Chapter 230: Managing Everyone, the Grim Reaper Wields the Blade
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Everyone shivered in unison.
Huo Fanjin swallowed and gathered her courage. “If we’re not eating BBQ, then what are we doing?”
Jiang Fuyue glanced at the test paper already in Huo Fanjin’s hand and countered, “What do you think?”
Huo Fanjin was stunned.
The others weren’t faring any better.
Five minutes later, inside the BBQ restaurant, two tables were arranged side by side with a walkway in between.
Jiang Fuyue took a plastic stool and sat in the middle of the walkway, with the IOI team on her left and the IPhO team on her right, managing both teams simultaneously.
Fan Ye’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and the two boys at her table, Gao Zhaoming and Huang Hui, were equally focused, the former fully absorbed and the latter concentrating deeply.
A plate of BBQ was placed in the middle of their table, the aroma wafting into their nostrils.
Fan Ye wished she could work faster, and finally—
“Sister Yue! I’m done! Please check it!” she said, turning her laptop toward Jiang Fuyue.
Jiang Fuyue quickly scanned it and pressed Enter to test run. “No problem.”
Fan Ye’s eyes lit up. “Can I eat now?!”
“Of course.”
Fan Ye let out a cheer and pounced on the BBQ.
Gao Zhaoming panicked, sweat beading on his pale, chubby face, and he kept swallowing hard.
Huang Hui also quickened his pace.
At the adjacent table, hearing this, they instinctively craned their necks to look over—
They saw Fan Ye with a skewer of “palate treasures” in one hand and a skewer of tofu in the other, eating with great relish.
Gulp—
That was Fang Canyang.
He looked at his half-finished test paper, then at Fan Ye, who was savoring her food, and suddenly felt as sour as a plum.
Lin Shumo and Ling Xuan were better off; they glanced briefly before returning to their papers, continuing to work diligently.
Their writing speed increased, and their thoughts flowed more freely, but there was not much difference from before.
As for Huo Fanjin…
Sorry, the young lady was still in a daze.
She hadn’t written a single answer, her pen motionless.
After a while, she hesitantly looked at Jiang Fuyue. “…Are you a demon?”
Lin Shumo: “…”
Ling Xuan: “…”
Fang Canyang: “!”
Jiang Fuyue met her gaze and smiled warmly. “I’m not a demon; I’m your team leader.”
Oh, a reality even scarier than a demon.
“But… why can’t we do this in the classroom? Or the library?”
Why did we have to come to this tempting BBQ place?
Jiang Fuyue: “Convenience.” Finish and then eat.
“But how can we focus on the test papers with such mouthwatering food around?”
“Oh, that’s something you need to figure out.” Not my problem.
Huo Fanjin: “…”
At that moment, Fan Ye had finished one skewer and picked up a second, only to meet Huo Fanjin’s resentful gaze.
Fan Ye hesitated for a moment and then tentatively asked, “Sister Huo, do you want some?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Huo Fanjin nodded eagerly like a pecking chicken.
She felt deeply touched: Look, the little sister is thinking of her and doesn’t forget to share the good food.
However, in reality—
Fan Ye said, “Then you have to work hard! This crispy cartilage is so delicious! It’s fragrant and spicy, with a hint of cumin…”
Huo Fanjin: “?” Can you try being a decent person?!
Just then, the landlady brought a freshly grilled meat platter and placed it right in front of her.
Huo Fanjin was about to reach for it but then met Jiang Fuyue’s deathly stare. She faltered and meekly picked up her pen to start on the first question.
“Heh…” Lin Shumo chuckled softly.
Huo Fanjin’s face turned dark, and then she heard him say—
“I’m done.”
Huo Fanjin: “?” D*mn it! I haven’t even started, and you’re already done?!
Then Ling Xuan put down his pen, “I’m done too.”
At the next table, Fan Ye was already munching on chicken wings. “Wow! Sister Huo, this one is even better! You should try it later!”
Huo Fanjin was about to go crazy. “Jiang Fuyue!”
The room fell silent.
“What’s up?” Jiang Fuyue’s cold gaze fell on her face.
Huo Fanjin: “Why did you have to mix us up with the IOI national team?!”
That little brat Fan Ye was too obnoxious!
Before Jiang Fuyue could respond, Fan Ye cheerfully answered, “Because Sister Yue is our team leader too!”
Huo Fanjin: “?”
“She doesn’t have the time to manage us separately, so she put us together. It’s time-saving and efficient, right, Sister Yue?”
The smile on Jiang Fuyue’s lips confirmed Fan Ye’s words.
But…
What does “manage us” mean?!
Are we a bunch of unruly weeds or something that needs “managing”?
I feel quite offended [smile].
“Then why do you want us to do these test papers? The questions aren’t even in the key focus areas; they cover some obscure topics, like this KB curve, which I’ve never heard of… We’re competing in Country D next week. Is there any point in doing these now?”
Jiang Fuyue glanced at the others. “Do you all think the same?”
Ling Xuan shook his head. “I don’t think so. Since you assigned them, there must be a reason.”
Jiang Fuyue turned to look at Lin Shumo.
He twirled his pen and spoke leisurely, “Competitions never have a specific focus. Any topic within mechanics, thermodynamics, molecular physics, optics, atomic and nuclear physics, and electromagnetism can be tested. Focusing only on key points and neglecting the details might get you a high score but never a perfect one.”
From past competition results, not having a perfect score means losing the gold medal.
“So, do you think it’s necessary?” Lin Shumo countered.
“I…”
“And just because you don’t know what the KB curve is doesn’t mean others don’t. Next time, think before you speak.”
Huo Fanjin’s eyes widened in anger. “You!”
Lin Shumo’s expression remained indifferent, waiting for her to argue back. Unfortunately, Huo Fanjin couldn’t find the words.
Suddenly, she turned to Fang Canyang. “Do you know?”
“Huh?”
“The KB curve!” Huo Fanjin stomped her foot.
“I… I know a bit about it.”
Lin Shumo chuckled, as if saying, “See, you brought this on yourself.”
Huo Fanjin’s face flushed with alternating shades of green and red, but she still wouldn’t admit defeat. “Even if it’s about broadening our knowledge, isn’t this too difficult? These questions are on a whole different level compared to what we usually practice.”
“Do you know where the competition is?”
Huo Fanjin: “Country D.”
“And you have no idea about the difficulty level of questions they set?”
“Just because it’s held in Country D doesn’t mean they write the questions, right?”
“That’s not it,” Fang Canyang shook his head hesitantly. “The host country has the right to select the questions, and they tend to choose difficult ones, so the questions will likely be hard.”
Lin Shumo snapped his fingers. “Looks like we do have some smart people in the team!”
Huo Fanjin fell silent, thoroughly defeated.
Jiang Fuyue said, “These are all past questions provided by Country D, with twenty percent of them making it into previous IPhO exams. The rest didn’t make the cut but are all here.” She patted the stack of A3 papers beside her like the Grim Reaper wielding his scythe.
Cold, ruthless, and decisive.
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