Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 204: Chapter 191: The Terrifying Truth about the Leak Incident

Indeed, as Gu Yanzhi had said, this English test had stumped a whole tier of students—carelessness could easily lead to falling into traps, no wonder the English test papers took longer to come out than the math ones.

When the papers were collected, most people were complaining that it was too difficult; there were even unfamiliar words they had never learned, leaving them clueless about the sentences and only able to rely on the ”one long among three shorts, choose the long; one short among three longs, choose the short; if all options are of equal length, choose B; for varied lengths, C is invincible,” strategy mentioned by Luo Qianqian.

Because everyone was very concerned about their scores, the results were out in just two days. This time, Xiu Xian’s grin stretched all the way behind his ears, his eyes squinted until they were barely visible.

Class Nine’s performance ranked eleventh in the grade, overtaking seven other classes—in other words, they had surpassed four more classes, how could that not delight him?

They surpassed not only Class Ten, Class Eighteen, but also Class Seventeen, Class Fifteen, Class Sixteen, Class Thirteen, and Class Eleven.

It was not only Class Seventeen who lost their bet with them but also their witness from Class Thirteen who was surpassed.

”Business as usual, congratulations to Luo Qianqian for being the top of the grade again. I won’t mention the exact scores to avoid upsetting everyone. Congratulations to Li Qi, Shen Yan, and Pei Yutian for making it into the top one hundred of the grade. Congratulations to class president Pei Yuhao and the group of Nei Xiaqi, Han Lei, Li Tianci for making it into the top two hundred. Also, congratulations to You Yong, Sui Jiao, and Zheng Dami for entering the top three hundred. The average score is eleventh in the grade, the total score is eleventh, eighth in math, thirteenth in Chinese, and eleventh in English. Congratulations on your impressive comeback,” Xiu Xian said with the corners of his mouth stretched and his tone filled with excitement.

The ones named were dumbfounded—eleven people entered the top three hundred? Knowing that this was nearly half of the batch, how could they not be thrilled? They threw down their books, laughing and cheering loudly.

Luo Qianqian sat at her desk, showing no sign of emotion. How could their scores surpass so many classes? Could it be that there were answers in those classes? She was very clear about the performance of her own class, and Xiu Xian not mentioning the scores confirmed her suspicion—it wasn’t that their scores were high, it was that the surpassed classes had scored too low.

During the lunch break, Luo Qianqian subconsciously stepped out of the classroom and waited for Gu Yanzhi in the corridor. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Gu Yanzhi headed towards Class Nine.

”Waiting for me?” Gu Yanzhi raised an eyebrow, his face showing a hint of surprise.

”Hurry up and talk, what’s going on? Our teacher didn’t even read out the scores, so it must be similar to usual. Did all those classes cheat?” Luo Qianqian asked with a face full of confusion. How could so many be leaked? Wouldn’t that be easily discovered?

”Your scores are indeed similar to usual, almost perfect anyway,” Gu Yanzhi shrugged. ”Class Seventeen got it worst, with thirty students, twenty-five got zero in two subjects, only scoring a few points in Chinese.”

”Have they found out who leaked the answers?” Luo Qianqian asked, furrowing her brows. So many classes involved didn’t seem like the work of one class teacher; it possibly wasn’t even the principal. But the paper marking was under the principal’s orders—there was no reason for self-inflicted trouble and an exhaustive investigation. What if they found some trace? Wouldn’t it be self-sabotage?

”There are three suspects, but none can be confirmed,” Gu Yanzhi mused before speaking in a lowered voice. ”First, the academic director, who has keys, time, and capability; a major suspect. Second, the head teacher of Class Seventeen, as his class obtained the most answers and it’s hard to explain otherwise. And the third...” Gu Yanzhi’s expression turned strange as he continued, ”is Old Man Wang from the school’s security room.”

”Are you guessing, or do you have evidence?” Luo Qianqian’s mouth twitched when she heard about Old Man Wang. He was illiterate and even had trouble with letters that had to be collected by students themselves.

