Chapter 22: Zero Score
Chapter 22
There probably wasn\'t a single teacher in the entire third year who didn\'t know Qiao Ying. Almost everyone who had taught her would say the same thing with a heart attack: "I have never seen someone as foolish as you!"
A score of five points! In all the years of teaching, they had never seen such a low score in an exam. It was as if luck had avoided her completely.
It wasn\'t just about getting lucky with this score; the teachers would have loved to knock on Qiao Ying\'s head and see what was inside.
Not only were her grades poor, but her personality was also unpleasant. She was always gloomy, with her hair covering her face and constantly keeping her head down.
She was genuinely disliked by people from the bottom of their hearts.
That being said, it seemed like something was different now.
She seemed thinner, more attractive, and her whole demeanor had become lively. She even dared to speak loudly.
Unfortunately, the change had come too late.
The invigilating teacher glanced at the few scribbles on the draft paper next to Qiao Ying\'s exam paper from a distance, shaking his head and thinking: no hope.
Qiao Lingling, who was diligently writing, suddenly saw Qiao Ying passing by in the corridor. She looked puzzled at first, then sneered disdainfully.
So what if she could earn some money by playing computer games? She was still a complete idiot.
Qiao Ying returned home after evening self-study and immediately sought out Qiao Lingling.
Suppressing his excitement, he first asked about Qiao Ying\'s exam results.
"I got home at four-thirty," Qiao Ying said.
They had been given a night off by the school, their final relaxation before the college entrance examination. So as soon as she handed in her exam paper, Qiao Ying came back.
Qiao Lingling quickly realized, "You handed in the paper early?"
The exam was supposed to last until half past five.
Qiao Ying replied, "Mhm."
"Once the results come out tomorrow, no one will dare to say that you didn\'t do well on the exam, even if they step on the multiple-choice questions, they won\'t get more than two correct answers."
Qiao Ying felt that Qiao Lingling was a bit too excited. Qiao Lingling was usually calm and reserved, someone who didn\'t like to show her emotions. But now, her cheeks were flushed, which was unusual.
"Do you have something to tell me?" Qiao Ying asked directly.
"Sis, you\'ve been accepted to Peking University through recommendation!"
"Huh?"
"The president of Peking University and the math prodigy, Xu Zhiyi, contacted me."
Qiao Ying raised an eyebrow slightly, showing no particular reaction.
"I posted the solution process and answer to that problem on the math forum at Peking University yesterday," Qiao Lingling said, showing her phone to Qiao Ying. "Xu Zhiyi contacted me last night, but my mom called me at the time... He wants to meet you and discuss problem-solving methods."
"The president of Peking University also contacted me, saying that if you\'re a student, you can go directly to Peking University to register. He also wants to meet you."
Qiao Lingling received a direct message from the president of Peking University just a few minutes before evening self-study. When she saw the message, she was so excited that she wanted to run home and tell Qiao Ying immediately.
However, Qiao Ying remained indifferent, with no emotional expression on her face. "Recommendation? Not interested."
Qiao Lingling was slightly stunned. "Why?"
"I\'m not interested in mathematics, and I don\'t have the time to accompany a group of old folks doing useless research. I have many things to do."
Qiao Yi asked, "Will you take the entrance exam for Peking University?"
Attending Peking University has always been Qiao Yi\'s dream.
Qiao Ying squinted her eyes, lost in thought. After a moment, she softly opened her red lips, "Peking University, sure."
The strongest branch of the shadows is hidden in the capital city.
She couldn\'t wait to reunite with her beloved organization and surprise them.
What kind of surprise should she give them?
How about sending them a hundred kilograms of TNT?
Just like how they buried a hundred kilograms of it in the underground lab in Nanyang.
A hundred kilograms of TNT explosives delivered to her beloved headquarters.
Boom, it would be quite a spectacle.
A sinister and bloodthirsty gleam flickered in Qiao Ying\'s eyes.
Qiao Yi didn\'t notice Qiao Ying\'s peculiarity. After a moment of silence, he said, "Sis, I\'ll support whatever choice you make."
