Chapter 586
‘They aren’t wearing glasses or contact lenses, which is normal. They don’t have headphones or any kind of embedded micro-earpieces. No, that’s not right… Melody wondered.
Her eyelashes fluttered as her gaze fixed on Charlotte’s earrings.
“What are you staring at?” Charlotte’s face briefly showed a flicker of guilt as she instinctively moved her hair, which had been tucked behind her ear, back to cover most of her face.
“Nothing. Just keep answering the questions,” Melody said, her eyes keenly observing Elton beside Charlotte. As Charlotte made her move, Elton’s whole body tensed up.
At the same time, she noticed Elton had an identical earring in his right ear.
The earrings resembled a slim version of a Bulgari charity pendant, but she quickly identified them as not Bulgari products because the earrings were marked with an X and had a small hole near the back of the ear that looked like a speaker.
‘These can’t just be decorative, she thought.
In that instant, all her doubts were resolved.
The two students, who had always been at the bottom of the class, had achieved a perfect score on this test.
This exam was several times harder than the ones from the medical school, with some questions not even covered in the school textbooks.
So when David inquired about the second assessment, she hadn’t even considered that these two could pass it.
But now, if they continued and scored full marks, she wouldn’t be surprised at all.
Their shamelessness was glaringly evident.
Melody squinted but soon returned to her natural demeanor, calmly waiting for a few minutes.
Once the two had relaxed, she approached the pharmacy clerk. “I need to use the restroom. Keep an eye on them for me. I’ll be back soon.”
“Understood,” the clerk replied immediately.
As soon as Melody left, Elton and Charlotte completely relaxed.
Charlotte even subtly gave Elton a look, as if saying, “See, I knew we wouldn’t get caught.”
Elton managed a forced smile and glanced toward the door. Although he knew that the latest cheating tools were unlikely to be detected, he couldn’t shake a vague feeling of unease.
He pushed down the anxiety and continued answering the questions based on the cheating tool’s prompts.
Time ticked by, and soon there were only five minutes left in the exam.
At that moment, Melody returned.
She spoke up. “Five minutes remaining. Please make sure to finish up.”
Charlotte finished writing the last word just then. “I’m done with my answers. Can I submit my paper early?”
Melody raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”
Charlotte immediately stood up to hand in her paper, and as she passed by Melody, she quietly warned. “Please be responsible when grading. Don’t give us a low score just to prevent us from getting the hospital internship.”
Melody shrugged. “Ms. Wallrich, you can rest assured. If you don’t trust me, we can grade the papers in front of you later.”
“That sounds perfect,” she said.
As they spoke, Elton completed the last question.
“Feel free to start grading. My time is very valuable,” Charlotte said impatiently.
Melody, with a faint smile, led the two downstairs. “There are so many people here, including patients from our hospital as witnesses. You shouldn’t worry about us deliberately failing you now, should you?”
“I doubt you’d dare to deliberately make things difficult for us,” Charlotte said, maintaining her superior attitude and pointing a finger. “You can start grading now.”
Since Herbathrive offers herbal medicine preparation services, many patients and their families waiting for their herbs gathered around to watch the scene unfold.
Soon, the lobby was filled with onlookers.
Melody nodded. “Now we’ll begin grading. However, Ms. Wallrich, according to our rules, you must verbally guarantee before we start that you did not engage in any cheating during the exam. If you violate this rule, please leave and never apply for a position at Herbathrive again.” Charlotte frowned, feeling a pang of guilt. She instinctively straightened her neck and said, “What are you implying? You’ve had someone watching us the whole time. How could we have cheated? Don’t accuse us of cheating just to obstruct our internship.”
“Exactly,” Elton chimed in.
Melody smiled slightly. “Guys, I’m merely asking for a verbal guarantee. Isn’t your reaction a bit too extreme? Are you feeling guilty?”
Charlotte’s face paled. “You’re talking nonsense. We have nothing to feel guilty about.”
Melody shrugged. “Then please repeat what I said and make a guarantee. It’s just words. It’s not that difficult, is it?”
Charlotte was about to lash out, but Elton quickly placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Miss Fox, right?” Elton met Melody’s gaze. “Since it’s your rule, we will of course abide by it. We both guarantee that we did not engage in any cheating during the exam.”
Charlotte, albeit reluctantly, repeated the guarantee. She then asked, “Are you satisfied now? Can we start grading?” “Certainly.” Melody nodded, and in front of everyone, she pulled out the answer key and began grading.
Since the test consisted mostly of multiple-choice questions, it took Melody less than three minutes to finish grading.
The pharmacy clerk, who had been monitoring the exam with Melody, was most curious about the results and eagerly awaited the final score.
The total score was quickly calculated.
When the pharmacy clerk saw the score, his face immediately changed. He looked at Melody with a mix of panic and concern. “Miss Fox, well…”
Melody remained composed, offering a calm smile as if the scores hadn’t affected her at all.
She gave the pharmacy clerk a reassuring look and then said, “The scores have been calculated. Elton scored 86, and Charlotte scored 100.”
Elton’s face darkened for a moment when he heard that Charlotte had scored a perfect 100.
A perfect score made it easy to spot discrepancies.
If the people at Herbathrive knew their past performance, it would be like putting a spotlight on their flaws.
‘Why can’t she even be discreet about her cheating? What an idiot,’ he thought.
However, Charlotte was completely oblivious to Elton’s reaction. Beaming with delight, she said, “Your requirement was eighty. I scored a perfect 100. Doesn’t this mean I should skip the next assessment and be directly admitted?” She raised an eyebrow at Melody and continued, “I have strong connections with the Medicines Control Agency. Keeping us would be beneficial for you. And we’ve already proven with our scores that we’re qualified for the hospital internship, haven’t we? Why waste more time?”
Charlotte tried both persuasion and coercion, hoping to bypass the upcoming clinical assessment. She was completely unaware that Melody’s expression had become increasingly intriguing.