“Dongdongdong——”
There was a knock on the door, and the Dean of Studies, Lao Zhu, called out from inside, "Come in."
Lan Shuang and Qin Zhou looked at each other and felt something was wrong. She turned the door and walked in. She took a quick look and saw that there were not many people in the office, only three: the dean, her old friend, and the old demon man.
The dean of studies sat at the head of the long table, while Lao Tie and Teacher Zhang sat on both sides. They both looked unhappy, and the atmosphere was very strange.
The Dean was stunned when he saw Qin Zhou following Lan Shuang, then his tone softened, "Qin Zhou, why are you here too?"
Qin Zhou said calmly, "I heard the results are out, so I came here with Lan Shuang. Director, is there something wrong? Why do you all look so serious?"
Old Zhu pursed his lips and glanced at Lan Shuang, considering how to start the conversation.
Lao Tie's expression softened. "You two shouldn't stand at the door anymore. Sit down and talk."
"Thank you, teacher."
Lan Shuang and Qin Zhou sat down at the end. Old Zhu cleared his throat and said, "Well, the midterm exam results are out. Lan Shuang's grades have indeed improved greatly, almost dramatically."
Lan Shuang raised her eyebrows, not quite surprised, "Teacher, what place did I rank in?"
Lao Tie said with relief, "Two hundred and thirty-one, compared to the expected three hundred, we've advanced nearly seventy places!"
Qin Zhou's eyes widened: "Really?"
"Very good!"
She turned around and hugged Lan Shuang, saying happily, "I knew you could do it, Xiaolan. You really made our class proud!"
Teacher Zhang found this jarring. He snorted coldly, crossed his arms, and said, "Why are you so happy? Who knows if her grades are real?"
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over her head. Qin Zhou's heart immediately sank. She looked at Teacher Zhang coldly, "Did you consider the consequences before you spoke? You're a teacher, aren't you afraid of retribution for speaking like that?"
"Hmph, you dare say she didn't cheat? How could she possibly have gotten such high scores without cheating?" Teacher Zhang slammed the table and stood up, saying firmly, "In all my years of teaching, I've never seen a student go from second to last to 231st in just one month! I don't believe it! I'm demanding the exam room surveillance footage!"
"you--"
Qin Zhou was about to say something when Lan Shuang grabbed her, stood up, and calmly asked, "You said I cheated. Do you have any evidence?"
Teacher Zhang scoffed, "Evidence? We'll have it if we check the surveillance footage."
"Oh, that means you have no evidence and you accuse me of cheating without any evidence. I can sue you for slander, teacher."
Lan Shuang's voice was neither loud nor soft, but it was like a slap in the face to Teacher Zhang. His face darkened. "You're still stubborn. You're accusing me of slander. Then show me the evidence to prove you didn't cheat."
Lao Tie couldn't stand it any longer and stood up as well, rolling up his sleeves and angrily yelling, "Why do you want someone who didn't cheat to prove they didn't cheat? That's just ridiculous, isn't it?"
Teacher Zhang pursed his lips. "Don't you dare? Are you feeling guilty? To defeat me, you actually resorted to such despicable tactics. It's truly eye-opening."
"What did you say?"
Lao Tie was always kind and well-known for his good temper. The director had never seen him so angry and red-faced. Fearing they might start fighting, he quickly advised, "Alright, alright, calm down. This is in front of the students. Do you still have any shame?"
"Who was the first to lose face?"
Lao Tie glared at Teacher Zhang fiercely.
Teacher Zhang shrugged nonchalantly, his expression looking so annoying that it made everyone angry.
Qin Zhou's fists were clenched so hard that they made a clattering sound. Lan Shuang had no doubt that if she hadn't stopped her, she would have rushed over and punched the old demon twice before her brother.
"alright."
Lan Shuang suddenly spoke up, "You want to check the surveillance footage, right? Then go ahead and check it. I have a clear conscience and I'm honest and open. If the teacher doesn't believe me, he can ask the invigilator or the students in the same exam room to see if I cheated."
As soon as these words were spoken, the three teachers present were stunned. Seeing how confident she was, Mr. Zhu couldn't help but lean towards her, and became more and more annoyed with Teacher Zhang's aggressive behavior.
"Okay, since you agree, let's check the surveillance footage. Don't worry, Lan Shuang. If you are innocent, the teacher will definitely not let you suffer this in vain."
…
The surveillance footage was quickly called up, and several people sat on the screens, watching intently. The video was recorded at double speed, starting from the moment she entered the examination room. Lan Shuang did not turn around or look to the side from beginning to end, and at most she occasionally looked up at the clock on the podium.
After finishing the class, Lao Tie turned to look at Teacher Zhang beside him and asked coldly, "Do you have anything else to say?"
Teacher Zhang snorted and laughed: "This is just one subject, why are you in such a hurry? Let's take a look."
He didn't believe that Lan Shuang had made it this far on her own. He forced himself to watch all the surveillance footage until Lan Shuang bent down in the picture. Teacher Zhang immediately perked up: "It's right here—"
He clicked the mouse, and the picture froze. He pointed at the screen and loudly questioned Lan Shuang: "What are you looking at?"
The sound was so loud that it almost blew the roof of the monitoring room off.
Lan Shuang glanced at him calmly and said, "Teacher Zhang, the student behind me dropped his pen at his feet, and I helped him pick it up. Is there anything wrong?"
As she spoke, she grabbed the mouse and slowed down the second half. She saw the person in the screen bend down to pick up a black gel pen and put it back without even looking at it.
Teacher Zhang: “…”
(End of this chapter)
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