The Master's Mask Unveiled Again

Lu Xinnuan returned to her seat, holding her pen as she glanced in Lu Mian’s direction, finding the whole situation rather amusing.

Once she began working on the test paper, her mood lightened considerably.

The kidnapping incident had turned her into the target of everyone’s criticism. Simply because she had been saved and Lu Mian hadn’t, their classmates attacked and mocked her.

Deep down, she refused to accept this.

But she could only forcefully swallow her frustration.

This time, if Lu Mian was coming intentionally into her way, then he couldn’t blame her for the awkward scene that would ensue when the results came out.

With that thought, she lowered her head and began to rack her brain, working on the problems.

Behind and to the side of Lu Mian, Su Jue had also spotted her, his surprise prompting him to give her an extra couple of glances.

Ever since she appeared, his mind had been in disarray.

He couldn’t make sense of this girl at all. The more he knew, the more confused he became. For instance, why was she suddenly appearing in a competition exam venue? His grandfather had said that their Su family wasn’t worthy of her, but what did that actually mean?

The more he thought about it, the less he felt like continuing with the exam.

The exam time flew by. The lecture hall was silent, save for the scratching of pens furiously scribbling on paper.

It wasn’t until the invigilator announced “One hour of the exam time has passed” that many realized they had only completed a quarter of the paper.

The main issue was that the questions were too difficult, and nobody was working particularly fast.

While busy, they couldn’t help but look around at each other. After seeing the vast empty spaces on other people’s test papers, everyone felt a little reassured.

After all, all the students assembled here were top of their classes; if one person didn’t know the answers, surely the others wouldn’t either.

However, as everyone continued to hunch over their work, the seats in the tiered classroom made a slight creaking sound.

Before anyone could raise their heads, a slim, tall figure had walked up to the podium.

“Handing in your paper?” the invigilator asked, uncertain.

Looking down to check the time, there were still two hours left until the exam would be over.

Lu Mian nodded, calmly spread her paper out on the podium, and without waiting for the invigilator’s attempt to convince her to stay, she walked out with one hand in her school uniform pocket and the other spinning her pen, nonchalantly.

All the students: ???

Handing in the paper after just one hour?

It’s confirmed, this one’s just here to make up the numbers!

After a few seconds of stunned silence, they hurriedly lowered their heads again. The teacher had said to persevere until the end, even if they didn’t know the answers, and to not let others disrupt their rhythm. Stay steady!

Before long, another person left their seat in the auditorium and handed in their paper early.

The invigilator was rather puzzled, watching a tall male student leave. He picked up the two papers that were just handed in, one only completed a little while the other was filled out more completely, and he could only shake his head in resignation.

Students: One or two is fine, but can you at least let others concentrate on their exams?

And Lu Xinnuan, after witnessing Lu Mian hand in her paper and seeing Su Jue hastily leave the classroom, almost crumpled the draft paper in her hand.

It was to be expected that Lu Mian wouldn’t know the answers and turn in her paper early.

But Su Jue following suit and leaving gave her a feeling of betrayal.

When she picked up her pen to continue, she just couldn’t solve the problems on the test paper anymore…

——

Su Jue chased after Lu Mian for several steps before finally catching up with her.

Lu Mian looked at the digital watch on her wrist and frowned.

“Actually, you didn’t need to come today. Even if you had skipped the exam, no one would have said anything,” Su Jue whispered.

Lu Mian ignored him, her impatient expression sending a clear message: don’t bother me.

Su Jue felt quite awkward but still followed her.

“Lu Mian!” he called after her, saying, “I heard you moved out from your home. You’re still in school and have no income. Are you short on money? I’ve got some here—you can take it and use it for now…”

Lu Mian gave him a sidelong glance, seemingly bemused.

But Su Jue mistook it for a misunderstanding and quickly explained, “This is money I made from stock trading, it’s got nothing to do with my family. Just use it without worries!”

“Stock trading?”

Lu Mian stopped and finally spoke her first words to him.