"Huh? First place is… Doug Feng?"
As she skimmed through the results list in her hand, Mayor Qin Qing couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. She turned to the principal beside her.
"Principal Wang, how many students named Doug Feng are there in your school?"
"Just… just one, I think," Principal Wang Yuanhua stammered, clearly flustered. "And he's in Grade 12, Class 2. That class only has one Doug Feng."
"Then… he's the same student who was just publicly reprimanded for a major disciplinary offense earlier, isn't he?" she asked again.
"…It appears so."
Wang Yuanhua was now sweating visibly, wiping his brow with a handkerchief. He hadn't anticipated this turn of events—not in the slightest. Originally, he'd taken the opportunity of the parent-teacher open house to invite both Mayor Qin and Deputy Mayor Lin. His hope was to present a glowing image of No.1 High School in Zhicheng: its academic excellence, its disciplined students, its high-flying reputation. Ideally, their visit would lead to more recognition and, of course, larger allocations of education funding.
But who could have predicted this mess?
First, during the school-wide flag-raising and disciplinary announcement, Doug Feng had been singled out and given a public demerit. Now, barely an hour later, he was topping the charts in the latest academic ranking?
If—if—the final results were confirmed to be accurate… how would that even make sense? A student publicly shamed for misconduct ends up being the number one student in the entire school?
"Principal Wang," Qin Qing continued, brows furrowed, "what's this Doug Feng's academic performance usually like?"
From what she knew, there hadn't been a single exam in the past two years where her daughter, Linjie Feng, hadn't placed first. That record had been unbroken… until now?
Wang Yuanhua hesitated, then called out to the teaching director nearby, "Director Qiu, could you come over? Please explain this student's academic background to the mayor."
Truth be told, Principal Wang had never paid much attention to students like Doug Feng—average, unremarkable, background figures in the grand story of the school. Why would he? His attention was usually reserved for star students like Linjie, the ones who made the school look good.
Director Qiu Guohua hurried over, adjusting his glasses with practiced efficiency.
"Mayor Qin," Qiu began smoothly, "Doug Feng has always been a below-average student. In his class, he's typically ranked among the bottom ten. In the entire year level, he's usually somewhere beyond the 500th mark. This must be a computer error—some glitch in the system. I've already ordered a recheck of the data. I expect the corrected rankings to be sent over shortly."
He spoke with full confidence, bordering on arrogance. After all, just a few days ago, he'd reviewed Doug Feng's academic file himself—his most recent rank had been 572nd. There was no way someone like that could leapfrog to the top overnight.
Especially when that top spot had always been firmly held by none other than the mayor's own daughter, Linjie.
"You're certain?" Qin Qing asked sharply, pointing directly at Doug Feng's name on the printed list. "What if… and I'm just saying what if… he really earned it through hard work?"
"Impossible!" Qiu shot back, almost reflexively. "Mayor Qin, I've been a teaching director for years. I've seen every kind of student. A leap like this? It just doesn't happen—not without cheating or a system malfunction. I assure you—"
His phone rang, cutting him off mid-sentence.
He glanced at the screen, then picked up. "It's Xiao Liu from the Academic Office—he's calling with the recheck results. Mayor Qin, don't worry. I guarantee you, the top scorer is your daughter—"
His voice suddenly stopped. His eyes widened.
"…What? What do you mean there's no error? That can't be! That's impossible!"
On the other end of the call, Teacher Liu's voice crackled through. "We double-checked everything, Director Qiu. The computer records and the original test papers match. We went through Doug Feng's answers one by one. There's nothing wrong. No grading errors, either."
"But how could this be?" Qiu Guohua was flabbergasted, clutching his phone like it might bite him. "Check it again! Are you sure someone didn't mark his name by mistake? His handwriting is awful, right? Maybe someone misread—"
"Director, I looked at it myself," Liu replied firmly. "The handwriting is… well, yes, a bit messy. But the answers are accurate. His logic was spot-on. There were no grading mistakes."
Qiu stood there like he'd been struck by lightning. He didn't even hang up the phone.
"…Mayor Qin. Principal Wang. The results… are accurate."
Wang Yuanhua leaned in. "You mean to say… Doug Feng did get first place?"
"…Yes."
Qiu nodded stiffly, his expression resembling someone who'd just watched a pig sprout wings and fly across the courtyard.
Doug Feng—previously a faceless student buried in the masses—had officially dethroned Linjie Feng, the school's golden girl, to become the top scorer in the third mock exam for senior year.
"Huh. So it is that kid."
To everyone's surprise, Mayor Qin's lips curled into a slight smile.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
She let her gaze fall back to the list in her hands. Right next to Doug Feng's name was his total score—743 points. Her daughter Linjie, in second place, had scored 741. A mere two-point difference.
Such a dramatic twist on the podium of academic honor.
Meanwhile, down on the schoolyard where hundreds of students were lined up in neat rows, confusion was beginning to ripple through the crowd. Everyone had noticed that Principal Wang had taken the results list up to the podium… but for some reason, he hadn't announced the top ten rankings as expected. Instead, he had stepped back down with an awkward look.
"What's going on?" Howie muttered, scuffing the grass with his sneaker. "Doug, why hasn't the principal said anything yet? I was looking forward to seeing our class beauty give her speech. You've got no idea—every time she speaks under the flag, half the guys from the other classes start drooling."
Doug Feng chuckled. "You really need to get a grip. She's in our class—you see her every day. What's the big deal?"
"Oh, come on!" Howie argued, throwing up his hands. "Seeing her in class isn't the same! That's just Linjie, the class monitor. But when she's giving a speech under the national flag? That's not just a class monitor—that's our school goddess! The way she stands, the way she speaks, the aura… it's like watching a live celebrity appearance. Honestly, it's the only thing I look forward to after an exam."
Doug laughed again. There wasn't much else to do, anyway—they'd been standing in the sun for ages, waiting for an announcement that refused to come.
Over on the girls' side, the atmosphere was completely different. A group of girls had surrounded Linjie, already preparing to celebrate her imminent return to the top of the podium.
"Linjie, what's taking the principal so long?" said Ma Xiaoxiao, the most cheerful girl in the class. "Is he trying to build suspense or something? He's keeping our school's First Lady waiting!"
"Exactly!" another girl chimed in. "There's no suspense here. When has it not been our class monitor winning the top spot?"
Linjie, however, wasn't so sure.
"Don't jinx it," she murmured, a strange feeling creeping up in her chest. "You never know… maybe someone did beat me this time."
As if drawn by instinct, her eyes flicked to the boys' row, where Doug Feng stood casually chatting and laughing with Howie, completely unaware of the storm his name had just stirred at the top of the school's academic ladder.