Early in the morning, Rong Yu went downstairs.
The dining room was bustling with activity. The eldest, the second, the fourth, and the fifth sons were all there. Yingbao and Duoduo were huddled together, chatting about something.
This kind of family atmosphere lifted Rong Yu's spirits.
"Hey, why do I seem to smell a sour and stinky odor?"
Ji Zhouye wrinkled his nose and sniffed around each person.
Ji Jingchuan's body suddenly stiffened.
He was sensitive and at the same time, self - conscious. He had just risen from being the son of a servant to becoming the fourth young master of the Ji family. In the past, he could only dine with the servants, but now he was sitting at the master's table of the Ji family. Although he was dressed in new clothes, he wasn't sure if there was still a lingering stench of poverty on him.
When Ji Zhouye's nose got closer.
His whole body tensed up.
Rong Yu gave Ji Zhouye a cold look: "If you have something to say, just say it. Stop acting like this."
Ji Zhouye moved closer to Ji Yanting: "The sour and stinky smell on the second brother is really getting to me. Come on, tell me, is there something going on?"
Ji Jingchuan relaxed imperceptibly.
Ji Yanting blushed: "How did you know that I'm with Qiu Sang?"
"Wow! You're really in a relationship!" Ji Zhouye pressed on, "When did you get together? When are you planning to get married? Can I call Sister Qiu my second sister - in - law?"
Ji Yanting coughed: "Not so fast, not so fast. Let's take it one step at a time."
Old Master Ji smiled: "Finally, there'll be another happy event in our Ji family. Second son, you've got to work harder."
After breakfast, Rong Yu and Ji Zhouye went to school.
As soon as they reached the school gate, they saw Teacher Yang from the top - performing class leading six students, including Song Huai, Zhang Haoyu, and Rong Ruoyao, getting on the coach parked at the school entrance.
The students around were chatting animatedly.
"Teacher Yang is taking them to Beijing to participate in the National Mathematical Olympiad Finals."
"Song Huai and Zhang Haoyu are so amazing. They just participated in the physics competition not long ago, and now they're representing the school in the math competition. How can someone be so outstanding?"
"Rong Ruoyao is also very excellent. She's from the liberal arts class and a girl. She must have worked really hard in private."
"She has to record a talent show and study at the same time, and she excels in all aspects. It's so enviable."
"If only I could be half as good as Rong Ruoyao."
"..."
Sitting on the coach, Rong Ruoyao was greatly satisfied by the voices outside, but at the same time, the uneasiness hidden deep in her heart was also stirred up.
The reason she made it to the finals of the math competition wasn't because of her hard work.
It was because in the preliminary round last time, her mother spent a lot of money to bribe the two candidates sitting next to her, and that's how she got a high score...
But this was the national finals, and the candidates were from all over the country. Her mother couldn't find out who the candidates sitting in front of, behind, and beside her were. She couldn't even cheat.
If she ended up at the bottom of the rankings, all these praises would turn into slurs.
Thinking of this, Rong Ruoyao broke out in a cold sweat.
Song Huai was sitting next to her. Seeing that she looked a bit off, he asked, "Yaoyao, what's wrong with you?"
"I... I..." Rong Ruoyao grabbed the collar of her clothes tightly, "My heart... can't take it. I can't breathe. I feel so bad..."
Her face grew paler, and big beads of sweat kept rolling down.
Zhang Haoyu frowned: "In this condition, can you still go to Beijing for the competition?"
"I... I..." Rong Ruoyao's tears suddenly started to fall in big drops, "I've had a weak heart since I was a child. In severe cases, I might even have a cardiac arrest and pass out..."
Song Huai glanced at her.
The Song and Rong families were old friends with a very good relationship. How come he never knew that Rong Ruoyao had a heart problem?
Thinking deeper, he immediately understood.
He had been in training with Rong Ruoyao every day and was well aware of her math skills. It was no problem for her to score 130 - 140 points on a high - school math test, but when it came to the math competition, she was really struggling.
Making it through the preliminary round might have been just luck.
She must have known clearly that she didn't have the strength to participate in the finals, so she was faking illness.
Song Huai pursed his lips and said, "Health comes first. I suggest you don't participate in the competition."
"How can that be?" Rong Ruoyao said with a choking voice, "We've been in training for so long, just waiting for this finals. If I withdraw, our school's team will be short of a person. We'll have to team up with other schools, and without any understanding, it'll be very difficult to break through in the team competition... It's all my fault. I'm so sorry, wuwuwu..."
She covered her face and burst into tears.
The other team members around were all boys and had no resistance to the school beauty at all. They immediately gathered around to comfort her.
"Yaoyao, you've done your best. Don't blame yourself."
"Who wants their body to have problems? It's not your fault. You don't need to apologize."
"Yeah, Yaoyao, go to the hospital and get a good check - up first..."
Zhang Haoyu sneered.
It was clearly Rong Ruoyao who was holding the team back, but in the end, everyone had to comfort her. It was really a joke.
Girls were so delicate.
Suddenly, the figure of Rong Yu popped into his mind, and he immediately took back what he just said.
Rong Yu and Rong Ruoyao had the same surname, but they were so different.
He couldn't stand Rong Ruoyao's sobbing. He shouted loudly, "Teacher Yang, Rong Ruoyao wants to withdraw from the competition."
As soon as Teacher Yang heard this, she exploded: "What? Withdraw? Why? Withdraw at this critical moment? Rong Ruoyao, are you crazy?"
"I... I..."
Rong Ruoyao covered her chest, looking like she was having trouble breathing.
Teacher Yang had wanted to scold her a few more times, but was scared by her appearance and didn't dare to say the scolding words anymore.
She had always said that girls were no good, and girls from the liberal arts class were even worse. But the school still arranged for Rong Ruoyao to join the training team. See, something went wrong, right?
Making such a scene right before departure, she was so angry that she could kill someone.
Song Huai said, "Teacher Yang, I can recommend someone to replace Rong Ruoyao in the competition, Rong Yu."
Zhang Haoyu immediately agreed: "Rong Yu is very good at math. If she agrees to participate, our school should have no problem winning the first prize in the group competition."
"Just because she won an award in physics doesn't mean she's good at math too," Teacher Yang said coldly. "I'll ask the principal and see how to arrange it."
She turned around and got off the coach.
Rong Ruoyao almost bit through her lips.
She withdrew from the competition, not to make room for Rong Yu.
She just couldn't understand why Song Huai recommended Rong Yu. Clearly, Song Huai used to hate Rong Yu.
And that Zhang Haoyu, who always looked down on girls, actually supported Rong Yu so much?
