Book Title: My Independence Day

Author of this book: Rong Guang

Copywriter
"The main text is finished, and the extra chapter is being updated"
In order to escape from the marriage, Zhu Jinxia packed her bags overnight and hid in the
mountains under the pretext of teaching.
I never expected that I would be full of energy on the way there, but would suffer from mental
illness when I arrived.
There is no village or shop in front of the school;
The toilet stank;
The students’ level is slightly better than that of illiterates;
The only sanitary napkins in the store are called Octave.
...Is it too late to leave now?
Timeline as the acting principal: You're on this pirate ship and you still want to run away:)?
Okay, my quality is unknown, but we will become stronger when facing a stronger opponent.

Chapter One
Zhu Jinxia squatted on the toilet for almost half an hour before finally accepting her fate, knowing
that she couldn't make it to the hospital on her own.
She decided to seek help from "concerned citizens" and her friend Yuan Feng.
It took three tries to get through the call, and Yuan Feng's voice didn't sound enthusiastic.
"What's so urgent? You won't let me sleep at night..."
"I have acute gastroenteritis. Come and take me to the hospital."
Yuan Feng was much more sober now, and he started to be a caring citizen. He got out of bed and
asked like an old father:
"What's wrong? Are you upset?"
"How long has it been hurting?"
"Why did you call me now?"
As he was getting dressed, a loud thunder exploded in the sky. The sound was so loud that it
could be heard on both ends of the phone.
At midnight in midsummer, a rainstorm suddenly came.
Yuan Feng's voice was obviously hesitant: "It's thundering and lightning outside, how about I wait
until the rain is lighter before setting off?"
This guy has been afraid of thunder since he was a child.
Zhu Jinxia was silent for a moment and said, "Then just help me call the funeral home."
“…Come on, come on.”
…
Zhu Jinxia was still sitting on the toilet, receiving messages from Yuan Feng one after another.
"How's it going now?"
"Why don't you speak?"
"Don't scare me, do you want to call 120?"
The latest one: "Is the banquet open yet?"
Zhu Jinxia didn’t want to go back, but she really didn’t have the energy to do so. Her stomach was
churning and she turned pale with pain.
Finally, twenty minutes later, someone knocked on the bedroom door.
"Zhu Jinxia, are you in there?"
This voice...
Zhu Jinxia had just stood up from the toilet. She was stunned when she heard the words, then sat
back down and called Yuan Feng: "I asked you to pick me up, why did you call Weicheng?"
Yuan Feng said coldly: "Friend, if you are sick, why don't you ask your husband to take you to the
hospital?"
“…”
"Life is short, and I want to live it well."
"You'd better go to hell."
Zhu Jinxia hung up the phone and cursed loudly.
——
Outside the door, her husband Weicheng came in despite the rain, all wet.
Zhu Jinxia handed him a towel: "... No umbrella?"
Weicheng stared at the towel for a while before Zhu Jinxia realized that it was his old towel and
she hadn't thrown it away yet.
"It's raining so hard, what difference does it make whether it hits or not?"
“…”
The two fell into an awkward silence. Compared to the silence in this room, it was lively outside
with wind, rain, lightning and thunder.
After wiping her hair, Weicheng returned the towel to her, "It's not gastroenteritis? Are you going
to the hospital?"
"Go." Zhu Jinxia's stomach was aching, but she just endured it. "I'll change my clothes."
She closed the door, hesitated for a moment, and then locked it.
Click.
There was silence outside the door, and then a short sneer came out: "Are you on guard against
thieves?"
The awkward atmosphere continued until we reached the hospital.
The emergency room is always busy, day or night.
Weicheng lined up in front of the emergency window. After getting a number, he turned around
and saw Zhu Jinxia sitting on a bench with a pale face. It was clearly the scorching heat of July,
but she was sweating from the pain.
He paused, turned around and left. When he came back, he was pushing a wheelchair in his
hands. He forcibly carried Zhu Jinxia in his arms despite her refusal.
At that moment, the two were very close, their breath touching each other's cheeks.
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously lowered her head and distanced herself from him, only to see his bony
hands as he hugged her, with veins bulging as he exerted a little force.
He has lost a lot of weight.
These hands weren't like this before.
It once waited for her at the dormitory door with brown sugar ginger tea in hand; it also
pretended to be calm and took off her gloves on a winter day, holding her fingers tightly with
trembling hands; it pushed open the bedroom door on countless weekend mornings, lifted the
quilt like a prank, and said, "Wish you Jinxia, get up quickly, I made your favorite sweet and sour
pork ribs!"
Later, before the wedding, it slammed the divorce agreement on the table and refused to sign it.
——
"What did you eat?"
"Nothing."
"How can you have acute gastroenteritis without eating anything?" The doctor's gaze, even
through the thick lenses, can bring a lot of pressure to people. She helped Zhu Jinxia recall,
"What did you eat this morning?"
“No.”
"What about noon?"
“No.”
"..." The doctor's eyes became more severe, "What about at night?"
Zhu Jinxia lowered her eyes, "...I didn't eat it either."
A brief silence, followed by huge pressure.
"You didn't eat anything! You didn't eat anything!"
Then, the doctor's anger began to shift, "Are you her family member?"
Weicheng was silent for two seconds: "I guess so."
"Yes, yes. No, no, no. What do you mean by yes?" The doctor was angry. "The little girl is losing
weight, right? She doesn't know the severity of her condition at such a young age, and neither do
you."
After a while of teaching, the doctor finally reacted and said, "It can be considered as"... ?
She raised her eyes to look at Weicheng: "Are you her boyfriend or husband?"
I wish this summer a heart-pounding moment, as expected——
"Me?" Weicheng ignored her pleading look and replied calmly, "I will be your ex-husband soon."
——
The heavy rain lasted until dawn.
It was four o'clock in the morning when Zhu Jinxia received the intravenous fluid.
I ran up and down the Weicheng to get medicine and buy breakfast, and my hair was never dry - I
don't know if it was wet by the rain or by sweat.
After doing all this, he stood at the door of the emergency room and said, "Let's go."
I wish this summer to say thank you with difficulty.
Weicheng had already turned around, but he couldn't help but turned back to ask, "Are you still
determined to get a divorce?"
Zhu Jinxia lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze, and nodded slowly and carefully.
The last hope was also extinguished.
Weicheng couldn't believe it, "Zhu Jinxia, do you have a heart or is your heart made of stone?"
He raised his voice.
"I run around for you, doing this and that, and in the end all you get is a thank you?"
He was so angry that he kicked the trash can beside the door and said, "I want your thanks?"
The loud noise attracted the nurse.
"Hey, what are you doing over there? This is a hospital!"
Under the incandescent light, the man's anger gradually grew, but when he met the woman's sick
face, it was like a balloon being punctured by a needle.
After a moment of confrontation, silence returned to the corridor.
Anger was replaced by fatigue, which filled his eyes and had nowhere to hide.
Before leaving, Weicheng only said: "I wish you this summer, I won't let you get what you want."
After an hour and a half of infusion, the frequency of gastric colic was significantly reduced.
When I left the hospital, the sky was turning pale and the heavy rain had miraculously stopped.
Zhu Jinxia carried the medicine, one foot deep and one foot shallow, wading through the puddles
after the rain. Countless figures were reflected in the puddles, which made it seem that she was
not alone.
She didn't see that after she left, a familiar figure appeared at the corner of the emergency room.
The Acropolis has never left.
He watched her receiving the infusion from afar, her head drooping towards her chest, just like
when she dozed off during her Marx class.
When it was daybreak, the infusion was finished and she really didn't notice it. He called the
nurse to help her remove the needle.
He didn't know what he was doing. He accompanied her through the infusion like a wandering
soul, and then watched her leave, leaving only a pile of cigarette butts on the ground and looking
exhausted.
And she knew nothing about it.
Weicheng thought, should he rush over to let her know this? But his feet seemed to have taken
root. He knew Zhu Jinxia, and Zhu Jinxia would not turn back.
I wish this summer will always look forward.
——
"Alive?"
It was already daybreak when Yuan Feng called.
Zhu Jinxia returned home from the hospital and was woken up by a phone call after sleeping for
less than an hour.
Her eyelids seemed to be glued shut, and she said in a stern tone, "If you have to fart, do it now."
"Tsk, is this your attitude when you ask for help?" Yuan Feng was unhappy, "Do you still want me
to substitute for you in class later?"
"Don't go if you have the guts."
"...You are so arrogant even though you are half dead. You are worthy of being like this."
Zhu Jinxia and Yuan Feng are childhood friends, living in the same compound and growing up
wearing the same pair of shorts.
One of them was a top student, while the other was a poor student. However, by chance, they
ended up working at the same university, both in the School of Foreign Languages.
The difference is that Zhu Jinxia is a teaching position, majoring in English and American
literature, and just became the youngest doctoral supervisor in the college at the beginning of
the year.
Yuan Feng, a poor student, got a position in the administrative system thanks to his father. He
jokingly calls himself a handyman in the Academic Affairs Office and a brick in the logistics
department, moving wherever he is needed.
Zhu Jinxia was still weak, so he turned over and talked about business: "Did you see my message?
The third or fourth class in the morning, A203, History of British Literature——"
"You had diarrhea and your brain was also gone? Is this a class I can take over?"
"Just show them a movie." Zhu Jinxia said succinctly, "We talked about John Milton last time, let's
show them Paradise Lost."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Zhu Jinxia thought he didn't understand, so she explained: "John Milton, Paradise Lost——"
"I need you to translate. I passed the English exam in the college entrance examination, okay!"
Yuan Feng said unhappily. After a pause, he changed the subject and said, "Zhu Jinxia, let me ask
you a question."
"ask."
"Do you still consider me a friend?"
"What do you mean?" Zhu Jinxia slowly opened her eyes. "Is this the level you're trying to raise
just to question your English level?"
"If we're friends, we grew up together and see each other almost every day. Why do you want a
divorce when I don't know a word?"
"…Did Weicheng tell you everything?"
"Can he tell me? He knows that we are of the same mind." Yuan Feng sneered, "Just look at your
circle of friends."
I have a bad feeling.
Zhu Jinxia hung up the phone immediately and opened her Moments.
It was early in the morning and not many people were posting on Moments. I swiped down a few
times and saw the updates from Acropolis.
[Our wedding is coming up soon, and my girlfriend of eight years and two years of marriage
wants a divorce. What should I do? ]
Under this status, Weicheng also replied to everyone with a sense of humor:
【Waiting online, very urgent. 】
Wish this summer: …

Chapter two
Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels far and wide.
Now the whole world knows that they are getting divorced.
Before the week had passed, Zhu Jinxia floated into Yuan Feng's office like a ghost and fell
headfirst on his sofa.
Yuan Feng hissed distressedly: "Be gentle, ancestor!"
Zhu Jinxia said faintly: "Among my childhood friends of more than 20 years, you are the only one
who cares about me. Others only care about how high I fly, but you are the only one who worries
about whether I will get hurt if I fall..."
"Who cares about you? I care about my leather sofa!"
I wish this summer a mouthful of blood stuck in my throat.
Yuan Feng threw a bottle of mineral water to her and said, "The wedding is next month. Have you
figured out what to do?"
"When I filed for divorce, I called the hotel to cancel the wedding banquet."
"What about the Acropolis?"
"I still don't agree."
"Where are the family members?"
“Bombing every day.”
"His house or yours?"
"British and French forces, what's the difference?"
Yuan Feng was silent for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Is there really no room for
negotiation on this matter?"
I wish Jinxia would remain silent and just look at him quietly with her clear black and white eyes.
Yes, it was unnecessary to ask this question. Yuan Feng knew Zhu Jinxia's personality better than
anyone else. They grew up in the same factory housing estate, climbed up the roof and tore off
the tiles together, and were scolded and beaten together. Other children knew how to admit
their mistakes and beg for mercy before the stick even landed on them - for details, please refer
to him himself.
Although it seems a bit spineless, at least you can get beaten less.
(Yuan’s father: I was beaten quite a lot.)
But I hope this summer is different, she is a tough nut to crack.
Yuan Feng still remembers that when he was in primary school, there was a little boy in the yard
who was shorter than his peers and was always bullied. Once, Zhu Jinxia happened to see him
and she rushed over immediately.
There were more people on the other side, so Yuan Feng tried to pull them... but failed.
Later, somehow, during the pushing and jostle, one of the boys fell and broke his front teeth.
They were all family members of factory workers. That night, the furious mother came to the
door with her children.
I wish that Jin Xia’s parents died early. She was raised by her grandmother. I wish that her
grandmother passed away in a strict way.
The old man smiled and apologized. After all, children fight without reason. His granddaughter
was safe and sound, while the other child had a bloody head and knocked out his front teeth.
She scolded Zhu Jinxia in front of the mother and son and ordered her granddaughter to
apologize.
I wish you all the best this summer.
Later, the mother threatened to go to the school to complain and give Zhu Jinxia a warning. Zhu's
grandmother had no choice but to raise her hand high to calm the situation.
"Apologize!"
"I don't."
The slap landed heavily on Zhu Jinxia's face. The little girl's face and eyes turned red instantly, but
she raised her head high and gritted her teeth to hold back her tears.
Grandma Zhu picked up the feather duster on the shoe cabinet and hit her with it again and
again, "Are you going to apologize or not? Are you going to apologize or not?"
"I don't!"
"No!"
"I'm not wrong, I'm not wrong..."
Zhu Jinxia cried and hid, but refused to admit defeat no matter what.
There was chaos everywhere.
The mother took her son away in silence.
Zhu Jinxia received this beating at the doorstep of his home. During off-get off work hours, many
people were seen coming in and out of the family quarters.
Grandma Zhu pulled the man up, wiped her tears and cursed: "Just keep being stubborn! What's
wrong with admitting your mistakes? Can it cost you your life?"
Zhu Jinxia burst into tears: "I did nothing wrong. I wasn't the one who bullied others. Why should
I admit my mistake?"
The old lady next door couldn't stand it any longer, so she hugged the person into her arms and
angrily blamed Grandma Zhu: "That's right, it was that bastard who bullied others. We Jinxia saw
injustice and helped. It's fine if you don't praise us, but what's the point of shouting for killing?"
“Just protect her!” Grandma Zhu threw away the feather duster and wiped her tears vigorously.
“She is a little girl, without a father or a mother. If she doesn’t know how to compromise and give
in, she will suffer a lot in the future!”
This statement came true. In the many years that followed, Zhu Jinxia did suffer a lot of losses,
but she never changed her mind.
In the office, Yuan Feng sighed and asked, "Have you decided?"
"It's decided."
"No regrets?"
"No regrets."
"Okay then." Yuan Feng opened the drawer, took out a flyer, and slapped it on the coffee table,
"Take a look."
It was a leaflet about remote teaching. The picture showed rolling green hills, a rainbow in the
endless sky, and below were a few dark faces of children.
"Since you've made up your mind to run away from the marriage, then run away completely."
Yuan Feng crossed his legs and knocked on the table, "If we can't afford to offend, can't we just
hide away?"
She was a deserter and he was an accomplice.
I wish this summer’s eyes will fall on the colorful paper and stay there.
"…Project Rainbow."
She whispered its name word by word.
On the flyer, the children's eyes were like morning dew, looking at her quietly.
——
Want to go and teach?
It only took three seconds to make up my mind, and three days to prepare.
Zhu Jinxia only brought a suitcase and a backpack and embarked on a journey to the end of the
world.
Everything was incredibly easy.
Day 1: Ask for leave from the dean.
At first, I just wanted to say some polite words, such as teaching in remote areas is a meaningful
thing and children in mountainous areas need teachers.
As a result, the dean said, "Xiao Zhu, you don't have to worry so much about me," and Zhu Jinxia
fell silent.
Zhu Jinxia is a graduate of Mianshui University, and the old dean taught her English literature.
Having been immersed in campus for many years and studying literature for a lifetime, the old
man has a kind of worldly wisdom without being worldly.
So she confessed everything without realizing it.
After hearing the whole story, the old man just said, "Remember that famous quote from
Shakespeare when we were reading The Tempest?"
Remember.
“What’s past is prologue.”
All the past is a prologue.
The dean waved his hand and approved her leave readily. When he handed her the note, he
winked and said, "Do you know what else Shakespeare said?"
What did you say?
I wish this summer to shake my head.
"He said look ahead, there is a bright future ahead."
Wish this summer: "..."
When she left the dean's office, she couldn't help but look back and said, "Dean, you know that
your constant quoting of Shakespeare is just like everyone else's online quoting of Lu Xun. It's
highly suspicious and has zero credibility..."
The dean covered his chest and said, "Give me back my note!"
Day 2: Get in touch with the person in charge of the Rainbow Project.
The person in charge is named Yu Xiaoshan. She sounds like a young girl and her tone is lively,
typical of her age.
"May I have your name?"
"Happy summer."
"How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-eight."
"When can you come?"
"The sooner the better." Of course, when on the run, one has to race against time.
Yu Xiaoshan slapped her thigh and said, "Okay, let's do it tomorrow!"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia choked up. "Wait, don't you need to submit personal information? Don't you need to
check my teacher qualifications? Don't you need to ask me what subjects I teach?"
"Need not."
"What subject do I teach?"
"You can teach whatever subject you want."
Zhu Jinxia wanted to ask more questions, but Yu Xiaoshan made a prompt decision: "You can talk
about these when you come. Add me on WeChat first, and I'll send you the address of the
school."
After the call, Zhu Jinxia checked the information on the flyer over and over again, and even
asked Yuan Feng where the flyer came from.
Why doesn't it feel like a recruitment for teachers? It feels more like...
Telecommunications fraud.
"The leaders of the Education Bureau handed it out at the briefing!" Yuan Feng was annoyed, and
finally fell into deep thought, "But these days, we in the education sector are no different from
fraud gangs. We all want to achieve results, so we try to trick anyone into joining us."
Hearing Zhu Jinxia laugh out loud, he heaved a sigh of relief and stopped being serious. "I'm going
to say something hypocritical next. Do you mind?"
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, "You say."
"Zhu Jinxia, I always thought you were a bird and shouldn't be trapped in a cage." Yuan Feng
smiled, "Now that you've flown out, fly farther and higher."
On the other end of the phone, Zhu Jinxia didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, she sniffed
and nodded heavily, although Yuan Feng couldn't see it.
But it didn’t matter, he would see her once she flew up.
The next day, I negotiated with a teacher I had a good relationship with about substitute
teaching, packed my bags, checked the route for Zhu Jinxia, and set out on my teaching journey.
It’s called teaching, but in fact it’s more like escaping.
The place she was going to was called Yibo Township, in the Tibetan Autonomous Region on the
border of western Sichuan.
Yu Xiaoshan contacted a private car for her for the long-distance trip. The car drove from dawn to
dusk, crossing three mountains with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters.
At the beginning, I wished that I could open the car window and breathe the "free" air this
summer. However, the altitude sickness came before I arrived.
Outside the window there were blue sky and white clouds, and yaks were drinking water. Inside
the car, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep, waking up again and again, and not even
daring to eat a bite of bread.
It was already midnight when the car stopped at the county town on the western Sichuan
Plateau.
Zhu Jinxia was hungry and staggered out of the car. Unexpectedly, his knees went weak and he
fell to the ground with a thud.
The driver was opening the trunk to help her with her luggage and was startled when he saw her.
"Girl???"
On a dark night, on a sparsely populated county street, Zhu Jinxia saw stars in her eyes and
vaguely saw a pair of feet.
After Venus disappeared, it became clearer.
His legs were quite long, and he was obviously a man. On this slightly cold summer night on the
plateau, he was only wearing beach shorts and flip-flops.
The other person was originally moving forward, but was frozen in place after she threw him
down.
Zhu Jinxia fell so hard that she was dizzy and struggled for a while but couldn't get up.
A slightly low voice came from above my head, neither hurried nor slow, with a hint of ordinary
ridicule -
"Isn't it inappropriate to show such a big gift on your first meeting?"

third chapter
Following the pair of feet in flip-flops, Zhu Jinxia saw another hand: the fingers were long and
slender, with distinct knuckles, like a fine work of art.
She held the hand and climbed up awkwardly.
"Thanks--"
Before she could see the person in front of her clearly, a gust of wind blew and suddenly lifted
her baseball cap.
The wind on the plateau was so unruly that the hat flew away in an instant.
"Why--"
Zhu Jinxia let go, turned around and chased the hat, but when she returned to the car, the man
was nowhere to be seen.
The driver moved her suitcase to the side of the road and saw that she was still looking around.
"She's gone."
He pointed to the pedestrian street behind him and said, "Here."
Looking along the street, you can still see the man's back. In the temperature of ten degrees, he
is wearing a black vest and a pair of large shorts.
On both sides are wooden buildings unique to Tibetan areas. At this point, only a few shops still
have lights on, and the halo of light is soaked in mist, revealing a somewhat gentle atmosphere.
He strode away in the dim light, holding a plastic bag in his left hand, which made a clinking
sound and seemed to contain something like wine.
The strange thing is that although he is dressed in black, he cannot blend into the endless night.
A man who doesn't fit in.
Zhu Jinxia withdrew her gaze, rubbed her knees, and called Yu Xiaoshan.
Yu Xiaoshan said, "The school is in Yibo Township. It takes more than three hours to drive from
the county town along the mountain road. It's too late today. You can rest in the county town."
A hotel was also found for her.
There is a tourist loop in western Sichuan, but this place is not on it. On the way here, the driver
chatted with her and mentioned that the climate here is dry, and there is almost no grass on the
mountains. It is bare and there is nothing to see, so it was naturally excluded from the tourist
loop.
Therefore, there are few Han people in this area.
People like Zhu Jinxia are obviously outsiders at first glance, with a white face that glows brightly
under the street lights and a pretty face.
There were not many people on the street, and everyone was staring at her.
Zhu Jinxia became more and more nervous and almost ran into the hotel lobby.
Conditions in the Tibetan area are limited and the hotels are old, dilapidated and small.
When I opened the door, there was a smell of sewer in the room.
Coupled with the altitude sickness, Zhu Jinxia slept very uneasily. Suddenly she felt cold all over,
and suddenly her forehead was sweating. She woke up many times.
When she got up for the last time to drink water, she opened the curtains and found that it was
almost dawn.
In my ears I could hear the wheezing sound of the air conditioner, as if someone who was still
alive was struggling to survive.
In front of us are towering mountains, which are oppressive and daunting.
All colors were swallowed up by the night, leaving only the square window frames like ink
paintings.
I wish this summer to hold her breath and gaze at the mountains that are deep, shallow, and
overlapping, until a touch of bright red leaps into the dark blue scroll.
It jumped briskly onto the top of the mountain, instantly lighting up the entire painting. The sky
turned blue, the mountain turned green, the forests in the distance were dyed red, and the
Tibetan villages nearby were gorgeous.
A wild bird flew in from somewhere and landed on the window frame, chirping.
At this moment, the roar of the air conditioner seemed to disappear. Zhu Jinxia looked at the wild
bird, and only its cheerful cry remained in his ears.
A whole night of hesitation disappeared.
She was still hesitant, uneasy, regretful, and afraid - had she come to the wrong place? Was she
too reckless without knowing everything? Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly
people? As a university teacher, could she be competent in teaching children? Would the
Acropolis let her go if she just left like this?
Countless worries linger in my mind.
But at this moment, the day has dawned, and the world has come alive. The mountains have
their own power, suppressing all the unrest, leaving only a wilderness for freedom.
Zhu Jinxia felt as if she had suddenly been enlightened. Suddenly, every part of her body was
filled with strength. She opened the window and took a deep breath...
"Aqiu——"
The next second, she was suddenly hit by the cold air, shivering and cursing as she closed the
window again.
——
The next day, Zhu Jinxia successfully boarded the bus to Yi Bo Township.
The car was so old that it shook even when the door was opened, but it remained standing
despite the bumpy ride.
The place she was going to was called Yibo Central School, and it was located in the narrow
passage of Yibo Township. Cars could not drive in, so they could only park at a place called
"Linjiang Ferry".
When we arrived at our destination, the sun was shining brightly.
Zhu Jinxia didn't see the ferry, so she asked the driver, "Should we drive a little further?"
The master said: "If you go any further, it's not called driving, it's called gliding."
I wish this summer I could look out the window and see a muddy mountain road beside the
national highway, winding its way deep into the forest.
“…”
The car drove away, leaving Zhu Jinxia and her heavy suitcase behind.
But today she was wearing high heels, a white shirt and a tight skirt, looking like a teacher.
I had to call Xiaoshan for help.
"Teacher Yu, I'm close to my destination."
Yu Xiaoshan was eating lunch, trying hard to swallow the food in her mouth: "Are you at the
ferry? I'll pick you up right away!"
"Not yet. I want to ask, is there only one way to get to the ferry?"
"Yes. Any questions?"
"It may not be convenient for me to walk on mountain roads." Zhu Jinxia looked down at the high
heels on her feet.
"What's inconvenient? Your legs and feet?" Yu Xiaoshan put down her lunch box and flipped
through the resume that Zhu Jinxia had sent her two days ago. She asked uncertainly, "I don't see
that your resume says you're disabled."
“…”
"There is only one road to the village. When you walk down the slope, you can see the ferry.
There is a boat on the river. It runs every half an hour. It costs five yuan to scan the QR code on
WeChat."
“…”
Without hearing Zhu Jinxia's answer, Yu Xiaoshan added, "Don't worry, the boat fare will be
reimbursed."
Is it the five dollars for the boat fare that she is worried about?
Zhu Jinxia: "Do I have to take a boat to go to school?"
"Why do you think I asked you to go to the ferry? Swim?" Yu Xiaoshan looked at her watch with a
sense of humor. "Teacher Zhu, you have to hurry up. The boat will leave in 20 minutes. If you miss
this one, you will have to wait another half an hour."
I hope I can only pick up my suitcase again this summer.
When her high heels dug into the mud, she suddenly realized: So this is the path to the mountain
of books, and diligence is the way, with one step at a time.
When she saw the ferry, the boat was slowly moving away from the shore.
I wish this summer to pull out the heels of my shoes from the mud again, and run while shouting:
"Wait a minute, someone else wants to cross the river——"
"Wait for me!"
The shouting startled a flock of birds, but failed to stop the ferry.
Just as she finally stepped onto the cement road and ran to the ferry, a long whistle sounded...
The boat set sail.
I wish this summer will stop in despair and wave desperately.
The ferry was not big, only able to hold about ten people, and its paint was mottled and peeling,
showing that it was quite old. There was a tricycle parked at the bow, which was rare in the city.
There was only one passenger in the back cabin. Hearing the voice, he leaned over and looked,
"Uncle Wan, there are still people who want to cross the river."
Uncle Wan, who was driving the boat, turned around and finally saw Zhu Jinxia standing on the
shore, waving at him desperately. He gestured to her, "Get on board!"
Zhu Jinxia was stunned.
The boat has left the shore, and the bow is estimated to be more than one meter wide from the
land.
"How do I get in?"
"What did you say?" Uncle Wan didn't hear clearly as the engine roared, so he shouted again,
"Hurry up and get on the boat, what are you standing there for?"
"I can't get up!" Zhu Jinxia also shouted.
"Jump. It's just a short distance, you can get up in one jump!"
Is she here to be a physical education teacher? Why is she doing standing long jump on a boat?
But Yu Xiaoshan said that if you miss this trip, you will have to wait another half an hour...
Zhu Jinxia had no choice but to lift up her mermaid skirt and tuck it around her waist, revealing
her two white thighs, then picked up the suitcase and strode towards the bow of the ship.
For specific scenes, please refer to Liu Xiang's hurdles without physical performance.
Fortunately, this "withered" body is still useful and not too rusty.
She landed safely.
Amid the roar, someone on the boat seemed to laugh and say, "Okay!"
Through the tricycle on the bow of the boat, I couldn’t see who was cheering.
Uncle Wan: "The crossing fee is five yuan. Go to the cabin and put on your life jacket first, then
scan the code to pay!"
Zhu Jinxia was in trouble again. The three-wheeler blocked the way, leaving only a narrow space.
It seemed that he could only pass through sideways.
The problem was that she was still carrying a suitcase.
Uncle Wan urged twice more.
Zhu Jinxia had no choice but to pick up the box and carefully walk into the cabin while rubbing
the tricycle.
The boat was swaying on the river and was not stable to begin with. And for some reason, the
three-wheeled vehicle suddenly made a loud noise.
Zhu Jinxia was so frightened that she reflexively hid to the side.
...Next to it is the river.
"Why--"
The man in the cabin stood up suddenly.
The next second, Zhu Jinxia fell into the water with her box, leaving only a high-heeled shoe
covered in mud stuck on the boat board...
Uncle Wan was stunned and shouted, "Timing!"
Before he could say anything more, Shixu had already thrown a life jacket over. He quickly put
one on and dived into the river.
Although it was summer, the river water was still freezing cold. When I suddenly stepped into the
water, my internal organs felt tight.
Shi Xu approached the woman who fell into the water from behind: "Don't move, I caught you--"
Before she could finish her words, the woman turned around abruptly, hugged his neck, and
subconsciously pushed him into the water. She stepped on him and jumped onto the surface of
the water like a carp leaping over the dragon gate, "Help—"
Gulp, gurgle, time sank into the water, choking on the water several times.
He was kicked numerous times on the head and shoulders. The woman was very strong and
caused internal injuries. Although I know it was the desire to survive, but isn't this carp's desire to
survive a little too strong?
He grabbed the woman's feet and pulled them down, resurfacing, "I told you not to move!"
The next second, someone grabbed his neck tightly and sank into the water together.
Timeline: I fucking——
If he hadn't gulped down a few gulps of water, his dirty words would have been all over the river.

Chapter Four
The man was fished out, sat on the deck, and drank enough water.
He was so angry that he almost choked to death, and then trouble came knocking on his door
again.
"My luggage!"
The "drowned chicken" who had just been fished out of the water was dripping with water all
over his body. He was coughing and gasping for breath one second, and the next second he
grabbed his arm and said, "Hurry, help me fish out the box!"
She fell into the water with her suitcase. Now she is out of the water, but the suitcase is still in
the water, happily "drifting with the flow", and is drifting farther and farther away.
She was trying to fish out boxes, and she almost kicked the person unconscious.
Shi Xu was annoyed. He turned around and saw Zhu Jinxia's face clearly for the first time.
Last night on the streets of the county town, it was dark. She first knelt down in front of him, but
her face didn't meet. Then she went to pick up her hat, so I didn't see her face clearly at all.
But that didn't stop Chrono from recognizing her.
As the ship was about to sail, someone called out at the dock. Shi Xu looked up and knew it was
her.
It has nothing to do with whether it looks good or not, it’s just that the skin color is too
recognizable.
Compared to her, everyone here is shiny black, and there is no one as white as her. It looks okay
at night, but it is dazzling when the sun shines on it during the day.
White is just the first impression. When you get closer, you can see the rest.
The woman was very beautiful, bright and charming. Even under the strong sunlight on the
plateau, every detail of her was visible, and it was impossible to find a single flaw.
Especially a pair of eyes, like a mountain lake, or the boundless wilderness, when the eyes meet,
they can captivate people without any expression.
Even if you look like a drowned rat, with smudged makeup and dripping hair, it's still easy to be
confused when you're looked at by those eyes.
Unfortunately, time is not a gentle person.
My lungs still hurt right now, I don’t know if it’s because of choking or anger.
There was also a dull pain in his shoulders and back, constantly reminding him of how many
times he had been kicked in the water.
I've only heard of people with broken palms who hurt when they hit others, but I've never heard
of people with broken legs. With that kind of leg strength, he should be able to play for the
Chinese national football team.
"It's not my box, whoever wants to pick it up can do so." He said with a bad look.
"you--"
Shi Xu broke free from his restraints and was about to leave when he saw the woman gritting her
teeth, rolling up her sleeves, and preparing to jump into the water.
"What are you doing?" He quickly turned around and held the person down.
"If you don't help me, I'll pick it up myself!"
"Can you swim?"
"The worst that can happen is drowning."
"Hiss——" Why is this person so unreasonable?
"let go!"
The timing is not loose.
The two of them were facing each other, one looking up, the other looking down. He was still
holding her arm tightly with an astonishing strength.
Now I wish Jinxia can see his true face.
The man had a clear outline and a bit of an exotic look. His skin was slightly darker, not in line
with the so-called cold white skin aesthetic of the day. Under his wet hair were a pair of narrow
eyes, sharp as a blade, with a hint of anger, that spark of fire seemed like floating light, lighting up
his entire face.
It was like a movie skipping frames, and time froze for a moment.
But it only lasted for a moment.
Before she could make a judgement on the man's appearance, Zhu Jinxia turned around and saw
that the box was further away from the boat.
The suitcase contained all her belongings for this trip. Without it, how could she stay here? Not to
mention that it also contained her laptop, which would be doomed if it was soaked in water.
She was anxious and struggled to break free, "I told you to let go!"
"So that you can jump down, and I can save you again and get beaten up by you?"
"Well, then you can help me get the box!"
"Why?" Hearing such a righteous tone, Shixu became angry and gave up the idea of helping
others.
Zhu Jinxia said anxiously: "I'll give you money!"
"No."
"Two hundred? Five hundred? One thousand?" Numbers popped out of her mouth one after
another. She also took off the watch from her wrist and stuffed it into his hand.
“…”
The two men were in a stalemate for a while, and the box drifted farther and farther away.
Seeing that the man had no intention of helping, Zhu Jinxia finally stopped asking for help, and
the luggage was destined not to return.
She clutched the watch tightly, her body still dripping with water. The wind from the plateau
came from nowhere, making her shiver all over and filled with sorrow.
This kind of sadness came a little suddenly.
When she decided to divorce Weicheng, she didn't feel sad, at most she felt a sense of relief
amidst her confusion. After Weicheng posted a message on his WeChat Moments and the truth
was finally revealed, she didn't feel sad, at most she felt a sense of relief amidst her annoyance.
When she decided to embark on the journey of teaching in remote areas and start her escape,
she didn't feel sad, she was even more happy than worried, thinking she had found a safe exit.
As a result, the big storms did not defeat her, but this little setback has become the last straw
that broke the camel's back.
Zhu Jinxia sat down on the deck and didn't move.
At first, I breathed a sigh of relief when the timing stopped jumping?
Just don't jump.
He turned around to leave, but soon realized something was wrong. Looking back, he saw the
woman covering her face with her hands. At first her shoulders were shaking, and then her whole
body was shaking.
...You're still crying?
Yes, not only did she start crying, but in the blink of an eye, she cried like Meng Jiangnu, crying so
hard that the sky collapsed and the earth cracked, and the sun and moon lost their light.
Take two steps back in time and look at the suitcase on the water.
The way she cried made it hard not to suspect that the contents were her family's ashes.
But if it really is ashes, there is no use in fishing it out now, as it has turned into cement long ago.
He was overwhelmed and wanted to pretend that he didn't see it. He turned around and hid in
the cabin, but when he looked up, he met Uncle Wan's gaze.
Uncle Wan stood in the cab, pointed at the girl, pointed at him, and mouthed: "Look at the
trouble you've caused!"
Time sequence: "..."
He was wronged.
Uncle Wan continued: "Why don't you help them quickly?"
Time sequence: "..."
What does it have to do with him?!
"You are not a human being, kid?" Uncle Wan glared and rolled up his sleeves.
Time sequence: "..."
I have no choice but to be a human being.
He took a deep breath, "…stop crying."
Still crying.
"What's the big deal? It's just a box."
Then cry.
"I'll fish it out. Can't I just go down and fish it out?"
There was a splash sound, and when Zhu Jinxia looked up, she saw the man had already dived
into the river. His movements were clean and neat, and he swam ten meters away in the blink of
an eye.
Wow—when he surfaced again, he climbed up by holding on to the deck and threw the box in
front of her with a thud.
"Check it out, your ancestors."
Shi Xu walked into the cabin while panting.
The word "thank you" was stuck in Zhu Jinxia's throat. She wiped her tears and pretended not to
hear his ridicule. She squatted on the spot and opened the box.
As expected, a case of water.
The clothes were unrecognizable and the notebook was soaked in water.
The north wind is blowing.
Zhu Jinxia closed her eyes, held back her tears, closed the box, picked it up and walked into the
cabin.
The box sank a lot after it got flooded and was almost impossible to lift.
Seeing her staggering, the man's eyes moved slightly, and he seemed to reach out to help her.
Zhu Jinxia didn't know where she got the stubbornness from, she just retracted her hand, gritted
her teeth and passed by him.
"Don't bother."
I don't know who he is competing with.
Shi Xu sneered, "I've already spent a lot of money, so this is not a big deal."
When I looked up again, I saw Uncle Wan pointing at me and saying: I knew you couldn't speak
like a human being.
Shixu frowned and turned away without looking.
Uncle Wan was nosy and stuck his head out of the cockpit again: "Why don't you give the clothes
to the girl? Look at how cold she is!"
Everyone is wet, why is it that only she is cold and he is not?
Shi Xu took off his coat and jumped down to save people, then put his clothes back on when he
returned to the cabin. When he looked again, Zhu Jinxia was sitting on a long wooden bench
carrying a suitcase, she was soaked and shivering in the river breeze.
Before he could do anything, he heard the girl say coldly again: "Don't bother."
Shi Xu glanced at the cockpit and said, "Did you hear that? They said I don't need to worry about
it."
Uncle Wan rolled his eyes at him.
A few minutes later, the boat docked. As soon as it stopped, Zhu Jinxia pulled the suitcase out.
Timeline: "Wait--"
She picked up the box reflexively and said without looking back: "I can do it myself!"
The man smiled and tapped her side.
Zhu Jinxia turned her head and saw a QR code pasted on the window glass of the cab. It was
extremely green and had five big words on it: River crossing fee, five yuan.
Shi Xu smiled and said, "You really have to do it yourself."
“…”
Unfortunately, when Zhu Jinxia took out his mobile phone, it couldn't even be turned on. It was
obvious that it had died in the previous fall into the water.
Shixu came over at the right time and asked, "Can't turn on the phone?"
Zhu Jinxia gritted her teeth, shook out the water in the phone, and tried a few more times, but
the screen was still black.
The person at the side said calmly: "Do it yourself?"
Zhu Jinxia suppressed her anger, glared at him fiercely, and then apologized to Uncle Wan in the
cab.
She was not sure of the direction of the school, nor did she know how far the ferry was from the
school, so she could only turn around and point casually.
"...I am a teacher who came to Yibo Township Central School to teach. I will definitely pay the
boat fare later."
The hand hovered in mid-air in confusion, hesitating.
Zhu Jinxia was looking for the direction of the school awkwardly, but she didn't notice that the
man behind her paused and looked at her in surprise.
Yibo Central School?
Teaching?
Shi Xu raised an eyebrow, reached out and moved her index finger, finding the precise landing
point for her on the mountainside.
"There," he said kindly, "Yibo Central School."
The slender index finger quickly retracted, as if he had been electrocuted. The volunteer teacher
frowned and moved away from him.
Obviously, he had been blacklisted and she didn't want to have any contact with him.
“So he’s a volunteer teacher!”
Uncle Wan quickly said that it was really amazing that they came to this remote area to teach, so
he would not charge the ferry fee.
Zhu Jinxia thanked him profusely and got off the boat with her suitcase. She could vaguely hear
the conversation behind her:
Time sequence: "How can I not collect it? You, old man, have been guarding this river regardless
of wind or rain, cold winter or hot summer..."
This is pure nitpicking.
Zhu Jinxia turned back in anger and happened to meet his eyes.
He actually smiled at her cheerfully, but his words were meant for Uncle Wan to hear: "Put it on
my account."
Pooh.
It's still on your account.
It’s just five dollars, who would put it in your account?
Zhu Jinxia was carrying a heavy box, and for a moment, she wanted to hit him on the head.
In the end, he came leisurely from behind, took off his coat, and put it on her shoulders, "Be
careful not to catch a cold."
"Who asked you to be kind?"
I wish this summer to put the box down heavily and take off the coat to throw it back to him.
The man's eyes moved from her face to her chest, and then quickly returned to their original
position, "Are you sure?"
Zhu Jinxia finally realized something and looked down...
When a white shirt gets wet, it becomes transparent.
“…”
His hand froze in mid-air and he couldn't throw the coat away.
"Put it on. First, it's cold. Second, the people in the mountains are not that simple." Shixu looked
towards the mountainside and changed the subject, "How are you going to school?"
...Although it is well-intentioned, it makes people feel uncomfortable to accept it.
Zhu Jinxia struggled for a moment, but finally put on her clothes, reluctantly saying, "...Thanks."
You have just arrived and are unfamiliar with the place, so you can't just "run half-naked".
The old jacket was quite heavy and didn't seem too big on him, but it felt empty on her, like a
child wearing adult clothes.
She frowned slightly and smelled a faint smell of tobacco. When she sniffed carefully, it sounded
like mint, mixed with a faint strange smell. It was not bad, but when she thought that it might be
the body odor of a stranger, Zhu Jinxia's whole body stiffened.
The man asked again: "Are you going to school?"
Zhu Jinxia nodded subconsciously.
"how to get to?"
She suddenly became alert, "What does it have to do with you?"
Then she realized that she was still wearing the man's clothes, and it was a bit impolite to say so,
so she tried to make up for it, "I mean, don't bother with it. If it's convenient, give me an address
and I'll send the clothes to you later."
He keeps calling you, but his eyes are full of resentment.
Shi Xu looked at her, smiled, then turned and left.
Hey?
Zhu Jinxia: "You haven't told me yet, where can I find you to return the clothes?"
The mountains were lush and green, the sun was shining brightly, and the man walked away
without looking back.
"Hello--"
"At least tell me your name!"
"Or do you not want this dress anymore?"
I wish this summer to catch up with the world with her suitcase in her hand, but she gave up after
just two steps.
Her legs were not short, but she could not carry the weight, and he still walked briskly.
She could only yell, "No, big brother, please say something. Do you want this dress or not? If you
want it, where can I find you to pay it back?"
The man waved his hand lazily without even turning his head.
"Don't worry, you'll know when you get back."
“…”
I wish this summer to watch him disappear at the end of the mountain road.
What does it mean to look back and know?
The strange smell was still lingering in her nose, and she just couldn't stand the clothes... She
simply put the suitcase aside, took off her jacket, threw it on the ground, and continued walking.
She had only taken a few steps when a gust of wind blew over her head, making her shiver all
over.
...Forget it, a man who knows the times is a hero.
Zhu Jinxia turned around cursing, picked up the clothes, and put them on with a dirty face.

