"No matter what, the first place winner gets to participate in the math competition. I'm so envious. It's a pity I only got sixth place."
Lin Zhe sent this message and added a crying emoji.
Lin Zhe is usually very generous and has good relationships with people in the top class. Immediately, some classmates stood up for him:
"This is unfair; the cheater must be disqualified."
"That's right, we can't let Lin An participate in the competition."
"Why do you say Lin An cheated? Don't frame him. I believe him. He's not that kind of person." Leng Lin couldn't hold back any longer and defended Lin An in the group chat.
The message Leng Lin sent out was quickly drowned out by the doubts and questions from her classmates.
Actually, during the day, Lin Zhe had already privately reported Lin An for cheating to the head of the teaching department, but the head of the department suppressed his report on the grounds of lack of evidence.
He had secretly looked at Lin An's practice book at home before, and he knew Lin An's abilities better than anyone else. It was impossible to find evidence of cheating, but if he had the chance to take the exam again, he had plenty of ways to make Lin An fail.
Seeing the students' anger, he continued to fan the flames: "It would be great if we could take the test again."
"Isn't there an entrance exam in a week?" one student mentioned, adding that academic tests would be conducted as soon as senior high school students returned to school.
"That's right, why should cheaters be allowed to take advantage of loopholes? If they really have the ability, let's see how well they do on the opening exam."
"But what if the school doesn't recognize it?" Lin Zhe continued to send crying emojis.
His suggestion caught the attention of the top students in the grade. The top five thought that if they could beat Lin An, they would have a chance to take first place. The fifth to tenth students were thinking that if Lin An couldn't cheat, they would have a chance to get into the top five and secure a spot in the competition. These students got excited all of a sudden.
"Let's go to the head of the grade together and ask the school to use the opening exam as the standard. Do you agree?"
"I agree."
"I agree," everyone echoed.
"I'm afraid Lin An won't agree and will cause trouble at the school." Liu Ruyun, the class monitor of the top class, poured cold water on everyone's enthusiasm, and the group chat fell silent as everyone pondered how to deal with Lin An, this morally corrupt person.
Suddenly a new message popped up in the group chat: "I agree."
The speaker's nickname was Lin An. Because the group messages refreshed so quickly, no one noticed the notification that Leng Lin had added Lin An to the group.
The chat group was deathly silent. A few classmates were sending messages in a private group: "Who added him? It's so embarrassing to insult someone to their face."
"Whatever, we've already yelled at him, what can he do? Does he think he's right to cheat?"
"But he said he agreed to take the test again, and he seemed quite confident..."
"I'm afraid I'll be proven wrong in the end, hahaha..."
Seeing that no one responded, Lin An said, "Classmates, I have no intention of explaining. If I don't rank in the top five in the grade in the opening test, I will voluntarily give up my competition spot."
Liu Ruyun, who was seventh in the grade, was eager to settle the matter: "Lin, since you agree, then it's a deal. If you fail the exam, you can't go back on your word. All the classmates are here to witness it."
Lin An's face was cold as he gave an "OK" emoji: "I advise you to study more in your spare time and stop talking badly about others behind their backs. Talking big is useless. See you all in the exam room."
He then left the chat group.
Leng Lin watched the live chat in the group. She had always known that Lin An was a person with a strong sense of self-respect, but taking the exam again was clearly unwise. She quickly dialed Lin An's number:
"Lin An, don't agree to them. I believe you didn't cheat."
"It's okay, you can just take the test again."
"Lin An, I know you're a good student, but exams always involve luck. Just ignore these people."
In fact, Leng Lin felt that he had talent in learning, but there was still a gap between him and the first place. His high score this time was largely due to luck. She was afraid that Lin An would fail in the next exam and lose his competition spot.
"Thank you for your concern, don't worry."
Leng Lin couldn't persuade Lin An, so she could only pray for his good luck in her heart.
Inside the Lin family villa, Zhang Wanru was still blaming Butler Li for losing track of the person: "How could you lose track of them? It's already dark, where could they have gone?"
"Lin Wan, should we call the police?" Lin Wan, as her eldest daughter, also manages family affairs and has always been her pillar of support.
"The police will not handle the case within 48 hours."
Lin Zhe walked out of the room and saw Zhang Wanru pacing anxiously. He took out his phone and showed her the group messages: "Mom, look, my brother is doing fine. He's still chatting in the class group."
"I noticed he left his old-fashioned phone at home; it seems he's using a new phone now," Lin Rou realized.
"Where did he get the money to buy the phone?" Lin Xi asked casually while eating snacks.
"Mom, um, um..." Lin Zhe stammered.
"Xiao Zhe, what's wrong? Tell me what's wrong."
"Mom, my spare phone is missing from my drawer. I wonder if my brother took it."
Lin Rou looked like she knew the truth: "He must have taken it. I knew he was dishonest. My Aurora Pearl Bracelet went missing in the first month he was at the Lin family."
"We'll settle the score with him when he gets home. Xiao Zhe, send him a message telling him to go home first."
"Mom, I don't have him as a friend." Lin Zhe looked embarrassed.
"Then call him."
"There's no phone number either. I used to see him every day when I came home, so I never thought of exchanging phone numbers."
Zhang Wanru looked at her daughters and said, "Does any of you have his phone number? Give him a call."
The four older sisters, the eldest, second, third, and fifth, looked at each other in bewilderment. None of them had his phone number. Lin Wan sighed and said, "He used to text me to ask what time I would be home. I was so busy with work that it annoyed me, so I deleted his contact information."
My second and third sisters also said, "I'm in a similar situation. He kept harassing me, which was very annoying, so I deleted him."
Lin Xi: "How could I dare to keep his contact information? If my classmates found out, how would I explain that I have two younger brothers who are the same age as me?"
To the outside world, the Lin family has always only acknowledged Lin Zhe as their only son, and has never mentioned Lin An's existence, which has put Lin An in a very awkward position.
Zhang Wanru herself didn't have Lin An's contact information, so she could only sulk and be angry.
Seeing Zhang Wanru's unpleasant expression, Lin Xia, the third sister, said, "Mom, don't worry. He's a scoundrel who's just taking advantage of your worries. Maybe he'll show up in a couple of days to negotiate with you and ask for benefits. Besides, he's good at stealing and cheating; he has plenty of survival skills."
Zhang Wanru thought that he could still reply to messages in the group, so he was at least safe for the time being, and stopped insisting on finding him: "When he comes back, I must teach him a lesson. He's only just turned 18 and he's already like this. If I don't discipline him now, he might turn on us in the future."
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