Chapter 22 Cheating 1

  Today is the second day of the monthly exam. According to De Xin's rules, every time there is an exam, the students are arranged in order of their previous scores and seated accordingly. Xia Wen Ning was ranked 92nd and was in the third examination room, while Ming Huan was 130th and was in the sixth examination room. After returning from the cafeteria, Xia Wen Ning and Ming Huan went back to their respective examination rooms to prepare for the afternoon exam.

  "Ugly eight! Where's your phone?" Ming De didn't know when he sat opposite Xia Qianying, covering the textbook she was reading with his hand.

  "What's going on?"

  "Have you seen the photo on my phone?" Mingde held up his phone in front of Xia Xianying, showing a picture of the two of them together: "Your screensaver should use this one too, I've already sent it to you. Hurry and take a look, have you set it as your screensaver yet?"

  "No! You're a boy, others will gossip about us."

  "Others would think it's Ming Xi dressed as a man, you don't have to worry about this. Or are you afraid that Yao will see and misunderstand?"

  Xia Xianying's heart skipped a beat as Ming De spoke, and the feeling of being transparent returned. To prove that she wasn't what Ming De said, she reluctantly reached into her pocket to grab her phone, but it was nowhere to be found - not in the hidden compartment or small pocket either.

  "You're doing it on purpose, it's definitely on you." Ming De said with a displeased face.

  Xia Qian Ning turned out all the pockets on her body, and Ming De took a look and indeed didn't find anything, so he didn't say anything else: "You put it in the trunk so early?"

  "It shouldn't be. Although it's an exam, my mom went to Germany because of the time difference, so I've been carrying my phone with me these few days. After finishing the exam in the morning, I took it from the table at the entrance and put it in my breast pocket. It shouldn't be gone!" Xia Xianying said as she recalled what happened after finishing the exam that morning. Ming Hui and Zhi Zhi left the examination room before her and pulled her to have lunch. Did she go get her phone when she left the examination room?

  "There's also a possibility of misremembering." Mingde looked and really couldn't find it, comforting Xia Xianying.

  "This morning during the exam, I must have left my phone on the table by the classroom door. Isn't there a rule that prohibits bringing phones into the examination room?"

  "Really? You really forgot to take it? Go and check the table by the entrance first." Mingde and Xia Yining went together to the table by the entrance. After searching for half a day, there was no sign of Xia Yining's mobile phone.

  "Why don't we go check the locker room and see if it's been left there?" Mingde suggested.

  "Wait! Let me dial and see if anyone answers."

  When Mingde said that, Xia Qian's frowned eyebrows relaxed a bit. The simplest method was forgotten by them. She gave the number and Mingde dialed it, but the phone replied that it was turned off. Mingde handed the phone to Qian: "You try dialing again, maybe I dialed it wrong."

  Xia Qian Ning took over the phone and dialed the number again. The response was still that it was turned off, and neither of them had heard the ringtone.

  "Go take a look in the dressing room!"

  Ten minutes later, Xia Qian walked out of the dressing room in a daze, completely disappointed: "Mingde! My phone is gone."

  "Don't worry. It must have been left somewhere, we'll look for it after the exam." Ming De comforted Xia Xian Ning.

  "No way! It must have been lost, I checked when I left the house." Xia Xianying was still certain about this.

  The school bell rang, and Mingde walked while turning back to remind Xia Qianying: "It's not necessarily lost, it might have been left at home. You must look at our photo together and set it as the screen saver! I'll check tomorrow! You must!"

  After Li Tong received Nie Shiluo's deposit, he had been thinking of a way to make the teacher mistakenly think that Xia Qianrong was cheating. The discipline in De Xin's examination room is very strict. Once one subject is considered cheating, all subjects are zero points, which means the total score is zero.

  She could only use her mobile phone. There was a rule in the exam discipline, if the mobile phone was found on the desk or in the pocket, it would be considered cheating, and this rule was unnecessary.

