It's the students' fault if they are too popular.

Ruan Qian paused and her heart skipped a beat.

Chapter 129: Repeater

By the time they reach their senior year, most high schools welcome a special group of new students.

Repeater.

No. 1 Middle School would naturally accept them, but they would only accept students with good enough grades, which was a paradox - students with good grades rarely repeat. There were dozens of repeaters taking the entrance exam, but only four were admitted, and they were assigned to Class 2, Class 4, Class 6, and Class 7.

However, as soon as the topic of repeaters was mentioned, parents in the group began to make insinuations.

Some parents complained that repeaters took up their children's resources, believing that repeaters had an advantage because they had studied an extra year, and that one of their children might be squeezed out because of a repeater. Such words were inflammatory, and many parents who originally thought it was indifferent began to express dissatisfaction with the school accepting repeaters.

"I don't know what to do with these parents." Li Hanqiang complained in his office, "Home-school interconnection is too troublesome."

Home-school interconnection is a system that Lou Yu started to implement immediately after taking office. Each class has to set up a parent committee, which sounds very reliable and can supervise the children together with the teachers. The parent committee is also composed of "elites" among parents. They forward the "Children's Secret Sutra" in the group all day long, and then a group of parents line up to give thumbs-up emojis, which is like a fan screen flooding, and even nursery rhymes can't help but block it.

She thinks the PTA system is not good. Only wealthy families can join the PTA, which creates a hierarchy in the group. It's as if the children in the class are inferior because their parents are not members of the PTA.

"What is Teacher Li going to do?" Tong Yao glanced at the parent group and found that the Parent Committee had forwarded another article titled "The Single-plank Bridge of the College Entrance Examination, Do You Want Your Child to Walk on It with Repeaters?"

"Just pretend to be blind." Li Hanqiang spread his hands.

After all, these parents' committee members are the ones who flatter the most openly, so it would be bad to embarrass them.

"Auntie." Dong Yang, who was sitting in her seat watching cartoons on the computer, called softly, "Someone is looking for you on QQ."

"I'm here." Tong Yao just noticed that her mobile phone QQ was killed by the background. She went to see that it was the director who called her over. "Auntie is out. Be good and don't cause trouble for the teachers."

"No way," Li Hanqiang laughed, "This is the most well-behaved child I've ever seen."

It was now time for the get out of class to end. She saw from a distance that several students had gathered at the door of the director's office, and there was a woman making a loud noise.

"... You agreed to put my daughter in the experimental class, but you put her in Class 7. Aren't you going back on your word? Hey, why is your school like this? My daughter scored over 600 points in the college entrance examination. No school can put her in an experimental class? If you wanted her to be in Class 7, you should have said so earlier. We wouldn't have come!"

"Mom, stop talking... There are people outside..."

"I'm going to say it! Don't think I'm noisy. Who am I saying this for? It's for you! What do you think I want?"

"Ma'am, calm down. The school has its own arrangements. We said your daughter 'should' be able to get in, but we didn't guarantee it. The competition for the experimental class is very fierce. Going to Class 7 can get more attention, which may not be a bad thing..."

"Then can the teacher of Class 7 be the teacher of the experimental class? The learning environment is different!"

"The parallel classes and experimental classes in our school share the same teacher... Hey, Teacher Tong is here, please come in and close the door."

After standing outside for a while, Tong Yao roughly understood the context of the incident. She closed the door, isolated herself from the noise and inquiries outside, and looked at the mother and daughter in the room.

The woman had a mean look on her face, and it was not difficult to tell from her previous noise that she was tough. Her daughter lowered her head, with delicate features and medium-length curly hair, and whispered "Hello, teacher".

Strong mother, weak child.

Tong Yao has seen many such combinations this year.

"Teacher? So young?" The woman frowned.

"Teacher Tong is the elite of our senior high school mathematics group. The class she teaches, Class 4, ranked first among the experimental classes, and Class 7, ranked first among the parallel classes." The director quickly praised Tong Yao.

The woman's expression eased a little and she said, "Hello, teacher."

"Hello." Tong Yao walked to the table and picked up the test paper. The director had told her on QQ that she was to analyze the test paper - or to persuade the parent. She first looked at the name, Wen Ya, well, it was indeed quite elegant. She originally attended Niancheng No. 610 High School and scored in the college entrance examination.

You have pretty good grades, why do you have to repeat the year?

She scanned the test paper and glanced at Wen Ya from time to time. The girl kept her head down. It was her mother who asked hurriedly:

"How about it?"

"Her math..." Tong Yao closed the test paper and wanted to say "very average", but she glanced at Wen Ya who was looking down, hesitated for a moment, and then changed her words temporarily, "This year is very special, because the math will be changed to the national test paper, the question type and key points have been changed. She originally took the Hunan test paper, so it's normal that she hasn't adapted to it yet."

