FI CH55: Grand President

The two pieces of paper had identical answers.

Not even a single punctuation mark was different.

The masked face seemed stunned into silence.

The girl also stared blankly for a few seconds, then her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed with some pleasant surprise, “It’s a perfect score!”

“Waaahhhhhh…!!”

The score reversed from 0, and the surroundings couldn’t help but erupt in excited shouts! Bai Jiang and Tang Yin’s were the loudest. Hao Niubai yelled directly from the sidelines, “Ahhhh Lin Kun! You’re being naughty again!!”

He Zhenling didn’t speak, but the corner of his mouth curved up.

Others also chimed in, “I knew it! How could Lin Kun get it all wrong!”

“The organizers might mess up, but Lin Kun would never!”

Lin Su held the answer sheet and smiled at the staff member. “Sigh, I was just joking. You didn’t take it seriously, did you? She said it’s a perfect score. Aren’t you going to record it?”

The hand holding the pen trembled.

Tang Yin urged, “His answer was also written down beforehand. You’re not going to deny it, are you?”

“…How could I.”

The staff member froze for two seconds, then bit the bullet and marked it down, forcing a smile. “Mr. Lin Kun, perfect score.”

Lin Su said cheerfully, “Well-deserved.”

“…”

He nodded at the girl and went down.

He returned to He Zhenling’s side.

A glance came from the side, and a low voice asked, “Your father-king wrote it?”

Lin Su corrected dotingly, “It’s our father-king.” He met He Zhenling’s focused gaze and added, “I dictated, he wrote, accurate to every punctuation mark.”

Xuenima stood proudly on top of his head.

As he was speaking, Hao Niubai surged over.

“Hehe, excuse me, excuse me…”

She glanced at He Zhenling, then pulled Lin Su aside, secretly agitated. “Well, you! You made our hearts hang for a second. When I asked you for your prediction earlier, you didn’t say anything. Turns out it was for such a dramatic rise and fall!”

Lin Su said, “Exciting, isn’t it~”

“Super exciting! …Hey, but why did you say the wrong one first?”

He smiled but didn’t answer. “You’ll know later.”

“Huh???”

Hao Niubai retreated again, lost in a fog.

After she left, He Zhenling gave him a knowing glance. “Having fun?”

Lin Su was in high spirits, hands in his sleeves. “Of course. This is how a vacation should be enjoyed~ There’s food and lodging. Wouldn’t it be a loss not to have a grand finale before it ends?”

He Zhenling let out a scoffing laugh, took his hand off his Tang-style saber, and let him be.

Lin Su looked straight ahead. …Nima, he’s doting on me again.

[Hehe, you were just calling me father-king.]

“=v=”

…

This round of competition ended quickly.

The staff at the front were recalculating the ranking changes. The volunteers left in twos and threes.

Lin Su glanced over and followed them.

It wasn’t until he was a certain distance from the hotel that he called out to the figure ahead. “Miss.”

The girl in the floral jacket was startled and turned around.

“Eh? Ah… it’s you.”

Lin Su walked up. Seeing her look of unease mixed with a desire to speak, he said, “Actually, the story I told before had some discrepancies.”

He paused, then said, “You did indeed pick up a black cat when you were 8 years old, but you didn’t dream for a month. You only dreamed of your grandmother on the night you brought it back. Your family also didn’t send the cat away; it left on its own the next day, right?”

The girl’s eyes widened. After a long moment, she said, “…Yes.”

Then she said, “Because this memory is a bit blurry for me, and I didn’t know if it was a coincidence… so I didn’t consider it a supernatural event.”

She looked up, with a hint of hope. “Was it really my grandma?”

Lin Su was silent for a moment, then said softly, “The deceased sometimes attach themselves to living beings to visit their relatives in the mortal world.”

The girl’s eyes instantly welled up. “…Is that so.”

“Thank you.”

She rubbed her eyes, hesitated for two seconds, then fumbled in her pocket and took out a slip of paper. “Um, I have something to say. Actually, the organizers prepared two answers for us at the beginning and told us to pull one out based on their instructions. One clap means take out the correct answer, any other instruction means take out the wrong one…”

“I-I don’t think this is right. Here, take this. They told us not to say anything. At worst, I’ll just return the 50 yuan to them!”

