14: Chapter 14 Cheating Scandal

Overnight, Wang Pingan became famous.

It was the kind of unreasonable fame that you couldn't catch even if you were riding a speeder.

The server for the Shencheng No. 1 High School campus network was almost crashed.

Last night, the homepage still featured the side profile of Li Moran, which was handsome enough to enrage both gods and men, with the title "Warmly Congratulate Our School's Student Li Moran for Steadily Ranking in the Top Five in the Monthly Exam."

This morning, the entire page was flooded with three words.

Wang Pingan.

【Shocking Counterattack! Once a bottom-feeder, now the school's third place! Wang Pingan, what right do you have?】

【In-depth Analysis! From 96kg to 370kg, is this sweat or technology behind it?】

【Grade 12 (Class 7) student risks death to expose: Wang Pingan hasn't left his house for a month, his sudden surge in strength is highly suspicious!】

Walking to class, Wang Pingan felt like an unearthed artifact, the kind that was still painted.

The gazes cast from all directions were denser than the security cameras at a scrapyard.

But the flavor was wrong.

Yesterday, those gazes were filled with shock, envy, and awe.

Today, there was something else in those gazes.

It was scrutiny, suspicion, and that schadenfreude of "I knew there was something fishy."

He walked into the classroom, and the classmates who were surrounding him yesterday, asking all sorts of questions and wanting to rub off some of his luck, scattered like they had an appointment to do so.

It felt as if he wasn't carrying luck, but athlete's foot.

The atmosphere in the entire classroom was extremely bizarre.

Gao Fei sat in his seat, with his legs almost resting on the desk.

Seeing Wang Pingan enter, he didn't even lift his eyelids, just said to the lackeys around him in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft.

"Look, the main character is here."

"Some people just can't stand the light. They were acting all high and mighty yesterday, why are they wilting today? Feeling guilty, aren't they?"

Wang Pingan ignored him, walked straight to his seat, and put down his schoolbag.

He opened his personal terminal and clicked into the campus forum.

The hottest post had a bold, black title.

【Exclusive Scoop! Pictures and the truth! Revealing the dark transaction behind Wang Pingan's surge in strength!】

The poster was an anonymous ID called "Light of the Righteous Path."

Wang Pingan clicked in.

The content of the post was written with great emotion; the writing was so good that it would be a waste not to write novels. (That's me).

The opening used a long string of parallel sentences, painfully accusing the current utilitarian atmosphere in the martial arts world, and then changed the subject, pointing the finger directly at Wang Pingan.

"...A month! Just one month! How could a person's strength undergo such a heaven-defying change? From a poor student who couldn't even touch the threshold of a quasi-martial artist, to a top genius who is third in the whole school! This is not scientific! It's even less in line with martial arts!"

"According to reliable internal information, Wang Pingan's rapid advancement in strength does not stem from any hard training, nor is it some bullshit luck, but rather from taking a forbidden drug called 'Blood Boiling Agent'!"

"This forbidden drug can, in a short time, burn a martial artist's life potential and blood-qi foundation to gain a fake surge in strength! Once the effect wears off, at best the user's foundation is destroyed, unable to advance any further for life; at worst, the blood-qi withers, and they die on the spot!"

Below the post, there was also a popular science section that was supposedly leaked from "insiders of the Municipal Martial Arts Association."

It was written vividly, rendering the side effects and dangers of the "Blood Boiling Agent" terrifyingly.

If the post only had text, Wang Pingan would have just taken it as a joke.

But unfortunately, at the very bottom of the post, an image was attached.

An extremely blurry, dim security camera screenshot.

In the picture, a young man wearing a hoodie, whose figure was seven or eight tenths similar to Wang Pingan, was standing in a dark alley, trading something with a dark shadow whose face could not be seen.

The caption of the picture was even more suggestive.

【Time: Half a month ago, late at night. Location: West City Black Market. Traded item: Unknown.】

This picture was like a drop of water falling into a hot wok.

The entire forum exploded.

"Damn! I said there was a problem! This speed of progress is something no human can achieve!"

"So it was drug abuse! I knew it! They really don't want their lives just for grades!"

"Too disgusting! This kind of person should be expelled! This is an insult to all of us who have been practicing hard!"

"Li Moran is the real genius! He relied on his family background and talent, practicing step by step! What is Wang Pingan? Just a pill-popper!"

Jealousy is the best catalyst.

It is hard to admit that others are better than yourself.

But it is much easier to admit that others are better than you only because they cheated.

The students who regarded Wang Pingan as an idol of counterattack yesterday had transformed today into embodiments of justice and paragons of morality.

They brandished their keyboards, venting their mediocrity and unwillingness with the most vicious language.

