Chapter 6: The Transfer Student is a Little Strange

Xinxing Elementary School is a rural school. Every day, Park Sang-hae would pass by here on his way to work, so he always sent Park So-yeon to school and picked her up after school. After driving for about ten minutes, Li Yunzai saw a three-story school from a distance, with a two-story red-tiled building behind it. At this moment, many students were playing in the snow on their way to school, having a great time.

Soon, Park Sang-hae parked his motorcycle at the school gate. There were not many adults sending their children to school; most of the students came by themselves. The school gate was very lively, with several breakfast stalls on both sides, and many students gathered around these stalls.

"Here we are, Yunzai, this is where you'll be going to school from now on!" Park Sang-hae parked the motorcycle by the side, took off his helmet, and said, "Come, I'll take you to meet the principal. So-yeon, you go to your classroom first!"

Park So-yeon said "Oh" and ran over to a few classmates she saw nearby.

Li Yunzai followed Park Sang-hae, looking at this unfamiliar school. The iron gate, painted silver, was wide open. As soon as you entered, there was a large flower bed, with two large cedars standing tall. The entire teaching building was L-shaped, with a bulletin board and a blackboard on the left side of the main gate.

Park Sang-hae led Li Yunzai to the third floor, where he immediately saw the sign "Principal's Office." The door to the principal's office was open, and inside sat a man in his fifties with shiny black hair. Seeing Park Sang-hae and Li Yunzai, he stood up enthusiastically and said, "Hello, parent, is there something you need?"

Park Sang-hae shook hands with him and took out some documents, saying, "This child is a new transfer student. The transfer procedures have been completed. Please take a look, Principal!"

The principal took the documents and looked them over, his face lighting up. "So, you're the one... A few days ago, a lady came to arrange the transfer procedures, and you're transferring from Aegean Comprehensive School. I didn't hesitate and agreed right away... It's great that you're here today!"

Li Yunzai felt a bit overwhelmed and said, "Hehe... Hello, Principal!"

"Good, good, good!" The principal said three times, his expression excited. Just being from Aegean Comprehensive School wasn't enough to make him this excited. What really got him was Li Yunzai's report card, with rows of red marks indicating excellent grades, all 95, 97, and 100 points, with no subject scoring below 95. At this point, he understood that Li Yunzai was definitely one of the top students at Aegean Comprehensive School.

What is most important for a school, besides the quality of teachers, is having smart students. These two are the foundation of a school. With Li Yunzai's grades, he would be a treasure at any school, and the principal's excitement was understandable.

"Principal, it's getting late, so I'll be on my way! Please take care of Yunzai's classroom and other arrangements!" Park Sang-hae looked at his watch; it was almost 8 o'clock.

"Good, good, you go ahead. I'll take care of Li's classroom and textbooks!" The principal said with a smile.

As soon as Park Sang-hae left, the principal called the homeroom teacher of Class 3-1.

"Principal, why are you in such a hurry to find me... I've only been teaching for a few minutes!" The homeroom teacher of Class 3-1, Mr. Kim, said somewhat unhappily.

As he spoke, Li Yunzai observed him. He was in his mid-40s, wearing glasses, and had many years of teaching experience.

"Mr. Kim, this is Li Yunzai, a new transfer student. I plan to assign him to your class!"

Hearing this, Mr. Kim frowned... In his experience, transfer students were usually poor performers who loved to play, and were often expelled from their previous schools. With the final exams just a month and a half away, a student with poor grades would drag down the class average, affecting his year-end bonus.

After some thought, Mr. Kim pretended to be hesitant and said, "Principal... Our class is already full, and there are no empty seats... Besides, with the final exams just a month and a half away, it's not appropriate to transfer a student now!"

The principal frowned. He wanted to place Li Yunzai in one of the two third-grade classes with better academic performance, but the homeroom teacher refused to accept him... After a few seconds of thought, he realized the reason. Before the principal could speak, Li Yunzai said, "Principal, there are other third-grade classes in the school... I can go to another class!"

Mr. Kim's face brightened, and he quickly said, "That's right, Principal! Mr. Han's class has several empty seats... He can go to Class 3-2!"

The principal smiled helplessly. He was a bit frustrated with his "old subordinate" who had worked under him for over ten years... So he nodded and said, "Alright... Go and call Mr. Han up!"

Mr. Kim's face brightened, and he quickly ran out of the office, as if afraid the principal would call him back. Soon, Mr. Han from Class 3-2 appeared in the principal's office.

Li Yunzai quietly observed her. She had black hair, fair and tender skin, and was around 24 years old, with less than two years of teaching experience. She was a young and beautiful teacher, much more pleasant to look at than the middle-aged woman.

"Mr. Han, I want to assign Li Yunzai to your class. Is that okay? Do you have any objections?"

