At that very moment, Xu Tian was sobbing hysterically into her pillow.
The reason she and Zhou Chen had gotten together was that neither of their families was as well-off as their classmates’.
Most of the students at Shengde Academy came from middle-class or wealthier families. Even those who weren’t good at studying wore designer brands and were driven to and from school in luxury cars. They had all been on summer camps and overseas trips.
Many of their parents simply felt their children were still too young and didn’t want to send them abroad yet. Once the college entrance exams were over, if necessary, they could easily arrange for them to study overseas…
Unlike those students, Xu Tian and Zhou Chen had no other options. Their parents couldn’t afford to pave another road for them, so the college entrance exam was their only way out.
Neither of them had ever known what a summer camp was.
They were the only two who could truly talk to each other.
Zhou Chen’s family was somewhat better off than hers, while her grades were better than his.
They had gotten together because of the deep, unspoken inferiority complexes they both carried.
But now, Zhou Chen controlled all the money, and he had suddenly become a different person.
It was clearly money that belonged to both of them, yet she had to humble herself so completely just to ask for some of it!
She was grateful that the school board director had arranged for Mr. Yang to give her private lessons.
Otherwise, if their relationship had gone any further, she didn’t even dare imagine how much more she would have had to sacrifice her dignity…
Xu Tian cried until she fell asleep.
In her dream, no one at school knew that she and Zhou Chen were dating, so naturally, no one interfered.
One Saturday, Zhou Chen asked her to come to his house and help him study. She went.
Zhou Chen suddenly wanted them to take their relationship to the next level, but she refused.
He didn’t force her. Instead, he said, “It’s okay. I can take a cold shower. I don’t mind catching a cold or running a fever,” and, “Although holding back is painful for me, I respect you. Just remember that I endured this for your sake today…”
Those words made her feel terribly guilty. She felt she had wronged him, and in the end, she agreed.
Afterward, she became pregnant. Too afraid to tell her parents, she secretly went alone to an illegal clinic and eventually died on the operating table.
After her death, her father went to the school to make a scene, leaving the school board director with permanently disabled legs. He was naturally sentenced to several decades in prison as well.
Xu Tian woke with a start, drenched in cold sweat.
Everyone in the dream had behaved exactly as they would in real life. It had felt just like something that had truly happened.
She heard the sound of her parents cooking outside the bedroom.
Her parents woke early every day to sell rou jia mo-style flatbreads, and in the afternoons they had to haul goods. By this hour, they were already up, frying the shredded potatoes and kelp they would take out to their stall.
Xu Tian lay on her bed and wept silently.
Her family was poor, but her parents loved her dearly.
She absolutely could not allow herself to end up like she had in the dream, with her family destroyed and everyone dead or imprisoned.
—
The next day, Xu Tian went to school with swollen eyes.
When she reached the school gate, she found it completely jammed with cars!
Large groups of middle-aged men and women were gathered together, talking.
“When we go in later, we have to be firm.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared to secretly record everything on video and audio!”
“That’s right. If Board Director Yu doesn’t give us an explanation, we’ll post it online and have the school dragged through the mud until it goes bankrupt!”
Xu Tian’s face stiffened. She immediately pushed her way through the crowd and summoned her courage.
“Uncles, aunties, you’ve all misunderstood Board Director Yu!”
The parents turned toward her one after another.
Xu Tian spoke anxiously. “Board Director Yu really is very responsible. Yesterday, she specifically had the health education teacher give me a private lesson on how to protect myself, so I wasn’t taken advantage of.”
“And I’ve already decided not to date anymore… I came first in my grade, so that ten-thousand-yuan bonus was mainly meant to reward me. But that boy took all the money for himself. He could spend it however he wanted, but whenever I wanted to use any, he refused to give me a cent.”
“If it weren’t for that money, we probably would have continued dating in secret. But because of it, I saw what kind of person he was in a single night… I’ve decided that until I’m emotionally mature, I’m never dating again!”
She lowered her head and silently began to cry.
Ten thousand yuan—who knew how long it would take her family to earn that much? And he had squandered it just like that!
The parents looked at one another.
Quite a few of them recognized Xu Tian. They had seen her being praised at school assemblies.
