Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

The last period on Tuesday is Chinese class.

As soon as the bell rang, Jiang Shan closed her textbook and glanced at the back of the classroom:

"Fang Yuan, come to my office."

All eyes in the class turned to the last row.

Fang Yuan, expressionless, packed his bag and followed them out.

Liu Kai whispered from behind, "Take care, buddy."

Fang Yuan didn't even turn his head, just waved his hand.

Jiang Shan's office is on the first floor of the teaching building. When she pushed open the door, she was the only one in the room.

She sat down in the chair and pointed to the stool next to her: "Sit."

Fang Yuan sat down, holding his schoolbag in his arms.

You've made great progress lately.

"It's alright," Fang Yuan said with a smile.

Jiang Shan was both amused and exasperated.

"Not bad? You're satisfied with 480 points? Don't you even know how many points you got in math?"

"Even if you improve by another 30 points, if you work hard in your senior year of high school, you can still get close to the first-tier university admission line."

"Um, teacher, I think I can get into undergraduate school."

"Oh? So you have a target now? With this score, there's no hope for a good university."

"Teacher, please don't tell anyone else that I'm preparing to take the art college entrance exam."

"Oh? Just like Huang Xiaoming?"

Teacher Jiang looked Fang Yuan up and down, and said with a smile:

"You know what, there's actually a chance. You're better at academics than Huang Xiaoming, you're taller, and you're good-looking too."

"Teacher, I don't want to be an actor. I don't think I have his luck."

"Oh? So what do you want to do?"

I want to study screenwriting.

Teacher Jiang was taken aback and pondered for a moment.

"Yes, it's a path for you."

"Your humanities grades are very good. As long as you don't slack off in your senior year, you should have no problem with your academic subjects."

"The biggest problem is the art exam, which requires professional guidance and has too many uncertainties."

"Can your family support you?"

Teacher Jiang is still very responsible, knowing that his mother passed away last year.

Fang Yuan hesitated for two seconds.

Forget it, it can't be hidden anymore.

He took a stack of A4 paper from his bag, printed out, about seventy or eighty pages, and put it on Jiang Shan's desk.

"I wrote something, could you take a look?"

Jiang Shan looked down.

The first page had seven bold characters printed on it: The Story of a Bottom-Tier Hot Girl's College Admissions.

The following line of smaller print: The Story of Chen Xia.

"Did you write this?"

"Um."

Jiang Shan picked it up and flipped through a couple of pages, her expression changing from puzzled to serious.

She stopped talking and slowly turned the pages.

Fang Yuan sat beside him, his palms sweating.

The office was so quiet that only the sound of turning pages could be heard.

About ten minutes later, Jiang Shan put down her manuscript and looked up at him.

"Did you write this yourself?"

"Yes."

"Who is Chen Xia? The one in our class?"

"Um"

Jiang Shan glanced at him again, said nothing, and lowered her head to continue reading.

Twenty minutes later, she finally finished reading.

She placed the manuscript on the table, crossed her hands on it, and stared at Fang Yuan for several seconds.

"Fang Yuan, do you know what you've written?"

Fang Yuan was stunned.

"You've written a good story."

Jiang Shan said,

"A story of a poor student's remarkable turnaround. The dialogue is vivid, the characters are believable, and it's an easy read."

Fang Yuan was taken aback.

Is this a compliment?

"Moreover," Jiang Shan continued.

"Your story feels very real."

Fang Yuan felt relieved.

"A true comeback is taking three steps forward and two steps back; it's feeling confident today but doubting it tomorrow."

"The Chen Xia you wrote about is very realistic."

Fang Yuan opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Jiang Shan said, "If you write too smoothly, it will look fake."

Fang Yuan nodded.

She's right.

"Go back and revise it. Take a closer look at some of the text details, paragraphs, and symbols."

Jiang Shan said, "Come see me again after you've fixed it."

"Hmm? What do you want?"

Jiang Shan glanced at him, her lips twitching as if she was trying to suppress a laugh.

"I have a college classmate who works as an editor at the 'Sprout' magazine. Once it's revised, I'll send it to you."

Fang Yuan was taken aback.

"Teacher Jiang, are you telling the truth?"

"When have I ever joked with you?"

