Chapter 134: Remedy

…Alright, starting from this line, the points about the palace attendant’s deserved execution of Guo are correct, and all the necessary scoring points are included.

She’s even added a few of her own insights, so there should be no risk at all.

As for the essay, she imitated the version with the highest score from before, reconstructed it with her own understanding, and even if the teacher is a bit moody while grading, the total score shouldn’t differ by much.

Meng Huange let out a relaxed breath and put her pen back on the desk.

In the end, after checking for so long, she hadn’t changed a single answer…

It was a natural result. There were hardly any new questions on this exam paper; all the source texts could be found in past exam papers from previous years. Only two questions tweaked the way they were asked, and spending so much time double-checking was her own mistake.

She remembered when Su Wanli placed her finger into her palm, jokingly saying, “After studying so many old test papers and writing so many Notebooks, can you really not even get a full score…? You can’t possibly lose first place in the whole grade, right?”

It was probably because of that sentence that she became so tense.

She relaxed her nerves a little. She didn’t know whether there would be any new questions on the next comprehensive test, and she often made mistakes under pressure. It would be best to save some energy for the next exam.

Meng Huange gently stretched her fingertips and arched her body toward the ceiling.

…She wondered how Su Wanli was doing now. Just now, it seemed she’d heard her let out a strange, almost sinister yelp. Hopefully nothing unexpected had happened at Su Wanli’s side.

Since this morning, Su Wanli’s mood had seemed quite good. She was proactive in talking with her in the assembly hall and in the car.

And when they got out of the car, she hadn’t refused any physical contact with her either.

Meng Huange lowered her head, placing her hand over her heart, and let out a light sigh.

…Also, if she hadn’t misunderstood, during their conversation, Su Wanli’s words seemed to carry a subtle hint of probing about her past.

She couldn’t tell if Su Wanli was asking with a purpose, or if it was just casual chatter. But once someone starts wanting to know more about you, it always feels like they’re trying to establish a long-term relationship.

A long-term relationship… It sounded so beautiful.

Meng Huange let out a deep breath and lightly rubbed her forehead.

But at the moment, she didn’t have the right to consider such matters. She needed to focus on the present.

If Su Wanli did run into some trouble during the exam, and she could give her a little help, that was still within the bounds of her own responsibility.

Even if she had to just give the answer directly, that would…

Just as Meng Huange made up her mind, ready to break her long-standing code of ethics just this once, a sharp screech of a desk chair sliding sounded by her side.

Su Wanli pushed back her chair and walked toward the podium with her test paper in hand.

Huh? Was she… handing in her test early?

Logically, if Su Wanli wanted to improve her grades as much as possible, she shouldn’t be doing something like this.

Did something happen?

Meng Huange frowned, recalling the expression Su Wanli had just before leaving the classroom.

…Her head was lowered, her eyes uneasy, and her face a little stiff.

Which meant she was most likely anxious and irritable.

Was it because she made an irreversible mistake during the exam? Like maybe she wrote the essay off-topic…

Well, the Notebooks she had prepared for her only covered the questions in the front. For the essay, she’d just listed some example prompts from previous years and the general points that should be covered she hadn’t given a specific template.

If Su Wanli wrote the essay in the wrong direction, the score for this subject would drop a bit, but from a ranking perspective, the impact wouldn’t be huge. As long as nothing goes wrong in math and English, Su Wanli should still be able to reach the middle tier of the grade easily.

…Assuming her state of mind wasn’t affected.

Meng Huange let out a soft breath and looked at the test paper before her.

She’d been so focused on Su Wanli that she’d completely forgotten to check on Su Wanli’s situation…

Diligently studying and doing her best to achieve good results was Meng Huange’s only real strength. She was supposed to be confident in this area.

But things had reached this point. She had to think of a way to make up for it, hoping it wasn’t too late.

Meng Huange dropped her head, picked up her test paper, and just like Su Wanli, walked toward the podium.

“Liu Laoshi, I’ve finished the test. Please take my paper.”

While Meng Huange was handing in her test at the front, Su Wanli was standing sneakingly by the side of Class Three, Year Two’s classroom.

She was half leaning out, peeking through the window in the back door at the situation inside the classroom, while pondering what she should do next.

She’d said she would find at least fifty instances of cheating to impress the invigilators, but how exactly was she supposed to go about it?

She couldn’t just stand beside every class for half a day, then dash in whenever she saw someone cheating, drag them out, and march all the way across the teaching building to report them to the Homeroom Teacher for punishment, could she?

It would be troublesome enough, and if the Homeroom Teacher asked why she was doing this, how was she supposed to answer?

Out of a sense of justice?

She imagined herself standing in front of a stern Homeroom Teacher, sticking out her hand and saying, “I’ve caught the culprit, the rest is up to you,” and she almost burst out laughing on the spot.

But thinking carefully, reporting one cheater was a student’s duty, but reporting a whole group… wasn’t that just making trouble for the Homeroom Teacher?

Even if she had the backing of the Sujia as her support, by the time she reported the fifth or sixth case, the teacher would probably start stopping her…

Forget it, take things one step at a time. First, she should check out what was happening in Class Three, Year Two.

She’d never noticed this before at school, but now, observing from outside the window, it was surprisingly easy to spot the small tricks others were playing.

If a student was taking the test seriously, they’d just quietly write at their desk.

If it was someone trying to pull a fast one, their furtive glances would give them away. Then, they’d sneakily open their textbook under the desk, getting ready to use their big move.

Like that student in the third row by the window.

Su Wanli quietly rolled up her sleeves, grinned, and was ready to reach out, open the window, and expose the student.

Just as she was about to act, a voice she didn’t expect sounded softly by her ear.

“…Su Wanli, what are you up to?”