It was only in the evening that Qingran and the others found out that this competition was just a preliminary round, and each school would be eliminating half of the participants.
Over thirty students panicked instantly, bombarding the teachers with questions.
"Didn’t you say it was a group competition, teacher?"
"Teacher, if it’s not a group competition, does that an each of us will have a chance to answer a question individually?"
"Teacher, do the students who lose the competition have to go back early, or...?"
"Teacher, if this is the preliminary round, what about later? Will there be a final? A grand final? How many people will be in the final? How many can stay in the grand final?"
Question after question was hurled at the few teachers who had just returned from a eting, leaving them dizzy and disoriented.
Old Wu gestured several tis for quiet, but who could stay calm at such a critical mont?
After all, everyone had worked so hard for over a month, dedicating far more ti to studying physics than any other subject, all that effort was surely for the glory in physics.
In the end, to be told they might be eliminated in the first round, who could accept that?
The crowd still wouldn’t quiet down, unable to wait for the teachers’ responses, questions continued to co one after another.
It wasn’t until Teacher Sun, who was wearing high heels, stumbled when squeezed by a student and almost fell.
A loud ’snap’ echoed from behind!
The crowd suddenly fell silent, and the students instinctively looked towards the source of the noise.
School bully Li Qingmo slamd a wooden stool onto the marble floor, glaring intensely at the group of students.
His thug-like deanor successfully frightened these good students.
Li Qingmo wiped his mouth with his thumb, gave a gangster-style smirk, and raised his voice slightly: "The teacher told you to shut up, can’t you hear?!"
No student dared to respond after that.
Even Qingran and Xie Ying’an exchanged glances, retreating to the back of the now quiet crowd.
Li Qingmo’s reputation as a school bully was not unwarranted.
Since Li Qingmo was part of the good students’ group, many top-performing students would secretly pay attention to his every move.
Every ti Li Qingmo got into a fight, the students hoped he would be expelled by the school, eliminating a competitor in academics.
But to their disappointnt, Li Qingmo always fought with restraint. He never started trouble on school grounds, and once he stepped off school property, the teachers couldn’t do much.
Now they weren’t on school grounds, and if the school bully was truly provoked, who knew what he could do?
Old Wu, who had been calling for silence for a long ti: "..."
However, this ti Old Wu was not angry but instead gave Li Qingmo an appreciative look, although Li Qingmo paid him no mind.
He just glanced indifferently at Teacher Sun, who had been helped by female students to sit down.
It’s good that his sister, Li Qingran, is in one class, Old Wu thought, dealing with a student like Li Qingmo who is both upright and wicked would be difficult.
The school spared no expense in providing a decent accommodation for these students, not only close to F University but also with good soundproofing in the rooms.
In the afternoon, several other schools’ teachers and students also checked in, also here to participate in the competition at F University.
The hotel’s conference hall was spacious enough to not feel crowded with over thirty students. The three teachers sat in the main seats, while the students gathered around the tables forming a large circle.
Old Wu cleared his throat and finally gave an explanation for this competition.
Because eight high schools are competing, only twelve spots are available for students to participate in the finals.
The twelve students who make it to the finals, regardless of which school they co from, are entirely on their own rit.
Even if all twelve students in the finals co from the sa school, it ans that the school has strong faculty resources.
And this preliminary round ans cruelty, as it will eliminate nearly half of the students.
Old Wu clapped his hands: "The specific arrangents are as follows, I know everyone has been working hard during this ti, this is the mont to witness the results, I hope your efforts are worth the outco of the competition."
The students who were just chattering and asking questions all lowered their heads, no one spoke, what was thought to be a team spirited group, now regarded their companions as opponents, and they all lost their confidence.
No one wanted to compete against Xie Ying’an, including Qingran and Wen Shiyi who were present.
Teacher Sun also patiently encouraged everyone: "There are eight schools participating in the competition, and the number of eliminations is only within a set range, everyone has been working so hard, maybe the ones eliminated won’t be from our school."
Upon hearing this, the students felt a bit spirited.
Indeed, this competition is to eliminate so people, but it’s just to eliminate those with poor performance, and not to ntion they have been working hard during this period, even if they get eliminated later, it’s because they were not as good, there’s really nothing to say.
Everyone managed to see it through, and all was well.
Before dismissing, Old Wu emphasized to not stay up late studying under the lamp tonight, today it’s important to maintain good energy, to fight well tomorrow.
A student from class one responded with a smile: "Teacher, don’t you always say ’sharpening your axe will not delay your chopping of firewood’? We should follow your previous advice and sharpen our knives well."
At that remark, the room burst into laughter.
Old Wu shook his head helplessly, still repeatedly instructing to rest well tonight, because tomorrow’s demands will not only be ntal but also the physical stamina to last until the end of the competition.
Qing Mo insisted on squeezing into the sa room with Xie Ying’an, as school bullies have their pride, when he ntioned switching rooms, soone imdiately gave up their spot for him.
But tonight, Qing Mo wasn’t chatty, instead, he seed rather preoccupied.
He didn’t eat dinner, tossing and turning in bed, occasionally mingling so sighs.
Xie Ying’an, sitting on the adjacent bed playing with his phone, couldn’t be bothered with Qing Mo.
One could guess without asking what Qing Mo was worried about, definitely fearing that Qingran would pass the preliminary round tomorrow, and he would be eliminated.
If he really were to be eliminated, he wouldn’t be able to lift his head in front of Qingran for the rest of his life.
The other two boys in the sa room occasionally sneaked glances at the school bully, seeing that he was in a bad mood, they dared not make a sound.
"Xie Ying’an?" After lying listlessly for a long ti, Qing Mo feebly called out to Xie Ying’an.
Xie Ying’an glanced over but did not respond.
Qing Mo got out of bed, his face looking constipated: "Did you bring the physics book?"
Xie Ying’an didn’t take his eyes off his phone screen, "No."
The other two boys hurriedly took out their physics books and carefully handed them to Qing Mo: "Brother Mo, we brought them, do you want to look?"
Qing Mo’s gaze slowly moved to the physics book, then up to the faces of the two boys who handed him the book.
Grinning, he took the physics book and politely thanked them: "Thanks, bros."
The two teenagers pretended to be calm, exchanging glances, but inwardly they were screaming: Ahhhh! The school bully just called bro, did a book just make part of the school bully’s circle?
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