The Candy Thief

The day before the college entrance exam, the class belle everyone adored stepped onto the podium. "I wasn't going to tell anyone, but I couldn't bear to let you all miss this opportunity. There's a hidden rule in this year's college entrance exam system. If you soak your answer sheet, it'll be transferred for a special manual review by top universities." I froze, staring at her for a long while before finally blinking dumbly. In my previous life, those exact words had been enough to make someone as dull as me lose my composure for the first time in my life. I ran to get the teacher and stopped the entire class from soaking their answer sheets. In the end, the class belle failed the exam and broke down in tears in the class group chat. "If Ondine hadn't brought the teacher to keep an eye on us, maybe all of us would've had a chance." Later, one of her admirers cornered me on the school's rooftop and forced me to grovel and apologize to her. Unfortunately, I fell from the building during the struggle to defend myself. When I opened my eyes again, I was transported right back to the moment she was teaching the class how to "activate" their answer sheets. This time, I lowered my head as my lips curled into a slow smile. "Sounds good. Just make sure you soak them thoroughly. We don't want the system to scan them now, do we?" Chapter 1 Sign at Your Own Risk Bonnie Greenwood's eyes were still red around the edges, her voice so meek that she sounded as though she would shatter at the slightest touch. "This opportunity is just too great to miss. I can't bear to see you all lose out on this chance simply because you didn't know about it." Someone hesitated before asking, "But… aren't we not supposed to get the answer sheet wet?" Bonnie's lashes trembled as if the question itself had hurt her. However, Leon Zander had already leaped to his feet before she could answer. "What are you implying?" he demanded coldly, glaring at the student who had spoken. "Do you have any idea of the risk Bonnie just took to tell us this? Yet the first thing you do is question her?" The student immediately fell silent. Bonnie hurriedly shook her head, her voice quivering. "Leon, don't be like that. I'm not upset. It's perfectly normal for everyone to have doubts. After all, it really does sound a little unbelievable." The more understanding she acted, the more everyone felt sorry for her. Several girls immediately gathered around her. "Bonnie, don't cry. We believe you." Leon swept his gaze across the classroom before stopping on me. "Ondine Sinclair. Why aren't you saying anything?" I sat in the last row, still holding my unfinished carton of oat milk. When I heard his question, I slowly lifted my head. In my previous life, this was the exact moment I warned everyone that the scanning machines would likely fail to read the answer sheet once it was soaked. I told them that it would be sent for manual review at best. At worst, it would be flagged as an irregular exam paper. That day, I had been so anxious my voice quivered as I spoke. Alas, all they saw was a jealous girl who couldn't stand how beloved Bonnie was. I couldn't bear to watch them ruin their futures for something so idiotic. So, I ran to fetch the teacher to put a stop to it all before anyone dared to soak their answer sheets. But what did I get in return? The entire class resented me for it. They said I had destroyed the only chance they'd ever had to leap ahead of everyone else. Leon, the school's most feared troublemaker, led a group of students who cornered me on the rooftop. I struggled to defend myself, but all I got out of it was them pushing me over the ledge. Before I fell, I saw Bonnie wrapped safely in someone's arms, crying like she was the actual victim. … "To protect everyone and to protect the source of this information, please sign this confidentiality agreement." The papers were passed to every single one of us. Across the top, the title read, "Confidentiality Acknowledgment Form." There was a long string of vague, convoluted legal jargon printed at the bottom. "Should any consequences arise due to the individual's actions, mental state, examination conditions, or other personal factors, all responsibility shall be borne solely by the individual and shall not be attributed to the information provider." I glanced at it for two seconds before casually flipping to the last page. That was when I saw it. Right there in the bottom-right corner, printed in text so faint it was almost invisible, was a single line. "Content generated by CipherAI. For reference only. Please revise according to actual circumstances." Chapter 2 A Trap Signed Willingly I couldn't stop myself from chortling. So that was it. Bonnie had never been a good student, but she couldn't accept repeating her senior year alone. She likely came up with this idiotic scheme to drag the entire class down with her. However, she was also rightfully afraid of being held responsible if something went wrong. So, she'd used CipherAI to generate this half-baked confidentiality agreement, hoping everyone would voluntarily sign away any liability. "What are you laughing at? Hurry up and sign it already!" Leon strode over and slapped a hand down on my desk. True to my dull persona, it took my brain an extra second to catch up. So, I waited a few moments before saying, "This disclaimer…" Leon frowned. "What about it?" "Nothing. It just looks like it was written by AI," I replied blandly. Bonnie's face turned pale for a split second. She quickly lowered her eyes, her voice shaking as she murmured, "I wrote it myself. I was