The System is Abstract, Luckily, So Am I

Chapter 173 : What Evidence Do You Have to Prove I Didn't Cheat?!

With Wang Ziyan right beside him, Lin Li felt exceptionally at ease and immediately threw himself into writing his exam.

While Wang Ziyan was keeping an eye on him, he was conveniently keeping an eye on Feng Kai as well.

An hour and a half passed in the blink of an eye.

Wang Ziyan's expression was somewhat smug.

*Like provoking me, do you, Lin Li? Now do you see the consequences?*

Lin Li had already started writing his essay, but on his answer sheet, the earlier sections—the ancient poetry dictation and the classical Chinese text questions—were all blank.

It was obvious that this was the part Lin Li wanted to cheat on, and now, because of his close marking, he couldn't write anything down.

However, Wang Ziyan then grew a bit serious again. *But why does Lin Li still look like he has victory in his grasp? He doesn't seem anxious at all. Does he have a trump card?*

*No, right under my nose, he can't do anything!*

*No matter what his trump card is, I'll just deal with it when it comes.*

To be honest, having such a little interlude during invigilation... Wang Ziyan found it quite fun. It added a lot of entertainment to an otherwise dull and boring task.

The senior dean who was patrolling earlier even smiled and nodded at him when he saw him sitting in the back row invigilating.

Having sat on the small stool for a long time, his butt was getting a bit sore. Wang Ziyan stood up, preparing to take a walk around the classroom.

Both Lin Li and Feng Kai noticed this action.

And when Lin Li sensed that this fellow disciple with impure intentions was preparing to pull the cheat sheet out of his pocket, he immediately took action.

So, before Wang Ziyan had even taken two steps, he heard the loud rustling of exam papers flipping from behind him.

Wang Ziyan zipped right back to his original spot, only to see Lin Li looking annoyed as he placed the exam paper back under his answer sheet and resumed writing his essay.

*I get it! He doesn't have victory in his grasp at all. He just thinks he still has time and wants to bluff to make me lower my guard!*

Having figured this out, Wang Ziyan felt relieved. He sat back down in his chair with a smile on his face.

For the next hour, he didn't plan on moving an inch.

*Now there's absolutely no way I can lose.*

Another twenty minutes passed, and Lin Li had finished his essay.

So he flipped back to the blank ancient poetry section, studying the questions and occasionally glancing at Wang Ziyan.

"Teacher, can I hand in my paper early?" As soon as 11:00 hit, a student immediately spoke up.

Nansang Middle School rules stated that students could hand in their papers at most half an hour early, and some people were just waiting for this exact moment.

"Yes, leave your answer sheet on the desk." Hearing this, Wang Ziyan stood up and nodded, then immediately sat back down, continuing to stare at Lin Li.

Chinese is a subject where once you put pen to paper, there's no going back—there isn't enough space on the answer sheet to cross things out and rewrite them. So as soon as Wang Ziyan spoke, almost half the students in the classroom who had finished swarmed forward to hand in their papers.

Lin Li remained completely still.

Wang Ziyan also remained completely still.

But Feng Kai was anxious, anxious, anxious.

He still didn't understand why the invigilator was sitting right next to him the entire time. Even now that people were handing in their papers, he wasn't even going up to the podium to organize them.

He had left several lines blank in the ancient poetry section, and the answers were all right there in his pocket.

So close, yet so far.

"Teacher, can I go to the bathroom?" Feng Kai suddenly spoke up, clutching his stomach.

He could only rely on this trick.

"Didn't I just say you can't go to the bathroom during the exam?" Hearing this, Wang Ziyan turned his head to the right, not accepting the request immediately.

"My stomach suddenly hurts," Feng Kai lowered his voice, inhaling sharply to pretend he was in pain.

"Sigh, then..." Wang Ziyan was young and a very easygoing teacher.

"Teacher, I want to go to the bathroom too!" Lin Li interrupted immediately, his expression grave.

He absolutely could not let his efforts fall short at the final hurdle like this.

"You can't go." When it came to Lin Li, Wang Ziyan refused without a second thought.

"Why? My stomach hurts a bit too. If he can go to the bathroom, why can't I? I can go a bit later, so we don't cross paths," Lin Li analyzed seriously.

"Who said he could go to the bathroom?" Wang Ziyan stood up, looked at both of their exam papers, and said sternly, "You've both finished your essays, and it's already past eleven. If you two want to go to the bathroom, hand in your papers!"

Feng Kai: "?"

Feng Kai realized he had been backed into a corner.

He had already said his stomach hurt. If he suddenly decided not to hand in his paper now, it would look very suspicious.

