Cheating Craft - Chapter 37

Quiz 37: The Last 100 Points

The final exam would begin tomorrow. It was the night before, and Meng Ming was carefully estimating his overall points. 　　

In English, the two of them had managed to get the exact same score, over 90 points;

The Math exam had 40 points worth of questions that none of the class had been able to answer. He wouldn’t necessarily get the remaining 60 points either. However, Zhou Lun Yu had said himself that he hadn’t finished the multiple choice, which meant he could at most get 52 points…;

The very first literature and language exam…was rather hard to gauge. He could get at least 52 points from the first part, but as for the latter part….

If, for the time being, it was said that Zhou Lun Yu had won, then he’d have at least 30 points more than Meng Ming. 　　

If I want to beat him, I have to go on the offensive during the next exam, no matter what. Meng Ming had calculated a total—He needed to fight over the remaining 100 points in the last exam. If Zhou Lun Yu got more than 70 points on this exam, Meng Ming would definitely find it extremely difficult to win.

The physics exam had the same question types as the math exam. Aside from the multiple choice, there were also fill-in-the-blank and calculations. 　

Meng Ming had originally wanted to consider and prepare various tactics for tomorrow, but he suddenly thought back to today’s exam. His tactics today had succeeded, but he still didn’t know anything about Zhou Lun Yu’s hidden moves, so Meng Ming had no way of guarding against them. He knew clearly that he was only at the second level. Zhou Lun Yu’s strength and experience in an exam were definitely greater than Meng Ming’s.　

He guessed that Zhou Lun Yu probably had a lot of different types of moves. Now he needed to consider how to obstruct that forcible stealing move.

Meng Ming went to lie down in his bed early that night. However, there were quite a few lights on in the nearby houses; most likely, these were students that were diligently studyYing for tomorrow’s exam…

The next morning, Meng Ming woke up extremely early, and chatted with Huang Qiao Yi and her mother while eating breakfast.

“Little Qiao, it’s really strange. I seemed to have dreamt that I was at a casino last night…it was originally about Blackjack, but then it suddenly became about betting dice…”　　

“Of course Meng Ming would change back and forth. I don’t really like to dream,” Huang Qiao Yi replied while eating.　　

“Do you think this is some kind of premonition?” Meng Ming was quite curious. He’d never had such dreams before.

Huang Qiao Yi had only vaguely heard of these kinds of things before. She only knew that even if it was some kind of premonition, trying to figure it out by oneself wouldn’t do any good.　　

“I’m full, let’s go to the exam site! Many students think senior high physics is difficult.” Huang Qiao Yi returned to her room to change into the uniform. “I also share their sentiment.”　　

Basically, Huang Qiao Yi didn’t pay much mind to Meng Ming’s delusions.　　

It’s definitely some kind of premonition… For some reason, Meng Ming felt quite certain about this point.　　

They sat down in the packed exam site. The whole class was rejoicing about how they hadn’t ever been late or missed an exam.　　

One of the exam regulations was: If one was 15 minutes late, they weren’t allowed to enter the exam site. Before 30 minutes of the exam was up, one could not leave. These were the rules that had been formed ages ago. Originally, it was to prevent people from leaving the site early in order to pass the answers to those that hadn’t yet entered. But some C-types instead used even shadier techniques by taking advantage of this rule.

Meng Ming didn’t pay any mind to these regulations. He believed that: As long as I don’t arrive late or retreat early, it’s fine. If I withdraw early, then my exam paper might be in danger.　

As for the contents of senior high physics, they were definitely enough to make anyone’s head swell.　　

Because literature and language was taught since primary school, everyone was already familiar with it. However, physics was a class that only started in junior high. After entering senior high, its level of difficulty would rise exponentially. Students that had just entered senior high would all find it hard to grow accustomed to.

However…　　

Why is the old man in such high spirits today….

Meng Ming discovered that the old man currently sitting at the proctor’s seat had a dumb, radiant smile on his face. The other students were all immersed in their thoughts, seemingly repeating formulas in their heads in an attempt to memorize them. Nobody had noticed the old man’s strange expression. 　