chapter Five
After coming out of the ferry and walking a few steps, Zhu Jinxia sat down under a big tree on the
roadside.
I can't walk anymore.
The sun is too strong.
The box is too heavy.
I was panting heavily due to altitude sickness.
The phone screen was still black, and she shook it again and again, but it still wouldn't turn on.
She had no choice but to sit under the tree and wait for Yu Xiaoshan to arrive.
Before rushing to the ferry, in the last phone call, Yu Xiaoshan said that she would come to pick
her up.
This is the only road from the ferry, it is impossible to miss it.
She also asked Yu Xiaoshan how she got there, and Yu Xiaoshan replied, "Don't worry, I have a
car."
A few minutes later, a motorcycle passed by, raising a cloud of dust.
The person riding the bike was a young girl. She rode quickly for several dozen meters, stopped at
the ferry, looked around, and then took out her cell phone to make a call... I called several times,
but she didn't say anything, probably because no one answered.
I wish that the heart that has let go this summer will gradually be picked up again.
Could it be that...
Sure enough, the girl looked around, looked from afar, then got back on her motorcycle and
rushed back in a hurry.
"Happy summer this year?" Yu Xiaoshan rode on the bike, with one foot on the ground, to
confirm with the wet person under the tree.
When their eyes met, there was disbelief on both of their faces.
——After all, you are a teacher from the city. How can you be like this on your first day?
Zhu Jinxia carried the box and slowly looked at the old motorcycle that Yu Xiaoshan was riding.
——Is this what you call a car?
…
I didn't expect that in the end I still had to rely on hands - Zhu Jinxia sat on the back of the
motorcycle, holding Yu Xiaoshan with one hand and dragging the box with the other.
When the man arrived, his hands were disabled.
Yu Xiaoshan is very tall but not slim, and she looks healthy and strong.
But the car is very small.
So the scooter was limited to 2 people, but it actually carried 2.5 people, and it hit the road with
a thump. The muddy road was uneven, and the scooter was bumpy all the way, and there was a
risk of it falling apart at any time.
Yu Xiaoshan was very outgoing and kept talking along the way. The noise from the motorcycle
was loud and the wind was strong, so Zhu Jinxia had to shout to answer.
So my voice was ruined.
"How did you get into this state?"
"Falling into the water."
"He fell into the river on his first day in office. That's awesome."
“…”
"Why did you think of coming to teach?"
"…On a whim."
"Why did you come to this place where chickens shit and birds lay eggs on a whim?"
“…”
Another word of awesomeness.
On the steep mountain road, Yu Xiaoshan took one hand off the handlebars and gave a thumbs-
up to the back seat, which earned her a frightened roar from Zhu Jinxia: "Hold the handlebars!"
Yu Xiaoshan laughed out loud, and the car swayed along with it.
"First time riding a motorcycle?"
Zhu Jinxia didn't answer, but just held her waist tightly.
"Then you need to adapt in advance. We all ride motorcycles here." Yu Xiaoshan said with a
smile, "Convertibles, they run fast, and there's an old lady sitting in the back..."
The "old lady" in the back seat: "..."
——
By the time the clothes were dried by the wind, we had arrived at school.
If Yu Xiaoshan hadn’t stopped the car in time, Zhu Jinxia wouldn’t have known they had reached
their destination.
On the hillside where there is no village in front and no shop behind, there are a few low
buildings standing alone.
Zhu Jinxia looked around and said, "...There are no houses nearby?"
"No, they are all in the mountains." Yu Xiaoshan recalled something and said with a smile, "How
small is Yibo Township? The first time I came here to report, the driver didn't see the road sign
and stepped on the accelerator and drove to the next township. We drove more than ten
kilometers before we found a small store. We asked and quickly turned back."
The motorcycle drove into the rusty iron gate. The guard was a Tibetan man over 50 years old. He
looked at Zhu Jinxia and spoke to Yu Xiaoshan in Tibetan.
Yu Xiaoshan also answered in Tibetan.
Then the uncle smiled, his dark face full of wrinkles, and he mumbled something in Tibetan for
about a minute.
Zhu Jinxia asked Yu Xiaoshan: "What did he say?"
Yu Xiaoshan recalled two seconds later, "He said welcome."
Zhu Jinxia opened his eyes wide, "Just this sentence?"
"That's it."
"That was all you said in a whole minute?"
Yu Xiaoshan's face was solemn. "No, I only remember this sentence."
“…”
The first thing to do when arriving at school is to go back to the dormitory to change clothes.
Zhu Jinxia's suitcase was ruined, so Yu Xiaoshan kindly suggested wearing hers first. However, the
two of them had different body shapes, and wearing her clothes made the volunteer teacher
look like a sack.
A white T-shirt and shorts were far from the professional image she had imagined.
The men's jacket that he had taken off was hung on the chair, and Yu Xiaoshan couldn't help but
take a few more glances at it.
Zhu Jinxia explained the origin of the clothes, but she was still staring at the jacket in confusion.
Strange, why do I feel like I've seen it somewhere?
But she didn't think much about it. After Zhu Jinxia changed her clothes, Yu Xiaoshan glanced out
the window and said, "Today is Sunday. The students will be back to school soon. Before they
come back, I will take you to familiarize yourself with the environment."
Unexpectedly, after going around the ring once, Zhu Jinxia decided to back out.
It's not that she is too delicate, the current situation is really hard to describe.
The first difficulty is water.
There is no running water system in the mountainous area, so the school relies on water for its
drinking water. Water from the other side of the river is brought in and poured into the reservoir
next to the playground. The water is not filtered, so the reservoir is covered with moss and mud.
Teachers who are more particular will fetch water and boil it before drinking it, while those who
are not so particular will just drink it directly like the students.
In addition, there is no bathhouse in the school, so everyone washes here.
Note: Washing = washing face and brushing teeth. You can’t take a shower in open air.
"What about taking a bath?"
"Wait until the holiday and then go home to wash it."
"Wash once a week?" Zhu Jinxia couldn't believe it.
Yu Xiaoshan shook her head, "Not one week, but two weeks."
The mountainous area is different from the city. Children here have to travel through mountains
and rivers to go to school. Those from better-off families have motorcycles to pick them up, but
most of them rely on their own two feet. In order to reduce transportation costs, the school only
has a holiday once every two weeks.
"What about the teachers, how do they wash?"
"Locals who live nearby ride their bikes home every now and then to take a bath, while outsiders
boil water and wipe their bodies. Those who want to take a good bath can go to the town's
bathhouse, where there are wooden barrel baths for 30 yuan per bath."
Yu Xiaoshan remembered something and said with a smile, "Ah, and there is a natural hot spring
not far from here. It was developed by a boss before, but it was abandoned later. It's a good deal
for us. But we need someone to watch out when we are bathing, otherwise it would be bad if
someone breaks in while we are having fun."
Asking a city girl who can't carry anything on her shoulders or hands to fetch water every day can
be done by gritting her teeth, but drinking river water directly and not being able to take a bath
in the hot summer is something she cannot accept this summer.
The second difficulty: meals.
Primary school in Tibetan areas is not only compulsory education, but also meals and
accommodation are provided by the school. Therefore, the cafeteria only provides meals for
students.
"Where do the teachers eat?"
"You can solve it yourself in the dormitory."
"Where's the food?"
"Teachers who have motorcycles will go to the nearest town every weekend to buy things, and
bring them back for teachers who don't have cars." At this point, Yu Xiaoshan straightened her
chest and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of your food from now on!"
"Thank you." Zhu Jinxia said slowly, "The problem is, I can't cook."
“…”
“…”
The situation is not good!
Yu Xiaoshan was a little panicked. The principal gave her the task of welcoming the new teacher.
She hoped that the new teacher would run away before she even took office!
She quickly changed the subject: "Teacher Xia——"
"My last name is Zhu."
"Ahem..." Yu Xiaoshan coughed violently, "I mean, Teacher Zhu, how about we go check out the
accommodation first?"
There is nothing wrong with the dormitory. The old teachers' dormitories are full, so the school
allocated the newly built small building to Zhu Jinxia. The building not only has snow-white walls,
but also marble floor tiles. It is said that it was built with aid from a counterpart primary school in
the city.
The only problem is -
"I live alone?"
The entire three-story building stood alone behind the cafeteria, with no one in front of it and the
river behind it. She could already clearly imagine what the scene would be like when it was late
at night and she was the only one left in the building.
The more I visit, the more I regret it.
But now that I’m here, can I just go back home?
Zhu Jinxia was mentally prepared all the way until she came out of the dormitory and Yu
Xiaoshan took her to find the toilet.
The school had no private bathrooms and shared a public toilet. Outside the low bungalow, the
walls were mottled and peeling, with crooked red paint on the left and right sides of the walls
saying "male" and "female".
Even though I walked around half of the school from the dormitory to get there;
Even if you can smell the bad smell from a long distance;
I wish this summer is still comforting herself. She has seen many dirty and messy toilets when
traveling in the past.
She held her breath and walked in calmly.
Half a second later, a bolt of lightning rushed out.
summer.
Dry toilet.
There is no flushing system.
Children have a high metabolism.
There was a mountain of excrement in the toilet.
The lightning passed by Yu Xiaoshan and rushed out ten meters without looking back.
Yu Xiaoshan was confused: "Hey, are you done?"
Not going anymore.
Just suffocate her to death.
The smell filled Zhu Jinxia's nose and lingered for a long time. Zhu Jinxia's face turned green, her
chest felt stuffy and she felt short of breath. She leaned against an old tree and kept dry heaving.
Yu Xiaoshan came running over and patted her back kindly, "Want to vomit? Let me help you go
to the toilet. You can't vomit here."
Give it back?
Zhu Jinxia waved his hands weakly: I think you want me to die.
And all of this was seen by the people behind the windows on the third floor.
He smiled and called the guard, "It's almost time, let them in."
——
"Teacher Zhu, are you really leaving?"
"Yeah." Zhu Jinxia whispered, "I'm really sorry."
"But you just arrived..."
Facing Yu Xiaoshan's hesitant expression, Zhu Jinxia understood, "Don't worry, it has nothing to
do with you. I will explain it to the principal. It's my problem."
"That's good - no, I mean - you haven't even met the kids yet."
So what if I’ve seen it?
This has nothing to do with the child, it's just that she can't bear the hardship.
Many things cannot be understood without personal experience. Zhu Jinxia's entire
understanding of poverty was limited to movies, TV shows, and written materials, until poverty
was right in front of her.
Out of duty, Yu Xiaoshan tried to persuade her again, but she had made up her mind and had to
go see the principal.
The campus is very quiet on Sundays as the students have not yet returned to school. The only
sound is the rushing river outside the school. It is so noisy when I first arrived, but after a while I
no longer feel it.
Yu Xiaoshan called the principal and said, "Let's go, he's in the dormitory."
I wish you a heavy step this summer.
After being a deserter in love, she immediately wanted to be a deserter in teaching. She felt that
she had committed a serious sin.
But for some things, hesitation is the best way to end the relationship.
It was as if she had already realized at the beginning that she and Weicheng were not suitable,
but she still thought that she could continue if she tried hard. As a result, she kept putting it off
until today.
A story that is destined to end is better not to start.
The corridor was dark. I climbed up to the third floor and saw a half-open iron door in front of
me.
Yu Xiaoshan didn't move, but secretly looked at her from the side.
I wish this summer took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
If you stick your head out, you will be killed; if you hide your head, you will also be killed.
"Come in."
A man's voice came from the room, sounding unexpectedly young. Zhu Jinxia had expected him
to be an old man with a white beard and flowers, like the principals or old dean of his childhood.
The word "brief" was spoken by the people in the room in a brisk and powerful voice, like the
sound of gold and silk striking each other, pleasant to the ears.
It just, somehow, sounded familiar.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned for a moment, then pushed the door open and walked in.
The dormitories are of uniform standards, but Yu Xiaoshan's room is messy, while the one in front
of him is very tidy.
As far as the eye can see, there are several thick piles of documents on the long table, and there
are several pots of plants on the windowsill. Looking closely, there are shallots, garlic, red
peppers...
Very down to earth.
A young man was standing by the window, tall and slender, looking out quietly.
He is very tall, wearing a black T-shirt and camouflage overalls. His forearms exposed from the
sleeves have tight lines and are full of power.
At around three or four in the afternoon, the sun shone through a crack in the sky, casting a
vague halo around him.
I wish this summer I rarely see anyone wearing black so strikingly.
This reminded her of the man who helped her up when she stumbled and fell to the ground that
night when she first arrived in the county town.
Look at the messy hair, the figure, and the familiar voice just now——
She suddenly opened her eyes wide, "You are——"
The man by the window paused slightly and turned around.
It was a face that was unforgettable, handsome, elegant, with deep features, as if they were
carefully carved by a skilled craftsman, but because of the wheat-colored skin and thick, flying
eyebrows, it added a bit of wildness.
Those eyes were bright and sharp, like a mountain cheetah when not smiling. Fortunately, he was
smiling at this moment, and the lazy curve of the corners of his mouth diluted the aggression
around him.
I wish this summer’s eyes will open wider.
It's not him, it's him?
I thought it was the man I met in the county town the night before, but it turned out to be the
man at the ferry at noon, the man who had saved her, helped her get her suitcase, and lent her
his coat, but who was annoying because of his big mouth...
Is he the principal?
The two figures overlapped and then separated before my eyes, and then separated and
overlapped again.
Zhu Jinxia was slow to come back to her senses, but the young principal smiled faintly.
"Look, what did I say?"
What did he say?
In a flash, Zhu Jinxia remembered it.
At the foot of the mountain, by the ferry——
"Brother, please tell me whether you want this dress or not. If you want it, where can I find you
to pay it back?"
"Don't worry, you'll know when you get back."
is not that right?
As soon as he turned around, she knew it.

Chapter Six
"Are you the principal?"
"I am."
"How come you are the principal?"
"I can't be the principal?"
“……” Yu Xiaoshan on the side was a little confused: Are you two reciting tongue twisters?
"Do you know each other?"
The two answered in unison:
"know."
"do not know."
Yu Xiaoshan was confused and looked back and forth. Did he know her or not?
Zhu Jinxia changed her words: "If a brief encounter at the ferry at noon counts, then we can
barely get to know each other."
Yu Xiaoshan was amused. "So the annoying guy who pulled you out of the river is our principal?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia: There is no need to repeat it word for word.
The timing caught the key word, "annoying guy?"
He laughed and said slowly: "I didn't expect that our teacher Zhu would thank his lifesaver in this
way."
Being caught speaking ill of someone behind their back, Zhu Jinxia felt a little guilty and turned
away. It was true that he saved her, but he was also a nuisance.
Yu Xiaoshan knew she had said something wrong, so she coughed twice and laughed dryly: "Since
we all know each other, then this matter will be easy to talk about."
I wish you a speechless summer.
It becomes even more difficult to say with the addition of a life-saving relationship.
Does it mean: Thank you for saving me, so I decided to break up with you?
On the side, Yu Xiaoshan cleared her throat and said, "Then let me formally introduce you - this is
the principal of our Yibo Central School, Shi Xu - this is our volunteer teacher, Zhu Jinxia."
After the quick introduction, Yu Xiaoshan retired and ran away.
Perhaps she knew that Zhu Jinxia had already decided to quit, and she didn't want to take the
blame.
So the only people left in the dormitory were the "lifesaver" and the "teaching deserter".
Zhu Jinxia looked constipated, pretending not to notice the time sequence. He pulled out a stool
and sat down in front of the only long table in the living room. "Sit down and talk."
Zhu Jinxia also wanted to make a quick decision. After all, she had just arrived and had to leave.
She felt guilty and said, "No, I won't sit down. I'll just stand."
Shi Xu didn't force himself. He picked up the kettle on the table, poured two cups of hot tea, and
pushed one cup to the opposite side.
The kettle is only the size of a palm, with silver hammer patterns. Although it is plain, it shines
brightly when the sunlight shines in through the window.
Zhu Jinxia was attracted involuntarily, and then she heard Shixu say: "Sit down and have a cup of
butter tea, made by the school teachers themselves."
There was no one else in the room, but the pot was filled with tea. When it was poured into the
cup, white mist rose up. It was obvious that the tea had just been brewed before she came.
It goes without saying who I’m cooking for.
It's hard to refuse such a kind invitation.
Zhu Jinxia sighed in her heart, pulled out a chair, and finally sat down.
It's been a while since we arrived at the school. Yu Xiaoshan was so careless that she only cared
about showing people around and didn't even think of giving them some water. In addition, the
plateau climate is dry, and after talking for a long time, Zhu Jinxia was really thirsty.
Without caring too much, she blew on it and took a big sip.
It tastes salty?
I have never had butter tea before. Before I even put it in my mouth, the sweetness of milk has
already filled my nose. After I drink it, I can taste the tea flavor for the first second, and then the
light milk flavor.
I wish this summer would savor it carefully and find that she doesn’t hate this strange taste.
The person opposite seemed to be observing her reaction, and when he saw her put down the
cup, he asked, "Are you used to drinking this?"
"It's OK." In his opinion, Zhu Jinxia was still a little twisted. She didn't say she liked him, but just
said it was OK.
Shi Xu smiled but didn't say anything. After she finished a few sips, he picked up the silver pot
and refilled her cup.
As he was talking, Zhu Jinxia drank it all up without realizing it.
In the end, almost all the tea went into her stomach.
Their opening remarks were very official, starting with Zhu Jinxia's formal thanks: On behalf of
myself and my luggage that fell into the water, I would like to express my gratitude for your heroic
act of helping others and being brave enough to do what is right.
Then Shixu said modestly: No, no, compared to Teacher Zhu who came thousands of miles to
teach, this is just a piece of cake for me.
——Even though I can’t even raise my hands after being kicked by you like that.
↑
The above is just my private criticism. Due to the special circumstances, I will leave it for later.
Then, the topic began to emerge: "Did Xiaoshan give you a good tour of the school?"
--have.
——How do you feel about school?
--fine.
Shi Xu smiled and said, "Teacher Zhu, you are too polite. The school is old and small, the
conditions are terrible, and it lacks everything. What's good about it?"
Zhu Jinxia answered: "Although the sparrow is small, it has all the organs."
She was determined to leave, so she had to please the principal first, so she tried every possible
way to say nice things to him.
Remote area with inconvenient transportation?
——It doesn't exist. The scenery here is beautiful and the world is peaceful. It is a great place to
study.
The student has poor qualifications and comes from a poor family?
——Isn’t the purpose of education to help people get out of poverty? With a principal like you
and a teacher like Xiaoshan, the children will surely be able to fly out of the mountains!
Such a fluent exchange of answers was completely different from the confrontation on the boat
and at the ferry. Shi Xu seemed to find it interesting and laughed out loud. Finally, he nodded
thoughtfully and said, "Since Teacher Zhu thinks we are good, then I feel relieved."
Zhu Jinxia, who was halfway through laughing, suddenly stopped and coughed twice.
I thought of this on the way to see the principal.
"I sent the information to Teacher Yu before I came here. I don't know if she told you about it."
She studied foreign languages and taught at a university. Before coming here, she didn’t know
that there were no English classes in primary schools in Tibetan areas - how could children in
lower grades learn a foreign language when they couldn’t even speak Chinese fluently?
This is real, not an excuse.
Zhu Jinxia said with guilt: "The school doesn't offer English classes, and I only know how to teach
English... It's all my fault that I didn't communicate well before coming here."
——So just let me go.
The two men engaged in a tug of war.
——Teacher Zhu graduated from a prestigious university. I believe that even if he doesn’t teach
English, he should be able to handle primary school courses.
——To be honest, I have a nephew who is in the fourth grade of elementary school. He comes to
my house for tutoring during the winter and summer vacations, and I can't even do his math
exercises.
——The problem-solving process is provided in the teacher’s book.
——That’s even worse. Reading from the script will only mislead students.
——Then you teach Chinese?
——No, English and Chinese are two completely different systems. If you teach grammar
randomly, I’m afraid that the children won’t even be able to speak Chinese fluently in the end.
Of the three main subjects, math and Chinese are not good, so the only thing left is Tibetan. No
need to ask, Zhu Jinxia can't teach this.
Shi Xu groaned, "Then I'll teach the secondary subject, music."
"I am born tone-deaf."
"Ideology and morality class?"
Zhu Jinxia had a conditioned reflex and wanted to say "My thoughts and morals are corrupt", but
when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he suddenly braked and swallowed them back.
After racking his brains, he finally said, "To be honest, I failed the Mao Zedong Thought course in
college."
Looked at each other.
Opposite the director, Shi Xu said regretfully: "In this case, there is nothing we can do..."
It seems that I have passed the test.
Wishing you a relaxing summer.
Never imagined--
"I originally wanted you to teach cultural subjects, but since you insisted, I feel embarrassed to
force you." Shi Xu smiled, "Then the only thing left is physical education."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia froze, brainstorming whether to say that she was frail or that her limbs were
uncoordinated.
Shixu stood up at the right time and looked at her legs carefully, "When I jumped into the water
to save you, your leg strength... should be enough for physical education class, right?"
The four words "leg strength" were followed by a well-timed pause.
This made Zhu Jinxia recall involuntarily that she was underwater at the time, and driven by the
desire to survive, she seemed to have used all her strength to pull the life-saving straw down,
specifically kicking and kicking...
“…”
Facts speak louder than words. After she messed up the time sequence, being weak and sickly
really had nothing to do with her anymore.
There was silence in the room for a moment, and no one spoke.
There was no rush in time, just quietly looking at the woman opposite.
She seemed to be considering it for a long time, and finally mustered up the courage and raised
her head, "I'm sorry, Principal Shi, I just can't bear this hardship."
Finally said it.
Their eyes met, and Zhu Jinxia also reacted from Shi Xu's expression.
He didn't seem surprised. Instead, he looked at her calmly, as if he had been waiting for this
sentence for a long time, with a calm and understanding look in his eyes.
After a while, he chuckled and said, "It's okay."
Then he stood up, picked up the teapot, walked into the cramped kitchen, put it in a faded plastic
basin, and finally walked out and stopped at the door.
"Let's go."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, and after he urged her again, she got up belatedly, "Where are you
going?"
"I'll take you to the ferry." Shixian looked out the window, "It's getting late, so you should leave
early."
Only then did she realize that the sun outside the window had disappeared at some point.
The sunlight that was shining on the table a moment ago, making the teapot sparkle and making
everything shine, has disappeared now, and the sky and the earth have lost their color.
Shi Sequence said: "The sky is like this. In summer it's fine, it can last until four or five o'clock, but
in winter, the sun can't shine in at two or three o'clock in the afternoon."
Zhu Jinxia responded slowly.
The situation was not what she expected.
After she said that she couldn't bear the hardship, Shi Xu didn't ask any more questions or try to
persuade her again. It seemed that he only needed an honest reason, and then he obediently let
her go.
that's all?
The other party didn't have any complaints, which made Zhu Jinxia feel even more ashamed.
After three years of teaching, she has become accustomed to being a role model at the podium.
It has always been the students who are at a loss in front of her, never like today.
She felt like a little kid who had done something wrong.
But she really couldn't stay. She couldn't stand such a dirty toilet, couldn't live in such an empty
single-family house, and couldn't accept not taking a shower in the summer.
She can't even cook, how is she supposed to survive here independently?
Besides, her original intention was not to help others, but to escape from the farce that could
never end and take a breath.
Thinking of this, I feel even more ashamed.
She made the same mistake again. Whether it was marrying Weicheng or choosing to teach in
rural areas, she thought things were too simple, but the reality was always full of obstacles.
Before leaving through that door, Zhu Jinxia lowered her head and said solemnly, word by word,
"I'm sorry. I didn't think carefully enough. Without knowing much about your school, I rashly
decided to come and teach, but then I changed my mind halfway through... I'm really sorry for
causing trouble to everyone."
I buried my head too low and my neck is sore.
After a while, a man said casually, "It's okay. I'm used to it."
I wish Jinxia didn’t understand and looked up at him.
The change in her gaze from looking down to looking up was huge, and only when they stood
face to face did she realize the height difference.
The man is more than a head taller than her, and the pressure is enormous.
Shixu opened the door and said calmly, "Over the years, not many teachers have come to teach,
but their reactions are similar to yours. They were full of expectations before they came, but after
they came, they only had regrets. In the end, few of them stayed."
I wish that this summer, your chest will be filled with blood and your conscience will be tortured.
Apart from sorry, she simply forgot that there were other Chinese words in the dictionary.
Just as she hung her head, tossing and turning the words but unable to say anything, Shi Xu
glanced at the wall clock and her eyes moved.
Tick, tick, tick. The time was just right. At four o'clock, a long noise came from outside the
window.
squeak--
The rusty iron door was pushed open with great effort by the security guard.
A group of children rushed in.
The noise attracted the people in the room. Zhu Jinxia forgot to apologize, and Shixu also forgot
to "gently comfort" them. They both looked out the window.
"The students are back to school." Shi Xu walked quickly to the window.
Zhu Jinxia also walked over unknowingly and was stunned.
It is normal for students to return to school.
But the scene before her surprised her greatly.
The children were very small, were they malnourished? They looked like dwarfs from a fairy tale,
dressed in colorful clothes, and swarmed into the school gate.
This is not the point. The point is that they are all carrying heavy... woven bags?
It really is a woven bag. It is no different from the ones used to store cement at construction sites,
except that it is colorful, has more patterns, and can hold more bulges.
The older kids could barely carry one on their back, while the younger kids' bags were not even
as big as the woven bags, so they had to work together, shouting slogans.
If Zhu Jinxia didn't know that it was impossible for a place like a school to break the law, she
would have suspected that the principal was employing child labor and building illegal buildings.
"What are they carrying?"
"bag."
“Backpack???” Zhu Jinxia turned around, surprised.
Shi Xu's face showed a familiar expression, "Yeah. This place is not like the city. Students can't
afford school bags. This is their school bag."
The children in Tibetan areas have darker skin and are smaller in stature. They swarm in like ants
carrying a load.
Looking from a distance, his back was hunched and the bag he carried was bigger than him.
I could see more clearly when I got closer. His face was red from the high altitude, and his waist
was bent by the "backpack", so he walked with great difficulty.
The "ants" moved crookedly and slowly on the playground. Some of them could not carry
themselves anymore and sat down on the ground, gasping for breath; some shouted in Tibetan
as if to cheer themselves up; some... huh?
Some are so strong that they swing their “schoolbags” around in the air like discus?
The surprise was immediately diluted and Zhu Jinxia blinked.
I wanted to use this difficult scene to touch her a little: "..."
While everyone was staring at the playground without blinking, he quickly lowered his head,
typed on his mobile phone, sent it, and then looked up to continue his introduction.
So, when Zhu Jinxia looked out the window again, the two guys who had been swinging the
discus leisurely were gone. The playground was once again like an ant moving house, working
diligently and tirelessly, and the principal's compassionate and sad sigh was in her ears...
And ten seconds ago, in a WeChat group called "Yi Bo Central School Teachers Group".
Timeline: Where are the people?
Timeline: @Everyone
Timeline: Are they all dead? Hurry up and get Ding Zhen Gengxia and Zhaxi Langmu away!
Time sequence: If you want to keep the new teacher, act according to the script!

Chapter VII
The principal's dormitory is on the third floor, and you can see the entire school from it.
Fortunately, the "discus throwing" was just an interlude, and everything that followed went on in
an orderly manner according to the chronological script.
This was the first time Zhu Jinxia saw these kids.
The "little ants" came closer and closer, and the one leading them had already walked to the
bottom of the dormitory building. Suddenly someone looked up, saw her behind the window,
and exclaimed.
That was a Tibetan sentence, I wish Jinxia didn’t understand it.
But one stone can cause a thousand ripples, and soon, more children looked up.
They were chattering in a language she couldn't understand. Some were laughing, some were
shouting, and some were putting down their heavy "school bags" and jumping around on the
spot.
Seeing this, the "little ants" in the distance ran over carrying woven bags like Popeye who had
eaten spinach.
Soon, a group of children gathered downstairs of the dormitory, staring at the upstairs without
blinking, as if they were watching aliens.
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously took a step back, and then heard a little girl speak timidly.
"Are you our new teacher?"
This time it's Chinese.
Before she could answer, the children seemed to be encouraged and voices emerged from the
crowd one after another.
"It must be a new teacher!"
"Teacher Yu said that there will be a new teacher coming next week!"
"What does the teacher teach?"
"She's so beautiful."
"Yes, she is much prettier than Teacher Yu!"
"Be careful, teacher Yu will hear you doing squats as punishment!"
I don't know who started the comparison first, but the kids all started talking and laughing.
Zhu Jinxia stood behind the window in a daze.
Strangely enough, although they were the ones carrying the baggage, it was she who felt the
heaviness.
This was a scene she had never seen before.
Those little faces looking up had been exposed to the sun on the plateau for a long time, and had
a unique healthy color, ranging from wheat color to dark brown, and none of them was white.
When you get closer, you can see the bright red color of the plateau on her cheeks.
This suddenly reminded her of the description in her Chinese textbook as a child, which said that
children's faces were like red apples. At that time, she always thought it was an exaggeration.
How could a person's face be as red as an apple?
Seeing them now with my own eyes, apples don’t seem as gorgeous as they are.
The children were timid. Although they cheered and jumped for joy, they only dared to talk to
their classmates at a distance of three floors.
Whoever her eyes fell on would shrink back into their shells like a snail and look away, and when
she looked away, they would look up cautiously again.
Without exception.
The source of this cowardice may be the dirty woven bags in their hands and on their backs, the
shabby clothes that do not fit them well and have turned white from washing or have black cuffs,
or the poor Chinese speaking skills.
I wish this summer to be speechless and remain silent for a long time.
Shixu reminded her from behind: "Let's go, it's getting late."
There were no lights in the corridor, and after the sun went down, it was surprisingly dim. If it
weren't for the light from my phone, I could hardly see the steps under my feet.
When I reached the corner of the second floor, I suddenly heard a burst of hurried footsteps,
thump thump thump, starting from the ground floor, moving up briskly and forcefully.
Soon, a boy appeared in front of her. He was very small, only as tall as Zhu Jinxia's waist.
He was holding a thick stack of exercise books, like a little firecracker. When he turned a corner,
he almost hit her. Fortunately, he braked suddenly and stayed where he was.
He was surprised when he looked up and saw the person in front of him.
"Hello, teacher!"
The dark little face turned red, and then he bowed ninety degrees.
…The homework books in my arms fell down.
His face turned even redder.
I wish this summer would like to say “I am not a teacher”.
She is leaving soon. She couldn’t even stay for a day and hasn’t taught a single class. How can she
be considered a teacher?
She opened her mouth and finally whispered, "Hello." Then she bent down and helped the
children pick up the notebooks.
The boy was in a panic, "I can do it myself, I can do it myself..."
When he stood up again, he bowed 90 degrees, "Thank you, teacher!"
Shi Xu then spoke: "The door is not locked, please put the homework on my desk."
The boy nodded repeatedly and ran upstairs.
The corridor returned to silence.
Time used light to illuminate the path under her feet again: "Let's go."
I wish this summer to wake up from a dream, "...the kids here are really polite."
"Yeah."
The children in the mountains still retain their simple innocence and have a special reverence for
teachers, especially "new teachers" like her who are completely different from the surrounding
environment.
Walking out of the corridor, Zhu Jinxia thought she would be surrounded by children, but
unexpectedly everyone scattered like birds and beasts.
From the dormitory to the school gate, wherever she went, the children automatically dispersed.
“…”
It's like she is some kind of man-eating monster.
After walking a short distance, she looked back and found that they did not run away, but were
following her from a distance.
With her as the center, the area within a five-meter radius was surrounded by children.
They looked at her timidly, their eyes full of excitement, but they only dared to whisper to their
companions and did not dare to speak to her.
Only when they reached the rusty gate did the brave warriors break out of the siege.
"teacher!"
A senior boy ran out from the crowd, blushing, opened his woven bag, and took out a cake.
"this is for you!"
His Chinese is already very standard, but there is still a hint of dialect in his pronunciation, which
has a peculiar charm.
The young man's voice was soft and crisp, his face was childish, his black and white eyes were full
of shyness, he looked left and right, but didn't dare to look at her.
Not only is his face dark, his hands are also dark, because of his dark skin and because he is dirty.
It was summer and he was sweating profusely. His flushed face might be due to the heat or
nervousness.
The act of delivering the cake seemed to have exhausted all his courage. The hand holding the
cake trembled in mid-air, and the other hand pinched the opening of the woven bag with such
force that his knuckles turned white.
How to describe that cake?
It doesn't look delicious at all.
It is grayish white and does not look like flour. There are granular impurities on the surface and it
is hard to the naked eye. It does not look like something to be eaten but more like something to
be used for "discus throwing".
Not to mention that when the boy took the biscuits from the bag, it was hard for Zhu Jinxia not to
notice that there were two lines of yellow characters printed on the outside of the gray bag:
Yibo Township Pig Feed Factory
Phone 135XXXXXXXX
“…”
The child's hands were still shaking and his face was getting redder and redder.
Zhu Jinxia took the cake and showed her most friendly smile, "Thank you."
The boy retracted his hand, picked up the bag with both hands, and ran away. He cheered loudly
only after he ran far away.
This time it was in Tibetan, so she had to turn back for help.
Timeline Translation: "The teacher accepted my cake, the teacher spoke to me, hooray."
“…”
May all the attention be on that title this summer.
teacher.
She looked down at the cake in her hand, wondering what kind of flour it was made of. It was
extremely heavy.
As if seeing her hesitation, Shi Xu said, "This is barley cake. Every household can make it. Once
baked and stored, it can be stored for a long time. I have some in my dormitory. Every morning I
make a pot of butter tea and eat the cake with the tea. It's very convenient."
Having said that, he calmly took the cake away.
"Give it to me, I'll take care of it."
"You're going to throw it away?"
"Throw it away?" Shi Xu smiled. "To you, it may just be a piece of cake, and the kind that looks
terrible, but to Silang Yongjin, this is the only snack he can eat when he is hungry for the next two
weeks."
I wish you a good meal this summer, and your eyes will fall on the cake.
"As you can see, there are no shops around here, and the kids have nothing else to eat except the
three meals a day in the cafeteria." Shi Xu turned around. "I'll help you return it to him later."
return?
The children's cheers are still ringing in my ears.
"No."
I hope to take the cake back this summer.
Shi Xu raised an eyebrow, and saw her like a warrior, with a fearless look on her face, lowering
her head and taking a big bite.
He knew that in order to preserve it, the highland barley cakes were baked very dry, and
sometimes they had to be soaked in tea to soften them before they were palatable. She took
such a big bite...
Sure enough, he felt pain in his cheeks just by watching the bulging veins on his temples and the
effort he put into chewing.
I didn't expect she would actually eat it.
After swallowing it down with great difficulty, Zhu Jinxia turned around and found the little boy in
the crowd. She raised the cake and waved at him... She didn't look ferocious at all as she did
when chewing the cake just now, but had a bright smile on her face.
"It's delicious! Thank you for the cake! Shiro——"
Halfway through her shout, she got stuck and looked back in embarrassment.
Timeline: "...Silang holds the gold."
She turned her head and immediately continued shouting: "Thank you for the cake, Silang
Yongjin!"
The cake was bigger than her face, with a big gap on the top. If you looked closely, you could see
teeth marks on it.
Silang stood behind the crowd with the gold in his arms, his face turning even redder. He was so
excited that he wanted to speak but didn't dare to. Finally, he ran into the teaching building. Only
a series of screams were left, and even his figure could not be seen.
Everybody was laughing.
Shixu also laughed.
He looked at the teeth marks on the cake and said slowly, "Let's go."
Zhu Jinxia didn't move, withdrew his hand, and looked hesitant.
He pretended not to know the time and just looked up at the sky. “The bread has been eaten and
the people have been seen. If we don’t leave now, it will be dark soon.”
“…”
There was no response for a long time, but he was not in a hurry and walked out the door first.
There were several motorcycles parked next to the guard room. He rode on one of them and
honked at her.
I wish that this summer I can look back and see the principal’s angelic smile through the iron
gate.
"Let's go. I'll take you there."
“…”
What's going on? Why don't you stay for a while?
Didn't they say they were in great need of people? Didn't they say they wanted one person to do
the work of ten people? Why didn't the principal try to keep the volunteer teacher when he was
about to leave?
I wish this summer to look up to the sky and say, “It’s getting late…”
"So we have to leave early." Shixu seemed to have no idea what she was thinking. "This is in the
mountains, and it's hard to travel at night."
She paused, then quickly said, "My suitcase is still in the teacher's dormitory."
The person over there took a long step and came down again.
"I'll get it for you."
Zhu Jinxia had no choice but to follow him, "Um, I heard from Teacher Yu that you guys are short
of people?"
The person in front of him didn't even turn his head, and walked towards the dormitory building
at a brisk pace, nodding as he walked, "Need."
"What will you do if I leave?"
"What can we do? We can only pray for someone to come soon."
I wish you a stress-free summer.
What's wrong with this guy? Can't he understand what people say?
The words are already on the tip of her tongue, just give her a way out!
Time did not understand romance, so she had to find a way out for herself.
"Well, it's not easy to go into the mountains. I'm here now, so I can't let them call me teacher so
many times for nothing..."
Shi Xu paused when he heard this, then suddenly stopped and turned around.
His eyes were bright as he stared at her, but he said nothing, apparently waiting for what was to
come.
I wish you a great summer.
You are a dog, you won't give me any way out even after what I have said.
Forget it, if you don’t want to give it, then don’t give it. Women in the new era are independent
and self-reliant!
Zhu Jinxia looked away, cleared his throat, and pretended to be calm and said, "Since I'm here, I'll
help you out first. It's not impossible to leave in a couple of days."
It was visible to the naked eye that the principal in front of him had a suspicious curve at the
corner of his mouth.
But he thought about it for a moment, shook his head and sighed.
"Teacher Zhu is a kind person with good intentions, but the children have a poor foundation and
cannot speak Chinese fluently, so he still cannot teach English."
"..." Zhu Jinxia whispered, "It's not impossible to teach Chinese."
"But you said that different trades are like different mountains—"
"Yes, but language is a tool for communication. There are always things in common...?"
The principal shook his head helplessly, "Teaching Chinese alone won't solve the urgent problem.
There are too few staff and many subjects have no one to teach."
I hope that this summer will not regress again. "Mathematics is not impossible to teach. I have
already learned advanced mathematics. If I review elementary school mathematics again, I
should be able to pick it up."
"There is a shortage of people in the music class as well." The principal was still "struggling".
Zhu Jinxia took a deep breath and said, "You can give it a try. Being tone-deaf is a childhood thing.
Girls change a lot when they grow up. Later on, they are no longer out of tune."
Is this how you use the saying "Girls change a lot when they grow up"?
Shi Xu began to suspect that it might not be wise to let her teach Chinese.
But he was still testing the waters: "What about the physical education class——"
"Are you done yet?" Zhu Jinxia's patience ran out, and she closed her hands holding the discus
little by little, as if she was going to "throw the discus" at him if something went wrong. "Principal
Shi, my advice is that sometimes you should quit while you're ahead, otherwise it's easy to lose
all your previous efforts."
On the playground, the north wind is blowing.
The woman stared, obviously seeing through his plan, but still willingly fell into the trap.
Shi Xu smiled and winked at her.
"It's settled then."
He stretched out his hand, gently put his slender and clean fingers together, and held them
sideways in mid-air.
"Welcome to Yibo Central School, Teacher Zhu Jinxia."
Zhu Jinxia held the cake in one hand and shook his hand with the other, humming from her nose:
"Nice trick, Principal Shi."

