Chapter 3

Glenda stared at the job offer on her screen and let out a laugh.

"That county school that hasn't produced a single top-tier student in five years?"

She looked me up and down, contempt written all over her face.

"Polly Pruitt, without those elite-class prodigies, you're nothing."

"Forget top-tier. If your class cracks the top twenty in the citywide joint exam three months from now, I'll admit you actually have talent."

I didn't rise to it. I put my phone away.

"Three months, then. We'll see."

A week later, I arrived at West River High School No. 3.

The school had only two aging classroom buildings, and printing exam papers required requesting the paper in advance.

Yet Principal James was waiting for me himself at the front gate.

"Ms. Pruitt, our conditions here aren't good, but as long as something helps the students, we'll back it with everything we've got."

I was taking over senior Class 5.

Forty-two students in all, and only three had met the college-track cutoff on last semester's finals.

The first day I walked into the room, I saw rows of tanned, unpolished young faces.

They wore uniforms washed pale, watching me with eyes that were curious and self-conscious at once.

The System panel unfolded, and one knowledge map after another surfaced in front of me.

These kids weren't slow.

They'd just never had the chance to find the study methods that fit them, worn down by limited resources and years of being told they weren't good enough.

【Bind to senior Class 5?】

I didn't hesitate.

"Bind."

Over the next ten days, I didn't hand out a single full exam paper. I built training tailored to each student's profile.

On the second week's quiz, the class average rose by sixteen points.

The students held their papers, eyes rimmed red.

"Ms. Pruitt, so I'm not stupid after all?"

But right as everything was turning around, an education board inspection team moved into the school without warning.

Someone had filed a formal complaint under their own name, accusing me of causing a teaching disaster, stealing Mingde's lesson plans, and faking West River No. 3's results.

During the investigation, the inspection team walked into Class 5 at random and threw a final-boss problem at them on the spot.

In the end, thirty-seven of them solved it independently.

The veteran teacher on the inspection team stared at the chains of reasoning filling the blackboard, and after a long moment he asked:

"This method, did Mingde teach it to you?"

"No. I developed it myself."

Three days later, the findings came out. Every accusation was false.

A month later, the class average had risen by thirty-one points, and the number meeting the college-track cutoff had gone from three to seventeen.

At the same time, Mingde's elite class had slipped to seventh in the grade.

Three students had fainted, and Paddy Mason, their competition star, had dropped below passing in math.

Glenda finally messaged me:

【Send over the training plan for the elite class's next two months.】

When I didn't reply, she called.

"Name your price."

I refused all the same.

"Without a fresh assessment, no amount of money buys a plan."

Getting nowhere, Glenda started needling me again.

"County schools write their own tests. Who knows how much water's in those scores? Wait for the citywide joint exam. You'll show your true colors then, same as always."

The call ended, and the System's forecast lit up at the same moment.

【Projected ranking, West River No. 3 senior Class 5: 10th citywide.】

【Projected ranking, Mingde elite class: 15th citywide.】

Three months ago, Glenda said these county kids didn't have the brains for it.

This time, I was going to make her watch with her own eyes,

exactly how these kids she looked down on ground the elite class under their heels.