DO NOT VOTE!!
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Chapter 281: A Mediocre Student's Counterattack
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
One after another, the results of the mid-term exams came back.
In the span of one day, Hu Jiaojiao suffered a series of setbacks. She became emotionally and physically exhausted. All her hopes were turned to dust.
"Why did I fail again? The worst thing is that I got 59 in Chemistry! 59! Why couldn't the chemistry teacher have given me one more mark as consolation? Just give me an extra mark in the harder questions that I attempted... I was just one mark away from passing!"
What's even more devastating than failing in an exam was missing a pass by one mark!
Hu Jiaojiao turned her head around to look at Jian Yiling's chemistry paper. She saw three bright numbers.
100.
One hundred! It was a perfect score!
Hu Jiaojiao was dumbfounded.
She picked up Jian Yiling's paper again. She repeatedly checked the number. Over and over again.
It was really a perfect score. Not a single mark was deducted. Even the last question was correct!
The last question of the chemistry exam was incredibly difficult. The question was beyond the scope of the syllabus.
Everyone complained about the question after the chemistry exam was over. The cries of the students sounded like victims that had just suffered a disaster. Even Liu Wen, a member of the student committee, exclaimed sadly that she couldn't solve the question.
After repeatedly confirming the mark that was on Jian Yiling's paper, Hu Jiaojiao almost burst into tears. She felt both sad and happy at the same time.
She felt sad because they had promised each other to improve together. However, Jian Yiling had become a top student all of a sudden. She had been left behind to struggle in the dregs of learning.
However, she was also happy because her friend had gotten a perfect score in an exam! This was awesome! It could prove to the other students that Yiling hadn't cheated in the Chemistry competition! It could make those students shut up! Especially Wang Xiangchong!
"Yiling, you're my second idol now!" Hu Jiaojiao cried out. She granted the second spot in her heart to Jian Yiling.
The first spot was still Luo Xiuen's.
The other papers were handed back one after another.
Jian Yiling's results in each subject were mind-boggling.
She had scored a perfect mark in Maths, Physics, and English.
Hu Jiaojiao was almost on her knees after she saw Jian Yiling's results.
Finally, the last paper was handed out. This subject was Chinese.
Based on her previous experience, Hu Jiaojiao was curious enough to take a peek at Jian Yiling's reading comprehension.
Once again, she saw a big fat zero. The zero was akin to a duck egg.
Zero. Jian Yiling got zero in her reading comprehension!
She had still answered the questions in the same strange way.
Compared to her other marks, Jian Yiling's reading comprehension was an outlier. It didn't match her performance in her other subjects.
However, Jian Yiling's overall score in Chinese was still decent.
Out of a total of 150, Jian Yiling had scored 116.
Out of the 34 marks deducted, 20 were due to reading comprehension. Another 8 marks were from the essay writing and 6 marks were deducted due to small mistakes.
Hu Jiaojiao took a look at the areas where Jian Yiling had lost the 6 marks. She realized that those marks were also related to reading comprehension questions.
However, when it came to memorizing examinable texts, Jian Yiling had received a solid score.
For example, Jian Yiling had no problems with the literary analysis that Hu Jiaojiao had suffered with. Literary analysis had always given Hu Jiaojiao a major headache.
Jian Yiling's essay writing also intrigued Hu Jiaojiao.
The essay component was out of 60. Anyone who could score more than 50 in this section was a god!
Hu Jiaojiao was curious as to how Jian Yiling who scored a zero in reading comprehension could score 52 in essay writing.
Very quickly, Hu Jiaojiao got the answer to her question.
Jian Yiling had written an argumentative essay!
###
After the mid-term papers were returned to the students, the rankings were also announced.
Jian Yiling's name was first in her year.
Her name was incredibly eye-grabbing on the list.
Compared to her last two monthly exams, the improvement was incredible. In fact, such an improvement was almost difficult for the other students to believe.
However, with the previous Chemistry competition as a prelude, such results were not totally unacceptable.
•••
Chapter 282: Master Sheng Punishes Wang Xiangchong (1)
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Some students were able to accept this.
However, there were some students who still refused to accept this.
The person who refused to accept this the most was Wang Xiangchong. He had made a bet with Jian Yiling!
Jian Yiling had ranked first in the year.
Wang Xiangchong had ranked third in his class. And fifty-first in the year.
This meant that Jian Yiling's win was clear and unquestionable.
And thus, according to the bet between him and Jian Yiling, he had to apologize to Jian Yiling and Hu Jiaojiao in the public. Furthermore, he had to write 'sorry' to them a thousand times!
