Chapter Twelve: What Right Do You Have to Accuse Me of Cheating?

He gained an achievement point?

Chen Feng immediately sensed that his system had just rewarded him with another achievement point—the astonishment of his classmates had earned him yet another. He’d gotten ten achievement points from playing basketball, spent six extracting knowledge from various subjects, and now, with this one, he still had five left.

“It seems the effect isn’t that obvious yet. If more people learned about my improved grades, I’d probably get even more achievement points,” Chen Feng mused inwardly.

“Chen Feng, come to my office after class,” Sun Minghai said coldly from the lectern.

“Hm?” Chen Feng frowned slightly, gazing at Sun Minghai, whose eyes were filled with deep suspicion.

Without wasting words, Chen Feng sat down quietly. He understood that scoring such high marks all at once would inevitably arouse his teacher’s doubts. Still, Chen Feng wasn’t afraid—he’d relied entirely on his own ability and had nothing to fear from any questioning.

After class, Chen Feng followed Sun Minghai to the office.

“That fat Chen Feng must have copied too much and got called out for a talk by our homeroom teacher!” a sharp-faced, monkey-like student exclaimed as soon as Chen Feng left. The boy’s grades were ordinary—neither particularly good nor particularly bad—but he simply couldn’t stand seeing someone do better than himself.

“I think so too. But Chen Feng is pretty impressive—even with the strictness of this exam, he still managed to cheat. I’m honestly impressed! If only we could cheat like that on the college entrance exam, that would be awesome!” a girl chimed in.

“You still want to cheat on the college entrance exam? Stop dreaming! If you tried to cheat there, you’d be caught immediately and your results would be canceled!” someone else interjected. “Is Chen Feng planning to cheat in the college entrance exam too?”

“Honestly, Chen Feng really doesn’t know his own limits, copying so shamelessly!”

“All right, enough! Why are you all so convinced Chen Feng cheated?” Fang Yue couldn’t take it anymore. Though she herself found the whole thing hard to believe, she still stood up to defend Chen Feng.

“The contrast is too big!” a student muttered. “His scores skyrocketed overnight—how is that even possible?”

“If cheating is so easy, why don’t you cheat your way to 706 points and show me?” Zheng Qiang, sitting nearby, said impatiently. “Don’t jump to conclusions. Maybe he’s just been keeping a low profile. Would you believe it if I told you Chen Feng never misses a three-pointer in basketball? Isn’t that a big contrast too?”

At Zheng Qiang’s words, the class fell silent. The truth was, their criticism of Chen Feng was just a way to mask their jealousy. Seeing him suddenly surpass them left them uncomfortable—they all believed Chen Feng should be at the bottom of the class.

So, as soon as someone suggested Chen Feng’s results were due to cheating, the others quickly echoed the sentiment—it made them all feel better.

Human psychology is strange that way.

But, on the other hand, cheating your way to 706 points is indeed quite a feat.

************

“Chen Feng, do you know why I called you here?” Sun Minghai asked, sitting at his desk unhurriedly.

This was a common tactic among teachers: whether you had done something or not, they’d try to catch you off guard. Students with weak nerves usually confessed everything, whether it was relevant or not.

“Teacher, you’re doubting the authenticity of my exam results,” Chen Feng said directly.

“Oh?” Sun Minghai’s lips curled into a faint smile. “That’s right, I am doubting the authenticity of your scores. I won’t deny that with hard work, it’s possible for someone’s grades to improve gradually. But such progress comes in stages, bit by bit. Your results, to put it plainly, shot up like a rocket. I can’t help but question whether they’re real!”

Sun Minghai’s voice was loud, and the other teachers in the office all turned their eyes toward Chen Feng, their expressions tinged with scorn.

“Teacher, first of all, my scores are absolutely genuine!” Chen Feng replied, looking at Sun Minghai with utter seriousness.

“Do you think I’m going to believe you?” Sun Minghai retorted, equally serious. “Frankly, I don’t. I don’t think these results are yours. To be honest, I’m more curious about how you managed to cheat!”

