Lynn Chen walked in from outside, her voice loud as she looked at Evan Lin, who was still standing over there.
As soon as she spoke, Henry Wang and the others all turned to look at her.
"Lynn Chen, you and he are both from Brightsea City, and I know you two might know each other, but that's not a reason for you to shield him!"
Henry Wang glanced at Lynn Chen as she walked in, a hint of displeasure flashing across his face.
He used to be proud of Lynn Chen—after all, she's a girl who could score a hundred and forty points. Even at Capitalview First High School, a top student like her deserves serious respect.
But now Lynn Chen was standing up and speaking for Evan Lin, clearly siding against him, her teacher!
"This isn't shielding—this test paper is from the Seacrest Province Math Olympiad..." Lynn Chen hurried to explain.
"Of course I know it's from the Seacrest Province Math Olympiad! I was the one who recommended this paper," Henry Wang said, frowning. "Are you trying to say your Brightsea City teachers gave you this exact paper to work on? That's just nonsense!"
"A test paper this difficult—ordinary schools would never give it to regular students. Only Capitalview First High School has the guts to do that!"
Henry Wang raised his voice: "The only explanation is that Evan Lin saw the test paper in the Academic Affairs office, then went home and found the answers. Otherwise, how could he finish this paper in half an hour and get a perfect score?"
"As far as I know, even the highest scorer on this paper didn't get a perfect score. The Seacrest Province Math Olympiad champion took at least an hour to finish! Are you trying to tell me this Evan Lin kid is even better than the Olympiad champion?"
Henry Wang was practically shouting by the end.
"The Olympiad champion you're talking about—unless I'm mistaken, that's me."
A cool, indifferent voice rang out.
Henry Wang's angry face froze in place the moment he heard that.
Director Ben Lu, who had already stood up and slammed the table, turned his head mechanically, staring straight at Evan Lin.
Principal Damon Deng's expression also froze in surprise.
Byron Yang nearly lost his balance on the spot.
"What did you say?" Henry Wang stared at Evan Lin, frozen in place, barely able to believe his own ears.
"He's the Seacrest Province Math Olympiad champion. You can check that on the Olympiad website," Lynn Chen said, her expression complicated. As she spoke, her eyes lingered on Evan Lin, feeling something strange in her heart.
"Holy crap!"
"No way! The Seacrest Province Math Olympiad champion—how could he end up in Class 12?"
Hearing Lynn Chen and Evan Lin's words, the students who had been suspecting Evan of cheating and looking down on him all sat stiffly in their seats, heads spinning as if they were dreaming.
Ivy Liang had been resting her head on her hand, face cold, absentmindedly twirling her pen. When she heard this, she was so startled that the pen flew out of her hand. She looked up at the projection screen, her face full of shock.
Wendy Wen, standing beside the camera setup, was left dumbfounded. She had never imagined that the boy who dared to openly break school rules was actually the Olympiad champion!
"These questions are so simple. Does winning a championship really shock you that much? Looks like Capitalview First High's academic level isn't all that impressive," Evan Lin said, shaking his head slightly.
It was only then that Director Ben Lu realized why Evan Lin's math teacher from Brightsea No. 2 High School had praised him so highly. Ben had thought Evan and that teacher were related, but it turned out Evan was his star pupil!
"The Seacrest Province Math Olympiad champion..."
Principal Damon Deng's face, full of anger just moments before, changed again and again before finally settling into calm. His gaze at Evan Lin lost its anger and gained a hint of curiosity. "With grades like yours, how did you end up in Class 12?"
As soon as Principal Damon Deng spoke, Director Ben Lu felt a chill in his heart and hurried to explain, "Principal, I placed him based on his previous grades. He didn't even take last semester's finals, and his earlier scores were just terrible..."
Before Director Ben Lu could finish, Principal Damon Deng had already cut him off, shaking his head. "That's not an excuse. Being the Math Olympiad champion is impressive enough—you just didn't handle the placement properly."
Director Ben Lu was publicly scolded, his face turning pale.
Off to the side, Director David Chen, who had been silently observing Evan Lin, now furrowed his brow in thought. After a moment, he spoke with curiosity, "Evan Lin from Brightsea City... Is your family from Whitewood County?"
"Yes. And you are...?" Evan Lin nodded at Director Chen's question, but a cold glint flashed deep in his eyes as he looked at him.
"Whitewood County? Director Chen, do you know him?" Principal Damon Deng hadn't expected Director Chen to speak up at this moment.
The others all turned to look at Director Chen as well.
"Principal Deng, you might not know this, but I'm here today on behalf of the Seacrest Province Public Security Department, specifically to present a commendation banner to a Teen Hero! Haha, looks like I didn't mistake the person—this Teen Hero is standing right in front of me!" Director Chen laughed heartily and stood up.
Teen Hero?
Everyone was stunned.
Lynn Chen's face was full of disbelief too.
Only Evan Lin remained calm. After a moment's thought, he understood exactly what was going on.
"That's right. This Teen Hero helped the authorities crack a massive economic fraud case worth five hundred million yuan! And the syndicate had committed crimes in multiple places, with a total amount reaching two billion yuan!"
"Our police spent five or six years trying to track down this group with no luck, but thanks to this student, we caught a key figure and used that lead to bust the entire gang!"
"Originally, the commendation banner was supposed to be delivered to his school in Brightsea, but before the semester started, he transferred. This time, the provincial leaders called and specifically asked us to honor him in public! Students like him are rare—brave and smart! Truly remarkable!"
Director Chen's face glowed with pride, his bearing dignified and his voice booming.
Everyone was left completely stunned by his speech.
"Teen Hero!"
Principal Damon Deng was the first to react—this was a perfect PR opportunity!
"Wendy Wen, hurry, get a close-up of our Teen Hero and Director Chen!"
Principal Damon Deng shouted at the utterly stunned Wendy Wen, then his face lit up with a smile. He looked at Evan Lin with warmth. "A good student—this is a good student! Having you at Capitalview First High School is truly our school's good fortune!"