Chapter 638: Who Is the Real Genius? (2)

Translator: _Min

“You’ve said it was borrowed,” Ji Qingyao remarked with a serene demeanor. “How can one feel at ease using something that isn’t theirs?” JI Xingzhi truly hadn’t anticipated such a response.

He fell silent for a moment, then pushed the cart away and left.

Ji Qingyao had never doubted JI Xingzhi’s words.

Since her childhood, she had trained in martial arts and, though she had mastered the traditional martial arts secrets of the Great Xia Dynasty, she sometimes felt that something was amiss.

For instance, during this year’s Thousand Army Alliance assessment, she faced a level seven warrior.

This warrior was formidable, and she was not his match.

Yet, at a crucial moment, she suddenly executed new moves, defeating her opponent and successfully advancing to level seven.

Later, when she reviewed the battle footage, she discovered she had never learned those moves.

It seemed there was truth to the idea of borrowing luck.

But from whom had she borrowed this luck?

And who borrowed this luck for her?

Ji Qingyao frowned slightly, deciding to visit the Guanghua Temple.

In that sacred place of Buddhism, she might find her answers.

Elsewhere, JI Xingzhi had shed his disguise.

“Big brother, it’s miraculous!” JI Xingzhi, making sure no one was around, called Si Fuqing. “Following your instructions, I went to the Ji family pretending to be a charlatan and met the young miss of the Ji family.”

“Not only did she believe my words, but she also asked me how to return the luck to you. I suspect she’s unaware, but it’s unclear if the rest of the Ji family knows.”

Si Fuqing’s eyes narrowed, “We can’t rule out a trap.”

“That’s what I thought too, but she seemed sincere,” JI Xingzhi ruffled his hair. “I couldn’t meet Ji Qingyao directly; the Ji family must have invited high monks from Guanghua Temple to place protection at her door, preventing my spirits from entering.”

“Understood,” Si Fuqing replied. “We’ll meet eventually. If she wants to return my luck voluntarily, what can we do?”

“It’s been too long; even if she wants to return it, it’s not up to her, and it’s certainly not simple,” JI Xingzhi furrowed his brow. “I’ll ask my old man and get back to you with any news.”

The next day marked the beginning of the first Seven Schools Joint Examination for the academic year.

Si Fuqing spent the previous night at home.

Ye Zhenmian, knowing they had exams, prepared nutritious meals especially for them.

“Qingqing, Yi’an, I’ll nourish you well these next few days, ” Ye Zhenmian approached with breakfast. “Don’t stress too much, just do as much as you can.”

“Thank you, Auntie,” Si Fuqing’s fox-like eyes curved. “I’d like sweet and sour meatballs for lunch.”

“Sure,” Ye Zhenmian smiled. “I’ll make whatever you want.”

Nian Yian sighed, “Sister Qingqing, I can bluff my way through the literature exam in the morning, but I’ll probably end up in an ambulance during the math exam in the afternoon.”

“Stay calm,” Si Fuqing patted his shoulder. “Just hold on until I finish my exam before you faint; that way, I can save you, and we’ll save some money.”

Nian Yi’an:

There’s no need for that.

The siblings finished their meal and walked to school.

Northern State No.l Middle School sent its top five hundred students to participate in the Seven Schools Joint Examination.

Si Fuqing’s examination room was the last one, and she was fully equipped, even wearing a scarf.

But they had to check photos before the exam to prevent impersonation.

Some students saw her face and were immediately stunned, frozen in their seats.

The bell rang, and the exam officially began.

The students snapped back to reality and started on the questions.

Compared to her science subjects, Si Fuqing’s literature was subpar at best.

However, she had been brushing up on history for months and had borrowed many national studies books from Gu Huiyan, making the literature questions seem more familiar.

She smoothly completed the questions and turned to the last essay question.

Recalling her time at the Eternity Academy, Yu Huixue disliked all theoretical exams, forcing her to write an extra essay each time.