Although the punishment itself was not serious, Wang Xiangchong found this matter to be incredibly humiliating.
This time, Hu Jiaojiao took the initiative to approach Wang Xiangchong: "Wang Xiangchong, you should keep to your word. The results are out. Yiling got a higher score than you."
"Who knows how this score came about?" Wang Xiangchong replied with a strong voice.
"What nonsense are you talking about again? You either show evidence or don't talk nonsense!" Hu Jiaojiao cried out. Once again, she was angry with Wang Xiangchong.
"I'm just an ordinary person. I don't have the same skills as a certain lady. And thus, I can't get my hands on some certain things. If I had the same backing as her, how would I let her cheat?"
"Wang Xiangchong! You're so hateful! You're not keeping to your word!"
"Well, a certain someone will do anything to win! Isn't that more hateful?!"
Hu Jiaojiao was so angry that she stomped her foot: "Well, then go tell the teacher! Let the teacher investigate this matter! If you can't find any evidence, you must apologize to us!"
"You don't have to tell me what to do! I'll go after lunch!"
Wang Xiangchong didn't want Jian Yiling's name to be at the top of the rankings.
After lunch, Wang Xiangchong headed towards the Head of Teaching's office. He wanted to report Jian Yiling's matter to them.
However, he was only there for a short while. Very soon, he went back to the classroom and called for Jian Yiling.
"Jian Yiling, come with me to the Head of Teaching's office!"
A smile was on Wang Xiangchong's face.
This was because the Head of Teaching had asked him to come back and call Jian Yiling to come along with him. This request made him believe that the Head of Teaching had believed in his words. It seemed like the school still viewed this as an important matter.
"Yiling..." Hu Jiaojiao said as she looked at Jian Yiling worriedly.
"It's fine," Jian Yiling replied. Her reaction was incredibly calm.
She got up and headed towards the administration building where the Head of Teaching's office was located.
As soon as Jian Yiling entered the office, she saw a familiar figure.
Zhai Yunsheng was also in the office.
The former Head of Teaching had been fired by the Board of Directors. The new Head of Teaching was a male in his early forties. His surname was Zhang.
Teacher Zhang's face looked much kinder. He wasn't as intimidating as Teacher Li.
Wang Xiangchong began to speak to Teacher Zhang. He didn't pay much attention to the presence of Zhai Yunsheng in the office.
"I've called over the student who cheated. This is Jian Yiling. Her previous examination results were all incredibly poor. However, this time, she suddenly got the top mark in the grade. I'm incredibly skeptical of her mark."
Teacher Zhang didn't answer directly. Instead, he turned his head to look in the direction of Zhai Yunsheng.
Zhai Yunsheng's eyes were on Jian Yiling.
Jian Yiling was also looking at Zhai Yunsheng.
Jian Yiling's expression was calm and cold.
Then, a smile reached Zhai Yunsheng's eyes. However, the smile in his eyes was sharp and evil.
"Oh? You're saying that she cheated? Do you have proof?"
After waiting for a moment, Zhai Yunsheng had opened his mouth.
The tone of his voice was lazy. The expression on his face seemed like a smile yet not a smile at the same time.
•••
Chapter 283: Master Sheng Punishes Wang Xiangchong (2)
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Wang Xiangchong hesitated before he answered Zhai Yunsheng's question. Initially, he didn't plan to reply. However, after seeing Teacher Zhang's reaction, he began to answer.
"I don't," Wang Xiangchong replied. At this moment, his tone was still quite confident. "However, if you ask someone to check into this matter, then you will find out that I'm not the only one who is suspicious about this. You can also look at the comments and discussions on our school forum. A lot of people doubt Jian Yiling's results."
As he wasn't the only one who thought this, Wang Xiangchong was incredibly confident as he answered Zhai Yunsheng's question.
A repeated rumor becomes a fact. And thus, when Wang Xiangchong discovered that he wasn't the only one who had such suspicions, he wasn't scared of expressing himself. His confidence had grown.
"Well, you're telling me that you don't have evidence. However, what you do have is the masses supporting your opinion. So as long as the wrongdoer is not a single person, you don't have to worry about this being a mistake?" Zhai Yunsheng asked with a sneer.
"You..." Wang Xiangchong looked at Zhai Yunsheng in surprise.
He sensed that something was amiss.
"Keep explaining yourself. As long as you can't give a reasonable explanation, this will be counted as slander."
"No. It's obvious that Jian Yiling obtained her marks unfairly. Cheating is shameful. And thus, it's completely reasonable and fair for me to report her, no? If we see such things, shouldn't we report it?"
"Mhmm, you're right. We should report things such as cheating. However, which eye did you see her cheating with? Hm?"
