Teacher Song said with a smile, “284 points! I never expected Jiang Ruotang to be the best among our school’s art students who took the joint exam!”

The English teacher also nodded, “It seems we need to focus on his academic scores. If this kid just put in a little effort, getting into a 985 university would be a sure thing!”

Old Man Wang grumbled, “If only he took his Chinese composition seriously, getting a hundred points would be a piece of cake! I don’t know if he’s getting back at me! I even apologized to him for misunderstanding him during the monthly exam!”

The young teachers in the office exchanged glances. They never thought that Old Man Wang, who was “always right,” would actually apologize to a student?

When Jiang Ruotang sat down at his desk, Cai Ji was the first to come and congratulate him. “Ruotang! You’re amazing! I didn’t have a concept of the art joint exam scores before, but I asked around and found out that 284 is a very high score!” Jiang Ruotang grinned, hugged Cai Ji’s head, and ruffled his curly hair fiercely. It felt so good! “Thanks!”

Lin Lu, beside them, was stunned. 284 points? Had he heard correctly? How could Jiang Ruotang possibly score so high? Could it be… genuinely because of that special symbol ‘V’? If so, Geng Yu shouldn’t have scored low either, right? Lin Lu turned around, looking at Geng Yu behind him. The latter’s face showed no joy at all; on the contrary, it was as sour as if he had eaten a bowl of spoiled rice.

“What are you looking at?” Geng Yu glared at Lin Lu.

Xie Liang, Geng Yu’s deskmate, shook his head at Lin Lu. From the looks of it, Geng Yu’s joint exam score wasn’t ideal. Lin Lu sent a message to Xie Liang: [Do you know how much he scored?]

Xie Liang replied: [He’s very unhappy, only got 226.]

Geng Yu had boasted earlier that he could definitely score over 250 points, so 226 was indeed far from his ideal score. But Lin Lu actually thought that Geng Yu hadn’t even laid a good foundation in art. If he relied on himself, he might not even get 200 points, so 226 might truly have been a generous score given by the grading teacher.

“Jiang Ruotang, you said before that if you scored high, you’d treat us to KTV,” Bai Yingchuan leaned back, his spine against the back row’s table, turning his face to look at Jiang Ruotang.

“Ah… no problem! How about New Year’s Day?” Jiang Ruotang asked.

Bai Yingchuan nodded, “It’s a deal.”

Perhaps it was the joy of good news, and “one doesn’t hit a smiling face.” 

Jiang Ruotang didn’t give Bai Yingchuan a cold shoulder. Moreover… with Bai Yue following Lin Chengdong from investing in Ark to buying that large area of fishponds, their future conflicts would definitely not be minor due to their shared interests. 

Jiang Ruotang had given Bai Yingchuan so much “guidance” precisely to make him realize that following his mother and Lin Chengdong wouldn’t lead anywhere, and there were plenty of great opportunities outside. 

He needed to let Bai Yingchuan experience the benefits of breaking free from constraints and making independent choices, so that when the crucial moment arrived, Bai Yingchuan would resist Lin Chengdong without hesitation.

Lin Lu belatedly realized he had only focused on Geng Yu’s scores and forgotten to congratulate Jiang Ruotang. “Ruotang, congratulations! Such a high score on the joint exam means a lot less pressure for your academic scores! You’re really amazing!”

Jiang Ruotang replied, “The pressure is still quite high; the school I want to go to has a pretty high score threshold.”

Lin Lu played along, “Before, I thought the Capital Fine Arts Academy might be a bit difficult for you, but now, it seems you can definitely take their school exam!”

Jiang Ruotang noticed Geng Yu’s sour face. Lin Lu deliberately spoke so loudly while praising him, probably to draw resentment towards himself. Sigh, Lin Lu, Lin Lu, aren’t you tired of living like this?

Jiang Ruotang turned his head back to look at Lu Guifan in the back row. 

The latter was looking down at an academic journal. Perhaps sensing Jiang Ruotang’s gaze, he looked up, and Jiang Ruotang immediately curved his lips into a smile at him. 

