Doing It Over Again

As a teacher, Li Lu really didn't want to see a student's home in such a situation. He looked up at the teenager in front of him, who was clean all over. At first glance, no one would believe that there were no adults taking care of him at home. But as a child, there was no need to lie about something so easily exposed. Moreover, with such a great result of being the first in the experimental class admission exam, no family members came to accompany the child to register, which seemed to indicate that there really were no adults taking care of him.

After recording the information, Li Lu handed Shen Shao a registration form: "Take this to the payment office to pay the tuition. After getting the payment receipt, come back to me to sign." After saying this, Li Lu asked again, "Do you want to apply for boarding?"

The boarding conditions at Experimental Middle School were really not good. As a homeroom teacher, he didn't want the first place in his class to be affected by the living environment. But this child's family situation was special, and even if he wanted to discuss it with the parents, he couldn't find anyone to talk to.

"No boarding," Shen Shao held the registration form and lowered his head, "My mother left me some money for school."

Seeing the child's lowered head, Li Lu couldn't ask any more questions. After reminding Shen Shao of some pre-school precautions, he let him go to pay the fees.

"Teacher Li, is this child your relative?" The teacher from Class 2 next to him saw that Li Lu's tone was particularly gentle towards the student who just registered and joked, "This child is clean and neat, looks like a good kid. If all the students in the class were like this, it would be much easier for us teachers."

"How could he be my relative," Li Lu smiled, not wanting to say that his student had lost his mother and encountered a father who had an affair, just smiling and saying, "This child has good grades and a special family situation."

"Could it be the first place who scored full marks in math?" Seeing Li Lu smiling without saying anything, the teacher from Class 2 looked at him with a mix of envy and jealousy. The school had set up two experimental classes, and during the draw for the top four students in the admission exam, Old Li got the first and third places, while their class only got the second and fourth places.

There were many people at the payment office, and Shen Shao had to wait in line for a long time before he could pay the money. When he returned to the registration place, he saw several students and parents around Teacher Li's desk, so he stood to the side and listened to them talk.

These parents were very polite to the teacher, asking some questions about the school, and then started to introduce how hard their children studied and how diligent they were, in hopes of leaving a good impression on the teacher before the start of the semester.

"Teacher Li, my child is tough, if he doesn't listen, you teachers can discipline him as you see fit, we parents won't be reluctant," a rather robust parent said, slapping his son's back with a palm as big as a fan, making a loud slap sound.

Shen Shao, hearing this sound, felt pain for the somewhat short student, seeing him stagger a bit, he silently took a step back.

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"Look at him, and then look at you," the robust parent pointed at Shen Shao, then disdainfully glanced at his own child, rubbing his hand over the child's head, then somewhat obsequiously said to Li Lu, "Teacher Li, my child, apart from anything else, is definitely honest, he definitely won't cause you any trouble."

Li Lu had been a teacher for many years and had seen all kinds of parents, so this rather robust parent didn't surprise him, he just took a few more looks at this child, "You're Yang Hongqiang, right?"

"Mm," Yang Hongqiang nodded obediently, then, taking the chance when his dad wasn't paying attention, glanced at Shen Shao next to him, grinning at him.

Shen Shao returned a smile to him. It had been too long, and many of his middle school classmates were already forgotten, let alone that he had been in Class 2 in his previous life, not Class 1, so he had even less impression of the students in Class 1.

"Shen Shao, have you paid the fees?" Li Lu saw him standing to the side, so he took a look at his payment receipt, then ticked his name off the list, collected his payment receipt, and handed the stub back to Shen Shao: "The official start of school is September 1st, gather in the class at 8:30 in the morning. Our Class 1 is in the first room on the left on the fifth floor of Building 1, don't be late."

"Thank you, teacher." Shen Shao took the payment stub, smiled at Li Lu and the student named Yang Hongqiang, then turned and left the registration point.

"This name seems a bit familiar," Yang Zhian thought for a while, then suddenly realized, "Shen Shao isn't the first place in this admission exam, is he?" After saying this, his gaze on Shen Shao's back became much warmer, then he continued to look at his own son with disdain.

Yang Hongqiang scratched his head, pretending not to see his dad's disdainful look, anyway, he would still take care of him while being disdainful, he was broad-minded, not going to take it to heart.

There were still a few days before school started, Shen Shao cleaned the house thoroughly, asked a locksmith to change the lock on the door, bought a lot of reference materials and famous works at home and abroad, then went back to the village on the 31st.

"Xiao Shao, have you registered?"

"Yes, school starts tomorrow."

"That's good, study in the experimental class, and then get into a good university." Villagers joked with him, then someone suddenly remembered something and said, "Shen Fudong's Shen Zhengyang seems to have also registered at Experimental Middle School, it's said that he got in through a relative's connection and spent some money, but it's the regular class, not your top class."

Shen Shao smiled and didn't respond to this, said goodbye to these people, and walked towards his home. Even after walking a long way, he could still hear them discussing how much money Shen Fudong's family had earned outside, and how much money they had spent to get Shen Zhengyang into Experimental Middle School.

