261 - I Don’t Want to Be Turned Into the Female Protagonist by the System

Chapter 261: The Tragedy of Gu Panpan Amidst the gradual arrival of the summer holidays and the unwelcome end-of-term exams at Su University, only a few students felt the pressure intensely. In the dorm room sat Gu Panpan, using a black watercolor marker to doodle on the side of her thigh. That day, Gu Panpan had donned a denim dress, with the hem just reaching her knees. This allowed her to pull up her dress slightly whenever there was something she couldn’t recall. Su Qi watched Gu Panpan's actions and felt the scene was somewhat alluring. There was something exciting about seeing black ink marks seemingly dance across the ivory skin of the young woman's thigh. After carefully inscribing words on her leg, Gu Panpan used a hairdryer to dry the ink. Once she put her dress down, Su Qi noticed that nothing was visible anymore. Gu Panpan caught Su Qi's gaze and after a moment she asked, “A-Qi, do you want a cheat sheet?” Su Qi quickly shook her head. She had complete confidence in her abilities for the exam and had no desire to have her own leg marked. The sight of those dark letters brought Su Qi back to an event from her birthday, causing her face to flush slightly with a rosy hue. Wang Zijin and An Ning glanced at their friend's now apple-red cheeks, exchanging a knowing look that said it all: it seemed such activities should happen more frequently. After this brief distraction, the four of them swiftly gathered their exam supplies. Finally, after ten days of inactivity, Su Qi emerged from her dorm and walked into the heart of the campus. There was an intense academic atmosphere that day at Su University. Every student seemed to embody the saying "time is money," clutching study materials for their final pre-exam review. As a result, few noticed Su Qi, known to some as the "Flying Chick." Approaching the exam venue, the four separated as they had different majors and their exam rooms were located in different areas. Su Qi took a deep breath in front of the door marked as Exam Room 19 and entered. Inside, she realized she was quite early; about half the seats were still empty. Additionally, she spotted someone she knew. "Qi-ge, you're in this exam room too?" Wu Wei asked, his eyes wide with excitement. Wu Wei’s voice boomed, drawing glances from many students. Su Qi felt slightly embarrassed by the attention. However, no one approached her; everyone was too engrossed in their last-minute studying. Su Qi found her seat, number 17, in the 7667 layout of the exam hall. Wu Wei was seated at number 23. After exchanging a quick greeting with Wu Wei, she discovered that he, like many others, was making discreet efforts on the wall with his pencil. Observing further, Su Qi found several students engaged in similar clandestine activities—all part of their last-minute prep for the test. With ten minutes remaining until the exam began, the proctor finally arrived on site. To avoid detection, many students, similar to Wu Wei, halted their secretive actions, quietly waiting for the papers to be handed out. Yet, two minutes before the start, the invigilator noticed something amiss. “Hmm... this isn’t right. Your seating should be 6776, not 7667. You there, swap seats quickly.” Pointing to the students assigned numbers 1 and 26, the proctor pushed the desks closer, causing a reshuffle in positions. Watching Wu Wei’s stunned expression, Su Qi could hardly contain her laughter. The student now occupying Wu Wei’s former seat spotted the scribbles on the wall and their eyes lit up. Was this fate’s blessing? They even turned back to glance at Wu Wei, silently conveying a message of gratitude through their eyes. Brother, I’m set. Good luck to you. As the bell chimed, the test papers were swiftly distributed. The first subject was the usual, advanced mathematics. When Su Qi received her paper, she glanced through it and thought the questions seemed a bit too simple. The proctor, curious about this well-known, intelligent girl, edged closer to observe her performance. However, en route, he stumbled upon a student intensely focused on their cheatsheet. Though Su University is strict about catching cheaters—often involving public reprimands and, in severe cases, deferring graduation—the teachers, having once been students themselves, tend to handle situations with understanding. Instead of escalating, they prefer subtler methods. The teacher approached the cheating student and asked, “So, will you submit your paper now, or do you not want your diploma?” Thus, barely two minutes into the exam, a student, having only written their name and not even attempted the multiple-choice questions, handed in their paper and left. Watching the student exit, Su Qi silently prayed for Gu Panpan's luck, hoping she wouldn’t get caught. She redirected her attention to the test and began answering questions. Su Qi progressed swiftly through the paper; if not for her calculations on scratch paper, the proctor might have suspected she had prior access to the answers. In just 25 minutes, Su Qi completed and checked the paper thoroughly. Confident in her answers, she wasn't afraid to change one of them from ‘d’ to ‘b’. After all, she preferred to fly under the radar and merely pass the excellence threshold. Having finished, Su Qi approached the proctor to submit her paper, leaving onlookers bewildered by her pace, especially since some hadn’t finished their selection questions. Amidst their astonished stares, Su Qi left the exam hall, relieved to escape the scrutinizing crowd and avoid being hailed as the "Flying Chick" once more. Due to finishing early, the hallway was nearly empty, saving her from any awkward spotlight on her way back to the dorm. About an hour later, the dorm door swung open, revealing her two friends with Gu Panpan in tears. After some conversation, Su Qi learned that during the exam, Gu Panpan was discovered “checking her leg” by a teacher who handed her a bottle of water and tissues. Not only did Gu Panpan face embarrassment, but she also lost marks as a result. As she replayed the incident and remembered the odd stares from other exam-takers, she felt deeply humiliated, which only added to her distress. Listening to Wang Zijin recount the episode, Su Qi, with her experience of public mishaps, deemed that Gu Panpan had more learning experiences ahead. Watching the tearful and aggrieved Gu Panpan, Su Qi found the situation amusing and a reminder not to cheat. With this sobering lesson imprinted on her mind, Gu Panpan abstained from any further questionable actions for the remainder of the exams. As the last test concluded, the long-awaited summer break finally arrived.