The teacher said, "Student, what is the paper ball on your desk for? Are you cheating?"

The student's face flushed red, his mind dizzy, unable to understand why the paper ball hadn't been thrown and instead came back to him.

"Student, what is your name? Stand up," said the teacher while picking up the paper ball from the student's desk and opening it to see. It contained the answers to the English exam questions.

The student stood up, blushing. She looked at the teacher's hand holding the note and stuttered, "It... it was Gu Qin who threw it to me."

The teacher shouted, "Who is Gu Qin?"

Gu Qin raised her hand. The teacher frowned at her, "Is it you who threw the note to this student? Do you realize that this counts as cheating?"

Gu Qin replied, "Teacher, I don't even know this student. Why would I throw a note to him? And please take a look at the handwriting on the note, compare it with my handwriting or the handwriting of this student. Who actually wrote the note?"

Gu Qin had practiced calligraphy in her previous life, so even without regular practice, her handwriting was very beautiful, though lacking in strength, making it more aesthetically pleasing than strong. Still, her handwriting was easy to recognize.

Gu Qin guessed the intention of this student: he probably wanted to create a scene where she cheated. After all, everyone knew that her English grades were the worst among the students. This male student likely intended to exploit her weakness by writing the answers and throwing them to her, hoping to be caught by the teacher. Then he could say that she forced him to write the answers, forcing him to throw them to her. In this way, the male student would become the victim, and she would be the cheater. However, she thought this student was quite foolish; her grades were already pretty good, and she didn't need to cheat. Her English scores had improved every month, and she had done quite well on the last monthly exam. Moreover, this was such a low-quality method with no logic.

Even if she said this, would anyone believe her? Gu Qin knew that regardless of whether anyone believed her, if enough people spread the word, she would truly become the cheater who threatened her classmates. Rumors wouldn't care about her innocence.

At this moment, the student must have panicked and said it was her. He didn't think about the fact that the handwriting on the note was his own, how could it be hers? If the male student hadn't panicked and said she forced him, perhaps he could have caused trouble for her.

Indeed, when the teacher compared the handwriting, it was clearly not the student's handwriting. Looking at Gu Qin, the female teacher recalled that this was the student who talked about feng shui in the principal's office. He was heard to have excellent grades, but cheating? The female teacher looked at the male student, "Student, isn't this note not written in your handwriting?"

The student panicked, realizing he had said the wrong thing, "Teacher, no, I'm mistaken. It was Gu Qin who threatened me, asking for the answers during the exam. I just wrote them down, but I hadn't given them yet."

Gu Qin laughed at him, "Student, you really lack shame. I don't even know you, yet you claim I threatened you. Besides, can your grades match mine? Let's see these answers." Gu Qin glanced at the teacher's hand holding the answer sheet and couldn't help but laugh softly, "Your answers have three wrong multiple-choice questions, and there are other grammatical errors too. Do you want me to continue pointing them out? Teacher, my grades don't require cheating. I don't know why this student used such a low-level method to frame me. Teacher, please look at my answers and the answers on the note. I don't want to point out any more mistakes. Do you think I cheated just to make mistakes and lose points? Teacher, you can check my test paper yourself."

This teacher was originally an English teacher. After looking at the paper, it was indeed so. Gu Qin's handwriting was beautiful, and her answers were neat, with no errors in the multiple-choice or other questions, but the answers on the note had several errors.

This female teacher couldn't help but smile, looking at the male student and saying, "You say you're so big, accusing a girl of threatening you. Now you're holding a note full of errors to accuse her of copying yours. I checked her test paper, and Gu Qin's answers are correct. All she has left is the essay. How do you explain this?"

The male student lowered his head, and the surrounding students couldn't help but mock him. A student from Class 17 sneered, "This student is from Class 1. Our Gu Qin got second place in the grade last month. Would she need to copy yours? I think it's because Class 1 is afraid that Gu Qin will surpass their first place. So they used this low method to frame Gu Qin. Teacher, this student is too much, we shouldn't let him off easily."

Another male teacher came down and said seriously, "We don't know the details yet. We can't jump to conclusions. I suggest both of you go to the office and clarify the matter."

