Chapter 1336 - Great Promise

Though it wasn't their first time here, despite still being impressed, the Dai couple quickly regained their focus and looked toward the small plaza in front of the teaching building hall. Rows upon rows of men and women—young and old—stood there with either amazed or proud expressions. These were all parents waiting to visit their children.

"Hello, may I see your visiting pass?"

The teacher in charge of reception was a female leader around thirty, wearing a beige blazer over top and a black pencil skirt below, with stockings and black high heels.

Though Dai Dehou had seen such attire before, he still turned bright red and dared not look directly at her. His wife was quite composed by contrast, nudging his elbow. Only then did he remember to hand over the visiting pass.

"Senior Elementary Year One Class One, Dai Yan." The female leader smiled slightly upon seeing the name. "This child is very smart, with strong learning ability. She has great promise ahead."

Dai Dehou had never thought about how a girl could have "great promise ahead"—could a transmigrator have taken a fancy to his daughter? Thinking of this, his heart leapt with joy. If a transmigrator really had his eye on her, it would not only be her good fortune but the whole family's.

Before he could react, the female transmigrator had already turned her head to call: "Teacher Xu, one of yours from Class One."

The National School had expanded at a flying pace, and student management naturally needed large numbers of staff. This year's first batch of Category B graduates couldn't quite qualify as full teachers, but they were competent as life counselors.

Teacher Xu was a girl who had just turned eighteen. She was an orphan the transmigrators had bought from Guangdong. After completing two years of Junior Elementary, she hadn't had the potential to continue to Senior Elementary, but her gentle, meticulous personality had gotten her recruited into the normal class, where she doubled as a life counselor during off-hours.

Currently the National School's education primarily aimed at universalization, but the transmigrators' enterprise also couldn't do without elites. Therefore, students with outstanding grades in all areas who showed potential to skip grades received special education. Each semester, based on selection rankings, the top 64 students in each grade's selection group would be placed in Classes One, Two, and Three during class adjustments. These three classes received the best resources. Each academic year's content was compressed into one semester. They bore high expectations to learn more knowledge faster by reducing study time. Privately they were nicknamed the "genius classes"—the seed classes for the transmigrators' future elites.

Since the genius classes weren't measured by quantity and had very high teaching quality requirements, they were the National School's rare small-class education. Teacher Xu's Class One parents numbered only about twenty, much shorter than some nearby lines of over a hundred relatives. She saw the couple and, remembering that quick and adorable girl, waved for Dai Dehou and his wife to come over.

Dai Dehou made an awkward approximation of a bow as greeting to the female leader, then hurried over with his wife.

He had originally had two sons and three daughters, but the rest had died young. Now he only had his nine-year-old daughter Dai San'niang and seven-year-old second son Dai Yu.

A year ago when the whole family had just arrived in Lingao, his eight-year-old Dai San'niang had gotten lost at East Gate Market. Just as the whole family thought she'd been kidnapped by human traffickers and were frantic with worry, a male leader had carried the girl back, praising her for being smart and cute, and asked Dai Dehou if he'd be willing to let her attend the National School.

It had originally been just a casual remark, but when the whole family arrived at Dai Family Village, Third Brother Dai Degao learned of this. Through much persuasion, he insisted Dai Dehou send his daughter to school. At the time, seeking Third Brother's protection, he could only agree. Soon after, his daughter and Third Brother's daughter Dai Xiu were enrolled in the National School under that male leader's recommendation quota, and from then on she had the name Dai Yan.

But his daughter was truly impressive. In her first semester, Dai Yan had performed outstandingly. Among the several thousand Junior Elementary first-year students at the National School, her overall evaluation grades had broken into the top 300, drawing teachers' focused attention. Subsequently her ranking kept rising, and by Junior Elementary second year she had reached the subtle position of 21st place. She had smoothly entered the fast-track class.

From the first semester that Fangcao Di had selection rankings, no girl in any grade had managed to break into the top 21. Dai Yan became the first girl to break into this ranking.

After completing an academic year's curriculum in one semester in the fast-track class, she had entered Senior Elementary first year. In Senior Elementary's first overall evaluation, she had taken first place—instantly becoming major news that rocked all of Fangcao Di.

For the transmigrator teachers, this wasn't surprising. For young students, the traditional rote education model was actually better suited to female learning patterns. Given the right conditions, girls had considerable advantages during compulsory education. Dai Yan's emergence was merely a direct reflection of the new educational model gradually showing results.

But for naturalized citizens and native commoners, a female student standing at the top of the grade rankings was a devastating shock to emotions, reason, and worldview alike. In their understanding, women being able to read and write was already the leaders greatly elevating them—yet someone could actually take first place! The Flowers in the Mirror storybook did have female zhuangyuan and jinshi, but those were a storyteller's fancies, not to be taken seriously—and even if real, that would be a "women's examination," not like now with actual competition of men and women together taking exams and ranking results.

