Ch 38: Those who wronged me are now begging me for mercy

A Science Guy Never Gives Up

Confusion Level: 2500

Yao Lele and Xu Chuanzhi were left speechless, staring at Rong Ziyin for a long time without saying a word.

What in the world? The Science of Success in Microbusiness? Was Rong Ziyin here to fight for the honor of Agriculture University, or to expand his salted duck eggs and dried fish business?

Since arriving at the show, he had already scoped out the library, but instead of looking at relevant competition books, he chose to read two books on microbusiness. On the other hand, they couldn’t really criticize Rong Ziyin; after all, neither of them had even found the library!

Despite this, Yao Lele still felt something was off, and instinctively asked Rong Ziyin, “How did you find the library?”

Rong Ziyin responded quite frankly, “I ran out of mobile data, so I went to use the Wi-Fi.”

Yao Lele & Xu Chuanzhi: …

For a moment, the two of them wanted to bag Rong Ziyin and give him a good thrashing.

Considering the upcoming competition in a week, Yao Lele and Xu Chuanzhi managed to restrain their urge to act on their impulses. Unaware of how narrowly he escaped a beating, Rong Ziyin led the two of them to the library.

The library wasn’t particularly crowded, but the faces there were all very familiar. Nine out of ten were the competitors who would be taking the stage in a week.

“Brother Rong, are they here to borrow books too?” Xu Chuanzhi quietly asked Rong Ziyin.

“Yeah,” Rong Ziyin nodded.

Everyone invited by the production team was a true scholar from their respective universities. They were all smart enough to figure out what Rong Ziyin did.

This was where the production team’s trickery came into play!

In the library, each book was available in only one copy. In other words, if the books Rong Ziyin needed were already borrowed by others, they wouldn’t have a chance to get those books.

Yao Lele and Xu Chuanzhi’s anxiety shot through the roof. By the look of things, they seemed to have arrived a bit late.

But Rong Ziyin didn’t seem to care at all; he walked in as if he were casually strolling through the streets. In no time, he picked up less than five books and then walked out!

“Let’s go!” Rong Ziyin signaled for the two to follow him back.

Xu Chuanzhi was on the verge of a breakdown, “Weren’t there supposed to be forty books?”

Rong Ziyin replied, “They already took them all!”

So does that mean that even if they wanted to give it their all, they don’t even have a chance now?

Yao Lele and Xu Chuanzhi’s expressions immediately turned grim, with Yao Lele’s eyes reddening slightly.

But since they were still outside, they tried to maintain their composure for the sake of their image. Once they were back in Rong Ziyin’s dorm room, Xu Chuanzhi couldn’t hold back his frustration and began to curse, “Isn’t this just bullying?”

Xu Chuanzhi had never felt so frustrated before.

He wasn’t a sheltered kid; he’d encountered plenty of dirty tricks in previous competitions. But no matter what, it was always true talent that determined the winner in the end.

But what was this production team doing? If it were truly a random draw to determine the scope, they would have accepted it. But now it was clearly rigged!

“Are they out of their minds, daring to trample on Agriculture University like this, doing whatever they want? Aren’t they afraid that Agriculture University will hit back hard?” Yao Lele gritted her teeth.

A prestigious university earns its name through the tireless efforts of countless mentors and generations of talented students. It’s also built on the achievements of alumni who continue to contribute after graduation.

For outsiders, these names might just be credentials to pad a resume. But for these students, the school emblem is as sacred as their own character—something that must not be defiled!

The production team was blatantly blocking their path step by step. Didn’t they realize that eventually, there would be a reckoning?

Rong Ziyin, however, shook his head, “They’re not afraid because this is all part of a script they’ve prepared.”

“You knew this all along?”

“Yeah,” Rong Ziyin nodded. “I did some homework before coming here and watched the previous episodes. They claim there’s no script, and the competition is indeed real. But the final winner is still decided by the production team.”

“You mean by using methods like this?”

“Yeah. How else did the kids from the Young Scholar Class manage to beat graduate students in a race of brains? I’m not saying there aren’t prodigies out there, but anyone aiming for a career in research is already a genius.”

“These days, every show needs to establish characters, stir up some sentiment, and follow a formula.”

“So if I’m right, the Young Scholar Class is on the ‘meteoric rise’ track, while we’re on the ‘adversity and comeback’ track.”

“You’re saying the production team is deliberately keeping us down, only to let us rise later?”

