After Swapping Souls with the Aloof Fake Young Master, I Sent the Whole Family Flying - Chapter 5

After returning to the Jiang residence, Pei Jinghang was so utterly drained from the exam pressure that he completely failed to notice the number of servants attending to the house had been cut in half.

The butler who had been monitoring him during the day was also absent. Pei Jinghang glanced around at the remaining staff, each attending to their duties, and felt the atmosphere was far more oppressive than when he had first arrived home at noon.

At this moment, Pei Jinghang had no time to worry about the Jiang family’s internal affairs. His top priority was to deal with Jiang Yi’s minor exam.

Even though Pei Jinghang disliked Jiang Yi, he had no reason to sabotage the other boy’s studies so severely.

Pei Jinghang hadn’t touched a textbook in ages, and his handwriting wasn’t nearly as neat or elegant as Jiang Yi’s. How to get through the exam without damaging Jiang Yi’s reputation had become the new, daunting challenge before him.

If he, with his mind a complete mess, tried to tackle the test himself, it would be a total disaster. He’d be so embarrassed he’d want to crawl into a hole and die.

Maybe I should just ask for a day off…

Action speaks louder than words. Pei Jinghang grabbed his phone and hurriedly sent Jiang Yi a message, feigning a pitiful tone. “Discipline Committee Member, my stomach’s been hurting all evening. I think I might have eaten something bad. Can I take tomorrow off?”

Pei Jinghang almost cried out in Jiang Yi’s voice. When he played back the voice message he’d just sent, he suddenly felt as if Jiang Yi himself were acting spoiled with him. A wave of goosebumps instantly washed over him.

As expected, Jiang Yi was also disgusted. The “Opponent is typing” indicator in the WeChat chat box flickered several times, showing that Jiang Yi was temporarily speechless. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence: “You’re the Discipline Committee member now. Why are you telling me?”

“Then who should I ask for leave from?”

After Pei Jinghang sent this message, Jiang Yi didn’t reply.

Pei Jinghang guessed that Jiang Yi probably didn’t want to talk to him, so he didn’t indulge him and directly made a phone call. After the phone rang several times, Jiang Yi slowly picked up. Pei Jinghang was somewhat annoyed and asked, “What are you busy with tonight? Why are you so slow to reply to messages?”

“…Doing homework.” Jiang Yi was very puzzled that Pei Jinghang could ask such a question, “As a student, if you don’t go home to do homework, what else do you want to do?”

Pei Jinghang had never even touched his homework, let alone finished it. Terrified that Jiang Yi would show up tomorrow with his face and try to hand it in, he quickly interjected, “I never study. If you’re planning to turn in that assignment, you’d better give everyone a month’s notice first. If you suddenly hand it in tomorrow, you’ll scare Director Song to death.”

“I understand,” Jiang Yi replied, his voice icy. Faintly, Pei Jinghang could still hear the scratch of a pen on paper. “If you’re really having a stomachache, go ask Principal Chen for leave. In all three years of high school, I only ever took two days off, and both times the Jiang Family was notified. The number of servants at home only increased after that. If you can handle it on your own, go ahead and ask.”

Jiang Yi had made his point crystal clear. Pei Jinghang scratched his head in frustration, finally voicing his true concerns. “If I don’t get a leave of absence, your top-of-the-class ranking will plummet to dead last tomorrow! We’re screwed either way. Is there any other way to weather this storm?”

At those words, Pei Jinghang heard the pen in Jiang Yi’s hand pause. After a moment, the sound of writing resumed. “Do you know how to cheat?”

“As long as the teacher doesn’t catch you, it’s pretty easy,” Pei Jinghang nodded and replied.

“I’ll make a cheat sheet for tomorrow’s quiz. Just hide it in your sleeve and take a quick look. This is a one-time deal, so after this, you’d better start studying seriously. If you dare embarrass me…” Jiang Yi paused for a few seconds, his words dripping with venom like a snake’s tongue, “don’t think you’ll get off easy.”

Hearing his own voice threaten him, Pei Jinghang shivered involuntarily.

Realizing he’d lost his composure, he froze for a moment before sneering into the phone, “I could beat you at this without even trying.”

“Oh.” Jiang Yi didn’t bother challenging Pei Jinghang’s bravado. Anyone with a functioning brain could do that. He simply declared he needed to study and prepare the cheat sheet, then abruptly hung up.

Pei Jinghang felt a wave of boredom. He’d handed off all his homework to Jiang Yi the moment school let out. Now that he thought about it, he’d never actually taken responsibility for Jiang Yi’s life since they’d swapped bodies.

On a whim, Pei Jinghang pulled a book from the shelf in Jiang Yi’s room—the one that looked the easiest to understand: New Gaokao Biology: Comprehensive Answer Guide. He flopped onto the bed and started flipping through its pages…

The legendary book had certainly lived up to its reputation. When Pei Jinghang woke up, he felt completely refreshed. But as he reached the school gate with his backpack on, he found Jiang Yi staring at him with a dark expression.

The reason was simple: Pei Jinghang had arrived at the last possible moment, leaving them no time to talk privately.

Pei Jinghang had always lived spontaneously, a stark contrast to Jiang Yi’s meticulously planned life. Even after a full day of swapping identities, they still hadn’t managed to sync their daily routines.

Jiang Yi sighed and walked toward the bewildered Pei Jinghang. He handed over a cheat sheet with neat, clear handwriting and warned him with a worried look, “Don’t let the teacher see it, no matter what.”

