Jingda and Qinghua Are Okay, But a Bit Far

As time passed, the trending topic "#Sophomore Becomes Gaokao Top Scholar#" drew in nearly every netizen who clicked on the trending list, its popularity soaring and surpassing the second-place topic by several times.

This trending topic had already garnered tens of thousands of likes and shares, with the comment count exceeding ten thousand and now heading towards twenty thousand.

In the comment section, various netizens emerged, expressing their shock at the news.

"Come to worship the celestial being."

"Oh my god, 741 points, what kind of celestial score is that? Is that even a score a human can achieve?"

"A fellow student from the same cohort here. 741 points, only losing 9 points in Chinese Language. I feel like this Hui Province Top Scholar could easily be a national Top Scholar. In ancient times, he would be the one personally appointed by the emperor after passing the imperial examination. National Paper B, I can only say those who know, know."

"A student from Yu Province here this year. 741 points, an absolute true god. Yu Province and Hui Province basically use the same exam papers, and this year in our Yu Province, as you all probably know, it was a hellish difficulty. There were 169 students scoring over 700 in science alone, and even so, the highest score was only 724, which is 17 points lower than this guy. So you can clearly understand what this score means, right?"

"I won't even mention English, but getting full marks in both Mathematics and Science Comprehensive? What is this person's brain made of???"

All sorts of exclamations filled the comment section, especially from this year's Gaokao students who flocked to this trending topic to express their astonishment.

As fellow Gaokao students, they knew too well how shocking, even unbelievable, a score of 741 was.

A quick search of scores from past Top Scholars revealed that no one had ever achieved full marks in both Mathematics and Science Comprehensive. In fact, even getting a single full mark was almost unheard of; most people lost a few points.

After all, this year's exam was indeed very difficult.

What surprised people even more was that the trending topic also mentioned what happened after the admissions teachers from Qinghua and Jingda University visited. Xiao Yi's rejection of the offers from these two top institutions and his decision to honor his commitment and attend the USTC Young Scholars Program also earned him considerable praise from many netizens.

Especially Xiao Yi's words, stating he didn't want to disappoint that USTC Professor, were also made known, earning him a lot of goodwill.

"Good at studying and good character too. Oh my god, how great would it be if he were my friend."

"That's so nice. If it were me, hearing that teachers from Jingda and Qinghua personally came to recruit me and offered such excellent terms, I would have signed immediately."

"So you're not the Top Scholar, he is."

"This family is also very trustworthy. Xiao Top Scholar's parents didn't make the choice for him but supported his decision. If it were my parents... sigh, I won't say more, it's too tiring."

"Hugs."

"Wishing Xiao Top Scholar even greater achievements at USTC. We believe in Xiao Top Scholar!"

As the central figure of these discussions, Xiao Yi had barely had a moment's peace these past few days.

Reporters from all walks of life wanted to interview him, and people kept sending him private messages online. He had no idea how they got his contact information!

All these trivial matters were affecting his progress on writing his paper.

He even started to regret why he had bothered to become a Top Scholar.

But there was no help for it; the results were out, and they couldn't be taken back.

He could only inwardly complain about why the policy of "not publicly announcing Gaokao rankings" was never properly enforced!

In the end, he had no choice but to accept an interview from their Hui Province TV.

The interview was to take place at the Affiliated Middle School on June 26th, the day when all junior students returned to school for a college application advice session.

After all, they had to start filling out applications tomorrow. To choose the most suitable university from so many institutions, their school holding such an advice session was a routine matter.

However, for students like Xiao Yi, such matters didn't apply. He was there purely for the interview. Besides the interview, there was also the matter of the 30,000 yuan scholarship the school had promised him – this reminded him why he had aimed to be a Top Scholar.

Well, he could only say it was a mix of pain and pleasure.

"Hello, student Xiao Yi. You've achieved the Top Scholar title for our entire province, and arguably for the whole country. What are your thoughts on that?"

On the sports field, with the college application advice session happening behind him and the Hui Province TV reporter in front of him.

There were also many onlookers around, including school leaders and teachers like Qin Song and Luo Penghua, as well as junior students and their parents. At this moment, the students were looking at Xiao Yi, who was facing the camera, with adoring eyes.

It was no joke!

Although their USTC High School was quite well-known in Fei City, in terms of academic performance, it wasn't as good as No. 1 Middle School or some other schools, like No. 168 Middle School, from which this year's provincial top scorer in humanities came.

But this year, the science Top Scholar came from their school, making them feel a sense of admiration for this student who was a year younger than them.

A legend!

Facing these gazes, Xiao Yi didn't seem nervous at all. After all, his mind was entirely focused on the 30,000 yuan he was about to receive.

Thirty thousand!

Seriously, he hadn't even spent a thousand yuan from the ten thousand he received last time, and now he was getting this much again.

This Top Scholar thing was really worth it!

"I feel very happy. It means all my previous efforts have paid off."

As he said this, his gaze drifted to the school leaders watching nearby. He saw them all winking at him, and then he continued, "I am also very grateful to my school for providing me with a lot of help over these two years. Like my homeroom teacher, Mr. Luo Penghua, who also gave me a lot of encouragement, and..."

After a round of "professional" flattery, the school leaders beside him all wore expressions of satisfaction.

The reporter smiled and continued to ask, "So, do you have any regrets about giving up the chance to go to Shangjing University and Qinghua University, two top domestic institutions, and choosing USTC instead?"

This question was somewhat expected. Xiao Yi smiled casually and said, "Jingda and Qinghua are okay, but they are too far from my home. USTC is right at my doorstep, so I have no regrets."

"Jingda and Qinghua are okay" – if someone didn't know better, they might think he was some kind of celebrity!

Thanks to Wuchen20170318 for the 20170318 100 Qidian coin tip.