Chapter 4
July 2014.
Guicheng No. 4 Middle School.
In the empty corridor, a middle-aged man carrying a black office bag strode towards the temporary admissions classroom.
As he reached the door, a young teacher in the classroom, with a sharp eye, immediately waved and greeted him: "Director Lin, you're here."
Director Lin nodded at him and replied, "Xiao Tang is here very early."
Director Lin’s name is Lin Aiguo, and he is the admissions officer.
A few days ago, he selected two men and one woman from those who participated in the early admissions to be responsible for the subsequent admissions work.
Their job is simple: call each student to inform them that they have been accepted and ask them whether they will change their major.
Under normal circumstances, students who apply to No. 4 Middle School will come here to study, but occasionally some will go to No. 1 Middle School to study.
There are two well-known key high schools in Guicheng, namely Guicheng No. 1 High School and Guicheng No. 4 High School.
The two schools have attracted all the high-quality students in Guicheng, and the annual undergraduate admission rate can reach 85%.
No. 1 Middle School is in Qingtian District, the old city area, and No. 4 Middle School is in Qingshan District, the new city area.
Originally, they kept to themselves.
However, every year the two schools would secretly compete with each other to snatch students from their respective territories.
This time, the number of students volunteering to be admitted to No. 4 Middle School is much higher than that of No. 1 Middle School.
Lin Aiguo was in a good mood when he thought about his performance. He walked straight to the only empty ceiling fan in the room, pulled out a chair and sat down.
This seat was specially reserved for him by the other three people.
There is a tree by the window, which provides shade and no direct sunlight, and the fan above your head has the strongest wind.
Lin Aiguo rushed over from the office, his white shirt on the back was wet and his face was red and hot.
He picked up the iced bottle of water on the table, took a few gulps, then tilted his head back to feel the coolness brought by the fan, and only then did he cool down.
He raised his hand and glanced at his electronic watch——
8:13.
It's still early.
He slowly pulled out a stack of admitted students' contact information and several cell phones from his briefcase. "Teachers, come here."
Three people came over after hearing the noise and surrounded his table.
Lin Aiguo divided the items on the table into four parts according to the number of people and distributed them to several people.
After receiving it, Xiao Tang immediately held up the small stack of information in front of him, took a quick look, and said with emotion, "It seems that quite a lot of people have applied to our school this time."
The next second, the female teacher next to him asked back: "Xiao Tang, what are you talking about? In which year did our school have a small number of applicants?"
Xiao Tang is a bachelor's and master's graduate from a prestigious university. He came to participate in admissions less than a year after entering the school.
He realized his words were inappropriate and replied with a smile: "I just said it casually. I've only been here for a short time, so I'm definitely not as knowledgeable as you, Teacher Zhou."
Hearing this, Teacher Zhou frowned and brushed the hair on his forehead with his fingers, "Don't use the word 'you'. Am I that old?"
She is 36 years old and has maintained herself well. To look younger, she even wore a fresh floral dress today.
"Teacher Zhou, I don't mean that," Xiao Tang said slickly. "Just looking at your appearance, you look like a recent college graduate. However, you have more experience than me, so it's more polite to address you. Since you don't want to, then I'll change the address."
Teacher Zhou knew that Xiao Tang had no other intentions, so he smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Okay, okay, let's forget about this."
Xiao Tang put down what he was holding and clasped his hands together: "Thank you, Teacher Zhou, for your generosity."
Teacher Qin, who had been silent the whole time, glanced at Xiao Tang with a smile, then looked at Lin Aiguo and asked, "Director Lin, how many calls do you have to make today?"
Xiao Tang and Teacher Zhou also wanted to know, so they all looked at Lin Aiguo and listened attentively.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Lin Aiguo said, "This year, 983 students from the school took the online call, and each student made an average of 240 calls."
Xiao Tang exclaimed, "Wow, this is going to be a busy day." He usually couldn't make more than ten calls, so at first glance, it seemed like a huge workload.
"That's nothing," Teacher Zhou said. "Last year, there were only three teachers, and they made more calls than this."
Seeing Xiao Tang's worried look, Teacher Qin shared his own advice, "Don't make the call too long. Just get the message across. Keep the call time under three minutes, and maybe we can leave work early."
