Chapter 41 - A Number of Guaranteed Places
In the afternoon, the results of the second monthly test were posted. Immediately after, news began to spread amongst the students of No.12 High School. This year, the school was considering two people to give a recommendation to. In addition to student representative Lin Qian, there was another contender: Huo YeRui. The school will select one of them to have the final recommendation.
When the news came out, the entire school was in an uproar. No. 12 had never done something like this in its entire history. A school recommendation was basically a guarantee that the student would get into the university of their choice. Therefore some students suspected that this unprecedented event happened because one of the contenders was the son of the vice-princ.i.p.al. But others thought differently because of Huo YeRui’s great achievements so far. He had achieved first place in both monthly tests so far, so it was normal for the school to consider him. After all, the student representative had never been surpa.s.sed by the same person twice. What’s more, Lin Qian’s results in the first monthly test was abysmal.
So for a time, there were plenty of rumors and talk going around.
Some students, being in the same cla.s.s as Huo YeRui, took the opportunity to garner some information. Huo YeRui only said that he knew about it, and was a little embarra.s.sed. He said: “Because of a recent audit of the student a.s.sessments, and the sudden change with the percieved results…our school has always looked to the student who gets first place in rankings. I just happened to get first place in the two monthly tests. Maybe the school also took this to consideration, so they added me….”
Some of the more curious students asked: “Then, between you and Ah Qian, who will get chosen in the end?”
“It hasn’t been decided yet, so I don’t know.” Huo YeRui made an innocent and unsuspecting expression. He ‘inadvertently’ let out some news: “But I heard that they’re focusing on the results. Lin Qian’s ranking these past two tests aren’t ideal and this might have a huge impact on his final a.s.sessment.”
Among the listeners were some of Lin Qian’s diehard loyal fans. One ‘tsked’ and said: “Only looking at his test results is too outrageous….the recommendation should’ve been his no question.” Then, suddenly realizing they said this in front of Huo YeRui, they hurriedly tried to backtrack. “But I don’t mean that Cla.s.smate Huo isn’t good! Cla.s.smate Huo did amazing this year…”
Huo YeRui showed great generosity and even acted self-deprecatingly: “No, it’s true. Honestly, I was also surprised that Lin Qian’s results ended up like this. Otherwise, how can I even be considered….”
Some students had mixed feelings about the situation.
“Huo YeRui’s getting pretty c.o.c.ky. How can the school make an exception for him?”
“This can be called a kind of counter-attack….”
“Well, if they concentrate on just the results, then wouldn’t Huo YeRui be the winner…”
……
The students were full of envy and admiration. As they talked amongst themselves, they also felt regretful on behalf of Lin Qian.
Huo YeRui, who was in the middle of all this, enjoyed everyone’s praise. He had a modest smile on his face and spoke to the people around him occasionally.
Xu Yao looked at Huo YeRui who was surrounded by half the cla.s.s. He looked like someone in the middle of a press conference. Xu Yao was so angry he couldn’t help but shake Lin Qian’s shoulder. “Ah, ah, how can this happen? The guaranteed quota is clearly only one person, how come the Princ.i.p.al said otherwise?”
Lin Qian gave him a look. “Don’t mess with the Princ.i.p.al. He hasn’t announced anything yet.”
Seeing Lin Qian so relaxed, Xu Yao felt even more nervous. He yelled: “Ah Qian, do you not know how serious this is?!”
Lin Qian was starting to get dizzy from Xu Yao’s frantic shaking. He pulled away and said: “I know.”
It’s a pity that even though he said this, there was no sense of urgency in his tone or expression. Xu Yao rubbed his chest and angrily huffed: “Ah Qian, are you too blinded by love? Wake up! You’re in your third year of high school, this is your future! It’s very important!”
Lin Qian: “…”
Xu Yao looked at him, then suddenly stood up. “No, this is too much. I have to go and talk with sister-in-law.”
According to Xu Yao’s observations of Zheng PingQing, while his character is shady, his concern towards Lin Qian was the real deal. If Zheng PingQing had even the smallest of care, he would never let Lin Qian treat his future so casually.
Seeing Xu Yao look so serious, Lin Qian had to tell him a little lie. “Your sister-in-law already told me.”
Xu Yao looked at him doubtfully. “Really?”
Lin Qian nodded and seriously said: “Really. He’s very concerned about my future.”
Xu Yao sighed. “Ah Qian, although sister-in-law isn’t the most honorable man, it’s better to listen to him…”
Lin Qian couldn’t help but stand up for his boyfriend: “What’s wrong with him? He’s good, ah!”
Xu Yao was stunned. “…Aren’t you focusing on the wrong thing?”
