"Director Chen, what's the matter?"
Flora Huang's smile froze slightly when she heard Director Chen's words, looking rather awkward.
From the moment Director Chen sat down, he had always spoken gently, never showing any sternness. He came across as very approachable.
But Flora never expected that talking about Evan Lin would get such a big reaction from him.
"It's nothing. I just think, as a teacher, you should watch your words and the impression you make. I never said Evan Lin caused any trouble. But he actually used to study at Whitewood No. 2 High? He's a student from your Whitewood County? That's impressive!"
Director Chen's face was full of smiles, and the word "impressive" was delivered with particular emphasis.
As soon as he said this—
Flora was stunned for a moment. Victor Deng's mouth hung open, his throat tight. He turned to look at Joy Zheng and Evan Lin, completely baffled.
The teachers who had been making snide remarks earlier were now in disbelief, staring at Evan Lin in confusion.
Ivy Deng, however, frowned slightly and glanced at Evan Lin, a bit dissatisfied.
In Ivy's view, her mother Flora Huang had just been called out by Director Chen—and the culprit was still Evan Lin.
The Whitewood No. 2 principal, who had just tried to distance himself from Evan Lin, was now completely confused. Hesitant and cautious, he asked, "Director Chen, what do you mean by that? Did Evan Lin do something good?"
Act of bravery.
That was the only reason anyone could think of for Director Chen to remember Evan Lin.
But surprisingly, Director Chen shook his head and grinned. "Actually, I came here planning to visit Brightsea, to meet the student who won first prize in the Math Olympiad. But when I got there, I couldn't find him and basically got the cold shoulder."
"Who would've thought I'd run into him right here today!"
Director Chen burst out laughing.
As soon as he said this, the whole room went silent for a few seconds. Then, countless shocked eyes turned to Evan Lin.
"Director Chen, are you saying Evan Lin won first prize in the Math Olympiad?" Victor Deng, sitting next to Director Chen, was the first to react and blurted out.
"That's right! Evan Lin from Brightsea No. 2 High! There were four first prizes in this Olympiad, and two came from Brightsea City."
"And one of them is this student right here—Evan Lin!"
Director Chen craned his neck, carefully sizing up Evan Lin.
Director Chen's words hit like a thunderclap out of nowhere.
Flora Huang's eyes widened, her heart pounding. Ivy Deng whipped her head around, staring at Evan Lin in disbelief.
You’ve got to be kidding!
Everyone knew Evan Lin’s academic level.
Back in middle school, he bombed plenty of exams. Most people figured, even at Brightsea No. 2 High, he’d probably just end up at some second-rate college.
For the first time, Ivy Deng seriously looked at Evan Lin sitting there. Every other time she’d seen him, she’d just glanced his way and never bothered to pay attention.
After all, a student as ordinary as Evan Lin could never catch Ivy Deng’s eye! He was just background, the type who could only watch her from the sidelines.
But now, this nearly invisible background character was suddenly flipping the script—shining like a comet in the middle of the crowd!
"You won first prize!"
Joy Zheng whipped her head around, staring wide-eyed at Evan Lin, who was calmly eating. She looked utterly stunned.
"Maybe? I never checked my score. I was going to call my math teacher this morning to ask about it, but I forgot."
Evan Lin looked at Joy Zheng’s excited face and nodded, feeling genuinely happy inside.
But what made him happy wasn’t the Olympiad prize—it was seeing Joy Zheng so happy.
For years, Evan Lin’s poor grades had worried Joy Zheng. Now, for once, he could make her proud.
"You little rascal." Joy Zheng shot him a glare, but she couldn’t hide her smile.
"Who is this teacher?"
Director Chen glanced at Joy Zheng and asked.
"This is Ms. Joy Zheng, a math teacher at Whitewood Elementary," Victor Deng quickly answered.
"Ms. Zheng, that explains it! No wonder—you're a math teacher, right? Only such a solid family background could raise such an outstanding student!" Director Chen said warmly, then continued, "After Professor Gu finished grading, he specially took Evan Lin’s paper and looked it over a few more times. He couldn’t stop praising it, and even considered recruiting Evan Lin directly into his math department as a personal student."
"If that really happens, our whole province will have another math prodigy in the future. What a cause for celebration!"
When Director Chen finished, Victor Deng struggled to hide his confusion at such high praise for Evan Lin, but he asked curiously, "Director Chen, which Professor Gu are you talking about?"
"How many mathematicians get called Professor Gu? Of course, I mean Professor Gordon Gu, head of the math department at Huaqing University!" Director Chen shook his head, full of admiration. "Professor Gu has incredibly high standards. For him to notice Evan Lin is no small feat!"
"Gordon Gu! The one who won the Fields Medal!"
Someone blurted out in shock at the name.
The Fields Medal is the highest honor in mathematics, known as the Nobel Prize of math. It’s awarded at the International Congress of Mathematicians.
It’s given every four years to two to four outstanding young mathematicians.
When Gordon Gu won the medal, he was only in his thirties. He became famous overnight, then joined Huaqing University as a professor, and later became department chair—a true legend.
His résumé is legendary!
After Gordon Gu’s name was mentioned, everyone looked at Evan Lin with newfound excitement.
The Whitewood No. 2 principal now felt like banging his head against the wall. Who’d have thought, just a moment ago, he was busy trying to distance himself from Evan Lin!
"Any teacher who can raise a kid like this must be pretty amazing." Director Chen glanced at Joy Zheng, then curiously asked, "Ms. Zheng, what’s your current professional title?"
"I’m at the second-tier level right now, still preparing..."
Joy Zheng was about to say she was still working toward her second-tier title. She’d tried many times, but always got rejected—she just didn’t have the right connections.
But at that moment, Director Chen’s face changed. He frowned and looked at Victor Deng. "Director Deng, for a teacher like this to still be stuck at second-tier—it’s just not right!"