Chapter 69: Rejection

The incident of impersonating a student to enroll had been reported throughout the school, but it was unclear whether the two-day temporary tests they were about to implement would reveal any illogical scores.

If some students usually performed well but didn’t do well on the exam, and those students ended up replacing someone else, the school would have no way of discovering it.

As soon as Lin Xinran brought up this possibility, Chen Jin said, “That’s why all the counselors in the school are checking the records of students who have changed their names. Admission notices and household registration books can be falsified, and scores can be altered, but there are still traces left behind.”

The police had suggested they look for any students who had changed their names, as those cases were generally more suspicious.

Beyond that, if someone replaced a student without changing their name, there was no way to catch them.

“No wonder I always see you rushing around in the college; there must be a lot of counselor duties, right?” Yang Qian asked.

“Well, just think about your own situation when you first started university, and you’ll understand. As a student, you encounter crazy students, and as a teacher, you encounter even crazier ones.”

Chen Jin smiled and sighed, “My temper is really good now, I swear!”

Only after the official start of the semester did Chen Jin understand what Teacher Chang had said: the military training period was the easiest; as students gradually adapted to university life, they began to have the energy to cause trouble.

After returning from vacation, some students came to her asking if they could change dormitories, claiming they couldn’t get along with their dormmates and couldn’t accept their living habits.

This was nothing unusual. Having been a student herself, Chen Jin knew that it was common for students from different backgrounds to share a small dormitory and struggle to adapt to each other’s living habits. If the situation was severe and could be mediated, it would be fine to arrange it.

However, after hearing the students’ reasons, she couldn’t keep the smile on her face and directly refused, “Based on what you said, there wouldn’t be a single dormitory in the entire school that meets your requirements. The school also can’t accommodate you with a separate room.”

Good grief, she was complaining that her roommate disturbed her at night by tossing and turning, that there were too many people in the dorm and not enough cabinets for storage, and that her dormmates didn’t bring her food. In the end, she claimed her dormmates were isolating her…

If Chen Jin weren’t a teacher now, she would definitely have scolded her with a few “crazy lady” remarks.

That said, now that she was a teacher, she was very conscious of her image and wouldn’t casually call anyone a “crazy lady.” But some students were really acting crazy, and she was doing her best to tolerate it.

After working in this job for two or three years, her short temper might be cured.

“So I can just rent a place outside the school, right?” the girl suggested.

Chen Jin suddenly looked up at her, narrowing her eyes. Was all this fuss just so she could move out?

“First, submit an application to live off-campus. Then have your parents come to the school to discuss the situation with me and the college leadership in person and sign a guarantee letter. Only then can you live outside.”

The girl tried to negotiate, saying, “My parents are really busy with work; I handle my own affairs, Teacher Chen…”

Perhaps because she had recently brought them drinks to cool off and chatted with them in the dorm, the students mistakenly thought she had a good temper. Chen Jin raised her hand to refuse, saying, “You don’t need to say more. If you want to apply for off-campus accommodation, have your parents come to discuss it. Otherwise, don’t bring up anything else. Let’s drop the subject of changing dorms.”

Chen Jin stared at her and added meaningfully, “This is a school, not your home. The way you treat others is how others will treat you. Here, it’s not about who is weak and who is right. If necessary, I will call your parents and hope they can talk some sense into you.”

She had encountered many difficult people during her school years, and the most annoying were the ones who acted out. No one could stir up trouble in her presence!

In the end, the applications for changing dorms and living off-campus fell through; the girl didn’t even dare to call her family. Chen Jin then contacted the dorm leader to understand the situation, and that’s when she learned why the girl wanted to move out.

After Teacher Chang learned the whole story, she said, “If you want to date and rent a place to live, that’s all fine as long as you know about it. The worst thing is if they sneak out to a hotel. There are quite a few small inns in the residential area outside the north gate, and most of the people who go there on weekends are students from nearby schools…”

Chen Jin: …This is explosive! Every day brings something new.

After wrapping up the testing matters, she learned that the test scores of her students were normal, and a few name changes were from those who changed them in elementary or middle school, which wasn’t a problem.

Chen Jin found a time to hold a grade meeting, focusing on the issue of college students dating.

Things are different now compared to more than a decade ago. In the past, being caught dating would result in disciplinary action or expulsion, but now the atmosphere is much more open. As long as nothing major happens, the school and teachers don’t interfere with students’ dating.

These students had just graduated from a strictly managed high school to a self-regulated college environment. They were still cautious about dating, afraid of being discovered by the teachers.

So, Chen Jin directly opened up the conversation about dating.

“Dating at school is fine, but you can’t sneak off to a hotel… What if, what if you get pregnant? You can’t have a baby in the dorm or in the bathroom; that could be deadly. What should you do? Come to the teacher! You know my phone numbers, right? My office and home numbers; anyone who hasn’t written them down, do it now.”

“You don’t need to worry about what will happen if the teachers find out. If problems arise, we need to solve them properly; avoiding them won’t help. And don’t just do what your classmates say. Can you outsmart the teachers and your parents?”

“Ahem, any questions?” After talking so much, her throat was getting sore.

She used to wonder why Teacher Chang could speak for so long without a script, but now she understood that some fundamental truths come out naturally once you get started.

The new student counselor training she attended wasn’t wasted.

The students below were too shy to look her in the eye, only daring to whisper to the classmates next to them. They probably didn’t expect her to be so straightforward.

Being straightforward is better; she was worried that she hadn’t made herself clear enough. There might still be some foolish ones who want to try, even after she laid out all the possible bad outcomes. If someone insists on trying, then there’s nothing to be done; it’s hard to persuade someone who’s determined to be foolish.

