Although Jin Zhao usually tried to think from the students’ perspective and was considerate of individual differences, she knew that some students matured early while others matured late; some were willing to be considerate of others, while some, for their own interests, would even disregard right and wrong. This actually had nothing to do with identity—every group had such divisions in human nature. It was just that, as a teacher, older than them and serving as a role model, she inevitably showed students more tolerance and guidance.

But this kind of operation—sending forty-four friend requests overnight without even a name attached—still made her vision go dark, making her feel offended.

However, considering that she had failed a course in her senior year and was about to graduate, she must be very anxious right now, so Jin Zhao still immediately tapped accept.

The other party sent her a long voice message.

“Teacher, sorry to bother you. You failed me in College English IV. I didn’t expect that I would actually fail the makeup exam in my senior year too. Because I failed this course, I can’t graduate and have to delay graduation. Can you come to the school now and help me change my grade?”

Little Tuanzi was playing nearby with the nanny, while Grandma’s little bundle was sprawled on the floor. Seeing that his mom wasn’t paying attention to him, he suddenly let out a clear, crisp “Ang.”

When Jin Zhao heard that rather impolite voice message, she was instinctively unhappy, but the moment she saw Little Tuanzi’s smile, it quickly dissipated.

She stepped forward, touched the baby’s head, picked up her phone, and walked aside, replying in a gentle tone: “I’m on leave this semester. If you took the makeup exam this semester, then your paper wasn’t graded by me. The scoring and grade entry were handled by another teacher who took over. Don’t panic yet, tell me your name first. I’ll help you ask.”

The other party sent her two words: 【He Yue.】

Then replied with a voice message: “I saw on the academic system that the name under the grade entry teacher is Jin Zhao.”

Jin Zhao had no impression of the name He Yue.

Students retaking courses were mostly rather lax about attending class—few showed up, and some didn’t appear at all for an entire semester, so she hadn’t seen them.

College English exams were university-wide exams with a broad scope. For this kind of public course, the school used computer-based grading. He Yue must have failed last semester and taken the makeup exam this semester. Knowing full well that she was already in her senior year, she still dared to fail. Moreover, the makeup exam took place in the first or second week of the semester, and the results usually came out that same week, yet she only realized she had failed when it was almost the end of the term.

Jin Zhao asked, “How did you only find out about failing now?”

He Yue: “I didn’t know. I thought I would definitely pass in my senior year, so I didn’t log into the system to check. Then at the graduation defense, my advisor said I still failed a required course and couldn’t participate in the defense and had to delay graduation. Teacher, please go help me change my grade. I’m begging you. Otherwise I won’t be able to live.”

Jin Zhao was already at a loss for words.

“Teachers can indeed submit a grade correction application, but that’s only under the premise that there was an error in grading or other teaching staff negligence, and the time limit for grade correction is only within one week after the results are released. It’s already almost the end of the term now,” Jin Zhao sighed inwardly. “How about this—I’ll first ask which teacher graded your paper and see what the situation is.”

He Yue: “Thank you, teacher.”

Jin Zhao immediately messaged the department director, who replied that it was Teacher Sun.

What a coincidence—previously, when Teacher Sun was on maternity leave, Jin Zhao had helped her collect the makeup exam papers, grade them, and enter the scores. This semester, it was Jin Zhao who was on maternity leave, and Teacher Sun helped her grade the papers and enter the scores using her academic account.

Jin Zhao then immediately contacted Teacher Sun. Half an hour later, Teacher Sun replied: “Teacher Jin, sorry, I just saw your message. I don’t have much impression of this student, but I generally don’t fail students—if I can give points, I give them, especially for a makeup exam. If this He Yue failed, then it should be that I really had no way to help. And didn’t the makeup exam results come out at the end of February? It’s already mid-May and she’s only asking now—and she’s a graduating senior. What is she thinking?”

As she spoke, Teacher Sun also sounded somewhat helpless: “The makeup exam papers have already been archived. If the student is still unwilling to accept it, you can bring her to the exam paper room and take out the paper for her to see.”

Jin Zhao said politely, “Alright, thank you, Teacher Sun.”

Jin Zhao thought about it and still immediately went out, preparing to make a trip to the school to personally see whether there was anywhere on the paper where points could still be given.

After all, this concerned whether a student could graduate on time.

Seeing her going out, Little Tuanzi wanted to follow her. He called out to her from behind, babbling incoherently.

He was still too young to talk, but the little guy was very smart and good at imitation. Occasionally, one or two sounds would pop out. She didn’t know whether she was wearing her own “listening filter,” but she actually felt they sounded a bit like papa and mama.

The nanny held him in her arms. He twisted his little body and lunged toward her, stretching out both hands.

Summer had fully set in now, and these days it was over thirty degrees. The little baby was wearing a thin one-piece outfit, his plump, fair arms and legs exposed. Reaching out to her, wanting a hug, Jin Zhao truly couldn’t refuse and turned back to hold him for a while longer.

“Little Tuanzi, be good. Mommy has work to go out for now and will be back very soon. You stay home and play with Auntie, and wait for Mommy to come back, okay?”