Three people make a tiger; public opinion is a powerful force.

Wang Pingan looked at those unsightly comments with a blank expression.

He even wanted to laugh a little.

This method was too crude.

Li Moran, is this all you've got?

He closed his terminal, took his textbook out of his schoolbag, opened it, and started previewing.

That calm and composed appearance, in the eyes of the surrounding classmates, became solid proof that he was brazen and shameless.

"Still pretending at this point? What good psychological quality."

"Pretending what? I think he's just given up."

Gao Fei looked at Wang Pingan, the triumph and resentment in his eyes almost solidifying.

This plan was decided by him and Li Moran together.

He spent money online to hire internet trolls to lead the rhythm and muddy the waters.

And Li Moran used his father's connections in the Municipal Martial Arts Association to spread those so-called "internal news."

That photo was something Li Moran spent a lot of money to have an expert synthesize with AI, enough to be indistinguishable from the real thing.

What they wanted was not to really do anything to Wang Pingan.

They wanted to destroy his reputation, make him bear the stigma of a cheater, and make him the laughingstock of the whole school.

They wanted to make Wang Pingan fall hard from the clouds!

The first class wasn't even over.

The classroom door was pushed open.

A student council member poked his head in, swept his gaze around the classroom, and finally locked onto Wang Pingan.

"Student Wang Pingan, Director Zhang from the Academic Affairs Office wants you to go over."

It was coming.

Wang Pingan's heart was calm.

He closed his book, and under the dramatic gazes of the whole class, he stood up and walked out of the classroom.

From the teaching building to the administrative building, a short walk of a few hundred meters.

Wang Pingan felt like he had walked for a century.

Everyone he passed was pointing at him.

Those whispers were like countless fine needles stabbing into his ears.

He was expressionless, walking steadily and firmly, step by step.

Academic Affairs Office.

Wang Pingan knocked on the door.

"Come in."

A majestic voice came from inside.

He pushed the door and entered.

A middle-aged man in his fifties, with hair combed sleek and shiny, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a beer belly, was sitting behind a large desk.

He was the Director of the Academic Affairs Office, Zhang Jianmin.

Zhang Jianmin didn't look up, just slowly sipping the hot tea in his hand.

He left Wang Pingan standing there for a full five minutes.

Until he finished the cup of tea, he put down the cup, lifted his eyelids, and sized up Wang Pingan with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Wang Pingan, right?"

"Yes, Director Zhang."

"Do you know why I called you here?" Zhang Jianmin leaned back in his chair, fingers crossed over his round belly.

"I don't know." Wang Pingan answered crisply.

The corner of Zhang Jianmin's mouth pulled into a sneer.

He pulled up the post on the campus network from the optical computer next to him and turned the screen to Wang Pingan.

"Don't know? Then you should know about this, right?"

His voice suddenly rose, full of questioning tone.

"Taking forbidden drugs, overdrawing potential, in exchange for fake grades! Wang Pingan, you have a lot of nerve!"

"Our Shencheng No. 1 High School is a cradle for cultivating martial arts talents, not a garbage dump for cultivating opportunistic, unscrupulous trash like you!"

He slapped the table, and the teacup on the table jumped.

"Speak! Is the person in the photo you? What did you buy from the black market?"

His words were not a question at all, but a conviction.

He had already assumed that Wang Pingan was cheating.

Wang Pingan looked at his official, majestic face, and his heart was cold.

He was not angry, nor did he defend himself.

Because he knew that arguing with such a person was the most meaningless thing in the world.

He just looked at Zhang Jianmin calmly and said word by word.

"Director Zhang, food can be eaten indiscriminately, but words cannot be spoken indiscriminately."

"Are you going to convict me based on just an anonymous post and a synthesized photo from who knows where?"

"Is this the efficiency of Shencheng No. 1 High School?"

Zhang Jianmin was choked by his words.

He didn't expect that this student, who he thought should be trembling with fear, would dare to talk back to him.

His face instantly darkened.

"Presumptuous! What is your attitude? Are you questioning the school's decision?"

"Let me tell you, Wang Pingan! This matter has had a terrible influence! Now not only the school, but many parents have called to demand that we investigate strictly! Give you fairness? Then who will give other students fairness?"

"I'll give you a chance now! If you admit it voluntarily and write a self-criticism, the school can consider leniency, a major demerit, and academic probation."

"If you are still being stubborn here, don't blame us for being impolite! We will cancel all your grades and expel you directly!"

These words were both soft and hard, combining threats and inducements.

If it were any other ordinary high school student, they would probably have been scared to the point of weak knees.

However.

Wang Pingan smiled.

He looked at Zhang Jianmin's red face, which was excited, and shook his head.

