What am I best at? Naturally, it's spending money!

“Chen Ruowen, what about you? What are you best at?”

Chen Ruowen looked thoroughly troubled.

Among the seven present, aside from her, some possessed the makings of academic prodigies, some were encyclopedic in their knowledge, having devoured countless history books and biographies. Even Mo Xiaoxin, who had worried daily about being eliminated, turned out to be a discreet winner of math olympiad medals.

With credentials like these, anyone else would have been guaranteed admission to another university. But this girl insisted on attending Southern University, which did not accept recommended students, so she had to join this winter camp.

As for Chen Ruowen’s strengths…

She frowned, deliberated for quite some time, ruling out option after option, before finally squeezing out a few words.

“My greatest skill… might be spending money…”

Everyone present was petrified.

Wu Jie was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

“Miss, I know your family is wealthy, but could you stop joking at critical moments?”

“I’m not joking,” Chen Ruowen replied awkwardly. “I haven’t spent much effort on studying. When you ask what I’m best at, I thought long and hard, and this is probably the one thing I’m really good at.”

No one knew what to say…

Some even felt a strange urge to hit someone…

Wu Jie helplessly jotted down notes in his little notebook, reconfirmed everyone’s areas of expertise, and asked again,

“Is there anyone who usually likes playing video games?”

This time, only two or three raised their hands.

“I used to play a lot, but after senior year started, there was no time,” the others explained.

Mo Xiaoxin hesitated, then timidly said,

“I like playing Arctic Blocks, does that count?”

Wu Jie shot her a look, then turned to the other two who’d raised their hands. “What’s your hand speed?”

“Around 230 to 240,” one replied.

The other gave him a thumbs up. “Impressive, I’m only around 170 to 180.”

Wu Jie immediately recorded this information, then patted the first boy’s shoulder. “Then Xiao Gao will handle the buzzer.”

“The buzzer?”

Wu Jie nodded. “The rules for the buzzer round are: wrong answers don’t deduct points, correct answers add points. So we need to leverage this—act when we should, and act even when we shouldn’t. Even if you don’t get the answer, you can stall for time, reducing the chances other teams score.”

Everyone gave Wu Jie a thumbs up.

“Captain, you’re really sly!”

“This is called strategy, not slyness!”

Twenty minutes later, guided by the competition assistant, each team stood at their designated answer stations. Chen Ruowen’s team had a number four on their buzzer platform, though no one knew how these were assigned.

“In the previous two rounds of personal development, you all completed different training tasks as requested by Teacher Ding. With training comes points, and the number and rules for this buzzer round are based on those points.”

The teams with the lowest numbers blanched, and the proctor from the Faculty of Humanities added,

“Before the buzzer round officially begins, there’ll be a bonus round of three questions. The first question gives team one priority—only if they don’t answer in ten seconds can the others buzz in; if no one answers in thirty seconds, the round is void. Similarly, the second question gives priority to teams one and two, and the third to the first three teams.”

The five teams at the back turned pale again.

“This puts us at a huge disadvantage, doesn’t it?”

The teacher smiled, glancing at Teacher Ding. “Teacher Ding’s training was tough. Though it’s not an elimination metric, the school should reward teams that finished first.”

The students rolled their eyes.

While the later teams worried, the first three teams were overjoyed. Who would’ve thought that physical training would be the key to the final round? Anyone who made it this far had decent skills—having priority was like winning before the race started! You might not get first place, but your odds of being eliminated last were dramatically reduced!

Especially team one, with three rounds of priority. Their members were practically bursting with happiness. Even team three, on the edge of elimination, secretly flashed a victory sign at team four—Chen Ruowen’s team.

“Luck is a part of skill too!” The difference of a single rank was worlds apart, making them laugh outright.

Xiao Gao and the others nearly couldn’t resist rushing over to teach them a lesson, but Captain Wu Jie held them back.

“Don’t panic, it’s only three questions. They might not get them all right.”

After explaining the rules, the proctor produced a thick stack of question cards and nodded to the timekeeper.

“Well then, the competition—begins!”

“First question, listen closely.”

“Which of Shakespeare’s works is regarded as the highest achievement of Western Renaissance literature? Please answer.”

This was practically a freebie!

Under the jealous glares of the other teams, team one’s teammate practically screamed,

“Ha—m—let—!”

The proctor pointed at their answer buzzer, kindly reminding,

“You have to press the buzzer first.”

Team one’s short boy instantly reacted, slamming his palm down with a “bang” that nearly shattered the table.

“Hamlet, Hamlet, Hamlet!!!”

“Correct. One point added.”

As cheers erupted from team one, the proctor continued,

“‘An artist is an artist only because of his exquisite sense of beauty, a sense which shows him intoxicating pleasures, but which at the same time implies and contains an equally exquisite sense of all deformities and all disproportion.’ Who is said to have made this famous remark about whom?”

This question…

The difficulty shot up like Everest…

Everyone could easily name a few world-class painters, but every famous figure received countless evaluations in their lifetime. To single out one line and ask who said it… who would ever pay attention to that?

Team two was completely stumped.

“Ding!”

The buzzer sounded, and everyone looked over, realizing it was again that short boy from team one, but this time he looked even more excited.

“This quote is said online to be Baudelaire’s comment about Van Gogh.”

The proctor nodded, “Correct…”

“But I disagree!” the short boy said, agitated.

“You disagree?” The proctor was surprised. “Why?”

“Baudelaire died in 1867, and Van Gogh was only fourteen then. How could Baudelaire possibly have known Van Gogh? This must be some random internet fabrication!”

The proctor smiled.

“What’s your name?”

“Vincent.”

“Vincent?” The teachers all laughed. “Excellent, correct answer and critical thinking. Team one gets two points.”

…That was an easy point. Though some grumbled about the extra credit, they had to admit no one else could have answered; team one not only got it, but pointed out the error. Adding another point was fair.

“Last buzzer question.”

The proctor swept his gaze across the stage, suddenly flashing a mischievous smile.

“On what date is the birthday of our university’s brilliant young faculty member, Professor Qiao Yusen?”