Lantern Sister is still very capable.

Chapter 83-Awakening

“There are far more deduction cards than bonus cards,” Lin Jingqiong concluded.

"Hmm? It seems so. I found three cards that deduct one point, but only one card that adds points." Jin Xiaoyue agreed. The two were running along a straight line. There were several other people running ahead of them, but they kept looking back to check on others. Some even covered the scoring device on their backs with one hand, afraid of being ambushed.

“So it’s difficult to reach one percent, which doesn’t fit the exam rules. I guess the final test score is calculated differently from the written test score.” Lin Jingqiong followed Jin Xiaoyue and changed direction. They only ran along the radius of the circle by 0.25 minutes, so as to avoid the central area.

Since the announcement that staying in the central area for ten minutes would earn ten points, although it could only be done once, there were always people in the central area. When there were many people, some people would take the opportunity to put up deduction cards. So the two of them simply avoided that area and just circled back and forth on the half straight track.

"Well, but the higher the score, the safer it is," Jin Xiaoyue said after thinking for a moment.

“Yes,” Lin Jingqiong said. “Many people don’t want to run, so they either try to get extra points or have others lose points. As long as there are many people with negative points, the final test scores of others will be higher than expected.”

"Jingqiong, you're so smart!" Jin Xiaoyue looked at her with bright eyes. "No wonder you're third in the whole school."

Lin Jingqiong's eyes darkened: "These are all very simple. Stop praising me. I know I'm not as good as Chu Deng and Pei Hanxing."

In reality, only the first place winner is usually well-known. Even Pei Hanxing, who came in second place, only got some discussion because of her looks, so she, who came in third, had even less of a presence.

"No way! I've always known about you. I also know that fourth place is Wei Manman, fifth place is Xi Xin, and sixth place is..."

Seeing that Jin Xiaoyue was getting more and more excited, Lin Jingqiong quickly interrupted her, "Stop, stop, stop, okay, I know you have a good memory, save your energy for running laps."

"Mmm." Jin Xiaoyue knew that Lin Jingqiong was doing it for her own good, so she nodded repeatedly.

The two ran from the center point outwards again. This time, before they even reached the curved track, they heard someone shouting from afar, panting and cursing.

"Meng Qiuhe, are you out of your mind?! You've chased me around the clock three times over a basin!!!"

Meng Qiuhe, holding up a demerit card, rolled his eyes: "I'm just petty! That basin was one I carefully selected for my washbasin, and you used it to wash your feet without me noticing!" He got angrier and angrier, his eyes reddening as he sped up, catching up with his roommate Wang Tingtao who was running ahead, and stuck the demerit card to the device on the other's back. "What's worse, I didn't even realize it until a whole week later!!!"

When Wang Tingtao heard the "beep" sound, his heart sank. He simply gave up struggling and, driven by a wicked impulse, took out the deduction card he had found from his pocket.

"Announcement: Candidate No. 54 used the deduction card against Candidate No. 18. Candidate No. 18's current score is 23."

"If you stick to me, I'll stick to you too!" Wang Tingtao roared, grabbing Meng Qiuhe's arm with one hand and slipping the other under his armpit to his back, slapping the deduction card in his hand onto Meng Qiuhe's back.

"Holy crap, you have so many points! I just got in! Xingzi, save me!" Meng Qiuhe was shocked by Wang Tingtao's score announced over the loudspeaker. He had heard several announcements since he came in, and the number of people who had their cards stuck with was mostly in the single digits. He never expected that Wang Tingtao had secretly accumulated more than twenty points, while Meng Qiuhe, who was still in the negative score stage, was green with envy.

Pei Hanxing grabbed Wang Tingtao's wrist and snatched the deduction card. With Meng Qiuhe's help, Meng Qiuhe managed to break free from Wang Tingtao.

Seeing that the two of them were working together, Wang Tingtao was afraid of being outshone and losing points, so he quickly disappeared from sight.

Pei Hanxing didn't chase after him, and Meng Qiuhe stretched his wrists and didn't follow either, muttering, "Wang Tingtao already got 23 points, surely no one else is close to a perfect score?"

"Don't rush to post it, otherwise you'll attract too much hatred and get focused on by everyone." Pei Hanxing disagreed from the start, thinking she should raise her own score first, but Meng Qiuhe started chasing after Wang Tingtao as soon as he saw him. Fortunately, they were also indirectly gaining points in the process of chasing each other.

“Okay, let’s play it safe for now,” Meng Qiuhe agreed.

The two quickly chose a direction and started running laps.

"Announcement: Candidate No. 59 used the deduction card against Candidate No. 4. Candidate No. 4's current score is 41."

"Announcement: Candidate No. 37 used the deduction card against Candidate No. 9. Candidate No. 9's current score is 34."

The two sudden announcements startled the 59 examinees in the examination room—such high scores!

Many people are comparing their scores, and the difference is shocking!

Some people quietly noted down numbers 4 and 9, thinking they would put a deduction slip on them when they had the chance, otherwise if these two got a total of 100 points, the whole exam would be over.

The others who are close to numbers 4 and 9 will probably have to team up. Lin Jingqiong thought to herself, then turned to look at Jin Xiaoyue, who was running hard, and hesitated.

Jin Xiaoyue noticed Lin Jingqiong's unusual behavior and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Xiaoyue, let's split up. I want to check out other routes," Lin Jingqiong finally said, making her decision.

Jin Xiaoyue had no objection, since it was just a side trip anyway, so she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll continue running around here. If you see Dengdeng, please tell her for me."

Jin Xiaoyue knew that her physical fitness was much worse than her friend's, so she didn't dare to run around recklessly for fear of affecting her score. She decided to stick to this route as it was more convenient.

Lin Jingqiong nodded and replied, "Okay, I'll be going now. Take care."

Jin Xiaoyue watched Lin Jingqiong leave, then silently started running.

She believed that hard work could make up for lack of talent, and in order to keep up with Chu Deng, her physical fitness score could not be too far behind.

Chu Deng had explained the significance of this physical fitness test to her, and with some hints from her father, Jin Dahai, Jin Xiaoyue, although she didn't know the inside story, had a premonition that she couldn't fall into the second tier.

Because Chu Deng will always be in the first tier.

She firmly believed it.

With the broadcast constantly ringing in her ears, Jin Xiaoyue walked with undivided attention, breathing heavily. The walls on both sides seemed to disappear as she focused intently on the road ahead. Sweat streamed down her face, leaving a drop of water stain on the pavement.

"pat-"

"Hu-hu-"

Unbeknownst to Jin Xiaoyue, a patch of green sprouted from the corner of the wall behind her. A small blade of grass, attracted by the wood element surrounding her, struggled to emerge from the ground and stretched its body in the air.