  What's the best time to sneak away with her phone? It can't be too early or too late, it's easy to get caught if it's too early, and if it's too late, I'm afraid I won't have time to put it on her desk. Li Tong came up with four plans, three of which were centered around the phone.

  Before the morning exam, she saw Xia Wenning put her mobile phone on the desk at the door of the classroom. She was secretly delighted. This is the easiest way to deal with it, as long as she hands in her paper before Xia Wenning does.

  For Li Tong, everything was going smoothly, with only seven minutes left before the exam, Xia Qian's phone had not been found yet. When she saw Xia Qian and Ming De looking for the phone, all the hairs on her body stood up.

  It's okay, thank goodness, there was no time for them to continue searching. The bell rang and Xia Qianqian hadn't entered the classroom yet. Heaven was helping her. After Xia Qianqian came in, she shouldn't have had time to open her desk drawer. Li Tong looked around again, everyone's attention was on the exam, no one noticed her. She confirmed that her phone was turned off and quickly put it back into Xia Qianqian's desk drawer.

  Li Tong sat in her seat, giving a fake smile to Xia Wenjing who was walking towards her seat, and made a "go for it" gesture. Xia Wenjing also forced a smile back at her. Xia Wenjing's forced smile was because she was still thinking about her phone and didn't have time to care about other people's friendliness; Li Tong's fake smile was because she had a guilty conscience from doing something bad, trying to cover up her wrongdoing.

  After the invigilating teacher handed out the exam papers, the quiet classroom was filled with only the sound of pens scratching against paper. Suddenly, a loud and pleasant ringtone echoed through the room. Everyone looked up in surprise, gazing towards the source of the sound.

  Which student is so bold, thinking of cheating and still being so blatant? The invigilating teacher walked over following the sound.

  At this moment, Xia Qianying was stunned there, at a loss for what to do. Her mobile phone, which she had searched high and low for with Mingde just now but couldn't find, was ringing on her own desk.

  The proctor took out the mobile phone from Xia Qian's desk, looked at it and found a text message. After opening the message, he put the content in front of Xia Qian: "Sorry!"

  Xia Xian Ning saw a row of capital English letters. Good heavens, now it's the English exam, and more than half of the questions on the English exam are multiple-choice questions, even an idiot would know what those ABCD things are: "Teacher, I don't know what this is about, I..."

  "Classmate! You mean you know what's going on. Excuse me, is this your phone?" The invigilating teacher looked serious.

  It is but

  "So what do you want me to do? Your phone is on your desk, did I put it there? Did I send this text message?" The teacher hated students who dared to do but not admit, thinking of excuses and tricks all the time, without any moral integrity.

  "No!" Xia Yinyin explained hastily: "Teacher! Please believe me, I don't know what's going on. Before the exam, I was still looking for my phone."

  "What are you looking for your phone for? It can't be just for this, right?"

  "It's not like that, teacher, please believe me, it's not like that." Xia Xianying had a kind of speechless feeling. The words she spoke were pale and powerless: "No matter what the result is, please let me finish the questions. As for the phone, I will give you a satisfactory answer after the exam."

  "Do whatever you want, the outcome will be the same anyway. I'll take the 'evidence' first."

  Xia Qian Ning held back her tears and couldn't cry. She hadn't done anything, after the exam she would find Ming De, Ming De could prove that she had looked for her phone before the exam.

  Li Tong let out a long sigh as she watched the scene, her suspended heart finally fell. This time, she retreated completely. She also earned 3,000 yuan.

  Ji Sisi received the news from Li Tong that Xia Wen's monthly exam was over, and their plan had succeeded. When she and Wang Yutong saw Xia Wen, who looked extremely disheartened in the corridor, they couldn't help but walk up to her: "I wouldn't have thought you'd be so 'talented'. Not only are your glasses big, but your guts are also big enough. It's the first time our school has had someone score zero points!" Ji Sisi and Wang Yutong stood in front of Xia Wen, with Jiu Xiao standing beside them.

