Chapter 42

The countdown clock for the final exams, like a death knell, hung in the most conspicuous spot in the classroom. The numbers shrank day by day, and the air grew thicker and more oppressive. The rustling of pages, the scratching of pens on paper, and the occasional sigh of anxiety created the suffocating background noise unique to the eve of senior year.

Xu Nianlei buried herself completely in a sea of ​​practice problems. She strictly followed the study plan on the USB drive Lu Baiyan had given her, sleeping only five or six hours a day. Apart from necessary meals and rest, all her time was spent tackling those difficult formulas and lengthy texts. Her face grew paler, and the dark circles under her eyes became more pronounced, but her eyes burned with an almost obsessive, indomitable light.

Lu Baiyan's materials were a great help. The precisely extracted key points and efficient review methods prevented her from falling into the trap of blindly doing practice questions, greatly improving her review efficiency. In several mock exams, her scores steadily improved. Although she was still some distance from the top fifty in her grade, the flame of hope had been burning tenaciously in her heart.

However, just three days before the final exams, a sudden storm descended without warning.

That afternoon, during the last self-study period, the classroom was so quiet that only the sounds of breathing and turning pages could be heard. Xu Nianlei was concentrating on tackling a challenging problem in electromagnetism physics when suddenly, the classroom door was flung open with a loud bang, shattering the fragile tranquility.

Everyone was startled and looked up at the doorway.

Wang Xiuqin stood there, her face ashen, her chest heaving, clutching a report card tightly in her hand—or rather, a crumpled piece of paper torn from a notebook. Her gaze, like a poisoned knife, shot straight at Xu Nianlei!

"Xu Nianlei! You come out here!" Wang Xiuqin's voice was distorted and shrill with extreme anger, piercing the eardrums.

The whole class erupted in uproar!

The pen in Xu Nianlei's hand fell to the table with a "clatter," and she froze, her blood seemingly freezing instantly. She stared at her mother, who appeared to be acting erratically, at the doorway, her mind blank, completely bewildered by what had happened.

Lu Baiyan's heart sank, a terrible premonition gripping him. He recognized the edge of the paper in Wang Xiuqin's hand—it was a handwritten personal notebook about mindset adjustment and exam techniques that had come with the USB drive he had given to Xu Nianlei! He had printed a paper copy so she could easily refer to it!

How did it end up in Wang Xiuqin's hands?!

"I told you to come out! Did you hear me!" When Wang Xiuqin saw that Xu Nianlei didn't move, she rushed in, grabbed her arm, and roughly dragged her out, while slamming the paper on the table with her other hand!

The paper was unfolded, revealing Lu Baiyan's clear and strong handwriting. Although the content was just ordinary study advice, the unique name belonging to Lu Baiyan was clearly visible at the end!

"Look, everyone! Look!" Wang Xiuqin shouted at the whole class as if she had seized some huge incriminating evidence, "This is your good class monitor! On the surface, she's all smiles and respectable, but behind my back, she's seducing my daughter like this! Writing these things for her! What are you up to?! Huh?!"

Foul language rained down like hail. The classroom was deathly silent; everyone was stunned by this sudden, appalling scene.

Xu Nianlei was being held tightly by her mother, overwhelmed by humiliation, anger, and fear. She looked at the words scattered on the table that had once given her so much strength and warmth, but now they had become weapons for her mother to attack her and slander Lu Baiyan. Overwhelmed by grievance and despair, she trembled all over, tears streaming down her face, but she couldn't even utter a word of defense.

"Mom...no...you're talking nonsense..." She could only let out broken, weak sobs.

"I'm talking nonsense? The evidence is right here! It's all in black and white!" Wang Xiuqin pinched her arm hard, her face contorted with rage. "I was wondering why you've been so absent-minded lately, with your grades fluctuating so much. Turns out you've been spending all your time seducing men! Just like your father! Shameless!"

"Enough!"

A cold, authoritative shout suddenly rang out, like a thunderclap in the silent classroom.

Lu Baiyan stood up. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were as cold as Siberian ice, and the oppressive aura emanating from him made several students around him instinctively shrink back. He walked step by step to the podium, his gaze calmly meeting the seemingly crazed Wang Xiuqin's, his tone icy and devoid of any warmth:

"Aunt Wang, please release Xu Nianlei and watch your words."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strange, penetrating power that brought Wang Xiuqin's crying and cursing to an abrupt halt. Looking at the cold-tempered, sharp-eyed young man before her, she felt a strange pang of fear.

