Chapter 926: Hidden Evil

Zhang Tao’s transfer may be connected to the Zhang Family’s extermination case.

This was Sun Biao’s first intuition after investigating the background reasons for Zhang Tao’s transfer.

At Haizhou City Third Middle School, not all students are of excellent character and learning. Although the school’s graduation rate is the highest in the city, this rate has led to a considerable number of students being enrolled through various connections.

Zhang Tao’s father, as the deputy director of the High-tech Zone’s Finance Bureau, could easily get his son into the Third Middle School.

After all, the Third Middle School is a city-affiliated school, and according to city-affiliated school management requirements, local schools must be managed locally.

This means that although the Third Middle School is Haizhou City’s most prestigious high school, it actually falls under the management of the Haizhou High-tech Zone Education Bureau.

The Finance Bureau, on the other hand, doesn’t directly manage the Third Middle School, but the school is still a government institution and relies on financial approval from the Bureau for funding.

The Finance Bureau is essentially the patron of the Third Middle School, so who would dare to offend it?

So compared to some other districts and county leaders, it’s not easy to arrange students at the Third Middle School.

Zhang Haibin, as the deputy director of the High-tech Zone’s Finance Bureau, could confirm enrollment with just a single word.

Sitting at Lu Chuan’s desk, Sun Biao took the cigarette Lu Chuan handed him, lit it, took a rushed drag, and began to report on what he’d investigated and learned.

"During the management at the Third Middle School, the school didn’t gather all these students into one class, as that would not be preferable to the students’ parents."

This is a typical practice different from other schools.

Some schools would put students with connections in one class, where students all have backgrounds, and accordingly, none of them cause trouble.

However, from an academic perspective, the performance might not be very promising; neither good nor bad, which means changing schools wouldn’t make a significant difference.

But the Third Middle School is different, with a management strategy quite distinct from other schools.

In Shandong, connected students were evenly distributed across different classes.

"On the one hand, assigning these connected students to various classes allows them to mingle with good students, and the educational resources are more balanced, helping these kids improve their grades."

This practice has been well-received by parents of such students.

As the saying goes, proximity to quality influences one’s character; being with good kids naturally helps improve one’s own child gradually.

Sun Biao continued his report: "For these connected students, the Third Middle School has followed this practice for years, not only ensuring graduation rates but also attracting more diverse resources."

"However..."

Sun Biao sighed: "However, this management approach also has its drawbacks—some students might bully ordinary classmates in their classes."

"Is Zhang Tao one of them?"

Lu Chuan understood Sun Biao’s implication right away.

Sun Biao nodded: "The learning atmosphere at the Third Middle School is excellent, and every class competes intensely, so many times these students battle on their own, bullying other classmates in their own classes. Thus, they haven’t formed cliques."

This is also a result of deliberate control by the school; as long as there aren’t several students banding together to cause significant issues, the management turns a blind eye.

"Did Zhang Tao transfer because of this situation?"

Sun Biao nodded again.

"Zhang Tao’s transfer is related to a female student’s suicide."

Suicide?

"That’s the situation..."

Sun Biao detailed the findings of his investigation to Lu Chuan.

The matter started roughly half a year ago.

In Zhang Tao’s class, there were three issues.

To be precise, these could be described as students with connections or poor academic performance. Based on their middle school entrance exam scores, the three wouldn’t qualify for studying at the Third Middle School.

But these three have minor backgrounds, among which Zhang Tao’s is the strongest—his father is the deputy director of the Finance Bureau in the High-tech Zone.

The other two include a child of a minor leader in the Education Bureau and another of a secretary in the district government.

These three, due to family connections, and because their academic performance couldn’t keep up with the majority, gradually grouped together.

In this class, Zhang Tao’s small gang prominently acts as the troublemakers, sitting in the last row, not studying, and provoking classmates.

"However, starting from the first year, this small group didn’t cause much trouble, and under the influence of the overall learning atmosphere, their academic performance improved somewhat."

Although they formed a small group, they were actually separated by the teachers, sitting next to different peers. Though they didn’t heed the lectures seriously, they still absorbed a little.

And given the high teaching quality at the Third Middle School, even a little understanding is stronger than studying at other high schools, so from the first year, their scores steadily improved.

With such grades, if they sustained their efforts until the college entrance exam, it’s likely they’d qualify for university.

Of course, prestigious universities or top majors might be beyond their reach, but presumably, given their family backgrounds, those aren’t necessary.

Currently, many positions in government jobs and civil service exams don’t restrict according to major and have fewer demands on schools, as long as the candidate holds a bachelor’s degree.

With their parents’ background, it’s likely there would be no issues getting these kids a public post after graduation.

In many ways, this can be seen as a tragedy for many.

Some are born with advantages, while others struggle their whole lives and may still not succeed.

Like many students in their class with excellent grades but ordinary family backgrounds; many come from rural areas where their parents are hardworking farmers.

Now, they rely on their own efforts in school, and later they’ll also have to depend on themselves in society.

They rely solely on their efforts to compete against others whose families have connections; the challenge might seem arduous.

And gradually, if successful, they become individuals like Zhang Haibin.

Their children turn into students like Zhang Tao.

On a deeper level, this model is indeed the fairest.

Because if you work hard and are willing to strive, you can definitely succeed by going to college, studying a good major, and paving your way to a smooth life.