The martial arts exam lasted for twelve hours, and throughout that time, the school principals and homeroom teachers remained in the hall without fail. After all, even the Head of the Department of Education was there, and they couldn't afford to leave early. Moreover, the results of this exam served as the basis for distributing educational funds for the second semester, so principals and teachers kept a particularly close watch on their students' progress.
Given the duration of the trial, the military district had arranged to provide lunch and dinner for the principals and teachers. More than four hours had passed since the exam began, and the time was approaching 1 PM. By this point, most participants had already started consuming their first energy bar.
Outside the examination hall, the principals and teachers from various schools, having finished lunch in the military district mess hall, were heading toward the spectator stands.
"First Middle School, as always, demonstrates its power. Almost all the places in the top ten are taken by their students," someone remarked in the crowd.
"It's no surprise. First Middle School receives the most educational funding annually, and the best students from all over Jiangcheng strive to get in there," another voice replied.
"A fair point. Speaking of which, our Second Middle School is also showing decent results this year. We have eight people who broke into the top fifty, and in previous years, we were happy with five or six such students," one of the teachers from Jiangcheng Second Middle School said with pride.
"It's just a shame that Third Middle School performed even better this year. They immediately burst into the top ten, which puts us in quite an awkward position," another educator remarked with annoyance.
The teachers of Jiangcheng Second Middle School continued to discuss the results as they slowly made their way to their seats. No one was surprised that First Middle School, with its rich educational traditions, held the leading positions. The conversation mainly revolved around their own school's success and the unexpectedly strong results of Third Middle School.
"By the way, Teacher Sun, what's the situation with Xu Jingming from your class? Why haven't we heard about such a talented student before?" someone suddenly brought up the topic of Xu Jingming, addressing a middle-aged man in a black suit.
This man, Sun Yang, was the homeroom teacher of the elite class at Second Middle School.
"Xu Jingming? He's not from my class. I was just about to ask you who his homeroom teacher is," Sun Yang replied, puzzled.
"Not from your class? But who, besides the students in the elite class, could have achieved such impressive results?" the surrounding teachers wondered, starting to inquire which class this mysterious Xu Jingming belonged to.
The truth was, after students awakened their superpowers, all schools conducted a redistribution, gathering the most promising and talented into so-called "elite classes." Second Middle School was no exception. That is why in the martial arts exam, high results were usually achieved only by students from the elite class, and the appearance of a strong participant from an ordinary class was an extremely rare phenomenon.
"Old Chen, how are things going in your class?" a middle-aged man with a beard approached Chen Fan, the homeroom teacher of Class 5, and without waiting for an answer, boasted, "Things are going pretty well for us; the top students have already broken into the top hundred."
Considering that the strongest students in Second Middle School were concentrated in the elite class, making it into the top hundred was already considered an excellent result for the ordinary classes.
"Oh, that's not bad," Chen Fan gave him an indifferent glance.
This bearded man, Li Jun, was the homeroom teacher of the neighboring Class 4. A few years ago, a conflict had occurred between them, and ever since, their relationship had been strained. In the following years, Li Jun openly or secretly tried to undermine Chen Fan, and they became true rivals.
"Yes, not bad," seeing such a reserved reaction from his old opponent, Li Jun couldn't hide a smug smile. "Though, I'm afraid my exam success bonus this year will be a bit higher than yours."
To motivate the teachers, their bonuses were directly linked to the students' results in the martial arts exam. If a class had at least one student who made it into the top hundred in Jiangcheng, the homeroom teacher could expect a bonus of no less than 10,000 yuan! In this small city, where a teacher's monthly salary barely reached 6,000 yuan, such a bonus was considered quite substantial.
"Old Chen can pretend he doesn't care, but inside, he must be burning with envy," Li Jun thought maliciously.
However, just as Li Jun was anticipating his triumph, Chen Fan's voice interrupted his thoughts:
"Is that so? I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment. Our class has decent results too; one student even made it into the top fifty."
"The top fifty? Old Chen, you must be joking? Only elite class students usually make it that high. How could someone from your ordinary class be ranked so high?" Li Jun automatically retorted, not hiding his contempt.
"Wait a minute," he suddenly realized something and, his eyes widening in surprise, exclaimed, "Is that Xu Jingming from your class?"
In contrast to the shocked Li Jun, Chen Fan remained calm and merely nodded slightly in response.
"If Xu Jingming is from your class, why were you silent when everyone was asking about him?" Li Jun still couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Oh, did I? I must not have heard," Chen Fan replied innocently.
"Damn it! How could you 'not have heard'?! You did that on purpose!" Li Jun mentally exploded.
Gazing at Chen Fan's feigned composure, Li Jun could barely restrain himself from punching him. But Chen Fan's next sentence nearly gave him an apoplectic fit:
"Besides, Xu Jingming making it into the top fifty isn't all that impressive. There's a student in the elite class who took 18th place."
"How is that 'not all that impressive'?! A top fifty position comes with a bonus of more than 20,000 yuan! And how dare you compare your ordinary class to the elite class, where the best students from the whole school are gathered?!" Li Jun mentally screamed.
It should be noted that in all his years of work, the best result achieved by one of Li Jun's students in the martial arts exam was 64th place.
"It seems Teacher Chen has nurtured an outstanding student," Li Jun took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and forced out a congratulation, unable to hide the envy in his voice.
"Oh, come on, it's all Jingming's own merit. I barely had anything to do with it," Chen Fan continued to be modest, although inwardly he was rejoicing at his old rival's distress.
"Take that! You love to boast, now you've been caught out yourself," Chen Fan thought maliciously.
Previously, Li Jun always had the upper hand, but now Chen Fan had finally gotten his revenge! The thought made his heart even lighter.
"So, Xu Jingming is from Class 5?"
"Teacher Chen, you've done excellent work! Out of all the ordinary classes, only yours has a student in the top fifty."
"Next semester, you absolutely must hold a seminar and share your teaching experience."
Upon learning that Xu Jingming was in Class 5, the surrounding teachers began congratulating Chen Fan one after another. Even Sun Yang, the homeroom teacher of the elite class, smiled at him in a friendly manner.
After all, all the best students had already been selected for the elite class, and cultivating such a talented student in an ordinary class was truly an indicator of Chen Fan's high level of teaching.
The teachers, continuing to chat and joke, soon returned to their seats in the stands. Chen Fan, sitting down, immediately fixed his gaze on the virtual screen floating in the air, trying to find Xu Jingming's current ranking.
He soon found his student's name among the other participants:
[32nd Place: Xu Jingming, 328 points. (Jiangcheng Second Middle School)』
"Hmm? 32nd place?" Chen Fan froze for a moment in confusion.
Wasn't he in 46th place before lunch? How could he have climbed fourteen positions during lunch break?
While Chen Fan was pondering this, Xu Jingming's name suddenly flickered and appeared in a different position:
[25th Place: Xu Jingming, 372 points. (Jiangcheng Second Middle School)』
"What is going on...?" Chen Fan stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was seeing. "How could Xu Jingming's ranking climb so quickly?"