Chen Jin was a senior exam proctor, and he had seen a lot of students who were late for the exam. Most of these students came from well-off families, did not study well and be merry.
They were pleaded or forced to enter the examination room by their families, and then shared a hard time with the test paper until the exam ended.
It was a torment both for those students and Chen Jin, who had to watch them taking the exams.
He didn’t understand. Since these students couldn’t answer the questions on the paper, why did they come to waste time?
Were they fantasizing that they could suddenly become wise or that the teachers who created the test would come up with some simple and naive questions that even they could answer with their intelligence?
In Chen Jin’s eyes, Li Muyang was one of those students who had given themselves up but had to come to take the exam.
Sure enough, after Li Muyang took the test paper and walked to his seat, he began to stare blankly at the paper.
“Well, he began to play with the writing brush and ink, exactly the same as the students in the past…”
“Playing with the brush. Hehe, you’d better not hide any cheat sheet in it, or I won’t let you off.”
“Well, he is beginning to answer the questions…”
…
Soon, the mocking smile on Chen Jin’s face slowly disappeared.
Because he found something strange—ever since Li Muyang sat down and began answering questions, his hand that held the pen had never stopped.
He didn’t look around like other candidates or pretend to answer the questions as he was looking for the chance to copy others’ answers.
Once in a while, when he raised his head, he stretched.
When he stopped writing, it still looked like he was trying to figure out something.
He was indeed answering questions and he did it quite smoothly.
Chen Jin was full of curiosity about this student. “Did I misunderstand him?”
He was going to check it out in person to see if he had any misunderstandings about him before.
In order not to make his purpose so obvious, Chen Jin first began to walk on the right side of the classroom. Seeing the proctor coming over, the students lowered their heads even lower, trying hard to pretend that they weren’t cheating.
Chen Jin took a detour from the right side to the left side and then stopped behind Li Muyang.
“Well, his writing looks good and he has finished quite a lot of the questions.”
This was Chen Jin’s first impression of Li Muyang.
Soon, Chen Jin found something else unusual.
Li Muyang did not make any mistakes while answering the questions. Every question he answered was answered correctly.
At least, after Chen Jin carefully checked the paper, he did not find any mistakes. Every question was answered perfectly.
They were not the standard answers that could be memorized, but the correct answers after good comprehension and organization.
Chen Jin was shocked. He had skilled and magical craftsmanship in dealing with every question. This was something that only the best students in the school could do.
“How could he be late?” Chen Jin had a better impression of Li Muyang, and thought doubtfully, “How can a good student be late? I hope it’s not too late.”
“Uh-huh, what’s going on?” Chen Jin saw Li Muyang stop writing.
Chen Jin followed his pen and looked at the question. It was not very difficult, but a little unconventional, and the meaning of the question was very confusing.
“Why can’t he answer this kind of question?” Chen Jin felt a little pity in his heart. “Think about it carefully. Think about it carefully and you should be able to find the pattern.”
“Eh, this kid actually gave up—he has skipped directly to the next question. He is really an impatient guy. However, what he did was correct. After all, he arrived too late. Compared with other students, he has already wasted too much time.”
Chen Jin sighed slightly and then walked to the podium.
After a few steps, he couldn’t help but step back.
Chen Jin stood next to Li Muyang, stretched out a finger, and tapped the question Li Muyang had skipped, coughing softly.
Li Muyang looked up, only to see Chen Jin look at him expressionlessly.
Li Muyang thought about it and immediately understood. He read the question again and then wrote down the answer with a surprised look.
Chen Jin strode away, scolding himself for his unruly behavior in his heart, “Damn the Virgo.”
Fortunately, Li Muyang did not encounter too many difficulties.
When he finished answering the last question, the bell rang and it was time to hand in the paper.
He had no time to check his answers.
However, Cui Xiaoxin had already told him that as long as he could answer a question, his answer would almost be a standard one—because he didn’t have much time to study, and if he knew the answers, they were the right ones; otherwise, he would not know them at all. Those confusing questions wouldn’t trap him.
Li Muyang checked his name and other related information again and then sat straight, waiting for the proctor to collect the test paper.
When Chen Jin walked to Li Muyang, he looked at him thoughtfully. Then, he took away his test paper and went to the next one.
When Li Muyang walked out of the classroom, the students from all examination rooms had gathered in the large yard.
“Li Muyang…” Cui Xiaoxin stood behind him, wearing a long white dress with a dragonfly hairpin on her long hair. “How did you do in the exam?” she asked in a sweet voice.
