Chapter 37: First Place
Teacher Wang from the first class of the third grade was disciplined by the school and reported to the entire school for violating teaching regulations and disrupting the normal teaching order.
During the long break, everyone was not doing exercises but listening to the criticism announcement on the broadcast: “…After research and discussion by the school, the homeroom teacher of the first class of the third grade will have her salary for the current month deducted. The teacher’s annual assessment will be deemed unqualified, and she will not be eligible for promotion or commendation for two years, with a serious warning.”
The children of the first class of the third grade were also listening, but more of them were cautiously looking at the podium. Teacher Wang was handing over her duties to the new teacher. She probably hadn’t expected the principal to broadcast her punishment and self-criticism like this, and her face turned red and white.
The new homeroom teacher was named Wu Yong, a slightly limping male teacher with a round, slightly chubby face, who looked very amiable. When Teacher Wang was handing over her duties to him, her face was very ugly. During the few minutes when the other teacher was not there, she said to the students on the podium, “Don’t think that just because you’ve changed teachers, you can do whatever you want. You were in the top three in the grade last time, but that doesn’t mean your results will be as good this time.” She said with a stern face, “Putting everything else aside, I have a clear conscience about my teaching. If you can’t maintain your class ranking, then just wait to be laughed at!”
After she finished speaking, she left, only taking her usual record book.
The children of the first class of the third grade: “…”
According to convention, the first small test of the new semester was supposed to be a relaxed affair. But Teacher Wang’s words put a lot of pressure on the students. This test was crucial. They had worked so hard to fight for their rights, and they had to prove themselves.
The whole class was determined to study hard. Without the new homeroom teacher having to say much, they formed pairs and helped each other to improve. The little class monitor personally tutored the little fatty. The little fatty rolled up his sleeves and desperately tried to catch up, but he had been too biased in his subjects before and disliked Old Lady Wang, so his math was still at the bottom of the class. Although he no longer got 5 points, he still failed.
The little fatty was about to cry. He felt that his poor grades were holding everyone back. He had never been so desperate to get a high score.
But no matter how anxious he was, his grades couldn’t be improved overnight.
The little class monitor was also anxious. She couldn’t handle the little fatty on her own, so she also pulled in Yu Tian. Yu Tian’s grades were good, and she was patient. The two of them used all their spare time to tutor the little fatty. The little class monitor felt that even without Mi Yang, their class couldn’t be beaten by others, especially at this time. She had to prove that their class of children was absolutely not worse than any other class, and she would absolutely not allow anyone to say a single bad word about the children in her class!
Yu Tian was also calculating the scores. She said worriedly, “Class monitor, what should we do? If we calculate based on the last grade’s results, our class needs to improve the average score by at least 1.7 points to secure a spot in the top three! And the average scores of the top few classes are not far apart. We’ll fall behind if we’re not careful.”
The little fatty’s brow was furrowed and had not relaxed. He sighed. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have been so resentful and not studied properly because of my emotions.”
The class monitor waved her hand. “If you study hard now, there’s still time. Isn’t the small test still five days away? I believe you can do it!”
Although she said she believed, she was also not confident in her heart. Teacher Wang had been demoted this time and had gone directly to the lower grades to be an ordinary teacher, but she was still at the school. If they didn’t do well on the test, the first one to laugh at them would be Teacher Wang.
Yu Tian also thought of this. She rested her chin on her hand and sighed. “What should we do? The review time is too short. Unless a great genius comes to our class, someone who can pull up the average score by several points, um, at least someone with grades like Mi Yang’s…”
The little class monitor was also biting her lip and whispered, “Or if Mi Yang comes back. If he comes back, everyone will definitely do well on the test.”
As they were worrying, the new homeroom teacher, Mr. Wu Yong, pushed open the classroom door and walked in.
Mr. Wu looked at everyone with a smile. “Classmates, please go back to your seats. I have something to say.” Seeing that the children had all quieted down, he beckoned for someone outside the door to come in and introduced him to everyone, “This is a new student who has skipped a grade to our class this year. His name is Bai Luochuan, and his grades are very good. Come on, let’s welcome the new student!”
The forty-first student of the first class of the third grade had arrived.
Everyone’s eyes lit up. The little fatty’s breathing even became rapid. He stared at Bai Luochuan, then choked up a little and started to applaud vigorously. As if it had started something, the other children also raised their hands and applauded loudly, welcoming his arrival.
Mr. Wu arranged a seat for Bai Luochuan, next to Yu Tian in the second row. Bai Luochuan, however, did not sit down immediately. After whispering a few words to the teacher and seeing him nod, he walked over to Yu Tian’s seat and said to her, “Let’s discuss this. You can go to the first row and be the class monitor’s deskmate. Just move one seat forward.”
Yu Tian subconsciously packed her things. It was only when she was holding her books that she said timidly, “But, but someone is sitting there.”
The little class monitor was also puzzled. “That’s right. This is Mi Yang’s seat. Bai Luochuan, why are you taking someone else’s desk?”
Bai Luochuan stood there and said, “Who’s taking a desk? I want your deskmate. I’ve already spoken with the teacher. We’ll all move one seat in this row. Just listen to me and sit down.”
Little class monitor: “Then did Mi Yang agree?”
