A crisp tea fragrance drifted through the air in the principal's office. It came from a cherished collection that Zhou Ming had specifically brought out to appease the homeroom teacher sitting before him, who was full of grievances.
"Old Zhang, try this. If it weren't for you coming today, I wouldn't bear to bring this out for anyone else."
Zhang Huiyang picked up the teacup. His tightly knitted brows relaxed slightly as he brought the cup to his lips. The liquid was a jade green, with buds and leaves standing upright in the water. Just that clear, non-astringent fragrance was enough to refresh one's spirit. He took a small sip; the aftertaste was sweet, and the depression in his heart seemed to dissipate largely with the tea's aroma.
"This tea... is indeed not bad." Teacher Zhang couldn't help but hold the cup up for inspection. "I've bought Cangwu Cloud Mist before, but it was far inferior to this. Did I buy a fake? After drinking this tea, I feel a vitality permeating my whole body."
Seeing the timing was right, Zhou Ming explained with a smile, "This is tea grown by Daoist Priest Chen and Yuanchu themselves. Naturally, you can't find it outside."
"Grown themselves? Is the planting method different?"
"It's the people growing it who are different." Principal Zhou said meaningfully.
Although Zhang Huiyang didn't know the full background of this master and disciple, he could hear the weight in those words. He didn't press further about the tea's origin but sighed instead, pulling the topic back to business. "Principal Zhou, the tea is good tea, but this matter... it's not that I'm unwilling to accept. But for student Yuanchu to transfer into Class 3 with absolutely no foundation, I'm afraid he won't be able to keep up. How about letting him start with the first-year high school students to build a foundation first?"
"I know your concerns, Old Zhang! Precisely because he has fallen behind so much, I specifically entrusted this task to you. I wouldn't trust anyone else with it."
What followed was a string of unreserved praise, elevating Teacher Zhang to the status of an educational expert capable of turning stone into gold. Much of Teacher Zhang's initial resistance melted away. After three rounds of tea, Teacher Zhang knew he couldn't shirk this responsibility. He helplessly set boundaries:
"Principal Zhou, I can only promise to do my best to give student Yuanchu extra lessons. As for whether he can catch up with the progress, I can't guarantee that."
"Rest assured, Old Zhang. Just do your best. I have confidence in Yuanchu."
Principal Zhou refilled Teacher Zhang's cup and asked seemingly casually, "By the way, is Wanqiu still sitting alone?"
"Yes. She doesn't like having a deskmate. Since there are empty seats in the class, she has always sat alone."
"Then when Yuanchu comes to your class later, arrange for him to sit with Wanqiu. It can also help him catch up with the studies."
"...Will she agree? Principal Zhou, you know her temperament."
"I'll just tell her later."
"Then you tell her. I can't make that decision."
Just as the two were chatting over tea, there was a gentle knock on the principal's office door.
The visitor was Chen Yuanchu, holding test papers in his hand.
"Yuanchu? You finished the placement test?" Principal Zhou asked.
"I finished it. I didn't do well. There were some questions I really couldn't answer, so I didn't waste time on them."
Chen Yuanchu didn't hide anything, frankly stating the fact that he couldn't understand many questions. From his expression, one couldn't see any frustration; he still looked calm and composed.
Because he had just gained a new understanding of the realm of 'Only with a heart clear as a mirror can one know one's place,' Chen Yuanchu began trying to replace ethereal confidence with an absolute, powerful will to act—the reason for doing something was no longer 'confidence in success,' but 'it must be done.'
Many people spend half their lives without understanding such obscure principles, yet he grasped them with just a little guidance and experience. One had to admit that Chen Yuanchu was truly a genius of cultivation.
Of course, understanding principles alone was useless; one had to be able to execute them.
And this process of understanding principles and verifying them through action was what was called cultivation.
"I basically finished the Chinese paper, but Math, English, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were very difficult. I'll have to trouble Teacher Zhang to take a look at them for me."
"Alright, let me see."
Teacher Zhang took a pair of glasses out of his shirt pocket, put them on, and accepted the papers. Setting aside grades for a moment, he actually quite admired this young man. Even though the exam was likely a disaster, the boy was watching earnestly.
As a Chinese teacher, Teacher Zhang naturally looked at Chen Yuanchu's Chinese paper first.
The neatness of the paper was pleasing to the eye. The young man's handwriting was particularly good—a neat, small regular script with a touch of famous masters' charm. The strokes were steady and powerful, without a single trace of correction. It was obviously the result of years of practice.
Handwriting is a scholar's second face. It is said that the handwriting reflects the person; good handwriting always adds a touch of goodwill.
"Student Yuanchu's handwriting is very good."
Teacher Zhang didn't stint on praise, but then his brows furrowed slightly. "But... why did you write everything in traditional characters?"
"I'm used to writing traditional characters usually, plus I often read ancient classics, so I wrote them subconsciously."
"Mmm... do you know how to write simplified characters?"
"Yes."
"Then use simplified characters for answering exam papers in the future. That's the standard."
"Okay."
Chen Yuanchu nodded and noted it down.
After roughly scanning the page, Teacher Zhang began to look at the specific answers. This was a monthly exam paper used just last week, so he was extremely familiar with it. However, when he saw Chen Yuanchu's answers, his brows furrowed again:
"The dictation questions are all correct, but for the modern text reading comprehension... I can't say you're wrong, but it doesn't fit the grading standards. And... why did you answer in Classical Chinese?"
Teacher Zhang paused, then added, "The essay too. It is indeed well written, but writing in Classical Chinese carries too much risk. We generally don't encourage it."
"Yuanchu, you haven't received standardized education, so you might feel what I'm saying is wrong. But school exams are like this—you can have your own personality and understanding, but ultimately, it must fall within the framework we've drawn. This standardization might miss some pearls, but it is the fairest and most universal screening method for the vast majority of people."
Teacher Zhang commented in great detail, branching out from the answers to many other topics. After all, Chen Yuanchu was different.