Follow with heart

Principal Ge made quite a splash at the district's college entrance examination seminar this time, as he sat directly next to the district education bureau director on the podium.

Although they were seated in different places, he didn't say much, just exchanged a few polite words and then ended the conversation.

A district education bureau leader privately half-jokingly, half-seriously suggested that the affiliated middle school share its exam papers with everyone, but he pretended not to hear.

So what if he's a leader in the district education bureau? He can't control him; he belongs to a company.

We only have work-related interactions; it's just a matter of mutual cooperation.

However, Principal Ge was quite busy when it came time for everyone to exchange ideas later on.

Several school principals were commissioned to transfer some students who were in their final year of high school at other prestigious high schools to their schools.

There are high schools like Jinling No.1 High School and other key high schools of the same level as Jinling No.1 High School, but of course, there are no high schools like Jinling No.2 High School.

He didn't dare agree to it, and declined, citing the school's insufficient teaching staff and inability to run more classes.

Later, he dared not stay any longer and made up an excuse to run back early.

When Principal Ge returned to the school, he was still shaken, feeling that many things were going to happen at the school this year.

For the first time, he felt a little uneasy, after all, there were some situations he had never been in before, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to handle the situation.

Sure enough, before school even started, someone was already looking for him.

To his surprise, it was Zhao Gang and Wan Chunyan who came to see him.

Zhao Gang is now the leader of the factory's administrative department, and Wan Chunyan was brought along because she is his wife.

Wan Chunyan was shy and didn't dare to speak the whole time; Zhao Gang did all the talking.

The matter is very simple. The land was approved a long time ago, and the group has already bought it this year. It has become the group's own land, and they plan to build several residential buildings on it.

After investigation and considering the quotations from several companies, the factory has basically selected the Fifth Construction Company of the Provincial Construction Group for the construction. Now, only the signing of the contract is left.

Now the problem is that several senior leaders of the Fifth Company sent people to find the leaders of Huafang.

They said they could build a model building for Huafang first, which would be the school's staff housing, with a total price of 800 yuan per square meter.

It's worth noting that the market price of old houses in Huafang is now close to 2000 yuan per square meter. This staff building was prepared by the factory for school teachers, and the internal price agreed upon at the time was 1500 yuan per square meter.

In other words, once this staff building is completed, the factory only needs to purchase it for each teacher at 800 yuan per square meter, and name it "Teaching Assistant".

However, the Fifth Company put forward two conditions: first, the request must be made proactively by Huafang, and the Fifth Company must passively accept it.

Secondly, there are four children of leaders from the Fifth Company who are facing the college entrance examination this year, and they have requested to transfer to the graduating class of the affiliated middle school.

This is considered operating behind closed doors. Many things are common knowledge; there's no need to expose them.

The key point is that this concerns the fundamental interests of all faculty and staff. Each person can save nearly 100,000 yuan, which is something that has to be agreed to.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Zhao Changling's return has unknowingly changed many things, and the trajectory of history has quietly undergone many changes.

For example, Zhao Gang's career has accelerated, and he is now being promoted like a rocket.

Another factor affected is the high school entrance exams, which used to be the main focus of these schools. Every year, the focus was on how many junior high school graduates were admitted to key high schools.

Things are different now. For example, this year's students got into Jinling No. 2 High School and Jinling No. 1 High School through the high school entrance exam.

As a result, eight of the nine students' parents came to the school to talk to the principal, objecting to their children attending the city's top high school and insisting that their children attend the affiliated middle school. This made the homeroom teacher of this year's ninth graders turn green with anger.

This situation has left Xu Junjie, who was initially full of confidence when he went to tutor the first-year junior high students, in a dilemma.

The students he teaches are just starting their final year of junior high. Some of them are already doing quite well and are thinking about not performing too well on the high school entrance exam, which is rather unusual.

The most popular department in the school right now is the high school, and the most popular teacher in the high school is Wan Chunyan.

Some of the school's superficial honors were taken away by the graduating class's homeroom teacher.

However, when it comes to specific interests, such as promotions, none of the high school teachers competed with Wan Chunyan.

Wan Chunyan's salary was already increased by one level last year, so it's not appropriate to increase it again this year.

However, if the results are too good after next year's college entrance examination, there's no way to stop the possibility of being transferred to a higher grade.

The principal is extremely busy right now, but he's tired yet happy.

Despite his strict oversight, nine students from other institutions were still admitted to the senior year of high school this year, both in the arts and sciences streams.

The situation in the first year of high school is even more "horrible," with more than 10 students from other departments being squeezed into each of the arts and sciences tracks, making every class extremely crowded.

