Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 26：This Is Manipulating Scores

The next day!
Lingzhou City, in an upscale neighborhood.
"Dad, I'm going to pick up my admission letter from school!" a girl said cheerfully.
"Xiao Xi, let me drive you there," the middle-aged man said, his voice full of affection.
"Oh, Dad, I'm already 18 and I can go on my own. The school is so close, I'll be there in no time."
The girl hurriedly refused, though her mind was elsewhere.
"Alright, but remember to take an umbrella to shield yourself from the sun!" the middle-aged man reminded.
"I know, Dad!"
She nodded in response but didn't bother picking up the umbrella hanging by the door. Instead, she grinned and hurried out.
With her hair tied in a ponytail, two pretty butterfly clips adorning her hair, she walked with a bounce, the clips fluttering like two butterflies dancing on her head.
"La la la..."
The girl hummed a tune as she skipped along the road, clearly in high spirits.
The sky was exceptionally clear, with a few fluffy white clouds lazily drifting across the vast blue expanse, offering an indescribable sense of peace.
Soon, the girl arrived at Happy Community, where she made her way swiftly to Building No. 3.
"I wonder if that guy is up yet?"
She muttered to herself as she ascended the stairs.
Arriving at the door, she smoothed out the hem of her light blue dress, then checked her subtle makeup in her phone before tapping on the door.
It opened quickly.
A middle-aged woman appeared at the door and, upon seeing the girl, beamed with joy.
"Ruoxi, you've come! Come in, come in!"
Chu Ruoxi entered the living room, smiling brightly.
"Auntie, where's Jiang Fan?"
Li Guiqin retrieved some fruit from the fridge and replied, "Xiao Fan went to Kyoto, didn't he tell you?"
"Kyoto?"
Chu Ruoxi looked puzzled.
Li Guiqin then explained everything about Jiang Fan's recent achievements—his discovery of the solar photovoltaic material—and Chu Ruoxi's confusion was instantly cleared.
She remembered the events from yesterday and everything fell into place.
Upon learning that Jiang Fan had been accepted by several top universities, Chu Ruoxi couldn't contain her happiness for him.
Just yesterday, she had been disappointed by his low score of 300 in the college entrance exams, but today, he had already been accepted by multiple prestigious institutions.
When she heard that one of those schools was Huaqing University, she was immediately thrilled.
If Jiang Fan chose Huaqing University, they could be classmates!
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but chuckle with delight.
"By the way, Ruoxi, I heard from Xiao Fan that you did quite well in your exams. Which school did you get into?" Li Guiqin asked.
"Auntie, I applied to Huaqing University! I'm just about to go pick up my admission letter!"
"Huaqing University? Oh, Ruoxi, you really are something! Not only are you beautiful, but you're also so talented. It seems like you and Xiao Fan might even be classmates in the future!"
Li Guiqin grew more fond of Chu Ruoxi the longer she looked at her. The girl's cheerful, lively personality and her angelic appearance made her think that if Ruoxi could be her son's girlfriend, she would be absolutely delighted.
After chatting with Li Guiqin for about half an hour, Chu Ruoxi asked for Jiang Fan's contact details before bidding her goodbye and heading to the school to collect her admission letter.
Though she hadn't seen Jiang Fan, she wasn't too disappointed, for the thought of possibly attending the same school as him made her incredibly happy.
A gentle breeze caressed her face like a tender touch from her mother, offering an unparalleled sense of comfort.
The little birds chirped merrily on the trees along the roadside.
Unable to resist, Chu Ruoxi twirled, pulling at her dress as she danced gracefully like a princess.
The school was not far from Jiang Fan's home, and she soon arrived at Lingzhou High School.
Rather than heading to the reception to pick up her admission letter, she went straight to the principal's office on the third floor.
At prestigious schools, the admission letters were delivered to the principal's office to avoid any risk of them being lost in the reception.
Arriving at the door of the principal's office, she was about to knock when she overheard a conversation inside.
"Teacher Wang, how could you not notice that Jiang Fan is such an incredible genius?"
Teacher Wang, looking somewhat aggrieved, replied, "Principal Ma, you know how intense the senior year curriculum is—small tests every three days, major exams every ten days. I can't focus on just one student all the time!"
Principal Ma slammed the desk, his voice raised, "Don't give me that excuse! I don't believe that you didn't notice that every single time Jiang Fan took the exams, his total score was always 300. You didn't even realize that?"
"He's been controlling his score! Do you understand what that means?"
"Tell me, in all of Lingzhou, is there any other student who can consistently control his score to exactly 300, every subject—Chinese 60, Math 60, English 60, and the comprehensive subject 120..."
Controlling the score?
Chu Ruoxi's heart skipped a beat as she overheard Principal Ma's words. She thought back to Jiang Fan's past exam scores—yes, they always seemed to total exactly 300.
Could it be that Jiang Fan was actually controlling his scores?
If that was the case, how terrifying his abilities must be!
To consistently achieve the exact same score of 300 in every exam, not one point more, not one point less. Such precision in score control was incredibly difficult.
First, you'd need to master all the knowledge taught in high school, knowing precisely which questions to get right and which to get wrong—and exactly how many points each answer would earn.
Even high school teachers wouldn't dare to claim they could control the score in their own subjects with such accuracy.
Yet Jiang Fan was doing it across all subjects. Nine times, no less!
The thought chilled Chu Ruoxi to the core.
It turned out that Jiang Fan had always been an undiscovered academic genius!
With that realization, she couldn't help but laugh. She thought of all those classmates who had mocked Jiang Fan as a fool. They were the true fools, after all.
...
At the National Science and Technology Bureau of Longguo,
Zhou Huaide sat with his head down, listening to a stern lecture from a middle-aged man with a square face.
"Zhou Huaide, 10 billion? Ten billion! How dare you ask for such a sum? Do you think our Longguo finances grow on trees?"
"The controlled nuclear fusion project is about to be discontinued, and you suddenly ask for 10 billion in funding?"
"In the past ten years, this project has already cost the country over 30 billion! And what results have you achieved as the chief commander?"
"You want 10 billion more? Get the hell out of here! Tomorrow, shut down the controlled nuclear fusion project!"
Zhou Huaide quietly endured the scolding. He didn't argue back because, in truth, he hadn't produced any significant results in the past decade.
Only after the leader had vented his anger did Zhou Huaide slowly speak.
"Sir, these are the signatures of top scientists from various fields in Longguo. They believe that Jiang Fan's research on controlled nuclear fusion is feasible..."