As time passed, the trending topic #High School Junior Becomes Gaokao Top Scholar# drew in almost every netizen who clicked into the trending rankings. Its popularity surged far ahead of the rest, directly surpassing the second-place topic by several times.
The topic had already received tens of thousands of likes and shares, while the number of comments had exceeded ten thousand and was now climbing toward twenty thousand.
All kinds of netizens appeared in the comments, expressing their shock over the matter.
"Here to worship an immortal."
"Holy crap, 741 points? What kind of godly score is that? Can a human really score that high?"
"Fellow candidate from this year checking in. 741 points, with only 9 points lost in Chinese. Honestly, this Hui Province top scholar would have no problem being called the national top scholar. In ancient times, he'd be the kind of top scholar personally selected by the emperor after the palace examination. National Paper B—those who know, know."
"A Yu Province candidate this year checking in. 741 points—an absolute god. Yu Province and Hui Province basically used the same set of papers, and everyone knows what our Yu Province exam was like this year: hell-level difficulty. There were 169 science students who scored above 700, yet even so, the highest score was only 724, still 17 points below this guy. That should make it clear just how insane this score is, right?"
"I won't even mention english. This guy got perfect scores in both math and Science Comprehensive? What the hell is his brain made of???"
All kinds of amazement filled the comment section. This year's Gaokao candidates in particular gathered beneath the trending topic to voice their astonishment.
They were all Gaokao candidates, so they knew better than anyone how shocking—even unbelievable—a score of 741 was.
Looking through the scores of past top scholars, not a single one had managed perfect marks in both math and Science Comprehensive. Even getting a perfect score in just one of them was nearly unheard of. Most people lost at least a few points.
After all, this year's exam really had been difficult.
What surprised people even more was that the trending topic also described what happened after admissions teachers from Tsinghua University and Shangjing University came to his home. Xiao Yi had rejected the offers from those two top universities and chosen to honor his agreement by continuing on to the USTC Young Scholars Program, earning the praise of many netizens.
In particular, people learned that Xiao Yi had said he did not want to let down that USTC professor. For a time, he won over a great deal of goodwill.
"He studies well and has good character too. God, it'd be great if he were my friend."
"So nice. If it were me, and teachers from Shangjing and Tsinghua personally came to recruit me with such generous conditions, I'd sign immediately."
"That's why you're not the top scholar. He is."
"This whole family is so trustworthy. Top Scholar Xiao's parents didn't make the choice for him and even supported his decision. If it were my parents... sigh, never mind. I'm tired just thinking about it."
"There, there."
"I hope Top Scholar Xiao can achieve even more at USTC. I believe in him!"
As the central figure in all these discussions, Xiao Yi had hardly known peace these past few days.
Reporters from every outlet wanted to interview him, and all sorts of people kept sending him private messages online. He had no idea how they had found his contact information!
All these trivial matters had already affected his progress on his paper.
Because of that, he even began to regret it. Why had he become the top scholar in the first place?
But there was nothing he could do. The results were already out, and he could not take them back.
All he could do was complain inwardly about why the policy forbidding the publication of Gaokao rankings was never properly enforced!
In the end, he could only accept an interview from Hui Province TV.
The interview took place at the Affiliated High School. As for the date, it was June 26, the day all third-year students returned to school to attend a college application guidance meeting.
After all, college applications would begin tomorrow. In order to choose the most suitable university from among so many options, it was customary for the school to hold this sort of guidance meeting.
Of course, something like that did not apply to a student like Xiao Yi. He had come purely for the interview, and besides that, there was also the matter of the thirty-thousand-yuan scholarship the school had promised him—which reminded him why he had worked to become the top scholar in the first place.
Well, he could only say it was painful and joyful at the same time.
"Hello, Student Xiao Yi. Now that you've become our province's top scholar—and could even be called the national top scholar—how do you feel?"
They were on the athletic field. Behind them was the venue for the college application guidance meeting, while in front of him stood a reporter from Hui Province TV.
Quite a few people were watching nearby. Some were school leaders and teachers, including Qin Song and Luo Penghua. Others were third-year students and their parents. Those students were currently looking at Xiao Yi, standing before the camera, with worshipful eyes.
What a joke!
Although USTC High School was a relatively well-known high school in Fei City, its academic performance was actually inferior to No. 1 Middle School and several other schools, such as No. 168 Middle School. This year's provincial liberal arts top scholar had come from No. 168 Middle School.
Yet this year's science top scholar had come from their school, leaving them with no choice but to feel admiration for this student who was even a grade below them.
A legend!
Xiao Yi did not feel nervous beneath all those gazes. After all, his mind was entirely occupied by the thirty thousand yuan that was about to land in his hands.
Thirty grand!
What a joke. Of the ten thousand yuan they had given him last time, he had not even spent a thousand. Now another large sum was coming in.
Being the top scholar was just too sweet!
"I'm very happy. It shows that all my previous efforts have been rewarded."
As he said this, he glanced at the school leaders watching from the side. Every one of them was giving him meaningful looks, so he continued, "I'm also very grateful to my school for giving me so much help over the past two years. My homeroom teacher, Mr. Luo Penghua, gave me a great deal of encouragement as well, and..."
After that round of polished flattery, the school leaders beside him immediately wore satisfied expressions.
The reporter smiled, then continued, "Then, having given up the chance to attend Shangjing University and Tsinghua University, two of the country's top institutions, and choosing USTC instead, do you feel even a little regret now?"
The question was expected. Xiao Yi smiled casually and said, "Shangjing and Tsinghua are fine, but they're too far from my home. USTC is right at my doorstep, so I don't have any regrets."
What a line—"Shangjing and Tsinghua are fine." Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought he was Bei Saining!
Thanks to Wuhen20170318 for the 100 Qidian Coin tip
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