Chapter 279
There were other teachers present as well.
Teacher Wu began speaking about the competition.
The competition was in two weeks, and Teacher Wu would notify everyone in advance.
He had another main reason: he wanted Zhou Zedong to participate in this English competition.
Since Si Nian had been exceptionally good at English as a child, he figured Zhou Zedong probably wasn't bad either.
He had seen his test papers; every subject was excellent. He thought very highly of this child.
However, it wasn't possible for one child to participate in everything; it would be too exhausting.
So he asked, "Student Zhou Zedong, which subject are you least proficient in?"
The other teachers also looked at him.
Everyone had high hopes for Zhou Zedong now. After all, he had become quite famous at school yesterday and was now the little hero on everyone's lips.
The Chinese Teacher, in particular, liked this child very much because she saw him practicing calligraphy with copybooks every day.
Such a diligent and studious child—she couldn't understand why Teacher Xu would pick on him.
She already had her own thoughts, but hearing Teacher Wu's question, she still looked at Zhou Zedong expectantly.
Zhou Zedong stood up. Under the expectant gazes of everyone, he hesitated and said, "The subject I'm least proficient in is... math."
As soon as he finished speaking, Teacher Xu's eyes immediately gleamed.
Teacher Wu looked surprised.
He had thought it would be English, since Zhou Zedong hadn't studied it at school.
He never expected it to be math?
The Chinese Teacher was delighted. "Then your best subject must be Chinese, right? I knew it!" She wore an expression of shared pride.
The child's handwriting was beautiful, with strong strokes. His regular script was even better than hers.
It was clear he had put in a lot of practice.
Initially, when she saw his test papers, like Teacher Xu, she had found it hard to believe.
How could a ten-year-old child from the countryside not only write so beautifully but also have such outstanding grades?
Later, seeing him practice calligraphy every day and hearing that Si Nian was his mother, the Chinese Teacher understood.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Zedong glanced at her and shook his head. "My Chinese is just average too."
Chinese Teacher: "......" Fine, fine. So that's how you treat me.
You couldn't even tell a little white lie to make me happy?
My affection was misplaced after all.
Wu Ren'ai was pleased. "Could it be English then?"
Zhou Zedong shifted his gaze back to him. "I've only been learning English for three months." And that was at home, learning alongside his younger brother.
Wu Ren'ai: "......"
"Sigh, seeing you practice calligraphy every day, I thought you liked Chinese best," the Chinese Teacher sighed.
Hearing this, Teacher Xu immediately noticed the calligraphy copybook on Zhou Zedong's desk, and her face darkened for a moment.
But soon, a cold sneer flashed in her eyes.
Although she wasn't entirely sure if it was Zhou Zedong who had someone attack her, because of this incident, Teacher Xu had been utterly humiliated.
Now, parents thought she secretly abused students.
The other teachers were also ostracizing her; no one would talk to her.
The news had even spread to her residential community. Originally, because of her position, Teacher Xu held a high status in the community and was quite arrogant.
She often received flattery and favors from neighbors.
She, of course, would never help these people get their children into the school.
This had offended quite a few people.
No one dared to openly cross her, swallowing their displeasure.
But somehow, this incident had spread there too, and everyone was secretly mocking her for being harsh.
They even said she deserved the beating.
Some said it was right not to send their kids to her school.
It infuriated her.
This pent-up anger made her heart ache, and she hadn't slept properly for several nights.
She was so angry she'd wake up from her dreams.
However, because of the upcoming competition, the school didn't dare punish her too severely, worried it might have an impact.
Last year, her class had achieved second place city-wide in the math competition and first place in English!
It had been a huge triumph.
She herself had been selected as the Annual Outstanding Math Teacher.
This year, there was supposed to be a scholarship.
She had been counting on that scholarship money.
Who knew that because of this incident and the physical altercation, the school, to settle matters, had penalized her, canceling the bonus to use as compensation.
Those calligraphy books Zhou Zedong had were probably bought with her bonus money.
And he dared to show them off? It made her furious.
The remaining bruises on Teacher Xu's face now displayed a colorful array of emotions, quite a sight.
She snorted coldly, withdrew her gaze, and hearing the students excitedly discussing the competition, finally spoke up: "What's all this noise? The competition is in two weeks, and you're all so relaxed? Just because it's early in the semester doesn't mean you have nothing to fear. You're about to enter middle school; how can you have no sense of urgency at all?"
"Last year, our class got second place in the city. This year, we must get first! Anyone who dares to drag the team down shouldn't blame me for being harsh. Then don't say the teacher is picking on anyone! I am fair and just to everyone!"
She aimed her veiled criticism directly at Zhou Zedong.
"There are five participants in the competition. Last year, Wang Dong had the lowest score. If not for you, our class might have gotten first place. This year, you're being replaced, so don't feel upset. Competition is just that fierce nowadays."
