Before Chen Bing could finish speaking, a soft figure rushed into his arms. After Shang Yunmiao rubbed her cheek against his chest, the little girl looked up at Chen Bing with a smiling face showing her two dimples and asked, "Anything else?"
"Also... Aunt Xuan is going to teach our class. With a teacher acting as a 'connection' teacher, life at school should be quite comfortable."
"Anything else?"
"And also... hasn't Baishi No.1 Middle School been declining in recent years? As a native of Baishi Town, shouldn't I contribute to its development? I'll aim for the top score in the high school entrance exam, if not the best in the city, probably the best in the county..."
"I...that's not what I wanted to ask, so is there anything else?"
Faced with the little girl's expectant eyes and slightly pouting lips, Chen Bing unconsciously glanced to the side, then blushed slightly and replied, "What else? Uh... what else? Let me think... um... also, I think you might want to go to Baishi No. 1 Middle School?"
After getting the answer she wanted, Shang Yunmiao's smile became even brighter. She then buried her face back in Chen Bing's arms and replied in a sweet and soft voice, "That's what I think too. I also want to continue being your classmate."
Having confirmed Chen Bing's thoughts and learned that he had already discussed the matter with Aunt Yueyue, Shang Yunmiao, without even bothering to eat the cherries, happily ran out of her room to tell her parents about it.
Chen Bing watched her cheerful figure and smiled silently. This little girl is making a fuss over nothing.
He took a deep breath to calm his unease, then calmly sat down at Shang Yunmiao's desk, leisurely picked up a cherry and popped it into his mouth.
Take a gentle bite, and the sweet and sour cherry bursts with juice in your mouth; the taste is surprisingly delicious.
...
As it turns out, graduation season, as a special period of a specific academic stage, is a time when time seems to pass very quickly, no matter how you look at it.
In the blink of an eye, May has passed and June is here.
In Shandong Province at this time of year, the weather is occasionally cool, but most of the time it's hot. Unfortunately, today is one of those particularly hot days.
To dispel the heat in the classroom, many students would pour the water from their cups onto the floor at their feet, creating puddles that would quickly evaporate.
The ceiling fan spun rapidly, creaking intermittently, making one wonder if it might fall. Lost in thought, small groups of people began to drift off, imagining who it might hit if it did fall, and whether it would slice off their heads. And most importantly, they wondered if school would give them a few more days off.
When it comes to holidays, all friendships are as thin as paper. Everyone just hopes a few classmates will get killed so they can go home for the break. So, Mr. Fan, please spin even faster, and then you'll collapse under the pressure!
The fan, which carried the students' hopes, seemed to be spinning more heavily, but thankfully, it was unlikely to fall down. However, it wasn't spinning fast either; it just spun listlessly like a middle-aged laborer working hard.
On the other side of the wall, two newly installed wall-mounted air conditioners simply watched this scene indifferently. As expensive air conditioners purchased by the school, they certainly couldn't be expected to work diligently like foolish laborers; otherwise, they would have cost far more.
Just like the two stone lions in front of a grand mansion, regardless of their actual function, a municipal-level model primary school cannot do without such a facade.
In his previous life, Chen Bing didn't understand these principles. He genuinely believed his teacher's words, thinking that the school had only bought air conditioners but not remote controls, and therefore regretfully couldn't provide his classmates with the rare coolness of summer. He didn't even consider why the air conditioners in the office could be turned on.
Back in the sweltering classroom, the teacher, used to the air conditioning, stood to one side of the podium, idly waiting for the person on the podium to finish speaking.
At that moment, the words "Chaoyang Academy" were written in large white chalk on the blackboard in the front row, and the admissions office teacher on the podium was talking animatedly about their junior high school.
That's right, this is routine. Some junior high schools that aren't top-tier but are very ambitious will organize a group of teachers to go to each elementary school to promote their school in advance.
In fact, Chaoyang Academy's original name wasn't that; it was more accurately described as Chaoyang Experimental Middle School, which is more in line with the realities of China. Its founders probably felt that the name "Experimental Middle School" wasn't catchy enough, so they cleverly named it Chaoyang Academy, or simply Chaoyang Garden.
However, no matter how prestigious the name is, it cannot change the fact that it is a terrible private middle school. No matter how hard the admissions officers try to promote it on stage, the students below remain unmoved.
Admittedly, the accommodation at Chaoyangyuan is quite good, but compared to its tuition fees that often amount to several thousand yuan a year, public schools with tuition fees of tens or hundreds of yuan are definitely more cost-effective.
Chaoyang Garden is clearly aware of the tuition issue, which is why it specifically outlined a new admissions method this year. That method is—
"Our school divides each grade into three levels of classes: a regular class where students pay full tuition, a science and technology class where tuition is 2,000 yuan per semester, and a 'rocket class' where students receive a subsidy of 1,000 yuan per semester. If any student achieves outstanding results in the upcoming high school entrance examination, we can award them up to 100,000 yuan in a one-time bonus!"
As expected, after these impressive figures were presented, many ambitious students in the class raised their heads and listened attentively to the teacher's next introduction.
After another round of lavish boasting, the admissions officer announced the most important news he had to share.
"Seven days later, our school will hold an entrance exam for students who are interested in studying at our school, as well as a tour after the exam. Interested students are welcome to participate. If they achieve excellent results, we will also award them an additional scholarship of up to 10,000 yuan."
His words once again drew gasps of amazement from the audience. Seeing that his presentation had been effective, the teacher smiled and handed out recruitment flyers before stepping down from the podium and approaching the math teacher.
"This is troublesome, Teacher Li."
"Ah, um, okay, no trouble at all, see you later."
The math teacher, who was dozing off nearby, immediately opened his eyes and came to his senses when he heard that the other person had finished speaking and was about to leave. He then exchanged a polite greeting with the other person.
"Well, there's something I'd like to talk to you about. Would you mind coming to the hallway so we can discuss it further?"
As they were talking, the admissions office teacher thoughtfully slipped a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes to Mr. Li.
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