Chapter 57
Hearing the noise, all the students turned to look at Christina.
Their expressions varied, with some showing shock and others confusion, mixed with a couple of gloating glances.
Jennifer struggled to suppress the urge to laugh out loud.
This time Christina was definitely done for, and she was just waiting to watch the show.
"This paper ball isn't mine," Christina tried to explain.
But the teacher didn't want to listen at all. He directly opened the paper ball, pointed at the answers on it, and asked Christina, "It's written clearly here. What else can you argue? If this paper ball isn't yours, why was it on your desk?"
"Cheating during an exam shows poor character. Now that I've caught you red-handed, you still want to lie and deceive. A student like you should just drop out and go home. Your character is too poor."
Christina had only been somewhat suspicious before, but now she was 100% sure that this teacher was colluding with Jennifer to falsely accuse her of cheating.
Any normal teacher would investigate the situation first, rather than not even giving her a chance to speak.
"Do you admit your mistake now?" The teacher suddenly raised his voice.
He had used this trick many times before. After all, students generally had some fear of teachers.
As long as he was a bit more intimidating, Christina would definitely not dare to speak, let alone argue.
But he guessed wrong. Christina spoke very seriously, word by word, "The paper ball isn't mine, so of course I don't admit it. As a teacher, shouldn't you find out who threw this paper ball? If you can't figure it out, then I demand to see the surveillance footage."
"The classroom surveillance is broken. You must have known this in advance, which is why you dared to be so brazen. Luckily, I caught you red-handed. Otherwise, what would this exam have become?" The teacher's tone carried a hint of smugness.
If it weren't for the broken surveillance, he wouldn't dare to act like this.
A teacher falsely accusing a student is much more serious than a student cheating. If this were exposed, he would not only be fired by the school but also face other consequences.
"Then, teacher, look at my test paper. I've completed all the questions, both multiple-choice and essay questions, while the answers on this paper ball are incomplete, and many are wrong. Even if I wanted to copy, I wouldn't copy from it." Christina directly held up her test paper.
Although the test papers hadn't been graded yet, she was confident that she would score at least 95.
Neither Jennifer nor Missy had that ability.
If they wanted to falsely accuse her of cheating, they should at least have better grades than her.
Otherwise, it made no sense for an honor student to copy from a failing student.
The teacher was stunned for a moment. How could Christina's grades be so good?
This made the situation a bit tricky.
"Teacher, we've been taught since elementary school that everyone is equal. Whether a good student or a bad student, cheating is wrong. Whether or not someone cheated should be based on evidence," Jennifer couldn't sit still and reminded the teacher.
She had already transferred money to the teacher. If the teacher took the money but didn't do the job, she wouldn't let him off easily.
She had left evidence of the transaction. If the teacher took the money but didn't do the job, she could report him to the education department.
"Jennifer, don't deliberately confuse the issue. What I mean is that my grades are so good that I have no need to copy from someone with worse grades. Do I need to go to such lengths to fail?" Christina directly retorted.
Other students felt that Christina made sense.
Throughout history, only students with poor grades copied from those with good grades. No one had ever heard of the reverse.
Moreover, cheating in exams came with great consequences. Why would Christina make things difficult for herself?
Seeing the situation turning against him, the teacher got angry again and slammed the desk, "Stop arguing. I only found one paper ball. Who knows how many you had before? The evidence is clear. Come with me to the office. This exam is void."
He picked up a red pen and wrote a big zero on Christina's test paper.
He glanced at the others, "Continue your exam. Don't just watch the show. Look at the time. The exam is almost over. Have you finished your papers?"
The others quickly lowered their heads and continued answering.
Christina was taken to the office by the teacher. Before he could start scolding her, Christina asked, "Teacher, did you take a bribe to target me?"
The teacher was visibly flustered for a moment.
But the next second, he regained his composure. He and Jennifer had made the deal in private, with only the two of them knowing. No one else knew.
Christina couldn't possibly have evidence.
So it was still his word against hers.
He put on a stern face, "You were caught cheating. Even if you're upset, you can't maliciously slander me. Your character is too poor. I'll report this to your counselor and have the whole school criticize you."
Christina said nothing more, just looked at him coldly.
He had a way to falsely accuse her, and she had her own countermeasures. She had given him a chance earlier.
But clearly, the teacher wanted to persist in falsely accusing her, so he couldn't blame her.
Soon, the news of Christina cheating in the exam was announced to the whole school, and Jennifer took the opportunity to spread it online.
She already had a fan base, and everyone hated cheating, so the public opinion was overwhelmingly against Christina.
"When I was caught cheating in school, I felt so guilty and kept begging the teacher for forgiveness. How dare she confront the teacher directly?"
"This is the new generation of selfish individualists. Although her cheating is unfair to others, she can pass the exam. The teacher upholding fairness and justice is just against her?"
"Expel her. Her moral character is too low."
"I remember Christina won first place in a competition before. If she has the ability to win first place, why would she need to cheat in a midterm exam? Maybe she cheated to win first place too?"
"That makes sense. I suggest a thorough investigation."
Jennifer sat in front of her computer all afternoon, constantly refreshing the online comments, her smile growing wider.
Christina, Christina, what will you do now?