The car stopped at the entrance. The primary school and junior high school are two separate campuses, and their overall architectural styles are quite different.
Xu Chacha jumped out of the car, smoothed her skirt with her little hand, and waved to her mother, "Bye-bye, Mom, Chacha is going to take her exam."
There were quite a few other kids around Xu Chacha who had come to take the entrance exam, all of whom were about the same age as her but much taller.
Because school rules prohibit parents from entering the campus, Xu's mother could only drop her off here.
"Waaaaah! Mommy, I don't want to go alone, I want you to hold me!" A chubby little girl next to me cried out at the top of her lungs.
The woman she was holding looked embarrassed and patiently coaxed her, "Don't cry, little one. Mommy won't go anywhere and will wait for you here."
"No, no! I'm scared, waaaaah! Mommy, come with me!"
"Don't be like this." The woman picked her up and coaxed her, "If you do your exam well, Mommy will buy you your favorite strawberry cake, okay?"
"Hmm?" The sobbing subsided, and she held up two fingers. "Sisi wants to eat two."
Children's emotions are contagious, and Xu's mother was worried that Xu Chacha would also be unable to hold back her tears if she saw other children crying.
The little one just blinked innocently at her and asked, "Mommy, will Chacha get cake later too?"
"Of course, baby, keep it up! When we get out, Mom will buy you something delicious, whatever you want to eat."
"Okay!" Xu Chacha happily gave her a kiss on the cheek, then turned around without hesitation. "Chacha's leaving, Mom, don't miss me."
"Walk slowly, watch where you're going, don't fall."
Xu Chacha slowed down her bouncy steps and obediently walked slowly while holding onto the straps of her schoolbag.
The examination venue consists of eight classrooms spread across two floors.
Xu Chacha was led by her teacher to the classroom on the first floor. After finding her seat, she sat down and put her pencil case in the drawer.
"Thank you, beautiful sister." She smiled and thanked the teacher who had led the way.
"You have such a sweet tongue, little beauty." The young female teacher surnamed Chen patted her head. "Good luck on the exam, don't be nervous."
"Yes, Chacha will."
"Good girl."
The exam alarm rang twenty minutes later. Xu Chacha handed in her review materials to the teacher's desk, then opened her thermos and took a sip of warm ginseng and goji berry tea before settling down to prepare for the exam.
The exam questions were somewhat beyond the scope of regular first-grade questions, and it was clear that they were designed to differentiate students who had studied advanced math.
Xu Chacha calculated how many points she should get on the test. She wrote out all the easy questions and left the more advanced ones blank after writing a few steps to get points.
Outside the examination hall, several young teachers who had been recruited as volunteers gathered together to gossip.
"Did you know that the Xu family's youngest daughter has been found? I heard she even came to our school to take an exam."
“A Elementary School is the best elementary school in A City, so of course they will come to take the exam. Besides, their adopted daughter is also in our junior high school, so it's good that they can take care of her.”
"What's her name again... Xu Chacha?"
“Xu Chacha,” Shen Xiuxiu interjected, “that’s the name of the child I just picked up.”
"Is it that tiny little baby girl? Ahhh, she's so well-behaved. I wanted to get her, but you beat me to it."
Xu Chacha is the shortest among this year's test takers; if you didn't know better, you'd think she was some kindergarten kid who had wandered in.
However, she was also the most well-behaved and adorable. She never got distracted during exams and always looked very serious while doing the questions. She was the kind of good student that teachers could be most at ease with.
"Yes, yes, and she's so sweet, calling me 'pretty sister' all the time." Shen Xiuxiu cupped her face in her hands, "She's practically making me want to have a daughter!"
"But can she keep up with her grades? Our school is pretty tough to get into. This year, Wang Fang from Class 1 set the math exam, right? I saw several advanced math problems that were way beyond the curriculum."
“I just passed by and glanced at her test paper. She got all the first few questions right, and she also wrote out the steps for the advanced questions very carefully. She should get about half the marks.” Shen Xiuxiu rested her chin on her hand. “If she doesn’t mess up her Chinese and English, she’ll definitely be admitted. I just don’t know which class she’ll be in.”
There are eight classes in the first grade of Elementary School A. The top students are all in Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 are better, and the rest are the regular classes.
In addition to regular classes, classes one, two, and three have extra interest-based enrichment activities to select promising students for various competitions.
"Only our school has been this competitive since elementary school."
"Who can argue with that?"
There was a 15-minute break after each exam. Xu Chacha sat in her seat and didn't go anywhere. However, if someone talked to her, she would smile and reply.
"You're so pretty." Chen Qianqian bit her thumb and stared at her. "My name is Qianqian, what's your name?"
Xu Chacha recognized this as the little crybaby at the door earlier and replied with a smile, "Thank you, Qianqian. My name is Chacha, and you are very pretty too."
Chen Qianqian giggled, scratched her head, and shyly lowered her head, revealing a chubby double chin. "It's the first time someone has complimented me on my looks. They all say I'm a little chubby."
"Sisi isn't fat at all." Xu Chacha patted her shoulder, speaking in a mature tone, "My mom says kids need to be a little chubby to look cute, isn't that adorable!"
"You're so kind, Cha Cha." Chen Qianqian leaned closer to her, her chubby little hand pulling out two candies from her pocket. "Here's some candy for you, but don't tell anyone, okay? I'm only giving it to you."
"Thank you, Sisi."
Xu Chacha unwrapped the paper, revealing soft, fluffy marshmallows with strawberry filling.
She took a bite, and it was sweet. "Delicious!"
