Xiao Hou parked the car on the side, and Lin Guodong and Erbao got out.

Erbao had quite a lot of things—two large bags of quilts, one for covering and one for folding.

There was a bag of winter clothes, thick and filled with several sets, another full of daily necessities like buckets and basins, and finally, Erbao carried a backpack with snacks and fruits made by Ning Shu.

Erbao carried one bag of padding himself, weighing about seven to eight pounds, while Lin Guodong handled the ten-pound quilt, the bag of clothes, and the bag of daily necessities.

They left early, and according to the schedule, it was around the time Lin Guodong would normally arrive at the army, about six o’clock.

At this time, students and teachers at the sports school were already up.

In other schools, students and teachers would probably still be asleep.

However, at the sports school, while some teachers were already up, not all of them were, especially those in admissions who didn’t need to train or teach students yet.

It was still before their working hours.

“Teacher Qi hasn’t arrived at school yet. Comrade, would you and this student like to wait in the security office?” the security guard asked.

He felt some pressure in front of Lin Guodong.

Even though he couldn’t tell Lin Guodong’s military rank, he knew that an officer with a driver must hold a high rank.

The security guard placed significant importance on Erbao.

Although students’ family backgrounds varied, it was a time when many were poor, so a background like Erbao’s was certainly unusual.

“Thank you, comrade,” Lin Guodong said politely.

“No need to thank me,” the security guard hurriedly replied.

Lin Guodong and the security guard entered the security office and sat there together.

The security guard didn’t dare to make small talk, and Lin Guodong wasn’t very chatty either, so they just waited in silence.

At seven o’clock, the security guard saw Teacher Qi arriving on a bicycle and immediately called out, “Teacher Qi, the student who took the test yesterday is here for registration, and the parent is with him. They are waiting here with me.”

Teacher Qi, who had been looking forward to Erbao’s registration, was even more excited upon hearing the news. “I’m late today and made the student and parent wait.”

Although it was his regular working time, no one expected Erbao and Lin Guodong to arrive so early.

Hearing this, Lin Guodong came out and said, “No, it’s because I had to go to work today, and I brought my child along. We arrived early.”

When Teacher Qi heard the male voice and saw Lin Guodong’s military uniform, he was momentarily taken aback. “Are you Lin Hairui’s parent?”

Yesterday, the mother had come, and now it seemed the father had arrived.

Given the child’s young age, the father must be relatively young as well, but a regimental officer’s rank seemed very high.

“This is my father,” Erbao said from behind Lin Guodong, peeking out and smiling at Teacher Qi. “My father brought me here because I have so much stuff.”

“I am Lin Hairui’s father,” Lin Guodong confirmed.

“Hello, comrade. Let’s proceed with the registration first. After that, Lin Hairui will need to take a grade-skipping exam. Since there’s the World Middle School Sports Games next year and we don’t know the exact month yet, we hope to determine Lin Hairui’s class now. It would be best if he could directly skip to middle school.”

Teacher Qi explained as they went.

Lin Guodong said, “Given his performance, skipping to middle school should be fine. He can directly take the fifth-grade to first-year middle school exam, though his scores might hover around the passing mark.” He had personally tutored his children, so he was well aware.

If Ning Shu had said this, Teacher Qi might have been skeptical, but since Lin Guodong said it, Teacher Qi inexplicably believed him. “In that case, once the paperwork is done, I’ll get a fifth-grade test paper for Lin Hairui to take.”

The paperwork was processed quickly.

Since Erbao would be participating in the World Middle School Sports Games next year, his information needed to be more detailed, though this mainly involved his parents’ details.

After filling out the forms and completing the basic procedures, Teacher Qi went to the fifth-grade teacher’s office to get a set of fifth-grade test papers for a Chinese and math assessment.

Erbao worked on the test papers in the admissions office under Teacher Qi’s supervision.

The school was naturally at ease with this arrangement, as they had planned to specially admit him into middle school, making any further reassurance unnecessary.

Er Bao worked on the test paper at a steady pace, neither fast nor slow.

The office remained quiet while he was working, with both Lin Guodong and Teacher Qi staying silent.

Once Er Bao finished the test, Teacher Qi took the paper to the fifth-grade teachers for grading, as it needed to be reviewed by specialized teachers.

The fifth-grade Chinese and Math teachers graded the paper quickly.

In less than ten minutes, they had finished marking it.

“How did he do?” Teacher Qi asked nervously.

The Math teacher handed the paper back and said, “See for yourself.”

Hearing that, Teacher Qi became even more anxious, worried that Er Bao’s performance might not be good.

But the Chinese teacher was more straightforward: “72 points. While it’s not a high score, for a fourth grader to score this in a fifth-grade exam is quite impressive. He’s qualified to skip to middle school.”

