Free Web NovelChapter 125: Chapter 125: Shame and Indignation
Principal Zhang and the others were indeed talking about the city’s top scorer.
Because Fengcheng First Middle School had produced the city’s top scorer, the City Education Bureau personally delivered the score sheets. The person tasked with this job was a young man who had only recently started working.
The young man enjoyed the element of surprise and loved to build suspense, so he refused to announce the list of scores in advance. Principal Zhang was utterly helpless.
"In previous years, we would have already posted the list by the time they arrived. This year, there’s nothing. Everyone must be terribly anxious."
Principal Zhang was truly excited, and also very curious about who it was.
"Mr. Huang, do you know what it feels like to be itching with curiosity?"
Principal Zhang was anxious, but Mr. Huang just beamed. "Principal Zhang, I was just so pleasantly surprised myself! Results this good are a rare sight."
He thought for a moment. "Alright, although I won’t give you the name, I can reveal a bit of other information."
"Tell me!" Principal Zhang was so excited he didn’t notice Qin Shanshan trailing behind them.
Mr. Huang chuckled. "A girl... nineteen years old!"
The eavesdropping Qin Shanshan’s eyes instantly lit up, as did Principal Zhang’s. "What else?"
"I’ve already revealed so much... Fine. Everyone will find out in half an hour anyway, so I’ll tell you one more thing. Xinghua Village. The student is from that village."
Mr. Huang felt this was as good as giving the name. "You can probably guess who it is now, right?"
Grinning, he pushed open the door to the conference room. Principal Zhang’s eyes brightened, and he hurried in after him. "Mr. Huang..."
The closing door cut off Principal Zhang’s voice, leaving behind a Qin Shanshan who was trembling with ecstasy.
Qin Shanshan hadn’t expected to learn anything from eavesdropping, let alone such astonishing news!
’I’m the city’s top scorer!’
A moment ago, while Qin Shanshan had wondered if it could be her, she hadn’t dared to think too deeply about it or get her hopes up.
Only now did she dare to be certain. Her intuition had been right—she was the city’s top scorer!
’I was the only one from Xinghua Village who took the college entrance exam. Who else could it be!’
As for Su Li... Qin Shanshan automatically dismissed her, never even considering the possibility.
Qin Shanshan’s face flushed with excitement. She ran off, using the sprint to vent her exhilaration.
She ran straight to the water well, drew some water to wash her face carefully, then used her reflection in the water to meticulously comb her hair.
She was very meticulous about it; after all, she would soon be photographed for the newspaper!
Qin Shanshan spent twenty minutes fixing herself up, then, with an elated expression, went to rejoin the others.
On her way, she ran right into Su Li. Without a second thought, she let out a laugh, then tilted her head back haughtily. "Su Li."
Seeing Qin Shanshan burst out laughing the moment she saw her, Su Li’s mouth twitched. "Now what?" she asked irritably.
’What kind of scheme has she cooked up now? She just won’t leave me alone.’
"I’m just telling you, if you kowtow and admit defeat now, you can just stay in Xinghua Village. I won’t make you do it for the newspapers."
Qin Shanshan said it with an air of great magnanimity.
Su Li was utterly speechless. "So confident. Did you find out your score?"
Qin Shanshan just snorted. Without answering, she tossed her hair and ran ahead. Su Li watched her go, shook her head, and followed the crowd into the conference room.
Once the principal, teachers, reporters, and various leaders were in place, the somewhat hodgepodge commendation meeting officially began.
Mr. Huang acted as the host himself, full of energy and passion.
"...In my hands, I have the list of students who met the admission cutoff scores. The county’s top scorer and the city’s top scorer are on here as well. I will announce them one by one shortly. But without further ado, let’s first invite our city’s top scorer to the stage to say a few words to everyone."
He took a step back and, under the eager gazes of the crowd, gestured to the center of the stage and began to speak with great, soaring passion.
"Let’s welcome our city’s top scorer..." He deliberately paused to build suspense, not saying the name. Unexpectedly, during that very pause, Qin Shanshan had already stood up.
