Chapter 6 — I Set a Trap for a Copywriter

04

When I actually started planning, everything was much more difficult than I thought. On the evening of the first day, I took out three sets of Math problems. In every essay sentence, I intentionally write it wrong first. Then correct it properly. Initially, I chose the simplest errors. Miscalculated a number. Missed a negative sign. Write greater than as less than. But problems quickly emerged. The error is so obvious. Trinh Y Hoan is not completely ignorant of homework. Her actual level is at least in the top twenty of the entire class. Just a cursory inspection can detect such low-level negligence. What I need is not a wrong answer that I can see at a glance. It's an incorrect solution with a strict process, smooth logic, and even at first glance is enough to fool the teacher grading the test. But that kind of answer also has risks. If the error is hidden too deeply, even I won't have time to fix it, and the person who will be blown up will not be only Trinh Y Hoan. But there's also me. One o'clock in the morning. In front of me was a layer of scrap paper. In the first set of problems, it took me nine minutes to completely correct the wrong solution. Second set, seven minutes. Third set, five and a half minutes. Still too slow. In the official exam, five minutes is enough to decide the life or death of an essay. Let alone three sentences. I threw the pen on the table, leaning back heavily on the chair. Khau Mien was sharpening a pencil opposite. Tomorrow she has to sketch people, the table is full of charcoal pens and erasers. Seeing me stop, she raised her head to look.

“Did something wrong again?”

“No.”

“So why does your face look like you want to eat the Math test paper?”

I did not answer. She leaned over and looked at my answer sheet.

“Don't you know what to do?”

“Why do you cross out everything after writing it?”

“Wanted to try a new way.”

Khau Mien frowned.

“Is the essence of this method wasting answer paper?”

I pulled the test back.

“You don't understand.”

“I really don't understand.”

She put down the pencil she had just sharpened.

“But I can see, you're not doing your homework right now.”

"But I'm fighting with my own answer."

A sentence that hits right where it hurts. It's not that I don't know what design errors are. It's that every time I create a wrong solution, I have to write a correct answer. The equivalent of doing the same sentence twice. The system hadn't tricked me yet, I was dragged to death by my plan first. The next day, Han Tranh replayed yesterday's practice questions. Because my paper was edited too much, I had two presentation points deducted. The teacher stood next to my desk, tapping on the area covered in erasure marks.

“What happened to you recently?”

“I'm trying a new way of doing homework.”

“Try it.”

“But don't think of your answer sheet as scratch paper.”

The teacher turned to my last sentence. In this sentence, I initially chose the wrong direction to build the model, then crossed out more than half of the page and then rewrote it from the beginning. The final answer is correct. Han Tranh looked for a few seconds.

“The process going wrong does not mean this sentence is considered abandoned.”

“Grading only looks at what you leave behind when you submit your assignment.”

“Don't look to see how many times I've been wrong.”

After speaking, the teacher put the cards back on the table. I stared at that sentence. Scoring only looks at the final result that is retained. And the system copied what I left behind the first time I completed it. I always think I have to write two answers. One copy for the system. One copy for yourself. But I don't really need to write two copies. I just need to make the same answer into two versions before and after being copied by the system. The entire preceding inference may be correct. Errors just need to be hidden in the last position. A symbol. A boundary point. A coefficient. Once the system takes it away, I just need to add a stroke. Wrong will turn into right. The moment that thought appeared, I immediately picked up the pen. The first function sentence. The whole process is correct. In the final domain, I intentionally write in an open space. The complete conclusion is formed. Suppose this time the system replicates. Then I add a stroke next to the bracket. The open range turns into a closed range. It takes two seconds. Second analytic geometry question. The inference is correct. In the last slope, I intentionally wrote a negative value. After copying, I turn the negative sign into part of the positive sign by adding pen strokes. Three seconds. Third probability sentence. Correct value. In the denominator, I intentionally missed a coefficient. Once copied, add that number. Less than two seconds. I looked at the three sentences, my breathing became faster and faster. No need to rewrite. No need for extensive erasure. Doesn't even affect the cleanliness of the card. Just make sure the system is done copying. The next three days, I always practiced this. Khau Mien sat next to me and helped me time the clock.

“First sentence, two seconds.”

“Second sentence, three point four seconds.”

“Third sentence, one point eight seconds.”

She looked at the timer, then at my lesson.

“What have you been practicing lately?”

“Check the lesson.”

“Ordinary people who test their cards are not experts in practicing how to add a stroke.”

I snatched the stopwatch from her hand.

“Draw your picture.”

She snorted and didn't ask any more. On Friday, the class has a weekly test in Math. Receiving the question, I scanned the six essay questions. The first three questions are of average difficulty. The following three sentences have higher scores. Previously, I would definitely do the last two sentences first. This time, I didn't change the order. If you want to check the "wrong answer photo" loophole, you have to let Trinh Y Hoan get what she wants the most. The first high-scoring question is a function synthesis. I used nine minutes to complete the reasoning process. The final step needs to judge whether the boundary point will be taken or not. The answer must be a closed interval. I intentionally write in an open space. The tip of the pen leaves the answer sheet. 【The first complete solution has been copied.】 The moment the sound rang out, I immediately added a stroke to the brackets. The open range turns into a closed range. Don't stop. Do not erase. But what Trinh Y Hoan received will forever stop before that additional stroke. The second sentence is a combination of sequence and inequality. The correct conclusion must be greater than or equal to zero. I write into greater than zero. 【The second complete solution has been copied.】 I conveniently added a horizontal line under the greater than sign, making it greater than or equal to zero. Third question, analytic geometry. The calculation process is complicated. The final slope is one-half. I intentionally wrote it as a one-two sound. 【The third complete solution has been copied.】 【The number of copies in this test has been used up.】 I added the strokes of the pen, removing the negative mark. Three mistakes. Three copies. The total time is less than ten seconds.