Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Announcing Results Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Announcing Results The three days flew by in the blink of an eye, and the end-of-term exam results had already been announced.

Almost everyone in the university department cared about this round of results, for no other reason than the bet between Zhong Niangyao, Chen Lianlian, and Shen Yixue.

Their wager had been registered with the student council and had also been fully publicized to the academy. In other words, if anyone wanted to back out of this bet, they would truly be unable to continue at the academy.

On the bulletin board, Chen Lianlian and Shen Yixue did not pay attention to their own scores, instead going to the department where Zhong Niangyao studied to start checking. They did not believe that Zhong Niangyao could actually score in the top ten, so they checked from the bottom up.

However, the more they looked back, the more uneasy they became. As they couldn’t find Zhong Niangyao’s name, their hearts sank more and more.

Finally, when they saw the name in ninth place, their faces instantly turned pale. Because in the slot for ninth place, three bold characters stood out: “Zhong Niangyao.”

“Zhong Niangyao is ninth!” someone shouted, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.

In an instant, it was as if a drop of cold water had fallen into hot oil, and the place exploded into commotion.

“Wow, really! I didn’t expect Zhong Niangyao to be such a dark horse!”

“It makes sense, if she wasn’t confident, why would she agree to bet with Chen Lianlian and others!”

When someone brought up the bet, all eyes immediately turned to Chen Lianlian and Shen Yixue standing at the front of the bulletin board. However, people quickly shifted their gaze away.

Even so, Chen Lianlian and Shen Yixue felt as if everyone was looking at them with strange gazes. If there were a crevice in the ground, they would have wished to crawl right into it.

“This can’t be possible,” Chen Lianlian could hardly believe her own eyes, “How could this be? Zhong Niangyao’s grades are so poor; how could she possibly rank ninth? No, this must be a mistake.”

After speaking, she quickly grabbed Shen Yixue’s hand, nervously asking, “Xiao Xue, tell me, am I seeing things wrong? Zhong Niangyao is not actually ninth.”

At this moment, Shen Yixue was too flustered to even care about Chen Lianlian. All she could think about was the big trouble she had landed in.

Her reputation at the academy had already plummeted due to a previous scandal involving replacing a painting. Now that she had lost the bet to Zhong Niangyao, she would have to kneel and apologize to Zhong Niangyao in front of the whole school.

If she actually knelt down to Zhong Niangyao in front of so many people, what dignity would she have left in the academy thereafter?

Thinking of this, Shen Yixue felt even more resentment and annoyance towards Chen Lianlian.

If it hadn’t been for Chen Lianlian’s insistence, she wouldn’t have agreed to this bet. Chen Lianlian had dragged her down this time, causing her imminent humiliation.

Getting no response from Shen Yixue, Chen Lianlian turned back, checked several times, and still she could see Zhong Niangyao’s name right there in ninth place.

“Zhong Niangyao couldn’t have achieved such good grades.” Chen Lianlian kept finding excuses and a thought flashed in her mind, “Cheating, Zhong Niangyao must have cheated. Otherwise, there’s no way she could have made it into the top ten.”

Upon hearing Chen Lianlian’s words, the people around her looked at her with a trace of suspicion.

It was well-known that the invigilation system at Tenglong Academy was notoriously strict, even comparable to the national college entrance examination. In such an environment, let alone cheating, one would not even dare to look around.

Under these circumstances, it was impossible for anyone to cheat unless that person had extraordinary abilities.

However, it was clear to everyone that Chen Lianlian was not willing to accept losing the bet just like that.

“Do you have any proof?”

A sudden question rang out, and as people followed the voice, they saw Zhong Niangyao walking out from the crowd, followed by Zhao Xuanglang.

Perhaps because he knew about Zhong Niangyao’s grades, Zhao Xuanglang looked rather pleased, even wearing a smile. However, as he looked at Chen Lianlian and Shen Yixue, his smile disappeared, and his expression turned cold.

Seeing Zhong Niangyao’s arrival, whether it was Chen Lianlian or Shen Yixue, their first instinct was to flee. But with so many people around, if they really ran away in panic, it would surely spread across the entire campus the next day.

“Do you have any proof?”

Zhong Niangyao stood in front of Chen Lianlian, her face showing no anger and even her tone was calm, “Earlier, you said I cheated, where is your proof?”

Her words instantly made Chen Lianlian’s face turn red, and she stammered, unable to answer. Still, she persisted, “Zhong Niangyao, if you didn’t cheat, then how did you manage to rank ninth? Last semester, you were ranked in the hundreds. Such rapid improvement is simply impossible.”

It was also for this reason that she had dared to make this bet with Zhong Niangyao.

But now, things had developed completely differently from what she had expected.

“Oh, why can’t I improve like this?” Zhong Niangyao responded with a smile, “I am intelligent and learn quickly. Previously, I was just lazy, but this time I studied hard, such improvement is quite normal.”

“It’s impossible, this can’t be possible.” Chen Lianlian still stuck to her claim, “Zhong Niangyao, you couldn’t possibly have scored that well. No matter how smart you are, you couldn’t have improved so quickly, you must have cheated.”

“Then bring out the proof,” Zhong Niangyao retorted coolly, “Otherwise, don’t slander me here.”

“I–” Chen Lianlian couldn’t come up with anything to counter.

“Chen Lianlian, Shen Yixue, you lost the bet this time,” Zhao Xuanglang interjected coldly, “Don’t try to wriggle out of it. Don’t forget, your bet is being monitored by the whole school.”

With that statement, Chen Lianlian and Shen Yixue’s complexions turned even uglier.

“Zhao Xuanglang, do you really need to be so heartless?” Chen Lianlian bit her lip, looking at Zhao Xuanglang with eyes full of grievance, “You know very well–”