408, Senior Year Three teachers’ office.
It was class time, and only a few teachers were grading assignments in the office. Lin Wanxing followed Teacher Xiao Xu inside, hearing only the sound of test papers and thin notebooks being flipped.
In the corner of the office, three people looked like parents, along with a short-haired female teacher. Lin Wanxing walked toward them.
Lin Lu’s homeroom teacher was surnamed Wang. After being introduced by Teacher Xiao Xu, Lin Wanxing first greeted Teacher Wang.
Among the three remaining parents, Lin Lu’s mother was easy to recognize. Mother and son shared the same big eyes and milk-white skin.
The woman’s gaze was worried and she appeared very anxious, completely different from the angry parent Lin Wanxing had imagined.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Wanxing extended her hand and spoke first — “Hello, Lin Lu’s mother. I’m Lin Wanxing.”
Lin Lu’s mother quickly stood up, appearing nervous — “Teacher Lin?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
This seemed to be Lin Wanxing’s first time facing students’ parents, which in some ways exceeded her previous experience.
So, Lin Wanxing and Lin Lu’s mother stood face to face for a while, until another parent spoke up — “Are you their supervising teacher from yesterday?”
“And you are… Qi Liang’s mother?” Lin Wanxing examined the other woman, guessing based on facial similarities.
“Yes, I’m Qi Liang’s mom.” The woman put down her bag and stood up.
There was one more parent; Lin Wanxing guessed she must be Yu Ming’s mother.
“You all came to school today. How are the children?” Lin Wanxing asked.
“Our Xiao Liang is fine, just bruised all over, black and blue—it hurts to look at him. But their Lin Lu was sent to the hospital last night. We parents have a small group chat, and after discussing yesterday, we just don’t understand what the school is thinking. The children are already in their senior year, so studying should be their top priority, so why organize them to play in matches?”
Qi Liang’s mother rattled off like a machine gun.
But Lin Wanxing could only hear the words “Lin Lu went to the hospital” — “Is Lin Lu okay?”
Lin Lu’s mother — “Lulu kept saying his leg hurt when he got home, and he even fell in the shower, so we rushed him to the hospital.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“The doctor took X-rays and said the bones were fine, but his ligaments were strained, and recommended resting at home for a few days…” Lin Lu’s mother glanced at her, then as if gathering courage, said, “So I came today, first to request leave for Lulu, and also to ask the school administrators why they’re bullying us when the children are already in their senior year.”
Lin Lu’s mother sounded extremely aggrieved.
Hearing about the ligament strain, Lin Wanxing felt somewhat relieved, but was also confused — “How has the school bullied them?”
When Qi Liang’s mother heard this, her temper flared — “Isn’t it because our children’s academic performance is a bit worse, so your school makes them play soccer? Why don’t you organize the class leaders to do this?”
“But Lin Lu, Qi Liang, and students like Fu Xinshu and Chen Jianghe, weren’t they all on the soccer team before? They have this talent and they play very well. It’s a rare opportunity for everyone to play together again. This has nothing to do with their grades.”
“How can you say it has nothing to do with it? We send our children to high school hoping they’ll get into university. Your school organizes these extracurricular activities every day, affecting our children’s studies, not to mention Lin Lu even got injured.” Qi Liang’s mother said.
“But Qi Liang’s grades have always been stable. One soccer match shouldn’t have much impact.”
Hearing this, Qi Liang’s mother’s face immediately darkened — “What do you mean? Even if my son’s grades aren’t good, it’s not your place to mock him.”
“Teacher Lin!” Lin Lu’s homeroom teacher Wang suddenly stopped her. Probably to protect her, Teacher Wang explained to the parents, “Teacher Lin is a new intern at our school, and she was just taking the children to participate in one match. We teachers understand the parents’ concerns, and we definitely won’t organize the children to play soccer again in the future.”
“But they fought so hard and just managed to secure a chance for another match. Why can’t they continue?” Lin Wanxing countered.
A nearby teacher grading papers couldn’t help but look over at them — “Intern teachers should speak less.”
Lin Wanxing wasn’t angry; instead, she calmly looked at the three parents — “You all believe that organizing soccer matches affects their studies. But from what I understand, they had training during their first year, but none at all in their second year. So, we can compare the grades of these 11 students between their first and second years to see if there’s any significant change.”
After speaking, Lin Wanxing hesitated at the desk, then looked toward Lin Lu’s homeroom teacher Wang — “May I use this paper and pen?”
