Chapter 125: A Battle of Wits and Courage

"The locations marked with red straight lines in your hands are the parts you need to sing, and those marked with red wavy lines are for the chorus. Jiaxuan, play the music. Let's all sing through it once," said the beautiful Miss Yang.

In just over an hour, a group of dozens of people had managed to make the song sound quite decent. Miss Yang was very satisfied. "Alright, now let's practice the stage movements. Exams are coming, so I won't take up too much of your time; just go through the motions once. Lin Mei, you four hosts, go to your positions and stay there. Everyone else, follow the order on the program list. Okay, let's start."

Dong Yanyan's act was the very last one, so she stood leisurely beside Miss Yang, watching the spectacle.

"Yanyan, how is your magic trick coming along? Why don't you rehearse it in a bit so you won't be nervous later?" Miss Yang turned to her and asked.

Dong Yanyan nodded obediently and smiled. "I don't have any experience, so I'll do whatever you say, teacher. It's just that there are some parts where I might need the hosts' help."

"That's no problem at all. Why be so formal with Jiaxuan? Use him whenever you need to," Miss Yang said with a smile.

Dong Yanyan looked at her motherly, smiling face and was left speechless. There were so many classmates around—she was afraid someone wouldn't know! How could a teacher act like this?

"Teacher—" she groaned with a frown.

Miss Yang looked at her with a calm and elegant smile. "So, even Dong Yanyan knows how to act spoiled."

"I can even play the rascal. If you keep teasing me, I won't get a hundred on your exam," Dong Yanyan laughed.

***

Because exams were the next day, the students in the Broadcasting and Television class were working hard in the classroom, seizing every moment to review. However, the students in the Broadcasting class had no intention of cramming; they watched television and played games as usual. Lu Tian sat beside He Jingxuan, the two of them whispering to each other in a relaxed manner.

"Sister Xiaowu is amazing. She can do everything," Tiantian said proudly.

He Jingxuan turned his head and glanced at Dong Yanyan, who was whispering to Ren Jiaxuan and Du Jingxuan. He gave a disdainful laugh. "She needs two people to help her with one performance? You call that amazing? That's called being a dead weight!"

"Let me show you what a God of Gamblers looks like!" Ren Jiaxuan fanned out the cards in his hand with a professional air, striking a few flashy poses. With a quick shuffle, the cards traced dazzling arcs in front of and behind him. He gracefully slid them across the table, his long fingers flicking them into a perfect fan shape. Like dominoes, the cards rose in rhythmic waves as his fingers swept across them.

"Cool, right?" he asked triumphantly.

"So cool!" Dong Yanyan and Du Jingxuan clapped their hands. "Do it again, do it again!"

Ren Jiaxuan raised his wrist to check his watch. It was already past nine o'clock. He draped an arm around Dong Yanyan’s shoulder and smiled at Du Jingxuan, "We're done for today; we have exams tomorrow."

Du Jingxuan nodded tactfully. "Then I won't disturb you two. I'm heading out."

"Bye-bye!" the two waved at her with smiles.

Ren Jiaxuan leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Yanyan, come upstairs with me for a while. There's no one else in our dorm tonight."

Dong Yanyan refused flatly. "No way. We have math and physics tomorrow; I need to keep a clear head."

Ren Jiaxuan was a bit unhappy. "What does that have to do with the exam? You don't have to get up early anyway."

"Of course it has to do with it! Alcohol is a poison that cuts through the intestines, and beauty is a blade that scrapes the bone. You're so delicious, I'd easily lose my focus. And if I lose my focus, I'll fail my exams." Dong Yanyan finished packing her books on the table and didn't forget to call for Tiantian.

Lu Tian looked at her reluctantly. "Sister Xiaowu—"

"Let's go, it's already past nine," Dong Yanyan pulled her along without hesitation.

He Jingxuan was left fuming behind them. "How can she be so unreasonable?! She even controls other people's dating lives! This has happened so many times. I've been giving her face and not bickering with her, but now she's getting bolder," he shouted, slapping the table.

"I think she needs to be taught a lesson, too. All talk and no action—she definitely needs to be disciplined!" Ren Jiaxuan also slammed the table in anger.

***

The first day of final exams finally arrived. The desks and chairs in the classroom were rearranged into single rows, facing outward. The students took their seats according to their exam numbers, and then each used their own clever ways to cheat—hiding crib sheets in their sleeves, clothes, or under seat cushions. Some wrote formulas on the wall beside them, while others stashed textbooks in the desks of the students behind them.

Dong Yanyan sat against the wall, with Xiaohan in front and Zhang Lei behind. Zhang Lei was self-sufficient; he and Dong Yanyan occasionally passed notes, which was mutually beneficial. Xiaohan, however, was more troublesome. If Dong Yanyan didn't look after her, she would surely get angry. Although Liu Ying sat in front of her, Dong Yanyan knew that Liu Ying hated people copying from her during exams, so every year, Xiaohan would get into several arguments with her over it.

