Chapter 103 Not A Trace Of Gentility
The next morning, Eileen had a restful night’s sleep after a dreamless night.
Before leaving, she made sure to lock her room to prevent anyone from entering.
After having breakfast, Eileen arrived at the cla*sroom promptly at eight o’clock.
As soon as Yvette entered the cla*sroom, she spotted Eileen.
“Eileen… why did you leave with Eric so early yesterday? As soon as I got home, my mom was furious. She gave me such a headache with her yelling and even set a curfew for me.”
Perhaps due to drinking too much the previous night, Yvette woke up early today with a severe headache. She hadn’t rested well, with dark circles under her eyes. She felt disoriented, her head spinning and throbbing.
Softly, Eileen replied, “Yesterday… I drank too much… I don’t know what happened, but before I left, my brother specifically instructed the staff to ensure you got home safely. Did anything happen on your way back?”
Yvette, feeling a bit dizzy, shook her head. “Nothing really happened, but how could he just leave me alone in the shop? That’s too much! He only cares about you, his sister, and doesn’t care about me at all! What if something had really happened to me? What then? He doesn’t have a shred of gentlemanly behavior.”
This was something Eileen hadn’t anticipated-that Eric would leave her alone at the
restaurant.
Eileen tried to defend him. “Eric… He… has always been like this, quite straightforward… He was focused on work, and it was already late. If Eric had sent you home alone, it would have caused gossip. As a single woman, if the media were to catch wind of this and make baseless speculations, it wouldn’t be good for your reputation.”
Yvette found her words reasonable and nodded. “That’s true. If that’s what he thinks, then so be it… But next time, when I see him, I will definitely not forgive him…”
The campus bell rang.
Yvette quickly returned to her seat.
The morning hours flew by quickly. The last cla*s was extended by an additional forty-five minutes for an exam. By the time they finished, they only had fifteen minutes for lunch and one remaining hour.
They still needed to go to the professional training workshop.
Eileen would also go along. The results of yesterday’s Math Olympiad were out.
She sat in the first row with Yvette.
Yvette comforted her, “Relax and believe in yourself. Everything will be fine.”
Jacob, wearing a red windbreaker, walked in from outside, holding a thermos in one hand and a textbook in the other. “Oh, you’re quite early,” he said. Upon reaching the podium, he handed a textbook directly to Eileen. “Take this textbook and try working through it at home. If you don’t understand something, come and ask me. I’ve already told the others, so I won’t repeat it just for you.”
Then, he turned to the cla*s. “All right… Today, we’re going to learn something new…”
Eileen was still somewhat disoriented. She turned to look at Yvette beside her, “What…”
Yvette told her, “Mr. Gardner has invited you to join the elite group. I told you so! With me around, you are bound to get in. Congratulations! From now on, we can go to cla*ses together.”
With her around?
What does that mean?
Didn’t I get in here based on my own merits?
Eileen seemed absent-minded, her face devoid of much emotion. She even seemed unable to muster any joy. Her gaze drifted to the empty seat beside her. This was originally Hector’s spot. His absence implied that he had been kicked out…
There was an inexplicable sense of guilt in her heart.
An hour wasn’t exactly fast, nor was it particularly slow. For the first forty-five minutes, Jacob taught the cla*s. In the remaining fifteen minutes, he a*signed new homework.
Upon glancing at those a*signments, Eileen indeed found quite a few of them challenging.
In the final minute, Jacob had already packed up his things and left the cla*sroom.
Eileen quickly picked up her book, swiftly saying to Yvette, “You go ahead. I have something
to deal with.”
Yvette wanted to say something more, but seeing that Eileen had already run off and disappeared, she just shrugged.
Eileen quickly caught up with Jacob. “Mr. Gardner, please wait a moment.”
Jacob paused. “S-Eileen?”
“It’s me, Mr. Gardner… I wanted to ask about the results of the last exam.”
Jacob laughed and said, “You’ve attended all the cla*ses, so why worry about the grades? It’s clear that you’ve already been selected.”
Eileen still seemed a bit unsure as she said, “Whether I can do it or not, just look at my results.”
“What’s so interesting about this? Your test paper isn’t with me right now, but you did perform exceptionally well, especially on the last major question. You used three different methods to solve it. The second one involves knowledge of advanced university
mathematics. I was genuinely surprised that you could write out the formula.” Jacob stated, his eyes filled with satisfaction.
“But…”
“Mr. Gardner!”
Eileen was halfway through her sentence when a teacher walking down from the other side called out to him. Jacob responded vaguely, “Let’s talk about this next time.”
The more Jacob acted this way, the more uneasy Eileen felt in her heart. She feared that her opportunity to join the Math Olympiad team this time was due to Yvette’s connections, who had secured this spot for her.
If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be too unfair for Hector?
This Yvette…
I don’t necessarily have to join.
Eileen returned to the cla*sroom, intending to find Hector and clear things up.
When she hurried to the cla*sroom, she didn’t see him there.
Eileen asked her desk mate, Kenneth.
Kenneth replied, “He didn’t come in this morning. He must have taken a day off.”
Yvette then brought her to the restroom.
Yvette was washing her hands in the sink. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, then turned to the person beside her. “What’s wrong? You’ve seemed unhappy all day.”
“Can you tell me why the teacher didn’t announce my grades? Did you say something to Mr.
Gardner that caused me to be included in the group? So, I…” Eileen looked at her, trying to decipher something from her subtle expressions.
Yvette shook the water off her hands. “I’m not sure about that… But I did recommend you to Mr. Gardner, and I also submitted your latest performance data to him. He was very pleased after reviewing it. As for why your scores with Hector weren’t announced, I really don’t know. Babe… why worry about all this? What’s done is done. There’s no need to dwell on it. As long as the goal is achieved, that’s all that matters. Relax!”
She was perceptive by nature. She wondered if he was angry with her because she had taken his spot.
No wonder, lately, he’s been looking at me with eyes full of resentment.
Eileen was aware of his family situation, which she had heard was not good. His mother was sick at home, and he had gained admission to Petalburg High School through his own efforts. He was truly dedicated to his studies. However, he only ranked sixth in the Olympiad Math team selection test. Otherwise, Jacob wouldn’t have allowed him to compete for a spot on the Olympiad team.
Before seeing the results, Eileen always felt a bit uneasy deep down.
Returning to the cla*sroom, Eileen noticed a glow from her drawer. Upon unlocking it, she found dozens of messages in her inbox, all sent by Jasper.
These past few days, Eileen had rarely checked her phone. She didn’t expect that recently, Yushu had been sending her messages more frequently. She didn’t dare to read every message he sent.