chapter eight
I was still impulsive.
Zhu Jinxia fell on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
They say it's a newly built small building, but look at the peeling wall paint and the mottled
mold...
He is 29 years old after all. How come he is willing to stay here just by looking at the kids and
listening to the principal's persuasion?
Thinking of the dirty pool and the toilet that was hard to reach, Zhu Jinxia turned over and kicked
his legs in annoyance...
The single bed beneath her soon protested with dissatisfaction, and the creaking sound stopped
her.
The new dormitory was probably originally built as a classroom. It is square with long
incandescent lamps overhead.
Half an hour ago, Shi Xu, as the principal, graciously helped her carry her bags and check in.
Zhu Jinxia wanted to thank him, but when she saw the box, she remembered that she had been
tricked by him, and the thank you on her lips turned into a snort.
The room showed signs of having been recently cleaned.
Shi Xu put down his luggage and said, "I knew you were coming, so I went to town and brought
back a bed."
"Can the motorcycle be pulled back?"
"We pulled the parts back and installed them when they arrived."
"You're pretending?"
"I'm pretending."
Zhu Jinxia knocked on the edge of the bed, "It's hanging, don't let it collapse in the middle of the
night."
Shixu ignored her teasing and said, "The bed sheets and quilt covers are newly unpacked, the
same as those used by students."
Zhu Jinxia touched it and said, "You are quite stingy to use this kind of material for your
students."
"..." Shi Xu continued, "There are toiletries on the table, all unopened. There is mineral water in
the box. I was afraid you wouldn't be used to the water boiled here, so I brought two boxes from
town. You can buy more after you finish drinking it."
He squatted down and pulled out two plastic bags and a brand new plastic bucket from under the
bed, which contained a lot of daily necessities.
"Tissue paper, toilet paper rolls, kettle, thermos, hair dryer..."
When he finished reporting the list, there was another snort from behind him.
"You bought so much, didn't you think about it? What if I don't stay? Wouldn't that be a waste?"
"So I have to thank Mr. Zhu for not letting me waste my money."
"Spending money in vain is spending public money, not yours."
He didn't explain the timing. As he sorted things out, he said, "That's all I can think of. See if you
need anything else. We'll go to town to buy some next week."
He was considerate and very patient, and didn't care at all about the thorns in her words. I wish
Jin Xia could finally calm down.
Since we have decided to stay, we are now colleagues.
Earlier on the boat... we just assumed that we knew each other better through fighting.
"It's a lot." She whispered thanks.
"Okay, let's talk about it when you think of what you need." Shixu looked at his watch, "You rest
first, I'll go check in. At around six o'clock, just come directly to my dormitory."
"Come to your dorm?"
"Dinner time is at six o'clock." Shixu opened the door and looked back at her. "Xiaoshan should
have told you that the cafeteria does not provide meals for teachers. You will eat with me from
now on."
——
I hope I don’t stay in the dorm for too long this summer.
Her cell phone wouldn't turn on and her laptop was broken. She stood with her arms folded,
staring at the open box for a long time, then closed it with a grunt.
Out of sight, out of mind.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, there was no trace of the sun in the narrow strip of sky. There were high
mountains on both sides of the view, with only a narrow strip of sky in the middle.
It is slender and profound, like a blue ribbon without a trace of impurities.
Although it is midsummer, it is very cool in the mountains.
Zhu Jinxia came out of the dormitory, took a deep breath, and actually smelled the scent of yak.
It is truly a plateau, the mountains and animals have become one.
She was marveling at the wonders of nature when she turned around and saw a black and white
yak lying in the middle of the road behind the canteen. It wagged its tail when it saw her.
The "yak" smell she smelled probably came from a small pile of fresh excrement behind its butt.
“…”
He must have had water in his brain when he fell into the river at noon.
Walking through the cafeteria and around the teachers' dormitory, Zhu Jinxia saw the neatly
arranged teams on the playground.
The scale is too small.
There were eight teachers and about a hundred students, the youngest of whom was not even as
tall as the teacher's waist.
She stopped by the basketball hoop and saw Shi Xu speaking at the front.
When we came here, we found that everyone had an accent to some extent, except Shixu, who
spoke standard Chinese with clear pronunciation.
At this moment, Jiang Shang no longer had the careless laziness he had shown, nor the serious
nonsense he had used to trick her. He stood straight, his face was solemn and majestic.
...It’s just that the content of the speech is a bit hard to put into words.
"How many times have I told you not to linger on the road during school hours? Tashi Dorje, tell
me, what did you do on your way to school?"
At the end of the first row, there was a short boy named Tashi Doji. He couldn’t speak Chinese
fluently and just spoke in gibberish.
Shixu interrupted fiercely: "Speak Chinese."
He has deep facial features, and once he shows an angry expression, his eyes become sharp and
can be quite intimidating.
Tashi Dorje stammered, "There is a cow on the mountain, it's very pretty."
"It's beautiful, why did you burn its tail? Are you jealous that it's prettier than you?"
The crowd laughed.
"We will be dismissed soon. Run around the playground twenty times."
The sullen-faced principal turned his eyes and picked out the next "victim".
"Qu Zhen, step out."
The little girl who was named stepped out.
"Give me your bubblegum."
Qu Zhen looked embarrassed. She took out a piece of bubble gum from her trouser pocket and
reluctantly put it into his hand.
Shixu's hands were still in the air. "All."
Qu Zhen hesitated and took out another one and put it in his palm.
"Don't you understand what it all means?"
"I only have two left." Qu Zhen said in a low voice.
"Really?" Shi Xu glanced at her trouser pocket. "Then let's ask Teacher Zam to check. If he finds
that you are lying, if you hide one, you will have to run ten laps; if you hide two, you will have to
run twenty laps. Do you agree?"
"...Can I disagree?" The little girl pouted.
"Yes." Shixu said, "If you don't agree, thirty laps."
The last hope was extinguished. Qu Zhen, with a sad face, took out a dozen colorful bubble gums
from his pocket and "handed them all over to the national treasury."
Time was like a tyrant, catching all the bubble gum in one fell swoop, and then pulled out another
little girl from the crowd. It was visible to the naked eye that her hair was a mess, like a disaster
scene after an explosion.
"Candy is for eating, not for sticking on hair." He pulled her in front of Qu Zhen and said, "If you
do something wrong, you must bear the consequences. You are responsible for washing Yangjin's
hair."
Qu Zhen cried out, "How can this be washed clean?"
"You know you can't wash it clean, but you still dare to stick to it?"
"Well, what if it's not cleaned?"
"Come to me if you haven't washed it clean, and I'll give you a hairstyle like Yangjin's."
…
I wish you laugh out loud this summer.
A head suddenly popped up next to the basketball hoop.
"He's got some skills, doesn't he?"
Zhu Jinxia was shocked. She covered her heart and took two steps back. She didn't know when a
person appeared beside her.
He looked to be in his early twenties at most, with messy long hair tied into a ponytail behind his
head. Under the messy bangs was a childish face, with a handsomeness between a boy and a
man.
Realizing that he had scared the other person, he scratched his head in embarrassment, "Sorry,
sorry."
Then he grinned, revealing a row of small white teeth, "You are the new teacher, right? I'm
Donzhu, I teach music and Tibetan."
While the school was still disciplining naughty students, Dunzhu stood next to the basketball
hoop and watched the live broadcast with Zhu Jinxia.
"Is he like this every time he returns to school after the holidays?"
"Yes. The children are too naughty and must be treated."
"Do you allow corporal punishment here?"
"Of course. Children in the mountains will tear off the roof if they are not beaten for three days."
"Do the parents have any objections?"
"Of course there are." Dunzhu said solemnly, "Everyone is very dissatisfied. They all think that the
teacher does not value their children and they are vying with us to beat them more."
?
Did she hear it wrong?
I wish this summer a skeptical look.
Dunzhu smiled and said, "The children only go home once every two weeks and spend much
more time at school than at home, so here, teachers are more than just teachers."
This time Zhu Jinxia understood, "Being a father and a mother at the same time?"
"Who says it's not true?" Dunzhu sighed, "Some people are still babies themselves, but they start
to feed other people's children with their own shit and piss..."
Perhaps because he teaches music, Dunzhu spoke in an ups and downs manner and his body
language was also rich. On one hand, he sounded "crying and complaining", and on the other
hand, he leaned on Zhu Jinxia's shoulder like a "little bird".
Zhu Jinxia is about 1.67 meters tall, and Dunzhu is not much taller than her. He can easily lean his
head on her shoulder by tilting it.
Before she could dodge—
"Bang" - a beautiful parabola appeared in the air, and a small thing hit the back of Dunzhu's head
accurately.
Dunzhu jumped up, covered his head and looked back.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes fell on the ground, a piece of pink bubble gum.
When she looked up again, she found that a female teacher had changed to speak at the front of
the crowd, and the principal, who had been busy "punishing evil and promoting good" just now,
was now walking towards them.
Obviously, this bubble gum is his masterpiece.
Dunzhu was dissatisfied: "Why are you hitting me?"
Shi Xu asked back: "Why are you leaning on someone's shoulder?"
"I'll take care of myself, what does it have to do with you?"
"Then what does it have to do with you if I smash mine?"
Dunzhu was stuck and glared at Shixu, "You bullied me again, I'm going to complain to Uncle
Wang!"
"Go ahead." Shi Xu smiled wryly, "Let him know that you're out there flirting with other girls
again and making advances on me. I'll see if he scolds me or cuts off your hands."
"Who touched me?" Dunzhu was anxious and angry. He turned to explain to Zhu Jinxia, "Don't
listen to his nonsense. I'm not a hooligan!"
"Well, you're just a love saint. Last year, Gesang, who was herding sheep in the mountains, last
month, Wangmu, who worked at the convenience store in town, and let me count, every female
teacher who came to school, you had to get close to her to release your hormones."
Dunzhu couldn't win the argument and started to mumble in Tibetan.
Time sequence: "Go upstairs and cook, stop making noise."
Dunzhu wanted to explain himself, but he glared at her. She dared not say a word and angrily
muttered, "Wait, I'm going to poison your food." In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the
corridor of the teachers' dormitory.
Wish this summer: "..."
Before she could say anything, the playground erupted again. She turned around and found that
the female teacher had finished her speech, and the "corporal punishment" session officially
began.
A group of little rascals who made mistakes, the older ones started running around the
playground, the younger ones did frog jumps on the spot, a bunch of them had sad faces, and the
rest were gloating over their misfortune.
The two little girls walked towards the pool under the guidance of their teacher.
The teacher said confidently: "Wash Yangjin thoroughly, or I will personally take you to the
principal tonight and let him do your hair!"
Both little girls hung their heads and looked sad.
A few boys running in circles passed by, and the teacher turned back and said, "No chatting! Run
in a row! Otherwise, you will have to clean the toilets for another week and carry feces for me!"
The corporal punishment also includes picking up feces? Zhu Jinxia was shocked, and then
thought about how dirty the toilet was...
Where on earth is this place?
Hell?
The "boss of hell" in front of her said "Aren't you leaving?" twice, and she came to her senses.
"Where are you going?"
"Have a meal."
When he returned to the dormitory on the third floor, Dunzhu was already cooking in the
kitchen. Shixu rolled up his sleeves and said to Zhu Jinxia, "You sit down first," while going in to
help.
I wish I can’t cook this summer and can only sit by the window and watch the live broadcast from
hell on the playground downstairs.
In the kitchen, two grown men were busy working and bickering at the same time.
"Too much salt." This is the time series.
"I did it on purpose. I can't choke you to death." This is Dunzhu.
"You know that this dish is for everyone to eat together. If I choke to death, you won't be able to
survive either, right?" The sequence is slow and leisurely.
"What am I afraid of? If we're going to die, let's die together." Dunzhu was ready to die.
Zhu Jinxia in the living room: "..."
Very good, outside there is a scene of corporal punishment among elementary school students,
and inside there is a fight between elementary school kids.
Amidst the noise, the food was served on the table. The dishes were simple: scrambled eggs with
tomatoes, stir-fried pork with lettuce, shredded cabbage, and a vegetable tofu soup.
Dunzhu looked very grim to Shixu, but was smiling to Zhu Jinxia.
"Teacher Zhu, are you starving? Come, come, eat." He was like a eunuch chief steward, smiling
and flattering as he placed the rice and chopsticks in front of Zhu Jinxia. "It's deep in the
mountains and old forests, and the food is limited. The person helping me is a clumsy and
chattering rookie, which affects my performance... It's just a simple meal, so you have to make do
with it."
Shi Xu held the bowl and sat next to him expressionlessly, "You eat my food and drink my drinks.
Even the bowl and chopsticks are mine. You still have the nerve to complain about the food."
As they were talking, they started doing it again.
Zhu Jinxia looked solemn, "That..."
"Um?"
"I just want to confirm what you said about poisoning..." She picked up the bowl and looked up at
Dunzhu.
Dunzhu said hurriedly: "No, no, no, I was just kidding..."
"It's okay if you voted." Zhu Jinxia said, "I won't meddle in other people's business, I'm just asking
casually." "But are you sure you voted for the right bowl?"
As she spoke, she glanced at the bowl in Shixu's hand.
Timing: ?
What does it mean to bet on the right bowl?
Does that mean you were right to poison him?

Chapter nine
The food is unexpectedly delicious, I hope I can eat two bowls this summer.
Dunzhu was stunned. "Of course, Mr. Zhu, your appetite is so high that you can't tell from your
body shape."
"..." Zhu Jinxia put down the bowl awkwardly, "I don't usually eat this much..."
It must have been a lot of hassle, and consumed too much energy.
Dunzhu smiled: "It's okay, just pay more for food."
Shi Xu looked over and asked, "Food expenses?"
Dunzhu nodded, "Yes, don't we have to pay for meals?"
"Then why don't you hand it in?"
"Ahem..." Dunzhu choked on the rice and winked at Shixu secretly, "Isn't it because you promised
Uncle Wang that you would take care of me? Besides, I also help with the cooking."
He thought to himself that Shixu was an idiot. It was fine if his family didn’t pay for the meals, but
would a teacher from outside also eat and drink his food and drinks?
It turns out that the schedule is really an idiot. Zhu Jinxia clearly said that the food expenses
should be paid, but he just refused to collect it.
Dunzhu was poking and stepping on it, pretending not to know the sequence of events.
Finally, Dunzhu got anxious and didn't care that Zhu Jinxia was right across from him. "Shixu, are
you stupid? You should take it back now!"
"okay."
"That's money, not shit. Do you have a grudge against money?"
"Dunzhu!" Shixu put down the bowl with a little too much force, and it hit the edge of the table
with a dull sound, "You are so full that you have nothing better to do but go wash the bowl."
There was a strong warning in his eyes, and Dunzhu hesitated.
It can be seen that it is difficult to offend the accumulated power.
But he has been harboring grudges for a long time, okay?
Dunzhu held back his words, but didn't hold them back, and continued, "Am I wrong? This school
is not yours, and you pay for it out of your own pocket all the time. Oh, you are the only one who
is selfless and great, and you make others look so stingy.
“Have you received the electricity bill you paid in advance in the first half of the year?
"Before the Spring Festival, we bought winter clothes for students, one for each student. Did you
look in the mirror before going out? Did you even look at the tattered clothes you are wearing?
"Those who know you think you are a pauper, and those who don't think you are a philanthropist
or a billionaire—"
Dunzhu was talking for a while when Shixu suddenly kicked the leg of the stool, almost hitting
him with a fork.
"Have you said enough?" Shi Xu stared at him with cold eyes.
The room suddenly became quiet.
Zhu Jinxia held the empty bowl and pretended to drink soup, wishing she could bury her face in
the bowl.
The incident ended with Dunzhu running out of the dormitory with red eyes, shouting "I'll tell
Uncle Wang", like a child who had not grown up.
A few seconds later, I heard the "kid" roaring angrily from outside the window: "What are you
guys doing? Hiding here to copy homework? Do you want to die, huh?!"
In front of the real children, Dunzhu became an adult again.
Zhu Jinxia was listening to the noise outside, when Shixu on the other side suddenly looked up
and asked, "Is the air delicious?"
She put down the empty bowl silently.
"Another bowl?"
Shake your head.
While Shixu was collecting the dishes, she whispered, "I will pay for the food expenses, you can
rest assured, Dunzhu."
Shi Xu didn't stop, "I said I wouldn't take it."
"You'd better put it away. I can't cook, and I can't wash dishes—" Zhu Jinxia tried to ease the
atmosphere. "I have never liked doing housework since I was a child. My grandmother often said
that I can't wash dishes even though I'm so old."
"You come here to teach, there's no reason not to provide you with food."
The tug of war ended with Shixu firmly refusing to take the money.
He was quick and nimble, and in no time he put all the dishes and chopsticks into a plastic basin,
then walked to the door with the basin.
"Let's go."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, "Where to?"
"Teach you how to wash dishes."
“…”
When I walked out of the teachers' dormitory again, it was already dark.
The temperature in the mountains is low, especially at night, and the night wind brings a chill.
Shixu asked her to go back and add more clothes.
"No need, aren't you going to teach me how to wash dishes?" Zhu Jinxia muttered, "I just said
some polite words so that you can collect the food money without worrying about it. Do you
think I really can't wash dishes?"
Shi Xu put the basin into the sink and stepped back. "Then you perform."
Zhu Jinxia rolled her eyes, turned on the faucet, and skillfully took the sponge and squeezed the
detergent, but when it came into contact with the water, she shuddered. The bowl fell into the
sink with a clang, but luckily it didn't break.
With a chuckle, Shi Xu took the sponge from her hand and said, "The show is over."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia blushed and repeatedly emphasized that the water was too cold, and in the end she
only took back the right to wipe the dishes.
Dinner for three people, ten bowls. When she took the last plate from Shixu, she saw his red,
frozen fingers in the dim light above her head.
"...I'll wash it tomorrow."
"No thanks." Shi Xu put the bowls back into the basin, picked out the one she had just dropped,
and pointed at the gap on the edge. "Manpower is valuable, but tableware is even more
valuable."
Wish this summer: "..."
She then asked, "Is the river water always this cold?"
“It’s going to be cooler in the winter.”
"I thought it would be warmer in the summer when the temperature is high."
"So when you fell in at noon, did it feel warm to you?"
“…”
There's no more chatting today.
After entering the dormitory, Zhu Jinxia put the detergent back on the kitchen counter and
walked out silently, but was stopped by Shixu again.
"etc."
He pushed open the bedroom door and took out an old cell phone from the desk drawer.
"Use it first."
I wish this summer was stunned.
"I usually can't leave school during the week, so I can only wait until the weekend to take you to
the county town to repair your phone." Shi Xu paused and said, "The same goes for laptops."
What's wrong with this guy? He keeps slapping me every time.
It's really confusing.
Even when he saw her coming out of the window to fetch water, Shi Xu personally carried the
water back to the small building for her.
The bucket of water that had made her palms red from squeezing her was as light as a feather in
his hands.
She refused and said, I can't ask you to help me with everything.
Shi Xu said without even turning his head, "You help me teach, and I help you with chores, we're
even."
Zhu Jinxia was speechless for a moment. Looking back, the children had already lined up, fetching
water one by one, and then squatting on the playground with their shaky basins to wash their
faces and feet.
A teacher was supervising, "Focus on washing!"
"Wash them all clean for me!"
"If anyone is reported for having smelly feet again, and makes the whole dormitory sleepless, you
will have to sleep in the playground!"
Zhu Jinxia burst out laughing, then looked back and saw a small building not far away. The
building was bright yellow and the small Tibetan-style windows were colorful.
...it doesn't seem so scary anymore.
She couldn't help but take a deep breath, looked up at the sky, and was stunned again.
The narrow and long line of sky is surrounded by mountains on both sides. In this limited night
sky, the stars shine infinitely.
Noticing that the person behind him had stopped, Shi Xu turned around and asked, "What's
wrong?"
She still maintained the posture of looking up, "Look."
Shi Xu looked up, confused, "What are you looking at?"
“You didn’t see…”
Zhu Jinxia paused and realized that the people living here have probably long been accustomed
to the hardships, poverty, and the insignificant romance in the mountains.
"nothing."
Little did she know that to her, everything was new and beautiful.
With such a feeling, she said goodbye to Shixu at the dormitory door.
Shixu went on to talk about the next day's arrangements, and his final words were rarely
irritating, "I hope you like it here."
I wish this summer to smile and say sincerely, "Yes."
She returned to the dormitory, packed her wet suitcase, hung up most of her clothes, and boiled
some water to wash herself briefly.
You see, nothing in this world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it.
This optimism lasted until her bladder tightened and she had to use a flashlight to go to the
toilet. After rushing in and out as fast as she could, Zhu Jinxia retracted her previous optimism.
Well, there are still some difficult things in the world that even those who are willing to help
cannot solve them.
For example, how to excrete human waste in a smelly toilet, and how to try not to vomit up all
the food you eat for dinner.
——
At 7:30 in the morning, I wish Jinxia will be woken up by the alarm clock.
She had a rare good sleep, which even surprised herself.
It shouldn't be like this. After all, there is a rushing river outside the window and you are in an
unfamiliar environment. At least you should suffer from insomnia as a sign of respect.
Princesses in fairy tales, even with eight or ten layers of cotton pads, can still suffer from
backaches and sleeplessness due to the lumps on the bed boards. She wishes that although Jin
Xia is not a princess, she is at least a spoiled girl who grew up in the city.
How come I slept until dawn!
This is not scientific =_=,
While waiting for the kettle to boil, Zhu Jinxia hesitated and picked up the phone that Shixu gave
her yesterday.
It was probably an old model he had used before, a very affordable brand.
Although it is an old phone, it is very clean. If it were not for the old model, it would almost be
considered new at first glance. After fully charging and turning on the phone, all the original
things are still there, and it has not been restored to factory settings.
Just like him, his phone is clean and neat, without any frills.
The battery was fully charged and the alarm was set, but she didn't insert the card.
After the incident with Weicheng, she was bombarded with information every day. Whether it
was the condolences from friends or the questions from relatives, she was exhausted from
dealing with them.
So I just didn't insert the card.
Come to think of it, I slept so well, perhaps thanks to the fact that no one disturbed me.
Zhu Jinxia sighed, pulled out the card from his mobile phone, and inserted it into the time card.
People always have to return to reality. Yesterday was the reporting day, and there was no news
for a whole day and night. Everyone must be very anxious.
Sure enough, as soon as there was a signal, the phone started ringing wildly.
Countless messages poured in, but more than twenty calls were missed.
"Grandma", "Yuan Feng".
——This is the most common one.
"Acropolis Mother".
——Three calls, this is a daily routine, calls for debate and lobbying.
It’s even more terrifying when you log into WeChat, with over 99 unread messages.
Yuan Feng: “Are we there yet?”
Yuan Feng: "Why don't you reply to the message?"
Yuan Feng: "Where are the people?"
…
Yuan Feng's messages came in fits and starts, from the initial ease, to feigned anger, to the final
impatience, every punctuation mark was shocking.
"Zhu Jinxia, you don't reply to messages or answer calls. Are you going to the mountains to teach
or have you been kidnapped?"
“Where are the people???”
“Where are the people??????????”
"If you don't answer the phone, I'll call the police!!!"
"You can't call the police if someone's missing for less than 24 hours. Who made this rule?!"
"Do you know that your grandma called me? She was so worried that she couldn't find you!"
Zhu Jinxia quickly replied: "Then what did you tell her?"
I thought Yuan Feng would reply later. After all, he was in administration and didn't have to
attend classes. With his personality, he would definitely sleep in.
I didn’t expect the other party to reply almost instantly.
Yuan Feng: "Hey, is he still alive, or has he come back to life?"
Without waiting for her reply, he made a call.
"What can I say? I dared her to come to the school and tear me apart if I told her that you
listened to my advice and went to teach!"
"So what did you say?"
"You said your phone was out of battery. You've been very busy these past few days. I guess you
fell asleep as soon as you got home. You will definitely reply when you wake up."
I wish you a happy smile this summer.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Feng got even angrier, "Still laughing? Zhu Jinxia, who the hell are you
trying to scare to death? I was the one who instigated you to go to teach, and you, Huang He,
never came back, and you have disappeared without a trace. Do you want to scare me to death
so that you can inherit my mortgage and car loan?!"
Outside the window is the cheerful river, birds are chirping in the trees, and the sunlight from the
plateau shines in through the gaps in the curtains, leaving a streak of swaying golden spots on the
ground.
I wish your laughter will become more and more joyful this summer.
Yuan Feng raised his voice, "Laugh? You're still laughing? Zhu Jinxia, do you have a f*cking heart?
Try to laugh again?"
Before Yuan Feng gets so angry that he suffers a cerebral thrombosis, Zhu Jinxia quickly explains
the whole story.
Yuan Feng was cursing at first, but when he heard that she fell into the river, he started to worry
again. Concern and annoyance mixed together, and finally turned into an unpleasant snort:
"Seeing that you are full of energy now, I can only say that you have been a scourge for thousands
of years, but you are not destined to die."
I wish you will do good this summer and say yes, yes, yes. We are in cahoots and working
together for evil. You will also live a long life.
Yuan Feng said: "You can't see, I'm lying on the road in the wind, shaking like a sieve. Just now, a
passerby thought I was having an epileptic seizure and wanted to call 120 to send me to the
hospital."
He let out a long sigh of relief, but the final point was still whether the school was good or not,
and whether you were good or not.
I wish this summer will bring good news and no bad news, everything will be good.
After a brief chat, she looked at the time and said, "I'm in a hurry to go to class. Let's talk after
class."
Before hanging up the phone, I couldn't help it.
"Yuan Feng."
"ah?"
"'Your grandmother' and 'of' cannot be used together, otherwise it is easy to cause unnecessary
misunderstandings if you keep saying 'your grandmother'."
“…”
"Also, the word is 涼無聞訊, not 鸟無聞信. You are the bird, and your whole family are birds."
“…”
"Finally, given our relationship, I cannot inherit your loan—"
"You'd better continue to disappear. Bye." Yuan Feng hung up the phone with a snap.
Zhu Jinxia was filled with emotion, thinking that she was a well-educated person, but why was
her childhood friend illiterate?
What she didn't expect was that there was a group of genuine "illiterate" people waiting for her
in the classroom.

chapter Ten
The dormitory door was ajar, and before I entered the room, I heard voices.
"Hey, can you do it? If not, let me do it."
——Dunzhu’s voice.
"Let's make some dough and see how capable you are."
This is the timing.
They had a quarrel last night. Zhu Jinxia stood outside the door and thought to herself, it seems
they have made up.
The conversation continues.
"If you ask me, you Han people just don't know how to cook noodles."
"Heh." Shi Xu sneered, "You feel superior even when you're just making a pancake."
"Not only can I make pancakes, I can also sing and dance. If you are able to dance Guozhuang at
night, come and try it out with me."
"Why don't you compete with the Xinjiang people in grilling lamb skewers or the Mongolians in
wrestling?"
"Who told you that Xinjiang people only know how to grill mutton skewers?"
"Who told you that Han people don't know how to make noodles?"
…
This is another pinch.
Zhu Jinxia coughed lightly and knocked on the door, interrupting them.
The two heads in the kitchen turned around at the same time.
Last night, Shixu scolded her for demanding her food money. Dunzhu still felt guilty and was
unusually enthusiastic: "Oh, Teacher Zhu is here! How was it? Did you sleep well last night? Was
it cold? Was the bed hard? The noise of the water was so loud, did it disturb your sleep?"
Shixu smiled calmly and said, "Who can be as noisy as you?"
It looked like they were about to fight again.
Zhu Jinxia hurried in, saying that she slept well, and changed the subject, "What are you doing?"
The breakfast was simple, with butter tea, barley cakes, and a bowl of seasonal side dishes to go
with the cakes.
Shixu distributed some side dishes and sent them to the teachers upstairs and downstairs. Before
leaving, he winked at Dunzhu.
After he left, Dunzhu scratched his head and said uncomfortably: "Teacher Zhu, um, what
happened yesterday..."
He stuttered a little and his face turned red before he could say two sentences.
As the youngest teacher in the school, his older brothers and sisters often treat him like a child,
giving in to them in everything and laughing it off when they make mistakes.
Before he could say anything more, Zhu Jinxia looked up and smiled, "What happened
yesterday?"
Then he had an expression of sudden realization, "Why, did the principal complain to you?"
Dunzhu was stunned. "What are you complaining about?"
"Sue me for being clumsy and ruining his dishes."
Zhu Jinxia looked around the table, picked up the bowl in front of the time seat, pointed at the
tiny gap, and said, "This is it."
Dunzhu took the bowl and was unknowingly diverted from the topic. She talked about how she
didn't like doing housework and how she broke the bowl...
Shi Xu, who had returned from outside the door at some unknown time, stood in the corridor
with an empty basin in his hand, leaning against the door and shaking his head.
This silly boy, his apology was half-hearted.
Shi Xu walked in and sat down, glancing at the person sitting across from him, "Have you finished
your meal?"
I wish you a nod this summer.
There was half a cake in front of her... It was too hard and she choked a few times before being
unable to eat it.
Shi Xu took the remaining half of her cake very naturally and swallowed it in two or three bites.
???
Zhu Jinxia was shocked, and it took her a long time to speak: "There are so many cakes on the
plate..."
"You said you couldn't eat anymore."
"You can't eat what I left!"
Shi Xu drank the butter tea in the bowl in one gulp and looked up to meet her gaze. "There are
not so many rules here. I just know that we can't waste food."
There was no embarrassment or awkwardness in his eyes, and he obviously did not think this
action was intimate.
I wish I’ll suddenly be at a loss for words this summer.
After she left the house without saying anything, Shixu pulled Dunzhu back and asked, "Have you
apologized?"
Dunzhu was stunned and confused.
Why?
I was going to talk about this, but right after I started talking about it, the topic went off topic
without me noticing.
He tried to argue, but Shixu tapped his forehead.
"Use your brain more. They are giving you a way out."
Shi Xu stopped at the right time, glanced at Dunzhu's still confused face, and said with a slow
smile: "Forget it, although the Han people can't sing and dance well, we have big bellies."
Dunzhu: “…”
You're really tolerant of this guy, and you can still fight back after taking a detour!
——
I wish this summer’s teaching career started with auditing a class, and the first class I attended
was a mathematics class on time series.
The school is small and there is only one class in each grade.
She looked up at the sign above the classroom, "You teach sixth grade?"
"Sixth grade?" Shi Xu smiled, "I teach six grades."
“…”
This is really not treating people as human beings.
I wish this summer to be hesitant to speak.
Timeline: "Ask if you want to."
"Then I'll take the liberty of asking, um, your salary should be very high, right?"
Shi Xu looked at her expressionlessly for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards the
classroom.
If you ask students what day of the week they hate the most, Monday will definitely top the list. If
you ask them what course they hate the most, math will definitely top the list.
And Monday plus math class, great, Dove and rainy days are not so suitable.
But today was different. The arrival of the new teacher gave the uninterested sixth graders a shot
of adrenaline - even though she was just sitting alone at the back of the classroom, she listened
quietly to the entire class with everyone else.
In other words, I slept through the entire class.
First, the class bell rang, and the time sequence appeared on the podium, and the whole class fell
into a dead state.
When he told everyone that there was a new teacher in the class, the classroom suddenly
erupted in deafening cheers. The children spontaneously clapped their hands, some screamed,
and some slapped their desks.
This made Zhu Jinxia feel like she was walking on the red carpet when she came in from the back
door.
If there is a background music at this moment, it must be "Jesus Christ Superstar".
At the back of the classroom, Shi Xu arranged an empty seat for her, and there were pens and
textbooks on the table.
Until the timer sounded the start of class and the monitor asked everyone to stand up, everyone
was still excited. When they shouted "Hello, teacher", it was like countless screaming chickens.
Shi Xu deliberately asked: "Are you happy?"
Everyone answered in unison: "Happy!"
"It's not your first day in my class, why are you so happy?"
"I am happy to see the new teacher!"
Someone else added: "We would be happier if you weren't here!"
Amid the laughter, Shi Xu was calm and composed, "Since you are so happy, why don't you write
a set of papers to liven up the atmosphere?"
The laughter immediately turned into wailing.
"If you don't want to take the exam, then study hard." Shixu quickly got to the point and opened
the textbook. "Today we will learn about circles."
I wish this summer will also take off the pen cap, open the textbook, and enter the long-lost
student mode.
Looking around, the classroom is old but clean. There is no multifunctional equipment like in
university classrooms. Everything is in its most original state: blackboard, chalk, and white dust
flying in the air when the blackboard is wiped regularly.
Behind him is a colorful blackboard newspaper. The theme of this issue is related to firefighting.
In the lower left corner, a cartoon firefighter is putting out a fire with his mouth wide open.
It reminds me of those long gone years.
I'm just wishing this summer a happy childhood. The teacher on the podium looks much older
than the passage of time.
She propped her chin up and looked at the young principal in front of her.
To be fair, he is too handsome.
How could a math teacher look like this? She had always had white-bearded old men wearing
small glasses who spit foam when they spoke...
If all math teachers were so handsome, why would she need to learn foreign languages? She
would have been a reserve winner of the Nobel Prize in Mathematics (if there was such a prize in
the world...).
Zhu Jinxia did not mean to insult the math teacher. It was simply a personal experience described
in a plain manner.
Shixu on the stage opened his textbook and put on the glasses at hand. The glasses had a silver
frame, and under the reflection of the lenses, his slightly sharp eyes turned into the rigor of an
intellectual, and his aloof temperament was also restrained a lot, and the whole person looked
softer.
In the dim morning light, he drew a circle with a piece of chalk in his hand, his lips moved, and he
taught seriously...
If the content wasn't so boring, it would be effortless to appreciate such pleasing world famous
paintings for an entire class.
Zhu Jinxia swore to God that she had been an excellent student since childhood and had never
done anything like sleeping in class.
But the premise is that math classes are not as rigid, boring, and hypnotic as they seem.
At first, I could still write a few notes in the notebook, but gradually, I needed willpower to hold
up my eyelids, which seemed to be glued shut. In the end, I could no longer hear what the
sequence was saying, and all I could hear was the alarm sound repeating in my mind:
"Do not sleep."
"Do not sleep."
"You must not sleep!"
Unfortunately, the course is not even halfway through, and I wish Jinxia has already entered a
sweet dream, even though the alarm in my cerebral cortex has become:
"Wake up."
"Wake up."
But she didn't wake up.
When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by laughter. Zhu Jinxia raised her head in a
daze, and something on the back of her head fell to the ground with a bang. She was startled and
looked down, and found it was a math book.
A group of children gathered around the desk, laughing and staring at her without blinking.
She was startled and stood up quickly.
"get out of class has ended?"
The children laughed: "The get out of class is over early!"
I wish you a subconscious look at the podium this summer.
…The building is empty.
"Where is the principal?"
"I left a long time ago."
??
Leave without asking her to leave!
Zhu Jinxia hurriedly packed up her things and picked up the textbook at her feet. When she saw
the word "Time Series" on the cover, she was speechless.
As I ran out of the classroom, I heard the children's voices behind me:
"The teacher actually fell asleep!"
"Will the principal punish her by making her run around the playground?"
"She is so awesome. The principal is so scary, yet she dares to sleep in class."
"Yeah, I wouldn't dare sleep in any class, but his class!"
I wish this summer I suffered the biggest setback in my career: the class didn’t even start yet, and
I performed sleeping in class in public.
The reputation of top students suffers.
The dignity of teachers is gone.
She could only comfort herself, you see, before class the kids only dared to look at her from a
distance, but after class they could already watch her and talk to her from close range, what does
this show?
This means that the closest relationship in the world is the one where two people have fought
together and visited prostitutes together (not true).
Make mistakes with students first so that you can get into their camp.
A mess of thoughts flashed through my mind like a barrage of thoughts.
Finally, she saw her "math teacher" in the corridor on the first floor.
"Timing!"
The man stopped and looked back, "Are you awake?"
"..." Zhu Jinxia panted, "Why didn't you call me?"
"You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn't bear to disturb you."
It's obviously you who are too hypnotic.
Zhu Jinxia blushed and could only make an excuse that she didn't sleep well last night and fell
asleep accidentally.
"Yeah."
The two looked at each other for a moment.
Obviously, he remembered, and she remembered too, that when she came to his dormitory in
the morning, Dunzhu asked her how she slept, and she clearly answered that she slept well.
Zhu Jinxia took out the textbook from her bag and started to question him. "Why did you put the
book on my head?"
"Help you cover it up."
"Cover what?"
Shixu answered the question irrelevantly: "Did you bring paper?"
"Do you want it?" Zhu Jinxia lowered her head, took out a tissue from her canvas bag, pulled out
one and handed it to her.
Shixu didn't answer and asked, "Why, do you want me to wipe it for you?"
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, and then she found that his eyes were fixed on...
She touched the corner of her mouth and was petrified.
So what he wanted to cover up for her was her saliva.
They say well begun is half done. Looking at the overall situation, Zhu Jinxia felt that her failure
was probably a foregone conclusion.
Fortunately, Shi Xu was a man who knew when to stop and would never pursue the matter
relentlessly. After admiring her social death scene for a minute, he chose to be gracious and
looked at his watch.
"The next class is about to start. I told Abao that you should go to her class, fifth grade Chinese."
I wish Jinxia immediately learned the art of selective amnesia without any instruction. She
pretended nothing had happened, quickly asked where the fifth grade classroom was, and
whether there were any precautions, then turned around and left.
A slow and steady "reminder" came from behind me: "Teacher Abao's temper is not as good as
mine. Try to control yourself and don't sleep too recklessly."
I wish you look back this summer and feel the end of your patience: “It’s obviously your lectures
that are too boring!”
——
The fifth grade classroom is right next to the sixth grade classroom. During recess, the children
are playing in the corridor.
Because of the sleeping incident just now, Zhu Jinxia felt guilty and hid far away. It was not until
the bell rang and the children entered the classroom that she sneaked in.
A Bao is the fifth grade Chinese teacher. Unlike the time sequence, A Bao introduced her
solemnly——
"After I leave, Ms. Zhu will be your Chinese teacher. She is much more knowledgeable than I am.
You should listen to her and cherish this hard-earned learning opportunity."
A Bao is leaving?
Where are you going?
She is going to take over as the fifth grade Chinese teacher?
As the person involved, how could she not know!
The time sequence did not explain this matter, and Zhu Jinxia heard about it for the first time.
Thank God, Abao’s classes are much more interesting than those of a certain principal. Although
her Mandarin is not standard and there is still a lot that needs improvement, at least she is
passionate about teaching.
Ah Bao’s full name is Ah Bao, and he looks no more than 25 years old.
Perhaps because Zhu Jinxia was attending the class as an auditor, she was a little nervous and her
voice was a little unnaturally high-pitched, but her abundant emotions and serious attitude made
this Chinese class lively and lovely.
In fact, Zhu Jinxia arrived at the school for only one week before Teacher Abao was transferred
away. They didn’t even have the chance to become friends. But later, when she recalled this
teaching experience, she would always think of Abao and this seemingly ordinary Chinese class.
It was nine o'clock in the morning. After going through untold hardships, the sun finally climbed
up the mountain to a line of sky.
A Bao is teaching the children to imitate and make sentences, with the theme being "Expressions
about Spring".
No matter how Abao encouraged, the children just didn't dare to raise their hands. Finally, she
had to call their names, and a little boy stood up timidly.
"Spring is here. The little trees are putting on new green clothes and working hard to grow
upwards, just like us sitting in the classroom right now, seizing the opportunity to thrive."
His voice was very soft, and almost every time he said a sentence, A Bao had to repeat it beside
him so that everyone could hear it.
After finishing reading, he looked up at A Bao, then turned back nervously to look at Zhu Jinxia.
The highland red was clearly visible on his dark and dirty little face, and his eyes were full of
timidity, yet hidden expectation.
At that moment, something caught Zhu Jinxia's attention.
She turned her head and saw that after much difficulty, the sun finally climbed over the
mountains and shone into the classroom.
It’s so bright that people can’t open their eyes.
After that class, A Bao stopped Zhu Jinxia in the corridor and asked her for comments with a
blushing face.
She said that she had passed the exam last month and would soon be transferred to teach at a
school at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters. Before leaving, she wanted to hand over her
class to Zhu Jinxia.
"When I knew the city teacher was coming, I told the principal that I hoped you could come and
teach Chinese in our class."
She said she had been trying very hard to teach her children to express themselves in Chinese,
but had never been able to improve their reading and writing skills.
She thought that her knowledge was limited, so she hoped that the volunteer teachers could
teach the children a richer language and lead them to a wider world.
In the corridor, the high plateau sunlight was so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.
Even with his back to the light, Zhu Jinxia could still feel a burning sensation on his shoulders.
The young teacher was about to go to a more difficult place, but before leaving, he held her hand
and asked her to take good care of the children.
When A Bao choked up and said, "I'll leave the children to you," Zhu Jinxia lowered her head and
saw a hot tear on the back of her hand.
At this moment, it was like an epiphany.
What was originally just a journey of escape for her suddenly took on a completely different
meaning.