Upon hearing “72 points,” Teacher Qi breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly checked the Math paper.

His eyes lit up — 86 points! “86! That’s higher than Chinese.”

Er Bao clearly had a stronger aptitude for Math.

Unlike Chinese, which required rote memorization, Math, with its logical structure, was easier for him to grasp.

In simple terms, Er Bao felt that Chinese required him to use his brain, while Math was more straightforward.

Returning to the admissions office, Teacher Qi shared the good news with Lin Guodong and Er Bao: “Comrade Lin, look at this: 72 in Chinese and 86 in Math. Earlier, when you mentioned that his scores might hover around the passing mark, I was a bit worried. But now, with these results, everything looks great.”

Lin Guodong smiled slightly.

He had mentioned the scores might hover around passing out of politeness, though he had expected Er Bao to score in the 70s or 80s.

Still, he didn’t want to take any chances in case Er Bao had an off day or the test was particularly difficult, so he had mentioned the passing mark as a safer estimate.

“From now on, Lin Huirui (Er Bao’s full name) will be in your care, Teacher. I really appreciate it,” Lin Guodong said sincerely.

“This is our responsibility; teaching students is what we do,” Teacher Qi replied.

After writing some notes in the file, he looked through the documents again and said, “I’ve assigned Lin Huirui to Class 2 in the first year of middle school. The dormitory for Class 2 is located… Here’s the key. How about I take you there myself? I’m free at the moment.”

Lin Guodong took the key and said, “Thank you, Teacher.”

It was already 10 a.m., mainly because Er Bao had taken some time with the test.

As Teacher Qi led Lin Guodong and Er Bao to the dormitory building, the students were still in class, so the campus was quiet.

The dormitory building was quite clean. In fact, all school dormitories were kept clean, as the school regularly conducted inspections.

A caretaker, Aunt Wang, was in charge of the dormitory building.

Teacher Qi greeted her, and she led them to the dormitory.

It was a boys’ dormitory, and though it looked clean, it smelled of stinky socks.

“It smells awful,” Er Bao said, taking a few steps back and pinching his nose. “Dad, how can anyone live in a place that smells this bad?”

Lin Guodong looked at Teacher Qi. “Can you assign him to a dormitory that’s a bit more hygienic?”

Teacher Qi wasn’t sure which dormitories in Class 2 were particularly clean, so he asked Aunt Wang, “Aunt Wang, which dormitory in Class 2 is the cleanest?”

Aunt Wang replied, “The hygiene in Class 2 dorms isn’t great, but the Class 1 dorms are much cleaner.”

Teacher Qi suggested, “How about assigning him to a Class 1 dorm? Though this might hinder his interaction with his classmates in Class 2.”

Lin Guodong understood the reasoning. “How about transferring him to Class 1?”

The sports school didn’t have any distinction between elite and regular classes.

Teacher Qi had initially placed Er Bao in Class 2 because it had fewer students than Class 1, which was already full.

New students were typically assigned to the class with fewer students.

However, it wasn’t impossible to place him in the more crowded Class 1.

Since both Lin Guodong and Er Bao had concerns about the hygiene in Class 2, Teacher Qi agreed to the change.

But Aunt Wang said, “There aren’t any free beds in the Class 1 dorm.”

Lin Guodong: “…”

Er Bao: “…”

Teacher Qi: “…”

Lin Guodong said, “Let’s assign him to Class 1, and when a bed becomes available in the Class 1 dormitory, he can move there. If he stays in Class 2, it will be difficult to move him later.”

Teacher Qi had no objections. “Sure.”

With the dormitory issue settled, Lin Guodong didn’t stay long.

He told Er Bao, “You’ll have to handle setting up your bed on your own. I’m leaving now. If you don’t come home on the weekend, we’ll come visit you.”

“I know,” Er Bao replied.

But as his father was about to leave, a feeling of loneliness crept in, now that he was in an unfamiliar place.

Lin Guodong patted his son’s shoulder. “Keep my phone number safe. If something urgent comes up and you can’t make it home, call me.”

It took two bus transfers to get from the sports school to the military compound, so in case of an emergency, contacting him directly would be faster.

Lin Guodong also made a mental note to look into whether they could get a phone installed at the compound.

That way, not only would Er Bao have an easier time contacting home, but it would also make it easier for Lin Guodong to reach his family when needed.

“I’ve got it tucked away,” Er Bao patted his backpack, showing that he had safely stored his father’s phone number.

“Good,” Lin Guodong said.

Without saying much more, he left.

After Lin Guodong left, Aunt Wang, who had nothing else to do, also took her leave.

Now, it was just Er Bao and Teacher Qi in the dormitory.

Knowing that Er Bao was still young and had just graduated from elementary school, Teacher Qi kindly offered, “Lin Huirui, do you know how to make your bed? Do you need help?”