The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 176 - 175: Thought to Be a Champion, Turns Out to Be Plastic

Chapter 176: Chapter 175: Thought to Be a Champion, Turns Out to Be Plastic

"What’s your name?"

"Zheng Fen."

Zheng Fen and her sister-in-law stood together in front of the counter, blocking the staff’s view of Ye Manman. The staff was starting to get impatient.

After flipping through the pages, they found her name and became even more displeased upon seeing the score.

"Zheng Fen, right? Two hundred and five points."

"What? That’s impossible!"

Zheng Fen’s eyes widened. She had always felt confident about herself and had prepared thoroughly for the college entrance exams, studying at home daily. How could she have only scored two hundred and five points?

She leaned over the counter, almost wanting to snatch the scoring booklet from someone’s phone. "This can’t be right, can you check again for me? Maybe there’s someone with the same name. My exam number is—"

"No mistake, there’s no one with the same name. You only got two hundred and five points." The staff interrupted her impatiently.

"This year’s exam was particularly difficult, so poor results are normal. If you can’t accept it, please step outside. Don’t cause a scene here and block others who are checking their scores."

Zheng Fen still wanted the staff to check again, but they directly held up the page in the score booklet under her name to her face.

"Look, no duplicate names. This is your score. Now let the next person through. It’s hot, and it’s not easy for everyone to come here."

The staff’s words and the booklet thrust in her face shattered all of Zheng Fen’s pride.

She had come from the city to the countryside as an educated youth. Unable to make a living, she married a rural man some years ago. When the college entrance exams were reinstated, her family, afraid she’d leave, didn’t allow her to take them.

This year, she managed to get the opportunity to sit the exams after giving birth. Every day after finishing her work, she pored over books, hoping to get into a big city and escape the hard life in the countryside.

But she couldn’t even reach the minimum score for the worst school.

Zheng Fen’s sister-in-law pulled her aside, seeing her devastated, and couldn’t help but comfort her.

"It’s okay, if you can’t make it this year, there’s always next year. They did say this year’s test was harder."

Zheng Fen couldn’t accept it and pointed in Ye Manman’s direction, "Hard test? Then why is she the top scorer? Isn’t she just a meddler, always seeking special treatment? How could she score so well?"

Her voice rose with emotion, and finally, she burst into tears, covering her face.

"I stayed up late every night studying, worked during the day, fed my baby, and put in so much effort. How come I only got such a low score? What did that girl do? Nothing, just enjoyed herself. Why did she deserve it?"

"Why?!"

Every year, during score checking, there are people who break down emotionally at the education bureau. The staff is already quite adept at handling such situations.

As attention was drawn, the staff had already escorted Zheng Fen and her sister-in-law out.

Ye Manman was puzzled, "What’s up? Does that girl have a grudge against me?"

He Chen was good at remembering people, especially those who had shown interest in or malice toward Ye Manman. He remembered clearly that these were the ones who said she was receiving special treatment on the exam day.

They mocked Ye Manman for a while, saying she couldn’t endure hardship and was just looking at notes. She seemed to be full of scholarly airs, but her score wasn’t even a third of Ye Manman’s.

Who knows what she was reading every day? It only made others feel that she was hardworking on the surface, yet she didn’t actually absorb any knowledge. What was the point?

He Chen explained the situation to Ye Manman, and she soon recalled it.

The girl named Zheng Fen seemed to have been in the same exam room as her, and every time Ye Manman left the exam room early, Zheng Fen would roll her eyes at her. Ye Manman thought it was because she was capable and looked down on her.

Turns out she was just superficial.

They didn’t dwell on this little incident, as soon enough, several similar scenes occurred, mostly involving people lamenting that their hard work didn’t yield results.

Before the head of the education bureau and the visiting officials from the province returned, Cheng Yuan also came to see the scores. However, she was more diligent than Ye Manman and quickly approached to take a clear look at the banner.

"Warmly celebrating Comrade Ye Manman becoming the provincial science top scorer in the college entrance exam!"

A wide red banner was strung across the fence of the education bureau. Anyone passing by could see it. Moreover, it was the first time their town had a provincial top scorer. Anyone who saw the banner couldn’t help but run back and spread the news everywhere.

Soon, the whole town, and even the entire province, would know Ye Manman’s name.

She was truly in the limelight.

Cheng Yuan was ecstatic.

Since Ye Manman became the top scorer, she reckoned she could at least pass the scoreline, so she bravely started looking for her name from the left side of the red paper.

Sure enough, Cheng Yuan saw her name in the first line, tenth position, scoring a remarkable five hundred and ten points!

It was a score she once never dared to dream of.

She wasn’t sure if this score would get her into Lin Zhishu’s school. Lin Zhishu also scored well back then, although not quite top level, but close to the top marks on the red board.

She worried about whether she could pass that school’s score line.

Cheng Yuan felt both happy and anxious—in a joyful sense.

No matter whether she could pass Lin Zhishu’s school line or not, she would still attend a good university and her mom wouldn’t have to work so hard anymore.

She had finally made something of herself!

Cheng Yuan was overjoyed, wiping tears of happiness constantly.

At that moment, a commotion came from outside. Cheng Yuan saw a group of people rushing toward the door, each looking very much like leaders.

"Director! What a coincidence, you just missed her. Oh dear, you just narrowly missed the top scorer. Right now, she’s waiting here in our bureau for you."

The staff had sharp eyes, constantly scanning the room, occasionally checking the door. As soon as they saw the director and his group return, they hurried out to inform them.

Upon hearing this, the director’s previously furrowed brow immediately smoothed out and transformed back into joy.

"Quickly, let’s head inside."

Having a provincial top scorer was significant, so those from the province sent important representatives, including a director and two section chiefs.

Everyone rushed with sweat on their foreheads, but upon seeing Ye Manman, they all paused. It seemed they hadn’t expected the provincial top scorer to also be such an exceptionally attractive young woman.

The visiting director from the province was the quickest to react, promptly stepping forward to shake hands briefly with Ye Manman.

After brief introductions, the director was filled with excitement and pride.

"I didn’t expect Comrade Ye to not only excel academically but also be so good-looking. Truly deserving of being our province’s top scorer..."

Ye Manman remained calm, even slightly sleepy, despite a round of compliments from the leaders. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She politely responded to their questions, but He Chen could clearly sense her fatigue.

Amidst all the joyous congratulating, He Chen suddenly interrupted them.

"Excuse me, my wife is pregnant. It’s hot now, and it’s not suitable for her to stand for too long. Shall we expedite any remaining procedures?"

He remembered that they still had to take photos with a banner or something, which required a trip to the studio.

He Chen was genuinely concerned about Ye Manman’s discomfort, seeing her eyelids droop, it pained him.

His words caused a big stir, like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

The amiable director was a bit incredulous, "Comrade Ye is pregnant?"