Chapter 788: Under-the-Table Manipulations During the Ballot

After dinner.

All of the teams had heard the news about Gu Mang not attending the compet.i.tion training program.

Feeling hopeless, Yang Tianming had completely given up on defending their school.

“If the situation continues to develop like this, the netizens will surely criticize Gu Mang once the local news outlets talk about this.” Anxious, Professor Xue was pacing back and forth.

Gossip was an extremely fearful thing. Good news was suppressed and bad news went viral.

Yang Tianming sat on the bed with drooping shoulders. His head was aching. “Then, are we supposed to say that the people of Jijing Island are behind this?”

Professor Xue stopped in his tracks and turned to Yang Tianming. “We definitely cannot become scapegoats!”

“Who would believe us?” Taking a deep breath, Yang Tianming looked up at him. “Who would believe that Jijing Island is going against Gu Mang?”

“Um…” Professor Xue’s expression became solemn. As he suppressed his anger, he could not find the right words.

Yang Tianming rubbed his face. “Forget it. Let’s just pretend we’re on a vacation. You should go and console the students.”

…

Shen Qianzi was chatting with Leng Xuan on the phone in her own room.

Leng Xuan asked, [Who spread this news?]

Shen Qianzi typed on her screen, [It seems like someone must have overheard Professor Yang talking about this matter with another person.]

On the other end, Leng Xuan laughed and replied, [This news spread too early. The results of the first round of compet.i.tion won’t seem as shocking anymore.]

Shen Qianzi looked down at her phone, her expression slightly annoyed.

She replied, [This is a team compet.i.tion. The individual first place is also chosen from the top 16.]

The worse the Capital University did, the more everyone would resent Gu Mang. For her to lead the Capital University team to top 16…

The ranking would be an unfair advantage to Gu Mang.

Leng Xuan replied, [Hasn’t she always been taking first place? Now that she is here on Jijing Island, all the schools are waiting to see her make headlines again globally through her results.]

If she did not achieve impressive results, she would be utterly humiliated.

That would make a good show.

…

Qin Yaozhi glanced at Gu Mang, who was sitting next to a table. She had her leg up on the chair. Gu Mang was typing on a keyboard with rebellious posture. The corner of her lips twitched.

She was really fascinated by Sister Mang’s att.i.tude!

In the past, Gu Mang used to only manage Xingmu International Corporation’s security system. She did not meddle much in the research field.

She also refused to join the company’s group chat.

This time, due to the project, Shen Xie set up a group chat personally and invited Gu Mang.

“Sweeper Monk” had always been the most mysterious and impressive presence at Xingmu International Corporation. Everyone was extremely excited upon meeting their idol for the first time.

Gu Mang only talked about a few problems and asked them to cooperate with her in the group chat. She was still in charge of the core of the project, after all.

Xingmu International Corporation’s Deputy Computer Programmer asked, [Idol, if we have questions, can we ask you in the group chat?]

Gu Mang replied, [Okay.]

…

The next day.

The compet.i.tion this time were some of the most highly regarded people in the medical field. All the medical a.s.sociations around the world were waiting to recruit talent after the release of compet.i.tion results.

9 AM.

In Jijing Island’s Academic Center.

The white painted infrastructure looked very majestic. At the front of the hall, there were huge boulders placed horizontally signed by magnates of every academic field.

Signing on the boulders was the highest honor one could receive. The balloting ceremony would take place here.

The compet.i.tion utilized a cl.u.s.ter system. The 118 teams were split into two cl.u.s.ters, numbered, and placed randomly into two boxes. The compet.i.tion representative would then draw a number from each box. The drawn teams would be opponents and the winning team would progress to the next round.

Out of these 118 teams, the teams from H University and M University were considered favored to win. No one wanted to be their opponent and get knocked out in the first round.

On the other hand, the Capital University team had become the most desirable opponent.

“What is the Capital University team’s number?”

“29.”

