Chapter Ten For Mother's Dignity

  It was already late spring and early summer, the ceiling fan in the office was spinning rapidly. The space that had fallen silent due to Tang Yao's words could only hear the sound of the fan blades rotating, the crisp paper rustling with the wind, and the sunlight filtering through the dense leaves of the tung tree outside the window, sprinkling in a starry pattern. There was a feeling that time had stagnated.

  The first one to react was Su Zhi Li. He put away the shocked expression on his face and replaced it with a seemingly sudden realization, saying in a tone of disdain:

  "You think you can get into Yingdi High School? Dream on! I heard you and Lan Li already broke up, aren't you giving up yet? But you're also overestimating yourself. Don't even mention that he wouldn't look at you, even if there was a chance for you two, he's destined to go to a famous high school like Yingdi High School. Do you think it's a school where you can just say you want to go and get in? With your current grades, you won't even be able to get into an ordinary high school unless you pay for it, am I wrong?"

  Tang Wan looked at the teacher who was supposed to be a role model but didn't care about students' self-esteem, her heart full of disgust. She admitted that he was right, in her past life, Tang Wan's grades were indeed very poor, and it was difficult for her to get into an ordinary high school. In the end, she only managed to get into the best Yingdi High School because of the Ji family's connections. However, this was no reason for a teacher to humiliate his students!

  Everyone has dignity, and poor grades are not a heinous crime, just like poverty and disability are nothing to be ashamed of. However, there will always be people in this world who look at these vulnerable groups with colored glasses. Because they are vulnerable, they have no way to fight back and can only be looked down upon and trampled on. Tang Yao was such a person in her past life, facing Su Zhi Li's contempt she endured silently, but the Tang Yao of this life will not tolerate it again!

  "My intention to take the entrance exam for Yingdi High School has nothing to do with Lan Li, I want to go to that school because it is the best high school here and only there is suitable for me."

  Tang Wan looked at Su Zhi Li calmly and said: "As for you, Su Zhi Li, saying that I'm dreaming, we'll see who's right when the results come out. But this is an insult to me, originally I could have ignored it since you've taught me for three years, but earlier you also used words to insult my mother, which is something I must take seriously. However, from your behavior just now, you think you're not in the wrong, so do you dare make a bet with me? If I get into Yingdi University with my real results, you'll have to publicly apologize, are you daring enough to make this bet?"

  Tang Wan's voice was very calm, but it shocked people more than the announcement that she would be taking the entrance exam for Yingdi High School. It was as if a stone had been thrown into a quiet lake, and the office immediately erupted in whispers, which grew louder and louder.

  There were three teachers in the classroom, all of whom taught different subjects to first-year students. They knew Tang Yao as a student who always sat in the corner of the classroom, rarely looking up from her desk except to look at the blackboard, and never asking questions. When asked by the teacher, she couldn't answer, and her grades were always at the bottom. Due to her family's bad reputation, she was ostracized by her classmates, and these teachers generally kept a cold eye on her, only scolding her when she didn't do well in their subject. Otherwise, they had little contact with her. Today was the first time they saw her show her strength, like a small cat slapping an old tiger's ear. This unusual behavior left them all feeling like their jaws had dropped, wondering if this child had been driven crazy by the pressure of the college entrance exam?

  Another class teacher said to Su Zhi Li with a hint of schadenfreude: "Teacher Su, I didn't expect that your class would have such a student who takes care of his mother. This is truly a good example of our country's filial piety! You are indeed a great educator, I admire you!"

  Su Zhi Li's face turned bright red with anger, he glared at the person and thought: "How dare you! She is filial to her mother but doesn't take me, her teacher, seriously. Do you think I don't understand that you're mocking me, saying that my student is obedient but not respectful to their teacher because of a problem with me?" Looking at the smile on that person's face, he gritted his teeth in hatred, thinking that this mock exam had been ruined by this arch-nemesis. He immediately shifted the blame onto Tang Yao, thinking that if it weren't for her holding him back, how could his class have lost by a hair's breadth and come in second?!

  A tall, slightly chubby young female teacher frowned at Tang Yao and said: "Tang Yao, how can you speak to Teacher Su like that? He is your teacher after all, even if he was a bit rude with his words. Your mother may have been insulted, but that's no excuse for you to be disrespectful to your teacher. Now apologize, and we'll just forget this ever happened, then you can go back to class."

