The “truth post” created by the students of Class 24, though quickly deleted, sparked a lot of discussion.
Students who hadn’t finished reading the post were confused. Students from Class 23 and slackers from Class 24 asked:
“Is the thing with Zhou Xiu true? Did Mr. Huang really frame her?”
“The top students in the Rocket Class were mocking Zhou Xiu, saying she had a persecution complex.”
Rocket Class students had previously mocked Zhou Xiu, claiming not only that she falsely accused the teacher but also dragged their class’s Lu Lingshan into it, making her seem mentally unstable.
Hearing this, the slackers from Class 24 were infuriated.
After class, they immediately rolled up their sleeves and confronted a few Rocket Class students.
“Come on, explain it to us. Who exactly has a persecution complex?”
“Our Xiuxiu has a persecution complex? Ask your class’s top student how he’d feel if the exam paper was found in his bag.”
How would the top student feel?
He’d feel humiliated, for sure!
Someone who can top the grade with their eyes closed wouldn’t need to steal a test paper.
The way he’d feel is exactly how Xiuxiu felt!
Yu Qingyan coldly mocked, “Don’t just think about how your top student would feel. If an exam paper was found in your bag, you’d suspect the whole exam room of framing you!”
The slackers could empathize deeply, imagining how Zhou Xiu must have felt at that moment, and it made them uncomfortable.
In school, slackers often faced such unfair treatment.
If a top student’s bag contained an exam paper, it was definitely a setup. If a slacker’s bag contained an exam paper, it was assumed they were cheating.
Top students would look insulted, and everyone in the exam room would be suspected. If a student from a lower class tried to defend themselves, they were accused of having a persecution complex.
Is class discrimination a trend now?
Sorry, but our Xiuxiu scored first in the grade this time.
The students of Class 24 shouted from the hallway. With so many handsome boys and pretty girls, the hallway turned into an attractive scene.
Boys and girls with long legs, all wearing specially tailored school uniforms, drew a lot of attention.
The top students in the Rocket Class, immersed in their exam reviews and unaware of the outside gossip: “???”
What’s going on?
Are they boasting about cheating?
Are slackers this arrogant now?
But the Rocket Class students soon understood why.
After the bell rang, Mr. Wang entered with a stack of papers. He tapped the podium with his thumb:
“This lesson includes a surprise test—multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions only. Fast writers can also tackle the long-answer questions.”
Rocket Class students were used to Mr. Wang’s surprises, even though the monthly exams had just ended. The test papers were handed out, and the sound of flipping papers filled the room, followed by silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.
After one period, the test papers were handed in.
Mr. Wang sat at the podium, grading the tests during the break. He finished grading quickly and turned on the projector, saying slowly:
“Only two students scored full marks on the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. Five students got one wrong, three students got two wrong, and eighteen students got three wrong…”
“I’ll explain.”
Mr. Wang casually placed a copied test paper on the projector. He spent fifteen minutes going over the common mistakes and then used the remaining ten minutes to…
Mr. Wang slightly moved the standard answer sheet to reveal the name on the test paper.
Zhou Xiu, Class 24, senior 18.
He activated his mocking mode: “See this? This test paper was written by a student from Class 24, using the same amount of time as you, but 96% of you couldn’t beat her. You guys had an open-book test and still couldn’t outperform her closed-book exam. Isn’t that embarrassing?”
The Rocket Class students were stunned.
They suddenly realized that this might be the test paper written by the “cheating” student during the monthly exam.
She actually scored full marks!
Mr. Wang continued with a heavy heart, “This time, the top score in the grade for the math exam isn’t from our class, nor is it from the Winners Class. Both classes combined couldn’t beat a student from a parallel class. You all…”
The Rocket Class was in shock, with Lu Lingshan looking up in disbelief, her usual smile frozen on her face.
After the class ended, the top students who had been scolded for ten minutes started discussing fervently.
Student A, recovering from the shock, said, “A student from Class 24 actually scored full marks? Did I hear that right? Even Xie Shen lost one point this time.”
Student B corrected rigorously, “It’s not the same. They wrote different test papers, so there’s no comparison.”
Everyone suddenly understood, “So, that student from Class 24 was really wronged?”
“No wonder those slackers were so agitated earlier. So she scored full marks, big deal. Who hasn’t scored full marks before? They acted like we framed their Xiuxiu.” The top students sneered.
For the first time, the Rocket Class top students faced mockery from the slackers.
“But the fact is, they did accuse Lingshan of framing Zhou Xiu,” Lu Lingshan’s best friend said coldly.
“Zhou Xiu was just joking, right?” Student C reminded.
Other top students sarcastically said, “Who has the time to frame her? If their teacher wants to frame her, so be it. Are we so idle that we’d frame her because we’re not busy enough with our tests and studies?”
They were just in the same exam room, and a test paper was found in her bag, and they got blamed?
This level of false accusation is ridiculous. Imagining the scenario, the top students of the Rocket Class felt exasperated.
…
Various test papers were handed out one after another.
The subject teachers entered Class 24’s classroom, and some glanced curiously at the new transfer student in the corner.
The biology teacher, especially, couldn’t hide his delight and praised the class:
“Zhou Xiu performed very well in this monthly exam. Only eight students in the entire grade scored full marks, and she was one of them.”
“Xu Qing also did well as usual, scoring 86. Everyone should learn from these two students. Even though you’re from an ordinary class, you can still outperform the students from the top classes with serious effort.”
In the science composite, biology was worth 90 points, physics 110, and chemistry 100.
The slackers felt their blood boiling faster.
