Chapter 164: The Gaokao Results Are Out
At the same time, tens of millions of exam candidates and millions of Martial Arts Students across the country were simultaneously logging into the official website of the Martial Arts Education Bureau.
Lin Qi did the same. The homepage featured the entrance to the college entrance exam results query.
Lin Qi entered his name, ID number, and exam admission ticket number with the same precision and speed as his Spear Technique.
BEEP!
"Confirm!!"
The faces of Lin Zhen and Fang Huiyi were on either side of him. The air grew so still that no one even dared to breathe.
BEEP!
The page refreshed. Even with the power of a supercomputer, it still lagged for a second when faced with tens of millions of simultaneous queries.
Finally, a new page loaded, and a string of Lin Qi’s scores appeared.
Three pairs of eyes scanned them as fast as radar.
[Name: Lin Qi]
[Subject: Martial Arts]
[ID Number: 50023...]
[Exam Admission Number: 204606071479]
[Academics: 930 (1)]
[Martial Arts Qi and Blood Value: 2725 (12)]
[Martial Arts Skills: 1423 (6)]
[Total Score: 1976]
[Celestial Sea City Ranking: 1]
[Cang Province Ranking: 1]
[Xia Country Ranking: 10]
...
Since there was no concept of a "perfect score" for the college entrance exam, Lin Qi’s score was nearly 2000 points.
After seeing all his scores, the corners of his mouth turned up. ’These results are excellent.’
He was also quite surprised. ’I actually made it into the top 10?’
He had thought he would be around 15th place.
Twelfth in the nation for Qi and Blood Value, and sixth for Martial Arts. It was much higher than he had imagined.
He suddenly wondered, ’Just how big of a stir will these results cause?’
Beside him, Lin Zhen and Fang Huiyi glanced at each other, and both could see the shock in the other’s eyes.
"Tenth in the nation...?"
Lin Zhen swallowed hard, stammering out the national ranking.
"Huiyi, pinch me. I’m not dreaming, am I?"
Fang Huiyi gave Lin Zhen a hard pinch on his waist.
"Hiss—"
"Ow, ow, it’s real!" Lin Zhen’s face twisted in pain, but he immediately burst into booming laughter that filled the living room and could even be heard next door.
"Haha, it’s not a dream!"
"Little Qi really got tenth in the nation!"
Fang Huiyi felt the solid flesh under her fingers and knew it was real. A rush of excitement surged through her, as if her whole body was on fire.
Sweat beaded on her forehead.
Without a second thought, she pulled out her phone, her hand trembling as she started to call friends.
"Zhe, the college entrance exam results are out."
"Little Qi’s score is pretty good—just first in Cang Province and tenth in the nation, is all. I’m booking a couple of tables in two days, remember to come celebrate."
Beside her, Lin Zhen had already started making calls, the first of which was to Fang Zhe. He spoke calmly, suppressing his excitement.
After he finished speaking, he could no longer suppress the smile on his face.
At that moment, the refined and scholarly Fang Zhe on the other end of the line was completely dumbfounded.
Beside him, his wife, Alan, asked curiously, "How did Little Qi do on his exams?"
Fang Zhe paused for a moment, then a smile spread across his face as he said:
"Little Qi is first in Cang Province and tenth in the nation!"
Alan covered her mouth, her eyes wide. "Tenth in the nation...!"
"Oh my god!"
Fang Lin, who had been watching TV in the living room, also turned her head and stared at her dad in shock.
A storm raged in her heart. Her cousin was actually a super genius, ranked tenth in the entire country.
’Is this the same ordinary cousin I used to know?’
’Does that mean my cousin is the provincial champion?’
For some reason, she felt a strange sense of pride and secret joy.
...
"Jiangtao, why aren’t the results out yet?"
「In the small living room of Apartment 201, Building 1, Rongshan District.」
The siblings Jiangtao and Jiang Miaoyin were gathered on the living room sofa. Jiangtao pulled out a tissue to wipe the sweat constantly pooling in his palms, waiting with an anxious expression.
"It’s 12 o’clock!" Jiang Miaoyin said suddenly, looking at her phone.
Hearing this, Jiangtao quickly logged into the official website, entered his information, and soon all his scores appeared.