Bai Luochuan said, “I’ll have him tell you again in a bit, okay?”
“Huh?”
Before the little class monitor could react, she heard voices outside the door. Then, the classroom door was pushed open, and Mi Yang walked in with his schoolbag on his back. He was bundled up in a fluffy outfit and waved at everyone, his eyes curving into a smile. “Hi, everyone, I’m back from my reflection!”
The first class of the third grade was silent for a moment, then erupted in a huge cheer!
Five days later, the small test began.
This test was exceptionally smooth. All the children in the class were buried in their work, writing furiously. Even if they felt they didn’t do well in one subject, they didn’t care and immediately went to review the knowledge for the next subject, preparing.
After the test results were handed out, the first class of the third grade was first in the whole school.
They had also broken a school record. Their average score was 6.8 points higher than the second-place class!
In addition, there were three students in the first class of the third grade who tied for first place. Besides Mi Yang and Bai Luochuan, the little class monitor, who had been working hard to catch up, also got a tie for first place, and she was so happy she was beaming like a flower.
Good news came one after another. The newly appointed Mr. Wu Yong hadn’t even had time to prepare. When he came, he had been subjected to a few insinuating remarks from Teacher Wang, which were not good words in any case. He had originally thought that he would have to spend a semester to build up the class spirit of this group of students. He had never expected that he would get a first place in the whole school for free as soon as he arrived!
The grades of the first class of the third grade had improved rapidly, and it was not just their grade, but the whole school was talking about it.
Soon, everyone knew that there were two little geniuses who had skipped a grade in that class. The name “Mi Yang” was even more widely spread. And not only that, for as many parents who knew about Mi Yang, there were just as many who knew about Teacher Wang’s dereliction of duty—how could a child with a perfect score, especially one who was willing to tutor other students to improve together, be sent home to reflect just for missing a few steps in his work? And he had even gotten “pneumonia”!
The pressure from public opinion was too great, and Teacher Wang’s own mentality was also a bit problematic. In a daze, the test scores of the lower grades had even dropped quite a bit, which caused even more dissatisfaction among the parents.
The school had originally kept her on “probation” out of consideration for her age, to decide on her employment later. Now that there were problems with her teaching, they had a talk with Teacher Wang and transferred her from her teaching position. Teacher Wang also felt that she had lost face and that it was disgraceful, so she soon resigned and left the school.
And at this moment, Mi Yang was just looking at their class’s report card. He was very satisfied, and a smile was always on his face.
First in the whole school.
Mi Yang felt a sense of honor.
The new homeroom teacher felt even more honored than Mi Yang. Mr. Wu was overjoyed. He paid out of his own pocket to buy 100 workbooks for the students. He called up the few children with the highest scores and the most improvement in each subject and praised them, then rewarded them with the workbooks. He felt particularly good about spending this money!
Mi Yang received 10 workbooks and placed them on his desk. He felt someone looking at him from the side. He turned his head slightly and saw Bai Luochuan, who had also received ten workbooks as a reward.
The young master Bai looked at his workbooks. Mi Yang immediately gave him two of his own and praised him, “You did very well on the test. This is my reward for you!”
Bai Luochuan fiddled with them with his finger, then put them away. Although he didn’t say anything, you could tell that he was in a very good mood.
Mi Yang also curved his eyes and smiled.
Mi Yang, who had gotten first place, suddenly had a small worry these days.
He had started to lose his baby teeth.
Bai Luochuan had lost his baby teeth around the age of six, but Mi Yang was much later than him. Cheng Qing had even specially taken him to see a doctor for this. The doctor said that it was normal for children to lose their baby teeth at seven or eight, so he had never been in a hurry. Now that he was suddenly losing his teeth, the feeling of speaking with a lisp felt very strange to Mi Yang.
With two missing teeth, it was also very troublesome to chew food. Not only did he eat slowly, but he also had to be careful to chew on the other side. Mi Yang had lost his appetite these past few days and was obviously eating less.
Cheng Qing made him vegetable and meat soup at home. When he went to the Bai’s house, Mrs. Bai also tried to make softer food for him to make it easier to eat.
But this was still a process. Mi Yang ate a little less, and he was also slowly growing taller. His little face was not as round as before, and he looked a bit more delicate and handsome.
Mi Yang didn’t eat much of the other food, mainly because he was too lazy to chew with his missing teeth. But he still drank his milk diligently every night. Especially when he saw the young master Bai gulp down a glass of hot milk, he would also unhesitatingly drink his own. This was the hope of growing taller. More calcium, more nutrition, and he would definitely be able to grow a little taller this time.
The ideal was plump, but reality often slapped him in the face.
The milk Mi Yang drank at home was in a small bottle, and it was no problem to drink it all in one go. But at the Bai’s house, they drank fresh milk, the kind where you could get a refill after finishing a glass. Mi Yang had drunk one and a half glasses and really couldn’t swallow any more.
Bai Luochuan asked him, “Can’t you drink any more?”
Mi Yang nodded. He then took the half-glass and drank it all without any disgust.
Mi Yang: “…”
Mi Yang looked with envy at the child who was already taller than him. He also wanted to compete with him, but his stomach was not up to the task. He really couldn’t drink any more.
