Standing Next To You-Chapter 303: The Ranking

Zhong Cheng stood in the hallway with hands clasped together in prayer as he waited for the school to display the rankings.

While he could check the school’s website for the exam results, he didn’t have the courage to do so alone. It felt better to see the results alongside other nervous students.

The hall was slowly being filled with students who were also anxiously praying, much like himself. Among them, he spotted some familiar faces, including Zhi Ming and He Bao*.

(A/n: Zhi Ming and He Bao are students from Class 3-5B. He Bao was the leader of the soup incident, formerly on the side with the bullies but had a change of heart after listening to his best friend, Zhi Ming- the smart guy and was convinced by Zhong Cheng- to follow Fei Chuan and Bei Sangyun.)

Zhi Ming and He Bao also approached Zhong Cheng and stood next to him.

"Did you do well in the exam?" Zhi Ming inquired.

"I believe so, but you never know with these exams. One right or wrong answer can drastically affect your ranking," Zhong Cheng replied nervously. The competition for spots 21-25 was always intense, with usually only one point separating them. That’s why Zhong Cheng was feeling the pressure.

"Well, I have faith in you. And even if things don’t go as planned, Boss will always have your back. You’re the top lackey, so believe in yourself," Zhi Ming encouraged Zhong Cheng.

Zhong Cheng was touched by his words and offered his own comfort in return, "You’re in Class 5, right? I envy you. No matter which section you end up in, you won’t feel as much pressure. Even if you end up at the bottom of your class, Boss will still welcome you into our ranks."

"Zhi Ming is smart. I have a feeling he might move up to Class 3-1B," He Bao remarked. "As for me, I might get left behind."

Zhi Ming simply smiled in response to his friend’s comment, while Zhong Cheng struggled to find the right words to comfort He Bao. From what he knew, He Bao was hopeless in academics and there wasn’t much he could say to alleviate his concerns.

"It’s alright, He Bao. Boss also needs people who can handle the dirty work. You’re still valued in our group," Zhong Cheng reassured him.

He Bao: "..."

Zhong Cheng continued to silently pray, "...Lady luck, may you also bless me this time."

Finally, the school staff brought out the results and posted them on the notice board.

The students crowded around, creating a cacophony of exclamations and sighs of disappointment.

Zhong Cheng navigated through the crowd until he reached the front. He first saw that the top rank had a perfect score of 700, prompting him to marvel silently at the Boss’s inhuman abilities. The second rank trailed behind by less than seventy points.

Truly, Boss was something else.

His eyes then traveled down the list until he finally saw his name. When he noticed the number 25 beside it, Zhong Cheng burst into tears.

"I got in! I got in!" he exclaimed with joy, turning to Zhi Ming and He Bao, who were just behind him. He did not forget to boast, "I ranked 25. I got into Class 3-1A again! Hahaha! I know I was born a genius! "

But Zhi Ming and He Bao’s attention wasn’t on him. They stared at the board in front of them in disbelief.

"...The number one rank...is not Boss," they muttered incredulously. "Her name...isn’t even on the list!"

Zhong Cheng laughed at their apparent confusion. "You guys are good at joking. Your ranks must have fallen so low for you to joke like this. It’s okay, I won’t laugh if you end up in the lowest class."

"No. Look closely. My eyes aren’t deceiving me," Zhi Ming insisted, turning Zhong Cheng’s head to face the notice board.

Forced to look again, Zhong Cheng blinked in surprise. He had been in a hurry earlier and hadn’t checked the top rank’s name clearly, only noting the score. There was no need to check the name because Boss’ name would always come out at the top.

But now, upon closer inspection, it wasn’t Boss’s name at the top. It was...

"Brother-in-law?!"

Many students also noticed the change and murmured in shock.

"The target...is the number one rank?"

"He got 700! A perfect score!"

"It’s not the tyrant’s? Am I seeing this right?"

"...I couldn’t find the tyrant’s name on the list!"

"No way...this must be an error, right?"

The students erupted into an uproar. Something like this had never happened before. The name that had always topped the list was Bei Sangyun’s.

And in the entire history of Tian Shen High, even during the tyrant’s era, no one had ever achieved a perfect score in the exams!

This was too shocking and unbelievable. All they could think right now was that this had to be an error!

"Why didn’t they check the results twice before posting them?"

"Hey, check the website. It’s the same!"

The students clamored in front of the notice board.

Zhi Ming held Zhong Cheng’s shoulder. "Do you know what’s going on? Is this really an error?"

Zhong Cheng’s mind was in disarray too.

Boss wasn’t the top rank, but brother-in-law was. It was shocking, but... it was nothing unacceptable.

After all, he had witnessed Fei Chuan’s capabilities. He had expected Fei Chuan to be a genius, but he did not expect that he was so smart that he perfected the exam!

Fei Chuan once again surprised him. Brother-in-law surely knows how to hide well!

But...

...But for Boss’s rank to not be displayed, what was the school thinking?

Many students were petitioning to have the exam results fixed. The school forum was full of doubts about the exam’s results.

First, the top rank wasn’t the tyrant but the school’s target, Fei Chuan, which took everyone by surprise.

Second, the tyrant’s ranking was not even on the entire list, which made them sure it was an error.

And third, some of the students in Class 3-1A fell out of ranking, and some students in Class 3-1B got in. This wasn’t supposed to be a big deal since it happened sometimes. But the student from Class 3-1B who got in had the lowest ranking in his class in the previous ranking. Not only did he get a spot in Class 3-1A, but he also got second in ranking in the entire school.

The exam’s results were so messed up and unbelievable that everyone was demanding it to be fixed.

The school was very lively that day.

....

In the principal’s office, Bei Sangyun was sitting calmly while drinking tea, while the Principal across from her was sweating bullets as he read the trending posts that students posted on the official school forum.

The principal put down the tablet with a heavy heart. He couldn’t bear to read anymore. "We did not include your name in the list. It is best to keep the result hidden."

Bei Sangyun put down the cup and nodded. "You made a wise choice. The last term is coming, and if the school tyrant that everyone admired suddenly fell in ranking by 28th place, everyone will be in more shock than they are now."