Xuenima exclaimed in amazement: [They only gave them 50 yuan!]

Lin Su pinched it. The villagers are simple. 50 yuan is enough to get them to cooperate and “act” for a bit.

As he spoke, he took out his phone. “You hold on to that for a moment, let me get some evidence. You don’t need to return the 50 yuan. It’s the remuneration you deserve.”

The girl held up the answer slip and asked timidly, “Will they hold me accountable for this later?”

Lin Su just smiled. “Don’t worry, they won’t have the chance to find you.”

After returning, the crowd had already dispersed.

The staff had also left the hotel.

Hao Niubai saw him at a glance and ran over. “Hey! Lin Kun, where did you go? You didn’t even come to see the ranking announcement just now. You’re second again now.”

Lin Su nodded, not surprised.

Hao Niubai added, “By the way, they also announced tomorrow’s final competition. It starts at 10 AM tomorrow, and the content is: Exorcism.”

Lin Su’s eyebrow raised. Oh… the dagger is revealed.

“How are the points calculated?”

“They said there’s no elimination. Exorcising one ghost gets 50 points. If done together, the points are split evenly.”

Lin Su asked, “Do the ones that Xiao He and Bai… Bai Kang exorcised before count?”

Hao Niubai immediately said cheerfully, “They said Mr. He’s was factored into the difficulty coefficient, but Bai Kang’s counts! They’re finally acting human.”

Lin Su made a rough estimate. “…That’s a pretty precise calculation.”

Hao Niubai: ?

He changed the subject. “Nothing, I’m going to eat.”

Arriving at the restaurant, Lin Su looked around.

He saw He Zhenling was actually sitting with Bai Jiang. He Zhenling had gotten his food and placed it on the table without touching it. Bai Jiang, on the other hand, turned his head sharply, his eyes bright.

“Old… Brother Kun!” 0▽0

He walked over. “Are you guys eating together?”

He looked at He Zhenling with confusion. Especially He Zhenling; he could have just taken his food back to his room. Why was he still sitting here? It couldn’t be… he was waiting for Bai Jiang to eat?

Lin Su was momentarily shocked.

He Zhenling met his gaze, and his brow twitched! He pushed his chair out with a long leg. “I saved you a seat.”

Lin Su: …

Ah, so he was waiting for him.

He sat down shyly. “What were you guys talking about?”

Bai Jiang said cheerfully, “We were talking about what Brother-Teacher was like when he was 17.”

Xuenima climbed up: [Which of your 17s are they talking about?]

“…” Lin Su pushed it down and said gently, “Is that so.”

He Zhenling gave a half-smile, his voice muffled under the mask. “Yes, I didn’t expect our Mr. Lin Kun to have such a teacherly side.”

Lin Su was frank. “You just don’t think enough.”

“Heh, perhaps.”

Now that the main character of the topic had arrived, they stopped talking about old times. They chatted a bit about tomorrow’s event, and Lin Su suddenly took a sip of tea and said to Bai Jiang:

“By the way, Xiao Bai, you don’t need to bring me breakfast tomorrow morning.”

Bai Jiang was visibly dejected. “Ah, why?” He said, then his gaze shifted to stare gloomily at He Zhenling. “Is it because I’m disturbing you two?”

He Zhenling: “…”

Lin Su said magnanimously, “It’s not that. You should focus on the competition tomorrow. Exorcism has a certain risk. With you watching over things, I’ll be at ease.”

Bai Jiang instantly brightened. “I see! Okay, Teacher-Master~*”

Lin Su and Xuenima paused at the same time. Xuenima: [That sounds like ‘old master’ when you say it out loud…]

“Sounds like a locksmith…”

After Bai Jiang finished, he realized something. “Is Teacher-Master not going?”

Lin Su put down his teacup. “I have other plans.”

…

Tomorrow was the last competition.

Exorcism was a hard skill. Tonight, no one played cards anymore; they all went back to rest early.

Lin Su slept until the next day.

He got up and checked the time: 9:50.

Xuenima: [I thought you weren’t planning to participate in this competition?]

