Chapter 101.1

On the forum, Eternal Second Place posted.

He didn’t say anything—just a single question mark.

[?]

1st comment: ?

2nd comment: ?

3rdcomment: ?

4th comment: Should I reply? Seeing Eternal Second Place post this is honestly kind of scary. What happened? Did the results come out? Did Long Hui beat you again? Is first place not at No. 1 High School?

Eternal Second Place: The results are out. First place is at No. 1 High School. But right now, I don’t even have the urge to go show off in front of Long Hui. It’s just… I think I might’ve transmigrated.

The senior year three students below instantly exploded.

“Oh!!!!”

“You’re insane!!!”

“Just like you!! You took first place back this time!!”

“Let the guys from No. 3 High School continue to jump around; they’re completely flipped right now!”

Eternal Second Place was still completely stunned. He didn’t react for ages, until someone patted him. Only then did he blankly say, “Ah—no. First place isn’t me.”

“Huh? Not you?” The other person didn’t take it seriously. “Then who is it? No. 3 High School?”

The Director of Academic Affairs was swept up by the heated atmosphere below, smiling so hard his eyes narrowed into slits. A student behind him handed over the list of students who’d made the citywide top twenty this time.

“Now,” he announced, “I will represent the school in commending the students who have entered the citywide top twenty!”

The broadcast music switched right on cue to the Athletes’ March. The Director of Academic Affairs opened the list, about to speak, then suddenly froze, eyes flying wide open. 

?

The entire field went quiet, waiting for him to announce the name of the first place.

The Director of Academic Affairs glanced at the list again, then turned to look at the teacher in charge of grades, silently asking whether there was a mistake. As if he’d expected this reaction all along, the teacher shook his head, signaling him to just keep reading.

No mistake?!

How was that even possible?!

The Director of Academic Affairs looked at the name again. There was nobody left to ask, so he could only grit his teeth and keep reading.

“This time, the citywide first place is… senior year three, Class 1… Jiang—Jiang Zhihuo… total score… 743?!”

When he got to the score, his voice visibly shook. The microphone caught every little tremor, broadcasting it across the entire field.

No matter which class, which student took first, it was still an honor for No. 1 High School. The seniors were just about to erupt into cheers, then they heard the name, and the excitement they’d just managed to work up abruptly froze.

—Huh?

Who?

Jiang Zhihuo?

743?!

On the massive sports field, only Class 1 went absolutely berserk, screaming at the top of their lungs.

“Ahhhhh!!!!”

“Huo-ge—you actually did it, aaaaah!!!”

“743!! Oh my god—743!! I thought 739 on the unified test was already insane! I didn’t think it could go even higher!!”

“Oh my god, you’re a study god! From now on, I’m calling Huo-ge… God Huo!!”

“What kind of nickname is that, hahaha—so dumb!!”

Class 2 was right next to Class 1, the closest of all. Hearing wave after wave of cheering coming from the side, they turned their heads over in a daze, each of them with their mouths slightly open, eyes totally blank.

Only Zong Bei managed to instantly blend right into Class 1’s vibe:

“Ahhhhh, Huo, you’re fucking amazing!! Provincial top scorer—there’s seriously hope for that now!! Glory to the family, honor to the ancestors!!”

His shout was way too abrupt for Class 2. Everyone turned back to stare at him: “?”

Zong Bei finally realized what he’d done and let out an awkward dry cough.

After the flag-raising ceremony ended, Jiang Zhihuo got called to the office again.

He’d already been dragged in once after the last unified test, but when the Class 1 teachers saw these ridiculously heaven-defying scores, they were still totally dazed.

The physics teacher snapped, “What the hell is going on with you?!”

Jiang Zhihuo said, sounding genuinely regretful, “Kinda a shame. I didn’t do well on the science comprehensive this time.”

“……” one teacher choked out. “Is this really a ‘did well or didn’t do well’ kind of problem?!”

