He was a disabled military officer who doted on his research work in the Northwest.

Shen Yao quickly stepped aside, pointing to the test paper on the ground: "Teacher Ma, I was just helping my sister pick something up, and it fell out of her bag... It's today's math test paper..."

Ma Decai squatted down, picked up the paper with a shocked expression, looked at it, then stood up and looked at Shen Tang with a livid face.

"Shen Tang," his voice wasn't loud, but each word was as heavy as a hammer blow, "Could you explain this?"

Shen Tang stood there, arms crossed over her chest, watching everything with a blank expression.

The arrangement is really good.

First, there was the bumping of backpacks and picking up things, then the discovery of the test paper, and someone even arrived in time. It seems that everyone had arranged their roles in advance, just waiting for themselves to take the bait.

Seeing that Shen Tang didn't speak, more and more people gathered around her.

"It's definitely cheating! The test paper was already in his bag, what else is there to say!"

"No wonder I missed a perfect score by one point last time—it turns out I'd been looking at the test paper beforehand!"

"I knew it! How could someone from the countryside possibly be like that—"

"Now you know, right? All that 'first in the whole school' stuff is a lie!"

Some people mocked and ridiculed, some gloated, and some watched with skepticism. Among them were shills who had been arranged in advance, and also followers who simply echoed others' opinions.

Ma Decai then raised his voice: "Shen Tang, cheating on an exam is a serious violation of school rules. According to school regulations, once verified, you will be expelled and disqualified from taking the exam."

A cold smile flashed in his eyes.

Expelled.

As long as we pin the blame for cheating on Shen Tang—

Not only will her mock exam scores be invalidated, but her previous placement exam results will also be questioned. More importantly, if she is expelled from school, she will lose her eligibility to take the college entrance examination.

More importantly, Sun Xiulan from Class Two will also be finished. Let's see how she competes with me for the principal position.

The position of principal can only belong to oneself.

Everyone who stands in my way deserves to die!

Seeing that the teacher had spoken, Zhao Liang quickly followed suit, saying righteously, "Teacher Ma is right. To maintain the school's atmosphere and academic environment, I suggest we immediately report this to the principal and deal with it seriously!"

"We must investigate thoroughly," a boy from Class 1 chimed in.

"Yes, we cannot tolerate this!"

"Shen Tang, what else do you have to say?"

The murmurs of onlookers grew louder and louder.

The students from Class Two gradually crowded to the front—Gu Bei blushed and wanted to speak but Shen Tang held his shoulder down, Zhang Ming clenched his fists, and Zhao Xiaoya was so angry that her lips were trembling.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the crowd.

Sun Xiulan walked briskly from the direction of the office building. She heard the noise, and her face darkened like the sky before a storm.

As she reached the edge of the crowd, her gaze met Shen Tang's for a fleeting moment across the throng.

Shen Tang blinked slightly.

Sun Xiulan received her gaze and slowed her pace. She stood on the outer edge of the crowd without making a sound.

"As everyone has seen, in order to uphold school rules and discipline, this matter must be handled by the principal." Ma Decai was speaking enthusiastically, "I'll do it right away—"

"Teacher Ma."

Shen Tang spoke up.

Her voice wasn't loud, but the noisy crowd immediately quieted down when she spoke, making it exceptionally clear.

"I have a question."

Ma Decai frowned: "What's your problem?"

Shen Tang looked at him, her tone calm: "If I were going to cheat—why not memorize the answers at home instead of bringing the entire test paper to the exam hall and putting it in my bag?"

The corridor fell silent for a moment.

Someone realized—right! If she really got the exam paper in advance, she could have just reviewed and memorized it at home. Why bring the original with her? Did she want to die even faster?

Ma Decai's eyes flickered for a moment, but he quickly found an excuse: "Maybe you want to review it one more time before the exam—"

"What are you looking at? There are only twenty-three questions on the math test. With my memory, I can memorize them after just one look." Shen Tang's tone remained calm, but every word was as precise as a nail. "Besides—if I really were cheating on the test, would I put it in the outermost compartment of my backpack, in a zipper that wasn't even closed? It would fall out with the slightest touch. Teacher Ma, do you think I'm as stupid as you?"

"You! Who are you calling stupid?!" Ma Decai's face turned red from her words. "The most dangerous place is the safest place. Maybe you just like taking risks and not following the usual path! Who can guess?!"

These words were far-fetched and illogical, and the whispers among the crowd shifted. Some began to frown in thought, while others exchanged glances.

"Sister...you said it wasn't you, then...how did the test paper get into your bag?" Shen Yao spoke up from the side, her voice still soft and timid, as if she wasn't used to speaking in front of so many people. "We don't want to believe you, but seeing is believing, everyone saw it."

Shen Tang glanced at her and smiled.

"Good question. Since you asked, I'll mercifully tell you," she said. "There was an exam just now, and everyone's bags were outside, accessible to everyone. Since I didn't put them there, it must have been someone else. Anyone could have done it."

"Sister... are you saying you suspect everyone?" Shen Yao covered her mouth. "But why is everyone targeting you?"

Shen Tang rolled her eyes. "Shen Yao, please use your pig brain to think this through. Is this about putting away exam papers? The exam just ended, where did this blank exam paper come from? No matter who put it there, it must be—someone stole the exam papers first. They stole the unified exam papers from the safe in the teaching and research office."

Shen Yao was taken aback. How did this get to the topic of stealing exam papers?

"Since everyone is interested, I'll tell you about it. Actually—a few days ago after school," Shen Tang continued, her voice calm and measured, "someone witnessed someone taking exam papers from the safe in the first-floor teaching and research office."

Everyone fell silent; the air in the corridor seemed to freeze.

Ma Decai's pupils suddenly contracted.

Did someone see it?!

He stared intently at Shen Tang's face, his gaze almost burning a hole in her skin.

Did this brat really see it, or was she just bluffing him?

He couldn't let her continue, so Ma Decai raised his voice eight octaves, "You're talking nonsense! You're deliberately trying to divert attention! You're making baseless accusations—"

"I have evidence."

A few light, airy words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Ma Decai's head, chilling him to the bone.

"What...what evidence do you have?" His voice was a little weak. "The test paper is in your bag, that's solid evidence! What are you trying to prove now—"

"Teacher Ma, why are you in such a hurry?" Shen Tang's lips curved slightly. "I didn't say that you stole it."

"You—" He realized he had overreacted. "What evidence do you have!" He had acted so neatly and cleanly. If someone had really seen it, why didn't he shout it out then and there?

So now, no matter what anyone says, as long as he denies it to the death, who can do anything to him? If it really escalates to the Education Bureau, with his cousin-in-law there, what is he afraid of?

"Of course there was, because I knew someone was trying to steal the test papers, so I asked Teacher Sun to put fluorescent dye on them."