Thump, thump, thump.

Ji Jiangyuan’s heart was racing.

The recording was about to begin, but he couldn’t find Teacher Lin or Professor He.

Both teachers had been called away to discuss potential cheating allegations against Xia Xiaolan. Teacher Lin hadn’t realized it at first, thinking Xu Guozhang was just being thorough by asking about each contestant before the recording began.

Xia Xiaolan was Teacher Lin’s star pupil. In front of Xu Guozhang, she had praised Xia Xiaolan modestly, describing her as a hardworking student with natural language talent who, despite coming from a remote district, had achieved a perfect score in English on last year’s college entrance exam.

This surprised Xu Guozhang.

Another judge thought negatively: “A student from the countryside, probably with no prior English foundation – getting a perfect score is quite suspicious!”

Xia Xiaolan’s file was brought in.

Professor He was more perceptive than Teacher Lin and sensed something was wrong.

When Xu Guozhang saw Xia Xiaolan’s records, he also found them peculiar.

This student had dropped out after middle school for several years, then returned to school, transferring to Anqing No. 1 High School in 1983. In July 1984, she ranked third nationally in the college entrance exam with a perfect English score!

Looking at it this way, she seemed like an exceptional student.

Xu Guozhang understood the other judge’s implications – suspecting that Xia Xiaolan’s college entrance exam wasn’t entirely legitimate.

Learning another language requires time and resources. How could a rural girl who had dropped out for several years easily achieve a perfect English score?

The judge suggested that Director Wang hadn’t just asked for special “consideration” for Xia Xiaolan – earlier, he might have violated regulations by leaking exam questions to her.

Xu Guozhang momentarily fell into this line of thinking.

Then suddenly, he asked, “Do you remember when Director Wang was reinstated last year?”

The committee, being affiliated with the Higher Education Division, was familiar with its affairs.

One said August, another remembered September – but the entrance exam was in July!

Without being reinstated, Director Wang likely wouldn’t have had access to exam questions. While this didn’t completely clear Xia Xiaolan, it made cheating much less likely.

Professor He sensed something was wrong: “Teacher Xu, you can’t be suspecting Student Xia… Impossible! This student has natural language talent and works incredibly hard. Teacher Lin and I have witnessed her progress from preliminary rounds to finals!”

Teacher Lin finally realized why Xu Guozhang had called her and He there.

They suspected Xia Xiaolan!

“Teacher Xu, her ability is evident – how could she be cheating?”

One might pretend briefly, but not forever.

Teacher Lin had taught Xia Xiaolan for a semester. If she couldn’t judge Xia Xiaolan’s English level, her years of teaching would have been wasted. True, the 200 university students who made it to the finals were all at similar levels, with little difference in written test scores. Xia Xiaolan’s 17th-place ranking reflected both her ability and test-taking skills.

“Don’t get too excited, Little Lin. We won’t wrongly accuse a student.”

Everyone had lived through turbulent times and knew false accusations could ruin a student’s life. The three judges, including Xu Guozhang, were disgusted by Director Wang’s words but hadn’t completely dismissed the concerns about Xia Xiaolan. Checking papers and records showed both suspicion of Xia Xiaolan and thoroughness – it was responsible both to her and other contestants.

The findings were interesting. Both Professor He and Teacher Lin from Huaqing praised Xia Xiaolan highly. Her English level was acknowledged – she didn’t need any backdoor help.

Having passed the written test to reach the national top 20, was ranking that important?

Xu Guozhang closed Xia Xiaolan’s file.

“If the three of us combined can’t judge her level, we should all resign from our positions.”

Xu Guozhang decided to ignore Director Wang’s words. If he couldn’t assess Xia Xiaolan’s ability, what kind of doctoral supervisor was he?

“But what if she saw the oral exam questions beforehand-“

Xu Guozhang remained silent.

That was simple – they had created the oral exam questions themselves!

…

“She should be taking the oral exam now, right?”

Beijing Normal University and Beijing Foreign Studies University were both on the West Third Ring Road, less than 3 kilometers apart, practically on the same street.

After being upset at the Wang household, Xia Ziyu hadn’t visited for several days, preferring to date Wang Jianhua on campus during weekends. With Xia Ziyu not visiting, Wang Jianhua’s trips home had decreased dramatically.

When Xia Ziyu left angrily, Wang Jianhua hadn’t chased after her immediately but apologized profusely afterward.

Wang Jianhua was typically chauvinistic, with Xia Ziyu usually accommodating him. His taking the initiative to apologize was rare. Xia Ziyu, sensing his genuine concern, strategically forgave him.

Lately, Wang Jianhua had been especially gentle with her. Seeing Xia Ziyu’s worry, he quickly comforted her:

“Our life is our own – why keep mentioning her?”

Xia Ziyu bit her lip. “I never wanted to speak ill of her before, but think about what happened to my father’s hand, and how she’s now dating the Zhou family’s son. She’s completely different now – skilled at manipulation and cold-hearted… Jianhua, maybe she’s changed, or maybe we never saw her before. I must confess my fear – I’m afraid of her revenge!”

Perhaps this was Xia Xiaolan’s true face, revealed after the wall incident triggered her.

Xia Ziyu only regretted not being ruthless enough then, not eliminate future trouble. Letting Xia Xiaolan live now meant she could climb above her.

“Ziyu after you left that day, I spoke honestly with my parents.”

Wang Jianhua couldn’t bear seeing Xia Ziyu continue living in fear and torment. Ziyu should be confident and gentle, not living miserably under Xia Xiaolan’s shadow.

Xia Ziyu’s shoulders trembled: “Then Uncle and Auntie must hate me even more.”

Wang Jianhua avoided that topic. “My parents also think it’s inappropriate for her to stay in Beijing. We move in the same circles as the Zhou family – it’s awkward to keep running into each other.”

Was Wang Guangping going to act?

Xia Ziyu was excited – this was what she had been hoping for.

Wang Jianhua didn’t elaborate.

He felt his father Wang Guangping’s methods weren’t entirely honorable, but they were subtle like spring rain – success or failure wouldn’t alert anyone. If successful, it would seem like Xia Xiaolan’s fate; if not, it couldn’t be traced back to the Wang family.

Wang Guangping hadn’t explicitly targeted Xia Xiaolan, instead asking others to “look after” her – this care had multiple meanings, primarily psychological warfare!

The judges, led by Xu Guozhang, couldn’t tolerate any impropriety and would naturally resent students using connections… If she cheated in the English competition, might she have cheated on the college entrance exam too? A little manufactured “evidence” would be enough for Huaqing University to expel Xia Xiaolan.

The Zhou family wouldn’t want a daughter-in-law who had been expelled, forcing her and Zhou Cheng to break up – thus, Xia Xiaolan would have to leave Beijing and return to where she came from!