“I wonder which lucky team will have them as their opponent? Any easy win is most advantageous.”

On the stage.

The person who was drawing the ballots was Tang Er, the person in charge of the compet.i.tion.

There were two black opaque boxes in front of him.

The compet.i.tion MC walked up. “Welcome to Jijing Island’s International Physiology Compet.i.tion, everyone. I believe everyone is aware of the compet.i.tion rules. The first round is the written examination. Every team has to answer 50 multiple-choice questions and 50 “true or false” questions within 45 minutes. The score used to evaluate which team advances to the next round will be the average score of each team.”

All the members of the Capital University team were sitting together. Upon hearing what the MC said, they looked at Gu Mang subconsciously.

Leaning on the chair and hugging her arms, Gu Mang seemed to be asleep. The brim of her cap was also pushed down.

Qiao You snickered. “I’m really in awe. How can she still fall asleep?”

Yesterday, Gu Mang had to attend to some matters, so she slept at 3AM.

Qin Yaozhi was aware of this fact and was annoyed by Qiao You’s sarcastic tone..

She said mercilessly with a cold expression, “How are you so good at talking sh*t? Do you think only you have a mouth?”

Qin You’s expression became dark. Due to Qin Yaozhi’s background, she did not dare to say anything back.

She pursed her lips and looked at the stage.

After the MC finished explaining the compet.i.tion rules, he announced, “Now, let’s invite Mr. Tang Er, the man in charge of the compet.i.tion to draw the ballots.”

Instantly, everyone’s heart was in their throats.

They stared at the stage with an unwavering gaze.

Tang Er smiled and picked a number out of the box on the left. “Number 15, University H from Country K.” Then, he proceeded to pick another number from the other box. “Number 67, Capital Medical University from Country Z.”

The first pairing had been announced. Some people were relieved that one of the stronger teams had been chosen. The rest of the teams would have an easier time during the round.

On the other hand…

The professor and students of the Capital Medical University team did not look too good.

“What the f*ck! We are going to get destroyed in the first round!” Someone in the team could not help but curse in front of the professor.

The professor was also secretly cursing in his heart. However, to maintain his image, he did not verbalize his thoughts.

They had never been so “lucky!”

Following the first pairing, they revealed a few other pairings. Some teams were delighted, while some were depressed.

Just then, Tang Er picked a number from the box on the left. “Number 29. Capital University.”

The entire venue became silent for a few seconds. The teams that had not been chosen all looked at the box on the right.

All of them hoped that their team would get chosen.

Tang Er picked a number from the box on the right. “Imperial College from Country D.”

“F*ck! The Imperial College is Country D’s second best seeded team. They made it to the top eight in the previous compet.i.tion and now they are competing against Capital University. Aren’t they breaking a b.u.t.terfly on the wheel?!”

“One spot is wasted just like that. If we were chosen to compete against Capital University, I bet we would surely win!”

“If it was last year’s Capital University team, they would still be worthy of a fight. Didn’t Gu Mang not attend the training program at all? She isn’t on the same playing field as us.”

“Furthermore, it’s the average score that counts. I thought Gu Mang was the best on their team. But now, she is going to pull down the average score. The current Capital University team is really underwhelming.”

“This match will be very boring. The Imperial College team will crush them easily.”

Qin Yaozhi was dazed from the shock. What the f*ck! Just their luck to get Imperial College as an opponent!

Shen Qianzi pursed her lips as her gaze became darker. She gave Yang Tianming a heads up before getting up and walking towards the restroom. She pushed the door open. There was no one inside.

Shen Qianzi locked the door from the inside and gave Master Bi a call. “Teacher, Elder Leng said that the first box contains numbers of all the strong teams, while the second box contains numbers of all the weaker teams. How did Imperial College’s number appear in the second box?”

If they had gotten another university, she would have felt more confident of winning.

She had absolutely no confidence in beating Imperial College’s team, not with Gu Mang holding them back, anyway.

