After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Side Character, I Became the Group’s Favorite (GL) - Chapter 20

Wen Mubai taught so earnestly that Xu Chacha felt she would be letting her down if she didn’t improve her scores.

So, two weeks later, during the second test, she accidentally let her control slip, raising her average score across the three subjects to ninety.

Mrs. Xu was overjoyed when she saw the scores. She tried to stuff a thick wad of cash into Wen Mubai’s pocket, calling it payment for tutoring, but Wen Mubai refused.

“I didn’t do much. Chacha is smart and quick to grasp things.”

Wen Mubai was unwilling to accept the money, but Mr. and Mrs. Xu couldn’t simply accept the favor for free.

Upon returning, Mr. Xu added investment to the film adaptation of her short story, directly raising the project’s investment from that of a small-budget art film to the level of a Lunar New Year box office blockbuster.

School started in September, but the entrance examination for new students was usually half a month before the term began. Mrs. Xu registered Xu Chacha for A Primary School, and to be safe, also selected a few other good primary schools, so they would have a backup plan if Xu Chacha didn’t get accepted.

Those few days, Xu Chacha studied extremely hard, from early morning until late at night. She had to make her displayed diligence match the ninety-point score to avoid suspicion.

On the day of the exam, Xu Chacha carried her exclusive pink insulated mug, which contained American ginseng and goji berries steeped in water for clarity and alertness. She would take a sip if she felt sleepy during the test.

Mrs. Xu had dressed her in a black and white lace dress today, making her look more formal, paired with shiny little leather shoes.

“Are the new shoes pinching your feet?”

Xu Chacha hopped a couple of times on the spot, her small pigtails bouncing. “They are very comfortable.”

“That’s good.” Mrs. Xu gave her a final few reminders in the car. “Concentrate during the exam, don’t look around, and if you can’t write an answer, leave it and move on to the next question first…”

These were all words Xu Chacha was so familiar with that she could almost recite them, but she still listened intently to Mrs. Xu, finishing with, “I know, Chacha isn’t nervous.”

“Mhm, don’t worry. Chacha is so smart, you’ll definitely get in.”

The car stopped at the gate. The primary school section and the middle school section were two separate campuses, and the overall architectural styles were quite different.

Xu Chacha jumped out of the car, smoothed down her skirt, and waved to Mrs. Xu. “Bye, Mommy. Chacha is off to take the exam.”

There were many other children like Xu Chacha coming to take the entrance exam, all roughly her age but much taller than her.

Since the school stipulated that parents could not enter the campus, Mrs. Xu could only drop her off here.

“Waaah! Mommy, I don’t want to go alone! I want you to hold me!” The loud voice of a chubby little girl next to them cried out.

The woman she was clinging to looked embarrassed, patiently coaxing her. “Nannan, don’t cry. Mommy won’t go anywhere; I’ll wait for you right here.”

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I’m scared! Boohoohoo! Mommy, please come with me!”

“Don’t be like that.” The woman picked her up to comfort her. “If you take the exam nicely, Mommy will buy you your favorite strawberry cake, okay?”

“Hmm?” The crying girl’s sobs quieted down. She held up two fingers. “Qianqian wants two.”

Emotions spread quickly among children. Mrs. Xu worried that Xu Chacha would also start crying after seeing the other child.

However, the little one just blinked her innocent eyes at her. “Mommy, does Chacha get cake later too?”

“Of course! Go, darling! Mommy will buy you delicious food when you come out. You can have anything you want.”

“I know!” Xu Chacha happily gave her a kiss on the cheek and turned around without hesitation. “Chacha is going now. Don’t miss me, Mommy.”

“Walk slowly, watch your step, don’t fall.”

Xu Chacha’s skipping steps slowed down, and she walked obediently with her hands pulling on her backpack straps.

The examination venue was divided into two floors with eight classrooms.

The teacher leading Xu Chacha took her to a classroom on the first floor. After finding her seat, she sat down and put her pencil case in the drawer.

“Thank you, pretty Big Sister,” she said to the escorting teacher with a sweet smile.

“What a sweet talker, little beauty.” The young female teacher, Ms. Shen, patted her head. “Good luck with the exam. Don’t be nervous.”

“Mhm, mhm! Chacha will do her best.”

“Such a good girl.”