A whole bunch of teachers crowded around him, each one staring like they couldn’t believe their eyes. They didn’t even need to say what they were thinking; every bit of it was written all over their faces.

—How is that possible?!

You cheated, didn’t you?!

Even with the city-wide quality examination being that strict, people can still cheat?!

Ding Jianhui, of course, knew what the other teachers were thinking. If he let them say it out loud and question it directly, that would be him failing as the homeroom teacher; once any student gets slapped with the label of ‘cheating,’ whether they can clear their name later or not, it still hurts them. Besides, Jiang Zhihuo had already explained the situation to him beforehand, and Ding Jianhui had even checked the surveillance footage back during the unified test.

“Alright, alright.” Ding Jianhui put a hand on Jiang Zhihuo’s shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, signaling him to leave the office first. “I already understand what’s going on with Zhihuo, and you subject teachers more or less know too. It’s… personal reasons, okay—not something convenient to disclose. He’s always been a very outstanding kid.”

“Old Ding?!”

Seeing the teachers in the office still weren’t buying it, Ding Jianhui could only sigh and pull up Weibo. “Do you guys seriously not watch variety shows? How are you supposed to mingle with the students like that?”

He waved them over.

The post was from two weeks ago.

Today Entertainment V: #PickUGoodLookingTopStudentGuy# In the newest episode of PickU101, two ridiculously handsome top-student guys showed up on camera. Come watch with everyone! [Video]

The uploader had clipped the parts where Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu appeared into a 1.5-minute short. They were leaning in the hallway, complaining that last year’s competition problems were weirdly ‘inspired,’ the kind where you need a bit of time just to process what you’re looking at.

And he was seriously, dead-serious, discussing competition questions with Yan Mu.

He was answering Yun Xiaoxu’s hint cards at lightning speed, so fast he didn’t even need scratch paper.

Every teacher, after finishing the video: “………”

Ding Jianhui lifted his ‘healthy’ goji-berry tea like it was a shield. “Our school got one more outstanding student. We should be happy about that, right?”

School supplies.

All the teachers: “……”

Meanwhile, a whole bunch of people had gathered outside Class 1. Everyone was asking about Jiang Zhihuo.

Who doesn’t know Jiang Zhihuo from No. 1 High School? The guy whose CP posts have been pinned at the top of the forum forever!

The image of Boss Jiang, the school bully—hates studying, loves fighting, rebellious to the bone—was already burned into everyone’s brain, and now he suddenly scores a 743?!

This can’t be real!

Even “Eternal Second Place” was outside Class 1. He’d been the first one to hear about the results this time, and he was also the one who stayed confused the longest.

“You guys knew from the start that Zhihuo was a top student?!” he demanded, grabbing a friend from Class 1 he was close with. And honestly, that friend was ridiculously loyal; he hadn’t leaked a single word to him.

The guy said, “We only found out recently. Didn’t you see Pick U 101? He totally got exposed on the show! But later, Huo-ge apologized to us. It was personal stuff, you know—no need for us to pry.”

After the grade-level unified test, he’d already turned into Jiang Zhihuo’s biggest fanboy. The moment he brought up that 743, he got even more hyped than Jiang Zhihuo himself. “Huo-ge is seriously insane! He was in bad shape those days—caught a cold. When he was taking the science comprehensive, I heard he was so sick he was basically about to pass out. And he still handed it in early and left! Like—my god, I’m always racing the clock just to finish, and he just turns in early and walks out… and still gets almost a perfect score?! Tell me that’s not crazy!”

Eternal Second Place was listening, but it all felt like a blur. Class 1 was ridiculously lively because of that 743; the whole “citywide first place” thing had basically exploded. The noise was nonstop, and the friend next to him just kept talking and talking, not letting up for a second. And then, all of a sudden, he remembered something Yan Mu had said to him before—

“First place isn’t possible. Just protect your second place.”

“……Just do your best.”

So Yan Mu had known how strong Jiang Zhihuo was all along…

Eternal Second Place felt a little miserable.

