Chapter 531 - Chapter 531: Principal 213, you have not prepared enough banners (Second update)_2

Chapter 531: Principal 213, you have not prepared enough banners (Second update)_2

The elderly Hu following Dean Jian didn’t look at him until the black car drove away. Only then did he turn his head back to Dean Jian, “Do you know the person accompanying Miss Bai?”

He knew whom Dean Jian came for this time, and it seemed that Dean Jian had found what he was looking for. It was apparent from his good mood.

“I’ve never met her, but…” Dean Jian watched as Jiang Fulai’s car disappeared into the distance, his thoughts seemingly adrift, “his last name is Jiang.”

Jiang is a prominent surname in Jiangjing.

It was just uncertain whether this particular Jiang was the Jiang they knew of or not.

Four o’clock in the afternoon.

Bai Lian arrived at Purest Street.

Jiang Fulai came back with her. Chen Zhu and Ji Heng had gone fishing today and hadn’t returned, while Jiang He was also behind them.

Bai Lian placed her suitcase in her room and then pushed open the door of the smaller room.

The Shouxian Gong she prepared for Ji Heng hadn’t been polished yet.

Jiang Fulai took a stroll in the yard and followed her to the smaller room. He immediately saw the unpolished jade on the workbench.

It was very similar to the piece he had received.

“This is…” Jiang Fulai lowered his gaze.

Bai Lian kicked a small stool over, sat down, turned on the machine, and began to polish, “It’s for Grandpa’s Shouxian Gong.” As she spoke, she leisurely lifted the Shouxian Gong in her hand, showing Jiang Fulai the details, “Do you think there’s any progress?”

As the last disciple of Liang Zewen, her skills in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were exceptionally outstanding at that time.

She was good at painting Shouxian Gong, but her sculptures weren’t as vivid.

However, having already carved a Jade Qilin, her technique was much more practiced, the lines flowed more smoothly. Even without being polished, the immortal peaches on the yellow jade seemed to bring the piece to life.

It might not compare with professional craftsmen, but among amateurs, it was a dazzling work.

“Not at all,” expressed Master Jiang with a sharp critique, “it’s not as good-looking as mine.”

Bai Lian really wanted to smash him with the jade.

Director Chen returned quickly.

**

June 23.

Today, national high school exam scores are released.

Bai Lian got up early to see “999+ messages” in the group chat of Class 15.

It was rare for the students of Class 15 to get up so early.

She put her phone down and went outside to wash up.

Outside, Grandpa was already sitting at the stone table with breakfast on the side, holding a mobile phone in one hand and a tobacco pipe in the other, gesturing to Bai Lian, “Breakfast is ready.”

“Grandpa, why are you up so early today?” After washing up, Bai Lian also took a cup of water and sipped it slowly.

Surprised.

Ji Heng was on the phone with Shen Qing. When he heard Bai Lian’s words and saw her totally nonchalant expression, he paused, “Today, your high school exam results come out.”

“Oh.” Bai Lian sat across from him, casually picking up a bun to nibble on.

She responded slowly.

Her calmness implied a sense of confidence.

Ji Heng: “…”

He stopped talking to Bai Lian and fished a piece of paper from his pocket, on which was noted the phone number to check exam scores.

The national exam scores are checked through the same website, which would inevitably crash at the time. Even getting through by phone might not be possible. It was Ji Heng’s first time checking someone’s exam score, and he got the phone number from Jiang Fulai. He had memorized the number by heart over many days.

The morning hours felt unbearable.

Ji Heng would occasionally bring out his embroidery stand and sit on the embroidery stool to stitch a few strokes onto a cabbage.

Moments later, he’d stand up again, grab the watering can, and water the few flowers in the yard.

Inside the room, Bai Lian’s door was open. She sat in front of the guzheng with simplified sheet music beside her, pressing on the strings, her phone on the side flashing with messages, yet she appeared casual and indifferent.

After Ji Heng finished watering the flowers and heard the intermittent guzheng music coming from Bai Lian’s room, his mood also calmed.

As soon as it struck ten o’clock,

Ji Heng didn’t look at the series of numbers; he dialed the score inquiry number.

The line was busy. He relentlessly redialed over and over, and after about five minutes, he finally got through.

He squinted his eyes and reported Bai Lian’s examination number and ID number.