Although Lu Guifan’s face didn’t show much emotion, the corners of his lips unconsciously curved downward.

Jian Sha, who was sitting across the aisle from Jiang Ruotang and was also his friend, also turned back and sighed, “Wow… if Class Monitor is Bao Si, the beauty who doesn’t like to smile, then Jiang Ruotang—you’re King You of Zhou, playing tricks with beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords. 284 points on the joint exam, it’s as if it was all to get a smile from the Class Monitor!”

Jiang Ruotang didn’t hesitate to joke back, “I do want to be King You of Zhou, but Bao Si didn’t smile!”

“She did smile, I caught it with my 1.0 vision,” Jian Sha said confidently.

Jiang Ruotang raised his chin at her, “New Year’s Day, remember to honor us with your presence and sing.”

Jian Sha was surprised, pointing to herself, “You’d invite me?”

“The grace of feeding the ball, deeply remembered.”

Jian Sha beamed, “Isn’t the class monitor the one who feeds you the most balls? Not only a lot of balls, but also points!”

Listening to Jiang Ruotang and Jian Sha chat, Lin Lu felt increasingly uncomfortable. 

All along, Jiang Ruotang had been seen by his classmates as a willful young master, and a brain-dead admirer of Bai Yingchuan, with many people keeping their distance from him. 

But now, he and Zhao Changfeng had truly become like brothers; with Lu Guifan by his side coaching him, his academic performance had improved by leaps and bounds; Cai Ji trusted and admired him; Jian Sha also protected him well, not to mention Bai Yingchuan… he had a special interest in Jiang Ruotang, wanting to get closer to him. If it weren’t for Lin Lu sitting between them, who knew what would have happened.

After evening self-study that day, Geng Yu was visibly still in a low mood, so Lin Lu invited him to hot pot. Geng Yu complained while eating, “You don’t know how long my parents scolded me when the scores came out! Why don’t they suspect that the examiner they found was unreliable? Jiang Ruotang’s family is the one with connections! Someone like him, over 280 points? Who would believe it!”

Lin Lu actually didn’t believe it either. How much was Jiang Ruotang capable of? Didn’t Lin Lu know? In his first year of high school, Jiang Huaiyuan even found him a famous tutor for one-on-one tutoring, but within a month, that tutor was exasperated and left because of Jiang Ruotang. After all that, could he suddenly become enlightened in his third year of high school?

Geng Yu said indignantly, “If Jiang Ruotang didn’t cheat, I’ll eat his foot skin!”

“Oh, that’s disgusting, we’re eating hot pot!”

For some reason, hearing Geng Yu badmouthing Jiang Ruotang made Lin Lu feel good inside. “Damn it, why can Jiang Ruotang get over 280 points and I’m like a clown? My parents even compare me to Jiang Ruotang. As soon as I get home, I hear my parents nagging his name in my ear. It’s so annoying!”

Lin Lu seemingly unintentionally said, “If only we could prove Jiang Ruotang cheated.”

“How do we prove that? We can’t see his exam paper!” Geng Yu angrily bit into a shrimp paste, burning his mouth.

“We can’t see it, but I remember there was a joint exam supervisor this year, right? Why don’t you just call the supervisory committee?” Lin Lu said in a seemingly unintentional tone.

Geng Yu paused, frowning as he looked at Lin Lu: “I thought your relationship with Jiang Ruotang was pretty good!”

Lin Lu acted as if he had just realized something, “I… I… I just think if he didn’t cheat, then he wouldn’t be afraid of being investigated! But you might have a grudge, so why not investigate thoroughly so everyone can be at ease?”

“Hmph, he did cheat!” Geng Yu said unhappily.

“Alright, alright, I believe you. Don’t be angry, let’s eat hot pot first!” Lin Lu pretended to suddenly remember something, “Oh no…”

“Oh no what?” Geng Yu looked over.

“Nothing… nothing… let’s eat hot pot.” Lin Lu deliberately avoided Geng Yu’s gaze.

