You Seem Delicious
Chapter 37: Boarding the Ship
Following the reporting of the grades, the noisy speaker fell silent for a long time.
It probably fainted from anger because of Qin Jiu.
You Huo looked at the LCD screen and suddenly spoke up, “Which retard calculated this?”
The speaker: “………..”
Everyone stopped. They turned to look at him.
“What’s wrong?”
For a moment, no one understood what he meant.
You Huo turned to Shu Xue: “According to your card, you only took one test and the total score was 12 points.”
Shu Xue nodded and quietly made a sound of agreement.
“I don’t know what people would normally get in an exam but if I remembered correctly, the average score for Gypsy was only 5. Even if the exam taken by other examinees was a bit easier how could 12 points give you a C grade?” You Huo said: “Who are you trying to cheat?”
The speakers continued to play dead.
It was clear that the system didn’t want to answer this question of his but because You Huo’s words were filled with scorn, the system finally refreshed the contents on the LCD screen:
Examinee Chen Bin completed a total of three exams; Mathematics, Chinese, and Foreign Language. With a total score of 22, he ranks amongst the top 49th percentile so his grade is B. This calculation is correct.
Examinee Yu Wen, Yu Yi Guo and Mike Rogen have completed a total of two exams; Physics and Foreign Language. With a total score of 30.5, 31 and 31 respectively, they are ranked amongst the top 2% of the examinees so their grade is A. This calculation is correct.
Examinee You Huo completed a total of two exams; Physics and Foreign Language. With a total score of 22.25, he is ranked amongst the top 11th percentile so his grade is B. This calculation is correct.
Examinee Shu Xue has completed a total of one exam; Foreign Language. She has a total score of 12. During the calculation process, the system detected some abnormalities. In order to prevent cheating and other rule violations, and to maintain fairness, the score was halved. With a score of 6, she is ranked amongst the top 52th percentile, so her grade is C. This calculation is correct.
Invigilator Qin Jiu’s scores were calculated in accordance to examinee You Huo’s results and is considered to have taken two exams. With a total score of 0, he is last amongst the examinees and is given a grade of D. This calculation is correct.
Qin Jiu: “………….”
Despite the fact that the system could just word using percentiles, it went out of its way to emphasise the fact that he was last.
As soon as these results appeared on the screen, Shu Xue’s expression paled.
No one knew what to say to comfort her.
To be honest, just the fact that she was able to enter and leave exams freely for such a long time was already an amazing feat.
How could a savvy system like this tolerate the existence of a bug like her?
You Huo even suspected that this sudden exam reformation was done by the system in order to give itself an excuse to justify its act of giving her a C ranking and forcing her to retake the exam. Like this she would be forever trapped inside the same exam with no chance of escaping.
In other words, it was trying to imprison her.
Before he could return from his thoughts, Qin Jiu suddenly spoke up.
“Okay then, give us the punishment.” He leaned against his suitcase handle and directed his words at the pavilion: “One grade C and one grade D. What was the punishment again——–”
“——Ah, I remember now.” He acted as if he just remembered. He pointed at Shu Xue and said: “This young lady needs to retake her last exam. The last exam centre was Gypsy. Send her over.”
Speaker: “…………..”
Shu Xue was stunned. Everyone else was suddenly overjoyed.
That’s right! That exam centre was already destroyed. How could she retake that exam?!
As if his words of mockery weren’t enough, Qin Jiu continued: “As for me being eliminated, I don’t mind. I can just go back.”
Speaker: “………….”
If the system was human, it would have probably gone mad right then and there.
It had dragged this 001 over for punishment, yet he would be eliminated before he could even enter the exam centre? Who are you kidding?
The speaker suddenly crackled. From amidst the crackling sounds, a voice could be heard:
【Due to abnormalities in the data and the exam room malfunctioning, the original punishments assigned to examinees cannot be implemented. Examinees are to participate in the next exam normally however five points will be deducted. The final scores will be as displayed.】
The LCD screen refreshed, and new contents appeared less than a second later.
Examinee Shu Xue: Total score after entering the next exam, 1 point.
Invigilator Qin Jiu: Total score after entering the next exam, -5 points.
Shu Xue was relieved. Qin Jiu on the other hand………
Qin Jiu: “……………”
After those two lines appeared, another four words slowly appeared at the bottom of the LCD screen.
Please do your best!
Best your father.
After appeasing all the examinees, the speaker finally spoke about the main point.
【Except for invigilator 001 who is being punished, examinees have the right to choose their subjects and can decide the order in which they wish to complete the exams.】
【Please make your selection within the next 30 seconds.】
Ticking sounds could be then be heard. Each tick correlated with a second. It made the people tense up.
“Which one?” Old Yu swallowed nervously: “But……even if we choose the same subject, it’s not guaranteed that we would end up in the same exam centre, right?”
As an invigilator, Qin Jiu naturally had a lot of experience with this.
