The Glamorous Comeback of the Ousted Heiress

Chapter 533: 214 Hot Searches, Perfect Score Essay_2
 

After all—

Lu Lingxi had no doubt that she could make it into the top fifty in the province, even without the essay scores.

**

Ji Heng’s small courtyard.

Upon learning that his exam scores were withheld, he grabbed his Go set and headed out to the streets to find someone to play Go with.

Jiang He staggered out of bed and brushed his teeth.

Ji Heng had stayed up all night, chatting with Jiang He, who didn’t fall asleep until three in the morning.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he stood by the phoenix tree where Ji Heng had recorded his height.

Jiang He compared his hand to the mark from last month; there was hardly any change. He was just under 1.2 meters tall, his eyes black and glossy as he gazed at the height line.

It took him a while to go to the kitchen with an absent look on his face. There were warm breakfast buns and milk that Ji Heng had left for him in the rice cooker.

He took a bun and ate it slowly as he walked to Bai Lian’s room.

The violin still rested on the stand; Bai Lian sat at the desk with a pile of papers covered in abbreviated music notation beside her, and her phone rested on top of a document in front of her.

She hadn’t turned on the chat silencer.

Today, the exam scores were released, and the messages in class 15’s chat group quickly hit 999+.

Besides that, her WeChat friends were asking about her exam scores.

“You’re just getting up now?” Bai Lian noticed Jiang He sitting beside her, nibbling on a bun.

Jiang He wore a beige cotton and linen robe with Chinese knot buttons, the buttons shaped like bok choy. He swung his legs gently, feeling introspective and remaining silent due to the lack of growth from staying up all night.

Bai Lian watched him stay silent, so she snatched his milk, leisurely inserted a straw, and started drinking.

She then gestured for Jiang He to go get another bottle for himself.

She sipped the milk through the straw and began taking photos of the completed music pieces with her phone.

When she opened WeChat, she saw the group chat mentioning her.

Weng Qi: [Damn, our class has four students whose scores were withheld, @Bai Lian @Ning Xiao. Lian sis, study God, I’ll bear with it, but @Pu Xiaohan, what’s up with you!]

Weng Qi: [I knew it, you all have been secretly working hard behind my back, haven’t you!]

The chat was overwhelmed with messages about students whose scores were withheld.

Bai Lian had not checked her own scores, only learning they were withheld from the group’s mentions.

Thus, she discovered the existence of withheld scores.

She exited the chat. Her online friend talked to her yesterday but didn’t bother her today.

Bai Lian then clicked on Dean Jian’s profile to send him her new compositions.

The Beicheng concert had given her plenty of inspiration. After some revisions, she finally finished the pieces today.

Dean Jian: [1]

Another minute passed, and then he finally realized—

[Today’s the exam results release, how did you do?]

Dean Jian was the only one who hoped she would not be admitted to Jiangjing University and would go to Jiangyin instead.

Bai Lian replied at her leisure, [Withheld student, get it?]

Dean Jian: […]

He fell silent, just looking at the abbreviated music notation sent by Bai Lian.

**

Ren Family.

Ren Wanxuan’s exam scores had come out. Ren Qian was on the phone with Ren Jiawei, his expression filled with joy, “Yes, 641 points, 89th in the province, within the top hundred! Beicheng University has already called, she can choose her major freely.”

Ren Wanxuan had never achieved such good scores before.

It was rare for someone from Xiangcheng to make it into the provincial top hundred, except for Chen Zhu.

It was clear that Ren Qian was overjoyed.

He made calls one by one to report Ren Wanxuan’s exam scores.

On the side, the house staff also offered their congratulations, “Congratulations to master and the young miss.”

Ren Qian, with beaming joy, said, “The young miss did well, it’s just a pity she’s in the same year as Chen Zhu.” Then he turned to Ren Wanxuan beside him, “Xuanxuan, how much did Chen Zhu score?”

Ren Wanxuan held her phone and remained silent.

Her phone displayed the chat for class 8, and everyone from her class had done very well.

Ren Wanxuan also performed beyond expectations and should have been happy, but she fixated on a message in the group—

Class Representative: [Six students with withheld scores, four are from class 15! Bai Lian, Ning Xiao, they are all there. Rumor has it, it’s possible that Bai Lian is the top scorer in Beicheng this time!]

Bai Lian and Ning Xiao were expected to be in the top fifty; she could have predicted that.

But why is Pu Xiaohan, someone whose name I’ve never heard, also among them?

And Tang Ming, at the very beginning, was just within the top ten in school. She didn’t even make the top fifty, so how did he manage to get there?