He remembered that in his previous life, Shen Zhengyang had good grades and later got into a university with some reputation in the country, being talked about by the villagers for a while. However, he had been working outside and had never met this high achiever from the village.

When he got home, he took the fruit he bought to his uncle's house, where his uncle Shen Jiandong, Shen Yuan, and Shen Hong were all there. He put down the grapes and apples and said, "Uncle, I'm going to school tomorrow."

"Why buy these things," Shen Jiandong knew these fruits were not cheap, wanting Shen Shao to take them back, only to see his two daughters already digging into the apples and eating them, feeling a bit sour inside. Their family's conditions were not good, and the children rarely got to eat these things, what face did he have to blame his daughters for being impolite? He could only cough dryly and change the subject, "Did you get into the experimental class?"

Shen Shao nodded: "The school starts tomorrow morning, I won't have time, I'll go back to the county later."

Shen Jiandong, hearing the crisp sound of his daughters eating apples, felt even more depressed. It was his brother who had sinned, but as an uncle, he couldn't help the child much. What face would they have to raise their heads when they saw the Shao family in the future?

"It's better to go early, being late on the first day will leave a bad impression on the teacher," Shen Jiandong touched his trouser pocket, eventually not taking out the hundred yuan inside, "I'll take care of the house for you, go ahead and study."

Shen Shao glanced at Shen Yuan and Shen Hong, who were eating apples and, for once, didn't look at him with their eyes, even smiling at Shen Shao.

"Then I'm leaving, uncle, take care of your health at home," Shen Shao stood up, just as he walked out the door, he saw his aunt Zhang Xiaolan coming back with pigweed on her back, he repeated what he had just told his uncle.

"Then... then take care of yourself," Aunt Zhang Xiaolan looked inside, seeing Shen Jiandong smoking and not speaking, so she packed a bag of peanuts that had just been picked and dried this year for Shen Shao, "Take these to eat."

Shen Shao took the peanuts home, tidied up the house, which didn't have much valuable stuff, the most valuable being the passbook with over ten thousand yuan inside. He glanced at the empty house, walked out of the main room, and locked the door.

On the morning of September 1st, the gate of Experimental Middle School started to get lively, and various small stalls outside the gate along the street also started to set up. Shen Shao had ordered milk for himself, so he boiled the milk and cooked an egg for himself in the morning. After eating, he still felt a bit hungry, so he spent three mao to buy a steamed bun at a breakfast shop downstairs, feeling more at ease in his stomach.

Stepping into Classroom 1, Shen Shao found that a few students had already arrived. He chose a seat about three rows back and had barely sat down when he saw a classmate he had met during registration walk in.

"Hey, you're already here?" Yang Hongqiang greeted Shen Shao, sitting down next to him with an air of familiarity. "So early?"

"I live nearby," Shen Shao replied, glancing around at the other students. He noticed that some of them knew each other and were chatting together. The entire classroom buzzed with noise, giving it a bit of a market atmosphere.

By a quarter to eight, most of the students had arrived, and the initially set-up desks and chairs were no longer sufficient. Some latecomers had to stand at the back.

Each class was supposed to have only forty students who had passed the entrance exam, but there were at least seventy-odd students in the class. Most of these extra students were either connected or had secured their places through wealth and influence.

Shortly after, Li Lu appeared, and soon several workers brought in a dozen or so desks and chairs. Once everyone was seated, the once spacious classroom felt crowded.

After maintaining order, Li Lu introduced himself. Satisfied with the students' quiet demeanor, he took out the roll call list and said, "Now, let's get to know each other. The number I call out will be your student ID from now on, so remember it well. When your name is called, stand up and say 'here.' Let's begin the roll call."

"Number one, Shen Shao."

"Here!" Shen Shao stood up and heard a murmur in the classroom. After the teacher nodded, he calmly sat down.

Many students in the class were curious about who the top scorer of the entrance exam was. When Li Lu called out Shen Shao's name, everyone turned to look at him, wondering if he was the stereotypical bookworm.

They found that the top scorer was fair-skinned, not wearing glasses, and dressed neatly, far from the image of a bookworm they had imagined.

Even some girls thought seriously that Shen Shao was quite handsome.

"Number seventy-nine, Zhang Xiaolan," Li Lu finished calling the roll and scanned the room. He then began to explain the schedule: when morning self-study starts, when the midday break is, when afternoon classes begin, and when evening self-study ends and school lets out. After detailing this, he moved on to classroom rules. "Students who perform poorly and don't take their studies seriously will be moved to regular classes next semester. Our experimental class is for those who are earnest and hardworking."

Perhaps intimidated by Li Lu's words, the entire class fell silent.

Li Lu was pleased with the effect of his statement and continued with some words of encouragement for academic progress. He then selected a few tall boys to go to the logistics department to fetch the books that would be distributed shortly.

Perhaps because it was an experimental class, the logistics department quickly sorted out their books. By the time Shen Shao finished distributing the books, it was still before eleven o'clock.

"Please go home and preview the content. Classes officially start tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

As soon as Li Lu finished speaking, the students scattered like wild horses.

Shen Shao walked out of the classroom with Yang Hongqiang, listening to him talk about who's family did what, but he didn't pay much attention. He was simply looking forward to the next day.