It wasn’t that Qin Shanshan was overly eager; it was mainly that she hadn’t expected Mr. Huang to pause.
She had been suppressing her excitement, reveling in her private thrill and pride. It had been a great effort to keep the news from her classmates.
After she stood up, Mr. Huang froze for a second, and she herself froze as well.
Fortunately, Mr. Huang was quick to react. "Well, I had intended to keep you all in suspense, but it seems I’ve failed. Our principal must have already guessed who it is and told the top scorer herself!"
He gave a slight bow. "Please, let’s welcome our top scorer to the stage."
Qin Shanshan finally let out a breath of relief. Smiling, she walked onto the stage amidst the gasps, whispers, and envious looks of her classmates. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
’This day belongs to me. It is my glory.’
Qin Shanshan stood at the center of the stage, her gaze instantly locking onto Su Li in the audience. The pride and contempt in her eyes were no longer concealed.
’Today, I’m going to crush Su Li under my heel!’
Qin Shanshan didn’t see that Principal Zhang and her class teacher, who were in the audience, had strange expressions on their faces, looking as if they wanted to say something but were holding back.
Mr. Huang didn’t notice either. He clapped his hands. "Alright, everyone, please quiet down. Next, our city’s top scorer, student Su Li, will share some of her thoughts on how she achieved this."
He finished speaking with a smile and was about to gracefully step aside, but after only two steps, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
The smile on Qin Shanshan’s face froze. Her expression was one of utter disbelief. The students below were also stunned, and then the room erupted.
Su Li, who had been frowning, raised an eyebrow in surprise. Principal Zhang closed his eyes, his face looking grim. The class teacher saw the reporter next to them about to take a picture and quickly stood up, waving and shouting.
"Qin Shanshan, get down from there, quickly."
Mr. Huang was dumbfounded. He whipped his head toward Qin Shanshan. "You’re not Su Li?"
Of course, Qin Shanshan was not Su Li.
If, a second ago, Qin Shanshan had been clinging to the faint hope that she had misheard earlier, Mr. Huang’s question completely shattered that hope.
Qin Shanshan was mortified.
She didn’t even know how she got off the stage.
She didn’t know how she managed to run out of the room, either. All she knew was that on this day, she finally understood what it truly meant to be mortified.
Even after running far, far away from the conference room, she could almost still hear the chatter of her classmates and feel their strange looks.
The humiliation haunted her like a shadow.
The class teacher sent two girls after her. Once they confirmed she was alright, no one paid her any more mind, because although her rank in the school wasn’t bad, her score hadn’t met the university admission cutoff.
What should have been a pleasant surprise was made incredibly awkward by Qin Shanshan’s blunder of going on stage.
Fortunately, Mr. Huang was competent and a smooth talker, and he quickly livened up the atmosphere again.
"...Alright, now let’s welcome our *real* city’s top scorer, student Su Li, to the stage!"
Su Li was genuinely surprised and delighted to find out she was the top scorer. After a moment to compose herself, she calmly stood up.
After Su Li stood up, Mr. Huang immediately looked at the principal and the class teacher. Only after seeing them nod did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Under the curious gazes of the crowd, Su Li went up and said a few words, smiled for a solo picture, and then took a group photo with everyone, and that was that. There was no prize money or anything at this time.
Su Li had never attended classes at the school and didn’t know any of her classmates. She spoke for a bit with the excited Principal Zhang and class teacher, then went to collect her score sheet and physical examination form.
By the time Su Li left, the school had already posted the good news announcement. It was written on a large sheet of bright red paper, and the font on it was huge. Every student who had met the cutoff, whether for undergraduate or vocational programs, had their name on it.
This was the school’s pride and the fruit of its labor.
Su Li looked at it, feeling a wave of emotion, and rubbed her nose.
Her name was at the very top... The two words were so large they were a bit intimidating and incredibly conspicuous.
Although it looked a bit silly, Su Li ended up smiling. She even felt the urge to take the announcement home as a keepsake.
