The right column's list of missed calls was long:
Huaicheng Xingyu School (Missed)
Huaicheng Experimental High School - High School Division (Missed)
Affiliated School of Huaihai Psionic University (Missed)
Huaicheng No. 7 High School (Missed)
Huaicheng Yucai High School (Missed)
Huaicheng No. 2 High School (Missed x2)
Zhuoyue Dual-Track Experimental School (Missed)
Chuzhou No. 1 High School (Missed)
Chutian National Academy (Missed)
Huazhong Yingcai High School (Missed)
Jiang Zhaoye looked at this long list of names, feeling quite dazed.
Among them were several schools that had been his dream choices before the high school entrance exam. Back then, his liberal arts grades were good, so he dared to dream. After taking the psionic score test for the entrance exam, he didn't even dare think about them.
Especially Huaicheng No. 1 High School and the Affiliated High School of Huaihai University, both of which were top-tier local schools. Their single-attribute score cutoffs were 45 and 48 respectively. Back then, his highest single attribute was only 16, a trash score, so he didn't even have the courage to apply to either of them.
"But... what's up with these last few schools? How did schools from neighboring cities call here? Is the psionic test file a leaky sieve?"
"What about No. 2 High School?" Ms. Wen asked calmly, interrupting his messy thoughts. "What conditions did they offer over the phone?"
Jiang Zhaoye snapped out of it and counted on his fingers. "Full waiver of tuition and fees, a special scholarship of at least fifty thousand a year, a dedicated psionic instructor for one-on-one guidance, and a complete tilt of resources toward me. Then they said if I need it, they can arrange a single dorm room equipped with Rank 3 spirit-gathering devices, and assign me a teacher specializing in both Ice and Water elements, a famous teacher freshly poached from the province this year..."
He paused and added, "Oh, right, they also said the principal will personally show me around campus on orientation day..."
Ms. Wen listened quietly, raised an eyebrow without speaking, and took a sip from her teacup.
On the TV screen, Xiao Yu had perceptively extracted and organized the details Jiang Zhaoye mentioned, adding Huaicheng No. 2 High School to the left column with a long list of notes behind it.
Jiang Zhaoye looked at the screen full of schools, feeling quite pleased inside.
He knew his current stats were indeed a bit overpowered, but he hadn't expected the world to become this friendly after being overpowered.
What a glorious prospect...
Before the high school entrance exam, Jiang Zhaoye had actually always been a bit proud. What did ranking in the top fifty citywide in academic scores for the entrance exam mean?
It meant his grades had never dropped below the top ten in his grade or top three in his class throughout his three years of middle school. If he performed exceptionally well, he could even compete for the top spot in class. From childhood to now, he had always been a smart kid in the conventional sense, an honor student, a top student, the "other kid" parents praised.
Yet just a single psionic test—a mere psionic test—had knocked him from heaven down to earth, leaving him teetering on the edge of hell.
Their taunts had been so loud.
During those days and nights of cultivation that yielded almost no visible returns, Jiang Zhaoye realized for the first time that he was just an ordinary prospective high school student. Just as those people said... so what if his academic grades were good? His psionic energy was average, he had no future, and he would merely be consumable fodder lost in the crowd.
That kind of gap was far too tragic.
Yet after merely a month, just another psionic test, and he had become a prized commodity fought over by every school.
People do not recognize the tree that reaches the clouds until it towers high above.
"Mom." Jiang Zhaoye suddenly spoke up, his expression surprisingly calm. "They know, right? They know my stats jumped up within these two months of summer break... no, within one month, right? It should all be written in my file. Won't they think it's abnormal or unstable when they spend so many bargaining chips to fight for me?"
Ms. Wen set down her teacup and glanced at him. "Do you think it's normal?"
Jiang Zhaoye fell silent.
Ms. Wen didn't force him for an answer, merely saying, "The tester already flagged you for high potential, and now so many calls have come in, which means the official side has already recognized your situation and given you an initial endorsement. A spirit eye awakening or a constitution awakening are both plausible explanations; they're just rare in Huaicheng. Looking at the whole province or the entire country, talented kids are as plentiful as carp crossing a river."
