Chapter 1022: The Scores???
As the date of release for the college entrance examination results approached, the Club HS members grew increasingly nervous.
After two weeks of interaction, everyone had grown fond of Cheryl, who was good at gaming, looked cute and sweet, and was soft-spoken!
Sometimes when they saw her watching videos as she munched on fries, they couldn’t even imagine that she was the little girl blasting people with her cannon in the game.
In the game, Cheryl, whose forte was being a gunner, played as a female character who carried a cannon as big as herself and could take out half an opponent’s HP with just a single blast.
Moreover, the character could move quickly from one spot to another, so her movements were flexible and she was not easily caught. This simply fitted her image too well.
As a result, everyone subconsciously became protective of her… They even subconsciously gave her the best of everything in daily life.
Take for example their lunch. In the past, whenever they had fried chicken, everyone would fight for the drumsticks. This wasn’t because they really wanted the drumsticks; rather, it was just the boys’ competitive streak.
But now…
“The watermelon is really sweet today! Come on, cut them into pieces and give some to God C! She likes munching on fruits when she watches game replays.”
“Oh, this crab has so much roe! Here you go, C!”
“What? They are customizing new equipment for us again? I’m not in a hurry, so God C can go first! Ladies first!”
“…”
Cheryl had become the club’s favorite.
Even the strict Captain Zac had turned a blind eye to the situation, and was no longer the ‘Demon Lord Jungler’ he was previously known as. In fact…
“You can have the first red buff we get.”
The first wave of the game was spent clearing monsters in the jungle. In the past, in order to reach level 4 quickly, Zac had to set the pace, so he never gave the first wave of monsters to the gunners or mages.
Even Lionel, the mage, didn’t have such privilege!
Yet Cheryl had been given the team’s first red buff.
When Lionel heard this during a team match, he wanted to cry. He asked, “Captain, when will you ever give me the first blue buff?”
Zac, who was controlling the mouse, replied perfunctorily, “Hmm… Try having a sex change first?”
Lionel: “…”
That evening, they played until it was late in the night—because they would be able to check the examination results online once it was midnight!
The matter had been on everyone’s minds all this time; they just didn’t dare to mention anything about it, that’s all. One by one, all of them looked at Cheryl—only to see her hands flying across the keyboard at high speed. She didn’t look nervous in the least.
Had she forgotten about it?
Despite thinking so, they found it somewhat of a positive development.
While they were having a break after the match, Zac quickly went to the club’s public relations department, where he saw the head coach and some others on standby.
Upon seeing him, the head coach extended his hand to him and said, “Don’t worry, we are ready!”
Since the day before, fans of Club JQ had been @-mentioning Cheryl constantly.
A verified big-name fan of Club JQ had made a post, which was subsequently liked and reposted by many:
‘The college entrance examination results will be out soon. Are you scared yet? So, have you decided which university to attend? Is it Harvard or MIT?’
They even included a mocking GIF in the post.
It was obvious that they were being sarcastic.
There was still more than an hour until midnight.
This hour-long period tormented everyone in the club.
When Zac returned, he saw Cheryl still gaming with a lollipop in her mouth. She looked as though she had really forgotten about the matter.
Suddenly, he felt awfully unsettled.
He wanted to ask her what exactly was going on.
From the side, Lionel also couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, God C. Um, did you ever try estimating your score after the college entrance examinations?”
Cheryl glanced at him with her big and pretty eyes and then answered, “Nope!”
Ever since she started scoring full marks in the mock exams, she seldom looked at the answers. She had absolute confidence that she could get everything right!
Lionel: “…”
He wanted to ask further about the matter, but the person next to him covered his mouth and gave him a look that screamed “Stop asking about it! Why are you so clueless?!”.
Lionel muttered, “It’s obviously because she looks so calm and relaxed, so I thought she might really pull it off… That’s why I asked…”
She didn’t even try estimating her score… Just how much did Cheryl love her games?!
Although he was awfully anxious about it, he didn’t dare to probe any further. Thus, he tried to incite Zac to do it instead. He said, “Captain, why don’t you try asking your teacher for some information again? Ask him if she can get into a prestigious… nah, a first-rate university. A first-rate university would sound reasonable too. This way, they won’t mock her too badly…”
Zac glanced at him and then shoved both hands in his pockets. “Ugh, look at how impatient you are!”
Lionel: “!!”
He hung his head upon being chastised. But when he noticed Zac going out again, he couldn’t help but ask, “Captain, where are you going?”
“To the bathroom.”
Lionel: “?”
He scratched his head. “Captain, do you have bladder issues? Didn’t you just go?”
