Under the cold gaze of Dean Sanders,
under the mocking sneers of the two lackeys, Bellam and Miles,
and amid the shock and confusion of the other students in the classroom,
Li Qiwei slowly rose to his feet and met Dean Sanders's gaze without the slightest fear. His voice was firm as he said:
"Dean Sanders, this piece of paper isn't mine. I didn't cheat."
"Maybe someone wanted to make a little trouble for me."
As he spoke, he looked meaningfully at Bellam and Miles. There was no anger on his face, only disdain.
Before Dean Sanders could say anything, Bellam jumped in and turned the accusation back on him. "Stop making excuses, Bruce Li."
"Everyone knows you Qing people are the least trustworthy."
"From the emperor down to the common people, none of you have any concept of following the rules."
Sanders thought those words went a little too far, but he still said nothing to stop him.
Li Qiwei stared straight at Bellam until the latter started to squirm, then sneered.
"What right does a despicable person like you have to judge me?"
"Your very existence is a stain on Cambridge University's reputation."
Li Qiwei didn't expose Bellam's trick in front of everyone. He had no proof, and there was no need.
At that moment, Sanders said, "That's enough. Bruce Li, come to my office with me. Don't disturb the other students while they're taking their exams."
"I'll handle this matter fairly and impartially."
Li Qiwei gave a couple of cold laughs. "I don't trust you."
"What if you take me out of the classroom and then conspire together to deceive me?"
Sanders was furious. "Y-you, what kind of person do you take me for?"
Li Qiwei looked around at everyone and called out, "I want every student here to bear witness that I didn't cheat, and that I would never stoop to cheating."
"Mr. Bellam, didn't you say I cheated?"
"Fine. I'll prove right now whether I need to cheat or not."
Then he said calmly to Sanders, "Dean, you can ask the professor of Theoretical Physics to give me any question he likes."
"If there's even one question I can't answer on the spot, I'll admit that I cheated."
Boom!
The moment the words left his mouth, gasps swept through the classroom.
Everyone felt their scalps prickle. It was unbelievable.
In their eyes, Li Qiwei was now utterly domineering!
Even Sanders was shocked.
He had led Trinity College for more than a decade and considered himself to have seen countless geniuses.
But never had he met one so audacious.
He had declared that the professor could give him any question, and that failing to answer would mean he lost.
At that moment, Sanders finally began to take the young man before him seriously.
To make such a bold claim in front of so many people, he couldn't possibly be showing off for attention.
It meant he had fierce confidence in himself and the courage to fear nothing.
Sanders studied Li Qiwei for a long while, then turned to Miles. "Go in my name and ask Professor Keith to come here."
Still stunned, Miles hurriedly came to his senses. He felt as if he had made a terrible mistake.
He had thought that dealing with a Qing person would be a piece of cake. After all, foreigners in Britain had no roots or support.
Even if they suffered an injustice, they could only put up with it.
He hadn't expected to kick an iron plate this time.
But he didn't dare disobey Sanders. He hurried out at a jog to fetch Professor Keith.
Meanwhile, everyone in the classroom held their breath. The atmosphere was oppressive.
No one dared whisper to a neighbor or take advantage of the confusion to cheat.
After all, something like this had happened, and Dean Sanders was right there.
If anyone was caught fishing in troubled waters, they'd probably be thrown out on the spot.
About five minutes later, Miles returned, panting, with a white-haired old man. This was Professor Keith, the instructor for Theoretical Physics.
Sanders briefly explained the situation to Professor Keith. The professor listened in disbelief, then stared at Li Qiwei in astonishment.
He had vaguely heard Li Qiwei's name, but had assumed it was just young people bragging to each other.
He hadn't expected to find himself caught up in something like this today. Even in his thirty years of teaching, he had never encountered anything like it.
Professor Keith first picked up Li Qiwei's exam paper and carefully read it from beginning to end. The more he read, the more surprised he became.
Then he looked over the contents of the note and gave a slight shake of his head.
He had written the questions himself. It would be difficult to answer them all correctly using only some of the formulas on the note.
But Li Qiwei hadn't merely answered all ten questions correctly; his reasoning was clear and his calculations concise.
Professor Keith even thought his answers were better than his own.
Was this what cheating looked like?
But the old professor was far too shrewd to voice his opinion on the spot. Instead, he said to Li Qiwei, "Bruce, your answers were excellent."
"Since you've invited me to ask you anything I like, I won't hold back. I trust you have the confidence to handle whatever I ask."
Li Qiwei replied calmly, "Please ask, Professor."
Professor Keith thought for a moment, then said, "I have only one question. If you can answer it, you win."
"Bruce, what do you think the nature of light is?"
As soon as Li Qiwei heard the question, he realized that Professor Keith didn't want to make things difficult for him.
No matter how he answered, Professor Keith could count him as right.
Though he didn't need Professor Keith to go easy on him, he wouldn't spurn the man's kindness either.
So he gave him a grateful look, then answered seriously, "Professor, I believe light is both a particle and a wave."
"If you use a particle-based method to detect light, it's a particle; but if you use a wave-based method to detect light, it's a wave."
Professor Keith was shaken to the core by the answer, and he couldn't help feeling that Li Qiwei was a talent worth cultivating.
This question was at the frontier of physics at the time, and there was no fixed answer.
But Li Qiwei's almost philosophical response was dazzling and thought-provoking.
And he was only twenty years old, yet already had such insight into physics.
Did a student like that need to cheat?
Professor Keith could only find the whole thing absurd. He felt as though he had been dragged into a farce.
If it weren't for Li Qiwei's sake, he would have blown his top long ago.
While you lot put on your little show, I could be reading a few more papers.
The latest issue of Nature was due to arrive today. He wanted to see what new findings it contained.
If Li Qiwei had heard Professor Keith's inner grumbling, he would probably have felt only regret.
My answer wasn't philosophy. It was real science, the truth.
If you'd taken it to heart and looked into it, old man, you might have earned yourself a page in the history books of physics.
Unfortunately, Professor Keith missed his chance.
At last, the matter took a dramatic turn.
Everyone except Sanders and Bellam had missed Professor Keith's question.
But from the expression on his face, they could tell that Li Qiwei had won.
He had made good on his bold claim and answered Professor Keith's question.
No one believed anymore that Li Qiwei was someone who would cheat.
For a genius like him, cheating would probably take longer than simply writing the answers himself.
Sanders hadn't understood Professor Keith's question—after all, he was a humanities man—but he still breathed a sigh of relief.
Deep down, he hadn't wanted the final verdict to be that Li Qiwei had cheated.
Meanwhile, Bellam's face had gone pale, and faint beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead.
All his earlier swagger and arrogance were gone.
His legs trembled, and he didn't dare look up at Sanders, afraid the man might grow suspicious of him.
Sanders's face remained expressionless as he said calmly, "Bruce Li, I apologize. This was just an accident."
"Perhaps some careless student used this scrap of paper to revise before the exam and then accidentally dropped it."
Li Qiwei didn't respond. Sanders continued, "All right, let's go. We shouldn't interfere with everyone's exam."
With that, he left the classroom with Professor Keith and Bellam.
Everyone looked at Li Qiwei as one. He had once again displayed extraordinary intelligence and shocked them all.
Miles was now so ashamed he could hardly show his face. He didn't dare look in Li Qiwei's direction.
He could only curse silently to himself: Damn Bellam, that idiot.
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