Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

Chapter 102 Envy and Jealousy

Li Zhao had no idea how much his words shocked the others.

Since they had already accepted that Li Zhao's parents were highly educated and worked in international trade, the fact that Li Zhao could so readily say that he would make the decision meant that, as a primary school student, he still had a lot of say in this family.

However, Li Zhao didn't care about any of that. He signed his name and handed it to Shen Jinghong.

"That's fine. All the arrangements for enrollment will be taken care of then—"

Before Li Zhao could finish speaking, Han Xu stood up and handed a business card to Principal Cai, saying, "We will notify Sixth Primary School after we have made the arrangements."

After he finished speaking, he hesitated for a moment and then handed Li Zhao a business card.

"Your parents' contact information ————"

"It's written in the agreement."

"OK."

This inspection, which was completely different from what was expected, finally came to a successful conclusion. As expected, everyone relaxed with smiles and began exchanging pleasantries.

But I felt a little relieved.

Strange, how can these elementary school students put so much pressure on them?

"Alright, as I said before, we came here for Li Zhao. Now that things are settled, we won't bother you any longer." Principal Shen finished his tea, stood up, and shook hands with each of the students from No. 6 Elementary School.

Entering the classic adult farewell scene.

Li Zhao had seen too many scenes like this in his previous life; every negotiation, whether successful or unsuccessful, ended like this.

They had long since developed standard movements that were almost at the level of nerve reflexes.

Principal Shen shook hands with everyone, then came up to Li Zhao and extended his hand to him with a smile.

As a result, Li Zhao instantly put on a professional smile as if by reflex, looked at Shen Jinghong with a gentle yet powerful gaze, gently placed his hand on Shen Jinghong's shoulder, and then gave a slight, jerky jerk.

Their professionalism is beyond compare.

Principal Shen was in a daze, thinking he had just shaken hands with some minor leader.

"Teacher He, I'm going back to class now," Li Zhao said to He Lin.

He Lin shuddered. "Do you think you're the one reporting this to me, my darling?"

"Li Zhao," Wang Wenzhao quickly stepped forward to Li Zhao's side, then lowered his voice, "I'm curious about something, what kind of genius do you think you are?"

"The second type."

"real?"

"It's definitely not the first one."

"Understood, see you in September." Wang Wenzhao extended his hand.

So Li Zhao shook hands with him again in a very professional manner.

Even after returning to the Coaster, Shen Jinghong was still marveling at the skill with which Li Zhao shook hands, concluding, "This kid must have a very powerful family background. He must have been exposed to all sorts of high-class occasions since he was young to develop such a personality and have such impressive knowledge."

Everyone agreed.

Principal Cai was lost in thought in his office for a long time before he realized that Li Zhao had already gone back to the classroom with He Lin.

The conversation lasted shorter than expected, which had the advantage of not interfering with He Lin's next class at all.

The downside was that Li Zhao was walking back during break time.

After seeing off the New Taipei First High School delegation, Li Zhao turned around and found that the entire school corridor, from the second floor to the sixth floor, was filled with rows of little heads looking out.

"Are you under a lot of pressure?" He Lin asked proactively.

"It's alright. Anyway, he's already a legend in the Sixth Elementary School, so a few more stories won't hurt," Li Zhao said with a smile.

"Should I announce this to everyone when I get back to class?"

Wow, He Lin actually took the initiative to ask Li Zhao for his opinion.

Given her personality, she would normally rush into the classroom and call everyone to the hallway to see—"That's the principal of New Taipei First Senior High School!"

He Lin has grown up; she knows how to be low-key and respect others.

"Should we just forget about it?" Li Zhao was really unsure.

I feel like it's impossible to hide it.

"Who just said they didn't care about having a few more stories?"

"Then just give me the result."

He Lin nodded, then suddenly stopped in the stairwell and glanced at Li Zhao.

"Teacher He, what's wrong?"

"Sigh, I wanted to talk to you, but I always feel like you're disrespectful—but it's you again, so I really can't bring myself to say it." He Lin shook her head self-deprecatingly. "Although the teacher had some issues with you before because you pointed out my mistakes in class, she still misses you a lot now."

Li Zhao looked puzzled.

He Lin patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, then it really was the teacher's fault, okay?"

"uh-huh."

"Go back to your classroom."

So, during Chinese class that day, the students in Class 1 of Grade 6, having already anticipated this, heard the news that Li Zhao had been specially admitted to New Taipei First High School.

He Lin deliberately waited until near the end of the Chinese class to speak, because she knew that it would be quite difficult to calm the children down after she finished speaking.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the whole class erupted in a chorus of "Wow!" Since He Lin did not seriously stop them, and with school about to end, everyone shouted more and more enthusiastically, until the waves of sound reached an ear-splitting level.

But so what?

The principal is currently in his office saying "yes" to himself.

He Lin had already been very restrained in her speech, hardly mentioning any boastful details. However, the fact that Li Zhao was actively selected by New Taipei First High School was too shocking. When everyone realized that this meant Li Zhao didn't have to take the entrance exam for junior high school, there was another round of exclamations.

"Ah Zhao, does that mean you can skip class from now on?!" Chen Nian was the most excited.

"It's not that exaggerated. We still need to learn it." Li Zhao said calmly.