“Yes, sir!” Pei Jinghang’s mood instantly brightened.

He raised his hand in a sharp salute and beamed a brilliant smile. “I’m on the third floor, so I’ll head up first. Discipline Committee Member… remember to sleep in class today.”

With that, Pei Jinghang gave Jiang Yi a familiar pat on the shoulder and turned to leave. He didn’t notice Jiang Yi standing behind him, slowly raising a hand to touch the spot where he’d just been patted.

As soon as Pei Jinghang reached his desk and packed his things, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. He watched the teacher enter the room with a stack of exam papers and swallowed nervously, a visceral wave of dread washing over him at the mere thought of the test.

The first exam was math. Just as the teacher instructed everyone to clear their desks, Pei Jinghang discreetly checked that the cheat sheet was still hidden in his hand.

He had taken a five-minute trip to the restroom earlier to memorize the general contents of the sheet. Fortunately, his short-term memory was quite good. After receiving the paper, he quickly scribbled down all the answers he had committed to memory.

But just as he was about to tackle the long-answer questions, a crucial detail he’d overlooked the night before suddenly struck him:

His handwriting was completely different from Jiang Yi’s.

Pei Jinghang’s handwriting was a mess, while Jiang Yi’s was a beautiful, precise regular script. He couldn’t possibly mimic it. With no other choice, Pei Jinghang had to carefully refer to the cheat sheet, copying each character one by one while trying his best to imitate Jiang Yi’s style.

Since this was the opening exam for their final year of high school, the test was notoriously difficult. Even though Jiang Yi had seen the types of questions beforehand, there was no guarantee the actual exam would be identical.

When Pei Jinghang saw the values that didn’t match the problem statement, he racked his brains for a long time but still couldn’t figure out the answer.

He squeezed out the answers one by one, like squeezing toothpaste from a tube. Pei Jinghang felt like he had used up all the skills he had learned in three years of high school. By the time he reached the last question, he was on the verge of giving up. As he watched the time tick away, the suffocating feeling of being forced to take the exam lingered in his mind.

The elite class truly lived up to its name. Before long, many students had already turned in their papers. The proctor noticed that Jiang Yi, who was always the first to finish, hadn’t handed in his yet. Curious, the teacher walked over to Pei Jinghang and asked gently, “Jiang Yi, is there a mistake in the question?”

Pei Jinghang frowned so hard his brow could have crushed a fly. Seeing this, the proctor became even more convinced of his guess. Before Pei Jinghang could even react, the teacher had already picked up a test paper from the desk and walked toward the Math Group.

Through the reflection in the glass, Pei Jinghang saw the teachers discussing for about ten minutes. Then, the proctor returned with the paper, tapped the blackboard, and announced, “The conditions for the last question are incorrect. Everyone, please stop working on it. This question will not be graded.”

This was all thanks to Jiang Yi’s naturally gifted “straight-A student” aura combined with a stroke of sheer luck. It made the teachers suspect the problem was with the test question itself, rather than doubting Jiang Yi’s own abilities.

Pei Jinghang suddenly felt like a master actor, having successfully fooled even the teachers. For the rest of the exams, he relied on the cheat sheets Jiang Yi had prepared and his own quick wits to get through without a hitch.

Even though the handwriting was different, Pei Jinghang still tried his best to tackle the liberal arts subjects like English. He’d even had Jiang Yi help him brainstorm the Chinese essay on the spot. During the English exam, however, he ran into trouble. One of the reading comprehension passages was so full of unfamiliar words that he was completely lost.

Just as he was starting to panic, he remembered Jiang Yi’s advice: read the questions first, then search for the answers in the text. Pei Jinghang tried this method and actually managed to find some key information, allowing him to successfully answer a few of the easier questions.

After a whole morning of Jiang Yi and himself preparing both mentally and physically, the final exam finally ended. Pei Jinghang let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he’d just survived an apocalyptic battle.

Jiang Yi was too exhausted to say anything by the end. He had run back and forth between the Grade 11 and Grade 12 buildings during every break, and he was completely worn out. At this point, he didn’t even care how Pei Jinghang had actually performed. As long as the boy had taken the exams seriously, they could find some excuse to get him through the rest.

Pei Jinghang packed his things and prepared to leave the classroom to find Jiang Yi, who was hiding in the restroom. Just as he was about to go, Qiao Annuo walked up to him and asked with a smile, “Jiang Yi, how did the exam go today? It’s rare to see you not hand in your paper early.”

Pei Jinghang felt a pang of guilt but forced a calm smile. “It was alright,” he replied. “I just checked my work a couple of extra times.”

After chatting with Qiao Annuo for a few more moments, Pei Jinghang quickly left the classroom to avoid any further complications. He immediately spotted Jiang Yi, who had just stepped out of the restroom for some fresh air.

Jiang Yi noticed him, and their eyes met. He gave a slight nod, his gaze silently asking how things had gone. Pei Jinghang gave him a thumbs-up, signaling that he had given it his all. Jiang Yi simply nodded back.

They hadn’t spoken a word to each other the entire time, yet they displayed a rare and unique understanding. To an outsider, it might have looked like Jiang Yi had gone mad during the exam and was now suddenly being friendly with the problem student, Pei Jinghang.

Unfortunately, Qiao Annuo happened to see the whole thing as she came out to move some desks. Her eyes narrowed, as if she had just glimpsed a secret that couldn’t be spoken aloud.

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