Lin Su got up and put on his mask. “I just want to verify something.” He walked to the door, pressed the handle, and pushed. Click. The door was locked from the outside.

“…As expected.”

Xuenima instantly bared its teeth: [They dare to openly lock your door! ●`皿’●]

Lin Su said, “If I’m not mistaken, Yu Yixun will also be staying in his room today and not participating. The point difference between him and the others is too large. Even if he does nothing, he can maintain first place.”

He smiled. “But because I ‘unexpectedly’ got a perfect score yesterday, the gap between us is now less than 30 points. Just in case, they have to make me absent as well.”

[Then what are you going to do? Didn’t you not want to participate anyway?]

“Although I didn’t plan to participate, being locked in by them is also very annoying…”

As Lin Su spoke, a faint gold floated in his eyes. He pressed his wrist down—

Click. The door lock opened with a sound.

He casually withdrew his hand. “I really am a locksmith.”

“Let’s go, let’s go scare them.”

Lin Su pushed the door open and sauntered out. He walked straight through the long corridor, then stopped under the surveillance camera in front of the elevator, looked up, and gave a meaningful smile into it.

At the same time, in the room behind the camera, a chair toppled over with a “clang!”

“—!”

Lin Su retracted his gaze and went to He Zhenling’s room with a small yawn.

Xuenima said sinisterly: [Hehe… breaking a sweat now, are we?]

Arriving at the door, he knocked twice.

A few seconds later, the door opened as expected. He Zhenling stood at the entrance, his eyebrow raised as he stepped aside to let him in.

Click. The door closed.

Lin Su expertly collapsed onto the sofa. “You didn’t participate either.”

He Zhenling poured a cup of tea. “Neither did you.”

“Score control. And to give others a sense of participation.” Lin Su curled up. “With Xiao Bai watching, it’s a good training opportunity for them.”

He Zhenling sat down and nodded. “What are your points now?”

“About 26 points away from first. Those 4 points were the fractions I saved up from the second round’s point coefficient. What about you?”

“56 points away.”

Lin Su was content. “Mm, that’s just right. This little fraction is quite crucial.” He savored the score and said, “Many monks, but little congee. Being able to exorcise a single ghost alone today is already the limit.”

“No wonder the organizers didn’t lock you, only me.”

He Zhenling looked up. “…You were locked in?”

“Yes, I was almost imprisoned.” Lin Su said regretfully. “Something we haven’t even experienced yet…”

“…” He Zhenling cut him off with a scoff. “Haven’t you experienced it in the door to my heart?”

Lin Su paused, then took a strategic sip of tea. “Gulp. The experience wasn’t deep enough.”

The competition lasted the whole day.

The energy fluctuations from downstairs could be clearly felt even upstairs.

As evening approached, Lin Su was lying on the sofa, eating the food he had brought back last night.

“Looks like they’ve basically finished the exorcisms, except for that powerful ghost on the 7th floor.”

With the combined efforts of everyone, the building had become much cleaner. In their line of work, “exorcism” helps not people, but ghosts. It could be considered a good deed, accumulating good karma.

As for the organizers who wanted to bask in this glory, it remained to be seen if they had the good fortune for it.

He Zhenling was flipping through a book on the side. “That powerful ghost on the 7th floor… fell from a high place during the construction of the building, was pierced by steel bars, and fell into wet cement. Her body has been sealed in this hotel for 15 years. Her resentment can’t be resolved in just one or two attempts.”

Lin Su said, “We can leave that to Xiao Bai later.”

A “mm” came from beside him.

The energy fluctuations from downstairs gradually subsided.

He patted the bread crumbs off his hands and stood up. “Let’s go. Time to go down and welcome the final ranking.”

…

Downstairs, everyone was gathered in the lobby.

They all carried their magical instruments and bags, looking as if they had just been through an exhilarating, chaotic battle.

Lin Su and He Zhenling came down together.

A barrage of gazes immediately turned to them. Tang Yin couldn’t hold it in. “Why weren’t you two here today!”

Lin Su said calmly, “Our doors were locked.”

“What!?”