Chapter 11
Zhu Jinxia was like a devout believer. She did not miss a single class and attended all the classes
for a whole day, even the Tibetan language class.
During dinner, Dunzhu flipped through her full textbooks and said with emotion: "If I had worked
as hard as you did, I would have been admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University long
ago."
Shi Xu came out of the kitchen carrying soup.
“Some things can’t be accomplished just by hard work.”
Dunzhu put down the book, "What do you mean? Are you looking down on me?"
"No." Shi Xu said, "Evaluate your IQ objectively."
...and it started again.
Zhu Jinxia acted as a peacemaker, changed the subject and began to talk about his experience of
attending the class for a day.
"First, the teaching language. Teaching children is different from teaching college students. The
words used should be straightforward and simple."
"The second is the teaching pace. It's not easy for children to concentrate for a long time. If they
are not careful, they will be distracted."
She is still thinking about the third point, the timely interface.
"The third is the quality of sleep." He looked up and said calmly, "Sleeping on the desk will affect
your spine and make you drool. Remember to bring a pillow tomorrow."
“…”
"I heard that you fell asleep again in the Tibetan language class this afternoon?"
"…I only fell asleep for two minutes!" Zhu Jinxia defended herself, "Besides, I couldn't understand
a single word, so it was really hard not to fall asleep."
She turned her head to look at Dunzhu for support.
Dunzhu put down the bowl and said faintly: "I also want to speak for you, but it seems like you
are taking my class."
"Ah." Shixu showed a knowing expression, "That's understandable. Dunzhu's class is mainly about
hypnosis."
Dunzhu: "Excuse me, how can you say that to me?"
The two brothers started fighting again.
This time Zhu Jinxia didn't try to stop the fight. She learned a lesson. As long as she didn't get
involved, the war wouldn't reach her.
Also, she suspected that the food these two people ate was mixed with sleeping pills, and each
one was more hypnotic than the other during the class.
Halfway through the meal, a child's voice suddenly came from downstairs.
"Time—Sequence—"
The children were laughing and shouting the name of Time, their voices drawn out.
"Do you want to eat hot pot?"
Shixu opened the window and asked with a dark face: "You want to die?"
I hope you look out this summer too.
Several children stood downstairs and said happily: "Teacher Abao asked us to call you!"
The little face looked very familiar, Zhu Jinxia recognized it, this is a fifth grade kid.
"A Bao is going to be transferred, so I'm inviting the fifth graders to have hot pot tonight." Shi Xu
tilted his head and asked her, "Do you want to go?"
Zhu Jinxia hesitated, "You go ahead, I've almost finished eating."
Shi Xu saw that she was afraid of trouble, so he didn't try to persuade her. He just said to the
window, "Teacher Zhu doesn't want to go. It's up to you whether you can invite her."
Encouraged by the timing, the children rushed into the dormitory building happily. Then, cheerful
shouts came from the corridor: "Go——"
The dormitory door was ajar as usual. The little soldiers pushed the door open, held Zhu Jinxia's
hand, and said coquettishly, "Let's go, Teacher Zhu, let's eat hot pot together," "The hot pot is
delicious" ... while pulling her out.
I couldn't refuse such a kind invitation, so I wished that this summer would be taken away by the
kids.
Shixu followed slowly and walked downstairs. The forgotten Dunzhu poked his head out of the
window and said, "Hey, what about me? Did you treat me?"
"No one cares about me?"
"hello?!"
All that was left for him were the happy backs of the crowd.
The "dinner" was held in the fifth grade classroom. On a giant long table made of desks, heat
waves were boiling from three induction cookers.
The stove was kindly provided by the teachers.
In addition to A Bao, Yu Xiaoshan was also there. She teaches fifth grade ethics and morality and
also came to eat the hotpot.
I wish the arrival of this summer will bring a small climax, and the children will cheer and rush
over.
Perhaps it was the hotpot that made people relax, the teacher was no longer a teacher, and the
students became ordinary children. They were no longer reserved, took Zhu Jinxia's hand, and led
her to her seat.
Countless little hands handed her melon seeds, snacks, drinks, fruits...
"Teacher Zhu, you eat."
"this is delicious."
"Teacher Zhu, please sit next to me!"
Countless children rushed to shout: "Sit next to me!" "Sit next to me!"
This was not a feast. The table was filled with oxidized and yellowed apples, there was almost no
oil in the pot, the plates were filled with vegetables, and the desserts were obviously not tasty.
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously refused: "You guys eat, I've already had dinner..."
The little girl on the left blinked and said carefully: "Teacher Zhu, don't worry, I have washed my
hands, they are not dirty."
She put the apple back on the plate and stretched out her hands to show Zhu Jinxia, "I just have
dark skin, don't be afraid."
Countless black and white eyes were looking at her.
Zhu Jinxia's heart softened instantly. She took the apple and asked, "What's your name?"
"Ding Zhen Basang." The little girl smiled, revealing two rows of uneven teeth.
Her action of taking the apple seemed to be a signal, and soon after, the children rushed to stuff
food into her hands. Zhu Jinxia could not favor one over the other and could only accept them
one by one.
In the end, she was overwhelmed by the food and turned back to Shixu for help.
Shi Xu leaned on the table against the wall, with one leg on the ground, looking at her with a
smile, spreading his hands, and performed a very good "without helping" scene.
Yu Xiaoshan came to her rescue and said, "Eat your own food and don't make trouble for Teacher
Zhu!"
Fortunately, the children's attention was quickly diverted.
On the podium, A Bao played "King Kong" with an old projector. The movie was chosen by the
children. She downloaded it from the computer and copied it in advance.
The children's attention is finally no longer on Zhu Jinxia.
I wish this summer can breathe a sigh of relief and sneak aside while everyone is watching a
movie.
In the flickering light and shadow, Shixu said with emotion: "We wish the teacher to be really
popular."
Zhu Jinxia smiled with a fake smile, took out handfuls of melon seeds and candies that the
children had stuffed into her coat pocket, and put them all in Shixu's hand. "Don't be jealous, I'll
give them all to you."
Shi Xu laughed softly.
On the white curtain, the huge monster beat its chest, let out a loud roar, and began to fight.
The children screamed.
Zhu Jinxia complained about the time sequence: "Yesterday is back. I saw the things I used when I
was studying here again."
"There's nothing I can do, I'm poor." Shi Xu's tone was relaxed.
“There aren’t even two pieces of meat in the pot.”
"It's good to have something to eat. This is the funding I provided."
Zhu Jinxia recalled the quarrel between Dunzhu and her husband about living expenses, "You pay
for it yourself?"
"What else?" Shi Xu asked, "Can your university's education funds cover hotpot?"
"It's not impossible to find another excuse to report it."
Shi Xu smiled, said nothing, and pointed at the surveillance camera above the classroom.
After a day of class, I realized that there were surveillance cameras everywhere in the school.
"Where do all these surveillance cameras come from?"
"It's installed on top."
"Twenty-four-hour surveillance?"
"Um."
"Monitoring students?"
"Monitor me."
Yu Xiaoshan popped her head out from the side and said, "The principal has fallen into this trap
several times, hahahaha."
Zhu Jinxia is in high spirits, "What do you mean?"
Yu Xiaoshan: "It is stipulated that the principal is not allowed to leave the school during the week.
But one day, we turned on the surveillance camera and found that our principal was not there."
Zhu Jinxia: "Where did he go?"
Yu Xiaoshan: "The child's homework book was gone, so he went to town to get some."
Zhu Jinxia: “Is this not possible?”
"No." Yu Xiaoshan whispered, "We are in an autonomous region, we are xenophobic. He is Han
Chinese, and the rules say he can't leave school, so he can't leave school."
"……and after?"
"Later, he and other principals who had left their posts went to the bureau together and were
locked up in a small dark room to write self-criticisms." Yu Xiaoshan gloated, "Originally, they only
had to write self-criticisms, but guess what?"
Without waiting for Zhu Jinxia to ask further, she said with great joy, "We are both principals, but
we plagiarized each other when writing a self-criticism. When the leaders saw it, they were
furious and fined each of us 500 yuan. Hahahaha!"
Zhu Jinxia tilted her head and touched Shixu's elbow, "You're really not the one who has to copy
the self-review?"
"Who copied it?" Shi Xu said expressionlessly, "Everyone was looking for the template on their
phone, and who would have thought that they all found the same damn template."
Wishing this summer: “Hahahahahahahahaha!”
She was laughing, and the whole classroom broke out into laughter.
When I looked up, I saw a huge gorilla in the movie turning its head to the side, making a circle
with one hand and raising the index finger with the other, simulating a sexual intercourse
posture.
The children made faces and were all very happy.
The teachers exchanged glances, helpless.
Ah Bao came over and muttered, "He's a little devil."
I wish you smile this summer too.
Outside the window, a thin sliver of the moon hung above the treetops, exceptionally bright.
Without the city's haze, it was like a myopic patient putting on glasses, and his vision suddenly
became clear.
Everything here is different from outside.
What you eat is different, what you use is different, everything you see is different.
But when the children laughed, she felt that nothing seemed different. The moon was still the
same moon, and the sky was still the same sky.
At the end of the movie, Yu Xiaoshan and A Bao asked her to go to the toilet together.
This is also rare, after school days, I can still have the experience of going to the toilet in a group.
As she walked out, she could still hear the time sequence being arranged in the classroom -
"Yangjin, you and Ding Zhengenxia will be responsible for sweeping and mopping the floor."
"Shiro, put the table and chairs back in place."
"Kelsang and Monk Tsog are in charge of washing the dishes."
…
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help but ask: "Can you call out all the children's names?"
Yu Xiaoshan and A Bao both shook their heads. "There are more than a hundred people here.
Who can call all of them?"
"That time—"
"He is a special case," Yu Xiaoshan said. "He has only been here for half a year, but he has
memorized all the names of the students in the school. It's amazing."
Ah Bao said: "What's so strange about that? He is a genius."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, "It's only been half a year?"
"Yes," said Bao, "If it weren't for him, the school would be gone."
Yu Xiaoshan interrupted: "In fact, he is not really a proper principal. After all, he doesn't even
have a salary."
On the way to the toilet, Zhu Jinxia was shocked to hear some gossip.
It turns out that Shi Xu is not the principal, at least from a formal perspective, he is nothing.
The principal of Yi Bo Central School is called Uncle Wang. He is over 60 years old and was
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease last year. It is time for him to come back and take over.
Today, Uncle Wang is still the nominal principal of the school, and Shi Xu is just a "temporary
worker".
"Will the Education Bureau allow you to change the principal yourself?"
"This is a Tibetan area, where everything is lacking, especially people. As long as we can teach
normally, the higher-ups will be thankful."
"So he has no salary?"
"Not a dime."
"Where did he get the money?"
"I'm not sure, but his previous job seemed to have a high salary, so he should have some
savings." Yu Xiaoshan thought for a moment, "The principal used to work in the capital. He was a
scientist and a geologist."
the scientist?
I wish you will be speechless for a long time this summer.
Could it be that there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this mountain?
But from a geologist to a mountain primary school principal, it's totally unrelated...
She was very surprised. "Then why did he come back? Even if the old principal was sick, the
higher-ups should send a new principal. Why did he have to come?"
…
The teaching building was not far from the toilet. Coming down from the third floor and walking
around the playground, Yu Xiaoshan and A Bao chatted casually, but it was only enough to
describe an outline, not in detail.
Zhu Jinxia didn't have time to ask for details, the toilet was right in front of him.
Just like before, she rushed in quickly, and was the first to rush out, standing far away under the
old tree waiting.
But this time it doesn't seem so hard.
Her attention was entirely on the topic just now.
Unfortunately, before the two men could say a few words, Shi Xu came out of the teaching
building across the playground and the onlookers dispersed on the spot.
He crossed the playground and stopped in front of Zhu Jinxia, "Do you have classes tomorrow?"
"So soon?" Zhu Jinxia was shocked. "At least attend the class for another week!"
"One week is not enough. Abao has received a transfer order and is ready to leave at any time.
You can listen to him for one more day at most."
…
I wish you sleepless this summer.
Maybe it was the roaring river outside the window that made it hard to fall asleep.
Maybe it was because I had dinner and then went to a banquet, and I felt too full.
Maybe it was because the single bed under me was too narrow and thin, and it creaked every
time I turned over.
Half awake and half asleep, the conversation on the playground was still echoing in my ears.
When she asked why Shixu had to be the successor, Yu Xiaoshan and Abao looked at each other
and said in unison: "Because Uncle Wang raised the principal."
They said that Shi Xu was raised by the old principal and used to study in this school.
“I heard that when he was nine years old, his mother took him to the mountains alone, and no
one knew where they came from.
"About half a year later, his mother suddenly passed away. No one could contact her, and the
school couldn't find his family. It was Uncle Wang who raised him.
"He is amazing, a genius that has never been seen before here, he can learn anything quickly and
understand everything at once.
"He hadn't come back for a few years, and Uncle Wang always told us about him. It was said that
the teachers couldn't teach him, so he read books by himself during class. Later, he went to the
best middle school in the county, skipped a grade, and was selected by the best high school in the
city.
“You know, Brother Xu graduated from Tsinghua University, and before he returned to the
mountains, he was also very good at the Institute of Earth Sciences!
…
Finally, Yu Xiaoshan sighed, "I can only say that after listening to Uncle Wang's stories about this
genius for many years, seeing is believing."
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Why, I am even more powerful than the legend says?"
"It's quite impressive." Yu Xiaoshan said in a cryptic way, "It's quite good at picking."
“…”
"You saw it too. Ah Bao begged for funds to give everyone a farewell dinner, but he only gave us
100, which was not enough to buy meat."
Forget the past.
It is said that Shi Xu had been in school for less than half a year, and his stingy personality
shocked the whole school.
For example, when the school ran out of chalk, he did not buy new ones. Instead, he collected
the remaining chalk heads of the teachers and used his unique "welding" technology to realize
waste utilization.
The same technique also extends to the tip of the pencil.
Zhu Jinxia: "What kind of technology is so awesome?"
Yu Xiaoshan: "No one knows. And I just want to know, is this how science is used?!"
For example, the cafeteria will always prepare more lunch, never less, because students cannot
go hungry.
Shixu had just arrived at the school and had not yet eaten with Dunzhu. At that time, his most
common thing to do was to carry the rice bowl and eat the leftovers after the students had lunch.
Zhu Jinxia: "You mean the food left in the pot that hasn't been given to the students yet?"
Yu Xiaoshan: "No! I mean the leftovers on the students' plates! Real leftovers! He picked at them,
picked out the dirty parts, and took away the clean parts! And ate them just like that!"
“…”
Thinking back to the morning in his dormitory, he ate the rest of her cake very naturally.
I hope this summer will be sure that he can do it.
Another example is sports meeting -
"Do you know how stingy he is? In order to avoid allocating funds, he asked Dunzhu to chop
firewood all night and cut out the baton for the relay race!"
“…”
"What are the prizes for the sports meet? Gems!"
Zhu Jinxia: "Gem?!"
Yu Xiaoshan had a blank expression on her face. “I told you, he was a geologist before, and he
took all the teachers in the school to the riverside in the mountains to pick up stones. He
collected all the rare, precious, and bizarre-looking stones, and deceived the students that they
were treasures, and that after hundreds or thousands of years of weathering, they were
treasures of the universe.”
“…”
Zhu Jinxia: "Does anyone believe it?"
"How come there isn't one?" Yu Xiaoshan sneered, "Some stupid kid ran home holding a stone,
saying he had found a family heirloom."
“…”
After those stingy deeds, Yu Xiaoshan sighed deeply again.
"He is really stingy, but if he hadn't been so stingy, he wouldn't have been able to afford to buy so
many books for everyone."
The school was stretched thin in every aspect, and being able to feed the children was already a
great achievement. It was not until the time came that a small "library" was built.
He bought a large number of books, ranging from astronomy and geography to mathematics and
history, from the four great classics to foreign classics.
He said that the mountains and the outside world are like two different worlds. In a closed
environment, if a window is not opened, children will never know the vastness of the universe
and the breadth of the world.
…
I wish you a restless summer.
She suddenly realized that she came from a vast world, but it was much poorer than she had
imagined.

Chapter 12
I didn’t sleep well the night before, and I yawned repeatedly while attending class the next day.
Having learned from the previous experience, she chose to "skip class".
I didn't skip many classes, just two, one was the math class on time sequence, and the other was
Donzhu's Tibetan class.
She has already realized the strength of the two brothers. Even when a person is in a full spirit, he
cannot resist their hypnosis, let alone when he is sleep deprived?
Among the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best one.
In the afternoon, Zhu Jinxia yawned and sat on the edge of the playground watching the younger
grades have physical education class.
Is it first grade or second grade?
He is too small.
A few girls who were playing shuttlecock saw her, came over shyly, and invited her in their broken
Chinese: "Let's play together!"
Zhu Jinxia waved his hand and said: "I can't play well, you guys play."
The little girl still insisted: "Let's play together!"
Facing those big watery eyes, Zhu Jinxia refused in vain, "...Okay, just don't look down on me."
The children were divided into two groups to see which group kicked more.
I wish I wasn’t very good at playing shuttlecock when I was a student this summer, not to
mention that my legs and feet are rusty now.

In the first round, five kicks were made.

Round two, three.
It can be seen that everyone except her is very good at this activity.
Soon, the team with Zhu Jinxia was left behind.
The little girls who won against her in the game of rock-paper-scissors were overjoyed at first, but
now they were all silent. After talking to each other for a while, they said to her in stiff Chinese:
"We won't take you with us anymore."
Wish this summer: "..."
It can be seen that the school does not offer a course on social etiquette.
While comforting herself that she was a magnanimous person, she sat back in her seat
shamefully and heard a chuckle behind her.
Looking back, I saw a certain principal standing there with a salty look on his face, obviously
seeing everything.
"Why are you everywhere?" Zhu Jinxia said angrily.
"We received a report that someone was not satisfied with sleeping in class and even skipped
class today." Shi Xu asked politely, "Excuse me, do you know who this person is?"
Zhu Jinxia tilted her head, looking confused: "Who is it?"
She looked around and spread her hands, "Anyway, it doesn't matter who it is, it's
understandable. Everyone is afraid of the Haier brothers' hypnosis skills."
“…”
The two looked at each other for a moment. She had a dead pig expression on her face that was
not afraid of boiling water, and Shi Xu smiled.
"I've already escaped." He looked down at his watch and said, "Let's go to town to get our phone
fixed."
Why?
Zhu Jinxia glanced at the nearest surveillance camera in the corridor and asked, "Aren't you afraid
of being arrested and sent to the small dark room to write a self-criticism again?"
"You've already skipped class, so why should I be afraid of writing a self-review?"
"That's right." Zhu Jinxia nodded and followed him. "Every failure is a learning experience. At
least this time I know to check the answers in advance and not copy the same template."
Shi Xu smiled again, stopped and looked at her with bright eyes.
When he looked at her like that, Zhu Jinxia felt nervous, "What's wrong?"
Shixu paused, "Nothing."
He stopped in front of the small building and said, "Bring your cell phone and computer, and a
change of clothes as well."
"Why bring a change of clothes?"
"There's a place to take a bath in town, don't you want to take a bath?"
Zhu Jinxia's eyes lit up, "Wash!" and she turned around and ran into the house like a flash.
Shi Xu smiled, remembering what he hadn't said just now.
——I wish this summer that you are like two different people before and after you get familiar
with someone.
——
The town closest to the school is called Niuzan Town.
"…What town?"
"Niuzan Town."
Niuza Town?
I wish this summer to start laughing just by hearing the name, while the time sequence is
uneventful.
"Isn't it funny? Why aren't you laughing?"
Shi Xu had a blank expression on his face. "If you were like me, who had heard about this town
when he was nine years old, and could still laugh when he heard about it in his thirties, I would
boldly predict that your IQ would be capped at seventy at most, no more."
Nine years old.
Thinking of the gossip he heard last night, Zhu Jinxia was a little distracted.
"When the principal was nine years old, his mother brought him to Yibo Township and left him
behind. The woman went away..."
They were driving a shabby pickup truck. The owner of the truck was a Han Chinese who ran a
nearby repair shop. Everyone called him Lao Li.
The repair shop is less than one kilometer away from the school. After Shi Xu came to school, he
often invited Lao Li to have dinner and chat.
The intention is obvious.
After all, whether the students’ beds were broken or the doors and windows of the dormitory
were damaged, Lao Li could just hammer and nail them and they would be put together for a
while.
Zhu Jinxia sighed: "You are really good at budgeting. I have been making ends meet for another
three years."
Shi Xu glanced sideways: "It's a shame that you can't teach English with such a big mouth."
"So you tricked me into teaching Chinese?" Zhu Jinxia snorted.
Lao Li came to the school to repair his car today, so Shi Xu borrowed his broken truck and took
Zhu Jinxia to town.
“Why don’t you ride your motorcycle?”
"You're asking me?" Shi Xu glanced at the large and small bags at her feet, which contained a
laptop, some spare clothes, and toiletries. "When I asked you to go in and pack your things, I
didn't know you were planning to move."
Zhu Jinxia choked for a while and said, "It's a pity for you to teach mathematics with such a
mouth."
The nearest town to the school is more than an hour's drive away.
Zhu Jinxia didn’t sleep well to begin with and fell into a coma halfway through the journey.
The mountain road was rugged and at a sharp turn, the car was going a little faster and her head
hit the window with a bang. She was unconscious and her eyes were full of tears.
After being stared at by those big tearful eyes for a full half minute, Shi Xu raised his hands in
surrender.
"I'll pay attention next time."
I wish you a happy and fulfilled summer. I closed my eyes and fell asleep in seconds.
Shi Xu listened to her steady breathing and found it a little funny.
They had only known each other for three days, how could she be so confident in him?
And I can’t answer this question this summer.
She is not a person who lacks vigilance. In fact, she has been teaching at the university for several
years and has always kept a distance from both teachers and students.
Apart from greetings, I don't have much interaction with my colleagues.
Maintain email correspondence with students, and do not provide personal contact information
to anyone other than the class representative.
From childhood to adulthood, people who know her often describe her as "distant" and "cold".
But she fell asleep peacefully in the train.
When I woke up again, the car was parked steadily in Niuza Town.
Zhu Jinxia rubbed his eyes and asked, "Are we there yet?"
"arrive."
Shi Xu turned his head to look at her, "Did you bring paper?"
Zhu Jinxia suddenly came to her senses, took out a tissue from her bag, and wiped the corners of
her mouth skillfully.
Shi Xu smiled and said, "Every failure is a learning experience?"
Zhu Jinxia ignored him, opened the car door, picked up her bags and jumped out, "Are you
leaving or not?"
The person behind him followed slowly, "Do you know the way?"
She really stopped, but didn't look at him, and stubbornness was written on the back of her head.
Chronology passed her and said as he led the way, "You were snoring."
I wish this summer to be embarrassed, "You are talking nonsense!"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"I never snore when I sleep!"
"Really?" Shi Xu raised his phone. "I recorded it. Do you want to listen to it?"
Wish this summer: !!!
He looked back, saw her shocked expression, and smiled again.
"Do you want to delete it?"
“Delete it immediately!”
"You can delete it." Shixu said readily, "Just transfer the money first, as hush money."
"Excuse me?" Zhu Jinxia sneered, "Some people are volunteering to teach, while others are
taking advantage of the situation to rob."
"Yes, the world is really going downhill and people's hearts are no longer as they used to be." Shi
Xu smiled lazily.
This made Zhu Jinxia laugh out of anger.
She squinted at him. His T-shirt was washed to a pale color, the edges of his pants were untied,
and his flip-flops were tattered and in a mess.
I guess I haven’t taken care of my hair for a long time, my bangs are almost covering my eyes.
He does have a bit of a gangster-like temperament.
"He is really stingy, but if he hadn't been so stingy, he wouldn't have been able to afford to buy so
many books for everyone."
Yu Xiaoshan’s sigh echoed in my ears.
Zhu Jinxia retracted her gaze and said after a while, "Wait until the phone is fixed."
Shi Xu paused for a moment and looked back at her:?
"I'll give you the hush money when the phone is fixed."
Shi Xu was stunned, "I was joking."
"I know." Zhu Jinxia looked away. "Aren't you going to buy books for the kids? Just consider it as a
gesture of love from me."
She walked past him and went on her own.
Shixu took a moment to react and realized who this gossip about him came from.
The conclusion was quickly drawn: it was either Yu Xiaoshan or Yu Xiaoshan.
The mouth is big enough.
He didn't care, and chased after her slowly, "Hey, Teacher Zhu is a kind person, thank you in
advance."
Zhu Jinxia rolled her eyes when he couldn't see her, and when she teased people, she could even
speak in Beijing dialect.
It is only in these clues that we can vaguely see evidence of his return to the capital.
——
Niuzha Town is not big and there are not many people. It is like an oasis in the uninhabited
desert.
I wish this summer will be like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden.
The hair salon I passed by was full of age, from its signboard to the interior decoration.
The shop had only one large window. An old lady was sitting behind the window. On the wooden
shelf behind her were a wide variety of small commodities.
She saw the snacks she had eaten as a child among them and couldn't help but take a few more
glances.
Until my feet suddenly went weak.
He lowered his head and found his left foot stuck in a suspicious mass.
This is……
Timeline kindly reminds: "Don't doubt it, it's just cow dung."
I wish this summer to quickly pull her feet out and scrape them hard on the curb.
"Fortunately it's not fresh." Shixu said slowly behind him.
She turned around and gave him an angry look in response.
The laughter tended to gradually expand.
It wasn't long before the maker of the cow dung showed up.
Three little yaks were running towards us from a distance with brisk steps.
If there wasn't cow dung on her feet, she would probably have thought the calf was so cute, but
the suspicious smell lingering in her nose dampened her interest in the animal cubs.
Tap, tap, here come the Mavericks.
Tap, tap, the Mavericks are gone.
When they passed by her, they turned their heads sideways, their clear, stupid big eyes were
watery, as if they wanted to suck away her soul.
The sky was blue, as if washed by water, and the sunlight was bright and clear.
Forget it, dog shit luck is luck, but cow shit is not?
——
"Barrel bath".
At the yellowed bathhouse door, the glass window was hazy and there was a red sign pasted
crookedly on it.
After Shixu had communicated with the boss, he turned around and said, "There is an empty
room, go in and take a shower."
"how about you?"
"I'm going to fix something." Shi Xu took her backpack and nodded towards the electrical
appliance shop opposite. "Your cell phone and computer are in there, right?"
"All are here."
"Okay." Shi Xu took the bag and walked a few steps, then remembered something and turned
back to say, "I took a shower thirty-one times, and put it in the account. When your phone is
fixed, give it to me."
“…”
I wish this summer: "Turn, turn, turn!"
I can't kill you.
Shi Xu walked out of the door with his backpack and heard two Tibetan men behind him saying,
"Fair and clean" and "Nice figure."
He frowned and turned around with concern.
Zhu Jinxia was unaware of this. She walked into the room and looked around, feeling a little
disgusted.
The house was very old, with three large wooden barrels in the middle. The owner replaced one
of them with a disposable cover and then turned on the faucet.
“They are all natural hot spring water.”
She nodded.
"Lock the door before washing," the boss reminded again.
Zhu Jinxia nodded again, watched him leave, and locked the door.
Although the environment is not very good, it is still exciting to be able to take a good bath.
She took off all her clothes, and for some reason she sniffed her armpits, and almost sent herself
away.
This wash took more than half an hour.
After she had packed up and opened the door, she was suddenly startled to see a person
standing outside and took two steps back.
The man heard the noise and turned around, "Are you done washing?"
She then realized it was the timing.
He carried her backpack and stood there like a door god.
"Is the thing fixed?" Zhu Jinxia was surprised. "So fast?"
"It hasn't been repaired yet." Shi Xu glanced in the direction of the hall, "There are too many
people."
Zhu Jinxia was startled and followed him out of the corridor and into the hall. Only then did she
realize that everyone was staring at her.
…Habit becomes second nature. After seeing brown skin everywhere for several days, she even
forgot that she was an outsider.
Shi Xu turned around and glanced at her wet hair. "Don't need to blow dry it?"
"Just do it naturally."
"The sun is about to set." He looked up at the sky. "The temperature drops quickly in the
mountains."
I wish you can put on your coat and hood this summer, "It's okay, this will do."
He didn't comment and took her to the restaurant next door to sit down, "You go and see what to
eat first, I'll go fix something across the street."
Zhu Jinxia sat down. There was no menu in the restaurant, but there were a lot of vegetables at
the door. The boss told us to order whatever we liked.
Everything is new and interesting.
She was identifying those green vegetables that she didn't recognize, probably wild vegetables
from the mountains. She couldn't name them, so she decided to wait until the time came to
order some.
I raised my eyes to look at the shop across the street. Shi Xu was talking to the owner skillfully.
After a while, another yak ran past on the street with the sound of footsteps.
Finally he returned to the restaurant, "What's your order?"
Zhu Jinxia shook her head and said, "Not yet."
Shi Xu glanced at him, and understood after a moment, "Don't you know the dish?"
“…”
Shi Xu smiled, turned around and ordered the dishes in Tibetan. Zhu Jin Xia asked him what he
ordered, and he said they would know when the dishes were served.
She sneered: "He just plays tricks."
"It can only fool those who are lazy and don't know the difference between grains."
“…”
It seems like the harmony between the two of them only lasts three seconds, and they always
return to the tense confrontation.
Like countless times before, Zhu Jinxia glared at him, but strangely, she didn't feel angry at all.
Maybe he drove all the way just to take her to take a shower and fix the appliances.
Maybe it was because he stayed silent and waited outside the door while she took a shower.
Watching Shi Xu wolfing down a large bowl of rice with toppings, Zhu Jinxia thought, he is indeed
a fierce mountain bandit who has no idea what politeness is. As he turned around, he said, "Boss,
another bowl of rice with toppings!"
Who knows the timing: “No need.”
His eyes fell on her plate, and Zhu Jinxia immediately had a bad feeling.
as expected--
Shi Xu calmly took away her plate. "Isn't there anything left?"
“…”
She just knew it!
Zhu Jinxia was quick to grab her plate and said, "This meal is on me, please order as much as you
want, and you don't have to eat the leftovers."
"It's such a shame to waste it." Shi Xu acted like a role model at this time, "Cherishing food is a
traditional virtue of the Chinese nation."
Wish this summer: "..."
I wish this summer despair. She knew that Shixu had no bad intentions and did not lean towards
ambiguity at all.
But she couldn't accept Shi Xu eating the rest of her meal.
Finally, he had to pick up the chopsticks again and said, "I'll eat it! Can't I eat it all?"
After taking a big mouthful of rice, she turned around vaguely and shouted angrily: "Boss, give
him another bowl of rice with toppings!"
Damn the timing. If this pattern continues, she will still be a thin girl when she enters the
mountains, and she will probably weigh at least 200 pounds when she comes out.
Chapter 13
When we came out of the restaurant, the sun had already set.
Touching his round belly, Zhu Jinxia burped in a very ungraceful way.
Shi Xu laughed at her: "Why are you like a pregnant woman?"
"Who can I blame?" Zhu Jinxia glared at him, feeling extremely regretful.
When she passed by the hair salon again, she looked at the reflective glass door and was startled
by the woman inside.
...Who is this?
Her long hair was blown up by the mountain breeze, making her look like a lion. Her face was as
white as plain noodles in clear soup, and her "five-month pregnant" belly was vaguely visible
under her loose clothes.
There is no woman who doesn't love beauty, and this is especially true for Zhu Jinxia, a "beauty"
who has been praised since childhood.
Who could have thought that just two days after entering the mountains, she would go in the
direction of the cavemen and never come back?
Looking at the time sequence on the side, he is leisurely like an old man, completely unaware
that his hair is too long and his clothes are tattered.
It must be his aura of not caring about others that has affected her as well!
But along the way, he was very popular. Whether it was the middle-aged lady working in the fruit
shop or the young Tibetan girl working in the vegetable store, they all favored him.
When Shi Sequence was purchasing food, Zhu Jinxia was watching his performance from the side.
He greeted the landlady in Tibetan, smiling gently with eyes full of spring. He didn't know what
he said, but the landlady started stuffing things into his bag.
Buy vegetables and get potatoes for free.
Buy a tomato and get a cucumber for free.
The same thing happened in the fruit shop. He put his hands in his pockets and asked the price of
each fruit. The little girl stuffed them into his hands one by one and said, "Try it. It's sweet."
"The figs were just picked this morning. They are very fresh."
"There are three kinds of apples. This one is the sweetest, and the smaller one is sweet and
sour..."
…
Tsk.
Zhu Jinxia was watching from the side and could only sigh that these days, morals have gone
downhill, people’s hearts have changed, and one can get away with it just by relying on one’s
looks.
Shixu, whose heart has changed, took the crisp peach that the little girl stuffed in, broke it into
two pieces, turned around and handed one to Zhu Jinxia, "Try it."
I wish this summer would not join him in the same evil ways and said coldly, "I'm full, I can't eat
any more."
"This won't take up too much space." He put the peach in her hand and turned to bargain with
the girl, "Give me a discount so I can take more back."
The tone could be as gentle as it could be.
The girl said the price couldn't be any lower, it was already the lowest price.
Shi Xu stopped bargaining and just sighed when the other party greeted him. He mentioned that
the roof of the teaching building leaked last month and the boiler in the cafeteria broke down
this month and it cost a lot of money to replace it.
Before, she was smiling with spring in her eyes, but now she is sighing with sorrow.
The little girl's emotions were fully aroused, and finally, without saying a word, she carried out
two baskets of apples from the inner room.
"These looked bad, so my dad picked them out for us to eat. Even though they don't look good
and some are cracked, they all taste good." She pushed the basket towards Shixu and said, "All of
these are for you, no charge."
Wish this summer: "..."
Is this possible?
The onlookers' gaze shifted from the time sequence to the little girl, and then from the little girl
back to the time sequence.
In the end, after trying to decline the offer in vain, I had to "reluctantly" accept the offer.
When coming out of the fruit shop, there were so many things that Shi Xu carried several woven
bags in one hand, and the muscular lines of his forearms were clearly visible.
"You're just going to fight with nothing, why don't you help me share some of the burden?"
Zhu Jinxia looked at the girl behind him who was reluctant to go back to the store and said, "Am I
not helping you? You look more manly if you carry it by yourself."
“…”
Shi Xu smiled and forced a few lighter bags into her hands, "Everyone who sees it gets a share."
Zhu Jinxia sighed: "Just do it, and you can even come up with a unique skill."
The time sequence does not deny it, but just lazily says: "Life forces me, life forces me."
He sounded quite proud.
This guy's face is thicker than the city wall.
The cell phone and computer couldn't be repaired so quickly, so Shixu said to leave them in the
shop for repair and come back to pick them up on the weekend.
He checked the time and went to the largest convenience supermarket in town, saying he wanted
to buy exercise books and red pens. The pile of fruits and vegetables was right in front of the
supermarket.
"You wait here for me and watch the stuff."
I wish you a nod this summer.
After they had gone in, he turned back and reminded them worriedly, "Stay here and don't move.
Don't run around. Call me if anything happens."
"knew!"
It’s an occupational disease. After being a principal for so long, everyone looks like an elementary
school student to me.
While waiting for the time, I wish this summer to be bored and look at the department stores in
the windows.
On the shelves by the window are paper and cleaning products, ranging from toilet paper to
toiletries, but the brands are all unfamiliar, unlike the supermarkets in the city.
She suddenly remembered that the sanitary products she brought with her were probably lost
when she fell into the river, so she needed to replenish them.
So I concentrated on looking for sanitary napkins on the shelves.
...I found it, but it was different from what I imagined.
Zhu Jinxia turned her head 180 degrees to the left and 180 degrees to the right for a long time to
make sure that she was not seeing things - in the corner at the bottom of the shelf, the pink
packaging bag indeed said, Eight Dimensions of Space.
“…”
What a talented person.
It's such a copycat, who the hell would dare to use it.
After searching for a long time, I found that there was only this one brand of sanitary napkins on
the shelves. Is this copycat manufacturer still monopolizing the market in the mountains?
She was wondering whether she should go in and look on other shelves when her old cell phone
in her coat pocket suddenly vibrated.
I lowered my head and was stunned.
…A call from Acropolis.
This was the first time he came to me on his own initiative since the unpleasant encounter at the
hospital.
I wish this summer to stare at the screen in a daze for a moment, and when I look up again, the
figure of time is still moving between the shelves.
She dropped the fruits and vegetables, walked quickly to the other side of the road, and
answered the phone.
"……Hello."
“…”
She called again, but Weicheng still didn't speak. She could vaguely hear heavy breathing from
the other end of the line.
Night fell, and the wind was strong in the mountains. The whistling sound passed by her ears, and
she couldn't tell whether it was her illusion.
The silence stretched on indefinitely, and finally Acropolis spoke.
"Is it that serious? You hid in the mountains to avoid me?"
They had known each other for eight years and were too familiar with each other. As soon as he
opened his mouth, she could tell he was drunk.
"Have you drunk too much?" The hand holding the phone tightened slightly.
"Why, now you still care whether I drink too much or not?"
I wish you didn’t speak this summer.
Under the influence of alcohol, Weicheng started to get aggressive and asked her why she had to
get a divorce.
As the mountain wind howled, Zhu Jinxia raised her head and looked at the shadows of the
mountains.
"Because when the time came, I realized I couldn't cooperate any more."
"Then what were you doing?" Weicheng raised his voice. "You didn't tell me when we agreed to
get the marriage certificate, you didn't tell me when we booked the wedding banquet, you didn't
tell me when we found a wedding planner, you didn't tell me when we informed our relatives and
friends, and now everyone knows about it. Now you say you don't want to get married, so you
don't?"
He was in high spirits and extremely excited.
"Do you know that my parents are in tears all day long? Everyone knows that we are getting
married. With just one word from you, they dare not even leave the house, for fear of being
laughed at when they go out. They ask everyone about the marriage..."
Under the influence of alcohol, his anger grew even stronger.
Weicheng was a man of few words, and his anger had been accumulating for a long time, and
now it suddenly erupted.
Zhu Jinxia said nothing, and only asked softly at the end.
"So Weicheng, what are you angry about? Is it because your parents have been humiliated and
are too embarrassed to face people, or is it because my grandmother is too old to bear the blow,
or is it because I broke off the engagement and you are treated as a joke and looked down upon
by the people around you?"
Acropolis: "What's the difference? Because of you, no one can hold their heads up!"
That's the problem.
Zhu Jinxia closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she asked, "Weicheng, don't you
think that we have been living for others for so many years?"
In the first many years, Zhu Jinxia's life was smooth sailing, even though it was not perfect - she
was raised by her grandmother and lacked parental involvement in her life - but this became a
motivation, making her more diligent. As a result, she had excellent grades since childhood and
became the "other people's child" in the eyes of her peers.
Her grandmother was a strong-willed old lady who was very strict with her. She knew a hundred
words at the age of three, recited Tang poems at the age of four, learned to swim and ride a bike
at the age of five, went to the Cultural Palace on weekends, and attended cram school during the
winter and summer vacations, rain or shine.
The sentence my grandmother often said was, "Jinxia, without your parents by your side, you can
only rely on yourself. Studying is your only way out. You must make a name for yourself!"
In that era when state-owned enterprises were still thriving, every household knew each other
and there were no secrets in the family quarters.
Zhu Jinxia, who has no parents, was once hurt by the careless words of children. At that time, her
grandmother said this.
Her grandmother also said this when the adults looked at her with pity.
When she failed the exam and was punished to kneel until she couldn't stand up, her
grandmother said this while hugging her with tears in her eyes.
"You must stand out."
Every word and sentence is powerful.
These words were like words tattooed by the mother-in-law, engraved on Zhu Jinxia's back and
melted into her bones and blood.
So when she was in school, she studied hard, never focused on one subject, and tried her best to
win the favor of every subject teacher.
She was easily ostracized by her peers for trying too hard, but in order not to worry her
grandmother, she actively integrated into the group. In high school, the term "rotten girl" had just
become popular, and she read every popular BL novel as if completing a task, and successfully got
along with the girls. The boys also regarded her as a good brother because she could name NBA
players like the back of her hand and talk about the Premier League and the World Cup.
Her Chinese teacher recommended her to participate in an essay competition, and she gave it
her all.
Her physics teacher asked her to take part in a competition, so she worked on the questions like
crazy, and eventually she actually won a place.
…
Later, she was successfully admitted to graduate school at Mianshui University, where she
continued to receive national awards.
Her supervisor said it would be a pity if she didn't pursue a doctorate, so she studied hard for
another three years and got her doctorate.
Her grandmother said that girls should enter the system and find a stable job, and being a
teacher would be a good choice, so she worked hard to stay in school to teach.
She pushed forward and worked hard according to everyone's expectations at every stage of her
life, including her marriage to Acropolis.
It’s not that there is no love between them, or rather, there was.
She still remembers the scene of their meeting in her junior year. She stayed up all night to finish
her thesis and was dragged by her good friend to the auditorium to watch a drama with
disheveled hair and a dirty face, but she fell asleep in the middle.
When I woke up again, I found myself resting my head on someone's shoulder.
She was startled, and when she looked up, she saw a boy sitting next to her. In the flickering light
and shadow, he lowered his head, rubbed his stiff shoulders, and asked in a low voice: "Are you
awake?"
I wish this summer to be very embarrassed and apologize repeatedly.
He waved his hands, smiled shyly, and said it was okay. He looked at the bruises under her eyes
and said, "Stay up all night to write a paper?"
She was startled, "How do you know?"
"A famous academic genius, instead of staying up late to write papers, is he staying up late to play
games like us mortals?" He still looked like a teenager when he smiled. "I'm from Class 3, my
name is Weicheng."
…
During those routine years, the Acropolis brought an unexpected surge. I wish this summer will
welcome the long-awaited girlish feelings, as well as the rebellion that has never occurred during
adolescence.
Of course, no one is optimistic about it. One is a top student who always tops the class, and the
other is a poor student who skips classes to play games.
My grandmother was particularly opposed.
Love is just a little bit of affection. If you let it grow freely, it may die out by itself. But once you
oppose it, it will rise up from the ground and quickly grow into a towering tree.
It was not until the end that Zhu Jinxia realized that when everyone opposed them being
together, it proved that the two were really not suitable, and it was visibly inappropriate.
But she realized it too late, and when she woke up, she had already gritted her teeth and
persevered for many years.
During those years, because she refused to admit that she was wrong, she pushed Weicheng to
work hard like a child, but he was born in a wealthy and healthy family, and like most men, he
matured later than women of the same age. So she suffered, and he suffered too.
When he graduated, Weicheng had to take a make-up exam for a subject, which was,
unfortunately, English Literature History. If it were Zhu Jinxia, she could have taken the exam
without preparation, but Weicheng had only attended a few classes, and was busy with the
canyon, so she couldn't catch up even if she tried to cram.
In order to help him get his diploma, Zhu Jinxia, who never asked for help from others, went to
the dean to plead for him. After being looked up to by others for four years, she finally had to
bow her head for Weicheng.
After graduation, Weicheng couldn't find a job. First, he was shy and not good at speaking.
Second, he would give up easily when faced with difficulties. Finally, Zhu Jinxia, who was
admitted to graduate school, helped him prepare his resume, find recruitment information, and
accompany him to interviews.
Later, Weicheng worked as a translator abroad for a long time. In order to end the long-distance
relationship, Zhu Jinxia suggested that he return to China.
But Weicheng, who resigned and came back, had high expectations but low skills, and remained
unemployed at home for two years.
During those two years, Zhu Jinxia supplemented the family income by herself, took out a loan to
buy a house by herself, and supported two people by herself, and she took root in this city.
Her grandmother blamed her for marrying a useless man.
Weicheng's parents blamed her for not letting him take a good job and forcing him to return
home. Now, he can no longer find a better job.
Zhu Jinxia did talk to Weicheng, but he hadn't worked for a long time and his former classmates
spread the rumor that he was a gigolo. His self-esteem was hurt and he got angry whenever they
talked and they went into a cold war several times.
Even at that time, Zhu Jinxia never gave up.
She didn't know how she survived those two years. Fortunately, with the help of her family,
Weicheng finally found a decent job.
In the blink of an eye, they will be 29 years old. Most of the people around them have married
and had children, and their elders have begun to urge them to enter the next stage of life.
It's all right.
As always, for the expectations of those around me, I wish to set out towards new goals this
summer.
While she was busy with her scientific research paper at hand, she was also preparing for the
wedding step by step. Until one night last winter, when she returned to the bedroom after
finishing her paper, she found that Acropolis had not turned on the air conditioner and had
forgotten to leave an electric blanket for her.
He was soundly sleeping. She was absent-minded for a moment, then walked to the living room
and looked around.
The days seemed to have passed for a long time, yet seemed to have stayed where they were.
The computer screen in the study was still on. Weicheng was keen on playing games and stayed
here every night, even leaving the computer on when he slept.
The dining table is piled with lunch boxes. Counting the days, the auntie will come to clean the
table tomorrow. This pile of takeout has been there for at least a week.
I opened the refrigerator and found no fresh vegetables, only Coke and Sprite. There was only a
box of frozen meat in the freezer, which was produced half a year ago.
Zhu Jinxia held the box of frozen meat and stood there in silence for a long time.
She applied for a national project at the beginning of the year and has been busy with her thesis
for the past six months. She couldn't even remember any communication she had with Acropolis
during this period.
What else did they talk about besides the wedding?
As far as I can remember, there seems to be no other conversation except "I'm at work", "I'm
back", and "I've eaten in the cafeteria".
The kitchen has become a decoration and is never used.
When we finally get out on the weekend, it's just a routine trip. We go to the shopping mall near
our home, watch a movie and have dinner. After returning home, we "part ways", one sits in the
study to play computer, and the other goes into the guest room to write a paper.
Acropolis is very noisy when playing games with friends, so I hope you will choose to avoid it this
summer.
So the days passed one by one -
When she got up for work, he was already out.
He went to bed, but she was still staying up late looking up literature.
Not to mention sex life, they don’t even have a life anymore.
That day, Zhu Jinxia threw away the frozen meat in her hand, walked back to the living room, and
stopped in front of the display cabinet.
There was a calendar on the cabinet, the date was still more than four months ago, and no one
had torn it off. Just like their relationship, it was also frozen in a certain moment.
Another half month passed like this, and there was still no improvement.
It's not that I haven't tried to change this lifestyle. Zhu Jinxia took the initiative to invite Weicheng
to listen to a drama, but Weicheng was not interested.
While watching a movie together, Acropolis fell asleep in the cinema.
She suggested cooking hotpot at home on the weekend, and Weicheng was quite happy to
accept the suggestion. However, when the pot was bubbling and the fragrance filled the room,
she wanted to say something, but the man opposite her was watching short videos on his mobile
phone, laughing at the funny videos of cats and dogs.
Zhu Jinxia paused and said, "What are you looking at? Why are you so happy?"
Acropolis turned the screen towards her, "This dog is really funny."
If she were in someone else's shoes, Zhu Jinxia might find it funny, but at the moment she
couldn't laugh. She tried to find some fun in the noisy BGM, but she couldn't even pull the
corners of her mouth to smile.
The meal was tasteless and Acropolis was unaware of it.
After taking a shower that night, Zhu Jinxia took a deep breath in front of the mirror, used the
newly bought body lotion, changed into black lace pajamas, and knocked on the study door.
"Go to bed early today." She was a little nervous, clearing her throat, sucking in her stomach and
sticking out her chest... showing off her charm was not her strong point.
As it turned out, Weicheng was playing a game with his friends. He didn't even turn his head or
even glance to the side.
"The last one." He replied casually.
As it turns out, the "last handful" is usually the "last billion handfuls". Zhu Jinxia waited until she
fell asleep, only to be awakened by the rustling sound of someone going to bed beside her.
"Did it wake you up?"
Perhaps because he played the last hand very smoothly, Weicheng still had a hearty smile on his
face. He tucked in the quilt for Zhu Jinxia as if to please her, and did not notice that there was a
rare invitation hidden under the tightly-seamed quilt.
In the darkness, Zhu Jinxia's heart slowly grew colder, but she never gave up easily. After careful
consideration, she made one last attempt.
She took Weicheng's hand and gently placed it on her chest.
…
Unfortunately, the final effort also ended in failure, and this was not Acropolis' fault, but her
problem.
This body from beginning to end is like a dried-up spring in the desert. No matter how people try
to draw water from it, not a single trace of spring can flow out.
Weicheng was not as persistent as she was. With the good attitude that nothing is difficult in the
world as long as you are willing to give up, he turned over and lay down, and comforted her: "It's
okay, I guess you are too tired recently. Have a good sleep and come back tomorrow."
Soon, snoring broke out, leaving her alone sleepless.
When people suffer from insomnia, they tend to think.
Weicheng knew nothing about this. As he went about his work in his unit and Summoner's Rift,
he was unaware that Zhu Jinxia's mind had already gone from spring to winter and gone through
the four seasons.
Half a month later, Zhu Jinxia stood at the door of the study and said, "Weicheng, I don't want to
get married anymore."
At this moment, there is less than half a year left until the wedding banquet.
Weicheng's hand holding the mouse paused for a moment, and the screen turned gray.
He took off his headphones and turned around: "Hey?"
Meeting Zhu Jinxia's calm gaze, Weicheng slid back and half-stuck out of the gaming chair,
"What's wrong? I just finished writing my thesis, and you're already making trouble for me..."
An attitude that is half helpless and half willing to keep the peace.
"Okay, okay, let's go to bed after this game."
"I'm serious." Zhu Jinxia looked at him quietly, her eyes clearly divided into black and white,
without any smile or anger, "Weicheng, let's get a divorce."
That's what happened.