worried I wouldn't express things clearly enough, so I asked AI to polish the wording a little. Ondine, don't overthink it." Leon immediately shot me a glare. "Are you done with your questions? Bonnie stayed up all night for everyone's sake, and you're nitpicking her wording?" I nodded. "Oh, okay. I'll sign it." Leon snatched the form from my hand. "Smart choice." After every signed agreement had been collected, Bonnie hugged the document folder to her chest and gave one last reminder. "Don't forget, guys. Activate your answer sheets immediately after you get them." She got a chorus of agreement in return. At that moment, every pair of eyes in the classroom sparkled with hope. They were acting as though Bonnie had already placed acceptance letters from prestigious universities right into their hands. I watched them listlessly from my seat in the back row before lowering my gaze to the study tablet on my desk. A tiny red indicator blinked in the corner of the screen. "Recording Wrong Answer Explanations… Automatically Synced to Cloud." Everything that had just happened in the classroom had been recorded and uploaded. … The next morning, the entrance to the examination center was packed with people. Parents stood beneath umbrellas while teachers held up signs. The loudspeakers boomed overhead, repeatedly reminding candidates to enter the venue early. I stood at the very back of the crowd, so sleepy I could barely keep my eyes open. Bonnie had arrived early, and there were two cases of bottled water right next to her. Each bottle was decorated with a light blue sticky note, on which she had written neatly, "Hope everything goes exactly as planned!" The entire class became deeply touched by her gesture when they gathered around her and saw the bottles. "Bonnie, how sweet of you." "You're still thinking about us even on the day of the exam. I'm seriously going to cry." "We'll definitely make it into the special review pool with your help." Bonnie lowered her head shyly. "I was just worried everyone would be nervous. Don't drink too much water beforehand. Use it to sprinkle some water onto your answer sheets once the exam starts." As she spoke, she lowered her voice even further. "Remember to wet the edges around the barcode too. The scanner has to fail on the first attempt before it'll send the paper for manual review." "What if the proctor notices?" someone asked nervously. Leon immediately glared at the speaker. "Your palms get sweaty, don't you? It's scorching outside. A little moisture on the edge of an answer sheet is completely normal." Bonnie gently tugged at his sleeve to calm him down. "Leon, don't be so harsh. I understand why everyone's anxious. This was always going to be risky." Her eyes reddened again. "If you decide not to do it… That's okay, too. I won't blame anyone." Several classmates instantly became agitated. "Bonnie, don't say that. We're definitely doing it!" "You've already handed us this opportunity. We'd be idiots not to take it." "Exactly. Anyone who doesn't do it will regret it for the rest of their lives." Chapter 3 The First Exam I stood at the edges of the crowd, watching them accept the bottles of water one after another as though each one were a ticket to a prestigious university. In reality, it was nothing more than ordinary bottled water that cost two dollars a pop. Yet, it was enough to wash away the fruits of their 12 years of hard work. When it was my turn, Bonnie handed me a bottle herself. Then, she looked up at me and asked softly, "Ondine, you'll do it too, won't you?" Leon stood behind her, his gaze icy. Honestly, it felt as though he was more than willing to drag me into the nearest corner to beat me up the moment I said no. I lowered my eyes to the sticky note attached to the bottle. "Hope everything goes exactly as planned!" Eventually, I slowly reached out and accepted it. "I will." A look of genuine relief washed over Bonnie's face. She smiled, though tears still clung to her eyelashes. "That's good. I really don't want to leave anyone behind." I nodded. "Yeah. No one is going to get left behind." I slipped the bottle into the side pocket of my backpack and turned toward the security checkpoint. Suddenly, Leon reached out and blocked my path. "Sinclair." I stopped. He lowered his voice as he growled dangerously, "You'd better not pull anything today. I swear I'll make you pay if you ruin Bonnie's plan because of your little stunt." I looked at him. After a brief pause, I asked slowly, "How would I ruin it?" Leon sneered. "Drop the act. Don't you think you're going to feel like an absolute idiot when the results come out, and our whole class gets into the special review pool?" I nodded blandly. "Yeah. That would be pretty embarrassing." Leon stared at me, clearly unsatisfied by my lack of reaction. Sure enough, his expression grew darker as he snarled. "Remember what you just said." Then, he turned around and went back to escort Bonnie into the line. The instant he walked away, the female voice over the loudspeaker repeated mechanically, "Candidates are reminded to take the examination honestly. Making any marks outside the designated areas of the answer sheet is strictly prohibited." The timing almost made me laugh. The announcement was loud enough for everyone to hear, but not a single one of my classmates took it to heart. … Before we entered the examination room, Bonnie stood on the opposite side of the line. Everyone could see her through the crowd when she pointed at her water bottle and then at the pouch holding her answer sheet. Everyone immediately understood what she was getting