Huayu: I really am a genuine top star.

Chapter 118: The car almost overturned, even more dangerously than a large truck on the Sichuan-Tibe

Teacher Mu Yuan glanced up, then looked down and ticked the box, without suspecting anything.

When it was the fourth client's turn... a guy from the directing department named "Xu Yihang"...

Shen Li pinched her throat and imitated the voice message that guy had sent on WeChat, saying "Here." Her voice was deliberately low and deep, with a lazy, bubbly tone.

Teacher Mu Yuan looked up, adjusted his reading glasses, and glanced at Shen Li.

Shen Li's heart raced slightly, but her expression remained unchanged. She turned slightly to the side, letting the brim of her hat cover half her face, and pretended to be taking notes in her notebook.

Mu Yuan stared at it for two seconds, then looked down and ticked it on the roster.

Perfect! ...Level cleared!

The fifth one went equally smoothly. Shen Li smugly calculated in her mind: a hundred yuan in hand, as easy as picking it up for free.

He was just about to relax when he suddenly heard Mu Yuan call out, "Shen Li."

"Here!" Shen Li raised her hand, her voice returning to normal... Just kidding, it was her turn, of course she would use her real voice.

Mu Yuan looked up at Shen Li, nodded, and then put his head down to tick the box.

Then... he suddenly stopped writing, looked up, pushed up his reading glasses, and glanced at Shen Li.

This time, it wasn't a quick glance, but a pause. A slight furrow appeared in his brow, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

Shen Li's heart skipped a beat. Holy crap? What's going on?

Mu Yuan glanced down at the class roster, then looked up at Shen Li, then glanced down at the roster again. Then he spoke, his voice soft, but every word clear:

"Shen Li, did you... answer for someone else just now?"

The entire classroom fell silent instantly.

Shen Li felt her heart skip a beat.

Holy crap! What kind of eyesight and hearing does this teacher have?

His disguise, voice, and posture were so convincing that even his own parents might not recognize him. How did Teacher Mu discover this?

Was it because he was adjusting his hat brim too rhythmically? Or did his voice change during a phonation session? Or... was this old man just bluffing him?

Don't panic. If you panic, everything will be over.

If this is exposed on the spot, not only will all five clients' regular credits be ruined, but he himself will also be publicly criticized.

A public reprimand is a minor matter, but a complete loss of credibility is a major one... Who would dare ask him to take attendance for them in the future? This is a matter of life and death, akin to killing one's parents!

Shen Li took a deep breath, put on her signature harmless smile, and spoke with just the right amount of confusion in her tone:

"Teacher Mu, what did you say? I didn't quite understand."

Mu Yuan took off his reading glasses, looked at him, and a slight, meaningful smile appeared on his lips:

"When I called out the first five names just now, you made a gesture each time. Although the voice and posture were different, you would always adjust the brim of your hat with your left hand before raising your hand each time."

Five times. Including your own time, that makes six times in total. Six times you adjust the brim, in the exact same spot... the right side of the brim, with your index and middle fingers together, and then gently tap it after you've finished.

Shen Li: "!!!"

Holy crap! What kind of observational skills are these? Has Sherlock Holmes possessed him? Has Conan been reincarnated? Has the camera come to life?

The entire class turned to look at Shen Li.

Jingyang, sitting in the front row, turned around and winked at him, his expression clearly saying, "Brother, you've finally met your match."

Yang Yi was so nervous that he dropped his pen, and when he bent down to pick it up, he almost hit his head on the corner of the table.

Shen Li's heart was in turmoil, but her expression remained unchanged.

He knew he absolutely couldn't admit it now. If he did, everything would be over.

If they don't accept it, there's still a glimmer of hope.

This is the ultimate survival rule that Shen Li learned from her childhood of being "unloved by her parents"...

They're so shameless, they'll never admit it, and even the King of Hell would have to have a cup of tea with them before they leave.

Shen Li stood up, her face still bearing that harmless smile, her tone as sincere as if making an oath:

"Teacher Mu, your observation skills are amazing. But I have to explain... I have a habit of adjusting my hat brim when I'm nervous."

You see, when you started calling roll, one after another, I was getting nervous for them, worried that some students might be absent and you would mark them as truant.

In that moment of tension, my hand instinctively reached for the brim of my hat. What's that called? It's called empathy, a sense of collective honor, and the belief that "not one can be left behind."

Someone in the classroom burst out laughing.

Mu Yuan didn't interrupt him, just looked at Shen Li with a half-smile, his expression like he was watching a monkey show.

Shen Li steeled herself and escalated the situation, her tone becoming increasingly sincere and her expression increasingly innocent:

"Besides, Teacher Mu, think about it, would someone who takes attendance for others make such a basic mistake? Adjusting the brim of his hat six times, doing the same thing every time, isn't that just handing over evidence of his crime to the teacher's nose?"

True masters of roll call are like a thousand-faced Guanyin, each with a different voice and gesture. How could they possibly use the same action to expose themselves? That wouldn't be in accordance with the Basic Law, would it?

If I were really in this line of work, I would have given up this bad habit of adjusting my hat brim a long time ago, or I would buy ten different styles of hats on Taobao and wear a different one every day, so you wouldn't be able to figure out the pattern. You agree, right?

Shen Li's words caused even louder laughter in the classroom.

In the front row, Jing Yang was laughing so hard he was slapping his thigh, while Yang Yi was laughing so hard he was slumped over the table, his shoulders shaking. Even Yun Yiyi in the corner had a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

Mu Yuan was silent for two seconds, then smiled.

That smile wasn't a sarcastic "You're quite the smooth talker" kind of smile, but rather... how to put it, it was like an old cat watching a little mouse tumbling in front of it, neither exposing it nor letting it go, just watching it with a meaningful look.

"You've got quite the mouth to spout nonsense."

Mu Yuan put his reading glasses back on and looked Shen Li up and down. "Using quick wit for the right thing is a talent. Using it for crooked ways is a waste."

After saying that, he didn't say anything more, waved his hand, and continued calling roll, as if nothing had happened.

Shen Li quickly sat down, feeling her back was soaked with sweat; her shirt was sticking to her back, feeling chilly.

Holy crap! This film history lesson almost went wrong, more dangerously than a truck crash on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway!

If it weren't for my quick thinking, composure under pressure, and my tendency to spout nonsense... that hundred yuan would have been gone, and I'd have lost my class points too!

Most importantly, Mu Yuan's last sentence... "Using quick wit for the right thing is a talent. Using it for crooked ways is a waste."

These words sound like criticism, but upon closer examination, it seems that Old Master Mu was actually pointing out his own shortcomings.

I wasn't scolding Shen Li, I was teaching him a lesson. It meant: You're smart, but don't waste it on crooked ways. I see through it, but I'm giving you face; you'd better think it over.

Shen Li carefully considered the sentence and discerned several layers of meaning within it.

First layer: Mu Yuan definitely saw through it, 100% sure. Second layer: He didn't expose him not because he was stupid, but because he didn't want to ruin a student's future. Third layer: If he dared to substitute for another student in the next class, he'd be asking for trouble.

"Well... I guess I'll have to take over the roll call for film history class..."