AIBBFSCITMLA Chapter 10

The students suddenly became flustered. No matter how much they thought about it, they had never imagined such an outcome. The voting post about whether He Tang could make it into the top 500 was even still pinned on the front page.

[Is this a joke? Last place, right?]

[OP, make it clear! First place from the top or from the bottom? The way you put it makes us think it’s from the top!]

Then a photo of the score ranking was posted in the comments. On the ranking, He Tang’s name stood shockingly in first place, and below her was Gu Jingfeng, who had held first place for two consecutive years.

[Impossible! Who Photoshopped this? It’s too fake!]

[She cheated! Definitely cheated!]

[There’s no way He Tang got first place! Absolutely impossible! Something is wrong!]

[The school heartthrob got bumped from first? Something is definitely wrong! I demand a review of the papers!]

[Yes! It’s not fair. He Tang definitely cheated!]

[Cheating dog, get out of No. 1 High School!]

[Expel her!]

[Everyone above, calm the hell down! Damn! Why is it impossible for Sister Tang to get first place? You guys are just ignorant!]

[Sister Tang? The person above is Li Chang, right? Are you sick? Does she even acknowledge you, calling her sister every day?]

[Li Chang, have you been brainwashed? A grown man calling a little girl sister—does that make sense?]

Li Chang’s face turned red with anger. He typed furiously on his phone, refuting each person one by one.

Truth be told, since that time He Tang had turned the tables on him, he had actually developed a hidden respect for her. But the fact that he called her “Sister Tang” had been mocked by many, which was truly embarrassing.

Now, he finally had a chance to legitimately prove that calling He Tang “Sister” wasn’t shameful at all! He Tang was incredibly capable; it was just that these people had never seen it!

Li Chang, his face flushed red, battled it out online, while Gu Jingfeng, sitting behind him, looked up from his phone and cast a deep glance at his back.

Gu Jingfeng opened the score ranking and carefully examined He Tang’s results: Chinese 130, Math 150, English 144, Science Comprehensive 295, total score 719, five points higher than his.

No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible for He Tang to have achieved this score.

Gu Jingfeng stared at the score sheet, tapping his finger on the desk rhythmically as he pondered.

Meanwhile, the Grade 12 office was also in an uproar.

Director Wang looked at the score sheet in disbelief, his fingers clenching tightly, barely able to resist tearing it to shreds.

“How is this possible! How could He Tang get first place in the grade?”

“Find He Tang’s papers! Find every subject’s paper and compare them to the answer keys. Check if she copied them!”

No sooner said than done, the teachers of each subject frantically searched through the papers of Class 5 to find He Tang’s.

Director Wang couldn’t wait any longer. He roughly grabbed He Tang’s papers and flipped directly to the subjective questions or the big problems, his hands trembling as he checked the answers.

Different! Different! Why were they different? Why hadn’t she copied them exactly? Why? This was impossible!

She was He Tang! The He Tang who had been last in the grade for two years!

The homeroom teacher of Class 5, seeing the Grade Director like this, gave an awkward smile and said, “He Tang’s score really does seem unlikely. Maybe we should call He Tang in and ask her?”

Director Wang finally looked up and nodded eagerly. “Yes, call her in! This kid has no boundaries just to win!”

“I’ve heard there’s a cheating method involving a miniature camera and a hidden earpiece. Someone off-site solves the problems and tells the answers to the cheater…” a teacher offered, trying to calm the Grade Director’s anger.

Director Wang slowly began to settle down.

That was it. He Tang must have cheated. There was no way she could have gone from last in the grade to first in just one week. He had been teaching for decades and had never encountered a student like that. Absolutely impossible!

Once he caught the evidence of He Tang’s cheating, he would definitely make an example of her, publicly calling her out at the flag-raising ceremony! He would also post her written confession on the bulletin board as a warning to everyone about the consequences of cheating!

Before long, He Tang arrived at the office. The moment she stepped inside, the entire office fell silent, everyone waiting for Director Wang to speak.

Director Wang cleared his throat, straightened up, assumed his authoritative posture, and said, “He Tang, I know that this time, you really wanted to beat me. And I understand you young people and your excessive concern for dignity. But you must remember: dignity is not achieved through dishonest means.”

Director Wang paused, then got to the point. “You should already know your results for this monthly exam. Is there anything you want to say?”

He Tang looked at Director Wang, then at the crowd of teachers waiting for the drama, and smiled. “Teacher, are you dissatisfied with my results?”

Director Wang’s face instantly darkened. “He Tang, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that your previous results were extremely consistent, and this improvement is excessively large. So I can only exercise reasonable suspicion.”

“Then what do you suspect, Teacher?”

Director Wang choked on his words. Not wanting to directly accuse He Tang of cheating, he beat around the bush. “Was this exam easy for you?”

He Tang smiled. “It was alright. Why do you ask, Teacher?”

Seeing that he couldn’t get anything out of He Tang, Director Wang grew anxious and slammed the table. “He Tang! Some students have reported that you cheated on the exam. This has a very negative impact. How do you explain yourself?”