Amidst the busy work of the school teachers, 2005 arrived.

During the Spring Festival of that year, Xu Junjie finally married Teacher Wu.

But their wedding was quickly forgotten by everyone because the college entrance examination, which everyone was focused on, was just around the corner.

In this life, Zhao Changling's biggest headache was not how many points he could get, but how many points he could get that would be just enough to become the top scholar in Huguang.

If he weren't afraid that his score would be too impressive and attract the attention of higher-ups, potentially making him a guinea pig, he would have easily secured a score of 740 or higher.

Because he had a set of 2005 college entrance examination questions in his mind, complete with all the answers.

After careful calculation, he decided to aim for a score of around 720 on his college entrance exam.

He must have been a terrible person in his past life. He didn't even know the cutoff score for first-tier universities, let alone pay attention to the top scorers in the college entrance examination back then.

On the day the college entrance examination scores were released, the leaders of the municipal education bureau were the first to be stunned!

What? This year's top scorers in the college entrance exam came from our city? And it wasn't even from Jinling No. 2 High School or Huaiyin No. 1 High School?

Completely bewildered! I asked the secretary, "Where in our city is Huafang Children's Middle School located?"

After asking the questions, he didn't forget to instruct: "Quickly find someone to hang a banner at the entrance of the Education Bureau that reads: 'The top scorer in the Jiangnan Province college entrance examination this year comes from our city.'"

When the county education bureau leaders received the call, they were stunned!

"Huafang Children's Middle School? Are you kidding me? That can't be right!" As soon as he said that, he was criticized by his superiors.

"Are the people in your county's education bureau having too much of a comfortable life? Such an excellent school came from your jurisdiction, yet it's still just an ordinary high school..."

"Last year, someone got into a top-tier university (985), and this year they even became the top scorer in the entire province's college entrance examination, and you guys knew absolutely nothing about it..."

After reprimanding the city leaders from the county education bureau, the city education bureau leaders themselves wiped away their sweat.

The things he said to others were things he had just found out himself.

Principal Ge had expected Zhao Changling to bring him a surprise, but he never imagined that the surprise would be this big.

When this surprise came, he couldn't hold back his emotions.

His heart was racing; he could almost hear it pounding—thump-thump-thump.

He clutched his chest, stumbled out of the principal's office, and pushed open the door to an office next door.

"A few people, come quickly and help me to the hospital."

Before leaving the school, the principal didn't forget to tell Teacher Wan: "Inform Teacher Wan that Zhao Changling... is this year's... top scorer in the college entrance examination."

"Ah!" the teacher supporting the principal cried out, nearly letting go and dropping him to the ground.

When Wan Chunyan heard the news, she was accompanying Zhao Gang to the electronics market to choose a gift for Zhao Changling. She jumped up with a "Wow!"

"My younger brother is this year's top scorer in the college entrance examination..."

After calling out, she forgot to say goodbye and ran away, leaving Zhao Gang alone.

Zhao Gang watched Wan Chunyan run away speechlessly, then turned to the sales clerk and said, "Alright, this is the machine. Give it to me."

As he paid, he couldn't resist joking, "This machine is a gift for the top scorer in our province's college entrance exam, can you give me a discount?..."

Wan Chunyan ran straight to Zhao Changling's house, grabbed him like an eagle snatching a chick, and held him in her arms, then turned into Xianglin's wife and started nagging endlessly.

"My God! A raw score of 722! That's 6 points higher than the second-highest score in the exam. And that's without any bonus points! A true top scorer..."

(Note: Wang Dali, the top scorer in the 2005 college entrance examination in Hubei and Hunan provinces, had a raw score of 696 and a file score of 716. The file score includes bonus points.)

Zhao Changling stared speechlessly at his homeroom teacher, feeling a surge of anger and frustration for the first time towards his beloved teacher.

Damn! How come I didn't know there were bonus points for the college entrance exam? What kind of teacher is that? So irresponsible.

With such good academic performance, why didn't the school think of any way to give them extra credit?

As Zhao Changling was embraced by Wan Chunyan, his forehead touched something soft, causing his youthful heart to flutter.

He suddenly felt a little scared, scared of this evil thought, which he felt was a desecration of the pure-hearted Teacher Wan.

The advantage of being reborn is that he can still maintain a sense of clarity at this time.

He looked up. "Sis! Didn't you go out with my brother-in-law? Where's he?"

"Ah!" Wan Chunyan then remembered Zhao Gang. "I left him alone in the electronics market."

"Sister, you're going to be busy from now on," Zhao Changling said thoughtfully.

