Chapter 32: I Finished It Very Carefully

Chen Xi recalled what Qiao Weimin had told her over the phone yesterday. She curled her lip and lowered her voice: "Poor grades."

"How many people who use connections to transfer schools actually have good grades? Anyway, our class doesn't accept those kinds of 'connection hires.' I mean, it's almost senior year and the Gaokao is right around the corner—why transfer in with bad grades? They'll only drag down the class average!"

The head teacher of Class C agreed wholeheartedly: "Exactly."

Teachers also had performance evaluations; their year-end bonuses were closely tied to student grades, and no one wanted to lose money for no reason.

Chen Xi quickened her pace, efficiently flipping through a stack of documents to pull out the files for her own students. Clutching them to her chest, she said to the Class C head teacher, "I've finished organizing the start-of-term materials. Old Liu, take your time, I'm heading out first."

Seeing her about to leave, the Class C head teacher set aside her work and asked with surprise, "The transfer student is already here. Aren't you going to check her diagnostic test results?"

Chen Xi had promised Qiao Weimin that she wouldn't let Qiao Nian join their class. How Qiao Nian performed didn't matter much to her, even though she felt Qiao Nian wouldn't even make it into Class B!

"No thanks, I have to go to my class for a morning meeting to announce some good news."

The Class C head teacher had already heard about it, and her face couldn't hide her envy. "It's about your student Qiao Chen being recommended for the Academy of Arts, right? That's wonderful! The school forum is full of posts about it. You'll be the teacher of a big star soon. Don't forget your colleagues when you strike it rich!"

"Haha, I'll be going now."

...

By the sofa, the Dean had found the diagnostic test papers, along with pens and scratch paper, for Qiao Nian. He said, "The Principal hasn't arrived yet, so you can take the test here first. Once you're finished, I'll grade it for you. Once the Principal arrives, we can determine which class you'll be attending."

"Sure!"

Qiao Nian casually took the paper and scanned the questions.

Just as she expected, they were all flashy but superficial questions. Looking over the entire paper, only two words came to mind: boring!

That was how exams were—the questions were always boring things that would never be useful in the real world.

The Dean thought she was stumped by the difficulty and said with rare gentleness, "This set includes Math, Physics, Chemistry, English, and Chinese. You have 90 minutes. No need to rush, take your time. It's important to write more than you erase..."

Qiao Nian gave an "mm," her eyes lifting slightly in a casual manner as if she were listening. She set the paper down, but instead of using the pen the Dean provided, she pulled a black water-based pen from her backpack.

"Then take your time writing."

Seeing that she had started, the Dean went back to working on documents with the other teachers.

He wasn't worried about Qiao Nian cheating; there were surveillance cameras in the office, and there were so many teachers present. If this transfer student actually cheated, it would only prove that she had poor character and wasn't very bright!

...

Time passed minute by minute.

Half an hour later.

Qiao Nian put down her pen and suddenly spoke up: "Teacher, I'm finished."

The Dean froze for a moment, then walked over. "That fast? Aren't you going to check your work?"

Qiao Nian capped her pen, her eyes dark and cold. "No need."

"..."

He leaned over to pick up Qiao Nian's paper and scanned it. Everything was filled in. Out of professional ethics, he couldn't help but say, "Student Qiao Nian, this determines which class you'll be in. You should be careful."

The corners of Qiao Nian's eyes flared with a defiant air. "Mm, I finished it very carefully."

At the very least, this was the most serious exam she had ever taken.

Seeing that she truly had no intention of checking, the Dean sighed. "Alright, I'll grade it for you."

Seeing him about to grade the paper, the other teachers crowded around to watch the excitement, all wanting to see exactly how good this new transfer student's grades were!

(End of Chapter)