“Next up”
A stern-faced, cold-looking middle-aged man sat alone before the large screen in the Disciplinary Office, stifling a yawn.
Li Zhengqi, forty-five this year, had already served as Baiying Academy’s Homeroom Teacher for seven or eight years. The endless array of surveillance footage before him was nothing new—he’d watched thousands upon thousands of students come and go.
Sigh. Every time exams rolled around, the Principal insisted that he personally monitor the whole day. Midterms and finals, he could understand, but why even the entrance exams at the start of term? He was the Homeroom Teacher, not campus security.
He sighed, casually cycling through the classroom cameras, silently observing students’ little tricks.
It was always the same—one student bowing their head to sneak a look, another whispering with a seatmate. Even if he wrote all this down, would he really hand out punishments to all of them?
Every student here was from a wealthy family. Even if he caught them, at most he could give a verbal warning. For anything more serious, he might write an official criticism. But if he tried to strictly enforce discipline, within two or three years the pushy parents would get him removed.
It was a pointless job. Compared to a full day of watching the monitors, a walk through the corridors chatting with the patrolling teachers would feel much more involved.
Well, this is the job that pays him, after all. He should at least make a show of effort, write up a couple of cheating cases for the Principal, so he wouldn’t get blamed later.
Li Zhengqi straightened up, focusing on the classrooms that needed special attention.
Hmm, this student isn’t particularly suspicious. Nothing major to report. But that action—grabbing the test paper from a neighbor and tossing it back—should go on the report list, just in case.
And this student…seems to be dozing off. But unless you can really catch someone drawing answers on the desk while they sleep, there’s no point. His hair is almost covering his eyes. But with the current camera angle, he couldn’t see clearly. If he made a mistake, it’d be his own fault.
Wait, the kid near the window—isn’t that Lin’s son? Better just keep that in mind and mention it to Teacher Lin later as a favor…
Li Zhengqi yawned again, jotting down a few numbers, and prepared to adjust the camera parameters to check the next classroom.
Wait a second—just now, in the corridor outside the classroom, didn’t two students flash past together?
Most likely out for the restroom. But if two people stick together to go, there’s always suspicion of cheating.
Li Zhengqi switched the camera angle, focusing on the faces in the corridor to see whose students they were.
Oh? Two girls. One with a familiar face, and…wait, isn’t that Su Wanli?
The corners of Li Zhengqi’s mouth twitched, and he prepared to avert his eyes.
Honestly, if that little devil Su only ever cheated in the classroom, he’d be happy. Unless she actually did something big, like breaking a window or hurting someone, then a report would be required.
But even then, it’d just be a report. Who knows, Su Wanli might even treat a report like another badge of honor—she probably had a hundred of them by now.
So, the girl next to Su Wanli must be Meng Wange, the one the Boss himself had arranged to transfer into Baiying Academy?
One after another—both girls were trouble he couldn’t afford to provoke.
Li Zhengqi let out a long breath, just about to look away and move to another screen, when he noticed the two girls had stopped at a strange spot.
Huh? This isn’t Class Three, Year Two, is it? Why are these two hanging around someone else’s classroom?
And Su Wanli had already started rolling up her sleeves.
No way—she wouldn’t start a fight at a time like this, would she?
This was bad. Didn’t she usually only pick empty rooms for trouble? There was still an exam going on. If she threw a punch and broke a window, that was one thing, but if anything happened to the students, that would be a real disaster.
“Hey! Is anyone near the first floor of the Third Building? There’s an emergency…”
Li Zhengqi sprang from his chair, hastily straightening his clothes as he tried to call over the patrolling teachers to stop Su Wanli’s wild behavior.
However, on the big screen, the black-haired girl only pulled out her phone, waved it casually toward the classroom, then leaned in to say something to Meng Wange, and the two continued walking down the corridor.
“Hold up—crisis averted. Looks like it’s nothing. Everyone, stay clear of the first floor of the Third Building for now.”
He re-announced into his walkie-talkie, then sat back down in his chair with relief.
Really, what were they up to anyway? If he remembered right, this corridor wasn’t even on the same floor as Class Three, Year Two, where Su Wanli’s class was.
Forget it. Miss Su’s affairs were none of his business.
He saw nothing, absolutely nothing. As long as Su Wanli didn’t do anything truly dangerous, she could do whatever she wanted. If any trouble came up, the Boss would clean up after her anyway.
Li Zhengqi shrugged, deciding to ignore everything Miss Su did, and switched the surveillance to an outside view.
Because of this, he failed to notice that the direction the two girls were heading was inching ever closer to the Disciplinary Office.
“…So, in the end, we only caught about twenty people?”
Su Wanli clicked her tongue, flipping up and down through the photos in her phone album.
She was clearly unsatisfied, but as Meng Wange had said, the closer it got to the end of exams, the more restless the students became. In just a couple of class periods, it became almost impossible to distinguish between truly flagrant cheating and those just fidgeting.
“If we exclude the ones whose actions were minor and not clear cheating, we probably have eighteen or so, Miss Su.”
Meng Wange took Su Wanli’s phone and gave her an overview.
“Still, even if the number doesn’t meet the strictest requirements, these are enough to serve as evidence when we approach the Homeroom Teacher with our request.”
“Seriously? Just these, and we’ll be able to get the Homeroom Teacher to listen and get us recognized as Disciplinary Committee Members?”
“Of course. Ultimately, these photos just show our stance—to prove we’re really helping to correct school discipline. What really matters is your status as Sujia’s only daughter.”
Meng Wange smiled, leaning close to Su Wanli.
“Miss Su, as long as you’re determined to obtain it, you’ll definitely get it.”
“It’s just that, before that happens, we might need to do a bit more clever talking.”