Jiang City No. 1 High School,
They arrived just as the second class was starting. The entrance was deserted except for the two of them.
Shen Jianxi stood at the school gate, her gaze lingering for a moment on the four powerful characters "Jiang City No. 1 High School" inscribed in clerical script on a large marble tablet to the right of the entrance.
They glinted in the sunlight, the material looking like diamonds coated with gold dust, as if proclaiming, "We are loaded."
"What's wrong, cub? What are you looking at?" Song Qi followed her gaze, only to quickly turn his head away. The four characters were so dazzling they hurt his eyes.
He gently turned Shen Jianxi's head back, rubbing her eyes and saying, "Stop looking, doesn't it hurt your eyes?"
"What is this made of?" Shen Jianxi was concerned about this question. It wasn't like crystal, nor was it like diamond... Who would use diamonds for a school sign? Wouldn't it get stolen?
"Diamonds," Song Qi said, his tone as casual as if he were discussing what they had for breakfast.
Shen Jianxi: ???
I'm not well-read, don't lie to me. Where would such large diamonds be?
As if sensing her thoughts, Song Qi continued, "Besides its high college acceptance rate, No. 1 High is also known for its extravagance. This sign is made of 1,000 ten-carat diamonds."
To her surprise, it really was diamonds. Shen Jianxi's expression was a mix of disbelief and amusement. "Aren't you afraid it will be stolen?"
Song Qi rubbed his chin and said without hesitation, "With money, you're not afraid. Besides, they're all set very tightly. Even a gun might not be able to dislodge them."
Shen Jianxi turned her head away, trying to ignore the four characters. It was a bit gaudy...
As they were talking, a woman wearing black-rimmed glasses approached them. She looked somewhat stern. After glancing between the two of them, she addressed Shen Jianxi, "You must be the Shen student reporting today. I am Dean Xu Ting. You can call me Teacher Xu."
"Hello, Teacher Xu," Shen Jianxi greeted politely.
Seeing her demeanor, Xu Ting's expression softened, and she nodded inwardly. She seemed like an obedient and well-behaved student, but her academic performance was unknown.
When the principal had told her to escort a student for registration, she had heard it was someone with connections and was a bit worried. The last student with connections was also a girl, but she was academically poor and had led a bullying incident. Although she was expelled after an incident, the negative impact on the school was irreversible.
"Come with me. I'll take you through the registration process and then you can get your school uniform." She then turned to Song Qi, who was about to follow, and said, "The guardian should head back. Parents are not allowed in during class hours."
Song Qi nodded and didn't insist. He had to rush back to the base; Nan Jia had already called him several times.
"Study hard, cub. I'm leaving now." He stroked her small head, suddenly reluctant to part. He added, "Don't forget to miss me. Call me if anything happens."
"Mhm, don't worry, brother. Drive safely," she replied.
After watching Song Qi drive away, glancing back repeatedly until he was out of sight, Shen Jianxi followed Teacher Xu into the school.
"You and your brother have a very good relationship," Xu Ting asked her questions as they walked, and Shen Jianxi answered them all.
They walked and talked until they reached the office. Xu Ting took out a form for her to fill out. "You didn't get in through the entrance exam, so you'll be assigned to Class 14 for now. Once the monthly exam results are out, you'll be reassigned based on your scores. Do you have any objections?"
Handing over the completed form, Shen Jianxi obediently nodded, "I'll follow the school's arrangements."
Seeing her compliance, Xu Ting's affection grew. Her tone was no longer stiff, and a faint smile finally appeared on her face. She handed Shen Jianxi her school uniform, "This is your school uniform, for spring and winter."
"Let's go, I'll take you to your classroom."
They walked one after another. In the open space in the center of the school stood a statue of Confucius, with food and drinks placed around it, and a copy of... the Bible?!
Shen Jianxi twitched the corner of her mouth, offering an awkward yet polite smile. Knowledge knows no borders; the ancients truly did not deceive me.
...
No. 1 High was truly enormous, its wealth evident everywhere. Dinosaur Hall, Planetarium, Science Museum, Natatorium... the facilities were endless. It even took fifteen minutes to walk from the office building to the teaching building.
Led by Xu Ting, they arrived at the temporary office for homeroom teachers in the teaching building. They found the room with the sign "Class 14 Homeroom Teacher." The door was wide open, and a young man was drinking water from a thermos, his expression contorted as if he was holding back laughter.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
The sound of knocking made the young man scramble in surprise. Upon seeing who was at the door, he became even more flustered.
He shot up from his seat and walked to the door, a sheepish grin on his face. "Teacher Xu, why are you here? Is there something you need?"
Seeing his reaction, Xu Ting knew what he had been doing. She couldn't understand it – why did a grown man get so engrossed in romance novels every day?
She shot him a glare and said, exasperatedly, "Teacher Yuan, how many times have I told you? Read your novels at home, not during work hours."
Yuan Ming embarrassedly scratched his head and said, "I won't do it again, Dean Xu. It's just that this novel is about a girl going to different worlds to conquer handsome men. It's a genre I really like, and I got carried away without realizing it."
Xu Ting sighed, giving up on lecturing him. It wouldn't change anything, so why waste her breath?
She shifted to the side, letting Shen Jianxi come forward, and said to Yuan Ming, "This is a new student for your class. Take her to the classroom. The principal needs me for something, so I'll be going."
She felt that continuing to talk to Yuan Ming would only make her angry, so she made an excuse to leave. As she passed Shen Jianxi, she patted her shoulder and said, "Study hard. Your teacher might look unreliable, but he knows a lot. Follow him closely, and you'll learn a great deal."
With that, she turned and left, leaving Shen Jianxi and Yuan Ming facing each other.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Shen Jianxi broke the silence, "Hello, teacher. My name is Shen Jianxi."
"Oh, oh, okay. Have a seat first." The awkwardness broken, Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief. He suffered from intermittent social anxiety and was genuinely bad at creating an atmosphere.
He pulled over a chair and placed it not far from him, patting its back. "Please have a seat, Student Shen. My next class is yours, and I'll take you to the classroom then."
"Okay, thank you, teacher."
Sitting down quietly, Shen Jianxi looked around.
Yuan Ming was alone in this room. Since the main office building was too far from the teaching buildings, Jiang City No. 1 High had simply assigned a room to each homeroom teacher as a temporary office.
The room was simply furnished, with white walls and wooden floors, a redwood desk and cabinet. A desktop computer sat on the desk for the teachers' use.
However, it was clear that this computer had another purpose for Yuan Ming – reading novels.
...
While Shen Jianxi was looking around, Yuan Ming was engrossed in his novel again. This time, his expression looked sad, tears welling up in his eyes, and he was muttering softly to himself.
Shen Jianxi listened carefully, and when she finally understood what he was saying, the corner of her mouth twitched. If she saw him outside, no one would believe he was a teacher.
After all, no teacher would read novels during work hours and softly sob about how "Ye Zi is so pitiful, what did he do wrong?"
Shen Jianxi leaned back against her chair, closed her eyes, and stopped paying attention. She had woken up in the middle of the night yesterday and hadn't been able to fall back asleep. She had stayed awake until dawn, and now she needed to rest.