Xicheng No. 17 Middle School.
It was formerly known as Xicun Middle School, a rural town high school mainly serving the vast rural areas of the Old City West Suburb.
Later, the Xicheng education system reformed and incorporated this rural town high school into the sequence of urban schools, renaming it Xicheng No. 17 Middle School. However, this did not bring any substantial change to the school.
Squeak!
A military green jeep stopped in front of the school gate.
A group of people got out of the car one after another.
"What kind of school is this, it's so shabby!" Xiaoxiao took off her sunglasses, glanced around, and couldn't help but complain.
"Do you need to say that?"
Li Ling retorted to Xiaoxiao. She could complain about her alma mater being rundown, but she wouldn't accept others saying that.
The gate of Xicheng No. 17 Middle School was mottled, and large patches of wall skin had fallen off the walls outside, like scars.
The ground was concrete, but there were many cracks, with stubborn wild grass sprouting from the gaps.
The school was not large, with only one teaching building, and others were single-story tiled houses. However, surprisingly, these buildings were carefully renovated and looked good, with no dangerous houses.
According to Li Ling, now in the third year of No. 17 Middle School, there are only three classes, two cultural classes, and one combat squad. The student source is not very good, and many are left-behind children whose parents work outside.
However, Bai Pu was surprised that the quality of students at this school was quite good, with no signs of bad behavior such as dyed hair, wearing jewelry, or holding cigarettes. Most people hurried along, and some were even holding books.
No student came to disturb Bai Pu and the others, at most they glanced back curiously when passing by.
The principal was an elderly man with silver hair, but still quite spirited. Li Ling respected him very much and said that this old principal had been working at Xicheng No. 17 Middle School for over twenty years. He was already the principal back when Li Ling was in high school.
After Li Ling explained her purpose, the old principal readily agreed and even joked, "Li Ling, you are the golden phoenix that flew out from our poor corner. I didn't expect that ten years later, you would bring in another golden phoenix!"
Li Ling looked around with some emotion and said, "Principal, I didn't expect our alma mater to be in such a difficult situation. I haven't been back all these years and haven't helped much."
"Don't say that, you've helped the school a lot. If not for your donation to repair the teaching building, the students would still be attending classes in dangerous buildings. I understand you have difficulties..."
The old principal rambled on, revealing a lot about Li Ling.
Li Ling was born in a rural area, with parents working in Jiangnan Base City. She studied in the combat squad at Xicheng No. 17 Middle School, counted as one of the left-behind children.
After hard work, Li Ling was admitted to a military academy, successfully awakened two years later, and now holds important positions in both the Great Tang Group and the Divine Strategy Army, gaining some reputation in the Jiangnan Region, considered a personal life uprising.
Of course, the price for her was becoming a professional soldier, not having as much freedom as other awakeners.
Su Xiaoxiao looked at the cracked cement ground and said, "How about I apply for a donation from the organization to level the ground and repaint the walls?"
The old principal chuckled, "Donations are welcome, but there's no need to change the ground or the walls. It's better to use it for improving the diet of the combat squad kids… Rural kids are very hardworking, just lacking nutritious exotic beast meat. If nutrition is guaranteed, maybe more Li Lings will emerge."
Su Xiaoxiao didn't speak further; exotic beast meat isn't cheap, it's obtained when awakeners hunt mutant beasts in the Wilderness Area. Besides, improving diet is a long-term investment, not something a small amount can solve.
"The entrance should be changed..." Li Ling said, "Seeing such a school, new students would be discouraged."
"You don't know, Li Ling, our school is about to be shut down; where would there be new students?" The old principal shook his head and said, "The education department's document issued this year, Xicheng No. 17 Middle School is one of the schools planned to be merged within the next five years. We can't pretend to be fat, having a good-looking entrance is useless..."
"What?!" *3
Bai Pu had a good impression of the old principal and asked, "Is it because of the low enrollment rate?"
"Not really, our school's cultural class scores are not bad. Although we haven't produced top students admitted to the Eight Great Universities, quite a few have entered key universities," the old principal smacked his lips and said as if his teeth hurt, "It's just that the combat squad's enrollment rate is not good, always failing to meet the criteria."
Li Ling digested the news and couldn't help asking, "If the school is shut down, where will the students go to study?"
"The document states it will be merged into Xicheng Ninth Middle School," the old principal said.
"Ninth Middle? That school isn't much, and it's pretty far from here," Su Xiaoxiao said.
"Fifteen kilometers, if not staying in the school, riding a bike would take two hours back and forth each day," Li Ling sighed, "Back then, because it was far away, I didn't choose Ninth Middle."
While talking, the group had reached the principal's office.
Bai Pu was once again surprised to find that the principal's office was actually a small shed made of iron sheets. Such small iron sheds are cold in winter and extremely hot in summer, usually used for building carports.
The old principal took over the student files Li Ling brought, personally handled Bai Pu's enrollment, even bypassing the academic test.
In the words of the old principal: "The academic test is for ordinary candidates, Bai Pu will be taking the Awakening Scroll in the future, no need for an academic test, the identity of an awakener is the best certificate."
Subsequently, the old principal arranged a class for Bai Pu, in the only combat squad class of the third year—Class (3) of Grade Three.
The homeroom teacher was named Ren Zhenghua, who, upon hearing about Bai Pu's awakened identity, was not only surprised but also excited, quickly arranging a seat for Bai Pu, with his deskmate being the best student in the combat squad, under the excuse of learning from Bai Pu.
Bai Pu hurriedly declined Teacher Ren's kind offer. Over the next two months, his time at school would be quite short, so he shouldn't take a good seat, a desk at the back would suffice.
Teacher Ren gave Bai Pu his cherished textbooks from three years of high school, filled with highlighted points and annotations. He had been teaching for twenty years and was so familiar with the key points that he didn't need the textbooks to teach.
After completing the enrollment procedures and obtaining the college entrance exam qualification, Bai Pu and his group left in the military green jeep.
Looking back at the mottled walls of Xicheng No. 17 Middle School, Bai Pu deeply felt that although the school was rundown and the student quality was not great, it had a truly vibrant and uplifting atmosphere.
From the principal to the students, everyone was clear about their goals and understood precisely what they needed to do and their responsibilities.
"Such a school, to be shut down and merged... it's a pity." Bai Pu said softly.
"Nothing can be done, now the awakeners are prioritized, and since the combat squad's enrollment rate is poor, in the eyes of the education department, it's considered unqualified," Su Xiaoxiao said.
The combat system students entering university may not all become awakeners, but with strong physique and abundant energy, switching to other professions also makes them more popular than ordinary people who have never undergone training.
Therefore, the enrollment rate of the combat squad is more important in the eyes of the education department.
Li Ling joked, "If you could stand out among tens of thousands of awakened candidates and win the top spot, you might help the school avoid being shut down."
Bai Pu smiled modestly without boasting. He sat in the back seat, flipping through the textbooks Teacher Ren had given him.
"Aren't you reading too fast?" Su Xiaoxiao couldn't help but come over to talk.
Bai Pu replied with a smile, "Actually, I have self-studied these textbooks before, now reading through them again to see how much I can still remember."
"The cultural course part of the Awakening Scroll exam is not very difficult. What really sets candidates apart are the simulated battle scores and the Spirit Realm exploration scores! These two require solid strength," Li Ling said.
Bai Pu quickly finished a book, closed it, and said, "I understand. Can you tell me what level of strength the top scorer had in last year's exam?"
"I know!" Su Xiaoxiao said, "Last year's top scorer was named Wan Zhen, a Hero Profession 'Sky Wings'!"