Language Genius

Ji Chuxing collapsed into her chair, utterly devoid of hope.

Every single student from Nancheng No. 1 High School swiveled their heads in unison to stare at her in shock!

Even Old Huang was utterly astonished.

Ah, Ji Chuxing truly knows how to conceal her brilliance. He always knew she was extraordinary.

Only the students from Class 16 remained unperturbed, even swelling with pride.

This was nothing out of the ordinary!

They were accustomed to hearing Ji Shen and Zhou Sixue converse in English during class. Beyond English, they also spoke in other languages that left the rest of the class bewildered, as if listening to the chirping of birds.

They had long since grown accustomed to it. It was only natural that these people, who had seen little, would be taken aback.

Zhou Ru was somewhat perplexed.

Ji Shen? Who was Ji Shen?

But she noticed that Wen Xinyue's face had turned ashen, and even the expressions of those from Qihang Class, including Teacher Liu, were filled with shock and disbelief.

Zhou Ru was curious: "Xinyue, does your school have such an exceptional English teacher?"

Who is it? If possible, she could offer a substantial salary to hire them to tutor Wen Xinyue in English.

Wen Xinyue was speechless.

She dared not tell Zhou Ru that the Ji Shen everyone revered was her own daughter, Ji Chuxing.

How could this be?

Zhou Sixue must be lying!

But if Wen Xinyue didn't answer, did that mean no one else would?

Zhao Feifei turned around with a grin: "Oh, Auntie, you don't know? Ji Shen is Ji Chuxing, our leader. Surprised, aren't you?"

Lu Hang also turned around, still brimming with excitement, his teeth gleaming like a wealthy landowner's simpleton son: "Tsk, in Nancheng, if Ji Shen claims to be second in English, no one dares to claim first. But of course, you wouldn't understand, so there's no point in explaining."

"What?" Zhou Ru thought she must have misheard. How could Ji Chuxing's name come up in this situation?

Ji Chuxing had abysmal grades and even failed her English exams.

The most astonishing thing was that the students from Class 16 called her Ji Shen?

Even though she was getting on in years, she knew what that title signified.

Was something amiss here?

Before she could ponder further, on the stage, Xie Yiming, after being stunned for half a minute, finally reacted. He leapt to his feet, looking at Zhou Sixue with fervor.

"Who taught you English?"

Zhou Sixue looked sincere: "Ji Shen."

After saying this, she realized Xie Yiming might not understand, so she added, "Our classmate, Ji Chuxing, is my teacher. I learned Gothic, a language from the Eastern Germanic branch, from Ji Shen."

Indeed, for this English speech, Zhou Sixue spoke about the universe, touching on the cosmological conjectures of the Germans around the 3rd century AD.

Thus, her speech not only used a plethora of professional terms but also included many archaic English words no longer used in everyday communication.

Those from Qihang Class, thinking she had mispronounced words, simply didn't comprehend them.

The audience was even more astounded.

They never anticipated this.

Gothic? What was that?

Perhaps too emotional, someone from Qihang Class stood up: "Then you weren't speaking English! What is Gothic? This is an English speech competition!"

With the first person standing up, others followed.

"Yeah, this is an English speech competition. She didn't use English, yet she got a high score. Judge, I think this is unreasonable!"

Xie Yiming: "..."

The two judges from the international organizers, though foreigners, understood Chinese well.

They looked at the person who stood up with a mix of emotions.

The female judge was quite fiery: "If you are foolish, why should others be as foolish as you?"

The male judge also sneered, speaking in Chinese: "What kind of manners are these? You have an old saying, 'a frog in a well.' Today, I've truly seen it."

Their words made the few students from Qihang Class who disagreed turn red with embarrassment.

Old Huang gave Teacher Liu a strange look: "Teacher Liu, do you want your students to embarrass themselves even further?"

Liu Xiuping's face was also dark: "Enough, all of you sit down!"

But Xie Yiming was furious, that someone would question his scoring and decision.

His face was grim as he took the microphone: "English belongs to the Germanic language family; this is common knowledge. Don't you know that? Although Eastern Germanic languages are extinct, I've studied Gothic, the only known text, for twenty years. Do you think I don't understand?"

The audience gasped.

Though they didn't fully understand, Xie Yiming's words were enough to prove everything.

In fact, the earliest Gothic texts date back to the 4th century. By the mid-6th century, the language was in decline and eventually disappeared.

However, it remains a high-level category in English language research. Any language wants to trace its earliest forms to study history and the development of civilization.

Not everyone understands this, especially high school students who learn English just for communication and the college entrance exam.

This time, except for Zhou Sixue, all contestants used modern English, the system of 26 letters used in recent times.

Only Zhou Sixue dared to use the more advanced Gothic language within the Germanic branch.

But it was necessary, as modern English couldn't express certain things.

Zhou Sixue honestly added: "I originally only knew modern English, but during the preparation, I found many terms that couldn't be expressed in modern English. I asked Ji Shen, and learned about the rich history of English. With her guidance, I learned some Eastern Germanic. Yes, Ji Shen speaks the Germanic branch very well."

Zhou Sixue counted on her fingers: "Ji Shen not only knows English but also Vandalic, Burgundian, Lombard, and Crimean Gothic. In the future, I will follow Ji Shen and study even more!"

She would definitely master English and focus on this field of study.

Xie Yiming was astounded.

He came as a judge and not only found Zhou Sixue but also another genius in Germanic language studies?

For the past twenty years, he had been researching Eastern Germanic, hoping for more discoveries.

He turned sharply, "Which one is Ji Shen?"

Ji Chuxing tried to hide in her chair, but all of Class 16 turned to look at her.

So, Xie Yiming found his answer.

The gray-haired old man rushed over, "Are you Ji Shen? Would you be interested in joining the Nancheng English Research Lab and working with us?"

Ji Chuxing: "I..."

"You are interested!" Xie Yiming was beaming: "Great! I knew someone with such talent would agree!"

Ji Chuxing: "..."

She looked at Xie Yiming: "I can't. I have to prepare for the college entrance exam. I don't have time, and my English isn't good. Zhou Sixue exaggerated. She learned it herself; it has nothing to do with me."

Ji Chuxing wasn't lying. Zhou Sixue had an incredible talent for languages. She only taught her the basics, and now she could speak ten European languages, including the notoriously difficult French.

Xie Yiming was stunned and then saw Zhao Feifei.

"Little Feifei, is that true?"

Zhao Feifei was taken aback by the nickname.

She instinctively protested: "No!"

Xie Yiming turned to Ji Chuxing, giving her a look that said, "See, I knew you were lying."

Hmph, little student, I've seen through you!

Ji Chuxing: "..."