Chapter 24: Youth Olympic Qualification, The No.1 High School Forum

Duan Jingyi suddenly sat up straight, staring at the math class representative in disbelief. "Are—are you serious?"

The math class representative smiled and nodded. "Of course. Why would I lie about something like this? Jingyi, congratulations in advance!"

The rest of the class also began to congratulate Duan Jingyi.

"Congratulations, Jingyi."

"Jingyi, you have to make our school proud!"

Jingyi herself was convinced that the spot was hers; she couldn’t hide the smile on her face no matter how hard she tried, though she replied modestly, "I guess I just got lucky."

The math teacher for Class One was also the director of academic affairs. At the start of the math lesson, he announced the names for the Youth Olympiad.

Suppressing her excitement, Jingyi listened as the director read the names one by one.

He went up to the eighth name.

Jingyi sat up even straighter, her eyes fixed expectantly on the director.

But the director’s voice abruptly stopped. He set down the paper with the names and looked ready to begin the lesson.

Jingyi’s face froze, her whole body going rigid.

The other students were stunned as well.

The math class representative glanced at Jingyi’s pale face with some sympathy, and directly raised his hand to ask, "Teacher, what about the last one?"

The director pushed up his glasses. "What last one?"

The math class representative was at a loss, and hinted, "Isn’t there supposed to be an eleventh spot for the Youth Olympiad? Shouldn’t that last spot be from our class as well?"

"Eleven?" The director instinctively looked at Jingyi, his brow knitting. "Are you sure it’s eleven?"

He’d had something come up that morning and had only just made it to school before class, grabbing his textbook and the list in a rush. He wasn’t aware of any updates.

Thinking there might still be another student from his class joining the Olympiad, he—

Just then, another math teacher happened to pass by the door, and the director called out to him.

"Mr. Sun, did we get an extra spot for the Youth Olympiad this time?"

Mr. Sun stopped, his voice full of enthusiasm. "Yes, Director, our school got an extra spot this time."

With this confirmation, Jingyi felt warmth returning to her body, her complexion brightening.

So it wasn’t that her name was missing; the director simply didn’t know yet.

The director’s mood improved as well. "So the list hasn’t been updated? I still only have eight names here."

Mr. Sun realized what was going on and laughed. "Director, you misunderstood. The last spot is for a student from Ms. Jin’s class."

The director was taken aback. "Class Twelve?"

At those words, Jingyi felt the blood drain from her body, an icy chill seeping into her bones.

Mr. Sun sighed, "Yes, who would have thought Class Twelve would produce a student who could make it into the Youth Olympiad?"

The director thought hard, but couldn’t recall any math prodigies from Class Twelve.

Then Mr. Sun continued, "Oh, right, it’s that new transfer student. I think her name is Gu... Gu Ci! Yes, Gu Ci!"

At the mention of Gu Ci, the director’s brows drew together in a deep frown, anger flaring up. "Gu Ci? With her grades... The principal put her on the Olympiad team?"

Jingyi shot to her feet, her voice sharp and shrill. "How is that possible?!"

Mr. Sun scratched his head. "It’s just that new transfer student, anyway."

Sensing the director’s growing anger, Mr. Sun quickly found an excuse and slipped away.

The director’s brow remained furrowed. "I’ll go ask about this."

He told the class to study on their own, then stepped outside to call the principal.

After all, only the principal would have the authority to quietly add someone to the Olympiad list.

Unfortunately, after a long wait, the call turned to a busy signal.

He couldn’t get through.

Suppressing his frustration, the director had no choice but to set the matter aside for now.

He glanced at Jingyi. "The principal’s unavailable at the moment, but don’t worry—when he returns, I’ll make sure you get a fair answer. The spot will go to whoever deserves it."

For a while, the mood in Class One was heavy and oppressive.

Everyone was upset that Jingyi hadn’t gotten the spot, feeling a sense of injustice.

And the fact that it had gone to Gu Ci, who had had a conflict with Jingyi and some others just last week, only made everyone angrier.

After class, Gu Zhi ran immediately apologized to Jingyi. "Jingyi, I’m so sorry..."

Jingyi abruptly looked up, her eyes red, her voice loud and aggrieved. "Zhi Ran, didn’t she always get zeros before? Didn’t she get into this school because of your dad’s connections? So why did she get my spot?"

In an instant, nearly everyone around had heard her accusation.

Gu Ci... all her previous grades were zeros?

She’d only gotten into First High because of Gu Zhi Ran’s family connections?

At noon, a post titled #So This Is The Transfer Student You All Adore—About The Youth Olympiad Spot, I Can’t Stay Silent# exploded on the school forum, becoming the hottest new thread.

The Youth Olympiad was already the hottest topic at First High, and the words “transfer student” drew even more attention. The thread instantly attracted countless students.

Upon clicking in, the poster claimed to be an insider from one of the senior classes and said they could no longer keep silent.

What followed was a barrage of information, each detail supported by evidence, photos, and “the truth.”

The thread began, "As everyone knows, our school had eleven spots for the Youth Olympiad, and which students would go was determined by the ranking from a previous math competition held by our school."

Perhaps anticipating that people might not remember the rankings clearly, the poster thoughtfully attached a photo of the competition results.

[Photo: Math Competition Rankings.jpg]

The eleventh spot was, unmistakably, Duan Jingyi’s name.

"But..."

Next, another photo.

[Photo: Complete Youth Olympiad List.jpg]

For the eleventh name, it was no longer Duan Jingyi, but Gu Ci.

The poster had even circled “Gu Ci” in red and placed a small image of the competition rankings beside it.

The comparison only made the name “Gu Ci” seem even more conspicuous and out of place.

"Moreover, from what I know, when we were taking the math competition, the transfer student hadn’t even joined our school yet."

"By now, I’m sure everyone gets it, right?"

"To put it simply, she didn’t even participate in our math competition, but took one of the spots anyway."

"Some might want to argue—maybe she’s a math genius and that’s why she got in out of nowhere?"

"Well then, take a look at this."

"Weren’t there people before saying ‘no pics, no truth’? I’ve found the evidence. Here, see for yourselves—the transfer student’s grades from the past few years."

The opening line was aimed right at some of the comments under last Friday’s post, the sarcasm obvious.

[Photo: Middle and High School Transcripts.jpg]

At the top was Gu Ci’s name, and page after page showed nothing but glaring zeros, the red marks burning on the page...