The female teacher couldn't help but frown, "Teacher Wang, it's obvious that this male student is framing Gu Qin. You can see Gu Qin's test paper; her answers are completely correct. Does she need to cheat? Does she need the answers from this male student? If we go to the principal's office now, Gu Qin won't finish her essay, and she'll lose a lot of points. If her essay is delayed, she might not get into the top rankings. Last month, Gu Qin got second place in the grade. This time, she might get first. If her essay is delayed, she might not even get into the top fifty. These rankings concern not only the students but also the teachers."

The male teacher said seriously, "This concerns two students. An incident like this definitely needs to be clarified in the office. Both of you, come with me to the office."

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

The female teacher was unhappy, "Teacher Wang, this is during the exam period. Clearly, Gu Qin has nothing to do with this. Why send her to the office?"

Gu Qin remembered that this male teacher seemed to be from Class 1, clearly favoring the students from his class. Even if he wasn't biased, sending both of them would mean Gu Qin wouldn't have time to complete her essay. No matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to get first place. She suspected that this male teacher might be deliberately targeting her. Regardless of whether the male student copied or framed her, he would receive punishment. By dragging her into it, the first place would surely go to Class 1.

It wasn't that Gu Qin was dark-minded; the competition among teachers in No. 1 Middle School was also intense. After all, end-of-term exam results were tied to the bonuses of the teachers, which were substantial.

Gu Qin naturally didn't want to be bullied like this. She looked directly at the male teacher, "Teacher, I heard that the first place affects the teachers' bonuses. I want to say that there's an 80% chance I'll get first place this time. So I wonder if this student is deliberately working with the teacher to frame me. After all, it's me who will be affected. If I don't get first place, it will still be Class 1 getting it, and only the teachers from Class 1 will get the bonuses."

This male teacher was from Class 1, although not the homeroom teacher. If the first place went to Class 1, his bonus would also be substantial. However, he never thought about designing such a conspiracy with the students. He was just protecting his own class's students. Unavoidably, he had just considered that if Gu Qin's essay wasn't completed, Class 1 would definitely get first place. When Gu Qin bluntly pointed this out, he was naturally displeased.

The male teacher said sternly, "Gu Qin, you're framing someone!"

Gu Qin smiled, "Am I framing someone? Then why, with such clear evidence, do you still want me to go to the office? This way, my essay definitely won't be completed, and I'll lose dozens of points. There's no chance of first place anymore. Teacher, you're from Class 1. Didn't you consider using this opportunity to push me out of first place?"

The students present suddenly understood and thought Gu Qin's words made sense, unlike the clumsy framing by this male student.

The male teacher was furious. Eventually, the female teacher had to call the vice-principal. The vice-principal was a woman in her fifties known for her strictness. After hearing about the situation and seeing the handwriting on the note, she looked at Gu Qin's paper and realized the truth.

The vice-principal's face darkened, "Teacher Wang, why did you insist on sending two students to the office when the result was so obvious? This only makes the falsely accused student subject to suspicion and prevents her from completing her test paper smoothly. How can we rank the students? Your actions are too extreme."

Facing the vice-principal, Teacher Wang dared not speak. The vice-principal looked at the male student and said, "Student, what you did is wrong. You will be reprimanded for this. For now, let's just handle it like this. Wait until all the exams are over before dealing with it further. Don't affect the exam. Everyone, continue."

Seeing the vice-principal leave, Gu Qin said, "Principal, I hope you can give me justice and publicly address this matter in front of all the students. Make him apologize to me. Otherwise, if these malicious people spread rumors behind my back, it could turn false into true. Therefore, I hope you will give me justice in front of all the students."

The vice-principal knew that rumors were powerful. Even if Gu Qin hadn't cheated, if many people spread the word, eventually everyone would believe she had cheated. This would be unfair to Gu Qin. The vice-principal thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, I will give you justice."

The male student's face had already turned pale. Gu Qin naturally didn't pity him. If he hadn't schemed against her, he wouldn't have gotten himself into this situation. This was truly a case of losing the chicken for the sake of the rice.

Gu Qin was curious about why this male student had framed her. She opened her Heavenly Eye to see—

The scene shifted to Class 1, where a pretty female student sighed, "What if I get beaten by Class 17's Gu Qin? The homeroom teacher will definitely be disappointed, and my parents won't be happy either."

