Chapter 28: Tang Xiao’s Humiliation, The Principal Arrives, and the Bookmark Voting

Four or five proctors were inspecting Tang Xiao.

In the entire hall, aside from Xia Yuxi and Liu Zihao, everyone was scrutinizing Tang Xiao!

And the person responsible for all this was none other than Tang Xiao’s once most respected older sister—Tang Yuan!

Tang Xiao glared at Tang Yuan, filled with anger.

Tang Yuan, looking down from above, wore an expressionless face, with no remorse.

She even thought that Tang Xiao was angry because she had caught him.

One of the proctors turned to Ge Juan and said, “Teacher Ge, we didn’t find any evidence.”

Ge Juan frowned. “Are you sure?”

“We searched very thoroughly, but we didn’t find anything,” the proctor said.

They said they hadn’t found anything, not that there was nothing to find.

This meant that they still believed Tang Xiao had cheated, but they just couldn’t find the evidence.

No wonder they thought this way. After all, Tang Xiao had once stolen Tang Yuan’s million-dollar necklace.

Cheating must have been easier for him, right?

Tang Yuan frowned, also surprised that no evidence had been found.

Not finding anything would make things awkward.

But for those who were biased, how could it be awkward to judge someone they had already deemed guilty?

Ge Juan nodded indifferently. “Give him his paper back.”

The proctor placed the paper back on Tang Xiao’s desk and added, “Keep taking the exam, don’t cheat. We’ll be watching you.”

Tang Xiao suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and calmly asked, “May I ask, what is the highest score in the history of this competition?”

“Sit down and do your work. Don’t speak!” Ge Juan scolded, not fond of students who resisted.

Tang Yuan spoke up, “893 points. This record has stood for several years now. It has never been broken, and it was set by Tang Jie.”

Tang Yuan said this with great confidence.

The reason she wanted to tell Tang Xiao was to show him:

Look how outstanding the Tang family is!

We are on an entirely different level from you, a treacherous ingrate!

Tang Xiao nodded. “Got it.”

He sat down and didn’t say another word, continuing with his exam.

The other proctors didn’t understand why Tang Xiao asked that question.

But they didn’t leave him alone. They stayed close by, continuing to keep a close watch on him.

Many watched the scene unfold with a sense of schadenfreude, then went back to their work.

Xia Yuxi, from a distance, was very concerned about Tang Xiao.

But only half an hour later, Tang Xiao raised his hand.

“Report, I’m done. Can I submit my paper?”

The entire room was in an uproar.

What?! It’s only been a little over an hour, and he’s done already?

How much can you even do in an hour? I can’t finish in three hours.

He probably gave up because it was too difficult.

If it were me, I’d have submitted the paper early and left too. Being watched by four or five teachers is just too torturous.

Did he really cheat or not? I can’t figure it out.

This was a competition, not a national exam, so there was no time limit for submitting papers.

One of the proctors came over and collected his paper.

Tang Xiao didn’t care about the others. He stared directly at Ge Juan and Tang Yuan. “Can I leave now?”

Ge Juan replied, “Others can leave, but not you. Come sit at the podium. You can leave once the competition ends!”

She was experienced and wouldn’t give Tang Xiao any chance to escape.

Tang Xiao was speechless but still walked over to the podium.

He was angry about the injustice, but now was not the time to resist.

Tang Xiao deliberately chose a seat near Tang Yuan.

He calmly asked her, “Why are you doing this?”

Tang Yuan answered, “There’s no reason. If you’ve done something wrong, you should pay the price. Isn’t that right?”

Tang Yuan was the chairwoman of the Tang Group, known as the “Queen of the Tang Family,” a formidable woman in the business world. Having fought in the corporate arena for many years, she was ruthless and shrewd, someone who couldn’t be compared to Tang Jie.

“Alright, I understand,” Tang Xiao said indifferently.

Tang Xiao closed his eyes, a sense of regret rising within him.

If only he had known that day… he shouldn’t have saved her…

…

Over an hour later.

“Teacher, I’ve finished the exam.”

“Teacher… I’m ready to submit my paper too…”

Two more students handed in their papers early.

To Tang Xiao’s surprise, these two were Liu Zihao and Xia Yuxi.

After their papers were collected, Liu Zihao asked, “Teacher, can I leave now?”

“Yes,” Ge Juan replied.

So, others could leave, but Tang Xiao couldn’t.

There was no attempt to hide the preferential treatment.

“Teacher… I also want to leave early,” Xia Yuxi said.

“Go ahead.”

After receiving permission, both of them packed up their things and took their phones from the storage box.

Liu Zihao gave Tang Xiao a glance before leaving.

Xia Yuxi also looked at Tang Xiao before she left.

Tang Xiao waved them off, signaling that they could leave without worrying about him.

The situation here wasn’t their concern, and they wouldn’t be able to help anyway.

Soon, the three hours for the exam were up.

All the students handed in their papers, and the competition was over.

The students could finally speak loudly.

“This year’s competition was so hard, almost impossible.”

“Especially the last few big questions, I couldn’t even understand them.”

“It’s already good if we can get over 700 points.”

“The questions were so difficult, I think 750 might be a good score to get a ranking.”

“Hey, the person who was suspected of cheating earlier is still sitting at the podium. I wonder how they’ll deal with it in the end.”

Everyone was complaining about how tough the exam had been, and also discussing the earlier incident with Tang Xiao.

Tang Xiao silently sat at the podium, waiting to see how they would handle his situation.

At that moment, suddenly, there was a loud bang!

The door to the lecture hall was kicked open.

“Ge Juan! You old hag, how dare you detain my student!”

A burly middle-aged man with glasses stormed in.

It was Wei Changhe!

Behind him was Liu Zihao.

Everyone turned to look at the man who had burst through the door.

The principal of the second high school, Wei Changhe, shocked everyone.

Even Tang Xiao was stunned. “Why is the principal here?”

Seeing Liu Zihao, Tang Xiao understood.

Liu Zihao must have submitted his paper early in order to go contact Wei Changhe.

Although Liu Zihao didn’t know the details of Tang Xiao’s situation, he knew that only Wei Changhe could resolve this.

Tang Xiao felt deeply moved, warmth filling his heart.

Without a doubt, Liu Zihao had given up on the competition to help Tang Xiao.

His strongest subject was biology, and he was a strong contender in the competition!

But he couldn’t stand to see his friend being bullied.

So he submitted his paper early and went to call for help.

At first, Wei Changhe had been drinking tea in his office, waiting for news about Tang Xiao’s competition results.

When he received Liu Zihao’s call, saying that Tang Xiao was suspected of cheating and had been detained, Wei Changhe was furious and rushed over in his car.

The powerful entrance of Wei Changhe stunned the entire room.

Everyone recognized that the principal was the one who was sitting at the podium.

Ge Juan, who was much older and highly respected, had always been treated with reverence. But now, hearing herself called a “stubborn old hag,” her face turned green with anger.

Ge Juan responded, “Wei Changhe, who are you calling a stubborn old hag? This isn’t a place for you to act recklessly!”

Wei Changhe pointed at Tang Xiao. “Am I being reckless? You’re the one illegally detaining my student. You are the one acting recklessly!”