A bespectacled boy named Wang Dong in the first row blushed and lowered his head.
Teacher Xu snorted with satisfaction.
"Besides students Chu Xiang'er and Li Youcai, the remaining three are Liu Jia, Wang Yu, and..."
Teacher Xu's gaze fell on Zhou Zedong, who had his head lowered. To everyone's surprise, she said, "Zhou Zedong."
"Normally, given that he's a transfer student and from the countryside, he definitely wouldn't be eligible to participate. But considering he helped the teacher, I can give him this opportunity."
Originally, she hadn't planned to let Zhou Zedong participate, as this competition was very important to her too.
But just now, hearing Zhou Zedong say his weakest subject was math, Teacher Xu immediately changed her mind.
The competition was important, but right now, she disliked this student even more.
Teacher Wu actually told her not to target him? It made her so angry.
Fine, fine. Since she wasn't allowed to target him, she would take good care of him.
When his scores were poor and dragged down the average, let's see what Teacher Wu and the school would have to say.
They told her to look after him, and this is the result of that care.
Who could possibly blame her?
Thinking about the school losing face and regretting their decision when they didn't win any awards filled Teacher Xu with secret glee.
Her words caused a stir among the students.
Zhou Zedong? Was his grade that good?
Everyone only knew he was a transfer student, but to get into their class, his grades must be decent.
Still, it shouldn't be enough to bump out someone from the top five in the class to participate in a city-wide competition, right?
This was a major competition. Not only was the pressure immense, but it also greatly impacted the school's reputation. Only those the teachers had great confidence in were qualified to participate.
The faces of the other selected participants, except for Chu Xiang'er, turned rather sour.
Because the scores were calculated based on the team average, meaning if someone couldn't keep up and lowered the average, it would be a fatal blow to them as well.
For a moment, no one could understand why Teacher Xu had chosen Zhou Zedong to participate.
He was usually quiet and reserved, never volunteering to answer questions in class, so everyone really couldn't tell how good his grades were.
Plus, the school year hadn't been going on for long, so they knew nothing about him at all.
However, that wasn't even what surprised everyone.
Next, Teacher Wu actually also selected Zhou Zedong for the English competition.
This meant that out of the four subject competitions, he was participating in two.
The Chinese Teacher even raised her hand to express that she wanted Zhou Zedong for her competition too.
But he refused, saying he wasn't interested in Chinese because it involved too many characters and was a waste of time.
"Ah, you little rascal, you didn't refuse Teacher Xu even though she treated you that way.
Yet you refused me, your kind and friendly Chinese Teacher."
The Chinese Teacher said she was heartbroken.
She sternly demanded that Zhou Zedong spread his attention evenly!
In the end, it was Teacher Wu who led her away, hand over her chest, looking utterly heartbroken.
But it was understandable. Zhou Zedong was already in two competitions; adding another would be a significant amount of pressure for him.
Feeling resentful, the Chinese Teacher even complained to Si Nian.
"Teacher Si, it's not that I'm jealous of Teacher Xu, but she's clearly targeting your child by making him join the competition. Your Little Dong even said himself that his weakest subject is math, and she still picked him. Isn't that obviously intentional?"
Hearing this, Si Nian raised an eyebrow slightly. "What? Little Dong's weakest subject is math? He said that?"
The Chinese Teacher nodded. "Yes, because the homeroom teacher was thinking of having him join any one subject and asked him about it."
Si Nian almost laughed out loud. Little Dong's strongest subject was clearly math, wasn't it?
That kid was really quite cunning.
Knowing full well that Teacher Xu wanted to target him, he deliberately said that.
Teacher Xu already suspected his grades were fake, so hearing him say that, she would definitely want him to participate to get revenge, hoping he'd embarrass himself in the competition.
Teacher Xu thought she was getting her way.
Who knew she was being played like a fiddle by a child.
However, Si Nian also realized that the math at this elementary school was no joke.
To get into the elite math class, you even needed a score above 80 out of 100.
To the teachers, anyone below 80 was a poor student.
The standard was so high that even the lower-tier classes hardly had anyone failing.
Compared to the countryside where only a handful passed, this number was quite shocking.
So even in the 1980s, were city schools already this competitive?
Remembering that the original owner of this body had won quite a few awards at this school, Si Nian couldn't help but feel impressed.
After all, the era when the original owner studied was even harder than now.
She was truly outstanding.
Back home, hearing that Little Han (the second son) was also going to participate in a sports competition, Si Nian was quite surprised.
Sports weren't emphasized that much yet nowadays, so she didn't expect the school to already have them.
But it made sense; every era had them, just relatively fewer. Those cultivated from a young age were even rarer.
