Stunning Dragon Wife
Chapter 120 - 119

Chapter 120: Chapter 119

"What’s wrong?"

Jiang Man sensed that something was amiss with the crowd and, somewhat puzzled, shifted her gaze to the exam paper. The next moment, she snatched the paper from Liu Guotao’s hands.

After looking it over carefully, her eyes lit up with surprise as she turned to Zhang Xiaoshan.

"Did you do this yourself?"

After asking the question, she realized she had lost her composure, her excitement rendering her speech almost incoherent.

Zhang Xiaoshan had completed the exam paper before everyone’s eyes, and with all watching, there was definitely no fakery involved.

Zhang Xiaoshan just smiled and said nothing.

"The handwriting is truly excellent; it could even win an award, right?"

"Yeah, and the layout is great too, just like it was printed. It’s simply incredible."

People nearby began to crowd around to take a look.

At that moment, the female staffer Xu Jing spoke up for Zhang Xiaoshan.

"This paper is neatly written, the handwriting is clear—just based on the presentation alone, it’s definitely top-notch. I doubt there’s a second exam paper here that could match it. If you say there’s something wrong with his exam-taking attitude, then everyone else’s papers might as well be declared invalid."

"This?"

Suddenly, Liu Guotao and the examiners’ complexions turned uglier than one another, as if they had just lost a dear father.

"Shut your mouth! Who gave you the right to speak here?" Liu Guotao rebuked Xu Jing, clearly displeased.

Xu Jing immediately turned pale with fright and dared not speak further.

"Director Liu, why scare a young female staffer? What she’s saying is nothing but the truth. The exam paper is right in front of us; what else is there to say?"

"As her direct superior, shouldn’t you make a statement about this?"

"Otherwise, let’s do as you said, cancel the papers. Come on, you tear it up."

Jiang Man handed the exam paper to Liu Guotao.

Liu Guotao’s face turned beet red.

He had just suffered a major humiliation.

All he could do was take out his anger on Zheng Jianhai.

"Old Zheng, what’s the meaning of this as the chief exam proctor? Why didn’t you speak up earlier, causing such a big misunderstanding? Aren’t you making the leadership criticize us?"

Zheng Jianhai was in an unenviable position, feeling like one who had swallowed coptis: bitter and unable to express it. He thought, Liu Guotao hadn’t even given him the chance to speak just now and had even berated him, annoyed by his slow reaction. Now, he was passing all the blame onto him?

"Humph."

At that moment, Zhang Xiaoshan let out a cold snort and directly addressed Liu Guotao.

"Now that it’s proven I didn’t write nonsense, you should give me an explanation, right? You can’t just wrongly accuse me for nothing, can you?"

"Right."

Jiang Man pursued the advantage at that point, addressing Liu Guotao coldly.

"Just now you said that if my cousin’s paper isn’t nonsensical, you’d let him slap you three times. You’re not going back on your word, are you?"

"I..."

Cold sweat was running down Liu Guotao’s forehead.

At this moment, some of the examinees who came out were also discussing animatedly.

"Right, since he’s a leader, he should lead by example. His word should be his bond; otherwise, how can we trust him and work with peace of mind?"

"Yeah, what kind of man doesn’t keep his word?"

The crowd’s murmuring made Liu Guotao turn red with embarrassment and speechless.

"Jiang, Vice Chairman Jiang, this is just a misunderstanding. It’s also part of Director Liu’s duty, so let’s just forget about this, shall we?" Zheng Jianhai attempted to alleviate the situation for Liu Guotao.

But Jiang Man didn’t give Zheng Jianhai any face and directly rebuked him.

"Just look at that obsequious demeanor of yours. I’ve long heard that you have no real abilities and only climbed to your current position by ingratiating yourself with superiors. Seeing it for myself today, it seems I heard right. It looks like we’ll have to deal with your issue seriously."

Hearing this, Zheng Jianhai’s face turned white. He had wanted to ingratiate himself with the leadership, but instead, he had only made things worse for himself.

"Director Liu, may I go ahead, then?"

Zhang Xiaoshan rolled up his sleeves, assuming the posture of someone about to slap Liu Guotao.

"No."

Suddenly, Liu Guotao had a flash of inspiration and excitedly said.

"The writing on the paper may be neat, but that doesn’t prove he didn’t write nonsense. What if his answers are all haphazard, merely well-written to create an illusion?"

"Yes!"

No sooner had he spoken than the examiners quickly echoed his sentiment.

"With the speed he completed the exam, I don’t believe he seriously reviewed the questions."

"Right, those answers must all be wrong."

At that moment, they all wanted to regain some dignity and thus sided with Liu Guotao.

Liu Guotao immediately felt bolstered and continued speaking.

"I suggest we mark the papers right now and see just how capable this kid really is."

"Nonsense."

Jiang Man immediately rejected the idea outright.

"There’s never been such a precedent before; you’re just being ridiculous."

"No no no, Vice Chairman Jiang, I’m considering this for your sake. After all, this kid is your cousin. If by chance he does indeed score highly, but everyone suspects you’ve manipulated things behind the scenes, that would harm your reputation. It would be better to have the papers marked in front of everyone as proof. Then, nobody would be able to poke at your integrity."

"I’m here to relieve the leadership of worries. What does everyone say?" Liu Guotao raised his voice as he spoke.

"What, this guy is the Vice Chairman’s cousin?"

"Then there must be a fixed spot for him, right?"

"That’s far too unfair."

"Exactly, we must have the papers marked right now." Influenced by Liu Guotao’s instigation, the examinees began to make a fuss.

Seeing his scheme succeed, Liu Guotao couldn’t help but reveal a treacherous, triumphant smile.

"Liu Guotao, are you really intending to burn bridges with me?" Jiang Man quietly confronted Liu Guotao.

Liu Guotao smugly replied.

"This is just a small place in the countryside after all. You, being a delicate young lady, might find things a bit rough."

"So, let’s both take a step back. I won’t insist on marking the papers right now, and you can let your cousin drop the matter of fulfilling my promise."

At his words, Jiang Man hesitated.

Before she could decide, Zhang Xiaoshan preempted her once again.

"I agree to have the paper marked on the spot."

His statement caused the once rowdy crowd at the entrance of the examination hall to fall silent.