A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

Nie Qianqian knew who it was as soon as she heard the deep, serious voice. It was Vice Dean Li, whom she had met when she accompanied Gu Xiao to the academy for the first time.

Vice Dean Li disliked Gu Xiao's attitude from the first time they met. He lacked the humility of a student and was arrogant. When she learned that he had answered Dean Qiu's test paper with full marks, she suspected him of cheating.

Words are no proof. Dean Qiu regarded Gu Xiao as a treasure and was full of expectations. Since he had no evidence, he did not argue with Dean Qiu, but kept observing Gu Xiao in secret.

After Gu Xiao arrived at the academy, he didn't study for more than a few days. Instead, he frequently asked for leave because he needed treatment for his hand ailment.

How could a student like this, who only studies sporadically and doesn't put in the hard work, possibly have the ability to get a perfect score?

In his view, only those students who study diligently, like Nie Wenye, who hang themselves from the rafters and practice calligraphy by the pond, can achieve great things.

Today was the exam for the erudite class. As usual, he patrolled the exam hall and heard a soft thud, as if something had fallen. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a folded piece of paper lying under Gu Xiao's desk.

He walked over, picked up the paper, and opened it. Inside was the essay answer to the last question of the exam.

He was furious, which confirmed his suspicions: Gu Xiao had indeed cheated on the exam. He hadn't noticed anything amiss last time because he wasn't personally proctoring the exam, but this time he had caught him red-handed!

Vice Dean Li's voice was even more authoritative, "Gu Xiao, I'll ask you one more time, do you admit it or not?"

Gu Xiao's calm voice rang out, "This paper is not mine. I did not cheat."

Vice Dean Li questioned, "If it wasn't yours, how could it have fallen from under your desk?"

Tiande Academy is extremely strict about cheating. Once cheating is discovered and confirmed, the student will be expelled. The academy has not had any cheating incidents for many years.

With this incident in the examination room, everyone lost their will to answer the questions, stopped writing, and turned to look at Gu Xiao.

Nie Wenye was positioned right next to Gu Xiao. He turned his head to look at Gu Xiao, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt, and a cold smile playing on his lips.

More than a month ago, Gu Xiao confidently told him at the entrance of the academy that a gentleman is slow to speak but quick to act, and that he should prove himself in his studies, with an air of superiority.

As it turns out, this is where the truth comes out. Being caught cheating by Vice Dean Li in the exam room could ruin one's academic career.

Nie Wenye became even more convinced that Gu Xiao had cheated during the first entrance exam. His arrogant and knowledgeable demeanor was nothing but a bluff.

He's right, trash is trash.

How could someone become a genius overnight?

Gu Xiao didn't care about the look Nie Wenye gave him at all, and his voice showed no sign of panic, "The desks in the examination room are randomly assigned before the exam. I didn't even know where I would be sitting before the exam, so how could I possibly prepare papers in advance and stick them under this desk?"

Other students chimed in, “Yeah, we don’t even know where we’re sitting, how are we supposed to prepare in advance?”

Vice Dean Li frowned and turned to look at the proctor, whose face was pale. The proctor quickly assured her, "Vice Dean, the candidates' seats were randomly assigned upon arrival. There is absolutely no problem."

Vice Dean Li was unwilling to accept this. He had already formed a preconceived notion about Gu Xiao and believed that Gu Xiao was definitely involved in this matter.

Gu Xiao continued, "The vice dean might as well check whether the handwriting on the paper is the same as mine."

Vice Dean Li's eyes swept back and forth between the two papers, carefully checking the handwriting. The two handwritings were indeed vastly different and could not possibly have been written by the same person.

After checking, he glanced at Gu Xiao and snorted coldly, "Since you're going to bring these pre-prepared answers into the exam, you definitely won't write them yourself. To prevent things from being exposed and you being caught red-handed, these answers must have been written by someone else beforehand."

Despite Vice Dean Li's relentless questioning, Gu Xiao remained composed. "If I had truly stolen the questions and obtained the answers beforehand, I could have simply memorized them. Why go through the trouble of writing the answers on a piece of paper and taking the risk?"

The student sitting next to Gu Xiao thought for a moment and said on Gu Xiao's behalf, "Gu Xiao is right. Why write it down on paper?"

"Maybe you can't memorize it or don't have time to memorize it!" another student questioned.

Gu Xiao's voice turned colder, "How could someone who goes to such lengths to steal questions and cheat not have enough time to memorize them? That seems illogical."

"Furthermore, the academy always keeps the exam questions strictly confidential. To get the questions in advance and have the answers prepared beforehand would require a lot of money. Gu Xiao frankly stated that his family was just a poor farming family and did not have the money to do this."

Upon hearing this, Nie Qianqian subconsciously clutched her purse. With Guangjuxuan and a thousand taels of silver, they could no longer be considered a poor family.

low profile.

Gu Xiao's words resonated with many students in the classroom. How could a student from a poor family afford to pull strings and steal exam questions? Even if he did steal the questions and prepared the answers beforehand, he could simply memorize them. Why write them down on paper and bring them into the exam room? That would be foolish and just setting himself up for trouble.

Vice Dean Li fell silent, her eyes narrowed as she looked at Gu Xiao.

Even so, the paper fell under your desk, and you are still implicated.

Gu Xiao looked up and met Vice Dean Li's gaze. His eyes were clear and bright, without a trace of fear.

He could already sense Vice Dean Li's hostility towards him; no matter what he said, Vice Dean Li would not believe he was innocent.

But today's matter must be clarified here. Otherwise, if this matter is temporarily shelved and spread in a murky manner, even if the academy later claims to have investigated the facts and said that it had nothing to do with Gu Xiao, his reputation will definitely be affected.

Reputation is extremely important to a scholar.

Gu Xiao looked around and said loudly, "I haven't done the last question yet. I haven't seen the contents of this paper before. Why don't Vice Dean Li and the other students act as proctors, and I'll answer the last question?"

Since further discussion was pointless, Gu Xiao decided to stop wasting his breath and instead change his approach, opting to answer the question directly.

As for the other students, papers were found in the classroom, indicating that the exam questions had been leaked. The exam was inevitably going to be invalidated, and whether they answered the last question or not was irrelevant.

Vice Dean Li lowered her head and pondered after hearing Gu Xiao's words.

He felt that Gu Xiao was problematic, but Gu Xiao's words were reasonable and well-founded. As the vice president of the hospital, he could not ignore these words and make a definitive judgment.

He had just read the answer written on the paper, and it was very insightful and profound. Even if a top student like Nie Wenye in the class were to answer it, he might not be able to give such a brilliant answer. It would be better to let Gu Xiao answer it. By comparing the two answers, the difference in quality would be immediately apparent, and Gu Xiao would have no room for further argument.

The other students whispered among themselves, "He's going to answer in front of everyone? With that much pressure, can he perform well?"

"If you can't write it down, or if you just write something random, you'll lose face big time."

Outside the door, Liu Yan was so nervous she barely dared to breathe. Hearing Gu Xiao's words, her palms were sweating. She whispered worriedly in Nie Qianqian's ear, "With so many people watching, will you be able to write it?"

In her previous life, Nie Qianqian had experienced many exams, both big and small, and considered herself to have test-taking experience. However, if she were to write an essay while being watched by the principal and the entire class, she might actually be unable to write it.

She held Liu Yan's hand, comforting her, and seemingly also secretly encouraging Gu Xiao inside the room, "He'll be fine."