  "What? You're thinking of being the first, wanting to let Yào see your name? How can you be so shameless? Yào's girlfriend is Luòluò! They're a perfect match!" Ji Sīsī stood in front of Xià Qiāng.

  Xia Qian Ning met those mocking gazes, coldly asking: "What does my getting zero points have to do with you all? Did you all know I'd get zero points from the start?"

  "How can you talk nonsense? Your phone was confiscated by the proctor. The whole school knows, why don't we know?"

  "Does the whole school know about it? It seems not yet, the invigilating teacher has already given me a chance to explain." Xia Xianying asked tentatively. They were not even in the same examination room, how would they know?

  When Xia Wenjing said this, Ji Sisi felt a little guilty, she had only heard Li Tong's side of the story. Was it...

  Seeing Ji Sisi's evasive eyes, Xia Xianying became more and more suspicious. Could it be that they wouldn't, she and Ji Sisi weren't in the same exam room, and hadn't seen them before the exam either. Not to mention before the exam, today at school was also the first time they met.

  "Yu Tong, let's go. Anyway, the school has rules and she'll get zero points in this situation. We don't have time to listen to her nonsense here." Ji Si thought it was better for them to say less before things were made public, so as not to reveal anything.

  "Ugly freak! Enjoy yourself alone here!" Ji Si and the others laughed and walked away.

  Xia Xianying walked alone on the campus with a desolate heart. What kind of life is this? First, she lost her home, then fell into a strange hometown, now without relatives, in the cold and frozen land, she was enjoying the zero score that didn't belong to her.

  In an instant, she felt her sky completely collapse!

  Zero points! It was an unimaginable situation for her. How could she, who had always been proud of her grades, face the shame of zero points?

  ——————&&&——————&&&——————

  Ming Xin pulled Xia Qian Ning's hand to the flower house: "What's going on? Everyone is discussing yesterday's monthly exam, cheating and scoring zero, is it true?"

  Mingde and Yezhi followed behind: "Ugly Eight!"

  Xia Qian Ning then recounted everything that had happened in the examination room from start to finish.

  "So, do you remember now whether your phone was in the locker or on the table?" Ming Xin asked.

  Xia Qian Ning shook her head: "It should be on the table at the classroom entrance, but there's nothing on the table. How..."

  Ming De looked at Ming Xin, could it be that someone had framed her?

  "I've thought about it too, but I hardly know anyone in that exam room except for Li Tong." Xia Xian said, revealing her inner doubts.

  "Li Tong?" Ming Xin looked thoughtful. She always felt that there was something strange about Li Tong's name, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

  "What's wrong?" Mingde asked.

  "No. I just heard Li Tong and felt something was off. But I also can't remember what she's related to."

  "Look at this brain, can't remember anything. No wonder you scored 200?" Ming De said sarcastically.

  Ming Xin glared at Ming De. But she was also angry with herself, why couldn't she think of anything at the critical moment.

  "Let's go ask the teacher to explain first. See what the teacher says, who was in charge of supervising your exam?" Yezhi thought it would be better to clarify with the teacher first and put other things aside for now.

  "I don't know, tall and thin, wearing glasses"

  Ming De interrupted Xia Wen Ning's words: "I know, it's Wang Zi Liang's office in the third grade. It should be on the third floor."

  When the four of them rushed to Wang Ziliang's office, Wang Ziliang was waiting for Xia Wenjing in his office. He had been working at this school for thirteen years and it was the first time he encountered a student who cheated on an exam, so he must educate this student well.

  He saw Xia Wen Ning. He pointed at the chair in front of him: "Sit down. We need to have a good talk today."

