Wen Leyu

When Lu Jingyao's letter arrived at Qingshui County No. 2 Middle School, Li Ye had just been transferred to the new repeat class, Class 1, along with several classmates from Class 2.

One classmate grumbled resentfully, "Why are they shuffling us around for no reason? I just got familiar with my deskmate to the point where we could 'read palms,' and now they're forcefully breaking us up."

However, Li Ye, who knew the inside story from his grandfather, knew this was the school reclassifying students into "fast and slow" classes.

County No. 2 Middle School had enrolled three repeat classes this year, and at the beginning of the term, based on the college entrance exam results, Class 1 repeat was designated as the "fast class."

But a single exam score couldn't fully reflect a student's overall ability. After four months of intensive teaching, performance disparities had emerged in each class.

Some students had made a comeback, while others had fallen behind. Among the students who had just been promoted to the second year, there were also a few promising talents.

Therefore, it was inevitable that the school would re-select promising students through exams to form a new "fast class" to boost the promotion rate.

Li Ye, carrying his backpack, followed Hu Man and the others into the classroom of the repeat Class 1, walking in lazily.

This immediately drew the attention of many students.

"Why is Huang Shiren in our class? He can't even break into the top ten in Class 2!"

"Hmph, his family is rich! Maybe he bribed someone to get in!"

"Not maybe, it's definite. That landlord always takes the crooked path."

"Poor Guo Yunzhen, he studied so hard, but he was squeezed out by this Huang Shiren."

As some entered, others had to leave. When Li Ye and the others entered repeat Class 1, some students from repeat Class 1 were assigned to the other two classes.

Students who had been in repeat Class 1 for a long time always considered themselves superior. Now that they were being pushed out, it was natural for them to feel resentful.

But these students only grumbled in low voices. Li Dayong, strong as a bear, was a bully in Class 1, and he and Li Ye, the "dog landlord," were kindred spirits. Few dared to provoke them directly.

"Brother, brother, sit over here!"

Li Dayong, sitting in the last row of the classroom, happily stretched out his arm to greet him.

Although Li Dayong was big and burly, his grades were actually slightly better than Li Ye's.

Because Li Ye had to find Lu Jingyao, Li Dayong had tried to be careful not to provoke Li Ye before. Now that they were in the same class, he was actually happier than Li Ye.

Li Ye smiled and walked towards Li Dayong, but he was stopped midway.

Xia Yue, Lu Jingyao's former best friend, held a letter and said to Li Ye with a grimace, "Here, your letter."

Li Ye took the letter in surprise. After seeing the postmark date, his smiling face instantly turned grim.

"My letter, why is it in your hands?"

"I saw it at the front desk and brought it over for you. What, are you going to thank me?"

Xia Yue rolled her eyes and put on a contemptuous expression.

But when she met Li Ye's suddenly cold and oppressive gaze, she couldn't help but take half a step back and asked in surprise, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not doing anything," Li Ye said coldly. "I just want to know, by what right did you withhold my mail?"

Xia Yue raised her voice, "Who withheld your mail? I kindly brought it over for you, and you're biting the hand that feeds you."

"This letter was delivered yesterday," Li Ye interrupted Xia Yue's defense, holding up the envelope. "The postmark is the evidence. Do you want us to check the records at the post office? You already tampered with my mail last time, and now you're withholding my letter again. What exactly do you want?"

"..."

Xia Yue was speechless for a moment, her eyes wide as if about to spew fire.

The other students in Class 1 finally stood up indignantly to support her.

"What's the big deal about a letter? Are you trying to bully someone from Class 1 on your first day?"

"Exactly! It's bad enough you got in through the back door, but now you're looking for trouble. Do you really think Class 1 is easy to mess with?"

"Bang~"

Li Dayong, sitting in the back row of the classroom, slammed the table and stood up angrily, roaring, "Who are you calling a back door entry? Watch what you say, everyone!"

Li Dayong's fierce reputation was not for nothing. The noisy chatter in the classroom immediately died down by more than half.

