There was a commotion in front of the report card board. Apparently, many people were surprised by the first place in the grade marked behind Jiang Hongshao. Some of them were usually oblivious to the outside world and didn't know who Jiang Hongshao was. Some of them were familiar with her and knew that she was the goddess of guzheng and harp in the art performances, but they had never heard that her grades were so good...
Some were in the same class with her and knew that her grades were usually around the top ten in the class. There were seven classes in the grade and she was only ranked 50th in the grade. How could she suddenly become the first? Could it be that she had not been trying her best before
Some people were surprised, some were shocked, some secretly felt that she was scheming, and some were sincerely happy for her...
Huang Qian, who was the most handsome boy in the class, stood on the periphery and looked at the various behaviors of the crowd. He was not actually that surprised. Instead, he felt a sense of pride and complacency as if he had insight into certain things.
Yes, he had thought this was the case a long time ago. The people in front of him were still in the dark. Only he saw Jiang Hongshao's soul.
She has always been so outstanding, so outstanding that she even suppresses her own abilities in order to avoid causing bad emotions in others who interact with her.
They were talking about Jiang Hongshao, whom they seemed to have known again, in awe, and with great interest. Little did they know that Huang Qian had already seen the hidden, real her from her alienation.
But... Huang Qian's eyes moved to the two report cards of Class 4.
Jiang Hongshao's first place in the grade might have caused a stir among the students in her class, but apart from those who knew her, not many people would care about it. After all, there was always a first place in the grade in every exam, so it was nothing strange. On the contrary, Cheng Ran from Class 4, who had made a bet with their head teacher "Li the Butcher" and made it known to everyone, suddenly jumped from the ranks of poor students to the first place in the class. This was too much.
However, thinking of the way Jiang Hongshao acted in front of Cheng Ran, Huang Qian, who originally thought that Cheng Ran would not be able to get into the first high school and that he might still have a chance, closed his eyes slowly and painfully.
He seemed to be mourning the end of his love affair.
…
It took two days to return to school. On the first day, students received their report cards. After the rankings were announced, people noticed that the only person in charge of the classroom was Teacher Zeng. Li Zhan showed up at the school once in the morning and seemed to have stood at the door for a while before leaving.
After all, the bet with Cheng Ran caused a big stir, and although the whole school was informed of it at the time, it did not necessarily mean that Li Zhan would really have to stand up and apologize to Cheng Ran at the graduation ceremony... This kind of thing was generally unlikely, but the reason why Li Zhan did not enter the classroom was probably to avoid meeting Cheng Ran.
The graduation ceremony was held the next day. The school leaders came to hand out graduation certificates, commend outstanding student representatives, and then give some wishes and words of encouragement. The graduates gathered in the playground. Among the crowd, Yu Xiao kept waving in that direction.
"Cheng Ran! Come here! Come here... Over here, there's a seat reserved for you."
When Cheng Ran walked over, Yu Xiao put his arm around his shoulders, wishing that he could be inseparable from him. Yu Xiao has been in the limelight these past two days. In school and on the bus, anyone who knows him will talk about the student who made the bet and became the first in the class like a dark horse. When asked if Yu Xiao is in your class, Yu Xiao will nod slowly, "You are talking about my deskmate and childhood sweetheart, the one who grew up wearing the same pants as me! Haha... There is a secret, there is a secret... Eat two eggs and drink a glass of milk a day, and then do exercises. For example, before the exam, we set up a cultural wall together and answered questions on the blackboard... It is with this spirit of tireless learning that we can have such a day of success!"
According to the current results, Yu Xiao would have to pay for school selection to attend the No. 1 high school, but he acted as if he had been admitted to the No. 1 high school. He wanted to tell others that he watched Cheng Ran study hard and that this result was well deserved. When he talked about how he and Cheng Ran were in the same boat, his face was filled with an inexplicable glory...
When everyone was in their seats, people discovered that Li Zhan still did not appear in the graduation ceremony hall. Teacher Zeng took on the role of class teacher, responsible for maintaining order and organizing the entire event.
This doubt has been lingering in everyone's mind. It's impossible that Li Zhan fell ill because of anger. According to people who saw Li Zhan enter the school on the first day, although his face was pale and blue, and he looked gloomy the whole time, he was not seriously ill. And since he entered the school on the first day, why didn't he come to the classroom
The graduation ceremony ended with the speech by President Zhou Tao, "The sea is wide enough for fish to leap, the sky is high enough for birds to fly," and then the students took graduation photos together.
On that playground, each class found their own station and captured the last images of their high school days under the camera of the photography teacher.
More than 60 people from Class 4 arrived at their own platform, which was under a lush tree. The singing of birds, the chirping of cicadas in summer, and the hot air rising from the ground constituted the atmosphere that brought back the most memories of graduation.
During these three years, many people grow from ignorant children just entering school to teenagers.
To be fair, although the shadow of the class teacher Li the Butcher loomed over the entire three years of junior high school, as the saying goes, the friendship is deepest on the battlefield. On the contrary, in this environment, the students in Class 3 and 4 seemed to have a common enemy, and had more topics to talk about and memories of their shared hatred of the enemy.
The photographer has already started asking everyone to stand in position, gesturing for composition, and preparing to take pictures.
A piece of news came when the last few people joined the queue. It was first said by Su Qian, whose home worked in the Education Bureau. Someone asked Teacher Xiao Zeng and confirmed it, so the news exploded.
"Li Zhan has been transferred!"
“Huh…!? Ah…!? What’s going on?”
"He submitted his request for transfer to the office of the principal, Zhou Tao, and Zhou Tao did not try to persuade him to stay! I think Zhou Tao knew more or less what he had done. Since he asked to be transferred, Zhou Tao agreed!"
"He can't stay here any longer! His students, teachers, and colleagues all watched him make such a scene. How is he going to survive in the future?"
"I don't know where I was transferred to. It seems like I'm not a teacher anymore!"
"Serves you right... The bad apple has been removed. I wonder how many people have been saved! It's time to celebrate."
There was an uproar among the class members standing in line.
Many people turned their heads to look at Cheng Ran.
Cheng Ran still remembers his high school graduation photo. In the upper left corner, due to failure in the exam and the misfortune of his family, fate left dark traces on his face. His whole face was gray and he was located in the corner with no sense of existence. If people in the future did not look carefully, they would not be able to find the boy with his head buried and his face unclear.
In this life, of course, he learned from his past lesson, raised his head slightly, and faced the camera.
At this time, the leaders had already come to the first row and sat down. The photography teacher kept waving his hands, "Hey, look at the camera! Look at the camera! Quick, quick, quick!"
So everyone had to turn around and face the camera on the other end. They tried hard to control their expressions, but everyone had strange expressions because of the inner turmoil caused by the news.
Only the young man standing in the upper left corner raised his head, and a beam of light that penetrated the leaves just happened to shine on his face. In the slightly warm atmosphere, Cheng Ran's mouth twitched and he grinned brightly, and then a flash light over there flashed.
Click!
This dazzling smile with white teeth was frozen in this photo. Many years later, when people looked through the photo and held it, they could see this most conspicuous symbol at a glance.
And their high school years, all the reluctance to part in the flowing time, all the pain and courage in their youth.
They were all ruled by such a smile.
It became the most unforgettable memory of everyone's middle school period.