The School's Dedication

The students of Class 9 stood outside the classroom, listening to Teacher Xu's words, their hearts deeply moved.

Some even shed tears as they recalled their unpleasant interactions with their parents.

They were minors, and that was not wrong.

Their worldview, outlook on life, and values were indeed not fully formed yet, and that was not wrong either.

Sometimes they showed psychological immaturity, and that too was not wrong.

But none of this was an excuse or reason for parents to lecture and scold them from a high horse.

If only they had been given full respect from the very beginning.

If only they could have conversed on equal terms from the very beginning.

If only their psychological health had been prioritized from the very beginning.

In this world, how could there be so many naturally rebellious, stubborn, or spoiled children?

Unfortunately, there was no "if" in this world.

Class 9 was made up of all sorts of students who, on the surface, seemed strange and peculiar.

The students outside the classroom only felt that they were truly too fortunate.

Fortunate to have met Teacher Xu at their most unfortunate moment.

The parents inside the classroom, after hearing Teacher Xu's continuous and eloquent speech, also had all sorts of thoughts arise in their hearts.

"Why are you silent?"

"You dare to talk back?"

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"How many points did you get on this exam? Look at so-and-so."

"Don't act spoiled with me!"

"I'm doing this for your own good."

...

Of these words, how many parents dared to say they had never spoken them to their children?

It was simply impossible!

If they were told other grand principles, they might jump up to refute them.

But these were all things that these parents had actually done in the process of educating their children.

Who would dare deny at a parent-teacher meeting that they had never said these words? Never done these things?

Parents were also people who valued their dignity; they couldn't do something so shameless.

Therefore, whether the parents sitting here denied or accepted Xu Jie's educational philosophy in their hearts, at least at this moment, they all reflected a little on what they had said and done to their children.

Even if it was just a little, it proved that Xu Jie's parent-teacher meeting this time was not in vain.

However, Xu Jie clearly had no intention of stopping there.

He was best at delivering a series of combo punches to completely convince the parents.

Xu Jie smiled and nodded to Director Qin, who had just entered the classroom.

In a corner where no one was paying attention, his left eye even gave Director Qin a wink.

It was as if to say, "I'll leave the rest to you."

Then, Xu Jie proactively stepped down from the podium.

He yielded the stage to Director Qin.

Unlike Xu Jie's youthful and handsome appearance, which easily made parents look down on him, Director Qin was an experienced veteran teacher who had served as the grade director for many years.

With his stern face and majestic aura, not to mention students, even some parents would feel a sense of trepidation upon seeing him.

Especially those parents who hadn't been very good students and had been mischievous during their school days.

A grade director could be said to be the nightmare of many people during their school years.

A play must be performed to the end.

Director Qin was undoubtedly an astute person who deeply understood this principle.

Therefore, from the moment he stepped into the classroom, the smile on his face had mostly faded, leaving only a subtle, meaningful grin.

His voice was powerful and resonant, carrying the authority of someone in a high position.

"Hello, parents and friends."

"I am Qin Shixiong, the director of Grade 11 at Zhenhua High School, and this semester I am also concurrently serving as the Politics teacher for Class 11/9."

Xu Jie was the homeroom teacher of Class 9 this semester.

Most parents had only communicated with him via phone or WeChat and had not met him in person.

Even though he was previously the physical education teacher of Class 9, he wouldn't have appeared at parent-teacher meetings.

But Director Qin was different.

As the grade director, he managed all matters, big and small, of Grade 11.

In the classroom, except for those attending a parent-teacher meeting for their child for the first time, most others knew of Director Qin's existence.

Therefore, when Director Qin took the stage, many parents reined in their somewhat dismissive attitude toward the young Teacher Xu from earlier.

In fact, this subtle shift in the parents' psychology was also one of the reasons Xu Jie had invited Director Qin and the Principal to act as "actors."

Humans are very strange creatures.

Xu Jie was only 26 years old this year, still very young.

The parents' first reaction upon seeing him was that he was a young homeroom teacher.

In the eyes of many parents, youth equated to a lack of experience and a generational gap with people of their age.

Even if Xu Jie spoke beautifully on the podium, only a few could truly take it to heart.

This was human nature.

But when Director Qin took the stage, things were different.

First, he was older; Director Qin was even older than most of the parents present.

Second, his status was significant; the title of grade director seemed to boost the parents' trust in him.

This was also human nature.

"Just now, Teacher Xu spoke about 'Communication,' which is the first segment of our Class 9 parent-teacher meeting."

"This is a discussion topic and process agreed upon after the academic advisory board, the homeroom teacher, and I, as the grade director, consulted together."

"Our Zhenhua High School is a prestigious high school, always striving for the comprehensive cultivation and opening of academic pathways for our students."

"In this process, we highly hope that parents can participate and plan the future of the students together."

Having said this, the experienced Director Qin paused for a moment, giving the parents time to absorb his words.

This composure and experience alone made the parents nod repeatedly.

So, this seemingly strange parent-teacher meeting was actually planned and decided by Director Qin and the teachers together?

Hearing Director Qin's words, many parents also began to recall what Teacher Xu had just said.

Teacher Xu's earnest advice was not as effective as Director Qin's endorsement.

This kind of seemingly bizarre phenomenon, to put it bluntly, was simply caused by the psychology of each parent.

After all, on the surface, Director Qin seemed to hold more authority than Teacher Xu.

This was understandable.

After showing his support for Teacher Xu, Director Qin continued:

"I believe all parents are already aware of the final exam results of the Class 9 students from last semester."

"Just now, Teacher Xu also said that he would let you see the efforts our school has made to cultivate the Class 9 students."

"So next, as the grade director, I would like to talk to everyone about the results of the Class 9 students in this midterm exam."

With that, Director Qin began to announce the grades of all subjects, total scores, and rankings of the Class 9 students in this midterm exam.

Hearing Director Qin's announcement, the parents sitting below could not help but fall into a commotion.

"Second and third place in the entire grade actually belong to Class 9?"

"The remedial class has 17 people making it into the top 100 of the entire grade?"

"My boy actually ranked ninth in the class? Thirty-second in the entire school?"

"No wonder when he came back from this midterm exam, no matter how I asked, he wouldn't say how many points he got!"

"Same with my kid, she only said it would be announced at the parent-teacher meeting."

"No wonder when we asked Teacher Xu in the group, he also only said it would be announced during the midterm exam."

"So they did so well this time?"

"My daughter's progress is truly too leap-forward. If these results weren't announced by Director Qin, I wouldn't even believe they were real."

"Indeed, Director Qin is the grade director; he couldn't possibly use fake results to deceive us."

"Last semester, I was still having a headache over whether to find an acquaintance to transfer my child to Hongyuan. Now it seems, fortunately, I didn't do that."

...

Just the announcement of the midterm exam results caused a stir of discussion among the parents in the classroom.