Chapter 70 Are You Arranging My Life So Thoroughly Now Too?

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, the repeat student classes at the County No. 2 High School officially began.

Three notable events occurred on the very first day of the new term.

The first was the school's announcement of this year's college entrance examination subjects and their corresponding scores.

Ever since 1977, the total score for the exams had been shifting every year; the total score for the 1982 entrance examination was completely different from 1981's.

This year, mathematics included an optional 20-point advanced section, bringing its total to 120 points, while politics, Chinese, physics, and chemistry were each worth 100 points.

Meanwhile, English—which last year was calculated at only 50% of the paper score—was increased to 70%, making its total score 70 points, and biology was also raised to 50 points.

Calculated this way, the total score for this year's college entrance examination would be 640 points.

This was undoubtedly wonderful news for the few students with strong English scores. After all, in this era of "mute English," everyone's English proficiency varied wildly, and a gap of several dozen points was more than enough to create a gulf of several tiers.

The second event was that Hu Man, the monitor of Class One for repeat students, voluntarily stepped down from her position under the pretext of "insufficient energy."

This wasn't because Hu Man was cowering, but rather because ever since she started following Li Ye to study outside the school, many tasks that a monitor ought to handle had become inconvenient for her.

Xia Yue would inevitably step in to take over, and rather than wasting energy on endless petty conflicts, it was far better to simply wash her hands of the whole affair.

The third event was the sudden arrival of Jiang Xiaoyan's grandfather and mother at the school, demanding to transfer Jiang Xiaoyan to another institution.

When Li Ye learned of this, he was extremely astonished.

Had Jiang Xiaoyan been poached away by County No. 1 High School, he could have understood, but the school she was supposedly transferring to was actually the Binhe Township Middle School.

Many students gathered outside the door of the Dean's Office, straining to catch the fragments of conversation occasionally drifting from within. However, because a heavy cotton curtain hung over the entrance, the voices remained muffled and indistinct.

"Director Tang, our family genuinely cannot afford the tuition anymore. Binhe Middle School is not only waiving the tuition fees, but they're even offering a scholarship."

"She's just a girl, yet my family has supported her education for ten years. We haven't made her do a single chore, and we've fed her well and treated her with care. If you don't believe me, just look at her face—it's ruddy and healthy. But a penny can truly defeat a hero..."

Inside the Dean's Office, an elderly man with a weathered, dark complexion was pouring out his grievances to Tang Feiyu.

Tang Feiyu's facial muscles twitched. Through sheer willpower and self-restraint, he managed to suppress his temper and keep from spitting directly into the old man's face.

He was the Dean of Students at County No. 2 High School. To claim he knew the exact situation of every single student would be an exaggeration, but how could he not know about a special student like Jiang Xiaoyan?

He knew all too well just how much hardship Jiang Xiaoyan normally endured; he had witnessed her eating plain steamed buns with cold water on several occasions.

Fed her well and treated her with care? What a brazen and shameless lie—how could he even say such a thing with a straight face?

As for why Jiang Xiaoyan's complexion was rosy, Teacher Luo had already explained that it was thanks to the private meals Li Ye had been sharing with her. Was this old man trying to claim credit for himself?

Meanwhile, Jiang Xiaoyan's mother kept asking Director Jin what chances Jiang Xiaoyan had of passing the exams this year, and exactly how much difference there was in teaching quality between County No. 2 High School and Binhe Township Middle School.

Director Jin stated quite clearly: "The teaching standards of our County No. 2 High School unquestionably surpass those of Binhe Township Middle School.

If you transfer Jiang Xiaoyan to a township school at this stage, any failure on her part to adapt to the environmental changes will inevitably impact her college entrance exam scores.

The child has studied for ten years; you mustn't ruin her future over a bit of carelessness at the very end!"

The old man grew somewhat anxious. "Why are you even asking all this? Their family has already handed the scholarship over to us; how could I possibly give it back? Besides, I'm Xiaoyan's grandfather—am I going to harm her?"