Ten minutes before the exam started, the Chinese teacher, Mr. Ma, and the P.E. teacher, Liu Qing, walked into the classroom with smiles. Dong Yanyan thought this combination was a disaster. In her experience, Mr. Ma was notoriously lax as a proctor; he would usually hand out the papers and find a seat to either write lesson plans or chat with other teachers. Liu Qing, however, was different. When he was a student, he had been an invincible cheater, mastering every possible trick. It was said that a teacher once specifically targeted him during an exam, but Liu Qing managed to pass a note to a buddy sitting on the other side of the room right under the teacher's nose. Naturally, human nature is dark; because of his legendary past, no cheating method could hide from his eyes. He had transformed from a thief into a policeman, evolving from a troublemaker into one of the "Four Great Constables" of proctoring. Cheating in his exam room was synonymous with suicide.

Having learned his lesson during the midterms, the top students were secretly rejoicing while most of the others sighed.

Mr. Ma placed the papers on the desk. The broadcast began playing the exam regulations. Liu Qing walked around the room with a relaxed demeanor, returning to the podium with a haul of confiscated books and cheat sheets. He tossed them onto the desk and said with a pleasant smile, "Your class's grades are decent; if you answer properly, you'll pass without issue. Don't show off these petty tricks in front of me. Don't let me catch you later, or you'll be kicked straight out of the exam room."

The bell rang. Mr. Ma had the students in the front row sign the paper bag, opened the seal, and began distributing the test papers.

Dong Yanyan received her paper, habitually wrote her name and exam number, and skimmed through the questions. She felt confident; the math teacher’s questions weren't obscure, and the big problems weren't difficult. As long as one had attended class, passing was no problem, and ninety minutes was more than enough.

Mr. Ma sat at the podium reading a book, while Liu Qing sat beside her, overlooking the room with a leisurely gaze, occasionally tossing out a comment.

"You there, stop looking at the wall. Look again and you're handing in your paper."

Leng Haoyang lowered his head in resentment.

"You there, is your chair broken? Do you need me to get you a new one?"

Yu Xia straightened up and gave him a silly grin.

Halfway through the exam, Gu Xiaohan started acting restless, kicking her desk from time to time.

Dong Yanyan covered her head with her hand, leaned down, and whispered, "I'm not finished either. I'll give you the answers to the multiple-choice questions in twenty minutes."

Gu Xiaohan finally stopped kicking. Liu Qing stood beside Dong Yanyan, checked his watch, glanced at her completed paper, smiled mysteriously, and walked away.

Dong Yanyan’s heart skipped a beat: *Did he hear me?*

She finished the long-answer questions and checked them once more before quietly kicking Xiaohan’s chair.

"Starting now," she whispered.

Gu Xiaohan nodded, her face glowing with joy. The signals were already set: one kick to the left table leg meant A, two meant B; one kick to the right meant C, two meant D.

She kicked rhythmically, and Gu Xiaohan, shielding her body with her arm, wrote down the answers unhurriedly.

Liu Qing strolled over, tapped her desk with his finger, and said, "Hand in your paper!"

Dong Yanyan looked at him with an innocent expression. "Teacher, the time isn't up yet." Besides, he hadn't caught her red-handed; kicking a chair wasn't a crime, right?

Liu Qing pointed to the crumpled ball of paper at her feet. Dong Yanyan’s face darkened: *Who was the idiot passing her a note at a time like this?*

After her paper was collected, Dong Yanyan packed her things to leave, picking up the paper ball on her way. She opened it to find a note from Liu Qiang next to her: "Did you solve the second-to-last problem?"

So, when she walked past him with her stationery, she simply replied, "I did." Then she walked away airily.

Liu Qiang almost burst into tears!

"There are twenty minutes left, just hand them in! Do you really have to aim for a hundred?" Liu Qing cheerfully collected the papers of the top students.

Seeing the others who had been kicked out with her, Dong Yanyan understood: Liu Qing was truly wicked; those still in the room were in for a world of pain!

Li Hui and Liu Ying argued indignantly about who they were passing notes to when they got caught, while excitedly comparing answers, occasionally sighing with regret.

Song Mingcheng stood by the wall, calmly flipping through his English book; they had an English exam in the afternoon.

Students from the classroom came out one by one. Liu Qing emerged carrying a stack of papers, proudly knocking on the door of the Broadcasting class. "Teacher Guo, you're not done yet? My class has already handed in their papers. I'm heading up!"

Dong Yanyan was speechless: there were still over ten minutes left before the exam ended—enough time to finish a long-answer question.