Chapter 47: Chapter 44: Don’t Embarrass Me
"Xiaodong, you’re back! Quick, come on in."
Li Qin placed the fruit platter on the coffee table and turned to wave at Li Dong.
Baffled, Li Dong changed into his slippers and walked in.
"Mom, Teacher Yang."
Li Dong greeted them dutifully, then glanced at the balding man and hesitated.
"And... hello, Director."
He vaguely remembered this person was a director from Sixth Middle School, but as for his name, he hadn’t really paid attention when Zheng Hua was muttering about it.
Seeing Li Dong’s slightly dazed expression, Old Yang beckoned.
"Li Dong, come have a seat."
Li Dong obediently walked over and sat down on a small round stool next to the sofa.
Old Yang was the first to break the silence.
"You know that you took first place in the provincial physics competition, right?"
"I know," Li Dong nodded. ’Weren’t I in the office with you, refreshing the webpage?’
Old Yang immediately asked another question.
"Then do you know about the publicity from Jiangcheng Second Middle School?"
"Second Middle School’s publicity? Oh, I know a little."
Li Dong had heard his mom mention it once.
But his mind had been completely occupied with literature and English for the past two days, so he hadn’t had any time to follow up on it.
’Now that Old Yang is bringing this up, did the school stand up for me?’
But right at that moment, Director Liu, who was sitting beside him, started speaking with a chuckle.
"Hello, Li Dong. We’ve seen each other before, but we haven’t been formally introduced."
"I’m the Director of Education at Jiangcheng Sixth Middle School. My surname is Liu."
Liu Limin paused, his smile fading.
"Since you know about this, that’s good. Rest assured, our Sixth Middle School has already stood up for you. Now everyone knows the real first-place winner is you!"
He then went on to describe in detail how righteous their Sixth Middle School was and how they couldn’t stand to see such dirty business.
Watching Liu Limin drone on, Old Yang quickly interrupted.
"Alright, Li Dong, hurry and thank Director Liu."
Li Dong was dumbfounded. This Director Liu could really talk.
But someone had indeed helped him, so he immediately turned and thanked Liu Limin.
"Thank you, Director Liu!"
Liu Limin quickly waved his hand dismissively.
"Oh, Li Dong, no need to be so polite."
After thanking him, something suddenly occurred to Li Dong.
’Wait a minute.’
’Something doesn’t seem right here.’
’Second Middle School stole my first place, and Sixth Middle School helped clarify it?’
’Then... what about our Seventh Middle School?’
The smile on Li Dong’s face gradually faded. He turned to look at Old Yang in confusion.
Old Yang didn’t speak, just silently and cryptically shook his head.
Don’t air your dirty laundry in public.
Old Yang couldn’t possibly, in front of the Director of Education from Sixth Middle School, tear into his own school’s incompetent PR department, nor could he explain how Seventh Middle School had lost its credibility due to years of ranking at the bottom.
Li Dong looked at Old Yang’s bitter expression.
He understood immediately, and his own expression turned ugly.
Anyone in this situation would feel as disgusted as if they’d swallowed a fly.
He had charged into battle and won first place, but his own base didn’t even have the guts to issue a victory announcement to claim the honor.
But he gritted his teeth. Since his mother was still there, he didn’t say anything unpleasant.
Liu Limin was a sly old fox who had perfected his craft. Seeing Li Dong’s expression, he knew the time was right.
"Li Dong," he said, his voice full of sincerity. "I made a special trip to visit today because I wanted to discuss something with you and your mother."
Liu Limin looked at Li Dong and said very seriously.
"I’ve already had a preliminary discussion with your mother."
"We at Sixth Middle School deeply admire the talent you’ve shown in physics."
"So, I want to ask you, have you considered transferring to our Jiangcheng Sixth Middle School?"
Afraid that Li Dong would be swayed by emotion, Liu Limin quickly turned to Li Qin.
"Li Dong’s mother, our Sixth Middle School’s facilities and faculty are ranked among the best in the entire province."
"Of course, the teachers at Seventh Middle School are also very dedicated. An outstanding teacher like Teacher Yang would shine anywhere."
Liu Limin’s words were extremely skillful. He first praised Old Yang, then changed his tack.
"However, cultivating top-tier, innovative talent is a systematic project."
"It requires state-of-the-art laboratories and an environment where gifted students can challenge each other intellectually. More importantly, it requires a mature pathway that provides direct access to top universities at home and abroad."
His words were tactful and appropriate. He didn’t directly disparage Seventh Middle School, yet every sentence highlighted Sixth Middle School’s unassailable, elite status.
Listening to these words, it would be a lie to say Li Qin wasn’t moved.
What parent doesn’t want their child to go to the best school and receive the best education?
However, Li Qin was a mother from a working-class background and could be a bit of a nag at times. But when it came to her child’s education, if nothing else, she deeply respected Li Dong’s own opinions.
Li Qin looked at Liu Limin and said.
"Director Liu, as a mother, I’m truly happy to hear what you’ve said."
"But, my child is grown up now; he has his own ideas."
"A decision as big as transferring schools... I think I’ll let Xiaodong decide for himself."
After hearing this, Liu Limin silently gave the mother a thumbs-up in his mind.
Then, he turned his gaze back to Li Dong.
But Li Dong remained silent, lost in thought.
Liu Limin was a little unsure now. He turned his head and shot a pleading look at Old Yang, who was sitting next to him.
Old Yang nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.
