“Yeah, why?” Zhou Xiaoman looked confused.
That camera was a prototype newly developed at her father’s factory. Its main feature was being compact and lightweight there wasn’t even one like it on the market yet.
When she first got it, she had excitedly shown it to Song Qiaoan, but back then Song Qiaoan had shown little interest. Why was she suddenly asking about it now?
“Lend it to me.”
“Sure, I’ll bring it to you this afternoon but what are you going to do with it?” Zhou Xiaoman asked, puzzled. As far as she knew, Song Qiaoan had no interest in photography at all.
Song Qiaoan glanced toward the office, lowered her voice, and said mysteriously, “I’m going to… catch someone cheating.”
“Huh? Who? Whose cheating are you catching?!” Zhou Xiaoman was dumbfounded. “Did Fu Chen cheat on you?! That bastard he’s only been away for a few days!”
Song Qiaoan was speechless. “Not him…”
“Then who?”
Just as Zhang Qing happened to walk out, Song Qiaoan shook her head. “I’m not telling you. You’ll find out sooner or later anyway.”
With that, she pushed Zhou Xiaoman away, ignored her questions, and lowered her head to sort documents.
Once her work handover was done, she submitted her resignation to Zhang Qing.
Originally, she hadn’t wanted to give her job to Song Weiwei but now that she knew Song Weiwei was having an affair with Zhang Qing’s fiancé, she changed her mind.
On the day Song Weiwei officially started work, she would treat the whole company to a live “catching the mistress” show.
That evening.
Song Jianren sat at his desk, holding an exam paper. The more he looked at it, the tighter his brows furrowed. The air in the room felt heavy and oppressive.
“Dad, this time I just… was careless. I didn’t perform well,” Song Jiabao muttered with his head lowered.
“You useless thing! Always making excuses I’ve never seen you perform well!”
Song Jianren slammed the paper on the desk and raised his hand to strike him.
Song Jiabao shrank back in fear. Zhang Meilan quickly stepped in front of her son, patting Song Jianren’s chest to calm him.
“Alright, alright. Jiabao has already been working hard. You can’t blame him for everything.”
“Do you even understand the situation now? Your mother and I can’t protect you. Only by getting into university and going far away can you save yourself! Why can’t you understand that?!”
Song Jianren poked his head angrily, as if trying to knock some sense into him.
Zhang Meilan felt distressed and sighed. “Jiabao was never cut out for studying. What’s the point of forcing him?”
Song Jiabao also felt wronged and started sniffling. “Didn’t you say once Song Qiaoan is married off to Wang Shichang, the Wang family will help us escape? I can just go with you then…”
“Having more options is just a precaution! If you fail, it’s my face and the Song family’s face you’re ruining!” Song Jianren said, frustrated.
“Look at your cousin he got into Peking University. Now his whole family has moved to Beijing, living in buildings and eating state rations, enjoying a glorious life!”
“And look at your terrible scores. When relatives ask, where am I supposed to put my face? It’s humiliating!”
The more he spoke, the angrier he became, veins bulging on his neck. Song Jiabao didn’t dare speak and glanced nervously at his mother.
Zhang Meilan had been silent, thinking. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she cautiously suggested:
“What if… we find someone to take the exam for him?”
“A substitute test-taker?!” Song Jianren was startled, and Song Jiabao looked up, his eyes lighting up.
“But that’s cheating… what if we get caught…”
“I know the consequences are serious, but lots of people are doing it now. The supervision is loose if we spend some money to smooth things over with the proctors, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Song Jianren fell into thought, clearly wavering. Song Jiabao immediately said, “I think it’ll work! A senior from our school did it last year. Everyone knows, but once the exam is done and the admission letter is issued, who’s going to dig it up again?”
“Exactly. As long as we get through this stage, no one will investigate afterward,” Zhang Meilan added, then looked at Song Jianren. “Do you know anyone higher up?”
Song Jianren nodded slowly. Through the Wang family’s connections, he now knew quite a few people in the education bureau and schools. It wouldn’t be too hard to arrange things just spend some money to buy favor.
Seeing her father tacitly agree, Song Jiabao beamed. Then he asked, “But who will take the exam for me? It has to be someone with good grades someone who can definitely pass.”
That was indeed a problem. Now that the college entrance exam had been restored, everyone could participate it was almost completely fair.
If someone could get into university on their own, why would they risk helping Song Jiabao cheat?
“What about someone close to us instead of a stranger?”
“Weiwei won’t work. Her grades were bad that’s why she went abroad,” Zhang Meilan frowned.
The family racked their brains but couldn’t think of anyone.
“There’s no one among our relatives with good grades…”
“Wait!” Zhang Meilan suddenly exclaimed. “What about Song Qiaoan?”
Back then, Song Qiaoan had excellent grades. Unfortunately, during that chaotic time, the college entrance exam system had been canceled, so she went straight to work after graduation.
“She has good grades and is easy to control. After the exam, she’ll get married anyway she won’t dare cause trouble,” Zhang Meilan said, her eyes gleaming. The more she thought about it, the more suitable that girl seemed.
“Will she agree?” Song Jianren frowned.
That girl had been acting like a completely different person lately full of thorns and constantly making trouble. She had even threatened him and extorted a large dowry not long ago. Thinking of it made him angry but also gave him confidence.
“That’s exactly why she has to do it! She took so much money from me does she dare refuse?! I’ll tell her directly in a few days. If she refuses, I’ll skin her alive!”
“Exactly! She owes us!” Song Jiabao chimed in eagerly.
The three exchanged looks and reached an agreement.
Over the next few days, Song Jianren ran around entertaining, drinking, and giving gifts. Through a series of money-and-power dealings, he finally smoothed things over.
From the guards at the entrance to the proctors, from identity checks to grading after the exam everything was arranged meticulously to ensure the cheating process would go flawlessly.
At the same time, Song Qiaoan wasn’t idle either.
She was busy gathering evidence of Song Weiwei and Zhang Hao’s affair.
One day, seeing Song Weiwei all dressed up again, claiming she was going out shopping with friends
Song Qiaoan leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed and smiled. “Going out again so late, little sister?”
Song Weiwei’s hand trembled as she applied lipstick, trying to sound natural. “Feifei asked me out. I won’t be back for dinner tonight.”
“Oh? What time did you come back last night? I got up in the middle of the night and didn’t see you.”
Song Qiaoan said casually. Song Weiwei’s face stiffened, her eyes shifting. “I… I stayed at Feifei’s place last night.”
“How come you’re always hanging out with your girlfriends? I never see your boyfriend asking you out. Did he dump you?” Song Qiaoan asked with a curious look.
“No!” Song Weiwei suddenly raised her voice. “We’re very close he would never leave me!”
Song Qiaoan raised an eyebrow. “If you’re so close, bring him for me to meet sometime.”
Song Weiwei froze again, her face alternating between pale and flushed. After a long pause, she stammered, “He’s busy with work… no time.”
Then she fled as if escaping.
Song Qiaoan went back to her room, changed clothes, put on a hat and mask, grabbed the Seagull-brand camera Zhou Xiaoman had lent her and quietly followed her.