14

"Director, I believe Shu Ran." Zhou Li frowned slightly as she spoke to the director of academic affairs.

Shu Ran's eyes widened in surprise at Zhou Li's words. She had never known this homeroom teacher to show such a side. Her lips pressed tightly together—Gao Yuanyuan was clearly determined to frame her this time. She had already braced herself for the worst. Yet this one sentence warmed her heart.

"I believe her too," Old Lu chimed in. "A genius like her shouldn't be buried like this."

"If you two believe her, then show me evidence that I can believe! Otherwise, she's expelled!" the director roared, his voice filled with fury.

Zhou Li and Old Lu both froze, falling silent. First, they had no proof to show whether she had cheated. Second, their confrontational stance had clearly angered the director further—any more outbursts might make Shu Ran's situation even worse.

"Getting evidence is simple." Gu Yichen slowly stepped forward, took the test paper from Old Lu's hand, and handed it to the director. "This paper is indeed the same as the previous exam, but I shuffled the question order. If her answers were memorized, there's no way she could've scored full marks."

"And what if she memorized the questions too?" the director muttered, momentarily at a loss for words but still unwilling to give in.

"That's a fair point," Gu Yichen replied calmly. "But tell me—do you really think a student who usually scores in the thirties would go to the trouble of memorizing the entire paper? Even if they did, they couldn't have done it so perfectly. For most failing students, sixty is their dream score."

"I—" The director clenched his jaw, desperately searching for a rebuttal.

Gu Yichen walked over to Shu Ran and gently patted her head, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Geniuses need to work hard too," he said, tilting his head toward her. His thin lips curled into a devilish grin, so charming it made Shu Ran's heart skip a beat. She quickly looked away.

"Well done. You didn't let me down."

Shu Ran blinked. He actually helped her? Somehow, she smelled something suspicious.

"Mr. Gu, you've known Shu Ran before?" Zhou Li asked cautiously, sensing something odd.

"Yes. I taught her math. I know exactly what she's capable of."

That one sentence completely deflected the director's accusation. With both material and testimonial evidence presented, he had no ground left to stand on.

"If this was a misunderstanding, then let's just leave it at that." The director's face turned an ugly shade of red as he stormed out of the classroom.

Zhou Li breathed a sigh of relief now that everything had been resolved. Old Lu was overjoyed.

"It's getting late. I'll walk you home."

Shu Ran nodded, gathered her things, and left the classroom with Gu Yichen. Neither of them spoke on the way. It wasn't until they reached the school gate that Shu Ran finally stopped and turned toward him.

"A third of the questions on that paper were completely different from the last exam. There was no need for you to lie like that." Her tone was cold.

"You don't think that was the most straightforward and effective way?" Gu Yichen replied with a slight smile, sending a chill down her spine.

Dangerous. That was the first word Shu Ran thought of. Her instinct screamed at her to run.

"I live far away, so there's no need to walk me home, Mr. Gu. Still, thank you for what you did today." She didn't wait for a reply before dashing off toward the minibus stop as if fleeing for her life.

By the time she got home, it was nearly seven. The dinner table was empty, and Shu Ran's gaze dimmed. She closed the door quietly and walked into her room.

Collapsing onto her soft bed, she threw an arm over her eyes and stared blankly at the cold white ceiling light.

Knock knock. A soft knock followed by the sound of the door handle turning.

Shu Ran turned her gaze toward the door. Song Yahan entered, carrying a bowl of noodles. Shu Ran quickly sat up to greet her.

"You haven't eaten yet, right?" Song Yahan placed the bowl on the desk gently and said with a warm smile, "Go ahead and eat."

Shu Ran's nose tingled. She nearly burst into tears but held them back with effort, not wanting to make her mother worry. She took a bite and turned to her.

"Mom's noodles are the best."

"If you like them, eat more. I can make more if it's not enough." Song Yahan reached out and gently stroked her cheek.

"This is plenty."

Watching Shu Ran devour the noodles, Song Yahan pressed her lips together. She knew this child was thoughtful and often kept things bottled up to avoid worrying others. That was how she had been quietly enduring everything.

All these years, her heart had ached constantly.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Shu Ran frowned. Only her mom ever knocked—was it her?

Song Yahan opened the door, surprised to see Gao Yuanyuan. The girl gave her a brief look, then walked straight into the room and stood in front of Shu Ran.

"Shu Ran, everyone knows you're a terrible student. Do you really think scoring full marks by stealing the test makes you smart? The teacher kept you after class, didn't they?" Gao Yuanyuan crossed her arms, towering over her, her tone accusatory. "Let me be clear—there's no place in the Gao family for sneaky, disgraceful behavior!"

Shu Ran said nothing, continuing to eat her noodles.

Gao Yuanyuan grew irritated at being ignored. She reached out and grabbed Shu Ran's shoulder, forcing her to look at her—but in doing so, she accidentally spilled hot soup onto her own foot and cried out in pain, collapsing onto the floor.

"Y-You... it hurts..." she whimpered, tears welling up as she clutched her ankle and glared at Shu Ran.

Song Yahan was still processing Gao Yuanyuan's earlier accusations when the girl's cry of pain snapped her back to reality. She rushed forward and, seeing the red swelling on her foot, carried her out of the room.

Shu Ran watched them go with a blank expression. Then she silently finished her noodles, carried the empty bowl to the kitchen, washed it, and only then returned to the living room.

"Everything I said was true! And you actually hurt me in return!" Gao Yuanyuan hissed through gritted teeth, eyes red with tears. "I'm telling Dad about this!"

Song Yahan quickly tried to calm her down. But she said nothing about the cheating accusation. She believed in her daughter—Shu Ran would never do such a thing. Her grades had always been excellent. She'd only kept a low profile all these years for the sake of blending into this family.

Gao Yuanyuan, seeing that Song Yahan didn't scold Shu Ran at all, grew even more enraged.

At that moment, the sound of a key turning echoed from the front door.

Gao Yuanyuan's face lit up with anticipation. Song Yahan, however, instinctively shivered.

Let me know if you'd like the next part translated or polished too!