Chapter Twenty-Two: The Arrival of the Principal

After Zhou Xuan finished speaking, the three people before him each wore a different expression.

Homeroom teacher Ms. Liu nodded gently, full of admiration. “I never expected you to be so diligent, Zhou Xuan. To persevere for so many days is truly impressive.”

Director Tian’s face showed a hint of awkwardness, as if unsure how to respond. He hadn’t anticipated Zhou Xuan would be so difficult to handle.

Vice Principal Li, on the other hand, maintained an inscrutable expression, lost in thought.

“I wonder if my answer satisfies you, Principal Li and Director Tian?” Zhou Xuan shifted into a more comfortable posture, leaning back against the desk, and addressed the two leaders before him.

Director Tian glanced at Vice Principal Li, who remained enigmatic. He sighed and said, “Although I believe what you say in principle, and I do hope our school has produced a genius… but—”

He looked toward Ms. Liu, the homeroom teacher. “We can’t really prove whether what you’ve said is true, can we?”

“If you want to investigate, I’ve already said everything I need to say. In fact, my grades are the most direct proof of my learning ability. Unless you find evidence of me cheating,” Zhou Xuan countered.

“If Zhou Xuan is so confident in his abilities, then let’s have a closed-door exam. Let the teachers of Chinese, Math, and English each prepare a set of questions, and have Zhou Xuan answer them. That way, everything will be clear.” Vice Principal Li still couldn’t believe Zhou Xuan had managed to improve so much in just three or four months, and finally played his trump card.

Zhou Xuan sneered inwardly. Tests? Who’s afraid of that?

But he considered the possibility of tricks—such as making the questions impossibly difficult, beyond the level of junior high. Or tampering with the grading to deliberately lower his score. All these could happen; Zhou Xuan had to be cautious. He needed someone trustworthy to supervise the exam.

“No problem!” Zhou Xuan replied briskly.

Seeing Zhou Xuan had no objections, Director Tian felt reassured. “Then it’s settled. I’ll have the teachers of Chinese, Math, and English each prepare a test paper, at least as difficult as this last exam. Thursday evening, Zhou Xuan, you’ll come to my office and take the tests. Principal Li, what do you think?”

“No problem,” Vice Principal Li agreed.

Ms. Liu added, “That’s all we can do.”

After they left, Ms. Liu caught up with Zhou Xuan, a bit embarrassed. “Zhou Xuan, Vice Principal Li was really out of line, wasn’t he? I never expected them to doubt you so much. Are you alright with this?”

“I’m fine on my end. I just worry they might pull something on theirs.”

“I doubt they’d do that.”

“Ms. Liu, you’re being too naive. They control the difficulty of the questions and the grading process. It’s normal for them to manipulate my score if they want to. They hold all the power,” Zhou Xuan explained, then looked at Ms. Liu expectantly. “That’s why, to ensure fairness, I’ll need you to find someone.”

“Who?” Ms. Liu asked.

“Of course, our respected Principal Gu. I’ve heard he cares about students, and is upright and impartial—a great principal,” Zhou Xuan recalled.

“That’s a good idea. With Principal Gu’s character, he definitely wouldn’t let Vice Principal Li or Director Tian treat you unfairly,” Ms. Liu said, angry on Zhou Xuan’s behalf. “It’s just a routine test; there’s no need for all this fuss. I’ve already vouched that you didn’t cheat, yet they still want you to take a solo test—it’s completely unreasonable.”

This incident was a blatant disregard for the homeroom teacher. In Ms. Liu’s eyes, Zhou Xuan was an outstanding child, worthy of care and protection, not groundless suspicion.

If a less confident student were in Zhou Xuan’s place, they might have been crushed by all this.

Zhou Xuan, too, was furious. He resolved never to let the troublemaker get away with it. Yet, the situation wasn’t without its advantages—it was an opportunity to win Principal Gu’s support, which could make everything easier in the future.

Zhou Xuan wasn’t just focused on studying; he also intended to earn money—more and more of it.

Sure enough, Director Tian hadn’t asked Ms. Liu or any other teachers to prepare the tests. When Thursday’s evening study session arrived, another student came to inform Zhou Xuan to go to Director Tian’s office.

“So they’re trying to bypass Ms. Liu and handle this privately. Director Tian’s intentions are truly malicious,” Zhou Xuan realized. If Ms. Liu were present, they wouldn’t be able to falsify results. By excluding her, they hoped to quickly settle the matter and make it airtight.

Zhou Xuan told the messenger he needed to use the restroom first, then he’d go.

Instead, Zhou Xuan detoured to the third floor office, found Ms. Liu, and explained the situation.

“Alright, I’ll go get the principal right away!” Ms. Liu said.

Zhou Xuan’s eyes lit up. “We could also invite Ms. Wang, the English teacher, and Ms. Chen, the Chinese teacher. If the principal isn’t in his office, we can ask them to come.”

“Yes, with us all there, no one will dare mistreat you,” Ms. Liu said, looking at Zhou Xuan with admiration—he always thought of everything.

Zhou Xuan went to answer the test, while Ms. Liu went to gather reinforcements. Each acted swiftly.

Arriving at Director Tian’s office, Zhou Xuan found only Director Tian and Vice Principal Li inside, with a few exam papers on the desk.

Seeing Zhou Xuan enter, Director Tian smiled, “You’re here, Zhou Xuan. If you can finish these papers in three hours and score above 120 in each subject, we’ll acknowledge your abilities.”

Zhou Xuan calmly glanced at the tests. Not too difficult, not beyond junior high level, but full of obscure questions that most students wouldn’t know.

Director Tian had come prepared, setting up these tricky questions to trip him up. The math section, in particular, involved heavy calculations—impossible to finish in an hour.

Unfortunately for them, they’d met Zhou Xuan. He intended to score full marks and watch their reaction.

“Alright, no problem,” Zhou Xuan began answering, while waiting for Ms. Liu and the others to arrive.

Time ticked by in silence; the two men said nothing.

When Zhou Xuan finished the Chinese test, both men picked it up and looked it over, their faces registering surprise.

Of course, they didn’t grade it on the spot. Likely, they intended to alter the results afterward and falsify Zhou Xuan’s score.

But Zhou Xuan wouldn’t give them the chance.

Just as he finished the English paper, there was a knock at the door.

Director Tian looked surprised—who would come at this hour?

He opened the door to find Principal Gu standing outside, accompanied by several of Zhou Xuan’s teachers. Director Tian was so startled he could barely speak. “P-Principal Gu, what brings you here?”

Principal Gu, in his fifties, hair graying and face a bit pale, said, “I came to see how you’re evaluating the student?”

Vice Principal Li, upon hearing Principal Gu’s arrival, immediately stood up. “Principal Gu, we didn’t expect you to be disturbed.”

Principal Gu made no reply. He entered, saw Zhou Xuan diligently working, and asked Ms. Liu, “Is this the student you mentioned?”

“Yes, this is Zhou Xuan!”

Without so much as a glance at Director Tian, Principal Gu waved his hand. “You’ll grade the papers right here and now. Let’s see if this student is as outstanding as you claim.”

With that, he picked up Zhou Xuan’s Chinese test and began reading through the essay.