Except for a few subjects, Lin Jingzhe got almost full marks on the second mock exam. He did especially well on science subjects, such as mathematics and chemistry. As mock exams were the schools’ internal exams, they were graded by the teachers. When Hu Yu first checked his math test, she thought the student who wrote it was brilliant. The handwriting, however, was unfamiliar, and she couldn’t guess who it was. She thought it was one of the students in Class 1, but who knew—it turned out to be Lin Jingzhe!

Liyun No. 1 High School was the best school in Liyun Town. Since Lin Jingzhe ranked first in school, it meant he basically ranked first in the whole municipality. Hu Yu almost jumped up the moment she saw the results! This was the first time something like this happened in her teaching career!

The school leaders and the other teachers were even more shocked. It was rare for students not from Class 1 to rank higher than fifty. If a student from a regular class was lucky enough to squeeze in the top 20, their class teacher would be proud of it for years. And now, a student from Class 5 ranked first?!

However, after they thought about it carefully, it wasn’t all that strange.

After all, Lin Jingzhe had originally been a Class 1’s student! His results weren’t bad either—it was only because he didn’t do well on the first mock exam that Li Yurong transferred him out. She then suffered several losses because of him, and even now, when somebody mentioned his name, she gnashed her teeth. Usually, she’d rather go to the toilets on another floor than visit the ones next to Class 5’s classroom.

Since she came to this school, it was always her bullying people relying on her backing—no one dared to oppose her in such a way! The rest of the teachers pretended to be ignorant of the whole matter but actually, laughed at her in secret. When they heard Lin Jingzhe’s total score and found it was almost a hundred points higher than the second place, they exclaimed in surprise. Then, they surreptitiously looked over to check Li Yurong’s reaction.

Li Yurong stared at Lin Jingzhe’s English test, not believing her eyes.

She was an English teacher. In the early nineties, English teachers were rare and as such valued but in fact, the professional skills of the vast majority of them weren’t up to par. Li Yurong’s English was more or less on the level of being able to converse with a foreigner, and her vocabulary wasn’t too rich. That’s why, when she first read the exam paper, she was full of appreciation and admiration. The free-response section amazed her; she even copied down the essay and outlined some of the more sophisticated words and sentences—when she discussed the second mock exam questions with her class, she planned to use it as an example.

She naturally took for granted that the examinee was a student in her Class 1.

Only after grading the paper could she check the student’s name. The moment she saw it, she felt as if her eyes were stabbed with needles.

Lin Jingzhe?! Lin Jingzhe?!

How was this possible? Before she kicked him out of Class 1, he usually ranked second or third; he had good grades in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, but was much weaker in humanities, especially English. Due to that, there was always a big gap in results between him and the student who ranked first. This gap only widened further after his grades declined in his third year. If this trend continued, the results of his college entrance examination could be imagined. It was precisely because of this that she needed to get rid of him—she would’ve done it even if his first mock exam’s results weren’t so bad.

But now, Lin Jingzhe’s performance increased by a giant leap, and he left the student usually in first place a hundred points behind!

She confirmed it over and over again, but still couldn’t believe it. Too agitated to pay attention to the covert glances, she rushed to the desk of the teacher grading one of the other subjects and grabbed the exam papers. The more she looked, the heavier she breathed.

How was this possible?! How could it be?! Had Hu Yu found some miraculous way to improve his results? But no matter how miraculous it was, it was impossible for it to make such a drastic difference in such a short time!

The other teachers saw the dumbfounded expression on her face and exchanged looks, their gloating smiles hardly concealed. They happily talked with Hu Yu, right in front of Li Yurong: “Congratulations, Teacher Hu, you did a great job!”

“The results of the other Class 5’s students are also much better. Just what method did you use?”

Hu Yu’s smile was nearly wide enough to reach her ears, and she couldn’t stop it. From the moment she saw how much her students’ results improved, she felt as if she walked on air. “No, this is not my merit, it’s all thanks to Lin Jingzhe. After he transferred to Class 5, he encouraged his new classmates to study. I don’t know how he did it, but these naughty rascals even began to read textbooks during recess!”

