said Wang Yuemu. “We all waited for the ranking lists to publish before leaving, so we thought that you probably had done the same. Plus, we were gonna pass by here anyway, so we decided to drop in and ask about you. And no kidding, you’re really here.”
“We all saw the published list. You got full marks and ranked first!” Guan Ruyue exclaimed excitedly.
“As your senior, it’s embarrassing, really.” Despite what Wang Yuemu said, there definitely weren’t any serious hard feelings between them.
Tan Mo heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank God you all ranked in the top ten. That means that I won’t have to suffer from any scoldings.”
If even one person hadn’t made it, Professor Guo would’ve lost face.
Guan Ruyue echoed the sentiment. “Definitely. We all worked really hard this time round since none of us wanted to anger Professor Guo.”
It indeed was scary when the professor got angry. Just thinking about it sent shivers up Tan Mo’s spine.
Around them, everyone was turning off their computers as they eavesdropped on this conversation.
They couldn’t really understand that much about the scoldings and the pressure, but they could tell that the relationship between the three ran deep.
Those from the first-year Finance class were all aware of the story about how Wang Yuemu, who represented Professor Guo, had come to look for Tan Mo. But after that, Wang Yuemu had never appeared again, which was why this deep bond between them was unexpected. It was clear that this wasn’t a relationship that had been built in a day or two. They’d even brought up Professor Guo by name.
Could it be that Tan Mo had been in contact with Professor Guo this entire time?
Looking back, Guan Ruyue had said the words, “Professor Guo’ll be extremely happy with your grade this time.”
Their voices got quieter and quieter as the distance between themselves and the classroom gradually grew larger and larger.
Everyone in the classroom had turned their computers off. And finally they started the long-awaited discussion about the elephant in the room.
“Since when has she had any relation with Professor Guo?”
“I thought Tan Mo hadn’t switched majors?” Someone from the first-year Finance class piped up.
No one could really answer that question, so they just shook their heads.
“Yuelin, don’t you know anything about that? Aren’t you in the same dorm room as she is?” someone asked.
Meanwhile, Lin Fuxi was wallowing in emotional turmoil. Upon hearing this question, she turned toward Jin Yuelin and she snapped out of her morose thoughts.
“I’m not too sure either.” Jin Yuelin laughed. “We have different schedules anyway, so we’re not always together.”
“Class president, do you not know either?” Someone asked Lin Fuxi.
Lin Fuxi put on a face that looked as if she had been seriously wronged and said, “Even though we’re in the same dormitory, Tan Mo avoids me at all costs. If Yuelin and Yuxi don’t know, how would I know?”
She herself had definitely been left out in their dorm. If this had been before, everyone would’ve pitied her, surely. Everyone leaving her out? That was just wrong. There were only four people in their dorm rooms. With the other three heading out together every now and then, just imagine how awful it’d be for the one remaining.
But today Lin Fuxi had slipped up by showing a small part of her true colors. Most people now probably thought they could understand just why she had been left out.
If you put yourselves in this situation, and had a Sister Lin around you every day, that would’ve been annoying enough. But to be with someone who made themselves look as if they’d been so badly wronged and bullied and then gossip behind your back as well…
Tan Mo and the others didn’t treat Lin Fuxi with any respect or even in a sincere, polite manner.
In front of all these people, Lin Fuxi hadn’t held back. But in their dorm room, with only four people, who knows what was going on…especially realizing that Jin Yuelin and Meng Yuxi had good connections with the rest of the class.
And even they didn’t like Lin Fuxi.
It seemed as if Tan Mo didn’t anger them or do anything that caused a fuss. Yet now, the class finally saw Lin Fuxi’s true colors. Everyone felt they would’ve made a fuss about her also.
Thankfully, Lin Fuxi was only our temporary class president. Now that we all know what she’s really like, we can recast our votes for our class president was what almost everyone thought.
It’s not even confirmed if she could still be reappointed.
It’s not like anyone would vote for her again anyway.
…
Tan Mo, Wang Yuemu, and Guan Ruyue were all headed to the research lab.
Professor Guo was already there checking out the ranking lists. He had been staring at the top ten for the past ten minutes.
Especially the very first line: ranked first, Tan Mo, who had achieved full marks.
