Lao Han hid in a corner, with several colleagues and the principal standing beside him.
"It's nice to be young!" The principal sighed with relief, looking at the students on the drill ground.
"I know, right? Lao Han made a profit this time," a fellow teacher said enviously, glancing at Lao Han from the corner of his eye. "The students in his class not only have good grades but are even strong in sports."
Lao Han's eyes were almost hidden by his wide smile, but he still said modestly, "Well, Zhi Ying is just an exception."
Zhou Hui snorted in response, "It's still early. Zhi Ying's weaknesses are too obvious. Once she gets into the arts and sciences, she won't be able to hold back Jiang Wei at all."
The surrounding teachers suddenly fell silent, but they couldn't refute what Zhou Hui said. Judging from the past several exams, Zhi Ying's essays were too poor, and the difference between the two is as high as 20 points for this part alone.
Zhi Ying was only able to get first place for two reasons: first, the syllabus of Caifeng Province was different from that of the capital, which led to Jiang Wei's misunderstanding of some topics; and second, Jiang Wei answered the questions at will and did not follow Zhi Ying's template-style norm.
This meant that the more exam topics there were and the more difficult the exam questions were, the more the gap in scores between Zhi Ying and Jiang Wei would be narrowed.
Once the art and science majors were divided into different classes, half of the subjects would be cut off. It would be uncertain to know who would be in first place by then, as Jiang Wei would have already adapted from the first semester, but Zhi Ying would still have remained the same.
The grade director snorted and tried to divert the topic by having all the teachers focus on the students' sports competition instead. "Look, Zhi Ying has left everyone behind."
The teachers' eyes all turned to the drill ground. Sure enough, the athletes and players had been thrown far away. The current second place runner tried desperately to catch up with Zhi Ying, but it was too late.
Now, Zhi Ying was running the last lap, and someone had already started to set up the finish line banner.
Han Jiaojiao and Li Ge were already waiting by the finish line, ready with water and towels in their hands.
A little far away, but equally excited at Zhi Ying winning, Zhao Qian was squeezing his way through the crowd with clothes in his arms.
However, no one paid any of them any heed. All their attention was focused on the race track.
Zhi Ying was approaching closer and closer to the finish line, and her steps were getting larger and larger. She couldn't hear the voices around her; only the endpoint was in her eyes.
Noticing her rapidly closing in on the finish line, more and more students from Class One and Two gathered around with enthusiasm and anticipation, eagerly waiting for Zhi Ying to cross the line.
Well, there were some exceptions.
Jiang Wei stood in the stands with Class One. He had originally planned to read in the backup area just like yesterday, but somehow, he got to the stands and had been watching up till now.
Jiang Wei, still holding the book in his hand, leaned against the railing as he watched the students still competing on the drill ground.
"Ah!!!" Han Jiaojiao's loud voice instantly spread throughout the field.
Zhi Ying crossed the finish line!
The students of Class Two, who were standing at the front of the drill ground, suddenly erupted, hugging each other and screaming joyously.
Zhao Qian and Li Ge supported Zhi Ying, helping her stand and maintain her balance while Han Jiaojiao immediately wiped off Zhi Ying's sweat with a towel after she screamed in exhilaration.
Because there were runners behind that still had to continue running, Zhi Ying was helped off the track.
Zhi Ying was covered in sweat, and she stood by the side in a trance. Zhao Qian continued to be impetuous, and Han Jiaojiao began to massage Zhi Ying everywhere.
"Sit down, Zhi Ying, sit down." Li Ge said to Zhi Ying, holding the clothes he took from Zhao Qian.
Only then did Zhi Ying suddenly gasp for breath and sit down with soft legs, unable to stay standing after the adrenaline wore off. Zhao Qian immediately squatted down to massage her legs, continuing to work on her calves.
The three of them gathered around Zhi Ying, looking at the players who were still running behind her.
The second-place runner probably didn't expect someone to overtake her, so she became discouraged all of a sudden. Especially after she saw Zhi Ying cross the finish line, her speed seemed to drop.
At this time, the other runners who had not given up suddenly accelerated and rushed forward, overtaking the athlete.
The sudden turn of events left the leading athlete dumbfounded. She didn't expect that she would be in danger of not being second and immediately began to accelerate. At this time, another frenzy erupted on the ground, making the spectating students laugh and enjoy another moment of the race.
Finally the rankings were out!
But Zhi Ying couldn't move; she only recovered and stood up with Zhao Qian's help after the rankings were announced.
"Do you want to drink water?" Han Jiaojiao asked diligently, holding a cup of prepared saltwater.
Zhi Ying nodded and took the water bottle from her hands, quickly drinking all the water in big gulps.
"You are too ruthless, Zhi Ying!" Li Ge sighed, squinting with his originally small eyes. "Look!" The sophomore sister is already wiping away her tears."
He was talking about the athlete who had been in the lead before Zhi Ying overtook her. That sophomore hadn't been a sports student for a long time. Although she had been training for a semester, long-distance running was not her strong point.