“There are many factors considered including scores, the time the subject selection was made, the difficulty of the previous exam, how many times you’ve teamed up………In a nutshell, it depends on your fate.”
“We’ll leave it up to fate. Let’s choose one first.” Yu Wen said.
Chen Bin said: “I have already done Mathematics and Chinese…… I suggest you not to choose those. Look at my scores. The total scores from both those exams only add up to 10 points.”
In fact, he didn’t need to voice out those warnings. No one present wanted to choose Mathematics.
They could instinctively tell that it would be quite troublesome.
“Then History?” Yu Wen said.
All the people present including Chen Bin had not taken that exam. At the very least, it meant that they wouldn’t leave behind anyone and secondly……….it sounded simpler.
“Will History just throw us into a certain dynasty and force us to participate in some historical event?” Yu Wen fiddled with his fingers and said: “As long as it isn’t something life-threatening, it should be fine. Regardless of our age, I think we should all more or less know some historical things. At the very least, we wouldn’t be moving around blindly.”
You Huo asked: “How much do you remember?”
Yu Wen scratched his head: “…….Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing I guess?” (KKnotes: Yu Wen here is just naming the different Chinese dynasties. Chinese students tend to memorise the dynasties in order using mnemonics like this.)
“That’s all?”
“That’s already a lot my dear brother! It’s all very important.” Yu Wen said, “I thought about it while I was studying and I decided that it was more effective just knowing the main points……….but I also haven’t forgotten about the rest. I still remember them a little. As long as you don’t ask me what year it was, and who did what in what year, I can muddle my way through most questions.”
The ticking sounds got louder and louder. Each tick reminded them of the fact that time was running out.
“Let’s go.” You Huo patted the screen and turned to look at Qin Jiu: “And you?”
Qin Jiu raised his eyebrow: “Do I even have a choice?”
He then followed that with a smile: “Up to you. I have long become desensitised towards subject selection.”
Everyone present was speechless.
But after thinking about it, they realised that it made sense. As an invigilator, what subjects has he not seen? As for which is easier and which is more difficult, it probably no longer meant anything to him.
Everyone made use of the last few seconds remaining and managed to enter the intersection marked “History”.
You Huo walked through the dense fog.
Milky white fog spread apart before his eyes, revealing the scene behind the intersection.
It was a dock.
Actually, calling it a dock was giving it too much credit. To be more specific, it was a stone platform of about seven or eight square metres. There were low metal railings on both sides of the platform and the stone platform pointed ahead……..into an endless expanse of sea.
A wooden ship was docked there. From a tall mast, it hung……….a kerosene lamp?
You Huo stared at the lamp and the ship strangely. He had a bad feeling.
An old man wearing a grey shirt and black vest was rolling up his sleeves. He threw a ball of something off.
You Huo looked down. It was a long rope ladder.
The rope was soaked. It exuded a sour smell that it had accumulated over the past 800 years.
“……………”
The old man stood by the side of the ship with his hands on his waist. He tore open the ropes binding the sails and then beckoned at You Huo: “Come up. Stop wasting time you two. I’m in a hurry here.”
You two?
When You Huo thought this, he heard the rolling of suitcase wheels stop beside him.
“Tsk.” Qin Jiu glanced up. His dissatisfaction was evident: “I’m most tired of examinations on ships.”
You Huo responded: “I tired of examinations regardless of where it is.”
The old man urged them again: “Hurry!”
You Huo said: “Wait a little longer.”
The old man said: “What are you waiting for?! There’s no one else, just you two. I’m in a hurry here. Hurry up!”
You Huo stalled for a moment.
Qin Jiu quietly let out an ‘ah’ and said: “Looks like their luck is bad this time and didn’t get assorted to the same group as us.”
Not in the same group?
Then what would happen?
You Huo thought of the others………His brows furrowed.
Under the old man’s urging, You Huo and Qin Jiu boarded the wooden ship one after another.
The dirty sail changed its position slightly and the ship soon left the stone platform.
By the time You Huo reached the deck, the stone platform had already become submerged inside the dense fog. Not a trace was left behind.
All that was left was the wooden ship, sailing solitarily on the sea.
The next second, jingles suddenly began to play.
You Huo followed the sound and found its source. On a wooden box next to the old man was a small inconspicuous music box. It looked like a semi-finished product.
After the music box’s strange music ended, the system’s familiar sound appeared:
【Examinees have boarded their ships. Navigating to examination centre.】
【In thirty minutes, the exam will officially begin.】
【Subject examined: History.】
【Knowledge tested: World history, Sea Coachmen.】
【All examinees please prepare yourselves.】
You Huo: “……………”
What happened to the agreed Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing?
KK has something to say:
I searched around a little regarding “Sea Coachmen” and it looks like it’s a name the Chinese gave to the period where the Dutch was a maritime and ocean trading superpower in the 17th century.
