Chapter Eleven Parent-Teacher Conference

  "Our school's new building is pretty good, it has 6 floors." Ouyang said as he looked at the new teaching building.

  "I'm guessing, 5 floors one floor per grade, the 6th floor is the office," said Li Jun beside him. "Are your gifts all ready?" asked Xu Xue Mei to everyone. After hearing this sentence, Ouyang rushed to a flower shop on the opposite side of the road and bought out a large bunch of carnations. Seeing that other classmates were also carrying big bags and small boxes, Xu Xue Mei nodded and they all walked towards the teaching building together.

  Because Ouyang and his friends had just graduated from elementary school, their teacher should also be bringing a new class of first-year students. So they went directly to the floor for first-year students and started searching each classroom. In the classroom for Class 3 of Grade 1, they saw Teacher Li, who was lecturing her classmates. Ouyang and his friends waited at the door until the end of the period. When class ended, Teacher Li saw them and took them to her office.

  "You all came and didn't even tell me, really." Teacher Li said affectionately, patting the head of each student she had taught.

  "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," Wang Lin said happily.

  Right after that, everyone gave their gifts to Teacher Li and started chatting about old times, sharing funny stories from elementary school. Ouyang suddenly felt that if they could just stay together like this, happily chatting, it would be great. It was only then that he learned from Teacher Li's mouth that his vice principal, the math teacher who had given him a zero on his test for poor handwriting, had retired to take care of her granddaughter due to old age. Teacher Li's child is now in third grade and has decent grades. After about an hour or so, Teacher Li had to go upstairs for a meeting, and Ouyang and the others prepared to leave. Teacher Li gave each of them some advice: "Although you're all in junior high now, you're still kids after all, and kids from District D are too innocent - when you go out, it's inevitable that you'll be taken advantage of. Remember, it's a blessing to suffer a loss, don't always try to win at everything, and don't stick your head out too much. Nowadays, kids have strong grudges, especially the two of you, Ouyang and Wang Lin - I've known you both since elementary school, and Xue Mei and Jun are those steady, reliable types, so I'm not worried about them. But when you two enter unfamiliar environments, be careful not to make enemies for yourselves."

  "Don't worry, teacher, we two get along with others very well." Wang Lin said, hugging Ouyang's shoulder, and Ouyang also nodded.

  "I'm relieved then. It's getting late, you all should head back now, thank you for coming to see me." After Li teacher finished speaking, he was about to walk out, then Ouyang and the others collectively bowed to Li teacher and said "Teacher, thank you for these years of education."

  After school, the sky had already started to darken, and everyone bid each other farewell before heading back to their respective homes. As Ouyang and Wang Lin lived close by, they hailed a rickshaw and headed home together. On the way, Wang Lin asked Ouyang, "What our teacher said earlier made sense to me. Don't you think Zhao Junyi is just making enemies with us?" Ouyang replied expressionlessly, "It doesn't matter, as long as we have more friends than enemies. People like him are experts at making enemies."

  After a while, Ouyang returned home. As soon as he entered the door, his mother came out of the kitchen and asked, "How was your exam today?"

  "Anyway, that's it for math, I've written everything I can." Ouyang said vaguely. Her mother didn't ask any more questions and continued to say "Then you all go see the teacher, what did they say?" Ouyang put down her bag, went back to her room, lay on the bed and said loudly "I just said it as you taught me, and the teacher even gave me and Wang Lin a lecture."

  "Oh" Hongyan Feng said with interest, and then asked: "Is it because you two are causing less trouble and not always rushing?" Ouyang exclaimed in surprise "How did you know".

  "With your temper, last time my classmate came to play and later told me he wanted to beat you up." Mais walked out of the big house and said while walking towards Ouyang. Feng Qinglian also just came out of the bathroom, smiling and nodding his head.

  "Is my temper really that bad?" Ouyang asked in confusion. "Child, it's not that your temper is bad, it's just that you're too stubborn," Grandma said, her words sounding much more pleasant than what Mais had said.