Considering Qiao Ying\'s actual grades, Qiao Yi didn\'t think it would be a waste to decline the offer of direct admission.
Qiao Ying looked at her adorable little brother, and her lips slightly curved up.
When Qiao Yi saw that expression on Qiao Ying\'s face, he felt like she was about to "do something" to him again. His instincts told him to dodge, but in the end, he didn\'t move.
Her obedient and shy demeanor was just like a cat waiting to be petted.
"So, how should we reply to the President of Peking University and Xu Zhiyi?" Qiao Ying asked.
But Qiao Yi asked her, "Do you want to attend Peking University?"
Qiao Yi wasn\'t dumb and instantly understood what Qiao Ying meant.
He nodded heavily, a rare seriousness on his face, and said, "I do, but I want to rely on my own efforts to get into Peking University."
Qiao Ying smiled indifferently.
Even if Qiao Yi replaced her to report to Peking University, Qiao Ying wouldn\'t say anything.
She was always generous toward those she acknowledged.
But who wouldn\'t like an adorable little brother who was upright, determined, and had aspirations?
Qiao Ying said, "Then I\'ll wait for you at Peking University."
---
Qiao Yi held his phone, pondering how to respond to the President of Peking University and Xu Zhiyi.
Since Qiao Ying didn\'t want the guaranteed admission spot, he naturally couldn\'t reveal Qiao Ying\'s identity to avoid people bothering her.
After much deliberation, Qiao Yi chose the simplest refusal.
In the laboratory, Xu Zhiyi frequently became distracted, occasionally glancing at the forum page where he had been chatting with Qiao Yi.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the screen move suddenly.
Xu Zhiyi immediately looked over and when he saw the reply, he grabbed the phone.
[Sorry, it\'s not convenient.]
Xu Zhiyi anxiously waited for a day and two nights, but this was the reply he received. He became anxious and quickly composed a message.
But no matter what he said, even suggesting communicating through text messages, not disturbing Qiao Yi\'s life, or even proposing to have just five minutes to ask a few questions, the other party never replied again.
---
The exam results were soon released.
The scores were posted, and the students crowded around the bulletin board.
First place, Xu Mingchen: 139.
As expected.
It was noticed that the school belle, Ye Jingning, dropped from being in the top twenty to over a hundredth place.
It seemed that the incident from last time had a significant impact on her.
Qiao Lingling, influenced by Qiao Ying, almost got strangled by Qiao Ying that morning and had consecutive nightmares for the following two days. Naturally, her performance in the exams was off.
She only scored 102.
She was feeling frustrated when she noticed Qiao Ying\'s name boldly displayed at the very bottom of the ranking list.
Zero points.
Qiao Lingling almost burst out laughing.
Zero points? How did he manage to score that?
As the bell rang, the teacher entered the classroom holding the test papers. "Class monitor, distribute the papers, and for this class, we will discuss the test."
"Has everyone received their test papers? Good. Let\'s first take a look at question eight. How many times have I explained this in class..."
"I have a question." A female voice interrupted the math teacher.
The teacher looked at Qiao Ying with an expressionless face. "What\'s your question?"
Qiao Ying picked up her own test paper. "Who corrected my paper? Why did I get a zero?"
"A zero? Wow, setting a new record low."
"Amazing, I thought five points was the limit. I didn\'t expect there was still room for improvement."
"Compared to the anonymous genius who shocked the entire math forum at Jing University the night before yesterday, how can there be such a huge difference between people?"
"What forum and what genius?"
"Don\'t you know? It\'s all over the hot search. The president of Jing University and the math prodigy Xu Zhiyi are searching the entire internet for the problem solver. They\'re only one step away from offering a reward."
The teacher slammed the podium and frowned at Qiao Ying, who was disrupting the class. "I corrected it. Why don\'t you understand why you got zero?"
Qiao Ying loosened her grip on the test paper, letting it fall onto the desk. She looked at the teacher and spoke with a firm and resounding tone, "I don\'t understand."