Jiang Chan was generous. “There’s no need. Keep whatever is left at the orphanage and use it to give the little ones some proper nourishment. Look how thin they all are. We need to raise them to be fair and plump.”
Seeing Dean Fan frown, Jiang Chan hurried to reassure her. “Don’t worry about me. I have food and clothes at school, and I get scholarships too. With this money, the burden on your shoulders will be a little lighter.”
“But if you give all of it to the orphanage, what will you do?” Dean Fan was still worried.
“It’s fine. The scholarship each semester alone is tens of thousands of yuan. Besides, I’m going to keep entering competitions this year. If I win more gold medals, the prize money will only increase.”
Jiang Chan knew that City High was a very generous school. As long as a student brought honor to City High, the school would never treat her poorly.
“You’re such a clever little thing. Look at you. You were away for over a month this time. Do you think gold medals are that easy to win?”
Dean Fan knew Jiang Chan meant well, so she put the check away. Then she turned to the children and took the opportunity to teach them. “Do you see your Sister Chan? Knowledge can bring wealth. You must all study hard in the future too.”
The older children nodded solemnly. They would remember this scene forever, and in the years that followed, they would often recall Dean Fan’s words: knowledge could bring wealth.
Even when they later became outstanding members of society, they never forgot to keep learning.
After settling everything, Jiang Chan returned to her room and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Qingyuan did not disturb her. She knew that Jiang Chan could not take on a mission until after tomorrow’s grade-skipping exam at the earliest, and she still had the patience to wait.
Jiang Chan slept until seven the next morning. Mental work was exhausting too. She woke up feeling refreshed, washed up, and headed to school.
Meanwhile, at City High, Jiang Chan’s plan to skip a grade was no secret among the high school teachers. Everyone who needed to know had heard by the previous afternoon. Considering her performance in the first year, the second-year teachers were all rubbing their hands in anticipation, determined to get this outstanding student into their own classes.
At eight fifty, Jiang Chan entered the academic affairs office. The moment she stepped inside, more than a dozen teachers fixed their eyes on her. She froze. What was going on?
A quick glance told her that they were all second-year homeroom teachers, covering every subject. Every one of them was staring at her like a hungry wolf eyeing a piece of meat.
Besides those teachers, He Qinxue, the little old physics teacher, the biology teacher, and the principal were there too. Ordinarily, a grade-skipping exam would not have drawn the principal’s attention, but Jiang Chan was a special case.
Director Liu’s expression softened when he saw Jiang Chan. He waved the exam papers in his hand. “Jiang Chan, you’re here? Take a seat. We’re about to begin.”
Jiang Chan readily complied. Director Liu placed the papers for all nine subjects in front of her. “Go ahead and start. A teacher will mark each paper as you finish it.”
Without a word, Jiang Chan took out a gel pen and began working through the questions. Naturally, she chose the science papers first. The science teachers watched as she glanced over each question and wrote down the answer without even needing scratch paper.
In less than twenty minutes, she had finished all the fill-in-the-blank and short-answer questions at the front and was quickly working through the longer problems at the back. One of the second-year math teachers could no longer stay seated. He stood behind Jiang Chan and watched her solve the problems without blinking.
Her solutions were clear and concise, and she worked through the entire paper smoothly. Several teachers began breathing faster as they watched. They exchanged glances, each seeing a strong hint of rivalry in the others’ eyes.
The moment Jiang Chan finished the math paper, the teacher standing behind her took it. He picked up a red pen and began marking it, growing more delighted with every question.
He was marking very strictly, trying his best to find small faults, but Jiang Chan’s paper was so perfect that he could hardly find anything to criticize. In the end, he wrote a bright red 150 at the top.
Several teachers passed the paper around, then looked at Jiang Chan, who was still answering questions with full concentration. Their eyes were filled with anticipation and admiration. Director Liu had chosen Paper B from City High’s second-year final exams, which was extremely difficult.
The second-year students had taken Paper A for their final exams. Its difficulty was only moderate, yet not a single student had earned full marks. Now Jiang Chan had scored full marks on the much harder math paper. What did that mean?
It meant that her math abilities were far beyond those of the current second-year students. If her other subjects were good too, every teacher would probably fight to have her.
Jiang Chan worked through the papers very quickly. She only needed to glance at a question before putting pen to paper. Maintaining a pace of one paper per hour, she finished the science papers and then took the English paper.
She skipped the English listening section. Most of the English questions were multiple choice, so she worked through them even faster. The exam continued until three in the afternoon, when Jiang Chan put down her pen and leaned back in her chair.
After six hours of working on papers without a break, even someone made of iron would have struggled. Jiang Chan had intended to choose science all along, so she had not touched the politics, history, or geography papers.
The second-year humanities teachers could only sigh. The student knew her own mind. Besides, studying science offered better employment prospects later. That was a practical consideration.
The humanities teachers voluntarily withdrew from the competition and settled in to watch the science teachers fight it out. And fight they did. City High had twelve science classes, and all twelve homeroom teachers had come, filling the spacious academic affairs office to the brim.
Before Jiang Chan arrived for the exam, they had had their doubts. But as her marked papers came out one after another, every last one of them went wild.
Here was a promising student who could compete for the top spot in the college entrance examination. Wouldn’t it be a terrible loss if they failed to get her into their own class? All of Jiang Chan’s scores had already been tallied. Compared with the second-year students’ final exam results from the previous semester, hers were unquestionably the highest.
Even with the thirty points for English listening deducted, Jiang Chan still stood firmly at the top. She folded her arms and watched the teachers argue until their faces turned red.
One said his was a top class with an excellent study atmosphere. Another said the students in his class got along well and would take good care of Jiang Chan if she joined them.
Everyone insisted on their own arguments and refused to give an inch. Director Liu was getting a headache too. He had originally intended to make things difficult for Jiang Chan so that she would spend another year consolidating her foundation in the first year. That was why he had deliberately chosen such a difficult set of papers.
Who could have expected her to give him such a wonderful surprise? Now he no longer suggested that Jiang Chan stay in the first year. Doing so would only hold her back. Special circumstances called for special treatment.
Director Liu looked around the noisy office, then at Jiang Chan standing to one side as if none of it had anything to do with her, and an idea came to him.
Discover more from Lilly Translations
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.