But Xia Yue was still fuming and said recklessly, "What, you're not even allowed to say it's a back door entry? Everyone knows what Li Ye's grades are. Why should he be in our Class 1?

Our Class 1 originally had fifty people and twenty-five desks. Why is there an extra desk now? It's clearly prepared for Li Ye. Isn't this a back door entry?"

"..."

The fierce Li Dayong was stumped and speechless for a moment, but a sinister voice came from the classroom door.

"Who was saying the school opened a back door? For whom?"

Xia Yue shivered unexpectedly and turned to look at the door. She saw that the homeroom teacher for Class 1 had arrived at the door at some point.

"Teacher Luo, we were discussing the results of the recent mock exam."

"Discussing results? Xia Yue, do you think you are qualified to discuss other people's results? What was your score on this mock exam? Did you even get five hundred points?"

"No."

Xia Yue smiled awkwardly, but in her heart, she cursed Li Ye a hundred times. She thought Li Ye had brought this undeserved disaster upon her.

"Aren't you all going to sit down in your seats?"

"Hmph~"

Teacher Luo snorted coldly, turned and said something to the person behind her, then walked onto the podium.

It was only then that everyone noticed a middle-aged woman holding a lesson plan book and a girl with a schoolbag standing at the door of Class 1's classroom.

"Now I will introduce your new teacher and new classmate. This is your new English teacher, Teacher Ke, and this is your new classmate, Wen Leyu. Please welcome them."

"Patter patter patter~"

The students of Class 1 applauded in unison, and Teacher Ke walked onto the podium and bowed slightly to everyone.

Teacher Luo beckoned to the girl standing outside the door and pointed to the empty seat next to Li Ye. "Alright, Wen Leyu, you can go sit in the empty seat in the last row for now. We'll adjust your seat later."

The girl walked in from outside and towards Li Ye.

As she moved, the dozens of pairs of eyes in the classroom shifted their gaze in unison, like tracking radar.

The girl's gaze was clear and still, and she was completely unfazed by everyone's attention.

However, when her eyes met her new deskmate's, she was visibly surprised for a moment, and then a faint smile appeared on her indifferent face.

Li Ye knew both Wen Leyu and Teacher Ke, but he hadn't expected to meet them again at County No. 2 Middle School.

In the college entrance examination 80 years ago, English scores were only for reference and were not included in the total score.

Even in '81, it was only calculated as 30% of the written score, so many candidates did not pay enough attention to it, and there were many who couldn't recognize the 26 letters of the alphabet.

But Lu Jingyao's father had a discerning eye and saw the opportunity.

Through various connections, he found Teacher Ke, who was temporarily residing in Qingshui County, and asked her to tutor his daughter in English. In just half a year, Lu Jingyao's English scores improved significantly.

The college entrance examination questions of this era were considerably simpler compared to later years.

Therefore, when Lu Jingyao took the college entrance examination, although her total score was not outstanding, she achieved a very high score in English and was admitted to Beijing Foreign Studies University on a special admission basis. It was a close call, and a stroke of great luck.

Li Ye, who was already Lu Jingyao's fiancé at the time, after receiving a few tutoring sessions with Lu Jingyao, shifted his focus back to the subjects with a full score of 100.

Although his final scores were not good enough, the intricacies involved were thought-provoking.

"This class adjustment is a targeted teaching adjustment by the school. Please do not let this normal adjustment affect your normal studies."

"I warn you, do not engage in any activities unrelated to your studies during class. Xia Yue, as the class monitor, you must maintain order."

The head teacher, Teacher Luo, emphasized discipline on the podium and was about to turn to leave.

But Li Ye raised his arm high.

Teacher Luo frowned and asked, "Student, what is it?"

Li Ye stood up and said in a calm and steady tone, "Reporting to the teacher, I believe that student Xia Yue's moral character does not meet the standards of a class monitor, and therefore she is not qualified to be responsible for maintaining class order."

"..."

The entire room was silent for two seconds, and then erupted into chaos.

Everyone twisted their necks 180 degrees to look at the tall, thin boy in the back row.

Xia Yue, in particular, was furious, wishing she could jump over and strangle Li Ye.