Chapter 164: Lots of Nerve

“I am a new student who Professor Guo has just accepted into his cla.s.s. I lack experience compared with the other students, and I certainly have a lot more to learn,” Tan Mo said humbly. “Professor Guo always says that I have a long way to go. He always encourages me to study more.”

Everyone from Beijing University: “…”

Professor Guo: “…”

Had they misunderstood Tan Mo?

This girl was actually so good at acting like a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

However, with this comment, Professor Guo really was having a hard time not yelling out to Tan Mo.

‘Good acting!’

‘My little Tan Mo, play them to the best of your ability!’

w.a.n.g Yuemu and the rest of the team kept staring at Tan Mo. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

If they had been ignorant of Tan Mo’s true capabilities, they would have really fallen for what she was saying.

Right in front of their eyes, Tan Mo had plastered a tender, docile smile on her face. She was speaking so unhurriedly and so softly. Yet, at the same time, she had uttered such deceptive words to Professor Liu.

How bold of her!

She had lied straight to Professor Liu’s face, right in the middle of his home turf.

w.a.n.g Yuemu and the team were starting to have existential doubts.

Was this the Tan Mo that they knew?

Pu Xinyan immediately whipped out her phone. Since everyone’s attention was focused on Tan Mo, she took advantage of this to ask in their group chat, “Senior Ying, did you lead Tan Mo astray?”

Ying Siyuan replied, “What nonsense! Why would I lead Tan Mo astray?”

Guan Ruyue replied, “Our little Tan Mo is so adorable. Why is she behaving like a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing? Some people on our team have probably been influencing her badly.”

Some people referred to the boys on the team.

They must have definitely led her astray while the rest weren’t paying attention.

All the boys: “…”

Such an accusation was too unfair to bear.

Professor Liu wasn’t a stupid person. However, Tan Mo’s expressions were so deceptive. What’s more, she looked so young.

So Professor Liu believed her. Tan Mo was here to learn.

What’s more, Tan Mo’s reputation hadn’t spread far and wide yet.

w.a.n.g Yuemu and Ying Siyuan were currently the most well-known members of the team.

“That’s true. This is definitely a good learning opportunity.” Professor Liu chuckled. “Professor Guo must really have looked favorably on you, since he gave you a spot on the team just so you could learn.”

Every competing team had a cap of ten members.

Beijing University had sent a total of ten people. There weren’t any subst.i.tutes.

Professor Liu had been thinking hard about the situation, and he had deduced that there were two possibilities. First, Beijing University was lacking in talented students to compete. Second, they were extremely confident in their members and didn’t need subst.i.tutes.

However, judging from the fact that such a young student as Tan Mo was taking up a spot, Professor Liu felt pretty sure that the former deduction was more likely.

He wasn’t trying to be arrogant. Tsinghua University had won so many times that he had naturally become quite confident.

Beijing University usually sent the same people every year.

However, there were quite a few new faces this time.

w.a.n.g Yuemu and Ying Siyuan were the only students who had competed in the past.

However, Professor Liu had a good grasp of their typical performance.

The rest of the team were younger. Compared to Yuemu and Siyuan, they were clearly weaker candidates.

This year, victory was imminent.

Professor Liu was in a very relaxed mood. He had always been quite a talkative person and was quite willing to continue conversing with Tan Mo, someone who had obviously been sent to fill up the numbers.

Professor Liu sighed to himself. Has the Chinese Department of Beijing University ever dipped so low before?

They had to give up a place to a new student in order to fill up the slot.

Unexpectedly, Tan Mo actually nodded her head. “That’s right. Professor Guo said the same thing.”

Professor Liu: “…”

Professor Guo said the same thing?

Was she referring to this being a good opportunity to learn or was she referring to Professor Guo looking favorably on her?

Professor Liu glanced doubtfully at her. She didn’t seem to be such a thick-skinned person. She was probably referring to the former point, right?

Everyone from Beijing University: “…”

As they turned their eyes toward Tan Mo, a bizarre thought suddenly popped up in their minds.

Professor Liu’s IQ hadn’t dropped because of what Tan Mo was putting past him, right?

“Hee, hee, hee.” Professor Liu chuckled dryly. “Professor Guo is right.”

Everyone at Beijing University: “…”

His IQ had really dropped.

“Since you’re already here, you shouldn’t waste this spot.” Professor Liu smiled. “Since you’re here, you should partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion, even if it means just getting a taste of the compet.i.tive atmosphere we enjoy in this compet.i.tion.”

Professor Liu then decided to give some advice to Professor Guo. “Since you’ve already given this child a spot on the team, you should let her have some actual practice. Otherwise, it’ll be quite a waste if you don’t use your slot. Losing is nothing to be embarra.s.sed about. It’s not like it’s your first time losing. Training your students should still be the main focus, right?”

This time, Professor Guo didn’t seem angry. He chuckled instead, “Hee, hee, hee.”

‘This child you are talking about is our killing machine!’

‘Yet now you have voluntarily requested that we let Tan Mo compete.’

“I share the same sentiments.” Professor Guo seized his opportunity to agree. “It’s true that she’s come all this way. It doesn’t matter what the results of this compet.i.tion are. It is important for her to experience the process. At the same time, I can test the results of my teaching apt.i.tude.”

Everyone from Beijing University: “…”

Professor Guo, you have also been led astray.

Initially, he would have reacted like a porcupine whenever he saw Professor Liu. They were always at loggerheads.

He would never give way to Professor Liu in this manner.

Yet, this time, he had intentionally acted weak in front of his opponent.

Everyone couldn’t help but glance at Tan Mo.

This change in Professor Guo had only happened after Tan Mo had pretended to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Was this the catalyst that had led Professor Guo astray?

Ying Siyuan speedily typed into their WeChat discussion, “Did you see that? Did you see that? We’re not the ones who have led Tan Mo astray. Look, even Professor Guo has been influenced by Tan Mo.”

Pu Xinyan replied, “Are you saying that it’s all Tan Mo’s fault?”

The moment Pu Xinyan sent this, all the girls on the team but Tan Mo stared at Ying Siyuan.

Ying Siyuan: “…”

All the girls were saying to themselves, “Don’t you know that Tan Mo is our lucky star?”

The group walked toward the compet.i.tion site.

It was one of the indoor stadiums within Tsinghua University.

“The site has been completely set up for the compet.i.tion,” Mr. Liao explained. “We have already tested all the buzzers repeatedly. We guarantee that there are no issues with them.”

No one was worried about this.

Tsinghua University had a reputation to keep up. They wouldn’t do any underhanded things just to ensure their own victory.

Although Ying Siyuan and w.a.n.g Yuemu had previously partic.i.p.ated in two compet.i.tions in the past, those events had not been organized by Tsinghua University.

Hence, this was also their first time seeing the compet.i.tion site at Tsinghua University.

Everyone looked around at it.

They saw five words—The Sixth Ancient Text Compet.i.tion—was displayed boldly on a large screen.

Soon, the screen changed and started to play some clips from previous compet.i.tions without any audio.

Naturally, most of the screen time was focused on the exemplary performance of the Tsinghua team members.

Everyone from Beijing University: “…”

Had Tsinghua University always been such show-offs?

Hee, hee, hee!

This year, the stage would belong to Beijing University.

When the time comes, it will be so embarra.s.sing for you!

Six podiums were arranged in the middle of the stage.

Everyone knew that these were for the representatives of the six competing schools.

“Everyone, follow me. These are the rooms we have set aside for you to rest in.” Mr. Liao led the groups out of the compet.i.tion site.

They reached the rooms where they were supposed to rest.