nownovels Chapter 27 Doubt
Chapter 27 Doubt
"Section Chief? You suspect this Fang Shuwen?"
"How is this possible?"
"That guy is just a vain, ignorant good-for-nothing. Although he's been to the martial arts school for half a month, he failed six out of seven subjects. How could he possibly beat Liu Mang, not to mention Chen Da, who can crack bones."
"I can't understand it," asked Xiao Liang, an officer in the Folklore and Antiquities Survey Department.
In recent days, in order to track down the Reverse Scale Copper Piece, the Investigation Department has thoroughly investigated Liu Mang and the deceased Chen Da.
We have investigated their social relationships and the people they have been in contact with recently.
This Fang Shuwen is naturally among them.
I remember when they investigated this person's information, they joked that he was another idiot.
He is vain and has no real substance. Instead of studying hard, he keeps trying to curry favor with others.
The only connection between Fang Shuwen and Liu Mang was that they were both followers of Guo Ziming.
Furthermore, the two had a tense relationship in order to "compete for favor" in front of Guo Ziming.
But such a small conflict shouldn't warrant murder.
Not to mention, Fang Shuwen is so weak that he couldn't even kill a chicken.
"My teacher once said that after ruling out all possibilities, the least likely one is the truth."
"Take that thing with us tomorrow and let's try it out at school. As long as Fang Shuwen has come into contact with the Tengshe's reverse scale, the instrument will react."
Lin Xiu's gaze was deep and unfathomable; the matter of Tengshe's rebellious nature was of utmost
Even the slightest doubt cannot be overlooked.
........
The next morning, the sky was bright and clear.
Fang Shuwen got up early as usual, washed up, changed into his light blue school uniform, and clipped his Parker pen to his shirt pocket.
Old Fang has already gone to work; there's hot porridge and pickled vegetables on the table.
There was also an extra oil paper package next to it. When I opened it, I found two pancakes. The pancakes were fried to a golden brown, and I could faintly smell the aroma of scallions.
It must have been specially left for him by Hu Da.
Fang Shuwen finished his breakfast in a few bites, slung his cloth satchel over his shoulder, and went out the door.
Today is the day the results of the assessments are released.
According to the school's notice, all students must arrive at school before 9:00 a.m., and those who are late will be treated as having abandoned the exam and withdrawn from school.
Fang Shuwen walked leisurely across two streets and saw a large crowd gathered at the school gate in the distance.
Students crowded in front of the notice board, craning their necks to look inside, and occasionally a gasp or a sigh would erupt from the crowd.
"I passed! I passed!"
A boy squeezed out of the crowd, his face flushed, and jumped up and down, clutching his backpack strap.
It's a pity he's a bit too young; if he were forty years older, he would resemble Fan Jin (a character from Journey to the West).
"How could this happen... I clearly ranked thirty-second in my academic subjects..."
Another girl squatted down next to the notice board, covered her face and started crying.
This student was probably eliminated because their physical education performance was subpar.
Some are happy while others are sad; the square in front of the public middle school is a mess.
Fang Shuwen didn't rush to squeeze into the crowd. He stood on the periphery and scanned the area, his gaze landing on the red papers pasted in the upper right corner of the notice board.
Red paper with black characters, written in regular script with a brush.
The top line reads "Elite Class Admission List," followed by "Regular Class Admission List," "Repeated Grade List," and "Expelled List."
Fang Shuwen's gaze skipped over the elite and regular classes, first scanning the list of repeaters, but he didn't see his own name.
His gaze moved upwards and landed on the list of students admitted to the regular classes.
I didn't see my own name either.
Looking up again, I soon found my name.
Fang Shuwen ranked ninth in the elite class.
Fang Shuwen's lips curled up slightly.
It's over.
I can't believe I'm still ninth!
My ranking isn't low; this should be enough to explain to Lao Fang when I get back.
"Fang Shuwen! You actually got into the elite class!"
"Really? No way! Could it be cheating?!"
A high-pitched female voice came from the side.
Fang Shuwen turned his head and saw a face that was flushed red.
