The words "cheating" landed like a stone in a still lake, and the classroom immediately erupted in a buzz.
Everyone who made it into the Elite Class had some real ability.
And with ability came pride.
Naturally, they didn't want to associate with dead weight.
Forty-odd pairs of eyes turned as one toward Fang Shuwen. Some held surprise, others disdain, and still others were simply eager to watch the show.
Fang Shuwen remained calm. His gaze passed over the heads of several students in the front row and settled on the boy who had stood up.
He knew the boy. His name was Sun Mao, and he'd ranked tenth overall.
The Sun family ran two grain shops in Xikou County and had some dealings with Guo Ziming's circle.
"Sun Mao, you say I cheated. Do you have any evidence?" Fang Shuwen asked evenly.
"Evidence?"
Sun Mao let out a mocking laugh, glanced around, then looked at Fang Shuwen.
"What more evidence do you need? You're the evidence!"
"You failed six out of seven subjects last semester, dead last in the class. Then after one summer, you suddenly got into the top ten of the Elite Class? If that's not cheating, what is? Do you think we're all idiots?"
"Exactly!"
A thin-faced boy sitting beside Sun Mao chimed in.
"I was in the same class as him before. He never studied and never passed a single subject."
"That's right. I've heard of him too. He's Young Master Guo's lapdog! All he ever did was suck up to Guo Ziming. When did he ever study?"
The murmuring grew louder, and many people were now looking at Fang Shuwen with undisguised disgust.
Zhang Mingcheng, seated in the front row, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and stood. A mild, lofty smile hung on his face.
"Fellow students, please calm down."
As soon as he spoke, the classroom did indeed grow quieter.
His reputation as the second-highest overall student, combined with his father's position as an inspector at the county education bureau, gave Zhang Mingcheng a certain authority among the new students.
"Whether Fang's results are questionable isn't something we students can decide. Until the school issues an official conclusion, publicly accusing a classmate of cheating without evidence is hardly appropriate, is it?"
Sun Mao was momentarily at a loss, his face flushing red. "Zhang Mingcheng, what do you mean? You're taking his side? What's your relationship with him?"
"I'm only speaking to the matter at hand. Everyone, settle down. When the teacher arrives, we can bring it up with them."
Zhang Mingcheng spoke in a detached tone.
The discussion in the classroom gradually died down, but Fang Shuwen could still feel plenty of people sneaking glances at him.
Trust wasn't easy to build, and suspicion wasn't easy to dispel.
That was human nature: resenting others for what they had, and oneself for what one lacked.
Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor.
They weren't the footsteps of a student.
Leather shoes struck the terrazzo floor with a steady, forceful rhythm, carrying an unquestionable air of intimidation.
Everyone in the classroom fell silent in unison and turned toward the door.
The door opened.
The person who entered was the principal, Qian Jun, but his bearing was completely different from usual.
His normally straight back was now slightly hunched. He walked sideways ahead of the others to usher them in, his face fixed in a smile that was both respectful and nervous.
Two men in dark blue uniforms followed him.
The one in front was in his thirties, with a stern face. As his gaze swept over the classroom, everyone felt as if a knife had scraped across their faces.
The younger man beside him carried a square black leather case. A dark-red emblem was printed on it, like an eye that had opened wide.
Above the uniform's right breast pocket, a black thread insignia had been embroidered in the shape of an inverted triangle.
Those uniforms were impossible to miss.
They looked like police uniforms, but not like the ones people usually saw.
Could they be some new kind of police uniform?
When Sun Mao saw the principal leading two uniformed men inside, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. The gloom vanished from his face.
The principal must have learned that Fang Shuwen had cheated. He'd brought the constables to arrest him!
"Principal Qian, this is Fang Shuwen. Hurry up and arrest this cheater!"
"Silence!"
Qian Jun's face darkened. He slapped the lectern hard and glared at Sun Mao.
"Sun Mao, if you keep spouting nonsense and disrupting class, you can forget about getting any conduct points this semester!"
Sun Mao shrank back and didn't dare say another word.
But he couldn't suppress the delighted smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Only then did Qian Jun turn toward Lin Xiu, who stood beside the lectern. He inclined his head slightly, his voice edged with caution.
Lin Xiu was no ordinary man. He'd become a section chief at such a young age.
On top of that, he had the Lin Family of Jiangnan Province behind him. His future prospects were limitless.
"Section Chief Lin, this is the newly formed Elite Class. The students are all here. What do you think?"
Lin Xiu's gaze swept across every face in the classroom, finally stopping at the seat in the third row by the window.
He recognized him at once from the photograph.
But Lin Xiu didn't draw attention to him. If Fang Shuwen was the culprit, speaking up might alert him.
"I'm only taking a look. Go about your business as usual."
Lin Xiu smiled faintly, then began making the rounds of the Elite Class with Officer Liang.
In less than a minute, they had completed their circuit.
"All right, Principal Qian. I've finished what I came to do. I'll take my leave."
After speaking, Lin Xiu gave Qian Jun a slight nod, then turned and left the classroom with Officer Liang.
The door closed softly behind them.
The classroom stayed quiet for two seconds, then bubbled over like a pot of boiling water.
The students whispered among themselves, repeatedly glancing toward Fang Shuwen.
Fang Shuwen simply sat quietly by the window, opened his textbook, and acted as if nothing had happened.
Sun Mao opened his mouth, as though he wanted to say something more, but swallowed the words.
He returned to his seat reluctantly and flipped through several pages of his textbook so forcefully that they rustled loudly.
Passing this assessment and entering the Elite Class came with a reward.
And the higher a student ranked, the better the reward.
As the eleventh-place student, he'd missed the top ten by just a little.
That alone wouldn't have bothered him, but then he'd discovered that Fang Shuwen, that idiot, had made the top ten!
It made him sick.
If that kid hadn't cheated, wouldn't he have ranked tenth?
Then his reward would have at least doubled!
That was why he'd accused Fang Shuwen just now.
In the corridor.
Lin Xiu walked at an unhurried pace, his leather shoes striking the terrazzo floor with a steady rhythm.
Officer Liang followed behind, carrying the black leather case. The instrument inside remained quiet, showing no unusual readings.
"Section Chief, the instrument didn't react," Officer Liang said in a lowered voice. There was some relief in his tone, along with a trace of disappointment.
Over the past few days, they had searched all over Xikou County and investigated several suspects. The instrument had remained silent as a stone.
"If the instrument didn't react, then it should have nothing to do with him."
Lin Xiu's voice was calm.
This was the latest device developed by the Great Flame New Kingdom Academy of Sciences, based on the Prok Energy Detector.
It could detect foreign energy at close range.
Though many years had passed, the Soaring Serpent's scales still gave off a significant foreign energy fluctuation.
And because of the Soaring Serpent's extraordinary nature, unless a Transformation Force Grandmaster intervened, it would be difficult to eliminate or conceal that fluctuation.
So, since the instrument had shown no reaction,
then he couldn't be the one.
"Section Chief, what should we do next?" Officer Liang asked.
Lin Xiu adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, his voice distant.
"What else? Of course we'll find a way to get in touch with Miss Zheng."