The Almighty Campus Prodigy

Chapter 002: Cheating

As Yang Yu walked home along the familiar yet unfamiliar road, his heart was filled with mixed emotions. It had been quite some time since he’d returned home. In his past life, because of Yu Yi, his mother had suffered a stroke from anger, and his father had cut off all ties with him. Even after Yang Yu had achieved career success, he had tried to go back, yet his parents would not acknowledge him as their son unless he divorced Yu Yi.

Even when his mother needed a huge sum for medical treatment, his father refused to take a single cent from Yang Yu. Every sum of money Yang Yu transferred was sent right back to him.

He pulled out his key and unlocked the front door. Inside, his father sat on the sofa reading a newspaper, while his mother busied herself in the kitchen. Seeing their faces, twenty‑odd years younger, Yang Yu’s eyes grew wet. His throat tightened, and for a moment, he could not find the words to speak.

During dinner, his parents kept nagging him. Only three months remained until the high‑school entrance examination. Yang Yu could no longer afford to fool around.

Hearing this, Yang Yu admitted to himself that he had been a terrible son in his previous life. His parents had wasted so much money on his poor grades. He still remembered how he had choked under pressure during the senior high school entrance exam, falling three points short of the cutoff for regular high school. To keep him from going to a vocational school, his parents had scraped together every penny they could borrow. The sight of them sighing in despair had burned itself into his memory, a wound he would never forget.

After dinner, Yang Yu headed to the study and dug out all his junior‑high textbooks. English, math, chemistry and physics held little challenge for him. His main hurdle was the memorization‑heavy parts of Chinese. Still, he had memorized these texts once before, and he had encountered them while teaching in his later years. Pulling them from his memory was not overly difficult.

His parents watched him studying earnestly, and they found it deeply odd. The study room was almost never used by anyone except his father. In the past, Yang Yu would only step inside for an hour to do homework, and only when his father chased him there. Today, he had gone of his own free will.

While Yang Yu was going through his notes, his father stepped inside. Seeing Yang Yu genuinely poring over study materials, he froze for a moment. He picked up a newspaper, left the door ajar as he walked out, and planned to wait in the living room to see how long his son could keep this up.

Back in the living room, Yang Yu’s mother whispered, “Xiao Yu seems really serious this time. He’s never worked this hard before. I think he’s finally grown up.”

“Just last‑minute cramming, trying to take shortcuts,” his father replied. Though he felt a flicker of relief, he remained pragmatic. He would not be fooled by this temporary burst of effort. He sighed. “If he had worked this hard earlier, things would be different. I’m afraid he’s only trying to cut corners. Once he hits a wall, he’ll slip right back to his old ways.”

“Can’t you think for the best? Haven’t you heard that a prodigal son can turn over a new leaf?” his mother shot him a look of exasperation.

In truth, junior‑high Chinese textbooks were full of passages to memorize and understand. But with his past memories, experience, and his young, sharp mind, Yang Yu memorized them with remarkable ease.

In just one night, he had memorized most of Grade‑Seven Chinese content.

With that hurdle cleared, Yang Yu let out a breath. He had crossed one small obstacle. According to his plan, he would master all the tough junior‑high‑school problems before the interview at Neptune High on Friday afternoon.

Lying in bed, Yang Yu began to think about his future. For a fleeting moment, he wanted to tell his parents he had come from the future. But he quickly dismissed the idea. If they heard such a story, they would surely think he was delusional. The idea of time‑traveling back to the past was simply too unbelievable.

He found it somewhat amusing. Back in his old life, through his teaching job, he had read several novels written by his students, many of them rebirth stories. In those books, protagonists returned to the past to seize great opportunities, control economic trends, and make waves in the turbulent world.

Yet here he was, reborn, and all he was striving for was a high‑school interview. It almost felt like he was pursuing the wrong things.

Still, Yang Yu knew that for someone his age, studying was the top priority. In his youth, he had missed so many people and moments, so many beautiful experiences. His timid personality had been shaped by his school‑days hardships. Now that he got a second chance, he would live without regret, rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Everything he had lost and missed in his old life, he would cherish this time around.

Besides, he was only sixteen, without even an ID card. There were so many things he could not do yet.

The test paper he had written on a whim the day before brought unexpected consequences. During morning self‑study the next day, Teacher Zhao called him out to the office. Inside, she pointed at the paper on her desk, her face cold and her tone sharp.

“Yang Yu, explain this test paper to me. I used to think you were a poor student, but at least you had integrity. Look at what you’ve done!”

Yang Yu froze, a bitter feeling welling up inside him. It was easy to understand Teacher Zhao’s reaction. She had taught him English for three years and knew exactly how weak his English had been.

A near‑perfect score on this exam was simply impossible for a careless student like him.

Yang Yu stared calmly at her. He knew she was not picking on him; she was simply frustrated and disappointed. In his old life, faced with such an accusation, he would have cowered and mumbled excuses. But now he spoke firmly.