When it comes to this, you have to 'see' it.
Zhai Yunsheng's eyes were full of mockery as he looked at Wang Xiangchong.
Wang Xiangchong got caught by Zhai Yunsheng's question.
No one had seen Jian Yiling cheat. No one. In fact, he hadn't seen Jian Yiling cheat either.
He just thought that the results were impossible when they came out. The results hadn't made sense!
Zhai Yunsheng turned around to the bodyguard beside him. "Contact his parents. Since this student dislikes the act of bullying, I'll teach him what it means to bully someone."
Since Wang Xiangchong was convinced that he was being 'bullied', Zhai Yunsheng decided to satisfy him.
Zhai Yunsheng could make sure that Wang Xiangchong understood what it meant to take advantage of one's position to bully someone.
It didn't take long for Zhai Yunsheng's bodyguard to contact Wang Xiangchong's father.
Wang Xiangchong's father was the middle-ranking manager of a company. Their family income was quite decent. Otherwise, his father wouldn't have sent him to Shenghua High School.
However, his family's income was only average when compared to the other students in Shenghua High School.
Wang Xiangchong's father was incredibly confused when he received the call.
Zhai Yunsheng took the phone from his bodyguard and said, "Your son insists that someone is bullying him. Since he's saying that, I'll satisfy him."
Before Wang Xiangchong's father could react, the boss of the company came to him and informed him that he had been dismissed.
By then, Zhai Yunsheng had already hung up the phone.
Soon after, Wang Xiangchong received a phone call from his father.
Wang Xiangchong heard his father say that he had been fired. The boss who had fired him said that he was not suited to continue working in the company because he could not teach his children to behave. Due to this reason, his character was deemed to be questionable. And thus, he had gotten fired.
Wang Xiangchong's face turned white.
Then, Wang Xiangchong realized that this was the work of the man in front of him.
Wang Xiangchong was still dumbfounded. He stuttered out, "How... How can you do this?"
"How can I not? Isn't this the taking advantage of one's position to bully someone that you were talking about? I'm making sure that you're satisfied," Zhai Yunsheng replied in a leisurely tone.
•••
Chapter 284: Master Sheng Punishes Wang Xiangchong (3)
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
"Wait, but I'm talking about Jian Yiling. How is this related to you?" Wang Xiangchong asked. Master Sheng's reaction and actions were quite baffling to him.
"Why do you expect others to be reasonable with you when you're unreasonable? If you can accuse people without evidence, why can't others treat you in the same way?"
When it came down to speaking, Zhai Yunsheng's words could create much more impact than Wang Xiangchong's words.
Wang Xiangchong was dumbfounded. He still couldn't believe that someone would fire his father over something like this.
He hadn't even done anything. He had only said a couple of words. And those words had somehow caused his father to lose his job?
Although he didn't have any evidence, he hadn't done anything wrong by questioning the matter in the first place. Everyone on the forum was also talking about it. He wasn't the only one who doubted Jian Yiling's results.
Wang Xiangchong didn't think that he had done anything excessive.
Even if Jian Yiling hadn't cheated, he was only merely questioning the matter. So why couldn't the school investigate the matter to make sure that she hadn't cheated? If she hadn't cheated, they could announce it after the investigation.
Why should he be treated like this?
Wang Xiangchong couldn't understand this at all.
However, Jian Yiling could understand Zhai Yunsheng.
A normal person would typically find evidence before disproving Wang Xiangchong's words. Then, one could tell him that he was wrong and ask him to apologize.
However, Zhai Yunsheng was not a normal person. He was the villain in the original novel. He was never reasonable.
Wang Xiangchong glanced at Teacher Zhang. However, he realized that Teacher Zhang was not going to express his opinion.
This made Wang Xiangchong pause for quite some time before he stammered out, "Well, even if she didn't cheat... Can't... Can't you just investigate the matter and clear her name afterward? Why are you doing this? I'm just questioning the matter... I've only said a couple of words... I didn't kill anyone or set fire to anything... You don't need to fire my father like that! That's... You've gone too far!"
Zhai Yunsheng held back his smile as he answered slowly, "Well, you like moving your lips no? Coincidentally, I was also just moving my lips."
Zhai Yunsheng had only spoken to his bodyguard regarding the matter of firing Wang Xiangchong's father.
Some people didn't know the damage that they could cause to others with their mouths and words.
If Wang Xiangchong didn't know about it, then why should Zhai Yunsheng know?
Zhai Yunsheng glanced at his bodyguard.
Immediately, the bodyguard requested Wang Xiangchong to leave the office.
