I Do Not Accept!

Li Mu Yang's life before was as dark and devoid of color as his skin.

It was precisely because of this that when Cui Xiaoxin approached him at the Beast-Faced Pavilion and offered to help him with his studies, he was filled with gratitude. When Cui Xiaoxin was attacked by assassins, he lunged forward without a second thought, wishing he could offer his own life.

It was precisely because of this that when his grades improved even slightly, and his life gained a sliver of light, he cared more than anyone else and treasured it more than anything.

It was like a small flower blooming in the desert; you carefully nurtured it, hoping it would bear abundant fruit. Then, someone walked over and stomped the flower to death, extinguishing your hope and the tiny bit of light in your heart, plunging you back into an even darker world.

His heart was filled with such despair, such righteous indignation.

Seeing Li Mu Yang's expression, everyone was stunned.

They could feel the injustice in Li Mu Yang's heart and the barely suppressed rage. They could clearly see the bulging veins on his neck and the fist tightly gripping the brush.

Crack—

The brush snapped under his grip, black ink splattering everywhere and staining his palm.

Just as he had said, even if you suspect me of cheating on the exam, you need to find a way to prove your deduction first, not just slap a "cheater" label on a student's head.

Such slander was like carving the character "early" onto a table with a small knife; even if that piece was dug out and smoothed over, an ugly scar would remain in one's heart years later.

Hearing Li Mu Yang's question, Zhao Mingzhu's face turned extremely grim.

"Li Mu Yang, do you still need proof? Don't you know what your grades were like before? Don't I know? Don't the classmates in the class know? You haven't come for a few days, and you can answer the exam paper like this. Do you think you're a genius?" Zhao Mingzhu's words were still sharp and sarcastic, but her voice had weakened considerably. "Fine, you want evidence? Okay, I'll give you evidence."

She glanced at the students around Li Mu Yang. Li Mu Yang's deskmate was Yang Jun, a close friend of Zhang Chen and also a player on the school's Cuju team. His academic performance was only average, and it was impossible for him to have submitted such a perfect answer sheet.

So, her gaze shifted forward, looking at a girl in front of Li Mu Yang, and said, "Chen Yuanyuan, bring your test paper over for me to see."

Chen Yuanyuan rubbed her eyes and looked up at Zhao Mingzhu, saying, "Teacher Zhao, I haven't finished yet—there's still a third of the questions left unanswered."

Zhao Mingzhu's brow furrowed. Chen Yuanyuan was a good student in her eyes and the student with the best grades near Li Mu Yang. If even she still had a third of the questions left, then it was naturally impossible for Li Mu Yang to have copied from her.

"Zheng Fang, have you finished your questions?"

"Teacher, I haven't finished yet," the petite girl replied weakly, afraid Zhao Mingzhu would blame her.

"Chen Lei—"

"Teacher, I'm done."

"Bring it up for me to see."

Chen Lei handed over his test paper. Zhao Mingzhu opened it with excitement, as if she had found evidence of Li Mu Yang cheating.

As she read, her face turned green. She threw Chen Lei's test paper away and scolded, "Chen Lei, are you an idiot? I've explained the first and third major questions countless times. They were clearly easy points, and you still got them wrong. Do you have any memory at all? Do you still want to go to college? Take it back and redo it."

Chen Lei picked up the test paper from the floor and ran back to his seat, his face flushed red.

Zhao Mingzhu's gaze swept across the classroom and asked, "Which students have finished their test papers? It's okay if there are still two or three questions left—"

No one responded.

"Not a single person?" Zhao Mingzhu's expression grew even uglier.

Li Mu Yang stood up.

He pushed his chair away and walked step by step towards the podium.

"Li Mu Yang, what do you think you're doing?" Zhao Mingzhu shouted sternly.

"No need for all that trouble," Li Mu Yang said in a low voice.

He walked onto the podium and stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhao Mingzhu.

He pulled out a blank test paper from the pile of unfinished ones on the desk, then picked up the brush Zhao Mingzhu used for grading and began answering the questions on the paper.

Zhao Mingzhu's eyes widened, and the muscles in her face twitched uncontrollably.

This arrogant fellow, he actually wanted to answer the questions on the spot?

Just as Zhao Mingzhu had imagined, Li Mu Yang stood beside her, leaning forward slightly, and began answering the questions one by one on the blank test paper.

Swish, swish, swish—

The brush tip moved, his wrist barely lifting.

Question after question was conquered, and the blank parts of the test paper were gradually filled in by him.

The classroom was silent.

No one spoke, no one answered questions, and not even a mocking expression appeared on anyone's face.