  Looking at the English teacher, Tang Wan said: "Any teacher who insults a student's mother can't get the student's respect. Facing someone who insults my own mother, I only have one identity, which is to be the child who protects their mother. For my mother's dignity, I want to make a bet with the teacher, and I don't think this has anything to do with disrespecting the teacher, although he doesn't deserve any respect anymore."

  The female teacher didn't say anything, although she was a teacher, but she was also a child. She knew that if her own mother were scolded, she would feel the same way too. At the same time, she was also a mother, and if she were insulted, she naturally hoped that her own children could defend her in the same way.

  Another language teacher spoke up, an old man who was quite advanced in years. Although he usually adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards students like Tang Jiao, today he also began to take this girl seriously and said to Su Zhi Li: "Teacher Su, both of you are at fault in this matter. You don't want to apologize, and Tang Jiao doesn't force you, but she just wants to make a bet with you, and the odds are against her. As a people's teacher, shouldn't you give her some motivation? Agree to it!"

  "Right! You also said that Tang Jiao getting into Yingdi is a pipe dream, what's there to be afraid of betting with her? It can't be that you're in the wrong, so you're afraid that even God will let her get in?" Su Zhi Li's arch-nemesis, Teacher Zhao, sneered from the side.

  Su Zhi Li said: "What have I done wrong, let's bet! Tang Yao, if you really get into Yingdi University, then on the day of returning to school, I will apologize to you in front of all teachers and students at the podium in the school auditorium. Of course, you must rely on your own real results, with your transcript as proof."

  Tang Wan nodded: "It's settled then."

  Next, Su Zhili suddenly changed his attitude of disagreeing with Tang Yao's request for leave earlier and accepted her sick leave application, agreeing to let her rest at home for two weeks.

  Teacher Zhao smiled slightly and said to Tang Yao, "Tang Yao, you must have your own reasons for wanting to take the entrance exam for Yingdi High School. I believe you are hiding your true abilities, but it's always better to be prepared. All the top students in our school have supplementary materials for each subject. Let me find a set for you to practice, it will be very helpful." As she spoke, she looked behind Tang Yao and said, "Yasheng, can you make a copy of your supplementary materials for Tang Yao?"

  Tang Wan looked at Su Zhi Li's face, which was red with anger, and knew that this Zhao teacher didn't really want to help herself, but just wanted to annoy Su Zhi Li. However, she still thanked him and turned her head to look at the people behind her, and was stunned by what she saw.

  He was a tall and thin boy, wearing a black T-shirt, white pants, with a haircut that looked like Rukawa's from Kuroko's Basketball. He had a handsome face with sharp features, the kind of sunny boy who is very popular among girls in school. However, Tang Yao looked at his handsome face not because she liked him, but because she was extremely familiar with that face.

  The boy nodded and smiled at Tang Yao, then walked to Teacher Zhao's side and said: "Teacher, I found a doubtful point on the test paper, I suspect it was misprinted, please take a look!"

  Yasheng put the roll of paper on his office desk, and the fan blew over it, emitting a faint smell of ink. The top was filled with dense rows of test questions, obviously handwritten before being printed in bulk. At that time, this type of roll was popular in schools, almost every school had an independent printing site, where large quantities of rolls were produced, quickly burying the third-year junior high students!

  "Oh? Let me take a look." Teacher Zhao picked up the paper and looked at the place that was clearly circled in red, nodded, "How did an extra decimal point get here? It must have been accidentally printed on. Go back to class and tell those classmates who got this question. This is number 43, Yasheng, you finished half of it overnight after I handed it out yesterday after school? That's impressive! If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask the teacher, no need to wait for the daily supplementary lesson."

  Yasheng smiled and nodded: "Thank you, Teacher Zhao, I'll go back first."

  Teacher Zhao nodded and smiled: "Go study, you can definitely get into Yingdi High School. Although our Sanzhong is not bad either, being able to get into Yingdi High School is also an honor for our school!"

  Su Zhi Li looked at Teacher Zhao's teachings to his beloved students, then looked at Tang Yao and felt even more annoyed. He said in a rough tone: "If nothing else, just leave! Two weeks later, if your grades are even worse, not even the high school department of San Zhong will accept you, no matter how much money you pay!"

  Tang Yao brushed past him like a gust of wind, turning around and walking away as if nothing had happened, leaving Su Zhi Li with an urge to smash his tea cup.

  Tang Yao!

  Walking in the corridor filled with sunlight, Tang Yao heard a voice calling her from behind. She turned around and saw that handsome young man named Yasheng was walking towards her in a golden light, just like the sun god Apollo.