After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 4 Reasons for Transferring Schools
The next morning.

Jiangcheng No.1 Middle School.

Just as dawn was breaking, Jiang Liuyun brought Jiang Shu, who had changed into a new school uniform, to Jiangcheng, a well-known high school.

Standing in the principal's office, Zhou Houde, the homeroom teacher, hesitated: "Principal, should we really put Jiang Shu in our class?"

The principal nodded: "Your class has a weak foundation, and the teacher's explanations are too simple, so Jiang Shu doesn't seem to be having much trouble learning."

Zhou Houde was still uneasy: "But those kids in my class are rather xenophobic..."

"Perhaps Jiang Shu will improve the learning atmosphere in your class." The principal handed her the transfer documents. "Take a look first."

Zhou Houde opened it, and after flipping through a few pages, his face showed increasing surprise.

Leaving aside her academic achievements, Jiang Shu, a student from the remote Xinghua Village, has a remarkable track record—she has won numerous awards in sports, received several awards for acts of bravery, been named the school's anti-bullying pioneer, and even assisted the police in apprehending criminals on the street. Six months ago, she helped crack a human trafficking case, rescuing dozens of victims who were being transported to northern Myanmar; this incident was even reported in the newspapers at the time.

Besides her formidable academic prowess, the girl's tenacity in studying is also astonishing. It's said that she often stays up all night, pulling in anyone she meets to explain problems to her, and has already exhausted three teachers in her two years of high school.

The school believed that this child was a promising talent, and that it would be a waste of her talent to keep her in a small town middle school. So they took the initiative to contact Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School, hoping to let Jiang Shu study there for a few months so that she could receive a more advanced education and bring honor to Quanwen Town Middle School in the future.

Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School was initially hesitant when they saw the unremarkable academic report card. However, just two days later, ten principals from the district where Quanwen Town is located jointly submitted a second recommendation.

It is said that the principal of Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School received the transfer files from his superiors while bending over.

The reasons behind this are probably only known to the principal himself.

……

Zhou Houde's throat was a little dry: "Principal, they're here to learn advanced knowledge, and you're putting them in our bottom-of-the-class class..."

"Why don't you give her some extra help? I heard you love giving extra help to ambitious children." The principal patted Teacher Zhou on the shoulder. "The mother and daughter have been waiting in your office for a long time. Go ahead."

Zhou Houde wiped his face, resignedly left the principal's office, and headed towards the senior year office.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw two people standing next to her desk. Jiang Liuyun was still wearing a patched old coat, with blackened, lumpy cotton visible through several torn threads. The girl next to her, on the other hand, was wearing a new No. 1 Middle School uniform, tall and thin, with glasses on her nose covering most of her face, looking delicate and frail.

The two stood there for an unknown amount of time, in the freezing cold, without even a cup of hot water in front of them.

This delicate and adorable child, with such thin arms and legs, has repeatedly shown courage and bravery, and is also so eager to learn...

So what if he gets bald from all the exploitation? He's willing to accept it!
Zhou Houde was deeply moved and stepped forward enthusiastically: "Jiang Shu, right? I am your homeroom teacher and Chinese teacher. My surname is Zhou."

……

After completing the transfer procedures, Jiang Liuyun carefully instructed his daughter to get along well with her classmates before reluctantly holding her hand.

"Mom will head straight back soon, or she might miss the bus to Quanwen Town. If you need anything, just borrow your teacher's phone to call the village—once the wheat is harvested in a few months, Mom will buy you a phone, and that will make things much easier."

The homeroom teacher, Zhou Houde, coughed lightly beside him: "I have a spare old-fashioned mobile phone that I haven't used for a while. It's not very responsive, though. If you don't mind—"

Jiang Shu and Jiang Liuyun suddenly looked over: "You don't mind!"

Teacher Zhou paused for a moment, then said, "I'll give it to you after school." Jiang Liuyun seemed relieved and finally left with peace of mind.

Jiang Shu gazed at her patched-up back, her gray hair gleaming in the morning light.

Zhou Houde gently interrupted her gaze: "Let's go, child. Striving to get into a good university is the best way to repay your mother's love."

Classroom of Class 27, Grade 12.

As the worst-performing class, while other classes were filled with the sound of students reading aloud in the morning, Class 27's classroom was mostly filled with the noise of children playing and making a ruckus.

Teacher Zhou stood at the door with a cold face for two minutes, until the noise subsided by about a third, before he walked up to the podium:
"Today, our Class 27 will be welcoming a new member. Please welcome Jiang Shu!"

The classroom fell silent instantly!
Then came an even louder commotion, like fifty-six ducks, making Zhou Houde's ears ring. He quickly gestured towards the door.

Inside the classroom, students stared intently at the doorway, and couldn't help but begin to discuss among themselves:
"Does this person have connections or not? If they didn't have connections, how could they transfer into No. 1 High School? If they did, why would they choose our class of underachieving students?"

"Background is not important, looks are more important - after all, those who are ugly were eventually forced to transfer schools by us."

"I actually prefer the uglier ones, so I won't feel guilty about bullying them..."

As everyone was chatting animatedly, Jiang Shu, with her hands in her school uniform pockets, slowly strode in from the doorway in the soft morning light. Tall and long-legged, she possessed a striking blend of dashing and languid charm. The moment her face came into view, the entire classroom erupted in chaos!
"She's beautiful! She's beautiful! Look at her face and hands, not a single pore, like a work of art. Oh my god, another day when I want to fall in love!"

"What's so beautiful about her? She's just average-looking. Those glasses really detract from her appearance. I wonder if she'd look better without them..."

"Looks are nothing! Haven't you noticed her aura... hmm, like a drunken fairy, absolutely mesmerizing!"

"I'm a girl, but I want to drown in her cold, indifferent eyes!"

……

Zhou Houde raised his voice: "For the next four months, Jiang Shu will work hard with everyone to prepare for the college entrance examination! Now, please let Jiang Shu introduce herself. Students, please be quiet! Please be quiet! Be quiet!!!"

Jiang Shu glanced at Teacher Zhou, thinking of the old-fashioned mobile phone he had selflessly donated, and slammed her schoolbag on the teacher's desk, her voice lazy: "I've beaten up thugs and overturned human traffickers' dens, but I've never tried beating up a little cutie who talks too much."

"boom!"

Zhou Houde's desk, which he had used for many years, was cracked by a light schoolbag!
The students at the table instantly fell silent!

The other students, also scrutinizing the situation, gradually quieted down.

"My name is Jiang Shu." Jiang Shu slowly began to speak. "I come from the Tenth Middle School in Quanwen Town, Jiangcheng. I hope we can guide each other in the future."

"Quanwen Town? That key poverty alleviation town in Jiangcheng?" The young man, who had the air of a rich kid, asked in surprise. "I heard there's a village called Xinghua Village there, inhabited by a bunch of lazybones who just wait for government relief every month. Have you heard of it? Is it true?"

“I read a report about that village last year.” Another classmate exclaimed, “It is said that there are more than 100 villagers. When interviewed, they could not even distinguish between scallions and garlic. They were perfectly capable, but their fields were full of weeds. Later, the report was inexplicably removed, and even Xinghua Village could not be found online.”

“My dad went to investigate with the poverty alleviation team,” a girl quietly raised her hand. “I heard there are graves everywhere, and many villagers are too lazy to build houses. They just dig a hole in the grave, put some grass in it, and lie down. Some even hang themselves from trees—Jiang Shu, is that true? Is that true?!”

(End of this chapter)