Chapter 14
One person cannot have a quarrel.
Faced with Zhu Jinxia's calmness from beginning to end, Weicheng was powerless, like a punch
on cotton.
The rainstorm stopped suddenly, and finally both sides of the phone fell into silence.
I don’t know how long it was, so long that Zhu Jinxia thought Weicheng had already hung up the
phone, only then did she hear a very light sentence.
"Zhu Jinxia, do you have someone else in your heart?"
"No." Zhu Jinxia walked slowly along the road with mechanical steps.
At first there was a soft sob on the other end of the phone, like a sob stuck in the throat. Zhu
Jinxia thought she had heard it wrong, until it turned into an uncontrollable cry, heavy and
depressing.
"Then why did you change your mind?"
“…”
"We agreed to be together forever, and to have a child when we turned 30. Why did you change
your mind?"
The man burst into tears.
It's like being hit by a thunderbolt. I hope this summer will stay where it is.
The wind came from all directions, penetrating into sleeves and collars, penetrating every hole.
She raised her hand and wiped her face, "Weicheng, do you remember the last time you cried
like this?"
Weicheng didn't say anything, but his crying gradually became weaker.
She knew he remembered.
"The last time you cried was in senior year. We had a big fight because you had to make up your
English History exam."
“…”
"I asked you to go to the teacher to beg for mercy, but you refused. You said you are not me and
your grades are not good, so why should the teacher give you this face?"
“…”
"If you fail the make-up exam, you won't get your diploma, and without a diploma you won't be
able to sign a job. I kept forcing you to go find the teacher, but you refused. In the end, you cried
and said we were breaking up... At that time, you were just like you are now."
Weicheng didn't know why she brought up the past again.
"Zhu Jinxia, why bother?" He laughed at himself, "I'm embarrassed enough already."
Zhu Jinxia paused for a moment and then continued speaking.
"I went to see Dean Zeng and asked him to help me pass the exam. He said that as long as I filled
in the test paper, he would give me the score. He also asked me which school I had applied to,
whether I had received a freshman scholarship, what I wanted to do in the future, and what
specific research direction I wanted to pursue...
"Finally, he suddenly asked me with a smile, Zhu Jinxia, who is this Weicheng classmate to you? Is
he worthy of you coming to me specially for begging?
"I was talking freely, but at that moment I was speechless.
"Zeng Yuan laughed and said he was your boyfriend, right?"
It had been eight years and Zhu Jinxia had never mentioned it. It was not until today, eight years
later, that she recalled those forgotten details.
It turns out they are still vivid in my mind.
"It's strange, isn't it? On the way to the office, I was busy thinking of my words. When I was
talking to Dean Zeng, I was busy expressing my gratitude. When he finally asked me who I was, I
suddenly felt ashamed."
She looked up at the gloomy sky and smiled.
"In fact, I realized that we were not suitable for each other as early as that time, but I didn't want
to admit it. It seemed that as long as I admitted it, I would lose."
Weicheng was annoyed: "Zhu Jinxia, it happened many years ago, is there any point in bringing
up the past?"
"I'm not bringing up the past."
"Then why are you saying this?"
After a long silence, Zhu Jinxia asked, "Weicheng, have you been happy these years?"
"What's there to be unhappy about?" He stopped her from talking in advance, "Don't bring up
those unhappy times. Life is like this. How can anyone have everything go smoothly?"
"But you could be happier."
"You know again?"
"Whether you admit it or not," Zhu Jinxia said, "we can both live more easily. I'll do mine and
you'll do yours. Why do we have to force ourselves together so that I can't even curl up and you
can't even lie flat?"
“…”
At the end of the call, Weicheng was furious again: "After all your talk, you still want to say that I
am not worthy of you!"
And then the same old three.
You agreed to be with me, no one forced you.
You just think that my income is not as high as yours, and that's because you asked me to return
home.
You agreed to get married, and you are the one who broke off the engagement. It is wrong of you
to let two families pay for your change of mind.
Once again, Acropolis claimed the moral high ground and morale was boosted.
Zhu Jinxia felt a burst of laughter in her tiredness. What was wrong with her that she talked to a
drunk man for so long?
As Acropolis was pursuing victory, she hung up the phone and was about to turn around when
she suddenly felt a weight on her shoulders.
She was startled and turned around to see a big man behind her. He was wearing a Tibetan robe,
had dark skin, and showed yellow teeth when he smiled.
He patted her shoulder and said something she couldn't understand.
"what are you doing?"
I wish you a continuous retreat this summer.
Looking around, she realized belatedly that she was already far away from the supermarket.
I originally just wanted to walk a little further away to answer the phone, but I ended up walking
further away unconsciously.
As night fell, there were few people on the street.
The shops along the street were originally only open sporadically, and now most of them were
closed. The nearest store with lights on was dozens of meters away.
The big man spoke a language she couldn't understand, his breath reeked of alcohol, and his eyes
were wandering.
Zhu Jinxia saw that the situation was not good and turned around and ran, but she didn't expect
that although the other party was drunk, he was still agile.
Zhu Jinxia was forced to stop as her hair was grabbed by someone, and then her arm was
grabbed tightly.
A foul smell came into my nose, a mixture of alcohol and sour smell, which was nauseating.
Zhu Jinxia struggled and called for help. She finally pulled her hair out, but someone hugged her
waist again.
She scratched him shamelessly and kicked him hard. After who knows how many times, she
finally kicked the man's vitals. He heard a muffled groan in his ears and his waist loosened.
She ran desperately towards the supermarket.
——
Shi Xu walked out from behind the shelf, carrying two full baskets of things in his hands. He was
about to check out when he looked outside the door.
...Where are the people?
He put the shopping basket on the checkout counter and walked quickly to the door.
The fruits and vegetables under the steps are still there, but the person in charge of looking after
them is nowhere to be found.
"Happy summer?"
I shouted a few times, but there was no response.
There is only one main road in the town. Looking left and right, there seems to be people at one
end of the road, but the facilities in the town are old and backward. At night, there are only a few
street lights left, and most areas are dark.
I didn't see it clearly at first, until I realized that the black shadow was not one person, but two
people, my heart stopped beating.
…
The supermarket owner was shocked. He recognized Shi Xu and knew that this was the principal
of the central school. He thought that a big customer had come, but why did he act as if he had
seen a ghost and ran away without even paying the bill?
If you don’t want the thing, just don’t want it. The key is that he didn’t force it on him, so why are
you running away?
He shouted from behind: "Hey, Principal, don't you want the things anymore?"
Shixu didn't answer. In fact, he even forgot to breathe.
From a distance of about a hundred meters, he heard Zhu Jinxia's cry for help, as shrill as a
plucked chicken.
He ran desperately and finally caught her halfway.
There was a drunk man following her, running and shouting in Tibetan.
Zhu Jinxia fell in front of him with her pee and shit all over her body. He held her up and asked,
"Are you okay?"
"...It's okay." Zhu Jinxia fell to the ground. When she heard his voice, her pounding heart finally
settled down. She turned back to look at the drunk and subconsciously asked, "What did he say?"
“…”
It's already this time, and this is what she cares about?
Shi Xu loosened his grip and said coldly, "He said come on, have fun."
People on the ground: “…”
In a blink of an eye, the drunk man ran closer, and he jumped over Zhu Jinxia's body without
looking away, blocking her way.
He switched languages, speaking words she couldn't understand while forcibly pulling the drunk
man away.
As he led the man away, he called out twice. Soon, several men walked out of several open shops
and surrounded the drunk with him.
Shixu was born with sharp eyebrows and deep facial features. He was fine when he was lazy on
weekdays, but now he has stopped smiling and frowned, giving off an aura that makes people
stay away from him, which makes him look like he is not a good person.
...Just looking at the posture, it looks like some bandit leader is bullying the weak with his
followers.
Those who made phone calls made phone calls, those who looked at the person looked at the
person, and the locals took over to deal with the drunkard.
Shi Xu walked out of the crowd and unexpectedly found Zhu Jin Xia still sitting on the ground.
"Are you hurt?" My heart was in knots again.
"No."
She sat on the ground with her hair disheveled and her head lowered, and her expression could
not be seen clearly.
During the negotiation, the drunk said he didn't touch her, so he was relieved. But now looking at
her like this, it seems that it's not the case...
Shi Xu clenched his fists and turned back to look at the drunk, "Did he touch you?"
"No."
"..." He turned around again, "Then why are you sitting on the ground? Did you sprain your
ankle?"
"No." Zhu Jinxia did not take his hand. She got up by herself and turned to walk towards the
supermarket.
Judging from the way she walked, there was indeed nothing wrong.
Shi Xu followed, "Where are you going?"
"Back to school."
Zhu Jinxia didn't look back and answered in a low voice as she walked.
Shi Xu frowned, "Zhu Jinxia, are you giving me a cold shoulder?"
Thinking of her shrill scream just now, he was still afraid, but in the end she still said calmly: "No."
Timing is also coming.
He walked forward and grabbed the woman's arm. "Did I ever tell you to stay where you are and
not go anywhere—"
The words froze in his mouth before he could finish them.
Zhu Jinxia, who was pulled back by him forcefully, now had tears on her face.
Shi Xu was stunned and suddenly let go.
The next second, the woman turned her back again and wiped her face roughly.
A long time passed.
"...What's wrong with you?" Shixu's voice suddenly became lighter in volume, and it was no
longer the same level as before. "Are you scared?"
No one noticed that although he was asking the other person if he was scared, it was actually him
who looked like a frightened pony.
There's no way, time has never seen a woman's tears.
He carefully examined her from a distance and found a scratch on Zhu Jinxia's cheek, probably
caused by a drunk during a conflict.
Her skin is as white as tofu, and any scratches are particularly obvious.
But no matter how obvious it is, it's just a scratch. Is it necessary to cry like this... ?
Shi Xu wanted to say something, but those red and swollen eyes prevented him from saying
anything harsh.
He concentrated for a moment, looked around, and said, "Come with me."
Leading her down the street and stopping behind a closed door, he began banging on it.
"Open the door."
Bang Bang——
"Aunt Fang, I'm Shixu."
Bang, bang, bang——
"Aunt Fang!"
The door was sealed with vertical wooden strips, very old-fashioned.
The old man's voice came from inside the door: "Stinky boy, I'm going to bed. If you have
anything to say, tell me tomorrow!"
The sequence paused, and the door was slammed again.
He said, "Aunt Fang, open the door. Human life is at stake."
Ten minutes later, she got up from the bed, put on her clothes, and moved the wooden sticks one
by one. Then, putting on her reading glasses, she carefully held up Zhu Jinxia's face under the dim
light and carefully observed the light red scratch that was only the length of a fingernail and as
thin as a needle. Without her glasses, she could not find it. Then she picked up the crutch beside
her and turned back to hit Shixu with it again and again.
"Is this a matter of life and death?"
“This is a matter of life and death???”
"You lie without thinking, where's my knife? I'll show you what it means to be at the mercy of
human life!"

Chapter 15
When someone woke him up in the middle of the night, Aunt Fang picked up her cane and
started beating him.
"It's just a trivial matter, but you're telling me that human lives are at stake."
Shi Xu dodged and explained: "No, she was crying!"
"Don't run away if you dare. In less than five seconds, I will make you cry too."
Shi Xu was agile, but the room was small and he couldn't dodge twice. He was hit by the stick
anyway, right on his arm.
He hissed, "Aunt Fang, why are you so unreasonable!"
Aunt Fang put down her cane and said, "I am the truth!"
There was a lot of chaos and Zhu Jinxia's sad mood was gone. Seeing Shixu being beaten, her
heart tightened and she quickly stood in front of him.
Pulled aside by timing.
"fine."
She looked at Shixu's arm, "Where did it hit?"
"No."
“I heard the sound!”
Zhu Jinxia regretted it. If she hadn't cried, he wouldn't have come to ask for help. This old lady is
really unreasonable and actually hit someone!
Shi Xu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and hurriedly explained that this was Aunt Fang's
temper. Even though she swung the cane like a serious person, it was just a show, and it didn't
hurt at all when it hit her body.
Aunt Fang was not happy. "It doesn't hurt? Then why don't you give it another try?"
She spoke harshly, but with a hint of amusement in her eyes, she looked at the two of them with
interest.
Something is happening.
Zhu Jinxia let go of Shixu's arm and turned around, "If you still have energy, come at me, don't hit
him."
There was anger in his words.
Shi Xu was slightly stunned, staring at the back of the head in front of him.
The woman was not short, but she was still a head shorter than him. She had been bullied by a
homeless man not long ago and was crying bitterly, but now she looked like she was protecting
her child.
Her back was to him, so his face couldn't be seen from that angle. All he could see was her two
pointed ears, small, round and bright red, peeking out from her loose hair.
It seems that he is very angry.
"Teacher Zhu." Shi Xu wanted to laugh, but the teasing words were on the tip of his tongue but
he didn't say them out loud.
He sneered. It was rare for him to address her in such a serious manner.
Perhaps it was because she was too serious, and her expression as if facing a great enemy made
him give up his teasing intention.
"Don't worry, Aunt Fang won't be really angry with me." Shi Xu pushed her to sit on the bench.
"She watched me grow up. How could she bear to hit me?"
As he said this, he turned around to confirm, "Right, Aunt Fang?"
Aunt Fang: “It’s bullshit.”
Regardless of whether Aunt Fang cooperates or not, Shi Xu will leave the person with her and
clean up the mess himself.
The drunkard had to be dealt with, the goods in the convenience store had to be checked out,
there was also the pile of fruits and vegetables at the entrance of the supermarket, and the
teachers at school were eagerly waiting for him to bring back next week's food rations.
As time went by, the atmosphere became a bit awkward.
The two of them sat opposite each other on either side of the octagonal table. Aunt Fang looked
at Zhu Jinxia, and Zhu Jinxia looked at her nose and her heart, pretending to observe the
surrounding environment.
This is a pharmacy, and like the other shops along the way, it is not very big.
The curtain separated the inner room, so the scene behind could not be seen.
Everywhere you look, the furnishings are old. The most eye-catching thing is a whole wall of
Chinese medicine cabinets against the wall, with countless drawers packed together.
The cement floor has been polished smooth by time.
The walls were mottled, gray with a hint of black, and it was impossible to tell their original color.
There is a smell of medicinal herbs in the air, which is not unpleasant.
There was a small scale on the counter, which looked very old. Just as Zhu Jinxia was wondering
whether it was made of copper or iron, Aunt Fang spoke first.
"Are you a teacher at the Central School?"
I wish this summer will come back to her senses and nod.
"New here?" Aunt Fang looked at her and said, "I haven't seen you before."
"I've only been here two days."
"I guess so." Aunt Fang commented, "The skin is delicate and the meat is tender, like boiled
chicken. You can tell at a glance that it has never been exposed to the sun."
Wish this summer: "..."
Aunt Fang stood up, poured a glass of water, and pushed it in front of her. "Don't get me wrong, I
was praising you."
The praise is quite unique.
Zhu Jinxia concentrated on drinking water. When she brought the cup to her lips, she could see
that the water inside was not white, but black inside the red, and there were thin flakes rising
and falling on the bottom of the cup.
"Don't worry, drink it, it's good for your throat."
Zhu Jinxia was reserved, but Aunt Fang was not at all shy. She naturally took her hand and started
to feel her pulse.
"Your pulse is a little weak. You just came to the plateau and you are not used to the climate
yet?"
"……yes."
"Didn't you drink some Rhodiola before coming here?"
"without."
"Stick out your tongue, let me see it."
The old lady narrowed her eyes, put on her reading glasses, and grabbed her chin like she was
pinching a chicken.
"Stretch it out a little more."
"Open your mouth wide."
"Oh, you don't have much appetite."
While conducting the TCM consultation, he also chatted with the patients about their family
matters.
"How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-nine."
"You're not young anymore, do you have a partner?"
Zhu Jinxia paused, the word "Zai Li" came to his lips, but he swallowed it back and said, "Yes, I
did."
Yes, I have, which means I have made some time now.
Aunt Fang observed while taking the patient's pulse. She became more and more satisfied and
went straight to the point: "So what do you think of our timing?"
Zhu Jinxia was drinking water and it came out with a "plop" sound.
Aunt Fang on the opposite side was halfway through her words when she was sprayed all over
her head and face before she had time to observe the other person's expression.
“…”
Zhu Jinxia stood up suddenly, wiped the dirt hurriedly, and apologized repeatedly.
"It's a small matter." Aunt Fang was still not fussy about details. She wiped his face, pushed him
back to the chair, and then asked, "Tell me, where are you two now?"
Wish this summer: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "You misunderstood. The principal and I don't have that kind of relationship."
Seeing that water was still flowing down Aunt Fang's face, she reached into her coat pocket -
there was half a roll of toilet paper left when she went to the toilet at noon, so she would make
do with it.
Aunt Fang stopped him.
"Not that kind of relationship?" Aunt Fang curled her lips, obviously not believing it. "I've never
seen that guy care so much about anyone."
"That's because he thought I was injured."
"Just now you told me not to hit him, but to hit you." Aunt Fang came over, "Do you feel sorry for
him?"
…
Shi Xu returned to the drugstore and had just piled the things at the door. Before he stepped over
the threshold, he heard a conversation coming from inside the house.
"Why, do you think our timing is not worthy of you?"
"no--"
"So you think he's poor and that he doesn't do a good job?"
"It has nothing to do with this, Aunt Fang. I'm here to teach, and I won't be here for long before I
leave—"
"Whether you leave or not is just an excuse." Aunt Fang said, "Shixu won't stay here long either,
this is just temporary. If you two are really good friends, why don't you go anywhere together?"
Aunt Fang’s stubbornness leaves one speechless.
Zhu Jinxia simply nodded, "You're right, whether to leave or not are all excuses."
"Yeah--"
"I'm married." Zhu Jinxia looked up and said simply.
Aunt Fang was stunned. "You—what?"
The air froze for a brief moment, and someone opened the curtain and walked in from outside
the door.
"We have everything, let's go back to school."
No one in the room spoke. Aunt Fang still had her mouth open, and Zhu Jinxia lowered her head
without saying a word. The atmosphere was even more awkward than when Shi Xu left. But he
seemed unaware and only urged Zhu Jinxia on.
"Are you still not leaving? Are you planning to stay here overnight?"
Zhu Jinxia stood up silently, said "excuse me" to Aunt Fang, and stepped out of the door. Behind
him came Shixu's deliberately low voice: "I beg you, don't match us up randomly."
Aunt Fang muttered, "Who am I doing this for? Well, I am just meddling in other people's
business!"
…
Time to load everything onto the truck.
After leaving the town, there were no street lights, and there was only this car on the winding
mountain road. The headlights illuminated the road ahead, and the mountain wind whistled
outside the window.
After turning another corner, Shi Xu turned his head to look at her, "Why aren't you talking?"
Zhu Jinxia: "You didn't say anything either?"
Don't be so awkward.
"Don't worry about Aunt Fang's words. She's always thinking about introducing me to someone."
Shi Xu smiled. "She's not sparing any of the women in town, from 40-year-old widows to young
girls who have just come of age."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia: "How old are you this year?"
"Thirty-three."
"A 33-year-old bachelor, no wonder she's anxious."
Shi Xu snorted and laughed, "The emperor is not anxious, but the eunuch is."
The previous awkwardness miraculously disappeared.
Zhu Jinxia turned her head to look at him. This man seemed to have some ability. She could
always joke around him easily, like an old friend.
The truck turned another corner.
Zhu Jinxia said: "You never asked me why I came to teach."
Timing: "Does it matter?"
She asked back, “Isn’t it important?”
"No matter what your purpose is, the children will benefit from your teaching."
“…”
Shi Xu glanced at her sideways and said, "It's like a relay race. If you run the race well and pass
the baton well, why bother asking everyone why they're running this race?"
They both spoke at the same time.
"We'll all leave in the end anyway?"
"We have to leave anyway."
There was silence in the car for a moment, and both of them laughed.
Zhu Jinxia leaned back in her chair and said, "Okay, it's good that you have this awareness. You
also heard that I'm married, so don't be interested in me."
Timeline: "The idea can be unpopular, but it can't be weird."
“…”
He smiled and said, "Don't worry, even if you're not married, I wouldn't be interested in you."
"That's hard to say. After all, a beauty like me exudes charm anytime and anywhere."
A beauty on earth.
Shi Xu nodded: "Yes, it's quite oily."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia laughed angrily, "Time, it's only in the mountains, the people are simple and honest, no
one will punish you. If it were outside, someone like you would have been so overgrown with
grass that you wouldn't even be able to find your grave."
"If you can survive, I won't die either."
The two of them were talking back and forth, saying meaningless things. Zhu Jinxia was in the
prime of his fighting spirit when he suddenly hit the button next to the seat and fell flat with a
bang.
She stared at the dirty roof of the truck and was stunned for a long time.
Shi Xu beside her glanced at her and asked slowly, "Are you here on vacation?"
Zhu Jinxia finally couldn't help laughing out loud. While straightening her chair, she said, "Your
mouth is so stinky, aren't you afraid of leading the kids astray?"
Sentence by sentence, turn by turn, the gate of Yibo Central School is right in front of us.
Shi Xu turned off the engine, jumped out of the truck to move things, and Zhu Jin Xia helped him.
He didn't ask her to carry anything, but just gave her two bags of fruit as a token of his
appreciation, and carried a bunch of things himself.
Zhu Jinxia: "You discriminate against women?"
Time moves forward without looking back.
“I discriminate against you.”
“…”
After two moves, all the things were piled up downstairs of the teachers' dormitory.
Shi Xu straightened up and said, "Leave it here. I can move it up myself. It's getting late. You go
back and rest."
Zhu Jinxia agreed, but after taking only two steps, she heard Shixu calling her name again.
Looking back, she saw a parabola in the air, and she subconsciously caught what he threw.
Looking closely, I saw a row of canned coffee.
"Did you buy it?"
"How could it be stolen?" Shi Xu picked up the things on the ground, "Here you go. You always
doze off in class. People who know you are here to teach will think you are really here for
vacation."
He walked into the corridor without looking back and said, "Let's go."

