Ling Hua is in good shape today, having finished several test papers in just a few hours.
To ensure the fairness, impartiality, and transparency of the grades, Wang Juan even specifically asked several other subject teachers to grade the papers.
But as grading progressed, the other subject teachers began to praise her one after another.
"Student Ling, how did you think of this solution? It’s much simpler and easier to understand than the one in the textbook."
"Student Ling, your algorithm is also quite innovative. When I was grading the previous paper, I wanted to ask where you learned this method."
Ling Hua smiled and looked towards Jiang Moxi: "All these were taught by my home tutor, Sister Moxi."
Listening to their conversation, Wang Juan felt something was amiss.
Could it be that Jiang Moxi is really that smart, enabling a poor student to improve so much in such a short time?
But then Wang Juan remembered that Jiang Moxi was studying at the Technical College, and she felt that such an idea was absurd.
If Jiang Moxi really had such great ability, why didn’t she apply to First Academy herself, instead of wasting away at the Technical College?
After comforting herself, Wang Juan began grading the papers for her subject.
But the more she graded, the more serious her expression became.
Because Ling Hua had gotten almost all of the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions correct, with only a few mistakes in some of the major questions.
When the scores were calculated, Wang Juan’s face turned completely pale.
Because this time, Ling Hua scored even higher than during the previous diagnostic test.
Now, Wang Juan was stunned.
"What... What should we do?"
Was she really going to risk her job over a failing student?
While Wang Juan was in a dilemma, Fu Youhan, Jiang Moxi, and Ling Hua returned to the office.
"Teacher Wang, have the papers been graded?"
Ling Hua had been doing papers all morning and felt as though all her energy had been drained; her stomach’s protests were now so loud, she just wanted to eat as soon as possible.
"They’ve been graded, but..." Wang Juan hesitated.
Then she looked at Fu Youhan: "Student Ling’s uncle, I think for just a small test , there’s no need to make such a fuss. How about we just call off the bet from before, so as to not make the children laugh at us adults?"
Wang Juan thought that since Fu Youhan was a man, men generally wouldn’t make things difficult for women.
But she didn’t expect that Fu Youhan would simply say, "When you were forcibly pinning the label of cheating on Huahua, you didn’t say that."
And Jiang Moxi was even more straightforward: "Show the report card first."
She had wasted a whole morning at Ling Hua’s school, and now she was inexplicably irritable.
Wang Juan could only take out Ling Hua’s results, and said awkwardly:
"I know I was wrong to accuse Student Ling without proper investigation earlier, indeed it’s not what a teacher should do. I’ve already done some deep self-reflection, so let’s just put an end to this matter here."
After all, she still did not want to lose her job over such a trivial matter.
At this moment, Jiang Moxi finished reviewing Ling Hua’s report card and handed it to Fu Youhan.
Fu Youhan took a quick glance and saw that Ling Hua’s grades were even better than the previous test.
Consequently, the look he gave Wang Juan was even colder.
"So, Teacher Wang, you’re not planning to fulfill your promise from before?"
"I just think it’s not necessary to make such a big fuss over such a small matter," Wang Juan, who had been a teacher for more than a decade, spoke convincingly.
"What you think is a small matter could potentially ruin Huahua’s future," Fu Youhan said.
Ling Hua quickly nodded in agreement!
If Wang Juan can’t clear her name today, she’s likely to become disheartened and lose interest in studying seriously.
But fortunately, her uncle proved her innocence.
Yet Wang Juan refuses to vindicate her, wanting to gloss over everything so simply; it’s infuriating.
"But hasn’t everything remained intact? Student Ling can continue to study at school, and nothing has changed."
When Wang Juan said this, she no longer had the initial sense of guilt.
After all, her earlier resignation was just a verbal agreement with Fu Youhan.
From the school’s perspective, there wasn’t a clear fault on her part, so they couldn’t dismiss her.
Wang Juan thought it over and over, feeling that even if she didn’t publicly apologize or keep her promise, there was nothing Fu Youhan and his people could do to her.
Seeing Wang Juan’s unbothered demeanor, like a pig not afraid of scalding water, Fu Youhan’s lips curled into a cold smile.
"Since Teacher Wang is so stubborn in her ways, she better watch out for herself."
Having said that, Fu Youhan gestured for Jiang Moxi and Ling Hua to leave.
Watching the three leave, Wang Juan secretly smirked with self-satisfaction: "I knew it, you can’t do anything to me."
But Wang Juan’s smugness lasted only until that evening.
As she entered her house, she saw her husband at home, irritably drinking alcohol.
"Why are you home so early today?"
Wang Juan’s husband managed one of the subsidiaries under Fu’s and was always busy, seldom seen before nine o’clock in the evening.
"Don’t mention it, I got fired!"
Her husband said, taking another deep drink.
"What? Weren’t you recently recognized as one of the company’s top ten outstanding employees, and weren’t you set for a promotion and raise at year’s end? How could they fire you just like that?" Wang Juan was dumbfounded.
Her husband’s manager position at a company under Fu’s was not only well-paid but also prestigious.
Over the years, which of their relatives hadn’t treated them with the utmost respect?
During holidays, relatives would also give them gifts, hoping for her husband’s patronage.
If the news of her husband’s dismissal got out, how could they face anyone?
But her husband said, "I have no idea. The vice-chairman said it was a sudden notice instructing them to fire me. Made me wonder who I might have offended?"
Wang Juan immediately thought of Ling Hua’s incident today. Could it have been Ling Hua’s uncle who orchestrated this?
But after pondering, Wang Juan felt it was unlikely.
Ling Hua’s last name is Ling, so her uncle should also be a Ling—how could the Fu Family be involved?
While Wang Juan and her husband were pondering, their son Xiao Li also suddenly came home.
"Xiao Li, why did you come back too? Didn’t you say you were dining out with your colleagues today?"
Xiao Li, a graduate of a top university, was currently working on frontline development at an advanced chip company and was highly regarded by his superiors.
Wang Juan always took pride in Xiao Li, boasting about him to others.
Unexpectedly, her pride confessed dejectedly, "Mom, I’ve been kicked off the project."
Now, not only was Wang Juan shocked, but her husband was also flabbergasted.
"Did you make a mistake?"
The couple stood up simultaneously to question Xiao Li.
Xiao Li replied in frustration: "If I had made a mistake, I would’ve accepted being fired. But I did nothing wrong, and that’s why I feel so angry."
While his words sent his parents into a frenzy, Wang Juan’s phone also started ringing...