Chapter 85

Li Yunling couldn't sit still anymore. She picked up the coat hanging on the back of her chair, got up, and decided to go to the music department's examination room to check the situation.

Following Li Yunling out of the office, He Mingzhe was inwardly excited, thinking, "Cheng Xiaoyu, you're dead." He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. He followed Li Yunling, a bit behind, and at the same time, he was embellishing the story about Cheng Xiaoyu, describing him as a terrible person.

The more Li Yunling listened, the angrier she became. The person in charge of the piano department's admissions was the principal's confidant, Deputy Director Kong Jianjun. Li Yunling was in charge of teaching. They had never gotten along well.

At this moment, He Mingzhe was exaggerating the mess in the piano department's admissions in front of the teacher, making Li Yunling even more dissatisfied.

Li Yunling was a straightforward person who couldn't tolerate any sand in her eyes. She was strict in both teaching and personal conduct, but her teaching level was indeed very high, which was why she had become the head of the piano department.

When they arrived at the music college, Li Yunling saw that a crowd of students had gathered outside the examination room, some even holding banners that read "Shame on the century-old drama school today."

There were also banners that read, "For Pei Yanchen, all male students unite to drive away Cheng Xiaoyu," with Cheng Xiaoyu represented by a photo edited online.

Another banner read, "Guided by the scientific development concept, reject the infiltration of corrupt forces, and create a harmonious and civilized new campus."

And there was one that said, "Today I am ashamed of my alma mater, tomorrow my alma mater will be proud of me."

Seeing the chaos, Li Yunling's face turned even more serious, and she was fuming. She walked into the examination room with a bad temper.

The student union volunteers were blocking the surging crowd at the entrance to the examination room. Most of the students were there to watch the commotion and had no intention of disrupting the exam. However, as more and more people gathered, many who didn't know what was happening joined in the chaos.

Not only did the students of the drama school know about it, but even the candidates inside the examination room knew! Many were pointing at Cheng Xiaoyu, who was sitting in the back row, and whispering.

He was scheduled to be the last one to take the exam today.

Cheng Xiaoyu ignored all the contemptuous looks. He knew his own abilities. Although Aunt Zhou had called in a favor, it wouldn't have made a difference whether she had or not.

Duanmu Linsha, who was sitting in front of Cheng Xiaoyu, was worried about him. Whenever someone sneered at Cheng Xiaoyu, she would glare back fiercely.

Li Yunling entered the examination room and first found Kong Jianjun, who was in charge of the exam. She called him out of the classroom and asked, "Do you know what's happening outside?"

Kong Jianjun wasn't very afraid of Li Yunling and said nonchalantly, "We can't deny someone the right to take the exam just because something happened to them before, right? These students are just idle. I'll go out and drive them away."

Li Yunling said coldly, "Is this how you handle problems? What about the school's reputation? What do the parents of the students applying to the drama school think?"

Kong Jianjun thought Li Yunling was making a big deal out of nothing and said stubbornly, "Should we indulge students who believe rumors and cause trouble? How will we recruit students in the future? How will we manage them?"

Li Yunling frowned and said, "Show me the preliminary exam results."

Kong Jianjun handed the list of preliminary exam results to Li Yunling. She flipped to the end and, as He Mingzhe had said, Cheng Xiaoyu was scheduled to be the last one to take the exam, playing the three simple pieces that He Mingzhe had mentioned.

She saw that all three judges had given him 80 points, placing him in the upper-middle range among the remaining 90 candidates. She was now convinced that Cheng Xiaoyu had bought his way in through connections.

While the drama school's admissions process wasn't without its flaws, they only showed favoritism when the candidates were of similar ability. There had never been a case where someone played such simple pieces and still scored so high.

Li Yunling laid Cheng Xiaoyu's preliminary exam results in front of Kong Jianjun and said, "What do you have to say about this?"

