A Windfall

"Report!"

Xia Yue called out at the door of the teachers' office, then marched in and said to homeroom teacher Teacher Luo, "Teacher, I brought him."

Li Ye, following behind her, could not help wanting to laugh.

What did she mean, "I brought him"? She made it sound like she was escorting a criminal in for interrogation.

By now, he thoroughly understood that Xia Yue, merely by serving as class monitor, had already developed the self-important superiority complex of a privileged class.

Teacher Luo was comparing the answers to two test papers. When she saw Li Ye and the others enter, she set the answer sheets down and stared silently at Li Ye.

This was a common tactic teachers used on guilty students: first stare at them until their hearts went fuzzy with fear, then bark a few stern words at them. It made them much easier to control.

But who was Li Ye?

Back when a boss had gone back on his word and refused to pay his commission, he had quietly buried a string of explosives at work. Even when facing that boss's thundering rage, he had remained unflustered—the sort who could say, "I'm innocent, I'm kind." Would he be afraid of a few extra stares?

Look all you want. This young master was handsome anyway.

Teacher Luo looked at Li Ye's expressionless face and could only ask with a stern expression, "Li Ye, did you hit Xia Yue with a book just now?"

Li Ye answered calmly, "She said I was raised by a stepmother. If Teacher believes my behavior was improper, I can have my father speak with her father."

"..."

Teacher Luo looked at Xia Yue, her gaze turning sharp.

Insulting someone's parents was no minor offense in the eyes of educated people.

Teacher Luo frowned and changed the subject. "Xia Yue says you cheated by copying answers. What do you have to say?"

Li Ye said, "I did not cheat. I believe this is Xia Yue's retaliation against me, or perhaps jealousy at work—her false accusation against me."

"..."

Several teachers in the office all looked over, their faces showing no small amount of surprise.

After all, it had only been an informal in-class quiz. Calling it cheating was already making a mountain out of a molehill.

But Li Ye's words were far too aggressive. In one stroke, he had backed both himself and Xia Yue into a corner.

If Li Ye were found to have cheated next, the corresponding punishment would inevitably be exceptionally severe.

Conversely, if Xia Yue were proven to have retaliated and made false accusations out of jealousy, the consequences would certainly be doubled as well.

Teacher Luo hurriedly smiled. "Li Ye, what are you thinking about all day? It's not that serious."

But while Teacher Luo wanted to smooth things over, Xia Yue was unwilling.

She had clearly caught Li Ye by the tail for cheating. How had she suddenly become a petty, jealous person instead?

So almost at the same time Teacher Luo spoke, Xia Yue shouted first, "Who retaliated against you? Who falsely accused you? Your answers are exactly the same as Wen Leyu's. If you didn't copy hers, then did she copy yours?"

Now it was Teacher Luo's turn to feel sick of it.

Was Xia Yue fucking stupid or what? Couldn't she see Teacher Luo was trying to smooth things over? Didn't she know cheating was difficult to prove?

Besides, it was Teacher Ke's first day teaching, and Xia Yue had already stirred up a classroom cheating incident involving Teacher Ke's daughter. Who was she trying to poison against whom?

A dog catching mice.

Li Ye did not even look at Xia Yue. He said to Teacher Luo, "An hour ago, I reported to Teacher Luo that Xia Yue had opened my mail package without permission. An hour later, Xia Yue accused me of cheating.

"I don't understand. Xia Yue is only a student. What right does she have to determine that I cheated? Just because she is the class monitor?"

"Don't be hasty," Teacher Luo said. She had no choice but to pick up the two perfect-answer sheets and ask, "Then explain why your answers are exactly identical."

Li Ye asked strangely, "Teacher Luo, there is only one correct answer to these questions. I couldn't deliberately write the wrong answers, could I?"

"..."

Teacher Luo's face darkened somewhat. Why was every single one of them so troublesome? Could they not just be good little children?

Since that was the case, they would handle it by the book.

Teacher Luo turned to one of the teachers. "Teacher Jiao, how was Li Ye's English level before?"

Teacher Jiao, who had long noticed the situation here, said, "In the last mock exam, Li Ye scored twenty-one in English."

