Seeing William Yan leave in anger, Zach Zhang couldn't help but grin and say, "Boss, you're seriously amazing—so many classmates actually responded to your call."
Ian Song smiled slightly. "They're not responding to me—they've just had enough of William Yan in Class 9. If this were Ms. Han's class, do you think anyone would follow me out?"
Zach Zhang nodded in full agreement. "That's true."
News of Class 9 collectively standing in the hallway for the lesson quickly spread through the school. As one of the two central figures, William Yan had his reputation utterly ruined, while Ian Song became the focus of student admiration, racking up hundreds of Fame Points and pushing his total past the 1,000 mark again.
After the third period, the director of discipline came to the Class 9 classroom to deliver the principal's order, telling Ian Song to go to the principal's office.
"Good afternoon, Principal." Ian Song greeted Harold Zhu respectfully.
"Welcome, Ian Song. Would you like tea or a soft drink?" Harold Zhu said warmly.
"Thank you, Principal, but I'm not thirsty," Ian Song replied shyly.
"No need to be so reserved here. I know your uncle, Director Song, quite well," Harold Zhu chuckled. Although he wasn't a government official himself, he'd heard that Stephen Song was about to be promoted to director of the Education Bureau—his own direct superior. Naturally, he'd give extra attention to his superior's nephew.
In the end, Ian Song asked for a bottle of juice.
After thanking Principal Zhu, Ian Song left the office, a faint smile tugging at his lips. Getting William Yan transferred to junior high felt like sweet revenge.
Almost everyone knew about the feud between William Yan and Ian Song. Now that William Yan was sent to junior high while Ian came out unscathed, a lot of people started wondering if Ian was some kind of official’s kid.
Otherwise, how could a student win so completely against a teacher?
Ian used to hate rumors, but now he kind of liked them—since they bumped up his Fame Points. Before school ended, he checked and saw his Fame Points had jumped by several hundred.
In a flash, it was the 14th. Tomorrow was the Riverstone City Piano Competition’s open audition.
During this time, Zhen Yun called him to chat. The piano competition had five stages, starting with the open audition. Since Chairwoman Ma Jingchu was the vice mayor’s wife, Riverstone TV gave the event special treatment and would broadcast it.
The second stage was the preliminary round, the third was PK duels, the fourth was a composition challenge, and the fifth was the top-ten finals.
Except for the open audition, which would only have highlights aired, the prelims, PK duels, composition round, and top-ten finals would all be broadcast live.
The TV coverage made Ian super happy—it meant way more Fame Points. He’d thought ten thousand Fame Points was impossible, but now, as long as he made the finals, it’d be a breeze.
But the 15th wasn’t a weekend, so he needed to ask his homeroom teacher Hannah Han for leave.
"Why do you need leave?" Hannah Han looked at Ian Song and asked.
"I’m going to the Riverstone City Piano Competition audition tomorrow," Ian replied with a grin. Ever since last time, he and Hannah Han had gotten much closer.
"You can play piano?" Hannah Han eyed Ian suspiciously.
"A little," Ian said modestly.
"Never thought you had any artistic cells," Hannah Han teased, then suddenly switched gears: "You can take leave for the contest, but only if you promise a top-ten finish."
"No problem," Ian agreed without hesitation—his real goal was first place.
"So confident?" Hannah Han was a little surprised at how quickly he answered.
"If you don’t have the skills, you wouldn’t dare climb Mount Liangshan," Ian bragged. (Translator’s note: In Chinese, this means only those truly capable dare take on big challenges.)
"I don’t buy it," Hannah Han said, pursing her lips.
"Just wait and see!"
"No way, I’ve gotta see how you play first. Come on, let’s go to the Piano Room Building." Hannah Han said, her eyes glinting with mischief.
With no choice, Ian followed Hannah Han toward the school’s Piano Room Building.
The Piano Room Building was right next to the teaching block. Mostly, it was for arts-track students; other students only came for music class, but in senior year, music class was canceled, so Ian hadn’t set foot in there for a year.
The Piano Room Building had three floors: the first two were big classrooms, and the third was filled with small practice rooms for arts-track students.
"Mr. Huang, could I get a key to one of the third-floor piano rooms?" Hannah Han asked politely at the office, with Ian beside her.
"Ms. Han, are you going to play piano?"
Ed Huang looked at Hannah Han curiously. She was gentle and pretty, and every unmarried male teacher had a thing for her—including this bespectacled young man.
"No, my student’s entering the piano contest tomorrow. I want to see what he can do," Hannah Han explained.
Ed Huang sized up Ian and smiled, "What a coincidence, I signed up for that contest too. I’m free, so I’ll come upstairs with you—let’s see how this student measures up."
"Thank you, Mr. Huang," Hannah Han said politely.
"No problem—serving a beauty like Ms. Han is an honor," Ed Huang said with a grin.
Ed Huang smiled. Since he’d always worked in the piano room office, he’d never had a chance to get close to Hannah Han. Now the chance was here, he didn’t want to miss it. As for Ian, he didn’t think his piano skills were anything special.
Hannah Han didn’t respond to Ed Huang’s flattery, just smiled.
All the way upstairs, Ed Huang kept trying to impress Hannah Han, but she mostly replied with polite monosyllables like "Mm," "Ah," or "Oh." It was obvious she was just being courteous.
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