The principal was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice trembled as she said to Gu Momo, "Jingxing broke the highest record in the competition this time, and even tied for first place with Zixiao! He's gained countless fans online, and he's probably going to be trending on social media soon!"

Gu Momo quickly opened her phone. Whether it was a browser or various video websites, the video of Jing Xing answering questions while wearing a mask was going viral. Comments and popularity skyrocketed, almost catching up with top celebrities!

However, because Li Zixiao is the young master of the Li family, and Li Zhanting protects him well, no media dares to publish Li Zixiao's appearance on the Internet; they only mention his name.

A hint of worry flashed in her delicate eyes as her fingers flew across the keyboard. "I understand. I'll handle this!"

Principal: ? ? ?

Why does it seem that Miss Gu is not only not surprised or taken aback, but is actually a little worried?

...

At the competition venue, the Genius Cup Computer Competition has already begun its popularity vote.

The popularity vote accounts for 30% of the total score. No matter how high your previous scores are, if your popularity vote is poor, your overall ranking may drop significantly.

The popularity vote has just begun. Xue Lingbao, dressed in a pink princess dress, faces the audience with a well-behaved and sensible demeanor, and bows gently to them.

"Dear fans, friendship comes first, competition second. I sincerely hope that both Jingxing and Zixiao, these two geniuses, can achieve the rankings they deserve. So please give Jingxing and Zixiao your support."

Her soft, sweet voice, paired with her innocent-looking, delicate face, aroused the protective instincts of countless fans.

Countless fans became even more devoted to Xue Lingbao, with the live stream chat filled with comments praising her.

"Wow! That's what you call magnanimity! Xue Lingbao is truly the undisputed queen of popularity!"

"Xue Lingbao is so beautiful, kind-hearted, and has high emotional intelligence! Ah, I love Xue Lingbao so much!"

Li Zixiao has been known as the "Little Prince of the Capital" since he was a child. His popularity has soared since the beginning, leaving other children far behind. Xue Lingbao is close behind and even has the potential to surpass Li Zixiao.

Sitting at his computer desk, Gu Jingxing stared speechlessly at the data flashing on the screen. He wasn't money, so of course he didn't need everyone's approval.

He patted his clothes with a dashing air, his little tiger teeth gleaming in the sunlight. "Little brother Zixiao, you can wait here to receive your prize. Anyway, I don't like this event, so I'm leaving now."

Li Zixiao's handsome face was cold and indifferent. "I'm not feeling well, I'll go rest first. You can cover for me. If the media wants to interview me later, then they can interview you."

After saying that, he calmly got up from his seat, turned around and went backstage.

Gu Jingxing: "..."

Oh well, what can he do? He's the one who's going to be the older brother, so he'll just spoil his younger brother.

At this moment, Li Zixiao had reached his highest popularity ever on the big screen, receiving nearly one million votes.

Just when everyone thought Li Zixiao was about to take first place, Xue Lingbao's popularity showed no signs of stopping and was soaring at an imperceptible speed, with the data even surpassing Li Zixiao, who was in first place in the vote!

"Wow! Xue Lingbao is the real queen of popularity! Look at her popularity!"

"Waaah, so everyone likes Xue Lingbao this much! That's great! If Xue Lingbao keeps going like this, she might even get second place overall..."

"Maybe we can get second place now? We're definitely second now. Didn't you see Jingxing's popularity votes? Although he's far ahead of the other kids, compared to Prince Zixiao and Xue Lingbao, it's like night and day, okay?"

"That's right! Although Jingxing got great scores in the early stages, his overall score is nowhere near Xue Lingbao's!"

"..."

At his computer desk, Gu Jingxing was idly sitting, his two soft little hands gently supporting his chin, looking somewhat dejected.

He didn't care about the grades at first, but after hearing everyone's comments, he couldn't help but turn his head to look.

Seeing that string of data, for some reason, I still felt a slight pang in my heart.

To be honest, he sometimes really envied Zixiao. He got the love of his scumbag father and the affection of so many people.

But he was different. His scumbag father disliked him since he was a child, and he didn't have many people who loved him.

Inside the president's office of the Li Group.

Li Zhanting's deep eyes narrowed, his tall and imposing figure exuding a majestic aura, and his whole being radiated a cold indifference that kept strangers at bay.

With his years of business experience, he could tell at a glance that there was something wrong with Xue Lingbao's data, and a fierce look emanated from his deep eyes.

How could Li Zhanting's son suffer such injustice?

His already upright posture straightened even more, and his fingers flew across the keyboard as he hacked into the official competition backend at top speed.

Upon hacking in, they discovered that the official rules, designed to prevent vote-rigging, stipulated that anyone caught rigging votes would have to pay a huge fee—100,000 RMB per vote.

Li Zhanting's thin lips curved into a seductive arc, his cold eyes holding a mocking yet dangerous smile.

So, vote-rigging is just like rigging money? Fine then, Li Zhanting's son has no shortage of money!

His slender fingers flew across the keyboard, swiping one vote after another!

At the competition venue, Gu Jingxing's popularity on the screen soared instantly, skyrocketing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

From the initial 150,000, it skyrocketed to 180,000, 200,000, and 300,000!

Instantly, the audience at the scene and those watching the live stream became agitated:

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!