”I’m guessing, but Old Man Wang had the opportunity, and...” Gu Yanzhi said, ”the day the envelope with the answers was found opened, it was said that Old Man Wang fell asleep in the corridor while doing rounds. Isn’t that quite a coincidence?” Gu Yanzhi added, ”But so far, there’s no evidence against the principal or the teacher of Class Seventeen—just suspicion.”

”Stop guessing already, let’s just wait for the results. You better not be like Conan, always running into dangerous places,” Luo Qianqian said, pouting her lips. In her estimation, it should be the ’temp,’ Old Man Wang, who would take the fall, right?

”Didn’t you ask before I told you?” Gu Yanzhi nodded. ”I guess it’ll be settled this week. Judging by the seriousness of the teachers, it must have been planned.”

”The tri-school mock exam mentioned on the broadcast? The one where our school had some teachers devise part of the test?” Luo Qianqian snorted, wasn’t that too obvious?

”I also think it’s a long shot. Class Seventeen’s performance was so poor this time, the culprit must have known they were set up, so why fall for it?” Gu Yanzhi shook his head, full of disdain, after all, they were all about the strength.

”Never mind them, I’ve been really busy recently, my mom is getting married.” Luo Qianqian smiled and turned to invite him, ”Are you free? Want to come hang out? I’ll treat you to tasty food for free, and you don’t need to bring a gift.”

”Hmm? Sure.” Gu Yanzhi was taken aback, his face turned red, and he immediately nodded in agreement, then felt as if he was rushing, so he averted his gaze, wondering what to gift.

”Great, I’ll take you with us. We already have seven people from our school, ten per table. It’s best for kids to sit together, I still need to find three more.” Kids’ entertainment was Luo Qianqian’s responsibility, while the parents’ mingling was for the adults. ”Oh right, that friend of yours who gets along well with you, and the one who asked me questions last time, help me ask them too, no need to prepare gifts,” Luo Qianqian giggled. Maybe it would be lonely if it was just Gu Yanzhi from Class One, after all, she was the bridesmaid.

”Three more? Then our Class Three’s iron square is just perfect, no need for you to look farther,” Gu Yanzhi laughed. ”There’s also a girl in our class you haven’t met yet, I’ve been wanting to introduce you to her but never had the chance.” His remark was purely for the sake of conversation, wasn’t he also free now?

Luo Qianqian didn’t point out the obvious, said the time and place, and then went back to her class.

Who knew in the afternoon the police would show up at school. A parent of a student had called the police — a junior high second-year girl was pregnant. When they investigated, it led to a string of events, including the incident of leaked answers for the first-year exams.

Contrary to Luo Qianqian’s expectations, the person the police took away was the head of the academic department.

Three grades were involved, selling non-transferrable exam answers to students from Class Eleven to Eighteen, with strict instructions that they couldn’t be shared. Discovery meant being punished for cheating, and the only way to exchange answers was through one’s body—and they could also get money for it, regardless of gender.

Once the news broke, it shocked the school’s leaders. Even the heads of the three grades pulled up the grades to question the problematic scores one by one, and it implicated a whole host of characters. The police even established a special case team. Words like ’human in appearance, beast at heart’ and ’wolves in sheep’s clothing’ soon became popular descriptions for the teachers. Some parents even demanded that all teachers be replaced with females.

The school brought in more than ten psychologists to address the students’ psychological problems, but the effect was negligible. Upon hearing about this incident, Shufan began to drop and pick his sister up from school every day, fearing that in an unguarded moment she might become a victim. Luo Qianqian felt both touched and helpless about this; she was touched by her brother’s concern, but helpless because, as a top student of Class Nine, how could someone target her?

Xiu Xian remained unchanged through this ordeal, his attitude toward his teachers as respectful as ever, which offered a bit of comfort to his anxious heart. So far, not a single parent from Class Nine had come to the school to make trouble, a situation that was rare in the school, even as it became common for parents to visit.

”The human heart is the scariest thing in the world.”