"There will definitely be all sorts of interviews coming up, and you're the homeroom teacher, you can't escape them..."

"Your brother-in-law understands these social etiquette rules. You should go back and discuss it with him."

At this moment, Wan Chunyan realized that there would definitely be a lot of things to do, at least a lot of interviews in the city, which she had no experience with.

She exclaimed, abandoned Zhao Changling, and ran back to find her husband.

......

On the third day, the principal informed Wan Chunyan and Zhao Changling that they should go to the city together, as the leaders of the city's education bureau would be meeting with them personally.

Meanwhile, the city television station also arranged a special interview.

The vehicle that took them to the city was a bread truck specially arranged by the China Textile Bureau.

Zhao Gang accompanied them this time as part of Huafang's team.

Actually, this was also Wan Chunyan's request. She was afraid that she wouldn't know how to speak in certain situations, so she could ask Zhao Gang to speak for her.

This time, the affiliated middle school really made a name for itself. Not only did the school produce a top scorer in the college entrance examination, but another student received an admission notice from Tsinghua University's Civil Engineering Department.

Besides the two of them, there were seven or eight others in the first tier, and Principal Ge couldn't even remember the second tier.

As Zhao Changling boarded the bus, he saw Xu Junjie right behind the teachers who were seeing him off at school.

He looked at Xu Junjie with a cold smile, and then openly gave Xu Junjie the middle finger.

When Wan Chunyan saw his gesture, she knew that her younger brother was standing up for her, and a relieved smile appeared in her eyes.

Principal Ge also saw it; just because he's old doesn't mean he's senile. He understands some things perfectly well.

He didn't do anything, turning his face away as if he hadn't seen anything.

The teachers who came to see him off were very cooperative, turning around in unison to follow Zhao Changling's gesture.

Then, in stark contrast to the smiling faces of all the faculty and staff, everyone saw Xu Junjie's dark expression.

Xu Junjie glared angrily at Zhao Changling, then turned and left.

Xu Junjie has been having a tough time lately, as a large number of his students failed their high school entrance exams.

Five or six students who usually excelled in their studies stumbled in the high school entrance exam, all ranking below 20th in their grade.

Only three students managed to get into Jinling No.1 High School this time.

However, all three students who were admitted to top high schools were scolded mercilessly by their parents when they got home.

Moreover, they all scolded them for being stupid, asking why they didn't do worse on the test, because if they did poorly, they could go to the affiliated middle school of their workplace.

Those high-achieving students know not to score too high on the high school entrance exam, even if they know the correct answer is the one others chose wrong.

Only those three idiots, why bother taking the exam for that useless Jinling No.1 High School?

The school for factory workers' children has priority for the children of factory workers, but not for other organizations.

Students from other organizations who want to attend high school at the affiliated middle school not only need to have good grades, but also have to pay a school selection fee ranging from 5000 to 10,000 yuan.

What is Jinling No.1 High School? It's not like Jinling No.2 High School. The students from Jinling No.1 High School are now eagerly hoping to attend Huafang Children's Middle School.

Last semester, students who were admitted to key universities but did not want to go were persuaded to leave by the principal on the grounds that they could not disrupt the city's enrollment plan.

The parents of these three students didn't believe in this superstition. One of the parents was the head of the factory's labor and personnel department, and the other was the head of the education department—both were powerful figures.

Even the head of the education department can influence the allocation of new houses for the school's faculty and staff.

The current situation is that these three students are absolutely determined not to go to the city's top high schools this year; they're just going to stay at the affiliated middle school and refuse to leave.

On his way to the city, Zhao Gang also discussed this matter with the principal.

He advised the principal to accept the three students, since they were all from the same unit and it wouldn't be good to offend any of them.

Nowadays, everyone has children or something, so it's good to leave a way out for them.

The principal didn't say anything, but he had already agreed with Zhao Gang's statement.

However, he knew one thing: after Zhao Changling left the school, the school would not have such good resources to utilize in the future.

Choosing a top-tier high school in the city is actually the wise choice.

Unfortunately, today's parents wouldn't agree with his viewpoint.

As for Xu Junjie, he has now become a laughing stock.

The person who talks the most behind the backs of the high school teachers is their father-in-law, who works at the city's education bureau.

If it weren't for this, he would have been unable to stay in the affiliated middle school long ago.

It's even more impossible for him to become the head of the school in the future.

As for being promoted like a rocket, Wan Chunyan didn't even need to compete for it. She wanted to decline the professional title evaluation, but her colleagues wouldn't allow it.

Only after she gets promoted will others feel comfortable following suit.

