“It’s him!”
“The Fatty with the newspaper?”
“No, the short one next to the Fatty! The short boy with the black notebook and the bowl cut!”
“He’s this year’s top freshman from Nine Provinces College?”
“He doesn’t look like much. I heard this year’s top freshman from Starry Sky Academy is a super handsome guy!”
“Don’t underestimate him. I heard his global Wizard University entrance exam score was perfect! Twenty points higher than the second place!”
“Wow!”
“That’s amazing!”
“Is this the legendary case of ‘good things come in small packages’?!”
Whispers came from all directions.
Every freshman made no secret of their curiosity. Especially the adult girls, who brazenly scrutinized Xiao Xiao, commenting on him, as if hoping he would angrily roar at them.
Even students from several adjacent classrooms heard the news and crowded at the classroom door, looking at the newcomer who supposedly scored a perfect entrance exam.
Xiao Xiao kept his head down, calmly flipping through his notebook, appearing oblivious to his surroundings.
Seeing the situation turn sour, Xin Fatty rolled up the newspaper in his hand and scurried to the back of the classroom.
Only Zheng Qing was left standing beside Xiao Xiao, enduring the pressure from those around him, whose intentions were hard to discern.
At this moment, he was very grateful that the University had not announced the admission scores. But at the same time, he was worried, not knowing how long his identity as the second-place student could be kept secret.
Li Meng had mentioned more than once that Li Meng's Older Cousin wanted to duel two first-year Publicly Funded Students from Nine Provinces College; the Curly-haired Wizard on the special plane also revealed that a certain powerful senior from Alpha Academy would cause trouble for a first-year Publicly Funded Student from Nine Provinces; not to mention the current hair-raising remarks.
Not a single thing was worry-free.
But compared to the aforementioned annoyances, the current scene was even more unsettling.
“I’m sorry, Mengmeng caused you trouble.” Jiang Yu looked at the two, smiling apologetically: “It’s already spread throughout the University that this year’s top freshman from Nine Provinces College got a perfect score on the entrance exam. This is the most outstanding admission score in nearly a hundred years. After Mengmeng heard you were specially recruited, she decided you were the top freshman. If she said anything inappropriate, I apologize to you on her behalf.”
Zheng Qing shouted in his heart, don’t apologize, just don’t fight!
But he still maintained a simple smile on his face: “No, no, Student Li is very brave!”
Xiao Xiao quietly flipped through his notebook, as if he was in another world.
“Was his entrance exam score really perfect?” Jiang Yu smiled and chatted with Zheng Qing, without any sign of displeasure on her face.
“I don’t know,” Zheng Qing answered truthfully.
He really didn’t know.
Xiao Xiao seemed to have never mentioned his entrance exam score.
“He is the top student!” Li Meng was a bit indignant next to Jiang Yu: “You don’t know, on the plane, when he was reciting the wizard encyclopedia, he could recite the Little Elves entry perfectly without missing a word!”
Zheng Qing was also a bit unsure in his heart.
“You are the top student, right?” After complaining, the little girl turned to look at Xiao Xiao with anticipation.
“It’s eighty-nine years,” Xiao Xiao finally looked up from his notebook, as if just coming back to his senses, and glanced at Jiang Yu.
“What?” Zheng Qing didn’t understand.
“It’s the most outstanding admission score in eighty-nine years,” Xiao Xiao sighed, repeating himself.
“Which means, you really are Nine Provinces’ top student!!” Li Meng hugged Jiang Yu’s arm, a bit joyful.
“Who said that?” Xiao Xiao looked a bit baffled: “I’m just correcting her statement. I am not this year’s top freshman in Nine Provinces.”
“You’re not?!” The impact of this information seemed to be beyond imagination. Li Meng climbed onto the desk and shouted from above: “But on the special plane…”
“I am a specially recruited student,” Xiao Xiao lifted his eyelids, glanced at the little girl, and repeated calmly.
Li Meng was speechless.
Indeed, Xiao Xiao had never admitted to being the top freshman, only mentioning once on the special plane that he was specially recruited. As a result, Li Meng forcefully identified him as the top student and widely publicized it.
The surrounding crowd burst into an uproar, then dispersed somewhat dispiritedly.
Li Meng was also pulled down from the table by Jiang Yu.
She pouted, a bit unhappy, still muttering softly: “It must be him! Grandma did a divination for me, saying I would definitely meet a Publicly Funded Student on the special plane.”
Zheng Qing, who had originally intended to comfort her, broke out in a cold sweat.
He forcibly turned his head, looked at Xiao Xiao, and laughed awkwardly: “You’re a specially recruited student! Haha, I always thought specially recruited students were Publicly Funded Students!”
“I’m not a Publicly Funded Student,” Xiao Xiao shook his head, pulled out a slip of paper, and showed it to them: “Publicly Funded Students don’t need to pay tuition, and the University also provides subsidies. This is my tuition receipt.”
Zheng Qing felt his cold sweat break out again.
He never knew that Wizard University issued receipts for tuition.
As if noticing his confusion, after bidding farewell to the Jiang Yu sisters, Xiao Xiao simply opened his notebook and introduced the so-called Publicly Funded Student system to Zheng Qing in detail.
This was an ancient scholarship system of First University. Its origin was untraceable. People only knew that the First University Professor Joint Conference would determine a list before the start of each new academic year, and the people on that list were First University’s Publicly Funded Students for the current year.
The number of Publicly Funded Student spots was not fixed. Sometimes a college might have three to five Publicly Funded Students; other times, the entire college might not have a single spot. It was said that during the most dismal period, for a full ten years, none of the four colleges of First University had a Publicly Funded Student spot.
From a certain perspective, this also represented the preciousness of the Publicly Funded Student spots.
For students, this preciousness was even more obvious. Even outside First University, such as Four Seasons Square or Beta Town, the identity of a Publicly Funded Student would grant various discounts and benefits when consuming at shops; let alone within the campus.
The most basic point.
Students fortunate enough to receive this spot would automatically be selected for their college’s annual little arcana. It should be known that this meant some credits would definitely be added to their transcript at the end of the semester!
The entire First University had nearly ten thousand people, but only a mere sixty could squeeze into that glorious list. Excluding the leaders of various University associations, the captains of various Hunting Teams, and important Student Union cadres, the remaining spots were few and far between.
And these spots were automatically allocated to the Publicly Funded Students of several colleges each year.
According to Xiao Xiao’s explanation, ever since the ‘Wand’ began compiling the ‘arcana’ report, no Publicly Funded Student had ever been removed from this list.
In addition to the arcana spots, in various activities held by the University or college, Publicly Funded Students would also serve as student representatives, sitting alongside the President of the Student Union, the President of the Association Union, and others, next to the college dean, or even the President of First University.
For many students, this spot not only represented those ten jade coins.
It also represented supreme honor and countless invisible wealth.
As they spoke, the two had already sat in the last row of the classroom.
Xin Fatty had already saved seats for them.
There was also an old acquaintance nearby.
“Brother Xin!” Zheng Qing excitedly leaned next to the red-faced boy and punched him: “I didn’t see you just now!”
“You’re blind!” Zhang Jixin rolled his eyes and snorted.
Beside them, Xin Fatty, who was rustling through his newspaper, suddenly let out a strange cry:
“Holy cow, big news!”