“I think I did okay. I finished all the questions,” Li Muyang nodded at Cui Xiaoxin and said. “I came too late, so I didn’t have time to review. I hope that I didn’t make too many mistakes.”
“You were late?” Cui Xiaoxin was smart; upon hearing Li Muyang’s words, she immediately realized that something might have happened. She said, “Did something happen?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Li Muyang shook his head. He didn’t want to tell Cui Xiaoxin that the killer Crow had changed his target to seek revenge at his home. If he told her the truth, it would only make her worried about him. Anyway, since the problem had been solved, why did he make her worry?
Cui Xiaoxin saw the anxiety in Li Muyang’s eyes and knew that he was worried about something. But since Li Muyang didn’t bring it up, she could not ask more about it. “If you need any help, just tell me…” she said.
“I will.” Li Muyang nodded with a smile.
“Well, then, please do your best.” Cui Xiaoxin raised her fist to Li Muyang and made a gesture to cheer him up.
“You too,” Li Muyang said with a smile. “I know you are so smart that there should be no problem that you don’t know the answer. Let’s meet at the lakeside of Nameless Lake.”
“We will,” Cui Xiaoxin said in a firm voice.
After an hour’s rest, the second exam began.
Li Muyang and Cui Xiaoxin were not in the same examination room. After encouraging each other, they separated again and fought for their lives.
…
…
After the two exams, Li Muyang did not pay attention to anyone but strode in the direction of his home.
Cui Xiaoxin handed in the paper ahead of time. Originally, she wanted to take Li Muyang to have lunch near the examination room. Many students didn’t go home at noon. They just ate some good food nearby.
Cui Xiaoxin sat under the Yanluo tree in the corner of the yard, reading a novel. When she saw Li Muyang come out of the examination room and was about to call his name, she found that Li Muyang ran off without looking sideways.
Cui Xiaoxin’s eyes were filled with confusion. Then she closed the book and walked out.
Ning Xinhai appeared behind Cui Xiaoxin and said respectfully, “Miss, the carriage is in front of us. Are we going back?”
“Let’s go back,” Cui Xiaoxin said.
“Got it, Miss,” Ning Xinhai answered.
The carriage went far away, but Cui Xiaoxin still thought of the worry hidden in Li Muyang’s eyes.
“Uncle Ning,” Cui Xiaoxin suddenly said, “Let’s go to the Ministry of Revenue Street.”
“Yes, Miss.” Ning Xinhai ordered the coachman to change the direction without any expression on his face.
Li Muyang pushed the courtyard door open and ran into the house. He was startled when he saw Yan Xiangma sitting there moaning weakly with a pale face. “Another killer attacked you?” he asked.
If it was not because of a killer’s attack, how could Yan Xiangma become like this? When Li Muyang left for the exam, Yan Xiangma was so vigorous that he could cut the bluestone table into pieces with a fan.
“It’s more horrible than a killer’s attack,” Yan Xiangma said weakly. “I drank a bowl of medicine.”
Li Muyang walked straight to Li Sinian, reached out to feel her pulse, and asked, “How do you feel?”
“I feel much better,” Li Sinian said, looking at Yan Xiangma with a smile. “This idiot, he drank a bowl of laxative…”
“How many times have I explained? It’s not a laxative, it’s an antidote…” Yan Xiangma was almost driven crazy. He looked at Li Muyang and said, “You know, they are poisoned with the smoke. I kindly asked someone to cook a pack of medicine for them to detoxify their bodies, but they suspected that I had ulterior motives and might poison them with the soup. Am I that kind of person? In order to prove that I didn’t put a drug in the soup, I took that bowl of medicine first.”
After checking on the physical conditions of his parents, Li Muyang was completely relieved and showed a rare but sweet smile.
Even during the exam, he had worried about the conditions of his parents and sister. Now that the exam was over and his family was in good health, there was nothing greater than this for him.
Li Muyang walked to the side of Yan Xiangma, who was explaining hoarsely, and said, “And then you were poisoned?”
“As I said, this is not poison. This is a laxative to detoxify my body. Do you know anything about detoxification?” Yan Xiangma originally thought that Li Muyang understood what he meant, but he didn’t expect that Li Muyang also suspected that he had put a drug in the soup.
Right now, Yan Xiangma wanted to cry but had no tears. If he had known it, he would not have acted such an arduous but fruitless play.