*Forget it, it's just a few points. It doesn't matter anymore.*

"Teacher, I'll hand in my paper," Feng Kai sighed.

"Mhm, put it up there," Wang Ziyan nodded, then looked at Lin Li with a smile that seemed somewhat provocative. "What about you, Lin Li? Are you going to hand in your paper?"

"I'm not handing it in. I can still hold it. I haven't finished writing yet," Lin Li naturally refused.

"Heh," Wang Ziyan sneered.

Lin Li began to concentrate on checking the other subjective questions to see if there were any omissions he could fill in.

For example, this blank space.

He could totally add another sentence: "Expresses the author's feelings of homesickness."

Time ticked by minute by minute. The students sitting in this exam room weren't the type who absolutely had to write until the very last second and refused to hand in their papers early. Those types might exist in Exam Room 1.

[Let's go.]

After placing his exam paper on the podium, Bai Bufan signaled with his eyes.

[Not going.]

Lin Li had barely responded to the look when Wang Ziyan immediately stood up: "Leave the exam room immediately after finishing! Do not linger! And absolutely do not pass information!"

Bai Bufan was startled.

*Why is he so triggered?*

But he quickly slipped away anyway.

Gradually, only Lin Li and Wang Ziyan were left in the entire classroom.

There were only five minutes left until the end of the exam, and the students in the hallway had almost all dispersed.

"Lin Li, you lost." Since there were only the two of them, Wang Ziyan didn't need to lower his voice. He smiled and said.

"Oh, really?" Hearing this, Lin Li smiled. He looked at Wang Ziyan, smiling very brightly.

And Wang Ziyan felt a sense of unease from this smile.

"You have no chance! There are only five minutes left, and I'm still watching you!" he emphasized.

"I seized my chance a long time ago!" Lin Li suddenly pulled his answer sheet out from under the exam paper and looked at Wang Ziyan with a smile. "Sorry, Teacher Yan. The one who lost is you!"

"Little exam paper, let me show you the power of my mighty pen!"

Lin Li's pen flew across the paper like dragons and snakes. Those blank spaces were rapidly filled in by Lin Li, as if he had already drafted the answers in his mind and didn't even need to look at the exam paper.

After a final check, Lin Li capped his pen, tapped it on the desk, and said in a clear voice, "Teacher Yan, I—hand in my paper!"

"What! Impossible! When did you cheat?!" Wang Ziyan was shocked pale.

"Was it that classmate of yours just now?! I knew it! You guys must have been exchanging answers!" Wang Ziyan regretted it. He should have punched Bai Bufan to death just now.

"No," Lin Li denied.

"You kept looking out the window earlier. Did someone outside pass you the answers?" Wang Ziyan continued to press.

"No," Lin Li's expression was profound and mysterious. "Teacher, give up. You won't be able to guess it."

"I'm going to check the security cameras right now!" Wang Ziyan pulled out his trump card.

However, Lin Li remained unfazed.

Wait.

That's not right.

Wang Ziyan suddenly realized he seemed to have fallen into a logical trap. He narrowed his eyes: "Lin Li, did you actually not cheat at all?"

"Are you kidding me, Teacher Yan? What evidence do you have to prove I didn't cheat?!" Lin Li, who had already handed in his paper and stood up, spreading his arms to enjoy the fruits of his victory, suddenly became anxious upon hearing this.

Wang Ziyan: "..."

*What kind of upside-down logic is this?*

*What kind of student asks a teacher, "What evidence do you have to prove I didn't cheat?"*

"Then what evidence do you have to prove you *did* cheat?" Wang Ziyan asked in return.

"The answers I just wrote down are 100% correct," Lin Li said confidently. "I didn't know them before, and now I do. If that's not cheating, what is it?"

Wang Ziyan: "..."

*Something feels very weird here.*

*How am I supposed to know if you knew them before or not?!*

"Lin Li, did you just not cheat and purely wanted to torture your teacher?" Wang Ziyan became more and more certain. *This damn kid didn't cheat at all!*

*When Senior Xue introduced this kid to me, he left out way too much!*

"No, I cheated!"

"You didn't cheat!"

"Teacher Yan, you are slandering me. I clearly cheated!" Being constantly questioned, Lin Li got angry.

"Fine! You cheated! I'm going to tell the school right now and have your score canceled!" Wang Ziyan also got angry.

"Eh? Wait. No. Don't, don't, don't. I'm sorry, I didn't cheat. Teacher Wang, I'm sorry. I knew how to recite all of these, I just dragged it out and didn't write them down. If you don't believe me, test me right now." Lin Li immediately behaved.

Wang Ziyan: "..."

*You motherfucker.*

*(End of Chapter)*