As the bodyguard sent Wang Xiangchong away, he told him: "Your mother still has a job. If you keep trying, Master Sheng wouldn't mind using a bit more lip service."
This left Wang Xiangchong walking out of the administration building in a mute manner.
After that, Teacher Zhang also left the office. He used the excuse that he had to take care of something. From Zhai Yunsheng's gaze, Teacher Zhang knew Master Sheng wanted him to leave.
And thus, only Jian Yiling and Zhai Yunsheng were still left in the office.
"Come here."
Zhai Yunsheng waved at Jian Yiling to come over.
"What do you want?" Jian Yiling asked in a small voice. Her bright eyes looked at Zhai Yunsheng.
"There's a small bed over there. Go and take a nap."
A foldable bed was set up in the corner of the office.
A small pink quilt was on top of the bed.
Jian Yiling stared at Zhai Yunsheng. She didn't move for a long time.
"Don't make me carry you over there. Stop trying to be a rabbit. Your eyes are red again."
Zhai Yunsheng knew that Jian Yiling had been staying up late again.
However, Jian Yiling had been sleeping relatively earlier compared to before. She was no longer sleeping three to four hours a day.
•••
Chapter 285: Can't Help But Be Envious
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
However, in Zhai Yunsheng's eyes, the amount of sleep that Jian Yiling received was still substandard.
A person who was still growing needed more than six to seven hours of sleep a day.
How would she grow taller if she didn't get at least eight hours of sleep?
In the end, Jian Yiling gave in. In order to grow taller, she decided to nap on the small bed in the corner of the office.
Zhai Yunsheng sat down at the desk. He was busy with his own work. Occasionally, he glanced at Jian Yiling. Jian Yiling was curled up in a ball as she slept.
She was incredibly small already. Now that she curled up under the blanket, she appeared to be a small ball on the bed.
Why was someone so small so incredibly stubborn? Why did keep insisting on doing things on her own?
Jian Yiling ended up napping for half an hour.
After she woke up, Zhai Yunsheng brought her some desserts.
She did not refuse Zhai Yunsheng's kindness when it came to food. She had already gotten used to eating food that Zhai Yunsheng bought her.
As she left the office, Zhai Yunsheng said to Jian Yiling, "Stop knitting those mitten, scarves, and beanies in your spare time."
###
When Jian Yiling's results were announced, it wasn't just Wang Xiangchong who reacted. Nor was it just the students in Jian Yiling's class.
Jian Yiling's entire grade was surprised.
In fact, even students in other grades paid attention to this matter. This was because Jian Yiling's name was quite well-known in the school.
She had suddenly jumped from the bottom of the class to the top of the grade! This was something that most mediocre students could never achieve in their lives!
The students in the Class of High Achievers in the Final Year of Senior High had also heard the news. This was Jian Yunnao and Mo Shiyun's classroom.
As soon as the students heard the news, they had rushed up to Jian Yunnao to compliment his sister:
"Jian Yunnao! Your sister is amazing! Before the last chemistry competition, she was still a mediocre student! However, now she's something completely different!"
"Yeah! When your sister first entered high school, she did quite poorly in her monthly exams. I thought she was an anomaly in your family! However, it turns out that she's actually a genius!"
As Jian Yunnao heard his classmate's praise towards Jian Yiling, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart.
Just as he was about to reply, the image of Jian Yiling appeared in his mind. He remembered her cold and detached actions towards him. It was as though cold water had been poured on him.
All of a sudden, he couldn't be happy anymore. He responded to his classmates in a low tone:
"Yeah, my sister used to be very smart. She loved to spend time in the laboratory with my second brother."
"Oh, so your sister is actually a genius!"
"Of course," Jian Yunnao replied without the slightest hesitation.
"Ahh, it's in the genetics. We can't help but be envious."
As Mo Shiyun looked at Jian Yiling's name on the ranking published on the school's official website, she didn't know how she felt.
The mid-term exams for their grade had been held at the same time as Jian Yiling's grade. And thus, the results were also announced at the same time.
Jian Yiling had ranked first in her grade whilst Mo Shiyun had ranked third.
As she was top ten of Shenghua High School, she was almost guaranteed to get into the top two universities in the country.
Previously, Mo Shiyun would have been incredibly satisfied with this result.
After all, Rank One and Rank Two were top students. Their results were incredibly difficult to surpass.
However, Mo Shiyun didn't feel happy for some reason.
She couldn't tell what kind of feeling she was feeling.
She knew that Jian Yiling's grades and ranking would not affect her. They were in different cohorts.
However, it was as if Jian Yiling's actions were making a sarcastic comment on her efforts.