Free Web NovelChapter 444: Chapter 444: The Fish That Slipped Through the Net
"This must be fate. We actually managed to catch the one that got away."
"Watch your mouth! What do you mean, ’the one that got away’? Your wife, Little Xia, is a language teacher. How have you not picked up a single bit of literary grace from her?" Li Fugui shot Teacher Yin a sideways glance. "Don’t you dare say a word. This is a treasure I discovered."
"Right, I promise I won’t say a thing. Besides, she’s our student now anyway." Teacher Yin was itching with anticipation. He and Li Fugui had been partners for years, so naturally, he also wanted high-achieving students.
Besides, Tan You was determined to specialize in physics and biology, which meant she would be his student for the next three years. If Tan You kept up this level of performance, Teacher Yin got so excited just thinking about it that the hairs on his arms stood on end.
Perhaps because the two of them had been muttering to each other, the Dean of Students cleared his throat. "Teacher Li, do you have any objections to these class assignments?"
"No objections! Not a single one!" Li Fugui shot to his feet. "I’m very satisfied with these class assignments."
The Dean narrowed his eyes. "Oh? Didn’t you give me a heads-up earlier that you wanted a particular student? Tan You, was it? What’s so special about her?"
Now that the dust had settled, Li Fugui beamed. "Nothing that special. I just had a good feeling about her, and she’s a student who came up from our own junior high. She happened to be placed in my class, so you don’t need to worry about it, Dean."
"I was worried she wouldn’t be assigned to my class. After all, she scored a 528. Based on that score, I was genuinely concerned. But it’s all good now. I don’t have to worry at all anymore."
Li Fugui was perfectly calm, not breathing a word about the error in Tan You’s score registration. He’d be a complete moron to bring it up now. Only an idiot would push Tan You away.
Teacher Yin sat to the side, watching Li Fugui lie through his teeth. ’Who says math teachers are all straightforward? This guy can sure spin a yarn.’
The class assignments were announced soon after. Tan You saw them at the end of that day’s military training. When she saw she was in Class 3 with Li Fugui as her homeroom teacher, a faint smile touched her eyes.
Yin Xiu linked arms with Tan You. "Four people from our dorm are in Class 3: you, me, Qiuxia, and Haiyan. The others are in different classes."
"By the way, what class is your childhood friend, Tan Ying, in?"
Tan You didn’t even have to think. "I heard everyone who scored 580 or above is in Class 1. Her entrance exam score was 20 points higher than mine. What class do you think she’s in?"
Yin Xiu’s mind worked fast, too. "Wait a minute. If everyone with 580 and up is in Class 1, then aren’t you..."
Cao Haiyan leaped up and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Keep your voice down! If you say it out loud, Tan You will have to go to Class 1, and it won’t be easy for us to see her anymore."
Gu Qiuxia squeezed Yin Xiu’s hand. "Don’t say it! Tan You and that childhood friend of hers don’t have a great relationship. Who knows what would happen if she went to Class 1."
Yin Xiu struggled to get away from Cao Haiyan’s hand. "I promise I won’t say a word! But Haiyan, why is your hand so salty?"
Cao Haiyan snatched her hand back and wiped it on her clothes. "Who doesn’t get sweaty hands in the summer? Did you just lick my hand?"
Yin Xiu pretended to lunge for Cao Haiyan’s neck. Cao Haiyan laughed and ran off, with Yin Xiu immediately chasing after her. Gu Qiuxia walked beside Tan You. "Don’t you feel it’s a pity? I heard Class 1 is the honors class."
"There’s nothing to feel sorry about. What’s important is how you yourself study." Tan You shrugged. "Even in the worst class, I can still do well."
"That’s true. And Teacher Li really likes you." Gu Qiuxia sighed. "With a teacher who likes you, you’ll definitely be happier in Class 3."
"Are you unhappy to be in the same class as me?" The end of Tan You’s sentence lifted, clearly finding Gu Qiuxia’s words a bit wistful.
"Alright, fine, I’m happy too." Gu Qiuxia couldn’t suppress a laugh. "The thought of staying in the same class as you makes me really happy."
"Let’s go! We need to hurry to the cafeteria, or all the food will be gone!"
The cafeteria at the township school wasn’t like the schools of today, which have card-swiping systems for food. The school’s cafeteria was very simple and plain. The tables were old-fashioned long wooden ones, and three people could sit in a row.
Three stools were placed on each of the long sides, so one table typically seated six students. But since there were six people in Tan You’s dorm, they split into two tables of three.
The food itself was simple fare cooked in a large communal pot—very oily but lacking in flavor. Of course, Tan You wasn’t a picky eater, so she ate with gusto all the same.
A small room to the side of the cafeteria was where you could get hot water. Tan You and the others would usually fill up their flasks when they went for meals. After dinner, they would head back to the dorm to shower before going to the classroom for self-study.
Perhaps because the dust had finally settled, Li Fugui openly pulled Tan You out of evening self-study and took her to his office. The short, wiry teacher walked in front of her, and Tan You couldn’t help but think he looked like a short-legged Corgi. ’What a strange feeling,’ she thought.
’Of course, that wasn’t an insult. She just found Teacher Li’s image to be strangely endearing.’
This wasn’t Tan You’s first time in Li Fugui’s small office; she came here almost every night to grind out practice problems. Sometimes it was math, other times physics and biology. So far, the only teacher she hadn’t made an impression on was the language teacher.
In any case, every teacher who had seen Tan You working on problems adored her. It was safe to say that before her first year of high school had even officially begun, she had already made a name for herself with most of Class 3’s teachers.
Thinking of the chemistry teacher she’d met yesterday, Tan You couldn’t help but furrow her brow. Yesterday had been a bit awkward. That was because she had run into her chemistry teacher from her third year of junior high, who also happened to be named Li.
Tan You just hadn’t expected this Teacher Li to be teaching high school this year. Recalling the times the teacher had tried to talk sense into her when she was neglecting her studies, Tan You had felt her scalp tingle with embarrassment at first.
Thankfully, she had done very well on the chemistry practice test yesterday; otherwise, Tan You would have been too ashamed to face her former teachers. But when she remembered the chemistry teacher’s expression—a mix of gratification and regret—her spirits couldn’t help but sink a little.
As soon as she entered the small office, she saw a man with a gentle demeanor. When he saw Tan You come in, he raised an eyebrow slightly. Tan You glanced at him. "Mr. Huang?"
Huang Ruixiang was surprised. "You know me?"
Tan You smiled. "I know of the most charismatic language teacher in the main building. After all, third-year junior high classes were held in the main school building, so you tend to hear things and see people."
Speaking of which, the conditions at L High, the school Tan You attended, were truly mediocre. Most other schools had separate campuses for their junior high and high school divisions, but not L High. The first and second-year junior high students had classes in a small, two-story building on the south side of a road.
Meanwhile, the third-year junior high students and all the high school students had classes in the five-story main building on the north side of the road. As a result, the third-years invariably knew more than the first and second-years.
It was no surprise that Tan You knew of this Mr. Huang. After all, she had certainly seen him around many times during her third year; it was just that he didn’t know who she was.