  Before Xia Qian could open her mouth, Ming De said: "Teacher Wang, I'm here to testify for Xia Qian. We were looking for our phones together before the exam, but we couldn't find them. If you don't believe me, you can check my phone. After lunch, on my way back to class, I sent a photo to Chou Baigui and Xia Qian, which is why I was looking for my phone, but I searched through my desk, pockets, and backpack and couldn't find it. What I'm saying is true, you can check the time on my phone, it was right before the exam."

  Wang Ziliang took out his mobile phone. There were several photos that had been sent over, just like Mingde said, but he hadn't opened them yet. The time was 1:30. Actually, afterwards he also thought about it - if Xia Xianying wanted to cheat, she wouldn't have forgotten to turn off her ringtone. But soon he dismissed the idea, maybe she was too nervous and forgot.

  He hesitated for a moment: "It's still the same sentence, school has rules, can't change!"

  "Teacher, aren't the cameras in our school turned on during exams? Can't we watch the recording?" Ming De asked.

  "Is it useful?" Prince Liang doubted.

  "When will the camera be turned on?" Ming Xin thought of Xia Xian Ning's one or two minutes again.

  "Usually three to five minutes before the exam." Wang Ziliang said.

  Ming De recalled the scene at that time: "The bell rang, I went back to the classroom. Sat down, took out my pen, and the invigilating teacher walked in, then the bell rang again. The two examination rooms were just half a minute's walk away."

  Ming Xin was overjoyed: "Qian Ning, you're saved!"

  Xia Qian Ning also smiled.

  "Classmates! It's like this. The cameras in our school classrooms are usually not turned on, just for show. At most, they'll be used during the final exams, and rarely at other times." Seeing their serious expressions, Wang Ziliang couldn't help but reveal the secret.

  Xia Qian Ning had just seen a ray of sunlight, but it disappeared like that. She helplessly lowered her head. She took the phone handed over by Wang Zi Liang. The little bear on it was crying: "Thank you, teacher!"

  Ming De and others bid farewell to Wang Ziliang, and followed Xia Xianning from behind. Ming Xin and Ye Zhizhi were silent, and Ming De was anxious: "Ugly eight! It's just a monthly exam, no need to be so nervous. We all know you can't say a word, it's killing people!"

  Xia Qian Ning was making an effort to adjust her emotions, she couldn't be like just now, that would make them worry, when turning around again, there must be a smile from the heart, definitely not allowed to cry, not allowed to be discouraged!

  Xia Qian Ning turned around, smiling before speaking: "Me? I come and go quickly. No big deal! Just like you said, it's just a mid-term exam, there's still the final exam left. Earlier was because I was anxious, eager to clear my name. Now thinking about it, even if I got zero points, it's just a small little test, not life or death."

  Seeing Xia Wen's smile, Ming Xin's hanging heart finally put down: "Ugly eight! You're the only one who can scare people. If you didn't say it early, I would have been anxious for nothing."

  Ming De looked at Xia Xianying with some worry, wanting to say something but swallowed it back.

  Li Tong was spreading rumors about Xia Qianying cheating to other classmates, and when she saw Xia Qianying and Ming De walking in, she hastily returned to her seat. Her task had been completed, and today she could get the other half of the payment. She thought she was great, making so much money by doing something so simple.

  Ming De saw Li Tong and thought of what Ming Xin had said, feeling strange. He slapped his forehead: It's not that Ming Xin's brain is flooded with water, but rather his own brain is flooded with water. He remembered the things he told Ming Xin. Li Tong had stolen his math homework, but was caught by him. At the time, Li Tong said it was to help Song Zi Liang steal, because Song Zi Liang lost a fight against Feng Shihuan and Ming De, feeling embarrassed, wanted to use Qi teacher's hand to destroy Ming De's prestige, so he paid Li Tong to steal Ming De's homework. But at that time, Ming De half believed Li Tong's words, Song Zi Liang was sitting next to him, stealing his homework was just a convenient thing to do. It's too much trouble to seek far and wide, not very possible, besides... Li Tong is a girl, Ming De didn't pursue it further, so the matter was dropped.