Actually, I wasn't that calm. I didn't really think there was anything wrong with it at first.

I even got a little excited from being called out to—

It's always satisfying to be special. Happiness +1, Total 24

When the school bell rang, the expected frenzy of everyone gathering around Li Zhao did not occur.

Although most of the students would glance at Li Zhao to some extent, their actions were no different from those on a typical day after school.

Jiang Qi and Liu Mingyu came over separately to confirm whether Li Zhao had been admitted to New Taipei No. 1 High School. After receiving a positive reply, they expressed their envy and left indifferently.

Chen Nian leaned closer. "Ah Zhao, can you feel it?"

"What?"

"People are a little jealous of you."

"It seems so."

"Is that all you're going to do?" Chen Nian asked, puzzled.

"What else?" Li Zhao chuckled. "Tomorrow in class, I'll go up to the podium and yell, 'How dare you all be jealous of me?'"

"It looks great."

"————" Li Zhao covered his face.

He made a point of waiting for the others to leave first in the classroom, otherwise he might have some trouble walking on the pedestrian street later.

He Shuyao was also waiting.

"Aren't you angry?" Chen Nian asked.

"What are you angry about?"

"They're a little jealous of you, but they don't come to ask you anything. They all look a bit unhappy."

Li Zhao looked at Chen Nian with great interest. "And you, are you jealous?"

"I'm so envious, but I'm definitely not jealous. I wish you were more amazing, so I could tell you how great my deskmate is."

"See, you'll be envious too."

"Who wouldn't be envious!" Chen Nian almost couldn't keep his voice down. "You can go to New Taipei First Senior High School without taking an exam. That's New Taipei First Senior High School!"

At this point, Chen Nian suddenly slapped his thigh, "It was actually the principal who came to find you; you don't even need to teach anymore!"

"I will come to class."

"But you can choose not to come, can't you?"

"You have understood the true meaning of freedom."

"?"

"Not only can you choose what you do, but you can also choose what you don't do."

I never expected that Li Zhao would pull a fast one on me.

"You might be envious, but you're my friend and my deskmate, so if I succeed, you'll also benefit," Li Zhao said. "Although it's also related to your character, others can only be envious. And thinking about how you still have to study hard, and maybe even get criticized by your parents when you get home, how can you be happy?"

"Oh, this—"

"It's normal for envy to go too far and turn into the opposite emotion called jealousy," Li Zhao said, packing his schoolbag. "Let's go, school's over."

"What if someone dislikes you and wants to do something bad?"

He Shuyao happened to walk over with her schoolbag on her back and directly responded to Chen Nian: "Li Zhao is now of great significance to Xinbei No. 6 Elementary School. If someone is really that brainless, the teacher will intervene before Li Zhao gets angry."

Chen Nian was taken aback, then looked at Li Zhao and clicked his tongue a few times, "Sigh, what you're saying—I'm even a little jealous."

When the three of them walked down the pedestrian street, most of their classmates had already left.

"Shuyao, I heard from my dad that there seem to be some changes on the pedestrian street? Did your dad mention it?"

Old, everyday thoughts drift everywhere.

Li Zhao was genuinely interested. Could it be that the new plan was about to be made public?

"I don't really care about these things." He Shuyao abruptly ended Chen Nian's topic. "Li Zhao, when the principal of No. 1 High School came to see you, did they offer you any benefits?"

Giving benefits — that sounds really strange, young girl.

"Yes, I'll be in the experimental class when I go in."

"Were they among the top few?" He Shuyao asked.

"The top 50 students will be admitted through special admission to Class 1."

"The top fifty —" He Shuyao murmured to herself.

Chen Nian slumped, his hands hanging limply, listless: "Top 50? That's hopeless for me. Ah Zhao, even if I get into New Taipei First High School, we won't be deskmates anymore—"

"Just try your best," Li Zhao said.

"How can I work hard?" Chen Nian sighed. "My goal is to get into New Taipei First Senior High School, to be among the top 600. I don't even dare to dream of being in the top 300, let alone the top 50."

"You used to have a ninth-place curse," Li Zhao said. "Just try harder, and you'll be sixth, right?"

"That's still a long way off—"

"Junior high is a new beginning. There are many new subjects, and the learning approach is completely different from elementary school." Li Zhao patted Chen Nian on the shoulder. "Who knows, right?"

Chen Nian stared blankly at Li Zhao, his lips moving before his brain could process what was happening.

He smiled.

"Ah Zhao, when did you become so good at comforting people!" These few words cheered Chen Nian up again. "Then you wait and see, I'm going to get into the top fifty in the entrance exam."

That's still impossible; objective laws won't change because of human subjective will.

He Shuyao had silently made up her mind seven times over.

"Chen Nian, the changes your dad mentioned to the pedestrian street, is it a change in the planning? And about the entrance, that rumor about the holdout?" Li Zhao asked.

While Chen Nian was still thinking, He Shuyao spoke up directly: "Yes, I overheard my parents chatting, and it seems they're going to change the entrance. It should be announced soon."

"That's really true—" Li Zhao nodded. He needed to put some pressure on his parents with the operational plan as soon as possible.

Chen Nian blinked and stared at He Shuyao for a long time.

Is this what they mean by "I don't really care about these things"?