This was Yan Liuyuan’s first time hearing about something called a parent-teacher conference in the stronghold’s school. He didn’t know about it until the teacher informed him, but he wondered what it was for.
Jiang Wu told him it was just a meeting to summarize the students’ progress at school and to explain some issues to the parents for them to take note of. There was nothing special to it. When Jiang Wu said that, Yan Liuyuan was relieved.
But he did not tell Ren Xiaosu because he was worried it would affect Ren Xiaosu on his expedition. Of course, there were also other reasons for not telling him.
This was also the first time Xiaoyu was attending a parent-teacher conference. She purposely went to a shop in the stronghold to get new clothes and even bought some new cosmetics and jewelry.
After Xiaoyu got dressed and walked out of her room, Yan Liuyuan’s eyes lit up. “Big Sister Xiaoyu is so beautiful.”
Xiaoyu had put on a simple pair of earrings and wore a new down coat and boots. She originally wanted to wear a skirt but was persuaded by Yan Liuyuan not to as the weather was too cold.
Xiaoyu had initially put on too much makeup due to nervousness. However, Yan Liuyuan helped her clean it off after laughing at her for a long time.
Yan Liuyuan said, “Big Sis, you’re naturally beautiful. Even if you don’t put on any makeup, you still look good.”
Xiaoyu poked his forehead and said, “Aren’t you the sweet talker? Let’s go to the parent-teacher conference now.”
“The students probably won’t be able to take their eyes off you after they see you,” Yan Liuyuan said with a smile.
It was no wonder Yan Liuyuan could be a friend of the women wherever he went. Although he might not know how to compliment them, he made up for it by complimenting them often. Women always loved receiving compliments, after all.
However, Yan Liuyuan really felt a sense of happiness when he saw Xiaoyu so happy.
Xiaoyu took the streetcar to school with Yan Liuyuan and Wang Dalong. While on the streetcar, Yan Liuyuan even said, “Look, that old man behind us has been staring at you the entire time.”
When they arrived at school, Yan Liuyuan realized most of the people were already there. As this school was mainly attended by the children of the rich and influential figures of the stronghold, everyone owned a private car. Since they took the streetcar here, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if they arrived late. Fortunately, they weren’t late.
But when they entered the classroom, Yan Liuyuan felt the parents’ eyes looked a little strange. They were all checking them out. Then they started whispering to the children and parents next to them.
A middle-aged female teacher walked into the classroom. She said with a smile, “In last semester’s final exams, the students in our class fared extremely well. So let’s give our children a round of encouraging applause.”
Xiaoyu also clapped her hands. However, Yan Liuyuan whispered next to her, “Big Sis, I didn’t take those final exams, so you don’t have to clap.”
Xiaoyu looked at him askance. “I can still encourage you even if you didn’t take those exams. You’re such a good child, so I must encourage you.”
Yan Liuyuan held back his laughter.
From the front of the room, the teacher talked about the curriculum and matters regarding the children’s weekday prep classes. She encouraged the children to attend more tutors because the students in this class would have to make a final sprint for their university placings in the future. If they picked up knowledge beyond their years early, they would be one step ahead of those from the other high schools.
As the saying went, once you got a head start in life, you would have an advantage. That was the logic.
Yan Liuyuan and Xiaoyu were not really listening to the teacher’s speech. Although Ren Xiaosu had always urged him to study hard, Xiaoyu was afraid that Yan Liuyuan would get exhausted from studying, so she did not place too much emphasis on his learning progress. She knew this was a form of pampering, but she couldn’t help it.
At this moment, the teacher said, “It’s like this: I held the parent-teacher conference on a weekend afternoon because I’d like to take the opportunity to discuss some matters with everyone.”
The classroom fell silent. The teacher said, “Yan Liuyuan? Wang Dalong? Are your parents here?”
Yan Liuyuan and Xiaoyu looked up at her. The teacher smiled at Xiaoyu and said, “You must be Yan Liuyuan’s guardian, right?”
Xiaoyu replied with a smile, “Yes, I’m Yan Liuyuan and Wang Dalong’s elder sister.”
“You look really young. Where are their parents? Why aren’t they here?” the teacher asked.
Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment before saying, “Miss, it’s fine, you can speak with me.”
“Alright, look here.” The female teacher said, “The parents have recently given us some feedback that Yan Liuyuan and Wang Dalong are not performing as well as the others. Our class is the elite class in school. When the teachers are lecturing, they will definitely add in a lot of knowledge beyond their grade. Since their foundation is quite poor, they can’t keep up with the rest of the class.”
Xiaoyu’s mood gradually sank as the teacher went on. She had thought this would be a normal parent-teacher conference. Jiang Wu also said it was just a session for discussing some of the more common issues and that there shouldn’t be anything special to it.
But things seemed to have turned out a little different from what they had expected.
Xiaoyu said, “Miss, what do you mean? My Liuyuan and Dalong are very smart children. How could they possibly not keep up with the class?”
“Please don’t misunderstand.” The female teacher said with a smile, “What I mean is that I would like for them to switch classes. The principals also know about this, and we’re doing this for their own good. If they can’t keep up with the class, they can’t follow the lessons, and that won’t be good for them. We want to transfer them to a normal class. There’s no other meaning to it, so please don’t mind it.”
What this teacher said was right, and she had also used the same reasoning to persuade the principals about this matter. This was all for the sake of Yan Liuyuan and Wang Dalong as they really could not keep up with the progress of their class.
Yan Liuyuan and Wang Dalong had close ties to Lu Yuan, so the principals did not agree to it at the beginning. But they eventually relented when they could not refuse the constant requests of the rich and influential parents. After all, their reasoning was not wrong.
Even though Lu Yuan had entrusted someone to handle the enrollment for Yan Liuyuan and Wang Dalong, that person was not an authoritative figure. After weighing the pros and cons, the principals instructed the homeroom teacher to handle the matter.
Xiaoyu said firmly to the female teacher, “Although I don’t quite understand your arrangements, and maybe the decision that you brought up might turn out to be really good for them, I’m certain of something else. You should discuss matters like this in private with me and not use such a humiliating method to deal with the issue in front of the entire class.” Although Xiaoyu was not a cultured person, she understood what was reasonable in this world.
All of a sudden, a short female parent said, “Why should we talk reason with a refugee like you? My husband is the director of the Public Order Division. Even if I say those two kids are not allowed to attend school, so what?”
If the director of the Public Order Division were here, he would definitely not speak like this. If he knew these two students were Ren Xiaosu’s younger brothers, he might even slap his wife on the spot. But he probably did not know about any of this. In this day and age, which authoritative man cared about trivialities like parent-teacher conferences?
On the contrary, his relatives, friends, and wife would only talk like that because they were used to throwing his name around.
Such behavior was common everywhere in society.
A male parent tried to persuade the female parent, “You can’t say things like that either. We should talk things over peacefully and not use authority to oppress people.”
Meanwhile, the other parents stayed silent.