Chapter 280 - Maybe She’ll Do Well on the Exam

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

‘Do you want to quit the winter camp?’

Ye Ci never thought that she would hear such a question.

She froze.

Li Guangyuan had actually not wanted to say this so directly, but since it had come to this point, he thought twice before saying this out of consideration for the students.

“Ye Ci, I heard that you used to be one of the top students in Yunzhou Second High. Even if you didn’t participate in the physics competition, it wouldn’t be a problem for you to get into the top universities in the country with your grades at that time. You should know very well how time and energy-consuming the physics competition is. Continuing to stay in the winter camp won’t be meaningful to you. At the end of the day, it won’t help you get a guaranteed slot in the top universities and may even affect your college entrance exams. Although the winter camp’s intensive training is only two weeks long, it’s actually much longer than that, between now and the finals. It’s really not worth it for you to waste all this time on the competition. Assuming you quit now and go back to prepare well for the college entrance exams, it’s still not too late to catch up.”

Li Guangyuan was very sincere, but Ye Ci did not hear his good intentions.

She sneered in her heart.

It turned out that to them, her participation in the competition was “a waste of time and energy” and would also “affect her college entrance exams”.

Zhao Ping comforted Ye Ci. “This isn’t as serious as you think. Every year at winter camp, some students drop out halfway.”

Those who could come here were all bright students, but it was rare that they could get an award.

Some students knew their own standards and gave up on their own.

Some others gritted their teeth and insisted on carrying on, but in the end, they did not get an award and even failed the college entrance exams.

They eventually end up with nothing.

Usually, the teachers would not talk to students about quitting so frankly, but Ye Ci was different.

It had been a fluke that she had been able to enter the winter camp.

In fact, her standard did not allow her to continue learning here.

Not to mention the preliminary rounds, she had not even finished half of the test paper from last night’s exam, so that was enough to explain the problem.

Ye Ci lowered her head.

Ning Li gave a surreptitious glance at Ye Ci.

These words were sincere from the teachers.

Unfortunately, it was a loud slap in Ye Ci’s face, which crushed her self-esteem and self-confidence.

Ye Ci had been proud and was used to being praised for so many years, so she had always looked down on other people.

Now that she was here, she had become the worst performer, so much so that she could not even continue to stay here.

What could make her more ashamed and angry than this?

Li Guangyuan added, “Of course, this isn’t a trivial matter, so you can go back tonight and discuss it with your family first, or ask for Zhou Fei’s opinion…”

“I want to stay.”

Ye Ci suddenly spoke, interrupting Li Guangyuan’s words.

Several teachers looked at each other, looking a little helpless.

In fact, they had expected this.

Ye Ci getting fifth in the provincial preliminaries had been broadcasted to all of Yunzhou Second High for so long that everyone knew that she had come to the winter camp to prepare for the national finals.

If she withdrew from the competition, she would certainly be talked about by many people.

Such a huge sense of disparity was indeed difficult for the average person to bear, especially since she had always excelled in her studies.

Such a “good student” often had a harder time accepting such a situation.

However, it was not the time to think about pride.

Li Guangyuan could not help but say, “Ye Ci, we understand your feelings, but this is related to your future, so we hope that you will consider this carefully.”

Zhou Fei had told Li Guangyuan about Ye Ci’s situation.

After Ye Ci joined the competitive physics class, Ye Ci had shown mediocre performance. She was at best only slightly above average in her test scores.

Moreover, perhaps the competitive physics class had taken up a lot of energy, Ye Ci’s performance in several school-wide exams had also declined sharply.

Ye Ci was not particularly outstanding compared to others either, let alone compared to talented students like Ning Li and Pei Song.

Zhou Fei also said that several other students in the class that were better than Ye Ci had not even managed to get into the winter camp, but Ye Ci had made it.

It was true that Ye Ci had not cheated, but she was also not qualified to remain in the competition.

In the class of 52 students, even Li Peng, who ranked 51st in both tests, was better than Ye Ci by a large margin.

What was the point of Ye Ci staying on here?

Besides looking for trouble for herself and wasting her time and energy, there was no other benefit in her staying.

Ye Ci’s lips were tightly pursed.

After Li Guangyuan finished what he had to say, Ye Ci took a deep breath and said, “Mr. Li, I understand what you guys mean, but I still want to stay. I don’t want to quit halfway.”

Li Guangyuan and the other teachers felt an oncoming headache.

‘How is this considered halfway? This is considered cutting losses!’

However, Ye Ci was insistent and no one could pull her back.

Their reaction made Ye Ci feel suffocated again.

She clenched her teeth.

‘Why? Why do I have to quit?! I finished the paper myself! I deserve to be in the winter camp!’

There were already many in Yunzhou Second High who were privately gossiping that there was something wrong with Ye Ci’s preliminary results. If she quit now, she would only be confirming their suspicions.

How could she continue to stay in Second High if that happened?

Besides, the Ye family had organized a celebration banquet for her in Jinsheng Hotel, and the dignitaries in Yunzhou knew about it.

How was she going to explain it to everyone?

Ye Ci simply had no choice.

“I’d like to ask you all to trust me for once. There’s still some time before the finals. I’ll do my best and accept whatever the results are.”

Li Guangyuan shook his head with a sigh.

‘Does she not understand that this competition isn’t about how hard she works, but on her talent?’

Without that talent, it would be the same even if she did more practice.

There were only four more months until the college entrance examination. If Ye Ci continued to delay her studies, she might not pass...

Since they had already tried to persuade her by saying what they needed to and Ye Ci had not accepted their advice, they could not do anything else.

After all, the final decision was on her.

The office was quiet and seemed to have fallen into a stalemate.

After a while, Zhu Jingyuan said, “How about this...Ye Ci, you can call home and explain the situation clearly. If your parents are as insistent as you, then we’ll respect your decision.”

‘Her parents should realize the seriousness of this matter and persuade Ye Ci to go home, right?’

Ye Ci did not move.

She was not willing to make this call.

Li Guangyuan shook his head. “It’s better if you…”

“Since she wants to stay, let her stay.” Ning Li suddenly spoke.

Ye Ci looked up in shock.

Ning Li inclined her head and looked over with a smile.

“She didn’t cheat, so there’s no reason to dissuade her, is there? Moreover, since she was able to get into the top five in the provincial preliminary round, it proves that she still has some strength.. Maybe, she’ll also be able to do well in the finals.”