Chapter 32

The other teachers in the office all rolled their eyes when they heard him speak:
“Alright, Old Yang, we’ve heard this line dozens of times. Can you please stop mentioning Lin Yun’s math grades every single time you talk about her? The kid is doing well in other subjects too, you know. It’s not like she’s only studying math.”

“You guys just don’t get it. You’re just jealous. I won’t stoop to your level. Director, where’s her math paper? Let me take a look.”
As he spoke, Teacher Yang walked over to the academic director.

The director grabbed a test paper from the desk and handed it over:
“Here, yours is the only one left. Just take it and go. Stop pacing around in front of me—I don’t want to hear you go on about it.”
He waved him off.

Teacher Yang didn’t mind. He took the paper back to his desk and started grading Lin Yun’s test.

As he worked, he couldn’t help making comments out loud:
“She solved this one too? Not bad!”
“Why did she write it like this here? Hmm… this method works too.”

The other teachers listened to him mutter non-stop. Finally, when he paused, one of them couldn’t hold back anymore:
“So? Old Yang, how did Lin Yun do in math?”

“Eh, not bad. 117. She didn’t quite finish the bonus question at the end,” Yang replied.
But even as he said it, the smile on his face was practically bursting with pride.
“I really didn’t expect her to keep up over the summer. I was prepared for her to score under 100, but she did even better than I thought.”

Taking a sip from the ceramic mug on his desk, Teacher Yang sighed and added,
“To be honest, she could’ve gotten a full 120 with no problem. Must’ve rushed it—she made a small mistake and lost three points.”

“Alright, alright, stop showing off. You’re obviously thrilled inside,” another teacher said.
“She came back from summer break not only keeping up her grades but actually improving. Three points away from full marks and you’re still not satisfied?”

“Grades right now are just numbers,” Yang replied seriously.
“What really matters is the college entrance exam. If she can perform like this in the Gaokao, I’ll be truly satisfied. But right now? This was just a regular test. We shouldn’t let her get too proud—it won’t be good for her long-term development.”

“Hey, have you seen her scores in the other subjects yet?” Teacher Yang asked, turning to the other teachers.
“Just doing well in math isn’t enough.”

“Not yet. I just got back from seeing the students. A few of the ones I had high hopes for didn’t even return to school,” one of the teachers replied with a sigh.
“I heard one of them is even preparing for marriage. She had such good grades too. She could’ve easily gotten into a college or at least a junior college next year. But now she’s just… done with school.”

“I visited her home once. Her parents had already found someone for her to marry. Said girls who study too much become too independent and hard to control. So they found a guy from another village, supposedly a ‘nice and honest’ type. She’s supposed to get married next year.”

“She’s only 18, right? Not even of legal marriage age yet.”

“Exactly. Her parents said they’ll just have the wedding first, then wait until she’s old enough to register it officially. Can you believe that?”

“You guys are still new around here—you don’t know how common this stuff is,” an older teacher chimed in.
“You young folks still have passion. But we’ve seen too much of it. It’s numbing. You remember that teacher, Mr. Wu? He tried to convince a student’s family to let her come back to school, and they beat him up. Broke his leg.”

“I never imagined Lin Yun would come back to school. That kind of thing was nearly impossible in the past,” one teacher said, clearly emotional.

“Didn’t the principal go to her house personally to talk to them?” a younger teacher asked, confused.

“You think the principal is some kind of miracle worker? You think the moment he walks in, parents will suddenly send their kids back to school?” the older teacher shook his head.
“He’s visited dozens of families over the years. Barely a handful of kids actually came back.”

“And it’s not just Lin Yun—apparently her older sister is back too. She’s one grade lower, right? Should be in first year of high school now?”

“I heard that too. No idea what happened in their family over the summer, but it’s like they had a whole change of heart. Seems like all three kids are in school now.”

“Yeah, the youngest is in our school too. I think middle school, but I’m not sure. That’s just what I heard.”

“I swear, you all are way too nosy—always poking around in students’ family matters,” one teacher said coolly.

“Come on, you’re not even curious? I don’t believe you,” another shot back.
“It’s rare to see a family like that sending two girls back to school. Especially since Lin Yun had even dropped out before.”

There really isn’t much entertainment in rural areas, so even the smallest bit of gossip spreads quickly—and the teachers were no exception. They just made sure not to talk about these things in front of students.

“Looks like Lin Yun really didn’t slack off over the break. Her fundamentals are still solid,” another teacher commented, finishing grading her test.

The others turned to look—it was Teacher Feng, who taught chemistry. They gathered around.
“How did she do in chemistry?” one asked.

“Not bad—93 points. If she can maintain these scores across her subjects, we might just get a Tsinghua or Peking University student next year,” Teacher Feng said, clearly impressed.

“If that really happens, the principal will be over the moon. He’ll finally have something to brag about after all those years.”

“Alright, don’t get ahead of yourselves,” the academic director chimed in.
“Kids these days are different. They get arrogant easily. We all need to keep a closer eye on her—make sure this promising student doesn’t go to waste.”

“We know, we know. We’re just letting off some steam. It’s hard enough to get a high school running in this backwater place. It’s been just a handful of us teachers for years, and we still struggle to get results. And on top of that, we have to listen to those city schools mock us. You think that doesn’t burn us up inside?”