28.Talent cannot be wasted

Li Mei, who had just graduated from a teachers' college, was eager to make a difference as a good teacher. However, after working passionately for a while, she encountered her first parent who offered a gift.

It was a box of imported fruit, rarely available on the market. Li Mei had never tasted it before, so her initial reaction was to refuse.

But the parent insisted, saying it was merely food and that the teacher need not worry about it—just keep an eye on their child.

Believing that treating students well was part of a teacher's duty, and seeing it as just food, Li Mei accepted the gift.

She accepted the food and later used it. Eventually, she began accepting money from parents as well, growing accustomed to the practice. Her courage and desires increased over time.

This led to a situation where, if students did not provide benefits, she would deliberately make things difficult for them, even reallocating opportunities that should have gone to deserving students.

Li Mei's decision to blame Qin Ju was based on the fact that Qin Ju's family was poor and had never offered her any benefits.

This was evident in the competition. Li Mei did not want Qin Ju to participate, but Qin Ju's high score in the preliminary round forced her to allow Qin Ju to advance to the provincial finals.

Still, Li Mei was displeased. She planned to undermine Qin Ju further, ensuring she would receive no more opportunities.

Now, however, Li Mei had no time for such concerns.

The investigation team had discovered numerous items in her home that matched exactly with those listed in the report letter.

Her vision blurred, and she fainted.

Before losing consciousness, she couldn't understand how the other party had known so precisely about everything she had received over the years.

Meanwhile, Qin Ju was sitting in a brightly lit classroom, studying, and turned to look at her young reflection in the glass window.

She knew that Li Mei's actions were actually from the time she returned to school in her previous life. Back then, Li Mei was nearing retirement and had accumulated many honorary awards, being recognized as an outstanding teacher. Despite her numerous wrongdoings, including harming more than just one student—Qin Ju among them—Li Mei retired with honors and went abroad with her family.

Such a person was unworthy of being a teacher, so Qin Ju, reborn, not only aimed to change her own fate but also to remove this corruption from the ranks of retired teachers.

That was why the complaint letter had been sent.

Li Mei never returned to Class 10 of Grade 3. Vice Principal Sun Guotao, who taught history, temporarily took over her classes. Principal Sun, quite elderly and recently rehired, wore thick glasses and told vivid historical stories to the students.

In her previous life, Qin Ju had never attended Sun Guotao's class because she had been expelled from school after returning from that competition.

This time, listening to the old man narrate historical events as if telling a story, Qin Ju found it immediately captivating.

When the bell rang, Teacher Sun was still engrossed in his storytelling, but the class monitor approached him and whispered, "Teacher, it's a new semester. Should we rearrange the seats?"

The monitor, a relative of Li Mei's, was aware of some of Li Mei's dealings. Despite his young age, he was shrewd and sought to behave well in front of Sun Guotao.

Arranging seats was one of the ways Li Mei used to extract benefits from parents. On the surface, she claimed to arrange seats based on academic performance. Rich but underperforming students were placed next to high-achieving ones, supposedly for mutual assistance.

In contrast, students like Qin Ju, who excelled academically but came from poor families, were left behind.

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Qin Ju observed Sun Guotao as he planned to arrange the students' seats. Sun Guotao said calmly, "Okay, I'll arrange the seating chart later. By the way, how did you choose your class leaders before?"

The monitor, a little nervous, replied obediently, "I don't know either. It was arranged by Teacher Li."

Sun Guotao nodded, said nothing further, picked up the textbook, informed the students that class was over, and went back to his office.

The next class was Chinese. Qin Ju had just taken out her book when a round-faced girl with a bob approached her. She whispered, "Qin Ju, how do you think Old Sun will arrange the seats this time?"

The girl's name was Jiang Xiaoyue. She had been close to Qin Ju in her previous life, but she came from a single-parent family and didn't enjoy studying. After Qin Ju dropped out of school, Jiang Xiaoyue failed the college entrance examination and ended up working in the south.

Many students were dissatisfied with Li Mei's previous behavior, but they felt powerless to do anything about it.

Now, with Li Mei dismissed from the school, every student was keenly observing how the new head teacher would arrange the seating.

Jiang Xiaoyue pointed to the front and whispered, "Look, the squad leader seems quite nervous."

The class monitor was Li Dong. His academic performance was average, and he had no special talents, but he was well-connected through his aunt.

Li Mei was not his biological aunt, but they were very close because Li Mei's father was the younger brother of Li Dong's grandfather. Thanks to Li Mei, Li Dong had become the monitor.

With Li Mei now in trouble, Li Dong was understandably anxious.

Qin Ju lowered her gaze and said, "Anyway, it won't be worse than when Li Mei was here."

In reality, most of the curriculum for the third year of high school was completed. What followed was personal review and mental fortitude.

Qin Ju knew that although she was adept in subjects like mathematics, her foundational skills were not very strong. The final year was a good opportunity to solidify these basics.

Having missed the college entrance examination in her previous life, she was determined not to let that happen again.

Qin Ju thought for a moment and said to Jiang Xiaoyue, "Xiaoyue, I remember you can design your own clothes."

In her previous life, Jiang Xiaoyue had worked in a garment factory in the south.

Jiang Xiaoyue was taken aback, not expecting Qin Ju to bring up this topic. She smiled awkwardly and said, "It's not really designing; it's just sewing and making clothes myself."

Qin Ju replied earnestly, "Xiaoyue, you should study hard and then take the design exam at a university. You could become an excellent fashion designer in the future!"

In that era, rural kids had little awareness of their talents.

There were no special classes later on, but despite the small number, some children exhibited talents from an early age, such as singing, playing sports, or even those who showed skill in playing games in internet cafes.

Jiang Xiaoyue had a talent for fashion design.

At this moment, she was stunned, feeling both familiar and unfamiliar with Qin Ju. Just then, the class bell rang, and she returned to her seat in a daze.

Qin Ju wasn't sure how much of what she said Jiang Xiaoyue had heard, but she hoped it would help her in some way.

As Qin Ju adjusted to high school life again, she was unaware of the pair of eyes observing her from across the classroom.

Shen Yi rested his head on one hand, leaned on the desk, and twirled a pen with the other hand.

As the pen spun, Qin Ju's figure appeared and vanished within its rotation.

He sighed softly.

Why did he remember that Qin Ju hadn't been so diligent in her studies in his previous life?

(End of this chapter)