Chapter 58: The First Place Will Get A Prize
At the dean’s office, Ning Li followed Geng Haifan, and when they reached the entrance, she heard someone bellowing inside.
“You little rascal! Do you think you are all grown up now? How can you cheat in your exam?! Come here!”
Ning Li was shocked by the voice.
Geng Haifan quickly went in.
A buff middle-aged man was pointing at the boy hiding behind the desk, and it was apparent how furious he was.
Duan Xu said in grievance, “Dad, I’m sorry! Please just give me a chance!”
“I’ll give your—” Considering it was the teacher’s office and there were still teachers around, Duan Dajiang forcefully swallowed the words back. “You said you were sorry? But this is how you apologize?”
Duan Xu stayed quiet, not daring to walk over.
His father’s slap was so terrifying that no normal man could take it!
Zhang Yuan had spoken to Duan Dajiang before, so he knew how rough the man could be.
“Mr. Duan, please calm down! What happened has already happened. Scolding and punishing your child doesn’t have much meaning now, does it? The most important thing now is to find out the truth. As long as the boy can correct his mistake, everything can be discussed.”
Then, Zhang Yuan saw Geng Haifan and Ning Li coming into the office. He quickly waved at his colleague.
“Is Ning Li here?”
Duan Dajiang turned around and saw a beautiful and reserved girl walking in.
A slight surprise later, he turned around to Duan Xu. “You? You copied her answers during the test?”
Everyone else was silenced. It was not necessary for him to be this straightforward.
“My family is busy, but I’ll be responsible for what I did,” Ning Li said.
Sun Quan nodded. “It’s okay.”
They believed Ning Li more than Duan Xu. Telling her to call her parents was just a formality. The key to this incident was Duan Xu.
“Since everyone is here, let’s have a look at the surveillance footage.”
Suan Quan then clicked and typed on the computer to bring up the footage of both exam days.
Duan Xu cautiously walked over. ‘There are so many people here. I think Dad won’t beat me in public…right?’
With that in mind, Duan Dajiang pouted his lips as a signal and asked softly, “Do you know her?”
He did not sound angry at all. Instead, he sounded curious as if he was a paparazzi asking for a scoop.
Duan Xu was curious. “Uh, not really?”
“If you don’t know her, why would she let you copy her answers?” Duan Dajiang sounded like he had seen through the entire incident.
Duan Xu had a feeling that something was not right.
“Wait, Dad—”
Duan Dajiang tapped his son’s shoulder, and his eyes showed rare praise. “You good-for-nothing rascal, you can copy answers, yet your results are still so poor, but I have to give it to you for your taste. Remember, you are in your third year, so you can’t be distracted!”
Duan Xu reacted to his father’s words with a poker face. “Dad, what are you going on about?”
His father raised his head and said, “Look at it yourself.”
Since there was nothing wrong with the Literature paper, the group started with the footage of the Mathematics paper.
The footage clearly showed that Ning Li had sat down quietly after the invigilator distributed the paper. She did not even move her head.
As for Duan Xu, he peeked at her countless times. His movements were subtle and somewhat natural, thus it was difficult to determine whether he was cheating or not.
Every time Ning Li wrote an answer, he would follow and write the same answer on his paper.
It was obvious that Ning Li had nothing to do with this; it was Duan Xu peeking at Ning Li’s answers.
Sun Quan sighed and said, “The school actually watched the footage before, and we are certain that Ning Li did not offer to cheat. As for Duan Xu, this is solid evidence that he cheated during the test. Since this is his first time and the third year in high school is a special period, after some serious discussion, we have decided to give him a warning and a demerit for this time. He will also have to make up for his mistakes in front of the whole school. If he promises to not do this again and show improvement in the future, we can erase this demerit. However, if he commits this again—”
“I swear I won’t do it again! I swear!” Duan Xu nervously said.
“What do you think, Mr. Duan?” Sun Quan asked.
Duan Dajiang regained his senses. He glanced at Ning Li and sighed subtly. “I’m sorry that my son has given everyone so much trouble. This is his mistake, so I have no problem with any punishments from the school—”
Knock, knock.
The door opened as Su Yuan came in in a hurry.
“I’m sorry for being late.”
She quickly scanned around and saw the computer playing the surveillance footage of the exam venue. She then looked at the teacher and Duan Xu’s father. It was obvious what had happened.
Ning Li flinched slightly at her mother’s arrival. She did not call Su Yuan, but it seemed like someone had done her the favor.
Sun Quan shook his head. “It’s fine now. We have gotten to the bottom of this incident. The school has also reached an agreement. Mrs. Ye, you don’t have to worry—”
Su Yuan walked over and said after a deep breath, “Ning Li has caused a lot of problems for the school ever since she transferred here. If it was her mistake this time, I’ll accept whatever punishment the school has for her.”
She did not plan to use the Ye family’s connection to protect Ning Li because she deemed her a shameful daughter. Moreover, Ning Li had always been rebellious and she could use this opportunity to teach the girl a lesson or maybe even tone down her stubbornness.
To her surprise, the office fell into silence after hearing what she said.
Sun Quan asked, “Mrs. Ye, what do you mean?”
Su Yuan was slightly stunned. “She cheated on her tests, didn’t she? I know Second High always values integrity and honesty, so…
Her voice grew soft when she sensed the unusual gaze from everyone. “What’s wrong? What’s the matter?”
Duan Dajiang walked up to her and said sincerely, “Are you Ning Li’s mother? I am sorry. My little rascal copied Ning Li’s answer during the test and gave you trouble. I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Su Yuan was stunned. “You said your son copied Ning Li’s answer? But her score—”
Geng Haifan realized something when he heard Su Yuan mention Ning Li’s score. He said softly, “We have just gone through the surveillance footage, and it’s been confirmed that Ning Li did not cheat. She achieved the score by herself and did not help anyone else at all. I wonder where you heard this news from.
“Ning Li scored 737 marks and got first place in all of the third year. Who do you think she could possibly copy the answers from?”
Su Yuan was silenced. It was at that moment that she realized the embarrassing mistake she had committed.
The atmosphere was so stiff that it was suffocating.
Geng Haifan had taught Ye Ci for two years now and had spoken to Su Yuan a few times before.
The woman was not like this in front of Ye Ci, so why would she treat her own daughter so differently? How could she simply assume Ning Li’s mistake and accuse her without even verifying it?
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back to class now,” Ning Li suddenly said.
Geng Haifan looked at her. The girl looked calm as if she was not part of this at all. He sighed and said, “Okay, you can go back now.”
Ning Li walked out. When she walked past Su Yuan, she paused and looked at her mother. “You told me to study hard, but when I got first place, you don’t seem pleased at all.”
As Su Yuan was silenced in embarrassment, Ning Li grinned softly and walked out.
It was already evening. The setting sun was glorious while the evening breeze was comfortable.
Ning Li sighed. It was then that her phone in her pocket buzzed. She took it out and saw Lu Huaiyu’s message.
[How’s your result of the monthly test?]
Ning Li took a picture of her result and sent it to him, but she did not get a reply after that.
She was strangely disappointed but had no idea why. Finally, she put her phone away and returned to class.
At 6:00 p.m., she wanted to have dinner at the cafeteria, but then she got a call from Lu Huaiyu. Some hesitation later, she answered it.
“Hello, Second Brother?”
“Come down.”
“Are you at school?”
Ning Li strode down the corridor and saw a familiar figure.
Lu Huaiyu looked up to her with a humorous gaze.
“Don’t you know that first place gets a prize?”