The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 175 - 174: Provincial Top Scorer

He looked at both pieces of paper and even saw Cheng Yuan’s name on the first one.

But he couldn’t find Ye Manman’s name anywhere.

The person ranked first on the left side of the red paper scored 560 points, and Cheng Yuan was in the top ten with 510 points.

But her name wasn’t there.

He Chen didn’t know how to put it into words, and his silence and expression made Ye Manman even more suspicious.

"How could I not pass the admission line? I didn’t encounter a single question I couldn’t answer."

She was very confident in her abilities, and the exam papers were easy, she felt assured about every question. She didn’t expect a perfect score of 701, but at least 690 wasn’t a problem. This was her conservative estimate, and barring any accidents, a score of 700 was within reach.

Meeting her doubtful gaze, He Chen nodded with some heaviness, "Your name isn’t on it; I don’t know if it was left out accidentally."

At this point, He Chen suddenly remembered hearing that if a score is too high, like a top scorer, it might not be published.

His eyes suddenly brightened, "Let’s go in and ask, it’s possible the score was intentionally not posted."

"Huh?"

Ye Manman was confused.

She had never experienced taking the middle or college entrance exams before, having always been admitted without exams, so she didn’t know such practices existed.

He Chen shielded her as they made their way through the crowded area and entered the education bureau.

There were relatively fewer people inside. Some who refused to believe their results insisted on coming in to verify their scores, so He Chen wasn’t the first to request a score check. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The staff’s attitude was indifferent, "Checking scores? What’s the name?"

"Ye Manman."

Watching the constant stream of people leaving disappointed and in tears, He Chen inexplicably felt a bit nervous.

He wasn’t afraid Ye Manman wouldn’t pass, but he feared that if she hadn’t, she might have an emotional breakdown. Yet, her current expression seemed quite composed, as if she doubted that they had left her out rather than doubting her own failure.

The staff initially flipped through the scorebook out of reflex, suddenly feeling that the name sounded familiar.

He looked up, "What did you say the name was? Ye Manman?"

He Chen nodded, "Yes, have you found it?"

He clenched his fists, his expression tense.

However, after confirming the name, the staff swiftly stood up.

"Ye Manman! Are you Ye Manman?"

His eyes widened in surprise and excitement as he looked at Ye Manman, quickly walking around the counter.

"Oh my God! Why did you come in person? Quickly, quickly, have a cup of tea, it’s hot, please have a seat over here."

The staff, who had been indifferent just a moment ago, suddenly transformed, so enthusiastic that they were like a spinning top.

Holding the staff’s cup of iced water, He Chen and Ye Manman exchanged glances, both simultaneously realizing a possibility.

Sure enough, the next second the staff excitedly said.

"Ye Manman, right, you are the top scorer of our entire town, no, not just in town, you’re the provincial top scorer for the college entrance exam!"

"Your score was so high it wasn’t posted outside. The director was about to come personally to deliver this news to you and had just left a while ago, so you’ve just missed him."

The staff was very excited, already starting to gesticulate animatedly.

"I never thought our town could produce a provincial top scorer, and a girl at that. Oh my, when you came, didn’t you see the banner outside? Your name was on it."

"Oh, I didn’t really notice."

When they arrived, Ye Manman was squinting in the bright sun and didn’t have the chance to look at any banners.

He Chen was now in a state of bewilderment, a bit dumbfounded.

The staff continued congratulating and talking for a while before he snapped out of it and grasped Ye Manman’s hand.

"Provincial top scorer?"

Ye Manman nodded, "Yes, what about it? Why that expression?"

She initially thought the scoring staff had left her out and never doubted her own abilities, so she wasn’t quite able to understand He Chen’s emotions.

He Chen had gone through emotional ups and downs, nearly confusing himself.

"Really?! Provincial top scorer?"

He was starting to get excited, looking back and forth between Ye Manman and the staff.

The staff was just as excited. Seeing He Chen’s expression, he urgently went to bring out a pennant.

"Look, this is the pennant the province sent to our education bureau."

"It’s such an honor to have a provincial top scorer, our whole bureau is glowing with pride; this pennant was sent exclusively to our bureau. The pennant for you was taken by the director earlier; he’s probably headed to your house now."

"Haha, maybe when he can’t find you, he’ll come back. Please wait a moment, the director and the people from the province went together. Today, they even arranged a photographer for a commemorative photo."

"Mr. Ye, today you officially make history in our province’s education, congratulations!"

There wasn’t just one staff member; there were two others helping people check scores, but in between, they kept craning their necks to look over here, wanting to see what the provincial top scorer looked like.

"Manman! You’re amazing!"

After hearing the staff’s words, He Chen became even more excited, his face flushed with excitement, like he was drunk.

He held Ye Manman’s hand, kissing it repeatedly, "Manman, you’re my pride for a lifetime!"

His hands were hot and large; held by him, Ye Manman felt extremely warm, "Alright, alright, don’t get so excited, it’s just the top scorer, stay calm, stay calm."

She withdrew her hand and patted He Chen’s head, like calming a big excited dog.

He Chen obviously couldn’t settle down yet, so Ye Manman pushed the iced water towards his mouth for him to take a sip.

"How is it? Feeling better? Calmed down yet?"

As the top scorer, Ye Manman was calmer than everyone else, just like during the college entrance exam, strolling leisurely into the exam hall at the last minute and exiting early in complete composure, never losing her nerve.

Moreover, her looks, figure, and temperament were all outstanding, and with the staff constantly attending to her, everyone who entered to check their scores turned their gaze upon her.

Among them, a gaze full of disbelief.

"Is she the provincial top scorer?"

"Isn’t she the one given special treatment that day..."

Two girls, perhaps too shocked, spoke a bit loudly.

Ye Manman turned to look at them, finding them somewhat familiar, but couldn’t quite place them, so she left it at that.

However, they attracted not only Ye Manman’s attention but also that of others.

The staff and He Chen remained by Ye Manman’s side, so curious people couldn’t get near her, and those people thought these two girls knew the provincial top scorer, so quite a few gathered around.

"Comrade, do you know the provincial top scorer?"

Looking at these envious gazes, Zheng Fen felt unwillingness in her heart, gritting her teeth resentfully, "No, I don’t."

"Ah? You don’t? Oh, never mind, I thought you were friends."

"I wonder how that provincial top scorer’s brain works, how could she be so smart? I heard she almost got a perfect score, though I don’t know if it’s true."

"It’s unbelievable that a girl could be the top scorer, especially a provincial one."

"..."

The crowd showed no interest in Zheng Fen; after asking and learning she didn’t know Ye Manman, they turned and left.

Listening to the envious voices in the discussions, Zheng Fen felt even more unwilling, and she quickly pulled her sister-in-law, who came to check scores with her, over to the counter.

"Hello, I’d like to check my score."