Chapter 155 Page 78

Gu Zhiran first showed everyone the nameplate bearing her own name, and then flipped forward to display her handwriting on the practice problems.

A classmate from Class 1 immediately stepped forward to verify that this was indeed Gu Zhiran's handwriting.

Gu Zhiran felt a slight wave of relief wash over her.

Fortunately, when she first laid eyes on this problem set, she noticed that Gu Zhipeng—no, Gu Ci—hadn't written a single character in it. The entire book looked as brand new as if it had never been touched.

It was likely that the people in Class 12 didn't know its true value and casually gave this problem set to Gu Ci, who, having no idea what it represented, simply shoved it into her desk drawer.

While harboring deep contempt for the superficial ignorance of Gu Ci and the students of Class 12, Gu Zhiran couldn't help herself. During the previous class, she had started browsing through the problems and even solved a few.

The difficulty of this problem set progressed from simple to advanced as one moved from front to back, which explained why she was able to plow through the opening pages so quickly.

Fortunately, Duan Jingyi hadn't come to school these past few days, leaving the seat beside her vacant, so no one had noticed her working on these problems during class.

She looked at Gu Ci with a sarcastic, desolate smile. "If I hadn't written my name in this problem set and solved a few problems the moment I got my hands on it, I really wouldn't be able to clear my name today... Cousin, you clearly already have so much of your own, why on earth must you refuse to let me be?"

"How else could it be? Gu Ci is just jealous of you! As expected of someone from the countryside—narrow-minded, dark-hearted, and only capable of envying and bullying our Zhiran!"

「Gu Ci, after all this, aren't you going to apologize to Zhiran yet?!」

"Such a manipulative schemer! How could our school possibly have someone like you?"

Gu Ci looked apathetically at the problem set in Gu Zhiran's hand. "So you're saying this is your book?"

Gu Zhiran tightened her grip slightly on the problem set and finally spoke, "That's right."

Under normal circumstances, she would never utter such an absolute word with her own lips. But this time, she was determined to win this book at all costs!

Gu Ci said, "Then tell me, what is on page 78?"

Page 78?

How could she possibly know what was on a specific page?

However... she had clearly flipped through the entire book earlier, and it was completely brand new, without any other marks whatsoever.

So... was Gu Ci deliberately trying to trap her?

Realizing this, a flash of disdain appeared in Gu Zhiran's eyes, and she chuckled softly, "What are you talking about, cousin? On page 78, naturally, there are only math problems."

"Your book, and you don't even know there's an alpaca drawn on page 78?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd was dumbfounded.

Murmurs rippled quietly through the crowd.

"What the hell kind of move is drawing an alpaca in a book that should be treated like a holy relic..."

Yet, since Gu Ci dared to say such a thing, it meant that...

With that thought, everyone's gazes shifted back to Gu Zhiran, filled with probing curiosity and suspicion.

Just then, Teacher He walked into the Class 1 classroom holding a stack of math test papers. Seeing the crowd gathered outside the classroom, he frowned and instinctively scolded, "What are you all doing gathered outside Class 1? Aren't you studying? Why aren't you hurrying back to your own classrooms? How did you do on the last exam? Did your grades drop or improve, running all the way outside Class 1 like this?"

After saying this, Teacher He spotted the students from Class 12 blocking the doorway of their classroom.

Seeing that the center of the conflict was once again Gu Ci and Gu Zhiran, a frown unconsciously furrowed his brow.

"What is going on with you lot again? Class is about to start, why aren't you going back?"

Realizing this person was the former head of discipline, everyone felt a momentary pang of guilt.

However, noticing that Teacher He's attention had shifted back to the Class 12 students, they grew bold enough to stay, and someone even took the initiative to explain the current situation to Teacher He.

After all, class hadn't started yet; it was still recess.

Teacher He's mood became infinitely complicated in an instant. Unsure of which side was telling the truth, he had no choice but to look at Gu Zhiran.

"Student Gu Zhiran, didn't Student Gu Ci say she drew something on page 78? Flip to it and let's see."

Subconsciously, he still hoped that his long-time star pupil wouldn't lie about something like this.

Yet, remembering the earlier misunderstanding with the test paper, Teacher He found himself unable to firmly declare outright that Gu Zhiran was telling the truth.

Upon hearing Gu Ci's words, Gu Zhiran had already felt a rush of blood to her head, leaving a buzzing sensation in her brain.

When she saw Teacher He entering at precisely this moment, her heart plunged into utter chaos.

Gu Ci had drawn an alpaca on that page?

Could it be that page 78 really contained...

If that were true, this time she would...

"Student Gu Zhiran?" Seeing Gu Zhiran standing motionless, Teacher He frowned and urged her again.

"I understand, Teacher."

Gu Zhiran forced herself to remain calm, biting her lip with a stiff expression as her hands tremblingly turned to page 78.

When her eyes met the blank page containing nothing other than the printed font of the problems, the stone hanging in Gu Zhiran's chest plummeted safely back into place!

Nothing!

Let alone an alpaca, there wasn't even a tiny speck of handwriting!

Gu Ci had deliberately tried to trick her just now!

Fortunately, she hadn't blurted out something like "I just didn't remember there being an alpaca on this page earlier"...

Gu Zhiran slowly let out a breath, her wildly beating heart gradually calming down.

She raised her head and looked at Gu Ci. "Cousin, what else do you have to say?"

Witnessing this scene, Teacher He couldn't help feeling a pang of shame.

How could he have doubted his own star pupil, suspecting she would steal someone else's study materials and shamelessly refuse to admit it?

The incident with the previous test paper was simply because Gu Zhiran hadn't seen clearly; when all was said and done, it wasn't Gu Zhiran's fault at all.

Yet he had misunderstood her just like that—it was truly uncalled for.

With this thought, his brow furrowed as he looked at Gu Ci.

However, before he could utter a word, Gu Ci directly snatched the problem set right out of Gu Zhiran's hand!

Gu Zhiran let out a startled cry, her complexion shifting slightly as she looked on the verge of tears. "Cousin, how can you casually take someone else's belongings without permission?"

With that, Gu Zhiran reached out to snatch the problem set back, but Gu Ci simply raised her arm high, putting it completely out of Gu Zhiran's reach.

"Exactly, Gu Ci, why are you so devoid of basic manners?!"

"Could it be that since she realized she couldn't get the book back fairly, she's trying to outright rob it?"

"How is this any different from a bandit?!"

Teacher He also frowned. "Gu Ci, since it has already been proven that this book belongs to our Class 1 student Gu Zhiran, please return it to her, apologize, and stop making unreasonable disturbances in our classroom!"

Instead of complying, Gu Ci calmly rolled up her sleeves and looked toward a nearby classmate.