Chapter 16
After only three days of classes, Zhu Jinxia was forced to start a business.
Before taking the position, she crammed and studied the textbooks frantically in her dormitory.
The more she read, the more unsure she became. Finally, she had no choice but to knock on the
door of the time sequence at night.
I knocked for a while, but no one answered.
It’s strange, it’s already past twelve o’clock, and he’s not in the dormitory?
Zhu Jinxia was about to leave when a voice came out from inside: "Who is it?"
"It's me, Zhu Jinxia."
Another half day passed before someone in slippers came to open the door leisurely.
Shixu had just finished taking a shower and was drying his hair when he came to open the door
wearing only a pair of shorts.
The first thing Zhu Jinxia saw was his naked upper body.
This was the second time she saw Shi Xu without a shirt. The first time was when he jumped into
the river to save her. It was a sudden incident and she didn't pay attention to the details. But this
time...
Quite intuitive.
Although I knew that Shixu was not the skinny type, I never thought he would be this thin.
Different from the neatly-shaped muscles in the gym, with strength ready to burst forth, the body
before your eyes is stretched and firm, with smooth lines like the ups and downs of a mountain,
with strength dormant within.
He has a dark complexion and exudes the health and vitality of someone who has been basking
in the sun.
Zhu Jinxia was not paying attention and her gaze stayed on him for two seconds longer. When she
came to her senses, she lowered her head and saw that his belt was loosely tied.
Out of reflex, she was worried that her pants would suddenly fall off. It was only the next second
that she realized that if she didn't look at the upper body, would it be any better to look at the
lower body?
I have no idea where to put my eyes.
Shixu was waiting for her to speak, but when she didn't, he loosened the towel and put it around
her neck. "It's so late, is there something wrong?"
I hope you’ll remember the important things this summer.
“Help!” She wanted to grab the corner of Shixu’s clothes for help, but unfortunately he was
naked, and if she grabbed his trouser legs, they would probably just fall off. “I want to apply to
attend the class for another week!”
"The application is dismissed."
Shi Xu closed the door directly, but Zhu Jin Xia blocked it with her body.
"No, no, no, this is really not possible now!" Zhu Jinxia was so anxious, "I returned my primary
school Chinese to the teacher a long time ago!"
You don't know until you see it, and you'll be shocked when you see it. The more I prepare for
class, the more loopholes I find everywhere.
"After studying English for so many years, I can't even figure out the stroke order of new words..."
Zhu Jinxia became more and more anxious as he spoke, "You can't mislead the students, right?"
Shi Xu opened the door again, looked at her for a moment, and took the book from her hand.
The fifth grade textbook has reached Lesson 19, "The Boat of Fatherly Love". He flipped through
it hastily and saw notes all over the book. Zhu Jinxia's handwriting was beautiful, from the
annotation of new words to the division of paragraphs, from the main idea of the paragraph to
the key analysis, everything was included. She had deliberately written very small words, but
there was no blank space to continue writing, so she pasted one note after another.
"It's already so detailed, isn't it enough?"
Shi Xu stuffed the book back into her arms.
"Not to mention here, there are dozens of schools in the ten or so hills nearby. If I could find a
teacher as serious as you, I would have tied him up and made him my top teacher."
Zhu Jinxia: “But——”
"Don't say but." Shixu was about to close the door again, "Relax, I only have iron that I hate for
not being able to become steel, there is nothing I can do to let you miss my disciple."
Seeing the door was about to close, Zhu Jinxia reached in quickly and said, "Wait!"
Fortunately, I braked in time and didn't squeeze too hard.
"What are you doing?" He was a little angry, "Don't you want your hands anymore?"
Shi Xu pushed the door open, pulled Zhu Jinxia over, saw the red skin on her wrist clearly, and
was about to check, but the other person had already shrank back.
"It's okay, it doesn't hurt." Zhu Jin rubbed it casually and stretched it out again, "Give me the
classroom key."
"What are you going to do?"
"Broken jars are broken."
——
Even though it's a broken jar, I still hope the jar won't be broken.
I wish this summer I can run to the classroom with my textbooks and canned coffee I bought for
the time series, and practice writing on the blackboard.
University classrooms have long been using touch-screen electronic devices, and her chalk
writing skills have long since deteriorated. When she's halfway through writing a line of words,
her writing either floats up or sinks down, and it's obvious that she's about to fail.
Who would have thought that she would come to the mountains and have to rehabilitate her
teaching skills.
The good news is that I am not lonely during the lesson preparation period.
The mountains are indeed silent at night, but some life is stirring in the darkness, for example, a
mouse slips out from nowhere, swaggers through the classroom, and inspects every student's
drawer.
Zhu Jinxia heard the noise and looked back. The sleek little black mouse was standing at the foot
of the table, chewing a small piece of barley cake quickly.
She was sure that she and the mouse had made eye contact, but the mouse was very brave and
continued eating as if she was not there.
Zhu Jinxia threw a piece of chalk at the mouse, and the mouse was frightened and disappeared.
When she turned around and wrote two more lines, the rustling sound appeared again.
When she turned around, the little black mouse was playing hide-and-seek with her, running
from one drawer to another, with a provocative attitude of "what can you do to me?"
I wish you all the best this summer. Not only are the people in this mountain strong, but even the
rats are so fierce.
Forget it, it eats its food and she writes hers, they both have a bright future.
As if things were not going to happen, a lost bat came in the middle of the night. The classroom
door was ajar. It flew in from nowhere, circled in the air aimlessly, and made shrill cries.
Seeing the bat flying towards her head, Zhu Jinxia screamed, rolled up the textbook in her hand,
squatted down and fanned it.
The fan didn't hit.
She didn't hurt the other person's heart, she just hoped that it would go back to where it came
from as soon as possible and that everyone would not hurt each other.
Unfortunately, the bat is blind, and once it flies in, it can't find the way out. It wanders around in
circles in the air, chirping aimlessly.
Both sides are relying on their mouths to output.
After yelling for a while, he realized that the bat was just messing around, and it was unclear who
was afraid of whom. Zhu Jinxia simply stood up bravely, opened the front door, climbed onto the
desk, and waved the rolled-up book, trying to lead it out of the door.
…
The dormitory is on the third floor, overlooking the playground from below and the teaching
building next door from above.
Before going to bed, Shixu opened the curtains and took a look. In the entire teaching building,
only one classroom had the light on, and someone was writing furiously on the blackboard.
He looked at it for a while and thought to himself that this was not a teaching mission, but a
national demonstration class.
Sleep with the windows closed.
Didn't sleep well.
After a while, he got up to get a glass of water, then he opened the curtain and saw the person
on the podium holding a piece of chalk and throwing it towards the back of the classroom one
after another.
Is this practicing blackboard writing or practicing hidden weapons?
After thinking for a while, Shixu realized that he probably saw a mouse.
Students occasionally left some food in the drawers, and the mice would start to celebrate. The
mice in the mountains were not afraid of people, and chalk could not drive them away.
Shixu drank water while watching the people across from her shoot cold arrows at her, and she
seemed to be cursing. Later, she got tired of smashing the chalk, so she stopped smashing, picked
up the chalk stubs one by one, and went back to the podium to continue writing furiously.
Time: Look at the watch, it's half past one.
He put down the cup of water, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes for a while, opened his eyes
again, turned over and took out his cell phone.
Timeline: That’s about it, Tao Xingzhi.
After a while, the reply came: Got it, Zhou Paopi.
If he really wanted to expose her, wouldn't she be squeezed into learning Chinese, math and
English by him with her serious personality?
Woke up again, at three in the morning.
Shi Xu drew open the curtains and, not surprisingly, saw that the lights in the classroom opposite
were still on. However, the person there was not writing furiously at the blackboard. Instead, he
was standing on the desk, holding a book and dancing around.
What is she doing?
After practicing hidden weapons, you switch to radio gymnastics?
Shi Xu frowned, and then saw the dark shadows circling above the classroom.
He paused, picked up a T-shirt and shorts from the chair, put them on hastily, and was about to
go out when he remembered something and went back to the room to get something from the
drawer.
However, he was not the only one who woke up in the middle of the night. There was also
Dunzhu who was woken up by the urge to pee. He hummed a tune and went to the toilet. When
he came out, he found that the lights in the teaching building were still on.
When "Superman vs. Batman" was being performed in the classroom, a head suddenly popped
out from the back door of the classroom.
"What are you doing?"
Zhu Jinxia was concentrating on chasing bats, and when she heard someone talking, she was so
scared that she almost fell off the desk. Fortunately, Dunzhu rushed over and held her up.
"Hey, hey, hey, stand still!"
Zhu Jinxia covered her heart and jumped off the table, "You scared me to death."
Dunzhu: "Who is scaring whom? You got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and
saw someone in the classroom. Why did you choose to do something else between dancing and
skipping rope?"
"Are you blind--" Before Zhu Jinxia could finish her words, the bat turned around and rushed
towards them again.
She screamed and dodged.
"Get it out now!"
Dunzhu laughed: "Are you afraid of bats?"
"Quick, get it out!"
"Okay, okay, okay."
Dunzhu jumped onto the desk and rolled up his sleeves.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned: "You caught it with your bare hands?"
"if not?"
"Bats carry a lot of viruses, even rabies. How can you catch them with your bare hands?"
“It’ll be fine. I’ve caught everything flying or crawling on this mountain since I was a child. And I’m
still alive and well today, right?” Dunzhu disagreed.
Zhu Jinxia pulled him and said, "Get down here!"
"Okay, okay, not with bare hands, not with bare hands!" Dunzhu muttered, "Women are trouble."
Zhu Jinxia was about to ask, "If you don't use your hands, then what do you use to catch it?",
when he saw Dunzhu take off his shirt neatly. The bat was still swinging around in circles at a very
fast speed, and he suddenly raised his hand, picked up his clothes and scooped it up in the air,
catching the bat in a flash.
Then he jumped off the table, walked out the door with brisk steps, and shook lightly in the air.
The bat screamed miserably and quickly disappeared into the night sky.
No one saw that the moment Dunzhu went out, someone quietly retreated through the back
door, returned to the corridor, and disappeared into the shadows in an instant.
"Done!" The young man walked back to the classroom happily and put his clothes back on.
The compliment got stuck in my throat, Zhu Jinxia: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "Your clothes..."
Dunzhu looked down and said, "What's wrong with the clothes? They look pretty good, huh?"
Zhu Jinxia: “Forget it.”
People living in the mountains are immune to water, fire, swords and guns, so it must be no big
deal for a bat to be caught in their clothes.
She turned to look at the blackboard.
The writing clue of this article is...what is it?
Damn, the bat is confused.
I wish you despair this summer and pick up your textbooks to flip through them.
Dunzhu came over to look and asked, "Why are you not sleeping at night? What are you doing
here?"
"Prepare lessons."
"Oh, what's there to prepare for Chinese class? Just read the text aloud, copy down the new
words five or ten times, and write a review at the end. Isn't that the end of the lesson?"
Zhu Jinxia didn't even raise her eyes, "How many points did you get in the Chinese language test
in the college entrance examination?"
"48, 58?" Dunzhu thought seriously for a moment, "I don't remember, anyway, I didn't pass."
“No wonder.”
This time, Dunzhu heard the sarcasm and scratched the back of his head, saying, "It's good
enough for Tibetan children to understand Chinese. It's even more difficult for them to read and
write. There's no need to ask for too much else."
As he spoke, he became proud again.
"For someone like me who can get 50 points, that's really rare."
People who can make mistakes even in rare cases can only get 50 points, no more.
Zhu Jinxia was amused and urged Dunzhu to go back to sleep. Dunzhu refused to leave and
stayed with him for a while, even saying that with him around, there would be someone to
protect the rats and bats if they came again.
But with him around, efficiency was extremely low, he was either asking questions or making
jokes.
——Your handwriting is really beautiful. Who taught you? Can you teach me?
Next time for sure.
——Strange, why do mosquitoes only bite you and not me?
Because you were wearing woolen pants.
——Hey, we are too isolated here. It's not easy to have a new face, especially such a good-looking
one, so we can have hope for the future. Otherwise, Teacher Zhu, why don't you stay?
Huh? Working for nothing for a lifetime? Your principal would wake up laughing in his dreams.
Zhu Jinxia didn't even turn his head to write on the blackboard, and had no intention of playing
the supporting role, so Dunzhu simply started to perform a stand-up comedy.
"Teacher Zhu, actually I have envied you city people since I was a child. City people are rich, and
when they are scolded by their parents, they can run away to other cities, provinces or even
foreign countries to play in anger. As for us mountain people, when we are scolded by our
parents——"
He sighed, "I can only get angry for a while."
Wish this summer: "..."
"So, Mr. Zhu, the city is so good, why do you come to the mountains to teach?"
Zhu Jinxia exerted a little force and the chalk in her hand broke. She erased the ruined words and
rewrote them while saying, "Maybe I want to feel what it feels like to get angry."
Dunzhu laughed, "No, just tell me, I'm really good at keeping secrets."
"Yeah?"
"Of course. Sometimes I'm afraid I can't keep it by myself, so I ask several people to help keep it
together. If you don't believe me, ask the timing."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia put down the book and said, "Please, Dunzhu, go back to sleep."
"How can that be possible? If another bat comes, who will help you drive it away?"
"I changed my mind and realized that animals are friends of humans and I can live in harmony
with them."
Dunzhu lowered his eyes sadly, "I understand, Teacher Zhu, you despise me."
The young Tibetan boy had deeper features than her, with sunken eye sockets and thick
eyelashes that looked like two small fans when they fluttered gently.
But I wish this summer——
"I really hate it. You're too noisy."
The next line is even more heartless: "More annoying than bats and mice."
Dunzhu: “…”
Okay, then he goes!
Dunzhu muttered, "Woman, you have no heart" as he walked out, went down the teaching
building, and entered the teacher's dormitory.
His dormitory was on the fourth floor. Just as he reached the third floor, he heard the door open.
Looking up, I saw the sequence of time behind the crack in the door.
Timeline: "What did you do?"
Dunzhu: "Shit."
After a pause, he asked again: "Why are you getting up so late?"
Timeline: "Same as you."
Dunzhu nodded, looked down, and saw Shixu holding a mosquito coil in his hand, "...You're taking
this with you when you poop?"
"no?"
"Sure, why not?" Dunzhu muttered, "People who are particular are different, huh, no wonder I
was the only one who got bitten all over my butt when I pooped."
After saying goodbye to Shixu, they had already gone halfway up the stairs when Dunzhu
suddenly remembered something and wanted to turn around and say, "Brother, why don't you
give your mosquito coils to Teacher Zhu next door?" However, Shixu had already disappeared.
Forget it, Teacher Zhu doesn’t have any such feelings, so he shouldn’t worry about it anymore.
——
And the careless teacher Zhu next door, when he finished writing on the blackboard,
unexpectedly found that there seemed to be fewer mosquitoes in the second half?
There seemed to be the smell of mosquito coils in the air. She followed the trail and went out.
She saw half-burned mosquito coils at the front and back doors of the corridor. In the green
smoke, the faint red grids were like fireflies in the mist.
After a slight pause, Zhu Jinxia laughed softly.
Dunzhu...
I must thank him tomorrow.

Chapter 17
The last time I woke up, it was four in the morning and it was almost dawn.
The sun came late in the narrow strip of sky, but it did not prevent the halo of light from
spreading on the distant horizon. The small patch of elegant blue sky above the head had
become lighter, like black that had been washed and faded for a long time.
Shixu opened the curtains and the lights were still on opposite side.
There was no one on the podium, and I looked through the window but couldn't see anyone
either.
Maybe he went back to sleep and forgot to turn off the lights.
Thinking of the electricity bill, my time-saving habit came back. I slipped on my slippers, yawned,
opened the door and went to the teaching building.
It's funny, the guy who said he was here to help with teaching, ended up causing a lot of trouble
before he could help.
I can't even get a good night's sleep.
The mosquito coils in the corridor were dying, with only a few pieces left. Time passed them and
just as I stepped into the classroom, my feet stopped.
The classroom was not empty.
In the middle of the first row, someone fell asleep on the desk, with his left cheek resting on the
back of his hand, his chin pressing on the textbook, and even holding a pen in his hand.
She looked back at the mosquito coil on the ground and realized that if he hadn't come to turn
off the lights, the mosquitoes would probably have woken her up.
Would you like to try it?
He thought to himself that it would be better for everyone to not get a good night's sleep.
Even though he thought so, he still walked forward.
The woman's profile is clearly visible.
A few messy strands of hair blocked her forehead, but could not hide the obvious bruises on her
eyelids. Especially since she had fair skin, the dark circles under her eyes were even more
prominent.
Maybe she was very sleepy. This posture looked uncomfortable, but she was sleeping very
soundly. Her breathing was faintly audible, but a little rapid.
Are you dreaming?
There was a moment of silence, and then I saw her frowning, as if she was very uneasy. Soon
even her eyelashes began to tremble, like butterfly wings, fluttering very lightly and very quickly.
She even talked in her sleep, although it was only fragments, but Shi Xu could hear her repeating
a name over and over again.
Wei Chen.
Or the Acropolis?
Shi Xu reached out and pushed her.
"Happy summer?"
"Wake up, happy summer."
I didn’t sleep for long this summer, but I seemed to have had a very long dream.
She dreamed that she was wearing a pure white wedding dress and was having a wedding.
Everything in the dream was consistent with the details she had discussed with the wedding
planner, including a simple white flower field and the wedding dress she was wearing was the
style she had liked in a magazine.
Acropolis took her hand and led her down the red carpet.
The grand wedding march was playing in my ears, and the familiar smiling faces of relatives and
friends were everywhere, and everyone was cheering.
Instinctively, Zhu Jinxia wanted to smile, but she found herself as if seeing the eyes of Medusa,
and the corners of her mouth were so stiff that she couldn't even smile.
She wants to run.
She didn't want to go any further.
But I have no choice.
Until the white sea of flowers turned into red roses, as red as blood.
She finally couldn't help herself and turned to run away, but Weicheng held her hand tightly. She
looked up and he asked sternly, "Where are you going, Zhu Jinxia?"
Apart from calling his name, Zhu Jinxia couldn't utter a complete sentence.
"Didn't we agree to get married? You said you would love me forever, and have a baby when you
are 30 years old..." Weicheng's hands were as hot as branding irons, and he held her tightly.
With tears in his eyes, he said, Zhu Jinxia, I will not let you go.
The hands were getting tighter and tighter. They were originally grabbing the wrist, but later for
some reason they were strangling the neck. Zhu Jinxia's face turned red and she gradually
couldn't breathe.
Help.
Who can save her.
She shouted Weicheng's name at the top of her lungs, her breathing gradually weakening.
Until another voice faintly came to my ear——
"Happy summer?"
Someone was shaking her shoulders.
"Wake up, happy summer."
Each sound became clearer than the last, dispersing the crowd's cheers and extinguishing the
wedding march.
Zhu Jinxia suddenly opened her eyes and subconsciously grabbed the hand on her shoulder as if
it was a life-saving straw.
In front of him was a familiar face. In his pupils, which were so dark that they were almost pure,
there was undisguised concern.
Shi Xu leaned down and looked at her, "What's wrong?"
“…”
"A nightmare?"
Zhu Jinxia blinked blankly, gradually regained consciousness, and slowly let go of her hand.
"fine."
She raised her hand to wipe her eyes.
"What time is it?" She looked out the window. It seemed that the day was about to dawn. She
lowered her head in panic and flipped through the textbook frantically. "There are still two
homework assignments—"
"Snapped".
The book was slammed shut.
Shi Xu picked up the book with one hand and lifted her up with the other hand like a chicken,
carrying her out effortlessly.
"Go back to bed."
"I haven't finished reading it yet—"
"Go back to bed."
"Just two questions—"
"Wish you a happy summer." The man carried her out and lowered his head to look into her eyes.
"Man is like iron and rice is like steel. If you don't eat a meal——"
Halfway through his speech, he got stuck.
Zhu Jinxia looked at Shixu blankly, and Shixu finally couldn't help but curse.
If you don't sleep, your brain will be damaged.
He pulled the person down from the teaching building, across the playground, and all the way
into a small building that was isolated from the world.
"Don't think about anything, don't look at anything, just sleep well."
He almost pushed her down on the bed, took off her shoes, shook the quilt, and covered her up
roughly, like a corpse.
Zhu Jinxia had to dig her head out by herself and struggled to get it out.
"Give me the book. I'll be nervous if you don't finish reading those two questions."
Shi Xu couldn't help but said, "Why are you so nervous? They are the ones who should be
nervous!"
They stared at each other for a while.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Why are they so nervous? Are they so nervous that my teaching level is too
high and they can't keep up?"
Shi Xu replied expressionlessly: "They could have gone to Tsinghua University or Peking
University, but because of your teaching, they can't get in."
“…”
"Go to sleep now and stop worrying about nothing."
I picked up a bottle of mineral water and placed it by the bed. I checked the windows again.
When I was almost at the door, I heard a faint voice from behind me: "Are there really any
students here who have been admitted to Tsinghua University or Peking University?"
"have."
"who?"
Shi Xu didn't even turn around, "Me."
"..." Zhu Jinxia was silent, "Just you?"
"Only me."
"Then..." The person on the bed moved, "How many points did you get in the Chinese language
test in the college entrance examination?"
"Are you done yet, Zhu Jinxia?" Shixu turned around, with harsh words on the tip of his tongue,
but when he saw the two red eyes exposed from staying up late behind the quilt, he swallowed
them back.
"Just go ahead and teach. With your ability, you can teach a fool, and as for a genius, there's no
need to teach him at all."
——
Looking at Shixu's back, Zhu Jinxia originally wanted to get up and look at the homework as soon
as he walked away. But she was too sleepy, and her eyelids closed by themselves before Shixu
walked away.
When I woke up again, it was already bright outside and my cell phone was ringing happily.
I wish Jinxia turned over and sat up, slapping her forehead.
Damn, there are still two questions left to look at!
She turned off the alarm clock, quickly washed her face, picked up her textbooks and rushed out.
She ran past the teachers' dormitory building and someone called her name on the third floor.
She looked up. Shi Xu was standing in front of the window: "Come up to eat."
"There's no time left. I still have two questions—"
"Wish you a happy summer." The man said expressionlessly, "If you bring up those two
homework questions again, do you believe I will carve the words on your forehead?"
“…”
"There's still time, come up and eat."
Snap—the window closed.
The principal's majesty is unmistakable.
Zhu Jinxia gritted her teeth and ran all the way to the third floor, thinking to herself, it's just
eating a pancake, who can't watch while eating?
But what I would have thought was that the small table no longer had the barley cakes and butter
tea of the past, but instead had a pot of steaming millet porridge, a pile of bacon fried with green
vegetables, and a salted duck egg cut in half and oozing with oil.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, "You did it?"
"Of course not." Shixu teased sarcastically, "I fell asleep in the middle of the night. The snail girl
did it."
“…”
I was overworking my brain and my gluttony started to kick in. It would have been fine if I hadn't
seen the food, but once I looked and smelled it, I realized my stomach was growling. Zhu Jinxia
picked up the porridge and stuffed the salted duck egg into her mouth with some side dishes.
While wolfing down the food, she mumbled, "A good person has a big mouth."
I have done good things, but why can't people be grateful to me?
During the ten-minute breakfast time, I wish Jinxia can eat as much as she wants and read a book
at the same time.
Dunzhu arrived late and saw the sumptuous breakfast. He quickly joined the battle. During this
time, he heard Shixu fiercely ordering Zhu Jinxia to put down the book and respect the fruits of
his labor, and he couldn't help but interrupt.
"I'm not telling you to be a little gentler, can't you?"
Timing: "Oh?"
"Who can get angry at our teacher Zhu's face?"
After having a good meal and a good drink, Dunzhu started to talk a lot. The topic extended from
being gentle to women to his personal understanding of women.
Shi Xu sneered: "Go on."
A young virgin in his early twenties is talking about girls here.
"As the saying goes, you can tell a woman's social habits by looking at what she likes to drink. For
example, women who like to drink milk tea have many girlfriends, women who like to drink white
wine have many stories, and women who like to drink red wine have many lovers."
Dunzhu was completely drunk and wanted to show off in front of Zhu Jinxia - although the latter
was completely focused on the two homework questions and didn't listen to him at all.
He came over and asked excitedly: "So, Teacher Zhu, what do you like to drink?"
I wish this summer to look up in confusion, "Me?"
After thinking for a while, I said, "I like to drink plain water."
"Boiled water?" Dunzhu was slightly stunned. "Let me think about it. There are many women
who like to drink boiled water——"
The opposite side of Shixu had a blank expression on his face: "A lot of urination."
Zhu Jinxia spat out a mouthful of millet porridge, which sprayed all over Dunzhu's face.
——
Go to the battlefield!
With a tragic mood, Zhu Jinxia held her books and stepped into the teaching building nervously.
I don’t think the college entrance examination was this stressful back then.
She climbed up to the third floor breathlessly, took a deep breath, cheered herself up, and was
about to step into the classroom when she suddenly had a premonition and turned back.
Sure enough, behind the window on the third floor opposite, Shi Xu was standing there.
The morning mist had not yet dispersed, and the rays of light had not yet had time to break
through the clouds, but the buildings were very close to each other, so close that she could
clearly see the smile on the corner of his mouth that did not have time to hide.
What is he laughing at?
Laughing at her like a newbie, standing outside the classroom with her fists clenched and
cheering?
Zhu Jinxia felt a little embarrassed, but also found it quite funny. She hadn't been this nervous for
a long time. The last time was when she just started working three years ago.
She glared back in dissatisfaction: What the hell are you laughing at.
...laughed even harder.
For several seconds, they just stared at each other.
At the very end, she saw him move his lips and said silently: "Come on, Teacher Zhu."
At that moment, there was no more embarrassment or laughter. She raised her head, and the
sun shone on her face, a warm light.
When I got up from class, I found that it went much more smoothly than I had imagined.
Of course they were nervous, because the children all knew that today the class was taught by a
new teacher. She had just entered the classroom, and someone was the first to say "Wow", and
she was met with warm applause and cheers.
...even more nervous.
Zhu Jinxia wrote her name on the blackboard. Even though her hands were weak, fortunately the
words did not float up or sink down.
Every time she wrote a word, they read it, so the simple name became long and not neat at all.
Wish -- this -- summer --
There was a chorus of childish voices from the audience.
Zhu Jinxia smiled for no reason. When she turned around and looked at everyone again, she was
no longer nervous or anxious. It was as if she was back in the familiar classroom of Mianshui
University. She had finally found her best field.
She didn't notice that the young principal walked in to the front door of the classroom, leaned
lazily against the door, and listened quietly to the entire class.
The girl sitting by the window in the front row noticed it, but just as she was about to say
something, she saw him put his index finger to his lips, shushing——
She blinked her round eyes and obeyed.
Before the bell rang, the man left again.
When Zhu Jinxia rushed into the dormitory just after him, the principal was sitting by the window
reading a newspaper without even raising his head.
"came back?"
"I'm back." Zhu Jinxia sat down and drank the butter tea on the table.
"It's cold." Shixu took the teacup and stood up to get the kettle to heat it up.
"Thirst." Zhu Jinxia protested, "Give me a sip first."
"Just two minutes. You won't die of thirst."
Shixu calmly went into the kitchen to make tea, but didn't ask her how the class was going.
Finally, Zhu Jinxia couldn't hold it in anymore and ran to the kitchen door: "Why don't you ask me
if the class is going well?"
Shi Xu then followed suit: "So, are your classes going well?"
"He's still the principal, how come he doesn't care about the teaching quality at all?" Zhu Jinxia
said, "Fortunately, I'm the one who came to teach. After all, I'm a high-quality people's teacher
who won the first prize in the college teaching competition. Of course, teaching elementary
school students is no problem for me."
"Then who was the one writing crookedly on the blackboard at the podium last night and reciting
homework while drinking porridge in the morning?"
Wish this summer: "..."
Shixu turned off the fire, carried the teapot back to the table, poured a cup of butter tea and
pushed it in front of her, while secretly rubbing her legs under the table.
Why rub your legs?
Of course it was because my legs hurt from standing for a whole class.

Chapter 18
I wish Jinxia's Chinese teaching career will be back on track, or rather, her English teaching career
will be off track.
After three years of teaching, she thought she had finally become a mother-in-law and had
experienced all the firsts as a teacher, but she didn't expect that a new climax was waiting for her.
Pinyin.
Pinyin is really fucking difficult.
It is difficult for children in Sichuan to learn pinyin.
It is even more difficult for Sichuan children in Tibetan areas to learn pinyin.
I wish this summer: "We met by chance."
Children: "Poor water indicates a grave."
Wish this summer: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "Everyone read with me, Ping, who met by chance, Po-Ying-Ping."
Children: "Poor water is like a poor grave, and the slope is poor."
I wish this summer: "It is a chance meeting, a chance meeting."
Children: "The grave with poor water is a Buddha's grave."
No matter how you teach, poverty remains poverty and graves remain graves.
Zhu Jinxia began to think whether it was her former Chinese teacher A Bao who dug her grave, or
she dug a grave for herself.
Reading aloud is also a difficult task.
The first class Zhu Jinxia taught was "The Boat of Fatherly Love", a retrospective essay in which
the author recalled the journey of his father taking him to school since he was a child and
expressed his longing for his deceased father.
"Is this what I dreamt about last night? I just woke up from it?"
At the beginning of the text, the author starts with a dream.
The atmosphere was set just right, and as soon as the children started talking, I wish this summer
would be a success.
There were thirty-one children in the class, and all of them yelled at the top of their lungs.
"It's what I dreamt about last night! I just woke up!"
Wish this summer: “………………”
No, this is not just waking up from a dream, this is still dreaming.
She was speechless and choked up on the stage, while someone was laughing blatantly outside
the classroom.
But this time, the person who was laughing had learned his lesson and knew to pick up a stool
and sit there to listen.
Zhu Jinxia tried to correct the children and asked them to read aloud with emotion. But if they
have difficulties in reading, how can they read aloud with emotion?
It is rare to find people who can read the entire text completely without stuttering.
Most children can't even recognize all the words.
When Zhu Jinxia asked them to lower the volume, they became at a loss, and their fluency, which
was already substandard, was further reduced.
As everyone read aloud haltingly, Zhu Jinxia could only acquiesce as they roared out the entire
text with great momentum.
This is not the boat of fatherly love——
"It's a revenge for my father's murder."
During lunch that day, Zhu Jinxia talked about her thoughts after the class with lingering fears,
but fortunately she is a strong and optimistic person.
"Okay, who says angry love isn't love?"
It rained last night. Dunzhu, who had no classes in the morning, climbed up the mountain with
brisk steps and happily picked up a small basket of mushrooms. He cooked them fresh, fragrant
and sweet, but the quantity was a little small.
Seeing that Zhu Jinxia was only talking and not eating, Dunzhu put food into her bowl with
chopsticks, "Right, just like angry sex is also sex?"
"puff--"
I wish that this summer I can choke out half a mushroom and hit it right between Dunzhu’s
eyebrows.
The mushroom slid down the tip of his nose. Dunzhu looked down and Zhu Jinxia hurriedly took
out paper to help him wipe it.
Only the opponent's timing accelerated, and took this opportunity to destroy half of the plate of
small mushrooms. He glanced at the direction where the mushrooms hit and gave Zhu Jinxia full
affirmation: "Your mouth is like a machine gun."
Then he put down the bowl and slapped Dunzhu's head with a rag.
"His English is not up to par, but he has a lot of dirty jokes."
Dunzhu cried out in surprise, and when he picked up the chopsticks again, he realized, "...Hey,
where is my little mushroom?"
The culprit who had looted all the little mushrooms asked Zhu Jinxia to help him wash the dishes.
Ever since she knew that she was lazy and didn't know the difference between grains, washing
dishes was out of her reach. So when Shixu called her, Zhu Jinxia was stunned.
Dunzhu raised his head from behind the bowl and said vaguely, "Did you break the bowl again?
Come back here."
Aren't you afraid of dropping the bowl again? Let me do it.
Being rejected by Shixu, he specifically asked Zhu Jinxia to go.
But when he followed her all the way downstairs to the sink, Shi Xu didn't let her do anything. He
just gave her a clean rag and told her to wipe the washed dishes dry.
He washed one and she wiped the other.
When he finished wiping the second bowl, Zhu Jinxia heard him say.
"Children here learn to speak Chinese late. They have only heard and spoken Tibetan since they
were born, and only start learning Chinese characters when they enter the first grade of primary
school."
"No kindergarten?"
"Yes." Shi Xu nodded, "But the kindergarten does not provide boarding services. The roads in the
mountains are long, and most parents cannot afford to pick up and drop off their children every
day, so the kindergarten is useless."
He didn't look up, washed a bowl, and handed it to Zhu Jinxia naturally.
"If you have time, you can go to a first-grade classroom and you'll find that almost no one can
understand what you are saying."
"For five years, apart from one Chinese class a day, I didn't use Chinese the rest of the time. How
can I talk about fluency and affection?"
Shixu picked up another bowl and said as he washed it, "I wish you patience this summer."
At this point, she finally understood why he asked her to wash the dishes.
"You specifically called me to wash the dishes just to say this?" Zhu Jinxia laughed, "Why, do you
think they can break my defense by just reading a text? Principal Shi underestimates me too
much."
Shi Xu also laughed: "Aren't I just afraid that you will retreat in the face of difficulties?"
"Who are you looking down on?" Zhu Jinxia wiped another bowl and put it into the basin with a
little more force. "I can teach a twenty-year-old adult, so a room full of little chicks can't be a
problem for me."
The bowls collided with each other, making a crisp sound.
Shixu reached out and took out the bowl to take a closer look. Fortunately, it was intact.
"Look, I'm scratching it for you." Zhu Jinxia took the bowl back, but suddenly remembered
something else. "You are Han, right?"
"So what?" He didn't catch up with the timeline. "The Han people can't be stingy? Who said that
only ethnic minorities can be stingy?"
He narrowed his eyes, conveying a condemnation that said "you are discriminating against ethnic
minorities."
Zhu Jinxia said: "No, I'm asking if you could speak Tibetan when you first came to school?"
"Won't."
"Then do you understand?"
"Can't understand."
"Then..." Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth, but could not ask.
She just suddenly wondered how she had spent her childhood at that time.
When everyone only speaks the language he is familiar with during Chinese class every day, how
can he communicate with them at other times?
Zhu Jinxia's eyes flashed with the image of young Shixu sitting in the classroom. She couldn't
imagine what that child looked like or what expression he had, but she was familiar with the
present Shixu.
He stood aside while everyone was eating hotpot to bid farewell to A Bao.
He stood at the back of the group while the students did their morning exercises.
Every Tuesday and Thursday evening, teachers and children would dance Guozhuang for an hour
on the playground. Zhu Jinxia subconsciously looked for him in the crowd, but did not see him
joining in. The last time she looked up, he was standing quietly behind the window on the third
floor.
It was as if all the excitement was theirs and he had nothing.
Zhu Jinxia was still in a daze, but Shixu had already turned off the faucet and took the plastic
basin full of dishes from her arms.
"What are you daydreaming about? Let's go."
"……oh."
After stepping out of the scorching sun into the dark corridor, Zhu Jinxia asked again, "When did
you learn Tibetan?"
"It depends on your definition of learning." Shixu walked ahead without looking back. "It took me
half a semester to understand, and another half a semester to be able to speak."
"So fast?"
“I learn everything very quickly.”
“…”
See what you can do.
Encountering a large-scale pretentious scene, Zhu Jinxia's sympathy was immediately washed
away.
Fortunately, Shixu added: "But I can only speak it, but I can't speak it well."
Okay, the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation have not been completely thrown away to you.
but--
"Isn't it good? Last time I went to Niuzan Town, I saw you spoke very well, didn't you?"
"That happened later." Time stopped on the third floor. He held the basin in one hand and
opened the door with the other, then walked in calmly. "Later, I found that not being able to
speak Tibetan well in the mountains was a big disadvantage."
"What's wrong with you?" Zhu Jinxia thought, "Did everyone isolate you? Did they bully you?"
Looking back, I saw an expression that said, "As expected, she is a Chinese teacher with a rich
imagination."
“You can’t bargain when buying things.”
Zhu Jinxia's sympathy came to an abrupt halt halfway: "..."
She watched him put the dishes into the kitchen, and when he came out he opened the old,
small, broken refrigerator, took out two apples and handed one to her.
This apple is small, ugly, and misshapen, it is a disgrace to the apple industry.
Zhu Jinxia had sharp eyes and recognized it immediately. Wasn't this the basket of apples that the
fruit girl brought out for him from the back room when he went to town last time?
It turns out that your poor Tibetan skills prevented you from flirting with the landlady and letting
her take advantage of you.
She sat down with a smile on her face, put the apple on the table, pushed it away and didn't even
touch it.
"Why don't you eat it?" Shi Xu sat opposite her. "It's a little ugly, but there's plenty of sunshine in
the mountains, and the fruits are very sweet."
Do you think I dislike apples?
It's you.
I have no idea of the timing of being disliked. I ate the apple in a few bites and said, "If it weren't
for the pressure of life, who would learn so many skills to rely on?"
Listen, he's quite proud.
Call it a skill.
Zhu Jinxia nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, with your looks and the many skills you have
acquired through hard work, you will definitely be able to build a new teaching building for our
central school by the end of the year."
Just leave after saying that.
Normally, the dormitory was well equipped with a stove and tea. During lunch break, Zhu Jinxia
usually stayed in his living room, either preparing lessons, reading, or correcting homework.
Shi Xu would occasionally sit opposite her and chat about teaching experiences, but most of the
time they would do their own things and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
Are you leaving today?
I didn't think much about the timing, but just looked at the homework book, made a few crosses,
and then I realized something was wrong.
Wait, what did she just say?
Go back to the teaching building?
……visit a prostitute?
This doesn't seem to be a compliment to him.
——
Big week is here.
The school has a holiday every two weeks, from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, a total
of three days, which everyone calls Big Week.
Before the holiday, Zhu Jinxia assigned a weekly diary, requiring everyone to write a semi-
structured composition: "If I were _____".
Ah Bao's instructions before he left are still ringing in my ears:
"I have always wanted to teach my children to express themselves better, but I have never been
able to improve their reading and writing skills."
"When I knew the city teacher was coming, I told the principal that I hoped you could come and
teach Chinese in our class."
"I hope you can teach them to speak good Chinese and write good articles."
In order to fulfill this request, Zhu Jinxia decided to start writing essays from weekly diaries.
How to make the children not hate the weekly diary? After much thought, she chose this semi-
propositional form.
After all, children have limited age and experience, so we cannot expect them to have excellent
language expression skills, but imagination is the best teacher.
She wanted the children to imagine freely and become whoever they wanted to be in their
weekly diaries. She also wanted to take a look at what the children wanted to do and get a rough
idea of their general level.
What I didn't expect was that the weekly diary was assigned only after the first Chinese class in
the morning, but at noon, someone came running to the teacher's dormitory with a notebook
and knocked on the door of the time sequence.
Everyone knows that their Chinese teacher eats, drinks and uses the coffee table in the principal’s
dormitory every day at noon (……).
"Finished?"
Zhu Jinxia held the notebook with a confused look on her face, and looked back at the time
sequence.
Isn't it said that I have poor expression skills? How come writing an essay is like launching a
rocket, and it's over in a flash...?
Sequence: "It's normal. During the weekend, few teachers assign homework. Students go home
like devils entering a village. Do you expect them to stay at home and study?"
impossible.
In order not to bring homework home, the children rushed to finish their compositions during
lunch break.
Zhu Jinxia thought, that’s fine, if I don’t bring homework home, at least my attitude is positive.
The knocking on the door never stopped throughout the afternoon. Out of the 31 children in the
class, she received at least 17 homework assignments that were handed in in advance.
With a gratified mood, she picked up the red pen and opened the notebook.
I can only say that this composition is worthy of being written by children who speak Chinese as
their second mother tongue. The sentences are not smooth and the choice of words is not
careful.
"I love my dad. He is a mighty and majestic man with long, strong hair and a body harder than a
wall of iron. He walks like a tornado and when he beats people, even the pigs at home cry out in
fear."
——This is a book written by a boy named Solang, "If I Were Your Father".
The moment she saw the title, Zhu Jinxia almost thought he was challenging the teacher's
authority.
Looking further, it turns out that Suolang respected and loved his father very much, and his
greatest wish in life was to become a man as great as his father.
Perhaps influenced by the text "The Boat of Fatherly Love" that he had just learned not long ago,
Suolang put his knowledge into practice and used a lot of metaphors like the author.
For example, comparing one's father to a majestic lion.
——I would like to give this summer a praise: Very good!
For example, the way his father runs is compared to a galloping wild boar.
——Zhu Jinxia carefully commented: Is there a better metaphor?
For example, when talking about his father's excellent quality of being kind and generous,
Suolang mentioned: "My neighbor's aunt was in poor health and always fell ill. My father always
stayed by her side without taking off his clothes, blowing her medicine cold before feeding her,
and bringing her meals to her bedside. Whenever there was thunder, the aunt was afraid, and my
father would stay up all night to protect her."
Wish this summer: "..."
His expression gradually froze.
She took a deep breath, ticked the box under "dressed without taking off clothes", and wrote a
comment with difficulty.
Seeing her bitter and resentful look, Shixu, who was sitting opposite her, took the book and read
it through at a glance, finally stopping at the comment, "...the idiom is well used?"
After a brief pause, he nodded, "That's right. It's better to stay dressed than to take off your
clothes."
"Pfft——" Zhu Jinxia finally couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Chapter 19
The children's compositions are varied, and apart from incoherent sentences, the biggest
problem is the lack of imagination.
I wish this summer that I have assigned a topic that allows children to express themselves freely.
Children can become anyone on paper and realize any ambition or fantasy.
But what they wrote was -
If I Had New Clothes
If I Lived in the City
If I Could Ride a Bicycle
In their essays, the most unattainable dream seems to be to go from the small Yibo Township to
the county town on the other side of the Jinsha River, a three-hour drive away.
After asking about the time sequence, Zhu Jinxia was surprised to learn that almost no children in
the school had ever left Yibo Township - a small rural village that Yu Xiaoshan described as a
driver who could speed through it with just a little more effort on the accelerator.
"Have you been here since birth?"
“Always here.”
“You haven’t even been to the county town?”
Zhu Jinxia confirmed it again and again, and the answer was always no.
"why are you not going?"
"Why do you want to go?"
Let me tell you about something that happened at the beginning of this year.
"Two sixth-grade students have been out of the province. After the Spring Festival this year, when
school started, the school that supports poverty alleviation invited us to visit. I took the two
children with the best grades to Zhejiang, thinking it would be a good thing for them to see the
world, but I didn't expect that their grades would plummet after they came back."
He rubbed his brows.
“It is not a good thing for a poor person to suddenly become rich.”
The child is still young, and seeing a completely different world, but without the ability to change
the status quo, he will only be trapped in a huge gap and his mentality will be unbalanced.
If this were in college, Zhu Jinxia's first concern would be whether she had received psychological
counseling, but this was in the mountains. In the mountains, even compulsory education was
carried out by force, so where could there be psychological counseling?
These children who have never even been to a county town were born and raised in the
mountains and have never even seen a bicycle - the mountain roads are long and difficult, and
only those with nothing better to do would ride a bicycle here.
So their wishes became small:
Want a bicycle.
I want a basketball.
I want a school bag.
I want to go to the county town and see the outside world.
That backward and poor county town could actually become the "outside world" in the eyes of
the children...
At this point, Zhu Jinxia finally understood A Bao's worries. It seemed that the mountains
restricted the children's mouths and legs, but in fact it was their eyes.
Mouth is the ability to express.
The legs are the range of motion.
And the eyes are the vision.
Vision is the key to a person's growth. It determines the upper limit of education and the
boundaries of thought.
This reminded Zhu Jinxia of a story mentioned by film scholar Kracauer in The Nature of Film: A
director made a short film for African natives, using five minutes to introduce the prosperity of
the city and present modern technology and life that the natives had never been exposed to, in
order to see their reactions. Unexpectedly, after the video was shown, everyone was discussing a
chicken, and the director didn't even notice that a chicken appeared in his film.
Everything the natives saw was unfamiliar, so they dared not comment, and had no way to
comment.
They were numb the whole time, until the chicken showed up. Chickens were the only thing they
were familiar with. Humans have a say in what they are familiar with.
The mountains blocked the children's sight. It's not that they didn't yearn for the world outside
the mountains, but they had no way to yearn for it and no way to imagine it.
Zhu Jinxia read essay after essay in a daze. Fortunately, there was one essay that rekindled her
hope.
The title of that weekly diary is: "If I were Qin Shi Huang." Although the content is somewhat
ridiculous and the sentences are not smooth, at least it is full of imagination.
Everyone has his or her own wish, and my wish is different and unique, that is to be Qin Shi
Huang.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be as talented and capable as Emperor Wu of Han, as good at both
literature and martial arts, as Emperor Taizong of Tang, who selected virtuous officials and
officials through imperial examinations, and as versatile and multi-talented as Emperor Qianlong
of Qing. But what I wanted most was to be as tyrannical and cruel as Qin Shi Huang, who could
call the wind and rain and do everything.
(Zhu Jinxia: It is recommended to study selectively, and violent and brutal ones are not
recommended.)
If I become the first emperor of Qin, I will have the ability to rule the whole country. For example,
if some villages in a city start fighting, I will say: "If you fight again, I will take back your territory."
If they still don't listen to my advice, I will lead the army to beat them to a pulp, so that they dare
not fight again.
(Zhu Jinxia: ...the legendary fight violence with violence?)
Second, I will appoint virtuous people and select officials through imperial examinations. For
example, if some county or township heads are greedy for pleasure and oppress the people when
they are doing their work, I will abolish their positions and exile them to other countries.
(Zhu Jinxia: Have you asked other countries about their feelings?)
If they still don't repent, I will behead them - with a guillotine!
(Zhu Jinxia: Ha???)
Third, I will use Qin Shi Huang's tyranny to make everyone fear me. For example, if someone kills
another person, and it is unjustified, I will kill his entire clan. Not only that, I will hang his body on
the city wall and roast it over fire until it is pitch black, as black as an African.
(Zhu Jinxia: Ha????????)
…
After reading to the end, Zhu Jinxia laughed until tears came out.
All in all, this little boy named Ding Zhengenjia used his rich imagination and more extensive
historical knowledge than other children to write a cute and slightly thrilling piece of childish talk.
Although there are still many grammatical errors, he used many historical allusions and could
even name the emperors of past dynasties.
In the second half of lunch break, Dunzhu came to ask for some fruit. Seeing Zhu Jinxia and Shixu
having a heated discussion, he also went over to join in the fun.
"Copied it?"
Perhaps the text quoted a large number of idioms and allusions that were beyond Dunzhu's
knowledge, so Dunzhu closed the book and said so.
Wish this summer: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "What kind of crazy essay website can provide such a sample essay for everyone to
copy?"
Dunzhu glanced at the composition again. "That's just copying and making up a paragraph. Kids
nowadays are really smart."
Shixu said: "They don't even have cell phones, where do you expect them to copy?"
"Borrow from another teacher?"
Time sees through everything: "Jealousy makes you ugly."
"I'm jealous? What am I jealous of? I'm jealous that he wants to roast people until they're as
black as Africans?"
Dunzhu shouted exaggeratedly, and just as he was pressing him, Shixu asked calmly, "Who is the
Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty?"
Like a chicken with its neck strangled, Dunzhu lost his voice.
Shi Xu put down the cup: "A ten-year-old child knows more than you do."
Dunzhu walked away angrily with a bunch of apples.
Shixu added: "Don't just focus on eating, read more books too."
The last sentence: "The Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty was Qianlong."
On a quiet afternoon, Dunzhu slammed the door with a deafening noise.
After Zhu Jinxia laughed at the childishness of the two, her eyes fell on the composition book
again, "...I'm going to the classroom."
Time sequence: "What are you going to do in the classroom?"
"I want to see which one is Ding Zhengenjia."
After only a few days of class, Zhu Jinxia couldn't remember everyone's name. First, Tibetan
names are always four characters long, which is difficult to remember. Second, more than half of
the children in the class have Ding Zhen in their names, which is easy to confuse.
At first, she thought that the young man named Ding Zhen had become famous, and the parents
wanted to share in the good fortune, so they named their children this way. After asking about
the time sequence, she learned that Tibetans do not have surnames, only names, and most of
the names in Yibo Township were given by the living Buddhas here.
They have to come up with so many names every day, I guess they are selling them wholesale.
Although Zhu Jinxia could not remember all their names, she could recognize their faces. For
example, when doing morning exercises, she could recognize who was in her class at a glance.
In order to remember which child Ding Zhengenjia was, she ran to the classroom with a
notebook.
Timing accompanies her.
In the fifth grade classroom, the children had textbooks on their desks, and they could see names
on the first page. She flipped through them one by one and found Ding Zhengenjia on the left
side of the second row.
Just looking at the desk, I couldn't see any difference. Then I lowered my head and found a thick
book in his drawer.
Hope you get your books out this summer.
She hadn't seen such a thick book for a long time. Today's book designs tend to be more user-
friendly, and if the number of words exceeds the standard, it will be bound in separate volumes.
If books have an age like people, this is probably the work of an old man in his twilight years, with
the cover and the first few pages gone.
The first page number says 19, and the whereabouts of pages 1-18 remain a mystery.
The paper is yellowed and the corners are curled, and you can tell at a glance that it has been
read countless times.
The page in her hand was about Huangdi, about how he was calm and thoughtful, and how he
knew how to handle things; about how he captured and killed Chiyou in the Zhuolu Plain; about
how he cut through the mountains and opened up paths to bring peace to the world.
…
Zhu Jinxia flipped through the inner pages and found that a lot of content was outlined in black
signing pen, including the Emperor Wu of Han who was both civil and military and appeared in
the composition book today, Emperor Taizong of Tang who appointed talented people to work,
and of course, the Qin Shihuang whom Ding Zhengenjia wanted to become.
This is a book introducing the emperors of all dynasties in China, including both official history
and unofficial history.
As expected, Dunzhu guessed wrong. Ding Zhengenjia did not copy the model essay, but wrote
the essay himself.
Zhu Jinxia was sincerely happy, but she didn't expect to see such a book here. It's not that fifth
graders shouldn't read history books, but in such a place and in such an environment, there
would be children who couldn't put down such a book.
It's a miracle that it can appear here.
It is even more difficult to be cherished and held in the hands and remembered in the heart of
this child.
He closed the book and looked around.
The central school is very poor. The tables, chairs and benches are extremely old. The tabletops
are mottled and the paint is peeling, and the original color is almost unrecognizable. There are
also signs of water seepage on the ceiling.
In this old-fashioned atmosphere, Zhu Jinxia suddenly smiled.
Shi Xu stood at the door of the classroom and asked her what she was laughing at.
"They laughed at me for taking a narrow path," Zhu Jinxia said. "I thought the only way to be
good was to look forward. I thought the mountains had blocked their eyes and made them lag
behind the children in the city. I thought the conditions were not good and it would be difficult
for them to catch up."
Shi Xu didn't say anything, just looked at her quietly.
"I once thought that without access to the Internet, they would not be able to see the outside
world, and without the most advanced teaching equipment, they would not be able to learn
anything."
"But you see, history is always looking backwards!" Zhu Jinxia laughed while holding the
incomplete book, "I put the cart before the horse and narrowed the path."
Shi Xu also laughed softly.
"You're so happy even though you narrowed the road?"
Happy.
So happy.
Vision is of course important.
But who says that only seeing the colorful world and the ever-changing technology can be
considered a broad vision?
Looking back, the long river of human history and knowledge is there. Even children in the deep
mountains can draw the richest nutrients from the yellowed books.
The height of a tree may be determined by the sun above it, but even if there is insufficient
sunlight, as long as the roots are deep enough, the nutrients in the soil are enough for the tree to
thrive and stand tall.
On the way back to the dormitory, Zhu Jinxia opened the online bookstore and ordered countless
books.
Time sequence: "The school has a library, so you don't need to buy any."
After a pause, he said, "Do you think I'm trying to dig out a Disney castle?"
"School books are school books." Zhu Jinxia asked back, "Did you see anyone of them go to
borrow books?"
She was right. The library he had worked so hard to build was indeed deserted. Shi Xu was silent
for a moment, "So, has anyone borrowed the books you bought?"
"of course."
Shi Xu was amused, "Zhu Jinxia, your big face is quite pleasing to the eye."
"Who is so shameless? I call this outsmarting!" Zhu Jinxia looked over and said, "I don't lend
books, I only give them away."
Shi Xu was startled, and saw her speaking with great enthusiasm.
"Most of the children here have only read textbooks, so they can't have a very good impression
of books. If you put the books in the library, of course no one will read them.
“But it’s different when you give it to them, what child doesn’t like to receive gifts?
"I assign a weekly diary every week, and choose the three best ones. Each of them will be
rewarded with a book."
"Have you studied psychology? Introducing a competition mechanism into the reward and
punishment effect can fully mobilize everyone's enthusiasm."
Zhu Jinxia was eloquent and incessant, and Shixu only asked: "What if it's not well written?"
"Then pick a few who wrote most seriously and praise their potential. Over time, they will also
think that they are good at writing essays." Zhu Jinxia said proudly, "This is also a kind of
psychology--"
“The Pygmalion effect.”
Timing spoke before she did.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, turned her head with her mouth open, and met a pair of deep eyes...
She slapped her forehead and suddenly realized.
"Sorry, sorry, I've been teaching elementary school students for so long that I almost forgot that
you also went to college."
Time sequence: “………………”