Lin Aiguo comforted Xiao Tang, saying, "Last year, all three of us left work on time. This year, I applied for an extra position, so the work won't be too tiring."
Xiao Tang felt relieved and immediately asked, "Is the school really that stingy?"
The subsidy is 300 yuan per person per day, and they are still so stingy.
Upon hearing this, Teacher Zhou and Teacher Qin looked at each other without saying a word.
Lin Aiguo glanced at Xiao Tang and smiled helplessly, "Be content, you've come at a good time."
Lin Aiguo looks serious and old-fashioned, but in reality, he is a quick-witted person and not the kind of stubborn old man who only cares about school.
He saw vitality in Xiao Tang, who was very similar to himself back then, so he didn't say much.
Teacher Zhou glanced at the list and saw the student named Lin. Suddenly, something occurred to him and he asked, "Director Lin, if I remember correctly, your son graduated from Jingshan Middle School this year?"
Lin Aiguo readily admitted: "Yes, he did well in the exam and will come to our school." There was a hint of pride in his tone.
His child ranks among the top students in Jingshan Middle School and has stable grades, so it is expected that he will be admitted to No. 4 Middle School.
"That's great." Teacher Zhou said with envy, "Your son has great potential. He's been well-educated."
Lin Aiguo remembered that Teacher Zhou also had a daughter, so he asked, "How is your daughter's studies?"
Teacher Zhou frowned, looking disappointed. "My daughter's grades are too poor, and her mind isn't focused on studying. With her current level, it's doubtful she can get into our school."
Lin Aiguo comforted him, saying, "Maybe he'll catch up later."
"I hope so."
Teacher Zhou immediately regained composure and changed the subject, asking, "Who was the top scorer in this year's high school entrance exam? I keep hearing my daughter talk about Ji Xin. Is it him?"
Lin Aiguo nodded, "It was him. He came to our school. No. 1 Middle School couldn't beat us."
Xiao Tang listened to the two talking about their child, but he was reluctant to interrupt. Finally, a topic came up, and he immediately said, "Then he will definitely be admitted to the competition class."
The fourth middle school has a tradition of dividing classes according to the results of the high school entrance examination. Among them, the competition class is the best class, and students go there for the purpose of recommendation.
Hearing Xiao Tang's words, Lin Aiguo sighed and said, "This year's pilot reform will not divide classes according to grades."
According to his son's grades, he can definitely enter the competition class and receive the best teachers.
But this year...
Xiao Tang had no idea about this. "Huh? Why the sudden reform?"
He turned his head to look at Teacher Qin and asked, "Do you know?"
Teacher Qin replied: "I heard a little bit of the rumor, but I don't know more."
Xiao Tang looked at Lin Aiguo and then at Teacher Zhou.
Finally, Teacher Zhou, an insider, offered an explanation: "The higher-ups said long ago that we wouldn't allow special classes because the teacher imbalance is too severe. This year, they're strictly controlling our school. Also, the principal tried to do it before, but faced significant resistance and couldn't move forward. Now that we have a legitimate excuse, we're going with it."
Xiao Tang was slightly surprised: "Is this true? Teacher Zhou, you know a lot."
Teacher Zhou gave a dry laugh and said nothing more. Her husband was related to the principal by blood, but that wasn't something she wanted to share with outsiders.
Lin Aiguo glanced at Xiao Tang and said, "What Teacher Zhou said is pretty much right. This is the situation. This class will be a little special."
Xiao Tang rubbed his chin and guessed, "Then this time, the classes were most likely randomly assigned by computer."
Hearing this, Teacher Zhou looked at Lin Aiguo and said with a smile, "Director Lin, if you're lucky, your son might be assigned to your class."
This year, Lin Aiguo just finished teaching the senior class, and this time he has to teach the freshmen again.
Lin Aiguo was silent for a moment, looking out the window at the large tree sheltering the sapling, and said, "I hope so. After all... I feel more at ease when my son is in his own class."
Afterwards, a few of them chatted for a while around the campus greening and prepared to return to their seats.
Lin Aiguo flipped through his list and found that he didn't see the one he was looking for, so he quickly called them: "Wait a moment."
The three of them stopped and turned to look at him in confusion.
