fictionpage Chapter 57 Public Execution
Chapter 57 Public Execution
When Jiang Yu arrived at the gate of No. 11 Middle School, there were still about twenty minutes before the parents' meeting was to begin.
The road in front of the school was packed with parked cars, stretching all the way to the traffic light intersection.
Traffic jams are usually only this bad during school dismissal time.
Today's parent-teacher meeting was moved up.
There are advantages to not having a car, namely, you don't have to worry about parking.
Jiang Yu got out of the ride-hailing car and headed straight into the school.
As soon as you enter the school gate, there is a flagpole standing in front of the building.
The flag atop the flagpole fluttered in the wind.
Holly and roses are planted in the flower bed, and several physical education students are training on the playground.
Walking into the teaching building…
The stairwell was covered with all sorts of promotional posters.
What about "Core Socialist Values," "Code of Conduct for Primary and Secondary School Students," "Six Prohibitions for Drowning Prevention"...?
There's one every few steps.
It's densely packed, like patches.
A list of famous quotes by Confucius, Mencius, Lu Xun, Einstein, and others also hangs on the wall.
There were also some celebrities I didn't recognize at all.
Has the current textbook been changed?
Why include obscure historical figures to make up the numbers?
Following the message Wang Li sent in the group chat, Jiang Yu arrived at the third floor of the teaching building.
Class 7-1, Class 7-2...
When Jiang Yu arrived at the door of Class 3, Grade 7, he saw a desk placed next to the classroom door.
On the table was a stack of sign-in sheets and a black pen.
The sign-in sheet was filled with students' names.
The names are arranged by student ID number, and there is a friendly reminder next to them: "Parents, please sign in and enter the classroom to take your seats. Please do not make loud noise in the corridor."
Jiang Yu found "Jiang Ning" on the form, wrote "Arrived" on the back, and then walked into the classroom.
Most of the parents had already arrived in the classroom.
Most of them were middle-aged parents, and some had gray hair, clearly belonging to the grandparents generation.
They sat on the stools next to their children.
It's called a stool, but it's actually just one of those red plastic square stools from roadside food stalls.
It's hard and uncomfortable to sit on.
Some parents were looking down at their phones, while others were whispering among themselves…
Some were flipping through their children's test papers, their faces contorted with anger as they stared at the red crosses, their brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.
One father's face turned green as he watched, probably because his child did very poorly on the test.
His son, standing next to him, shrank back, barely daring to breathe, like a quail.
Have your child attend the parent-teacher meeting...
This is practically a public execution.
Jiang Yu spotted Jiang Ning sitting in the last row at a glance.
She jumped up and waved at him.
"Brother! I'm here!"
Jiang Yu sidestepped past the parents and sat down on the stool next to Jiang Ning.
Many parents greeted Jiang Yu with smiles along the way.
They all seemed to know him very well.
But Jiang Yu didn't know them at all.
He could only utter various indistinct words.
It's like when a relative you don't recognize comes to your house during Chinese New Year, and you can only smile and say, "Oh, you're here, hehe, uh-huh," to get through it.
After Jiang Yu sat down, Jiang Ning eagerly nudged her head closer.
"Bro, don't forget to ask me for my phone later!"
"I know, if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have bothered coming today," Jiang Yu complained.
"Hehe, bro, you're so nice!"
"Don't give me the 'nice guy' card. If you get your phone back and then it gets confiscated again, I definitely won't help you get it back."
"No, no! I'll be more careful next time, and I definitely won't get caught by the teacher again!"
Jiang Yu: "?"
"Oh no, I definitely won't play on my phone in class anymore!" Jiang Ning quickly corrected herself.
"Hmm, that's more like it."
Several parents nearby, overhearing the siblings' conversation, all smiled knowingly.
After laughing, he continued to sigh.
It's clear that everyone has been through a lot because of this school.
I have to attend a parent-teacher meeting on a Friday, and also deal with all sorts of messy things for my child.
A chubby girl was sitting next to Jiang Ning.
It's chubby and fair-skinned, with a round face and two little pigtails, which makes it look quite festive.
She must be Chen Zihan, the deskmate Jiang Ning often mentions.
A middle-aged woman dressed in a flamboyant manner sat beside Chen Zihan.
She's average-looking, but she knows how to dress well.
She had long, wavy brown hair and wore a blue and yellow floral dress…
She wore a thin necklace around her neck, a jade bracelet on her wrist, and bright red fingernails…
This is Chen Zihan's mother, Zhang Jieru.
Jiang Yu had some recollection of this person when he browsed through the parents' group chat before.
She is very active in the group, often posting selfies, pictures of food, and where she has been.
Many male parents joked with her in the group chat.
