Marrying My Bestie's Ferocious Brother - He Calls Me His Baby!

Chapter 332 - 330: Top of the Class—Does a Straight-A Student Need to Copy Your Wrong Answers?

Dean Li’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it struck heavily on everyone’s heart in the examination room. His old black cloth shoes stopped by her desk, and the shadow he cast completely enveloped her.

"Pick it up."

He repeated again, his tone unchanged, as calm as saying "The weather is nice today."

All the classmates around stopped writing, and everyone looked over, like searchlights shining on Su Jiaojiao, leaving her nowhere to hide. There was no sympathy in their eyes, only cold scrutiny and a hint of understanding.

Su Jiaojiao’s fingers clutched the pen tightly, her joints turning blue from the force. She opened her mouth, wanting to say that it wasn’t hers, but her throat felt clogged with cotton, and she couldn’t produce a single word.

Under Dean Li’s calm gaze, she finally couldn’t hold on. She bent down, her fingers trembling uncontrollably, struggling several times before finally gripping the dirty and crumpled paper ball.

The handwriting on the paper ball was already blurred, but she instantly recognized it as her own handwriting.

"Teacher, I... I don’t know what this is..." She stood up, the paper ball in her palm feeling like a branding iron, burning so hot she almost dropped it.

"You don’t know?"

This time, it was the department head, standing on the podium, who spoke. He had come down at some point, hands behind his back, with an expression as stern as an iron plate.

"Student Su Jiaojiao, your action of throwing the paper ball towards Lin Wan Yi’s seat, both Dean Li and I, one on the podium and one by the window, saw it clearly."

The department head’s voice was not loud, yet it was powerful and resonant.

"We even specifically checked the time, 3:27 in the afternoon. Do I need to call someone from the security department to retrieve the corridor surveillance footage and see when Lin Wan Yi left?"

Su Jiaojiao’s face turned white as a sheet.

So they had seen everything from the start! They saw everything, yet said nothing, just watched her make a fool of herself like a clown!

"No, it’s not me..." She was still making her last struggle.

The surrounding classmates couldn’t hold back their sneers.

"Oh, it’s really her."

"Can’t pass the test herself, so she wants to drag someone else down, such a dark heart."

"Serves her right! Who told her to spread rumors about Wanyi’s notes? I think she’s just jealous!"

These whispers were like countless fine needles piercing into Su Jiaojiao’s ears. She felt like her skin was being peeled off layer by layer, her bloody form displayed for everyone to see.

She trembled all over, completely lost her sanity.

"It was her!" Su Jiaojiao suddenly looked up, pointing her trembling finger at the now empty seat of Lin Wan Yi, her voice sharp and distorted, "It was Lin Wan Yi! She framed me! That paper was thrown to me by her, I... I just threw it back!"

This twisted claim, even she herself found it ridiculous.

However, there was no ripple in Dean Li’s expression. He didn’t even look at Su Jiaojiao, but just said to the department head, "Old Wang, go to my office and bring that manila envelope from my desk."

The department head nodded, turned around, and quickly left the classroom.

The atmosphere in the examination room was oppressively tense. In the remaining exam time, no one could focus on answering the questions. Everyone watched Su Jiaojiao, as if witnessing a trial with an already determined outcome.

A few minutes later, the department head returned, holding a sealed manila envelope.

Dean Li took the envelope, tore open the seal, and pulled out a few test papers. He went to Su Jiaojiao, laying the test papers and the paper ball from her hand side by side on her desk.

"Student Su Jiaojiao, let’s do a simple comparative analysis."

Dean Li’s voice was very calm, as if conducting an academic discussion.

"First, the handwriting. The writing on this paper ball matches exactly with your handwriting from the past three quizzes, as unanimously recognized by three teachers from the teaching and research group. Do you admit this?"

Su Jiaojiao’s lips moved, but she couldn’t speak.

Without waiting for her answer, Dean Li pointed to a line of formulas on the paper ball.

"Second, and most crucially," his voice carried a trace of coldness, "this calculation formula about the probability of sex-linked inheritance—by the second step of the derivation, you were wrong. This mistake led all your subsequent calculations to deviate from the correct answer."

He picked up a test paper beside him, tapping the red cross on it with the pen cap.

"Coincidentally, in your mock test last week, you used the exact same incorrect derivation method for the same question, even the numbers after the decimal point were identically wrong."

Dean Li finally lifted his head from the test paper, looking directly into Su Jiaojiao’s eyes, which had lost focus.

He asked, word by word, "Lin Wan Yi, in the in-class mock test, got a full score. Now, you tell me, does someone with a perfect score need to copy your error-riddled answers?"

With a "boom," Su Jiaojiao felt her world completely collapse.

From the very beginning, she was nothing more than a transparent joke. Her self-assumed scheme was merely a clumsy performance in others’ eyes.

She slumped in her chair, the paper ball slipping from her hand and falling to the ground.

The department head stepped forward, taking away the almost blank test paper in front of her, his voice devoid of any emotion: "Su Jiaojiao, all your subjects in this exam will be marked zero. Now, come with me to the academic affairs office for further processing."

...

In the evening, at Dean Li’s home.

The study was lit by a warm desk lamp, a faint scent of ink and tea filling the air.

Lin Wan Yi sat on the sofa, using a small fruit knife to peel a Red Fuji apple for Gu An. Her movements were steady, the long peel spiraled and fell without breaking.

Gu An and Gu Ning, the two little ones, played happily on the carpet.

Dean Li set a steaming cup of jasmine tea on the table next to Lin Wan Yi, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration and praise.

"Did what happened in the examination room today affect your mood?"

"What happened?" Lin Wan Yi looked up, cutting the peeled apple into small pieces and handing it to Gu An, "Are you talking about Su Jiaojiao?"

Her tone was like discussing a stranger.

Dean Li chuckled, realizing he had worried too much. Someone with her disposition wouldn’t be troubled by such a trifling character.

He pulled a chair over to sit, his expression turning serious.

"Wanyi, let’s talk about business." He leaned forward slightly, "Regarding that DNA double helix structure stability model you sketched in your notes—I’ve been thinking about it over and over these past few days, and the more I think, the more potential I see."

Lin Wan Yi fed a small piece of apple to Gu Ning, listening attentively.

"I have an idea," Dean Li’s eyes sparkled with excitement, "Next semester, our Agricultural College plans to spearhead the formation of a multidisciplinary research group, in collaboration with the Physics and Chemistry Departments, focused on tackling this particular direction."

He looked at Lin Wan Yi, speaking in a solemn tone:

"I would like to invite you to be the leader of this research group."