Jinling International Conference Center.

Lin Que had just finished showering, his hair still wet and hanging over his forehead.

He was wearing the white bathrobe provided by the hotel.

Holding a can of iced cola, he sat cross-legged on the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

He was the only one in the room.

Zhao Zichen was called away by Shen Qingqiu to review today's exam, which gave him some rare time alone.

The laptop screen on the coffee table was lit up.

An encrypted chat interface is displayed.

[Jiang Min: Professor Jian Shen, are you there?]

The message was sent ten minutes ago.

Lin Que slowly pulled the ring open.

With a "hiss," the bubbles surged.

He took a sip and started typing on the keyboard with one hand.

[Jian Shen: I was just brainstorming plot ideas for my new book. Secretary Jiang, is something wrong?]

The other party replied almost instantly.

[Jiang Min: Professor Jian Shen, the preliminary review has now concluded.]

The marking team was very efficient, eliminating 80% of the papers in the first round.

The remaining few hundred entries are now undergoing a second round of cross-scoring.

[Jiang Min: Professor Jian Shen, there's an interesting phenomenon.]

Many of this year's test takers imitated your style.

However, most attempts to imitate a tiger end up looking like a dog instead.

[Insightful: Normal. Pain lacking the support of experience can seem affected.]

[Jiang Min: Besides that, there's a piece that's currently quite controversial, and the chairman specifically instructed us to consult you on it.]

[Jian Shen: Oh? You can send it to me.]

[Jiang Min: Okay, Professor Jian Shen, please wait a moment.]

Immediately afterwards, a PDF file was sent over.

[Jiang Min: Professor Jian Shen, this is the essay. The examiner gave it a zero, but the head of the review team believes it has the potential for a perfect score.]

Lin Que raised an eyebrow.

Zero points?

When he finished writing "The Man Waiting to Die" in the exam room, he anticipated that it would be controversial.

After all, that kind of dark and healing style,

For traditional educators accustomed to the ideals of greatness and righteousness, it does indeed feel a bit like swallowing wasabi raw.

But he didn't expect such a strong reaction.

Zero points and full marks.

This is the first time that someone has given such extreme and polarized opinions on his writing.

[Jian Shen: Oh? Is that so? Isn't the title "Waiting"? How can someone write something so elaborate on a title like that?]

Jiang Min: Yes. The Chairman was also greatly shocked after reading it, saying that this child had taken a different approach.

But the writing is skillful, and the theme... is very insightful.

Lin Que let out a muffled laugh, almost choking on the bubbles.

Very insightful?

It's unclear whether this comment is praising him or insulting him.

Lin Que opened the file.

On the screen was his own familiar, scribbled handwriting.

Below the title "People Waiting to Die"

That bright red "0" score was particularly glaring.

There was also a big question mark next to it.

Seeing their exam paper appear on their computer, they even had to grade themselves.

This feeling...

This is similar to a judge hearing a case.

He discovered that the person sitting in the defendant's seat was himself, the one who had been drunk the night before.

Lin Que put down the cola.

I interlaced my fingers and moved my wrists around.

Giving it a perfect score? That's too narcissistic.

Should I give it a passing grade? I'm sorry for the quality of this article.

Since that examiner thought it was "0"...

Then he would assume the role of someone with "profound insight."

Tell these old fogies what it means to fight poison with poison.

He typed a line of text into the dialog box.

[Shenjian: I've read the article.]

[Jiang Min: What does the teacher think?]

Lin Que's lips curled into a smile, and the sound of his typing on the keyboard was particularly crisp in the quiet room.

[Insight: The teacher who gave a zero was a responsible and good teacher.]

The zero score was given out of fear. He saw the abyss and wanted to cover the child's eyes.

[Jiang Min: So... Professor Jian Shen, you also think it should be '0'?]

[Shen: No.]

Lin Que paused for a moment, then continued typing.

[Insight: The significance of literature lies in gazing into the abyss, not in whitewashing reality.]

[Insight: A knife is a weapon of murder, but also a tool for saving lives.]

The scalpel in the doctor's hand, and the butcher's cleaver in the butcher's hand.

There is no essential difference; the difference lies in the heart of the person wielding the knife.

[Insight: This article is not about evil, but about compassion.]

A compassion that had to be disguised as a demon.

In this lukewarm era, we need writing that dares to expose our wounds.

[Shen Jian: If I absolutely had to rate it...]

Lin Que paused for two seconds before typing the final verdict.

[Jian Shen: I would give it full marks.]

One additional comment: Gods do not relieve the suffering of sentient beings, yet evil spirits roam among humans.

...