Ren Wanxuan didn’t answer Ren Qian. Clutching her phone, she ran upstairs with her head down.

“What’s with this child?” Ren Qian watched Ren Wanxuan’s retreating figure, was momentarily stunned, then chuckled, “Scoring so high and still not satisfied?”

Someone next to him said, “Miss is just demanding of herself.”

Holding his phone, Ren Qian squinted slightly, “I wonder how much Ji Heng’s granddaughter scored…”

He asked Ji Shaorong and Ren Jiawei, but both said they didn’t know.

Now that was strange.

**

The 25th.

This year, the rate of students from Xiangcheng High School gaining admission to top universities reached an unprecedented 21%. Although it can’t compare with Beicheng High School, it is definitely potential provincial key high school material, especially since…

…the scores of six students are still to be released.

The freshmen and sophomores haven’t been let off for summer break yet. The school’s teachers are all abuzz, as the experiences and mind maps of the study gods from the senior class have already been photocopied for their use.

The homeroom teachers of the senior class are tallying up the subject scores and averages.

In the principal’s office, he has already ordered a new banner and, at his own expense, purchased a load of fireworks and firecrackers, along with two big boxes of celebration candy.

Lu Lingxi, holding the printed results, went to the principal’s office and saw the two boxes of candy on the floor.

“Teacher Lu,” upon seeing Lu Lingxi, the principal greeted her cheerfully, “Did Ning Xiao estimate a score of 700? I just heard that Song Min from Beicheng estimated around 690. This year’s provincial top scholar is definitely from our school, it’s just a question of whether it’s Ning Xiao or Bai Lian.”

Lu Lingxi nodded and handed the report card to the principal, “He mentioned it.”

“Why don’t you seem happy?” The principal was puzzled.

“Not at all,” Lu Lingxi sighed and changed the subject, “Is it difficult to be promoted to a provincial key high school?”

“With a 21% rate to top-tier universities and the provincial top scholar in our school,” the principal calmly picked up his tea, confident of victory, “it’s not difficult at all.”

Being promoted to a provincial key high school is indeed a good thing.

After Lu Lingxi delivered the results, she headed to her own office. Along the way, she encountered many teachers who congratulated her.

The homeroom teacher of the liberal arts class, who often visited Lu Lingxi’s class, also stopped her, “How did Bai Lian fare in Chinese this time in your class? There was a full mark composition in the exam this year.”

“What full mark composition?” Lu Lingxi stopped.

The sunlight spilled onto her face.

She was somewhat dazed.

“A full mark essay from this year’s exam was leaked online without the candidate’s name,” the liberal arts teacher remarked, “I’ve only ever seen full mark essays written by Bai Lian. I wonder how she did on the college entrance exam essay.”

Getting a full mark in the Chinese essay is no easy feat.

Upon hearing about the full mark essay, Lu Lingxi suddenly had a strong premonition.

She quickly finished speaking with the liberal arts teacher and opened the short video app on her phone.

While some students’ scores are still unreleased, the full mark essay has been prematurely shared by officials.

In recent years, there’s rarely been a full mark essay in the college entrance exam, but as soon as the officials showcased it, it climbed to the top of the short video search rankings. Lu Lingxi just clicked in and saw the third on the hot search list—

College Entrance Exam Full Mark Essay [Hot]

[“General”

In the twenty-fifth year of Red Yuan, General Bai Li defended Xiangcheng.

The drumbeat abruptly started, rousing the General from sleep at midnight. He dressed and went alone to the high walls, facing ten thousand cavalry enemies ahead and behind, a million commoners of Xiangcheng. Yet Xiangcheng’s provisions were incomplete, with survival hanging by a thread.

The north has not yet been subdued; the enemy persists. Amidst this dire strait, the General vowed to give his life for the public cause. How to retreat? Thus, he stood with the people, guarding the city gates.

…

The General dedicated half his life to the military, fought across all nine provinces, willing to face death in battle without regret.

What regrets does he have?

You’ve not seen, his son abandoning the pen to take up arms and slay the enemy’s horses; you’ve not seen, his loyal cavalry drinking to their heart’s content in the northern wastes; you’ve not seen, today’s serene rivers and a prosperous, peaceful Chang’an.

**

The General’s sword has drunk the blood of a thousand autumns,

His bones buried in the yellow sand, he now enjoys the sunset’s glow.

Today, the festive banners fly red over the four seas,

On an eastern campaign thousands of miles, planting peach blossoms in bloom.

–Epilogue]

General, is today’s sunset beautiful beneath the towers of Xiangcheng?