Lin Zhixia immediately retorted: "Academic performance is only one aspect. Everyone has their own characteristics. Jiang Yubai is very unique and is very worthy of my attention."
Lin Zhixia's words and deeds were all about defending Jiang Yubai.
She knew that her brother must be unhappy.
Lin Zeqiu sat on the chair with a stern face and expressionless expression.
Before Jiang Yubai appeared, Lin Zeqiu went to the kitchen and brought back a plate of freshly-made egg rolls. He held the plate in his left hand and chopsticks in his right hand, slowly picking up a roll, and the light fragrance drifted into the bedroom.
Lin Zhixia turned her head and looked at him intently.
He thought to himself: My sister is a glutton, but on the surface he said gently: "Bring your bowl here."
Lin Zhixia obediently handed her bowl to him. He picked a golden-brown, best-fried burrito and put it into Lin Zhixia's bowl. He whispered, "Okay, let's eat."
"Thank you, brother." Lin Zhixia responded happily.
The brother and sister ate breakfast while staring at the computer screen.
Lin Zeqiu didn't want to watch the game at all. However, he couldn't let his sister face Jiang Yubai alone. He just heard Lin Zhixia praise Jiang Yubai for "looking really good in a suit", and he was even more worried that during the next game, Lin Zhixia would be deeply impressed by Jiang Yubai's demeanor.
In January this year, a girl in Lin Zeqiu's class confessed her love to him. The girl said that she was fascinated by Lin Zeqiu's talent.
Lin Zeqiu didn't believe this. He thought his appearance was more attractive than his inner qualities.
Jiang Yubai was extremely handsome, and had a deadly effect on girls. If Lin Zeqiu left his sister alone, he could almost foresee what would happen in the future—he would never allow Lin Zhixia to get closer to a boy.
Lin Zhixia will go to Beijing to attend university in September this year, and Jiang Yubai happens to be studying in high school in Beijing. They are only fourteen years old, so young, just entering puberty, which is a critical period that parents must guard against.
After careful consideration, Lin Zeqiu quickly formulated a response strategy - he decided to try his best to find Jiang Yubai's mistakes and erase Lin Zhixia's good impression of Jiang Yubai.
He stretched his legs and casually asked, "Is this the final? Why are there six teams?"
Lin Zhixia told him that there were six teams in the finals, and every two teams would compete once, with the winner getting one point and the loser losing one point. The judges would determine the final ranking of this year's competition based on the total score of each team.
After Lin Zhixia introduced the rules of the game in detail, she finally waited for Jiang Yubai to come on stage.
Jiang Yubai was wearing a black suit and a twill tie, and was obviously a handsome young man. There were four people in their team, and Jiang Yubai was standing closest to the microphone.
Lin Zhixia noticed something and was pleasantly surprised: "Jiang Yubai is the spokesperson for their group."
Lin Zeqiu repeated subconsciously: "Spokesperson?"
Lin Zhixia translated for him: "Spokesperson means spokesperson in Chinese. According to the rules of the North American Economics Competition, each team will have a spokesperson who will summarize the team's thinking and answer questions on behalf of his teammates."
At this time, the host read out the question in English with clear pronunciation.
Lin Zeqiu only understood the words "lawone price". English listening is not his strong point, and he didn't understand what the host was saying at all.
He paused for breath and his back straightened.
For Lin Zeqiu, this live broadcast competition was like a difficult English test.
Under Lin Zeqiu's gaze, Jiang Yubai answered the question quickly.
Jiang Yubai finished speaking the answer at a very fast speed, and Lin Zhixia immediately commented: "Yes, this question appears to be about law one price, but in fact, we need to consider purchasing power parity."
Lin Zeqiu frowned and looked at Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia explained again: "The law of one price refers to the 'law of one price'. According to the 'law of one price', the actual value of a single homogeneous commodity is the same. The 'law of one price' ignores the country of production and transaction costs. Purchasing power parity can be directly translated into 'purchasing power parity'. It actually represents the equivalence coefficient between currencies. It takes into account the different price levels of commodities in various countries and can be used to compare the gross domestic products of various countries... Purchasing power parity collects market prices of many kinds of commodities. By the way, Jiang Yubai and I have talked about purchasing power parity theory before. The popular explanation of this theory is that 'the exchange rate is equal to or depends on the domestic price level relative to the foreign price level' [1]."
