I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 88. The Grade Skip Incident 3
"I don't want to skip a grade!"

Seeing that the adults were about to speak, Xu Qingfan raised his voice to interrupt them: "Let me finish speaking first!"

"First of all, I have already adapted to my current social circle. After skipping a grade, I will have to change roommates and live with a group of classmates who are several years older than me. Others will treat me as an outsider and ostracize me, which will cause psychological problems. That's the first point!"
Secondly, if I were to jump from first grade to fourth grade all at once, all my free time would be spent on tutoring, tutoring, and more tutoring. I am a person, not a learning tool. Why should I be forced to do things that you yourselves couldn't do when you were young?

Third, even if what Principal Li said is true—that I start high school at eight and university at nine—what then? What's the point of going to university? Will I be able to change the nation or save humanity after graduating? Probably not. I'll still be an ordinary person after graduation. If that's the case, what's the difference between that and ten years of hard study in the traditional way of university?

His long and reasoned rebuttal left everyone in the room speechless. [After all, he was the top debater in the School of Materials Science and Engineering.] Xu Qingfan thought to himself with secret pride.

"Clap clap clap~" Zhang Chunxue took the lead in clapping, and Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, and Xia Xiaoxiao, though not understanding, also clapped along.

The adults snapped out of their daze. Li Haichao stared at Xu Qingfan with shining eyes. [His logic is so clear and logical, even better than the adults'. Xu Qingfan, are you still saying you're not a child prodigy?]
“Fanfan’s mom, listen to this! I’ve been teaching for over twenty years, and this is the first time I’ve ever met someone who speaks so clearly and logically. The issues Qingfan just mentioned about his life and studies are not problems at all; our school will definitely make the arrangements!” Li Haichao said to Yao Jinping with great emotion.

If the school really wants to grow bigger and stronger and continue to acquire land and build schools in the port city, it desperately needs to establish a prodigy as its role model.

Xu Qingfan:
[Damn it, this is the first time I've felt worse being praised than being insulted!]
Xu Qingfan looked to Zhang Chunxue for help, and she gave him an 'OK' sign.

“Fanfan’s mom, we’re all parents, and I understand how you feel. Which parent doesn’t want their child to be successful?”

Several parents turned their attention to Zhang Chunxue, eager to hear how she planned to turn things around.

“However, skipping grades is not about hoping your child will become a dragon, but about forcing them to grow too fast!” Seeing that Principal Li was about to interrupt, Zhang Chunxue looked at him with cold eyes, and he immediately swallowed back what he wanted to say.

"Xiao Fan and Xiao Xiao are both exceptionally smart, arguably the smartest kids I've ever seen. I don't deny that if they skipped grades, they could take the college entrance exam at eleven or twelve, or even eight or nine. But how good of a university could they get into?"

“Principal Li said that if you don’t do well on the exam, you can take it again next year. Wouldn’t it be better to have more chances?” Yao Jinping asked.

Zhang Chunxue suddenly recalled her senior year of high school and smiled with relief after hearing Yao's mother's words.

She gave Li Haichao a disdainful look: "Qingfan's mother, the senior year of high school is very tough. Many people can't even stick it out for half a year. If Xiaofan skips a grade to go to the senior year, he's already too young. You want him to study for several more years? Even the smartest child will go crazy from studying!"

Xu Qingfan: !!!

[I really cried my eyes out!]
Xu Qingfan stood beside him, nodding vigorously. Having repeated a year of high school in his previous life, he was more than qualified to speak on the matter!

Especially when he failed the monthly exam, the sense of defeat from having failed once would sweep over him like a virus. Just recalling it made Xu Qingfan feel like a piece of his heart had been emptied out.

Listening to Zhang Chunxue's story, Yao Jinping was immediately reminded of her own middle school entrance exam period.

A classroom reeking of sweat, creaking desks, empty ballpoint pen refills, and endless test papers.
[It seems pretty bitter, huh?] Yao Jinping thought to herself.