Chapter 20
It’s the “big week” off.
That afternoon, the playground was packed with children, who lined up in a square and stared
eagerly at the iron gate. The teachers were outside to maintain order. Shi Xu stood in the corridor
out of the sun and finished explaining the precautions for the holiday as a matter of routine.
Parents came one after another on motorcycles, often one adult would pick up children from
several families. They were all on the same hill, so it was easier and more fuel-efficient.
...It's just not very safe.
The motorcycle can carry two people, but it actually carried six or seven people. The children
were crowded together like the Calabash Brothers, each holding a bulging, colorful woven bag in
their hands. It was said that the bags contained bed sheets, quilt covers and dirty clothes, which
had to be taken home for changing and washing on Sundays.
It was midsummer, the sun was shining brightly, and the concrete floor was scorching hot.
Zhu Jinxia brought a chair out of the teacher's office and sat in the shade of the corridor, fanning
herself and saying, "By the way, I've already bought the books, all of which are readable by
elementary school students, from ancient times to the present, both Chinese and foreign."
"Sixth graders, come and clean up the podium." Shi Xu pointed to the distance, ordered the
children to work, and asked without turning his head, "How much?"
Soon a small team appeared and rushed to the "construction site" carrying brooms and dustpans.
Zhu Jinxia laughed: "Of course you dare to use child labor."
"Ask you how much."
"Why, you want to reimburse me?"
"Um."
Zhu Jinxia looked at him sideways, "The idea was mine, and the students are in my class. If it's
effective, it's also my credit. Who wants you to take credit for it?"
Shi Xu turned around and saw her fanning herself from time to time, her face flushed, so he took
a homework book from the stool next to her and handed it to her.
"I don't even get paid for teaching, so it's not appropriate to ask you to pay again."
Zhu Jinxia took the notebook and continued to fan herself, and she felt much cooler.
She raised an eyebrow: "That's not something you would say."
"What should I say?"
"With your stingy personality, of course you won't say anything. Just quit while you're ahead and
kowtow to me right there."
Time sequence: "..."
She seemed to have some misunderstanding about him.
Yu Xiaoshan, who had just come in to hide in the shade, burst out laughing.
After all, he is the principal. It’s okay to joke with him in private, but it’s not right to embarrass
him in front of other teachers. Zhu Jinxia coughed twice and quickly smoothed over his words.
"It's not much money. Just think of it as me paying my own way to come here for teaching
practice. There are a lot of things in the mountains. You should spend your money wisely."
"It's just buying books. I don't mind spending this little money."
"Can you be as rich as me?" Zhu Jinxia blurted out.
The scene became quiet for a moment, and she quickly changed her words: "What I mean is, it's
not much money anyway, just think of it as my love and warmth."
"Anyway, I'm paying for it, so don't argue with me." Zhu Jinxia glanced at Yu Xiaoshan next to her
awkwardly.
Yu Xiaoshan misunderstood, but it didn't stop her from taking the blame. She immediately waved
her hand and said, "Don't worry about the money. I won't argue with you anyway!"
He turned his head to look at the time sequence, "This is a fine tradition of our school from top
to bottom, right, principal?"
Time sequence: "..."
——
After sending the last child away, the sun had already set behind the thin sky.
I wish Jinxia is still standing at the school gate, waving to every child leaving like a mascot.
Shi Xu looked at the watch and said, "Let's go."
"Where are you going?"
"The county town. There's a meeting at the Education Bureau this weekend, and I have to
attend." Shi Xu asked, "Do you want to go and get some fresh air, too?"
of course yes!
I wish this summer a happy cheer and run back to the dormitory to pack up at the speed of a
100-meter sprint.
The figure disappeared into the distance.
Shixu couldn't help laughing, and was just about to tell you to slow down and not to be in a hurry,
when Dunzhu appeared out of nowhere.
"You're going to the county town?"
"Um."
"Teacher Zhu is going too?"
"Um."
"Then I'll go too."
Shi Xu retracted his gaze, "What are you going to do?"
"Take her out for fun." Dunzhu said as a matter of course, "A visitor is a guest. You hold your
meeting and I will be the host and spend the weekend with her."
Shixu voted no for him: "You are not allowed to go."
"Why?!"
"The motorcycle is too small to accommodate you."
Just as he finished speaking, coincidentally, Mr. Li from the car repair shop came over from the
side of the road. He saw Shi Xu from a distance and shouted, holding the keys: "Principal, I
brought you the car keys!"
Lao Li's truck is parked in the open space outside the school all year round.
Time is speechless for a moment.
"Did you ask Lao Li to lend you his car?" Dunzhu yelled immediately, "Such a big truck, can't it fit
me?"
Shi Xu was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, so he walked towards Lao Li without looking back
and said, "Anyway, you are not allowed to go. Don't think I don't know what evil ideas you have
in mind."
Dunzhu was not convinced and followed him, "What evil thoughts did I have? So what if I had
them?"
"She is nine years older than you."
"What's wrong with being nine years old? A gentleman is looking for a beautiful lady. We are
both unmarried—"
"Do you know whether she is married or not?" Shi Xu turned around and asked coldly.
Dunzhu was stunned and stopped walking.
"…What do you mean?"
"It's meaningless." Shi Xu took the truck keys from Lao Li and turned back to warn, "She's here,
and she'll leave sooner or later. You'd better stop thinking about her."
By the time Zhu Jinxia came out with her backpack, the truck had already stopped at the school
gate.
Two rows of people were sitting neatly in the back of the truck. Yu Xiaoshan was there, as was
Dunzhu. Almost all the school's overstretched faculty and staff were there. Everyone was talking
and laughing, unable to hide their excitement.
Zhu Jinxia opened the car door and asked, "What's going on?"
When I looked up, I was met with an expressionless face.
Time sequence: "What's going on? The elementary school students haven't finished walking yet,
there are still a few left behind."
The school is located in a remote area with inconvenient transportation. Most of the teachers
don't have cars. Those who have motorcycles are considered to be well-off. On weekends, they
can only go to the nearest Niuzan Town. They dare not even think about going to the county
town, after all, it takes more than three hours to drive there. Now that they know the principal is
going to drive to the county town, they all try to get a ride.
This is why there is such a grand occasion for primary school students’ spring outing.
Now that everyone was going, and there was no time to stop Dunzhu, he felt very proud.
As soon as the car was on the road, time started to give me a headache. In the rearview mirror,
the proud Dunzhu Primary School chicken was leading everyone in singing.
The song was in Tibetan. Zhu Jinxia didn't understand a word of it, but that didn't stop her from
enjoying it.
On one side of the road are lush green mountains, and on the other side is the rushing Jinsha
River. Under the sunlight, melodious singing from behind the car drifts into the distance.
No wonder people say that ethnic minorities are good at singing and dancing.
She looked at the road ahead and couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
Shi Xu asked her what she was laughing at.
“I just think it’s very rare.”
"What's so difficult?"
“Everything is hard to come by.”
When people are in the mountains, happiness becomes extremely simple. Going to the town,
singing a song, and eating a bowl of noodles can make people happy.
Speaking of eating noodles, halfway through the drive, the driver suddenly turned the steering
wheel, went up a small slope, and stopped in a small town on the side of the road, saying he
would treat everyone to noodles.
The singing behind the car seamlessly connected with the cheers.
This is a very small town. There is just one street with a few scattered shops and small buildings.
Most of the shops are closed in the afternoon.
Occasionally a vehicle passed by, raising a cloud of dust.
The noodle shop was also small, with only four tables, a cement floor, black walls, and a fan on
the wall that was spinning feebly, blowing as if it was about to die.
Shixu picked a table, hooked his foot, and brought out a chair, "Sit down."
He took a tissue and wiped the table for Zhu Jinxia.
Teachers jumped off the truck one after another and walked into the store, filling up four tables.
Yu Xiaoshan sat next to Zhu Jinxia and joked, "The principal is treating us, so we can't have one
bowl of noodles per table and share it, right?"
"That's too expensive." Shi Xu sat across from them, "Of course I'll eat the noodles and you guys
will drink the noodle soup."
Everybody laughed.
The boss was boiling water in the inner room, and the boss's wife came out to greet everyone.
Shi Xu seemed to be very familiar with her. After a few words of greeting, she followed him
around to the back of the stove.
Zhu Jinxia looked up when he heard the proprietress calling him "little brother" with a smile.
…The principal used his old tricks again and started chatting and laughing with others.
He said that today's vegetables were not fresh. The proprietress sighed and said that it was true,
the vegetables were from yesterday. There were few passengers on this road, and except for the
truck drivers who were in a hurry, there was nowhere to use the ingredients.
He said, "Then give me more noodles," and the proprietress nodded repeatedly.
He asked if there were any braised food today. The proprietress said yes, lifted the gauze, showed
him what was in the basin, and picked up a braised chicken foot and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Try it, this is freshly braised this morning."
Shixu didn't hesitate to say thank you and started to eat with relish.
The water was boiling in the pot, the store was stuffy and hot, the fan was not very effective, and
the proprietress was calling a little brother by the stove.
Little brother?
Can a 33-year-old old man be called "little brother"?
Zhu Jinxia glanced at the little brother sideways.
The proprietress was not very old, and looked a few years younger than her. She had two pigtails
and wore a cotton floral dress. She had no makeup on and her face was rosy. She was not
beautiful, but she looked fresh and natural.
It’s weird, she just flirts with the “young brother” like this and the boss has no objection?
If you don't understand, just ask. Zhu Jinxia turned around and said, "Are those two a couple?"
"Yes." Yu Xiaoshan said, "They got married the year before last or the year before last. I even
attended their wedding."
"The boss lady keeps calling me little brother, does the boss have any objection?"
"Of course I have no objection. If it weren't for the principal, they wouldn't be together." There
was nothing else to do in the mountains, and gossip was the best diversion. Yu Xiaoshan laughed,
"Guess what, the boss lady had pursued our principal to death before."
Zhu Jinxia was surprised, "Which principal? Timing?"
"Of course it can't be Uncle Wang." Yu Xiaoshan exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Uncle Wang is already
over 60 years old!"
"But didn't Shixu come back at the end of last year? You just said that the two got married the
year before last or the year before last... In your country, can you pursue others after getting
married?"
I wish you a confused summer.
I learned from Yu Xiaoshan's gossip that this happened many years ago. At that time, Shixu was
already working in Beijing. He came back to visit Uncle Wang during the Spring Festival and was
attracted by this girl named Ramu at first sight. Ramu was working in a restaurant in the town at
that time. Shixu went to eat at the restaurant where she worked. At that glance, Ramu fell in love
and almost drowned.
I found out about Shixu on the same day and ran to Uncle Wang's house the next day. On New
Year's Day, I sat on the kang and refused to move, and followed Shixu around no matter how hard
I tried.
It is said that the time sequence did not even pass the Spring Festival and it ran away.
I thought the story ended there, but it turned out that Ram was a ruthless person. Timing was a
fart, so she ran three hundred miles and chased him all the way to Beijing.
It was such a big capital city, and she was a girl from the mountains who was unfamiliar with the
place. When she received a call from Uncle Wang at the right time, she couldn't just ignore it and
had to go to the train station to pick him up.
It was also his fault for thinking too simply and for convenience, thinking that the tea would get
cold after the person left. Unexpectedly, Ram was so enthusiastic that she not only chased him
from such a long distance, but also proposed to him when he was still at the train station. It was
the Spring Festival travel season and there were so many people there. She actually knelt on the
spot and proposed to him.
"I heard that she was holding a bunch of wilted Gesang flowers in her hand, which she brought all
the way from the mountains. She said that the season was as beautiful as the Gesang flowers,
and she would definitely cherish them."
When Yu Xiaoshan said this, she laughed so hard that she was out of breath.
I wish this summer will listen with all her eyes open.
"and after?"
"What happened next? Later, the principal sent the person back intact. Maybe he explained it
clearly enough this time, and Ram finally gave up."
"It's that simple?"
"That's not possible. I made it too simple. You have to use the plots from ten or eight Qiong Yao
dramas on your own. That's a lot of work. Tsk."
For a young girl in her early twenties, love was like a sudden rain in midsummer, falling as soon as
it was said. Unfortunately, time did not change, and whether she cried or threw a tantrum, he
just did not agree.
A tug-of-war was fought from the mountains to Beijing, and then from Beijing back to the
battlefield in western Sichuan. It lasted for more than a month, but the flowing water is not
ruthless, it is simply heartless.
Ram had no choice but to give up, and was depressed for several days. The girl from the
mountain was tough and would not be so depressed, but it was said that her declaration that she
would never love again in this life was heard by people in the surrounding area.
Shixu returned to Beijing feeling apologetic and self-blaming, for he thought he had ruined the
girl's life. Unexpectedly, within two months, he heard from Donzhu on the phone about Ram's
recent situation. He heard that she had returned to work in the restaurant within a week. One
day when she was wiping the table, she looked up and saw a new face, and fell in love
passionately once again.
This time Ram was unable to go ashore, and now the new face is busy with her in the kitchen.
Before Yu Xiaoshan finished her gossip, time had already come back.
I wish this summer that he will come from the stove. In the fumes, he is a shadow that doesn't fit
in. He has a slender figure, superior contours, and clear facial features like a knife.
He doesn't like to smile, and his brows are always slightly furrowed, which makes his already not-
so-gentle appearance even more distant, not to mention that his eyes are often filled with
ridicule and impatience.
But once you really get to know him, you will find that although he seems harsh, he actually has a
sharp tongue but a soft heart.
She had heard about his life story, even if she only heard the general idea and didn't know much,
she could sense that he had suffered a lot along the way. But the mountains and poverty never
seemed to crush him. No matter when, he was like a pine tree on a cliff, standing tall and straight
in the wind and rain. From his bones to his straight posture.
No wonder Ram fell passionately in love.
Time went back, there were three bowls of noodles on the plate, and the first bowl was placed in
front of Zhu Jinxia.
Noticing the burning gazes from the side, Zhu Jinxia pushed the noodles to Yu Xiaoshan, "Teacher
Yu, you eat first."
I just listened to a lot of gossip, so I'll just take it as a thank you.
"Thank you, thank you. I'm welcome then."
Yu Xiaoshan picked up her chopsticks and was about to eat, but Shixu pushed the noodles back in
front of Zhu Jinxia, "Do you understand manners? Guests are welcome."
Yu Xiaoshan had no choice but to retract her hungry gaze and reluctantly said politely, "Yes, yes,
Mr. Zhu, you eat, you eat."
Then he swallowed his saliva and quickly went to get the second bowl.
Zhu Jinxia laughed, "Aren't all the bowls the same?"
Shi Xu's eyes moved slightly, but he didn't say anything. Seeing that everyone had started eating,
he sat down as well and asked casually, "What were you talking about just now? Why are you so
happy?"
Zhu Jinxia pursed her lips, looked behind the stove, and gloated: "I'm talking about your bad luck
in love."
“…”
Shi Xu turned his gaze to Yu Xiaoshan, "Do you still want a salary increase at the end of the year?"
Yu Xiaoshan had a mouthful of noodles stuck in her throat, unable to move them up or down.
Zhu Jinxia quickly patted her on the back to calm her down, and then responded to Shixu on her
behalf, "What's the matter? Are you taking your anger out on the teacher?"
"Who's upset?"
"Who knows? You thought they couldn't live without you, but it turned out to be just that. After
two months, you only hear the smiles of the newcomer. Sigh."
Zhu Jinxia slowly pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder and called out "little
brother" in a pretentious voice.
It was rare for her to be so coquettish. The corners of her eyes and eyebrows raised slightly, and
there was a hint of charm in her voice that was not usually there. Although she spoke in a
sarcastic tone, it made people feel restless.
the weather is too hot.
Shi Xu paused, his eyes slightly gloomy, and he took her chopsticks as if nothing had happened,
rinsed them with hot water, and put them back into her hand, "No matter how much food you
eat, it can't stop your mouth."
Although the shop is old and small, the beef noodles look good and the portions are large.
Zhu Jinxia peeled off the noodles and exclaimed, "There's an egg?"
When Yu Xiaoshan heard this, she immediately started to look for it at the bottom of the bowl,
"Where is it? I can't see it..."
Then everyone started looking, and finally they found that only Zhu Jinxia had an egg in her bowl.
Looking again, Yu Xiaoshan said: "No, how come you have more flesh than me?"
Zhu Jinxia then noticed that the bowl of beef noodles in front of Yu Xiaoshan was just an ordinary
bowl, while her bowl actually held a secret - after removing the layer of covering on top, she
actually found a large amount of beef, tripe, and a fried egg underneath.
She was startled, then suddenly realized and looked up at the time sequence.
"Is it possible——"
Shi Xu didn't say anything, his eyebrows twitched, and then he heard her say in a sarcastic tone.
"Could it be that the lady boss made this dish especially for me, so she added so many special
seasonings? Wow——"
Also wow.
“…”
The twitching between my eyebrows stopped, and it was my temples that started throbbing.
"Then do you want to eat it? If not, give it to me."
Of course I can't give it to him. People who are merciful everywhere don't deserve to eat meat.
Zhu Jinxia shared the meat with Yu Xiaoshan.
Dunzhu from the next table interrupted, "Give me some. She has enough meat, no need to
share."
Yu Xiaoshan protested: "How can that be enough? I don't even have two pieces!"
"Aren't your arms and stomach all full of flesh?"
"you--"
Yu Xiaoshan was angry and rolled up her sleeves to take action.
Zhu Jinxia quickly pulled her back and turned around to criticize Dunzhu: "Don't joke about
women's bodies."
As soon as she spoke, Dunzhu stopped talking and said to Yu Xiaoshan, "I won't bother with you."
Then he buried his head in eating noodles. While eating, he thought about Zhu Jinxia's words and
began to feel annoyed again.
Why not just make a joke and say Yu Xiaoshan is fat? Now he has been accused of disrespecting
women. I wonder how Teacher Zhu will view him.
I should have known not to butt in on this.
He caught a glimpse of a plate of fried soybeans on the table and an idea suddenly came to his
mind.
"Teacher Zhu, I will show you a special skill!"
And by the way, save his precarious image.
Zhu Jinxia glanced sideways, and saw the sunny boy over there grabbed a handful of soybeans,
threw one high into the air, and caught it with his mouth accurately.
Yu Xiaoshan sneered: "What kind of unique skill is this?"
"Why are you panicking? Just wait and see."
Then, Dunzhu threw out two more, and caught them with his mouth with two clicks.
Then three.
Then four.
The teachers cheered and the cheers ignited Dunzhu's desire to perform.
"Wait, watch me scatter flowers like a fairy."
Without waiting for Shi Xu to stop, Dunzhu quickly grabbed another handful of soybeans and
sprinkled them into the sky. The beans fell like raindrops, but unfortunately he couldn't catch
many of them with his mouth. The rest were scattered on the ground, bounced a few times, and
spun around in every corner.
broken!
Dunzhu came to his senses and reflexively looked back at the time sequence, but it was too late.
Before he could see clearly, the Grim Reaper was already standing behind him, and slapped him
on the back of the head.
...a scream.
It's a waste of food, it's a death sentence for his brother.
As expected, Shixu said in a deadly tone: "Pick it up and eat it. If you miss one, you will have to
squat down."
It would be fine if it was any other day, but today...
Dunzhu's face flushed red, and he couldn't help but sneak a glance at Zhu Jinxia over his figure. In
front of his beloved, even if he was in the wrong, he had to bite the bullet and confront Shixu.
"Do you think I'm a primary school student? Why are you squatting?!"
Shi Xu didn't say anything, just stared at him.
Dunzhu's momentum weakened a bit, and he argued again: "It's all fallen on the ground, it's so
dirty, how can I eat it?"
His brother still didn't say anything.
Under this death gaze, there was really no need for Shixu to say anything. Dunzhu's momentum
had become weaker and weaker. Finally, he squatted down muttering to himself and began to
pick up beans one by one.
Although no one could hear what he was mumbling, it at least showed that even if he knelt, he
knelt like a real man and not a wimp.
——Dunzhu thought so as he crawled under the table and dug out beans from the corners.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing and asked Shi Xu quietly, "What is he mumbling about?"
No one knows a son better than his father.
To Dunzhu, Shixu is like an elder brother who is like a father, so he naturally knows his character.
He said calmly, "Singing."
"Sing?"
You have a good attitude and are in the mood to sing?
Shi Xu leaned back in his chair and glanced at the half of his butt sticking out from the edge of the
table.
"He's been like this since he was little. Uncle Wang had to take care of the entire school and
didn't have time to take care of him, so he handed him over to me. Every time I beat him or
punished him, he's always like this. He listens and does what I say, but..." He paused.
Zhu Jinxia: "What is it?"
"I just can't accept it in my heart, and I sing to express my feelings all the time."
This word -
I wish you all a happy smile this summer. “What are you singing?”
"It's just one fixed song." Shixu looked over, somewhat speechless, "Me and My Last
Stubbornness, singing it over and over again."
puff--
Yu Xiaoshan at the side burst out laughing first, a small piece of noodles came out of her nostrils,
and she screamed in pain.
In the noodle shop at dusk, some people were chatting, some were concentrating on eating
noodles, some were picking soybeans under the table with their last bit of stubbornness, and
some were busy taking care of a colleague with a burning nose.
Looking at everything in front of him, Shixu leaned back on the hard chair and felt relaxed for no
reason.
The central school hasn't been so lively for a long time. Although the children are playing and
fighting every day, the days were obviously much more boring and monotonous before she came.

Chapter 21
Chapter 21
There was a small shop next door. After eating noodles, Zhu Jinxia went in and bought eight
bottles of drinks. Looking back, she saw that everyone had got in the car, and since Shi Xu was
still checking out in the store, she simply waited for him at the door with the bag.
The proprietress was calculating the bill: "Eight bowls of noodles in total, fifteen yuan each. The
pretty teacher's bowl had an extra fried egg, a portion of beef scoop, and a portion of beef tripe.
The total is one hundred and forty yuan."
I wish this summer was stunned.
The bowl for the beautiful teacher?
So that bowl was originally ordered by Shixu for her?
She suddenly remembered how he snatched the noodles back from Yu Xiaoshan's mouth.
Shi Xu, who was in the store, paid the bill and turned around, and bumped into the person at the
door. When their eyes met, they both paused for a moment.
Shixu walked towards her and said, "Get in the car."
Zhu Jinxia followed behind, and finally couldn't help muttering: "Isn't it that the old lover who still
has feelings for each other should give the little brother a luxury package?"
“…”
Shi Xu didn't answer, but only glanced at what she had in her hands, "Did you buy drinks for
everyone?"
He took the bag, distributed it to the people in the back of the car, and then got in the car.
"If they are really old lovers and we still have feelings for each other, then this meal would be
free. How could she charge me so much money?" He continued the previous topic.
Zhu Jinxia squinted her eyes, "So she calls you little brother?"
"What's wrong with little brother? Her husband also calls me little brother." Shi Xu glanced at her,
"So her husband is also my old lover and still has feelings for me?"
“…”
"When I came back at the end of last year, she brought her husband to see me. She said that she
was ignorant and went to Beijing, which caused me a lot of trouble and she almost got lost. I paid
for all the expenses, sent her back all the way, and took good care of her, just like a brother. She
already has a brother at home who is older than me, so she calls me little brother."
After saying this, Shi Xu didn't even look at her. He just started the car, drove down the hill again,
and got back onto the national highway.
Zhu Jinxia felt moved and wanted to say something, but she couldn't say anything.
The last thing he said was a weird question: "Why are you explaining to me?"
Timing didn't speak.
He didn't know why he had to explain it, but he answered her because she asked. He didn't want
her to misunderstand him, and he didn't want her to think of him as a frivolous playboy who
flirted with other women.
Or maybe even if she didn't ask, he would bring it up.
The car fell silent.
Zhu Jinxia turned his head and rolled down the window to hear the "primary school kids" in the
back of the car singing again. Accompanied by the sound of wind and water, the sunset in the
evening shone on the top of the mountain, covering the sky and the earth with a layer of broken
gold.
Her thoughts drifted far away, across the mountain roads, to Beijing, and to the Spring Festival
that Yu Xiaoshan mentioned.
Perhaps it was because Yu Xiaoshan was eloquent and told stories so well that she seemed to be
able to clearly see the scene of Shi Xu and Ram meeting in the restaurant in the small town, with
smoke billowing and the environment being shabby.
She saw Ram chasing Uncle Wang's house, sitting on the kang and refusing to leave. Shi Xu looked
speechless, with veins protruding, temples throbbing, and a very long face. Just like the way she
and Dunzhu teased him every day at lunch.
There was also the scene where someone proposed to him on one knee in a busy train station.
That was a truly famous scene.
Zhu Jinxia looked out the window, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.
The past slowly unfolds like the green hills before our eyes, and the image of time becomes richer
in an instant.
At this moment, he is no longer the young principal who always likes to hide behind the crowd.
He has lost his forbearance and is less tragic. Back then, he also sounded full of vigor and vitality,
like a gust of wind in spring, wanton, coming and going freely.
If - Zhu Jinxia couldn't stop thinking - if I could see the past, that would be great.
——
When we arrived at the county town, night had already fallen.
The teachers had their own arrangements, some stayed with relatives, some worked in pairs to
run cheap hotels, but Zhu Jinxia was the only one who used her mobile phone to book a hotel on
the way here - the most luxurious Holiday Inn in town, at four hundred yuan a night.
The price was nothing to her, but when the car stopped at the hotel entrance and she got out to
say goodbye to the teachers in the back seat, she saw daunting looks on everyone's faces.
Away from school, they seemed to be from two different worlds.
Shi Xu rolled down the window and asked, "Have you brought all your documents?"
"I've brought everything."
"Send me a message when you check in."
"good."
"Don't run around at night. The security here is bad..."
I was obviously worried about the timing, but there was a group of people I needed to send off
behind the car, so I had to give up.
Zhu Jinxia waved goodbye to everyone, turned around and ran up the stairs, and checked into the
hotel smoothly. It was said to be the most luxurious hotel in the county, but the environment was
not very good. It took five minutes for the hot water to come up.
When she finally took a long-awaited hot bath, she was almost moved to tears.
There was some water in the bathroom after taking a shower. Zhu Jinxia wondered uncertainly,
could it be that because I hadn't taken a shower for too long that mud had accumulated and
blocked the sewer?
There are unread messages on the phone in a certain order: "Did you check in successfully?"
She wiped her hair and replied: "I've checked in."
"Which room?"
"803."
"Go to bed early and don't open the door to strangers."
"Got it, old lady."
There was a string of question marks on the other end. Zhu Jinxia laughed and threw her phone
on the bed, turned on the TV, found an old movie to watch, and called the front desk to ask if
there was any midnight snack.
The front desk said there was no midnight snack, but there was fruit, which was provided for a
fee. Zhu Jinxia ordered a lot of food in one go, with a mentality of "since I'm here, I might as well
have a full stomach".
After a while, someone knocked on the door.
She thought it was the front desk clerk delivering fruit, so she opened the door without thinking,
but she didn't expect that Shi Xu was standing outside.
As soon as the door opened, his face fell, "Didn't I tell you not to open the door to strangers?"
Principal Shi's face was stern. He was really intimidating, and his whole body was emitting a
thousand-year-old coldness.
"I thought it was the front desk delivering fruit..." Zhu Jinxia stuttered, then defended herself,
"Besides, you are not a stranger."
"If I were a stranger, would you still be standing here and talking to me?"
"Then where should I stand to talk?"
"No need to speak, tomorrow's social news headlines will speak for you."
“…”
Although it was a serious topic, Zhu Jinxia was amused. She glanced at the plastic bag in his hand
and cleverly changed the subject, "What are you carrying?"
Shi Xu didn't say anything and stuffed the bag into her hand.
Zhu Jinxia opened it and was stunned.
"This is……"
"I just bought it when I passed by the supermarket, so you wouldn't run around when you were
hungry at night." Shi Xu put his hands in his pockets and shrugged nonchalantly, "But it seems
unnecessary. After all, anyone can knock on your door, and it's just as dangerous whether you go
out or not."
Wish this summer: "..."
Why is this person talking in a sarcastic way?
…for the sake of snacks.
"Thank you." She waved the bag and hesitated for the next sentence, "Would you like to come in
and sit down...?"
It seemed inappropriate to invite him into the house so late at night.
Shixu probably also noticed her reservedness and said, "I won't sit down anymore."
After giving some brief instructions, he reiterated that you should never open the door to
strangers, and then left.
Zhu Jinxia had just returned to the bed with the plastic bag when there was another knock on the
door.
This time it should be the fruit at the front desk.
She put the bag down and without a second thought, turned around and opened the door again.
...I didn't expect that the god of death would come again.
It was still time outside the door. He came back with a very bad complexion, even worse than
before.
Wish this summer: “…………”
Shi Xu called her name word by word, his voice was strangely cold, "What did I just say?"
“…”
"Did I ever tell you not to open the door to strangers?"
"I did." Zhu Jinxia answered in a low voice, feeling as if she was caught cheating homework at
school by the principal.
This is unscientific. She is not his student. Why should he scold her? She doesn't need to be so
scared.
Zhu Jinxia was slightly distracted, but was brought back to her senses by the strict principal.
"So what are you doing now?"
The face of time is cold enough when it has no expression, let alone when it gets angry.
The next second, Zhu Jinxia slammed the door shut.
Time sequence: "..."
Soon, a voice came from inside the door: "Who is it?"
Timing: ?
The person inside cleared his throat, trying to cover up his mistake: "What happened just now
doesn't count. Come, let's do it again."
“…”
The pretentious man got no response, so he asked again innocently: "Who's outside?"
"I wish you a happy summer." Even through the door, I could hear Shixu's silence. "Have you
performed enough?"
"Ah, it's our principal."
Zhu Jinxia opened the door again. Although the trick was bad, it was a surprise victory. You see,
although the person at the door still had a stern face, she could already tell from his micro-
expressions that his mood had turned from gloomy to sunny.
"The mountains are different from the outside world, so don't take it lightly."
Shixu knocked on the blackboard, gave instructions again, and was ready to leave when Zhu Jinxia
suddenly asked, "Where do you live?"
He stopped where he was, paused, and turned back, "Hotel."
"Is it far?"
"nearby."
Zhu Jinxia thought for a moment and asked again: "When will the meeting start?"
"tomorrow."
"How long will it take?"
"Three days."
"so long?!"
"There will be a statewide teacher proficiency test in a while, which is a big deal."
After a few brief words, time passed again. The lights in the corridor were dim, and a figure was
swaying on the old carpet. He walked very steadily and quickly, and disappeared at the end of the
corridor in a blink of an eye, as if he had never been there.
But I wish this summer had a premonition, closed the door, stood still, and waited for something
to happen.
Sure enough, the third knock on the door came soon.
"Brother, are you coming again? Do you know what "three times the limit" means?" She leaned
against the door and laughed.
There was silence outside the door, and then someone turned on the intercom. After a burst of
electrical noise, they asked uncertainly, "Are you sure it's the fruit at 803?"
Wish this summer: “………………”
Hurry and open the door to claim it.
She casually placed the fruit on the bedside table and opened the big bag that Shixu had brought.
At a glance, she saw Swiss rolls, potato chips, chocolates, and many other common snacks on the
market.
It’s not easy, the Wanniankou King is bleeding heavily.
I wish this summer I can lean on the bed and watch a movie, open a bag of potato chips, and eat
them casually.
By the way, I sent a message to Shixu: It’s all your fault!
Timing replied quickly:?
Zhu Jinxia: If you hadn't come back to kill me, I wouldn't have PTSD.
She recounted what had just happened, focusing on describing the look in the receptionist's eyes
after the door opened.
Timeline: So what did you say through the door that made him look at you like a pervert?
Zhu Jinxia: I thought it was you outside, so I sang a few lines of "Good Little Rabbit" and opened
the door.
There was no response for a long time.
Zhu Jinxia: Where are the people?
Timing: Wait a minute, just got up from under the chair.
Wish this summer: ………………
The interface stopped at "the other party is typing" and she waited.
Timing: Pretty good.
Time sequence: At least now you know not to open the door to strangers.
Zhu Jinxia stuffed a handful of potato chips into his mouth: Not only that, if a bad guy came now
and knocked on the door, and heard the person inside singing "Little Bunny, Open the Door
Obediently" to him, who knows who would be more scared.
Timing makes me laugh.
Dunzhu, who was standing beside him, stretched his neck to try to see the content on his phone.
"What are you looking at? You are laughing so happily?"
Shixu put away his phone, turned over, and went to sleep.
Just as he closed his eyes, he remembered something and opened his eyes again, "Are you going
to see Teacher Zhu tomorrow?"
"Yes." Dunzhu said straightforwardly, "If you want to stop me again, save your breath as soon as
possible."
As if he could stop it.
The timing was a headache, and in the end I just gave a warning: "Be a good host, but don't do
anything you shouldn't do."
"What are the things that I shouldn't do?" Dunzhu laughed, "What I do is none of your business -
ah!"
"Can I control it?"
"Time, you son of a bitch, you're launching a sneak attack—Aaaaaaaa!"
——
The next day was a sunny day.
As soon as the sun rose, the phone started to urge me to leave.
It’s painful. It’s so fucking painful.
Zhu Jinxia picked up the phone, and Dunzhu shouted energetically on the other end: "Teacher
Zhu, are you awake?"
What do you think?
She closed her eyes. "…What's the matter?"
"Don't sleep anymore, the sun is shining on your butt!" Dunzhu shouted, "Come downstairs
quickly, I'm in the hotel lobby!"
Zhu Jinxia suddenly opened her eyes, "Where???"
"In the lobby of your hotel." Dunzhu said happily, "Isn't my brother in a meeting? I'll help him be
the host and take you around the county!"
Every sentence is an exclamatory sentence.
"I also brought you breakfast!"
The young boy didn't understand the sadness of being a social animal at all. He hesitated for ten
seconds between ignoring him and continuing to sleep and going downstairs to accept the
kindness. I wish Jinxia would accept her fate.
"...Just wait, I'll be there soon."
She can never refuse others in person, and always passively accepts other people's kindness.
Zhu Jinxia hung up the phone, covered her eyes and howled loudly. Even though she had stayed
up late to watch a movie and was physically and mentally exhausted, she had to get up and wash
up quickly.
In the lobby downstairs, Dunzhu was carrying two bags of breakfast. As soon as he saw her, he
came up to her and smiled like a dog's tail flower.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't laugh, "Where are you taking me?"
"climb mountains."
“…”
It's so hard to get the word out, but who the hell wants to go hiking with you?
May this summer begin with a deep breath.
Dunzhu obviously misunderstood and grinned, "Are you happy? If you are happy, just shout it
out, don't hold it in."
Zhu Jinxia did scream, and she screamed for help.
The mountain is not very high, just beside the county town. Dunzhu grew up on the plateau,
walking briskly ahead, while Zhu Jinxia could only run breathlessly.
The two of them ate breakfast while climbing. Dunzhu brought a lot of food, including soy milk
buns and egg steamed buns.
After Zhu Jinxia yawned more than ten times, he finally realized, "Teacher Zhu, did you not sleep
well?"
"……good."
Seeing that she was in low spirits, Dunzhu tried every means to cheer her up. Seeing an
untouched egg in the bag because Zhu Jinxia felt thirsty after eating it, he suddenly had an idea.
"Come on, Mr. Zhu, I'll show you a special skill."
Any other unique skills?
When Zhu Jinxia looked up, she saw Dunzhu peeling all five eggs, tilting his head back, opening
his mouth wide, and stuffing them in one after another.
Her eyes were wide open.
When it comes to the fourth one, I hope I will start to worry this summer.
"Can you do that? Don't choke."
Dunzhu couldn't even close his mouth, and kept saying, "Huang sin, what's wrong with me?"
Don't worry, I can.
“…”
Zhu Jinxia thought to herself, your brother has arranged the wrong path for you. Since you like
being a master of unique skills so much, why be a teacher? You should join the circus.
When he stuffed the fifth one into his mouth, Dunzhu choked as expected. Zhu Jinxia quickly took
out the water she had bought before going up the mountain from her backpack, unscrewed the
lid and handed it to him to help him relieve the irritation.
"I told you to stop eating, spit it out now!"
Dunzhu choked on his tears and took a full minute to swallow the egg whole. Then his face
turned red and his neck became thick, and he started coughing with his mouth stuck to his neck.
Zhu Jinxia: "Didn't I tell you to spit it out?!"
"I dare not vomit!" The boy's face flushed, his eyes filled with tears, and he looked back
reflexively.
"What are you looking for?" Zhu Jinxia suddenly realized, "...Looking for your brother?"
Dunzhu's face turned even redder, like a bright red morning glory. "Isn't it because he's afraid
that he would say I was wasting food?"
"Are you so afraid of him?!"
The person is not here, but there is still psychological trauma. How serious must the PTSD be?
Dunzhu comforted himself: "I'm not afraid of him, it's not that wasting food is really bad..."
The excuse was feeble, and he changed direction.
"Besides, he's so fierce, aren't you afraid of him?"
"Of course I'm not afraid—" Zhu Jinxia denied reflexively, then she remembered that he was like
Zhao Zilong from Changshan, going in and out of the hotel corridor three times last night, which
frightened her. She lowered her head and looked like a primary school student who had made a
mistake, and changed the ending of her tone abruptly, "—right?"
With a word "bar", the two looked at each other for a few seconds, feeling a sense of empathy
and acknowledging their identity as brothers in distress.
Two patients with chronological PTSD continued to climb the mountain.
On the way, we encountered a group of yaks blocking the road. These sacred beasts of the
plateau were quite arrogant, wagging their tails and barking proudly. Some of them lay in the
middle of the road, while others walked back and forth.
I couldn't get through, so I just took a break and played with the animals. Dunzhu touched one of
the calves and turned around and said, "Teacher Zhu, look how cute it is!"
The next second, Xiao Niu's buttocks stuck out, and before he could dodge, his left foot was hit by
an unknown object.
Looking closely, it was foamy shit.
The calf not only had diarrhea, but also had loose stools.
"Fuck!" Dunzhu screamed and rushed into the forest, rubbing against the bushes.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" Zhu Jinxia's loud laughter startled countless birds.
After this incident, Dunzhu lost interest in climbing the mountain, and the two of them turned
back halfway.
Summary: Going up the mountain and going down the mountain, the two people's state of mind
are completely different.
When they were going up the mountain, Zhu Jinxia was just gasping for breath, but Dunzhu was
in high spirits. Talking to her and looking at her rosy face made him feel as if he had drunk
alcohol.
When we went down the mountain, the roles were reversed. I wish this summer would finally
have the heart to enjoy the scenery, to watch the rising sun, to watch the colorful forests, to
watch the mountains all red, to watch the golden mountain in the sun. Finally, I turned my head
to look at Dunzhu, who was cursing and kicking stones all the way, but couldn't clean the cow
dung off his left foot no matter how hard he tried.
He looked sad and she laughed.
"Stop howling, I'll buy you lunch."
Back in the county town again, Zhu Jinxia was eager to find a restaurant to improve the food.
"What do you want to eat?"
Dunzhu is also a heartless person. When he heard that we were going to eat something good, his
mood immediately changed from gloomy to cheerful. "How about a small hot pot?"
"Okay, you lead the way."
Dunzhu looked at the cow dung on his feet and scratched the back of his head embarrassedly,
"Um, Mr. Zhu, can we go back to your hotel first?"
"What's wrong?"
Zhu Jinxia turned around, his eyes fell on his feet, and he suddenly realized, "You want to wash
your shoes?"
Dunzhu nodded awkwardly.
Zhu Jinxia paused. The shoes were no longer recognizable. Although she was not a germaphobe,
they were cow dung after all...
"You lived with Shixu last night?"
"right."
Zhu Jinxia breathed a sigh of relief: "Isn't the hotel you're staying in nearby? How about I go back
with you to the hotel to wash your shoes?"
"Hotel?" Dunzhu was stunned. "What hotel?"
Zhu Jinxia was also stunned.
"Didn't you stay in a hotel last night?"
"How is that possible? Did you meet my brother on the first day? Could he take me to the hotel?"
Dunzhu shouted exaggeratedly.
"But didn't he say..."
Zhu Jinxia didn't turn around. Last night in the hotel corridor, she asked Shixu where he was
staying, and Shixu clearly answered that he was staying in a hotel. She asked if it was far, and he
said it was not far, just nearby.
Pause.
"Where do you live then?"
"In the car, of course."

