Chapter 233: Chapter 233
Ji Zhongjun’s words made the other teachers in the office frown, but since Ye Ling wasn’t a student in their class, they couldn’t say anything and had to pretend not to hear, burying themselves in marking papers. They even thought Ji Zhongjun was being thick-skinned—if he kept doing this, sooner or later he’d suffer a big loss.
Ye Ling wasn’t intimidated by Ji Zhongjun’s words, "Mr. Ji, according to what you said, does that mean the school doesn’t want students like me, right? If that’s the case, why should we even bother taking exams? We might as well just pull some strings to get in. I didn’t know that having topped the city in the entrance exam meant the school only accepted me because I’m a kid from the compound. I might as well go ask the principal if this school is run by his family. If it is, I’ll leave without saying a word, and I won’t use my background to pressure others."
Seeing Ye Ling about to leave and hearing her words, Ji Zhongjun was both angry and afraid, "Stop right there, Ye Ling. I’m telling you, no matter how much noise you make, you won’t find the principal. He’s out of town for a meeting and doesn’t have time for your issue. I suggest you fill in your application wisely and hope you get accepted, otherwise you wouldn’t want to face me every day, would you?"
Ye Ling chuckled coldly twice, no wonder Ji Zhongjun dared to say these things now—it was because the principal wasn’t around. His words were meant to threaten her that life would be tough if she didn’t get in, which was indeed laughable. Such words might work on others, but they had no effect on her.
"I’ll remember Mr. Ji’s words, and Mr. Ji better not forget what he’s said." Ye Ling stepped out of the office with her application in hand, thinking that the humble chicken is sometimes superior to a fallen phoenix, let alone when she’s not even a phoenix.
All the grievances of today will one day be avenged.
Watching Ye Ling leave, Ji Zhongjun felt triumphant. He took a sip of prepared tea, almost bursting into a tune. Since losing face with Ye Chong last time, he hadn’t been able to hold his head up in front of other teachers at the school, but this time he finally vented his frustration.
Thus, Ji Zhongjun thought he had regained some face, so when Ye Ling came to submit her application, he couldn’t resist making some more unpleasant remarks. Ye Ling couldn’t be bothered to respond, but Ji Zhongjun was getting a kick out of it. When he saw Zhao Guodong and the others come to submit their applications, he called out to Ye Ling directly.
"Ye Ling, wait a moment. Take a look at Zhao Guodong and their applications." After the incident, Ye Ling had been avoiding Zhao Guodong and the others, so she hadn’t consulted them while filling in her application.
Unexpectedly, she was delayed and still bumped into them today, and annoyingly, Ji Zhongjun called out to her. Ye Ling wanted to pretend she didn’t hear, but Zhang Linong reached out to stop her. She looked at his hand on her arm, then saw Zhang Linong nodding to her, so she turned and walked over to stand in front of Ji Zhongjun with them.
Zhao Guodong glanced at Ye Ling out of the corner of his eye, then quickly looked away, while Wang Ping looked indifferent. Ye Ling stood quietly between Zhao Guodong and Zhang Linong, the four of them in a row, as Ji Zhongjun glanced at their applications and then laughed with a snort.
"You have big dreams, but unfortunately you don’t assess your own ability." He casually tossed the application forms on the desk, "Take a good look at the universities you’ve applied to. Just getting in with these accelerated examinations would be impressive, but look at your choices—these are nationally reputable universities. Can you only dream of getting in? You were arrogant back then, and now you’ve filled in your applications . Without guidance from teachers, do you know what the consequence will be?"
As he said the last part, Ji Zhongjun’s eyes were full of smugness, "Do what you want."
"If I get in, I go; if not, I’ll take the exam again—what’s the big deal?" Zhao Guodong clearly disdained Ji Zhongjun’s attitude.
Besides, though they hadn’t seen Ye Ling recently, word had already spread about Ji Zhongjun making things difficult for her, and everyone secretly said that Ye Ling was too arrogant before, so she brought this upon herself.
Normally, if he heard such things, Zhao Guodong would have already started a fight. But after the incident in the park, Zhao Guodong became silent and rarely spoke. So when Wang Ping repeated the gossip to him, Zhao Guodong just nodded without saying much, surprising Wang Ping. Later, confused, he asked Zhang Linong, who also merely smiled faintly, leaving both of them silent, which only deepened Wang Ping’s confusion.
So, today, facing Ji Zhongjun’s behavior, Zhao Guodong didn’t react, and Wang Ping wasn’t surprised.
As steady as a rock, Ji Zhongjun sat there waiting for Ye Ling and the others to plead, but after they heard his words, there was no reaction. They just stood there, eyes down, as the time slowly passed, and still with no movement, the smugness on Ji Zhongjun’s face faded.
"Fine, fine, fine." He said ’fine’ three times in one breath, "Since none of you care, why should I worry? Since that’s the case, I have your applications, you can leave and wait for communication."
Seeing the three of them look up, he added, "Don’t just focus on having fun and then causing some embarrassing situation come exam time."
This was clearly a jab about the incident where Ye Ling was nearly attacked by thugs in the park.
"Mr. Ji should watch out for his own safety, lest you get beaten up one day when walking at night and not know who did it." On his way out, Zhao Guodong turned back to throw out the line, making Ji Zhongjun’s face turn white with anger. Thɪs chapter is updated by ɴovelfire.net
Zhao Guodong was clearly making a threat, daring to threaten a teacher, truly thinking too highly of himself.
After leaving the office, Ye Ling nodded to Zhang Linong as if to leave, but was stopped by him, "We haven’t seen each other these days, let’s walk together."
"Alright." Ye Ling nodded. Zhao Guodong and Wang Ping walked ahead but slowly enough to overhear Zhang Linong and Ye Ling’s conversation, "I plan to go home after the results come out. If I get into a university, I’ll go; if not, I’ll spend a year self-studying at home and retake the exam the following year."
"You’ve always had your own ideas, so I won’t persuade you much. No matter how you do, you’ve done your best, and you’re still young. Classmates our age are still just gradually studying, right?" Zhang Linong thought for a moment as he listened to Ye Ling talk about returning home, "Have you discussed this with your dad? Will your family provide for your university tuition?"
"Actually, you don’t need to worry about that; schools offer financial aid." Zhang Linong added another note.
Seeing his concern, Ye Ling smiled, feeling that the incident had made her once carefree friends overly anxious, "I’m applying to military academies that don’t require self-funding, and there’s a subsidy every month, so there’s no worry that my family won’t provide money for university." (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)