Just then, a cla.s.smate approached them to pa.s.s on a message. “Hey, Teacher Hong asked for you to come to the office.”
Lin Qian nodded, then knocked Xu Yao’s head as he stood up. “I’ll be fine, you don’t need to worry so much.”
Xu Yao made an exasperated sound and scratched his head.
Instead of walking out of the nearest cla.s.sroom doors, Lin Qian purposely walked around to pa.s.s by the group of people around Huo YeRui. As he did, he smiled and said out loud: “Huo YeRui’s results during both monthly tests were really good. I looked at the test questions over very carefully and yet I still couldn’t get as good grades as him.”
All the students around Huo YeRui huddled in embarra.s.sment when they saw Lin Qian coming. After all, it was supposed to be a slam dunk for Lin Qian. But unexpectedly, a wild card was brought into the picture and Lin Qian’s guaranteed recommendation was in question. Everyone guessed that Lin Qian wouldn’t be in a very good mood right now. His words were actually very generous in this situation.
In contrast, Huo YeRui’s easy manner felt a little more rigid. Looking at Lin Qian, Huo YeRui couldn’t help but feel a little prideful. “Lin Qian is too nice. I was just lucky.”
“It’s far more than just good luck.” Lin Qian laughed. “The audited information for the guaranteed recommendation was examined even before the monthly test results. It’s amazing that you managed to submit your exceptional grades in advance. I guess Huo YeRui has been long recognized by the school even before the start of the monthly tests.”
As soon as Lin Qian said this, Huo YeRui choked. His face turned blue but couldn’t say a word of reb.u.t.tal.
The students nearby couldn’t help but have complex expressions on their faces. They turned quiet.
Now that they thought about it, everyone had been so busy talking about the school making Huo YeRui the exception that they hadn’t really thought about the process this came about. Since this was the first time this had ever happened, n.o.body knew the specific process on how the recommendation would be given out. So no one noticed the cracks in Huo YeRui’s logic. But now that Lin Qian’s words gently p.r.i.c.ked at these spots, all the surrounding students began to feel a slow sense of realization.
But, well, with the affected parties right in front of them, it wouldn’t be too good to discuss such things directly. So everyone pasted awkward smiles on their faces and politely laughed. “Ah, you two are very outstanding, no need to be so modest.”
“People usually say that excellent people who act modestly aren’t really innocent, so you shouldn’t be so humble.”
“Oh, haha, I just remembered I need to study this one question I got wrong on the test, I’ll be going first.”
“Oh, me too, I’ll go with you.”
In a blink of an eye, all the students surrounding Huo YeRui had gone, leaving him standing alone. Compared to the lively and bustling scene just moments before, it had suddenly become quite lonely.
Huo YeRui could no longer pretend to be cordial. He gave Lin Qian the stink eye and coldly said: “Student Lin, just because you didn’t do well on the test doesn’t mean that you can say such baseless insinuations.”
Lin Qian raised a brow and asked: “When did I insinuate anything? I thought I was being very obvious and straightforward.”
Huo YeRui almost spit out blood. He was on the brink of breaking down and swearing up a storm, but managed to endure with his strong self-control. He lifted his lips to a sneer and said: “Do you even have time to suspect others? You’d better concentrate on studying hard like me instead and solve some more practice questions.”
Lin Qian replied with a smile. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. No matter how many questions I practice with…”
Lin Qian meaningfully swept his gaze up and down Huo YeRui’s body.
“Student Huo would still be too capable.”
Then Lin Qian turned away, leaving an angry and annoyed Huo YeRui to stew in his hate. Huo YeRui really couldn’t understand. Hadn’t he already won the battle? He had been eagerly awaiting for the rankings to come out and slap Lin Qian in the face with his results, but why is it that in just two or three sentences, Lin Qian managed to turn the tables and make him look like the fool?
……
……
“…Lin Qian, you don’t have to worry. It’s just one of the avenues you can take to get in university. With your achievements, even if you don’t get the recommendation it wouldn’t be a huge problem for you..” Hong KeYi used a soft tone to try and a.s.suage Lin Qian. She was afraid he would react badly to the situation.
Hong KeYi had received a notice this morning that because Huo YeRui got excellent results in both monthly tests, that based on the information given, the provincial admissions office recommended that Huo YeRui get the school recommendation. That is to say, the information hadn’t even been sent to F University yet, but they’ve already decided on the candidate.
Hong KeYi had been very surprised by this. Although both candidates were her students, she honestly felt that Lin Qian was more qualified. But in the end, this wasn’t something she could decide herself. So the best she could do was help Lin Qian not get too distressed by his sudden setback.
