The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Yang Bin's car was parked in Shen Xiaorong's yard. Chen Shi stood up and said, "I'm going back now. I'll come see you again when I have time."

Shen Xiaorong stood up: "Brother, remember to come visit me when you have time."

Chen Shi nodded and got into the car. Shen Xiaorong smiled sweetly: "Brother, thank you for the gift."

She waved goodbye to Chen Shi, who also waved back to Shen Xiaorong. The car quickly disappeared into the night before Shen Xiaorong returned.

After the college entrance examination, Jiang Yiqiu waited for the results. Yang Xiong promised her that if the undergraduate admission rate of No. 1 High School was higher than last year, he would recommend himself to the Education Bureau to be the vice principal.

Chen Shi is the head of the Education Bureau, and no one would object if Yang Xiong recommended himself to be the vice principal.

After 8 p.m. on June 24, Donghai Province opened a channel for checking college entrance examination results.

Jiang Yiqiu immediately checked the two top students in the school, one with a score of 614 and the other with a score of 601.

Her heart skipped a beat. Last year, the top scorers in both science and arts in Chunyang County were from No. 1 High School. The top scorer in science scored 622, which was 8 points higher than this year, and the top scorer in arts scored 605, which was also 4 points higher than this year.

She wondered if the undergraduate enrollment rate would be even lower than last year.

She knew the undergraduate admission rate would be tomorrow morning. She silently prayed, "God bless me, it must be higher than last year. While Chen Shi is the head of the Education Bureau, I'll get rid of my vice principal."

Next year's college entrance examination, Zhao Chunfang will definitely score above 650 points. With a bit of luck, it's possible for her to reach 680 points. If she can get above 680 points, she will have a chance to get into Tsinghua or Peking University.

Zhao Chunfang was recruited from Mingzhou No. 1 High School by her at a high price. She scored 655 points in the final exam of her second year of high school.

The phone rang, and Jiang Yiqiu picked it up to see that it was his mother, Zhang Qingrong, calling. He answered the phone.

"Hello, Mom."

"Is it time to check your brother's college entrance exam scores? Let's see how many points he got?"

Jiang Yiqiu then remembered Jiang Yishan: "Mom, wait a moment, I'm investigating right now."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yiqiu checked Jiang Yishan's college entrance examination results. When the results came out, if Jiang Yishan were beside her, she would have loved to beat him up.

With a total score of 245, I didn't even score as high as the top student in the science section. Last year, the cutoff score for vocational colleges was 260, so I guess I'll have a hard time even getting into a vocational college. I should probably learn a skill instead; I'm not cut out for studying.

He failed every subject, including Chinese, scoring only 79 points.

His math score was absurdly low at 31, English at 45, and combined science at 90—not even as high as a top student's score in a single lesson.

Jiang Yiqiu cursed inwardly, "What a waste! When I took the college entrance exam, I scored more than 40 points above the first-tier university admission line."

He picked up his phone and called his mother, Zhang Qingrong.

"Hey Mom, the results are in! They're infuriating! They're even higher than your blood pressure."

Zhang Qingrong turned on the speakerphone and asked, "How many points did you get?"

"Total score: 245, Chinese: 79, Math: 31, English: 45, Science: 90."

Zhang Qingrong glared angrily at Jiang Yishan, who was playing games beside him: "You still have the mood to play games? Do you know how many points you got on the exam?"

245 points, which is lower than my blood pressure.

Jiang Yishan didn't even look up, his eyes glued to his phone screen as he played a game: "Is your blood pressure really that high? I didn't know that."

"Are you trying to drive me crazy? With grades like yours, you'll have a hard time even getting into a vocational college."

Jiang Yishan complained, "I'm just not cut out for studying. You guys forced me to study. If I had studied humanities, I might have been able to get into a vocational college. But you forced me to study science. The classes are like listening to gibberish; I can't understand anything at all."

Jiang Yiqiu shouted, "Jiang Yishan, if I were by your side, I would beat you up. All you do is eat and never study."

"What era are we living in? College graduates are everywhere. If you don't go to college, you'll only be able to do manual labor in the future."

