Parent-teacher meetings are always the same.
Formal, official, and boring.
The other parents were attentive and nervous about their children, sitting upright and actively interacting with the teachers. Nora, however, got sleepy after listening for two minutes and started chatting with Pedro Langley on her phone under the desk.
She looked just like a student spacing out in class.
Ernesto Scott sat in the back row, not caring about how Anastasia was lavishly praising Oliver Scott, with all his attention on Nora. Watching Nora’s little antics, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, as if making up for the lost years of companionship from their school days, feeling entirely satisfied internally.
"I heard Marcus Shaw improved by over two hundred ranks in this exam?" Ernesto Scott leaned forward a bit, whispering to Nora to strike up a conversation.
"This kid is amazing."
Ernesto Scott marveled.
The way he said it, it seemed like he wasn’t the father of the top student in the school but rather the father of the last-ranked student.
Ernesto Scott sighed lightly, "With Oliver being now, I’m afraid there’s no room for improvement."
At this moment, Ernesto Scott seemed like an old father entirely unfazed by his outstanding son’s achievements.
"Let’s just hope he underperforms once."
"In last semester’s midterms, I heard he underperformed, and I thought his grades would be bad. But to my surprise, when the results came out, he was still two points above the second place. Usually, he beats them by at least ten points." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
Speaking of this, Ernesto Scott seemed somewhat regretful, commenting, "This kid, always coming first, is prone to arrogance."
"Marcus Shaw seems to be aiming to make him feel frustrated recently."
"That’s great; having someone compete with him and putting some pressure on him can be good."
The couple of parents next door: "..."
Excuse me, could you speak like normal people?
Here you are, one parent of the top student and one of the most improved student, finding joy in your kids’ setbacks? Could you at least be a bit more enthusiastic and not take your children’s excellence for granted?
Under the podium, Nora and Ernesto Scott were chatting intermittently. On the platform, Anastasia watched them with increasing gloominess.
This was Nora’s first time attending Marcus Shaw’s parent-teacher meeting.
It also meant it was the first time Nora and Ernesto Scott met.
One was as beautiful as a flower, the other a successful middle-aged man, with over twenty years of age difference, meeting for the first time and yet chatting so happily... How could she not see what was developing here?
Anastasia’s gaze repeatedly darted between the two, hoping they would tone it down a bit, and she subtly hinted for the "student’s parents" to focus. However, the two remained unmoved, chatting away, seemingly oblivious to her hints.
After several failed attempts, Anastasia was so flustered that she was at a loss for words.
Outside the classroom, in the corridor.
When the parent-teacher meeting began, the students were left with nothing to do.
Steve Singleton was chattering away with Oliver Scott, all his talk hinting at Marcus Shaw’s ’Fairy Sister.’
After repeating it three times in his mind, Oliver Scott calmly changed the subject, "Where’s Marcus Shaw?"
"As soon as he got to school, he went with Mr. Flynn." Steve Singleton even raised his phone to show a secretly taken photo, nudging Oliver Scott’s arm, "Do you think Mr. Flynn wants to give him a special lesson?"
Oliver Scott shot him a sideways glance, saying nothing.
Steve Singleton sensed something was off, "What’s that look?"
Oliver Scott: "A look for idiots."
Steve Singleton jumped in place.
You’re so smart, aren’t you!
Moping for a few seconds, Steve Singleton leaned in again, whispering gossip to Oliver Scott, "Have you heard? Marcus Shaw’s grades improved so fast this time that the teachers suspect he cheated."
"I heard it from someone in the class next door. Yesterday, Marcus Shaw was called to the office, and Anastasia picked a few questions from the subject B papers to have him solve to prove his ability, but he refused." Steve Singleton’s voice lowered more and more until he was whispering in Oliver Scott’s ear, "Do you think it’s possible he—"
"Anything you think is possible is not possible for him."
Oliver Scott warned with a glance, cutting him off before he could finish.
"What do you mean? Do you think I’m that kind of person?" Steve Singleton huffed angrily.
"Then how do you know he’s that kind of person?" Oliver Scott calmly retorted.
That retort was entirely reasonable.
Steve Singleton scratched his head, speechless, and thus fell silent.
"I don’t really care; his grades don’t concern me anyway." Steve Singleton eventually waved it off, "However, there’s a rumor going around the school that he... did something to make his grades improve so quickly. Otherwise, why didn’t he seize the opportunity to prove himself when the teacher gave it to him?"
"Why should he compromise himself to prove himself because of the teacher’s unreasonable suspicions?"