There were not many interview questions, and it ended quickly.
The reporter smiled as he said to Xiao Yi, "Thank you for your cooperation, Xiao Yi. This interview will air on the news channel tonight, so remember to watch it."
"Definitely." Xiao Yi nodded in agreement.
"Oh, right." The reporter suddenly took a briefcase from the cameraman and pulled out a document. "When our station director learned that we would be interviewing our province's top scholar, he specially approved ten thousand yuan as sponsorship for your future university studies."
"Fill in the relevant information on this form, and the money will be transferred into your account in a few days."
At the reporter's words, Xiao Yi's eyes immediately lit up again.
Well, why didn't you say so earlier?
If you'd told me there was ten thousand yuan, I would have agreed yesterday.
As he accepted the document and carefully looked it over, he kept saying, "I really shouldn't, I really shouldn't."
In the end, under the "earnest persuasion" of the school leaders around him, he "reluctantly" filled out the form.
It mainly stated that the money was a gift from Provincial Satellite TV, then asked him to fill in his ID number, bank card number, and the like.
Of course, for a Gaokao Top Scholar, having various organizations and institutions offer money was perfectly normal.
Over the past few days, several major companies in the province had contacted him as well. They mostly wanted to give him money, and some even offered houses, but his family had declined all of it.
According to his father, they would only accept awards from state institutions, such as public schools or government agencies. Anhui Provincial TV fell under that category, so Xiao Yi accepted this money while refusing all private rewards.
The reasoning was simple. Rewards from the state were generally meant to recognize him as a person, with the hope that he would continue to improve and contribute to society and the country in the future.
Private rewards, on the other hand, were generally offered for profit, which was why they were refused.
Xiao Guohua was a civil servant working for the government and understood these matters quite clearly, so he had made that decision. Naturally, Xiao Yi strongly supported his father's choice.
After happily accepting the TV station's sponsorship and filling out the information, the reporters said their goodbyes. They still had to rush back and edit the interview footage so it could air smoothly that night.
Xiao Yi was then surrounded by the school leaders again.
Principal Liu Songlin gave him a thumbs-up. "Well done."
Xiao Yi said modestly, "It was all thanks to the school's teaching."
Liu Songlin laughed heartily, then said, "All right. We've also brought the top scholar reward we promised you."
Before long, another school leader brought over a scholarship plaque. It read: USTC High School Awards a Scholarship of Thirty Thousand Yuan to Xiao Yi, the School's Student and 2020 Science Stream Top Scholar.
Clearly, this scholarship plaque had also been newly made.
As usual, they first took a photo with the scholarship plaque.
After the photo, Xiao Yi had thought that today's events were over. But then Principal Liu said to him, "By the way, haven't you taken your graduation photo yet?"
Xiao Yi was stunned. A graduation photo?
He shook his head. "No. I probably can't take one anymore."
He was the only one in his class who had graduated now. How could he possibly take a class graduation photo?
Principal Liu laughed. "How could your graduation photo possibly be left out?"
Xiao Yi was puzzled. But at that moment, he heard waves of running footsteps behind him. When he turned around, he froze.
He saw the students of Class 3 of Science Stream running over from the entrance to the athletic field.
He suddenly remembered that Teacher Luo had disappeared at some point earlier. He had assumed she had gone back to teach class—first- and second-year students had not started their break yet.
But it turned out Teacher Luo had gone to call the students of Class 3 down.
"Brother Xiao, you're awesome!"
"As expected of Brother Xiao! You easily did what we could never do!"
"Hello, top scholar!"
"My Brother Xiao is invincible!"
After the Class 3 students ran over, they surrounded him and offered their congratulations.
Clearly, they had already learned that Xiao Yi had successfully claimed the top scholar title.
Then again, it would probably have been hard for anyone at this school not to know.
Xiao Yi was stunned. "You all...?"
"We all came to take a graduation photo with you. Happy now?" his roommate, Zou Yu'an, said with a smile.
Chen Wei spoke even more solemnly. "You fulfilled an old promise and honored the pact, so we have come as promised to offer you the final celebration."
Warmth filled Xiao Yi's heart.
He had thought there would never again be a high school graduation photo, but now that regret had been made up for.
More than forty classmates had come to accompany him through this final step of graduation.
Looking at their warm smiles, he said sincerely, "Thank you, everyone."
"Come on, what's there to thank us for? We should be thanking you. You got us out of this class, you know?" Chen Wei stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and smiled.
Xiao Yi smiled knowingly as well.
That was true.
For high school students, even getting out of half a class was enough to make them very happy.
"Smack!"
"Here, your graduation gown. Put it on."
At that moment, the principal beside him placed a set of graduation robes into Xiao Yi's hands. Clearly, they had been prepared long ago.
"Principal, what about ours?" Chen Wei took the initiative to ask. He would not have dared speak to the principal alone, but with so many people around, he had become much bolder.
The principal waved a hand. "You don't get any. Wait until you officially graduate next year."
"Fine." Chen Wei did not ask further—or rather, his courage only went that far.
The photographer responsible for the group photo had already arrived. He was from a photo studio near the school gate. When he heard that they were retaking a graduation photo for this year's top scholar, the owner immediately offered to do it for free. It was probably the first time their studio had ever taken graduation photos for a top scholar.
As this year's Provincial Top Scholar, Xiao Yi's name had spread completely throughout the area.
There was even a banner hanging outside the school gate: Congratulations to Our Student Xiao Yi for Becoming the 2020 Provincial Gaokao Top Scholar. Besides the banner, a large announcement had been posted on the public notice board outside, also celebrating the same news.
Under the photographer's direction, Xiao Yi and the principal stood in the center of the front row, while the students of Class 3 stood behind them.
In the camera frame, all the students wore school uniforms, while Xiao Yi alone wore graduation robes.
As the photographer called, "Three, two, one, cheese," the shutter clicked, freezing the moment.
Laughter rang out at the end, announcing that Xiao Yi's high school years had not only come to an end, but had ended without a single regret.
Time quietly passed.
Afterward, Xiao Yi returned to researching his paper. In a sense, he had gone into seclusion again.
The trending searches about him eventually vanished from the rankings as time passed.
That was the information age: it arrived fiercely and faded just as violently.
When everything settled down, knowledge began to surge within Xiao Yi's little bedroom.
Finally, one month later.
Before you continue