“Exactly,” Rong Ziyin nodded. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we’re put on the backburner for three weeks, unable to earn any points until the outcry becomes too loud to ignore, at which point they’ll give us a theme we excel in so we can stage a comeback.”

“Are they crazy?” Yao Lele muttered to herself, unable to believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t fathom how a school’s honor could be reduced to just another element of a script.

Rong Ziyin also found the production team’s tactics ridiculous, like they were missing the forest for the trees.

Why do so many people enjoy watching this show? Is it really for the educational content? Not exactly. On one hand, they want to see top scholars clashing like titans; on the other, they want to witness the glory of prestigious universities.

It’s all about that adrenaline rush. With that in mind, they should be pushing for more of it. These are the types who can spend three days and nights in a lab without sleep—the last thing they’re afraid of is hard work!

But now, a perfectly good show was being ruined, reduced to nothing more than cheap theatrics.

Xu Chuanzhi was pacing the room anxiously, “So what do we do now?”

He was at his wit’s end. They wanted to fight, but they didn’t have the means. Were they supposed to expose the production team’s underhanded tactics? But all they had were speculations, no solid proof.

Rong Ziyin, however, calmly placed the books he had borrowed in front of Yao Lele and Xu Chuanzhi, “What do we do? They want us to lose, so we’ll win instead!”

“How? With these seven books? They have thirty-three on their side!”

“So what? We have our fellow students!” Rong Ziyin pulled out his phone, logged into the Agriculture University forum, and posted a message.

#Fellow comrades! It’s time for tactical support. We need full scans of the following thirty-three books, as fast and as clear as possible. Whether we win the competition in a week depends entirely on you! Chu!#

Seeing the rather cringe-worthy “Chu!” at the end, Yao Lele’s already not-so-great expression turned even worse.

But Xu Chuanzhi suddenly had an epiphany, “How did I not think of this! Brother Rong, this is a great idea. We couldn’t get the books here, but there are plenty outside!”

“Exactly! So why bother competing with them over this?”

“Forming an alliance is even more ridiculous. This show is a marathon, not a sprint. Being holed up in the library won’t help.”

“Right! Who doesn’t have a few brothers to back them up?” Yao Lele couldn’t help but laugh as she followed Rong Ziyin’s lead and posted under his thread, “To all my fellow students in the Landscape Architecture department, let’s go! We need those reference books scanned and uploaded ASAP. They want to bury us? Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen!”

Xu Chuanzhi thought for a moment and also chimed in, “That’s right! Science guys never back down. If you can find it, we can memorize it!”

They were all in!

For the honor of Agriculture University, and for their own pride!

They would fight against the odds, never retreat!

Meanwhile, back on the Agriculture University forum, the post had already sparked a huge wave of support.

The shady editing and malicious trending topics from the production team had already made many students suspicious. Now that Rong Ziyin had revealed the situation, everyone understood what was going on.

“Damn that trashy production team. I knew those bastards were up to no good!”

“Now that I think about it, maybe there was a script all along, but it wasn’t so obvious before. Now that the show is popular, they’re starting to pull these stunts.”

“Let’s not focus on cursing them out for now; we need to find the books first. It’s too dirty of them to only have one set of resources for the competition. It’s like they’re trying to push us into a corner!”

“Yeah, yeah, less ranting, more helping! Let’s get those books for our scholars!”

“They’re going to need forty books in a week; they’re clearly planning to go all out! We should be fighting alongside them!”

“Group trip to the Beijing City Library, type 1 to join!”

“1”

“1”

“11111”

One of the greatest strengths of the people of Huaguo is their sense of unity. No matter how chaotic things might get internally, when faced with an external threat, they can come together in an instant.

Within just five minutes, the forum post had gathered enough people to find the books. They even efficiently divided into groups, each person responsible for finding a specific book to avoid duplication. The goal was to upload the materials Rong Ziyin and his team needed to the forum as quickly as possible.

The following week was a blur of intense studying.

Even Rong Ziyin, who had pushed himself to the limit while working on papers before, drained the last ounce of his energy for this.

Aside from the necessary six hours of sleep each night, the three of them never took their eyes off the books, even while eating.

Xu Chuanzhi’s pace was much slower than Rong Ziyin’s and Yao Lele’s, but staying close to Rong Ziyin surprisingly kept him calm. He even felt that as long as Rong Ziyin was there, they would somehow manage to get through all forty books.

But in reality, Rong Ziyin was far from relaxed. He was busy highlighting key points.

Human energy is limited; it’s impossible to fully memorize forty books in just a week. The best strategy was for Rong Ziyin to read through everything once, then distill the key points and pass them on to Xu Chuanzhi and Yao Lele.

