In the days that followed, Li Qiwei often helped Chris and the others with their studies.
The Cavendish Laboratory was nearing its holiday break, so he hardly went there anymore.
Soon, June 15 arrived, and exam week finally began.
Li Qiwei suddenly felt a little excited for no particular reason.
He wanted to see what Cambridge exam papers from this era were like.
In his previous life, people back in Huaxia saw foreign exams as synonymous with easy.
Any Huaxia top student could breeze through them, raking in points with ease.
But this was Cambridge, after all. Surely the exams wouldn't be too simple.
Li Qiwei's first exam was Theoretical Physics, which began at nine thirty in the morning.
A required course for physics majors, Theoretical Physics was compulsory.
More than a hundred students sat in neat rows in the classroom. Most were third-year students from Trinity College.
Quite a few sneaked glances at Li Qiwei and whispered among themselves.
Clearly, he was the center of Trinity College gossip at that moment.
Li Qiwei even heard someone say he could do magic, which was why he'd dared to beat Cecil up, and Cecil hadn't dared retaliate.
All he could do was smile wryly. I don't even know you people, so go ahead and make up whatever rumors you want.
Soon, the proctor entered the classroom carrying the exam papers.
He was tall and thin, with a pointed mouth, and looked rather sly.
The proctor spoke. "Hello, everyone. My name is Miles."
"I'll be in charge of this exam. Please follow the exam rules, behave yourselves, and don't cheat."
As he finished speaking, Miles glanced casually at Li Qiwei, who didn't notice.
While everyone sat quietly waiting, Miles began handing out the exam papers.
When he reached Li Qiwei, he leaned in and spoke in a low voice. "Bruce, this is your paper. It should be very easy for you."
With that, Miles patted Li Qiwei on the shoulder, gave him a meaningful look, and moved on.
Li Qiwei was completely puzzled. He had no idea what the man was up to.
He didn't know Miles at all.
Probably another guy who's been bowled over by my kingly aura.
He thought no more of it, opened the paper, and eagerly looked over the questions.
The entire paper had just ten calculation problems. There were no multiple-choice questions or fill-in-the-blanks.
The ten problems were distinctive, too. They weren't like the purely exam-oriented questions of later generations, full of fiddly details and traps.
Quite a few were straightforward theoretical calculations, such as deriving Maxwell's Equations.
Others combined theory with practice, and all of them seemed simple enough.
Li Qiwei skimmed through them and figured they were about as difficult as the National College Entrance Examination in Huaxia.
The only thing missing was a question about how an electron moved through electric and magnetic fields.
That was hardly surprising. The electron had been discovered less than three years ago. It was advanced knowledge, far beyond the scope of an exam.
At last, no blocks sliding around or little balls rolling about, Li Qiwei grumbled to himself.
These questions were child's play for him.
Li Qiwei stopped holding back and started working through the paper at speed.
The only sound in the classroom was the rapid scratching of pen tips.
But plenty of students wore worried frowns, scratching their heads and racking their brains.
When they saw Li Qiwei writing furiously, they looked both incredulous and unsurprised.
It seemed the other man hadn't just gotten lucky; he really was capable.
He could answer even such difficult questions without a moment's thought.
After all, no one believed Li Qiwei was simply scribbling nonsense.
They could only sigh at how someone else's success could make you feel like you were dying of envy.
Meanwhile, Bellam, assistant to the dean, was accompanying Sanders, the dean of Trinity College, as they inspected the exam rooms.
Before long, Sanders and Bellam arrived at the classroom where Li Qiwei was sitting.
That was, of course, because Bellam had deliberately led him there.
Although Dean Sanders had agreed to expel Li Qiwei back then, it didn't mean he had taken orders from Cecil.
Cecil didn't have enough influence to sway a dean.
Sanders simply disliked people from the Qing Dynasty, so he'd agreed to use the fight as an excuse to expel Li Qiwei.
He was deeply prejudiced about race.
Li Qiwei had gone to great lengths to get into Trinity College at Cambridge in the first place.
Now Bellam suggested they spend more time in this classroom precisely because Li Qiwei was there.
Sanders wanted to see for himself what was so special about this young man from the Qing Dynasty.
So, under the pretext of inspecting exam-room discipline, he slowly made his way toward Li Qiwei.
Walking behind Sanders, Bellam gave Miles a look.
Miles returned it discreetly, shaping his mouth into an "OK" without saying a word.
Seeing this, Bellam quickly looked away, his smile growing wider.
Sanders stood silently behind Li Qiwei, watching him answer the questions.
Bellam stood nearby with a sly look in his eyes, watching the spot on the floor beside Li Qiwei's left foot.
Li Qiwei had noticed someone standing behind him, but he couldn't have cared less.
You watch; I'll write. I know how to solve the questions, and I'm not cheating.
The longer Sanders watched, the more alarmed he became. This Bruce doesn't even need to think. He reads a question and immediately starts answering it.
Could he really be a physics prodigy? But why has he been completely unknown until now?
Sanders felt a flicker of doubt, along with a touch of inner conflict.
Why does he have to be from the Qing Dynasty? If he were British, or even white, that would be enough.
Then I'd train him seriously and nurture a talent for Cambridge.
Still, his resentment toward Li Qiwei had begun to fade. He no longer felt inclined to expel him at the drop of a hat.
Whatever else, Li Qiwei was now a Cambridge student, and more importantly, a student of Trinity College.
As dean, Sanders had a duty to look out for every student.
Having settled the matter in his mind, Sanders decided not to make things difficult for Li Qiwei and prepared to leave.
Suddenly, Bellam shouted, making everyone jump. Even Sanders stopped, wanting to see what was going on.
"Bruce, what's that piece of paper by your foot?"
"Why does it look like there's writing on it?"
Bellam put on an exaggerated look of disbelief as he picked up the crumpled paper.
Then, under everyone's watchful gaze, he slowly unfolded it.
Like an actor onstage, his face instantly transformed into one of shock.
"Oh, my God! The paper's covered in formulas."
"Bruce, are you cheating? Is that how you've been answering so quickly?"
Sanders snatched the paper from him. When he saw the dense mass of physics formulas scrawled across it, his face turned livid.
He was furious, convinced that Li Qiwei had dared to cheat right under his nose.
He had only just begun to think more highly of him, and now Li Qiwei had revealed his true colors.
The commotion soon reached the other students.
The proctor, Miles, hurriedly shouted for everyone to keep quiet, warning that otherwise he would give them all failing grades.
Everyone stared at Li Qiwei in shock, unable to believe that he had really cheated.
After all, when he'd solved Teacher Wilson's problem, he definitely hadn't cheated.
Sanders fixed Li Qiwei with a sharp look and spoke in a cold voice. "Bruce Li, do you have anything to say?"
"Don't tell me you cheated just to keep up your reputation as a genius."
Bellam watched from the side, gloating, while Miles kept glancing over at them.
Even in this situation, Li Qiwei remained completely calm.
He looked at Bellam, then at Miles.
At last, he understood why Miles had patted him on the shoulder earlier.
The other man must have slipped the cheat sheet under his foot at that moment.
No wonder Cecil's been so well-behaved lately. He was preparing to stab me in the back.
Li Qiwei understood it all in an instant. He had no feud with Bellam or Miles.
They must have been acting on someone else's orders, and Cecil was the only one with both the motive and the means.
Li Qiwei sneered inwardly. That's all you've got? A bunch of idiots.
Before you continue