Chapter 9: The Cost of Power – Exam Answers, Family Debt, and a Decision

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

A countdown poster appears – 15 days until midterms. Reading the hall’s tension, Alice correctly guesses the meaning and draws unwelcome attention. Later, her phone buzzes with a Beijing Ghost call from a user who, speaking in hesitant Mandarin, asks for the history exam answers a week early so she can memorise them. Alice recognises the voice as Evie Wu’s. The request violates the school’s strict no-cheating policy – a student was expelled for hiding notes on toilet paper, and his parents were so ashamed they bowed in apology. Alice stalls, saying she will think about it. She then visits Mr. Murphy under the pretext of seeking revision guidance and confirms the exam paper is already written. Back in the dorms, Chanel vents about her own chem test failure. Alice asks what Chanel would do if she needed to cheat. Chanel says only those who have everything riding on them – children of immigrants, only children – might feel they have no choice. That night, Alice lies awake weighing pros and cons. A long flashback recalls the robbery at her family’s grocery store in California, her mother’s stabbing, the police dismissing it as ordinary crime, and the slow financial ruin that forced them to return to Beijing. Alice concludes: My parents didn’t work this hard for me to only get this far.

Key Events

• A poster counting down 15 days until midterms triggers anxiety across the year level.
• Alice receives a Beijing Ghost call from a user who requests history exam answers; she suspects it is Evie Wu.
• The app’s new voice‑distortion feature is introduced, used here for the first time with a client.
• Alice visits Mr. Murphy under the pretence of needing revision help and learns the midterm paper is already completed.
• Back in her dorm, Chanel is upset about failing a chemistry test. Their conversation shifts to the pressures that might justify cheating.
• In the early morning, Alice compiles pros and cons, then recalls the traumatic robbery and her family’s financial collapse, culminating in their move back to China.

Character Development

• Alice Sun – Torn between her identity as “the Study Machine” and the desperation that drives her to consider theft. The chapter deepens her internal conflict: she wants the power her invisibility gives her (the “power I finally have”) but is haunted by the shame cheating would bring on her parents.
• Evie Wu – Though not physically present, her tearful phone call reveals her as a desperate student crushes under family expectations. She is the first client to ask for something that directly violates academic integrity, forcing Alice to confront her own ethics.
• Chanel – Shows vulnerability beyond her usual glamour by admitting failure. Her explanation of why some students feel they have no choice provides a social‑commentary lens that helps Alice articulate her own motivations.
• Henry Li (mentioned) – Chanel insists Henry’s dedication to the app goes beyond profit, hinting at deeper feelings for Alice. Alice dismisses this, but the seed is planted.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

• Academic Cheating as Moral Threshold – The chapter examines the line between survival and integrity. Alice must weigh the risk of expulsion (and her parents’ shame) against the life‑changing money the job offers.
• Family Sacrifice – The extended flashback to the California robbery and the dumpling scene solidifies Alice’s motive: she carries the weight of her parents’ failed American Dream.
• Power and Invisibility – Alice reflects that “being good doesn’t ever promise you anything in this world – only power does that.” Her supernatural ability is recast as a tool for gaining the power her family never had.
• The “Countdown” Motif – The 15‑day poster symbolises the mounting deadline that will force Alice’s hand, both academically and morally.
• The Ghost Identity – When Evie asks if Alice is a ghost, Alice replies “Why not? Anything is possible.” The ambiguity lets Alice hide in plain sight, mirroring her literal invisibility.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 9 is the turning point where Alice’s side‑hustle transforms from a series of pranks into a serious ethical dilemma. The flashback anchors her motivation in visceral, personal history – the robbery, her mother’s scar, and the family’s quiet collapse. By placing the exam‑answer request at the centre, Ann Liang escalates the stakes from social mischief to academic fraud. Alice’s final line, “My parents didn’t work this hard for me to only get this far,” frames her impending decision as an act of loyalty rather than greed, making her fall from grace both tragic and understandable. The chapter also deepens Chanel and Henry’s roles as foils, and sets up the countdown that will drive the rest of the narrative.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does the flashback to the California robbery shape Alice’s decision to consider Evie’s request?
The flashback reveals that Alice’s family lost everything despite working hard and obeying the law. The police dismissed the attack, and the economic downturn finished them. Alice internalises a lesson that being good does not guarantee safety or success. The memory of her mother’s scar and the cheap dumplings on Chinese New Year fuel her belief that she must seize power any way she can, even if that means cheating.

2. What does Chanel’s explanation about “only children” and immigrant families reveal about the school’s social context?
Chanel points out that many of Airington’s students are only children whose entire extended family invests in their success. When failure is “unthinkable,” extreme measures like cheating become tempting. This context gives Evie’s desperation a systemic root and makes Alice’s own situation representative of a wider pressure cooker.

3. Why does Alice feel guilty when Mr. Murphy praises her “driven” nature?
Mr. Murphy’s praise reinforces the honest‑student reputation Alice is about to betray. His trust makes her deception feel personal. She knows she is gathering intelligence to commit the very crime he does not suspect, and his cheerful prediction that she will “go far” sharpens her guilt because she is already straying from the path he imagines.