Chapter 124

At 9:40, the second round of the competition began.

Compared to the first round, the second round had its intricacies. Although there were only four essay questions, the exam time was nearly three hours, indicating its formidable difficulty.

After receiving the exam paper, Ji Ruochu still took a minute to quickly review the questions.

There were four major questions involving plane geometry, algebra, number theory, and combination.

The first two questions carried 40 points each, while the latter two had 50 points each, making a total of 180 points.

The questions were concise, but their difficulty... even Ji Ruochu, who had solved numerous competition problems, was surprised.

Of course, this did not hinder her from engaging in a mental storm of brainstorming to answer the questions.

In just a few minutes, while most candidates were still contemplating, Ji Ruochu had already picked up her pen, which had lost its cap, and started answering.

The invigilating teacher silently breathed a sigh of relief: ...finally, no more pondering.

Well, the ink on that pen is almost worn off!

...

At half-past twelve, the exam concluded.

Ji Ruochu stretched her neck, packed up her stationery, and... retrieved the faded cap of her Wacom pen that had been pulled off.

While collecting her belongings, she sighed:

Tsk... indeed, studying science makes you go bald easily. Look at this Wacom pen, a few hours of the exam, and the top is now shiny and smooth.

The Wacom pen artificially stripped of its cap: ...

When Ji Ruochu and her two companions walked out of the school gate, Fang Zhiyuan and others who had finished the exam at twelve were already waiting at the gate.

Several kids held snacks prepared in advance by Ji Mochen and his wife.

Yes, you read it right. In addition to Fang Zhiyuan, there were also several original Class i kids who participated in chemistry, biology, and other competitions at different campuses.

Normally, for such competitions, teachers would lead the teams, and the kids would travel together by school bus.

Capital Middle School was no exception. About thirty-something students participated in various competitions, and except for a few who owned property locally, the rest of the students followed the school team. Therefore, several teachers leading the teams only needed to arrive at the school gate early, wait for these independently departing kids to come and collect their admission tickets, and then send them off after the exam.

Among these solo travelers were the ten kids from the original Class i.

Unlike other solo-traveling classmates, they were each picked up by their respective families when they arrived, but when they returned, they were all picked up together by Ji Mochen and his wife.

It's funny to say that Ji Mochen and his wife initially only helped the Jiang and Fang families pick up their kids, but later, when Ling Chujin asked a few kids what they liked to eat, he accidentally sent the wrong message to the group...

The parents of other Class i students were angry.

Other Class i parents made accusations.

[You actually formed a small group!]

[You even created a subgroup in the group?!]

[Do you look down on us?]

[Fine, this quarter's collaborative project...]

In the end, amidst some childish threats, the parents of other Class i students successfully obtained the Ji family's package deal for picking up their kids.

Ji Mochen and his wife, now burdened with six additional responsibilities, sighed: ...this is truly creating karma.

That's not all. The kids, who rarely traveled with peers, proposed to spend half a day exploring the competition city before heading home.

After all, the final list of finalists wouldn't be known until a month later.

The so-called finals are determined by the scores of students in the provincial leagues.

In other words, around October, each province will announce the list of candidates for Provincial Team One, Provincial Team Two, and Provincial Team Three, and then finalize the rosters for each province.

After that, all provincial team members will participate in the finals in November, also known as the winter camp.

Therefore, parents did not oppose the demands for their children, but it was hard for Ji Mochen and his wife, fearing that these children would lose their way.

Of course, these are just side remarks. Let's focus on the present. The ten children from Class i who just finished their exams are sitting in the three extended cars of the Ji family.

One car carries Ji Ruochu and her family of three, along with two girls from the original Class i - Ren Yujun and Mi Siyu.

Another car carries Fang Zhiyuan, Jiang Zhi, and Qi Yibin.

The remaining four boys, Kong Chao, Fu Zhengbo, Ming Chengle, and Li Yemeng, are in another car.

"If you're tired, take a rest for a while. We still have a little way to go before we reach the dining place," Ling Chujin said to the two girls in the back row, both of whom were remarkably outstanding in appearance and temperament.

"Thank you, Auntie," Ren Yujun and Mi Siyu thanked her in unison, then adjusted their seats and closed their eyes to rest.

As for Ji Ruochu... she had long ago bitten into a piece of dried sweet potato and snuggled into Ling Chujin's arms, sound asleep.

During this time, the father was worried that his daughter might choke, so he carefully tried to take away the dried sweet potato. But as soon as he moved, Ji Ruochu, who was protecting her food, showed signs of waking up.

With just one glance, Ji Mochen dared not move, afraid of disturbing his daughter's rest. Ji Ruochu slept as if in a deep slumber. There was no way around it - she had exhausted too many brain cells, and by the time she got on the car, her eyelids were already fighting each other.

When the couple cautiously woke her up, half an hour had passed.

By then, the other children had already gotten off the car, and when they saw Ji Ruochu tugging at her father's sleeve with one hand and rubbing her eyes non-stop with the other, they all looked a little surprised.

Obviously, they had never seen Ji Ruochu, this guy who had been outstanding since childhood, in such a state.

Of course, even if they were curious, the boys only glanced at her before shifting their gaze away.

Apart from their own demeanor, the main reason was Ji Mochen's intimidating gaze!

After the group had eaten their fill, they all went back to their respective hotel rooms under the Ji family's name to rest.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the spirited children took their equipment and went out to play together!

To ensure that the children had a great time, Ji Mochen and his wife did not accompany them, only letting the bodyguards of each family follow closely behind.

Thus, the autumn outing initiated by Class i officially began!

The route was planned by Fang Zhiyuan, while Jiang Zhi and Qi Yibin served as the atmosphere team. As for Ji Ruochu...

Well, mainly to make sure these little geniuses didn't get lost.

Of course, this was her own idea, because in the plans of the other nine, ensuring that little sister Ruochu didn't get lost was the top priority.

Even Qi Yibin, who usually liked to tease Ji Ruochu, felt the same way.

It wasn't until nightfall that the little ones finally returned home, and during this time, the group chat of the four families never stopped.

Fang Zhiyuan would update their progress and location in the group chat every few minutes, while Ji Ruochu would occasionally take some photos and share them in the group.

For example, Qi Yibin getting angry at Jiang Zhi, Fang Zhiyuan carefully studying the route, or a group photo taken with the help of a passerby by the students from Class i.

Apart from the occasional voice messages and photos from the kids, the most active participants in the group were naturally the couple Ji Mochen.

Whenever Ji Ruochu posted a photo, this couple would be the first to respond.

Under a realistic photo of Qi Yibin looking red-faced and flustered, the caption read - "Our daughter takes great photos!"

Under a photo of Jiang Zhi solving a Rubik's cube on the roadside, the caption read - "Is our daughter tired from taking photos?"

Under a photo of Fang Zhiyuan studying a map, the caption read - "Is our daughter thirsty? Did she finish the honey water in her bag?"

Under a group photo of the four friends, the caption read - "Our daughter looks so beautiful!"

Other families: ...

Of course, despite the children's mischief, they were having a great time, gathering in small groups until they returned to the hotel.

What no one expected was that a group of children's cheerful autumn outing not only brought them great joy but also caused a stir on the internet.