Having said that, she began to pick up her lesson plan and call the roll.
When she called the names of Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi, she was somewhat surprised.
The seats she had randomly assigned the day before without looking at the names, and she had not expected that these siblings would coincidentally end up sitting together, completely unaware that before her arrival, there had already been a tumultuous incident.
After confirming that all the students were present, the homeroom teacher began to hand out textbooks and appointed a student she was familiar with and who was also quite strong as the acting class president.
On the first day, there were no plans to start formal lessons. Once the textbooks were distributed, the next step was to begin self-introductions, just sharing their names and ages.
Ruan Jiaojiao quickly realized that, perhaps because in this era people generally started school later, she was actually the youngest in the class! The oldest was the acting class president, Li Hu, who was already nine years old.
After the self-introductions, the homeroom teacher spoke for a while, and looking at the time, which was already past nine o’clock, dismissed the class. She also instructed them to head straight home after school and not linger outside.
Ruan Jiaojiao wanted to give her teacher the medical proof that the Ruanlin Family had provided her that day, so she stayed back for a while. Meanwhile, the upper grades had mostly finished school, and Little Fatty and his group had gathered at the entrance of the first-grade classroom, waiting for Ruan Jiaojiao.
No sooner had Ruan Jiaojiao handed the proof to her homeroom teacher than she heard a commotion outside, as if someone was throwing a tantrum, the noise growing louder and closer.
The homeroom teacher quickly stood up and walked towards the door; Ruan Jiaojiao was curious and looked over.
She saw Liu Mei carrying a table while cursing and barging in, yelling at the top of her lungs, "Why can’t my son attend first grade, huh? Why!?"
As she spoke, she slammed the table down beside the podium.
Upon seeing Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi, her eyes flashed, and pointing at their noses, she addressed the teachers and the principal chasing her from outside, "Why can they directly join first grade while you insist on my son attending preschool class? Is your school so deceitful? Just trying to take our hard-earned money! Be careful, I’ll report you to the authorities!"
It turns out that Liu Mei had inquired about Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi attending first grade the day before.
Initially, she had not considered enrolling Xiu Cheng in first grade, as everyone around her started from preschool, and she had planned the same. However, upon learning that Xiu Xi and Ruan Jiaojiao were directly admitted into the first grade, she was no longer content.
At that time, preschool tuition was not expensive, due to fewer books and less demand for teachers. A semester’s fees were at most about ten yuan, and for two semesters, it wouldn’t exceed thirty yuan.
But thirty yuan was still money!
And naturally, it was better not to spend it if possible.
Once she learned that Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi had skipped preschool and gone straight to the first grade, she was no longer willing to let Xiu Cheng attend preschool. She caused a fuss in the preschool class, insisting the teacher refund her the tuition, after which she brought Xiu Cheng straight to the first-grade classroom.
In the sixth production team, as long as she did not confront the Ruanlin Family, Liu Mei was certainly one of the best at arguing. Now, within the school, facing a group of teachers, she was even more unmatched, cursing her way through and overwhelming the teachers trying to hold her back.
No matter how the teachers tried to explain, it was no use; she was adamant that Xiu Cheng should be in the first grade.
In the end, with no other solution, the preschool teachers brought another copy of yesterday’s test paper.