Chapter 45

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Something’s Happened to Fang Yichang

Fang Yichang’s form teacher was Ji Yao’s father. He had been teaching him (FY) for two years now. Although he felt that the boy had a lot of issues, he didn’t think he(FY) was the kind to resort to cheating. Sure, the boy was probably counting down to graduation, but he never seemed particularly unhappy.

【Mr. Ji: I don’t think that’s the case. This month he was in that study group with Ji Yao, and it looked like he worked pretty hard. Students who are at the bottom of the ranking have the most room for improvement.】

【Grade Rep: I don’t wish to be suspicious of our students, but I heard from another school that the questions had been leaked, and someone pointed the finger at Fang Yichang.】

【Mr Ji: Who was it?】

【Grade Rep: They were from High School 2. It’s not entirely clear, and mostly hearsay, but please call Fang Yichang to school. Let’s clarify everything with him before Monday.】

【Mr. Ji: Alright.】

Meanwhile, Fang Yichang, completely unaware of the hot water he was about to be in, was arguing with Huo Cheng outside the hotpot restaurant about who should be the one to send Shen Wanying home.

“Today was my treat, so of course I should be the one to send her home. Don’t be so greedy.”

Huo Cheng ignored him. He had directed the chauffeur to pick them up right in front of the restaurant, and was already opening the door for Shen Wanying.

Shen Wanying flashed the rest of them a smile. “I’ll be leaving then, see you all on Monday.”

“Ai, don’t…..”

Fang Yichang wanted to block her passage but found himself being stopped by Zhao Yimeng’s grip on his school bag. She smiled at him and said, “Since it was your treat today, shouldn’t it be your responsibility to send Ji Yao and I home?”

“I’ll… let Hong Hong do the honours.” When he was done rebutting Zhao Yimeng, he wanted to call out to Shen Wanying, but she, Huo Cheng and the car had already left.

He stood there in sullen silence.

“Well, the Lady has already left with Huo Cheng, so why don’t you get us a cab instead?” Zhao Yimeng let go of Fang Yichang’s bag.

Fang Yichang reluctantly called them a taxi, grumbling all the way.

♥

When Ji Yao reached home, his family had long finished their dinner. His mother was in the study preparing a lesson, and he found his father sitting in the living room waiting for him.

“Don’t you have remedial classes to prepare for tomorrow?” he asked.

“I’m not in a hurry.” Mr. Ji motioned to him to sit on the couch, and asked, “Fang Yichang has been studying with you all in that study group for a month, what would you say his performance has been like?”

“He’s doing okay, I guess. It’s not like he’s serious about it,” Ji Yao replied.

“So, in your opinion, did his performance in the study group warrant his rising a hundred ranks in this exam?”

Ji Yao frowned lightly. “Why are you asking me this? Surely you don’t suspect he cheated?”

The boy is so astute.

“Just answer the question.”

“Don’t you know the kind of results the bottom 100 get?” Ji Yao replied. “It’s basically losers fighting other losers; if one of them improved even a little, he would soar right through the lower ranks.”

“So what you’re saying,” his father clarified, “is that it is entirely possible Fang Yichang could achieve the grade he got on this exam through an honest effort, is that right?”

“Mmhm. Besides, he’s in your class. Shouldn’t you be more familiar with the kind of grades he gets?”

“I only see what happens on the surface. Alright, you can go do your work now.” Mr. Ji adjusted his glasses and rose from the sofa. “Huo Cheng beat you again this time, and Shen Wanying’s grades are slowly getting better. The way this is going, even Shen Wanying is going to surpass you, never mind Huo Cheng.”

Ji Yao pulled a face and picked up his school bag. “If she surpasses me then she surpasses me. After all, it’s not like she’s putting in her full effort.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Ji Yao waved him off. “You adults wouldn’t understand this kind of thing.”

He left his father standing dumbstruck in the living room.

♥

Fang Yichang found out about the cheating allegations when he was summoned back to school the next day. The blame had yet to shift from him. He was furious and ranted accordingly in the group chat.

【Fang Yichang: F*ck, our midterm exam questions were leaked, and some b*tch ass motherf*cker pointed the finger at me!】

【Fang Yichang: I asked the school, but they won’t tell me which f*cking asshole singled me out!】

At this moment, Shen Wanying was at the KTV in the basement of the Huo family’s villa singing her heart out. The setup of the secret hideout had perfected itself over the weeks. Now, on top of improvements to the song settings and selection, she also had a large selection of clothes on hand, all in a style she had longed to try but wouldn’t be allowed to in her day-to-day. She even brought a selection of wigs, but after trying on several different colours, still felt that pink suited her best.

She was getting more and more at ease and carefree around Huo Cheng. 🙂

“Seems like something’s happened to Fang Yichang,” Huo Cheng informed her from his seat on the sofa.

“Eh?” Shen Wanying paused the music, put down the microphone, and joined him on the sofa. “What happened?”

“Our exam questions got leaked, and someone blamed Fang Yichang.”

“No way.” Shen Wanying picked up her phone and opened the group chat.

Fang Yichang had kept them up-to-date on the ins and outs of his situation. On the day of the last paper, a student from High School 2 had brought a cheat sheet, and been caught by the invigilator in the exam hall.

The invigilator just so happened to be a teacher of the subject that exam was on, and had noticed that the answers on the cheat sheet matched the question paper with a suspicious precision. Suspecting the questions had been leaked, he had reported the incident to the principal of High School 2.

The school took the offence very seriously, but the student who had been caught refused to admit the questions had been leaked. All they would admit to was that they had based the cheat sheet on practice questions.

This explanation, of course, did not hold water; there was no way someone could base a cheat sheet on practice questions and somehow come up with something that matched the actual exam paper verbatim. But due to lack of further evidence, the school kept this incident to themselves and continued to investigate. On Friday, the offending student suddenly opened their mouth and confessed that they had indeed known the exam questions beforehand, and the one who had tipped them off had been none other than Fang Yichang of City A’s No.1 Private School.

【Fang Yichang: This smartass gave them a load of sh*t, and the school is still protecting them? Who’s protecting me? F*ck!】

【Zhao Yimeng: …….】

The timing wasn’t the best, but it was the first time Zhao Yimeng realised: Chang-ge is also a vulnerable boy needing protection.

【Shen Wanying: Don’t panic, the fact that the school called you in for questioning means they’re still investigating the situation. The school won’t only listen to one side of the story】

【Fang Yichang: They won’t tell me, but do they really think I won’t be able to track down that f*cker? I have buddies in High School 2 too, they’ll find them for me!】

【Shen Wanying: Don’t be rash and cut off all your chances to prove your innocence】

【Zhao Yimeng: Yes, listen to Lady Shen!】

Huo Cheng read the group chat and frowned. Fang Yichang’s accuser had suddenly changed their story on Friday; it was likely that they had seen the exam results and rankings and, knowing Fang Yichang had made a great improvement, decided to heap the blame upon him. If this ruse were to succeed, Fang Yichang would never be able to rid himself of this black mark. And perhaps it would have been better for Fang Yichang if he had not transferred to this school if Shen Wanying had nursed her injury at home for over a month if the study group had never been formed, and Fang Yichang not to have risen a hundred ranks in one sitting.

♥

T/N: God damn, poor Fang Yichang. You really can’t win, eh. Do badly and get yelled at, do well, and get accused of cheating? I hope the poor guy pulls through without doing anything unwise like jeopardizing his position further /: anyway, I need to know more so I’m going to go do the next part! If you also Need To Know Now you can always ask for advance chapters~ ☆

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