408, Third Grade Teachers’ Office①.
It was class time, so only a few teachers were in the office grading assignments.
As Lin Wanxing followed Teacher Xu inside, the only sounds were the rustling of test papers and thin notebooks.
In the corner of the office sat three people who looked like parents, along with a female teacher with short hair.
Lin Wanxing walked over in that direction.
Lin Lu’s homeroom teacher was surnamed Wang. After an introduction by Teacher Xu, Lin Wanxing first greeted Teacher Wang.
Among the three parents, Lin Lu’s mother was easy to recognize. She and her son shared the same large eyes and milk-white skin.
The woman looked anxious and uneasy, completely different from the angry parent Lin Wanxing had imagined.
After a moment’s thought, 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 somewhat reserved: “Teacher Lin?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
This seemed to be Lin Wanxing’s first time facing a student’s parent, and in a way, it was beyond her previous experience.
So, Lin Wanxing and Lin Lu’s mother stood facing each other for a while, until another parent spoke up: “Are you the teacher who led them yesterday?”
“You are… Qi Liang’s mother?” Lin Wanxing studied the other woman, guessing based on their resemblance.
“Yes, I’m Qi Liang’s mom,” the woman said, putting down her bag and standing up.
There was one more parent, whom Lin Wanxing guessed was likely Yu Ming’s mother.
“You all came to the school together today—are the children alright?” Lin Wanxing asked.
“Our Liang is fine, just covered in bruises, which is heartbreaking to see. But their Lin Lu was hospitalized last night. We have a small parents’ group chat, and after discussing yesterday, we just don’t understand what the school is thinking. The kids are in their third year of high school—studying should be the top priority. Why organize a football match for them?”
Qi Liang’s mother spoke rapidly, like a machine gun.
But Lin Wanxing only caught the words “Lin Lu was hospitalized”: “Is Lin Lu alright?”
Lin Lu’s mother: “Lu Lu kept saying his leg hurt after he came back, and he even fell while showering, so we rushed him to the hospital.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“The doctor took an X-ray and said there’s no bone injury, but he has a ligament strain and recommended resting at home for a few days…” Lin Lu’s mother glanced at her, then, as if mustering courage, added, “So, I came today partly to ask for leave for Lu Lu, and also to ask the school administration: the kids are in their final year of high school, why is the school bullying them like this?”
Lin Lu’s mother sounded deeply aggrieved.
Hearing about the ligament strain, Lin Wanxing felt slightly relieved but also confused: “How is the school bullying them?”
Upon hearing this, Qi Liang’s mother grew even angrier: “Isn’t it because our children have poorer grades that the school makes them play football? Why didn’t you organize the class cadres to do this instead?”
“But Lin Lu, Qi Liang, Fu Xinshu, and Chen Jianghe—weren’t they all part of the same football team before? They have this specialty and play very well. This was also a rare opportunity for them to play together again. It has nothing to do with their grades.”"How is this irrelevant? We send our children to high school hoping they can 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 affect anything much."
Upon hearing this, Qi Liang's mother's expression immediately darkened: "What do you mean by that? Even if my son's grades aren't good, it's not your place to mock him."
"Teacher Lin!" Lin Lu's homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, suddenly called out to her. Probably wanting to protect her, Teacher Wang explained to the parents, "Teacher Lin is a new intern at our school who just took the children to participate in one competition. We teachers understand the parents' concerns and definitely won't organize any more soccer activities for the children in the future."
"But they fought with all their might and barely managed to earn another playoff opportunity. Why can't we let them continue?" Lin Wanxing retorted.
A teacher grading papers nearby couldn't help but glance over: "Intern teacher, you should say less."
Lin Wanxing wasn't angry though. Instead, she calmly looked at the three parents: "You all believe that organizing soccer games affects the children's studies. But from what I understand, they still had training sessions in their first year of high school, but completely stopped in their second year. So we can compare the academic performance of these 11 students between their first and second years to see if there are any significant changes."
After speaking, Lin Wanxing hesitated for a moment at the desk, then looked at Lin Lu's homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang: "May I use this blank paper and pen?"
Teacher Wang was taken aback, but finally nodded slowly.
"Because we won with great difficulty yesterday, I couldn't sleep at night, so I went on the school's academic affairs website and checked their grades."
