chapter 71
“If you win an award at the exchange conference, not only will you earn a guaranteed admission spot to A University, but all those rumors on the forum will collapse on their own…”
Before Xu An could finish his words, his phone suddenly rang.
He glanced down — it was the principal calling.
He swiped to answer, and Principal Zhang’s voice came through the line,
“Xu An, about the exchange conference — don’t tell Gu Qingning in your class about it yet.”
Xu An froze, his gaze sliding over to the girl with the emotionless face in front of him. He didn’t bother hiding anything.
“Why?”
“A new notice just came in — the rules for this year’s exchange conference have been changed temporarily,” Principal Zhang sighed.
“This year, our No.1 High School’s quota has been reduced to three spots.”
“Reduced?” Xu An frowned. “What about Jingjiu High School?”
The mention of that made Principal Zhang’s tone turn bitter.
“Don’t even get me started. The missing slot from our school was given to Jingjiu High. They have five spots this year.”
In other words — the extra one came right out of their share.
What nonsense.
Xu An’s frown deepened.
“What’s going on? Haven’t the eight slots always been equally divided between our two schools?”
Principal Zhang explained, “The order from above said that Jingjiu High’s teaching resources are stronger than ours. To ‘avoid wasting a quota,’ they decided to transfer one of ours to them.”
Ridiculous. Their No.1 High and Jingjiu had always been neck and neck — what did they mean by “wasting a quota”? It was pure discrimination.
“The worst part isn’t even that,” Principal Zhang went on. “The competition items for this year’s exchange have also been changed. Forget it — come to my office, I’ll explain in detail.”
When the call ended, Xu An’s thoughtful expression faded. He looked up at Gu Qingning.
“Gu, the principal needs me for something. We’ll talk about the exchange conference this afternoon.”
Gu Qingning nodded slightly.
After seeing Xu An off, she pulled out her phone, tapped the search bar, and typed in ‘Jingjiu High School.’
Moments later, the search page popped up with various results about the school.
One particular phrase caught her attention:
“The only thing between you and A University is Jingjiu High.”
After reading through Jingjiu High’s basic information, Gu Qingning quickly lost interest and exited the page.
She slipped the phone back into her pocket and headed downstairs unhurriedly.
Principal’s Office
The room was full — the director and several of the school’s most senior teachers were already there.
When Xu An finally arrived, the long silence that had lingered was broken.
“Principal, you said the competition events have changed. What does that mean?” someone asked.
“The organizers of the exchange said they wanted to promote students’ all-around development in virtue, intellect, and physical ability. So this year, they added a new competition event.”
Principal Zhang paused, then looked at everyone with a gloomy expression before muttering two words:
“Fencing.”
The word stunned everyone.
Fencing?
What on earth were the organizers thinking?
Third-year students were already drowning in academics — who had the time to learn something as irrelevant as fencing?
“I’ve looked into it,” Principal Zhang continued. “Apparently, Jingjiu High has a top student who’s been learning fencing since childhood. That’s probably why we lost a quota to them.”
Everyone looked troubled.
Xu An rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“If fencing counts as one round, then we should definitely recommend Gu Qingning to compete. At least that gives us a better chance of winning overall.”
If they lost the fencing match, they’d have to win every other event to make up for it.
“Mr. Xu, that’s not necessarily true. Can you guarantee Gu Qingning will win?”
The voice came from an older teacher — one of the school’s longest-serving, soon to retire.
Xu An turned to him with a faint smile.
“Mr. Qin, Gu Qingning scored a perfect grade on her grade-skipping exam. Can any third-year student here say the same?”
Mr. Qin was momentarily speechless.
“I…”
Another teacher spoke up hesitantly, “But right now, the school forum is full of rumors about Gu Qingning. If we send her to represent our school at the exchange conference, wouldn’t that…”
He trailed off, but everyone understood what he meant.
The exchange conference only featured elite students from top schools. Having a student shrouded in controversy represent them could tarnish No.1 High’s reputation.
Xu An gave a soft chuckle and said calmly, “The test papers for the grade-skipping exam were written by all of you, and the proctors were also you. Rumors die before wise men — I’m sure all of you understand that.”
His words left the teachers speechless.
Turning to Principal Zhang, Xu An continued his reasoning.
“Principal, we don’t have a real chance of winning the fencing match, so we must secure victories in the other categories. If we lose all of them, No.1 High’s golden reputation will be ruined.”
He had struck the principal’s weak spot.
Principal Zhang, who cared deeply about the school’s honor, made his decision immediately.
“Xu An has a point. We’ve all seen Gu Qingning’s exam results with our own eyes. No one is more qualified to represent us.”
Still, some teachers objected.
“But Principal, the controversy on the forum—”
Xu An interjected, “The best way to handle controversy is to use strength to silence it.”
“But how do you know she’ll definitely win?” Mr. Qin pressed.
Xu An smiled faintly and asked instead, “Mr. Qin, do you remember the year No.1 High swept the entire exchange conference? Who made that possible?”
The director quickly answered, “Gu Zhao.”
Everyone fell silent.
“Gu Qingning scored even higher than Gu Zhao on her exams,” Xu An reminded them.
Mr. Qin refused to let it go. “That still doesn’t guarantee anything.”
Xu An cleared his throat, his tone turning firm.
“If Gu Qingning fails to win a single match at the exchange, I will resign from No.1 High and never teach again.”
The room went dead silent.
Even Principal Zhang was stunned — he hadn’t expected Xu An to stake his entire career on Gu Qingning.
Ignoring the shocked looks around him, Xu An turned to the principal.
“Principal, is that enough to let Gu Qingning participate?”
Principal Zhang hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“It’s settled. Gu Qingning will represent our school at the exchange conference.”
Since Xu An had taken full responsibility, no one else dared to object.
Across the street from the school was an internet café.
As Gu Qingning was about to step inside, the owner stopped her.
“Little miss, you’ve got to be eighteen to enter here.”
She paused, opened her backpack, and pulled out her ID card.
Her tone was cool. “Can I go in now?”
The owner glanced at her ID and grinned.
“Sure, sure — but you’ll have to pay first.”
“Oh, and we only take cash.”
Gu Qingning tucked her ID away and patted her pockets — only a few coins left.
She caught sight of a convenience store across the way and walked toward it.
On the opposite curb, a limited-edition Rolls-Royce was parked.
Inside, Xi Nai had one hand on the steering wheel, a lazy, teasing smile curling his lips.
“Master Cheng, any special orders from you, sir?”
Why else would he suddenly be told to stop here? Was Cheng really planning to experience what it’s like to get a parking ticket?
