Chapter 24: The Principal’s Money-Making Proposal

On the city highway at night, Tang Xiao sat in Xin Ling’s car.

Tang Xiao apologized, “Sorry, I wasn’t in a good mood earlier. I didn’t scare you, did I?”

Xin Ling, however, smiled brightly and said, “Scare me? Not at all! You were so handsome just now.”

“Heh, Teacher Xin, you’re joking.”

“You really surprised me. I didn’t expect your medical skills to be able to save someone.”

Xin Ling knew that Tang Xiao knew some basic medicine from his massage skills, but his calm and collected performance tonight still astonished her.

Tang Xiao waved his hand dismissively. “It’s nothing. Mr. Fan’s condition was urgent, but not complicated. So I could handle it.”

Mr. Fan’s condition had been an acute episode. The key was timing—early intervention was the best. The difficulty of the treatment wasn’t high.

As for the acupuncture he performed, it was the first time he’d treated someone besides himself, Gu Weiguo, and Deng Yinglan. He was inevitably a little nervous, but the results seemed good.

His exceptional memory allowed him to locate and understand the body’s acupoints and meridians far better than the average person.

Tang Xiao felt that acupuncture didn’t seem that difficult for him.

If Gu Weiguo knew about this, he would probably be frustrated for days.

Just then, Xin Ling received a phone call.

“Hello, Principal, hmm, okay, I understand.”

She hung up the phone and turned to Tang Xiao. “The principal wants to see you tomorrow.”

Tang Xiao was puzzled. “What’s this about?”

“He didn’t say. But from the tone, it doesn’t seem like he’s angry.”

“Uh… does this mean I often make the principal angry? I don’t think so,” Tang Xiao said, confused. He didn’t think of himself as the type to cause trouble.

Xin Ling rolled her eyes. She’d had to clean up after Tang Xiao several times already.

“Tomorrow, you’ll find out. I’ll take you home first.”

…

The next day, at the principal’s office in the Second High School.

Tang Xiao knocked on the door. “Principal Wei, you wanted to see me?”

“Come in and have a seat,” Principal Wei Changhe waved for him to enter.

“Okay.”

Tang Xiao sat down in front of the desk.

“Have some tea.”

Wei Changhe smiled warmly and pushed a cup of fragrant hot tea toward Tang Xiao.

Tang Xiao had no idea that this tea was one of the principal’s prized collections.

“Uh, thank you, Principal…” Tang Xiao took a sip.

He felt uneasy because he couldn’t figure out what the principal wanted.

A principal, offering tea to a student? Was this treatment normal?

Even teachers didn’t get this kind of treatment.

Wei Changhe looked at him seriously. “Tang Xiao, how have your grades been lately?”

Though puzzled, Tang Xiao answered, “Principal, my grades are fine, about the usual.”

Tang Xiao’s grades were near perfect, so when he said “about the usual,” it carried significant weight.

Wei Changhe nodded in satisfaction and asked, “What about your performance in the humanities, besides the sciences?”

Tang Xiao had an extraordinary memory and the ability to speed-read. He was already quite intelligent.

To him, the distinction between science and humanities didn’t matter much.

In fact, for true geniuses, both would come naturally.

Tang Xiao answered, “I think it’s fine as well.”

He was being modest, but those who knew his academic abilities understood that his “fine” meant something far beyond the average.

Wei Changhe smiled. “Very good. Tang Xiao, would you like to make some money?”

“I’d certainly like to. Principal, do you have a way to make money? Is it legal?” Tang Xiao blinked as he looked at the principal.

Tang Xiao was eager to earn money and become more independent.

A perfect life couldn’t be without money, after all.

Although the 60,000 scholarship had eased his financial struggles, he was still lacking.

Deng Yinglan, at her age, was still working on a stall.

And while Lan Xin had given him a 500,000 RMB meal card, it was essentially just for dining at Jianhu Xuan, and it didn’t really help.

If Principal Wei could show him a way to make money, that would be fantastic!

But the “I get it” look in Tang Xiao’s eyes made Wei Changhe feel uncomfortable.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m the principal, and I won’t involve you in anything illegal,” Wei Changhe said, displeased. “What do you think I am?”

Tang Xiao smiled awkwardly.

Wei Changhe continued, “Have you heard of academic competitions for high school students?”

“Academic competitions?” Tang Xiao pondered the term, which seemed both unfamiliar and familiar.

In fact, nearly every high school subject had its corresponding competition.

For example, math, physics, geography, and computer science competitions.

The difficulty of these competitions often exceeded the level of high school textbooks and was designed for exceptionally bright students.

If you place well in such a competition, there’s prize money and even additional points for the national exams!

But these competitions were incredibly challenging and mentally exhausting, and the extra points were often not worth the effort. It was easier to simply focus on improving regular exam scores.

These competitions were meant for gifted students.

When Tang Xiao was at the Tang family’s home, he didn’t have the time or energy to focus on such things. So, while he’d heard of them, he never considered participating.

Wei Changhe said, “Exactly. If you participate in one or two academic competitions and place, you’ll get prize money. It will also bring honor to our school, and I can approve additional scholarships for you. How about it?”

Tang Xiao’s eyes lit up.

Of course, with his super learning ability, placing in such competitions wouldn’t be that difficult. The prize money was essentially free!

Wei Changhe also expressed his ultimate goal: “You’re interested in the money, but I’m focused on the scores. Your national exam scores will definitely be high, but what if you could do even better? What if you could add five or ten points and get a score over 750? Wouldn’t that be even more impressive?”

As the principal of the second-highest school in Jiang’an City, Wei Changhe’s dream was to make the school even better.

While the school was good, it was still behind top-tier high schools. And Tang Xiao, as a potential top scorer, could greatly enhance the school’s reputation.

But Wei Changhe was ambitious, and he felt that wasn’t enough.

Why not go big? He wanted Tang Xiao to aim for an even higher national exam score.

By placing well in academic competitions, Tang Xiao’s overall score could be even higher.

But Wei Changhe added, “Of course, the choice is yours. If you don’t want to participate, then forget it. This is entirely up to you.”

Wei Changhe said all this mainly because he wasn’t sure if Tang Xiao would be willing to take part.

Such competitions required a lot of effort, and if Tang Xiao didn’t want to, it was perfectly understandable.

“No problem, Principal, I’ll participate,” Tang Xiao immediately agreed.

He didn’t care much about the scores. With his exceptional learning ability, scores were just numbers to him.

Earning money was his goal.

Wei Changhe was overjoyed. “Excellent! You truly are the student I’ve chosen. There happens to be a geography and chemistry competition next week, and I’ll sign you up. Although preparing for two competitions in such a short time will be tough, get ready, and let’s try our best.”

A geography and a chemistry competition—one in the humanities and one in the sciences, with only a week or two to prepare.

Wei Changhe had ambition but also knew how difficult it would be. He still wanted Tang Xiao to give it a shot and hoped he could get a place. Even third place would add five points.

Tang Xiao, however, was not satisfied. “Principal, why only two competitions?”

Wei Changhe furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”

Tang Xiao replied calmly, “Principal, can you sign me up for as many as possible before the national exams? I can handle ten, and the more the better.”