Lin Aiguo explained, "In order to count the number of people, I also put the name of a student from Jinhai on it. When I was sorting out the information, I forgot to keep it. You can look for it. His name is Chen Miao."
"Chen Miao." Xiao Tang muttered as he looked for him.
He took the last pile of documents and flipped straight to the end. There was no information about Chen Miao except his name.
He pulled out the paper, handed it to Lin Aiguo, and asked, "Is this the one?"
Lin Aiguo took a look and put the paper in the drawer. "It's okay, you guys can go back to work."
Xiao Tang rolled his eyes, finally unable to suppress his curiosity. He leaned over to Lin Aiguo and asked quietly, "Why is there someone from Jinhai coming here to study in high school?"
Jinhai City is a first-tier city, and Guicheng is a third-tier city at best. It's like going from easy mode to difficult mode.
"Maybe they don't care." Teacher Zhou said casually.
Xiao Tang's eyes widened, he looked at Teacher Zhou in surprise, and shouted, "You know this too!"
Teacher Zhou took a step back, avoiding Xiao Tang's exaggerated gaze, and said, "I was passing by the principal's office and heard it."
Teacher Qin was obviously interested and asked, "What's going on?"
Teacher Zhou said slowly, "Some time ago, someone came to the principal to talk about transferring to another school. He said he wanted to donate 10 million yuan to the school to contribute to the cause of education."
Hearing this, Xiao Tang covered his chest with his hands and said, "Oh my God, what were you thinking when you spent money to come here?" He seemed to care more about the money than the sponsor himself.
Xiao Tang felt that Lin Aiguo must know something, and looked at him with sparkling eyes: "Did you commit some crime? No other school wants you."
Lin Aiguo shook his head: "No."
"Then how did he..."
Lin Aiguo interrupted Xiao Tang and said, "That's their private matter."
Clapping his hands, he quickly stopped the topic, "Stop gossiping about students, it's time to get to work."
.......
Three o'clock in the afternoon.
A yellow cell phone beside the bed began to vibrate.
Lin Jiu glanced at the screen and frowned in confusion.
No one knows her phone number except her mother.
I picked up the phone and looked at it carefully for a few seconds.
Incoming caller IP display: Guicheng.
After thinking for a few seconds, she thought of a possibility, maybe it was a call from No. 4 Middle School.
Maybe it was her acceptance letter.
Before the high school entrance exam, she filled out the paper application form. She left her own contact number in case Yang Bing missed it.
Everything makes sense.
Lin Jiu picked up the remote control on the bedside table and immediately muted the TV.
It was still noisy inside.
She stood up from the small wooden stool, took a few steps, turned off the oscillating fan, and solved the source of the noise.
She cleared her throat nervously and answered the phone.
"Hello."
"Hello, I'm a teacher from No. 4 Middle School. Are you Lin Jiu's parent?"
A clear male voice came from the other end of the phone. Judging from the voice, he was very young.
"...No, I'm Lin Jiu, and my mother isn't home."
The other party paused for a few seconds, then quickly organized his words: "I'm calling you this time to inform you that you've been accepted into our school... Will you report on time?"
Lin Jiu was slightly stunned, but suppressed his excitement and said, "I will report on time."
Hearing the news, the other party quickly said a long string of words: "Okay, the admission letter will be mailed to the address you provided. It is expected to arrive in mid-July. Remember to notify your family to pick it up."
"Thank you, I know..."
Lin Jiu looked at the desktop screen that popped up and slowly uttered the two words he hadn't finished: "Got it."
Click on Caller ID.
She quickly found the call records -
1 minute and 35 seconds.
It was as fast as a dream.
After a brief conversation, beads of sweat appeared on Lin Jiu's forehead.
She walked over and turned on the fan, and the dry hot air hit her face, making her feel a little cooler.
The TV volume returned to normal.
Everything is as usual.
After receiving the notification from No. 4 Middle School, she finally felt relieved.
She checked her scores, and with a score just over 900, she wasn't sure if she could get into No. 4 Middle School.
These days.
When she thinks of her high school entrance examination scores, she always regrets why she didn't work harder in junior high school.
Although... she tried her best and got full marks in the physical exam, 100 points.
She still felt she wasn't trying hard enough.
fortunately......
Entered No. 4 Middle School.
Everything is the best arrangement.
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