But while she was trying her best to soothe Lin Qian, someone appeared from the side and deliberately undermined all her hard work. Ke CaiZhu, who had been quiet for a while, finally found an opportunity and purposely walked past Hong KeYi’s desk. She sarcastically quipped: “I say, Student Lin was too complacent. The moment the recommendation information was sent to be reviewed he immediately raised his tail up to the heavens. His results in the monthly test…”
Hong KeYi was so angry fire was spouting out of her eyes. But she couldn’t directly go against her superior. So she could only say: “Headteacher Ke, you can’t say such things.”
Ke CaiZhu couldn’t care less. She rolled her eyes and said: “What’s wrong with my words? I’m also saying this for Lin Qian’s sake. I’m hoping he becomes a little more serious in his studies and learns more from YeRui. I knew from the very beginning that Huo YeRui wasn’t an ordinary child, you know. Just look at his monthly test results, I said it from the start…”
Hong KeYi couldn’t stand it anymore. She yelled: “Headteacher Ke! Can you stop talking?”
How can Ke CaiZhu stand Hong KeYi’s angry words? She slapped a hand on the desk. “What’s with your att.i.tude? How can you talk to your superior like this?”
Hong KeYi wasn’t strong enough. After speaking up, she shrank up and timidly replied: “How can you say such things to a student?”
Sitting nearby was Zhan KangBi, the leader of the mathematics research group. He couldn’t help but say: “Headteacher Ke, it’s really bad to talk about a student this way…”
Bai YanZhu also inputted from the side: “Headteacher Ke, too much.”
But the more the teachers spoke up on Lin Qian’s behalf, the angrier Ke CaiZhu got. If it hadn’t been for Lin Qian, she wouldn’t have fallen so low. Before Lin Qian came along, would any of these teachers dare speak up against her?
Ke CaiZhu simply ignored the other teachers and sneered at Hong KeYi. “Miss Hong, were you not just at the work meeting? How can you not realize which way the wind is blowing? I advise you not to waste so much time on useless students. Think about who the next leaders of No.12 High School will be in the near future.”
Hong KeYi would never have thought that Ke CaiZhu would speak so rudely in front of a student. She quickly turned towards Lin Qian. “Let’s finish our talk here for today. Although the results regarding the school recommendation are quite unexpected, you…”
“No, not at all.” Lin Qian interrupted Hong KeYi with a smile. He glanced at Ke CaiZhu and indifferently said: “Having the prospective princ.i.p.al’s son receive the guaranteed place isn’t strange. After all, one can’t expect heaven"s law and earth"s principle in this situation.”
Hong KeYi didn’t expect such words to come out of a student and was stunned.
So it was Ke CaiZhu who responded first. She scolded: “Lin Qian, who taught you to say such things?”
Lin Qian’s words were too heavy. Ke CaiZhu didn’t think that it would be something a student was capable of thinking.
Lin Qian stood up and turned to face Ke CaiZhu head-on. He didn’t cower or avoid her gaze. “I just had a feeling.”
His gaze was so sharp and unyielding that Ke CaiZhu couldn’t help but wince.
Ke CaiZhu struggled to shout: “I think I owe you a lecture! You obviously didn’t do well in the tests, you don’t even try to right your wrongs. I’m going to report your behavior! The school never should’ve even considered recommending you…”
A trembling Ke CaiZhu continued to scold Lin Qian when suddenly a loud ‘bang’ sounded out. The office door had been slammed open from the outside, causing the door to bang on the office wall. A figure could be seen walking inside and shouting: “Lin YaZhi, you’re crazy!”
Everyone in the office looked up one after another. They were surprised to see that it was Vice-Princ.i.p.al Huo PingChuan who pushed the door open.
Lin YaZhi then followed Huo PingChuan inside. Without waiting for Huo PingChuan to finish his sentence, Lin YaZhi flew up and directly kicked him on his chest.
Huo PingChuan never expected Lin YaZhi to attack him in front of so many people, so he couldn’t react to Lin YaZhi’s sudden kick.
All the other teachers: “Ah——”
Ke CaiZhi, who was counting on Huo PingChuan’s support when she scolded Lin Qian: “……”
Everyone saw Lin YaZhi looking down on the fallen Huo PingChuan. With a gloomy expression on his face, he told Huo PingChuan: “If you dare mess with my son, I will dare to mess with you.”
The author has something to say:
The son beats the other son, the father beats the other father. ┓(???`?)┏
I studied a bit about the recommendation process. Different schools in different regions have different processes. This story isn’t going to be the most accurate, and I definitely made up some stuff for the novel. Please read with an open mind.
Grandpa bout to throw down.