Xu Junjie, if you want a promotion, just follow the proper steps. If you take a rocket, you'll miss out on getting into the junior high school.

Wan Chunyan's original work experience was that she started in junior high school, went through high school, and then returned to junior high school to enrich her classroom experience before deciding whether to teach junior high or high school based on her characteristics.

But now it's not possible. The school hasn't finalized the appointments yet, and the parents of the first-year high school students have already started to worry about unforeseen changes, and have collectively protested at the General Administration's office building.

They insisted that Wan Chunyan serve as the homeroom teacher for this year's first-year high school students, arguing that the school's resources should not be wasted.

Now, even if the principal had a thousand times the courage, he wouldn't dare to assign Wan Chunyan to the junior high school.

The principal had also studied some famous quotes: "The revolutionary torrent is mighty and unstoppable; those who follow it prosper, those who oppose it perish." The principal understood.

This trip to the city kept everyone extremely busy.

First, he was received by the leaders of the Municipal Bureau, and then he was interviewed by the TV station.

Although it was tiring, I also gained a lot.

There were collective and individual instances. The collective one involved the expansion of senior high school classes in affiliated middle schools, increasing the number of classes from one in arts and one in sciences to two in each.

The program includes one class each for arts and sciences open to external students, with teachers to be allocated priority by the Municipal Education Bureau to recent graduates of teacher training programs.

Although it is not a top-tier high school on the surface, it is already showing signs of becoming one.

Ge Tiannian, the principal of the affiliated middle school, was awarded the title of May Day Model Worker in the city this year, and teacher Wan Chunyan was promoted to special-grade teacher and 38 Red Banner Pacesetter by the city education department.

Once the official stuff is done, it's time to get down to personal matters.

Many students prepared a banquet to thank their teachers, and Zhao Changling's parents also wanted to prepare one, but Zhao Gang beat them to it.

Zhao Gang booked a restaurant and invited Zhao Changling's entire family. It was ostensibly a banquet to thank Zhao Changling for his teachers, but Zhao Gang paid for everything.

During the meal, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao presented Zhao Changling with a gift to celebrate his college entrance exams: a mobile phone.

Zhao Changling opened it on the spot and saw that it was a Sony Ericsson S-700.

It's a very beautiful model with a large rotary dial. It looks expensive; I bet it costs several thousand.

Upon opening the phone, I found that Wan Chunyan and Zhao Gang's phone numbers were already saved in my phone.

In his previous life, he didn't have his own mobile phone when he went to college. He bought a very cheap second-hand Nokia after starting school.

So when he left, he lost contact with many people, including his teacher, Mr. Wan.

The classmates I contacted later were all added through QQ.

By then, with the advent of mobile phones, there was no longer any thought of adding contacts by phone.

In this life, he returned and many of his wishes were fulfilled.

For example, it allowed Teacher Wan to see Xu Junjie's true colors.

Incidentally, this indirectly damaged Xu Junjie's status at school.

In the future, Xu Junjie will most likely not have the opportunity to become a principal, let alone have the chance to harm other female teachers and students.

There would be no story of Teacher Wan being unable to forget him, having an affair, and ultimately getting a divorce.

Compared to these, the school's college entrance rate and other significant changes were not of particular concern to him.

His only uncertainty now is that Zhao Gang and Wan Chunyan seem to be getting along very well.

However, Zhao Gang's career has progressed much faster than before. With his abilities, it's only a matter of time before he becomes a factory leader.

He didn't know if Zhao Gang would find a new lover as he rose through the ranks of officialdom, and whether he and Teacher Wan would eventually end up divorcing.

After all, in his previous life, he only knew that Teacher Wan got divorced before he was 40, but he didn't know the real reason.

With that thought in mind, he closed his phone.

"Thank you, brother-in-law, but this phone is too valuable. However..."

"What's more precious than this phone is the bond between my sister and brother-in-law! Now that this phone has their contact information, I hope we can stay connected like family."

Zhao Gang laughed and said, "That's for sure. If you dared to change your phone number and not tell me, I'd go and badmouth you to Uncle Zhao right away."

Zhao Changling also wanted to say something about how true love is found in poverty and hardship, and that people should know how to be grateful, reminding Zhao Gang not to forget his wife who had shared his hardships in the future.

Looking back, I realize I'm still so young, it's not appropriate for me to say these things, so I decided to give up after some consideration.

In this life, he returned and many of his wishes were fulfilled.

Nothing in this world is perfect.

He recalled a poem: How can one find a way to have it all, to live up to both Chang'an and my beloved?

It's time to leave and do something for myself.