Keep Her Dignity or Be the Champion
“Let’s look forward to seeing which team will come out on top this year.”
“Now, onto the last question. Franklin D. Roosevelt mentioned the Four Freedoms in his 1941 State of
the Union address, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reaffirmed these four freedoms as
well. Please state all the four great freedoms. Start answering… Now!”
The moment the emcee finished talking, the red light on Mayweather University’s side lit up.
Tiana and her other team members looked bewildered, and after looking around, they realized that it was
Sophie who pressed the buzzer.
“Do you know the answer?” Tiana asked, already feeling hopeless.
“What the hell? Don’t you know it’s very disadvantageous to be the first to answer?!” Malia was so angry
that she nearly flipped the table.
The emcee was already urging the team without waiting for Sophie’s reply, “Okay, will Mayweather
Polytechnic’s reserve team members please give us the answer?”
Sophie swallowed; she felt so nervous that she was trembling.
In all honesty, she just didn’t want to miss the only chance to make a comeback. She thought that Tiana
and the others must know the answer, so she pressed the buzzer. However, it turned out that none of
them knew the answer.
The entire country was watching her on TV, so she couldn’t just give up no matter what.
Sophie clutched the corner of her skirt, took a few deep breaths, then hesitated before stuttering out her
answer, “They are… Speech… Freedom of speech and expression of opinions.”
At this point, she paused. How was she supposed to remember the foreign culture so clearly?!
“Miss Bowen.” The emcee reminded her kindly, “You need to state all four great freedoms for it to be
considered the correct answer.”
She swallowed nervously as the timer on the big screen was on countdown. The more she tried not to
pay attention to the numbers, the more anxious she became.
“Five, four, three, two, one…”
In the blink of an eye, time ran out.
Sophie let out a bitter tut and felt absolutely wretched.
“Oh, what a pity. Then, the opportunity to answer will automatically be given to Tissote University. Tissote
University, please send a representative to answer.”
Michelle and Stefan were both science students, so they didn’t know much about this topic.
“They are the freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear,” Elise took charge and
answered. Just as she did during the first two questions, her answers were concise, but she had only
stated three.
Once again, the host reminded awkwardly, “Miss Sinclair, you need to state all four answers before the
answer is considered complete.”
Much to everyone’s surprise, she only replied lightly, “I don’t know what the last one is.”
As soon as she said that, the audience was in an uproar.
After both teams had their turn, everyone else had already figured out the answer, as Elise and Sophie’s
answers were the combination of the correct answer.
However, why didn’t Elise finish stating them all?
Amidst their astonishment, the countdown that belonged to Elise was over.
The host pursed his lips but was forced to announce that Sophie was again qualified to answer per the
rules.
However, Elise’s actions had rendered Sophie between a rock and a hard place.
If both their answers were combined and repeated, and the host announced that the answer was correct,
Mayweather University would definitely be able to overtake their score.
Yet, she would in fact be defeating Elise by using the answer given by Elise herself, which was
tantamount to receiving charity.
It would be like telling the world that Tissote University didn’t fail to get the championship but didn’t need
it and gave it to Mayweather instead.
Now, it all depended on whether Sophie wanted to keep her dignity or be the champion.
Tiana and Malia couldn’t afford to lose their dignity as competitors, so they coughed hard beside her,
signaling for her to just let the timer run.
However, Sophie was wholly immersed in her own world and couldn’t hear their ‘signals’ at all. This is a
competition. If we don’t enter it to win it, then what’s the point?
Not to mention, maybe Elise didn’t state all four answers because she just didn’t know the fourth one and
thought the answer Sophie gave was wrong.
She had consecutively answered two bonus points questions correctly earlier, so how could she possibly
be sure of the last question too? She must have forgotten the most important one, but Sophie
remembered it.
So, victory had already belonged to her in the first place.
That’s right. Elise is still an idiotic person. Even if she suspected that my answer was wrong, she
could’ve given it a try. Instead, she was the one who wasted this golden opportunity.
Before the competition, she said she would never miss any opportunity to trample on Elise.
As soon as Sophie recalled her words, she grew confident and exclaimed, “They are the freedom of
worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom of speech.”
“The answer is…” The host was good at keeping up the suspense, as he deliberately paused before
announcing, “Correct! Congratulations to Mayweather Polytechnic University for being this year’s
champion of the Nationwide University Know-All Competition!”
“We won! We won! Yay!” Sophie pumped her fists in excitement, then turned to celebrate with her
teammates, but when she looked back, all she saw were three sour faces.
“What’s with you guys…” Sophie innocently lowered her hands. “I won the championship for you guys.
So, why are you giving me that look?”
Tiana sighed in exasperation and disappointment. “Sophie, you should collect this trophy on your own.”
With that, she took the lead and left the stage to show her integrity.
Malia walked to her with a bitter look on her face. “The students from Tissote University didn’t want it, but
you went and picked it up in the name of Mayweather. What do you take Mayweather for? You must be a
spy sent by Tissote University, right? F*ck…”
Then, she left too.
Although Sebastian didn’t say anything, he left the stage as well.
Sophie was frozen in place for a full two minutes before she realized what Tiana and Malia meant.
Her answering the second time itself wasn’t the problem, but the main issue here is that she not only
used Elise’s answer but also answered correctly, which was simply self-humiliation.
Elise had deliberately dug a grave for Sophie to jump in!
What the audience sitting in front of the TVs saw now wasn’t how Sophie stood out, but Tissote
University and Elise’s exemplary conduct and integrity.
She won, but she placed Mayweather Polytechnic in a questionable state. If they were to have another
close encounter in the future, regardless of whether Mayweather won or lost, everyone would think that it
was just Tissote University being humble and that they had always been more skilled.
What a cunning scheme!
After figuring it out, when receiving the award, Sophie didn’t even dare to look at the camera as she
hurriedly accepted the trophy and slipped away.
Tissote University was the runner-up and received a trophy too, but the committee seemed to have kept
a keen eye on Elise’s performance during overtime. After the award was presented, the volunteers called
her aside.
“Miss Sinclair, allow me to introduce you to Ms. Wendy Jennings. She’s the only female physics
academician in Cittadel,” the volunteer said.
“Miss Jennings.” Elise nodded politely.
Wendy had an amiable smile on her face. “I heard that you transferred to the science class?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good.” Wendy gave a slight nod. “All the best, Miss Sinclair. I can tell that your future is a bright
one.”
“Thank you,” Elise responded calmly.
The corners of Wendy’s lips curled slightly, and she glanced at the assistant who was following her.
The assistant immediately understood and handed a set of equipment to Elise.
“This is my gift to you,” Wendy explained. “Learning requires a combination of work and rest. This game
has a very novel concept and is rather new in the market; however, I look forward to seeing you in it.”
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