"Time's up!"
Soon, at the proctor's command, all the exam papers were quickly collected.
The hour-long exam was over, and everyone rushed out of the exam room to look up the answers online.
"Bro, you'd better not be fooling me!"
Watching Young Master Zhang Qiang swagger out of the exam room, Wang Yao patted Ye Qing's shoulder with a miserable look on his face.
"Relax. I'm confident."
Ye Qing said no more. With something like this, only facts would convince people; nothing he said would make them believe him.
On the sports field, the six classes stood in separate formations, waiting quietly for the exam results.
These results would determine not only the students' accommodations, but also every teacher's performance rating and pay!
Zhao Xinran clasped her hands together and glanced at her watch. There were just over ten minutes left before the results came out.
She had heard about what happened in Ye Qing's exam room, but she hadn't said anything. She simply assumed the two boys had spoken in the heat of the moment. After all, academic performance couldn't improve overnight.
"Ye Qing, you were way too rash. How could you make a bet with Young Master Zhang Qiang?"
As everyone gathered, word of the bet between Ye Qing and Young Master Zhang Qiang spread quickly. Still, everyone agreed that Ye Qing couldn't possibly win.
Ye Qing looked up at the sun. "The results aren't even out yet. Are you all that sure I'll lose?"
"With grades like yours, do we even need to guess?"
"You really don't know your limits."
Everyone shook their heads. Ye Qing had always had poor grades, but he had never been this arrogant before. They had no idea what had gotten into him lately.
"Just shut up."
Wang Yao hated hearing this and couldn't help defending Ye Qing. But when he remembered his own bottom-of-the-class grades, he didn't have much confidence to argue back.
Ye Qing wasn't angry. Given how shitty his and Wang Yao's grades had been, they had undeniably dragged the class down.
Now that the results also affected everyone's future learning and living conditions, it was only natural for people to criticize them a little.
In the neighboring formation, Young Master Zhang Qiang looked at Ye Qing and sneered. Whether in family background or academic performance, he had never considered Ye Qing worth his attention.
Noticing Ye Qing glance their way, several of Young Master Zhang Qiang's lackeys raised their middle fingers, waiting to watch him make a fool of himself.
The crowd didn't have to wait long. A group of school administrators walked onto the stage and took their seats, and a middle-aged man wearing glasses stepped up to the podium.
Ye Qing recognized him. He was Young Master Zhang Qiang's father, Vice Principal Zhang Zhihong.
Zhang Zhihong moved to the front of the stage, took the microphone, and delivered a long string of formal pleasantries. Only when his throat grew dry did he take out a remote and press a button.
"Now, please look at the big screen. The exam rankings will be displayed from lowest to highest."
The moment he finished speaking, a click sounded, and a screen several meters tall rose behind him. All three hundred or so people present could clearly see the names and scores, provided they weren't blind.
Rank, name, score
300, Zhang Zequn, 6
299, Ma Tianyu, 13
298, Zhao Zilai, 36
"Holy shit, Ye Qing! Neither of us is in the bottom ten!"
Wang Yao excitedly grabbed Ye Qing's sleeve. His excitement was understandable: in every major exam before this, both of them had always been among the bottom ten in their year!
Zhao Xinran was also a little surprised by the list. When Teacher Liu had handed the class over to her, Teacher Liu had specifically emphasized the problem with their grades.
"Holy crap, holy crap! Neither of our names is in the bottom hundred, either!"
Wang Yao was practically dancing with excitement. This was the first time he had ever been so happy about his grades!
The other students in their class whispered among themselves as they looked at Ye Qing and Wang Yao's backs.
It couldn't be helped. Some had already seen their own rankings and couldn't understand why these two boys' names still hadn't appeared. How had their own names come up first instead?
"Ahem."
Hearing the chatter, Zhao Xinran folded her arms and coughed a few times. But she was puzzled herself and couldn't resist glancing at the composed Ye Qing and the jubilant Wang Yao.
"153rd! Oh my god!"
Wang Yao was so excited he nearly fainted. He had never imagined that, in his lifetime, he would earn the heartwarming title of an average student!
At the same time, another question occurred to him. He had copied his answers from Ye Qing, so just how terrifying would Ye Qing's score be?
Huo Mengyao swished her ponytail as she looked at the calm Ye Qing standing in front of her, unable to suppress her curiosity. It seemed that ever since that day, this classmate of hers had changed.
"Boss, something's wrong. How did that guy Wang Yao get 153rd place?"
Hearing his lackey's question, Young Master Zhang Qiang frowned without saying a word.
"Holy shit, they're into the top fifty, and Ye Qing still hasn't appeared!"
Wang Yao wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Could the teachers have missed Ye Qing's paper while grading?
Zhao Xinran twirled a lock of hair around her finger. The more she watched, the more she felt something was off about Ye Qing.
"Why are you looking at me, teacher?"
Naturally, Ye Qing had noticed Zhao Xinran's gaze. Anyone would feel a little uneasy being stared at by a beautiful woman.
"It's nothing."
Zhao Xinran smiled and turned her attention to the big screen.
Vice Principal Zhang Zhihong announced loudly, "All right, let's look at the top ten!"
Rank, name, score
10, Zhang Yiwen, 94
9, Ma Huateng, 95
8, Zhao Peikai, 96
There was nothing unusual about fourth through tenth place. Everyone was familiar with the top ten students in their year. But a few observant people noticed that Sun Xiao, who usually placed tenth, had been pushed down to eleventh!
Third place, Huo Mengyao, 101 points
Second place, Young Master Zhang Qiang, 103.5 points
First place, Ye Qing, 110 points!
As the top three were revealed, the entire sports field erupted in an uproar.
"Oh my god, what am I seeing? How could Ye Qing's name be up there?"
"Didn't he cheat?"
"He got full marks? He could even answer the bonus questions?"
"My eyes must be playing tricks on me. I'd sooner believe a Mamoswine could climb a tree than believe Ye Qing could get full marks..."
"If Ye Qing really took first place through his own ability, I'll fucking livestream myself eating shit!"
"Ye Qing, are you having an affair with the teacher who graded your paper?!"
Wang Yao was about to pass out. Ye Qing had the highest score in their entire year. What kind of ridiculous joke was this?!
Other people might not know him well, but Wang Yao spent every day with Ye Qing. How could he possibly not know whether anything had changed about him?!
He and Ye Qing had held their positions as the class's two bottom-ranking guardians for two whole years!
Ye Qing gave him an exasperated smack. This guy's thought process was truly absurd!
Huo Mengyao covered her mouth, too shocked to speak.
Young Master Zhang Qiang was shaken to his core. He had repeatedly held first place in their year. Never had he imagined that one day, someone who repeatedly came dead last would overtake him!
Impossible. Unless he cheated!
At that thought, Young Master Zhang Qiang immediately turned and whispered instructions to his lackey.
"He cheated!"
While everyone was still reeling in shock, a loud shout rang out from the neighboring class's formation.
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