“You’re definitely hiding something from me, right? Are you remembering something about Jiang Ruotang cheating! Tell me! If you don’t, I’ll tell my dad, and tell him not to reveal any more news to your dad! Our two families will be completely finished!”

“I’ll tell you, but don’t tell your dad… It’s just that day… that day after you told me about the symbol ‘V’… when I was chatting with him, he mocked you for treating the examiner as a life-saving straw, so I replied that maybe the symbol ‘V’ was useful… Now that I think about it, he might have used it on his own exam paper…”

Although Lin Lu had deliberately called Jiang Ruotang to tell him, after his embellishment, it became something he accidentally said after being provoked by Jiang Ruotang’s words. Geng Yu was so angry he almost levitated on the spot. “What are you doing! You’re only telling me now! How arrogant was Jiang Ruotang today! Even Old Man Wang praised him! Turns out, he used my symbol? Maybe the examiner thought he was me! I’m so mad!”

“I… I’m sorry, but Jiang Ruotang’s attitude was very calm at the time, not like he noticed anything about the symbol ‘V’!”

“He’s not stupid! Of course he’d act like he knew nothing! Lin Lu, Lin Lu, you’re going to make me die of anger!”

Lin Lu could only keep apologizing until he sent Geng Yu home. Lin Lu smiled coldly. He didn’t believe Geng Yu could hold back.

Sure enough, Geng Yu returned home late tonight and was again scolded by his parents. “Look at Jiang Ruotang, either he’s painting at the art studio or diligently studying during evening self-study at school.” “Jiang Ruotang doesn’t even need his parents to watch him; he can work hard on his own.” “Jiang Ruotang is even going to register for the Capital Fine Arts Academy’s school exam, and you don’t even dare to register for the Chengjiang Academy’s school exam”…

Geng Yu was truly at his wit’s end. That very night, he found the number for the supervisory committee, and the next morning, he called them, saying he wanted to report Jiang Ruotang, Director Jiang Huaiyuan’s son, for cheating on the joint exam.

“Excuse me, how did this student, Jiang Ruotang, cheat?”

“He… he used a special symbol, and the examiner would give him a high score if they saw it!”

“Student, what kind of symbol was it?”

Geng Yu stammered for a long time, and the supervisor on the other end replied, “Student, if you don’t have clear evidence of the other party cheating, such a report will not be accepted.”

Upon hearing this, Geng Yu immediately hung up the phone, but he was still unwilling to give up. The only person he could discuss this with was Lin Lu. Geng Yu invited Lin Lu to lunch and told him about calling the supervisory committee.

“I also used the symbol ‘V’. What if I report him, and then the supervisory team finds me out instead?”

Lin Lu rolled his eyes inwardly. This Geng Yu was just a paper tiger. He was so loud last night, but when it came to making the call, he didn’t dare to do anything. He immediately said in a soothing tone, “Geng Yu, have you ever considered that there are so many people who took the joint exam? Even if the supervisory team wants to investigate, it’s impossible for them to review every single exam paper, right? If they’re going to investigate, they’ll check the high scores. Your 226 points is an average score; investigating it wouldn’t be catching a big fish, it would be meaningless.”

“Is… is that so?”

“That’s right, and you’re reporting Jiang Ruotang, not yourself. You named him specifically, so how could the supervisory team investigate elsewhere? Jiang Ruotang’s father is a big director, a public figure. If he’s found out, that would be a great achievement for the supervisory team. Investigating you… who even knows who your dad is?”

“You’re right!”

Hearing this, the flame in Geng Yu’s heart began to burn brightly again. In front of Lin Lu, he dialed the supervisory committee’s number once more. “Yes, it’s Jiang Ruotang! Director Jiang Huaiyuan’s son! There’s a symbol ‘V’ on his exam paper! This is proof that he colluded with the examiner! His score is fake; he doesn’t have that level of skill at all!”

