Unfortunately for Huang Mingshun, he didn’t get what he wished for as the audience only sympathized with Tan Mo even more.
Even Pu Xinyan, who was behind him, began to sob. “How can he be so cruel?”
Huang Mingshun was completely dumbfounded now.
Seriously? Was that what they were thinking at that moment?
It didn’t take long before it was time for the final question of the third round because of Tan Mo’s speed.
The whole hall became eerily quiet.
Surprisingly, once again Tan Mo did not push the buzzer.
Huang Mingshun’s eyes got wide as he began to suspect that Tan Mo was planning not to answer the last question for each round.
As he turned to glare at Tan Mo, he realized that the other participants from Shuang University, Nan University, Tong University, and Jiang University also had their eyes fixed on a single person.
However, that person was not Tan Mo, but Huang Mingshun himself.
What the heck are you guys staring at me for? Huang Mingshun was speaking to himself.
“Um, you from Tsinghua University. Aren’t you going to push your buzzer?” the competitor from Nan University asked.
“What..?” Huang Mingshun was surprised by the question.
“Well, there’s no way we are going to answer it,” the participant from Shuang University smiled. “Why don’t you give it a try?”
Even the students from Jiang University and Tong University had smiles on their faces. Their stares were like those one would get from an old relative, friendly and compassionate.
What the h*ll are these guys doing?
It was then, when Tan Mo, who was still tearing up a little and whose eyes were still red, turned toward Huang Mingshun. “Aren’t you going to push the buzzer?”
“What?”
“I’m going to answer if you don’t want to.”
The expressions of the other competitors from Tsinghua University were as dark as it was possible to get.
It was obvious now that Tan Mo was doing this on purpose. She purposely left the final question unanswered so that she could humiliate the competition.
If they were to push the buzzer, not only would they be humiliated if they got it wrong, it would also prove to everyone else that they did not have the knowledge to answer the last questions of every round.
However, if they didn’t push the buzzer, Tan Mo would answer it and get a full score.
The students from Beijing University had smirks on their faces as they waited to see what would happen next.
Even though they were still not 100 percent sure, they had a feeling that Tan Mo purposely answered all the questions in the third round while making herself cry a little bit.
The reason was simple. They had spent a lot of time with Tan Mo and knew that she wasn’t such a princess that she would cry just because she had been bullied. Instead, she was someone who could handle stressful situations well.
Obviously, none of them were going to expose her, as she hadn’t done anything that warranted that.
All in all, everyone from Beijing University knew that all Tan Mo had done was put on an act on the stage.
“Hey!” Ying Siyuan suddenly asked, “You from Tsinghua University, are you sure you don’t want to answer the question? What if Tan Mo doesn’t know the answer?”
Are you kidding me?
That was the reaction from the Tsinghua University participants.
When they saw Tan Mo not pushing the buzzer for the final question in the second round, they had had the same conclusion.
But they had all been played by her as she still answered the question correctly.
It was clear that Tan Mo knew the answers, but was just trying to toy with them, especially Lin Zhenhui and Zhao Xiaoou.
Their faces were both twisted in anger, and fire could be seen in their eyes.
During the last round, they’d also thought that Tan Mo did not know the answer to the final question. They were proved wrong when Tan Mo answered it correctly and realized her intention was to embarrass Zhao Xiaoou.
This was why they didn’t buy it when Ying Siyuan said that Tan Mo might not know the answer.
Zhang Xiaosheng quietly cursed as he glared toward the stage.
After what had happened in the previous two rounds, no one could tell for sure if Tan Mo knew the answer or not, and no one would want to bet on it.
In the end, Tan Mo’s strategy turned out to be successful.
Even if she did not know the answer, the participants from Tsinghua University wouldn’t take the risk as she might actually know the answer.
At the same time, she had already shown them the knowledge she really had by answering all the questions in all three rounds correctly except for the last one and the final question in the first round as well.
The participants from Tsinghua University still weren’t sure if she knew the answers or not, but judging from how many questions she had answered correctly, it was enough to give them a huge shock.
The aces of Tsinghua University, Zhang Xiaosheng and Lin Zhenhui, were only knowledgeable on a couple of topics. However, their answers weren’t as accurate as Tan Mo’s, or else Lin Zhenhui wouldn’t have lost so badly to Tan Mo during the first round.
The other participants were only knowledgeable on a single topic, and after witnessing Tan Mo’s talent, they wouldn’t even dare to call themselves knowledgeable anymore.
“Aren’t you going to push the buzzer?” Tan Mo asked as tears continued to drop from her eyes.
Huang Mingshun did not reply.
“I’m going to push it then…”
Just hurry up and push the damn buzzer, Huang Mingshun yelled in his head.
And Tan Mo did just that.
“Beijing University! Your answer?” the host asked.
“C is my answer,” Tan Mo replied, not forgetting to cry a bit while answering.
Huang Mingshun had already given up completely.
After the third round ended, the host announced the topic for the fourth round.
Below the stage, the professor from Tsinghua University turned to Zhang Xiaosheng. “Xiaosheng, it’s your turn.”
“Okay,” Zhang Xiaosheng nodded and got up.
“Xiaosheng…” The professor suddenly stopped him. “We can’t embarrass ourselves any further…”
Zhang Xiaosheng didn’t reply as his confidence had already been shattered.
Before the competition, he had been filled with confidence. On the day of the competition, he had vowed to embarrass Tan Mo and make Tsinghua University the champion. However, now, he could not even give his professor a definite reply.
He wasn’t sure he could win anymore.
The professor sighed. Even his confidence had been shattered by Tan Mo after seeing the state Zhang Xiaosheng was in.
He turned around to look at the rest of the students who were supposed to participate in the later rounds, only to find all of them with their heads down.
Not one of them had the guts to face Tan Mo in battle.
The whole team was dispirited with not an ounce of fighting spirit left in their tank.
The professor let out another sigh and was determined to change the situation.
He grabbed Zhang Xiaosheng’s arm and said, “Xiaosheng, once the round begins, do what Tan Mo has done for the last few rounds.”
“The professor’s right,” Lin Zhenhui agreed. “Ignore the question, and push the buzzer first. Suppose you know the answer, then, if you don’t, just simply pick one. With how the situation is now, there’s nothing more for us to lose, right? Let’s just do what we can. It’s better to get the wrong answer than not getting the chance to answer.”
Even he was in a dispirited mood and was beginning to doubt his own ability.
This person who had high self-esteem had completely lost his pride after being embarrassed in front of everyone.
“Got it?” the professor asked.
Zhang Xiaosheng hesitated for a moment before nodding and walking up to the stage.
On the other hand, the students from Beijing University were all staring at each other with the same thought in their heads.
Tan Mo is amazing!