Mr. Han glanced at Li Yunzai and shook her head inwardly. She had some understanding of transfer students. While there were some with good grades, they were very rare. If a child had good grades, parents usually wouldn't arrange for a transfer, as it could affect their performance. Most transfer students had poor or very poor grades and were often troublemakers. She turned to look at Li Yunzai, who was sitting on the sofa.

His bangs slightly covered his eyes, and he looked very quiet. Mr. Han thought to herself, "Well, who can blame me for being the least experienced... I hope this student doesn't cause any trouble!"

"Principal, I have no objections. You can arrange it as you see fit!" Mr. Han said with a smile.

"Alright... Take him to the general affairs office to get his textbooks, and then arrange his seat in the classroom!" The principal said kindly to Li Yunzai, "Li, this is your new homeroom teacher, Mr. Han!"

Li Yunzai stood up, walked to Mr. Han, and bowed slightly, saying, "Mr. Han, please take care of me!" Mr. Han nodded silently, and Li Yunzai's slightly cute and innocent face gave her a good impression. She just hoped this child wouldn't cause trouble like the others in the class.

With the principal's smiling farewell, Li Yunzai followed Mr. Han out of the principal's office and headed to the general affairs office.

Although Xinxing Elementary School was a rural school, like all schools in Korea, students had to wear uniforms and change into clean shoes before entering the classroom, which was part of instilling hygiene habits from a young age. After getting the textbooks, uniform, and shoes at the general affairs office, Mr. Han took him to the changing room to put on the uniform.

After changing, Li Yunzai, with his backpack and a pair of shoes, followed Mr. Han to the second-floor classroom.

Each floor of the teaching building had a male and female changing room, a restroom, an office, and two classes per grade. The first floor had four classes for first and second grades, the second floor had four classes for third and fourth grades, and the third floor had four classes for fifth and sixth grades.

At this moment, the entire teaching building was filled with the sound of students reading aloud. As they passed by each classroom, students would curiously look out.

Class 3-2 was the class with poorer academic performance among the two third-grade classes, with more students who loved to play and cause trouble. This was the case throughout the school, with better-performing students in Class 1 and poorer-performing students in Class 2. Mr. Han was a new teacher at Xinxing Elementary School, having graduated just a year ago. Every teacher wanted to teach a class with better academic performance to get a better year-end bonus. Therefore, the poorer-performing classes were assigned to new teachers like her.

At this moment, Class 3-2 was having an English class, and the sound of English reading could be heard in the hallway. Mr. Han nodded in satisfaction, and even the troublemakers were sitting quietly, even though they couldn't say a single word.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Mr. An, sorry to interrupt!" Mr. Han knocked on the door, interrupting the male English teacher who was enthusiastically teaching.

"Oh... Mr. Han, is there something you need?!" Mr. An wasn't annoyed that Mr. Han interrupted his class; everyone knew that Mr. Han was a beautiful rose at Xinxing Elementary School, and all the single male teachers in their late 20s were secretly in love with her.

Li Yunzai changed his shoes at the classroom door, put the old shoes in the shoe cabinet, and followed Mr. Han into the classroom.

"Mr. An, this is the new transfer student, Li Yunzai! He will be in my class from now on!" Mr. Han introduced Li Yunzai to Mr. An and then said to Li Yunzai, "Yunzai, this is Mr. An, your English teacher."

Li Yunzai bowed politely and said, "Hello, Mr. An! Please take care of me!" Mr. An chuckled and nodded.

"Students, please be quiet!" Mr. Han said to the students, "This is the new transfer student, Li Yunzai. Please take care of each other, okay?!"

"Yes..."

Li Yunzai bowed slightly to the students and introduced himself. As he looked around, he immediately saw Park So-yeon sitting in the second-to-last row of the fourth row. Park So-yeon's eyes were a bit red, as if she had been crying. She was looking at Li Yunzai with surprise, not expecting him to be assigned to Class 2 instead of Class 1.

"Yunzai, there are a few empty seats. Choose one you like!" Mr. Han said, placing her hand on Li Yunzai's shoulder.

Li Yunzai looked around and saw that the only empty seats were in the third row, last seat, and the first row, third-to-last seat. He wanted to sit next to Park So-yeon, but it seemed impossible.

At this moment, Park So-yeon whispered something to her desk partner and raised her hand, saying, "Teacher, can Li Yunzai sit with me?"

Uh... All the students looked at Park So-yeon, and her face turned red. She stood up and shouted, "What... What are you looking at... What's so interesting to look at!"

Li Yunzai was surprised; this was the first time he had seen Park So-yeon act so boldly. It seemed she had the potential to become a class bully. Indeed, after hearing Park So-yeon's words, everyone turned their heads. Li Yunzai was impressed by Park So-yeon's influence in the class.

