Chapter 186: Congratulations

Ning Li and Pei Song were standing next to Geng Haifan.

These two were the best students in their competitive physics class.

Now, Geng Haifan was complimenting Ye Ci’s good exam results in front of both geniuses.

How great was that?

All the students in the classroom, and even Ye Ci herself froze for a moment.

She could not help but look over at Ning Li.

In fact, after leaving the examination room, Ye Ci had known that she would be able to achieve good results. However, this situation…

Geng Haifan said, “Come along to the office.”

Ye Ci nodded, and the three students followed behind Geng Haifan.

After they were completely out of sight, the students in the first class went into a frenzy.

“What’s going on? Ye Ci actually followed them to the office?”

“It makes sense for Ning Li and Pei Song to be called to the office, but why Ye Ci?”

Lin Zhouyang withdrew his gaze, upset by these words. He slapped the back of the boy’s head.

“What else could it be? Didn’t you hear Mr. Geng? Ye Ci did very well in the exam, that’s why!”

As he said that, he had a smile of triumph on his face. He looked even happier than if he himself had scored well in the exam.

The boy who had been hit covered his head and turned back with a twisted face.

“But…Ye Ci and those two geniuses aren’t even on the same level…”

This boy was also in the competitive physics class, so he understood the situation better than the rest.

Even without taking Ning Li and Pei Song into consideration, his results were usually better than Ye Ci’s.

At best, she was an average student in that class.

The highest achievement she could potentially get was at provincial level.

‘But now…the teacher had called her as well?’

Lin Zhouyang could not bear to hear anyone insulting Ye Ci at this time.

“Ye Ci’s been working very hard lately, so it’s normal to score well in the exams, right? Besides, is she not allowed to overachieve a little?”

The competitive physics class was a tough class to get into, and winning a prize was not based on hard work alone.

In a competition among the top students, it came down to talent.

Lin Zhouyang knew this, so he had added that sentence at the end.

The boy who had been hit was speechless and could only seek Ren Qian’s help to back him up.

“Qianzi, do you think this competition relies on luck?”

Ren Qian was in the math competition, so he definitely knew more about this than Lin Zhouyang.

Lin Zhouyang frowned in dissatisfaction.

“She’s not relying on luck, okay? Can’t you see that she worked hard for this?”

Ren Qian thought about it for a while and smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. “Well, those who are on the same level as Ning Li and Brother Pei can’t just rely on luck. They must have some ability.”

….

The physics office was extraordinarily lively that day.

Not only the physics teachers were present. Several of the other school leaders, such as Sun Quan were also there.

As soon as Geng Haifan brought the students in, everyone in the office looked over at once.

Everyone had smiles on their faces and were clearly elated.

“You’re here!”

Ye Ci followed behind, still a bit stunned.

She had always been considered an honor student in Second High, so the teachers had always been nice to her.

However, today was the first time she had been looked upon with such great admiration.

Sun Quan was unprecedentedly warm.

“The three of you have really done us proud this time!”

His eyes swept from Ning Li and Pei Song, before finally landing on Ye Ci.

“Previously, I only knew that Ning Li and Pei Song were excellent students. I didn’t expect Ye Ci to be so outstanding as well! You got fifth place in the province!”

Ye Ci was instantly dumbfounded.

‘I got…fifth in the whole province?’

Ye Ci thought that she had misheard and spoke hesitantly.

“Mr. Sun, did you just say that I’m…fifth in the province?”

Seeing her look of disbelief, Sun Quan smiled and said, “Yes, you did! We’ve already confirmed it, so there’s no mistake.”

In fact, they also understood Ye Ci’s reaction. After all, when they had first heard the news, they had also been in doubt as to whether it had been another student with the same name.

That was because they had only thought that Ning Li and Pei Song were capable of getting this ranking and had not expected Ye Ci to give them such a big surprise.

Pei Song’s eyes moved slightly and lingered on Ye Ci for a few seconds.

They had been in the same competitive physics class for such a long time, so they knew each other’s standards after so many quizzes and tests.

He had also not expected Ye Ci to actually get this ranking.

Ye Ci was shocked at first, but she slowly recovered and started to feel an uncontrollable joy.

‘Fifth in the province! What a great honor!’

During this period, she had been very worried about this physics competition and had not expected to achieve these results.

All the hard work and stress she had gone through were finally worth it!

The corners of her lips curled up to reveal an unexpected smile, as if she was also joyfully overwhelmed by this news.

“I…I didn’t expect this either…”

Zhou Fei leaned back in his chair lazily and suddenly said, “Ye Ci, I didn’t hear you mention anything after you came out of the examination room that day. It turns out that you managed to go through it so smoothly.”

Ye Ci’s heart skipped a beat and subconsciously looked at Zhou Fei, meeting his gaze.

Unlike the joy in the other teachers, Zhou Fei’s handsome face had a smile, but his eyes were calm and even a little scrutinizing.

Ye Ci inexplicably felt a momentary guilt, but she then felt that there was no need to feel that way.

Of course she knew that the only reason she was able to get this grade was that a vast majority of the questions on that paper were the same as the ones in Ning Li’s notebook.

Without that notebook, she probably would not have been able to do even half of that paper.

‘But…so what? She hadn’t stolen that notebook and she had done that paper all by herself. She definitely deserved this ranking in the province!’

That notebook had also been given to her by Ning Li.

Even if anyone thought something was wrong and wanted to investigate, the first one to be investigated should be Ning Li.

Thinking of this, the guilt Ye Ci felt vanished.

Anyway, the competition was over and the results were out. What belonged to her was hers to keep!

“Speaking of which, I have to thank Sister Ning Li…”

As she said that, she looked towards Ning Li and scrutinized her expression.

She had initially thought that Ning Li would be very unhappy about this. However, since the time they had entered the office, Ning Li’s expression had remained as calm and indifferent as ever. Ning Li had not even shown the slightest bit of surprise when she heard that Ye Ci had gotten fifth place in the province.

It was as if Ning Li did not care at all.

Ning Li noticed Ye Ci’s gaze and suddenly looked over at her.

Her eyes were bright and clear as if she could see through everything.

The corners of Ning Li’s lips curved up slightly. “Congratulations.”

Ye Ci did not feel the sincerity in Ning Li’s words.

Anyway, who would sincerely congratulate their opponent?

Perhaps Ning Li was just putting up a calm facade, even though her heart was bitter at this moment.

Thinking of this, Ye Ci smiled