Chapter 16

June 28th, 3:00 p. m.

At Yucai Middle School, the twelve third-grade classes lined up like ants, each student carrying their own chair, marching from the old teaching building toward the playground.

Ying Chanxi wasn't tall—about one meter sixty-two.

But among the girls in her class, she was relatively short, so naturally she walked side by side with Li Luo in line.

Shao Heqi stood right in front of Li Luo, his right arm threaded through the gap between chair backs, resting on his shoulder, easily carrying the chair with one hand.

He turned his head, saw Ying Chanxi clutching her chair with both hands, struggling awkwardly as she walked, and couldn't help but say, "Monitor, shall I carry it for you?"

"I'm fine, not tired at all," Ying Chanxi shook her head, politely declining Shao Heqi's offer.

Instead, Jin Yuting, who walked ahead, was panting from exhaustion and called out to Shao Heqi: "Deputy monitor, you're so idle—why don't you carry mine? I can't take it anymore."

Facing Jin Yuting's request, Shao Heqi fell silent for a few seconds, thinking it would be awkward to refuse in front of Ying Chanxi, so finally he nodded and took the chair from her.

But just as they stepped outside the second-floor building and headed toward the playground, Ying Chanxi suddenly turned to Li Luo and shoved her chair into his hands: "I'm a bit tired—Li Luo, carry this for me."

Li Luo took it with a blank expression: "Why didn't you ask Shao Heqi to help earlier?"

"I wasn't tired then," Ying Chanxi blinked innocently. "Now I am."

Along the way, boys helping girls carry chairs was common enough; Li Luo and Ying Chanxi's scene wasn't unusual at all.

But when Shao Heqi saw Li Luo take Ying Chanxi's chair, he clenched his teeth so hard he nearly stumbled into a roadside tree.

Especially since he realized that Li Luo had scored so high—his one greatest advantage over Li Luo had just been shattered in a single blow—and Shao Heqi's anger boiled over.

Even his right to mock Li Luo was gone—what was the point of living anymore?

Shao Heqi sighed deeply in his heart, looked up at the withered leaves beside the path, swaying in the wind with a rustling sound, as if mourning for him.

With two chairs slung over his shoulders, he felt like a tragic swordsman walking beneath the setting sun, blood on his lips, wishing only to die at Ying Chanxi's feet, shielding her from a blade.

And live forever in her heart.

Middle-school boys always couldn't help fantasizing about nonsense.

When Shao Heqi finally snapped back to reality, the class had already reached its designated spot and began arranging seats.

Although Ying Chanxi and Li Luo had walked side by side, when it came time to sit, they discovered Jin Yuting was seated next to Li Luo.

So Ying Chanxi patted Jin Yuting's shoulder and signaled her to switch seats: "Tingting, sitting up front gets too sunny—move behind me."

Jin Yuting, who always followed Ying Chanxi's lead, instinctively stood up and swapped seats with her.

This left Shao Heqi, seated directly in front of Li Luo, feeling a mix of emotions.

Even though Ying Chanxi and Li Luo were now in the same row, the chair Ying Chanxi sat on was the very one he had just carried for Jin Yuting!

This gave him a faint sense of involvement, a small comfort in his heart.

…

June, 3:00 p. m.

On the playground, the blazing sun beat down, crowds thronged everywhere.

Holding the graduation ceremony outdoors in this weather would've been unbearable—if not for the chairs they could bring down to sit on.

Even so, after just a few minutes under the sun, many were already sweating on their foreheads.

Luckily, Li Luo was smart—he'd brought a small notebook down from upstairs, and now he pulled it out to fan himself, cooling off considerably.

"I'm hot too," said Ying Chanxi beside him, her big eyes fixed calmly on him.

Li Luo turned to meet her gaze, then reached out and handed her the notebook.

"It's too tiring to fan myself," Ying Chanxi pushed the notebook back into his hands, leaving Li Luo speechless.

"Does fanning for me make it less tiring?" Li Luo rolled his eyes, then picked up the notebook and fanned her.

Ying Chanxi closed her eyes, savoring the cool breeze brushing her face, her bangs fluttering slightly, revealing her smooth, rounded forehead.

After about ten minutes, all twelve third-grade classes had assembled.

School administrators gradually took the stage and sat down.

Seeing the thick stacks of speech scripts in the principal's, vice-principal's, and head of discipline's hands, Li Luo felt a headache coming on.

"What the hell is this 'surprise' Zhang Teacher talked about?" Li Luo muttered under his breath. "Didn't even tell me clearly, and now he wants me to pay attention."

"I think I've guessed a little," Ying Chanxi whispered back.

"Guessed what?"

"Not telling you," Ying Chanxi shook her head, smirking. "Zhang Teacher told you to pay attention—why not just listen?"

"The principal's speech? Probably some overworked teacher pulling an all-nighter to write it. Listening to this is worse than taking a nap," Li Luo shook his head, sighing.

But when the vice-principal began speaking, Li Luo didn't actually fall asleep—he listened quietly.

"Dear school leaders, beloved teachers, and our lovely graduates about to take flight!"

"At this joyful yet bittersweet moment, we gather here to witness and celebrate your successful completion of junior high, and the beginning of a new chapter in your lives."

"First, allow me, on behalf of the school, to extend our warmest congratulations to all graduates!"

Li Luo, having listened attentively this far, sighed and clapped reluctantly, then endured another half-hour of the vice-principal's rambling, still waiting for Zhang Teacher's promised surprise.

After the vice-principal finished, it was the head of discipline's turn.

Compared to the vice-principal's vague platitudes, the head of discipline was slightly more practical.

