Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

Without a doubt, it was always the most stressful during exams and competitions. Time always flew by the fastest then.

Lilly and the other student went to participate in the mathematics competition. And in a blink of an eye, it was Wednesday already, and they were already back in school.

The other student was from a different class. Lilly was in the first class of the third grade, and he was in the seventh. He had full admiration for Lilly after the competition.

“Lilly is such an amazing and smart person! I've never seen someone with such a quick brain as her!” “You know the rapid fire question rounds right? When we were all still trying to read the question, she’s already gotten the answer right!” “Haha, you weren't there to see it, but the opponents from other schools were defeated to tears...” The student was telling the story of the whole competition with much enthusiasm. He was so eloquent to the point as though they went to participate in a wrestling match instead.

By midday, Lilly's great reputation had already spread all over the school. All seven classes in her grade had already knew about how amazing she did in the competition.

Cheryl had overheard about it, and seeing how everyone else was amazed by Lilly, she couldn't help but think that the other student was Lilly’s lapdog.

Eliana thought the same way too. “I think the true brainiac was the other guy. The Crawford family is so wealthy, he must want to suck up to them too.” She argued.

Cheryl had her eyes buried in the book she was reading, and said softly: “That may not be the case... Maybe Lilly is really that good.” “But you didn’t think that way this morning though,” Eliana looked at Cheryl with confusion.

Cheryl felt annoyed that Eliana was so stupid.

But then she thought, if Eliana was stupid, would she have befriended her? In the assembly on Friday, the school had especially organized an award ceremony for Lilly and the other student! The principal was particularly elated. “Lilly Crawford from the first class, had represented our school in the national mathematics competition, and won first place!” “She has been very respectful towards the teachers, and helped out all of her classmates, while studying diligently... Let us honor her with this award, and give her a round of applause!” Cheryl watched as Lilly walked onstage, received her award and being surrounded by flowers and applause.

She really couldn't understand why the world was so unfair. Only the naive would believe that Lilly had really won first place by herself.

How on earth could there be two people getting first place? It's so obvious that the true number one was the other student. Lilly was not supposed to be there at all! After overhearing Cheryl and Eliana’s conversation earlier, there was a small number of students who thought that Lilly getting the award was a little suspicious.

However, at the very next moment, the principal announced: “This year’s competition was very exciting! To let everyone experience the magic of mathematics and the tension of the competition, we have the recorded video of the competition's live broadcast! Let's watch it for ourselves, shall we?” The principal was proud and happy. A genius like Lilly Crawford is rare to come by, perhaps once in a hundred years.

But that wasn't true. Previously there was Josh and Ivan. But unfortunately at the time of the previous competition, Josh had transferred, and Ivan was out of school longer than Lilly...

The video started playing on a big screen.

Everyone could watch the broadcast in crystal clear resolution.

In the video, Lilly was in school uniform. She had a solemn face, and every reaction she made was agile and sharp.

It turns out that every school had two representatives for this competition, and they had all formed groups of two, and were broken down into smaller ranked battles. The top sixteen into the top eight, then into the top four, and then into the very top two... and eventually the grand finals.

The students watched with excitement as Lilly and her partner battled their way to the top four. They reacted with such immense speed that their opponents did not have the chance to answer at all.

Just when Lilly’s partner had finished solving the equations’ answer, Lilly had already answered.

When it came to the top two battle, Lilly was even more resolute and sharp. Her answers were firm and confident.

Although she seemed to look a soft and cute little girl, she was so strong that she made the male opponent who was twice her size sob like a baby.

The competition progressed all too quickly, and it was just as exciting as how Lilly’s competition mate described it to be.

Everyone didn’t even have to look at the questions, they were easily amazed by how the opponents, teachers and judges reacted in the video.

It was apparent. Lilly's award was extremely well-deserved.

The envious schoolmates who were disapproving of her achievements were all wrong. It wasn't that Lilly was trying to ride on the other student's award, it should be the other way round instead! Even though her partner was great in his own right, every answer he managed to solve was correct, but he just wasn't as fast as Lilly! “Damn, she is just too strong!” “Oh my heavens! Lilly is freaking amazing!” “Just like the greatest warriors who walked the face of the earth since the dawn of time!” Some of the male students who read s about supernatural warriors exclaimed loudly on the spot. It was like a competition of spirit.

“Didn’t you hear someone in particular say that her number one was undeserving? That she used her family’s money to get the award?” “Exactly! She even cried! Weren't she so bitter to say that her family’s background wasn’t as well-off as Lilly's?” “Yeah! What else did she say? That her family paid to gild her in gold? Just to get the number one?” Cheryl dipped her head in utter embarrassment.

And this time, she has buried herself six feet deep underground.