Qiao Zhizhuo didn't feel too good but he didn't want to lose face in front of all these guests.
He nodded. "Yes, that's true."
"Exactly!" Friends of Qin Yongmei's also helped out, "What good is it to give expensive birthday gifts? Her grades are all over the place! She's known to be incapable and a good-for-nothing. She embarrasses the Qiao family! For her to have that image is far more humiliating!"
Qiao Nian's eyelid jolted – she had a bad premonition.
As expected, everyone heard He Wanqing's giggle next.
"I'm sorry to announce that Qingqing placed first in the latest all subject mock examination."
Qin Yongmei laughed out loud as well upon hearing this. She was just feeling down but now her heart lifted.
"Sister-in-law, have you started hallucinating because you want your kid to do well so badly? Who doesn't know what kind of grades Qingqing gets normally? She can place first? First from the top of the list or first from the bottom of the list?"
"Qingqing scored a total of 690 points, which means she placed first. I'm in the same class as her, I am a witness," Luo Chen suddenly said.
The sarcastic smile on Qin Yongmei's face froze.
"I am a witness as well," Ye Fan licked his lips and said shyly.
They could've claimed that Luo Chen's words were lies because he was close to Qiao Qing. But now that the honor student Ye Fan had spoken, nobody could doubt this anymore.
Qin Yongmei looked over to Qiao Nian with a petrified face, "Didn't you say... she performed..."
She couldn't even finish her sentence because she realized right away why Qiao Nian had lied. Her expression turned even uglier.
Qiao Zhizhuo's eyes, however, shone a little brighter. Surprised, he looked at Qiao Qing, "Qingqing, you placed first?"
"So what she placed first? She only did it once." Xu Ningning responded, "Niannian has placed first numerous times since attending high school. You don't see her gloating like this. What, Qiao Qing thinks she'll continue to score that high?"
"There was a senior last year, who performed average all year long. Then, on some exam, he placed first. But that good performance vanished as soon as it appeared. On the next exam, his grades returned to average."
"How much can you count on luck when it comes to grades? It's not like people here don't know how little capabilities she has. We don't even know for sure how she managed to get first."
"Only those who perform well on the actual university entrance exam can be described as capable. Though Niannian didn't place first, she's never gotten lower than the top 3. How can you only praise those who achieve outlier performances?"
After her statement, Qin Yongmei's face looked a little better.
Others also nodded quietly. For a person who placed last consistently to get first, even if she didn't cheat, a lot of this achievement would be due to luck.
Just as Luo Chen was about to argue, Xu Ningning shouted out again, "We don't even need to compare grades. If we must compare, what doesn't Qiao Ning do better than Qiao Qing at? Niannian knows instruments, knows Go, and knows how to paint. What does Qiao Qing know?"
"The old saying goes, a set of good Get is nothing compared to a good Go opponent. To live in the City of Brisk, the homeland of Go, and not know how to play Go... what's the point of giving out a great set of Go? Niannian can play go with her grandpa, can she?"
Luo Chen couldn't help but explode, "How do you know Qingqing doesn't know how to play Go?"
Xu Ningning laughed when she heard this. "She can play Go? How come I've never heard of it? I heard that she tried to learn how to play Go in order to get together with Jiang Yi, but in the end, she's less than an amateur!"
"If she really knows how to play Go, then play against our Niannian. Next week will be the annual Go competition held here in the City of Brisk. Why not just get her to sign up? Let's see if she can outrank Niannian!"
No matter how much others talked about her, Qiao Qing didn't seem to care.
Suddenly, her phone flashed.
Qiao Qing looked at the message and moved her legs to leave.
Xu Ningning then asked mockingly, "What is it, the idea of playing Go against Niannian is scaring you away?"
Qiao Qing stopped her footstep and turned her head around, "Play Go against me? Her? She's not worthy."