The provincial finals were not held in Tianyuan City, but in the neighboring Tianqi City.
Each of the shortlisted schools in Tianyuan City assigned a teacher to lead the team, while schools in the city center arranged transportation for the team to travel together.
The chemistry competition was scheduled for the earliest date, and the No. 1 Middle School and No. 2 Middle School each sent two teachers to lead the teams.
As a contestant who passed all three subjects, Shi Jing naturally had to participate in the finals of each event. She had already made a name for herself among the competition candidates in Tianyuan City.
The school arranged a minibus to pick up the students from the No. 1 Middle School first. After the teachers and students from the No. 1 Middle School boarded the bus, it then drove to the No. 2 Middle School.
Shi Jing sat in a row with a senior high school girl. The girl was still holding a book and studying. The car swayed back and forth, but the girl seemed used to it and showed no discomfort.
The car stopped at the entrance of the Second Middle School, and two teachers and several students got on.
After setting off, a student from No. 2 Middle School curiously peeked back from his seat and asked, "Who is Shi Jing from No. 1 Middle School?"
The senior student ignored her, her mind completely absorbed in her book.
Some of the students behind closed their eyes to rest, while others shook their heads to indicate they didn't know.
Shi Jing looked at him and asked, "Senior, is there something you need?"
"Let's see what the junior who defeated us looks like." The boy said with a smile, not out of malice, but purely out of curiosity.
Before Shi Jing could answer him, one of the teachers in charge of the group started to scold him: "Qin Fei, shut up, sit down and fasten your seatbelt."
"Okay, teacher." Qin Fei made a zipping motion, mouthed "reply" to Shi Jing, and sat up obediently.
It only takes an hour and a half to drive from Tianyuan City to Tianqi City. Shi Jing felt like he had just fallen asleep when they arrived.
The competition organizers arranged a hotel for the participating students and their accompanying teachers to check in at the front desk.
The front desk was quite lively at this time, with a large number of students from various cities arriving one after another. When Shi Jing and her group were checking in at the front desk, they encountered a group of students from other cities.
Most students, except for the chatterbox, can't strike up a conversation with a stranger on the first meeting.
Shi Jing watched as the boy named Qin Fei, who had spoken to her on the bus earlier, chatted with students from other cities who were also checking in, all while she was checking in. Impressive.
She glanced at the commotion, checked in, and then went back to her room.
The organizers arranged standard rooms, and Shi Jing shared one with a senior from the same school. Upon entering the room, the senior began studying.
Shi Jing had truly witnessed the extent of this; there was no limit to how much more difficult things could get. She washed her face and took out her books. This was currently her most important source of income, and she couldn't afford to fall further behind.
The two watched until nightfall without exchanging a single word. It wasn't until 5:30 that the team leader knocked on the door.
It turned out to be lunchtime, and the team leader invited everyone to go out for a meal.
During lunch, Shi Jing ran into the talkative Qin Fei again. He talked non-stop, and Shi Jing overheard him talking about the new friends he'd met that afternoon. He mentioned students from Tianyuan City but in county-level middle schools, as well as classmates from other cities. He also mentioned someone he'd heard was incredibly talented, and wondered who was more talented, Shi Jing or him.
Shi Jing felt embarrassed upon hearing this. She knew her own situation best. Although her grades had improved rapidly after a year of tutoring, she didn't dare to easily compare herself with talented and hardworking contestants.
Qin Fei was chatting happily on his end, and when he turned around and saw Shi Jing, he wasn't embarrassed at all. He even waved enthusiastically, "Here you are! Come on, let's go eat."
As they walked, he kept muttering to himself, "Shi Jing, are you really a first-year high school student this year? With such good grades, what kind of books do you usually read? Do you even enjoy reading..."
Shi Jing couldn't help but want to cover her ears. In all her years, across two lifetimes, this was the first time she had ever met someone so talkative.
"Qin Fei." Seeing that they were almost at the restaurant, Shi Jing quickly called out.
Upon hearing this, Qin Fei asked in confusion, "Hmm? What's wrong?"
"We've arrived at the restaurant." After saying that, Shi Jing quickly ran a few steps to get away from him.
Qin Fei was completely oblivious to Shi Jing's disdain and was quite happy: "I was just hungry when we arrived at the restaurant. I'm so lucky."
This person has a really good attitude. Shi Jing finds him quite interesting. It would be even better if he talked less.
After dinner, the team leader told everyone to go and rest as soon as possible, since they had an exam the next day.
The provincial chemistry competition only requires a theory test, which starts at 9 a.m. the next day, so rest is very important.
The hotel where we stayed was only a five-minute walk from the exam center. The next morning, my roommate got up at six o'clock. When Shi Jing went downstairs for breakfast, she saw many students carrying books with them, making use of every spare moment to study.
This made Shi Jing realize that capable people are often very hardworking, and she was not the best among them. In order to maintain her current achievements, she had to continue to work hard, otherwise she could be replaced at any time.
The provincial chemistry competition exam lasted three hours. After the exam, each team leader took their students back home.
The subsequent subjects, mathematics and physics, followed a similar pattern. Shi Jing repeatedly saw the hardworking prodigies and felt that he could not be satisfied with his current achievements and stop making progress.
Like Qin Fei, who is a chatterbox, don't let his talkativeness and eccentricity fool you, he actually has very good grades.
Shi Jing encountered him again during a physics competition later. This time, as soon as the man saw Shi Jing, he came up to her enthusiastically and said cheerfully, "Hello, Shi Jing, it's been a long time!"
A boy with him nudged his arm, asking curiously, "You know him? Is he your junior high classmate?"
Qin Fei laughed and said, "Hey, this is Shi Jing from No. 1 High School. Didn't our teacher mention him when he criticized me last time? He just started high school this year, he's pretty impressive."
Shi Jing was speechless. This person seemed to really enjoy praising her and putting her on a pedestal, but the more he did that, the more afraid she was of falling down and being embarrassed.
These layers of idol image have truly bound her tightly...
The results of provincial competitions are usually released about fifteen days after the exam. Once the results are finalized, Shi Jing stops thinking about it and just waits for the results to come out.
Two days after the physics competition, the chemistry results finally came out.
Over the years, 30% of the participants have won awards in the provincial finals, 5% have won first prize, 10% have won second prize, and 15% have won third prize.
This year, a total of 120 people participated in the competition. Nine people won first prize at the provincial level, and 18 people won second prize at the provincial level.
Shi Jing only won the second prize. She didn't think her chemistry grades were outstanding, and she was already very satisfied with winning the award.
As the results came out, Shi Jing, whose strong suit was mathematics, unsurprisingly won first place in the province. What surprised her was that she also won first place in the province in physics.
After the three finals, Shi Jing successfully received 100 million yuan, which surprised and delighted her, and also strengthened her determination to study hard and earn money.
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