  Ming De shouted: "Li Tong! How was your monthly exam?"

  Li Tong heard Ming De ask himself the question of the monthly exam, and his back was straight with cold sweat. He had lost to Ming De before, but this time, he was perfect, he wanted to calm down. Li Tong slowly turned around: "Still can!"

  "Really?" Mingde also didn't see any flaws. He looked at Xia Qianqian again: Ah, zero points! What to do? How can I help Qianqian? The school's rules are written very clearly. This one is just a fabrication.

  ——————&&&——————&&&——————

  The weather is too cold. De Xin's physical education class has been indoors since winter, and the indoor space can't be compared to the playground, so they usually just do some back-to-back exercises, play ball games, or do radio gymnastics.

  De Xin High School, each grade has twenty classes, and physical education is taught in pairs. Class 1 and Class 11 are together. Class 2 and Class 12 are together, that is, the first ten classes and the last ten classes cross-teach together.

  Ji Sisi is in Class 12. Yesterday, she already knew that Xia Qian Ning's monthly exam was a complete failure, but she didn't see the reactions of others and wasn't quite sure. Today, everything became clear - Xia Qian Ning scored zero! She's so happy about it. It seems that Ni Shi Luo is really cunning, I'll have to be more careful around her in the future.

  Everyone is playing basketball. Xia Wenning is standing aside. Ji Sisi walks over: "Ugly eight! You refused to admit your zero score yesterday, do you admit it today? Cheating on the exam!"

  Wang Yutong patted Jisi's shoulder, knowing that Mingde was not there, and deliberately said: "Jisi, we should be more careful when speaking. There is no Yao here, but there is still Mingde."

  Mingde has been urged by the basketball coach to leave. The competition with Dongyuan is getting closer and closer, so we must seize the time to strengthen our training.

  They always can't get along with themselves, Xia Wenning is very angry: "Does my getting zero points have anything to do with you? Why are you so concerned, do you think that saying a few harsh words can defeat me? Or can only speak harshly? Bullying the younger ones?"

  "All talk and no action is not our style, nor is taking advantage of the weak. We want to help you, make your mind clear. Yao won't like you, no matter how hard you try to get close, it's impossible. Right, Yu Tong?"

  "But there are still some people who are confused and treat us as enemies. Just look at that eyebrow, it's so raised it could write words." Wang Yutong continued to fan the flames and mock them sarcastically on the side.

  Xia Qian Ning was so angry that she couldn't speak for herself, and when faced with Ji Si Si's ridicule, she couldn't say a word.

  "Whistle!" The physical education teacher waved his hand to signal everyone to gather: "Today's ball game will end here. Now, with ten minutes left before class is dismissed, let's do our old tradition and then dismiss the class. Alright! Now start choosing your own partner!"

  The old tradition is a unique sports activity of DeXin High School. It's back to back, person to person. As the great principal of DeXin said, this activity represents trust, support, hard work and striving upwards!

  Everyone had chosen their own partner, only Xia Wenning was alone. The physical education teacher saw that there was one person in a group and hurriedly said: "How can three people play? There is still a classmate by herself. Go! Go join one!"

  "Some classmates whispered: 'She dares to cheat on exams, who would dare to be in a group with her?'"

  Although the voice was small, it caused a lot of heated discussion among everyone. Seeing such a scene, Ji Sisi felt extremely pleased with herself.

  "Stop talking! Not a bit of organization or discipline. You! The three of you, go to the back!" The physical education teacher once again pointed his whip at that group of three.

  "Teacher! I'd like to be in a group with Xia Wenjing!" said Ni Shi Luo as he walked out from the back of the crowd.

  The physical education teacher was worried, and a savior came, with both hands in approval.

  "Let's go! We'll go together." Ni Shi Luo took Xia Xian Ying's hand.