He recounted several major events from the past three years, reviewing the students' junior high journey with them.

Then he turned to the third-grade teachers, listing the outstanding educational achievements of several, and announced the school's ten selected Outstanding Teachers for this year.

Among them, Zhang Wei, teacher of Class 3-5, stood out clearly.

The other nine teachers were either senior staff who had simply outlasted others, or teachers from the elite classes.

Zhang Wei, being relatively young and a teacher of a regular class, was especially conspicuous among them.

"Damn! Is Zhang Teacher's 'surprise' really this?" Li Luo watched Zhang Wei strut onto the award stage with a smug grin, utterly unimpressed. "Did he get this award just because I got into Fuyi High?"

"You're imagining things," Ying Chanxi gave him a look. "Outstanding Teacher awards were decided long ago—today's just the announcement."

Zhang Wei was able to win this award mainly because of Ying Chanxi and Zhao Rongjun.

After all, Yucai Middle School had just over five hundred students, and only twenty-seven were selected for the early admission batch of Yuhang Affiliated No. 1 Middle School.

Of these twenty-seven students, twenty-four were from the key classes.

The remaining three students: one was from Class Eight, and the other two were from Class Five.

But that wasn't the main point.

The key point was that Ying Chanxi effortlessly secured the top score in the entire district in Yuhang Affiliated No. 1 Middle School's early admission exam!

And the school's second-place student, who ranked behind Ying Chanxi in the key class, had already dropped to outside the top twenty in the early admission exam.

The gap between them was obvious.

Just Ying Chanxi's name alone was enough to secure Zhang Wei this outstanding teacher slot.

Not to mention Zhao Rongjun as an added bonus.

"One man attains the Dao, and even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven," Li Luo muttered under his breath as he watched Zhang Wei receive the award from the principal.

"What nonsense are you talking?" Ying Chanxi said, both annoyed and amused. "Teacher Zhang teaches well too."

"Good students aren't taught," Li Luo shook his head. "Good students just need a good environment—they'll learn well on their own."

"And the true measure of a teacher's ability lies in how well they teach the lower- and middle-performing students."

"From that perspective, hmm~ I'm the one who truly makes him qualify for the title of outstanding teacher."

Ying Chanxi: "..."

At first, Li Luo's words had sounded reasonable.

But in the end, his true intentions were exposed.

Yet Li Luo wasn't wrong.

Although Zhang Wei had already known he was selected as an outstanding teacher, he still lacked genuine legitimacy.

Because Yucai Middle School's outstanding teacher selection affected future municipal and provincial teaching title competitions, most of the time, only the key class teachers competed for it.

Teachers from regular classes were relatively weaker in teaching ability.

In the eyes of many key class teachers, Zhang Wei had simply been carried along by Ying Chanxi.

If Ying Chanxi had been any of their students, they could have easily won this slot.

It was just Zhang Wei's luck.

But.

This year's high school entrance exam produced a freak like Li Luo!

Although Li Luo's exam score was excellent, he was only ranked eighteenth in the entire school.

If this were a student like Shao Heqi, who had always performed well, no one would find it remarkable.

But Li Luo's previous highest score had been only 425 points!

Now it's 555.

⊙￠O

In just one and a half months.

A staggering 130-point increase!

And he was the only student in the entire school to receive a perfect score on the Chinese composition.

Aside from Li Luo, the student with the biggest improvement in this exam had only raised his total score by thirty points.

It was clear how absurd Li Luo's case was.

Under this halo, even Zhang Wei's outstanding teacher title seemed far more legitimate.

"But this isn't the surprise Teacher Zhang mentioned," Ying Chanxi said with a smile to Li Luo as she watched Teacher Zhang step down from the stage.

"What other surprise could there be?" Li Luo chuckled. "Are they going to give me an award too?"

Ying Chanxi smiled but said nothing, waiting quietly as the vice principal continued speaking.

"Besides our outstanding teacher, we also have our outstanding students."

The vice principal smiled at the students below and said, "This year's cohort has many outstanding students."

"Among them is Ying Chanxi from Class Five, Grade Nine, who won first prize in the provincial mathematics Olympiad, first prize in the New Concept English Competition, first prize in the Technology Micro-Innovation Contest, consistently ranked first in all school exams, and secured first place in Yuhang Affiliated No. 1 Middle School's early admission exam!"

"And Liu Shaowen from Class One, Grade Nine, who won second prize in the Ye Shengtao Cup National New Composition Contest, first prize in the provincial level National Middle School Innovative Composition Contest, consistently ranked among the top three in all school exams, and placed twenty-eighth in Yuhang Affiliated No. 1 Middle School's early admission exam!"

"And also..."

"..."

"And Li Luo from Class Five, Grade Nine, who, in this high school entrance exam, struggled bravely, worked tirelessly, improved by a full 130 points from his third mock exam score of 425 to achieve a high score of 555, and received the only perfect 40-point composition score in the entire school!"

"Congratulations to these students for receiving the title of Outstanding Graduate of Yucai Middle School's 2014 Class!"

"Please have these eleven students come up to receive their awards!"

As soon as he finished, applause erupted.

Only the students from Class Five reacted half a beat late, clapping two or three seconds afterward, their faces still bewildered.

What?

Li Luo?

Outstanding graduate?

Shao Heqi turned his head in stunned silence, staring at Li Luo, who looked just as bewildered, his eyes brimming with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

At the same time, Ying Chanxi had already risen gracefully and waved to Li Luo with a smile:

"Dummy, what are you still standing there for?"

"Go up and get your award!"