Kong Jianjun had also received a call from Zhou Peipei and had agreed to it. When he saw the pieces Cheng Xiaoyu had chosen, he realized it was a problem. He said, "I wasn't the invigilator for his exam, so how would I know? You should ask Old Huang." Old Huang was the white-haired old man who had invigilated Cheng Xiaoyu's exam.

Li Yunling hesitated when she heard Old Huang's name. Old Huang was a respected old professor with a good reputation, but she didn't think it was necessary to verify the situation. How good could someone be playing such simple pieces? She said to Kong Jianjun, "We must cancel Cheng Xiaoyu's exam eligibility."

Kong Jianjun hadn't heard Cheng Xiaoyu play the piano and, since Zhou Peipei had called in a favor, naturally thought Cheng Xiaoyu wasn't very skilled. He lacked confidence and said softly, "There has never been a precedent for this. It's very inappropriate."

Li Yunling was always against injustice. Seeing Kong Jianjun's softened tone, she knew there was something fishy going on. Otherwise, Kong Jianjun wouldn't have backed down. She said sternly, "Can you afford to damage the school's reputation?"

Kong Jianjun naturally didn't want to take the blame and said, "We can't just cancel someone's exam eligibility without evidence!"

Li Yunling thought for a moment and said, "Call this candidate over. I'll persuade him to withdraw. It will be better for everyone. Besides, his level is unlikely to get him into our department anyway."

Kong Jianjun, seeing that the responsibility had been passed to him, entered the classroom and called out, "Candidate 511, Cheng Xiaoyu, come out."

The exam had already been paused, and the other candidates in the room thought Cheng Xiaoyu was about to be disqualified. They started cheering and clapping.

Cheng Xiaoyu walked out calmly under everyone's gaze, as if nothing had happened, and walked toward the classroom door, ignoring the mocking voices. When he reached Kong Jianjun, he asked, "Teacher, is there something you need?"

Kong Jianjun smiled at Cheng Xiaoyu and said, "There's a bit of a problem now. Professor Li is more senior than me and insists on canceling your exam eligibility. I argued on your behalf and won you a chance to explain yourself. If that doesn't work, you can mention Professor Zhou's name and see if it helps." With that, Kong Jianjun not only gave Cheng Xiaoyu face but also set a trap for Li Yunling.

Kong Jianjun led Cheng Xiaoyu to Li Yunling. Without asking Cheng Xiaoyu's opinion, Li Yunling directly ordered, "I don't care who you know. You must withdraw from the exam now to save face for the school and your family."

Cheng Xiaoyu had seen the banners outside but didn't think they were a reason to cancel his exam. He wasn't a child who naturally feared teachers. Feeling confident, he wasn't afraid of Li Yunling. He smiled and said, "I won't withdraw from the exam. This is an opportunity I earned myself. If you want to cancel my exam eligibility, give me a reason. I believe the drama school is a fair and just institution. If there is any injustice, I will seek justice from the principal or the media."

Li Yunling was even more furious at this sarcastic response. She thought that some students, with a bit of background, were becoming lawless. Moreover, this little fat guy was so audacious as to laugh. She had also heard from He Mingzhe that this fat guy seemed to have relatives among the school's leadership. But she was fair and had no respect for such students. She said coldly, "We won't accept a student like you in our piano department. You won't pass anyway."

Cheng Xiaoyu also got angry, not knowing that He Mingzhe was behind the scenes. He thought such an old hag was unworthy of being a teacher and said expressionlessly, "Whether I pass or not is not up to you. You're not the examiner."

Li Yunling felt that this kid was incredibly bold and ungrateful. She glared and said, "Fine, fine. If you're not afraid of losing face, go ahead and take the exam."

She then ignored Cheng Xiaoyu and said to Kong Jianjun, "Move the exam to the concert hall. Make it a public exam, allowing anyone to listen and question."

Cheng Xiaoyu also ignored Li Yunling, turned around, and walked back into the classroom to get his file bag. This sudden change caught him off guard. The pieces he had prepared were now likely not up to the required standard.

He started to regret not practicing more difficult pieces regularly.