Compared to a five-thousand-word essay, an eight-hundred-word essay was a breeze for her.

Half an hour later, having finished the essay, Si Fuqing zoned out for a while before handing in her exam an hour early and leaving the examination room.

The surrounding students were once again baffled.

Outside the examination room, Si Fuqing leisurely exited the school gate and headed to Ye Zhenmian’s restaurant.

She was already looking forward to next week, wondering if the young Emperor Yin from the Great Xia Dynasty would still remember her ghostly figure when she returned to the game.

At noon, Nian Yi’an returned with a defeated look, “I knew the examiners would choose poems by Wen Changyi. Thankfully, only a thousand of his poems have survived. If all his works were available, the students would surely go mad.”

After drinking a whole bucket of water, Nian Yi’an finally regained his composure. “Sister Qingqing, was today’s essay particularly difficult? I think I might have gone off-topic.”

“It was manageable,” Si Fuqing lifted her gaze, “it was just average.l

Nian Yi’an was momentarily at a loss for words, as he didn’t know how to respond.

Average? That’s what she calls average?!

For the afternoon’s math exam, Nian Yi’an was so anxious he couldn’t even nap at noon.

Si Fuqing, on the other hand, appeared refreshed and even ran a few laps around the track field.

Math felt much more familiar to her than literature.

The questions for the Seven Schools Joint Examination were indeed much harder than the usual mock exams, but even the most challenging questions would only be considered practice problems at Eternity Academy.

Exiting the examination room early once again, a few students who recognized her felt somewhat hopeless.

After the math exam, students began posting on Weibo.

[I saw Si Fuqing at the Seven Schools Joint Examination! It really was Si Fuqing. I swear, I was in the same examination room as her, and she handed in her paper early! It was a math exam, and she finished an hour early.

Incredible.]

[What? The fact that she could get into Northern State No.l Middle School was already surprising to me, and she even qualified for the Seven Schools Joint Examination?]

[You can participate if you pay.]

[ …Finishing an hour early means she probably didn’t know how to solve the problems, surviving without fainting shows she has strong mental resilience.]

[I also handed in my paper early, the math section of this joint exam wasn’t meant for humans, it was too hard. In my examination room, several students fainted and frothed at the mouth, I’m begging for mercy in tomorrow’s comprehensive exam.]

[Holy crap, are you all big shots who participated in the Seven Schools Joint

Examination? Us bad students are trembling in fear.]

The exams were already in the hands of professors at the Great Xia University.

The difficulty of the exams made them challenging to grade, especially for the literature topic, which hadn’t finished grading yet.

However, the math group graded papers much faster.

Not because there were fewer questions, but because most students left the big questions at the end blank or only wrote a few formulas.

The math teachers could quickly scan for the formula, give marks for that, and move on to the next exam.

Very easy.

“This year’s math exam was indeed difficult. It would be impressive if someone managed to solve one of the last three problems,” one teacher mentioned. “Has anyone graded Miss Ji’s exam yet? She should score above 110 points.” Last time, Ji Qingwei scored 118, stunning the entire math group.

“Not yet,” another teacher replied. “Her problem-solving style is very distinctive; we’ll recognize it immediately once we see her exam.”

At that moment, Professor Chen, the head of the math grading group, was grading an exam.

The exam was completely filled out, even the last three difficult problems weren’t missed.

Professor Chen was surprised because all three difficult problems were correctly solved.

He happily awarded full marks, then clicked to calculate the total score.

A score quickly popped up on the screen.

Professor Chen paused, his eyes widened, and he abruptly stood up, knocking over his chair in the process.

“Professor Chen, what happened?”

“What exam startled Professor Chen like this?”

The other grading teachers gathered around, seeing the score on his computer screen.

“Let me calculate it again, just a second,” Professor Chen’s hands trembled as he hit the score calculation button again. Seconds later, the score appeared.

The office fell silent at once.

Everyone stared intently at the final score.

Math, 150, a perfect score..