As she spoke, Lin Wanxing bent over, picked up the pen, and drew a table on the blank paper. She wrote the names of the 11 students in the leftmost column.
"I looked at their important exam scores from each academic year yesterday, but just writing the scores wouldn't be clear. So I calculated their average grade rankings for important exams in their first and second years, and I'll write those down."
Lin Wanxing wrote "First Year" and "Second Year" in the top two columns of the table and began filling in the data.
The process was quick. When she picked up the completed table, Yu Ming's mother immediately asked: "What can we see from these two columns of rankings?"
"Since your earlier argument was that playing soccer affects their studies, we can compare their academic performance when they played soccer versus when they didn't, to see if there's actually any difference."
"Our Xiao Liang's grades are stable," Qi Liang's mother said quickly, pointing at the table. "But look at Fu Xinshu's ranking - it improved from 655th to 630th in the grade. That's clear progress."
"But this seemingly obvious progress may not have statistical significance to prove that soccer affected their studies." Lin Wanxing paused. "For example, Qin Ao's average ranking changed from 678th to 690th. Did his performance actually worsen when he stopped playing soccer?"
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"We can use statistical tools to perform a very simple test for significance of mean differences, to see whether playing soccer truly affected their academic performance."By the time she finished speaking, the office had fallen completely silent, so she could only cautiously ask, "Should I just write the conclusion, or should I include the calculation process?"
"Teacher Lin, just be straightforward. Say what you want to say directly," Teacher Wang said with a pained expression.
"Then I'll state the conclusion directly. The relatively scientific statistical analysis result is that there is no significant difference in the average grade rankings of the 11 students during important exams in their first and second years of high school. Whether they play soccer or not may not affect their academic performance."
The office became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Both parents and other teachers remained silent for a while.
Then, Qi Liang's mother finally spoke: "Aren't you just trying to say our children have poor grades, and whether they play soccer or not makes no difference? Was it necessary to beat around the bush like this?"
"That's not what I meant," Lin Wanxing said, shocked.
"If that's not what you meant, then 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 failure in parenting, but we can't help it. I know they really loved playing soccer before, but they're in their final year of high school now—the most important year of their lives. We just hope they can focus on their studies, get into a decent university, and follow a stable path in life."
Teacher Wang quickly handed a tissue to Lin Lu's mother and said to her, "Teacher Lin, since you don't understand the children's situations well, it's better not to comment."
This was already quite severe wording. Lin Wanxing slightly lowered her gaze, countless moments uncontrollably flashing through her mind, leading her to blurt out, "Is getting into a good university really a guarantee of stability?"
Teacher Wang was so angry he nearly slammed the table.
Lin Wanxing paused, suddenly unsure of what to say: "I don't mean what you think, and I'm not trying to argue. I'm just... a bit uncertain."
"These children might have talent in soccer, but we all know how difficult it is to succeed in football. As parents and teachers, urging them to study and enter university is about giving them a better platform in life, allowing them to walk a broader and smoother path in the future."
Teacher Wang's response almost convinced Lin Wanxing—it was something she had once firmly believed in herself. But now, she could only say, "Actually, sometimes, the path ahead only grows narrower."
For some reason, the office fell silent again.
Both the parents and the teachers were stunned.
They seemed both confused about why she was persisting in this argument and momentarily lost in thought.
"I know what you're trying to say," a middle-aged teacher grading papers nearby finally spoke up. "You want to ask whether giving up soccer to focus on studies and getting into a good university will truly be useful in the future? But young teacher, you're still young. You might have read a lot of inspirational stories and are full of passion, but in reality, academic performance is what truly matters."
Lin Wanxing was still filled with emotions, confusion, and uncertainty.
But before her were parents deeply worried about their children's futures, and behind her were students who were equally unprepared to face the challenges of life ahead."Alright, how about giving me a chance?" Lin Wanxing said. "Entrust your children to me, and I can guarantee they will all get into the universities you consider ideal. But I cannot promise that every one of them will embark on a smooth and broad path in life."
"You're quite young, yet your tone is truly bold."
"You can look up the provincial college entrance exam news from seven years ago—the top scorer in liberal arts was under my name," Lin Wanxing said.
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