Chapter 186: I Can Finish in an Hour
When Yu Linna heard the shout, she initially thought it was directed at her, her mind racing. What did I do…?
Then she realized it was the boy sitting in front of her. The examiner, his voice booming through the exam hall, had called him out, everyone turning to look.
“Examiner, I… I didn’t cheat…”
“Stand up.”
“…”
“What’s this? How did you bring this in?”
“…”
Wow, caught cheating?
Yu Linna was witnessing a live drama unfold, a rare occurrence, especially during the gaokao.
Cheating during exams wasn’t uncommon, a few students always trying to take shortcuts. But getting caught during the gaokao had serious consequences, far more severe than a simple reprimand from the homeroom teacher.
Cheating on the gaokao meant a permanent mark on their academic record, and according to recent regulations, even jail time.
“What are you looking at?! Focus on your exams! No one is leaving until I’ve checked everyone!”
The examiner’s booming voice, even more than the suspected cheating incident, made everyone return to their tests, their curiosity suppressed.
Yu Linna, looking at her own test paper, thought she was almost done.
“Examiner.” She raised her hand.
“Can I submit my paper?”
To ask such a question, after a cheating incident… she was either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish.
“You can submit your paper thirty minutes before the end of the exam.”
“…”
Yu Linna, resigned, put her head down. She would just review her answers again.
It had only been an hour; there was still plenty of time left.
Suddenly, the boy in front of her reached out, snatched her answer sheet, and before she could react, ripped it to shreds.
“What the hell?!”
Yu Linna, the examiner, and the entire exam room were stunned.
Her carefully filled-out answer sheet, reduced to confetti, raining down on her, the small pieces landing on her hair, her desk, the floor, only the section with the barcode remaining intact.
“Get him!”
The examiner and several proctors quickly apprehended the boy, his struggles futile against the adults.
“Let me go! Let me go!”
“You little beast! She did nothing to you! Why would you tear up her answer sheet?! Take him away! Call the police!”
The room was silent, everyone shocked by the unexpected turn of events, their gazes filled with pity for Yu Linna, her hard work destroyed. Though the examiner would provide her with a new answer sheet, she had lost valuable time, her performance likely affected by the incident.
She might lose her chance at her dream university.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Yu. This was our oversight. I apologize on behalf of all the examiners. We’ll get you a new answer sheet immediately.”
Yu Linna, brushing the paper fragments from her hair, her initial shock giving way to a quiet determination, looked at the shredded answer sheet.
At least she could still take the exam.
She could simply start over.
A zero mark would have been far worse.
She was still in the game.
The examiner, seeing her calm demeanor as she accepted the new answer sheet and continued working, felt a pang of guilt. He had failed to maintain order in the exam room, potentially jeopardizing this girl’s future, a girl younger than his own child. And that bastard, caught cheating, then taking his anger out on an innocent girl… he was a monster.
That boy would definitely face consequences, but he wondered if this girl could recover from this incident, her performance undoubtedly affected.
Yu Linna, though shaken, remained calm.
She could still take the exam; there was still an hour left. She could do this.
As long as she could still take the exam, everything would be alright.
She had faced far greater challenges in her life, overcoming countless hardships, even contemplating suicide. This was nothing. She just had to maintain her composure.
The incident caused an uproar, the authorities alerted. Someone tearing up another student’s answer sheet during the gaokao? It was a serious offense, its impact far-reaching. Though not unprecedented, such incidents were rare, the last one occurring years ago. The authorities couldn’t ignore this.
The news quickly spread to Weibo.
“I heard someone was caught cheating during the gaokao in Guangnan City, and they ripped up another student’s answer sheet!”
“What the hell?! Why would they do that?! Do they have a grudge against her?!”
“And I heard the girl is really pretty!”
“That bastard! He should be executed!”
“Tearing up someone’s answer sheet during the gaokao? That’s not just wrong; it’s inhumane!”
“I feel so bad for that girl.”
Though Weibo was in an uproar, Yu Linna, oblivious to the online frenzy, remained focused on her exam. Though filling out a new answer sheet took time, she had already solved the problems, simply needing to rewrite her answers. Within thirty minutes, she was back on track.
Trying to sabotage her exam? Not a chance! She could do this!
The experience, however, was jarring, the boy’s actions a cruel reminder of the world’s malice. If she hadn’t been able to rewrite her answers, she would have received a zero for the math exam.
He was a monster.
The exam ended, and Yu Linna submitted her paper, the examiners’ gazes filled with pity. She had lost an hour; they didn’t think she could have completed the exam in such a short time.
Reporters, alerted to the incident, waited outside the exam hall, hoping to interview Yu Linna, who, however, had already slipped away, her previous experience with reporters making her wary of the media.
They were too much trouble.
“Linna!”
Fang Jiangning, emerging from the exam hall, spotted Yu Linna and rushed towards her, her face pale with worry, grabbing her and shaking her.
“Linna! I saw the news on Weibo! They said your answer sheet was ripped up! What… what are we going to do?!”
“Jiangning, calm down. I’m fine.”
“How can you be fine?! That bastard! I hope he rots in hell! Why would something like this happen to you?! It’s not fair!”
“They had spare answer sheets. I just rewrote my answers. I’m really fine. It was just… writing the same answers again. It’s not a big deal. Don’t you remember? I can finish the math exam in an hour.”
Fang Jiangning, hearing her confident tone, finally calmed down.
She wouldn’t have believed anyone else, but if it was Yu Linna… she could do it. She trusted her.
Weibo, meanwhile, was exploding.
“Gaokao student caught cheating, rips up another student’s answer sheet” trended, netizens expressing their outrage, until someone posted a picture of the victim, and everyone fell silent.
“Isn’t that the ‘Most Beautiful Exam Taker’ who was trending earlier?”
“Wow, it’s Yu Linna, the super genius!”
“Her answer sheet was ripped up?”
“Poor girl! Losing an hour during the math exam… that’s going to affect her score.”
“Wait, according to online forums, she always finishes her exams early, often an hour ahead of time. An hour! For her, that’s normal.”
“Really? Don’t lie…”
And so, Yu Linna trended again.
Celebrities, seeing her name trending, were exasperated. First Shion, now Yu Linna… was there no escape from these non-celebrities stealing their spotlight?
Though Yu Linna had only had an hour to complete the exam, for her, it was business as usual, her fans less concerned than expected, their anger directed at the boy who had ripped up her answer sheet.
The examiner in charge of her exam room also issued a public apology, taking responsibility for the incident.
And so, Yu Linna became an internet sensation.
Her beauty, her academic prowess, her resilience in the face of adversity… it was a compelling story, capturing the public’s attention.
Ye Zhiyun, seeing the news, her face darkened, her hand gripping a glass so tightly that it shattered, the fragments scattering on the floor. Her initial reaction was pure rage. She made a phone call.
“That boy who ripped up her answer sheet… deal with him. I won’t let him get away with this.”
“Miss, such offenses usually carry a three-year prison sentence and a ban from taking the gaokao. And Miss Yu was lucky; the barcode was intact, so it didn’t affect her exam.”
“I don’t care. Make him suffer. A three-year sentence isn’t enough.”
“…Fine, I’ll see what I can do.”
Ending the call, Ye Zhiyun’s anger still simmered.
Fortunately, Yu Linna hadn’t been seriously affected, the spare answer sheet and the intact barcode saving her from disaster. Otherwise, that little bastard would be spending a long time in jail.