The score of this test paper is 108 points.

To be honest, it's a bit bad. Even if it's placed in Class 7, it's in the middle and lower levels.

But the woman was delighted: "I told you, my child is more than that!"

"How much did she score in math on the college entrance exam?"

"110. She said she didn't perform well, but her comprehensive science score was 248 and her English score was 140!"

Well, that means I'm bad at math.

The woman seemed to regard Tong Yao as an ally, and kept telling her how tired she was and how much she had paid to take care of the child. Tong Yao had no choice but to nod along with her. During the conversation, she noticed that Wen Ya behind the woman looked up at her. She smiled back at the girl, but the girl quickly lowered her head, alert like a mole that was hit in the game console.

"…There are many excellent students in Class 7. If Xiaoya is in Class 7, our teacher will definitely pay special attention to her. But if she is in the experimental class, the teacher may not be able to take care of her."

"Yes, yes, Teacher Tong is absolutely right," the woman nodded and patted her daughter on the shoulder. "How about studying in Class 7?"

Some adults say "how" instead of "are you willing" but "did you hear me?" It seems like they are asking for consent, but in fact, they have already made a unilateral decision.

The girl's head slowly lowered and she nodded slightly.

I am used to bowing my head and I am also used to nodding my head.

The director breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone went down the stairs. Things became simple:

"Then it's settled."

"Xiaoya, let's go say hello to the head teacher," the woman said to her daughter, and then asked, "Excuse me, where is the head teacher of Class 7?"

Tong Yao pursed her lips: "Come with me."

In the corridor, the students had already dispersed. The woman wanted her daughter to talk to Tong Yao, but her daughter didn't dare to, so she asked herself:

"Teacher Tong, how can she get 130 in math? Does she need extra lessons?"

"Well..." How should she answer?

Fortunately, the office was not far away, and she arrived before she could think of what to say. Before entering the office, the woman solemnly told her daughter to "leave a good impression on the teacher" and then walked in. Tong Yao said "This is the class teacher, Teacher Li" and walked away, not wanting to continue dealing with this parent.

So tired.

She sat next to Dong Yang and watched cartoons with the child. Dong Yang was considerate enough to want to move the progress bar to the beginning. Tong Yao laughed: "No need to turn it back, just watch yours."

My mood was healed instantly.

Gradually, she felt a little sleepy. She rested her elbows on the table, supported her chin, and glanced at Laogai, the talkative woman, the Laogai who was acting according to the situation, and the taciturn Wen Ya. She wondered if all repeaters were like this? She admired repeaters, who were under great pressure and afraid of repeating the same mistakes. They died once and didn't know if they could be reborn.

She also felt that Wen Ya was most likely forced to repeat her grade by her mother.

She is not qualified to comment on right or wrong. Maybe repeating a grade will benefit the child for life, or maybe it will be a waste of time. No one can be sure.

Use one year to fight for a better future.

"Dongyang," her heart was suddenly touched. She bent down and kissed the girl's cheek, and said softly, "No matter what kind of person you become in the future, whether you are excellent or not, your aunt will love you."

So, don't stress.

Dong Yang looked puzzled. She didn't understand why her aunt said that, but she could feel the care and love in her words, so she whispered:

"Well, I will always love my aunt too."

Anyone would be happy to hear the child say this. Tong Yao simply wanted to hug Dong Yang in her arms. At this time, the desk at the door became lively.

"No, no, no, you're too polite, too polite." The labor reform officer kept waving his hands.

"Teacher Li, this is just a small token of my appreciation. Wen Ya still needs to trouble you..."

The only teachers in the office were Tong Yao and Li Hanqiang. Tong Yao witnessed the "bribery" and felt embarrassed, so she used the excuse of going to the toilet to avoid having to give her another gift later. When she passed by Wen Ya, she noticed that the girl clenched her fists and said nothing, as if she was ashamed of her mother's behavior.

The class had already started and there was no one in the bathroom, so she took out her phone and played a game of Fruit Ninja, wondering whether the woman had left.

It’s been five minutes, it’s time to go, right?

She pushed open the door of the toilet cubicle and was about to go out when she heard the sound of water in the washbasin outside.

"I'm telling you, teachers nowadays are all snobbish. They say they don't accept gifts and act noble, but you have to give them something." The woman who was speaking seemed to have seen through something and sneered, "In the end, they still accepted it."

“I don’t think there’s any need for gifts…”

"What do you know? Mom doesn't want you to lose at the starting line!"

The girl outside was silent for a while and said:

"Mom, I need to go to the bathroom. You go back first."

A sound of footsteps went away, and another sound of footsteps approached. Wen Ya walked into the bathroom. She was used to looking down and first saw a pair of familiar thick-heeled shoes. She looked up in surprise and saw Teacher Tong there, smiling and making a "hush" gesture to her.