When the others heard it, they couldn’t help but be envious of Hu Yu, who, after everything she’d suffered, was lucky enough to get such a good seedling in her class! They secretly peered at Li Yurong, whose face was ugly enough to be frightening, and snickered inwardly. This was what people called “shooting oneself in the foot,” wasn’t it?

Li Yurong knew she must’ve once again become the laughingstock in her colleagues’ eyes, and her face, wearing delicate, perfect make-up as usual, was as black as the bottom of a pot. She clenched her hand, almost crumpling Lin Jingzhe’s graded chemistry paper. Her anger grew, numerous speculations swirling around in her mind, making her heart pound in agitation. She looked at the smiling Hu Yu through narrowed eyes, taking in her washed-out, Chinese-style shirt, which was more grey than blue at this point, the dowdy, black cloth shoes, and habitually hunched back—a typical countrywoman, the sort she couldn’t stand. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.

“Teacher Hu, congratulations,” she said with a sneer. “This is really amazing. Lin Jingzhe’s previous mock exam’s results were so awful, but after joining Class 5, he improved by leaps and bounds. And not only him—the other Class 5’s students’ results are surprising too, aren’t they? And in such a short time. Teacher Hu, be honest, please—did you coach your students on how to solve the exam questions?”

The mock exams’ questions were compiled collectively by all the teachers. Before the exam, Li Yurong usually gave her class some questions which were bound to appear, and naturally thought Hu Yu was the same. She said it without thinking, but then began to feel she hit upon the truth. She couldn’t help but be disdainful of Hu Yu’s underhanded methods, and taunted, “Teacher Hu, when we review before the exams, we all tell the students what they should pay attention to, but isn’t this too much? This could be called cheating, couldn’t it?”

“What did you say?” No matter how good Hu Yu’s temper was when someone poured a basin of cold water on her, she would inevitably get angry. What’s more, Lin Jingzhe’s excellent results breathed courage into her heart. She slammed her hand on the desk, snapping, “You should watch your tongue, Teacher Li. You’re slandering my students and me!”

Li Yurong tossed her dark curls over her shoulder, glanced away, then up, daintily rolling her eyes. She gave Hu Yu a contemptuous look: “I slandered you? I was just saying. But aren’t you getting a little too excited, Teacher Hu? Maybe because of a guilty conscience?”

She went back to her desk, picked up Lin Jingzhe’s English paper, and slapped it on the desktop. “See for yourselves—even some of the English teachers who passed TEM-8 might not necessarily be able to write this essay, and you’re telling me a high school student composed it all by himself? Who taught him?” She stared at Hu Yu with a cocked eyebrow: “Was it possibly you, Teacher Hu?”

These insinuations incensed Hu Yu so much that she teared up from agitation. Li Yurong, however, completely convinced her guess was right, thought she won and sauntered out of the faculty lounge.

Hu Yu said nothing more. Fortunately, the other teachers didn’t doubt the authenticity of the results. Leaking the questions? Are you kidding? Lin Jingzhe’s results weren’t something you could achieve simply by coaching someone on how to solve the exam questions. It would be impossible even if they led the students through the problems by the hand, in the examination room, during the exam! Their own subjects, perhaps, but the others? Most of them couldn’t even read the English essay Li Yurong showed them—at best, they felt “although I don’t understand it, it seems pretty awesome.” 

If Hu Yu truly had this level of ability, she would never stay in Liyun No. 1 High School as an unlisted teacher.

Hu Yu had been long accustomed to Li Yurong’s disdain and ridicule. After she put in order her class’ exam papers, she took the ones belonging to Lin Jingzhe and knocked on the door of the principal’s office.

She wanted to talk to him about the admission quota for Qunnan University. Qunnan University was one of the National Key Universities and the best in Qunnan Province. Every year, the number of students from Liyun Town who manage to enroll could be counted on the fingers of one hand. As such, this admission quota had always been the object of fierce competition between the third-years.

Hu Yu had never been concerned about it, though her son also was a third-year student. She thought his academic performance wasn’t good enough to deserve such a shortcut.

