Chapter 52, Cheating

The time came three days later.

The location is the bulletin board outside the school and in the square.

"Zhuo, it's not the female thief, but the conch girl, right?"

After the final exams were finally over, the students who had escaped the hell of exams seemed more excited than usual and gathered in groups of three or five in the square to chat.

Zhuo, Kanda Tomokazu, and Kiritani Jin stood under the bulletin board, all tilting their heads as high as possible.

That’s how I finally saw the name “Utsunomiya Shuo” at the top of the list.

Second place.

The name Utsunomiya Shuo ranks second in the entire school.

Zhuo said numbly, "Maybe."

"If I remember correctly, the conch's union was completed in the water. There must be a lot of them... Can you introduce her sisters to me?" Kanda looked up, still looking at the name of Utsunomiya Shuo who was high above.

By the way, the only thing above Zhuo is the extremely long name "Zero Razumovskaya Romanov".

"It's a bit difficult." Zhuo still had a numb look on his face, as if he had lost his soul.

"I remember your previous ranking was outside the top 300." Kanda still looked up.

"That's right." Zhuoye looked at his name numbly.

"Then can you teach me the method? I also want to improve hundreds of places in one go." Kanda looked up.

"This depends on your usual efforts." Zhuo looked numb.

"Do you dare to say that you work hard normally?" Kanda looked up.

"I dare not." Zhuo looked numb.

“Right…” Kanda looked up.

"Ah."

In fact, Zhuo did not lie.

In this final exam, he was able to achieve the second place, which was indeed due to his usual hard work. He only took 20 minutes to complete the 40-minute math test and handed it in ahead of time.

…Then all the test papers for other subjects were replaced with zeros.

That is to say, except for mathematics, all other test papers were completed from zero.

If Zhuo hadn't completed the math test independently, the result would be that he and Ling would be tied for first place~
That’s why I say that it was indeed his own efforts that allowed him to maintain the second place instead of the first place.

The exam ended yesterday morning.
But to this day, Zhuo still remembers vividly what happened in the examination room during those two days.

In fact, it’s not just him. I’m afraid everyone in the classroom remembers it... and will never forget it in their lifetime.

The first exam subject was mathematics, which was completed independently by Zhuo.

There is nothing much to say about this; it all passed without any incident.

In the second class, Zero had already taken action.

It was indeed the right move.

More than ten minutes into the exam, Ling raised her little hand high. After getting the teacher's permission, she stood up expressionlessly and said in the temperature of minus two hundred degrees Celsius, "I have my period and I want to go to the bathroom."

Subsequently,

There was silence.

Everyone in the classroom was stunned. They stopped writing and turned to look at Ling.

Even the teacher was stunned and his phone fell to the ground.

Only Zhuo himself knew that Ling was going to take action... and this reason sounded too familiar.

Sure enough, menstruation is a secret weapon for girls, and it is always effective.

I think everyone knows the connection between menstruation and going to the toilet. So everyone's expression is a little bit broken...

But Ling walked among them calmly, holding a stack of white sanitary napkins in her hand. Zhuo knew that Ling was about to start, although he didn't know what she would do, but he knew that she was about to start.

In order to cover himself up, Zhuo also imitated others and stared at Ling little by little in amazement...

Ling kept his eyes level with the road the entire time, without even glancing at the crowds on either side, and naturally did not look at Zhuo.

Only when Ling passed by him did Zhuo feel the test paper in his hand rubbing quickly against his skin, causing his palm to feel a little hot, like the feeling after repeated friction in winter.

Zhuo lowered his head, his pen tip still resting on the "brackets" of the first multiple-choice question. He was stuck on the first question... But now, the answer has been filled in the "brackets".

Looking further down, the answer section and the blank spaces are also filled with answers.

Dense handwriting.

Turn it over and it's the same.

Not only that, Zhuo even found that the handwriting on the test paper was exactly the same as his own. Even if the people in the police station used a machine to identify it, they could only admit that it was written by Zhuo himself... If it weren't for the temperature of Zhuo's palm, it would prove that his test paper had indeed been taken away, and the one in his hand now was the one that had been swapped.

Zhuo would probably also think: I don’t know how awesome I am.

Ling had already walked past his seat. Even though there were dozens of eyes staring at her from behind, no one noticed what Ling did because her walking posture did not change.

Although Zhuo's eyes and even nerves didn't have time to react, he roughly imagined it.

In a very short period of time, Ling pulled out the test paper of his subordinate at a speed that was difficult to capture with the naked eye, and then quickly took out the already completed test paper from (Zhuo guessed: most likely hidden in the sanitary napkin) his body, and stuffed it back into his subordinate along the original trajectory.

Then quickly return to the previous walking posture and continue walking as if nothing had happened.

Probably so.

It's not over yet,
...In the next seven exams, Ling went to the bathroom seven times using the excuse of having her period.

…She always had a brand new cotton white sanitary pad in her hand.

……

...

In the following days...

In the following days, as expected, Zhuo was called to the office, where he was repeatedly interrogated three times... This was also understandable, after all... Zhuo's lumbar disc was too protruding.

In the end, the school suspiciously acknowledged Zhuo's achievements and admitted that they were the result of Zhuo's own hard work.

The handwriting was Zhuo's, and the ink was Zhuo's. Although the content on the test paper was almost exactly the same as Zero's except for the name, the school couldn't say anything... because all the answers were correct, and Zero's score was always full marks.

If the errors are exactly the same, it can be considered plagiarism, but if the errors are exactly the same, it is taken for granted.

Maybe Zero had already considered these things.
She always thinks things through.

Anyway, the matter just passed.

...It would be great if my mother would think the same way. Zhuo prayed in his heart.

After all, after the exams, it’s summer vacation.

In a few days, he would leave Tokyo and go back home. When he got home, he would naturally be questioned by Utsunomiya's mother.

Zhuo had already figured out how to make an excuse.

And Zero...

She can finally take some time off.

This will be a 42-day vacation, during which the two of them probably won't see each other again... unless this girl doesn't follow martial ethics!

Fortunately not.

During these last few days, Zhuo had another small-scale negotiation with Ling. Ling unilaterally signed the "Zhuo's Hometown Inviolability Treaty", promising not to interfere in his life during the summer vacation and not to appear in front of Zhuo's parents.

And Zero doesn't ask for anything.

Zhuo knew it in his heart.
This kind of kindness, which comes without any conditions and no price tag, is the most expensive!
Maybe when it accumulates to a certain level, I can only pledge my love for you with my body.

　Thanks to brother 20220207123537214 for the monthly ticket.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)