Chapter 148: Compassion
Everything happened so fast.
By the time Tong Yao had sorted out what had happened, the girl had already run out. Looking at the girl’s side profile, she was surprised to find that she recognized her. It was her own student, who had just registered in her class this afternoon.
She remembered, her name seemed to be Xia Zhi.
She also remembered that when she had asked, “What were you doing during the summer vacation?” this child had said, “Previewing, and working.”
For a moment, Xia Zhi’s figure overlapped with another young girl’s in her mind—”It’s clearly you who are wrong.” Ruan Ruan seemed to have said something similar when she was wronged. In the face of that kind of grievance that was about to swallow a person but had nowhere to be released, few people could remain strong.
Some people are not afraid of hardship or pain, but as soon as they are wronged, they can’t control their tears.
“Why did she just leave… who’s going to be the cashier?”
“There’s an auntie over there. Hey, Auntie, can you help us check out first?”
The remaining people looked at each other, with roughly two thoughts in their minds—
Why did that girl run away? So irresponsible.
And.
If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have made such a scene over such a small matter.
Some of the boys, their passion not yet cooled, wanted to stand up for the girl, but seeing the unfriendly-looking group, they retreated on the spot. He comforted himself, I’m not afraid of a fight, but those hooligans don’t care about demerits, while I can’t bear the price of a demerit. It’s definitely not because I’m a coward.
It’s rationality.
At the checkout counter, the old auntie grumblingly put down her rice bowl, saying, “She actually ran away from me,” and “If you don’t do it, there are plenty of people who are willing to,” and then very reluctantly began to check out. Her reluctance was shown in the way she would just throw the items to the side after scanning them, regardless of whether your cookies would be crushed.
At this moment, Tong Yao’s heart was more filled with guilt.
That was her student. As a teacher, in the school, she had not protected her.
It was her turn to check out. She took a step forward and placed the snacks from her basket on the counter. Just at this moment, the counter door was pushed open. She looked up and was surprised to find that Xia Zhi had actually come back.
The girl seemed to have washed her face, looking weak and pathetic. The hair on her forehead was matted into a few strands. When the auntie saw her, her anger flared up. A woman of this age probably didn’t care about face. It didn’t matter if others thought she was a shrew. She cursed at Xia Zhi, “You still know how to come back?! You’re not willing to give up your wages, are you? Weren’t you quite dashing and capable when you left just now? I hadn’t even finished my meal and I had to clean up your mess…”
Xia Zhi lowered her head, hiding her red eyes, and kept apologizing, her fingers fidgeting with the corner of her clothes.
“Let’s check out first.”
A clear and cold voice interrupted them.
The farce came to an abrupt end. The auntie looked at the ID card on her chest and immediately fell silent, grumbling as she returned to her seat to eat. Xia Zhi was momentarily stunned, and when she saw her homeroom teacher, her first reaction was nervousness and timidity. A chance encounter during registration, her impression of this beautiful homeroom teacher was probably arrogance, the kind of arrogance that a swan landing in a mud puddle, a classical masterpiece appearing in a pile of cheap magazines, would have, an arrogance that was perceived by others even if not deliberately shown.
Perhaps it wasn’t that Teacher Tong was arrogant, but that she was too humble.
“Hello… Teacher Tong.”
“Mhm,” she said softly. “Let’s check out.”
Xia Zhi pursed her lips. Her movements were very light. After scanning, she would neatly stack the snacks. She was actually a little surprised. QQ candy, marshmallows, these snacks were mostly liked by children. Teacher Tong’s age, she definitely didn’t have a child, so… did Teacher Tong like to eat them?
The homeroom teacher’s cold image suddenly became vivid and soft in the girl’s heart.
“Are you doing a work-study program?” Tong Yao asked out of the blue during the scanning. “I need a bag.”
“Mhm, forty minutes in the morning and afternoon each,” Xia Zhi took a large bag and carefully placed the snacks in it according to their size and hardness. “Three days a week.”
Tong Yao understood.
After paying, she picked up the bag, her heel lifted, and then slowly fell. She turned her head to look at the auntie who was eating in the corner.
“Auntie, this child was only gone for a few minutes. Her wages won’t be deducted, right?”
The auntie was watching a short video on her phone. Hearing her being called, she quickly nodded.
“No, no, definitely not.”
“Mhm,” Tong Yao turned to Xia Zhi and nodded slightly. “I’m leaving.”
“Huh? Oh… goodbye, Teacher Tong,” Xia Zhi was in a fluster. It wasn’t until the person had gone far that she remembered she hadn’t said thank you.
But she didn’t even have time to be annoyed at herself before she immediately had to check out the next person.
At the supermarket entrance, Tong Yao held the bag and looked back at the busy figure in the shop, then left in silence.
At home.
Dongyang ran to the door to greet her, calling out “Little Aunt” in a soft, sweet voice. Tong Yao felt her heart was about to melt. Her gloomy mood was swept away. She stuffed the snacks into her hand and said, “Eat less. We’re having dinner tonight.”
For Dongyang’s sake, she had learned to cook. Because the food at the school was not as good as at home, and she no longer only knew how to cook noodles like before.
One big and one small, they didn’t eat much. The rice was cooked by Dongyang in advance. She only had to stir-fry three small dishes, and it was completely enough.
“Little Aunt’s cooking is getting better and better.”
“Really?” she smiled. “Then shall I take a picture and send it to Ruan Xi?”
“Mhm, mhm!”
After dinner, Tong Yao left the bowls, to be washed at night. A child can’t stay at home all the time, so she took Dongyang out for a walk, especially to get familiar with the school environment, so it would be convenient to find her if anything happened in the future.
