After the recording ended, it took Xia Xiaolan quite a while to get away.

She thought she had glimpsed Guan Huie, but with the crowd pressing in, she couldn’t be sure.

The stage lights had been incredibly strong, and with so many people crowding around her, despite the cold winter month, her undershirt was soaked with sweat!

The university students were all so enthusiastic, asking Xia Xiaolan for her contact information, and wanting to become pen pals… They weren’t being inappropriate—they genuinely believed more communication would help them improve. It was perfectly normal for top students to become friends with other top students. Everyone who made it to the finals truly loved English, and now that Xia Xiaolan had won first place and the special prize, of course, they wanted to learn from her.

Unable to refuse their enthusiasm, Xia Xiaolan gave them her major and class details. Many immediately wrote it down, as carrying a fountain pen was a habit of all intellectuals and students.

Xia Xiaolan was finally rescued by Teacher Lin and Professor He.

She had nearly dropped her trophy and certificates in the crowd.

“Teacher Lin, Professor He, I won this award today thanks to your guidance!”

Such results didn’t disappoint the two teachers’ dedication. Professor He was also surprised—two Foreign Language Department students plus Season Jiangyuan who had lived abroad for over ten years couldn’t match Xia Xiaolan’s performance. She was undoubtedly the exam champion.

“No need for thanks. We couldn’t help earlier and were so worried about you.”

Xu Guozhang hadn’t allowed the information to be leaked early. Teacher Lin and Professor He knew about the situation even before Season Jiangyuan approached them but couldn’t comfort Xia Xiaolan… They couldn’t let her know about the question change, or Xu Guozhang and the other judges wouldn’t have acknowledged her exam performance.

Teacher Lin was also troubled: “What kind of elder relative is this from your family? They’re causing trouble. Your abilities speak for themselves—you don’t need any special consideration.”

If this news spread, how would others talk about Xia Xiaolan?

Even with the award, people would question whether she won through connections. Teacher Lin couldn’t argue this point with Xu Guozhang as she didn’t know if Xia Xiaolan was related to Director Wang.

True, Xia Xiaolan was from the countryside, but didn’t she have a boyfriend?

According to the Department Head’s recent comments, Xia Xiaolan’s boyfriend’s family had clashed with the Season family. If her boyfriend’s family had good intentions but messed things up, Teacher Lin was truly at a loss.

At this moment, with no outsiders present—not even Season Jiangyuan could be there—only Teacher Lin, Professor He, and Xia Xiaolan were talking.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t leave any face-saving room for certain people: “As Professor Xu and others mentioned, the one who asked them to ‘look after’ me was Deputy Director Wang from the Higher Education Department, right? Teacher Lin, he’s not any relative of mine. I’ve never even met him, and I don’t think his intentions were good!”

Wang Guangping hadn’t understood Professor Xu’s temperament. Though Professor Xu despised evil, he wasn’t impulsive… Even if someone was hot-blooded in their youth, by seventy, they’d developed composure.

If Xu Guozhang hadn’t investigated carefully, or if Xia Xiaolan had performed slightly worse, this situation would have been like mud in trousers—impossible to explain away even though it wasn’t filth.

“Are you sure Deputy Director Wang isn’t your relative and no one asked him for help?”

Teacher Lin couldn’t understand—what was Director Wang gaining from doing something that harmed others without benefiting himself?

Professor He sensed the intriguing undercurrents.

“Xiaolan might have just been caught in the crossfire. There’s no point in investigating Director Wang’s motives now. We should focus on preventing future problems. I’ve sent Zhong Cai and Season Jiangyuan back to school. Now, we two should take Xiaolan to meet Old Xu.”

Xia Xiaolan understood Professor He’s meaning.

Nothing was worse than speculation—everyone had different thoughts and guessing would only cause trouble.

Once things were laid bare in the sunlight, dark schemes would lose their breeding ground.

“Professor He, I think it’s right to speak with Professor Xu and the others. Should we also talk to the leader in charge of this competition?”

Teacher Lin’s political sensitivity was lower; she thought only of the Higher Education Department—wouldn’t the responsible leader just protect Director Wang? After all, they were colleagues who saw each other daily.

Professor He’s sensitivity was much higher. He gave Xia Xiaolan a deep look:

“Let’s do as you suggest.”

Ah, the differences between people.

Teacher Lin was clever too, but she applied her intelligence to study and work. In these complex matters, she couldn’t match even a student. Fortunately, this was Little Lin’s student, who would only help her in the future. If an enemy, they might sell Little Lin out while she happily lost money!

Full of mixed feelings, Professor He accompanied Xia Xiaolan to find Xu Guozhang and the Higher Education Department leader responsible for the competition.

When the three found Xu Guozhang, his office was quite lively.

“Aunt Guan, Grandmother Zhou?”

So she hadn’t been wrong—Guan Huie had come to the finals, bringing Zhou Cheng’s grandmother. But instead of speaking with her, they’d come straight to the judges.

Seeing Zhan Aiqun there too, Xia Xiaolan suddenly understood—they knew about the “cheating” matter!

Deputy Director Tang, who had just presented Xia Xiaolan’s award on stage, saw her arrival like seeing a savior:

“Let’s hear from the person involved?”

Grandmother Zhou raised her voice, “She’s just a young girl who doesn’t even understand when she’s been wronged—what is there to hear from her? I want to ask: what connection does that Wang from the Higher Education Department have with our girl? The emperor isn’t worried, yet this eunuch is jumping around, speaking to judges and TV station staff about looking after our girl. What’s the idea? Afraid our girl’s life is too comfortable? Want people to say Xiaolan won her prize through connections?!”

Grandmother Zhou wasn’t even cursing.

Her words were all reasoned and evidenced. The old lady might be advanced in years, but her mind wasn’t muddled—she had immediately grasped the key point.

There was no use talking to the judges; this needed to be addressed with the Higher Education Department leadership.

Zhan Aiqun couldn’t throw Deputy Director Tang under the bus and explained Grandmother Zhou’s identity. Grandmother Zhou was also an old revolutionary, having met Old Man Zhou during revolutionary work. Now retired, she was still an old comrade… What could Deputy Director Tang do? He had to quietly accept the old comrade’s teachings!

If he tried to reason with Grandmother Zhou or make excuses, she had a hundred principles ready for him, from the start of the revolution to maintaining its current victories, from remembering bitterness to appreciating sweetness to mass work. Though Grandmother Zhou had only attended literacy classes and was quite old, she showed no signs of dementia. She could recite the Party Constitution, regulations, and Leader’s quotations more fluently than Deputy Director Tang.

No wonder Deputy Director Tang saw Xia Xiaolan as a savior!

Grandmother Zhou kept saying “our girl”—anyone who didn’t know better would think Xia Xiaolan’s surname was Zhou! How could Xia Xiaolan not be moved? Even if things didn’t work out with Zhou Cheng someday, she couldn’t treat Grandmother Zhou as a complete stranger.

Grandmother Zhou spoke for over ten more minutes, making Deputy Director Tang nod repeatedly. Worried it might have the opposite effect, Xia Xiaolan quickly served tea to Grandmother Zhou:

“Grandmother, take a breath. Let me say a few words about this.”