Seeing that the adults remained silent, Xu Qingfan followed up by asking, "What if you get it right on the first try?"

"That's even worse!"

"Huh?" Apart from Xu Qingfan, everyone else in the room had big question marks on their heads.

"Isn't getting into university a good thing? How could it be worse?" Lin Jing asked疑惑地. "Suppose Xiao Fan gets into university at ten, he'll graduate at fourteen, still a minor. Does that mean he can only continue to graduate school?" Zhang Chunxue paused, and seeing everyone nod, continued, "Let's not even talk about whether he can get into graduate school. Even if he does, it doesn't mean everything is fine! Some of my high school classmates are doing PhDs at Peking University, and some are doing PhDs at Peking University. At the last class reunion, the most common complaint they made was that research is hard to do. Good grades don't mean you can become a scientist, Qingfan's mother!"

[That's so true!] Xu Qingfan called out like crazy.

"And the most important point is that Xiaofan and Xiaoxiao could have had many choices in their lives, but after skipping grades, it seems that they are left with only one path: to pursue a master's degree and a doctorate and become scientists. Why is that?"

If the previous words only made them think, then the last sentence was a wake-up call, eliminating all possibilities of taking the narrow path. Is this really for the good of the child?
Lin Jing realized that she had been stuck in a dead end, thinking that going to first grade was a waste of time. Little did she know that holding onto this mindset would only exhaust her.

"Mom, you're absolutely right. Thank you so much for your advice. If it weren't for you, I would have almost ended up in a dead end!" She bowed deeply to Zhang Chunxue with gratitude.

“Principal, my daughter Xiaoxiao is not skipping grades. I don’t want her to look back on her childhood when she grows up and find that all she has to do is study, study, and more study.”

“Then my rascal won’t skip grades either. Principal, I’m really sorry to have troubled you.” Yao Jinping said after seeing that her best friend had spoken up.

"Why don't you reconsider? Skipping to the third grade is also an option!"

"Stop with these underhanded tricks. We sent our children here because we trust the teaching staff of Experimental Primary School, not to be your living advertisement!" Zhang Chunxue reprimanded coldly.

The Experimental Primary School has two principals: Li Haichao, who is in charge of student recruitment and internal affairs, and a specially appointed national-level outstanding teacher, who is in charge of education.

"Great!!!"

"Brother Qingfan doesn't need to skip grades anymore~" After leaving the office, Lin Wanning released his pent-up emotions and pulled Zhang Yiyi to the front of the line, jumping and skipping.

"Thank you for your trouble, Sister Zhang, for coming all this way." Yao Jinping nodded her thanks.

“Compared to how much your Xiaofan helps Yiyi, what I’ve done is nothing.” Zhang Chunxue waved her hand with a smile. “Xiaofan is the most opinionated child I’ve ever met. You should listen to his opinions more often.”

"Haha~ I must say, the way Xiao Fan yelled at people in the office just now was quite intimidating. Let me finish speaking first!" Lin Jing imitated Xu Qingfan's tone of voice.

"This rascal has grown so much without me even realizing it. He's nothing like when he was little, always following me around like a baby." Yao Jinping shook her head with a sigh.

"Come here, you idiot!"

"Mom, what's wrong?" Xu Qingfan broke away from the group of children and ran to Yao's mother.

"Mom apologizes to you. I was wrong this time," Yao Jinping said calmly, rubbing her son's head.

Xu Qingfan's eyes suddenly reddened. "Mm."

[Catching crayfish and buying lottery tickets—I don't even know when it started, but the brat seems to have grown up all of a sudden.] Yao Jinping recalled the dramatic changes in her family over the past year, her heart filled with emotion.

(PS: Are there any bad points in the last few chapters? There are so many criticisms in the comments section, which has left me feeling overwhelmed, sob sob~)

(End of this chapter)