He’d pushed himself to the limit, grinding problems day and night, and finally got a score he thought was pretty decent, only to end up just 0.5 points higher than Long Hui. Meanwhile, Yan Mu and Jiang Zhihuo could basically stroll into an exam and still crush everyone.

“Xu Er?” Someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around—Jiang Zhihuo.

Eternal Second pulled the emptiness out of his eyes, shoved it back down, and held his hand out to Jiang Zhihuo. “Congrats. Citywide first place.”

Jiang Zhihuo smiled a bit. “You’re really good, too. Hard work gets paid back.”

“Yeah?” Eternal Second Place tugged at his mouth like he can’t even manage a real smile, and the hurt just spilled right out anyway. “No matter how hard you try, you still can’t beat someone who’s got talent.”

“What are you saying?” Jiang Zhihuo rummaged in his bag, pulled out two packs of snacks, and tossed them over. “You’re not doing it for other people.”

“Seriously, what are you even saying!” The Class 1’s class monitor happened to walk past and caught the end of it. “Don’t go comparing yourself to Huo-ge and God Yan. Those two are freaks. How many people like that even exist?”

The class monitor slung an arm around Eternal Second Place’s shoulder. “Then compare with us, okay? When have you ever not scored higher than all of us? I mean it, I seriously think you’re insanely strong.”

“Exactly!” someone else jumped in. “I’ve been studying day and night too, and I still can’t even hit 685. If you’re gonna get all mopey, what are we supposed to do?”

“You’re supposed to stay outstanding,” another voice said. “We normal people still need you as our goal!”

“Ah, you guys… honestly.” Eternal Second Place pulled the two bags of snacks closer to his chest, and his heart just went all soft. High schoolers don’t really have that many hidden twists. Of course, he could tell they meant it. So he said, “Alright, alright—go grind your problems properly! I’m heading to the forum to blow up Long Hui for a bit!”

“Yeah! Make him bark like a dog and run laps around the track!! Wait for me, I’ll log in on my main too!”

Long Hui basically stirred up two forums all by himself. The ranking for the citywide examination didn’t just blow up at No. 1 High School—No. 3 High School went crazy, too.

[So first place is back in No. 1 High’s hands again!]

[Holy crap, what even is that 743 score?! Did the God of Learning come take the exam again?!]

[It’s not the God of Learning, I checked the official site, it’s someone called Jiang Zhihuo!]

[Jiang Zhihuo? That name sounds kinda familiar… haven’t I heard it or seen it somewhere?]

[That’s the God of Learning’s boyfriend!]

[Huh?! His boyfriend?! The school bully omega? Didn’t people say his grades sucked and he was dead last?!]

[Dead last, my ass—how is that dead last?! Seven-hundred-plus points! He’s basically another study-god, okay?!]

The boy typed out the last character, hit send, then looked up and noticed Long Hui sitting not far away. He elbowed his deskmate and flicked his eyes forward, telling him to look too.

They only saw Long Hui’s face turn an ugly, sickly shade, his hand clenched tight around his score report, eyes full of pure unwillingness.

His deskmate was the blunt type and muttered, “What’re you so pissed about? If you can’t beat them, you can’t beat them. Do you really have to go and provoke people?”

The classroom was quiet to begin with, and that line, just loud enough, just soft enough, carried straight into Long Hui’s ears. He slammed the score sheet down hard, shot the guy a vicious glare, and stormed out.

Out in the corridor, Long Hui made a phone call. “Hello. I want to file a real-name report. In this citywide examination, someone at Lincheng No. 1 High School cheated.”

The Education Bureau already taken student exam situations seriously. With Long Hui reporting under his real name, the person in charge checked Jiang Zhihuo’s past grades, and the gap really was way too big. In the end, they called Lincheng No. 1 High directly.

“Hello, this is the City Education Bureau. Someone has made a real-name report that a student at your school cheated on the citywide examination. We hope your school can cooperate.”

*