She didn’t know whether he understood, but in the end, when the nanny took him back, he didn’t fuss anymore.

The nanny smiled and said, “Such a smart baby. So young and already knows how to listen to Mommy. Just don’t know if he’ll still be this obedient when he’s older—by then he might even want to follow Mommy everywhere.”

Jin Zhao smiled, kissed the baby’s little cheek, took her bag, and went out.

The family driver took her there. On the way, Jin Zhao thought about it and felt she should really go learn how to drive.

In her earlier years, she’d been busy with school, and on top of that she hadn’t had much money, so she never learned. Now she felt it was time—otherwise, relying on the driver every time she went out wasn’t very convenient.

Public course exam papers were uniformly archived every semester. In the paper archive room, the heavy scent of paper mixed with dust. Jin Zhao found the bag of makeup exam papers from this semester.

There were two papers in total. Last semester, there had been exactly two students in her class who failed.

For the regular final exam, the usual practice was to add the continuous assessment score. Even if the written score was a bit low, Jin Zhao would help pull them back up with their usual performance. However, those pulled-up scores were uniformly sixty—this was also being fair and responsible to other students who wanted to compete for scholarships.

For the remaining two students, because their written scores were only in the teens or twenties, even if she pulled their usual performance to a full hundred, they still wouldn’t pass. She truly had no way to help.

For the makeup exam, the academic system’s algorithm didn’t include continuous assessment points—only the written score counted. Anything above sixty was recorded as sixty; anything below sixty was whatever it was. Among the two papers in the bag, one passed and one didn’t. The one who didn’t pass was He Yue.

Jin Zhao looked at her paper.

All the subjective questions were left blank. The objective questions totaled twenty-five points. This was something even the gods couldn’t pull back.

She took photos of the paper and sent them to He Yue, explaining: “This is your answer sheet. The grading teacher didn’t miscalculate the score, so there’s no way to proceed with a grade correction.”

He Yue asked back, aggrieved: “But isn’t it said online that good teachers prepare both a red pen and a black pen when grading, and if they find a student can’t be saved, they’ll use the black pen to help write in the answers for the student? I’m already a senior—there’s no need to be this harsh with me, right?”

Jin Zhao: “……”

No—how did it turn into the teacher being harsh? Was it the teacher who made her mess around like this in a senior-year makeup exam?

At this point, her impression of this student truly couldnened completely.

Jin Zhao replied patiently: “You can consult your counselor about how this kind of situation is handled. As far as I know, if you’re only short one course’s credits, you can apply to the school, or see if you have any other grades that can be substituted.”

He Yue didn’t reply again.

When Jin Zhao returned home, Meng Yanxi was already back. The villa was by the river, close to Yunsheng. When Meng Yanxi wasn’t busy, he was used to coming home at noon to nap with her. At the moment, he was sitting on the mat playing with Little Tuanzi, teaching him to call papa and mama.

Little Tuanzi perfunctorily made a couple of “oh” sounds, his grape-black eyes rolling as they stared at Meng Yanxi’s forearm.

He was wearing a dress shirt, the top three buttons undone, revealing sexy collarbones and faintly visible chest muscles. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing well-built forearms. Sitting diagonally on the floor mat, his left arm naturally propped against the ground.

Meng Yanxi’s figure really was very good—Jin Zhao had to admit it. Every time he tried to seduce her, she couldn’t hold herself back, and a large part of the reason was his face and his body.

At this moment, he was sitting on the floor, looking up at her. “Aren’t you on leave? Why are you always going to school? Do you get overtime pay for all this extra work?”

Jin Zhao said, “Where would I compare to President Meng’s deep pockets?”

Meng Yanxi tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “My money all belongs to Mrs. Meng. Mrs. Meng has the final say.”

Sunlight filled the space before the window. Jin Zhao pressed her lips together and smiled.

Little Tuanzi stared at Meng Yanxi’s forearm for a while, then suddenly reached out to touch it. Feeling his son’s touch, Meng Yanxi turned to look at him.

The little baby’s hand was milky white, his fingers plump and soft. When they touched someone, it felt as if the heart was about to melt.

Of course, Meng Yanxi was moved too, but his bad habits were ingrained to the bone—even toward his son, he was quite shameless. “Well? Isn’t it good-looking? I’m not asking much of you. When you grow up, just grow like me.”

Jin Zhao couldn’t help laughing, wanting to say, Meng Yanxi, can you have some shame? But she saw Little Tuanzi clutching Meng Yanxi’s forearm with one hand, while the other hand reached upward.

He could only sit for a short while now, squatting low on the floor. It looked very strenuous as he tried to climb upward along his dad’s forearm.

Just as Jin Zhao and Meng Yanxi were wondering what he was trying to do, they saw Little Tuanzi strain upward, his fingers brushing against Meng Yanxi’s rolled-up sleeve. His two chubby fingers pinched the fabric and began tugging his sleeve down with great effort.

Meng Yanxi: “?”

At first, Meng Yanxi didn’t understand what he was trying to do and just stared at him. He saw the little bundle say nothing, stubbornly trying to pull his sleeve down, covering the arm that was exposed outside—the arm he himself claimed was very good-looking.