at. Leon even turned back to glare at me, mouthing a silent warning. "Watch. It." The starting bell rang. The proctors unsealed the answer-sheet packets and distributed them one by one. Mine landed on my desk. It was clean and perfectly dry. There wasn't a single drop of water on it. I carefully filled in my personal information before looking up. Several rows away, I saw Leon lower his head, quickly unscrew his bottle, pour water into his palm, and flick it onto his answer sheet. To my glee, he wasn't the only one as I caught several of my classmates assigned to the same examination room doing the exact same thing. I withdrew my gaze and returned to my paper. The tip of my pen scratched steadily across the page. In my previous life, I had desperately tried to stop them. Now, I was just a mere observer as I watched them press the delete button on their own futures. 15 minutes into the language exam, the proctor began checking the answer sheets. When she reached Leon's desk, she suddenly stopped short and asked in alarm, "Candidate, why is your answer sheet wet?" Leon's expression froze. The entire examination room fell silent. The proctor stood beside his desk and held up his answer sheet to scrutinize it closely. "The barcode area is damp. I'll need to record this first." Leon stiffly explained, "My palms were sweaty, ma'am. I accidentally brushed against it." The proctor glanced at him. "Whether it can still be scanned will depend on the scanning results afterward." The bell signaling the end of the exam rang. I stood up and walked out of the examination room. The moment I unlocked my phone, the class group chat had already exploded with messages. Chapter 4 The Process Must Continue "I did it! The proctor only glanced at it and didn't ask me a thing!" "Mine got recorded! Does that mean it's going into the special review process?" "Bonnie was right! It really worked!" A voice message from Bonnie arrived soon after. Her voice was sweet and as soft as silk. "Don't panic, everyone. If your paper got recorded, that means the system has flagged it. You have to do it in this afternoon's math exam as well. "If the process gets interrupted, everything we've done so far will be wasted." I slid my finger across the screen, taking screenshots of every single message and saving them one by one. My phone suddenly vibrated, and a message from Leon popped up. "Come here." I didn't budge from where I was. To my annoyance, Leon appeared in front of me with two other of his lackeys nary a second later. Then, he slammed down a bottle of mineral water in front of me, causing the droplets to splash onto the cuffs of my pants. "Sinclair." His eyes were dark and menacing, as though he wanted to see straight through my soul. "Did you do it this morning or not?" I slowly raised my eyes. "Do what?" "Quit playing dumb!" Leon clenched his fists, his voice filled with barely restrained anger. "Everyone in the class did exactly what Bonnie said. You're not going to be the odd one out!" Our classmates nearby turned to look at us, their whispers drifting over. "She didn't actually chicken out, did she?" "Could she mess things up for all of us?" Bonnie hurried over, her eyes already tearing up. She gently tugged at Leon's arm. "Don't yell at Ondine. She was probably just so nervous that she forgot." The gentler Bonnie sounded, the angrier Leon became. He grabbed the strap of my backpack. "She did it on purpose! She wants you to take all the blame by yourself!" I kept my head lowered and didn't struggle. The study tablet that I'd stuffed inside my pocket had already begun recording this entire farce. Every accusation and every shout was being uploaded clearly to the cloud. "So… what do you want me to do?" I drawled unhurriedly. Leon shoved a bottle of water into my hands. "This afternoon, you're going to wet your answer sheet right in front of me during the math exam." "Ondine, we're all in the same class," Bonnie added softly. "If the process isn't complete, it'll affect everyone." The criticism around me only grew louder. They called me selfish and accused me of dragging everyone down. I simply nodded. "Okay." Leon let out a cold snort and finally released the strap of my backpack. Bonnie blinked through teary eyes. "I knew you wouldn't leave us behind." I looked at her, the corners of my lips lifting into the faintest, mocking smile. … That afternoon, Leon deliberately lined up behind me before entering the examination room. As we walked inside, he warned me lowly, "I'm watching you." During the security check, the proctor instructed me to tear the label off my water bottle and place it beside my desk. The answer sheets were handed out. Just as I was about to fill in my information, Leon gave a quiet cough behind me. I knew what it was. It was a reminder to do as I was told. I paused for a moment before raising my hand. "Excuse me, ma'am." The proctor walked over. I pointed at my answer sheet before asking calmly, "I have a question. We're not allowed to get this wet, right? Would water interfere with the scanning process?" The entire examination room fell silent. I heard Leon's breathing stop abruptly from behind me. The proctor frowned, her expression turning stern. "Absolutely not. If the answer sheet is damaged by water, it may be treated as an irregular examination paper." "Thank you, ma'am." I lowered my head and carefully filled in my information. My pen moved steadily across the page. I didn't hear anything from Leon right after that. However, I heard the faint, hurried click of a bottle cap being twisted open and shut a moment later. It was as though a