The father and daughter were at loggerheads when the door was pushed open and Su Yingmin came in. With him came a skinny old man with a white beard and wearing an old-fashioned blue Zhongshan suit.
Su Yingmin introduced that this person was Principal Jia of Yuxin Middle School, which was the only high school in the Zengwuwei area, and Bai Lu also studied there.
Ye Dingguo quickly stood up and wanted to shake hands and say hello, but Principal Jia was an old-fashioned man. Facing the hand extended by Boss Ye, he just held out both hands and said, "I have an appointment with someone to eat beef tendon balls nearby, and Xiao Su insisted that I come and sit with him..."
Ye Dingguo gave up his seat with an awkward smile. In recent years, not to mention the people in the village, even the district leaders had to give him some face. However, facing this kind of "corrupt" old scholar, no matter how powerful you are, there is nothing you can do.
Secretary Liu brought in some tea, but Principal Jia waved his hand and said he was not thirsty as he wanted to save room for the meatball soup.
Su Yingmin pulled Ye Zhao up and introduced her, "This is the student I told you about. She was ill and missed the college entrance examination. Her household registration is here, and she is thinking about whether she can repeat her studies at Yuxin Middle School."
Principal Jia did not raise his eyes to look at Ye Zhao. He put on his reading glasses hanging around his neck and was carefully reading an English toy manual on the table. He only asked Su Yingmin in his not-so-standard Mandarin: "How many points did you get in the college entrance examination?"
The old man didn't really listen to what Su Yingmin said just now, so Su Yingmin had to explain again: "He didn't take the college entrance examination, so he doesn't have any college entrance examination results. But the child is very well-behaved and sensible."
Because Ye Dingguo felt ignored by Old Man Jia, and he was not enthusiastic about Ye Zhao's schooling, he just sat aside and didn't say anything.
Principal Jia dusted off his sleeves with the instruction manual. "Oh, that's not important. Arts or science?"
"Liberal arts, right?" Su Yingmin looked at Ye Zhao. Ye Zhao was about to deny it when he remembered that the original owner was indeed studying liberal arts, so he nodded.
"Next Monday, you will go directly to Director Liang and take an entrance exam to see whether you can go to the regular class or the top class."
With a word from the principal, things will be easier.
Ye Dingguo sighed and said with a self-deprecating smile: "My grades are not good, so I can only go to the ordinary class."
Actually, it doesn't matter to Ye Zhao which class she goes to. She has a science background, so it's not impossible for her to study liberal arts. The key is what Bai Lu studies. After all, she has to compete with Bai Lu in the college entrance examination scores, and it's not easy to compare different subjects.
"Is Bailu studying arts or science?"
Her question immediately ignited Ye Dingguo's anger, but Principal Jia was there, so he couldn't lose his temper and just gently scolded, "Read your own books well!"
Ye Zhao remained calm and ignored her father. "She studies science, right? Then I'll study science too."
"Nonsense!" Seeing his daughter competing with Bai Lu in everything, Ye Dingguo bit his back teeth and tried hard to suppress his anger.
"I'm not kidding. If she studies science, I study science. If she studies arts, I study arts."
Ye Zhao caught Bai Lu's comparison behavior, which was tantamount to dancing in Ye Dingguo's minefield. He could no longer tolerate it, "Stop reading! Go back to Wancheng."
Principal Jia's eyes widened. "If I'm not going to study, why would you ask me to come?"
Su Yingmin was so upset that he had to comfort Ye Dingguo. "Old Ye, don't get excited. Wait until the child has finished the entrance exam and let the teacher make the arrangements."
Then he immediately smiled and apologized to Principal Jia, "Of course I have to read it. They haven't seen each other for a long time, so there are some small misunderstandings."
Principal Jia was obviously not interested in their family affairs. He put the manual on the table, took off his glasses, and said, "Your manual is full of grammatical errors. If we go abroad, we will lose face for us Chinese..."
The implication is that they are all uneducated nouveau riche.
Ye Dingguo's face fell in embarrassment.
Su Yingmin, who is always clever, didn't know whether he was confused for a moment or did it on purpose. He half-jokingly said, "No way, the translator in the factory asked for leave. Sister Bai asked Bai Lu to translate it. Principal Jia, Bai Lu is an excellent student cultivated by your school. You have to be responsible."
Principal Jia said "Hey" and laughed, "You're still relying on me. What kind of person are you?"
Ye Dingguo defended Bai Lu: "Bai Lu is a science student. She is good at math, physics and chemistry, and her English is above average. Besides, this is not something a high school student can translate. Let's find someone else quickly."
Principal Jia: "Aren't all the grammatical errors circled? Just correct them."
Su Yingmin picked up the instruction manual on the table, looking confused, "Who circled it?"
Ye Zhao was peeling longan. She was bored sitting here in the afternoon, so she read the instructions to kill time and circled the grammatical errors.
