Chapter 18 Injustice

The person who arrived was Li Mochen and William's grade advisor. Although Hancock and his group looked unwilling, they dispersed on their own before the former arrived, not daring to continue.

After all, Linden Academy was a private school with some rules and discipline. The Linden family backing the school was not something the gangs behind them could afford to provoke.

However, when the grade advisor approached, he fixed an unfriendly gaze on William.

"Little boy, have you gotten into trouble again?"

William looked embarrassed: "I'll handle it, sir. This won't happen again, I promise!"

"I hope so! I'm expecting you to get an offer from the University of Georgia."

The white man in his forties then turned his gaze to Li Mochen: "Vice Principal Georgia is looking for you two. Since class hasn't started yet, go see him as soon as possible."

Li Mochen was slightly surprised. He knew of Vice Principal Georgia and understood his significant position in the school.

But Georgia was only in charge of the school's asset management. The only thing that could relate to him was his concurrent role as vice chairman of the scholarship review committee.

If it were about scholarships, wouldn't a notification letter suffice? The high school scholarship system in America was far less strict than that of universities.

A faint sense of foreboding stirred in Li Mochen's mind. When he and William arrived at the vice principal's office, they saw an old man with white hair and beard, wearing thick glasses, looking at a document in his hand.

When Li Mochen knocked on the door beside him, the man looked up: "Come in. Andrew and William, right? Please wait a moment; I need to handle this document. You can pour yourselves a glass of water."

Li Mochen felt a wave of helplessness. Although the original preferred to be called Li Mochen or 'Mo', the name registered at school was still Andrew Lee Wiltonshire.

But he quickly suppressed his distracting thoughts, walked calmly to the man, and sat down: "Sir, I guess our scholarships are in trouble, right?"

William Yark's heart skipped a beat. He looked at Li Mochen and then sat down beside him nervously.

He didn't know if Li Mochen's judgment was correct, but if it was, it would be a heavy blow to him.

Georgia didn't speak until he finished reading the document. Then he looked squarely at Li Mochen: "To be honest, before today, I never knew that Linden Academy had a Wiltonshire. Since your family co-founded the 'Starpulse' Academy, not a single Wiltonshire descendant has studied at our school in the past three hundred and twenty years. Not even a collateral branch—"

"Sir, does this have anything to do with why you called me here today?"

Li Mochen replied with neither humility nor arrogance: "If so, I can only say that my connection to the Wiltonshire family is merely some insignificant blood ties, and I have never considered myself a member of the Wiltonshire family."

"Don't mind me; it's just a personal reflection."

Georgia smiled: "Back to the point. As you guessed, your scholarship applications have been rejected. Our review committee believes you need to reapply. Later, you two can get the forms from your grade advisor."

Li Mochen had already anticipated this outcome, but when he heard this 'verdict', his mind still stirred restlessly for a moment.

The full scholarship at Linden Academy only amounted to five hundred gold shields per month during the semester, but every bit counts. Besides, it also covered all tuition and fees, provided two meals, and a fixed amount of magical energy cultivation potions, totaling up to forty thousand gold shields per year.

Su Lai, known among his disciples as a 'miser' and 'stingy', couldn't remain indifferent to this money, even though he had just obtained a few gold ingots and several high-quality gemstones yesterday.

William Yark was also pale with fright. He instinctively wanted to plead, but Li Mochen stopped him.

"But sir, my GPA since seventh grade is 3.8, and my friend William here is 3.1—"

"I understand!" Georgia replied helplessly: "Among all our students, you are one of the best in average credits. Of course, William is also outstanding."

Li Mochen frowned: "And half a year ago, my SSAT score when I transferred to Linden was 2230."

The GPA he mentioned earlier stands for Grade Point Average.

And SSAT stands for Secondary School Admission Test.

In American high schools, generally a GPA of 3.5 and an SSAT score above 85% qualify one to apply for scholarships. The original's scores far exceeded that.

As for William Yark, black people have special treatment in this regard. And his scores were already outstanding among his ethnic group.

"That's one of the reasons we placed you in Class A. Your grade advisor has high expectations for you."

Georgia spread his hands as if helpless: "It's not about grades, Andrew. The review committee believes your application materials are not comprehensive enough and not standardized."

Li Mochen had nothing more to say. What did 'not comprehensive enough' and 'not standardized' mean? The original had filled out the forms exactly as others did. He had full confidence in the original 'Li Mochen's' composure and caution. Such an oversight should never have happened to him.

William couldn't hold back: "But sir, this is unfair! We filled out the forms the same as everyone else. I'm sure there were no omissions."

Seeing Georgia completely unmoved, he flew into a rage: "Hey, sir! I think you forgot that we are both members of the school's comprehensive cold weapon fighting club."

"You mean you can go to Miss Louise?"

Georgia chuckled: "William, I understand your feelings, but rules are rules. We cannot violate them. I doubt even Miss Louise can change anything. Of course, if you don't trust me, you can consult Miss Louise."

William Yark's spirits immediately deflated. He could see that the bastard before them truly didn't care.

At this point, Li Mochen asked thoughtfully: "So my grades are not the issue, right? Then I would like the school to return my application form."

"Return?"

Georgia frowned almost imperceptibly, then calmly folded his hands on the desk: "I'm sorry, your application forms were thrown into the trash after review. I'm afraid they can't be retrieved."

"But that violates school regulations. Scholarship application materials should be kept on file in the archives for at least five years, for inspection by the school board, the Department of Education, and the Atlanta Superintendent. As you said, rules are rules."

Li Mochen spoke bluntly: "If my application form is not in the archives, then I have reason to suspect that I have been unfairly treated by the school administration, or that there is a management oversight."