With both children in competitions, Si Nian felt a lot of pressure too, especially for Little Dong. The questions for the city-level competitions were difficult, and some were surely things he'd never encountered before.
So, Si Nian bought him Sudoku puzzles and some past competition papers to look at.
Sure enough, Zhou Zedong, who was usually engrossed in practicing calligraphy, had his attention completely captured by these number games.
He didn't even hear her calling him for dinner.
Si Nian was initially worried he might not understand how to play since it was his first time.
But when she looked back, he had already filled it all out.
She closed her mouth, which had dropped open in surprise, and silently went back to her room to write a letter to Zhou Yueshen.
She wrote about how Little Han and Little Dong (the eldest) had been bullied by a teacher, but it was already resolved, and the school had given compensation. She also mentioned that the police were very impressed with his son and hoped he would apply to the police academy in the future.
Now both children were in competitions: Little Dong was in English and Math, and Little Han was in Sports.
It was their first time competing, and they were very happy. Little Dong wouldn't let go of the practice papers, and Little Han was clamoring to go out for a run.
Yaoyao's drawings were getting better and better. In another year, she could be sent to kindergarten.
But he would surely be back by then, right?
He'd been gone for nearly half a month now, even though he said two days... Well, never mind, she wouldn't hold it against him.
The journey itself took more than two days anyway.
She wouldn't ask too many questions, only hoping he was safe over there and would come back soon.
Because he was away, Yu Dong was now swamped, running off his feet. When he delivered meat the day before yesterday, he even asked if Zhou Yueshen could come back quickly.
Writing this part, Si Nian really wanted to laugh.
...
A few days later, just after Zhou Yueshen mailed out some local specialties, he received Si Nian's letter.
He had just opened it when Fu Yang, who was nearby, also walked over and got a letter from his family.
Seeing Zhou Yueshen standing there intently reading his letter, Fu Yang's gaze fell to the bottom, where Si Nian's name was clearly visible.
His face darkened for a moment.
Fu Yang was here, ostensibly for training, but it was actually a kind of test for him.
He had just been promoted to Regimental Commander, and many people already had issues with it.
They believed he got there through family connections, without real ability.
So, to prove otherwise, his superiors had sent him to the Northwest Military Region.
The living conditions here were harsh, and the training was stricter than elsewhere—a good place to temper one's character.
Even Fu Yang, after half a month here, had noticeably lost weight and gotten much tanner.
Not only was the food unfamiliar, but the daily training intensity was also something he had never experienced before.
But as the Regimental Commander, he naturally couldn't complain.
As a representative figure, he even had to perform better.
However, when he found out that one of the people training them was Zhou Yueshen...
Fu Yang's expression was quite a sight to behold.
Zhou Yueshen looked no different from when he arrived.
Just his eyes seemed sharper. Fu Yang had seen him a few times before, but mostly when he was with Si Nian.
He always seemed a bit awkward then, standing next to Si Nian with a somewhat simple, honest air.
Perhaps because he tried his best not to show his current expression around Si Nian, that's why Fu Yang had that misconception.
But after coming here, he realized this man was practically a demon.
Of course, he had also inquired about Zhou Yueshen.
Although his superiors hadn't mentioned anything, seeming to keep it deliberately confidential,
he still managed to find out about the famous "Three Heroes of the Northwest" incident.
The sudden disbanding of the once very famous Three Heroes of the Northwest had caused quite a stir throughout the military region back then.
And one of those three was Zhou Yueshen.
Now people here called him "the Regimental Commander."
It seemed he had returned due to some mission.
To the outside world, he had always been said to be discharged.
Although Fu Yang had risen to this rank, there were still many things he wasn't privy to.
But none of that stopped him from disliking Zhou Yueshen.
Now, seeing Si Nian writing letters to him, he felt even more sour inside.
Back when he was in the military region, Si Nian would write to him every few days.
He had never opened any of them.
And here was Zhou Yueshen, standing still, completely absorbed in his letter.
Fu Yang, clutching his now-crumpled envelope, turned and left.
Zhou Yueshen never noticed him. Hearing that his sons had been bullied, his expression turned grim.
But then reading that they were both in competitions and that his daughter could draw, he felt moved again, wishing he could be by their side during this important time.
But he still couldn't go back.
He returned to his office and immediately wrote a letter to Si Nian.
He said he hadn't meant to deceive her, asked her not to be angry, and that he would be back soon. He had mailed all the things she wanted to eat. If anyone bullied the children, she should go find Captain Li, as he was a friend who would help her.
He was very sorry he couldn't be with them, but he would return as soon as possible.
There were many things Zhou Yueshen wanted to say, but he could not.
After thinking for a long time, he finally only wrote one line: Nian Nian, I miss you so much.
—Zhou Yueshen
Please, it doesn't match up, look back because I revise the text irregularly.