Jiang Xiaoyan's mother was no pushover either. "What's wrong with me asking? Have you ever cared for this child all these years? Now all of a sudden you're putting on the act of a loving grandfather?"

"..."

The two of them argued without the slightest inhibition, completely ignoring the embarrassed Tang Feiyu and the silent Jiang Xiaoyan, who kept her head lowered.

At that moment, the depths of Jiang Xiaoyan's heart were a surging sea of bitterness, her mind and body plunged into profound despair.

It had been agreed before the New Year that if she placed first, her family would support her continued studies as a repeat student.

Yet when the start of the term arrived, she was still twenty yuan short of the repeat tuition fee.

Her mother had gone once more to her maternal grandmother's family to borrow money, only to return empty-handed.

It was precisely at that time that the township middle school somehow caught wind of Jiang Xiaoyan's excellent mock exam scores from the previous year, discovering upon investigation that she had ranked fifth in the entire county.

And that was how all these subsequent events came to pass.

Furthermore, Jiang Xiaoyan knew that the primary reason her grandfather had swallowed his pride to transfer her wasn't the waived tuition or the scholarship,

but rather the promise made by Binhe Township Middle School to enroll her younger brother, Jiang Xiaoqiang, into the fast-track class of the third year of junior high.

Yet Jiang Xiaoqiang had already repeated two years of junior high—what good would entering a fast-track class do him?

Junior high schools did not have dedicated repeat classes; repeat students attended regular classes alongside third-year students, and the fast-track class was simply the best class in the school.

Perhaps her family believed that entering the fast-track class would guarantee admission to high school!

And once he graduated from high school, even if he failed to get into college, the family could pull a few strings to secure him a job, thereby setting him up for life.

Yet in arranging all of this, aside from her mother, who had ever considered her, Jiang Xiaoyan?

Over the past few months, Jiang Xiaoyan's academic performance had soared straight upward. With full meals provided every day, she had felt that her spring had finally arrived.

Li Ye had even promised her that in a few months, they would board a train together to go to university.

She, Hu Man, and the others had already begun daydreaming about what their future university lives would be like.

Yet in the blink of an eye, why had time flowed backward, plunging her right back into the dead of winter?

Large, heavy tears fell pattering onto the floor. Who could see them? Who cared?

...

The argument inside the Dean's Office drifted outside to Li Ye's ears.

He keenly sensed that her mother, who had consistently supported Jiang Xiaoyan's repeat studies, was now fighting a losing battle.

The school was certainly unwilling to let Jiang Xiaoyan transfer out—one only had to look at how the school treated Jin Shengli and Xia Yue to understand.

If teachers in later generations merely favored students with good grades,

then the schools of this era genuinely "favored" top-tier students.

It could be said that academic standouts like Xia Yue and Jin Shengli possessed genuine, tangible privileges within the school. As long as they didn't commit some unforgivable outrage, the school would bend over backward to protect them.

Otherwise, given Li Ye's background and status, how would Xia Yue and Jin Shengli have ever dared to act so presumptuously in front of him?

The school needed Director Li's grain allocation connections, but it also desperately needed top students like Xia Yue and Jin Shengli. Otherwise, if the college entrance exams yielded a total shutout year after year, the principal wouldn't even be able to keep his seat!

Yet favoring them was one thing, and Jiang Xiaoyan had indeed proven her worth.

However, once hard cash was involved, the administrative process became entirely too complicated and cumbersome.

Jiang Xiaoyan wasn't a fresh graduate; she was a repeat student. How could a repeat student's tuition fees be casually waived?

In this day and age, schools were hardly overflowing with wealth. Teachers' benefits were meager, and the institution might even be behind on paying its unofficial, uncontracted teachers' salaries! An expenditure of several dozen yuan would probably require an official meeting and lengthy debate just to hash out.

Li Ye silently turned around, slipped quietly away, and knocked on the door of the principal's office.

"Come in."

When Principal Chang saw that it was Li Ye who entered, he didn't look surprised in the least.

With such a commotion outside, one didn't even need to guess to know it was about Jiang Xiaoyan.

