The national competition was divided into three rounds, which would take place over three days. The first round was a written test, which would be held in the morning.
As it was a national competition, the difficulty and content had been increased.
Leng Xiaoyao didn’t follow her habit of submitting her paper early this time, but instead waited until the time was up to do so.
While she wasn’t under much pressure during the written test, she wasn’t confident that she had answered every question correctly either.
The list of finalists would be announced the following morning, and the semi-finals would take place in the afternoon.
The results of the semi-finals would also come out in the morning of the next day, with the final being held in the afternoon of the third day.
“How do you feel?” Zhou Jing asked Leng Xiaoyao. Although Zhou Jing had confidence in Leng Xiaoyao’s abilities, she was still worried because all the participants in the national competition were top students.
“I’m fine,” Leng Xiaoyao said calmly.
“Don’t worry too much and just do your best.” Zhou Jing didn’t say much. Doing well was good, but it was still okay if she didn’t do well.
After the written test ended at noon, many students asked their teachers if they could wander around the campus.
Unfortunately, they were refused because of time constraints. However, after the afternoon exam, they would have an hour to explore the campus.
Everyone got back on the buses to return to the hotel for lunch and rest. The afternoon session began at 2:30 pm, so they left promptly at 2:00 pm.
During the competition, everyone felt some pressure, so they couldn’t really relax during their lunch break. Most of them were studying.
Leng Xiaoyao couldn’t concentrate on studying at that time, so she went to a café to drink coffee and play on her phone.
Zhou Jing didn’t want to take a nap either, so she joined Leng Xiaoyao.
Many others who didn’t want to nap went to the café as well, such as Zhang Yawen and Fan Xiaoyu, as well as Mu Beihan and Mr. Chen. They came one after another within a few minutes.
Although Zhang Yawen and Fan Xiaoyu weren’t likable people, they weren’t worth paying attention to.
“You don’t look nervous at all. You seem very relaxed,” Zhou Jing said. It was a good thing because being nervous could make people perform poorly. Not being nervous allowed people to deal with things calmly and they might even perform better than usual.
“Isn’t that great? When people get nervous, they tend to get confused and forget things, which affects their performance,” said Leng Xiaoyao.
“Yes! It’s just that not many people can do it like you.” Zhou Jing replied. She had observed many people and most of them felt nervous or stressed, but Leng Xiaoyao seemed completely relaxed and didn’t seem to take the competition seriously.
However, someone disagreed with Zhou Jing. “Perhaps she’s not nervous because she knows she doesn’t have a chance and has given up!”
It was Fan Xiaoyu. Although Leng Xiaoyao was able to participate in the national competition, proving that she was indeed skilled, there were also many other skilled participants.
Even if she was skilled, there was still a ranking system and only the top three would be selected out of hundreds of people.
Fan Xiaoyu wasn’t confident. It was precisely because of this that she felt nervous and was under pressure. Therefore, when she heard Leng Xiaoyao’s words, she couldn’t help but interrupt.
The main reason was that she didn’t like Leng Xiaoyao’s appearance, which she felt resembled a vixen.
Leng Xiaoyao and Zhou Jing ignored Fan Xiaoyu because what she said wasn’t entirely wrong. Some people were indeed not nervous because they knew that they didn’t have a chance and gave up.
Moreover, Fan Xiaoyu didn’t name anyone specifically, so why bother responding to her?
They let her talk to herself like a clown.
Leng Xiaoyao didn’t say anything, but Mu Beihan, who didn’t get along with Fan Xiaoyu, opened her mouth. Their seats weren’t far apart, so they could hear each other clearly. “Well, Mr. Chen, I’m not nervous either, but I don’t have the feeling of giving up on myself. I don’t understand it. Why do some people always judge others based on their own standards?”
“Because their vision and perspective are too narrow.” Chen Laoshi replied sternly.
“Mm! That’s right.” Mu Beihan nodded earnestly.
“You…” Fan Xiaoyu was so angry that she wanted to rush over and hit Mu Beihan, but Mu Beihan’s family background stopped her.
As soon as Mu Beihan opened her mouth, Zhang Yawen immediately scolded Fan Xiaoyu, afraid of being targeted by them again. “Alright, be quiet.”
Fan Xiaoyu was mad but didn’t say anything else.
The lunch break passed quickly, and at 1:50 pm, everyone gathered downstairs and got on the buses before departing.
While waiting for the students to take the written test, Zhou Jing was chatting with Gao Lei on WeChat. They were just having a casual conversation. Gao Lei asked Zhou Jing about Leng Xiaoyao’s condition out of concern.
Zhang Yawen saw that Zhou Jing was always chatting and smiling, and felt extremely uncomfortable. She believed that Zhou Jing was chatting with Gao Lei.
She was right.
Zhang Yawen deliberately walked past Zhou Jing and glanced at her phone screen. It turned out that she was indeed chatting with Gao Lei. Zhang Yawen was in a terrible mood.
As a result, Zhang Yawen started to make trouble again.
“Do you have a boyfriend, Ms. Zhou?” Zhang Yawen asked politely, but it was obviously fake.
All the teachers were present, so Zhou Jing couldn’t show any displeasure to Zhang Yawen. Besides, Zhang Yawen didn’t directly pick a fight, so she also politely replied. “Not really.”
At this time, a middle-aged female teacher came over and said, “Ms. Zhou, you are beautiful, and have a good figure with a good job. There should be many people pursuing you! Is it that you don’t know how to choose or you don’t like anyone? Or maybe you already have someone in your heart?”
This middle-aged female teacher didn’t have any malice. She was just gossiping.
Zhang Yawen continued. “I think Ms. Zhou must have someone in her heart. Could it be Mr. Gao from our school? I heard that he had a class yesterday afternoon but took leave. I think that he probably went to pick you up!”
Although Zhang Yawen still sounded jokingly, her jealousy couldn’t be concealed in her eyes.
Since Zhang Yawen cared so much about Gao Lei, Zhou Jing didn’t mind making her feel worse. Therefore, she said, “Yes, Gao Lei and I like each other, but because of the long-distance, I’m not sure what to do. Gao Lei said that he could transfer to City Chang for me, but I can’t let him give up better development opportunities for me. So I’ve decided to participate in the teacher transfer exam and see if I can transfer from City Chang to here, even if it’s teaching junior high school.”
Usually, it was easier to transfer from high to low positions, but it was more difficult to transfer from low to high positions.
Zhou Jing’s professional level was excellent; otherwise, she wouldn’t have become the Language Y teacher at the Experimental High School. However, in the capital city, the competition was even more intense.