"Right?" Chen Qianqian gave a thumbs up. "I love this cotton candy the most."
The two chatted for a while, then the exam bell rang again.
When Chen Qianqian was led back to her seat by the teacher, she looked a little reluctant to leave.
"I still want to play with Chacha..."
"Little friend, let's focus on the exam first, okay?" Shen Xiuxiu told her softly. "If you get into a good school, you can play with Chacha every day."
"That's right!" Chen Qianqian grabbed her pen. "Qianqian wants to get a perfect score, and Qianqian wants to play with Chacha!"
After the exam, the children were organized into a line by their teachers and led to the cafeteria for lunch.
This meal is provided free of charge, and there are many dishes to choose from.
The teachers would stand by and occasionally help the children who couldn't carry their food by holding their plates.
"I want this and this too!" Xu Chacha ordered one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, and only half a bowl of rice. She held her plate with both hands, smiled and thanked the cafeteria lady, "Thank you, Grandma, Chacha will eat well."
"What a good girl." The auntie, unusually, didn't tremble and even picked up the tongs to add another fried chicken leg for her. "The chicken legs are fried really well today, have a few more."
"Thank you, Grandma!"
After lunch, the afternoon session will be the interview stage. The final score will be determined by a combination of the interview and the written test. The interview results will have a significant impact on class placement, as the homeroom teachers of the first three classes will be present and will select their preferred students.
Xu Chacha's number was quite high up, and she got in before many others had to wait.
"Hello teachers, my name is Xu Chacha, and I am seven and a half years old!"
She bowed as soon as she entered and then began to introduce herself. Her serious demeanor contrasted somewhat with her childish appearance.
The interviewers were charmed by her sweet smile and smiled at each other. The old principal, who was sitting in the middle, said kindly, "Don't stand, sit down."
"Uh-huh."
Fortunately, the chairs prepared were not high, so Xu Chacha could still touch the ground with her feet when she sat down. She neatly placed her hands on her knees, her bright, deer-like eyes darting around as she waited for them to speak.
"Your name is Chacha, right?" The principal glanced at the resume Xu's mother had prepared for her. "Can you introduce yourself in English?"
"meeting!"
Xu Chacha spoke slowly and deliberately, with an authentic accent, showing that she had put in a lot of effort.
"Not bad, just a bit short." Sitting next to the principal was Wang Fang, the homeroom teacher of Class 1. Her hair was piled high, and the buttons of her suit were fastened to the top. She was a middle-aged woman who looked very stern.
"Report!" Xu Chacha raised her right hand. "Chacha can also tell short stories in English."
Wang Fang raised her head and tapped the table with her hand. "Then tell me about it."
Xu Chacha cleared her throat, and another string of fluent English came from her cherry-like mouth.
The little girl's storytelling was imbued with a childlike innocence, and her vivid imitation of the protagonist's tone made everyone laugh.
The judges were either trying to suppress their laughter or laughing so hard they were practically falling over, while Wang Fang sat up straight, taking notes on Xu Chacha's performance.
"Okay, beautiful teacher," Xu Chacha said, ending her sentence.
Wang Fang seems to be naturally immune to cute and cuddly things, always maintaining a blank expression and ignoring Xu Chacha's "pretty teacher" attacks.
She nodded and then verbally posed an advanced math problem, a classic example of the "chicken and rabbit in the same cage" problem.
Logically, this is knowledge that is taught in the third grade. She didn't expect Xu Chacha to be able to answer it, but just wanted to see if her mindset and way of thinking were active enough when facing difficult problems.
Because of Wang Fang's indifference, Xu Chacha was actually holding back a lot of resentment. It was as if she had really adopted the mentality of a seven-year-old child, and she could only feel at ease if she received a word of praise from the teacher.
"A rabbit and a chick are locked together, eight heads, twenty-eight legs..." Xu Chacha frowned, looking troubled, and started counting on her fingers.
"A rabbit has four legs, a chick has two legs, and they all have one head! Cha Cha likes rabbits, so there are more little rabbits!"
"Take your time, there's no rush. It's okay if you make a mistake," Wang Fang said.
"Two rabbits have eight legs, three rabbits have four legs... six rabbits have twenty-four legs, and seven rabbits have exactly twenty-eight legs!" She began to steer the answer in the right direction. "But then there won't be eight heads! Ah! Cha Cha knows! We can replace one rabbit with two chicks, and then we'll have eight heads and twenty-eight legs!"
Wang Fang nodded silently and marked a checkmark on the paper. "I'm done asking. You can ask your questions now."
The interview lasted a few more minutes before Xu Chacha finally came out.
While waiting for the next child's interview, the teacher of Class 2 spoke up, "That child was quite good. Come to my class. Our Class 2 always lacks potential math olympiad students."
The teacher of Class 3 got anxious. "What's wrong? This child has such good oral expression skills. Why don't you come here to have an English speech contest?"
The principal didn't want to be the bad guy by interjecting in the conversation, but Wang Fang, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up.
"If she passes the cutoff score for the top class in the written exam, I'll take her."
Chapter 21
Xu Chacha had no idea that she had already been assigned to a class after enrolling in school; she just felt refreshed after the exam.
She was led to the door by Shen Xiuxiu, thanked her, and then ran briskly into Xu's mother's arms.
"Mommy, Mommy!"
Xu's mother caught the little baby and picked her up, saying, "You're so happy."
"Because I can finally see my mom after the exam!" Xu Chacha chuckled. "Chacha listened to her mom and tried her best to fill in the answers to the questions she didn't know. The test paper is full of answers."
"That's great."