The supervisor recorded his report and promised to publicly announce the investigation results within three days. Geng Yu immediately felt a sense of relief. Lin Lu, on the other hand, lowered his eyes and smiled: Jiang Ruotang, Jiang Ruotang, I don’t even need to intervene. You’re so prominent that someone will naturally target you.

---

Back in the classroom that afternoon, Geng Yu still smirked and glanced at Jiang Ruotang, who was completely bewildered, not knowing how he had offended Geng Yu. However, the supervisory team’s investigation wouldn’t inform Jiang Ruotang.

Lin Lu was unwilling for Jiang Ruotang to remain completely unaware of the investigation. What he wanted to see now was Jiang Ruotang’s fear, unease, and anxiety. So, when Jiang Ruotang was on the phone booking a KTV room for New Year’s Eve, Lin Lu gently tugged on Jiang Ruotang, signaling with his eyes that he had something to tell him. Lin Lu was also being very mysterious, making Jiang Ruotang pretend to go out for takeout before following him out.

Once they were downstairs from the teaching building, Lin Lu finally approached Jiang Ruotang, acting like a contact in a spy drama. “Ruotang, there’s something I want to warn you about, but don’t say I told you.”

Jiang Ruotang said “Ah,” thinking that Lin Lu was going to use someone else’s secret to gain favor again. “If it’s something that can’t be said, then don’t say it,” Jiang Ruotang replied.

Lin Lu quickly grabbed him, “It’s about you. When I went to buy something to eat this afternoon, I overheard Geng Yu calling to report you for cheating on the joint exam!”

Jiang Ruotang was utterly confused, “Me? Cheating? Did I smuggle in replication tape or use a fixative spray?”

“No! It’s about leaving a mark on your painting!”

“Huh?” Jiang Ruotang laughed out loud, “That Geng Yu must have a screw loose, right? He cheats himself, so he thinks everyone else cheats too? If making this call makes him happy, then let him be.”

Lin Lu’s face showed worry, but inwardly he was surprised. How could Jiang Ruotang be so calm? He didn’t even impulsively go to confront Geng Yu, making Lin Lu’s prepared rhetoric about persuading Jiang Ruotang not to clash with Geng Yu useless.

And according to Jiang Ruotang’s personality, if he had cheated, he should be frantically losing his temper now. If he hadn’t cheated, he would be raising hell, and wouldn’t rest until Geng Yu was burned to ashes. But now… it made Lin Lu feel that his “good intentions” were so superfluous.

“Let’s go back. I’ve made several calls, and all the KTV rooms for New Year’s Eve are booked. I don’t know what to do.” Jiang Ruotang looked as if nothing had happened, returning to his seat.

Lin Lu truly couldn’t understand Jiang Ruotang. Was this the time to worry about not having a KTV room? Being reported for cheating on the joint exam—that was a huge deal! Indeed, in his previous life, the eighteen-year-old Jiang Ruotang would have exploded on the spot if he heard someone falsely accuse and report him.

But in those ten years, as a member of Bai Yingchuan’s management team, what hadn’t he experienced? The dirty tricks of anti-fans, cyberbullying, black materials bought by rivals—all of it had long made Jiang Ruotang mentally tough. Thinking this way, his previous life wasn’t a complete loss after all.

Jiang Ruotang sent a message to Bai Yingchuan: [Um… I wanted to book a KTV room for New Year’s Eve, but I seem to have reserved too late; they’re all full. Do you want to change it to the winter break, or do you know any other places?] The main thing was that Bai Yingchuan was among the invited guests. For other friends, inviting them to the terrace at home for fireworks and barbecue would make them very happy, Jiang Ruotang believed.

When Bai Yingchuan received the message, the corner of his mouth curved up very slightly. This message meant that Jiang Ruotang cared about their agreement. At least it was better than being ignored by him before.

Bai Yingchuan: [It’s crowded everywhere on New Year’s Eve. How about we go to your place for hot pot and play cards?]Jiang Ruotang: [Good idea! We can also set off fireworks together. I’ll ask the others!]