Chapter Fifteen: Stumbled Upon a Great Bargain

“Report!” Xia Yue called out at the door of the teachers’ office, then marched in with measured steps and said to the homeroom teacher, Mr. Luo, “Teacher, the student has been brought in.”

Following behind, Li Ye couldn’t help but smirk.

What did she mean by “the student has been brought in”? It sounded like she was presenting a criminal for interrogation.

At that moment, Li Ye fully understood: Xia Yue, despite only being the class monitor, had already developed a sense of self-importance typical of those with special privileges.

Mr. Luo was comparing two sets of test answers when he saw Li Ye and the others enter. He set the papers down and silently fixed his gaze on Li Ye.

This was a common tactic teachers used to intimidate students who felt guilty — first make them uneasy, then follow up with a stern reprimand to assert control.

But who was Li Ye?

Back when his boss reneged on paying commissions, Li Ye had quietly planted trouble at work. Facing the boss’s outburst, Li Ye kept a calm facade, insisting, “I am wronged, I am kind.” Would he be intimidated by a few stern looks?

Look all you want—after all, he was good-looking.

Seeing Li Ye’s impassive expression, Mr. Luo could only scowl and ask, “Li Ye, did you just hit Xia Yue with a book?”

Li Ye answered calmly, “She called me a stepchild. If the teacher thinks my behavior was inappropriate, I can have my father speak with her father.”

“.........”

Mr. Luo glanced at Xia Yue, his gaze sharpening.

Insulting someone’s parents was no small offense in the eyes of a cultured person.

Frowning, Mr. Luo changed the subject: “Xia Yue says you cheated by copying. What do you say to that?”

Li Ye replied, “I did not cheat. I believe Xia Yue is trying to undermine me out of spite or jealousy, falsely accusing me.”

“........”

Several teachers in the classroom turned to look, some with surprise.

After all, this was just an informal quiz; calling it cheating seemed an overreaction.

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

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

Conversely, if Xia Yue’s accusations were confirmed as spiteful and jealous falsehoods, the consequences would be even harsher.

Mr. Luo hurriedly smiled and said, “Li Ye, what are you thinking? It’s not that serious...”

But Xia Yue wouldn’t have it.

She had caught Li Ye cheating and now he was accusing her of jealousy and false accusations.

Almost cutting off Mr. Luo, she shouted, “Who’s undermining you? Who’s falsely accusing you? Your answers are exactly the same as Wen Leyu’s. If you didn’t copy from her, then did she copy from you?”

At that moment, Mr. Luo was exasperated.

Was Xia Yue dumb or what? Couldn’t she see he was trying to mediate? Did she not understand how hard it was to establish cheating?

Moreover, Teacher Ke was new, and this was the first day of class. Bringing up cheating, especially involving her daughter, was making things worse.

Like a dog chasing mice...

Li Ye didn’t even look at Xia Yue. He said to Mr. Luo, “An hour ago, I complained to you about Xia Yue privately opening my mail. An hour later, she accuses me of cheating.

I don’t understand—Xia Yue is only a student. What authority does she have to determine if I cheated? Is it just because she’s the class monitor?”

“Don’t be hasty,” Mr. Luo picked up the two identical answer sheets and asked, “Explain why your answers are exactly the same.”

Li Ye said in puzzlement, “Teacher Luo, there’s only one correct answer to these questions. I can’t just write the wrong answers on purpose.”

“.........”

Mr. Luo’s face darkened. Why was everyone so troublesome? Couldn’t anyone just behave?

Since that was the case, he’d handle it formally.

He turned to another teacher and asked, “Old Jiao, how was Li Ye’s English before?”

Teacher Jiao, who had been keeping an eye on the situation, replied, “In the last mock exam, Li Ye scored 21 points in English.”

Mr. Luo scratched his head, a hint of sarcasm in his voice: “Li Ye, you’ve improved a lot. Care to share your secret?”

Li Ye said, “I had a fever during the last exam. Actually, discussing this is pointless. If you think I cheated, just have us both take another test to compare.”

He didn’t want to waste time. Actions spoke louder than words; a decisive move would make everything clear.

As for why his grades had leapt forward, he left the teachers to figure it out themselves.

Enlightenment, possession, ghostly intervention, the literary deity descending—whatever the excuse, as long as the grades were good, the teachers would come up with something.

“I just printed a new set of papers for the second-year students. They’re a bit easy, but should be sufficient,” said Teacher Jiao.

He had also been the English teacher at County No. 2 High School and knew Li Ye’s previous level, so he was curious how Li Ye achieved a perfect score.

Li Ye took a mimeographed test paper and asked, “Teacher Jiao, could you give one to Xia Yue as well?”

Teacher Jiao looked puzzled: “Why?”

Paper and ink were school property and precious in this time of scarcity; every test paper was valuable.

Li Ye answered seriously, “Xia Yue’s accusation that I cheated comes from jealousy—jealousy that a former underperforming classmate has now surpassed her.

If she recognizes her own shortcomings, she will be more humble in the future. Humility fosters progress.”

“.........”

Teacher Jiao was momentarily stunned, then chuckled: “Well, you’re certainly not humble yourself.”

Still, he handed out two test papers, one each to Xia Yue and Wen Leyu.

Xia Yue’s anger burned fiercely. Snatching the paper, she attacked the task like battling an enemy.

The difficulty of the second-year test was not much different from the repeat class tests. Xia Yue’s English was decent, but “decent” was relative. The entire test was still challenging.

Yet Xia Yue firmly believed that, having learned all of Lu Jingyao’s study secrets, she should outperform Li Ye by a wide margin.

Lu Jingyao had been admitted to the Capital Foreign Languages Institute, whereas Li Ye had not—proof enough.

As the questions grew harder, Xia Yue slowed down, but she believed she could answer all of them.

Whether the answers were right or wrong was another matter; nowadays, simply writing down all the answers was already impressive.

But when Xia Yue glanced at Li Ye, she was stunned.

Li Ye held a pen and scribbled casually, as if doodling, quickly finishing the last page.

“Is he just writing nonsense? He must be guessing... scoring 21 out of 100 and not guessing would be strange...”

Xia Yue encouraged herself while hastening to finish, but the faster she tried, the more stuck she became. Her mind was a blur, her eyes strained.

“Teacher, I’m done.”

Li Ye completed the last letter and handed his paper to Teacher Jiao, who had been standing behind him.

Having observed Li Ye’s speed, Teacher Jiao had watched him finish and reviewed his answers.

He didn’t even need to grade to know Li Ye’s score.

At that moment, Wen Leyu also finished her paper.

Teacher Jiao quickly reviewed it—it was also a perfect score.

Half envious, half admiring, he said to Teacher Ke, “Teacher Ke, you’re lucky. Next year, with these two students bringing you honor, you’ll really make a name for yourself.”

Teacher Ke smiled: “All thanks to Teacher Jiao’s good teaching. I just got a free bonus.”

Success breeds success; nurturing good students is never easy, so credit must be shared.

“Ha ha ha ha~”

The teachers laughed together, none noticing Xia Yue on the side, tears streaming as she fiercely tackled the last test paper.

“I’m not done yet. I haven’t lost. This test is easy. I can still get 100 points...”

After a while, a dark voice finally whispered in Xia Yue’s ear.

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