Even though they didn’t score those marks themselves, they felt an inexplicable sense of pride, as if they had achieved it. It was a strange feeling, like it was their own score by extension.
Hua Xu, propping her chin on her hand, almost slipped and hit her chin on the desk.
“Damn, Xiuxiu really nailed it this time.”
Hua Xu seized the opportunity to jab at Yuan Ruoyi coldly, “So, is my Xiuxiu not trash now?”
“You guys cheated and almost ruined Xiuxiu’s shining moment.”
Yuan Ruoyi and her group initially believed that Zhou Xiu cheated, thinking her actions would drag them down.
Yuan Ruoyi, embarrassed and flustered by Hua Xu’s retort, finally said, “It wasn’t even your score, what are you so proud of?”
Zhou Xiu lightly added, “Hua Xu will score next time to show you.”
Hua Xu nodded vigorously, “You heard that? Just wait and see next time.”
Zhou Xiu’s scores gradually came in: Math 150, Chinese 110, Physics 89, Chemistry 95, Biology 90. Only the English score was yet to be announced.
Even though Class 24 was filled with slackers, except for Xu Qing, Zhou Xiu had no real competition.
While Zhou Xiu’s overall rank in the grade wasn’t outstanding, she comfortably secured a spot in the top 5% of her class.
In Zhou Xiu’s mind, a series of notifications rang out:
【Ding—Monthly exam math score in the top 10% of the grade, reward 500 RMB】
【Monthly exam biology score in the top 10% of the grade, reward 500 RMB】
【Monthly exam total score in the top 5% of the class, reward 500 RMB】
【Keep it up, young one.】
Zhou Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the thick wad of cash in her pocket, hard and reassuring. The thick winter clothes concealed the 1500 RMB in her pocket without a trace.
She exhaled a breath of mist, feeling that this winter was exceptionally warm.
…
Since the last math class, whenever Class 24 students saw Mr. Huang in public, they boldly asked:
“Mr. Huang, why did you secretly put a test paper in Xiuxiu’s bag?”
They were brave and angry: “Mr. Huang, please explain why you are targeting our Xiuxiu.”
They were aggrieved and innocent: “Mr. Huang, Xiuxiu didn’t cheat, and she was so wrongly accused that she was heartbroken. You should go apologize to her.”
Seeing students from Class 24 made Mr. Huang dizzy and his blood pressure spike.
He would angrily shout, “All of you shut up! Why would a teacher need to frame a student?”
Gritting his teeth, he added, “Why would I frame her?”
Class 24 students, however, were not only righteous in their questioning but also logical, directing bystanders to watch the surveillance video of Zhou Xiu on that day.
That video was irrefutable evidence.
The students in the grade were stunned and incredulous.
It was hard to believe that a dignified teacher would use their position to frame a student by secretly placing a test paper in their bag during an exam!
How did the students of Class 24 end up with such a terrible teacher?
Students from other classes looked at the slackers of Class 24 with sympathetic eyes.
Mr. Huang, feeling the increasing number of strange looks directed at him as he walked, had to return to his office and take some quick-acting heart pills.
The other teachers in the office began to have their doubts. They found it strange:
“Zhou Xiu seems quite honest. She doesn’t look like someone who would cheat. If she can score full marks, why would she need to cheat?”
“Zhou Xiu is usually very polite to me!”
“Mr. Huang, why are you so serious with a student…”
Mr. Huang opened his computer and discovered that those students had boldly uploaded the video to the school forum, spreading it as if it were true. This really was a case of something dirty landing on his lap—it was either mud or worse.
The idea that this mess was being pinned on him shocked and enraged Mr. Huang.
His recently calmed heartache started to twist painfully again, making it hard for him to speak coherently:
“No, it’s not… Why would a teacher take a student so seriously?”
Through gritted teeth, he managed to coldly sneer, “Would I frame her?”
Some teachers in the grade group commented, “Last time Zhou Xiu came to the office to ask you questions, you couldn’t be bothered to teach her.”
Another added, “You made her write a ten-thousand-word self-reflection and then had her go up to the flag-raising platform to reflect.”
Even Zhou Xiu’s homeroom teacher, who had been skeptical, found Mr. Huang’s behaviour suspicious after hearing this. She glanced at him strangely.
Though she didn’t entirely trust Zhou Xiu, she believed that her students, despite their poor grades, were straightforward and honest, not prone to lying.
The class bell rang, signalling another math class for Class 24.
Having taken some quick-acting heart pills, Mr. Huang slowly stood up, feeling both furious and exasperated, wishing he could tear the students of Class 24 apart.
At that moment, a few dark heads peeked into the office—it was the students of Class 24.
The slackers spoke loudly and firmly, “Sorry, teacher, but we cannot accept a teacher with questionable morals to continue teaching us math.”
In unison, with angry expressions, they declared, “We cannot accept a teacher who holds biases against students and intentionally frames them to continue teaching us.”
Other teachers: “???”
Then Zhou Xiu stepped forward and deeply bowed to Mr. Huang, saying, “Mr. Huang, I apologize. I admit I haven’t done well. Please don’t target me in the future.”
“I am just a student and will continue studying at Yude. I can’t afford to offend you.”
Her words implied that any future problems she faced would be blamed on him.
Mr. Huang trembled with anger, “Zhou Xiu, I will say it again! I did not frame you!”
“Why are you falsely accusing me?”
Furious, he decided to skip the lesson and went straight to the school security office to retrieve the surveillance video. The slackers, barely containing their laughter, quickly returned to their classroom, bursting into laughter and pounding their desks once they were safely back.
Leave a Reply