CHAPTER 207: 206: EXAMINATION HALL (9TH ADDITIONAL UPDATE FOR ㄣ湫々)

Ye Ling returned to school amid rumors of getting into a fight and being beaten up. Before the gossip could fully spread, there was another story circulating: Ye Ling had spilled ink on Ji Hong and Wang Xiaohong’s beds. Those inclined to laugh it off dared not say anything openly. Luckily, nothing else happened after that first day, and as the two days before the college entrance exam approached, Zhao Guodong and the others came to school daily. Ye Ling would go out for a stroll with them. One day before the exam, Ye Ling told them not to come and to rest well at home, prepare their exam materials—apart from blank paper and extra pens, nothing else was needed.

Ye Ling also stayed in the dormitory the day before the exam, going nowhere. She bought her meals from the canteen and didn’t talk much with Dong Juan after returning to the dorm. They each lay on their beds. During the three days of college entrance exams, the lower grades had a holiday. That night Ji Hong and Wang Xiaohong chatted loudly and intentionally with a clear purpose. But Ye Ling had a big heart and was never affected by her surroundings. While Ji Hong and Wang Xiaohong fought sleep, Ye Ling had already fallen asleep. The next morning, Ye Ling woke with high spirits, whereas her dormmates seemed barely awake. Fortunately, there were no classes, and waking up early wasn’t necessary. Ji Hong watched Ye Ling go to the exam with full energy, biting her teeth in frustration.

Upon arriving at the school, they saw people gradually entering the exam halls, but Zhao Guodong and the others were waiting outside. Ye Ling smiled, "Why aren’t you going in?"

The exam hall numbers were collected before school went on break, and they knew which halls were assigned. Ye Ling was in Exam Hall One, while Zhao Guodong and the other three were in Exam Hall Two.

"They’re in Exam Hall One," Zhao Guodong gestured with his chin.

Ye Ling looked over and saw Liu Zhiyuan and Xiang Weilai standing in the corridor of Exam Hall One talking. When Ye Ling looked over, they glanced back too. Besides Xiang Weilai greeting with a nod, Sun Mingjie seemed the most displeased, casting a contemptuous look at Ye Ling before turning away. Dong Haoyu didn’t show much reaction, and Liu Zhiyuan didn’t look at Ye Ling at all.

Ye Ling withdrew her gaze and said with a smile, "So what? Exams are the real deal. Go in quickly, read the questions carefully when answering the papers, don’t rush to submit. Hand in your paper when the bell rings. Got it?"

"You take care; we remember," Zhao Guodong hesitated a moment, then turned and entered the exam hall.

Zhang Linong nodded to Ye Ling before signaling Wang Ping to go in. After seeing them all enter, Ye Ling turned around and went into Exam Hall One, passing by Liu Zhiyuan and his group at the door without shifting her gaze.

With a cold smirk, Liu Zhiyuan entered the hall along with Xiang Weilai, furrowing his brows tightly. Ye Ling’s seat was directly in front of Liu Zhiyuan, whereas Xiang Weilai was at the very front of the next row. Liu Zhiyuan clearly disliked Ye Ling sitting in front of him, but the seating was arranged by the school, beyond his control.

Ye Ling, though not in the sophomore year, was known by all the sophomores. Her name was well known, despite her reputation not being the best. But her presence in the exam hall aroused much curiosity. Ye Ling ignored others’ scrutiny; the first exam was math. She took out the blank paper and pen she brought and waited for the exam proctor to enter. Ye Ling smiled upon seeing the proctor; it turned out to be Ji Zhongjun. Seeing the intensity of Ji Zhongjun’s gaze made Ye Ling resolute—she wouldn’t cheat, so what use was his harsh watch?

After the proctors checked everyone’s belongings, the bell rang, and another proctor began distributing the test papers from the first desk in the first row, passing them down. Ye Ling paid no mind to Ji Zhongjun’s intentions and glanced through the test paper briefly before starting.

Indeed, Ji Zhongjun felt quite pleased seeing Ye Ling in the exam hall. He speculated that since Ye Ling hadn’t done sophomore coursework, she might plan to cheat or had teamed up with others. So once the exam started, his gaze was almost fixed on Ye Ling, getting excited with her every move, thinking he might catch her cheating.

Time gradually slipped away, and upon seeing Ye Ling finishing her paper and starting to review, Ji Zhongjun couldn’t hold back. He walked over and watched for a while, then picked up the paper Ye Ling used for calculations and scrutinized it.

With a moment now, Ye Ling put down her pen, "Mr. Ji, this is an exam. I need the paper to do my calculations. If you take it away, what will I use? Time is precious during an exam."

The exam hall was silent; Ye Ling’s words were clear and audible. Everyone raised their heads to look over. Ji Zhongjun felt his face burning, slammed the paper onto the desk, "I was just checking."

"Come on, Mr. Ji, you checked it before the exam—it was blank paper. Now it’s full of my work. What’s left to check?" Ye Ling slowly smoothed out the paper.

Ji Zhongjun clutched the row of neatly written answers, "Why write the answers here? Aren’t you just giving them for copying?"

"Mr. Ji, I wanted to compare answers with others after the exam to see how I did, identify mistakes. I’m copying my own answers, not transmitting them to others, how does that count as cheating?" Ye Ling’s face darkened, "If you have something to say, wait until the exam finishes, please."

In frustration, Ji Zhongjun glared fiercely.

Even the other proctor couldn’t bear it, calling out ’Mr. Ji’, but Ji Zhongjun retreated. Unable to catch Ye Ling in the act of cheating, she instead humiliated him. Ji Zhongjun refused to believe Ye Ling wouldn’t demonstrate any misconduct.

The same day, several others were caught with minor actions during the exam, though none were fed questions. Ji Zhongjun reprimanded them and let them continue when the bell rang. Ye Ling avoided Ji Zhongjun when handing in her paper, giving it to another teacher instead.

Ji Zhongjun snorted coldly. Even the other teacher thought Ye Ling was disrespectful, but seeing she was a child from the compound, and considering Ji Zhongjun’s fault last time, they understood why she might not trust him and found her caution reasonable.

After submitting her paper, Ye Ling returned to her seat to pack up her belongings. Most people had handed in their papers, gathering in groups to discuss the exam questions. Ye Ling noticed Xiang Weilai sitting in front of her and blinked at him, wondering what his intentions were. (To be continued. If you like this work, please recommend it, vote on Qidian for monthly and recommendation tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. For mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)