MWC – Chapter 26 Enrollment

I AM DROPPING THIS NOVEL. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE THEY CAN. IF POSSIBLE PLEASE SHARE THE LINK SO I CAN BINGE READ TOO.

On the TV, a cartoon was playing, featuring anthropomorphized animals with a cat as the main character. It seemed that cartoons, no matter the era, had always gone through such historical stages.

Lu Ming was casually flipping through a magazine, lounging on the sofa with his legs on an ottoman, looking very relaxed.

Bess was nestled in his arms, occasionally giggling at the cartoon. She was wearing a pink, fuzzy pajama set, looking as adorable as a blonde, blue-eyed doll. Her little white feet were resting on Lu Ming’s legs, happily swaying, looking extremely content.

“Bess, it’s time to go home!” Pamela emerged from the tea room, frowning at Bess’s lack of decorum.

Pamela had just been learning the zither from Madam Zhen. Pamela had a keen interest in these Eastern instruments and was amazed by Madam Zhen’s exquisite skill, which had captivated her completely.

They had closed the tea room door, not realizing how quickly time had passed. When they checked the wall clock, it was already past eleven.

“Mommy, I want to stay here tonight…” Bess looked pitifully at her mother, like a little kitten.

Madam Zhen glanced at Lu Ming, her lips moved, but she didn’t speak. She was quite fond of Bess, this little troublemaker. When Lu Ming wasn’t around, Bess would always stick to her. Despite their language barrier, they managed to play together in a world of their own. However, since the host didn’t say anything, Madam Zhen kept her opinions to herself.

Lu Ming nodded. “Alright, she can stay. She can sleep with Sister Hanzhu.”

Although Madam Zhen seemed unafraid of being alone, having this little bundle of joy around to keep her company was a blessing.

“Really? Oh, I love Sister Hanzhu’s cozy bed. I can hide and play!” Bess was overjoyed.

Lu Ming then turned to Pamela. “You can sleep in the guest room too. The downstairs is a bit chaotic lately.”

The washing machine downstairs had been sold off as scrap, and the area was being renovated. The Wang-Lu Law Firm would be moving in.

“It’s okay, I’ll go home,” Pamela said, glancing at Bess, who had already buried her little head in Lu Ming’s chest, pretending not to see her mother.

Pamela bit her red lip, silently planning to deal with Bess tomorrow.

“Boss, do you need to report to school early tomorrow?” Pamela asked Lu Ming. Although she was dissatisfied with how this guy always pampered her daughter, making her grit her teeth in frustration, she also felt a sense of warmth. Her daughter hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

Still, her pretty face showed some displeasure at Lu Ming’s indulgence of her daughter.

This was a mother’s pride, after all.

Unfortunately, Lu Ming seemed oblivious to this, nodding his head and saying, “Take me to the tech company tomorrow. I’ll take the bus from there. It’s my first day at school, and I don’t want to draw too much attention.”

“Okay,” Pamela agreed, giving Bess a stern look before turning and heading home. Madam Zhen saw her out.

Pamela now drove the Snow Dragon Phantom, serving as a personal assistant, chauffeur, and secretary all rolled into one.

Lu Ming had initially found driving novel for two days, but he realized that driving was indeed physical work, and being driven around was much more comfortable.

As for enrolling at Fernard Academy, after donating 1000 yuan, he naturally secured an enrollment spot. Zhou Xiaobao had already taken care of most of the paperwork. Now, he just needed to report to officially start the third year of middle school.

In Donghai, the education system consisted of three years of elementary school, three years of advanced elementary school, and four years of middle school.

Given that basic subjects weren’t as complex as they are today, the current education system provided enough time for foundational education.

A middle school diploma was comparable to a secondary specialized school diploma. Graduates of advanced elementary school could take the high school entrance exam.

To enter a university, one needed a middle school diploma or a secondary specialized school diploma.

Fernard Academy was a private school offering integrated education from elementary to middle school. It was also a charitable institution.

Run by the Fernard Charity Foundation, it primarily admitted students from rural areas and impoverished urban families. It had a good cooperative relationship with the Beiguan Orphanage, offering tuition and living expense reductions for these students, funded by donations from kind-hearted individuals.

With three months left until summer break, Lu Ming would join the third year of middle school, and after one year in the fourth year, he could take the university entrance exam.

Whether or not he actually took the exam was another matter. Lu Ming felt that his Western language skills might be more suited to starting from the first year of middle school.

…

Early the next morning, Lu Ming arrived at the 12th floor of Jinniao Tower, where “Huaxia Technology Company” had already been set up.

In this world, the concept of Huaxia didn’t exist, which Lu Ming found quite convenient. Outsiders wouldn’t think it was presumptuous, and he could enjoy his own little world.

The two employees, a young man and a young woman, were selected by Pamela. Both were attractive.

Pamela hadn’t introduced Lu Ming to them. The employees probably thought he was some relative of the foreign boss, coming to look around.

Lu Ming was dressed in a black student uniform, with large black-rimmed glasses, looking every bit like a middle school student.

When Lu Ming looked in the mirror, he was quite satisfied with his current look. Even if someone from Wuan saw his photo, few would recognize him.

After checking the new company’s renovations, Lu Ming took the bus downstairs. The current large buses with tank-like chassis were quite interesting.

Additionally, the main roads had trams, reminiscent of old Shanghai.

