The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise

Tuesday was the day when the results of the written exams of the international Physics competition would be announced.

All the participants could check their respective results on the internet by typing their password and ID number, while the final team ranking would be displayed on the big screen in front of the hall.

One would be considered excellent if he or she scored 140 out of 200 points.

The difficulty level of the question papers was SSS+. The secretary of the branch of the Physics Association found Fu Zhi, who was dozing off with a milk bottle, early in the morning next to a computer. “The results will be published today. Do you need us to help you check your score?”

“No need to check.” Fu Zhi put her milk bottle away and then ordered a cup of milk tea through her phone. “I know how many points I’ve gotten. We can go to check the team ranking in the hall later. No need to waste unnecessary time here.”

The secretary was really left speechless by Fu Zhi’s devil-may-care attitude. Everyone in their country was waiting to see Fu Zhi’s results, and yet here she was, dozing off while holding a milk bottle.

The secretary really wanted to kick the milk bottle and sprinkle all the milk powder in it like a little fairy to make her cry.

*

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Country M’s Physics Association…

Gu Yan had not participated in the competition, but she and Yuan He went to the hall early in the morning to observe the team rankings of different countries.

As for her friend, Mia, she wanted to defeat Fu Zhi and prove her superiority, so she came to the hall ahead of the stipulated time as well. The moment she arrived, her teacher rushed over from the office and shouted with great enthusiasm, “When I first arrived, I overheard Yu Sui telling the chairman that this year’s test questions were so difficult that only one contestant got an excellent result!”

There were still 10 minutes left before the ranking would be announced. The teacher smiled and held up his phone to show Mia her score. “146 points! They are talking about you! Mia, you got the best score on the written test. You can definitely win the competition!”

Mia took the teacher’s phone with a wide grin on her face.

She had been very confident about her score. Except for a few questions in the back that she had been unable to answer, she’d had no problem whatsoever answering all the other questions.

Therefore, she had expected that she would get a high score on the written test.

Gu Yan walked up to her and congratulated her. “How did your teammates do?”

“Not bad. Each of them got around 120 points, so I’m certain we’re number one. Right now, all you have to do is prepare yourself to get to the field and show Fu Zhi who’s the boss!” Mia said triumphantly.

The smile on Gu Yan’s face deepened. “If you win the competition, I will post it on my Weibo to celebrate with you!”

Everyone in the Physics Association was so anxious that they could not eat or sleep properly before the result of the competition was released. When they heard the news from Mia’s teacher, they all heaved a sigh of relief as they lamented.

“Country M is indeed a superpower. The overall strength of their team is really high!”

“That’s right. Otherwise, why would all of us say that we’d only stand a chance to challenge them if Gu Yan had led the team and our team had been instructed by Mia?”

“I’m really curious to know Fu Zhi’s score. After all, she’s been talking big and acting as if she’s above all of us, yet she could not even get an excellent result. She’s really such a disgrace to our country!”

As they continued their discussion, the cars from the embassy arrived at the hall.

The moment the five of them arrived, they saw Mia being praised by everyone around her, as though she was covered with layers of gold.

The light in Zhou Zihuai’s eyes gleamed. Since his overall performance had not been as good as Gu Yan’s, he was afraid that he might have dragged the whole team down.

“Oh, you’re all here. Even better,” Fu Zhi said. It seemed like she was in a good mood right now. She got a few chairs for her teammates and then pointed at the big screen. “President Yuan, you better open your eyes and watch closely how you’re going to lose your job.”

Yuan He’s face turned pale. “Hah! You really have a lot of confidence in yourself, Ms. Fu. I hope you will not forget your promise after you see the result.”

“Keep that to yourself.”

As soon as Fu Zhi finished speaking, the big screen lit up.

Yuan He, Gu Yan, Lu Yubai, and Mia all turned their heads and zeroed in on the big screen.

Perhaps they wanted to create suspense, as the results started being announced from the bottom, which was country F, to the top.

There were 12 countries in total, and very soon, it came down to the last three in line—Country R, Country M, and China.

Lu Yubai’s eyes gleamed.

When he saw that the first to appear on the screen was Country R, he let out a sigh inwardly. Then, he heard Mia say, “Tsk, Country R lost to China again? The quality of their participants is getting worse every year.”

The higher-ups of the Physics Association on the scene couldn’t help starting to throw shade at Fu Zhi.

“I have no idea why Fu Zhi is so stubborn. She refused help from the champion of the international competition, and she doesn’t have a single team member with a good performance on the team now. I’m afraid we’re going to lose badly this time.”

“This is such a disgrace! This is the first time in history we’d lose so badly. There’s no way we can bring glory to our country if we follow Fu Zhi’s lead! We should really send her back!”

At that moment, a participant from another country let out a cry.

“Country M got second place?!”

Very soon, everyone turned their eyes to the screen.

No sooner had the result of Mia’s team been published than the result of Fu Zhi’s team appeared on the screen. They were number one.

Other than Fu Zhi, who had scored nearly full marks, the rest of her team members had all scored above 135 points, which was better than the scores of all of Mia’s teammates.

“No way, you guys must have cheated!” Mia pointed at Fu Zhi and her group. “Yu Sui said only one participant got an excellent result. The technicians must have made a mistake!”

“You’re right. But Miss Mia, your teacher must not have heard the whole discussion. My last words to the chairman were ‘except for the only full score, which was Fu Zhi’s’.”

Yu Sui emerged from the meeting room. He glanced indifferently at Mia and then offered Fu Zhi a smile. “Congratulation, Ms. Fu Zhi. Let’s go and celebrate tonight.”

Fu Zhi nudged her chin in Mia’s direction and said, “Nah, I don’t think so. Can’t you see that Ms. Mia is about to cry because she lost to us?”

Then, she cocked her head, allowing her hair to fall to her shoulders. She looked at Mia and then comforted her. “Alright, stop crying. Be proud of yourself. You’re the only international friend I have ever met who is broken in body but firm in spirit. You’re still up for a challenge even though you know you are destined to lose. You’re the reason I love Country M so much.”

Mia’s expression turned grim. “Don’t you get so cocky, Fu Zhi. Wait until the oral—”

“Before the result of the oral presentation is announced, I suggest you prepare more paper towels to cry on.” Fu Zhi interrupted her while offering her a grin.

Lu Yubai, who was sitting beside her, suggested, “Since she can’t even win such a small-scale competition, it seems like she only deserves to go home and be a farmer.”