“It’s about time to start…” The old man said.

All of the students lifted their heads, and stared at him with fixed gazes. 　　

　　“……”

　　“……”

　　“……”　　

The old man still had that same smile on his face as he said, “You must do well…”　　

The examinees all felt chills in their hearts.　　

Let’s first check the stationary on the desk… Meng Ming recalled yesterday, when he’d only discovered there had been no draft paper when he had needed it. Thus, he’d ended up being caught unprepared. It was best to organize the stationary first.　　

Eraser, one; draft paper, 3; blade, 1; pencils, 1, 2… Meng Ming searched over and over. …Only 2? Meng Ming flipped through all his stationary again, but he could only find two pencils.

They handed out one less pencil? That won’t do…according to exam site regulations, I should notify the old man. Meng Ming’s gaze landed on his classmates’ desks. Oh? How come he also has 2? 　　

Meng Ming scanned his surroundings, and discovered that all of the students only had two pencils!　　

Why did we suddenly lose one? Are they trying to be environmentally friendly?! Meng Ming felt uneasy. This meant that he’d lost ⅓ of his weapons!　　

Before he even had the time to think it over, the exam papers had already arrived. The fourth exam was about to begin!　　

“Alright. Everyone should begin to look over their exams seriously….” The old man passed the papers out, and the exam began!

The examinees all simultaneously lowered their heads, looking at their test papers.

　　……

The tensed atmosphere in the exam site grew strange. It wasn’t just quiet, but somber and desolate. Some students’ faces had grown pale, and some others had beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads.　　

Meng Ming suddenly sensed there was something wrong with his surroundings. This kind of frightening atmosphere that enveloped the entire exam site seemed to permeate his body. 　　

What, is this feeling…what’s wrong with everyone? 　　

He picked up his exam paper and looked at it. 　　

He only saw the heading—

[Lin Xian Central Junior High Years 2XXX – 2XXX Annual First Semester Exam: Geography]

It’s not physics?! This…this…was this the old man’s idea?! When Meng Ming saw the test paper, he was greatly shocked.　　

Did the dream come true? …Indeed, this exam tests a student’s true strength. Meng Ming realized why the old man had been secretly laughing before. He also now understood why everyone had been so shocked after seeing the subject—it was because they couldn’t have prepared for this exam at all. Everyone’s studying had been wasted! 　

Only after the exam bell rang did the old man start distributing something else—a piece of stationary to accompany the test paper.

A fountain pen?　　

When it was placed on the desk, Meng Ming raised it to inspect it. He then casually scribbled on the draft paper. Black ink, writable. 　　

Does a geography exam only allow writing answers with a fountain pen? Meng Ming flipped through the test paper and read all of the questions. Oh, the map-drawing questions in the middle…require a fountain pen. 　　

It didn’t matter what kind of questions were proposed! As long as the answers were written down, Meng Ming and Zhou Lun Yu could copy them.　　

Just as before, Zhou Lun Yu began to write the answers first. 　　

There aren’t any multiple choice questions this time! The majority of the questions are fill-in-the-blank… Meng Ming discovered that there wasn’t a scantron, and there were two other answer sheets instead. One was for the answers to the fill-in-the-blanks, while the other was for other questions. The answer sheets had two sides each, for a total of four sides. These had to be handed in at the end of the exam. Aside from the map questions, there are still…two calculation questions.

The fill-in-the-blanks were worth 70 points, and the map questions were worth 10 points, while the two calculation questions were a total of 20 points.

Quite a few minutes had passed before Meng Ming finally managed to get a feel for the question type. During this period of time, Meng Ming hadn’t seen Zhou Lun Yu make any signs of attack.

That makes sense. Zhou Lun Yu just needs to win this round, and he’ll be able to hold his winning spot…with how calm he is, he probably already thought of how to make his red threads evade the continuous attacks from my Flaming Arrows and Blazewind Disks.

It had been a battle of pencils vs threads this whole time. Meng Ming hadn’t gained any benefits from it at all. If this exam was the same, Meng Ming wouldn’t be able to gain that many points even if he did end up winning this round. 　　

