41: 41. Woodworms

Inside Jiangcheng University, Han Zhiqi poured himself a glass of ice water, then tilted his head back and chugged it down, letting out a satisfying burp.

“Hahaha, refreshing! He really didn’t disappoint me.”

He stared intently at the press conference being held on the TV, his smile growing wider… Liao Sunan’s parents’ expressions changed drastically; originally arrogant, they were now in a sorry state. Especially facing so many mocking gazes, they wished they could find a hole to crawl into.

Liao Chunhua looked at his son with even more displeasure. He lowered his voice and said, “Didn’t you guarantee there was a problem? How could this happen? Is there anyone who screws their dad over like this?”

Just then, the spokesperson spoke, his voice as calm as water, betraying no emotion.

“Student Liao, do you have any more doubts?” Things had come to this point; any words would be pale.

The entire venue was silent.

Wang Meiling knew the situation was bad, so she prepared to stand up and apologize for her son, ending this farce.

However, Liao Sunan, suppressed to his limit, stood up recklessly and broke down, “Impossible! He absolutely cannot have such results. I studied him before; his grades couldn’t possibly be better than mine! Impossible! He must have known the test paper in advance and memorized the answers, that’s it!”

He shrieked hysterically, “Yes, English! He could memorize everything else, but English, absolutely not! If you have the guts, test him on English right now; one question will surely expose him!!!”

His rude behavior made everyone present frown.

“Heh heh… It seems he was slandering others from beginning to end, and now that he’s been exposed, he still dares to spout nonsense.”

“Jealousy has disfigured him, tsk tsk tsk…”

“It’s said that he always lost to Student Lu Feng, and this time he couldn’t even surpass him after the other party had been suspended for so long. It seems he’s broken down and is slandering him out of exasperation.”

“Thinking about what he said before, it’s truly laughable.”

“…”

The spokesperson for the education department frowned deeply, about to speak, when a clear voice came from below.

“No need!”

Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at the source of the voice.

A woman stepped out from the Jiangcheng No. 3 High School team. She slowly said, “I am Zhou Wenmei, and also Student Lu Feng’s homeroom teacher. I know Student Lu Feng’s situation better than anyone present.”

She then looked at Liao Sunan and said, “Student Liao, I know you’re unwilling, but there are some people in this world who cannot be judged by common sense. For example, Lu Feng. Do you think testing his English proficiency can expose his flaws? Teacher tells you, you will only bring humiliation upon yourself this way. Student Lu Feng’s English proficiency is better than mine, even as a teacher.”

“Previously, he even helped my husband negotiate a contract with an overseas supplier, communicating entirely in English. I know you don’t believe it, but unfortunately, I didn’t record it. But it doesn’t matter, a video went viral on Douyin yesterday, you can just watch that.”

Zhou Wenmei took out her phone, opened Douyin, and played a video.

On the screen, it was clearly a hospital, with nurses and doctors, and in the center of the screen, Lu Feng was fluently assisting medical staff in treating two foreign tourists…

His spoken English level was completely unlike what a student should have. Not only could he express himself accurately and precisely without any errors, but there was also no hesitation or pauses. Without looking at the screen, one might think it was three foreigners conversing.

Shock!

The reporters present also had high academic qualifications, but they admitted that without any preparation, they couldn’t do better than Lu Feng.

What shocked them even more was what happened later: Lu Feng actually corrected the doctor’s judgment.

This was simply incredible; could it be that he also understood medicine?

Because the video happened when he was discharged from the hospital yesterday, it had started to gain traction today, with over 100,000 likes.

“This is Student Lu helping foreign tourists while taking care of his father in the hospital. Does someone with this level need to cheat? If this video still can’t prove your doubts, I can have Lu Feng call and communicate with you in English.”

Zhou Wenmei was also angry. Even if he was a student, he couldn’t repeatedly slander someone like this.

Liao Sunan’s face turned pale, and he slumped back into his chair, looking lost.

“He… he really… is that amazing?”

Liao Chunhua stood up and smiled, “The teacher is right, my child misunderstood this matter. I’ll have him apologize to everyone.”

Wang Meiling also chuckled, “Yes, it’s normal for a child to find it strange. Even we adults had doubts about Student Lu’s changes. Now it’s all clear. After the leaders’ inspection, we realize that Student Lu has very strong learning abilities, which is a good thing.”

Her words were very clear: it’s not just what I think; the entire internet thinks this way, everyone says the same thing, so you can’t blame us.

This was also the art of language, completely absolving herself with one sentence.

Wang Meiling wanted her child to apologize quickly and then leave this awful place, so she forcibly pulled Liao Sunan up and said, “Sunan, apologize to everyone and to Student Lu Feng in front of the cameras.”

Liao Sunan was a hundred times unwilling, but before he could speak, the spokesperson on stage interrupted, “Hold on a moment.”

He calmly looked at Liao Sunan and said, “Thanks to your report, we stayed up all night reviewing the surveillance footage from several examination rooms that day. Although we didn’t see any cheating behavior from Student Lu Feng, there was an unexpected discovery. Coincidentally, we saw Student Liao Sunan… peeking at the answer sheet of the adjacent examinee during the history and geography exams.”

“!!!”

As soon as these words came out, the scene erupted.

Well, well, well, accusing others of cheating, only to be caught cheating himself?

Liao Sunan’s body trembled, he suddenly looked up, his legs shaking like a sieve.

Liao Chunhua panicked, stood up, and said, “That’s impossible, how could my son cheat?”

“Yes, yes, it must be a mistake.”

The spokesperson waved his hand, and on the big screen appeared Liao Sunan during the exam. He scratched his ears and cheeks for a while, then subtly turned his head to look at the desk of the person next to him, staring intently for two seconds, then lowered his head with a look of joy and started scribbling and correcting.

The same thing happened in another exam’s surveillance footage.

Wang Meiling anxiously said, “No, this is just normal body relaxation. He saw it unintentionally.”

Everyone present was speechless. Such obvious peeking, and she could still call it unintentional? His eyes were practically glued to the other person’s test paper!

The spokesperson ignored Wang Meiling and stated directly, “Therefore, in view of Student Liao Sunan’s cheating behavior, his examination scores for history and geography are invalidated.”

“Thud!”

Liao Sunan immediately fell from his chair to the ground, his knees hitting with a heavy sound. He said in horror, “No! Don’t! I… I… I…”

He wanted to say he was just stretching his neck, but the words wouldn’t come out no matter what.

Liao Chunhua’s face was ashen, his heart pounding. He violently pulled his son up, then said to the leaders on stage, “No! Leader, how can this be? How can you change the scores? My son scored 691 points, you can’t do this?”

Wang Meiling even rushed to the front of the stage, not even caring that her expensive handbag had fallen to the ground: “My son was just nervous and under a lot of pressure, that’s why he twisted his neck to relax. Sunan’s scores cannot be canceled!”

The spokesperson adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting a cold light. He slowly opened his mouth and said, “Mr. Liao, Ms. Wang, have you forgotten the purpose of your report? It was to investigate the college entrance exam cheating incident and give other examinees fairness, right?”

Wang Meiling and Liao Chunhua opened their mouths, suddenly remembering the bold statements they made to reporters at the education department yesterday: “We are going to root out these parasites that undermine the fairness of the college entrance exam!!”

Now… the parasite turned out to be her own… son?!

The boomerang had come back to hit them…