Chapter Thirty: The Turmoil of the Exam (Part Three)

At this moment, for Wang Yuqing, who was sitting in the examination room, this was the most excruciating test she had ever experienced. It wasn’t that the exam was difficult, but rather the boy sitting behind her kept tossing wads of paper at her, one after another. By now, she had stuffed over a dozen of them into her pocket, making it impossible to concentrate on her answers.

Other than the first note, which she opened out of curiosity, she hadn’t bothered to look at any of the subsequent ones. The crude words she’d seen had left her feeling nauseated. She couldn't report the matter to the teacher either; though it wasn’t her fault, if the teacher were to read such vulgarities, who knew what they might think of her? Most importantly, she didn’t want Xiao Lin to find out. So, Wang Yuqing simply endured it, letting the boy throw his notes, then quietly slipping them into her pocket.

Sun Feifei was growing increasingly irritated. He noticed that the girl had stopped reading the paper balls he tossed her way. He was itching to see her reaction to the words he’d written—especially since his messages had become more and more unspeakable. But Wang Yuqing wouldn’t even glance at them, which infuriated him.

“Who does she think she is, acting all high and mighty, refusing to look at what I write? I’ve met plenty of girls who put on airs like her. You dare ignore me? Just wait—I’ll teach you a lesson.”

Sun Feifei was the kind of person who would pester you relentlessly if you paid him any attention, but the more you ignored him, the more he escalated his antics. The only way to deal with someone like him was to put him in his place, after which he’d behave. But Wang Yuqing didn’t know this; she thought he would tire himself out after a while and quiet down.

Sun Feifei stopped throwing notes. He had decided it was time to teach this so-called arrogant girl a lesson. He leaned forward, inching his desk closer, and slowly stretched his legs under the desk until his feet touched the legs of Wang Yuqing’s chair. With a malicious grin, he hooked his feet around the chair legs and gave a sudden, forceful tug.

Wang Yuqing, relieved that the barrage of paper had finally ceased, had just begun to relax when she felt someone bump against her chair. She paid it no mind. Just as she picked up her pen to focus on the test, her center of gravity shifted, the seat beneath her vanished, and with a loud thud, she landed hard on the floor. A sharp pain shot up from her lower back, and she couldn’t help but cry out.

The commotion shattered the silence of the examination room. Xu Chunmin hurried over to Wang Yuqing’s desk, where she now sat on the floor, her forehead beaded with cold sweat, her features contorted in pain.

“What happened? Are you all right?” Xu Chunmin asked.

Tears brimming in her eyes, Wang Yuqing replied, her face full of grievance, “Teacher, he pulled my chair out— that’s why I fell.” She pointed at Sun Feifei, who was snickering nearby.

“Was it you?” At that moment, the male teacher appeared at the back of the room, his tone harsh as he questioned Sun Feifei. He had just been reading a novel on his phone and had been interrupted at a crucial moment. If this was really Sun Feifei’s doing, he was going to make him pay. The teacher glared at Sun Feifei, plotting his revenge.

Sun Feifei immediately put on an innocent face, waving his hands. “Teacher, I was just working on my test when suddenly she screamed and fell off her chair. It had nothing to do with me, I swear.” He played the part so convincingly—if Sun Feifei lacked skill in anything else, he was a master of feigning innocence and shirking responsibility.

The male teacher studied Sun Feifei’s expression. He didn’t look like he was lying. Suspicious, he turned to Wang Yuqing, who was still sitting on the floor. “Is that what happened? Are you all right? Can you stand?”

“He’s lying, teacher! It really was him,” Wang Yuqing protested, swallowing her pain as she struggled to her feet.

“Can you still sit and finish your exam?” the teacher asked. To him, it was a minor disruption—whether Sun Feifei was to blame or Wang Yuqing had simply fallen on her own, it was of little consequence. They were both underachievers, not his concern.

Wang Yuqing, hearing this, righted her chair and gingerly tried to sit. Pain still shot through her, but thankfully it was winter, and her thick clothing had softened the blow. She nodded to show she could continue.

“Good. Finish the exam for now. We’ll deal with this afterward,” the teacher said.

Xu Chunmin wanted to say more. She didn’t particularly like Wang Yuqing, but seeing her in such pain made her sympathetic, and she instinctively distrusted Sun Feifei. But the male teacher shot her a look, signaling her to drop the matter. Xu Chunmin finally held her tongue, but not before casting a warning glare at Sun Feifei.

“All right, everyone, back to your exams. Stop looking over here,” said the male teacher, who promptly returned to his novel.

Xu Chunmin bent down to murmur a few comforting words to Wang Yuqing, urging her to do her best on the test. Wang Yuqing could only nod, rubbing her aching lower back, stifling her sobs. She was naturally timid, and the teacher’s word was final.

Seeing both teachers ignore the incident, and Wang Yuqing sitting there aggrieved, Sun Feifei was secretly delighted. That’s what you get for putting on airs—you mess with me, you deserve to suffer. As for the teacher’s promise to follow up after the exam, he didn’t give it a second thought. The teacher would never bother.

Xiao Lin, watching Wang Yuqing frown in pain as she wrote, suddenly felt a pang in his heart. Then, catching sight of Sun Feifei’s smug face behind her, he was filled with anger. Whether or not it was really Sun Feifei’s doing, he vowed that after the exam he’d make sure Sun Feifei paid for it.

“Time’s up. All candidates, please stop writing…” The loudspeaker signaled the end of the Chinese exam.

“All right, put your pens down,” Xu Chunmin announced, and together with the male teacher began to collect the test papers. Many students put down their pens with worried faces—quite a few hadn’t managed to finish.

Soon the two teachers had gathered all the exams, checked to make sure nothing was missing, and placed them in a file folder before leaving the room. Just as Sun Feifei had expected, the male teacher never mentioned Wang Yuqing’s fall again.

“Heh, pretty girl, that must have hurt just now. Seeing you looking so pitiful, my heart almost couldn’t take it,” Sun Feifei sneered, sauntering over to Wang Yuqing as soon as the teachers left.

“You… you are shameless!” Wang Yuqing looked up at Sun Feifei’s leering grin, her cheeks flushed with rage. Her hands trembled as she pointed at him, overcome by anger.