The next day.
All of the contestants gathered on the first floor before they boarded the bus to the examination hall.
Mr. Ling waved to Qing Mian and Xue Xi at the entrance. When they neared him, he said softly, "This examination is non-official and there is no limit on the key knowledge points. You will be marked correct as long as you get the correct answer."
Xue Xi's eyes sparkled when she heard this.
Her grades in the Olympiad class were unfavorable because she always could not avoid using knowledge from the university-level to solve the question. After all, who would use a stupider method when there was a shortcut?
Only Qing Mian!
Since the Math Star Competition did not mind this, then that's amazing!
Her eyes sparkled as she nodded her head.
After the candidates entered the examination hall, Mr. Song, who had sent the First High's students over, approached Mr. Ling. He grinned. "Mr. Ling, I heard that two of your students stayed in the presidential suite last night!"
Mr. Ling was surprised. "Is that so?"
Mr. Song coughed and could not help saying, "Kids these days only know to indulge in pleasure and comfort whenever they have money. Moreover, they have never participated in any academic competitions before. How can such a person get good grades?"
Usually, those who aspired to rely on academic competitions to obtain a free pass to college or additional marks for the national exam would enroll in the competitive classes once they entered high school, and, hence, they would have taken part once in their Junior Year.
For instance, Lu Rui had obtained the Provincial third Prize in his Junior Year. Although he was halted before the national competition, the teachers already had an impression of him and had great expectations for him this year.
Mr. Ling was not clear on what exactly happened, but he still defended his own student without any hesitation. "Mr. Song, for your claim on indulging in pleasure, I beg to differ. Are you purporting that being wealthy is a crime? Why don't you go stay in a motel if you guys do not want to indulge in pleasure and comfort?"
Mr. Song was made speechless by this and turned to point his finger at Mr. Ling, chiding, "Look at yourself. Money is every part of your speech. Are you setting an example as a teacher?! Mr. Ling, as teachers, we cannot place too much emphasis on money..."
Finding the situation baffling, Mr. Ling promptly turned around and left.
...
The Math Star's examination was the same as the Olympiad—they were both separated into two rounds.
The first round had a time limit of 80 minutes, and the questions were a mix of fill-in-the-blank questions and open-ended questions. There were more questions here.
The second round had a time limit of 150 minutes. There were only four highly-challenging open-ended questions.
After the first round, the students had time for free movement. They even had the energy to chit-chat, then they continued to the second round.
The second round was clearly much more quiet and solemn. Only the sound of pen against paper could be heard in the examination hall.
The four open-ended questions were very challenging and difficult. The tested knowledge was even slightly outside of the syllabus.
After the examination, the students were basically all defeated.
"Aren't this year's questions too hard?"
"Yes. I don't even have an inkling for the last two questions, and I'm not sure if I'm even right for the first one."
Qing Mian and Xue Xi walked over to Mr. Ling amid such discussion.
The latter was currently asking Lu Rui, whom others had the highest expectations of, "How did you feel about it?"
Lu Rui pursed his lips and frowned lightly. "I got two correct, but I'm not too sure about the third and fourth questions."
Mr. Ling nodded. "That's already pretty good. This year's exam is apparently exceptionally difficult! You should be able to obtain the First Prize if you managed to do two questions."
He then turned to ask the rest in sequence. When Xue Xi and Qing Mian walked over, he asked, "How was it?"
Qing Mian smiled and Xue Xi thought for a moment, then slowly answered, "I did everything."
A wide smile spread on Mr. Ling's lips. "Alright, let's all get onto the bus. We shall have a good meal this afternoon."
When everyone had boarded the bus, someone sneered. "Does she think this is a history or politics class where you'll get marks just because you answered everything?"
She pointed at Qing Mian and Xue Xi to the person beside her. "Do you see that? Look at them. The duo who stay in the presidential suite for just an exam, as though they are afraid that other people don't know that their family is rich. They place their attention on other places and will definitely not get good grades..."
A few students from First High nodded and had a mocking expression.
...
Mr. Ling had intended to allow the students some free time before they returned the next day.
However, Qing Mian had no intention of shopping. Hence, she informed Mr. Ling and went back to the hotel with Xue Xi. The car Qin had sent to fetch them was already here, so they directly returned home.
Time quickly flew by and it was the end of August. September was near. The freshmen and juniors were also about to start their school year.
It had been roughly ten days since the Math Star Competition, and the results were about to be announced.
Meanwhile, the international school's forum was in an uproar:
"I wonder who'll take the first"
"It's either Xue Xi or Lu Rui"
"What about Qing Mian?"
"Ohhh...yh"
"I overhead Lu Rui, Xue Xi and Qing Mian talking to Mr. Ling about the exam"
"What did they say?"
"Mr. Ling asked if they were able to complete the questions. Lu Rui did two very well and Xue Xi answered all"
"What about Qing Mian?"
"She didn't say anything but she smiled"
"Smiled?! Maybe she was unable to do it"
"Let's wait till the result is out"