Ding-ling-ling—the second period afternoon class bell rang. The teaching building instantly came alive. Next was labor class; most students would be led by teachers to various practical work sites. Only grades scheduled for open classes would specially stay behind.

Lingao's educational history was too shallow; the National School's regular students currently only went up to Senior Elementary first year. But fast-track students were future elites and naturally enjoyed different treatment.

Dai Dehou and his wife, along with other parents, were led toward the Study Academy. This was a school-within-a-school at Fangcao Di, with separate buildings. Only Classes One, Two, and Three of each grade had classrooms here. There was also an Initial Class—the transmigrator children's class.

Since the children's class had limited numbers, it used mixed-grade education within one class. Principal Qian—that is, Lü Yang's mother, an experienced elementary school teacher—personally served as homeroom teacher, with instruction exclusively by transmigrator teachers—all the finest educational resources.

To prevent these children from becoming too disconnected from the masses too early, the Study Academy established specially for transmigrator children had absorbed elite naturalized citizen students from Classes One, Two, and Three to be their classmates and spend their days together.

For the visiting parents, they weren't aware of these subtleties.

Teacher Xu opened the classroom door and with a smile led the parents filing in. The twenty-odd parents packed the podium area. Looking at the bright-eyed children below, quite a few had tears in their eyes on the spot.

A male student in the front row wearing a black uniform with a class monitor badge on his chest sat ramrod straight and called out loudly: "Rise! Bow!"

The twenty-odd children of Junior Elementary Year Two Class One shot to their feet and bowed deeply at ninety degrees.

Teacher Xu clapped her hands and the classroom instantly came alive. A dozen children rushed toward their parents, and the scene was immediately full of laughter and tears. Only the dozen or so orphans and children whose families hadn't come looked on enviously from their seats.

Dai Yan, seated in the first row by the window, had spotted her parents early. After a month apart, her heart was naturally full of longing. She ran the fastest, charging straight into her mother's arms.

Her mother held her daughter, tears streaming down continuously. She hugged her giggling daughter, looking her up and down without stopping. This little face, unseen for a month, hadn't grown thin at all—if anything, her chin had gained a touch of roundness. She wore the short hair common to girls here, pinned behind her ears with hairpins, the black hair combed without a single strand out of place—neat and tidy. Her well-fitted cotton uniform and the "Australian-style" black buckle cloth shoes over white knee-length socks on her feet made her look ever more quick and lovely.

Her uniform collar had three white stripes; boys had three white stripes on their cuffs. Dai Dehou knew these marked fast-track students. Students ranked 65 to 300 in the selection group had two stripes; regular students had only one.

As the grade's overall selection No. 1, Dai Yan also wore a special metal badge on the scarf at her chest—the honor of being the grade's number one.

Fangcao Di was filled everywhere with hidden elements stimulating students to compete. Only the most brutal competition could make excellent seeds emerge. The transmigrators' lifespans were limited; to cultivate enough successors for the new world in such limited time, time was extremely pressing.

Dai Dehou managed to keep his composure at the moment, standing to the side with only a slight twitch at the corner of his eyes. Only when Dai Yan threw her arms around him and sweetly called "Daddy" did he finally let out repeated exclamations of "Good, good," and one tear at the corner of his eye could no longer be hidden, making Dai Yan giggle as she reached out to wipe it away.

Once the scene gradually calmed, Teacher Xu clapped her hands and led everyone to the kitchen and cafeteria.

Since there were too many students, crowding into one place to eat would cause chaos. So the National School's cafeteria was divided into several by grade. However, the fast-track classes didn't eat in Fangcao Di's student cafeteria but in the Study Academy cafeteria. The food here was supplied according to the highest standards among naturalized citizens.

The parents stood awkwardly outside, watching through the large glass windows as the children bustled about inside.

Today's visiting class was part of labor class. Parents would observe students in labor class. Today, Senior Elementary Year One Class One's labor class was assigned to the kitchen and cafeteria—washing vegetables, rinsing rice, scrubbing bowls and dishes, and wiping down tables and chairs.

"This kitchen is scrubbed so clean you'd be afraid to step in," one parent remarked with emotion.

"No wonder they all wear white cotton clothes."

"Using soap so lavishly—too wasteful—and those rags, they're all premium cloth strips, better for making shoe soles..."

The Study Academy's three grades with nine fast-track classes had nearly two hundred people. Add the several hundred visiting parents, and the required food was no small number. By the time preparations were complete, labor class was nearly over.

The meal bell rang on time. The parents outside filed in. Students assigned to today's duty picked up utensils and served food to students and parents alike.

(End of Chapter)