Did you hear what mom said just now?

Wen Ya's face turned pale and she suddenly felt ashamed.

I don't like people who say one thing in front of others and another behind their backs.

Tong Yao walked past the girl as if nothing had happened. As they passed by, Wen Ya gritted her teeth and spoke tremblingly:

"Teacher Tong, just now..."

"I didn't hear anything." Tong Yao turned around, her eyes and lips were smiling, "You just need to study hard and don't worry about anything else."

She smiled so naturally and beautifully, her lips were like flower petals and her dimples were beautiful. It seemed as if she really didn't mind the slander against the teaching profession just now made by the parents.

Wen Ya's confused heart suddenly calmed down.

Chapter 130: Discipline

"Everyone welcomes the new students."

During evening self-study, Wen Ya stood in front of the podium and introduced herself awkwardly. The people in the audience looked at the repeater as if she were a new species and wanted to dig out all the stories behind her.

"I will definitely not repeat a grade in the future," Jiang Yiming said with emotion, "The pressure is too great, and I don't want to be a year older than my classmates."

Repeating a grade may give people a sense of frustration as if they have failed a grade, as if they are worse than others.

Ruan Qian glanced at him indifferently—or to be more precise, glanced at his homework: "You haven't finished your summer homework yet?"

"…There are so many that it's hard to copy them all."

"Write quickly and give it to Teacher Tong, or I'll tell the labor camp."

"That's too mean..." Jiang Yiming's face fell, "I only know how to help your teacher Tong."

Ruan Qian curled her lips. If these words were the wind, then her heart would float up like a light leaf. As she wished, her name was tied to Teacher Tong. This was what she expected, to let everyone know that she liked Teacher Tong, and that she was the special one in Teacher Tong's eyes.

"Did anything happen when you lived together?" Jiang Yiming continued to gossip, his smile showing the lewdness and vulgarity of a bad friend.

Ruan Qian smiled at him without giving any answer, but Jiang Yiming seemed to have realized something inexplicably, and looked at her with more admiration.

After the evening self-study, many people went to greet the new repeater, but Wen Ya was not good at interpersonal communication and was as dull as a mute person. The boys who thought she was pretty couldn't find any topics to continue the conversation and gave up.

In September, the first monthly exam came.

This monthly exam was more brutal than any other. Previously, the three subjects of physics, chemistry and biology were taken separately, but now they were combined into a comprehensive science exam. Most people did not finish it. It was not because they did not know how to do it, but because they did not plan their time well and their proficiency was not high. After the results came out, the psychologically fragile students burst into tears.

The ones who remained standing amidst this impact were the repeaters.

Xu Yin dropped to third place in her grade, and the top two were both repeaters. Having experienced the college entrance examination, they were very comfortable with these comprehensive science papers. Wen Ya also jumped to first place in her class and 20th place in her grade.

Ruan Qian stared at her ranking on the honor roll. The number before her name was 92. Although she did not do well in the exam, she had made great progress.

In Chinese class, Laogai followed the usual practice and did not give lectures, but used it to analyze the results. This time, his temper was very low, and everyone could feel his hidden anger, like a pot of boiling water, with steam about to overflow from the mouth of the pot, and it was so fierce that it was about to burn those who were close to him. In the huge classroom, no one dared to speak.

"Look at how you did in the exam..." Li Hanqiang looked around, like a lion ready to pounce. "You are already in the third year of high school. I thought you didn't need me to explain anything more, but what happened?! You perfunctorily dealt with the teacher on your summer homework and slacked off during evening self-study. Do you look like you are in the third year of high school? You haven't gotten into the state in a month. Look at your math. You were first in the parallel class in every exam last year, but this time you dropped to third place! Are you worthy of your teacher, Teacher Tong?!"

Ruan Qian, who was correcting wrong questions, was stunned. She had not expected that the math scores of the entire class would decline so much.

"Ji Chen," Li Hanqiang called the monitor, "Tell me, why has the math performance of our class declined so much?"

Ji Chen felt a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and couldn't explain what was going on.

"I think... it's a discipline problem." He struggled to come up with a universal excuse, "Some people don't pay attention in class, and then... they don't do their homework."

"Which people?"

Ji Chen remained silent.

Laogai said with a sullen face: "Ruan Qian, you are the class representative, you come to analyze it."

Ruan Qian thought to herself, as expected, she stood up and sighed:

"I heard that other classes' PTAs seem to have invited outside teachers to provide collective tutoring, so they may be a little ahead."

The whole class in other classes was taking extra classes, but she didn’t know about the others in Class 7. She only knew that there were only three people taking extra classes with Teacher Tong.

Time cannot be reversed, and if you fall behind, you fall behind.