She paused and added, "Broaden your horizons. Don't be complacent or arrogant, but there's no need to feel guilty or anxious either. Stand tall and accept the preferential treatment and cheers you deserve. There are plenty of people in this world whose stats grow faster than yours. Everyone will only think you have high talent and great comprehension; no one will randomly suspect or speculate about your... What kind of big secret could a fourteen-year-old child like you have? Why be so full of worries all the time?"
Jiang Zhaoye looked at Ms. Wen with sparkling eyes, his heart gradually settling down.
"Alright, down to business." Ms. Wen clapped her hands, pulling the topic back. "The current situation is that No. 1 High School, No. 3 High School, and the Affiliated High School have all contacted me, No. 2 High School contacted you directly, and a whole bunch of schools are waiting in line to get through... But except for the first four, the rest of the local schools are too poor. There's no need, and I won't agree to you going to school in a neighboring city alone at such a young age."
"So the choices are only No. 1 High School, No. 2 High School, No. 3 High School, and the Affiliated High School. Which one are you leaning toward?"
"No. 2 High School, probably." Jiang Zhaoye thought for a moment and said, "No. 2 High School gave me the best terms: full waiver of tuition and fees, plus a scholarship, a single room, and a teacher tailored to my attributes... Other schools might not even have a one-on-one Ice-attribute teacher. Besides, No. 2 High School was the one I filled out after the entrance exam, and I was already admitted, so there's no need for hassle."
Ms. Wen nodded. "No. 3 High School's terms are decent too, but their faculty and overall strength are a bit inferior to No. 2 High School this year. The new principal of No. 2 High School has connections and pulled in a huge investment this year. The Affiliated High School has good resources, but they didn't state specific terms and wanted us to negotiate in person. As for No. 1 High School, not to mention terms, they didn't even state any—they just called to test the waters."
As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Zhaoye: "What do you think yourself?"
Jiang Zhaoye fell silent for a moment before saying, "I want to go to No. 2 High School."
"Why?"
"Because..." Jiang Zhaoye's eyes were calm, and his youthful face bore a trace of composure similar to his mother's. "They value me the most. The principal personally instructing the admissions office to call me might be polite words, but out of all the schools, only No. 2 High School directly offered terms—and solid, extremely generous terms at that."
"Going to other schools, it's basically impossible to get better terms." He looked up at Ms. Wen. "Mom, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I want to go to a place that truly values me."
Ms. Wen looked at him. Her gaze, which had carried a hint of testing and scrutiny, now slowly welled with a touch of relief.
She was silent for a moment, then gave a decisive nod. "Alright, No. 2 High School it is. I'll call the other schools back later and say we've made up our minds."
As she spoke, she picked up her phone to operate it. Suddenly, Xiao Yu on the TV spoke up: "Ma'am, an incoming call from the Admissions Office of Huaicheng No. 2 High School has been detected again. Would you like to answer?"
Ms. Wen and Jiang Zhaoye exchanged a tacit glance and both smiled.
"I'll take it." Ms. Wen picked up her phone briskly. "Then I'll tell them directly~ It's set, No. 2 High School it is."
"Xiao Yu, help reply to the other schools as well, so those people don't keep harassing us."
Xiao Yu responded crisply, "Understood, ma'am."
Jiang Zhaoye leaned back on the sofa, watching the long list of schools on the TV screen. The lighthearted joy had not completely faded, but his heart had already settled down, bathed in the calm of everything being finalized.
In just one summer break, everything had changed.
He looked up toward the window. The afternoon sunlight was no longer as fierce, streaming through the floor-to-ceiling glass, filtered by the thermostat system, falling on him as nothing more than a gentle warmth.
The cicadas' chirping continued, one after another, as if it would never stop.
He suddenly felt that this summer seemed to have only just begun.
Rate on N.U.