  "By the way, mom, we're having a parent-teacher conference the day after tomorrow." As soon as Ouyang said this, Mais became tense "What time is your parent-teacher conference?"

  "We were at one o'clock in the afternoon that day and only had classes for half a day." Ouyang packed up his things, took off his jacket, and said to Mais.

  "That's good, Old Auntie. We're at 6 o'clock tonight, don't be late." Mais shouted to Feng Hongyan who was cooking in the kitchen.

  "No delay, if it's really not possible, then let your mom go, anyway, your dad probably has already forgotten about the parent-teacher conference." Feng Hongyan seemed to be very confident that Feng Manyan would forget about the parent-teacher conference.

  In the next two or three days, Ouyang was worried about whether he could do well in the exam. However, the school's efficiency was still very high, and all the results were out on the eve of the parents' meeting. Ouyang couldn't help but admire the teachers' speed in grading papers. There were a total of 8 classes, and the papers were graded within two or three days. Moreover, the papers were sealed, so there was no possibility of teachers covering up for students to increase their scores.

  Ouyang had a rough estimate of his scores, and as expected, he did well in Chinese and English. He scored 103 points in Chinese and 105 points in English out of a total of 120 points, with 96 points considered excellent. Ouyang was satisfied with these two subjects. However, he only scored 87 points in math, which was within his expectations, but still barely passing with 74 points.

  As the scores were released, the class's score sheets also came out, and it turned out that Liu teacher had indeed printed them out a day before the parent-teacher conference to let parents take them home and write their opinions. In Chinese class, Ouyang's teacher Pan praised him because his essay was deducted only 5 points, ranking third in the entire grade.

  Ouyang actually liked this Chinese teacher, who was said to be a recent graduate of Normal University, barely out of her teens. Ouyang was someone who would work hard if he liked the teacher, as seen from his elementary school days with Li teacher's Chinese class. On the other hand, if he didn't like the teacher, it was also reflected in his performance, which was why his math scores were always poor.

  The English teacher seemed dissatisfied with Ouyang's score of 105 points, despite there being six students who scored above 110 points. After class, when Ouyang went to ask Zhang teacher about homework, the teacher criticized him for not paying attention in class and making careless mistakes. Ouyang thought the teacher was right and accepted the criticism humbly.

  What worried Ouyang was how he would explain his mediocre math score of over 80 points to his mother when he got home. His friends had all done well on their exams, with Xu Xue Mei naturally being at the top, scoring above 110 points in both English and math. Wang Lin's math score was also good, with 108 points, but his English score was unexpectedly poor, with only 78 points. Chen Juan scored over 100 points in all subjects, very evenly.

  Overall, Ouyang's scores put him in the middle to lower end of the class, mainly due to his math score pulling down his overall performance.

  After school, the school bus was filled with discussions about scores. Everyone was concerned about how many points they had scored, how many points they had lost, and whose subject grades were outstanding and excellent. Ouyang just kept his eyes closed, thinking about how to explain it to his mother.

  After returning home, Feng Hongyan asked "Chenxie, what ranking did you get this time?"

  "25, there are 56 students in the class, mainly because math pulled me down." Ouyang didn't know how to tell his mother, as the report cards for the whole class had already been issued and required parents' signatures. He knew he couldn't deceive her. But what surprised Ouyang was that his mother only scolded him briefly and then said: "I don't care how many points you scored, just make sure our class name isn't after 24th next time." Ouyang nodded desperately.

  "Ouyang, not bad on the test." Mais quietly took over Feng Hongyan's signed transcript and said to Ouyang, "However, your math is too miserable. There are only a few below 100 points in the class."

  Ouyang detected the sarcastic meaning in his words and also bluntly said, "You'd better worry about your parent-teacher conference tomorrow, King of Failure." Ouyang had been notorious for being sharp-tongued since he was a kid. His words left Ma Si at a loss for what to say next, so he could only helplessly say, "Anyway, my mom will go with me to the meeting, and I'm sure my dad has already forgotten about it."

