149 So, There’s A Problem
After completing the final registration process that used the biometrics registered to confirm that the same person was the one present, the five of them were led into the hall by the US officers.
Like the previous competition they had done at home, this had two levels. Since each country had five participants sent, the number was too large for individual testing.
So the first stage was a test to cut off more than eighty percent of the students present.
About twenty minutes later, the whole hall became silent as everyone was finally seated in front of their assigned computers.
The briefing started right after as a voice boomed from the wall-installed] speakers.
“These smart computers would display twenty-five questions in the four core subject areas for your level.”
“Each student is expected to have a pass level of twenty to be able to go to the next subject.
This means that we are not just checking your overall performance but want students that can check the boxes in every area.”
Murmurs filled the hall as they heard the instructions, after all, getting twenty out of twenty-five questions was not an easy feat for this level of competition.
.....
Some of the questions they would be asked to solve weren’t even in the curriculum of some countries’ universities.
Rong Yue remained calm as she looked at the computer model she had been given.
Unlike her, she knew that the biggest trap for this kind of testing method would be time.
Now that she knew the computer model, she knew how fast she could type on this computer without it crashing.
“Also, if you have failed to solve up to twenty questions correctly, you would be logged out by the computer. Participants like these can step out of the hall voluntarily in an orderly manner.”
After listing some more instructions, the exam hall became quiet.
The tense atmosphere was broken with a shrill sound and the computers in front of everyone came on all by themselves.
Following the instructions, Rong Yue typed her ID which also had her country’s code as part of it.
The first paper was literature and language, Rong Yue felt like a core subject like this shouldn’t have been written out in English as the machine translation could have some flaws but since her English was more than perfect, she answered the questions speedily.
Just like she guessed, the exam time for the twenty-five questions was about ten minutes and before some other participants even got to the fifth question, the time was already up.
The timer for a five minutes break lit up on Rong Yue’s screen while a lot of students stood up from their seats.
Even for some whom English was their primary language, the time they had been given was too short to get anything done.
That was why out of more than fifty countries, in the second stage of the exam which was always shown on TV only about ten countries or less got to that stage.
The hall that was being used had about ten doors and students that hadn’t been able to pass the first section trooped out through the doors.
The five minutes were just enough for them and the hall doors were closed just as soon as the second subject started.
Rong Yue sighed in relief when she saw science. Although she didn’t mind any subject, Wu Hao was not exactly the best at mathematics and she had hoped that it would be the last when his nerves had calmed down by a lot.
The science was the same with twenty-five questions that lasted a total of ten minutes. Rong Yue finished in seven minutes and started her break earlier than the others.
At another corner of the hall, Feng Ya banged the table in anger when she saw that she had gotten only eighteen questions right which disqualified her from the competition.
Although she hadn’t held hopes of winning, her priority had been getting on screen but now, she had lost before she could even get to that stage.
She followed the next batch and left the hall while her eyes roamed around the hall quickly trying to see if Rong Yue or anyone from their team was still inside.
Outside the hall was just as chaotic. Any country representative that didn’t see their student come out, or still had their student inside the hall was excited while the ones that had all of their students out already just left.
Teacher Lu and the two government officials stood there with smiles on their faces as the second batch came and there was no one from their country. Their smiles however turned stiff when they spotted the familiar white fur coat that Feng Ya.
“Student Feng Ya, you are out already?” One of them asked awkwardly.
Looking around and seeing that she was the only one that had come out, Feng Ya also felt embarrassed and didn’t know what to say in reply. Instead, she just nodded and kept quiet.
Thankfully, after the doors opened one more time, Wu Da came out and joined her making her feel a little better.
“That testing criterion is too tough, I don’t think they want any other country to pass,” Wu Da whined without caring about who was listening.
“You can’t talk like that, if you are unable to do it, you admit your faults.” One of the officials chided him and then suggested they left where there were a lot of people.
Even though it might seem like just casual talk, it could blow up if they weren’t careful.
Just as they stepped away from the hall and closer to the entrance they had come in from, teacher Lu’s phone rang and he excused himself to pick up the call.
“Teacher Lu, I’m the one who called you just now, I’m Yue’er family member, and brought her here for the competition.” Qin Yichen said politely.
Teacher Lu looked at Qin Yichen’s flawless appearance with a dumbstruck appearance. Even though he was sure of his sexuality, in front of a man like this, it was really hard for him to react normally for their first meeting.
Thinking of that stunning face of Rong Yue, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. Surely, the heavens smiled down on this family.
To have created two people like this, one had to applaud their genes.
However, he also had a little doubt, although there was nothing flashy about this man, it was still easy to see that he wasn’t someone with an ordinary background.
Didn’t the students say Rong Yue came from a normal family?
Meanwhile, Qin Yichen was starting to wonder if the man in front of him couldn’t talk. Seeing teacher Lu not talk for a while left him no choice but to keep talking.
“So, there’s a problem...”
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