NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: Achievement award
As I was biding my goodbye to teacher Wei when she stopped me.
“Student Bai, did you forget something?” What could he forget? better play it safe
“Maybe…” I said
“Maybe your diploma? or maybe the achievement award?” replied teacher Wei teasingly
I completely forgot! I looked around and the 2 students who should also get the diploma had already left.
“They got theirs this morning. This is why they were late” Then why do I have to wait until afternoon to get mine? and why is teacher Wei smiling like that?
“I am going to see the dean anyway. Why not go together?” offered teacher Wei and I agreed
On our way there, we met very few people, this was unusual as it was time to leave school. We arrived at the announcement building close to the exit. Nowhere near the office
“Teacher Wei, this is not the way to the dean’s office” I said
“The dean is here” she replied. I hoped he had my diploma. I was going to be late if he did not and with yesterday's outburst, the driver might not wait for me if I was late. Well, it would give me a reason to buy a carriage and hire my own servant though.
When we entered the building I saw a hundred pairs of eyes looking at me. Students and their parents, some officials including the city lord as well as all school teachers. My mind went blank.
“Student Bai, come here” said the dean. I automatically did
“We are all here to give the achievement award to student Bai YuShin who got a perfect score on his final exam. This achievement has not been given for 32 years. Congratulations!” There was some clapping and then silence.
Teacher Huo advanced and said to me in a low voice “They are waiting for you to say a few words” my mind went blank again. At school, this is the first time people were looking at me
“Thank you for the award” and then I stood back notifying that I was done. After a short awkward silence the dean gave me the award token and my diploma. This token could give me 5% in some stores which was good news. After I moved back a bit more, the dean started with some speech about all students should study hard bla bla bla, parents should help them bla bla bla and school accepted donations bla bla bla. After he stopped talking an eternity later everyone dispersed. This must have been the most awkward and boring award of the history of the school. Maybe even the city!
And I had to be the center of it...
I was on my way out when the city lord called me. “Congratulations young Bai, your father will be proud of you when he comes back”
He will not…come back. “Thank you city Lord”
“The Yu family had issues with one of their youngsters so they could not make it to today’s award” Not like I expected any of them to come. As I stayed silent after this news he continued “After investigation, we found out teachers who helped some students cheat during exams” continued the city lord. Not sure why he was telling me. He thinks I cheated?
“You think I cheated on my final exam?” I asked to confirm
“Hahaha, I was there at your exam. I am pretty sure you did not cheat and I found the worm you painted pretty cute. The spikes added a bit of dark feeling though”...can I swear at the city lord? would it be worth it? I summoned my thick skin super power. It was hard for it to emerge but it did eventually
“It was a sleeping dragon on a bamboo forest” I said menacingly1MC does not know it but his face was red
“Hahaha. I am teasing you. I know it was a dragon surrounded by bamboo” said the city lord like he was coaxing me
He was making fun of me… why did I like him before? Forget it, better to just bow and leave to end this farce.
“What where we at? Ah yes the cheating scandal” said the city lord with a louder voice without giving me chance to leave “That will spread pretty quickly so watch out with your family. One of the affected students was Yu JinLi I expect her to be expelled soon. We have solid proof against your other cousin Yu LaoYin but he already left school so his sect will be notified soon…Those examples hurt the city’s reputation so they need to be dealt with swiftly. Some others are affected too, their name will spread quickly I assume. Teacher Liu is already in jail, AnNan’s school reputation that we worked hard to built cannot shatter because of those filthy cheaters. I will punish the parents too if I could find evidence of their involvement…” I was pretty sure he said all this not to me but to everyone else still present. This was a warning to all.
“Anyway, I cannot protect the Yu family because I am a friend of your father. I hope that when he comes back he would understand” A friend of my father? I never knew.
“In the meanwhile, if you need help getting out of that family let me know” Wow. just wow. The last sentence was said using spiritual mental energy so no one could have heard it except me. The great and powerful city lord was ready to help me leave the toxic family! First backer acquired!
