Chapter 8: Worries

  Yuan Youcai sat in his office, rubbing his temples with a slight headache. He was the principal of Shudu Fourth Middle School, also known as Shishi Middle School.

  Shizhong Middle School, also known as "Wenweng Shizhong", is a national-level key demonstrative high school. It was founded by Wen Weng, the governor of Shu Prefecture, between 143 BC and 141 BC, with a history of over 2,160 years, making it the first local government-run school in China and one of the oldest existing schools in the world. Since its founding, the school has experienced many ups and downs, with multiple name changes but never relocating, which is rare in both China and the world. It was among the first batch of national-level demonstrative ordinary high schools in Sichuan Province, and has been awarded as a civilized unit, a model school for school spirit, an art characteristic school, an experimental teaching demonstrative school, one of the top ten units for professional moral construction, and an advanced collective for physical education. The school has cultivated countless outstanding talents, including Guo Moruo, Li Yiang, Zeng Qi, Zhou Taixuan, Ma Zhiming, and Zhong Shan.

  This Shishi Middle School, as a key middle school in Sichuan Province and Chengdu City, has a principal named Yuan Youcai who is a deputy department-level official. Of course, the administrative level of the school is a product of the 1980s, and when appointing school cadres, the administrative level is no longer explicitly defined, but the treatment of housing, medical care, etc., when promoting school administrators to municipal organs, still follows the original administrative level of the school. The appointment of this principal must also be discussed by the Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee.

  However, the power is limited to the school. Except for the school gate, the influence is greatly discounted. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. Many students who graduated from Shishi Middle School and parents of current students have a lot of real power in various fields. They give Yuan Youcai some face because of their children and the school. Therefore, Yuan Youcai can be considered a person with broad connections in Chengdu. However, handling these complex relationships well and satisfying all parties is a profound study. Even for someone like Yuan Youcai who is good at socializing, there are still headaches.

  The new semester is about to start, and there are many trivial matters in school. Yuan Youcai leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and thought slowly, wondering if there was anything missing or any potential problems. Every semester, there will be many people with connections who want to get into the school, and they need to be taken care of. If they don't refuse anyone, even building another teaching building won't be enough. Therefore, how to choose and how to refuse requires careful consideration.

  In general, even if he wanted to refuse, Yuan Youcai would try his best to be polite. As the saying goes: don't take a village chief lightly, for behind him may stand a great Buddha. Even without a great Buddha, circumstances can change and one day you might need to ask someone else for help. So it's better to have more friends than enemies. Yuan Youcai's principle was that if he could avoid offending people, he would try his best not to offend them; even if things couldn't be done, leaving some goodwill is also good.

  Just then, the lightly covered office door was heavily pushed open with a bang, followed by a series of "clattering" high-heeled shoe sounds from outside the door to in front of the desk.

  Yuan Youcai knew without opening his eyes that the person who came was Gao Yulan, the head teacher of Class One Grade Two, and only she had such a fiery temper to dare burst into his office so recklessly.

  "Ah, Principal Yuan, how can you do this to me again? You promised me last time that it would be the last one! I know you're under a lot of pressure from those with connections, but can't you see that these students are all troublemakers? They don't attend classes properly, they don't hand in their assignments, and they even sneak around smoking and drinking. And just the other day, they got into a fight! My head is going to split open! Are you trying to drive me crazy by adding another one to my class?"

  This burst of chatter left Yuan Youcai speechless, and he could only smile wryly.

  Gao Yulan is over 40 years old, with a decent appearance, but her cheekbones are slightly high and her lips are quite thick, making her look somewhat fierce. She has a quick temper, is irritable, and can't keep things hidden in her heart. When she speaks, it's always sharp and cutting. Currently, she is the head teacher of Class 2, Grade 1 at Shishu Middle School, a first-class teacher in Shudu City, and has won the title of National Excellent Teacher. She has a good grasp on student management and teaching, and her students' grades are generally good, making her one of the school's treasures. It's no wonder that Yuan Youcai favors her and takes extra care of her - talented people always have some personality and temper. If someone else were to be so unreasonable in front of him, they would be in trouble. After all, Shishu Middle School is Yuan Youcai's territory, and he can't tolerate even a speck of dust in his eyes.

  Gao Yulan had come to his doorstep several times already, so Yuan Youcai didn't feel surprised or shocked. After she finished talking in one breath, he slowly and carefully said: "Teacher Gao, don't be in a hurry, sit down and talk slowly."