Teacher Luo scratched her head and said with a trace of sarcasm, "Li Ye, that is quite an improvement. Can you share your experience with us?"

"I had a fever during my last exam. Actually, there's no point discussing this. If Teacher thinks I cheated, just have us redo a paper for comparison."

Li Ye did not want to keep dragging this out. Facts spoke louder than eloquence. Throw down one ultimate move, and everything would become clear.

As for why his grades had advanced by leaps and bounds, the teachers could fill in the blanks themselves.

Maybe he had suddenly gotten the knack. Maybe he was possessed. Maybe he had run into ghosts. Maybe the Wenqu Star had descended to earth. As long as you studied well, teachers would arrange a suitable explanation for you.

"I just printed a set of papers here. They were prepared for second-year high school students. They're a little easy, but they should be enough."

Teacher Jiao had also been teaching English at County Second High School, and he knew something of Li Ye's previous situation. So he was quite curious how Li Ye could have gotten every question right.

Li Ye accepted a mimeographed test paper, then said, "Teacher Jiao, could Xia Yue have one too?"

Teacher Jiao asked in confusion, "Why?"

Paper and ink were all public school property. In this era of scarce materials, every test paper was precious.

Li Ye said solemnly, "The reason Xia Yue decided I cheated was jealousy. She was jealous that a classmate who had once scored worse than her had surpassed her.

"If she can recognize her own shortcomings, she will surely become more humble in the future. Humility makes people progress."

"..."

Teacher Jiao froze for a moment, then could not help laughing. "Well now! You certainly aren't humble."

But he still took out two more test papers and gave one each to Xia Yue and Wen Leyu.

The fury in Xia Yue's chest had never gone out. After taking the paper, she gritted her teeth and charged at it as if facing an enemy.

The second-year paper was not much different in difficulty from the Retake Class papers. Xia Yue's English grades were good, but that was only compared to the other students. Completing the entire paper was not easy.

But Xia Yue firmly believed that, having obtained all of Lu Jingyao's study secrets, she would definitely score far higher than Li Ye.

Lu Jingyao had gotten into Beijing Foreign Studies University, while Li Ye had not. That was proof enough.

The questions on the paper became increasingly difficult, and Xia Yue worked increasingly slowly, but she felt that she could answer every one of them.

Whether they were right or wrong aside, being able to write down an answer for every question was already quite good these days.

But when Xia Yue inadvertently looked up at Li Ye, she froze.

Holding his fountain pen, Li Ye went scratch, scratch, scratch, writing on the mimeographed paper as casually as doodling. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the final page.

Was he just scribbling randomly? He had to be guessing blindly. A hundred-point test and he scored twenty-one—of course he was guessing.

Xia Yue encouraged herself as she sped up, but the more she wanted to finish quickly, the less she could do the questions. By the end, her head was a pot of paste, and she felt as if her eyes were going blurry.

"Teacher, I'm done."

Li Ye wrote the final letter and handed the paper to Teacher Jiao, who had long since been standing behind him.

After noticing Li Ye's speed, Teacher Jiao had moved behind him. By the time Li Ye finished, Teacher Jiao had finished reading it too.

Now, without even marking it, he knew what score Li Ye should receive.

And at that moment, Wen Leyu finished her paper as well.

Teacher Jiao quickly checked it. It was unexpectedly another perfect score.

Half jealous and half envious, he said to Teacher Ke, "Teacher Ke, you are truly fortunate. With these two students bringing you credit next year, you'll definitely make a grand showing."

Teacher Ke smiled. "It's all thanks to Teacher Jiao's excellent teaching. I merely picked up a ready-made windfall."

People in flower-decked sedan chairs lifted one another. It was not easy to cultivate a good student, and everyone ought to have a share of the credit.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Several teachers laughed, and no one noticed Xia Yue off to the side, tears streaming down her face as she continued working furiously on the final page.

I'm not done yet. I haven't lost yet. This paper is easy. I can score a hundred too.

Who knew how long later, Xia Yue finally heard a gloomy voice by her ear.

"Enough. Stop working for now. Let's talk about you opening Li Ye's mail package without permission."