From Sidekick to Bigshot

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

One after another, the results of the mid-term exams came back.

In the span of one day, Hu Jiaojiao suffered a series of setbacks. She became emotionally and physically exhausted. All her hopes were turned to dust.

“Why did I fail again? The worst thing is that I got 59 in Chemistry! 59! Why couldn’t the chemistry teacher have given me one more mark as consolation? Just give me an extra mark in the harder questions that I attempted… I was just one mark away from passing!”

What’s even more devastating than failing in an exam was missing a pass by one mark!

2

Hu Jiaojiao turned her head around to look at Jian Yiling’s chemistry paper. She saw three bright numbers.

100.

One hundred! It was a perfect score!

Hu Jiaojiao was dumbfounded.

She picked up Jian Yiling’s paper again. She repeatedly checked the number. Over and over again.

It was really a perfect score. Not a single mark was deducted. Even the last question was correct!

The last question of the chemistry exam was incredibly difficult. The question was beyond the scope of the syllabus.

Everyone complained about the question after the chemistry exam was over. The cries of the students sounded like victims that had just suffered a disaster. Even Liu Wen, a member of the student committee, exclaimed sadly that she couldn’t solve the question.

After repeatedly confirming the mark that was on Jian Yiling’s paper, Hu Jiaojiao almost burst into tears. She felt both sad and happy at the same time.

She felt sad because they had promised each other to improve together. However, Jian Yiling had become a top student all of a sudden. She had been left behind to struggle in the dregs of learning.

However, she was also happy because her friend had gotten a perfect score in an exam! This was awesome! It could prove to the other students that Yiling hadn’t cheated in the Chemistry competition! It could make those students shut up! Especially Wang Xiangchong!

“Yiling, you’re my second idol now!” Hu Jiaojiao cried out. She granted the second spot in her heart to Jian Yiling.

The first spot was still Luo Xiuen’s.

The other papers were handed back one after another.

Jian Yiling’s results in each subject were mind-boggling.

She had scored a perfect mark in Maths, Physics, and English.

Hu Jiaojiao was almost on her knees after she saw Jian Yiling’s results.

Finally, the last paper was handed out. This subject was Chinese.

Based on her previous experience, Hu Jiaojiao was curious enough to take a peek at Jian Yiling’s reading comprehension.

Once again, she saw a big fat zero. The zero was akin to a duck egg.

Zero. Jian Yiling got zero in her reading comprehension!

She had still answered the questions in the same strange way.

1

Compared to her other marks, Jian Yiling’s reading comprehension was an outlier. It didn’t match her performance in her other subjects.

However, Jian Yiling’s overall score in Chinese was still decent.

Out of a total of 150, Jian Yiling had scored 116.

Out of the 34 marks deducted, 20 were due to reading comprehension. Another 8 marks were from the essay writing and 6 marks were deducted due to small mistakes.

Hu Jiaojiao took a look at the areas where Jian Yiling had lost the 6 marks. She realized that those marks were also related to reading comprehension questions.

However, when it came to memorizing examinable texts, Jian Yiling had received a solid score.

For example, Jian Yiling had no problems with the literary analysis that Hu Jiaojiao had suffered with. Literary analysis had always given Hu Jiaojiao a major headache.

Jian Yiling’s essay writing also intrigued Hu Jiaojiao.

The essay component was out of 60. Anyone who could score more than 50 in this section was a god!

Hu Jiaojiao was curious as to how Jian Yiling who scored a zero in reading comprehension could score 52 in essay writing.

Very quickly, Hu Jiaojiao got the answer to her question.

Jian Yiling had written an argumentative essay!

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After the mid-term papers were returned to the students, the rankings were also announced.

Jian Yiling’s name was first in her year.

Her name was incredibly eye-grabbing on the list.

Compared to her last two monthly exams, the improvement was incredible. In fact, such an improvement was almost difficult for the other students to believe.

However, with the previous Chemistry competition as a prelude, such results were not totally unacceptable.