Do Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia often discuss these things in private
Even though Lin Zhixia kindly translated and gave a detailed explanation, Lin Zeqiu still didn't understand.
Lin Zeqiu's right eyelid began to twitch. He remembered the old saying, "Left eye twitching means good fortune, right eye twitching means disaster." He stood up slowly, backed away slowly, and turned to walk towards the bedroom door.
"Brother, don't you want to watch it anymore?" Lin Zhixia asked him.
Lin Zeqiu didn't want to stay in this room for another second. He began to doubt his English ability.
Lin Zeqiu was about to back out. He had never been exposed to economics, and his English level did not allow him to watch a North American game without subtitles. He was about to lie that he had something to do when he heard Lin Zhixia say, "Jiang Yubai is so good, Jiang Yubai is the best!"
Lin Zhixia put down her bowl and clapped her hands.
Her brother suddenly sat back next to her.
She asked: "Brother, why did you come back again?"
My brother actually said, "I want to see Jiang Yubai."
Lin Zhixia said in a surprised tone: "Have you discovered his strengths?"
The elder brother said expressionlessly: “He lost.”
In the finals where every second counted, Jiang Yubai got two questions wrong. After discussing, the judges unanimously gave the verdict of "incorrect", which means "wrong". Jiang Yubai lost his leading advantage and his total score was only slightly higher than his competitors.
Lin Zhixia approached the computer nervously.
The elder brother sneered, "Jiang Yubai answered so quickly, I thought he had it all figured out... As the saying goes, if one soldier is incompetent, the whole army will be incompetent too."
"No," Lin Zhixia said, "The competition questions are difficult, and no one can guarantee a 100% accuracy rate."
The elder brother raised his chin slightly and said, "That kid must be extremely worried now."
Lin Zhixia wasn't sure.
She couldn't read Jiang Yubai's mental activity from his face, because his expression and demeanor were very calm and composed.
In fact, Jiang Yubai did feel a little pressure. He and his three teammates had over-complicated the previous question, so much so that they made a simple mistake, which could be described as "carelessness leads to failure".
He remained calm and continued answering the questions without panic. His teammates were like him, standing straight and looking at the host who was reading the questions.
As the competition progressed, the questions became more difficult, and competitors began to make mistakes. Jiang Yubai's team's total score gradually recovered.
Jiang Yubai found the right opportunity and quickly answered four questions in a row. After a brief communication with his teammates, he provided the correct answer for each question. His fluent spoken English also left a deep impression on Lin Zeqiu.
"How does he usually learn English?" Lin Zeqiu asked.
Lin Zhixia told the truth: "Jiang Yubai has always had many tutors... not tutors, but a teaching team. He also has a team in Beijing. His English teacher team includes three Americans and one British."
This is how rich people are educated.
Lin Zhixia's description was far beyond Lin Zeqiu's imagination. He unconsciously clenched his fist and didn't let go for a long time. Before this, he always nags and picks on Jiang Yubai's shortcomings, but now, he suddenly becomes quiet, and Lin Zhixia is a little uncomfortable.
What's wrong with my brother
Lin Zhixia guessed that the class gap between common people and the rich might make her brother feel uncomfortable.
She never expected that her brother would say, "I see. This kid can only get to where he is today thanks to his parents and a group of teachers. Listen to me, he is nothing special, don't look down on him."
Lin Zhixia ignored her brother.
She put all her attention on the competition.
After a series of tough rounds, Jiang Yubai's team won the runner-up. The champion was a super team from a well-known American high school - this team was also composed of Asian students. They claimed that they had been studying economics for many years, and their greatest hobby in life was to discuss economics-related issues with their teammates.
In comparison, Jiang Yubai's teammates seem quite low-key.
The teammates smiled shyly and stood behind Jiang Yubai. Jiang Yubai picked up the microphone and gave his acceptance speech.
On the podium, which was focused with lights, there were flowers and applause everywhere. Jiang Yubai briefly thanked his parents, teachers, and the organizers of the competition. Finally, he emphasized that he has a best friend. He said to this "best friend": "Thank you for always encouraging me."
This sentence means, thank you for always encouraging me.
Lin Zhixia was facing the computer screen, and Jiang Yubai happened to be looking at the camera.
For a moment, Lin Zhixia suddenly realized that Jiang Yubai was looking at her. She put her palms together, clapping without making any sound, and her mind was filled with his words: Thank you for always encouraging me.
Lin Zhixia murmured to herself: "This should be what I said to him."