Exclamations erupted all around. “You were locked in? Who did it? Was it—”

All eyes simultaneously fell on Yu Yixun, who had just arrived.

Yu Yixun was met with a baptism of stares as soon as he arrived. A trace of panic flashed across his face, and he hurriedly defended himself. “I… I wasn’t here either, I was locked in too!”

The crowd looked at him suspiciously for a couple of seconds before provisionally retracting their gazes.

Soon, the staff member came.

The pure white smiling mask stood at the front, holding the final scorebook.

“Everyone, we have seen the competition situation through the surveillance. Now…”

“Wait a minute!”

Tang Yin interrupted him. “Lin Kun said they were locked in their rooms. Was it you guys who did it?”

Everyone: “…”

Staff member: “…”

The staff member paused, then smiled. “We did no such thing. If you don’t believe us, you can check the surveillance. Since this hotel is haunted… maybe a ghost did it?”

Tang Yin was at a loss for words for a moment, then snorted. “You’d better hope I don’t find out you’re pulling any tricks!”

“…Of course.”

The staff member glanced in Lin Su’s direction. Seeing that the person had nothing to say, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although they had messed with the lock… Lin Su didn’t go to participate in the competition after opening the door either. Maybe he couldn’t perform exorcisms in the first place and was just using this as an excuse to hide.

He continued, “In that case, I will now announce the final rankings.”

Lin Su stood to the side, waiting with anticipation.

The person at the front opened the scorebook. “We will announce from the last place forward.”

A “tsk” sound came from the crowd.

Hao Niubai glanced over. “Still trying to build suspense.”

“Last place, Mr. Bai Kang: 250 points.”

Bai Jiang: 0`△’0 Ah!

He secretly moved closer to Lin Su and whispered aggrievedly, “I’ve never gotten such a low rank before.”

Lin Su comforted him, “Although you’re last, you’ll get to stand in the same place as the first-place winner during the award ceremony.”

“…Eh? I guess so.” 0▽0

At the front, the ranking announcement continued.

There weren’t many participants left. Soon they reached the top five. “Fourth place, Mr. He Daniao: 490 points.”

“Third place, Mr. Yan Guanyue: 494 points.”

The staff member paused after reading this far.

All eyes on the floor fell on the only two who hadn’t been announced. But even without the announcement, based on the total scores from the previous round, it was obvious—

Sure enough, the next moment they heard:

“Second place, Mr. Lin Kun: 520 points.”

“First place, Mr. Yu Yixun: 546 points.” The masked face lifted in a smile. “Let us congratulate Mr. Yu Yixun for winning the final victory in this event!”

Yu Yixun walked forward triumphantly and surveyed the crowd. When his gaze swept over Lin Su, he deliberately paused.

“Sigh~ 26 points is not an easy gap to close.”

Lin Su smiled faintly. “Is that so?”

Yu Yixun frowned. Before he could say anything more, a voice came from the side:

“I disagree!”

Everyone turned to see Bai Jiang standing there in his snow-white robes, looking dashing. He frowned, speaking seriously, “Bro… Brother Lin Kun’s written test score should be 100 points!”

The staff member’s mouth twitched. “Mr. Bai Kang, please don’t be unreasonable. The test paper was personally graded by the Grand President. If you have any objections, please take it up with the Grand President.”

After he finished, he heard a resounding:

“Okay.”

“?”

Bai Jiang took a few steps forward and took off the bundle on his back. Everyone had thought it was some kind of magical instrument, but now as the cloth fell away, a picture frame was revealed.

The golden frame shimmered, and under the tempered glass was a clean and complete test paper.

The test-taker was Lin Kun.

The paper was covered with annotations, large and small. Under each annotation was a signature, accompanied by a private seal and an official seal, stamped all over the place, wherever there was a gap.

Everyone was stunned into silence! Their gazes fell again, and they saw at the top:

Grand President of the Tianshi Association, Bai Jiang.

Bai Jiang slammed the frame onto the table with a “clang.” “This President personally graded it. Mr. Lin Kun gets 100 points!”

__

Author’s Note:

Bai Jiang: 0`n’0 Brother-Teacher gets 100 points! 100 points!

Su: First place, easy-peasy.

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