Chapter 15

“Report!”

Xia Yue shouted “Report!” at the classroom door, then stepped in and said to her homeroom teacher, Teacher Luo: “Teacher, I’ve brought him.”

Li Ye couldn’t help but suppress a smile.

What does “brought him” mean? It sounds like you’re escorting a prisoner for interrogation.

At this moment, he fully understood: Xia Yue was just a class monitor, yet she’d already developed a sense of privileged superiority.

Teacher Luo was comparing two sets of test answers; seeing Li Ye and the others enter, she put down the papers and stared at Li Ye in silence.

This was the teacher’s usual tactic for dealing with guilty students: stare them into nervousness first, then scold them harshly afterward—it made control much easier.

But what kind of person was Li Ye?

Back in the day, when his boss reneged on his bonus, he quietly planted a landmine in his work—and faced his boss’s furious outburst without flinching, calmly declaring, “I’m innocent, I’m virtuous.” Would he be afraid of a few extra glances?

Go ahead and stare—I’m good-looking, after all.

Teacher Luo, looking at Li Ye’s expressionless face, could only frown and say: “Li Ye, did you just hit Xia Yue with a book?”

Li Ye replied calmly: “She called me a bastard born to a stepmother. If you think my actions were inappropriate, I can have my father speak with her father.”

“........”

Teacher Luo glanced at Xia Yue, her gaze sharpening.

Insulting someone’s parents wasn’t a minor offense in the eyes of cultured people.

Teacher Luo frowned and changed the subject: “Xia Yue says you cheated on the test. What do you say?”

Li Ye said: “I didn’t cheat. I believe this is Xia Yue’s retaliation, or jealousy leading her to falsely accuse me.”

“........”

Several teachers in the classroom turned to look, their faces filled with surprise.

After all, it was just an informal in-class quiz—calling it cheating was already overblown.

But Li Ye’s words were too aggressive, instantly cornering both himself and Xia Yue.

If Li Ye was later found guilty of cheating, the punishment would be severe.

Conversely, if Xia Yue was proven guilty of retaliation and false accusation, the consequences would be doubled.

Teacher Luo quickly 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 refused to let it slide.

She’d caught Li Ye cheating—how had she ended up as the jealous villain?

So almost the moment Teacher Luo spoke, Xia Yue interrupted: “Who’s retaliating? Who’s falsely accusing you? Your answers are identical to Wen Leyu’s—unless she copied you, who else could it be?”

Now it was Teacher Luo’s turn to be exasperated.

Are you stupid or what, Xia Yue? Don’t you see I’m trying to defuse this? Don’t you know cheating is hard to prove?

Besides, it’s Coach Ke’s first day teaching—now you’re dragging up cheating, involving his daughter? Who are you trying to sabotage?

A dog chasing a rat...

Li Ye didn’t even look at Xia Yue; he turned to Teacher Luo: “An hour ago, I filed a complaint against Xia Yue for opening my mail without permission. An hour later, she accuses me of cheating.

I don’t understand—she’s just a student. What authority does she have to accuse me of cheating? Is it just because she’s class monitor?”

“Don’t rush,” Teacher Luo said, picking up the two perfect answer sheets. “Explain to me why your answers are identical.”

Li Ye replied, puzzled: “Teacher Luo, there’s only one correct answer to these questions. Do you expect me to write wrong answers on purpose?”

“.........”

Teacher Luo’s face darkened. Why couldn’t anyone be a well-behaved child?

Fine, then—let’s handle this formally.

Teacher Luo turned to another teacher: “Old Jiao, what was Li Ye’s previous English level?”

Teacher Jiao, who had already noticed the situation, replied: “In the last mock exam, Li Ye scored 21 in English.”

Teacher Luo scratched his head, sarcastically: “Li Ye, your improvement is enormous. Care to share your secret?”

“I had a fever during the last exam. Discussing this is pointless. If you think I cheated, just give us a new test and compare the results.”

Li Ye was done with the nonsense. Facts speak louder than words—drop one big move, and everything becomes clear.

As for why his scores skyrocketed? Let the teachers figure it out themselves!

He’s awakened, possessed, haunted, or the Literary Star descended from heaven... as long as he performs well, teachers will invent a fitting excuse.

“I just printed a set of tests for second-year students. They’re simple, but they’ll do.”

Teacher Jiao, who also taught English at County No. 2 High, knew Li Ye’s past well and was curious how he’d scored a perfect paper.

Li Ye took the mimeographed test and said: “Teacher Jiao, could you give Xia Yue a copy too?”

Teacher Jiao asked, puzzled: “Why?”

Paper and ink were school property; in this era of scarcity, every test sheet was precious.

Li Ye said solemnly: “Xia Yue accused me of cheating because she’s jealous—jealous that a student who used to score worse than her has now surpassed her.

If she recognizes her own shortcomings, she’ll become more humble in the future. Humility leads to progress.”

“.........”

Teacher Jiao paused, then burst out laughing: “Well! You’re not humble at all.”

Still, he fetched two more test sheets and gave one each to Xia Yue and Wen Leyu.

Xia Yue’s fury had never cooled; she snatched her test and attacked it like an enemy, teeth clenched.

The second-year test’s difficulty was barely different from the retake class’s; Xia Yue’s English was decent—but “decent” only compared to her classmates. Completing the entire test wasn’t easy.

But Xia Yue firmly believed that with Lu Jingyao’s entire study secret, she was far superior to Li Ye.

Lu Jingyao got into Beijing Foreign Languages College; Li Ye didn’t. That was proof enough.

The questions grew harder; Xia Yue slowed down—but she believed she could answer them all.

Whether right or wrong, in this day and age, just writing down every answer was already impressive.

But when Xia Yue glanced up at Li Ye by accident, she froze.

Li Ye was writing with his pen—“swish swish swish”—like doodling, filling out the mimeographed test at lightning speed, already finished with the last page.

“Is he just guessing? He must be guessing... scored 21 out of 100 last time—of course he’s guessing...”

Xia Yue kept reassuring herself, rushing through the test—but the faster she tried, the more stuck she became. By the end, her mind was a blur, her eyes blurry.

“Teacher, I’m done.”

Li Ye finished the last letter and handed his test to Teacher Jiao, who had been standing behind him the whole time.

Teacher Jiao, having noticed Li Ye’s speed, had stayed behind him and already read through it as he wrote.

Now he didn’t need to grade it—he already knew Li Ye’s score.

At that moment, Wen Leyu also finished her test.

Teacher Jiao quickly reviewed it—also a perfect score.

He said to Coach Ke, half-envious, half-admiring: “Coach Ke, you’re lucky. With these two students next year, you’ll shine bright.”

Coach Ke smiled: “It’s all thanks to Teacher Jiao’s teaching. I just got a ready-made big advantage.”

Flattery flows both ways—raising a good student is hard; credit must be shared.

“Hahaha~”

The teachers all laughed, none noticing Xia Yue, still tearfully struggling over the last page.

【I haven’t finished yet. I haven’t lost. This test is easy—I can still get 100...】

After what felt like forever, a grim voice finally reached Xia Yue’s ears.

“Enough. Stop. Let’s talk about you opening Li Ye’s mail without permission.”