"Mom, let’s go take the skipping grade exam, if I skip a grade, we can be together," Luo Qianqian said earnestly, looking at her mother.
Luo’s Mom was stunned for a moment, then took the small backpack off Luo Qianqian’s shoulder, touched her long ponytail, and nodded, "Okay, let’s go then."
Luo’s Mom didn’t expect that she had already been persuaded by her daughter. She didn’t want her daughter to skip grades; she just wanted her to have a happy and joyful childhood, yet she still had to skip a grade.
"Qianqian?!" He Wenyu, who was sitting on the stairs sulking, spotted Luo Qianqian coming upstairs, immediately stood up with her eyes wide and hands on her hips, "Didn’t we agree to stay in bed at home? Why run off to skip a grade?!"
"Xiao Yu?" Facing He Wenyu’s questioning, Luo Qianqian was stunned for a moment, somewhat confused, but soon understood the crux of the matter, "Did you already take the exam?"
"I’ve been in third grade and you weren’t there, where were you?!" He Wenyu turned her head aside, not looking at Luo Qianqian, and asked with a pout.
"I stayed home and didn’t come to school," Luo Qianqian said helplessly, clearly Elder Zhang’s doing, both of their moms went along with it.
"You were at home? Then..." He Wenyu suddenly turned back to look at Mother He, who guiltily lowered her head, not daring to look at the girl, "What do we do now, I already got into third grade, can I go back to first grade?" He Wenyu no longer cared about her previous sulking and hurriedly ran a few steps to Luo Qianqian, grabbing her hand anxiously.
"Going back to first grade won’t work either, we’re not in the same class, didn’t you check the class assignments?" Luo Qianqian shook her head, pinched Xiao Yu’s hand, and comforted her, "Anyway, you’ve also passed the exam, let’s see what the teacher decides."
"Mother Luo, hello..." Principal Sun stood out embarrassingly from behind Mother He.
Ever since the incident with Shufan, Sun Aimin genuinely wore a smile whenever he saw An Zilan. Elder Yuan valued this pair of siblings highly, and Elder Zhang himself had spoken about early admission, not to mention the sister who could tackle the entrance exam questions without even being enrolled, and the brother who achieved a sixth-grade level in fourth grade and even skipped grades to win an entrance scholarship. With such children, how could he not take their parents seriously?
"Principal Sun, hello." Luo’s Mom said, looking at Principal Sun’s smiling face, somewhat startled.
"Principal Sun, after my brother graduates, which class is our homeroom teacher going to teach?" Luo Qianqian’s eyes lit up when she saw Principal Sun. The homeroom teacher she was asking about wasn’t Qian Xinxin from the fourth-grade parent-teacher meeting but the sixth-grade math teacher, Geng Zhi. According to her brother, he was a humorous and kind teacher, very nice to him. His name sounded interesting, and Luo Qianqian had always been curious about Teacher Geng, but since that parent-teacher meeting, this was the first time she came to school since her mom wouldn’t allow her to cause trouble, although everyone thought she was right that time.
"Teacher Geng is in fourth grade, he’s not going to the lower grades," Principal Sun looked at Luo Qianqian, who had grown a head taller and quite a bit fairer, barely recognizing her, but her eyes with a hint of playfulness, he could not be mistaken. Besides that clever and quirky girl, who else would look at him that way at this age?
Fourth grade, huh... Luo Qianqian frowned. If she really went to fourth grade, stepping into middle school, she would only be nine or ten years old, that’s too young... But if not, getting through first to third grade just in time to catch up with Teacher Geng again teaching fourth grade, what to do?
Luo’s Mom watched Luo Qianqian sink into thought and didn’t disturb her, knowing her daughter always had her own opinions and didn’t need her to worry excessively.
"Principal Sun, can I go back to first grade and be in the same class as Qianqian?" Since no one was speaking, He Wenyu couldn’t hold back her question anymore and blurted it out.
"That, I’m afraid not, as each class has a fixed number of students, and you two aren’t assigned to the same class..." Sun Aimin was at a loss for words. Elder Zhang said not to waste time in first grade with these two kids, but with Luo Qianqian being so young yet having her own ideas, could he manage this? This really was a problem.
"Ah, if only Teacher Geng was in third grade..." Luo Qianqian said seemingly nonchalantly, then shook her head, "Xiao Yu, just wait for me in third grade, I won’t show off. It’s pretty good being in first grade."
"..." Principal Sun, Luo’s Mom, and Mother He were all at a loss for words.
"How can you do this..." He Wenyu looked at Luo Qianqian with a face about to cry.
"Can I discuss this with Teacher Geng?" Principal Sun compromised, shaking his head as he looked at Luo Qianqian, her eyes full of excitement.
As soon as Teacher Geng heard that he had to teach lower grades, he immediately refused. The lower grades were full of mischief and all they thought about was playing—hardly any students loved to study. His head shook like a rattle drum.
"Ah, I just knew it." Principal Sun was talking with Teacher Geng in his office, but Luo Qianqian had already run off with He Wenyu to watch the first graders crying in a huddle outside their classroom.
"Why the sudden decision to have me teach lower grades? Haven’t I always taught grades four to six?" Teacher Geng asked.
"It’s all because of Luo Qianqian, that sister of Shufan from your class who tested into Experimental. She acted like if it weren’t for you teaching her, she wouldn’t skip grades and insisted on staying in first grade. You know Elder Zhang, the one from Experimental High School..."
"I know, I know, the one who retired and came back to work part-time as a high school teacher."
"Yes, that’s him; he specifically called to ask me to arrange schooling for these two kids and not to let them waste time in first grade."
"Is Elder Zhang doing all this just for the two kids?"
"Yes, even before Luo Qianqian enrolled, she was already a legend in our school. Even now, many in sixth grade know about her. She actually managed to get a teacher fired and four parents to pay off the incident."
"The Qian Xinxin incident? He never deserved to be a teacher in the first place. But Shufan is an exceptionally good kid. I’m quite interested in what his sister is like. All right then, I’ll take on the math class for third grade, but let’s forget about being the homeroom teacher. A couple of kids can’t change the fact that kids this age just love to make trouble."
"Okay, okay, so will you take their class next year too?" Principal Sun asked, delighted: "I’m worried that if you don’t, this kid might cause some more trouble."
"We’ll see when the time comes, but I’ll need a raise for taking on an extra class in math," Geng Zhi chuckled, standing up and turning to leave.
"Deal, just write up an application, and I’ll approve it," said Principal Sun readily.
Geng Zhi stumbled a bit, turning to look at Sun Aimin, surprised that he had agreed: "Should I go write it now?"
"..." Principal Sun waved his hand, letting Geng Zhi leave first.
Sun Aimin sighed, picked up the phone, thought for a moment, and then put it down again.
Outside the first-grade classroom at this time.
"Qianqian, do you really want to be in first grade? Look at them, all crying and wailing like they’ve just been vaccinated," He Wenyu said, holding Luo Qianqian’s hand and peering through the window in the corridor.
"I don’t even feel like going to school. First grade may be chaotic, but at least we get out early so we can have some time to sell pig’s feet," Luo Qianqian said glumly, glaring at the unfamiliar first graders and missing seeing her old classmates.
"I should have stayed at your place last night." The new apartment they bought six months ago was already finished, and the two families were only separated by a floor, but because Mother Luo and Mother He were feeling guilty, they had let the kids sleep at their respective homes.
"Hindsight is a luxury," Luo Qianqian continued, still leaning against the window, watching the first graders: It seems she was also such a small troublemaker back then. Luckily, she got a chance to start over, allowing her not to follow in her previous footsteps and live her life in a daze.