Everyone looked up at Li Mu Yang, who was intently answering questions on the podium. They were about to witness a miracle, and they were also about to witness Li Mu Yang's innocence.

The bell for the end of class rang, but no one left; the class continued.

When Li Mu Yang finished the last question, it only took him a little over thirty minutes. Since he had answered these questions once before, he didn't need to think again.

He handed the test paper to Zhao Mingzhu again and said, "Take another look."

Zhao Mingzhu mechanically took the test paper but looked at Li Mu Yang with a confused gaze.

This student, considered a failure by everyone, had truly undergone a world-shattering transformation.

Regardless of whether he submitted this test paper correctly or not, just for his brave act of standing up to fight back, walking confidently to the podium to answer questions in front of the entire class—he was no longer the timid, cowardly, muddled student who caused no trouble and had no sense of presence.

"Of course, you might say that because I copied it once before, I've memorized all the answers—" Li Mu Yang's eyes were sharp as he stared at Zhao Mingzhu, his voice filled with lingering hatred. "To avoid such accusations, I've used different methods to answer many of the questions. Please, Teacher Zhao, look carefully and see what differences there are between the two test papers."

Whoosh—

The classroom descended into chaos once more.

"What? He said many of the problems were solved using a different method?"

"No way? Did Li Mu Yang take a divine pill—is that why he's suddenly so amazing?"

"This kid wasn't pretending to be weak all along? He deliberately scored poorly before, just to lull us into a false sense of security, and then planned to shock everyone when the written exam came—"

—

Zhao Mingzhu ignored the chatter in the classroom, her gaze finally returning to the test paper in her hands.

She went through each question, one by one, the answers appearing before her eyes as she compared them to the ones in her mind.

Li Mu Yang hadn't lied; many problems were indeed answered using a different approach. She couldn't tell which method was better, but the answers were all the standard ones she had in mind.

Just like the previous test paper, there were two questions with blank spaces left below them. Those were the parts he couldn't answer.

With this kind of score and ability, even Cui Xiaoxin, the top student in the class, might not be able to achieve it.

She was now certain that Li Mu Yang hadn't cheated. This test paper, like the previous one, was completed by Li Mu Yang himself.

Zhao Mingzhu gripped the test paper as if it were a burning hot coal.

Her expression shifted through various emotions before she finally managed to force a smile. She patted Li Mu Yang's shoulder and said, "Not bad, Li Mu Yang. You didn't cheat. This test paper was indeed answered by you yourself—your progress is very obvious. Keep it up."

Zhao Mingzhu looked up at the students below and said, "Li Mu Yang, you can go down now. The other students still need to continue their exam."

"Teacher Zhao—" Li Mu Yang stood in front of Zhao Mingzhu, not moving.

"What?" Zhao Mingzhu looked up sharply, a fierce glint in her eyes. She had already proven his innocence; did this guy intend to push his luck?

"You've been teaching for many years, but you've never apologized to a student before, have you?" Li Mu Yang asked.

The air seemed to freeze. Every student felt a chill run down the back of their necks.

They thought Li Mu Yang had gone mad, daring to ask the school's notoriously rigid old witch to apologize to him.

"What do you want to say?" Zhao Mingzhu clenched her fist. The test paper Li Mu Yang had just answered was crumpled into a hard paper ball in her hand.

"If you don't have anything to say—" Li Mu Yang looked directly into Zhao Mingzhu's eyes and said, word by word, "then start with me."

"Li Mu Yang—"

"Does Teacher Zhao think that what you've done and what you've said has caused so little harm to a student that it's not even worth an apology? If that's the case, I will report today's events to the school and file a complaint with the Ministry of Rites regarding the teacher's slander and insult towards me—"

Zhao Mingzhu stared intently at Li Mu Yang and said, "Li Mu Yang, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, Teacher. I am very sure."

"Fine. I apologize to you. I misspoke just now. I shouldn't have accused you of cheating based on my subjective assumptions before thoroughly investigating—Li Mu Yang, I'm sorry." Zhao Mingzhu's voice was hoarse.

This was something she had never done before.

It was also something she had never imagined doing.

"I didn't cheat," Li Mu Yang said to the students in the class.

"—"

Li Mu Yang then turned to face Zhao Mingzhu and said, "I don't accept it."

"What?"

"I said—I don't accept Teacher Zhao's apology," Li Mu Yang repeated.

He walked down from the podium and headed towards his seat.

He packed his books, pens, ink, and water cup into his schoolbag, then, carrying a bulging bag, walked out of the classroom.

This time, his back was straight, like a pine tree standing proudly in a valley.