"Don't worry, Zhenyan. Who knows what Class 17's Gu Qin is capable of? In No. 1 Middle School, rankings are based on grades. Being assigned to Class 17 means her ranking was probably after a thousand. Who knows how she climbed up the ranks? She was previously so poor in grades, suddenly doing so well, maybe she cheated."

Zhenyan frowned, "Don't say such nonsense. Every time, the grades are mixed and marked by teachers from different classes. Cheating is impossible. Forget it, I was just sighing. If she's really better than me, I have no complaints."

The male student who had framed Gu Qin hesitated and approached Zhenyan, "Zhenyan, you will definitely be the first."

Zhenyan pouted, "How can you guarantee it? They say her English is poor, but her English grades have been improving with each monthly exam. Last month, her English score was close to mine, just one point less. If her English improves, she might get first place."

The male student assured her, "Zhenyan, you can rest assured, she won't get first place. I promise."

Zhenyan sighed and remained silent.

Gu Qin closed her Heavenly Eye and roughly understood why this male student had framed her. It seemed to be for the sake of Class 1's female student, whom Gu Qin remembered as Class 1's top student, Chu Zhenyan, who was also the top scorer in the college entrance exam from Mount Dai.

Gu Qin knew this male student liked Chu Zhenyan, but this kind of liking was cheap and ugly. Just to secure her first place, he casually framed and slandered others.

Gu Qin didn't plan to deal with this matter further. As long as she could get justice, the exams would soon be over. She felt her English score was fine. She finished the exams in the afternoon, then returned to her respective class. The teacher informed everyone not to leave, as there would be a meeting for all students. Gu Qin knew it was about her incident.

Teacher Zhu Xia had also heard about the incident and came to comfort Gu Qin, "Don't worry, the principal will definitely give you justice. The students from Class 1 are too much."

In fact, Zhu Xia even suspected that it might be a Class 1 teacher who had the student do this, especially since Gu Qin had a high chance of getting first place. It wouldn't just be about bonuses then, but also about reputation.

Ten minutes later, all the students gathered on the playground. The homeroom teachers, teachers, and the vice-principal were all present.

The vice-principal spoke on stage, announcing the incident and explaining everything. Then she said seriously, "Such behavior is very serious. Framing and slandering others because they perform well is shameful. This incident will be recorded as a major offense. The student involved must come up and apologize to Gu Qin!"

Since the incident hadn't spread yet, the vice-principal announced it first, so everyone now knew what happened. They certainly wouldn't spread it further. The students from Class 1 felt very embarrassed. Finally, the male student went up and publicly apologized to Gu Qin, bowing his head and saying sorry three times before leaving.

The vice-principal then gave a speech, emphasizing that such behavior was disgraceful and would not be tolerated. If such incidents happened again, the consequences would be more severe.

After the speech, all the students returned to their classrooms. The teachers arranged the return-to-school time, and the students were dismissed after being told about the vacation and when to pick up their report cards.

Outside the school gate, Lin Xinxin went home with Gu Qin. On the way, Lin Xinxin angrily cursed the male student from Class 1 and finally came up with a wild theory that it might be a Class 1 teacher who instructed the student to do this. Gu Qin sighed and didn't clarify anything.

During the walk, Lin Xinxin told Gu Qin about her recent training and mentioned that she had visited the shooting club every Sunday to practice shooting, saying she had met Ji Ziyu several times, describing him as gentle and kind.

Gu Qin had already started teaching Lin Xinxin martial arts. She planned to focus on training her during the winter break, so she would be extremely busy this winter.

After returning home, Gu Qin put her room back in order, lay on the bed for a while, and thought about how rare it was for her to have such free time. She didn't go out for dinner until Cheng Yinxiang called her, as Gu Jia was preparing for the college entrance exam and was busier, taking extra classes daily. However, Gu Jia had maintained a one-hour morning run for a month, and Gu Qin planned to train her during the winter break.

After dinner, Gu Qin didn't have to study. She watched TV for a while before deciding to sleep. Just as she lay down, her phone rang. Without surprise, it was Qin Xiansheng. He almost always accurately estimated her bedtime and sent messages to chat with her, ensuring she wouldn't be disturbed.