Returning to '97, creating a new life

Songcheng No.1 High School made great strides in the regional competition, playing two to three games a week. In the end, it was no longer about qualifying for the finals, but about giving school basketball teams from different cities a real opportunity to exchange and learn from each other.

Play some official matches and compete against truly strong teams.

Xu Kai won one of the top ten student awards in the first year of high school.

Judging from his campus awards more than a decade later, this was a combination of being recognized as a star in his specialty and receiving an award for volunteer service.

The letter of commendation from the neighborhood community when he first entered school, which was recorded in the files of several people, has now become a reward for Xu Kai at the end of his first year of high school, after more than half a year.

He was the champion of the National 3x3 Youth Basketball Challenge and received a letter of commendation for being an outstanding volunteer during the floods. If a school were to select a non-academic role model, he would rank among the top in the first-year high school group, regardless of the selection criteria.

He knew it wouldn't be of much use to him, but when the award was recorded in his file, his mother was so happy that she immediately set up two tables at home, making it another successful family celebration.

When you get to university, the school will look at your records. If you were one of the top ten students in high school, and you attended a provincial key high school like Songcheng No. 1 High School, you will have a certain advantage in university. At least you will have an easier time getting into the student council than others.

Xu Kai's grades in the first semester of high school were acceptable, slightly below average. According to the advice of his homeroom teacher Huang Jian during a home visit, he might do better in the second year of high school. He would do much better if he chose to study humanities, as his scores in physics, chemistry, and biology were too low.

Since Huang Jian's birthday that time, the teacher and student have been in contact more often, and Huang Jian is more willing to spend extra energy to get to know this student.

The more she learned about this student, the more she realized how valuable she was. Her extensive experience as a homeroom teacher quickly allowed her to take advantage of Xu Kai.

The sports committee member is your trusted subordinate; many boys in the class respect you. So, you need to support the teacher in matters outside of academics: discipline, hygiene, school activities, off-campus activities…

Huang Jian's reasons were very valid: you want the privileges of the basketball team, you want to not have to attend evening self-study sessions or tutoring classes, fine, then help the teacher manage the class.

otherwise……

"Don't worry, sis, I'll still be his homeroom teacher."

Huang Jian and Sun Xiuyun sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), separated by a table.

On the small kang table, there were plates of washed fruit and orange juice drinks.

Teacher Huang kept calling him "sister," and Xu Kai was completely taken in. He had no idea when the relationship between his teacher and his mother had become so close.

He didn't care whether Teacher Huang had other motives or whether the closeness was due to a change in social status. Wasn't this the purpose of his struggle?

I have become stronger, and I can also make my mother live in a world where others look up to her and take the initiative to get close to her. I will take care of everything outside, and she only needs to enjoy the warm kindness and closeness from others.

Huang Jian's home visit was also intended to find out whether Xu Kai wanted to pursue a professional basketball career. After chatting with Sun Xiuyun for a few minutes, she didn't delve into the topic further. She could tell that this single mother was very ordinary, kind at heart, but lacked her own opinions.

It's no wonder that Xu Kai is so opinionated at such a young age; the family he has to support requires him to face society with the strength of an adult.

After Liu Duosheng was transferred to No. 1 High School, Huang Jian also talked to him. Through him, Huang Jian learned about Xu Kai's previous learning and living environment. If it weren't for the boy's own hard work, he would probably still be living a somewhat difficult life now.

It has been confirmed that Hu Yuxuan and Fei Wenxin, two high school students who transferred here, and Dong Bin from their own class, will all pursue professional careers. The school has also issued orders to the homeroom teachers.

If they can immediately dedicate themselves to a full-time basketball career, then there's no question. But if they're in the second team or youth team, then their student status must be preserved. There are plenty of schools across the country that do this. And we're not even recruiting semi-professionals from outside; these are students trained by our own school. Next year or the year after, nobody can say anything about it.

As the absolute core player, the school takes Xu Kai's ideas very seriously.

While the school values ​​the honor he brings by staying on, it wouldn't mind letting him go if, as Coach Park said, he could make a name for himself in the professional arena. After all, if the school could have another nationally renowned basketball player listed among its distinguished alumni and selected for the national team, the school would be proud and would fully support him.

There were also students who wanted to visit her home, but Huang Jian refused Sun Xiuyun's offer to stay for a meal. She had to go through this kind of rejection with almost every family every year.

Xu Kai saw his teacher to the door: "I really haven't thought it through yet. I'm still young and there's no rush. I want to earn money first and go to a decent university. That way, no matter what decisions I make in the future, my mother won't worry at home. I've exceeded her expectations. As for whether I'll go pro in the future, I'll let nature take its course. It's not too late when I get to university."

Huang Jian nodded and unlocked the bicycle: "It's good that you have your own plans. It's true that being a professional is very hard. Being able to enjoy the pure high school and college life is also an important experience in life. I agree with your thoughts and actions on this point. No matter how busy you are outside or how tiring it is to do business, you still have to go to school and learn what you need to learn. Not everything you learn in school is useless in the future. The friendships you form with your classmates in school are ones you definitely won't encounter in the outside world..."