He Tang smiled. “There’s nothing to explain. I didn’t cheat.”

“Then how do you explain going from last place to first place in just one week?”

“Skill.”

“He Tang! You… your attitude is extremely arrogant!” Director Wang’s face was bright red with anger. The office fell into a momentary silence.

Finally, the math teacher from Class 5 stepped in to mediate. “Regarding this matter, I have a suggestion.”

“Go on!”

“He Tang got a perfect score on the math exam. If she cheated, it means she doesn’t actually know how to solve the problems. So why don’t we have He Tang explain this exam paper to Class 5? During her explanation, I will change the conditions of the problems on the spot and give her new questions. As long as she can clearly explain the original paper and also answer my questions, it will prove that she achieved the score on her own. What do you think?”

Director Wang thought it over. The math teacher made sense. So he asked He Tang, “Well, He Tang, do you agree?”

He Tang glanced at Director Wang and said calmly, “Fine.”

“Alright then, we’ll start right away during the next class. Don’t leave yet. I’ll go with you in a moment and sit in on the class as well.” Director Wang finally sat back down in his seat, relieved.

He wasn’t going to give He Tang any time to prepare.

Meanwhile, several students who had come to the office to pick up papers exchanged shocked glances with each other, then quickly left the office and spread the news to the entire school.

[He Tang is going to explain the math exam paper on the spot! And the teacher is going to change the problem conditions to test her!]

[That’s so harsh! Oh my god, He Tang is about to be exposed, right?]

[It’s all because she copied too obviously. If she just wanted to win, copying into the top 500 would have been enough. Why copy for first place?]

[I don’t think it’s copying. She agreed to it, which means she’s confident, right?]

[Heh, the teacher directly suspected her. She has no choice but to do it. That doesn’t prove she’s innocent.]

[A lot of senior teachers are going to sit in on this class. I really want to hear it too!]

[This is truly a major event in No. 1 High School’s history, hahaha!]

[Is anyone brave enough to start a live stream?]

[Damn, with so many teachers sitting in on Class 5, who would dare start a live stream?]

[Fortune favors the brave! Whoever starts a live stream, I’ll send them rockets!]

[Count me in. Start a live stream quickly, and I’ll send you gifts!]

[+10086]

Amidst the outcry from many students, someone actually took the risk and started a live stream.

The person streaming sat at the edge of the classroom, using a book to hide their phone with only the camera lens exposed, capturing a view that covered most of the classroom.

Then, they secretly posted the live stream room number on the forum.

[Whoa, someone actually dared to do it. Brother, I respect you!]

[This view is amazing! Can see everything clearly.]

[Ahhh, there’s only one minute until class starts. I’m so nervous, even more nervous than for my own exams!]

Ring, ring, ring—

The bell for class rang. The students of Class 5, as well as those watching the live stream, all fixed their eyes on the door of Class 5, waiting for the protagonist to arrive.

A minute later, a large group of people arrived in a grand procession.

The homeroom teacher of Class 5 entered the classroom first, politely ushered the Grade Director, the math teacher, and four or five other teachers who had come to observe to their temporarily arranged seats, and then turned to explain the situation to the students.

“Ahem, students, He Tang has made significant progress on this exam, and the teachers are very pleased. So, we have decided to have He Tang explain this math exam paper to everyone. Listen carefully, and if you have any questions, you may raise your hands to ask.” After saying this, the homeroom teacher had He Tang stand at the podium and handed her her exam paper.

As for those who knew the true nature of the “explanation,” they were already secretly smiling.

[She’s just going to read the answers out loud. That won’t reveal any problems.]

[Just wait for the teacher to change the questions, hahaha.]

[A live stream of face-slapping! So thrilling, ahhhh!]

He Tang swept her gaze over the students below and began explaining the problems.

But the more she explained, the stiffer the expressions of the students and teachers below became.

He Tang not only clearly analyzed the problems at hand but also gave similar example problems and pointed out common traps.

Looking at it this way, it was impossible that she had copied.

Director Wang’s expression grew uglier by the minute.

[Whoa! He Tang is awesome! She actually knows the material!]

[Hahaha, look at Director Wang’s face! It looks like he got kicked by a donkey, hahaha.]

[I think He Tang is pretty impressive. She explains things clearly and simply. I understood everything. In my last math class, I didn’t understand what my teacher was saying.]

[Will this live stream have a replay? I want to watch it multiple times, thanks.]

[Even though I can tell that He Tang actually knows the material, I still feel weird inside. Going from last place to first place in such a short time is just too strange, right?]

[Maybe she never studied seriously before, and only studied hard for a short period to make such a huge improvement? Damn! Has she been hiding her real ability all along?]

[Suddenly, Li Chang calling her “Sister” every day doesn’t seem so impossible.]

[+ID number]

As for Director Wang, who was sitting there in person, he was already restless. He couldn’t help but signal to the math teacher to quickly give her some problems.

After all, there was a tradition at No.1 High School: at the flag-raising ceremony following each monthly exam, the first-place student would always give a public speech, followed immediately by the Grade Director’s address.

And his bet was that he would apologize to He Tang in front of the entire school.