Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Turmoil of the Examination (Part Two)

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“It is now seven twenty. Invigilators, please distribute the exam papers. Candidates will begin answering in five minutes…” The loudspeaker echoed throughout the examination room.

Xu Chunmin and the other invigilator started handing out the exam papers, each responsible for two rows. Upon seeing the papers, the students displayed a range of expressions—some were frowning in despair, others had a faint look of concealed delight, but most wore faces of resigned acceptance. A few students had already laid their heads on the desks and fallen asleep, as if they planned to nap a while before tackling the exam.

Strictly speaking, sleeping was against the rules in the exam room, but since this was the final examination hall, the supervising staff rarely visited. In the past, the invigilators would try to wake the sleeping students, but they would soon doze off again. Over time, an unwritten rule emerged in Exam Room Thirty-Five, tacitly accepted by the whole school: as long as you didn’t cheat or disrupt the silence, the invigilators would turn a blind eye to napping.

The exam had begun. Xu Chunmin glanced at the dozing students, her thick brows knitted in disapproval, as though she had tasted something foul. Nothing irked her more than students who didn’t take their studies seriously. Rolling up her sleeves, she was about to stride over to wake them when the male invigilator beside her hurriedly stopped her.

Xu Chunmin looked at him in puzzlement, not understanding why he intervened. Did he not see those students sleeping?

The male invigilator leaned in and whispered, “There’s no point in waking them. They’ll just fall asleep again. This is your first time invigilating in this room, so you wouldn’t know. You don’t need to be as strict here as in other exam rooms. Just leave them be—as long as they don’t cheat, let them sleep. It makes our job easier, too.”

As he finished speaking, he pulled out his phone, gave Xu Chunmin a quick wave, and strolled over to the door to play on his phone.

Xu Chunmin recalled past conversations in the office about this exam room. After some hesitation, she finally halted her steps, choosing not to intervene. She moved to the front row but did not take out her phone, merely standing there, eyes wide as searchlights, scanning the room.

Some students, having overheard the brief exchange, felt a glimmer of hope. Perhaps today the “female demon” invigilator would relax her vigilance. They had smuggled some old-model phones into the room, believing the signal jammers couldn’t block all signals. It was their last hope. But seeing Xu Chunmin standing there like a policewoman, their plans for cheating were temporarily shelved.

Of course, some weren’t ready to give up. Until the end, no one knew what might happen. The “female demon” couldn’t stare at them forever—once she tired, perhaps there would be a chance. Some students quietly nursed their schemes.

Meanwhile, Xiao Lin had already completed a number of questions. This Chinese exam wasn’t particularly difficult, and he worked through it with ease. In the whole room, besides Xiao Lin, only Wang Yuqing was seriously working on the paper.

Her style was quite the opposite of Xiao Lin’s—she worked slowly, having completed only three questions so far. She read each one with care, pondering before she wrote her answers in neat, elegant script.

Behind her, Sun Feifei was sprawled across his desk, apparently asleep. He planned to tease Wang Yuqing later, but now was not the time—the “female demon” was still fully alert, and he had no desire to attract trouble. He intended to nap, then put his plan into motion halfway through the exam.

For the moment, the room was perfectly still—the sleepers slept, the invigilators kept watch, the diligent worked on their papers. Yet this peace was only temporary.

The wall clock ticked on. This Chinese exam was 120 minutes long—two hours. When forty minutes had passed, even the tireless “female demon” was growing weary. Xu Chunmin glanced at the male teacher playing on his phone by the door, feeling a twinge of irritation. “Here I am, taking my invigilation seriously, while you’re over there playing with your phone,” she muttered inwardly. She surveyed the room and, satisfied with the overall discipline, rubbed her tired eyes, deciding to take a brief rest.

A few sharp-eyed students noticed the invigilator’s gaze had lost its sharp edge, and their calculations revived.

Sun Feifei woke up, too, and quickly noticed the “female demon” was no longer as vigilant as before. He grinned inwardly, picked up his pen, and began scribbling on his scratch paper, which had been distributed to every student.

A few minutes later, Sun Feifei carefully tore off a small piece from his scratch paper, crumpled it into a tiny ball, and, keeping low, used Wang Yuqing’s body as cover while watching Xu Chunmin from the corner of his eye. Finally, as Xu Chunmin rubbed her eyes once more, Sun Feifei seized his chance and tossed the paper ball onto Wang Yuqing’s desk.

Wang Yuqing, deep in thought over a reading question, was startled by the sudden appearance of a paper ball. She quickly checked the front of the room—the invigilator was still rubbing her eyes and hadn’t noticed. Relieved, Wang Yuqing cautiously picked up the paper ball. She meant to throw it away, but curiosity got the better of her. She knew it must be from a classmate behind her, likely seeking help with a question. Although she knew cheating was wrong, her innately kind nature made her want to help.

She discreetly unfolded the paper, expecting to see a question, but instead she was confronted with several lines of crude, vulgar language—phrases commonly used by scoundrels to harass girls. Wang Yuqing’s cheeks flushed. With just one glance, she crumpled the paper and slipped it into her pocket. She didn’t dare throw it on the floor, afraid the teacher might notice; she’d dispose of it after the exam.

Her heart pounded—she hadn’t expected someone would use the exam to harass her. The discomfort sat heavily with her.

Sun Feifei, seeing Wang Yuqing open the note, felt a surge of satisfaction. When he saw her put it away, he sneered to himself. Did she think it would end here? Clearly, she underestimated him. He picked up his pen and began writing on his scratch paper once more.