Back row.
Sun Jiali sat serenely in her chair, her eyes blinking from ti to ti, and her mouth pouting unknowingly.
Watching the interaction between Zhao Yi and Lin Xiaoqing in the front row contestant seats, her heart felt sowhat bitter.
All of Zhengyang Thirteenth Middle School knew that Zhao Yi liked her. At the end of last term, he even sent her a love letter at the school gate.
She rejected him at that ti.
Although she didn’t accept the love letter, it doesn’t an she didn’t care at all, she felt a bit happy inside.
Having a boy like her proved her charm.
She never paid much attention to it.
Recently, this boy who liked her unexpectedly beca excellent. His grades rapidly improved, he scored full marks in competitions, helped the school advance to the finals, and beca a ’computer genius’ who was even featured on TV.
Sun Jiali found herself becoming curious about Zhao Yi, feeling an impulse to get to know him better.
But...
He stopped liking her!
Sun Jiali was certain of her judgnt. Many boys in the school liked her. Like He Ronghua in the front row, who would occasionally turn his head and sneak a look at her.
She’s gotten used to it.
Zhao Yi was different.
Be it in school or on the way here, or now at the finals, he treated her like an ordinary classmate, his indifference showing a lack of interest.
That wasn’t an intentional show, he really didn’t care. In contrast, when talking with Lin Xiaoqing, he was very intimate and even deliberately made jokes with her.
That can’t be said to be like, but it’s definitely closer than ordinary friends.
Sun Jiali suddenly rembered a sentence her mother once said, "The ones most worth cherishing are the boys who grow up with you, not those who are already excellent."
She didn’t understand before, but now she suddenly gets it.
So that’s how it is!
...
The audience entered the venue fully.
After waiting for a few minutes, the hand on the clock moved to ’ten’. The host ca on stage on ti and introduced the ’Youth Cup’ competition.
The departnt of education in the province greatly supports the ’Youth Cup’ competition, with the finals being broadcast live by Nanjiang TV’s education channel, and a version with edited highlights was also broadcast on the satellite channel.
After introducing the competition, the host introduced the four teams. When introducing the team from Thirteenth Middle School, he specifically ntioned the ’computer genius’ Zhao Yi, giving him several close-ups with the cara.
Zhao Yi also waved at the cara.
Then, the guests took the stage.
Four guests were invited to be the judges for the finals: Deputy Director of the Provincial Departnt of Education Zhou Limin, Zhang Zhenhua the Dean of the History Departnt of Jiangzhou University, Professor He Xianglin from the School of Information Engineering of Jiangzhou University of Science and Technology, and the famous female writer Shen Qinghua.
Each guest received thunderous applause as they took the stage.
Afterwards, the finals officially began.
The host held the microphone and loudly announced, "We will now enter the first segnt--required questions!"
"In this segnt, each contestant from each team must answer a question. Correct answers are awarded ten points, incorrect answers receive no points. Let’s start with the representative team from Zhengyang Thirteenth Middle School in position one!"
The rules for this segnt were quite sound, the big screen was located behind the contestant seats, so only the audience and caras could see it, and the competitors could only turn to look at it.
Teammates weren’t allowed to turn around, otherwise it was considered a foul.
Only the contestant answering the question could look at the question card handed over by the host, aning that only the answering contestant knew the specific question.
In the Thirteenth Middle School competition team, Lin Xiaoqing, sitting at the far left in position one, was the first to stand up and answer the question.
The question was random.
Soon a Chinese question appeared on the big screen: ["Clothed in rosy clouds, a gentleman in the water," What flower does this refer to?]
Four options appeared below it.
Lin Xiaoqing hesitated for a long ti but finally gave her answer just before ti ran out, "I choose C, the lotus flower!"
"Correct answer! Add ten points!"
Lin Xiaoqing excitedly punched the air and proudly sat down with a smirk. She even cast glances at Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi got the ssage--I’ve got it right, you better not drag us down!
He completely ignored them.
Next, it was Zhao Yi’s turn to answer a question. He randomly selected a geography question:[Which of the following is not related to the Earth’s rotation?]
[A. Day and night.]
[B. The establishnt of China Standard Ti (Beijing Ti).]
[C. The terminator line evenly divides the day and night hemispheres.]
[D. The rise and set of the Sun.]
Only two seconds after the question appeared, Zhao Yi said categorically, "I choose C, the terminator line evenly divides the day and night hemispheres."
"That quick? Are you sure?" the host teased.
Zhao Yi didn’t react, simply waiting for the host to announce the result.
"Correct!"
The host announced the result forcefully, seeing Zhao Yi’s confidence.
"Applause——"
Applause echoed from the audience stands.
Zhao Yi answered so quickly that most people hadn’t finished reading the question before the answer was revealed.
The contestants from other teams also looked at Zhao Yi, secretly admiring him. They had just skimd over the options.
Zhao Yi and Lin Xiaoqing answered two questions correctly, giving the Zhengyang Thirteenth Middle School team a good start. The audience raised their expectations for the team and believed they could win the championship.
However...
Things didn’t go well afterward.
Sun Liang got his question wrong.
He Ronghua, encountering a question he didn’t know, was too nervous to say the answer and even forgot to guess.
Sun Li also guessed wrongly.
Three strikes!
In the first round of compulsory questions, Zhengyang Thirteenth Middle School’s team only scored twenty points.
The supporters of Zhengyang Thirteenth Middle School in the last row were feeling a bit anxious.
Zhao Hongjuan turned around and started to vent to Liu Jing and Zhao Zhenxi, "Our Xiaoqing and your Zhao Yi answered correctly as soon as they got up there. What’s wrong with those three students after them? Sun Liang is a smart kid, how could he get it wrong?"
This remark upset the mother of Sun Li.
Sun Li’s mother, a petite woman with a sharp tongue, retorted, "Your Xiaoqing didn’t answer until the last mont. She’s just got better luck."
"Still, Xiaoqing scored!"
"What’s so good about luck? The competition has just begun. Our Li hasn’t even started. Just wait and see!"
Teacher Sun, seated in the front row, was getting a headache. She stepped up to defend the students, "This competition tests out-of-curriculum knowledge. It’s normal for the students not to know."
"Everyone, please stop arguing. They are all in Class A, they are all excellent, and get along very well during normal tis... "
"We are all here to support the team, don’t make a joke of ourselves in front of others."
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
In the last row, next to Zhao Zhenxi.
He Ronghua’s father, He Dabao, sat there with a look of embarrassnt. He wanted to diffuse the situation but was quickly reminded of his son’s absence of an answer and the waste of a scoring opportunity.
"That boy! What an embarrassnt!" He Dabao was so angry that he was gnashing his teeth.
He turned to Zhao Zhenxi and found a topic to discuss, "Our Ronghua only knows how to study, always ranks first in his grade! Always first in his grade!"
"But what’s the use? What’s the use?"
The louder he spoke, the more the faces of the people around him crumpled.
Zhao Hongjuan considered herself the leader among the parents because her daughter had always been excellent in all aspects. However, her grades were indeed not as good as He Ronghua’s.
The other parents were even more depressed.
Thinking of their son’s grades, Liu Jing and Zhao Zhenxi could only remain silent, allowing He Dabao to continue showing off.
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