Drops of sweat fell onto the screen.
[Name: Jiangtao]
[...]
[Cang Province Ranking: 8]
[Xia Country Ranking: 98]
After seeing the results, Jiangtao wiped the holographic screen with a tissue and looked again to make sure there was no mistake.
"Brother, you’re 8th in Cang Province and 98th in the nation!"
Jiang Miaoyin shouted excitedly from the side.
Jiangtao’s eyes went wide, and he leaped up from the sofa.
"AHH!!"
He pumped his fist forcefully, venting his emotions.
"Haha, I, Jiangtao, actually made it into the top ten in Cang Province! I’m so awesome!"
He turned his head to look at two memorial tablets enshrined in a corner of their home.
"Dad, Mom, did you see that?"
"I made it into the top ten in Cang Province!"
Jiangtao’s eyes couldn’t help but turn red. He shook his head forcefully.
’Right, I have to ask Brother Qi for his score.’
’He’ll definitely surprise all of us.’
With that, he took out his phone to call Lin Qi, and the call connected quickly.
"Hello, Taozi."
A moment later, Jiangtao’s eyes widened as he listened to the ranking over the phone. He exchanged a look with Jiang Miaoyin.
"First in Cang Province, tenth in the nation."
"Brother Qi, you’re defying the heavens!!"
...
「Rongshan District, Apartment 301.」
Lin Qi calmly hung up the phone.
He took a screenshot of his report card and sent it to Principal Jiang Zhiguang, his homeroom teacher Yan Hong, Martial Arts Instructor Zhang City, Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo Vice Hall Master Yue Feng, and Dean Liu of the Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy Sixth Branch.
Sending them all at once saved him the trouble of calling everyone individually.
...
BEEP BEEP!
「In the office of No. 2 Middle School.」
Jiang Zhiguang was sitting in his smart chair, constantly receiving all sorts of messages.
But the one message he was waiting for hadn’t arrived yet.
BEEP. "A message from Lin Qi."
"Project it immediately!"
Jiang Zhiguang’s eyes widened as he looked at the screen projected in front of him. He quickly scanned the results.
He muttered to himself, "Provincial champion, tenth in the nation."
"Incredible!"
"This is groundbreaking! Since the rise of Martial Arts, this is the first time in the history of Cang Province that a student has entered the national top ten."
"And to think such a genius came from our No. 2 Middle School, haha!!"
An unstoppable smile spread across Jiang Zhiguang’s face, and he burst into wild laughter.
"In the future, No. 2 Middle School and I are destined to go down in history!"
"Lin Qi, you truly are my lucky star!"
...
Meanwhile, his homeroom teacher, Yan Hong, also saw the results Lin Qi had sent amidst the flood of messages. After the shock wore off, a smile appeared on her face.
’Meeting a student like Lin Qi is truly my good fortune.’
...
「In another office.」
Zhang City was also looking at many students’ results.
"Everyone got their best scores. The credit for that is mostly mine."
Zhang City smiled smugly. But when he saw Lin Qi’s results, he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Holy cow, that’s astounding!"
"A year ago, who could have imagined Lin Qi’s Talent was so terrifying?"
"It seems an incredible figure has emerged from among my students."
As he thought this, he looked over at Jiangtao’s report card.
"And this Jiangtao kid... while he’s not as good as Lin Qi, he’s also a Top Level genius."
"It’s just that his brilliance has been completely overshadowed by Lin Qi."
...
「Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo, Hall Master’s Office」
Yue Feng, dressed in a black suit, stood in his office where a news program was projected. He gazed out the window at the scenery, a red metallic sphere named Alpha hovering in the air beside him.
TAP. TAP.
He couldn’t help but tap his feet, making a soft sound.
"Master, a message from Lin Qi!"
"Project it!!"
Hearing this, the corners of Yue Feng’s mouth turned up. He turned his head and saw the projected report card.
"Twelfth in Qi and Blood Value, sixth in Martial Arts."
When he finally saw the national ranking of 10th place, he couldn’t help but pump his fist hard.
"Lin Qi, you’ve really given me a huge surprise."
"This ranks you among the very top of the S-class geniuses."
"I’ll just wait for my reward from headquarters!"
...