He stood up, walked over to Li Dong, and patted him gently on the shoulder.
"Li Dong, come into the room with me. Let’s have a private chat."
Li Dong stood up and followed Old Yang into his bedroom.
As soon as the bedroom door closed, Old Yang leaned against the wardrobe with his arms crossed, looked at Li Dong sitting on the edge of the bed, and chuckled.
"What’s wrong? Brooding with your head down? Feeling sentimental about Seventh Middle School and can’t bear to leave?"
Li Dong looked up, an extremely conflicted expression on his face.
"Teacher Yang... it’s not that. Mainly, if I transfer to Sixth Middle School, the twenty-thousand-yuan prize from the Huaxuan Cup finals... can I still get it?"
Old Yang was so taken aback by his words that he nearly choked.
He originally thought the kid was getting sentimental about his alma mater. Turns out, after all that, his mind was still on that twenty thousand yuan!
"You little rascal!" Old Yang laughed in exasperation and angrily ruffled Li Dong’s hair.
"Why are you so obsessed with money? With the brains you’re showing now, if you go to Sixth Middle School, winning national awards, getting university scholarships—none of that is impossible. Will you still be worrying about a mere twenty thousand yuan in the future?"
However, faced with Old Yang’s laughing scolding, this time Li Dong didn’t joke around as usual.
He looked up and stared at Old Yang very seriously.
"Teacher Yang, future money is future money."
"But my family, right now, really needs this twenty thousand yuan."
Old Yang was stunned.
He looked around the bedroom, where the wall paint was yellowing, and sighed.
"You kid... Fine. Since you’ve put it like that, I’ll be straight with you."
"About the transfer, just follow your heart."
"If you want to go, then go."
"As for the twenty thousand yuan, I’ll go talk to Director Zheng and Principal Wang for you."
"But there’s one condition." Old Yang held up a finger.
"Even if you leave, you must finish this competition as a student of Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School. That’s a matter of principle."
"However..."
"The ten-thousand-yuan scholarship the school previously promised you for winning first prize—you can forget about that."
After hearing this, Li Dong nodded without hesitation.
"Deal! Twenty thousand is twenty thousand. As long as the money doesn’t fall through!"
Having resolved the core financial issue, Li Dong finally relaxed.
In truth, deep down, Li Dong really wanted to go to Sixth Middle School.
He was a normal third-year high school student, not some aloof and ascetic saint.
Who wouldn’t want to go to a top-tier institution with better teaching quality and a more intense academic atmosphere? Who wouldn’t want to experience competing on the same stage as the most brilliant prodigies in the province?
Did he have feelings for Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School?
Yes.
But what he couldn’t bear to leave was never Seventh Middle School itself.
What he couldn’t bear to leave were the people at Seventh Middle School.
Liu Liang, Chen Yue, Old Yang...
He even felt reluctant to leave Jiang Yizhou.
’If I go to Sixth Middle School, it would probably be hard to find a creature as punchable yet amusing as him, right?’
Seeing Li Dong’s relaxed demeanor, Old Yang knew the kid had already made up his mind.
But he felt that as a teacher, there were still some things he had to make clear to Li Dong before he left.
"Li Dong, to be honest, bringing Director Liu from Sixth Middle School here today was a bit of a breach of professional ethics. But it doesn’t matter. A little more mud on my name won’t make a difference."
"But you need to understand that a school is more than just a place that teaches you knowledge."
"With your current learning ability, to be honest, the knowledge taught in high school is no longer a barrier for you."
"Even if you stay at Seventh Middle School, or just study at home by yourself, you could still get perfect scores in math, physics, and chemistry. Which school you’re at won’t make much of a difference to your exam scores."
Old Yang paused.
"But the problem is the resources and opportunities a good school can offer you."
Li Dong blinked, not quite understanding.
In his mind, wasn’t a good school just one where teachers’ lectures were more thorough and the practice exams were harder?
As for anything else, he had just been an ordinary third-year student before; he had no concept of it.
Old Yang explained patiently.
"If you stay at Seventh Middle School, your grades will still be dazzling, but your opportunities will be far fewer than at Sixth Middle School."
"Provincial-level key middle schools like Sixth Middle School have Ossai, the Physics Bowl, the Qiu Chengtong Middle School Science Award... for these competitions that connect directly to top universities at home and abroad, they have mature teams to manage them every year."
"Their students know from the moment they enter in their first year how to plan their next three years and which path to take."
At this point, Old Yang gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"And us at Seventh Middle School? I’m not afraid you’ll laugh, but this time when we sent you to the Huaxuan Cup, even Director Zheng couldn’t figure out how to log into the computer system for the preliminary round."
"That’s the information gap!"
Old Yang’s words were very insightful and also caused a shift in Li Dong’s mentality.
If he truly wanted to stand on the shoulders of giants, he first had to get a ticket to that platform.
Li Dong took a deep breath, stood up, and gave Old Yang a deep bow.
"Teacher Yang, I understand. I’ll go to Sixth Middle School."
Old Yang was startled by the kid’s sudden bow, then pretended to be annoyed and said.
"When you get to Sixth Middle School, just don’t embarrass me!"
"Let’s go. Go out and give Director Liu a definite answer. Don’t keep him waiting."
Old Yang stood up and was the first to walk toward the bedroom door.
Li Dong followed behind. Just as they reached the door, his phone suddenly started vibrating.
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ
Li Dong pulled out his phone and looked. The screen displayed "Director Zheng (Massage)."
