Didn't Affect the Grades

The first exam was Language Arts. The question papers were distributed, and the examination time came. Valentina calmly picked up her pen and began to answer the questions. The entire examination room filled with the rustling sound of writing. Each student, scratching their head and deep in thought, would occasionally glance up at the time and jot down answers hastily, their faces mirroring the verge of collapse. In contrast, Valentina remained calm and composed, completely detached from the tense atmosphere. She stood out distinctly amidst the other candidates. After she finished the last question, she glanced over the essay subject. Finally, amidst the invigilator's astonishment and heads shaking in disbelief, Valentina handed in her paper early. Once she stepped out of the school gate, reporters came surging forward to interview her. Valentina directly avoided them and noticed a young boy standing under the shade of a tree not too far away. Noticing her, the boy walked briskly towards her under the scorching sun. "Did you turn in the paper early, Val?" he inquired. "Yes." "You didn't go back?" Valentina took note of his face, red from the heat. "No. How did the exam go? Was it difficult?" "No." Hearing this, Augus was relieved. Unexpectedly, Valentina added, "I didn't write the essay." "What?" Augus was dumbfounded. "Sixty points, you didn't write it?" Augus questioned urgently. Only then did he remember that he only knew that Valentina was good at maths, but as for the other subjects, he had no clue whatsoever. Augus thought to himself that this was the end. "It won't affect getting into Biddeford University." Valentina reassured him calmly. "With a total of 750 points, the admission score for Biddeford University was 685 last year. If you didn't write the essay, you would lose 60 points directly, which means you can't make mistakes in almost all the subjects. How is that possible?" "Why is it impossible?" Valentina countered, leading Augus into a nice-looking restaurant near the school. "Let's eat first." By the time their food was served, the exam time had already hit, and a large number of students were leaving the school in batches, quickly filling the restaurant. Byron also arrived at the restaurant with his parents. James had booked a table early. When they went up to the second floor, Byron spotted Valentina seated by the window. "Byron, how did the test go?" James asked with concern. "The exam paper was much harder than last year's," Byron replied truthfully, having practiced with the past few years' papers. The other students who came to eat also complained to their relatives about the difficulty of the questions, with faces filled with agony. Those with low-stress tolerance started crying directly. James comforted his son, "Don't feel stressed." Augus watched the examinees cry and exclaim how difficult the exam was, he lost all appetite for food. "Why didn't you write the essay?" He asked Valentina. Byron's family was sitting next to Valentina. Even though Augus lowered his voice, Byron heard, but he did not pay attention. Valentina replied, "I am too lazy to write so many words, and the essay requires realism." Realism? Should she write about her life as an assassin? Or write about her luxurious life during her spare time? Or write about Valentina being bullied from childhood? Or how about writing about how her soul was reborn? Byron glanced at Valentina, not for any particular reason. He just thought Valentina was hopeless. During the exam, he had seen Valentina, who handed in her paper early, leave his examination hall early. He didn't expect her to hand in a blank paper for the essay. "Just make up a story and you have it, even if it's terrible you can get twenty or thirty points. Do you know how much one point can affect in the SAT?" "I'm not good at telling stories." Valentina laughed. Seeing the worried look on Augus's face, and a bit of anger, Valentina served him some food and said, "If I don't get in, I'll go to Biddeford University and say I solved the math problem, okay?" Hearing Valentina say this, Augus finally felt relieved. What they did not know was that Diana had long taken Valentina's place. Hearing Valentina's words, Byron couldn't help but look over again, but Valentina didn't look back at him from beginning to end as if she hadn't noticed him at all. Augus did give him a complex look at the beginning. "What are you looking at? Eat quickly and rest after you finish eating." James poured him a glass of juice. For the following exams, Valentina was always the first to finish within the permitted time and leave the examination hall. During these two days, Augus had learned from the online laments of the candidates from various provinces and cities that this was the most challenging test in the last decade. Seeing that Valentina was the first to leave every time, Augus didn't hold out much hope. Fortunately, Valentina had the guaranteed admission opportunity at Biddeford University. After the last subject was over, Augus was waiting outside the school gate with a bouquet in hand. A reporter asked him if he was there for his girlfriend or a classmate. With a blank expression, Augus answered, "I'm here for my sister." As soon as Valentina came out, she saw Augus holding the bouquet. As she walked over to him, Augus handed the bouquet to her with a blunt "Here you are." "What?" Valentina didn't take the flowers and looked at him with an amused expression. "For you." "Why are you giving me flowers?" "To celebrate, and, well, everyone else gets them." Augus was awkward, looking very unnatural; his face had turned red. Valentina laughed lightly, and no longer teased him, she took the flowers from him. "Thank you." "I think this is the first time someone has ever given me flowers," Valentina said, suddenly remembering that wasn't true. If her memory served her right, Grey had sent her one. Of course, it wasn't formal and wasn't meant to celebrate anything. Just a few times at dances, he'd cheekily given her a red rose. They never gave gifts that weren't of any use to each other. Augus pursed his lips, suppressing a hint of laughter. This time, Valentina's escape was unsuccessful, as she was surrounded by a group of reporters. "Miss, you've handed in your paper ahead of time for every subject, and you've been the first to leave each time. Everyone is saying this year's paper is the toughest, how would you rate the difficulty? Would you mind sharing your thoughts?" one reporter asked. Facing the camera, Valentina spoke bluntly and coolly, "It's easy." Knowing that Valentina was weak in liberal arts and that she left her essay paper blank, Augus wished to caution her against responding rashly. Given the prevalence of social media today, if she was in the spotlight and failed to achieve good results, she might become a target of cyberbullying. "How many marks do you think you can score? What is your dream university? How are your grades usually?" Another reporter quizzed. "Why didn't you receive any early admission offers considering your good grades?” Upon hearing Valentina's confident tone, all the reporters extended their microphones towards her. Frowning slightly, Valentina looked somewhat impatient and said, "You guys are crowding me too much." Slightly intimidated by Valentina’s stern look, the reporters were taken aback. In the confusion, Valentina had already left with Augus. Sure enough, as Augus had imagined, the bad news traveled faster than the good. The video of Valentina's interview circulated online, causing a wave of angry outbursts and criticisms from many disappointed exam candidates. Many citizens and parents criticized Valentina for being overly arrogant. An insider leaked that Valentina ranked last throughout her three years in high school. She even cheated on her last major math exam and became the top student in her grade. Astonishingly, instead of punishing her, the school chose to protect her. More and more self-proclaimed senior high school students from Lakeside Elite, or classmates of hers, stepped forward to expose Valentina's dirty secrets. Some even directly showcased Valentina's exam results this semester, listing all her dark history. In the end, everyone was waiting for her grades to come out to humiliate Valentina. And thus, Valentina unexpectedly became infamous on the Internet. Coming home, Augus found to his surprise that Diana was sleeping at home. Feeling puzzled, he was about to ask Diana if she didn't go for her exam. George returned from work and called out to him, "Augus." After a little while, Augus knocked on Valentina's bedroom door. "Val, Dad said we're not eating at home tonight. Uncle wants to treat us at a big restaurant."