Her grades were excellent, and everyone hoped their own children would spend more time with her.
As expected of a smart, high-achieving student—ten thousand yuan had been enough to make her see the light.
After a long while, someone spoke.
“I think I understand what Board Director Yu was trying to do. At this age, the more you try to control children, the more rebellious they become. She was handling a problem adolescents are bound to face by using the approach of opening the floodgates instead of trying to block the water.”
“Teenage romance can be beautiful because it doesn’t involve money or sex… But the board director shattered that illusion directly, exposing its cruelty and making adolescents lose interest in it instantly.”
“I had no idea the board director was also giving the children private lessons on self-protection. She really has gone to such lengths for them!”
“I knew it. How could anyone from the Yu family possibly behave recklessly?”
An aunt patted Xu Tian on the shoulder. “Don’t cry anymore. It’s a good thing you learned early that money can make people show their true colors. Hurry and get to class.”
Xu Tian nodded. “Goodbye, uncles and aunties.”
Once Xu Tian entered through the school gates, the remaining parents exchanged glances.
“So… are we still going in there to confront Board Director Yu?”
“The child who got the bonus has already come to her senses. What would we even argue about now? We have no grounds.”
“The other children might not be as perceptive as she is!”
“Well, the bonus was for the top student. Let’s have our own children come first in their grade before we complain!”
That last remark struck a dark chord in the parents’ hearts.
Whether the scholarship was beneficial or harmful, it only affected the students with good grades.
None of the parents of those high-achieving students had come to confront the board director.
So what were the rest of them doing here, rushing over like fools?
One after another, they dispersed.
—
Two classes later, during the long break, Principal Wang was sitting in his office.
He stared absently at the cafeteria’s revenue curve on his computer screen.
In the past, the cafeteria had only made a modest profit.
After Yu Xiaxing’s reforms, its daily revenue had increased more than a hundredfold.
Whether it would ultimately turn a profit would depend on the monthly accounts.
But the growth trend was simply terrifying.
What was more, the public-opinion monitoring system developed by Yu Group had picked up the following trending topics related to Shengde Academy over the past two days:
#TheCafeteriaAtOtherPeople’sSchool#
#Shengde’sSupermodelSquad#
#IWannaRepeatMySeniorYear#
And so on.
It was simply impossible to understand.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
He rubbed his brow and closed the page.
The door opened, and Xu Tian stood outside.
Her eyes were still slightly swollen, but they were clear and bright now. The emptiness from the day before was gone.
“Xu Tian?” Principal Wang was a little surprised. He pointed to the chair opposite him. “Sit down. Is something wrong?”
Xu Tian didn’t sit. She took two steps forward and bowed deeply.
“Principal, I’m sorry.”
She straightened up. Her eyes reddened again, but she fought to hold back her tears.
“I let the school and Yu Group down before. I also let you, Board Director Yu, and all my teachers down by failing to live up to your expectations. My thoughts weren’t focused on the right things… But don’t worry. I’ve broken up with him!”
Principal Wang froze.
He looked at the thin girl standing straight in front of him and remembered how proud and determined she had been when she first enrolled.
After every exam, she would come to his office to ask about the questions she had gotten wrong.
The last bit of anger in Principal Wang’s heart suddenly vanished.
Principal Wang’s tone softened. “It’s good that you realize your mistake. Nothing serious has happened yet, and it’s excellent that you were able to turn your attention around in time.”
Xu Tian nodded vigorously. “I definitely won’t let you or Board Director Yu down after all the effort you’ve put into helping me! I originally wanted to thank Yu Xiaxing as well, but she refused to see me.”
The moment Principal Wang heard her thanking Yu Xiaxing, that lingering sense of resentment rose up again.
What did Board Director Yu have to do with it?
Xu Tian had always been a capable student. Falling in love had merely been a momentary lapse in judgment!
All it had taken was a little guidance for her to come to her senses on her own.
Principal Wang sneered inwardly several times, but on the surface, he said kindly, “Board Director Yu is indeed very busy. It’s the thought that counts. More importantly, you need to put your focus back on your studies. By the way, what did you do with that bonus?”
