16. Making up for regrets

Soon, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan arrived at the principal's office.

As soon as they entered, they saw the room was packed with teachers, so full that there weren't enough seats for everyone, and half of them were standing.

"Come, Zichen, let me introduce you."

"This is your homeroom teacher, Mr. Guan Feng."

"This is your math teacher, Mr. Bai Yuanhe."

"This is your physics teacher..."

As soon as Lin Zichen entered, Principal Chen immediately got up and enthusiastically introduced him to the various subject teachers in the class.

The class he was in was the top class, where they started learning physics and chemistry in the first year of junior high, and even had extra competition classes, making the learning intensity very high.

"Zichen, the school has high hopes for you, and we hope that in the next three years, you can bring countless honors to the school."

After introducing the teachers, Principal Chen patted Lin Zichen's shoulder, placing great expectations on him.

Then, he asked Lin Zichen to communicate well with the subject teachers, while he turned to continue conversing with his parents.

On the other side, Shen Qinghan's family was sitting unnoticed in a corner of the office, feeling very out of place throughout the entire process.

For this, Shen Jianye and Xu Meng were very worried.

Their daughter was very smart and beautiful, but compared to Lin Zichen, who was the center of everyone's attention at the moment, she seemed too ordinary, even inconspicuous.

With such a big gap, the two children would gradually drift apart over time, eventually becoming people from two different worlds.

What should they do?

Unlike her parents, Shen Qinghan had never thought about these issues; she just thought Lin Zichen was amazing, and as his closest childhood friend, she felt very proud.

Look, this boy is not only handsome but also excels in both arts and athletics, exceptionally outstanding.

You might not believe it, but he is my childhood friend. We grew up together and have a super close relationship.

Are you jealous?

...

Lin Zichen didn't have much to talk about with the teachers.

By that time, he had already self-taught all the junior and senior high school courses, even completed calculus.

With the aid of the "Divine Human Wisdom Root," he had mastered them to a very high level.

Take math, for example; he could easily achieve perfect scores in every exam.

Therefore, Lin Zichen merely exchanged pleasantries with each teacher to get acquainted, then made up an excuse to leave with Shen Qinghan.

After the two children left.

Lin Yansheng noticed Shen Jianye and Xu Meng feeling awkward in the corner and realized his negligence.

In his earlier conversation with the principal, he had been so engrossed that he forgot about his two friends.

Once he realized this, he immediately directed the conversation towards his friends and told the teachers, "All teachers, our Xiao Chen and their Han Han have been the best of friends since childhood. They have promised each other to attend the same high school and university. I hope you can take special care of those two kids."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanxin also chimed in, "Xiao Chen has been stubborn since he was young, set on doing whatever he commits to. He and Han Han have planned to go to the same high school and university. Even if Han Han underperforms and only manages to go to an ordinary school, that child will certainly follow, so please, teachers, take care of them."

Principal Chen, being a cunning man, understood the implications and immediately smiled at the teachers, "As teachers of the class, you all must pay extra attention to these two children and ensure they don't fall behind in their studies."

After speaking, he proactively approached Shen Jianye and his wife for a friendly chat, inquiring about Shen Qinghan's situation.

Seeing this, the surrounding teachers also started conversing with Shen Jianye and Xu Meng.

Shen Jianye and Xu Meng felt honored and looked over to Lin Yansheng and Zhang Wanxin, grateful for their friends' favor.

...

On the school sports field.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan sat on the grass.

The two enjoyed the tranquility of the moment, watching students come and go.

Soon, they too would become students at this school and spend three years of junior high here.

"Xiao Chen, look over there, there's a badminton court! Luckily, my dad has a pair of rackets in the car. Shall we go play badminton?"

"Sure."

The two quickly agreed, and immediately went back to the principal's office to get the car keys from Shen Jianye, and then took the badminton rackets from the car.

Next, they arrived at the badminton court.

"Xiao Chen, we are so lucky, just one court left, and we snagged it!" Shen Qinghan said excitedly.

Seeing her so overjoyed, Lin Zichen couldn't help feeling a bit envious.

This girl is so easily satisfied; such a little good thing can make her ecstatic.

"Xiao Chen, watch my Fairy Curving Ball!"

"Xiao Chen, I have another trick, the Magical Girl Deception Ball!"

"Xiao Chen, don't be too smug, you definitely won't be able to return my Celestial Scatter Ball!"

On the court, Shen Qinghan was like a child who never grew up, shouting various childish moves continuously, her delicate face full of brilliant smiles.

Watching Shen Qinghan acting so childishly, Lin Zichen was amused and found her inexplicably adorable.

While they were having a great time, two older boys who couldn't find an empty court to play badminton silently walked into their court.

Without saying anything, these two boys started playing their own game of badminton, completely ignoring Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan as if they were air.

"What are you doing? We were already playing here!"

Shen Qinghan looked at them with dissatisfaction.

However, those two boys didn't take her seriously at all.

Especially the crew-cut boy on the same side as her, who directly retorted:

"If you don't like it, go cool off elsewhere."

This was an outright displacement, particularly common in elementary and middle schools.

Some of the older students, often exploiting their age and size, liked to displace younger students from courts when they wanted to play basketball, badminton, or table tennis and couldn't find an empty court themselves.

In his past life as a student, Lin Zichen had seen this type of misconduct frequently.

Back then, powerless to stop it, he could only choose to look the other way or, when it happened to him, to swallow his pride.

But, times had changed.

It was time to rectify the regrets of his younger years.

Thinking this, Lin Zichen waited for the right moment. When the crew-cut boy on the opposite side hit the shuttlecock toward him, he quickly stepped forward and smashed it out of the court with a swift hit!

He held back, using less than ten percent of his strength.

Yet, the shuttlecock flew dozens of meters away, floating gently to the ground after a long while.

Seeing this exaggerated scene, the two court-crashing boys were utterly dumbfounded.

Lin Zichen, holding his racket, asked them expressionlessly, "Still want to play?"

Startled by his voice, both boys trembled and looked at Lin Zichen as if he were a monster, then quickly left without a word.

Lin Zichen picked up his shuttlecock, smiled gently at Shen Qinghan across the court, and said:

"Qinghan, let's continue."

"Oh, oh yes, let's continue."

Shen Qinghan, having recovered from her shock, picked up her racket and resumed playing badminton with Lin Zichen.

She, too, had been startled by the scene.

But, recalling how Lin Zichen, even as a second grader, had once grievously injured two adults in an alley, she quickly found it quite plausible.

...

PS: Setting out the bowl, asking for Monthly Passes and recommendation tickets!