Chapter 299: Compensation And Apology
The smugness and arrogance on Sun Tian and Xu Wenhao’s faces crumbled.
Both of them were at a loss due to the sudden change of events.
Gu Yan had good grades, so it was within reason that she would receive special treatment.
However, Fu Zhi was different. Not only was she a bad student, but she had been able to s.n.a.t.c.h the team leader’s position from Gu Yan before the result of the compet.i.tion was released.
The difference between them was as large as that between heaven and earth.
Sun Tian and Xu Wenhao fell silent. At the same time, Gu Yan’s face was livid with rage. She set her angry eyes on Fu Zhi, barely able to restrain herself from going forward and slapping her in the face.
“Do you think you’re better than me just because you took over the leadership? No! You’re just a shameless person who uses back-door connections to get an advantage!” Gu Yan hissed.
Xu Wenhao went to pick the doc.u.ment up from the ground. He hesitated for a moment and said, “But she’s not as famous as you, and she isn’t familiar with anyone from the Physics a.s.sociation...”
Gu Yan looked at Fu Zhi, who was walking side by side with Lu Yubai and Zhou Zihuai, and replied, her eyes looking emotionless, “Really? Have you forgotten that she got to know Han Wei and she’s the one who got the chance to meet with Professor He? Both of them are senior members of the a.s.sociation.”
Other than this, Gu Yan could not think of any other reasons that would make someone like Fu Zhi take her captain’s t.i.tle from her.
Sun Tian seemed convinced by Gu Yan’s statement. He patted the doc.u.ment in his hand and said, “Well, there’s no need for you to get all hot and bothered. You’re Master Sheng Hua’s favorite and the only person Jiang Zong has ever followed on Weibo, not to mention that you’re liked by netizens. Therefore, I see no reason for you to stoop to her level and get angry with her.”
*
In the examination hall...
Fu Zhi threw her bag onto the podium before going back to her seat. Then, she pulled a pencil out of her pocket and swirled it around her fingers. She was leaning against the back of the chair, swinging her legs. The anger she’d expressed in the cla.s.sroom was gone, and her usual lackadaisical self had returned.
Lu Yubai studied her with rapt attention. She had a good temper normally, and she reminded him of a snoozing cat. It was only when she felt threatened that she would flash her claws to defend herself.
After a long while, Lu Yubai could not help asking, “Are you okay with being the team leader?”
He knew she did not like to attract too much attention.
“Yeah. I’m fine with that,” the young lady replied with a sigh. “After all, my strength won’t allow me to stay low-key anymore.”
Then, she paused for a second before adding, “Since I’m inevitably going to become famous, I think I should make use of it.”
‘Make use of it?’ Lu Yubai frowned. “For example?”
“For example, I can apply for a salary from the Physics a.s.sociation to get compensated for taking up the captain’s role and also appease my restless, fragile soul,” Fu Zhi replied in a stern, serious voice.
“...”
Lu Yubai did not know what to say.
*
Ninety minutes later, the compet.i.tion ended.
Since handing in the papers early was prohibited, by the time Fu Zhi came out of the examination hall, she b.u.mped into another team.
Unlike the other team, whose faces were scrunched up in worry, Fu Zhi was calm and collected. After all, this compet.i.tion was nothing to her.
She then went to the restroom to wash her hands. When she came out, she saw Ma Mingquan approach her from a distance with his arms flailing in the air like the tentacles of a dancing octopus. “Fu Zhi! Great news! You guys are free!”
“...”
‘Nope. I’m going to fight until the end.’
However, it did not matter anymore. Ma Mingquan was going to take five students to get their names registered at the Education Bureau after the compet.i.tion.
The two teams from Yu City had arrived earlier, but another team from the capital had not arrived yet.
In the end, the teacher had no choice but to allow the two teams to register first. The teacher waited for 10 more minutes straight, and just as he was about to run out of patience, the team leader of the capital team, Jiang Xi, arrived.
There were three people who seemed to be her teammates and a young man who was surrounded by a group of bodyguards.
Before they could see the young man’s face clearly, they heard him cough first, each of his coughs sounding louder than the last.
Only when the group of people walked into their line of vision did they see the young man clearly. He was wearing a well-cut black trench coat with a white shirt and a pair of black trousers. He was heaving and coughing as he walked, and the tips of his ears were red.
To take care of his condition, the entire team was moving very slowly.
When the teacher saw Jiang Xi, he handed her a pen and a piece of paper and said, “Make sure everyone is here and sign each of your names respectively.”
Jiang Xi nodded. After she signed her name, she walked up to the young man. n.o.body knew why, but her face started turning red. Then, in a soft voice, she said, “Brother Zong, the doctor said that, given your condition, you have to exercise more. Do you want to have a walk nearby later?”
“Okay,” the young man inside the circle of bodyguards answered as he raised his head. His skin was fair, his chest was heaving hard, and his Adam’s apple was bobbing up and down in his throat. He had a dominant face, but the aggressiveness was mellowed down by his frail body.
Fu Zhi had no idea why, but the young man reminded her of a young master in ancient times.
Lu Yubai pressed her head down and said, “Stop staring at him like that, or I might think that you have a thing for him and break your leg!”
Fu Zhi did not know what to say.
She felt that her cousin was just being paranoid. She believed that this young man was a rich man. Not only that, but he seemed like he was going to kick the bucket soon, so he definitely was going to leave a hundred million worth of inheritance behind!
The teacher asked Fu Zhi and her team to stay back. “The provincial leader is coming to take a picture with you all, so you have to stay back for a while.”
Fu Zhi then hastily chimed in, “Are they going to give me money to take a picture with me?”
The teacher responded by chasing her away like a mother hen chasing its chicks.
“Scat! Scat!” A few shouts were heard all of a sudden.
Fu Zhi turned her body sideways and saw the bodyguards around Jiang Zong protect him as if someone was going to kill him.
Everyone else was speechless.
‘Does he think he’s an emperor or something? Even an A-list celebrity wouldn’t behave like him!’
“Move away, move away!” One of the bodyguards pushed Zhou Zihuai, causing him to trip over his own feet as he leaned toward Fu Zhi.
Fu Zhi hastily went forward to help him up, but before they could do anything, another bodyguard came over and pushed them again. “Hurry up!”
The bodyguard pushed harder this time, causing the pen and cell phone that Fu Zhi had put in her pocket to fall to the ground.
Jiang Zong was signing his name on the podium with a pen. When he heard the commotion, he frowned and growled weakly. “It’s too noisy here.”
He rubbed his chest, and without any hint of remorse, waved his hand and added, “Kick them out of here. Seeing them is causing me heartburn.”
He was the young master of the Jiang Family, which was an elite family in the capital, so no one would dare oppose him.
However, Fu Zhi was different. She looked at her phone and the broken rhinestone pen on the ground before turning to the young man.
Zhou Zihuai knew who he was, so it went without saying that he would not go against his orders. He took a step back.
As for Fu Zhi, as long as something was related to money, there was no way she was going to step back!
Just as one of the bodyguards was about to push Lu Yubai and Ma Mingquan, Fu Zhi went forward and tripped him, making him fall down on the floor.
Then, she looked mirthlessly at the young man not far away and said, enunciating every syllable that tumbled from her tongue, “Hold on a second, Mr. Bigshot. Before you leave, don’t you think you should pay and apologize for the damage you’ve caused?”