80 The Physics Competition
In June, Shen Xi clinched second place, giving her the qualifications to participate in the provincial competition in September.
Su Ni quickly tugged at Jiang Xue’s skirt, hoping to prevent her from putting her foot in her mouth. Since Jiang Xue had just transferred from another school, there was a high chance she was unfamiliar with the competition’s rules and did not know what she was talking about.
Unfortunately, her attempts fell on deaf ears. When she introduced herself earlier that morning, Su Ni ignored her, paying more attention to Guan Lei. Jiang Xue still smarted from that slight and disliked Su Ni for it, even if she tried maintaining good relations with her as a matter of principle.
Now that she had caught Su Ni’s attention, she would milk it for all its worth. She had to let Su Ni know that she, Jiang Xue, was not someone to be ignored.
Aggrieved, Jiang Xue said, “Teacher, don’t mind my words. I don’t understand what’s going on, hence my question. Please don’t take offence.”
Shen Xi shot Jiang Xue a polite smile. “Oh? Are you interested in participating too, Jiang Xue?”
When Jiang Xue heard Shen Xi’s despicable question, it felt like a thousand needles pricked her heart. “Whether I participate or not isn’t the issue. Since it’s a competition, shouldn’t anyone with sufficient skill be allowed to participate?”
“Jiang Xue, if you’d like to participate, I’d be more than happy to give you my place, but only if you produce your results from the preliminaries of the National Physics Competition. We’ll need some assurance of your ability, and what better way than to see how you placed in the city. As long as you’re in the top three, you’d be able to participate even if you transferred from another school. Quick! Let’s hear it. It will be a loss for everyone if Teacher Sun doesn’t enter your name into the competition in time,” Shen Xi said with concern.
Zhao Yuan burst out laughing. Shen Xi was being deliberately obtuse to annoy Jiang Xue. Everyone in their class knew who the top three in their city were. Not one of them was called Jiang Xue.
The other students looked at each other in dismay. Was Shen Xi at odds with the new transfer student? She was practically mocking Jiang Xue.
Shen Xi did not usually speak much. She was the quiet sort and often kept to herself. It was their first time seeing her antagonise someone openly.
Jiang Xue missed the looks her peers shared. She was honestly perplexed by Shen Xi’s words. What preliminary round was she talking about?
Zhao Yuan kindly explained, “This is the provincial semi-final of the National Physics Competition. Only the top three in the city can participate. Shen Xi took second place in the city, so she has the qualifications to participate in the semi-finals. Jiang Xue, don’t tell me you don’t even know about this?”
Zhao Yuan’s words caused Jiang Xue to flush in embarrassment. How was she supposed to know what preliminary round they were talking about? In her last school, her teachers had signed everyone up for any competition they could enter. Although it was common knowledge that the school screened all entries, they were, as a rule of thumb, fair in so much that they gave each student a chance to participate. These competitions were a yearly affair, and they only ever needed to submit one form to indicate their interest in participating.
Like many of her schoolmates, Jiang Xue had signed up on a whim but was eliminated by the school during their screening process and did not participate in the competition. Jiang Xue had thought the physics competition form that Sun Ling had given Shen Xi was the same as her former school, which resulted in her jealously challenging Sun Ling’s fairness.
She now realised that the competition entry form her previous school had handed out was for the preliminaries of the National Physics Competition. Since no one had passed the preliminary rounds, Jiang Xue erroneously believed anyone could register for the National Physics Competition.
Jiang Xue’s mortification was as clear as day, and Zhao Yuan knew she had hit the nail on the head. “You didn’t know? Haha! I never thought I’d meet someone who does not know the rules of the National Physics Competition. What a joke!” She ridiculed.
Jiang Xue wrung her hands, trying her best to hide her embarrassment but to no avail. All she could do was lower her head and remain silent, hoping to make herself as small as possible.
Before the situation could devolve further, Sun Ling stepped in to smooth things. “Jiang Xue has just transferred here. It’s perfectly normal for her not to know the difference between the preliminaries and semi-finals. Alright, class is about to start. Your language teacher has arrived. Everyone, back to your seats.”
Sun Ling may have tried to help Jiang Xue out of her pickle, but it translated rather differently in the ears of her students. Many of Jiang Xu’s classmates began whispering in hushed tones.
“I don’t think transferring from one school to another is the problem. The preliminary rounds for the National Physics Competition take place in June, and the semi-finals at the end of September. How does she not know anything about it? Isn’t it the same every year?”
“Shh! Teacher Sun is just giving Jiang Xue a way out. Don’t take it too seriously.”
“Jiang Xue’s results probably aren’t very good. Everyone with the right grades should know about the National Physics Competition. This is a science class, isn’t it?’
“That’s right. Which one of us hasn’t participated in the preliminaries? Even if we didn’t secure a good rank, no one should be oblivious to the rules, should they?”
“I’m curious to know Jiang Xue’s grades. How did she end up in our class? Did she buy her way in with money?”
“It’s possible. Her family is rich.”