She was a girl in his class, surnamed Sun, but he couldn't remember her given name.
All I remember is that this person had a good relationship with Cui Cui and loved to gossip behind her back.
Also, he just saw this girl's name on the dismissal list.
At that moment, her eyes widened as she pointed to the three words "Fang Shuwen" on the notice board.
"You failed six out of seven subjects last semester, how could you possibly get into the elite class?"
The girl surnamed Sun had a high-pitched and sharp voice, which attracted the attention of several students around her.
Fang Shuwen was too lazy to waste words with her, and only glanced at her indifferently: "The grades are posted there, look for yourself."
After saying that, he turned and left without even bothering to say another word.
The girl was taken aback by his indifferent attitude, and her face turned even uglier.
He wanted to chase after her to say something, but a girl next to him grabbed his sleeve.
"Forget it, don't bother with him. Maybe he got some connections..."
"What connections? His dad's just a gatekeeper? What connections could he possibly have? He must have cheated!"
"Otherwise, why wouldn't he dare stay and confront us? No, I have to go find the principal. We can't let someone like that into the elite class!"
The girl surnamed Sun scoffed, but ultimately didn't chase after them.
Instead, they pulled together many others who shared the same plight, and together they headed towards the teacher's office.
.......
Fang Shuwen crossed the playground and walked towards the teaching building.
The elite class classroom is on the far east side of the third floor, with south-facing windows and excellent natural light.
It is said that the tables and chairs were all newly replaced, and even the blackboard was a porcelain enamelware that had just arrived from Shenghai.
When he went upstairs, there were already quite a few people gathered in the corridor.
They were all students from the elite class, gathered together in twos and threes.
Some were congratulating each other, while others were quietly discussing the course schedule for the new semester.
Fang Shuwen spotted Han Tieshan in the center of the crowd at a glance.
The tall, thin guy who lifted 200 pounds in the stone weight test.
He was still wearing that faded gray school uniform, with frayed edges on the cuffs and the trousers were too short, revealing half of his calves.
But at this moment, he was surrounded by three or four people, men and women, who were chattering away to him.
Han Tieshan remained taciturn and reserved, occasionally nodding or uttering a soft "hmm".
"Han Tieshan, you're amazing! Perfect score in physical education! You also ranked 52nd in academics! You're number one overall, no one here can compare to you!"
"Exactly! The stone weight weighed 200 pounds! Even the principal was stunned!"
"Our class is counting on you from now on!"
Han Tieshan was surrounded by the crowd, but he didn't say much, only nodding occasionally.
If it weren't for his dark reddish-brown complexion, one would really think he was naturally aloof and unapproachable.
Fang Shuwen didn't pay any attention and walked straight into the classroom, sitting down in the third row by the window.
Time flew by, and another ten minutes or so passed.
The classroom gradually filled with people.
Those who can enter the elite class are either top students in academic subjects or promising martial arts talents with outstanding athletic performance, and of course, there are also those who excel in both.
About forty people gathered together, sizing up each other's new classmates, the atmosphere lively yet tinged with a subtle sense of competition.
A round-faced boy wearing a white shirt and with his hair neatly combed, clearly wearing Scandinac glasses, stood up, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and cleared his throat.
"Fellow students, we'll be in the same class from now on. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Zhang Mingcheng, and I'm ranked second overall."
"My father is an inspector at the county education bureau. If you have any academic problems in the future, feel free to come to me."
As soon as Zhang Mingcheng sat down, a girl with braided pigtails next to him stood up, her oval face bearing a reserved smile.
"My name is Li Yueru, and I ranked third overall. I hope everyone will take good care of me in the future."
With the two of them leading the way, the boys and girls in the classroom began to introduce themselves one by one.
They basically followed the order on the assessment list.
Soon it was Fang Shuwen's turn.
He stood up, just about to speak.
At this moment, the boy sitting in the back row stood up.
"Fang Shuwen, you failed six out of seven subjects last semester, barely passed PE, what a loser! How did you manage to cheat your way into the elite class?!"