From the other end of the phone, an automated voice came through—

[Chinese: 0

Mathematics: 0

…

Total Score: 0]

Something was off. Ji Heng frowned, hung up the phone, and checked again. The voice report was still “0”. For the first time, the always languid and unhurried Ji Heng felt the urge to hit someone.

Even if Bai Lian’s grades were poor, they couldn’t be “0” considering her previous performance, could they?

The room was still filled with intermittent piano sounds.

Ji Heng’s phone rang; it was a call from Ji Shaojun, likely asking about Bai Lian’s exam performance.

He casually hung up and then went to his own room to call Jiang Fulai.

Jiang Fulai answered the phone just before it was about to hang up. He was quite surprised, casually put down the document in his hand, gestured for the person beside him to leave, and walked out of the machine room with a leisurely pace, “You were looking for me?”

“Xiaojiang,” Ji Heng frowned, “why does Alian’s score show as zero points?”

His voice was clearly anxious.

He knew how hard Bai Lian worked. Sometimes when he got up at night to use the bathroom, the lights in Bai Lian’s room were still on.

Jiang Fulai realized that today was the day the college entrance examination results came out. He paused for a moment and then slowly explained to Ji Heng, “It’s not zero points. To prevent universities from competing for student resources and to avoid excessive marketing of the top scorers in the entrance exam, the scores of the top fifty in the province are hidden and will only be released on the 26th.”

“You mean… Alian scored in the top fifty of the province?” Ji Heng’s mind lingered on the top fifty.

Although Xu Zhiyue had said that Bai Lian was very good at math and could be specially recruited into Jiangjing University, still… Knowing that Bai Lian scored in the top fifty, Ji Heng couldn’t help but feel dizzy.

**

Meanwhile.

Xiangcheng No. 1 High School.

Since the end of the college entrance exam, the principal and senior teachers at Xiangcheng No. 1 High School had not been sleeping well. Today, as the results were released, the principal arrived at the computer room early in the morning.

Along with the results, the cutoff scores were released, and the school also needed to calculate the pass rates for the first-tier and second-tier universities.

Lu Lingxi also arrived early.

When she arrived, the ashtray beside the principal was already filled with cigarette butts. Seeing her, the principal naturally raised his hand to greet her, “Teacher Lu.”

As soon as the college entrance exam scores were released, they would also be synchronized to the school.

By ten o’clock, some teachers couldn’t help but call their top students to ask about their exam scores.

The principal, vice principal, and dean of studies all stood behind the technical staff, waiting for them to retrieve the students’ entrance exam scores.

“Today, the scores of Bai Lian, Ning Xiao, and the others probably won’t be available,” the principal said slowly to Lu Lingxi as he looked at the frozen computer screen, “The three of them should rank within the top fifty in the province.”

The top fifty in the province would not have their scores released for now.

Beside him, Tang Ming’s homeroom teacher came over with a phone in hand, clearly excited, “I asked Tang Ming, his score has been hidden.”

Among the three of them, Tang Ming had the weakest scores. If his score was hidden, it was a sure thing for the other two.

“Our school will have at least three students within the top fifty. Chen Zhu needs to be mentioned separately,” the dean of studies said with a cup of hot water in his hand, his face splitting into a grin, “Principal, you’ve prepared those banners well.”

The matter of the principal at No. 1 High secretly preparing banners had already been ridiculed several times over the past few days.

With a cigarette pinched in his hand, upon hearing that Tang Ming’s score was hidden, the principal also relaxed a lot and conversed with Lu Lingxi, “Teacher Lu, have you asked Bai Lian and student Ning Xiao about their estimated scores?”

Lu Lingxi shook her head, about to speak, when suddenly, the homeroom teacher of class eight, who was staring at the screen, spoke up, “Principal, the banners you’ve prepared might not be enough.”

“What?” The principal suddenly bent down to look at the computer.

Half an hour had passed, and the college entrance examination scores had been pulled up.

Flipping through the fluorescent computer screen, on the first page, six names had asterisks behind them—

Bai Lian, Ning Xiao, Yang Lin, Tang Ming, Chen Zhu, Pu Xiaohan.

Everyone could guess Bai Lian and Ning Xiao’s three, Chen Zhu was also predictable as he was an ace student—

“No,” the principal pointed at Yang Lin’s name, his fingers trembling, his voice almost breaking, “Where did these two come from? Especially this Yang Lin, how did she score higher than Tang Ming?!”

This TM, how did another prodigy suddenly appear in their Xiangcheng No. 1 High School?

(Lying-down-and-win principal online begging for votes~)