Chapter 43-Part 2

Ji Ran glanced at Shen Zhi, being unusually polite as if to say, “Why don’t you go first?”

Shen Zhi also looked at Ji Ran, only to see the little girl’s face framed by a high-necked sweater, her dark big eyes exceptionally bright, like a clear lake in the spring, exuding a faint tranquility.

Shen Zhi lightly tugged at the corner of his mouth and calmly said, “Teacher, a reason why a student scored high? If you insist on me giving you one…”

He paused for a few seconds, but teacher Qiao was earnestly looking at him, waiting to hear his reasoning.

“It shows that I wanted to do well.”

Ji Ran couldn’t help but turn her head to look at him, feeling completely convinced. When it came to pretending, he was indeed better than her. Even someone as stubborn as Ji Ran was willing to admit that he truly won this time.

But watching teacher Qiao’s eyes go from serious to confused and then to stunned, Ji Ran couldn’t help but shift her tiptoe slightly to the side.

If the homeroom teacher couldn’t resist hitting Shen Zhi, she could understand.

But she underestimated teacher Qiao’s composure. A man who could be appointed as the homeroom teacher for Class Eight just before the school started must have been selected because of his innate gentlemanly temperament, making him the chosen one.

Teacher Qiao actually turned to Ji Ran and asked, “What about you, Ji Ran?”

Ji Ran paused, wondering why she wanted to do well? Of course, it was to avoid being mocked by Jiang Yi. Being ridiculed by a low achiever was already something she couldn’t tolerate, especially when it came from Jiang Yi.

But saying this out loud might make her seem a bit petty.

So, after thinking for a moment, Ji Ran said, “Teacher, my grades were already good.”

Just as teacher Qiao about to continue the conversation with them, Director Meng couldn’t resist and came in. He had just met other math teachers in the corridor, who happened to mention that teacher Qiao was having a conversation with the two full-mark students in the class.

As soon as Director Meng entered, he looked at the two and asked, “Qiao, what did they say?”

Teacher Qiao immediately said, “Director Meng, I still believe in them.”

“It doesn’t matter if you believe or not. The school leadership has decided to have them retake the exam. I’ve already prepared the papers. If they really did something, it’s better to confess now. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not warning you if something embarrassing happens during the retest.” Director Meng waved his hand and said directly.

This method might take a bit more time, but it was straightforward and clear. If they truly had the ability to score above 700, even with a different set of questions, they could still achieve a very high score. If not, then it was time to investigate.

Just as Director Meng was speaking, suddenly his phone rang. Director Meng lowered his head, glanced at his phone, and walked to the door to answer it. Because he was quite far away, no one heard the content of his phone call.

However, after hanging up and returning, he looked at Ji Ran, and his attitude noticeably softened, “Ji Ran, go back to the morning self-study for now.”

Ji Ran originally felt that her retest with Shen Zhi had nothing to do with her. After all, their scores in the last monthly exam were indeed not promising, and suddenly achieving such high scores could naturally raise suspicions from the teachers.

Her heart was strong, and she didn’t feel insulted by the school’s decision for them to retake the exam.

Since both of them were suspected of having extraordinary abilities, then retaking the exam was a chance to slap those doubters in the face, quite thoroughly.

However, Ji Ran hesitated a bit and asked, “Teacher, why don’t I have to retake the exam?”

“Retaking the exam is not a good thing. Just go back to the morning self-study for now,” Director Meng glared.

Earlier, when Ji Qingli set up the scholarship for the school, his assistant contacted the school. Director Meng briefly explained the current situation to them. The assistant was quite calm and directly offered to provide Ji Ran’s grade one report card to the school.

When she was in grade one, she consistently ranked first in the school, unswervingly.

So, Director Meng focused his suspicions on Shen Zhi. After all, Ji Ran’s situation was indeed special. In the last monthly exam, she scored full marks in English, but her performance in subjects like mathematics, chemistry, and physics was quite poor.

Ji Ran couldn’t help but glance at Shen Zhi.

His expression remained indifferent, relaxed, and nonchalant, as if he didn’t care about the teacher’s words at all. But suddenly, Ji Ran felt a bit uncomfortable deep inside.

How many times had it been?

It was the same with Tang Zhenpeng’s incident before, and now with this exam. He was repeatedly doubted by others.

No one believed in him. Everyone thought he was bad, beyond redemption.

And he never wanted to say a word more than necessary, even if it was just to explain for himself.

Ji Ran didn’t realize that just a few minutes ago, when she was asked to retake the exam, she didn’t feel suspicion but thought it was quite normal. However, now that only Shen Zhi was singled out for the retake, she suddenly found it unacceptable and felt that the teacher was targeting him.

The young girl didn’t notice that her heart had already deviated from principles.

She unconditionally believed in Shen Zhi.

Ji Ran looked straight at Director Meng, fearlessly saying, “Teacher, since both of us suddenly improved our exam scores, isn’t it a bit unfair to only have Shen Zhi retake the exam?”

“I’m willing to retake it with him.”

Shen Zhi remained silent.

However, her soft yet determined voice echoed in his ears. She was willing to retake it with him…

Why did this sentence feel so touching?

His heart throbbed so forcefully, and every part of his being was filled with her words, the way she defended him.

His little sun, always so warm.

Retaking the exam wasn’t difficult. High school never lacked exam papers. This time, they weren’t required to retake all the subjects, just mathematics.

A single test paper, just like usual, with a two-hour exam time.