Master Bi said, “Qianzi, don’t worry. Elder Leng called me last night and told me that we have to eliminate the Capital University team in the first round. You just have to make sure you get full marks for the written examination. Elder Leng will make an exception and accept you as an unofficial disciple. After some time, you will be able to become an official disciple.”

Hearing this, Shen Qianzi heaved a sigh of relief. “Okay, teacher.”

…

At the backstage of the Academic Center hall.

Staring at the words “Capital University VS Imperial College” on the screen, Leng Xuan laughed.

Shen Qianzi was right. Why should they allow Capital University to get a good ranking?

Furthermore, rumors had it that Gu Mang was the Chief Forensic Doctor at the Criminal Division.

If she could get into the top 16, that would mean that she really had some skills… Leng Xuan wouldn’t let such accidents happen.

Capital University and Imperial College rankings on the global universities ranking were always close. Both schools’ medical schools were of the same quality too.

It would be interesting to see how Capital University’s team performed with Gu Mang with them.

The balloting ceremony ended at 10 AM. 59 teams would take the written examinations simultaneously at 3 PM.

The balloting ceremony before the compet.i.tion was a common practice on Jijing Island. It was to test the teams’ mentalities during the actual examinations.

During their medical careers, they would face many sudden and unexpected situations. During times like this, they would need to make judgments in a calm manner.

Hence, balloting was part of the compet.i.tion as well.

…

Lu Chengzhou arrived on Jijing Island in the afternoon.

He was staying in the hotel next to Gu Mang’s.

In the presidential suite.

Gu Mang propped her legs up on the coffee table. She played games languidly as she leaned back in a carefree manner.

He Yidu and Qin Fang were facing her. They glanced at her from time to time.

She was way too calm.

Although this big boss’ medical skills were quite good, all the opponents taking part in the compet.i.tion this time were formidable figures. They would become famous figures at their respective universities and were up and coming talents in the medical world.

They felt that their big boss was really disrespecting her opponents.

Or did their big boss think that those people were not worthy of being her opponents?

The corner of his Qin Fang’s lips twitched.

He thought of the instances when Gu Mang had “set new records.” The famous saying and life philosophy of “never ever look back after destroying something” came to mind.

Lu Chengzhou brought her a gla.s.s of warm honey water. Seeing that she was gaming, he brought the drink to her lips.

Gu Mang took a sip naturally.

“Are you going to take a nap after this round?” Lu Chengzhou asked softly.

Gu Mang answered, “Ah, okay.”

He Yidu got up. “Brother Cheng, Qin and I will go settle the remaining matters.”

Lu Chengzhou looked up. “Okay, you guys can go first.”

He Yidu dragged Qin Fang out.

…

2:50 PM.

All the teams arrived at the venue of the written examination. It was a special venue that was specially dedicated for compet.i.tions. There were five examination halls. All the teams had been randomly allocated to an examination hall.

Gu Mang was in the first examination hall.

There was no invigilator in the examination hall. There were only surveillance cameras present.

No one would dare to cheat here.

A person from the medical a.s.sociation who was in charge of the examination gave out the exam papers.

The moment they received the papers, all of the compet.i.tors frowned.

All of the questions were very long.

They only had 45 minutes to finish 100 questions. That meant that they only had about 20 seconds to do one question.

They had to read, a.n.a.lyze, and answer. The difficulty level had increased exponentially.

The written examination officially commenced at 3PM.

The clock up front displayed the time clearly to everyone in the hall.

As usual, Gu Mang had only brought her identification card and a black pen.

29 minutes into the exam…

Gu Mang capped her pen and got up with her exam.

There was no teacher, so she just placed the exam on the table in front and left the examination hall.

The professors from all the schools were waiting in the lounge outside.

Seeing that Gu Mang was the first to come out, they were not surprised. They had heard the rumors about her before the compet.i.tion. Chances were, Gu Mang had not known how to solve any of the questions.