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nOutside the examination hall, the person in charge of maintaining order stood there with Xue Xi and Liu Liyuan.

nThe venue was held in a school and there were surveillance cameras in the classroom.

nThe person-in-charge replayed the CCTV footage for Old Liu and Liu Liyuan’s teacher-in-charge, Mr. Zhang. He explained, “From the CCTV footage, Liu Liyuan struck the first blow while Xue Xi merely acted out of self-defense and pushed her. However, according to the rules, both parties who fought are to be disqualified.”

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nHigh schoolers were young and tend to go to the extreme. Therefore, some fights originated from quarrels, and it could not be determined who was at fault. Regardless of who struck the first blow, the competition’s rules mandated that both parties had to be disqualified.

nFrom the footage, Xue Xi grabbed Liu Liyuan and the latter struggled while moving back. She pretended to be pushed by Xue Xi, and based on the CCTV footage, it was impossible to determine whether Xue Xi had pushed her or she fell on her own.

nLiu Liyuan’s waist hurt even more as she stood up. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Right, I fought and I’ll accept the punishment!”

nShe stared at Xue Xi. Since she could not get any award, she would drag the latter down with her.

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nXue Xi kept a straight face and pursed her lips. She was infuriated.

nOld Liu became anxious. “Teacher, have a good look. Liu Liyuan clearly hit her and Xue Xi defended herself. She merely pushed Liu Liyuan gently. How could she have used such great force?”

nMr. Zhang cut in, full of grudge, “Old Liu, what do you mean? Are you trying to say our school’s Liu Liyuan was pretending?”

nOld Liu nodded. “She’s harbored much hatred for Xue Xi since the last examination. They didn’t even speak this time around, so it’s very obvious that she did it on purpose!”

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nMr. Zhang sighed. “I have no idea about the actual situation, but the rules are written and Xue Xi fought back. Old Liu, are you trying to go against the rules?”

nOld Liu continued to plead with the in-charge.

nXue Xi’s phone was originally handed in when she entered the examination hall, but it had been returned to her.

nAt this moment, her phone vibrated.

nOmnipotent Boss: “Has the competition started?”

nXue Xi sighed and replied: “No.”

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nThe competition had already started and Xue Xi actually replied to him. Xiang Huai immediately sensed that something was off.

nOmnipotent Boss: “What happened?”

nXue Xi angrily drafted a simple message to explain everything that happened.

nThe moment her message was sent, Omnipotent Boss replied to her: “Give me 20 minutes.”

nXue Xi paused for a moment. Taking a look at the time, she saw that it was already 8 AM.

nShe did not reply to the message.

nOld Liu refused to relent and continued arguing with the in-charge. He pestered him for another 20 minutes, and seeing that the latter was unwilling to give in, he was on the verge of giving up—

nA man sporting a crew cut suddenly dashed toward them from afar. Wearing a jumpsuit, he was fair and appeared adorable. When he got to them, he gasped for air and looked at his watch. “Twenty minutes and not a second late.”

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nHaving said that, he lifted his head, and when he saw Xue Xi, he nearly addressed her as “Sister-in-law.” Thankfully, he stopped in the nick of time. “The incident has been explained clearly over the phone. Right now, please extract the CCTV footage.”

nThe in-charge and Old Liu were startled to see him. Mr. Zhang asked, “Who are you?”

nThat man paused and hit his head. “Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m a police officer.”

nHe then took out his identity card and showed them. “Give me the footage.”

nNobody reported to the police…

nThe in-charge was confused. He dazedly replayed the CCTV footage for the man.

nAfter getting hold of the computer, the man tapped on the keyboard and played the footage eight times slower. “Look here, after this student had been pushed, she clearly froze for a moment. She had regained her balance before falling. It’s not obvious when played at the normal speed, but when this is slowed down eight times, it’s clear, right? My sis… Xue Xi did not retaliate at all. This entire incident is clearly staged by this student. Does Xue Xi still have to be disqualified?”

nHe took only three minutes from the moment he got hold of the CCTV footage to when he presented it to the rest.

nSeeing that the evidence was irrefutable, the in-charge bellowed at Liu Liyuan, “Liu Liyuan, you’ll be disqualified from all official competitions from now on for obstructing the competition’s order!”

nHe dipped his head and looked at the time. “Xue Xi, I can let you return to the examination hall, but because there’s another exam following this, I can’t make up the lost time. Are you fine with it?”

nThe competition was split into the first and second parts.

nThe first part would last from 8 AM to 9:20 AM while the second part would begin at 9:40 AM and end at 12 PM. He really could not afford to make up the lost time.

nXue Xi expressed her understanding.

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nOld Liu comforted her. “Xue Xi, don’t feel flustered! The spirit of competition is to never give up. All the best!”

nShe nodded, and as she ran back to the examination hall with the in-charge, the plain-clothed police officer shouted, “Sis… Xue Xi, I’m Jingfei! Please remember my name! We’ll meet again in the future!”

nXue Xi shot another glance at him. This man was standing at the same spot and jumping as he waved. He appeared really adorable, just like a little pigeon.

nSince Xue Xi got delayed for some time, when she got back to the examination hall, she had 30 minutes less time than other competitors.

nAfter finishing the competition, with the papers having been collected, Xue Xi heaved a sigh of relief. She sat dazedly on her chair, and, at this moment, it turned dark.

nLifting her head, she saw a tall, skinny boy standing in front of her. He was wearing Haicheng High School’s uniform and looked dashing. He grinned. “Xue Xi?”

nXue Xi was a little stunned.

nThat person continued, “I’m Li Xuekai. In order to be fair, I’ll wait for you for 30 minutes during the second part.”

nBefore Xue Xi could say that he need not do so, the boy had left and sat in the first row.

nWhen the second part of the competition started, the boy really slept on his desk for 30 minutes before starting.

nWhen it ended, a new thread appeared on the National Mathematical Olympiad’s forum: “Ah ah ah. I’m shipping this couple! Both curve-wreckers, Li Xuekai and Xue Xi are really sweet! I can imagine an entire campus romance novel!”

nFollowing the popularity of this thread, the incident whereby Xue Xi had been delayed for 30 minutes spread like wildfire.

nImmediately, in the other thread regarding who was to be the winner, Li Xuekai and Xue Xi’s votes plummeted. Sun Jie now had the highest votes.

nXue Xi was not bothered by things happening on the Internet.

nAfter the competition had ended, she had a lot on her plate, along with Teaches Math.

nHe’d found a reliable person to help her with the thesis and uploaded her drafts onto the computer. However, there were some details that she was required to edit and confirm.

nThey used more than a week in total to complete the thesis. Feng Xingshen helped her to submit it to international journals, and it was pending checks and replies.

nAt the same time, the National Mathematical Olympiad’s results came out.

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