Yu Huaijin returned, but she didn't enter the classroom immediately. Instead, she turned around and first took down the Red List posted on the long corridor outside, then walked into the classroom and placed it on the wall beside the podium, in the most conspicuous position.

The whole process was silent within the classroom.

The students watched cautiously, and Zhao Rong tacitly stopped his actions.

The diligent senior from Shuaixing Hall completed these actions, turned around, and respectfully saluted Zhao Rong on the podium, though it was unclear whether it was because she interrupted his class or for some other reason.

Zhao Rong returned the salute.

As everyone speculated, Yu Huaijin had already turned her head, with a stern face towards everyone: "Just now, I, along with five other senior students, met the Confucian Scholar in Jingchen Hall. The Confucian Scholar publicly announced the total scores and school rankings from this great exam."

Saying this, she paused, looking at the students below, who momentarily seemed as silent as Cold Cicadas.

Zhao Rong couldn't help but glance at Yu Huaijin.

In Mochi Academy, each of the six halls has a fixed number of people, so the ranking for the great exam of the halls can be conveniently calculated directly by total scores.

Yu Huaijin's prolonged pause made the atmosphere in the classroom even more tense; some students shifted in their seats uneasily.

At this moment, Yu Huaijin suddenly spoke, scaring some students into shivering.

"Ranking first is our Shuaixing Hall; second place, Justice Hall; third place, Cultivation Hall..."

Xiao Hongyu, Li Xueyou, and other students breathed a sigh of relief... retaining the first place, luckily, luckily, but for Gu Yiwu to lead the Justice Hall to surpass Han's Cultivation Hall, that's quite something.

Amidst their relief and surprise, Yu Huaijin softly revealed: "Shuaixing Hall's total score is 2556 points, Justice Hall's total score is 2553 points, just three points behind us."

This closely trailing score shocked the students, and a low murmur arose within the hall.

Not to mention the total score of 2556 points was much lower than the Shuaixing Hall's scores in past exams, and was the lowest ever. Moreover, the dark horse Justice Hall almost caught up, being only three points away from them!

If these words hadn't come from Senior Yu's mouth, in the past, when the students of the consistently first-place Shuaixing Hall heard it, they would have dismissed it as a prank, perhaps chuckling, or smiling politely at best.

Previously, when students from Shuaixing Hall walked in the Academy, they carried a certain arrogance, stemming from the collective honor of repeatedly being first under the leadership of Senior Yu. When exam scores were discussed, the only group catching their attention was Han's Cultivation Hall; they didn't consider the other halls, certainly not acting this way when interacting with students from other halls. Publicly, they remained united and friendly Mochi students, but there was always a sense of measurement internally, and being acknowledged as first, Shuaixing Hall students naturally stood a head above.

This was also why, not long ago in Jingchen Hall, Xiao Hongyu tried her best to uphold and promote her hall and its students.

It was also why students like Zhao Rong and Fan Yushu, known as 'specialized students', often faced exclusion from Shuaixing Hall, the inherent bias towards specialized students made the two seem to bear original sin.

Now, with Yu Huaijin's words spoken, the large hall instantly displayed varied expressions among everyone.

Many were taken aback, some students looked incredulous, some quietly celebrated the three-point lead, even finding Fan Yushu more agreeable now, thinking he may be subpar, but at least he scored in every subject and didn't slack off, not missing those three points.

Yet, some students who thought quickly had an idea flash across their minds and immediately looked at the biggest variable and surprise of this exam, the young Confucian Scholar on the podium... If he was as they expected, similar to Fan Yushu in being at the bottom, then not only would they not be three points higher than Justice Hall, but missing scores by tens would barely keep them within the top three of the Academy!

The actions of these observant students quickly caused others, whether amazed or relieved, to pause for a moment, then to react, focusing their gaze towards the podium.

At this moment, nearly all eyes were on Zhao Rong, including Yu Huaijin, who quietly turned to look at Zhao Rong.

Meanwhile, our Zhao Rong, who just wanted to teach more courses to free up time to spend with his wife and gain some rewards, was quietly cleaning the blackboard, unaware if the board was finished or sensing the sudden calm atmosphere, he turned around, paused, and looked around at the students.

Both parties stared at each other in a standstill, Zhao Rong pursed his lips intending to speak, but a loud voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

The figure hadn't arrived, but the voice did.

"Ziyu, Ziyu, hahaha, do you know how much we Justice Hall scored this time? You won't believe it if I tell you! Hahaha, and! You secretly scored so high without us knowing, do you know what you scored? You can't still be in Calligraphy class, is anyone listening…"

Gu Yiwu, full of delight, strode into Shuaixing Hall. After two steps, he paused, glanced at Zhao Rong rubbing his temples, and then at the quiet and silent main hall, hesitated and said: "Uh, it seems quite a few are listening... Haha... turned out you're all here, I thought you all went to the Academy gate to see the overall list, haha."

Gu Yiwu's awkward laughter in this silent hall full of people, together with the unified gaze, made the burly Confucian Scholar feel a bit uneasy.

Zhao Rong looked at Yu Huaijin and others below, then at the carefree Gu Yiwu, nodding to him with helpless eyes, and Gu Yiwu blinked... the two exchanged a tacit eye contact.

But staring in silence wasn't a solution, Gu Yiwu glanced at a certain stern-looking girl, feigned nonchalance: "Oh, so Senior Yu is here too, haha, I guess... I guess everyone knows already."

Gu Yiwu, unabashed, smiled as he approached the podium, saying as he walked: "Senior Yu, the youngsters from my hall lack Qi cultivation technique, they got overexcited by such scores, almost flipping the roof, forcing me to come invite Ziyu over, Calligraphy and Ritual Skill scores owe a lot to Ziyu, Ziyu truly deserves credit... Ahem, Senior Yu and everyone, would you lend us Ziyu for a bit~"

Upon hearing "Calligraphy" and "Ritual Skill," Yu Huaijin, whose demeanor remained calm before, finally couldn't help but twitch her eyelids twice.

She stood there, strikingly not yielding politely.

Gu Yiwu, however, unabashedly treated the place like his home, kept walking and in his innocent grin, veered, bypassing the stern silent girl, stepping onto the podium, and without hesitation grabbed Zhao Rong's sleeve, tugging him outside.

...

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