Teacher Wang was stunned for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“Because our win yesterday was hard-earned, I couldn’t sleep last night, so I checked their grades on the school’s academic affairs website.”
As she spoke, Lin Wanxing bent down to take the pen and drew a table on the white paper on the desk. On the far left, she wrote the names of the 11 students.
“I looked at their important exam results for each academic year yesterday, but writing just the scores isn’t intuitive. So I calculated their average grade rankings for important exams in their first and second years.”
Lin Wanxing wrote “Year 1” and “Year 2” in the top two columns of the table and began filling in the data.
This process was quick. She picked up the table, and Yu Ming’s mother immediately asked — “What can we see from these two columns of rankings?”
“Because your point just now was that playing soccer affects their studies, we can compare their performance when they were playing soccer versus when they weren’t, to see if there’s a real difference.”
“Our Xiao Liang’s grades are stable.” Qi Liang’s mother, quick-eyed, pointed out, “But Fu Xinshu’s ranking improved from 655 to 630 in the grade, showing obvious progress.”
“But this seemingly obvious improvement may not be statistically significant enough to prove that soccer affected their studies,” Lin Wanxing paused. “For instance, Qin Ao’s average ranking went from 678 to 690—he did worse when he stopped playing soccer?”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“We can use statistical tools to perform a simple significance test on the difference in means, to see if playing soccer affected their grades.”
By this point, the office had gone quiet, so she carefully asked — “Should I just write the results, or explain the calculation process?”
“Teacher Lin, just be direct and say what you want to say,” Teacher Wang said, looking pained.
“Then I’ll just state the results. According to relatively scientific statistical analysis, there is no significant difference between the average grade rankings of these 11 students in their important exams during their first and second years. Whether they play soccer or not may not affect their academic performance.”
The office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Both parents and other teachers were stunned for a while.
Finally, Qi Liang’s mother said — “You just want to say our children’s grades are poor, that it doesn’t matter whether they play soccer or not. Did you need to be so roundabout?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Lin Wanxing was shocked.
“If that’s not what you meant, why did you write that our Qi Liang ranks over 700th every semester?” Qi Liang’s mother’s face turned green with anger.
Lin Lu’s mother lowered her head, also looking at the numbers on the paper, and said sadly — “It’s our fault for not educating them well, but what can we do? I know they used to enjoy playing soccer, but they’re already in their senior year, the most important year of their lives. We just hope they can study hard, get into a good university, and follow a stable path.”
Teacher Wang quickly handed a tissue to Lin Lu’s mother and said to Lin Wanxing — “Teacher Lin, you don’t understand the children’s situation, so you shouldn’t comment.”
This was already quite severe wording. Lin Wanxing lowered her eyes slightly, and many moments flashed uncontrollably in her mind, causing her to blurt out — “Does getting into a good university guarantee stability?”
Teacher Wang was so angry she almost slammed the table.
Lin Wanxing paused, suddenly unsure what to say — “I didn’t mean what you think. I’m not trying to argue, I’m just… a bit uncertain.”
“These children may have talent in soccer, but we all know it’s too difficult to succeed in that field. Parents and teachers urge them to study for university so they can reach a better platform in life, to walk a broader, smoother path in the future.”
Teacher Wang’s answer almost convinced Lin Wanxing. This was something she once firmly believed in, but now she could only say — “Sometimes, the path gets narrower as you walk.”
For some reason, the office fell silent.
Both parents and teachers were stunned.
They seemed to neither understand why she was arguing to this point nor grasp her sudden confusion.
“I know what you’re trying to say,” a middle-aged teacher grading papers finally spoke up. “You want to say, even if the children give up soccer now to study hard and get into a good university, will it be useful in the future? But young teacher, you’re still young, maybe you’ve read too much inspirational material and are full of passion, but in reality, grades are fundamental.”
Lin Wanxing still had many emotions, full of confusion and bewilderment.
But before her were parents worried about their children’s futures, and behind her were students who weren’t adequately prepared to face their future lives.
“Let’s do this, give me a chance, okay?” Lin Wanxing said. “Entrust your children to me, and I can guarantee they’ll all get into the universities you consider ideal. But I can’t guarantee they’ll all find a broad, smooth path in life.”
“You’re young, but your tone is presumptuous.”
“You can check the high school entrance exam news from our province seven years ago. The top scorer in liberal arts—that was me,” Lin Wanxing said.