To their surprise, Sophia still answered flawlessly, and each time she responded, it was without a moment’s hesitation. Every answer was correct.
Initially, the audience had been getting drowsy, finding the competition dull. But when they saw Sophia consistently pressing the buzzer, they became more and more engaged. Watching her compete made them more nervous than the actual contestants. By the end of the round, out of 50 questions, Sophia scored 40 points. The only ones she missed were those she hadn’t been quick enough to buzz in for—otherwise, she wouldn’t have lost any points at all.
The competition organizers were left in an awkward position. They had expected their difficult questions to ignite a fierce battle, but instead, to Sophia, these questions were as simple as “1+1=2.” She was so comfortable that she looked almost bored, while the other contestants wore grim expressions, feeling utterly crushed.
When the preliminary round ended, the results were both amusing and shocking. Many spectators took to Instagram to share their reactions:
“This year’s Traditional Medicine competition is insane. A true academic genius is always terrifying!”
“So young yet so familiar with everything, completely dominating the competition—there’s no way this isn’t rigged, right?”
“This competition is way too easy! Any medical students out there—are these questions just elementary level?”
— Medical students: “It’s not easy at all.”
— “Yeah, even I wouldn’t be able to buzz in so quickly.”
— “It’s not impossibly difficult, but being able to answer so fast shows she has an extremely deep understanding of the book.”
— “Who is this woman? How is she so young and already competing in the TCM competition?”
— “She looks kind of familiar. Doesn’t she resemble Livinus’s girlfriend? I think she runs a clinic.”
— “Isn’t this Dr. Smith?”
— “Does someone here know her?”
— “I do! I’ve been treated by Dr. Smith before. She’s amazing—she even cured my severe male-pattern baldness. My hair is now thick and black, making me look 26 instead of 40. I love Dr. Smith!”
— “Shoutout to Dr. Smith! She also has an incredible acne treatment cream. And yes, she’s Livinus’s girlfriend—she’s really skilled.”
— “Wait, wasn’t this competition sponsored by Scott Coporation’s herbal tea brand? And now his girlfriend is competing? Is this rigged?”
No one had expected that a relatively unknown Instagram post would suddenly go viral, all because it mentioned Livinus. Many people now suspected foul play, thinking that Livinus had leaked the questions to Sophia in advance—because, honestly, her performance was just too unbelievable. Answering so many difficult questions instantly? Was she even human?
—
“Sophia, do you want to explain yourself?” Professor Micheal was worried. Online public opinion could easily influence reality, and if the controversy escalated, it might affect the competition’s reputation.
Sophia chuckled. “What do you expect me to do? You know as well as I do—I can’t deliberately answer incorrectly just because my boyfriend happens to be the main sponsor.”
“That’s true…”
“If a teacher’s child scores 100 on every test, should we automatically suspect the teacher of leaking the exam questions?”
Professor Micheal had no counterargument.
Sophia had initially thought that this competition wasn’t popular, that no one would be watching the livestream, and that it wouldn’t attract much attention. But the rumors spiraled out of control, and soon, she found herself on the trending list. Many people doubted that she could have answered those questions on her own because, while they knew she owned a clinic, they had never actually witnessed her medical skills. They simply assumed that someone as young as her couldn’t possibly be that skilled.
Just look at the other contestants—most were over 40, with very few under 30. Meanwhile, Sophia was only in her early twenties!
Joanna came over and asked, “President Scott is acting normal, but he’s definitely worried about you. Do you want Scott Coporation to issue a public statement for you?”
“No need,” Sophia smirked. “Tell me, ever since this controversy started, how many views does the preliminary round video have?”
Joanna checked and was stunned. “Over 20 million views! I remember it only had a few hundred thousand before.”
The TCM competition was a niche event that typically received little attention. But now, the view count had exploded. Joanna checked again, confirming the numbers were accurate.
“Dr. Smith, you’re incredible!”
Sophia smiled. “Let them speculate. This controversy is boosting the competition’s visibility. Plus, it’ll make people more interested in the semifinals. It’s a win-win situation for me, for the competition, and for Scott Corporation.”
Joanna laughed. “I didn’t expect you to be so cunning.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Meanwhile, Chloe, an expert in marketing, seized the opportunity—she added “Developed by Dr. Smith” to the label of the acne cream’s online listing. That night, after seeing the recommendation on Instagram, many people rushed to buy it, causing sales to skyrocket.
At the same time, something else happened that Sophia hadn’t anticipated—the semifinals became a hot commodity.
According to Nancy, when she bought tickets for the preliminary round, she got them from a scalper for just 10 dollars each—proof that nobody cared about the event. Since their cheerleading squad was large, the scalper even gave them a discount, letting them buy 10 tickets for just 70 dollars.
But now, tickets for the semifinals were completely sold out. Many buyers were Livinus and Sophia’s fans, as well as curious onlookers.
Scalpers instantly raised ticket prices to 800 dollars each. And if you wanted a seat near the stage? That would cost 1,500 dollars—more expensive than some concert tickets.
Hearing this, Sophia was speechless. “People are actually willing to pay that much for a TCM competition? Are they crazy?”
The preliminary round was just a knowledge-based competition, and it was particularly simple. Sophia didn’t think much of it. Later, she heard that the later stages involved practical case studies, but overall, the competition was much easier than she had expected.
