I'm A Math Idiot, So What? - Chapter 9

Professor Fang held my answer sheet, his sharp gaze directed at me. “Fang Congxin says you shared him the answers for the preliminary test. Is that true?”

With plenty of experience in outsmarting math teachers and facing various challenges, I guessed that Professor Fang might have noticed the similarity in our answers and asked a few questions, which the charismatic guy couldn’t withstand and confessed.

I sneaked a glance at the handsome guy. Is his name Fang Congxin?

I signaled him with my eyes: What’s going on?

However, he just stood there with his hands in his pockets, eyes downcast, saying nothing.

It seemed it was just as I thought.

In such a situation, once one person admits it, the other can’t deny it either. Being honest and standing firm might help get a lenient sentence.

I said, “Professor Fang, I’m sorry. I just saw that he couldn’t do it and didn’t want him to submit a blank paper, so I wanted to help him.”

Professor Fang gave a slight smile, looking at me, “I appreciate your intention to help a classmate, but you should also be aware of your own abilities. Act within your means. None of the three questions were answered correctly by you. What kind of help were you offering? You’re like a clay Buddha crossing the river, unable to save others.”

Gosh! Xu Zheng had the nerve to charge me two hundred and fifty for this; I think he is the real fool here!

But hearing Professor Fang’s Sichuan-accented Mandarin, I knew the matter wasn’t so serious. I nodded vigorously, repeatedly agreeing, and even gave a tug on Fang Congxin, hoping he’d be smart enough to join me in admitting our fault.

He looked up and gave me a smile. I took it as a signal of apology, a request for understanding, and an attempt at friendliness. It was like my boat was being rowed gently through the waves in my heart by his smile.

Oh, young wolf cub, don’t worry about it. When you’re constantly beside the river, you’ll inevitably get your feet wet. It’s not your fault for getting caught.

Besides, in ancient times when I was busted by teachers, I faced situations akin to zero-sum games and the prisoner’s dilemma, and I always showed magnanimity towards a teammate’s betrayal. After all, given the circumstances, you can’t expect everyone to stick together and endure to the end.I understood completely.

So, naturally and inappropriately, I returned a generous smile, until I heard him speak slowly and deliberately to the professor, “I feel that the teacher’s current comments are condoning students to cheat under the guise of mutual assistance. I believe this approach is very inappropriate.”

Hmm? What is he saying?

He continued his speech eloquently: “Teacher, apart from imparting knowledge and clearing doubts, you also have the responsibility to educate and discipline students’ character. Cheating is a serious issue of integrity, and I think your current stance of glossing over the matter or even making light of her cheating behavior, in the short term, encourages more students to cheat in your class, thereby affecting the performance and grades of honest students. In the long term, as the saying goes, those who steal needles when young will steal gold when old. Your lack of action is, in essence, indirectly encouraging students to break the rules and take shortcuts in society. Although it may be offensive, I must say, if you insist on handling issues this way by making mountains out of molehills or ignoring them altogether, you are, in fact, an incompetent teacher because you actually have all the tools at your disposal to prevent the spread of such behavior. For example, although the preliminary test is not graded, it doesn’t mean that the character displayed during the test shouldn’t be factored into the daily grades. You can deduct her daily grades as a deterrent. Or do you and some students understand similarly, that daily grades are equivalent to attendance grades and are merely ornamental, given just for showing up?”

I was utterly bewildered: ???!!!%￥#&