Lin Jingzhe was different—his results of the second mock exam were so good she couldn’t sit still. She was going to fight for what this child deserved.

But Hu Yu, who had always focused on the students since she started working as a teacher, didn’t understand how the “rules” in school worked.

The principal put down Lin Jingzhe’s exam papers and pushed his glasses. He said kindly, “This student’s results are really excellent and deserve encouragement. I’ll nudge the people in the administration to see if they can bend the rules and award him a first-class scholarship of fifty yuan.”

Hu Yu anxiously leaned forward, wanting to speak, but the principal raised his hand, interrupting her. He sighed helplessly, “Teacher Hu, the recipient of the quota had already been decided. I can’t do anything either. The school has regulations, you know this too.”

Hu Yu wasn’t convinced. “Regulations? The quota was always given to the student who ranked first in the second mock exam, wasn’t it? Lin Jingzhe took the first place, but you say it’s not in line with regulations? Who did the school choose then, Yu Zhiliang?”

Yu Zhiliang was the student who had always ranked first before; his position had been unshakeable.

The principal smiled and said, “Who? When the news is announced, you will naturally know, Teacher Hu.”

Hu Yu gritted her teeth and wanted to continue to talk about this matter, but her opponent already raised the teacup to his lips. She had a great reverence for the position of principal, so though she was frustrated and unwilling, she could only leave.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Li Yurong walked out of the side office, contemptuously rolling her eyes. She sat on the sofa, settling herself comfortably, and spit out, “That woman is out of her mind.”

“Did she make you angry again?” In a pleasant mood, the principal left his desk and sat beside her. He glanced at the door to check if anyone stood outside, and pinched Li Yurong’s thigh. In a pampering tone, he said, “She’s just a rural teacher, what do you care about her?”

“I don’t care about her, you will get rid of her sooner or later anyway. I just think she’s annoying,” Li Yurong complained. She pushed his hand away, rebuking, “Are you crazy? Somebody’s going to see.”

When the principal complied and sat up straight, she smiled, pleased. “Has the matter with the admission quota been handled? Jiang Run’s family already sent the money, don’t drop the ball now.”

“The application was already sent, don’t worry,” the principal assured her. “His family has connections—before, even someone from the provincial government called me to put in a word for him. You think I would be sloppy?”

Li Yurong nodded, satisfied. Then, she thought about something, pouted, and said a little reluctantly,  “Oh, and transfer Lin Jingzhe back to Class 1. I’m so mad. If I knew he would get such good results on the second mock exam, I wouldn’t have taken all that trouble to get rid of him.”

“All right, I’ll think of a way.” The principal was almost obsequious to Li Yurong. He opened his mouth to say something more, but at that moment, the phone on the desk rang.

He picked it up. Then, Li Yurong saw his face turn unusually serious.

“Yes! Yes! I understand!” His bald, shiny head nearly formed an afterimage as he nodded, squawking respectfully, “It’s a great honor! Please rest assured, we will certainly do our best!”

Li Yurong looked at him, mystified. He put the receiver back and wiped the sweat from his forehead, his expression blank. A moment later, a look of great joy appeared on his face.

“Go back to the class and get ready! Hurry up!” The principal was so happy his voice broke. He couldn’t help but wave his pudgy hands in agitation, rushing her. “Just now, the town hall called—the leadership suddenly decided to make a visitation to our school! Quickly change into something more formal, I’ll take you with me to receive them!”

Li Yurong’s eyes opened wide. Excited, he couldn’t help but jump to her feet and give him a hug, exclaiming, “Thank you, you’re wonderful!”

She was just an ordinary teacher. If she could catch the eye of someone from the town government, her future would be much more promising.

Before leaving, she asked, confused, “But it’s strange—why would the leadership visit our school out of the blue? Did something happen?”

The principal was also puzzled. However, he couldn’t figure out the reason even after thinking hard, so he waved his hand dismissively, replying, “Who knows? Is it important? Whatever the reason, this is a good thing. Now go get ready.”