When the results came out, the brigade leader looked at the rankings in silence.
“The people in your brigade seem to be doing well academically,” remarked one examiner. “There are so many perfect scores.”
“But isn’t that a bit much?” the other examiner murmured under his breath.
To teach primary school, it’s sufficient to have graduated from middle school or high school. But to score perfectly on this test, especially with the advanced math question that involved high school knowledge, one would need a solid foundation.
How long had it been since most of these people graduated? Could they really recall everything so clearly?
The brigade leader forced a stiff smile and politely sent the officials on their way. Once they left, his expression turned icy as he brought the rankings to the awaiting crowd.
“Brigade Leader, show us the rankings! I want to see if my kid passed!”
“Brigade Leader—”
“Shut up! All of you, shut up!” he roared, slamming the paper down. “You want to see the rankings? Fine, look for yourselves!”
He flung the sheet at them. “Do you even know your kids’ capabilities? Look at you all grinning like fools. What’s the matter? Did you already assume the teaching spot is yours before I even announced anything? Are you so confident your kids are geniuses?”
His voice rose with anger. “Do you really think I’m blind? Perfect scores—so many perfect scores—and you didn’t even bother hiding it. Do you think I’m an idiot?!”
The brigade leader, usually a composed and civil man, was now thoroughly enraged.
The accused parents shrank back, no longer daring to smile. They glanced nervously at the glaring brigade leader.
Meanwhile, Luo Yecheng stared at the rankings, his face darkening. He was among those with a perfect score, but the list showed several others with the same result. Most of them had the surname Wang, while a few were Jiangs.
His vision blurred with rage as his fingers nearly tore through the paper.
The brigade leader took a deep breath and declared, “This exam is invalid!”
The announcement sent a wave of shock through the crowd.
“What? Why? Brigade Leader, you can’t be biased against my child. They’ve been studying so hard—day and night!”
“That’s right! Our kid has been studying diligently too!”
The brigade leader slammed a finger onto the rankings. “Then tell me this—how do you expect me to choose from so many perfect scores? Who should I pick?!”
“Obviously, it should be my son! He loves kids and will be great at teaching them!”
“My niece should be chosen. She’s gentle and patient; the children will adore her.”
What started as a debate quickly devolved into shouting, with parents rolling up their sleeves and gearing up for a full-on brawl.
“Your lazy son? Really? Everyone knows he’s no good!”
“What about your niece? She didn’t even finish middle school! This is a matter for our Ping’an Brigade—why are outsiders even in the mix?”
“This school isn’t just for your brigade’s kids. Why shouldn’t my daughter have a chance?”
Meanwhile, back at the educated youth dormitory, the atmosphere was unnervingly quiet.
“This reeks of leaked test questions,” someone murmured.
“What happens now? Will there be another exam?”
“Li Juan, you’re amazing! You scored perfectly. So did Xie Tian!” Liu Linlin’s voice carried admiration.
Xie Tian, one of the three male educated youth, stood awkwardly. With slightly long hair that obscured his eyes and a pair of glasses, he looked shy and unassuming.
To Song Wei, he seemed the very embodiment of social anxiety—always keeping his head down, working in silence, and rarely interacting with anyone, whether villagers or fellow educated youth.
Caught in the spotlight, Xie Tian took a step back, lowering his head further.
“It’s not that impressive,” he mumbled, his voice barely audible.
His modesty prompted the group to shift focus back to the ongoing chaos outside.
Just then, the arguments turned physical. Amid the scuffle, an older woman was knocked backward into Li Juan, who in turn collided with Liu Linlin.
“Ahhh!” Liu Linlin screamed as she crashed into Zhao Su.
The chain reaction ended with Xie Tian, who stumbled and fell.
“Ouch, my back!”
Song Wei, unscathed, rushed over to help everyone up.
The brigade leader, his patience at its limit, roared for the younger men in the brigade to separate the combatants.
“We’re having a re-exam!” he bellowed. “If this nonsense gets reported to the higher-ups, they’ll investigate how so many of you miraculously aced the test. Then it won’t just be you in trouble—the people who leaked the questions will face punishment too!”
At that, the crowd fell silent, thoroughly cowed.
Once calm was restored, Song Wei’s surprised exclamation cut through the quiet.
“Holy crap!”
Everyone turned to see her staring at Xie Tian.
In the chaos, Xie Tian’s glasses had been knocked off, and his hair had fallen away from his face. The man beneath the shy demeanor was startlingly handsome.
Liu Linlin gasped. “Xie Tian, why are you so good-looking?!”
Even she, a girl, felt outshined.
Xie Tian flushed and hastily tried to cover his face with his hair.
“My… my glasses,” he stammered.
Song Wei handed them over, still dumbfounded.
Behind her, Lin Zhen radiated a chilling aura of jealousy.
“What’s wrong with him being handsome?” Song Wei teased, laughing nervously. “You’re still the best-looking one in my eyes!”
Lin Zhen’s expression softened as he nodded, satisfied.
The re-exam was organized using an entirely different set of questions borrowed through Lin Zhen’s connections. These older test papers had no chance of being leaked.
When the results were released, the perfect scores were reduced to just three: Li Juan, Xie Tian, and Jiang Xiaowan, a respected intellectual in the village.
The brigade leader announced the four new teachers: Li Juan, Xie Tian, Jiang Xiaowan, and Lin Jianye.
Luo Yecheng, who ranked tenth, clenched his fists as his face turned red with rage. All his bitterness was directed at the village chief.
“Why did he have to leak the questions to so many people?”
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