◎Unparalleled Beauty, None Like Him in the World◎
For this score release day, Yuan Ye didn’t feel much anxiety – more anticipation, and he was secretly planning something big.
A week in advance, he had researched all the Black Pearl Michelin restaurants in the city, carefully selecting and making reservations, planning to invite Chun Zao to celebrate after the scores came out.
But when this day arrived, his phone started getting bombarded before score-checking time.
First was his father, Yuan Yi. He immediately switched to silent mode, pretending to be napping and not hearing it.
Then came Teacher Qi Sixian’s deadly, continuous calls buzzing endlessly. The boy finally answered in defeat.
On the other end, Teacher Qi was urgent and frantic: “Yuan Ye! Where are you? Your dad says you’re not home. Get to school right now!”
The boy had no choice but to put on a T-shirt and take a taxi to school.
When he arrived, he saw four middle-aged men who looked like leaders standing by cars at the school gate, talking among themselves.
Qi Sixian stood among them, his brow furrowed. The moment he spotted Yuan Ye, he pointed over from afar, looking relieved, then beaming with joy.
Yuan Ye vaguely heard an urgent phrase: “That’s him, that’s him!”
Then the other three surrounded him in unison, pushing him into a silver business van without explanation.
After the car hit the road, one of them – a kind-looking middle-aged man in a dark blue polo shirt – sat down beside him and asked with a smile: “You’re Yuan Ye, right?”
Yuan Ye: “Yeah.”
He introduced himself: “I’m a teacher from Peking University’s recruitment team. Just call me Old Yuan. We’re destined – we both have the surname Yuan.”
“Hello, Teacher Yuan.” Yuan Ye smiled and shook hands with him.
Then he was taken to the spacious business suite of a five-star hotel, the whole process seamless, not giving him half a chance to react.
In the guest room, besides other recruitment team teachers, two upperclassmen had been waiting for quite some time. They enthusiastically poured water across from the coffee table, asking if he wanted any other drinks – Coke or Sprite, or milk tea, whatever he wanted on demand.
Hotel staff brought colorful fruit platters from the buffet restaurant – treatment comparable to VIP level.
“Little Yuan,” Teacher Yuan kept up his kind and friendly approach: “Did you estimate your scores after the exam?”
Yuan Ye replied: “About the same as usual, I guess.”
It hadn’t been completely certain before, but seeing this scene, he roughly sensed what was happening, and his heart truly settled.
The boy took out his phone and lit it up, casually glancing at his pinned WeChat to confirm there were no new messages before putting it away: “Don’t we still have more than half an hour before we can check scores?”
The teacher was still being mysterious: “I guess you might not be able to check in half an hour either.”
Yuan Ye played along with his performance: “Why?”
Qi Sixian was pouring water nearby and chuckled as he chimed in: “Because the scores of our province’s top ten will all be blocked.”
Yuan Ye said, “Oh.”
“This kid is very calm.” Teacher Yuan was amazed upon hearing this, looking at Qi Sixian with great admiration.
Qi Sixian sipped his hot tea, grinning from ear to ear: “He’s always been first in school, he’s used to it. He even won a gold medal in the math olympiad in his first year of high school. What big storms hasn’t he seen? Of course he’s calm.”
“Ai ya, why didn’t we sign an agreement with our school back then?”
“I don’t understand him either. He said he wanted to take the college entrance exam.”
“That’s good too, that’s good. The sun is brightest wherever it goes, no question about it.”
…
They chatted happily.
Yuan Ye’s phone vibrated continuously in his pants pocket again.
He took it out and saw it was his father calling. Finally annoyed, he answered, and the other end immediately launched into a barrage: “What the hell are you doing? What time is it? Not answering calls, nowhere to be found. Tsinghua’s admissions office has been running between my company and home for ages, and they’re still waiting. Get back here right now!”
Yuan Ye closed his eyes and dropped a line: “…I can’t get away right now.” Then hung up.
Yuan Yi was imposing, and the phone couldn’t contain his voice – the nearby teachers heard most of it.
He coughed and tactfully asked: “Your parent?”
Yuan Ye nodded: “Yeah.”
Guessing that the neighboring prestigious school would soon come over for a life-or-death battle, Teacher Yuan stopped beating around the bush and cut straight to the point: “I’m sure you’ve roughly guessed your scores. Peking University is very sincere. If you’re willing to choose us, Guanghua or Yuanpei – take your pick. You’re good at math and like math. Our School of Mathematical Sciences at Peking University is also first-rate in the country, plus scholarships…”
He went on at length. Yuan Ye listened carefully but finally only replied: “Thank you, teacher. But I can’t make a decision right now.”
“No rush, no rush, I’m not pressuring you,” Teacher Yuan immediately changed his tone: “You can comfortably enjoy the air conditioning here, eat something, you have the whole afternoon. Think slowly. If you can’t decide alone, we’ll send a car to pick up your parents right now so you can discuss together.”
He pointed at Qi Sixian: “Look, your homeroom teacher is here helping you check things over. Why do you think he came with us instead of other recruitment teams, right?”
Qi Sixian was speechless.
If he weren’t old friends with Old Yuan, he really wouldn’t want to wade into these muddy waters that attract hatred.
The leadership was very concerned, so Teacher Yuan went aside to make phone calls.
Meanwhile, those two good-looking upperclassmen came to Yuan Ye’s side again, seizing every opportunity to flank him left and right with enthusiasm.
During this time, Yuan Ye received a call from Chun Zao. After learning his girlfriend’s scores, he stopped sitting and looked around: “I need to leave first.”
Old Yuan hurriedly ran over to persuade him to stay: “So soon? No way, Little Yuan, listen to me. Whatever thoughts or requirements you have, just tell us. We can satisfy whatever we can satisfy. Don’t be in such a hurry to leave.”