Lu Lin had always felt somewhat insecure about his own scores. After all, he had only scored 701 points. At another school, that might have made him a top student, but in this class, it still wasn’t enough to stand out.
At this moment, in order to make Chi Nian feel the vast differences of the world, Lu Lin no longer cared about anything else. He draped his score with the appearance of a seven-hundred-plus result and added the province’s College Entrance Exam top scorer, Wang Xu, into the mix. Today, he was determined to make Chi Nian feel humiliated and inferior.
He hoped she would soon recognize the gap between a celebrity like her and academic achievers like them, keeping her at a safe distance from this industry that wasn’t suitable for her.
“My god, this guy scored over seven hundred, and Wang Xu even beat him by thirty points? Amazing!”
Everyone who got into this school was already among the best of the best, competing in grades from elementary through high school. Hearing Lu Lin’s words, someone’s attention immediately shifted.
A classmate kindly explained, “Wang Xu is the province’s top scorer in the science track this year. He scored 739 points.”
“Wow, unbelievable! He was so close to 740!”
“What? Actually, Wang Xu could have scored 744, but he gave up a few points himself,” someone whispered.
“How’s that?”
“His mother is from the Miao ethnic group, so he could have gotten bonus points by following her side.”
“Bro, so you mean Wang Xu followed his father’s ethnic group?”
“Exactly!”
“An academic achiever really is an academic achiever—so proud, I respect that!” This person was clearly impressed by Wang Xu.
Lu Lin heard the whispers in the classroom and frowned.
What was going on? Why was everyone discussing Wang Xu instead?
He regretted raising Wang Xu as an example.
It had always been like this. Both he and Wang Xu were from the same province, attended the same elementary, middle, and high schools.
Looking at his personal scores alone, he was decent, but whether it was major exams or small tests, competitions or assessments, Wang Xu always surpassed him. Compared to Wang Xu, his modest achievements seemed insignificant.
So why had he just brought up Wang Xu—his long-time shadow—just to make Chi Nian feel inferior?
Lu Lin’s face darkened like ink.
“739 points? Not bad at all! Only five points less than me,” Chi Nian said sincerely, appreciating the score.
This year’s exam had been difficult. The Chinese essay prompt was cryptic and profound, and the math section had a high difficulty and large number of questions. The last problem even required some college-level knowledge. Chi Nian had barely managed to finish in time. Upon review, she realized she likely skipped a step, losing one or two process points.
Having already experienced a College Entrance Exam once before, Chi Nian genuinely admired Wang Xu’s achievement.
Lu Lin only caught the first half of her comment: “739 is indeed impressive. This year’s paper was difficult overall; this score might even be the national top score.”
“Oh, almost forgot. This score probably has nothing to do with you. Even getting half of this score would require extra favor from the Star of Literature and Arts. That trending topic, what was it called? ‘Chi Nian fails College Entrance Exam.’ A person who couldn’t even get into an ordinary art university, and had to rely on connections to audit here, will probably never know what it feels like to be a top scorer.”
Lu Lin, thinking of Chi Nian’s recent trending status, grew even more excited, completely ignoring the person tugging at the hem of his shirt.
Seeing no reaction from Lu Lin, the person spoke louder, “Lu Lin, Chi Nian just said she scored five points more than Wang Xu!”
“What?”
Lu Lin had been imagining Chi Nian slinking out of the classroom in embarrassment and couldn’t react immediately.
“Five points more?”
Lu Lin didn’t understand, but the onlooking classmates heard clearly.
“Chi Nian’s College Entrance Exam score is five points higher than Wang Xu’s?” Some expressed amazement immediately.
Seeing the astonished looks of his classmates, Wang Xu, who had been unintentionally dragged into this commotion, felt helpless. Was this how life worked, just sitting there while chaos fell from the sky?
“I heard that this year’s highest science score was indeed 744 points, and it was purely earned, with no competition bonus points,” Wang Xu said, adjusting his glasses and stating what he knew.
Lu Lin had overestimated him. He wasn’t the national science top scorer. There were always people better, higher peaks. Wang Xu had never believed his scores were the ceiling. Now, elevated by Lu Lin to such a high status, he didn’t expect any ladder from Lu Lin. He could only step down the staircase himself slowly.
However…
Wang Xu hadn’t cared much about the commotion before. In fact, anything unrelated to academics didn’t catch his attention.
But what Chi Nian had just said piqued his interest completely.
He didn’t care about female actresses, but a dark horse who could consistently outperform him in the College Entrance Exam was someone he wanted to know.
If his memory was correct, that dark horse’s name was also Chi Nian?
Could it really be her?
Wang Xu looked at Chi Nian.
The moment his gaze landed on her face, he felt his heart skip a beat.
He pressed a hand to his chest.
What was happening? Was it excitement at seeing his future competitor?
Perhaps something else as well. Wang Xu didn’t dwell on it. Wearing his usual smile, he stepped forward and greeted her, “Hello, you are Chi Nian, the top scorer in the science track from Jing City, right?”
Chi Nian nodded, her almond-shaped eyes showing a hint of confusion as she looked at Wang Xu.
Under the gaze of those bright, clear eyes, Wang Xu could feel his heartbeat accelerate again.
Yes, this must be the thrill of meeting an equal, Wang Xu thought.
Realizing he hadn’t introduced himself, Wang Xu quickly added, “Oh, I’m Wang Xu. From now on, we’re classmates. I hope we have a chance to discuss problems together.” His smile became more polished, and even he didn’t realize he had already started wanting to show his best self in front of Chi Nian.
“Okay.” Chi Nian agreed.
Wang Xu seemed approachable and intelligent. She liked discussing problems with people like him.
The two exchanged words, creating a lively atmosphere, while Lu Lin, standing by, could not remain calm.
“Damn! Wang Xu, are you blind? How could someone like Chi Nian even connect with a College Entrance Exam top scorer?”