Yet the school had its own difficulties to contend with.

To waive tuition, there had to be a justifiable reason, didn't there?

Jiang Xiaoyan's family was facing hardship, but were other families living in ease? If tuition was waived for Jiang Xiaoyan today, and other parents caught wind of it and came making a scene tomorrow, what then?

As for Jiang Xiaoyan's academic excellence, she had only placed first once; she wasn't like Xia Yue or Jin Shengli, who consistently claimed the first or second spots year-round.

If Jiang Xiaoyan's tuition was waived, wouldn't they have to waive it for Xia Yue and the others as well?

Even the cleverest housewife could not cook a meal without rice!

However, Li Ye's next action caught Principal Chang completely off guard.

Without a word, he pulled thirty yuan from his own pocket and placed it squarely on Principal Chang's desk.

"I know the school has financial regulations and it's inconvenient to waive Jiang Xiaoyan's repeat tuition fee. After all, she only took first place last year, not every single time."

"I also know many students' families are struggling. If the school opens this precedent, it will create numerous headaches and disrupt the school's educational order."

"Therefore, I'm providing this money myself. But it cannot be given in my personal name, as that would wound Jiang Xiaoyan's self-esteem, filling her with guilt and an inferiority complex that could very well affect her upcoming college entrance exams."

"It would be much simpler to issue it in the school's name. After all, a school is a place that educates and nurtures people; no matter how much care and affection is shown to a student, it will only ever produce positive effects..."

"Principal Chang, you could pay this tuition on Jiang Xiaoyan's behalf under the guise of a teacher-initiated fundraising collection."

"That way, it bypasses the school's financial department, eliminates worries about other students having grievances, and besides, who would have the nerve to pry money out of a teacher's pocket?"

Li Ye finished speaking in one breath, only to notice that Principal Chang's expression... looked rather unpleasant.

He slowly stood up from his chair, his eyes wide, his neck flushed crimson like an enraged bull, puffing out heavy streams of breath.

"So a bunch of teachers like us are beneath a mere child in your eyes, is that it? Huh?"

"..."

"You're the only smart one here, aren't you? You even went ahead and arranged everything neat and tidy for me? Quite capable, aren't you!"

"..."

"You wanted to play the good guy and remain anonymous, did you?"

"..."

Li Ye swallowed hard, realizing he had overlooked the generational divide.

Students in later generations might occasionally be monstrously precocious enough to engage in "equal dialogue" with their teachers.

But in this era, for a student to arrange everything neatly for the faculty...

Were you planning to fly straight to the heavens?

Were you trying to teach me how to do my job?

Sure enough, Principal Chang strode over, flung open the office door, and bellowed outside, instantly drawing seven or eight teachers rushing in.

Li Ye prudently retreated into a corner, bracing himself for the worst-case scenario.

While a physical brawl was highly unlikely, a "verbal bombardment" was almost guaranteed. At that point, all he could do was cover his ears and take whatever came his way.

However, Principal Chang did not vent his wrath upon Li Ye. Instead, he calmly explained the situation to the gathered teachers, proposed a voluntary donation drive, and led by example by dropping five yuan into the pool first.

The teachers fell collectively silent for a moment before beginning to dig into their pockets one by one. Some gave three yuan, some two; those who could only spare one yuan looked genuinely apologetic.

In 1981, the salary of a minban (locally supported) teacher was 18.5 yuan, while officially registered ones made around thirty. Struggling to support an entire household meant every single cent had to be split in half.

Yet now, asked to donate for a student, none of them hesitated or fussed. Impoverished scholars they might be, but their moral backbone and integrity were plain for all to see.

In the end, Principal Chang counted the total: twenty-one yuan.

He reached out, plucked a ten-yuan note from the pile of thirty Li Ye had left, and slammed it down onto the collection.

Then, his lingering anger still evident, he glared and barked, "Li Ye, you're putting in ten!"

"Yes, sir!"

Li Ye eagerly agreed, terrified of provoking this stubbornly proud bull any further.