She said it was a holiday tomorrow, but after the morning assembly, it was actually self-study, and students could go home to prepare directly, Tan Wenbin would also come out.
Li Zhiyuan, holding a book by Wei Zhengdao, entered the school; last semester, he would come back for exams during midterms, but this semester... it was his first time stepping through the school gates.
The school didn’t rush him to attend classes or take exams, they just hinted at Li Zhiyuan’s situation indirectly through Tan Wenbin.
The boy walked straight to the principal’s office, attracting quite a few teachers along the way; it would not be surprising to see him every day, but this was his first appearance since he won the national competition.
Sun Qing must have been prepared, as she was not in her classroom but waiting here.
When she saw Li Zhiyuan, she stepped forward to take his hand and said with a smile, "Let me see, oh, it’s been a long time, our student Zhiyuan really has grown taller."
It was already odd enough for the class teacher to refer to herself as such, but that phrase, "it’s been a long time," was even stranger to say to a student from her class.
However, the surrounding teachers all gave looks of jealousy and envy, paying no mind to the phrasing.
Putting themselves in her shoes, if they could have the title of top scorer’s class teacher handed to them, they would be even more flustered than Sun Qing.
In the future, adding this to their resume, who looking at it would know that your top scorer never actually attended class.
Sun Qing led Li Zhiyuan to the principal’s office, inside were Mr. Yan, Mr. Su... Li Zhiyuan’s teachers of various subjects.
There was also a camera set up in the office.
Next, Li Zhiyuan stood in the center with a smile, then kept changing various arrangements behind and beside him.
After the photos were taken, Li Zhiyuan couldn’t help but rub his cheeks; even with his good acting skills, he felt a bit sore now.
Then, Wu Xinhao led the boy to the school auditorium.
The long table facing down, in the very center, was Li Zhiyuan’s seat, with the principal and vice-principal sitting on either side of the boy.
The senior students were gradually entering; Li Zhiyuan noticed that many of them wore bright yellow talisman papers, the lucky charm from "Chasing the Distance Secret Scroll."
The boy had initially failed at drawing the talisman, and when he pondered over its possible use, he really hadn’t anticipated this effect.
Especially the group of boys sitting in the first two rows, who simply spread the talisman paper on their foreheads to draw some luck from the genius at that moment.
This scene looked like two rows of well-arranged corpses.
When it comes to self-interest, young people’s superstitions could make even the elderly think it’s too indulgently superstitious.
Li Zhiyuan saw Tan Wenbin making faces at him from below, then Zhou Yunyun came over, making the boy sitting beside Tan Wenbin knowingly give up his seat.
The principal and several teacher representatives began to speak.
Unlike the motivational speeches given during the oath-taking assemblies, which even involved paying external "motivational speakers."
This assembly was mainly about relieving pressure, telling the students that the college entrance examination is not the only path in life, while the teachers also gave advice on points to be careful about during the exams.
Wu Xinhao turned his head and whispered to the boy, "Xiao Yuan, do you want to say a few words?"
Li Zhiyuan made the final speech, a brief joke:
"Everyone remember to write ’resolve’ for the solution questions."
Initially, there was a collective pause below, then a collective burst of laughter followed by enthusiastic applause, with many people waving their "Chasing the Distance Secret Scroll" and talisman papers.
After the assembly, Li Zhiyuan walked to the school gates accompanied by Wu Xinhao and a group of school leaders and teachers.
The boy could feel the surrounding sadness, as everyone knew, after leaving the school this time, it would be hard to see each other again.
The boy was very grateful for the school’s special treatment, so he stopped by the flower bed at the school entrance.
Ignoring the sign that read "Do not enter the flower bed," the boy walked in and bent down under the ginkgo tree to pick up some leaves, which he tucked into his book.
That was also his special reason for bringing the book into the school today.
Wu Xinhao took off his glasses and cried.
The subject teachers also had teary eyes.
The rest of the teachers and leaders, seeing the principal cry, followed suit and wiped the corners of their eyes.
Although there was not such deep feeling or such strong expression, it was not fake either.
Because sometimes tears are shed just to leave some moist traces in the book of life, as a convenience for reflection later.
The senior classroom was going crazy.
The students tore up their exam papers and notebooks and scattered them downwards.
The juniors in the lower floors and across in the middle school buildings leaned on the balconies to watch the seniors having a meltdown, feeling a mix of envy and admiration.
The teachers, unusually, did not maintain order, and the school cleaning staff happily began to gather the discarded papers in sacks to sell as scrap.
Tan Wenbin, leaning on folded arms and with feet on the desk, observed the screaming and shouting classmates in a semi-reclining posture.
If he hadn’t met Brother Xiao Yuan, if he hadn’t gone through what had happened six months ago, he would probably still be the Left Protector and would likely be the most enthusiastic one causing a ruckus.
Other people when causing a fuss at least retained some sense, but he would have feared tearing down even his textbooks, ending up as the fool with no proper books to look at the last two days.
But now, he merely thought his classmates were really cute; he could enjoy the atmosphere, yet he was too lazy to stir and join in.
With Brother Xiao Yuan’s help, his grades on several mock tests were stable, consistently ranking at the top of his class, and he treated the day after tomorrow’s exam as a destined process, not something to be nervous about.