It was rare to hold a grade meeting, and Chen Jin took the opportunity to address everything in one go: interpersonal issues in the dorm, skipping classes secretly, and unexcused absences…

Some people think skipping classes is no big deal for themselves, but they don’t realize how she felt when Professor Jiang blocked her in his office to complain about several students from her class skipping classes.

She was truly exasperated.

Ten minutes before the end of the workday, everyone was organizing their desk materials. This is how it is for college counselors; when things happen, they’re busier than ever. Most of the time, it’s relatively easy. As long as students don’t cause trouble, teaching is quite relaxed.

Teacher He asked her, “Teacher Chen, what are your plans for National Day? Staying at home?”

“I have to go to Quanshi for my cousin’s wedding. Do you have something going on, Teacher He?”

“Then it can’t be helped. How about we go shopping together the weekend after National Day? I’ve wanted to ask you out several times, but you’ve never had time,” Teacher He said with a smile.

She had already sent out the invitation; now several relatives at home were waiting for her to help introduce them to potential partners.

Several of her relatives were well-off, all employed. Although they couldn’t compare to Chen Jin in wealth, the truth is, how many people in the entire Rong City can match Chen Jin’s economic status? Those working in reputable jobs aren’t doing poorly either. One has prospects, and the other has money; putting them together is actually the best combination.

Chen Jin chuckled to herself; it’s not that she didn’t have time; she simply didn’t want to socialize more with Teacher He outside of school. Don’t think she couldn’t tell that Teacher He had brought up her romantic status several times, always hinting about “finding a good partner while young,” and casually mentioning how great some men she knew were.

Teacher Chang and Zhou Ding had helped her change the topic several times, but Teacher He was still not giving up.

It’s really annoying; she has enough work to do, yet she has to deal with Teacher He’s concerns about whether she is dating or not!

However, Zhou Ding had a point; the reason they keep pushing for introductions is that they see her as “valuable.” Otherwise, why wouldn’t they try to introduce someone to Zhou Ding?

They recognize her “value” but still go on about the “good men” she could meet and that “when she gets older, it’ll be harder to find someone.”

What a ridiculous notion! She has money and a house; does she need to find someone to take care of her? She can’t even imagine her own father being so good.

“We see each other enough at school; there’s no need to make extra plans to go shopping. I don’t think I’d be able to shop with Teacher He anyway,” Chen Jin stated clearly, fearing she wouldn’t get her point across. “I’m worried that if we go shopping, she might suddenly introduce me to someone, and that would be embarrassing.”

Teacher He’s face froze, and she awkwardly laughed, “How could that happen…”

“Who knows? I like to get the unpleasant things out in the open to avoid future misunderstandings. Teacher He, I’m not planning to date anyone right now. If I were to date, it wouldn’t be just for a bright future. Who knows what the future holds? I hope no one thinks that just because I have a bit of money, they can get close to me. I’ve heard plenty about such pitfalls. I believe in one thing: a man is not reliable if he doesn’t have money.”

The man hanging on the wall is a different story.

When they reached downstairs, Chen Jin glanced at Zhou Ding, who was occasionally stealing glances at her. “You’re not trying to advise me to lower my standards at the office, are you?”

Zhou Ding quickly waved his hand, “I wouldn’t dare.”

“If I had your confidence, I might be even more arrogant than you.”

That Teacher He is like a fly, buzzing in her ear now and then, secretly trying to nudge her, as if she thought everyone else was too dumb to see through her intentions.

Just now in the office, he was stunned. He was even sweating for Chen Jin, worrying that Teacher He would make things difficult for her later; wouldn’t that hinder her work? But once the office quieted down, he thought: Chen Jin doesn’t need anyone worrying about her. If she can’t handle it, she can just walk away.

Teacher He was left speechless by Chen Jin, who tore off the mask of politeness and blocked her with just a few words. She was angry but didn’t dare to flaunt her seniority; that seniority didn’t work at all with Chen Jin.

“Now that you’ve said this, she should feel embarrassed to bring up her nephews, nieces, and friends’ sons in the future.”

Chen Jin had clearly stated early on that she wasn’t in a hurry to date, yet Teacher He insisted on pushing her forward. She claimed she was introducing Chen Jin because of her good character, but Chen Jin absolutely didn’t believe that.

Women are always more likely to attract trouble in such matters, and wealthy women even more so. Chen Jin had heard from her Aunt Kexin that men, ranging from their twenties to forties, had said they wanted to pursue her because of “true love.”

Chen Jin remembered that during her internship, there were indeed people who wanted to pursue her… but she wasn’t foolish enough to seek out a “phoenix man.”

There were plenty of “phoenix men” in the city, and these people had an even greater sense of superiority. Even if they didn’t have money, they took pride in being city dwellers. Those with stable jobs were even worse, looking down on others.

Chen Jin was realistic; it didn’t matter if her status was respectable or not when she went out; what mattered was that money was enough when needed.

Besides, her university counselor job was respectable enough, and she didn’t need anyone else to add to her prestige.

Thus, when Chen Jin drove to her uncle’s new house for dinner and heard Chen Ting mentioning Liu Chengzhi repeatedly, she hurriedly switched seats with someone else. No, she couldn’t allow her mind to accept any “male supremacy” thinking.

Zhuang Yao noticed her impatient expression and turned to Chen Yongxin, saying, “Tingting and Sanmei are like two extremes.”

“Yeah, Jiajia is more balanced; she’s just right.”

Just after praising her, Chen Jia announced big news: “I applied for an exchange program to study abroad!”

Studying abroad through an exchange program was indeed a big deal; no one in the family had ever gone abroad before, let alone for an exchange program.

Chen Jin wanted to praise Chen Jia for being impressive and was about to applaud when she saw her second uncle and second aunt looking shocked, clearly unaware of the news.

Tsk, why must they drop bombshells during family gatherings?