âNice to meet you, Madam Xu.â Lu Chuwan greeted her sweetly.
Madam Xu returned the gesture by nodding before saying, âYour name is Chuwan, right? The purpose of the national Physics competition is to pick the best candidates to compete at the international competition. Itâs a good thing that you will lead a team into the competition, so you have to do your very best. Donât disappoint your grandma!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Lu Chuwan grinned meekly and replied, âIâll keep that in mind, Madam Xu.â
Just as Madam Xu was about to say something, a voice filled with doubt rang out behind her. âI thought only one team from No.1 High School made it into the preliminary round? Zhizhi is the team leader!â
Madam Luâs headache returned when she heard Xu Weiâs voice. She had a terrible impression of both Xu Wei and Fu Zhi. The former was an airhead who often failed to read the room, while the latter was just someone with a twisted personality. Right now, she was certain that Xu Wei was going to say her granddaughter had stolen the title of the team leader from Fu Zhi or something like that.
Lu Chuwan turned her body sideways to look at Xu Wei and said, âAunt Xu Wei, Iâm pretty sure youâve got it wrong. Iâm the team leader. If you donât believe it, you can go to the Education Bureau and check the registration form.â
Before Xu Wei could say anything, Madam Xu muttered, âZhizhi?â
Then, as if sheâd suddenly remembered something, her eyes shone and she exclaimed, âZhizhi? Are you Fu Zhi? Are you from No.1 High School?â
âShe just transferred to No.1 High School not long ago. She used to study in No.3 High School, and her grades were bad!â Bai Yao immediately shouted.
âYou keep quiet!â Madam Xu shouted as she waved her hand at Bai Yao. She stared with rapt attention at Fu Zhi like a tigress locking on its prey. âDo... Do you remember me?â
The sudden change in the situation had thrown Madam Lu for a loop. She had never seen her make a blunder in public before. Initially, she thought Madam Xu had caught wind of all the bad things Fu Zhi had done at schoolâincluding that she had cheated in the examinationâwhich was why she would behave so strangely in front of Fu Zhi. She was not sure about it, but that was the best explanation she had for Madam Xuâs odd behavior.
Her expression darkened, but she did not say anything.
Looking at Madam Xu, Fu Zhi shook her head and answered simply, âNope. I donât remember you.â
âThatâs fine, thatâs fine! Zhi... No, Miss Fu Zhi. As long as I remember you, itâs fine if youâve forgotten me!â Madam Xu replied with a manic light in her eyes. After saying that, she turned to Madam Lu and said, âActually, I came to Yu City to meet up with her!â
âMeet up with Fu Zhi? Why does she want to meet Fu Zhi?â
Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard what Madam Xu had said.
Madam Lu then asked, âWhat do you mean?â
âOne year ago, at the national Physics competition, our country had a chance to shine on the international stage, but your granddaughter... Do you know what she did? She withdrew from the competition after finishing the preliminary round!â Madam Xu was so excited that her eyes went red around the rims. âI was the one who marked her paper, and I was also the one who begged her to stay in the competition. Unfortunately, she refused to... Just as I thought she wasnât going to take part in the competition this year, one of my students called me and said that he had seen her paper! With her as the team leader, Iâm certain that the national competition will be in the bag!â
The more Madam Xu talked, the more excited she became. In the end, she even reached out for Fu Zhiâs hand.
Fu Zhi took one step behind and said earnestly, âDonât worry. Iâll certainly win the competition.â
Madam Xu nodded, exhilaration creeping into her voice. âGood, good, good. Iâm counting on you!â
Her attitude toward Fu Zhi was completely different from how she had treated Lu Chuwan. Madam Lu could not believe the things she had heard, as this was something that she had never expected.
Perhaps Fu Zhi might have performed brightly before, but that was already in the past. Besides, Lu Chuwan had told her that Fu Zhi had done so well only because most of the questions in the test paper had been retrieved from the question bank. Luck played quite an essential part in an examination, and Fu Zhi was the one who had hit the jackpot this time.
She believed her granddaughter, and that was why she felt Fu Zhi was no match for Lu Chuwan. However, after hearing what Madam Xu had said, Madam Lu felt that she might be wrong.
On the other side, anger was rippling through Lu Chuwanâs body. She clenched her fists tight, trying her very best to control her emotions. After all, the registration form had already been handed to the Education Bureau, so there was nothing they could do to change the name right now.