Zac: “…”
This time, Zac indeed entered the bathroom next door. He took out his cell phone, opened up his chat with his ex-homeroom teacher, and then sent a text message: ‘Hey, can I ask you a question? Based on your understanding of Cheryl, can she get into a first-rate university?’
After a moment’s consideration, Zac changed “first-rate” to “second-rate” and then sent the message…
After sending the message, he waited anxiously for his teacher’s reply.
Time was creeping closer and closer. Like the other members of the club, he was also becoming more and more nervous.
People were also starting to become more and more active on the Club JQ social media pages.
But why wasn’t his teacher replying? Was he already asleep at this time?
Wasn’t it too early?
He couldn’t help but call his teacher.
As soon as he dialed his number, someone picked up.
His teacher’s cheerful voice reached him from the other end of the call. “What are you doing, Zac? College entrance examination results will be out in a moment, so we are all waiting! The students’ parents are all trying to talk to me, yet you’re taking up my precious time. Those who didn’t know better would have thought you had a daughter taking the college entrance examinations!”
Zac: “…”
He suppressed his annoyance and said, “Er, take a look at the message I sent…”
The head teacher seemingly glanced at it, upon which a strange silence ensued for two seconds. Then, he asked, “Do you actually think Cheryl is aiming for a second-rate university?”
An uneasy and nervous Zac asked, “… Is there no hope of that happening?”
“… No.” The teacher replied.
Zac: “…”
He broke into a frown. Just as he was about to speak, his teacher suddenly raised his voice. “Do you actually think that she can only get into a second-rate university? Who do you think you’re looking down on?!”
Zac: “?”
He wanted to respond, but his teacher cut him off and said, “Alright, I have bawling students who need me to comfort them because they didn’t score well in the exams. Don’t take up any more of my time!”
After saying that, he hung up.
Zac: “…”
For some reason, he now felt even more uneasy after the call.
What on earth did his teacher mean by that?
—
Cheryl was awfully weirded out by the strange atmosphere in the club tonight. The others would glance at her from time to time, but when she looked back at them, they would quickly look away.
She glanced at the time—the scores would be out in another ten minutes. Thus, she didn’t start a new round after finishing the current one. Instead, she picked up a bag of potato chips and a slice of watermelon and started munching on them.
As she did, next to her, Lionel slightly pushed the paper napkins on his table toward her. He did it again and again until they were right in front of her.
Cheryl: “?”
The girl was confused for a moment. Then, she picked one up and wiped her fingers with it as she said, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Lionel coughed and added, “These tissues are specially made for wiping tears and snot. Ordinary tissues may irritate the nose and make it turn red if you blow your nose with them…”
When Lionel came down with a cold some time back, the skin at his nose had gotten rashes from wiping his nose with normal tissues. Knowing that the exam results would be released soon and afraid that God C would burst into tears, Lionel had specially searched for these tissues on the Internet and even placed an order a week ago, for fear that they would not come in time for today.
1
Cheryl: “…”
She blinked and replied, “Oh.”
Not only was Lionel behaving strangely, but the others around her were also looking at her with slight… sympathy in their eyes?
She thought of telling Zac that something seemed wrong with everyone today, but as soon as she turned her head, she saw Zac taking out a few ice cubes from the refrigerator and putting them on a towel. Then, he coughed and said, “I heard that people should apply an ice pack on their eyes before they go to bed if they cry their eyes out. Um, just so you know, the club has lots of ice cubes!”
Cheryl: “??”
She broke into a frown, not quite sure what was wrong with all of them. Why were they all expecting her to cry?
Amid the strange atmosphere, Cheryl picked up her cell phone, where she found that midnight had struck!
Cheryl’s eyes lit up.
She could check the scores now.
The family had been chatting about this earlier in the day.
Alexander had asked her how many points she thought she could get in the exam, after which he said that they would be able to find out whether she had achieved a perfect score tonight.
Justin had comforted her and told her that it was alright even if she didn’t get a perfect score.
Even her mom, who was always lazy and only cared about sleeping, had popped up in the group chat and added a “+1” below Justin’s text message.
Peter hadn’t appeared in the chat.
Alexander even took the opportunity to mock Peter for not showing concern for his sister.
When it turned midnight, Cheryl stopped munching on snacks and opened up the exam results website, where she then entered her admission ticket number…
It went without saying that she was concerned about her grades too. There was no doubt that she would be able to enroll in Harvard University; what mattered now was the score she got in with… Once she knew her score, she would also be able to update her family in the group chat.
While she was doing all this, the people behind her crowded around her.
One… two… three… four heads leaned in from behind her, and everyone held their breath as they watched Cheryl hit the Enter key.
The page immediately changed to a loading screen…
Soon, Cheryl’s score appeared.
Everyone immediately looked over, and one by one, their eyes widened.
Were their eyes playing tricks on them?!