"Thank you, Teacher Huang."

Huang Jian smiled at Xu Kai, waved, put his left foot on the pedal, held the handlebars with both hands, took a few steps, got on the bike, stepped his right leg over the middle of the bike, put his right foot on the pedal, and rode away.

Because of the points in the division, Songcheng No.1 High School is far ahead. Xu Kai missed several training sessions, and it's fortunate that there were no matches, otherwise he would have missed them anyway.

With the college entrance exam approaching, he, as the pillar of strength for the entire exam, must dedicate all his time to accompanying the student throughout the entire process.

Two days ago, I took my Jetta and Yunsheng's Santana to the servicing center for a full inspection, especially the four tires, to make sure there were no slow leaks and that it wouldn't delay my upcoming exam.

It was also amidst the tense atmosphere of the college entrance examination that, while accompanying Yunshang to review various exam papers predicted by teachers, a memory that had little to do with him slowly surfaced from the depths of Xu Kai's mind.

That was just a memory that had passed by him in the past.

This year marked the first year of expanded college admissions, which is why Xu Kai paid attention to the college entrance examination that year and has this memory of it. This year's college entrance examination mathematics was a disaster, extremely difficult. Many candidates left the examination room in tears, their mental state so unstable that it even affected their subsequent exams.

Yun Dongbai turned down a case and has had some free time these past few days. He spends his mornings at the law firm and the rest of his time on his daughter.

Wu Huiru, on the other hand, had no choice. As the chief ophthalmologist at a top-tier hospital, it was extremely difficult for her to take consecutive days off, and she could only try to find time whenever possible.

In the Yun family home, in Yunshang's room, the door was open.

Xu Kai leaned back on Yunshang's bed, while she sat at the desk beside the bed to review. It was the last day, and all the effort her family had put into getting those practice papers from a top-notch tutor was worthwhile.

She has already answered all the questions and graded them. Now Yunshang is holding the test paper and flipping through it to reinforce her memory.

In the living room, Yun Dongbai was looking at the case files, not daring to make a sound. He had just brought fruit to his daughter when he saw "Yellow Hair" lying on her bed, and he was inexplicably angry. Since his daughter grew up, no one could touch her bed. Now, "Yellow Hair" was lying on it wearing his coat, while his daughter was sitting there studying. When she got tired, she would look up at him and smile, and even ask him if he was cold, and take her own blanket to cover his legs.

[That blond guy was still wearing his trousers and socks, how could you tolerate that...]

The couple had specifically sought psychological counseling from a psychologist to understand the mental state of students preparing for the exam. They even gritted their teeth and talked about it. After listening, the psychologist actually said that this was very good. Compared to parents, love at this age is obviously more likely to immerse and convince young people. Since there is such a person, and they are taking the college entrance exam together and facing the pressure together, then it's even better.

Having someone who can help her relax and make her feel good is more effective than a hundred words or a hundred actions from her parents.

When Wu Huiru talked to the psychologist about the changes in her daughter's studies due to her relationship, which resulted in a strong motivation to learn, the doctor became even more certain of the existence of this young boyfriend, whose value was immeasurable.

So, Xu Kai once again barged into Yunshang's boudoir, and did so openly even when her parents were home. Yun Dongbai and Wu Huiru even prepared delicious food for her.

"Mathematics isn't your strong suit, is it?" Xu Kai asked, sitting up after flashing back to the memory.

"Well, I started learning a bit late. I have no problem with the basic questions, but I'm a little weaker with the advanced ones."

Xu Kai smiled inwardly. If that were the case, the tragedy would have a much smaller impact on her.

"If the questions are difficult, just give up. As long as you can get the basic points, don't worry about it. I actually hope this year's math exam is super difficult, so that your score will be closer to that of students who are average in math."

Yunshang glanced towards the door, then reached out and pinched Xu Kai's nose: "You're just dreaming."

Xu Kai stretched and asked, "How's your studying going?"

Yunshang raised her voice: "Isn't it all because of you? You deliberately cooperated with my parents, playing a trick on me, deliberately not saying which exam I wanted to take, forcing me to get high scores."

The raised tone was clearly directed at Yun Dongbai.

Yunshang: "No matter what score I get, you have to tell me where you're going before you fill out your college application. Don't try to lie to me, or I'll make sure you drop out in your third year."

Xu Kai said with a bitter face, "Sister, how would I know where I can go? I said I wanted to go to Tsinghua or Peking University, but they still want me to calculate it."

Yun Dongbai got up and slowly approached his daughter's room, his mind racing as he organized his thoughts.

Yunshang was smart enough to cooperate with this deliberately orchestrated situation, all for today, at this crucial moment, the perfect time to bring her parents to justice.

"Anyway, I don't care. Either you apply to Songjiang University, a top-tier 985 university in the country, located in the provincial capital, close to home. You better perform well and go to university instead of playing professionally. I don't believe you can't get into Songjiang University's sports-specific admission program. If you can't, then work hard. Win the high school league championship, or get into the national youth team and achieve good results in next year's Asian Youth Championship. Otherwise, you'll regret it..."