…

Fernard Academy had a beautiful environment, with green pines and cypresses surrounding several teaching and office buildings. The academy also housed the largest library in Beiguan, the Fernard Library. This milky-white building looked like an eagle spreading its wings, with two side buildings representing the wings.

The generous donations from kind-hearted individuals across the empire supported the Fernard Charity Foundation.

Standing silently by the fountain sculpture at the academy entrance, Lu Ming noted the school’s emblem, a gold leaf with intricate veins.

After a moment, Lu Ming stepped onto the campus.

With the admission notice in hand, Lu Ming completed the necessary procedures at the academic affairs center and was then led to the office of the third-year teachers.

The head of the grade was a short, stout man named Li, with a somewhat balding head. He looked over Lu Ming’s documents and then scrutinized Lu Ming himself before saying to a few teachers sitting at a desk near the window, “Mr. Wang, this is Lu Qianxing. He’ll join your class.”

A small, elderly man stood up and beckoned to Lu Ming, “Come with me.”

The elderly man was the homeroom teacher of Class 3-6. On the way, he asked Lu Ming about his background.

Lu Ming followed the information on his school registration: name, Lu Qianxing; age, nineteen; transferred from Hanzhou.

According to Lu Ming’s residency permit, he was a new immigrant from Hanzhou.

After passing the bar exam, the information he filled out for the bar association membership also indicated that he was from Hanzhou and had self-studied law.

The empire had no shortage of self-taught individuals who passed the bar exam. These talents often came from poor families who couldn’t afford formal education and had to rely on self-study with legal materials bought with money raised through selling possessions or receiving help from friends and family.

Once they obtained a lawyer’s license, if they managed to establish themselves, they usually sought further education at a good university. Having a reputable university as a background provided not just academic credentials but also connections and social capital.

Generally, these individuals received recommendation letters from notable figures and were directly admitted to prestigious universities for further education.

Lu Ming, however, was probably the only one to enter a middle school under such circumstances.

But Mr. Wang, the homeroom teacher, didn’t ask about these details. Lu Ming looked like a student and didn’t seem like someone who was already part of the workforce.

The school’s registration materials wouldn’t reveal if Lu Ming had any social engagements either.

Mr. Wang casually chatted with Lu Ming as they walked into the north teaching building, a four-story structure for middle school classes.

The first floor housed the first-year classes, the second floor the second-year classes, and so on.

There were eight first-year classes, but only six fourth-year classes.

Many students left school along the way, either to get married or to work, which was common.

Mr. Wang led Lu Ming into the classroom of Class 3-6 and introduced the new transfer student. The introduction was uneventful.

Lu Ming, being quite tall, was assigned to the last row. His deskmate was a handsome young boy in a black student uniform, looking particularly elegant.

In terms of the education system, the third year of middle school in this world was equivalent to the ninth year of formal education, similar to the third year of junior high school in Lu Ming’s previous life.

However, the students’ ages varied.

Fourteen or fifteen was the norm, as the law allowed children to start school at age five, entering the first grade of elementary school.

After three years of elementary school and three years of advanced elementary school, students would be about fourteen or fifteen in the third year of middle school.

But there were also younger students since the foundational subjects were simpler, making skipping grades not uncommon.

Lu Ming wasn’t the oldest at nineteen; there were a few students in their early twenties who started school late. Some had only begun the first grade of elementary school in their teens, coming from impoverished families who still wanted their children to succeed. The number of admission slots at Fernard Academy was limited each year.

Reaching middle school in this world was already quite an achievement.

Many of the working-class couldn’t read, and graduating from advanced elementary school sometimes led to decent jobs.

Fernard Academy had more classes in the elementary division, but in middle school, the number of slots was reduced to a third of the elementary division.

Even graduates of Fernard Academy’s advanced elementary school found it extremely difficult to secure a spot in the middle school.

Despite this, Fernard Academy was very famous throughout Donghai and a beacon of hope for many impoverished families, representing a ray of light for the underprivileged.

For a century, Fernard Academy had indeed changed the destinies of many poor children, enabling them to achieve social mobility.

Lu Ming felt somewhat comforted by the possibility that his family had some connection to Fernard Academy. At least it suggested that his family wasn’t some major antagonist. Otherwise, his reincarnation would be quite tragic and laughable.

…

Having arrived late to complete his enrollment, Lu Ming only made it in time for the last class of the morning, “Géwù” (similar to a combination of physics and chemistry).

The course content was simple, covering basic knowledge of the interaction of forces.

Lu Ming, having seen 1950s high school physics and chemistry exam papers from his previous life, felt that the current middle school curriculum was even simpler.

The bell for the end of class rang soon enough.

Though Lu Ming hadn’t applied for dormitory accommodation, he was curious and followed the crowd to the cafeteria.

The academy’s cafeteria offered four levels of meal sets. The second level, Set B, included two dishes and a soup, with a choice of rice or bread as the main course. The dishes comprised one meat and one vegetable, with visible pieces of meat, priced at 0.8 yuan.

This was much cheaper than the outside snack shops. Additionally, students with tuition reductions received monthly subsidies ranging from 2 to 6 yuan, depending on the reduction level.

Initially, the most financially disadvantaged students who had their tuition fully waived were given meal tickets, but this practice was later found to cause unnecessary psychological pressure, making them sensitive and worried about discrimination. Thus, it was changed to direct subsidies.

Moreover, all tuition reduction information was kept private, not disclosed to the students.

It could be said that the management in this world was quite humane.

Lu Ming tried the cafeteria food and found it quite tasty.