certain someone was behaving like a thief trying not to get caught doing something wrong. I never brought anyone's attention to it. Instead, I focused entirely on my exam. The calculations on my paper flowed smoothly, and my answer sheet remained perfectly dry the entire time. … The same song and dance repeated itself over the course of the next two days. During the foreign language and science exams, Bonnie would constantly remind everyone in the group chat to "continue the process." Leon blocked my path every single day, threatening me. I would meekly agree to whatever he wanted whenever he started to throw his weight around, but I continued to do whatever I pleased during every exam. When the bell rang for the final paper, cheers erupted throughout the school building. Bonnie stood in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by classmates. Tears streamed down her face as she cried out, "We did it. Now, all we have to do is wait for the special admissions." I walked past her at an unhurried pace, my backpack slung over one shoulder. My voice was flat, but there was no hiding the certainty in my tone. Chapter 5 Celebration Before the Fall "Same here," I murmured into the wind. … Our class booked a large private room for dinner half a month after the exam finally came to a close. It was supposed to be a graduation gathering, but… Judging by the expressions on everyone's faces, it looked more like an early victory celebration. Leon stood in the center of the room with a glass of juice raised high, his voice loud enough to nearly drown out the music. "Once the special admissions results are released, our class is going to become the school's biggest legend. "Then, all those people who only know how to bury themselves in textbooks will finally understand what an information gap really is." The room immediately erupted into cheers. Bonnie sat in the middle of the group, surrounded by classmates. "Everyone's worked hard these past few days. From now on, let's all relax and keep our heads down. The manual special review is confidential. You won't be able to see its progress through the normal channels." Several people immediately bobbed their heads in understanding. "We totally get it. The more secretive it is, the more legitimate it sounds." "Bonnie, did your uncle say when the results are coming out?" Bonnie lowered her head and gently traced the rim of her cup with her fingers. "It should be soon. He said the system was especially strict this year. Any abnormal exam papers would all be sealed first, and only after that would they go to the special panel for manual review." Her voice was soft, but it settled everyone's nerves. It was as if her words were a reassuring promise instead of something she pulled out of her ass. The atmosphere in the room quickly became lively again. Some people discussed which universities they were going to apply to. Some wanted to study in the capital. Others planned to major in finance. Someone even joked that Bonnie was the class's lucky star and deserved the seat of honor at everyone's admission banquet. Bonnie lowered her head with a bashful smile. "Don't tease me like that. I just hope everything works out for all of you." I sat quietly in the corner, my eyes falling on my photo gallery. Every piece of evidence I had collected over the past few days was sitting there, biding its time. Just as the celebration reached its peak, someone suddenly shouted, "Holy crap! Check the trending searches!" The music was turned down, and more than a dozen phones lit up at the same time. Leon frowned as he opened the headline. The smile on his face slowly froze. "A notice from the State Board of Examinations…" He got halfway through before his voice caught in his throat. The person beside him snatched the phone away impatiently and demanded, "Well? Keep reading." However, that unfortunate soul turned stark white as he read what was written. Soon, the noisy private room fell into a deathly silence, as though an invisible hand had strangled everyone's throats. I slowly picked up my own phone. The number one trending topic was marked with a glaring "HOT." "Large Number of Abnormal Exam Papers Discovered in This Year's College Entrance Exam." I clicked on the link. The State Board of Examinations had just released an official announcement. It was written in black and white and stamped with a bright red official seal. "Following technical screening and manual review, multiple exam papers from this year's exam were found to have had the barcode areas on their answer sheets intentionally soaked, stained, or otherwise damaged. "All affected exam papers have been sealed as evidence. Information relating to the candidates suspected of violating examination regulations has been transferred to the appropriate authorities for further investigation." The room went completely silent. Every pair of eyes turned toward Bonnie. Her face was as white as paper, but she still forced herself to speak. "Don't panic. This should just be the standard announcement before the special review begins. I told you, didn't I? "If the system has detected it, that only means that the process has officially started." Leon latched onto her words like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline. "Exactly. Bonnie's right. Don't scare yourselves." Still, my phone vibrated almost immediately after. I looked down at the screen and quirked my lips in amusement. After all, staring back in my face was one newly added post. "Following official verification, all exam papers that were found to be in violation have had their scores invalidated."