Principal Chen's voice trembled with excitement:
"Lin An, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. My whole life has been like walking on thin ice, but I've given my all to nurture a national champion in mathematics competitions. I have no regrets..."
Lin An wasn't surprised. He told Principal Chen as soon as he left the exam room that he could rest assured. However, Principal Chen had never seen anyone hand in their exam paper early in a competition before, so he was unsure of himself and had been so worried that he couldn't eat for the past two days.
"Principal Chen, what score did I get?" Lin An estimated that he got a perfect score when he handed in his paper.
"Just one point shy of a perfect score, Lin An, you're amazing! This is the highest score ever! You can choose any major from Tsinghua or Peking University."
Lin An was puzzled when he heard that it wasn't a perfect score; where did that point go?
He then asked, "Principal Chen, do you know how Lu Xun did on the exam?"
"I didn't know that you were number one. The math competition committee called me in advance to congratulate me. The official website usually announces the rankings at 2 p.m., so you can keep an eye out for it."
"Okay, I understand."
After paying the bill, Lin Wan walked out of the restaurant and saw Lin An making a phone call a few meters away. Hearing him talking about the competition and seeing the joy on his face, she wondered if the rumor about submitting a blank paper was true.
Seeing that he had hung up the phone, Lin Wan leaned closer and tentatively asked, "Have the competition results come out?"
Lin An nodded and consciously kept a one-meter distance from her.
Did you place in any competitions?
"Yes, first." Lin An said calmly and casually.
Lin Wan was shocked. As a master's student from a prestigious university and a super academic achiever in the eyes of others, she knew all too well the value of this competition. Being the top student in the country not only meant being guaranteed admission to Tsinghua or Peking University, but it was also a golden name card. No matter what level of wealthy family it was, they would all look up to him.
Lin An didn't pay attention to Lin Wan's reaction. He looked around at the surrounding environment. It was very nice. The area in front of the Cloud Top Hotel was full of luxury cars. It was a little past one in the afternoon, and people were coming out one after another after finishing their meals. The people who came to eat here were all rich and powerful, which was exactly the group of people that Lin Rou cared about the most. It was a good place for her to kowtow and admit her mistakes.
Lin An was very satisfied with the location and planned to wait for Lin Rou here.
Inside the VIP room, Lin Zhe was apologizing to his parents.
Lin Zhe's eyes were red, and he said softly, "Mom and Dad, I didn't mean to lie to you. I just wanted to help you share some of the burden and make you less tired."
"Stop talking about that. Didn't you say you booked a private room? What happened?" Lin Haoran roared. His hopes for the future had just been extinguished by reality. The business was not improving, and the heir was so incompetent.
Zhang Wanru said with heartache, "Don't shout, you're scaring the child."
Lin Zhe looked aggrieved: "Mom and Dad, I really did book a private room. I used my saved allowance to become a gold member of the Genting Hotel and got a private room reservation benefit. I was just trying to be kind; that was my allowance that I had saved up for a year."
“I knew it. Xiao Zhe is always so selfless and dedicated, always thinking about making things better for the family, unlike some people who act like hooligans.” Lin Rou quickly spoke up for her good brother.
Lin Haoran's heart tightened. Although Lin Zhe didn't have as many connections as he had imagined, he was a filial and good child. He had misunderstood him. He sighed and said, "Alright, let's go home too. We can talk about everything when we get home."
The Lin family members walked out of the private room and saw that the thugs outside were gone, and their hearts, which had been hanging in suspense, were finally at ease.
As the group walked out of the restaurant to get their car, they saw Lin Wan and Lin An standing together, still in a daze. They were a little confused; hadn't he left?
Lin An looked amused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd and settling on Lin Rou.
Lin Rou also felt his burning gaze. She cautiously looked around, confirming that the group of thugs from before were not with Lin An. Immediately feeling more confident, she stared at Lin An and questioned him:
Why are you looking at me like that? Didn't you say you didn't want anything to do with me? Didn't you say you were leaving? Why aren't you leaving yet?
Lin An smiled and said, "I just remembered that we have a bet, and it's time to fulfill my promise."
Before Lin An could finish speaking, Lin Rou burst into laughter: "What? Are you rushing to kowtow and admit your mistakes to me? Fine, this is a good place to go, come on."
When Lin An heard her say that, she immediately frowned. She and Lin Xia were really good sisters, both brainless. They didn't even let her finish speaking, and they didn't even ask about the exam results. They were so smug, but they were still showing off. They would have to kowtow to her later.
After Lin An finished laughing, he said, "The competition results are out, and I got first place in the country."
"What? You're number one in the country? Hahahaha." Lin Rou laughed even harder after hearing him say that. She had already heard that he had submitted a blank paper and left early, yet he still dared to show off.
Lin Rou scoffed, "Lin An, do you think we'd believe that? You're not imagining the last place to be the first, are you?"
When Lin Zhe saw Lin An, his face was still stinging. He said in a teasy tone, "Oh dear, although my brother hit me, I can still understand his desire to prove himself academically. But brother, do you know that no one in the history of No. 12 Middle School has ever been among the top ten in the national competition?"
Zhang Wanru's eyes were filled with disappointment. How could this child not know his place? "Lin An, there's a limit to how much you can lie. This is a national competition. You can't just say you're the best."
Lin Wan hadn't heard what Principal Chen said on the phone, so she was still somewhat skeptical.
Faced with their doubts and ridicule, Lin An took out his phone, pointed to the recent call record and said, "Principal Chen just called to inform me. If you don't believe me, you can call Principal Chen yourself and ask. Lin Rou, you are a member of the Parents' Committee, so you must have Principal Chen's phone number, right?"
Lin Rou still didn't believe it and shouted, "Who knows if you two are in cahoots? I noticed when I went to school last time that he was particularly biased towards you."
Lin Zhe chimed in, "Principal Chen likes my brother very much and has given him a lot of privileges at school. I heard that he can freely enter and leave the school at any time."
“I’ve heard about it too,” Lin Xi confirmed.
At this moment, some people who had finished eating gathered around out of curiosity.
Feeling emboldened by her family's affirmation, Lin Rou looked around and deliberately raised her voice: "Lin An, tell me what you're thinking! You're making a fool of us! You keep saying you got first place in the country, but everyone already knows you submitted a blank paper. You're useless at everything, but you're number one at lying."
The onlookers began to whisper among themselves. Most of them came from well-off families and were quite attentive to their children's education. Many knew about the competition. Someone muttered:
“I know about this competition. It seems that students from Shanghai never manage to get into the top three every year.”
"That's right, they've all been taken by students from Beijing."
"Which school does this student go to? How dare he brag like that?"
“Look at the logo printed on his pants, it should be No. 12 Middle School.”
Lin An wore a shirt he bought himself today, and his school uniform pants.
Lin Rou became smug and said with a smug look on her face:
"I won't hold those things against you, but since we all swore an oath last time, we can't go back on our word. We have to accept our losses. Why don't you kneel down and kowtow three times right now and say you were wrong?"
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