Chapter 051: Graduation from Junior High

“Wow, our school has four students admitted to Binhai First High this year. That’s amazing—there used to be so few who made it in!”
“Yeah! This Yang Tian scored 671—what a genius!”
“The other two aren’t bad either! Chen Ming got 645, Huang Juan 641! But this girl named An Qi scored less, only 622!”
“But she’s lucky—since First High expanded enrollment this year, the cut-off is exactly 622!”
The results of the entrance exams were out, and Victory Middle School had put up a big red list at the gate, displaying the scores of all the students admitted to high school. Immediately, a crowd gathered, buzzing with excitement.
The school gate was lively, and the classrooms of the third-year students were filled with joy. Victory Middle School had done exceptionally well this year, especially Class Five. Their homeroom teacher, Bao Yuehong, was beaming with pride.
“You are the first batch of students I’ve taught at Victory Middle, and also my last. To be honest, your achievements exceeded my expectations, but didn’t surprise me too much. None of this happened by chance—you’ve always worked harder than students in other classes. It’s only natural you did well. I hope you’ll continue this diligence in your future studies and strive for even greater accomplishments!” Bao Yuehong was dressed especially formally today, in a bright red cheongsam, as if attending a wedding.
The cheongsam is the most elegant attire for women of the East, and on Bao Yuehong, it highlighted her youthful curves and captivating aura.
“Teacher, are you leaving Victory Middle? Will we ever see you again?” Despite the joyous atmosphere, the students were shocked to hear Bao Yuehong was leaving.
It was An Qi who spoke. She had never expected to get into First High herself; when she learned her score, she didn’t even bother to change out of her pajamas. She grabbed Huang Juan, also in pajamas, and rushed to find Yang Tian and Chen Ming.
Once she called them downstairs, before they could even react, An Qi hugged each of them—first Yang Tian, thanking him, then Chen Ming, thanking him too.
Yang Tian smiled contentedly; he was pleased with this outcome. He’d thought only he, Huang Juan, and Chen Ming would go to First High, and he’d have to say goodbye to An Qi. But now, all four would be together—wonderful!
Chen Ming was so happy he jumped with joy, hugged Yang Tian, and then tightly embraced An Qi, looking even happier than her.
Chen Ming and An Qi clung to each other, celebrating and crying, completely ignoring the curious stares from the other students.

Seeing this scene, Yang Tian and Huang Juan laughed happily as well. At this moment, they felt a vague sense of affection between boys and girls, but even more a deep camaraderie—the enthusiastic hugs and genuine laughter would be etched in their memories.
“I will! I’ve been hired by Binhai First High to teach Chinese. Some of you might still be my students!” At this, Bao Yuehong glanced at Yang Tian.
“Congratulations, Teacher Bao!” The students applauded, and cast glances at Yang Tian’s group. Since Yang Tian, Huang Juan, Chen Ming, and An Qi had all made it to First High, one of them would likely be Bao Yuehong’s student again.
“Yang Tian!” After the graduation ceremony, Yang Tian and Huang Juan happily bade farewell to Chen Ming and An Qi. There was no sadness in this graduation, as they would reunite after summer—just joy and encouragement.
As Yang Tian and Huang Juan packed up and prepared to ride their motorbike back to Daliushu Village, Sun Hui ran up from behind.
Yang Tian and Huang Juan exchanged glances, unsure what Sun Hui wanted. Huang Juan was a bit nervous, thinking Sun Hui might cause trouble again.
“Yang Tian, we’re about to graduate. There’s something I want to say. I used to be jealous of you and look down on you. I’m sorry. I hope we can be friends from now on!” Sun Hui apologized sincerely. He’d done well on the exam, just missing the cut-off for First High, and was admitted to Second High instead.
“Let the past be the past—friends!” Yang Tian smiled, patting Sun Hui on the shoulder.
Huang Juan was first surprised, then laughed. They were all classmates, not true enemies. Sun Hui took the initiative to apologize; who would care about old grievances anymore?
“Yes, friends!” Sun Hui shed tears; he was the most emotional at the graduation ceremony. He’d thought his arrogance over the past three years meant no one would pay him any heed, but to his surprise, everyone forgave him as they parted, giving him genuine and kind smiles—which made him cry even harder.
What pleased Yang Tian most wasn’t Sun Hui, but Zhou Bing from Luohe Vocational High. He’d stopped hanging out with delinquents, realizing academics weren’t his strength, and went to work in Binhai early, reportedly at a car repair shop. Luohe Hu, meanwhile, had been taken in by the police.
When they returned to Daliushu Village, it caused a stir!
Although many village children attended high school, none had ever made it into First High. Yang Tian and Huang Juan became objects of praise among the villagers, with many mothers scolding their own children for not being as accomplished.
The Yang family took it calmly; when praised, they simply smiled, pleased in their hearts.

But Huang Biao was different. He held feasts at home, inviting relatives and friends, and often sat alone, grinning while holding Huang Juan’s admission notice.
The worst part was, Huang Juan was dragged by Huang Biao to visit relatives every day. She hardly ate at home all summer, and each night came back to cry to Yang Tian.
Zhang Xinyu and Yang Xueling became good friends. This summer, Zhang Xinyu even stayed at Yang Tian’s house; the two girls constantly demanded Yang Tian take them out to play, and at night they would snuggle together to sleep—sometimes in their own room, sometimes in Yang Tian’s after playing late, waking up in the morning with one clinging to his arm, the other to his leg.
Their junior high years had ended perfectly, but Yang Tian’s pursuit of his dreams did not stop. This summer, besides diligently practicing martial arts and reviewing high school courses, he was also planning a new path to wealth—centered around the big jujube tree at Huang Juan’s house.
That winter jujube tree produced a bounty of especially sweet fruit every year; Huang Juan’s family would eat and give away as much as they could, but a large portion always went rotten.
Even better, many small jujube trees had sprouted around the big one, all bearing large, sweet fruit. Huang Biao threatened to cut them all down to prevent so many jujubes from rotting at the doorstep each year.
But Yang Tian disagreed. He saw a way for Huang Juan’s family to prosper rapidly—by industrializing the jujube business.
He knew that in a few years, the full value of jujubes would be discovered. Eating them fresh, drying them, making jujube wine, juice, supplements, honey, threads, gelatin, dried pulp, kernels, sticky rice dumplings, iced tea, and jujube milk—all these products could bring considerable wealth to Huang Juan’s family. And all it would take was for Huang Biao to enlist Huang Juan’s uncle Zhong Bangcai and aunt Zhong Qian; they could quickly make it happen.
With this, the family’s living conditions would improve. Also, as Huang Juan would be studying in the city, moving there would make it easier to look after her. With so many relatives in the city, news of them moving would surely be met with support and smiles!
As for the Yang family, Yang Tian didn’t want his parents to work too hard. Greenhouse vegetables had potential, but Yang Tian planned for them to do it just one more year. After all, Yang Xueling hadn’t graduated junior high yet; once she entered high school, he had other plans!

—End of Volume Two
PS: Volume Two concludes. Tonight, I’ll begin writing Volume Three, “Innocence and **”—please look forward to it and support with recommendation votes! Hehe, now that Volume Two is done, is anyone willing to send a little red flower for encouragement? ^_^
Also, check out the new book “Leveling Up in Another World,” book number 1274242