“Nice to meet you, Madam Xu.” Lu Chuwan greeted her sweetly.

Madam Xu returned the gesture by nodding before saying, “Your name is Chuwan, right? The purpose of the national Physics compet.i.tion is to pick the best candidates to compete at the international compet.i.tion. It's a good thing that you will lead a team into the compet.i.tion, so you have to do your very best. Don't disappoint your grandma!”

Lu Chuwan grinned meekly and replied, “I'll keep that in mind, Madam Xu.”

Just as Madam Xu was about to say something, a voice filled with doubt rang out behind her. “I thought only one team from No.1 High School made it into the preliminary round? Zhizhi is the team leader!”

Madam Lu's headache returned when she heard Xu Wei's voice. She had a terrible impression of both Xu Wei and Fu Zhi. The former was an airhead who often failed to read the room, while the latter was just someone with a twisted personality. Right now, she was certain that Xu Wei was going to say her granddaughter had stolen the t.i.tle of the team leader from Fu Zhi or something like that.

Lu Chuwan turned her body sideways to look at Xu Wei and said, “Aunt Xu Wei, I'm pretty sure you've got it wrong. I'm the team leader. If you don't believe it, you can go to the Education Bureau and check the registration form.”

Before Xu Wei could say anything, Madam Xu muttered, “Zhizhi?”

Then, as if she'd suddenly remembered something, her eyes shone and she exclaimed, “Zhizhi? Are you Fu Zhi? Are you from No.1 High School?”

“She just transferred to No.1 High School not long ago. She used to study in No.3 High School, and her grades were bad!” Bai Yao immediately shouted.

“You keep quiet!” Madam Xu shouted as she waved her hand at Bai Yao. She stared with rapt attention at Fu Zhi like a tigress locking on its prey. “Do… Do you remember me?”

The sudden change in the situation had thrown Madam Lu for a loop. She had never seen her make a blunder in public before. Initially, she thought Madam Xu had caught wind of all the bad things Fu Zhi had done at school—including that she had cheated in the examination—which was why she would behave so strangely in front of Fu Zhi. She was not sure about it, but that was the best explanation she had for Madam Xu's odd behavior.

Her expression darkened, but she did not say anything.

Looking at Madam Xu, Fu Zhi shook her head and answered simply, “Nope. I don't remember you.”

“That's fine, that's fine! Zhi… No, Miss Fu Zhi. As long as I remember you, it's fine if you've forgotten me!” Madam Xu replied with a manic light in her eyes. After saying that, she turned to Madam Lu and said, “Actually, I came to Yu City to meet up with her!”

'Meet up with Fu Zhi? Why does she want to meet Fu Zhi?'

Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard what Madam Xu had said.

Madam Lu then asked, “What do you mean?”

“One year ago, at the national Physics compet.i.tion, our country had a chance to s.h.i.+ne on the international stage, but your granddaughter… Do you know what she did? She withdrew from the compet.i.tion after finis.h.i.+ng the preliminary round!” Madam Xu was so excited that her eyes went red around the rims. “I was the one who marked her paper, and I was also the one who begged her to stay in the compet.i.tion. Unfortunately, she refused to… Just as I thought she wasn't going to take part in the compet.i.tion this year, one of my students called me and said that he had seen her paper! With her as the team leader, I'm certain that the national compet.i.tion will be in the bag!”

The more Madam Xu talked, the more excited she became. In the end, she even reached out for Fu Zhi's hand.

Fu Zhi took one step behind and said earnestly, “Don't worry. I'll certainly win the compet.i.tion.”

Madam Xu nodded, exhilaration creeping into her voice. “Good, good, good. I'm counting on you!”

Her att.i.tude toward Fu Zhi was completely different from how she had treated Lu Chuwan. Madam Lu could not believe the things she had heard, as this was something that she had never expected.

Perhaps Fu Zhi might have performed brightly before, but that was already in the past. Besides, Lu Chuwan had told her that Fu Zhi had done so well only because most of the questions in the test paper had been retrieved from the question bank. Luck played quite an essential part in an examination, and Fu Zhi was the one who had hit the jackpot this time.

She believed her granddaughter, and that was why she felt Fu Zhi was no match for Lu Chuwan. However, after hearing what Madam Xu had said, Madam Lu felt that she might be wrong.

On the other side, anger was rippling through Lu Chuwan's body. She clenched her fists tight, trying her very best to control her emotions. After all, the registration form had already been handed to the Education Bureau, so there was nothing they could do to change the name right now.