"I circled it."
The three adults present all looked over. Ye Dingguo's eyes were filled with confusion. He didn't believe that Ye Zhao's English was better than Bai Lu's. Su Yingmin's eyes were filled with surprise, and Principal Jia looked up at the protagonist of today's topic for the first time.
Ye Zhao didn't care about their thoughts. She brought the topic back to the topic, "I want to study science."
Su Yingmin winked at Ye Zhao quietly, signaling her to stop talking. He would find a way, and then smiled apologetically at Principal Jia, "Children nowadays have their own ideas. Parents can't control them anymore."
Old man Jia waved his hand and said disapprovingly: "It's good to have your own ideas. Only fools let others manipulate them."
This principal is quite interesting.
Old man Jia's eyes rolled around. He had eaten so many varieties of longan before, so this couldn't be surprising. But seeing Ye Zhao eating with gusto, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is it delicious?"
"Although the core is big and the meat is small, the taste is very special. I have never eaten anything so delicious." Ye Zhao handed a small bunch to Principal Jia, "You will know after you try it."
Principal Jia took the longan with some doubt and ate one. It tasted really good. He gave it a thumbs up and said, "It's a fairy product!"
Su Yingmin said quickly, "I brought it back from Qiansui Island. It's authentic Guiwei longan. There are only a few left in the whole city of Shenzhen."
"I have eaten many Guiwei lychees, but this is the first time I have eaten Guiwei longan."
Ye Zhao brought the remaining half basket of longans to Principal Jia and said, "Please eat more."
"Anything else? Pack it up and take it away." Principal Jia said bluntly.
"Yes, I brought a big basket and packed it..."
Su Yingmin was about to say that it was no problem to pack up, but Ye Zhao interrupted him, "It's no problem to pack up, but... Principal, can you be a witness for me?"
Principal Jia spat out the fruit core, thinking that the little girl was quite cunning. He asked, "What witness?"
"My dad said that if I scored better than Bai Lu in the college entrance examination, he would call me dad instead."
Su Yingmin quickly stopped him: "Xiao Zhao, don't talk nonsense."
"My dad said that, not me."
Ye Dingguo: "When did I say that?"
"You said that when you scolded me on the phone. Have you forgotten? Do you want me to recall it for you?"
Ye Dingguo vaguely remembered, "So what if I said it? Do you really think you can score better than Bai Lu? Don't you know your own worth?"
Ye Zhao didn't argue with him, "I just want to ask, Dad, do you still keep your word?"
After being bullied by his daughter several times today, Ye Dingguo's mentality was about to burst. "When have I ever broken my promise? I want you to face the facts. Don't be blindly confident and blindly compare yourself with others. You are not even a little bit behind Bai Lu! Even if you repeat your studies for ten years, you can't catch up with her."
Ye Zhao deliberately angered Ye Dingguo: "I just want to compete with her. I am better than her. How can my mother's daughter not be as good as Bai Yunlian's daughter! I just want to say that I am better than her. Do you call me dad?"
"You are my ancestor! I am a bastard! Is that okay?" Ye Dingguo was shaking with anger.
"Principal, did you hear that? You are a witness today."
"I witnessed it, I witnessed it." Principal Jia answered without hesitation while eating longan.
Ye Dingguo and Su Yingmin looked at each other. Who in their right mind would agree to be such a childish and ridiculous witness
But Principal Jia is not an "ordinary normal person". He reiterated: "As long as you get better college entrance examination scores than Bai Lu, your dad will call you dad, right? If you don't call him a bastard, you're a bastard! Right? No problem, I, Jia Shikai, will bear witness to it."
The thinking is clear, the logic is coherent, and there is nothing wrong with it.
Ye Zhao smiled innocently, "Uncle Su, longan! Quickly pack it for Principal Jia."
Fire captain Su Yingmin opened his hands awkwardly, not knowing how to respond for a moment.
Who is Principal Jia? All the local high-ranking officials in Shenzhen are his students. Do you dare to break your promise to him to witness something
Ye Dingguo was not worried that Ye Zhaozhen would score better than Bai Lu in the exam, but he felt unhappy in his heart, a kind of unhappy feeling of being fooled.
Before leaving, Principal Jia pulled Ye Zhao aside to talk and quietly defended himself: "Although I am delicious, I didn't agree to be a witness just because of longan."
Ye Zhao chuckled and gave old man Jia enough face: "I know, Principal, you are a good person."
"My father said the same thing to me before. He said that if I could be successful, he would kowtow to me ten times. Unfortunately, I was not as smart as you. I did not bring a witness at the time, and later he denied it."
I see.
"You have to work hard. I, old man Jia, have high hopes for you." Principal Jia whispered.
Ye Zhao blinked: "Okay, Principal. I'll try my best! Let's witness history together!"
(End of this chapter)