"Director Zhang, I appreciate your kindness."

"However, I will not admit to things I haven't done."

After saying that, he took out his personal terminal in front of Zhang Jianmin.

In Zhang Jianmin's stunned gaze, his fingers tapped a few times quickly.

An electronic application form appeared on the screen.

The header of the application form had a striking line of big characters.

【Shencheng City Education Supervision Department — Application for Public Re-test】

Zhang Jianmin's pupils contracted sharply.

Wang Pingan ignored him and continued to speak to himself.

"Since the school can't give me fairness, I will ask for it myself."

"Not only do I want to apply for a re-test, but I also want to apply for a full public live broadcast."

His voice was not loud, but every word was like a heavy punch, hitting Zhang Jianmin's heart hard.

"I also want to apply to invite drug identification experts from the Municipal Martial Arts Association to perform the most comprehensive blood and blood-qi testing on me at the live broadcast site."

"I want everyone to see whether I, Wang Pingan, have ever taken any forbidden drugs!"

"I want to prove my innocence in the most irrefutable way!"

He raised his head and looked at Zhang Jianmin, who was already dumbfounded, with burning eyes.

"Director Zhang, what do you think of this proposal?"

Zhang Jianmin's brain buzzed.

He was completely confused.

He had thought of ten thousand possibilities.

Thought Wang Pingan would beg for mercy with tears.

Thought he would resist furiously.

Even thought he would be so scared that he would wet his pants.

But he never expected that Wang Pingan would do this!

Removing the firewood from under the cauldron!

Directly poking the matter to the Education Supervision Department!

And wanted a full live broadcast!

And wanted to invite experts from the Municipal Martial Arts Association!

This damn...

Is this kid crazy?!

Where did he get the confidence?!

Zhang Jianmin's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He knew he was in a difficult position.

Once the Education Supervision Department intervened, this matter was not something he could suppress.

If it was found out that Wang Pingan was really innocent, then his title as Director of Academic Affairs, abusing power and framing students, would not be able to be removed.

His career would also be over.

"You... you..." Zhang Jianmin pointed at Wang Pingan, his lips trembling, unable to say a complete sentence for a long time.

Wang Pingan didn't look at him again.

He pressed the "Submit" button on the application form.

【Application submitted, pending review.】

After doing all this, he put away his terminal and bowed slightly to Zhang Jianmin.

"Director Zhang, I believe the Supervision Department will give you an answer soon."

"If there is nothing else, I will go back to class."

After speaking, he turned and left without a shred of lingering.

Leaving Zhang Jianmin alone, slumped in his chair, his face pale.

Half an hour later.

A notice issued directly by the Principal's Office appeared on the personal terminals of all teachers and students of Shencheng No. 1 High School.

【Notice regarding the application for public re-test by Student Wang Pingan of Grade 12 (Class 7)】

【After emergency research by the school committee, and communication with the Municipal Education Supervision Department and the Municipal Martial Arts Association, it was decided that tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock, a comprehensive public re-test will be conducted for Student Wang Pingan in the school gymnasium. At that time, a synchronous live broadcast will be conducted across the school, and the expert group of the Municipal Martial Arts Association will conduct on-site supervision and testing. Please pay attention on time.】

This notice was like a deep-water bomb.

The entire Shencheng No. 1 High School was completely boiling!

"Holy crap! Playing so big? Public re-test, and full live broadcast?"

"Is this Wang Pingan really crazy or does he really have the confidence? If something is found out, his life will be ruined!"

In the classroom of Grade 12 (Class 7).

Gao Fei looked at this notice and laughed until tears almost came out.

He slammed the table hard and said to Li Moran.

"Brother Li! See that! This kid is just a fool! He is digging his own grave!"

"He thought that by making such a big scene, he could scare us? He thought he could wash himself clean like this?"

"He is dead! Tomorrow, I will watch him with my own eyes, disgrace himself in front of the whole school!"

Li Moran looked out the window, his face still maintaining that calm expression.

But deep in his eyes, a flash of cruel pleasure flickered.

Bluffing.

He defined Wang Pingan's behavior.

A clown, the last madness before the end comes.

Tomorrow at two in the afternoon.

That is when this farce will end.

And the news of the re-test also reached Wang Pingan's ears.

He just calmly said "Oh," and then continued to lower his head and read his book.

As if the person who was about to be pushed to the trial platform and receive the scrutiny of the whole school was not himself.

He knew.

Tomorrow will be the most important battle since he came to this world.

In this battle, he not only wants to prove his innocence.

But also to trample those petty people who hide in dark corners, splashing dirty water on him and tripping him up.

Together with their pitiful pride and self-esteem, ruthlessly under his feet!

Crushed to pieces!