  The next day, when Ouyang was in class, Chen Juan said to him, "Hey, have you heard? Our teacher is not going to be our homeroom teacher next semester." Ouyang didn't feel anything and asked, "Is it because she's going to have a baby?" Chen Juan nodded. "I wonder who will be our new homeroom teacher. If it's Teacher Pan, that would be great!" Chen Juan said, "Teacher Pan is a new teacher and doesn't have enough experience. Teacher Zhang is busy with Class 2 and can't take on another class. It seems like they're going to rehire a retired teacher." As soon as Ouyang heard this, he immediately thought of his elementary school math teacher and felt a chill in his heart. He then said, "As long as it's not some stubborn old person, it'll be fine."

  "By the way, has Wulong Institute come out with a new one?" Chen Juan asked again. "You're not studying every day and you care about this, wait until after school and I'll go take a look." Ouyang said and continued to listen to the class.

  After school in the afternoon, Ouyang found his mother waiting at the school gate to attend the parent-teacher conference. "Mom, I want to eat something delicious." It's rare for Ouyang to be able to stay in the C district for an entire afternoon, so he wants to have some fun. However, Feng Hongyan said, "I'll take you somewhere first." Ouyang thought his mother was being mysterious, but followed her anyway. The two arrived at a street across from the east gate of the Le Fang Xiaoqu community where the school is located. In the middle of the street was a market with vendors, and on the right side was a residential area. "What's so surprising about this place?" Ouyang asked, scratching his nose. His mother smiled and said, "This market will be gone soon, and as for this neighborhood, we'll probably be able to live here in about a year." When Ouyang heard this, he excitedly jumped up and asked, "When did you really buy the house?" "I discussed it with your father," his mother replied. "After he gets back, we'll study the decoration together."

  "Then I'll design my own room." Ouyang shouted, Feng Hongyan nodded and said "Does this count as a surprise? Son, come on, mom will take you to eat something delicious."

  After dinner, Ouyang called Wang Lin to go to Mu Yuhan's house later and wait for their parents. Mu Yuhan's home was very clean and simple, with no extra things. What surprised Ouyang was that Yuhan also learned piano, and the two people instantly found a common topic. Wang Lin on the side listened to it in a daze, playing the piano and chatting, time passed quickly.

  Around 3:30, Mu Yuhan's phone rang. It was her mother calling to tell her that the parent-teacher conference was over. Ou Yang said to Mu Yuhan, "It's really convenient to have a mobile phone. I'll ask my mom to buy me one someday." Mu Yuhan smiled, and Ou Yang loved watching girls smile, especially quiet ones like her. He thought that girls who didn't talk much looked even more beautiful when they smiled, and every time Mu Yuhan smiled, she would cover her mouth with her left hand and adjust her glasses with her right hand. Mu Yuhan said, "I'm not allowed to bring my phone to school during the semester. My parents are afraid I'll send texts or make calls. You two live far away, so if you brought your phones, you'd have to take them to school. Would your uncles and aunts be at ease?" Ou Yang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, my mom listens to me. Let's go." The three of them walked together to the school gate, where Ou Yang and Wang Lin's mother took them home by car. Ou Yang observed that most of the parents attending the conference were mothers, with fewer fathers in attendance.

  "Mom, what did the parents' meeting say?" Ouyang asked. His mother said, "I'll tell you when I get back tonight, the teacher said a lot and I wrote down quite a few things in my notebook. Later, I still have to go to Max's parents' meeting."

  It was already 4:30 when they arrived at District D. Ouyang and his mother returned home, where Feng Qinglian had prepared dinner. After eating, Feng Hongyan left to attend a parent-teacher conference on behalf of Maisi. Ouyang noticed that Maisi still looked worried, so he reassured him, "Don't worry, my mom has already gone, your dad should have forgotten about the whole thing by now. Let's go play computer games later." Maisi nodded in agreement.

  At 6:30, while Ou Yang and Mais were playing computer games, a loud knock came from the door of Ou Yang's house.