Fang Yuan stood up with a smile, haha, it came so easily.

He was originally worried about where to send it.

"Alright, alright, go back and revise the manuscript. Oh, right, there's one more thing."

"Please speak."

"You need to get into the top fifteen in the final exam."

Fang Yuan was taken aback.

He ranked eighteenth in the last monthly exam.

"Okay, no problem."

After leaving the office, Fang Yuan rode his bicycle home.

Turn on your computer and begin making the final edits.

Fang Yuan revised it very slowly.

After revising each paragraph, he would read it over and revise it again if he felt something was wrong.

He revised some parts three times, and others five times.

By the time he finished revising the last page, it was already 1 a.m.

He printed it all out and read it from beginning to end.

After reading it, he leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

This time, things went much better.

The next day, Fang Yuan handed the revised manuscript to Jiang Shan.

Jiang Shan took it, but didn't look at it on the spot. She put it in the drawer and said, "Go back now."

Two days later, as soon as Fang Yuan arrived at the classroom, he saw Jiang Shan standing at the door waiting for him.

"I've finished reading the manuscript," Jiang Shan said.

Fang Yuan waited for her to continue.

"The changes are good," Jiang Shan said. "It's better than before."

Fang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll mail it for you."

"Thank you, Teacher Jiang."

"Don't thank me," Jiang Shan said.

"I remember you were in the top fifteen in the final exam."

"I can't forget it."

Jiang Shan glanced at him, then turned and left.

Fang Yuan stood at the classroom door, watching her walk away.

Suddenly I realized that this teacher, who usually speaks slowly and deliberately with a sharp tongue, is actually quite adorable.

A few days later, a large kraft paper envelope was sent from Qingdao to Shanghai.

The envelope contained a stack of manuscript paper, and the first page of the manuscript paper had four words written on it: The Story of a Bottom-Ranked Hot Girl's College Admission.

Sender: Jiang Shan.

Recipient: Li Minghao, Editorial Department of "Mengya" Magazine.

There was also a note tucked inside the envelope, which read:

"Old Li, this is something my student wrote. Take a look. It's well-written; don't embarrass me. — Jiang Shan"

Unbeknownst to Fang Yuan, just three days after the envelope was mailed, Li Minghao opened it in his office at the "Sprout" magazine.

Li Minghao didn't have high expectations.

What kind of composition can a high school student write?

It's nothing more than the same old "youthful angst" trope.

But after reading three pages, he sat up straight.

After reading ten pages, he picked up the phone.

"Jiang Shan? Your student, the one named Fang Yuan?"

"Hmm, how is it?"

"Grade 11?"

"Hmm, not bad, right?"

Li Minghao read the name aloud.

"Wait for my news."

After giving the manuscript to Teacher Jiang, Fang Yuan lost interest in it.

That's a proven success, so what's there to worry about?

The remaining time was spent on intensive review.

Let's see if we can improve further in the final exams.

You should keep your promise to your teacher.

Let's go crazy together.

During this period, Fang Yuan caused Liu Kai and Chen Xia great distress.

She looked at him with a resentful gaze.

However, the results have improved.

Time flies.

The final exams have finally arrived.

Fang Yuan has been awake for several months now and has basically adapted to his current life.

Exams have become something he can take for granted.

The Chinese exam went very smoothly.

English went very smoothly.

Mathematics, well, still the same.

Humanities subjects, well, it's the same.

Finally, the exam was over, and Teacher Jiang tapped on the table.

The noisy classroom quieted down.

"A few things: First, you have a three-day holiday, so please be careful."

"Three days later, the test papers will be handed out, and you should pack your books and other belongings."

"Make room in the classrooms so the school can set up exam venues for the college entrance examination."

"Fang Yuan, come to the school to see me at 2 PM tomorrow."

"Let's go home from school."

The students in the classroom began packing up their things.

They walked out of the classroom in twos and threes.

Chen Xia moved closer to Fang Yuan,

"What does the teacher want with you?"

How would I know?

"You didn't know?" Chen Xia looked at her suspiciously.

"Um, I might need to talk to you during the summer vacation."

"What's up? I'm busy."

"I'll treat you to dinner."

"Pshaw, who cares?"

"I'm free," Liu Kai interjected from the side.

"Get out of here."