The exam bell rang twenty minutes later. Xu Chacha handed her review materials to the front desk, then opened her insulated mug and took a sip of the warm American ginseng and goji berry tea, calming her mind to prepare for the test.

The exam questions were slightly beyond the scope of a regular first-grade curriculum, clearly designed to create a scoring gap for those who had studied advanced math.

Xu Chacha calculated how many points she should aim for. She completed all the simple questions and left the advanced questions blank after writing a few steps that might earn her partial credit.

Outside the examination hall, several young teachers who were pulled in as volunteers gathered to gossip.

“Did you know that little daughter of the Xu family has been found? I heard she’s taking the exam at our school.”

“A Primary School is the best primary school in A City, of course she would take the exam. Plus, their adopted daughter is also in our middle school section, so she has someone to look out for her.”

“What was her name again… Xu Chacha?”

“Xu Chacha,” Shen Xiuxiu joined the conversation. “The child I led in just now was named that.”

“Was it the tiny little girl? Ah, ah, she’s especially well-behaved! I wanted to lead her, but you beat me to it.”

Xu Chacha was the shortest among this year’s test-takers. Walking among the crowd, one might mistakenly think she was a kindergarten child who had snuck in.

But she was also the most well-behaved and adorable. She didn’t slack off at all during the exam, working on the questions with a serious expression. She looked exactly like the kind of good student that gives teachers the least worry.

“Exactly, exactly! And she’s so sweet, calling me ‘pretty Big Sister’ with every breath,” Shen Xiuxiu held her face. “She almost made me want to have a daughter.”

“But can her grades keep up? Our school is quite hard to get into. The math paper this year was set by Wang Fang from Class 1, right? I saw several advanced math questions that were beyond the curriculum.”

“I took a look at her paper when I walked by. The front part was all correct. She also wrote the steps seriously for the advanced questions later, which should get her about half the points,” Shen Xiuxiu rested her chin on her hand. “If her Chinese and English aren’t too bad, admission definitely won’t be a problem. I just wonder which class she’ll be assigned to.”

A Primary School’s first grade had eight classes, with the top students all in Class 1. Classes 2 and 3 were also good, and the rest were regular classes.

Classes 1, 2, and 3 had additional enrichment activities besides the regular curriculum, used to select promising candidates for various competitions.

“Only our school starts the rat race this early, right from primary school.”

“Who can deny it?”

There was a fifteen-minute break between exams. Xu Chacha stayed in her seat and didn’t go anywhere, but she smiled and replied whenever someone talked to her.

“You are so pretty,” Chen Qianqian stared at her, biting her thumb. “My name is Qianqian. What’s yours?”

Xu Chacha recognized her as the little crying girl at the gate earlier and replied with a smile, “Thank you, Qianqian. My name is Chacha, and you are very pretty too.”

Chen Qianqian giggled. She scratched her head, her round double chin popping out when she shyly lowered her head. “No one has ever complimented me on being pretty before. They all call me a little fatty.”

“Qianqian is not fat at all,” Xu Chacha patted her shoulder, speaking with the tone of a little adult. “My Mommy says children look better with a little meat on them. How adorable this is!”

“You’re so nice, Chacha.” Chen Qianqian leaned close to her, pulling two candies out of her pocket with her chubby little hand. “Here, have some candy. Don’t tell anyone, okay? I’m only giving it to you.”

“Thank you, Qianqian.”

Xu Chacha unwrapped the candy. Inside was a soft, chewy, strawberry-filled marshmallow.

She took a bite. It was sweet and delicious. “It’s yummy!”

“Right?” Chen Qianqian gave a thumbs-up. “I love this marshmallow the most.”

The two chatted for a while, and 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 one, let’s focus on the exam first, okay?” Shen Xiuxiu told her gently. “If you get into the same school, you can play with Chacha every day.”

“That’s right!” Chen Qianqian grabbed her pen. “Qianqian is going to score a hundred points. Qianqian wants to play with Chacha!”

After the written exam, the children were organized by the teachers and led to the cafeteria for lunch.

This meal was provided free of charge, with a variety of dishes to choose from.

The teachers stood by, occasionally helping children who couldn’t carry their trays.

“I want this and this!” Xu Chacha chose one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, only asking for half a bowl of rice. She held her tray with both small hands and smiled as she thanked the serving lady. “Thank you, Granny. Chacha will eat well.”

