After hearing Deputy Secretary An’s words, those who had received zero scores wished they could crawl into a crack in the ground and disappear.
In a corner, unnoticed by anyone, a dark glint flashed through the lenses of Xu Guangyao’s glasses.
After calming himself down, Xu Guangyao asked in confusion, “Since the exam questions were leaked, shouldn’t everyone’s results be invalidated?”
Although his question came unexpectedly, it had struck at the heart of everyone’s concerns.
Meanwhile, Wang Baocai, whose face had already turned red after being exposed for cheating, was still unwilling to accept it.
Upon hearing Xu Guangyao’s words, he felt as though he had grasped a lifeline.
Stiffly holding his ground, he said, “That’s right. Didn’t you say this was fair and impartial? Why do these people still have scores? Weren’t the questions leaked?”
Rarely displaying such quick thinking, Wang Baocai no longer cared about anything else. If he couldn’t pass, then he would rather nobody pass.
The others who had received zero scores suddenly found someone to rally around and quickly chimed in.
“That’s right, everyone’s results should be canceled together.”
“I think there should be another exam.”
“Three positions, and two of them went to Educated Youths. Why should they…”
“Exactly! And who knows whether those who scored well and got selected also cheated…”
As soon as those words were spoken, Lin Baiyu, Xie Qingyuan, and Zhang Guangcan immediately felt the number of eyes fixed upon them increase.
Zheng Peizhen’s eyes lit up at first, but after recalling the examination papers she had seen earlier, she knew that even if another exam were held, she probably still wouldn’t outperform the three of them.
Her lips moved, but in the end she remained silent.
As for Xu Guangyao, he secretly rejoiced at the situation.
This time, he had applied for the middle school teacher position, but unexpectedly Zhang Guangcan from the neighboring village had beaten him.
Xu Guangyao naturally didn’t believe he was inferior to Zhang Guangcan. He simply thought he had been careless and hadn’t revised seriously enough.
He had assumed that with the answer sheet and his own abilities, there would be no problems. He hadn’t expected so many changes to the questions. Panic had overtaken him during the exam, otherwise he believed he could have performed even better.
In fact, he even suspected that Zhang Guangcan had obtained the questions beforehand as well, but because he possessed genuine knowledge, he had managed to avoid being discovered.
Thinking of this, Xu Guangyao secretly glanced at Team Leader Lin from Lin’an Village.
Quietly clenching his fists, Xu Guangyao thought that he was different from those people who had scored zero. This matter absolutely had to remain hidden, otherwise his future would be ruined.
Ever since Xu Guangyao had spoken up, Lin Baiyu had been observing him closely and naturally did not miss the glance he cast toward Team Leader Lin.
She thought to herself that there was definitely some hidden connection between Xu Guangyao and Team Leader Lin.
Recalling the original novel’s description of Xu Guangyao, she felt that the person involved was most likely Team Leader Lin’s daughter, Lin Xiufen.
She just didn’t know whether Xu Guangyao had cheated.
The original story stated that he had successfully become a teacher at the village school. After Zhang Meifeng was reborn, she had also mentioned that Lin Xiufen liked Xu Guangyao and therefore greatly disliked Gao Lanying, who had some interactions with him.
The more Lin Baiyu thought about it, the more interesting it became. She had never expected that Xu Guangyao, this phoenix man, would be so capable. He had only been in the village a short time and had already hooked up with the production team leader’s daughter.
However, since the whole affair began, she had been carefully observing everyone’s reactions. She noticed that Team Leader Lin had never once paid attention to Xu Guangyao. Evidently, he still knew nothing about it.
Bang!
Deputy Secretary An heavily slammed his teacup onto the table, instantly drawing everyone’s attention back.
“Why aren’t their scores being invalidated? Good question,” Deputy Secretary An said. “The reason I came here today with the team leaders and Principal Wang is precisely to explain this matter.”
He then laid out the entire sequence of events.
After the number of teaching positions had been determined and nearly a hundred people signed up, the matter had attracted the commune’s attention.
A few days before the examination, Secretary Li had discussed the matter with Deputy Secretary An. The enthusiasm shown by both the villagers and the Educated Youths had exceeded their expectations, and naturally the commune hoped that the village school would handle the recruitment properly.
After discussion, Secretary Li and Deputy Secretary An decided to have Principal Wang prepare two sets of examination papers.
At that time, there were only three days left before the examination.
Because of the rush, approximately half of the questions on the backup paper resembled those on the original paper known to everyone, while the remaining half were considerably more difficult.
Only Principal Wang, the two secretaries, and the cadre appointed by Deputy Secretary An knew about this arrangement.
In the afternoon before the examination, Secretary Li approached Deputy Secretary An and informed him that he had heard rumors suggesting that the answers had already been leaked.
In order to ensure the smooth conduct of the examination and avoid delaying the start of the new school term, the two decided to use the backup paper.
Thus, the examination not only tested everyone’s true abilities but also exposed all the demons and monsters hiding in the shadows.
Deputy Secretary An addressed the crowd.
“As for the fact that two of the three positions went to Educated Youths, we discussed this beforehand. Our conclusion was simple: the capable should prevail.”
“We have already investigated these comrades’ backgrounds. They are all good comrades.”
He had Xie Qingyuan step forward.
“Comrade Xie Qingyuan may be a newly arrived Educated Youth, but everyone has seen that he achieved full marks.”
Then he called Zhang Guangcan forward.
“As for Zhang Guangcan, he belongs to the first group of Educated Youths who came to Zhang Village. After all these years, he can practically be considered half a member of Zhang Village.”
Then Deputy Secretary An changed the topic.
“Some of the identical questions on the two examination papers actually contained subtle modifications that weren’t obvious.”
At this point, he paused, clearly trying to suppress his anger.
After regaining his composure, Lin Baiyu heard him continue.
“Perhaps one or two people might have made the same mistakes by not reading carefully, but for so many papers to have identical correct answers and identical mistakes is absolutely impossible!”
By the end, Deputy Secretary An was practically roaring at those who had received zero scores.
The people who had been shouting moments ago instantly fell silent.
Everyone understood that the matter had already been settled beyond dispute.
Still, hoping to avoid future trouble, Lin Baiyu spoke up.
“Since things have come to this, everyone is welcome to examine our three papers. They are the best proof of our results.”
She looked around at the crowd and continued, “Besides, I believe right and wrong will ultimately be judged fairly, and justice resides in people’s hearts. I also hope that in the future no one will falsely accuse others of cheating without any evidence.”
Lin Baiyu knew that with Deputy Secretary An personally handling the matter, this affair was essentially over.
However, they still needed to demonstrate their own attitude. If they remained silent simply to avoid conflict, there would surely be all sorts of rumors afterward.
After she finished speaking, Xie Qingyuan and Zhang Guangcan also expressed their positions.
The three stood there with calm confidence. Many people had already seen their examination papers and knew that they truly possessed ability.
Most people’s feelings toward them became complicated. Although envy and resentment remained, much of the bitterness had already faded.
Only a small number still refused to accept the outcome, but there was nothing they could do.
Thus, it was officially decided that Lin Baiyu and Xie Qingyuan would serve as elementary school teachers, while Zhang Guangcan would become the middle school teacher.