"Mm," Qin Jingchen's gaze still lingered on the small alleyway.
Fen Ye's voice grew louder, "Impressive! But how can a high school student manage that? Brother Jingchen, I'll go and dig up all her information for you right now!"
"No need," Qin Jingchen declined.
In the dim light, the tear mole below the corner of his eye was enchantingly visible, faintly highlighted by a trace of a smile.
...
The next day dawned clear and bright.
Jiang Xiruo personally saw Jiang Zhe off on the bus, not forgetting to admonish, "Even though Jincheng First High School is prestigious, it's not insurmountable. I have friends there; once you arrive, just ask for whatever you need following your heart. If not, just call me, and I'll go ask my friends."
"Okay," Jiang Zhe nodded, not doubting at all that Jiang Xiruo could do it.
"I'll transfer some pocket money to you; use it first, and let me know anytime if it's not enough."
Jiang Zhe glanced down to see Jiang Xiruo had entered twenty thousand, then seemed to think it too much to give at once, deleted a zero, but then worried it wasn't enough for Jiang Zhe, finally leaving him with five thousand.
In a place like Jincheng First High School, this amount of pocket money was about average, neither too much nor too little.
"Enci is also over there; get in touch with her when you arrive," Jiang Xiruo instructed.
...
Jiang Zhe stood in Director Han's office at Jincheng First High School with his backpack, slightly squinting his eyes to enjoy the morning sun streaming into the office.
Director Han, senior year grade group leader, administrator, vice-principal.
He sat behind his desk, and upon seeing Jiang Zhe's appearance, had a moment of disdain. Although he had heard from the principal about this transfer student having some background to be accepted by the school, this appearance was really too misleading.
"Jiang Zhe, you graduated from Ash Street Elementary School, and spent the first two years of middle and high school at Ash Street Middle School? Your grades..." Director Han flipped through the documents, silently shaking his head.
Shoddy grades that varied wildly, ranging from zero to sixty points, and that was it.
Only a school like Ash Street would still allow him to move onto high school.
"Thirty-eight classes for the senior grade, three A-classes, five B-classes, nine C-classes, one unnamed. Which class would you like to join?" Director Han asked patiently.
As the names suggest, A-classes were for the top performers, and so on down the line.
But at First High, even the students in C-classes far outperformed those from other schools.
Given Jiang Zhe's grades, he shouldn't even dream of touching the door of the last C-class, but then the person who introduced him carried too much weight.
"Which class is Xiao Meng in?" Jiang Zhe asked casually.
"Class One, the best of the A-classes. Do you want to go to Class One?" Director Han looked into Jiang Zhe's eyes as he asked.
"Is that not okay?" Jiang Zhe asked nonchalantly in return.
Director Han coughed uncomfortably, suddenly feeling as if he was the newcomer, not Jiang Zhe. The aura Jiang Zhe exuded almost seemed to reverse their positions.
"It's fine. Try doing this set of test papers first," Director Han said as he handed over the papers to Jiang Zhe.
Although his background was powerful, Director Han still had to make a token effort.
Jiang Zhe glanced at the test papers, pulled out a chair, sat down, and obediently picked up the pen.
Just as he was about to write the first answer, an unforeseen interruption occurred.
"Director Han, this certainly won't do!" the half-closed door was pushed open, and a slightly overweight middle-aged man entered, slamming a Chinese language textbook onto the desk, "My class doesn't accept students like this!"
The newcomer was Tian Wangcheng, the head teacher of Class One in the first grade, a pair of shrewd triangular eyes sweeping over Jiang Zhe, clearly disliking his attire.
What was the point of a senior high school student growing such long hair? Could it be eaten or be converted to grades?
Was the skirt purposely made short? Dressed like that, how could the boys in class concentrate on their studies?
Beautiful girls had no place in school!
"Teacher Tian, it's like this..." Director Han tried to explain.
"Director Han, I've gone through her information. A terrible academic record is bad enough, with several missed final exams! Not to speak of grades, even her attitude towards studies is a problem!"
How could they let such a student come and influence other excellent students!
Director Han was helpless; in front of Jiang Zhe, it wasn't appropriate to speak directly, so he gave Tian Wangcheng a signal with his eyes, hinting at Jiang Zhe's powerful connections behind her.
Tian Wangcheng was agitated, "You know that at least half of our class can get into Beijing University and Hua University. If she influences them, who will take responsibility?"
Jiang Zhe put down his pen and stood up, "It doesn't matter, I'll switch to another class."
Seeing her willing to compromise, Director Han was overjoyed, "Great, I'll find you another class."
Tian Wangcheng, having achieved his goal, didn't leave immediately but said, "And you'll also have to deal with Xiao Meng's matter for me."
Jiang Zhe originally wasn't interested in their conversation, but upon hearing Xiao Meng's name, he couldn't help but listen carefully.
Xiao Meng was a friend from the orphanage, the one Director Kang had heard about before.
With constantly outstanding grades and a smooth path after being adopted, Xiao Meng was the child with a fate second only to Jiang Fanyue among all the children in the orphanage.
"Xiao Meng's matter can wait," Director Han assured him.
Tian Wangcheng insisted on resolving it today, "Xiao Meng's grades used to be good, but now they're slipping. I don't want students like that in my class. You need to transfer her out."
Director Han reluctantly replied, "When we recruited her, it was you who insisted so strongly on having Xiao Meng in your class, but now you want her to leave. We also have to be accountable to our students..."
"Well, I insisted on her then because she had the capacity to be in Class One! Now she doesn't. Why should Class One keep her? Plus, I've heard that she's just an orphan, no wonder she's unsociable and reclusive, with such unstable results. If I knew she was an orphanage kid, I would never have accepted her! Isn't this deceitful?"
After Tian Wangcheng finished, he felt a lock of scrutiny upon him.
Turning back, he saw Jiang Zhe but without regard continued to speak with Director Han, "Director Han, you need to sort this out for me."
With Director Han cornered and without options, he said, "Okay, I'll respond to you as soon as possible."
After Tian Wangcheng left, Director Han finally remembered Jiang Zhe was still present and asked, "Jiang Zhe, how about I arrange another A-class for you?"
"No need. I'll go to whichever class Xiao Meng is in."
Director Han had already communicated with Xiao Meng before, and she was also aware of Tian Wangcheng's attitude. Director Han had long defended Xiao Meng, but this time he had no choice but to respect Tian Wangcheng's wishes.
He immediately communicated with the other teachers.
But hearing that she was a student Tian Wangcheng rejected, the head teachers from other classes were obviously also reluctant.
Throughout the year, in countless meetings, the Xiao Meng that Tian Wangcheng spoke of was the image of a reclusive, temperamental student.
Now in their senior year, all the teachers only wanted to focus on academics, not waste time on problem students.