“This piece of paper,” Lu Baiyan bent down and picked up the notebook that had been slapped on the table, his movements calm and unhurried, as if he were merely picking up a dropped pen, “is one of the study materials I, as class monitor and academic representative, provided to students who needed it. It contains nothing more than normal study advice and exam experience sharing. I don’t understand how this has become ‘seduction’ in your eyes?”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the shocked classmates before finally settling back on Wang Xiuqin's face. His tone carried a perfectly balanced mix of confusion and sternness befitting a top student: "Do you consider helping each other and sharing learning experiences among classmates to be something so shameful? Or do you think your daughter doesn't deserve any kind help at all?"

His words were logically clear and forceful, directly elevating Wang Xiuqin's sophistry and slander to a questioning of the spirit of "mutual assistance among classmates" and a denigration of Xu Nianlei's character.

Wang Xiuqin was rendered speechless by his question, her face flushing red and then turning pale. Of course, she knew what was written on the paper; she just needed an excuse to vent her resentment and control her daughter. But being questioned so calmly and publicly by Lu Baiyan, her unspeakable thoughts seemed to have been laid bare in the sunlight.

"You...you're just making excuses!" she shouted, her voice weak but her momentum clearly waning.

"Whether it's an excuse or not, everyone can see what's on the paper." Lu Baiyan gently placed the paper on the podium, turned his gaze to Xu Nianlei, whose face was pale and who was trembling all over, and his voice softened a bit, but was still clear, "Xu Nianlei has been studying very hard recently and has made great progress. As the class monitor, I see my classmate's progress and I want to provide some help within my ability. I believe this is my responsibility and also her right."

He looked at Wang Xiuqin, his eyes sharp as knives: "On the contrary, it was you, Aunt Wang, who, three days before the final exams, publicly humiliated your daughter with such baseless speculation and slanderous language, disrupting her study session. Do you think this is something a mother should do?"

These words were like the last straw, completely crushing Wang Xiuqin. Looking at the gazes from her classmates, which had initially turned from shock to disdain and condemnation, at her daughter's broken and desperate eyes, and at Lu Baiyan's calm, almost cold face, she finally realized that her actions today had not only failed to achieve her goal, but had also completely destroyed any remaining mother-daughter bond and dignity.

As if all her strength had been drained, she abruptly released Xu Nianlei, staggered back two steps, her lips trembling, but unable to utter another word. Finally, amidst the deathly silence and countless gazes, she fled the classroom in a disheveled and almost panicked state.

The eye of the storm vanished abruptly, but a suffocating silence still lingered in the classroom.

Xu Nianlei remained frozen in place, tears streaming silently down her face, her body trembling slightly from extreme humiliation and lingering fear.

Lu Baiyan walked to her side, said nothing, but silently smoothed out the crumpled note paper, folded it again, and handed it back to her. Then, he looked at the whole class, his voice returning to its usual calm, yet carrying an undeniable force:

"Study continues. I hope everyone is unaffected by what just happened and can focus on preparing for the exam."

After saying that, he returned to his seat, picked up his pen, as if the dramatic farce that had just occurred had never happened.

The students exchanged bewildered glances, then gradually lowered their heads and returned to their books, but each of them was left with an indelible sense of awe. For the first time, they had seen so clearly the terrifying shadow behind Xu Nianlei, and for the first time, they had so directly felt the overwhelming calmness, wisdom, and strength that their usually aloof and taciturn class monitor had displayed at this crucial moment.

Xu Nianlei clutched the recovered notebook tightly, the edges of which almost dug into her flesh. Looking at the calm figure beside her, who had already returned to studying as if she had merely brushed away a speck of dust, a surge of immense gratitude, grievance, and lingering fear welled up in her heart again, making her almost unable to stand.

Li Yue and Zhang Xiao quickly came over to support her and comforted her softly.

Lu Baiyan didn't turn around, but he could hear her suppressed, soft sobs. His fingers, gripping the pen tightly, turned slightly white from the force.

Wang Xiuqin...you have successfully pushed her to the edge of a cliff once again.

But this time, I won't let you succeed. She must, and will, win the final exam.