“Teacher, do you really think I cheated for these marks? Let’s be real. Who would have given me their paper to copy? Even if someone had, is there anyone else in this class who could score full marks on this test?”

Teacher Zhao was stunned. She had written the exam herself and knew how difficult it was. She had deliberately planted tricky grammar traps throughout the paper. Yang Yu was the only student in the class who had answered every single question perfectly.The gorgeous English handwriting on his composition made Teacher Zhao think Yang Yu’s penmanship was even better than her own. Some of the word choices in the essay were so sophisticated that even she had to look them up in a dictionary.

There was simply no way he could have copied this. At this level of English, not a single student in class could match him. Not even she herself might measure up. Who could he possibly have copied from?

Yang Yu watched the stunned Teacher Zhao, pressed his lips together, and spoke in a flawless London accent:

“We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us!”

It was a line from Tagore’s Stray Birds, meaning: We misunderstand the world, yet claim it has deceived us.

The quote could not have been more fitting in this moment. His pure London accent, honed by the British foreign teacher at the training center, was the final blow that broke Teacher Zhao’s skepticism.

Teacher Zhao’s eyes widened as she stared at Yang Yu, as if she were seeing him for the very first time.

She stepped straight up to him, looked him in the eye, and said with genuine relief, “I’m sorry. I wrongly accused you. I never expected we had a hidden English prodigy in our class!”

Yang Yu was completely taken aback. He never imagined that the notoriously stern “demon teacher” Zhao would apologize to him. The sting of being wrongfully accused faded away.

“So you’ve been hiding your true ability all this time? Didn’t want to stand out? It’s true that tall trees catch the wind, but you were far too cautious,” Teacher Zhao said with a faint smile.

It was a wonderful misunderstanding. Yang Yu did not bother to explain. He could hardly tell her he had traveled back from the future. He simply nodded.

“Then why stop hiding now? And your writing is excellent, yet your listening section has so many mistakes,” Teacher Zhao asked curiously.

“When I was doing the listening questions, I wasn’t sure of the answers. By the time I figured them out, the listening was already over, so I had to make up for points in the rest of the test. As for why I tried so hard now‑the high‑school entrance exam is coming up. I wanted to leave a good impression before graduation. I don’t want people to remember Yang Yu years from now and not even recall what I looked like,” Yang Yu replied.

“Alright, you may go back to class. I’ll handle this matter,” Teacher Zhao nodded. Yang Yu had no idea exactly what she meant by “handle this”, but he knew the cheating accusation was put to rest.

Back in the classroom, Yang Yu noticed his classmates staring at him strangely. He gave a bitter smile. It must be the love‑letter incident from yesterday. He was truly in a tough spot‑like someone who had stepped in mud, it was impossible to clear his name. There was no way to explain the letter. He had no choice but to pretend nothing had happened.

He also noticed Yu Yi looking at him with hostility. His reaction the day before must have wounded her pride. Yet Yang Yu felt no guilt whatsoever. She had provoked him first. He would not turn the other cheek and praise her for hitting him.

The old Yang Yu might have acted that way, but after everything he had lived through, he was no longer that person.

Soon Teacher Zhao walked in holding the test papers. She cleared her throat.

“The results of yesterday’s quiz are ready. Let’s announce the scores.”

“Yu Yi must be first.”

“No doubt about it. She’s been our English class representative since seventh grade.”

“That’s true.”

Hearing the chatter around her, a hint of pride crossed Yu Yi’s face.

Teacher Zhao glanced down at the papers. “First place: Yu Yi, 145 points.”

“Just as expected. That score is incredible. The paper was so hard yesterday; I’d be lucky to get a hundred. How did she score so high?”

“How can you even compare yourself to her?”

Once Yu Yi’s score was announced, the whole class started buzzing.

Second place, third place…

When they reached fifth place, Teacher Zhao shot Yang Yu a meaningful look.

“Fifth place: Yang Yu, 137 points. You lost too many marks on listening. Pay more attention to that in the future.”

137 points.

Yang Yu rubbed his nose. He really had been a fool in his past life. He had lost thirteen points out of thirty on the listening section alone.

Only Yang Yu was dissatisfied with this score. Everyone else in the classroom stared at him as if they had seen a ghost.

Yu Yi stood up abruptly, pointed straight at Yang Yu, and shouted, “Yang Yu! Did you copy my test paper?”

At her words, the whole class seemed to realize something. Yu Yi was such a top student, and Yang Yu sat right behind her. His high score really did look like plagiarism, just as Yu Yi claimed.

“What an i***t. If you’re going to cheat, at least be subtle about it,” Li Cai sneered.

“I never thought Yang Yu, who always seemed so honest, would resort to cheating.”

Other uninformed students joined in the murmurs.

Yang Yu merely looked at Yu Yi. “Copy your paper? Are you joking. What makes you think I would need to copy from you?”

His bold words sent shockwaves through the classroom. Every student gaped at him, as if meeting him for the first time.

Yu Yi’s face turned livid in an instant.