Meng Ming thought: I must beat him by at least 30 points this time! Going against him head-on won’t be enough; I need to think of a better method….　　

He seriously and carefully surveyed his surroundings once more.　　

There was the stationary on the desk, the formation layout of the seats, the four revolving surveillance cameras in the corners, the distances between each examinee, the windows, the vents, and the fact that this exam site was located on the third floor…was there anything new?

However, anything he could use he had already used ages ago: the tables’ composition, the surveillance cameras above, and even the old man’s fake hair.　　

I keep feeling like I’m overlooking something…isn’t this an exam site? There should be some more things. Red threads…　　

Meng Ming was momentarily unable to think of anything. Thus, he could only start observing Zhou Lun Yu, and check whether there’d be any new ideas from that. He saw the red threads wrapped around the surveillance cameras…Only one?!　　

A single red thread had cleanly landed and wrapped around the surveillance camera in the upper right hand corner. When he inspected Zhou Lun Yu’s actions—he saw that Zhou Lun Yu’s right hand was writing at very fast speeds; his left pinky pushed down on the single information-gathering thread. His other fingers were slightly raised, as if he was accumulating power and getting ready to let out a string of successive attacks at any moment!　　

Meng Ming realized what was going on with a single glance. Oh. He’s concentrated all of his energy on that single red thread, sacrificing everything to protect it. As long as that thread remains intact, he’ll definitely be able to gain a score that I can’t possibly surpass! 　

This was the last, exceptionally good tactic that Zhou Lun Yu had decided to employ in this final exam.

…In other words, the target of this red thread has to be the person with the best geography grades in our class. Where?! Meng Ming followed the red thread, and immediately found his target.　　

To think that it’s…the classmate sitting in front of me to the right. It’s Zhang Chuan…So close to me…!　　

Was Meng Ming supposed to attack?

He hadn’t imagined that the target, Zhang Chuan, who was sitting in front of Meng Ming on his right, would be so close. Meng Ming’s seat already occupied an extremely favorable location.　

I can’t act blindly without thinking, I must act cautiously!　　

If he merely executed a simple attack, the result would be unfavorable after being blocked. All of Zhou Lun Yu’s energy was currently completely focused on that red thread. Meng Ming’s total points were at least 30 points behind Zhou Lun Yu’s. Moreover, Meng Ming only had two pencils for this exam!

The seating is a bit advantageous, but the circumstances are still far from reassuring! However… Meng Ming still felt somewhat panicked. He thought that there was no reason to be nervous. There must be something that he hadn’t thought of that made him feel so uncertain. Exactly what am I overlooking…?!

Despite the fact that the opposite party only had one red thread, Meng Ming still felt like he was at a disadvantage…how was he supposed to contest those last 100 points?!　　

Meng Ming calmly swept his gaze across his surroundings once more. He then closed his eyes and recalled his previous thoughts.

—The Zhuge Style Cheating Technique required one to consider all of the elements in an area before concocting a plan.

All of the elements divided into Yin and Yang.

Qian was the heavens, Kun was the earth.

The heavens are Yang, the earth is Yin. —Yin alone never grows, while Yang alone never lengthens. Yin and Yang rely on each other, and they ebb and rise together. There is Yang within Yin, and Yin within Yang…

Yin and Yang blended together, forming the heavens, the earth, and the people.

…..?!

Meng Ming suddenly opened his eyes.

There was only that one red thread.

The stationary was lined up neatly on Meng Ming’s desk. Two pencils, one fountain pen, one eraser, one blade, one test paper, two blank answer sheets, and three pieces of draft paper. —No matter what the circumstances were, one could always turn defeat into victory; regardless of how hard it was, there would always be a hidden chance of success! Concentrate, and then concentrate even more. Whether the situation was advantageous or disadvantageous, one couldn’t lower their guard!

Countless angles and possibilities floated inside Meng Ming’s head…　　

I finally found it.

—It had been 30 minutes since the beginning of the exam. Meng Ming finished his reflection, and smiled confidently.