147: Top scorer in the college entrance examination

The results of the practical assessment were released in the evening.

The score was slightly higher than he had expected, reaching 586 points.

The entire farm erupted in cheers, and Bai Sitong had already taken out a calculator to tally Lin Chen's total score.

"Culture score 826 points, Beast Tamer and spirit beast levels 700 points each, spirit beast knowledge 299 points, practical assessment 586 plus 480 equals 1066 points, total score 791.4 points."

"This hasn't even factored in the bonus points for being a Breeder, which adds 20 points to the fixed College Entrance Examination total score. That makes it 811.4 points! We're safe, we're safe! Ah!!!!"

Bai Sitong rapidly pressed the calculator, figured out Lin Chen's total score, and finally jumped up, screaming with excitement.

"Ah!!! Old Bai! Our family is going to have a top scholar of the college entrance examination! 811.4 points—that score would have made him the top scholar of the college entrance examination in previous years too!"

Teacher grabbed Bai Chunhua's arm and shook him repeatedly, shouting excitedly, and even the Mountain Guard Dog, Angelica, and Morning Dew were infected by everyone's emotions and started running around the living room.

"I know, I know. Xiao Chen's score is truly unprecedented! I remember the highest score ever was only 806.3 points, right? And that was achieved by a Girl three years ago?"

Bai Chunhua also looked delighted, speaking with slight excitement as he looked at Lin Chen's score.

"I remember that Girl. She ended up going to the Huaxia War College, right? She looked so frail, yet she went to a school full of war maniacs? You really can't judge a book by its cover!"

"But our Xiao Chen is even more amazing, the best in history, hmph! I'd like to see who can snatch my grandson's title of top scholar of the college entrance examination now?"

Saying this, Teacher stood up, placed one hand on her hip and pointed the other toward the sky, radiating boundless confidence.

Despite being over a hundred years old, she seemed even more childlike than Bai Sitong.

"No, this is such a joyous day, we must celebrate everywhere! I'm going to get the spirit beasts on the farm an extra midnight snack!"

Bai Chunhua stood up and walked toward the outside of the villa. Teacher's eyes lit up, and she immediately ran toward the kitchen.

"That makes sense, wait for me! I'll go to the kitchen to make something delicious for the little ones, and prepare a midnight snack for Xiao Chen too!"

"Grandmother! I'm not hungry..." Lin Chen raised his hand, but he couldn't catch up to his Grandmother's steps; she had already disappeared.

He lay back on the sofa with a helpless look, just in time to see Bai Sitong sending messages on her communicator. Given her excitement, her entire circle of friends probably knew by now, right?

Lin Chen curled his lips. It wasn't that he wasn't excited or happy; he just felt that his own level of excitement seemed to be slightly less than that of his family members.

After six years of hard work, the moment the results came out brought him a brief moment of excitement, but mostly it was a sense of relief.

Getting up and lighting an incense stick, Lin Chen walked over to his grandparents' portraits and placed the stick in the censer.

"Grandpa and Grandma, the College Entrance Examination is over. The results are very good. I'll most likely be this year's top scholar of the college entrance examination, right?"

"So you don't need to worry. Have a good reincarnation. Maybe in a few decades, you can even become my friends."

"I'm a Beast Tamer with boundless prospects; I can live for many, many years. When that time comes, I'll show you the way and lead you to become powerful Beast Tamers together."

"Also, I will keep running the farm. I'll wait here for Mom and Dad to come back. Since they are so powerful, nothing bad will happen to them. Don't worry about them!"

"..."

After rambling on for a while, Lin Chen didn't dwell on his emotions for too long; Bai Sitong had already put down her phone and walked over to his side.

"Don't be sad. Your grandparents would definitely be very happy to see your scores!" Hooking her arm around his shoulder, Bai Sitong offered rare, earnest comfort.

"Mhm!" Lin Chen nodded. "I'm not sad. I was just telling them the good news!"

"It's fine! Let's go see what delicious things Grandmother is making!"

Grinning, he led Bai Sitong and sneaked into the kitchen to steal some food.

After an exciting night, the national rankings were finally announced the next day.

As expected, Lin Chen secured the title of national top scholar of the college entrance examination, while the second-place finisher, Qin Kaige, settled for second with 806 points.

He even surpassed the score of the Girl from three years ago, leading Teacher to mock the situation at home for quite a while. One could imagine how furious the people in the Imperial Capital must be.

Teacher even specifically paid attention to the news coming out of the Imperial Capital, where many criticisms of educational reform appeared, particularly regarding the weighted bonus points for unexpected situations in the practical assessment. They practically stopped short of publishing Lin Chen's ID number.

At noon that day, School Head Song personally delivered the admission notice for Jiangcheng Beast Taming University to him.

"You brat, you better not run off! Go register at the school early, or I swear I'll tear down your farm!"

School Head Song glared at him and spoke grumpily. One could imagine how many connections he had leveraged these past few days.

Fortunately, Lin Chen lived up to expectations and actually brought back the title of top scholar of the college entrance examination, meaning his efforts over the last few days hadn't been wasted.

"Don't worry, in a few days I'm going to open the Spirit Beast House on the commercial street. But for a university student starting a business, doesn't the school offer some kind of subsidy?"

Lin Chen laughed brazenly, showing no embarrassment at all. School Head Song raised his hand and slapped him on the shoulder.

"You brat, I don't even know if it was right or wrong to admit you! The startup subsidy is fine, but you can only hire people from within our school!"

"Hehe! No problem. Boosting the school's employment rate and providing work-study opportunities, right? I understand! I promise I'll handle it properly! It's just that when I recruit people, you have to help me out!"

"Get lost! Go find your mentor about this. He has a bunch of students under him who are worried about finding internship opportunities. Your breeding facility, and this farm, can both hire them. They're fellow disciples, so you can feel more at ease using them."

"That makes sense! I'll go talk to my mentor in a couple of days!"

Lin Chen's eyes lit up. He was just worrying about recruitment, and if Professor Jiang could solve it directly for him, that would save him a lot of trouble.

School Head Song only stayed for a short while before leaving, but the farm didn't quiet down.

After lunch, visitors came in an endless stream, all drawn by Lin Chen's title as the top scholar of the college entrance examination.

In particular, the old principal of Jiangcheng No. 3 High School personally rushed over, hoping Lin Chen could give a speech as the student representative at the graduation ceremony.

Not only that, but there would also be a mobilization meeting for the next cohort of third-year high school students at the end of the semester, and they hoped he could go and encourage his younger schoolmates.

Lin Chen did not refuse these requests. The old principal had helped him a lot, and it was only right to give back to the school.

However, looking at the upcoming graduation dinner with classmates, the promotion banquets hosted by familiar classmates, and the celebratory feast organized by his Maternal Grandparents, he felt overwhelmed.

Forget about a summer vacation of just over a month; he felt like even two months wouldn't be enough time to handle all this commotion.