Jiang Yishan scoffed, "College graduates are everywhere, they're worthless now, why bother going to university?"

Jiang Yiqiu said irritably, "There are college students everywhere now, and you're not one either. Don't you think you're terrible? I won't interfere in your affairs from now on. Fend for yourself."

The reason we suggested you study science was because science students have more opportunities. Science students can study humanities majors, but humanities students cannot study science majors, so that you would have more choices when you take the college entrance examination.

"A hopeless case; there's no cure for this."

Zhang Qingrong asked, "Xiao Qiu, with Xiao Shan's grades, is he good enough to get into a vocational college?"

"We don't know yet. Last year's cutoff score for junior college was 260. It shouldn't be much lower this year. Even if you make it to junior college, you can't get into a public junior college. The good junior colleges have admission scores that exceed the undergraduate cutoff score."

In his situation, he can only apply to private vocational colleges. Anyone with money can get in; they don't care about the cutoff scores. He'll just be wasting his time there. If you have a lot of money, then disregard what I said.

Jiang Yiqiu felt that there was no need for Jiang Yishan to continue his studies. Going to a private vocational college would be a waste of money. It would be better for him to follow his parents and learn how to do business.

Zhang Qingrong said, "Didn't you say that there are college students everywhere now? At least let him go to college, get a diploma, and come back to learn how to do business with us? What do you think is a good major for him? I don't want him to study outside the province; I want him to study within the province."

Jiang Yiqiu thought about it for a moment. Anyway, his parents were rich, so he could afford to attend a private vocational college, which would cost more than 100,000 yuan.

"Let me see. I'll find a good private vocational college to study at. I don't want to go outside the province. I'll find one in Yizhou."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yiqiu had no interest in dealing with Jiang Yishan, that good-for-nothing. She barely slept all night, drifting in and out of sleep until dawn, when she was woken up by her phone ringing around nine o'clock.

Jiang Yiqiu picked up the phone and saw that it was Yang Xiong calling. He quickly answered the call.

"headmaster"

"Director Jiang, please come to my office."

Hearing the coldness in Yang Xiong's tone, Jiang Yiqiu quickly replied, "Okay, I'll be there in a bit."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yiqiu got up, washed up, put on some light makeup, and jogged to Yang Xiong's office.

Arriving at Yang Xiong's office door, I stopped, calmed myself, and knocked.

Yang Xiong called out, "Come in."

Jiang Yiqiu walked in, smiling, and said, "Principal."

Yang Xiong, expressionless, said: "Sit."

Jiang Yiqiu sat down, and Yang Xiong said, "Director Jiang, the college entrance examination results are out. Have you seen the results from No. 1 High School?"

Arriving in a hurry, Jiang Yiqiu glanced at the document and nodded: "I've seen it."

Yang Xiong said in a heavy tone: "This year's college entrance examination results are not ideal. Last year's undergraduate admission rate was 37%, and this year's undergraduate admission rate is 34.5%, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points. The Education Bureau's target for us is 40%, which is 5.5 percentage points short."

Both the top scorers in the arts and sciences are from No. 1 High School, and the highest score is not as high as last year. The top scorer in science is 614, compared to 622 last year, and the top scorer in arts is 601, compared to 605 last year.

We need to be prepared to be criticized by the Education Bureau.

Yang Xiong looked at Jiang Yiqiu and said, "Now is the time for you to step up. Your boyfriend is the head of the Education Bureau. Whether I, the principal, can hold my position depends on you."

Jiang Yiqiu was somewhat frustrated. His vice principal, Yang Xiong, hadn't mentioned him. Without any achievements to show, he should be grateful to keep his current position.

Seeing that Jiang Yiqiu was in low spirits, Yang Xiong comforted him, saying, "Your grades weren't good this year, but they will definitely be better next year. We have Zhao Chunfang as our trump card. If she can get into Tsinghua or Peking University, your position as vice principal is guaranteed."

Jiang Yiqiu knew that he was now tied to Yang Xiong, and only by securing Yang Xiong's position as principal could he hope to become vice principal.