She welcomes everyone and laughs and jokes with everyone.
Zhang Jieru's WeChat nickname is "I don't eat cilantro (I'm trying to conceive)".
Jiang Yu had previously heard Jiang Ning say that Chen Zihan's mother had divorced her father a long time ago and was currently single.
We have no idea what her nickname means.
Is he trying to create a certain persona or to prove that he is physically healthy?
Zhang Jieru turned her head and saw Jiang Yu, waving her hand with a smile.
"Oh, handsome guy's here! Long time no see!"
"Yes, it's been a long time, Sister Zhang." Jiang Yu nodded with a smile.
Zhang Jieru pretended to faint: "My God... why are you being so polite today? You even called me Sister Zhang..."
what?
What should we call Zhang if not Sister Zhang?
Aunt Zhang?
Jiang Ning leaned closer, mouth tightly shut, and communicated through ventriloquism: "You usually call her Sister Ruhua..."
Jiang Yu: "..."
He remembered that Zhang Jieru's nickname in the parents' group was "Chen Zihan's mother, who is as beautiful as a flower".
Zhang Jieru looked at Jiang Yu with a smile.
"I really envy you, having such an obedient younger sister, unlike mine, who annoys me every day!"
After saying that, she reached out and poked Chen Zihan's head.
Chen Zihan rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.
Jiang Yu smiled but didn't reply.
Zhang Jieru didn't say anything more and continued to play on her phone with her legs crossed.
She seemed to be scrolling through some cheesy videos on Kuaishou, laughing heartily every now and then.
Jiang Yu sat on a plastic stool, idly looking around.
There was nothing special about the classroom.
A conspicuous red triangular flag hung next to the podium.
The words "Model Class" are written in large gold lettering above it.
This isn't a mobile red flag.
It is a more "glorious" existence than the rotating red flag.
Class 3 of Grade 7 holds a very special position in No. 11 Middle School.
Although the class's overall academic performance wasn't great, the parents of Class 3, Grade 7 were all very capable.
He either runs a family business or is the CEO of a large corporation.
Several of them are also prominent local figures.
In any case, they'll definitely choose either money or power.
In fact, every class has such successful parents.
But there were a lot of parents like this in Class 3, Grade 7.
Of the 45 children in the class, at least 30 have parents who are not ordinary.
The school is also speechless.
All the best and brightest among these people are clustered together in one class, making it seem as if the school is hiding something.
It was actually completely accidental.
Since such a special class has emerged, it must be treated specially.
Based on the genetic theory that "excellent parents raise excellent children," the school specially created the title of "model class."
This means that these parents are role models.
This title has been hanging on the wall of Class 3, Grade 7 ever since it was created.
Other classes are divided into fast and slow classes based on their academic performance.
Class 3 of Grade 7 is "Your Class".
Jiang Yu and a very small number of parents are the outliers in this "prestigious class".
Actually, when Jiang Yu first came in, he noticed that most of the parents were dressed in very expensive clothes.
He didn't have that typical working-class vibe at all.
Jiang Yu turned his gaze away from the "Model Class" red flag and glanced at the back of the classroom.
The blackboard bulletin board at the back is quite interesting.
The painting depicts a large tree covered with leaves of various colors, each leaf bearing the students' aspirations.
Some wrote "I want to get into a top high school," some wrote "I want to be a doctor," and some wrote "I want to become a scientist"...
Jiang Ning's ideals are also mentioned above.
She wrote, "I want to eat my way around the world."
Yes, those are the words she can say.
Jiang Yu casually flipped through his foodie sister's textbook.
The textbooks were covered in doodles.
Drawing stick figures next to physics formulas, adding beards and bangs to figures in history books, and writing Chinese homophones for English words like "Mom Dies," "Dad Dies," "Landmine Society Dies," "Mosquitoes Dies," and "I Can't Die"...
Jiang Yu found it amusing.
You know what, using homophones to pronounce words is actually a good method.
Could she be a genius?
He opened Jiang Ning's math test paper.
The top is covered in red crosses, and the score in the upper right corner is "17".
"..."
Jiang Ning pretended to be calm and kept rubbing the eraser with her fingers, as if nothing had happened.
A few minutes later, the homeroom teacher, Wang Li, walked in.
She was wearing a white chiffon blouse, black trousers, and beige flats.
Her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she wore light makeup.
She looks younger than in the photos.
Good afternoon, parents. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules!
"The parent-teacher meeting will officially begin in five minutes. Please wait a moment!"
Do I have to wait another five minutes?
Wouldn't it be better to start as soon as everyone arrives?
Jiang Yu glanced at it…
Oh, so not everyone has arrived yet.
The chairs in the classroom aisle were almost all occupied by parents.
However, two seats were empty.