“Such a good little one,” the lady rarely didn’t shake her hand and even picked up tongs to add a fried chicken leg to her tray. “The chicken legs are delicious today. Have a few more.”

“Thank you, Granny!”

After lunch, the afternoon was dedicated to the interview stage. The final score would be an overall assessment of both the interview and the written test. The interview results would have a greater impact on class assignment, as the head teachers of the first three classes were present, and they would select the students they favored.

Xu Chacha’s number was near the front, and she went in after only a few people.

“Hello, teachers. My name is Xu Chacha, and I’m seven and a half years old!”

She bowed as soon as she entered and then began her self-introduction. Her serious demeanor combined with her childish appearance was somewhat discordant.

The interviewers were charmed by her sweet smile and exchanged glances, laughing. The old principal, sitting in the center, kindly said, “Don’t stand. Have a seat.”

“Mhm, mhm.”

Fortunately, the chair provided wasn’t too high. Xu Chacha’s feet could still touch the floor when she sat on it. She folded her two hands neatly on her knees, her bright, deer-like eyes darting around, waiting for them to speak.

“Your name is Chacha, right?” The principal glanced at the resume Mrs. Xu had prepared for her. “Can you introduce yourself in English?”

“Yes!”

Xu Chacha began speaking, her unhurried pace combined with an authentic accent suggesting she had put in considerable effort.

“Not bad, just a little short,” said Wang Fang, the head teacher of Class 1, who was sitting next to the principal. Her hair was pulled up in a high bun, and her blazer buttoned to the very top. She was a middle-aged woman who looked very strict.

“May I report something?” Xu Chacha raised her right hand high. “Chacha can also tell a short story in English.”

Wang Fang looked up, tapping the desk with her pen. “Then tell us.”

Xu Chacha cleared her throat, and another string of fluent English came from her cherry-red mouth.

The little girl told the story with a kind of innocent color, and her vivid imitation of the protagonist’s tone made people unable to help but smile.

The teachers on the judging panel were either stifling their laughter by looking down or were already laughing uncontrollably, regardless of their image. Only Wang Fang sat bolt upright, writing notes about Xu Chacha’s performance on the paper with her pen.

“Pretty teacher, I’m done,” Xu Chacha finished.

Wang Fang seemed to be naturally immune to soft and cute things. She maintained an expressionless demeanor throughout, completely ignoring Xu Chacha’s “pretty teacher” attack.

She nodded and then verbally presented an advanced math problem, the very classic “chickens and rabbits in a cage” problem.

Logically, this was knowledge that would only be taught in third grade. She didn’t expect Xu Chacha to answer it, only wanting to see her mindset and whether her thought process was active enough when faced with a difficult question.

Because of Wang Fang’s coldness, Xu Chacha secretly held a competitive spirit. She seemed to have genuinely adopted the mentality of a seven-year-old child who needed a word of praise from the teacher to feel satisfied.

“Rabbits and chickens are in a cage together, there are eight heads and twenty-eight legs…” Xu Chacha furrowed her brow, looking distressed, and started counting on her fingers.

“One rabbit has four legs, and one chicken has two legs. Everyone has one head! Chacha likes rabbits, so there are more little rabbits!”

“Take your time. No need to rush. It’s okay if you get it wrong,” Wang Fang said.

“Two rabbits have eight legs, three, four… six rabbits have twenty-four legs, seven rabbits have exactly twenty-eight legs!” She began to steer the answer in the correct direction. “But then there wouldn’t be eight heads! Ah! Chacha knows! We can swap one rabbit for two little chickens, so there will still be eight heads and twenty-eight legs!”

Wang Fang nodded silently, marking a check on her paper. “I’m done with my questions. You may proceed.”

The interview continued for a few more minutes, and Xu Chacha finally walked out.

During the break while waiting for the next child to be interviewed, the Class 2 teacher spoke up. “That child was really good. Let her join my class. Class 2 always lacks good candidates for advanced math.”

The Class 3 teacher got anxious. “What about me? The child has such good verbal expression skills. Why can’t she come to me for English speaking competitions?”

The principal didn’t want to step in and be the bad guy, but the usually silent Wang Fang offered her opinion.

“If the written test score is high enough to pass the cut-off line for the top class, I want this little girl.”