After paying the fees in the finance office, she also received a gift of six notebooks and six pens, all packed in a large red cloth bag with the words "望子成龙" (wàng zǐ chéng lóng) printed on it.
Zhang Neng handed Liu Chen a freshly printed A4 paper and cautioned, "This lists the daily class schedule and classroom addresses. The small classes for students moving from sophomore to senior year are all on the 22nd and 21st floors. The lower floors are for large classes with over 10 students."
Liu Chen took the paper and nodded, memorizing the times. She then followed Zhang Neng to the 22nd floor by elevator, which was the top floor of the entire building.
As she followed Zhang Neng's introductions, Liu Chen surveyed the 22nd floor. The floor was still covered in large tiles, and the walls were painted with fresh paint. The corridors at both ends were fitted with large floor-to-ceiling windows, and since it was midday, the corridors were quite bright.
The classroom Zhang Neng led her to was located to the left of the elevator, the last door on the left side of the corridor.
It was labeled "All Subjects Tutoring," with a magnetic card attached to it that read "Chinese Language."
The teacher's assistant sitting outside the door inquired about Liu Chen's school and name, filled them into a form, then stood up and gently knocked on the door.
A gentle voice from inside said, "Please come in."
"Teacher Zhang, this is Liu Chen, who registered today."
Liu Chen stood at the doorway, looking at the eight high school students scattered throughout the classroom. Her heart pounded uncontrollably, feeling as though it would leap out of her throat. A sense of reality, of being back in school, washed over her.
Teacher Zhang, appearing to be in her forties with long, straight black hair and a slender build, glanced at Liu Chen, smiled, and nodded. She gestured to a seat in front of her, "Liu Chen, please find a seat yourself." Then she turned to a tall boy in a black t-shirt sitting by the window and said, "Come, let's continue."
Ren Mo, who had been called upon, felt a bit dazed. He knew his training class had a total of forty sessions. That meant that girl, oh wait, Liu Chen, was also performing poorly in academics? So she just had a sweet, obedient face?
Teacher Zhang, seeing Ren Mo standing up but looking spaced out, was not surprised. The foundation review class she taught was three times more expensive than ordinary preparatory classes. The students attending here, if not from wealthy families, were certainly well above average.
Moreover, this boy was dressed in the latest Nike from head to toe, a whole outfit that could equal two to three months' salary for an ordinary person.
Thinking this, Ms. Zhang's attitude softened a bit.
Liu Chen sat down and looked to her left, realizing there were a total of six students in the class, including herself, and three of them were the little boys she had met earlier.
"Ahem, my name is Ren Mo. Ren with the single person radical, Mo from ink. I'll be eighteen in half a month and will start my senior year at Shifan Affiliated High School. I like playing basketball, swimming, and the color black..."
After everyone else introduced themselves, it was Liu Chen's turn.
Liu Chen stood up, smiled at everyone, and then said, "Hello everyone, I am Liu Chen from No. 12 Middle School. I like the color white."
After the round of introductions, Liu Chen also realized that the students sitting here were all from key high schools. They likely had a good academic foundation, and their families were also well-off.
After the introductions, Teacher Zhang began her lecture. Just as advertised, Zhang Hong genuinely started from the knowledge points of the first year of junior high school, explaining classical Chinese essays, analyzing each character, the life experiences of contemporary poets, and their state of mind when composing poetry.
Liu Chen had not encountered classical Chinese in a long time and felt as if it were a completely new subject. She diligently recorded Teacher Zhang's words in her notebook. The 40-minute class concluded with her covering knowledge points from the second semester of the first year of junior high school, and Liu Chen's notebook was already filled with three pages.
Liu Chen rubbed her neck and the wrist that had been taking notes, unable to suppress a yawn. Tears of sleepiness welled up in her eyes.
After Teacher Li announced the end of the class and walked out, Liu Chen took out the course schedule to check the location of her next class.
To Liu Chen's left sat Xu Ke, a girl with short, ear-length hair, wearing sportswear. Her eyes had been half-closed throughout the class, likely due to extreme tiredness, but she seemed more energetic now that class was over.
Seeing Liu Chen reach for her schedule, Xu Ke leaned over to take a look and exclaimed, "Liu Chen, your schedule is too packed! Your last class ends after 6 PM?"
Hearing Xu Ke's words, Ren Mo's movements as he stood up became even slower. The two tall boys behind him couldn't help but urge him,
"Ren Mo, what are you doing? Hurry up! We still have an hour before the next class, let's go to the internet cafe for a game!"
Ren Mo pulled out his Nokia N95, slid it open, and pretended to check a text message. He then shook his head with a look of regret, "I just saw it. My mom signed me up for English tutoring again. Sigh, you guys go to the internet cafe, I'll meet you at math class."
The two brothers heard this and immediately gave him sympathetic looks, but they dared not say more. Although they were good friends with Ren Mo and knew he was wealthy, they weren't exactly sure what his family did. They only knew that Ren Mo's elder brother was incredibly impressive and had never needed his parents' help since he was young. His mother's spare energy was all focused on Ren Mo.
Since it was their aunt's instruction, they could only comply.
Liu Chen, however, heard Ren Mo's words and tilted her head in surprise. She was somewhat astonished, thinking that this handsome young man was also performing so poorly academically?
Looking at this smile, Ren Mo felt that familiar sense of his elder brother resurface. In his heart, his elder brother was the most amazing person in the world. He had relied on self-discipline for his studies since childhood, without attending any cram schools, and directly achieved first place in the province for the college entrance examination, entering Tsinghua University, the top university in the country.
Yet, only a few months after starting university, his elder brother called to say he didn't need living expenses anymore; he and his roommates had developed a small game that was selling well.
The summer break was even more incredible. With a single phone call, his elder brother and his roommates had started a game company and didn't have time to come back.
But this obedient girl gave him the same feeling as his elder brother...
Initially, Ren Mo thought it was because they were both academically gifted, hence the similar feeling, but they were in the same cram school...
This was clearly a poor student!
How could a poor student have such a powerful aura that was so hard to believe?!
This made Ren Mo curious. What was so different about Liu Chen?
---
Hu Qian had just gotten out of the car. She hadn't wanted to come to the cram school today because two of her best friends were there. Although they hadn't unfriended her, they hadn't replied to her messages.
Thinking of this, Hu Qian cursed inwardly as she walked.
They had been fine for two years without any contact, and then yesterday, Liu Chen had eaten the wrong medicine? Suddenly saying something like that was simply insane! And child support, why didn't she just die!
Hu Qian was so engrossed in her curses that she wasn't paying attention to her feet and tripped on a step, falling face-first.
Hu Qian looked up and happened to see one of her best friends. Just as she was about to call out for help, she saw her friend pretend not to see her and walk right past!