"Park So-yeon, you already have a desk partner! Why do you want Li Yunzai to sit with you?" Mr. An asked.

Park So-yeon said matter-of-factly, "He's my brother... Of course, he should sit with me... And Sun-hwa agrees to give up her seat! Right... Sun-hwa!"

"Ah... Yes! I agree... I completely agree!" Baek Sun-hwa nodded vigorously.

Mr. Han had no objections. She was surprised that Park So-yeon, who she thought was an only child, suddenly had a brother. Seeing Li Yunzai's quiet demeanor, she didn't think Park So-yeon was lying, so she didn't question it further.

"Since Baek Sun-hwa has no objections, Yunzai, you can sit next to Park So-yeon!"

Baek Sun-hwa tidied up her desk, took her backpack, and moved to another empty seat. Li Yunzai walked to Park So-yeon's side and sat down.

After arranging Li Yunzai's seat, Mr. Han said a few words to Mr. An and left the classroom. Mr. An watched her leave, straightened his face, and continued the lesson.

"Yunzai, shouldn't you be in Class 1? Why are you in Class 2?" Park So-yeon asked as soon as Mr. An turned his back.

Li Yunzai put his backpack in the drawer, took out the English textbook, and glanced at the page being taught. He said in a low voice, "She didn't accept me, so I came to Class 2."

Park So-yeon pouted and said, "I thought you knew I was in Class 2, so you came here on purpose. I was so happy for nothing!"

"You're so vain..." Li Yunzai chuckled and asked, "Why are your eyes red? Did someone bully you?"

Park So-yeon looked at her desk, and Li Yunzai followed her gaze. He almost burst out laughing when he saw a big 58 in red, almost purple. He never expected Park So-yeon to be so bad at math that she couldn't even pass.

"Alright, alright! It's just a 58... Just try to pass next time!" Li Yunzai comforted her.

Park So-yeon didn't seem to be convinced, pouted, and said, "Dad said he would buy me a HOT poster if I passed math... I was just two points away, so disappointing!"

Li Yunzai couldn't help but smile. It seemed Park So-yeon was really obsessed with HOT. He said, "Come, let me see. Maybe the teacher made a mistake, and we can get you those two points!" He took Park So-yeon's math test and looked it over.

Hmm!

Ten minutes later, when Li Yunzai saw the last question, he was puzzled. The solution and answer were correct, but there was a big red X.

"Park So-yeon, this question is correct... Why did the teacher mark it wrong?" Li Yunzai asked in confusion.

Park So-yeon looked at it and clenched her teeth, saying, "I went to the teacher, but I couldn't explain the solution. I just felt it was right... The teacher said my method was different from the standard solution, so it was wrong!"

Li Yunzai couldn't help but laugh. There's no standard solution for math problems... Just as Park So-yeon and Li Yunzai were discussing, a piece of chalk hit Li Yunzai's head.

Mr. An was furious. He couldn't believe that Li Yunzai, who had just entered the classroom, was already chatting with Park So-yeon, showing no respect for him. This was too much!

"Li Yunzai! Stand up!" Mr. An shouted angrily. Li Yunzai, knowing he was in the wrong, reluctantly stood up.

"You two were discussing so enthusiastically... It seems you understand the textbook well! Why don't you recite the passage for me?" Mr. An threw the textbook on the desk and stared at Li Yunzai to prevent him from cheating.

Park So-yeon looked at Li Yunzai nervously. The passage had at least 60-70 words, and it usually took her several days to memorize it. Li Yunzai had just opened the book; how could he recite it?

However, Li Yunzai didn't look panicked. Instead, he smiled slightly, and the words started flowing from his mouth, accurate and fluent, without any hesitation. He recited the entire passage in just three minutes, leaving the whole class in silence. Park So-yeon looked at Li Yunzai as if he were a monster. Mr. An, who was looking at his book, realized Li Yunzai hadn't missed a single word and his pronunciation was much better than other students.

"Teacher... Can I sit down now?" Li Yunzai asked.

"Sit... sit down..."

After Li Yunzai sat down, Park So-yeon couldn't wait to ask, "How did you do that? You just opened the book, how could you recite it all?"

"Well... I've already learned this passage, so of course, I can recite it... Do you really think I'm a prodigy who can memorize things at a glance?" Li Yunzai responded in a low voice.

Oh... Park So-yeon understood.

After class, Mr. An returned to the office, threw the textbook on the table, and sat in a daze. Mr. Han, noticing his unusual expression, asked, "Mr. An... What's wrong?"

Mr. An snapped out of it and said, "It's strange, too strange! The transfer student in my class recited the English passage I was teaching without even looking at the book... It's too strange!"

"Uh... Mr. An, you must be joking