“And what makes you so sure I cheated?” Chen Feng’s voice suddenly rose. “Mr. Sun, I know it’s hard to believe my grades improved so much. But what gives you the right to accuse me of cheating? Why can’t you accept that these are my real abilities?”

Sun Minghai was taken aback, feeling that Chen Feng had changed drastically recently—no longer the taciturn boy he once knew, but someone who now dared to talk back.

Truth be told, Sun Minghai rather liked this new Chen Feng. The old Chen Feng was so withdrawn that no matter what he said, the boy never responded. It was like punching a cotton ball, the force going nowhere.

“I simply can’t believe this is your true ability—unless you can prove it to me!” Sun Minghai shrugged. “If you can prove it, I’ll apologize to you publicly.”

Chen Feng’s eyes flickered, but he spoke seriously. “Mr. Sun, I’m willing to prove it. I assume you still have some spare test papers? I can redo the exam right here under your supervision. But I have a condition.”

“Making demands?” Sun Minghai stared at him. “All right, let’s hear it.”

“I’ll retake the test, no problem. But if I really do it, I want you to apologize to me in front of the whole school and admit my results are genuine,” Chen Feng said calmly. “Can you do that, Mr. Sun?”

He wasn’t afraid to make a scene. After all, his results were real. The bigger the fuss, the more people would know about his achievements—and perhaps he’d gain even more achievement points.

Right now, Chen Feng was focused on how to earn more achievement points. Such a good opportunity was too good to waste.

“Fine, I agree. I still have spare test papers here. If you can finish them and your results are just as good, I’ll apologize to you in front of the whole school at the flag-raising tomorrow,” Sun Minghai replied without hesitation.

It was just an apology—what he was truly curious about was whether Chen Feng’s grades were real.

Soon, Sun Minghai brought out a stack of test papers. “All right, start now. The other teachers will be here to grade your answers on the spot.”

Without another word, Chen Feng picked up his pen and began to work rapidly.

He was much faster than before. Having just taken the test recently, it was still fresh in his mind, and this time there was no time limit—he could take his time thinking and calculating.

Sun Minghai watched in astonishment. Chen Feng didn’t look as if he was pretending—he genuinely knew how to solve these problems.

The other teachers in the office watched with curiosity as Chen Feng really started answering the questions.

An hour later, Chen Feng had finished the math test and handed it to Sun Minghai.

Sun Minghai paused for a moment, then quickly began checking the answers.

Every answer was correct!

Sun Minghai stared in disbelief at the test paper. Chen Feng’s original math score was 136, but that was because he’d run out of time and left some questions blank. This time, he answered everything, including the last two questions.

A perfect score—150 points.

Sun Minghai rubbed his eyes, hardly able to believe it. He had seen Chen Feng’s efforts with his own eyes, but he simply couldn’t believe the boy could achieve such results.

Yet the facts were there—he had watched Chen Feng throughout the test, and there was no way he could have cheated. So this was his real strength?

After each subject, another teacher would check Chen Feng’s answers.

To everyone’s amazement, except for the Chinese test where he didn’t write an essay, Chen Feng scored full marks in every subject. The reason he hadn’t scored full marks during the actual test was simply lack of time—he’d spent too long analyzing and thinking through the questions in math, physics, and chemistry, so he didn’t finish.

But given enough time, he finished quickly, and having taken the test once already, he was even faster this time.

Holding Chen Feng’s test papers, every teacher in the office was stunned.

He had actually done it—and scored even higher than before.

It was extraordinary—every answer was correct. The only imperfection was his handwriting, but his accuracy was one hundred percent!

With scores like this, he could easily compete for first place in the entire grade.

“Teacher?” At that moment, the office door opened and a very pretty girl walked in. Seeing the stunned expressions on the teachers’ faces, she paused in surprise.

“What’s going on today? Why do all the teachers look so shocked?”