  Gao Yulan just vented her dissatisfaction, and it seemed like she realized that her behavior was a bit out of line. She sat down with a huff, but still didn't give in at all, saying: "Principal Yuan, it's not that I'm selfish or petty, but my class already has four students crammed in, while other classes only have one. You can't just keep taking advantage of me because you think I'm easy to bully, right? You did promise me, after all. A principal like you can't just go back on your word, can you?"

  "You're still so arrogant? You're the only one in the whole school who dares to speak to me like this!" Yuan Yōucái pointed at Gāo Yùlán with a helpless smile and said: "It's always because you have the ability that they keep assigning students to your class. Those who are capable must work harder, this is the school's new assignment for you, and also the parents' trust in you. These families all came to me specifically asking for their children to be assigned to your class, I'm also very troubled by this, it's not like we can refuse them, right?" After saying that, Yuan Yōucái spread his hands out to the sides, revealing an expression of genuine helplessness.

  Gao Yulan also knew that Yuan Youcai was telling the truth. Not to mention Shishi Middle School, but among all the schools in Sichuan Province, which one doesn't have some connections? However, if there are too many students like this in the class, not only will they not study well themselves, but they will also create a bad atmosphere in the class and affect the entire grade. She didn't want her reputation to be ruined because of this, so she insisted: "I know the principal is having a hard time, but it's not good to put all of them in my class either. If something goes wrong between them later on, it won't just be me who can't explain myself, even you, Principal, will have a hard time explaining yourself!"

  Yuan Youcai nodded in deep agreement. In fact, what Gao Yulan said, how could Yuan Youcai not be aware of it? These high-ranking officials' children have always been arrogant and no one is willing to give in to others. If they don't arrange things this way, the parents won't let it go either. They won't care if the school is difficult or not, but will think that the principal doesn't give them face and can't even handle such a small matter properly. That's why he has been having headaches over this.

  Just then, another teacher came to the door, looked in and said: "Oh dear, Principal Yuan is busy, I'll come back a bit later."

  "It's nothing, you go ahead and speak, I'll be going out later." Yuan Youcai took a look, it was Chen Wenzhi, the head teacher of Class 1 Grade 1. He thought to himself, this time no one has been assigned to his class, what does he want?

  Yuan Youcai was actually quite annoyed in his heart and didn't want to say anything to Chen Wenchu. The purpose of letting Chen Wenchu come in was to hint to Gao Yulan that they had already finished talking about the matter, so she could leave first. He didn't want to continue entangling with Gao Yulan on this matter, but unexpectedly, Gao Yulan seemed to have made up her mind and sat there motionless. Yuan Youcai furrowed his brow, but couldn't say anything directly, so he shifted his attention to Chen Wenchu instead.

  Chen Wenxi also seemed reluctant to have Gao Yulan sitting there, as if he didn't want her to hear what he was about to say. He glanced at Gao Yulan and then looked at Yuan Youcai with some embarrassment. However, seeing that Gao Yulan remained seated without avoiding the conversation, and the principal didn't say anything, he had no choice but to force himself to go forward and ask Yuan Youcai, "Principal, I heard that this time a new student in first year of high school is named Leng Binghan?"

  "Yes, there is such a student, what's wrong?" Yuan Youcai was somewhat curious, why Chen Wenchang also cared about this matter.

  But Gao Yulan was annoyed in her heart and didn't have much mind to listen to Chen Wenqi's trivial matters. However, as soon as she heard this name, her heart tightened involuntarily, and she muttered: Isn't this Leng Bing cold the student that Yuan Youcai wanted to assign to his own class? She immediately perked up her ears and listened carefully, also wanting to know why Chen Wenqi mentioned this student.

  Chen Wenqi hesitated for a long time before saying, "Principal, can this student be assigned to our class? I'm willing to take on the responsibility and teach this student."

  Yuan Youcai's eyes widened in surprise. This Chen Wenchu, who had been so reluctant to accept a student in his class before, with a face longer than a donkey's, was now coming to ask for it voluntarily? Was the sun rising from the west?

  Gao Yulan was also shocked, as they were in the same grade, this Chen Wenxi had always been playing against her, although he was always suppressed by her, but he seemed to never give up. As for this opponent, she was very clear about him, he was a master who would not get up early without profit, and the two of them had previously quarreled over a transfer student in their class. What was his intention for taking the initiative this time? Was there an unknown hidden reason behind it?