In the middle of the night, when Xu Chuanzhi and Yao Lele were fast asleep, Rong Ziyin quietly opened his eyes and resumed reading.

The system, concerned for his well-being, urged, “Host, you should rest a bit!”

It was worried sick, fearing that Rong Ziyin might push his body too hard.

But Rong Ziyin refused outright.

“We have to win this competition.”

“Why?”

“Because Xu Chuanzhi, if he faces off against that Environmental Science student, will definitely lose. That means Yao Lele and I must win.” Rong Ziyin understood perfectly well that he couldn’t match a real Humanities and Geography student in expertise, but when it came to memorizing books, he had never lost!

Meanwhile, on the Agriculture University forum, the “fear” that had once been instilled by Rong Ziyin’s relentless work on papers resurfaced.

After the first day, Rong Ziyin reported his progress: 7 books read.

Yao Lele: 5 books, Xu Chuanzhi: 3 books.

On the second day, Rong Ziyin: 12 books read.

Yao Lele: 10 books, Xu Chuanzhi: 7 books.

On the third day, Rong Ziyin: 20 books read.

Yao Lele: 15 books, Xu Chuanzhi: 11 books.

As they watched the constant progress updates, the students of Agriculture University found their anticipation growing by the minute.

“It feels like Rong Ziyin and Yao Lele will definitely finish. Hang in there, Xu Chuanzhi!”

“Don’t worry, he’s got this! Xu Chuanzhi, don’t give up! The entire Mechanical Engineering department is rooting for you!”

“Lele too. Make sure to eat well. If your stomach’s still not good, don’t push yourself too hard.”

Students from other departments shared the same concern, and the forum post filled with more and more words of encouragement and support, keeping it at the top of the forum homepage.

But when it came to support, the Veterinary Medicine department wasn’t to be outdone. In fact, their encouragement was even more practical.

In the Veterinary Medicine group chat, they directly @mentioned Rong Ziyin: “Scholar! When you return victorious, we’ll each buy a case of salted duck eggs and clear out your entire stock!”

The system couldn’t help but chuckle when it saw the @mention.

Rong Ziyin, seizing the opportunity, replied, “Just salted duck eggs? If the salted fish are left in the warehouse, they’ll get lonely! Fish crying emoji.jpg”

Veterinary Medicine students: … Fine, fine, we’ll buy the salted fish too. Please just go back to studying and stop sending emojis.

And so, the day before the competition finally arrived. At midnight, Xu Chuanzhi logged onto the forum and posted, “We’ve finished memorizing all forty books. Wish us luck!”

Rong Ziyin: “Agriculture University will win!”

“Agriculture University will win!”

“Agriculture University will win!”

Everyone in the forum echoed the same words, sharing the same determination as Rong Ziyin and his team.

The moment to defend their honor was close at hand.

The next morning, Xu Chuanzhi and Yao Lele stood promptly outside Rong Ziyin’s door. After breakfast at the cafeteria, they would head to the battlefield.

“Nervous?” Xu Chuanzhi asked Yao Lele beside him.

“Not really—” Yao Lele began to reply, but was interrupted by the sound of Rong Ziyin’s door opening.

Rong Ziyin stepped out, wearing his Veterinary Medicine uniform with a white lab coat over it. The sight of the clashing colors immediately snapped Yao Lele out of any remaining nervousness as she reached out and pushed Rong Ziyin back into his room.

“Please, change out of that shirt and we can still be friends.”

Rong Ziyin, “But after wearing it for a while, it’s actually quite comfortable.”

Xu Chuanzhi, “No, it’s not comfortable!”

Damn, he absolutely did not want to stand next to someone dressed in red and green. Even if they won, standing on the podium in that outfit would be utterly embarrassing!

So, under the strong protests of his teammates, Rong Ziyin swapped out the Veterinary Medicine uniform for regular clothes.

When they arrived at the live broadcast venue, they discovered that each team had its own uniform. Their own uniform was quite cute: short sleeves in the colors of Agriculture University’s emblem, with chibi versions of their department’s symbols printed on the chest.

The Mechanical Engineering department’s emblem featured a little figure working with pincers in front of a lathe, while Rong Ziyin’s had a small sheep nestled in his arms with a milk goose on his head, representing the Veterinary Medicine department.

The emblem for the Landscape Architecture department, represented by Yao Lele, was… someone pulling up a tree by hand?

Yao Lele instinctively turned her gaze toward Rong Ziyin.

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