Chapter 43

After the ointment was applied, Shermaine finally felt some relief from the pain. Joshua then applied a patch to the same spot. Throughout the process, Shermaine’s ears stayed flushed.

“Make sure to apply the ointment again tonight,” Joshua reminded her.

“Okay,” Shermaine murmured.

In the study, the usual ink scent was replaced by the sharp, pungent smell of medicine.

“Has the wound on the back of your right hand scabbed over?” Joshua asked.

Shermaine nodded and gave a quiet “Mm.” After all, she had some experience in the medical field herself and had been careful with the injury.

Joshua unwrapped the bandage and checked the injury on her hand. Once he confirmed it was fine, he re-bandaged it for her.

Then he left with the documents he needed. Since Shermaine was staying in his house now, he was living in a condo near the office.

Back in her room, Shermaine sat there for a while, lost in thought. She had to admit—she was drawn to Joshua again. But then she remembered that all his care was because she was about to become his wife and couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

The exams were over by Wednesday, and the results came out on Friday—the same day Shermaine had to submit her task. Before heading to school, she turned on her computer and logged into the International Tech Forum.

To her surprise, her inbox was flooded with private messages—most of them mocking and ridiculing her.

[Hey, you loser, you won’t get the three million dollars. Our beloved Dolcie has taken the task, too.]

[You’re quite bold to take on the task. But too bad, you’re bound to lose.]

[Bro, I respect you, but maybe stop embarrassing yourself.]

[Hey, you’re famous now, but if you’re getting a lot of hate messages, just ignore them—they’re all from Dolcie’s die-hard fans.]

‘Dolcie?’ Shermaine thought, confused.

After reading the messages, she quickly figured out why she was being mocked. It was simple—her score on the forum was too low, and she had only been taking D-level tasks. But this time, she took on an SSS-level task.

Then, a highly popular platinum-level expert took the same task, and naturally, the expert’s fans believed their idol and saw Shermaine as a joke.

Too bad for them—Shermaine would win the three million dollars.

Once online, Shermaine sent a private message to Jaden. [Are you there?]

Two seconds later, Jaden replied: [Here. You’re canceling the task, right? You can just click cancel; no need to inform me.]

Shermaine chuckled and responded: [I’m submitting the task.] She sent a compressed file over to him.

Then she continued: [You can refer to the chip data I sent and go ahead with the offline experiments. If the experiment succeeds, please transfer money to my account ASAP.] With that, she logged off. If she didn’t leave now, she might be late.

Jaden stared at the screen, dumbfounded that Shermaine had completed the task. Still skeptical, he opened the file she’d sent. The data was massive, yet compressed into an incredibly tiny file.

After checking the results, Jaden trembled, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. ‘Holy crap, this person’s a total pro!’ he thought.

The chip data Shermaine provided was outstanding, especially in sensitive components and signal processors. The network data simulations showed that the chip was perfectly compatible with new energy, with no risk of any adverse reactions.

Jaden’s hands were shaking with excitement as he immediately called Sheldon. “Professor Wendell, you need to come to the lab right now. A genius has delivered exactly what we needed!”

Sheldon, equally thrilled, responded, “Alright, I’m on my way.”

Shermaine arrived at the classroom right on time. Her classmates seemed unusually tense. Maybe it was because their grades were coming out today.

At that moment, Summer pulled out a small mirror. When she saw the acne caused by stress and late-night cramming, she let out a dramatic whine. “Ugh, I look so ugly now.” Then she spotted a particularly red and swollen pimple and immediately tried to pop it.

The student sitting in front of her said, “That’s so gross. You didn’t even wash your hands. There are germs. Popping pimples like that is a terrible idea—you’ll just end up with scars.”

“I don’t care. I can’t stand it anymore. I’ll just ask my mom to buy me some skincare products later. Hopefully, they’ll fix this mess,” Summer replied. Then she wailed, “Looking like this, I’m too embarrassed to watch my crush play basketball.”

“I’m so jealous of Sheary,” she continued. “Her skin’s smooth and flawless. I bet it feels like jelly, soft and bouncy.” She squinted her eyes dreamily, wishing she could have skin like that.

Shermaine wasn’t sure which type of skincare product to focus her research on. She had planned to put together a solid report, but Summer gave her some inspiration.

In today’s world, almost over 90% of women use cosmetics. While many focus on skincare, no matter how much they take care of their skin, problems like acne and dark spots still pop up from time to time.

Shermaine had naturally flawless skin and had never faced any skincare issues. However, she never neglected her appearance and always stuck to a strict skincare routine.

If she could develop a skincare product that could brighten the skin, reduce acne, and fade spots in a short time—all while being affordable and safe—it’d be an instant hit.

Shermaine said, “Don’t pop that pimple. If you do, you’ll definitely scar.”

Hearing this, Summer immediately dropped her hand, no longer daring to pop it.

The student from earlier remarked, “Sheary, Summer always follows your advice. She never listens to me.”

“Because Sheary makes it sound so scary,” Summer pouted. She already felt down about her test results, and now she had a pimple to deal with. She was feeling really down.

“Sheary, what do I need to do for my skin to be as smooth as yours?” she asked.

Shermaine thought for a moment and said, “Go to bed early, wake up early, exercise more, and make sure to take care of your skin before bed.”

Summer hadn’t done any of those things. She realized if she wanted to catch up to Shermaine, it wasn’t just her studies she needed to improve—her skincare routine needed an upgrade too. She wanted to become the kind of girl everyone adores.

At that moment, someone burst into the classroom, shouting excitedly, “The midterm results are out. Everyone, go check it out!” He was bouncing with joy as he added, “Sheary, don’t bother checking. I heard you got straight A’s.”

“Of course, Sheary got straight A’s,” another student chimed in. “Haven’t you already noticed she’s good at everything when she tutored us?” “Sheary is amazing. I wonder what the dean looks like right now. I bet he’s furious,” someone else added, laughing.

Not only were Shermaine’s classmates excited, but the other senior students, who had heard from others, were stunned. Everyone knew about Shermaine’s bet with the dean, so they were all paying close attention to her results.

When they were told that Shermaine got an A in physics, they thought it was just luck. But then they learned she got A’s in all her other subjects and were struck dumb. Even Leslie, the top student, hadn’t done as well.

Even Shermaine’s teachers were left speechless. In all their years of teaching, they had never seen such a dramatic turnaround. Shermaine, who had always struggled with her studies, had somehow managed to score full marks in most subjects.

Shermaine had finished each of her papers in under twenty minutes and then rested her head on the desk for a nap. Naturally, the proctor never imagined she had completed everything; they assumed she had given up halfway through.

But they were stunned by her handwriting—it was elegant and fluid, and even the smallest punctuation mark was a joy to look at. This exam was no easy task for the students, but Shermaine had delivered a pleasant surprise. She even outperformed Leslie, the top student.

With such results, she was sure to be a top scorer on the SAT. She shouldn’t be in regular classes or even honors classes—she should be in AP classes.