Passing by a fruit shop, the shop also sold drinks. Tong Yao asked the child what she wanted to drink, and Dongyang answered in a second, “Iced mung bean slush.”
Tong Yao wanted to say, “Why do you have the same taste as Ruan Xi?” but then she felt that this sentence was too wifely and held it in.
She bought herself a cup of watermelon juice and also picked a bag of apples.
Along the way, she introduced the various buildings to Dongyang. Actually, she herself was not familiar with the way. She arrived at the cafeteria entrance in a daze, but saw—
Xia Zhi.
The thin girl was holding a red instant noodle bucket, drinking it in big gulps, and then poured the remaining soup into the pool outside. Finally, she threw the bowl into the fly-infested trash can.
“Xia Zhi.”
She called out.
The girl turned her head blankly. When she saw her, she was startled—Xia Zhi had come up from the middle school department. Her middle school homeroom teacher had a rule that they were not allowed to eat instant noodles because it was harmful to their health. To this day, she still subconsciously felt that she was doing something bad when she ate instant noodles.
“You’re just eating instant noodles?” Tong Yao looked at the time. It was already seven. “You’re eating so late?”
For a student with a regular schedule, 5:30 was a normal time to eat.
Xia Zhi lowered her head, didn’t explain, and her gaze shifted to the side. When she saw Dongyang holding Tong Yao’s hand, she was slightly stunned.
“Hello, sister!” Dongyang greeted with vitality.
“You… hello.”
“You should eat more nutritious things,” Tong Yao interjected, and then felt that this was really useless, almost like saying, “Why not eat meat porridge?” She turned and took out an apple. “Have some fruit.”
The apple’s color was bright and healthy. She placed it in Xia Zhi’s hand, ignoring the girl’s weak refusal, and then waved her hand and left with Dongyang.
Actually, as a homeroom teacher, she could help Xia Zhi in more places.
But for some reason, she hesitated slightly and only gave an apple.
This time, let’s keep some distance from the students.
**
On the second night of registration, school officially started.
The evening self-study session was at seven o’clock. Before seven, she had been in the office, apprehensive, looking at the student list over and over again.
The bell for class rang.
She let out a breath, stood up, and step by step, walked to the classroom door.
It was very noisy.
She had thought that since they didn’t know each other, everyone would be shy and reserved in the first evening self-study session.
But it turned out they were all very familiar with each other.
She walked in, gently knocked on the already open door, to signal her presence.
The noisy classroom immediately became quiet.
The first day, it was still manageable.
“Although we’ve already met during registration, and I’ve introduced myself in the group chat, but here, I think it’s still necessary to get to know each other again. My name is Tong Yao, and I’m in charge of teaching you math…”
“Now, if you have any questions, you can raise your hand and ask me.”
She made a hand-raising gesture, welcoming questions.
“Teacher, do you have a boyfriend?” a girl asked with a grin.
“I don’t answer questions unrelated to studying and the classroom.”
“Teacher,” a roguish boy leaned back in his chair, his clothes loose, his body as if it had no bones. He grinned and raised his hand. “How old are you?”
There were faint laughs in the class.
Tong Yao just looked at him calmly.
Her glazed eyes seemed to be telling them that she understood their boring tactics and harassment, but she disdained to respond.
The classroom gradually became quiet again, and the embarrassed person became that boy.
She said slowly, “20. Before you, I taught for two years, two classes, and they were all very outstanding.”
She had shown her resume to those parents, so no one would question her teaching ability.
“Now it’s your turn to introduce yourselves. Let’s start from the first row,” she smiled and tilted her head towards the student in the first row, first column.
The public execution had begun.
She gave three minutes of preparation time, but the first boy was still caught off guard, and the whole process was stammering.
Many people don’t like to introduce themselves, but a short public introduction can indeed help a teacher see a student’s personality.
“Hello everyone… my name is Xia Zhi,” the girl’s voice was nervous and uneasy. “I like to read…”
After just a few sentences, she couldn’t continue. She hurriedly said, “I hope to get along well with everyone,” and sat down.
You think your self-introduction can be a blockbuster, winning others’ praise and attention.
In fact, your self-introduction is a disaster, so awkward and clumsy it’s like dancing in a straitjacket.
Tong Yao stood on the podium, noting down each student’s performance in her heart.
“My name is Li Minghe,” it was the turn of the boy who had asked the question before. He stood up and spoke in a social Changsha dialect. “I…”
“Speak Mandarin,” Tong Yao interrupted him.
The people around started to laugh again.
The boy raised his head, shrugged helplessly, and switched to Mandarin.
After everyone had introduced themselves, she looked at the time and looked up.
“Next, please welcome our drill instructor.”
The military training instructors for each class had been waiting at the door for a long time.
This group of children probably didn’t know the hardship of military training yet and all applauded enthusiastically.
At the door, a thin and tall officer came in. He was not bad-looking, and with his handsome and heroic military uniform, many girls cheered.
But, this instructor had a cold face and roared, “Quiet!”
Including Tong Yao, everyone was taken aback for a moment.
She had thought it would be a friendly exchange.
“My surname is Wang. You can call me Instructor Wang. I only have one request! The duty of a soldier is to obey! Do you hear me?”
The classroom was silent.
“Do you hear me?!”
A sparse “heard.”
“Not neat enough. I’ll ask again, do you hear me!”
This time, many students were starting to get annoyed, but they had no choice but to say in unison, “Heard—!”
The instructor was satisfied and walked out slowly.
Looking at the group of students in the classroom who were quietly cursing “idiot instructor,” Tong Yao sighed deeply.