  In the morning, Ni Shi Luo heard that she didn't do well on her exam and was encouraging herself. Now, she's come out to make excuses for herself. Can't she really treat herself as a friend?

  "I'll carry you first!" Ni Shi Luo wrapped his arm around Xia Qian Ying's arm.

  "Hmm." Xia Qian Ning felt a bit uncomfortable besides being thankful. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong, but she had a bad feeling.

  Two people were carrying each other on their backs, taking turns.

  "Wow! Yaoke had another argument with me yesterday. In the restaurant, he apologized to me and I was really touched. This is actually the first time Yaoke has apologized to me, do you think I should give him a small gift?"

  Upon hearing Niesilo say that, Xia Qianjing didn't know how to respond: "Mm. Your matters, do what you think is best."

  "I know it's tough that you got zero points, but they didn't cheat either, so don't take it to heart. It'll pass in a few days."

  "Uh-huh."

  "Xian Ning! Why don't you ever talk to me? I'm genuinely trying to be friends with you."

  Xia Qian Ning was in a daze: She peeled an apple for him, they were so compatible at the party, it seemed like they weren't. Yao gazed into her eyes, full of deep emotions, scorching yet desolate, that gentle and boundless comfort.

  With a "bang", Nieshilo fell to the floor.

  Good heavens! What's going on? Xia Qian Ning stood there in a daze.

  "What's going on?" The physical education teacher walked over and helped Nie Shi Luo up from the ground.

  "Teacher! I, I don't know." Xia Xianying saw the teacher go to help Ni Shi Luo and quickly went to help her too. But when Ni Shi Luo saw Xia Xianying coming to help her, she exclaimed: "Don't come over! Don't come over!" and then started crying.

  Xia Qian Ning's head was spinning with confusion, she didn't know what was going on. Everything was fine, so how did she end up falling down?

  "Xia Qian Ning! I was kind and willing to be partners with you, how could you betray me? Waaahhh... You cheated on the exam, your classmates are distant from you, you're not happy, but you can't take it out on me waaahhh..."

  At this time, many classmates gathered around. Listening to Ni Shi Luo's words, they were all filled with righteous indignation.

  "Xia Qian Ning! How can you treat Nie Shi Luo like this?"

  "Yes, we don't want to be in a group with you because we're afraid of your bad temper!"

  "Goodness is repaid with evil! How unscrupulous and shameless!"

  "Lolo! Let's go find the principal and make her receive the punishment she deserves!"

  Upon hearing these words, Xia Xianying suddenly understood why Ni Shiluo wanted to be in a group with her.

  "It's okay, just consider it a good deed. I'm sure her conscience will be uneasy too. I'm much better now, help me up. Thank you!" Ni Shi Luo lowered her head. She was trying hard to conceal her joy, afraid that the happiness would inadvertently climb onto her face.

  Xia Qian Ning! Doesn't Yao think of you every day? In Ming De's eyes, aren't you a great beauty? I'd like to see if the Xia Qian Ning in Yao's heart will change from now on, and if the beauty in Ming De's eyes will become ugly. With cheating and provocation, there will be even more unbearable behavior in the future.

  She couldn't believe that someone with countless shadows and unbearable things on her body would still have people who had good feelings towards her, people who sympathized with her, and people who stood by her side as friends.

  The PE teacher helped Ni Shi Luo up and looked at Xia Wen Ning on the side: "I'm telling you, classmate, I was just wondering why nobody wanted to be in a group with you. If you keep going like this, your life will be over. Go back and reflect well, hand in a self-criticism essay before school ends tomorrow!"

  Xia Qian Ning was very quiet, and also very calm. She knew that she had been designed by Ni Shi Luo, and no one would believe her. If today was a setup, then what about the exam venue? For some reason, Li Tong's hypocritical smile once again floated in front of Xia Qian Ning's eyes.

  Ji Sisi couldn't help but look at Ni Shiluo with a mixture of surprise and admiration.