Chapter 22
Chapter 22
"In the car?" Zhu Jinxia was shocked. "The one that Lao Li owns?"
"What else?" Dunzhu was full of dissatisfaction, "You know him. The hotel costs 100 yuan a night.
How can he afford this? You might as well kill him."
“…”
All the way back to the hotel to wash his shoes, Dunzhu kept complaining.
"You don't know what he cooked before you came to school. There was no meat in the food.
People who knew he was a teacher thought he was a monk from some temple. Thanks to you, we
can now have a few pieces of meat in a meal."
"Have you seen his bedsheets? They've become white and hard from washing, and sleeping on
them is no different from sleeping on a steel sheet. This semester I bought him a new set, and he
never opened it. But when you came, he opened it and gave it to you, and he continued to sleep
on the steel sheet, like a special forces soldier."
"Also, he never went to town to take a tub bath. He was reluctant to spend even thirty dollars. In
the middle of winter, he would take a cold bath in the corner of the playground in the middle of
the night while the teachers and students were asleep. The faucet was frozen, but he could stand
it."
After muttering for a while, he realized that the person next to him didn't respond, so Dunzhu
raised his head.
"Teacher Zhu?"
Zhu Jinxia didn't fail to hear, she just couldn't say anything. She knew Shixu was stingy, but she
didn't know he was so frugal.
"Did he become like this when he came back last year?"
Dunzhu shook his head, "It's always been like this. It was even more outrageous when I was
studying."
What's so outrageous?
No one abused him, he just asked for it.
Uncle Wang never treated him badly and always made sure he was well fed. But he only ate rice
and never a piece of meat.
When he was in junior high school, the adolescent boys were growing up like cabbages in the
fields, and the clothes he bought the previous year soon became too small to fit him. Uncle Wang
took him to buy new ones, but he refused to wear them even though the patches on his clothes
were almost ripped apart.
He also taught himself to sew and mend things for another three years.
Dunzhu remembered something and laughed angrily.
"And, did you know that he grafted the chalk himself?"
"……Know."
"When I was in school, I used to graft pencils. Uncle Wang was the principal and pencils couldn't
be shorter than him, but he was still very stingy and collected the leftover pencil ends from
everyone in the class. He tinkered with them and grafted them to make them longer. He used
them more enthusiastically than anyone else."
…
After talking until his mouth was dry, we finally arrived at the hotel. Dunzhu’s final complaint was,
“I told him I was the one who opened the hotel and I was paying, but he still wouldn’t let me.”
Ding, the elevator is here.
"I know what he's thinking." Dunzhu's voice lost its previous cheerfulness, and after a while he
said, "Uncle Wang is sick, and his health is getting worse day by day. He has to take care of Uncle
Wang, and he has to manage an entire school for Uncle Wang, and feed more than a hundred
mouths..."
The elevator door opened, but no one moved. The man outside the door asked in confusion,
"Aren't you going to get off?"
The two of them woke up as if from a dream and were speechless all the way.
Zhu Jinxia brushed open the door and walked in. Afraid of dirtying the carpet, he tiptoed carefully
and stopped at the bathroom door, not daring to take another step.
"How luxurious!" The attention was quickly diverted to the room.
After all, we are young, and our sorrows and joys are like clouds, which will be blown away by the
wind.
Zhu Jinxia was speechless and looked around. How could this have anything to do with luxury?
Normally she would have laughed, but since they were talking about the glorious history of
time's stinginess, she felt a heaviness in her chest and couldn't laugh.
"Go wash your shoes." She said after a long time.
He was washing his shoes, and she walked to the bed with nothing to do.
On the cabinets were plastic bags that were delivered from time to time, filled with snacks. Those
commonplace, inexpensive snacks gradually lost their appeal over the years as she grew up,
becoming a backdrop on supermarket shelves. She no longer stopped to linger, nor did she find
them rare.
But after being sent out over time, it suddenly became hot. Perhaps it was because of what
Dunzhu said that it worked.
The sound of flowing water was cheerful, and the person in the bathroom was humming a song
while washing his shoes, it was Mayday's "Stubborn".
As the chronology says, Dunzhu's songs expressing his aspirations have always been a fixed
repertoire.
People in the mountains are really strange. If she had a foot full of cow dung, she would have
almost cried by now. How could she still hum a song while washing her shoes? Cow dung can also
bring happiness.
Zhu Jinxia was thinking aimlessly while fiddling with the snacks in the bag unconsciously, and
finally took out a Snickers.
In the bathroom, Dunzhu washed his shoes, then washed his hands with the hotel's hand soap.
After washing, he put his hands close to his nose and sniffed carefully. The spotless mirror
reflected his intoxicated and ecstatic face.
I couldn't help it and washed it again.
Rich foam spread in the small pool, and this time he smelled the scent of gardenia.
I have never felt so fragrant before. Dunzhu looked back at the shower room and thought
regretfully, if I could go in and take a shower...
Bang! The next second, he slapped his forehead hard.
Dunzhu, one should not be too greedy!
How can I take a shower in Teacher Zhu’s bathroom!
Just the thought of this made his face flush and his blood boil.
When he calmed down and walked out of the bathroom with a face full of shame, he saw Zhu
Jinxia standing at the head of the bed holding a small piece of object.
"what?"
Attention was diverted again.
Zhu Jinxia was lost in thought when a head suddenly popped up behind her. Dunzhu's hair was
very fluffy and looked like a big golden hair.
She was startled, "Did you finish washing?"
Looking down at Dunzhu's feet, his left shoe was wet and there was no unidentified object.
She handed over the food in her hand and asked, "Would you like to eat?"
“Snickers?”
Dunzhu's eyes lit up, he tore off the wrapping paper and ate it in no time, his expression even
more ecstatic than when he was in the bathroom just now.
Soon he saw the whole bag of snacks and exclaimed, "You bought so many snacks?"
Next sentence: "If I bought this pile of stuff and my brother saw it, wouldn't he be so heartbroken
that he would cry out?"
He laughed and imitated it to Zhu Jinxia.
——Do you know how many pencils these things can buy for students? They can bury you in the
pile!
——What's the point of buying something that doesn't even bother you to keep you full? Can
you ask the heavens for another 500 years after eating it?
——Before slaughtering a pig in the village, they always give it something good to eat as the last
meal. Come on, if you eat it, I will slaughter you tomorrow.
Dunzhu laughed so hard that he turned around and found that Zhu Jinxia was not laughing.
She stared down at the bag, wondering what she was thinking.
——
I wish Jinxia will spend the two days of the weekend wandering around the county town doing
nothing.
I originally planned to stay in the hotel and not go anywhere, but firstly, there was no takeout
here, secondly, the bed was uncomfortable, and thirdly, if I turned around, I could see the bag of
snacks on the bedside table.
I couldn't sit still anymore, so I just got up and went out.
The county town is very small, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the buildings have
distinct Tibetan characteristics. She didn't have time to take a closer look last time, but this time
she walked back and forth along the street two or three times, and when she looked at the time,
it only took two hours.
This is too small.
Surrounded by mountains, the county town is quiet and clean. There are not many pedestrians
on the street, most of them are dark-skinned and wearing ethnic costumes. The roadside sheds
are full of fruits and vegetables, whether apples or pears, they are much smaller than what you
usually see. The soil on the plateau is poor, and it is not easy to produce fruits.
Under the stall owner's earnest promotion, Zhu Jinxia bought a bag of apples and, imitating the
auntie next to her, took one, rubbed it on her sleeve, and started to chew it with a crunch.
...When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Unexpectedly, the apples were surprisingly sweet. Zhu Jinxia couldn't help but stand in awe. It
turns out that you can't judge a book by its cover, and the same goes for fruits.
Passing by a barber shop, she suddenly stopped and thought that it was inconvenient to take a
shower and wash her hair at school, so she might as well get a haircut.
Facts have proved that in the same world and with the same Tony, Tibetan Tony also dyes his hair
a cool non-mainstream color.
In the mirror, Teacher Tony was holding a pair of scissors and asked uncertainly, "Do you really
want to cut it?"
"Cut."
In no time, a neat and clean-cut girl with short hair appeared in the mirror.
Zhu Jinxia looked at herself in the mirror, who looked a little unfamiliar. She heard Teacher Tony's
proud question: "How is my technique? Is it good?"
"Good, very good."
"That's because you're beautiful. You'll look good no matter how you cut your hair."
What a commercial exchange. Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing, tugged at her bangs, and nodded
in agreement.
After getting her hair cut, she went into a Tibetan clothing store on the roadside. When she came
out, she was wearing a clean white Tibetan robe.
Once a woman starts shopping, it's like eating Xuanmai, she can't stop. Then she went to the
supermarket and bought some daily necessities and stationery.
While checking out, her eyes fell on the household goods area on one side and paused slightly.
"Hold on."
When I returned to the checkout counter, I had an extra set of bedding in my hand, and the price
was not cheap.
A set of bedding lasts so long, so if you buy it more expensive, at least it won't become as hard as
steel so quickly, right? She thought.
When I stepped out of the supermarket, it was already late. When I was sitting in a small roadside
restaurant eating noodles, I received a WeChat message from Shixu.
He asked her where she was.
Happy summer: [Beef noodles.JPG]
The picture captured a corner of the noodle shop. After zooming in, I recognized it.
Timeline: Lao Liu Noodle House?
Zhu Jinxia: Can you guess this?
Shi Xu laughed: The county town is so small, there are not many noodle shops.
Next sentence: Is it delicious?
Zhu Jinxia: My evaluation is that it is not as good as what your old lover did.
Time series: ...
Zhu Jinxia: What about you? Has the meeting ended?
Timing: At the end.
Zhu Jinxia: They are still in a meeting when it’s dark. The leaders in the mountains are very
dedicated!
Timeline: Rather than being dedicated, it’s better to say…
Pause.
Time sequence: I didn’t learn Chinese well and I talk too much nonsense.
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud: "Would you like to come over after the meeting? I'll treat you to
noodles."
Time sequence: I can’t go, I have to have dinner with my leader later.
Wish this summer: Want to drink?
Timing: Drink.
Wish you this summer: drink less.
Time sequence: That's impossible. We have to take advantage of the leader being drunk and trick
him into adding two sets of electronic equipment to the central school.
I wish this summer: if you can just use your smooth talking to fool the girls and display your
personal charm, you can get them easily.
After thinking about it, he added: Don’t you think so, little brother?
Time series: ...
Timeline: Is this going to get over?
After a few jokes, he gave the same advice: don't run around at night and go back to the hotel
after dinner.
When the noodles were served, Zhu Jinxia left after only a few bites. They were too oily.
On the way back to the hotel, I came across a pub.
At first, I was attracted by the colorful hand-painted paintings on the eaves, but unfortunately the
sign was only in Tibetan and I couldn't make out anything.
Wind chimes swayed gracefully at the door. She stood on tiptoe and looked through the wooden
window. She could vaguely see the swaying oil lamp on the table and the sound of a vicissitudes
of life floating out of the window.
I hope you can put down your bags this summer and take out your phone to take pictures.
Soon someone came out, a girl in her twenties, wearing a T-shirt and a short skirt, not very
Tibetan, with countless earrings hanging from her ears.
She spoke in Tibetan, and when Zhu Jinxia didn't respond, she switched to Chinese: "From
outside the province?"
"right."
"What are you doing here?"
"Come and teach."
"Are you a teacher?" She looked me up and down, curled her lips and said, "I hate teachers the
most."
“…”
"But it's okay. You don't look like a teacher at all."
Zhu Jinxia said sincerely: "Thank you."
Just think of it as her praising her.
The little girl laughed, "You're quite funny. Do you want to come in and have a drink? I'll treat
you."
The spell of time came out at the right time beside my ears——
"Don't run around outside."
"Go back to the hotel when it gets dark."
“Don’t open the door to strangers.”
What about drinking with strangers? He didn't mention that...
I wish this summer found a loophole and followed the little girl into the pub. (Note: Please do not
imitate)
Inside the mountains and outside the mountains are indeed two different worlds.
The singer on the stage was singing, and the drinkers below were singing in chorus.
The girl picked a table in the corner by the window for her and brought over a dozen bottles of
wine.
"Here, this is the best wine in our store."
The best wine——
I wish you a closer look this summer, pure raw.
The conditions in the mountains are really harsh.
"What other wines are there?"
“Qingdao.”
"Nothing else?"
"No more, these are the only two beers." The girl pointed at the counter, "But if you want to
drink alcohol, there are centipede alcohol and pig penis alcohol over there—"
I wish this summer to open the can with a snap: "Cheers!"
The little girl laughed out loud.
Her name is Qu Zhen, she is 24 years old and opened this pub after graduating from high school.
In her words, "I am not good at studying. My family was afraid that I would go out to play if I
stopped studying, so they gave me money to start a business."
Tibetans like music and drinking.
"Although I won't make a fortune, I will not go bankrupt." Qu Zhen is very optimistic.
Such a small pub was not really a place of entertainment for Zhu Jinxia who came from a big city.
The variety of wines was surprisingly small and the singers on the stage sang very roughly.
But maybe it was the effect of alcohol, the not-so-pleasant singing voice also made people feel
excited. Zhu Jinxia opened his circle of friends for the first time in a long time and posted an
update.
From the children returning to school carrying bags of pig feed, to the home-cooked meals made
by Shixu and Dunzhu, from the first blackboard preparation for class, to the grand scene of
children dancing Guozhuang on the playground, and finally the wine bottle, she posted all the
things she had taken in recent days.
Caption:
A colorful journey.
Within half a minute, I received a new message.
I originally thought that it would be someone like Yuan Feng who came to express his
condolences about my teaching career, but I never expected that——
Timeline: Where are you?
My hand trembled.
Without waiting for Zhu Jinxia to reply, messages came in one after another.
Timeline: Bar?
Timeline: Did you go drinking?
Timeline: Zhu Jinxia, what did I just say to you? Did you ignore it?
The phone vibrates endlessly.
Wish this summer: "..."
I was so drunk that I forgot to block him.
She quickly typed: I didn't drink, I just came in to sit for a while.
Time series: If you didn’t drink, why is the wine bottle in the picture empty?
Zhu Jinxia: I just took a sip and now I’m back to the hotel.
I didn't expect that Shixu would directly call me with a video.
Wish this summer: “………………”
After a flustered moment, she finally realized what was happening. It was strange. Shixu was not
her parent, they were not related to her in any way, so why should she be afraid of him checking
up on her?
She took a deep breath and connected the video. Shi Xu's face almost overflowed the screen.
"Where are you? Still at the bar?"
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously moved away from her phone, "Listen to me, we are all adults——"
"where?"
She paused and continued, "Besides, I am not the elementary school student you teach. I have
personal freedom and the ability to act—"
"where?"
Zhu Jinxia tasted it and judging from her tone, she drank as much as she did.
She asked back: "...are you still at the drinking party? How much did you drink?"
"Zhu Jinxia." The other end called her name word by word, "I want to ask where you are."
I wish this summer to look up at the sign, a strange language, strange words, "...I really don't
know where I am."
"Are you itchy?"
“…”
My buddy was drunk and really thought she was an elementary school student?
It's a rare occasion for Zhu Jinxia to be ordered around like this, and she's not allowed to do this
or that, which makes her a little irritated.
The two people were shouting at each other through the phone, one trying to fight for his right
to personal freedom, and the other becoming a parrot, just asking where, where, where.
Finally, I wish this summer to be famous: "It's not that I don't want to tell you, I just don't know
the Tibetan language!"
"Please ask your boss to answer the phone."
Qu Zhen was singing with the singer on the stage, and halfway through the song, someone forced
a cell phone into her ear.
"Huh? Where is this? This is..."
As soon as she announced her name, the phone call was hung up. Qu Zhen was confused, and
after singing the remaining half of the song with the singer, she jumped off the stage and sat
down opposite Zhu Jinxia.
"Who was that man just now? He was so fierce!"
Zhu Jinxia said solemnly, "Death."
As soon as the words fell, a familiar voice came from behind: "Wish you this summer."
I wish you a stiff back this summer.
Fuck, so fast? There's a fucking fire wheel on his feet!
Fortunately, the store was filled with music and people, and Shixu seemed not to have heard
what she had just said. He sat next to her very naturally, with a relaxed posture, and immediately
occupied most of the sofa. On the contrary, Zhu Jinxia sat upright, restrained.
When Qu Zhen saw the handsome guy, her eyes lit up, "Hey, who are you?"
"Didn't she introduce herself just now?" Shi Xu looked at him expressionlessly.
I wish that the worry that had just been put down in this summer will be lifted up again.
As expected, Shi Xu sneered, "I am? I am the God of Death."
Wish this summer: “………………”

Chapter 23
The "God of Death" came, and the atmosphere became tense. Qu Zhen saw that the situation
was not good and ran away.
"You two take your time drinking, I'm going to go and greet the guests!"
After a while, someone came to the front desk to deliver another bottle of wine, a dozen bottles
of pure draft. Perhaps because Shixu looked unhappy, Qu Zhen stayed far away this time and only
mouthed to Zhu Jinxia behind the counter, "My treat."
I wish you smile this summer, but when you look back and see the time sequence, you can’t smile
anymore.
She stopped laughing, but Shixu laughed: "Are you enjoying your drink?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia suddenly remembered a joke and asked, "Do you know the law of conservation of
smiles?"
"No. Why?"
"According to the law of conservation of smiles, smiles do not appear out of thin air, nor do they
disappear out of thin air. They only transfer from one person's face to another."
“…”
Shixu said nothing and just looked at her.
Zhu Jinxia sighed and called the principal - she rarely addressed Shixu like that.
"I admit that in terms of status, you are my leader."
...At most she is half a teacher, and she is not a formal teacher in the central school.
"But now that I'm out of school, do you no longer need to manage me in such a military
manner?"
...Even in school, there is no need to do this.
"You are the principal and I am a teacher. We are only superiors and subordinates at work. When
it comes to my private life, shouldn't you manage me like a student?"
It was obviously he who was unreasonable, but she could still be so reasonable. Zhu Jinxia sighed
in her heart.
Shi Xu asked back: "What if something goes wrong?"
"If anything goes wrong, it has nothing to do with you. I am an adult and can be responsible for
my own actions."
Shi Xu looked at that face, those eyes that were incredibly bright after drinking, and sighed
silently.
"Yes, you can be responsible for your own actions. But Zhu Jinxia, have you ever thought that you
came to the mountains alone, you don't know enough about the environment, and you lack basic
self-protection awareness. If I leave you alone, I will blame myself if something happens to you?"
"But I know my alcohol tolerance. It's impossible for me to get drunk."
"What if there's something in the wine?"
“…”
"What if someone wants to harass you even if you're not drunk?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously looked at the empty beer cans on the table, three bottles. Three bottles
of urine beer can make you unable to fight back? This shouldn't be the case...
She changed the subject, "Hey, do you think I'm pretty?"
Shixu had a blank expression on his face and was not led astray by her.
Zhu Jinxia had no choice but to give up and get back to the point, "Then I'll call the police."
"Not to mention that the police force is scattered in the mountains. If an accident happens, the
police won't be able to arrive even if the person dies. Moreover, this is a Tibetan area..."
The drunk people didn’t quite understand what it meant to stop at the right time. They waited
and waited, but nothing happened. So they had to ask themselves, “What happened in the
Tibetan area?”
Timeline: "..."
Timeline: "In Tibetan areas, to put it nicely, there is unity, but to put it bluntly, there is
xenophobia. If you are an outsider, even if something happens, no one will protect you, and at
most they will try to keep things quiet. If there is really a mess, it is called an ethnic issue, which
is too big a label, so no one will seek justice for you."
He exaggerated the matter, and Zhu Jinxia was even more unable to react.
This is a national issue, how can she debate it? She racked her brains and could only come up
with one sentence -
"Aren't you socializing?"
Didn't you say you wanted to accompany the leader for a drink and earn two sets of electronic
equipment for the central school?
Shi Xu laughed angrily. It turned out that all the long conversation just now was in vain. She didn't
even know why she came here on a hot wheel.
But looking at the empty beer can, and then at her flushed cheeks and incredibly bright eyes, he
could only sigh silently.
He sighed more that night than he had in this year.
"What else are you drinking?" He opened a can of beer and sneered, "The leaders over there are
not as important as those over here. Of course, they are more important."
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously picked up her own can, "What are you talking about, you are the leader
——"
"I'm not, you are." Shixu drank the whole bottle, crushed it and threw it on the table. "You are my
leader."
After saying this, he took the wine from her hand and drank it all in one gulp.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes widened and she pointed to the side, "There's so much wine, why are you trying
to steal mine?"
"You're the leader. Have you ever seen a leader drink? I'll drink for you."
“…”
There seems to be nothing wrong with saying this.
I wish this summer's brain is a little insufficient.
Shi Xu was sitting opposite her, slightly drunk, and was originally furious, but when he saw her
trying hard to think but unable to figure out the reason, his anger inexplicably disappeared.
God knows how he got here.
The whole day of meetings makes people dizzy, watching incompetent people in high positions
talking big, watching people with a little power arrogant and domineering. Then there are the
drinking parties, saying insincere words, watching people drinking and listening to their
nonsense.
Either because he knew about the situation in the mountains, or because he saw Uncle Wang
coming all the way here, or because there were still 174 mouths to feed in the central school, it
would have been time to leave.
They were just two sets of electronic equipment. The people above could just raise their hands
and knock down countless of them, but they refused to let go.
I applied for it last year, but it was rejected.
I applied again this year, but was rejected again.
Later he simply applied once a month, but until last week, it was still rejected.
He also applied for a primary school on a nearby hill, and got it after him. It's not that the
principal's schedule is much better than his, but in fact, he only has a high school degree, and the
only advantage is that he is Tibetan.
Here, background determines everything.
I drank a glass of time, but it was useless.
Two cups, no use.
After drinking half a bottle of liquor, he still refused to give in.
During the meal, he was feeling irritated. The principal of the primary school in the neighboring
town of Niuzan, who was familiar with him, handed him a cigarette and said, "Brother, is this
okay? Isn't drinking like this a bit too much? Go out and have a cigarette."
Hearing this, Zhu Jinxia couldn't help but interrupt: "Do you smoke?"
"Yes, but I don't smoke." Shixu leaned on the sofa and smiled. "When I was in junior high school, I
reached my rebellious stage and secretly learned to smoke. When Uncle Wang found out, he
almost broke my legs."
"Uncle Wang will hit people?"
"Beat him, why not? While beating him, I said, 'Good people come from gold bars.' If he's still
breathing, I'll beat him to death if he dares to smoke."
Therefore, the principal of Niuzan Town didn't really want him to smoke, he just found an excuse
to take him out to take a break.
"Brother, why bother with this?" The other person patted his shoulder. "It's just an electronic
device. If you don't have it, then don't have it. It's not like you can't attend class."
Timing does not speak.
Online classes are only available with electronic devices. The teaching staff of the central school
is mainly powerless. The child's field of vision is already very narrow, and he just wants to open
another window.
"Forget it, it's impossible. Can't you see? Those people are just trying to piss us off. Do you think
they'll loosen up if you drink?"
"How do you know if you don't try?"
"Even if you drink yourself to death, they won't let you go. They will just happily close the central
school."
Principal Liu is also Han, and previously worked in a bureau in the county. The previous director
of the state education bureau was Han, and he promoted a group of his own people, including
him. Unfortunately, the new director is Tibetan, and the first thing he did when he took office was
to replace all the old officials, and those who could not be replaced were exiled to the frontier,
and he appointed his own people.
Now, Principal Liu has also been sent to a "border town" to serve as principal.
There are no electronic devices in Niuzan Town, no touch screens, no internet facilities, nothing
at all.
Perhaps the gap between before and after was too great, and Principal Liu was disheartened and
had already resigned himself to his fate, so he tried his best to persuade him to follow the
sequence.
Shixu was already furious, and this cold water poured down on him made him even more
annoyed. He didn't want to hear that the other party was well-intentioned, so he patiently
opened his phone to divert his attention.
What a coincidence, I just happened to see Zhu Jinxia’s circle of friends.
The first few photos were normal, but the last one was actually a bar with a dozen bottles of
liquor in front of him, and it looked like he had already drunk three of them.
I didn't dare to stay any longer, so I rushed over as soon as I received a phone call. Fortunately,
the county town was small and I could get there in a 100-meter sprint around half a street.
"The last time I ran this fast was when I was in school, when I ran 800 meters. That time I ran for
the first prize, a pair of sneakers."
"What about this time?"
"This time?" Shi Xu glanced at her. "This time, it's to prevent you from making the headlines of
social news."
Zhu Jinxia did not refute and laughed while holding the wine bottle.
Shi Xu frowned, "What kind of alcohol tolerance do you have? You're drunk after three cups?"
Zhu Jinxia burped and said, "Nonsense, I can drink a lot."
"Then stand up and take two steps."
She stood up obediently and tried her best to walk in a straight line, but ended up walking in a
standard S shape.
Shi Xu sneered: "Is this called a good alcohol tolerance?"
"..." Zhu Jinxia found a plausible excuse, "It's all because the noodles at Lao Liu's Noodle House
are so bad. I only ate two bites, which is like drinking on an empty stomach. You would get drunk
too if it were you!"
She sat down and rubbed her stomach, obviously feeling upset.
Timeline: "You dare to drink on an empty stomach, you deserve it."
He raised his hand to call the waiter and asked what snacks were available in the pub.
Answer: Yak jerky. Two hundred per serving.
Zhu Jinxia was startled and waved her hands repeatedly, saying she didn't want to eat it, but
Shixu ignored her and served a plate of food.
"Really? It's too expensive!"
Shixu ignored her repeated refusals, took a piece of beef jerky, smelled it, and smiled: "Try it, this
is made of real yak beef."
“…”
"Eat it, it will fill your stomach so you don't get a stomachache."
“…”
Seeing that she didn't move, Shixu pushed the plate in front of her and said, "It cost me two
hundred dollars. It would be a waste if you don't eat it."
Yes, Principal Shi hates people wasting food the most.
Zhu Jinxia didn't say anything, just stared at the plate for a long time, took a fish and stuffed it
into his mouth. The meat was dry and hard, with a strong fishy smell.
She frowned and asked what the hell it was, two hundred a plate. She cursed but didn't spit it
out. She chewed hard and swallowed it.
Shixu was in a bad mood, she could see that, not only did he not get the electronic equipment,
but he was also very angry. After thinking for a while, Zhu Jinxia said, "Would you like to drink
some more wine?"
There were so many on the table. Although Qu Zhen said she was giving them to her, she had
never intended to take advantage of her from the beginning.
"I'll treat."
Shixu picked up a can of pure draft beer, weighed it in his hand, and said that this can of wine
costs two dollars and fifty cents in the supermarket, but it costs twenty-five in the bar.
Zhu Jinxia: "I am not short of money."
Shi Xu smiled and said, "That's right."
"Haven't you been in Beijing for so many years? Are you short of money?" she asked the
consultant knowingly.
"Not good. It's been so bad for so many years. I'm used to saving money."
It is said that it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality, but time has never been extravagant.
During those years in Beijing, the salary was high, but almost all of it was sent to Uncle Wang. At
that time, Uncle Wang's health had begun to decline. Not only did he take care of the central
school, but he also raised a group of hungry orphans at home, and Dunzhu was one of them.
The Institute of Earth Sciences provides food and accommodation, as well as transportation
subsidies, which is enough to survive at a reasonable rate.
Everyone in the mountains is poor and stingy, and no one will ask him why.
But Zhu Jinxia asked. Not only did she ask, she also listened very carefully.
At first, she just asked and he answered, but once the conversation started, it was like Pandora's
box.
The timing tells two things.
When he was eight years old, his mother brought him to Yi Bo Township.
She was an outsider, and somehow found out about the central school. She learned that the
principal sponsored orphans out of his own pocket, so she brought time to the school to ask for
help, crying and begging, and finally Uncle Wang made an exception and accepted her, a Han
transfer student.
Shi Shu had no student status and no ID. Although the school did not charge tuition, the food and
accommodation were already set, so he could not live on campus. So his mother rented a small
shabby house along the street in a nearby village and bought a motorcycle that was so old that it
clanked and clattered like it was about to fall apart.
She worked in town during the day and went to school to pick up Shixu at night. Shixu had all
three meals with Uncle Wang.
This went on for about half a year. Finally one day, after sending Shixu to school, the woman left
an envelope with the security guard and asked him to give it to Uncle Wang, and then she
disappeared.
There was eight hundred yuan in the envelope, and also a note with only one sentence on it: You
are a good person, so I leave the child to you.
Without signing her name or leaving a single word to her son, the woman disappeared from the
life of time.
Uncle Wang is a Tibetan man who has lived a rough life. He asked around for more than half a
month but couldn't find her. The rental house in the village was empty. He went to find her
workplace, only to find that it was a dance hall with bright lights and wine. It was said that
women sang there every night and worked part-time as hostesses to make a living.
The boss said, "She's so skinny, like a skeleton. She drinks a few bottles of wine and then throws
up in the toilet. How dare I hire her? What if she dies from drinking? Wouldn't that be a huge
loss?"
A week had passed since the woman was fired. She had been going back and forth in the village
looking for a job, but she had no special skills and the job market in small places was already full,
so she still couldn't find a job.
How can I raise a child if I can't even support myself? I might as well just leave.
Uncle Wang searched around but found nothing. He returned to the school and faced this
abandoned child. He had no idea what to do. He showed the money and the note to Shixu.
Finally, he shook his head and said, "You can only stay and make do with it."
So Shixu lived in the principal's dormitory.
At that time, Uncle Wang still had a little fantasy that maybe when the woman settled down and
her life was not so difficult, she would go back to the mountain to pick up the child. After all, it
was a piece of flesh that fell from his body, how could he just throw it away?
Before that, he would just support her. It would just be one more mouth to feed.
But time thought otherwise. Even when he was only nine years old, he knew his mother would
not come back.
On the last day when she sent him to school, the woman dressed him in new clothes and shoes
that she had bought in town the day before, and even carried a brand new school bag for him.
They ate a bowl of steaming noodles at the entrance of town, and his mother gently asked him if
he wanted to drink milk or eat eggs.
Finally, she peeled the eggs for him personally and fed him in small bites.
In terms of timing, these things that other children take for granted, these ordinary interactions
between parents and children, are actually luxuries, and they appear only a few times in his life.
So after learning that his mother had left, he suddenly understood where that abnormal morning
came from. It was a beautiful dream left by his mother.
We only have one dream, and we will wake up from it.
There is no time to be sad because there are more imminent troubles.
There was 800 yuan in the envelope his mother left behind, but 800 yuan was not enough to
raise a child. Although Shixu was young, he could do the math. He worried every day whether the
800 yuan would be used up and Uncle Wang would no longer want him.
“So I dare not eat too much meat or buy new clothes, for fear that the money will run out.” Shi
Xu took a sip of wine and thought about his past self and found it funny.
In fact, it has been used up long ago.
Zhu Jinxia suddenly remembered Dunzhu’s words.
——Uncle Wang never treated him badly and always made sure he had enough food every day,
but Shiqi only ate white rice and never had a single piece of meat.
——When he grew taller during puberty, Uncle Wang took him to buy new clothes, but Uncle
Wang refused to do so, so he patched the clothes one after another and patched them up for
another three years.
——Pencils were never shorter than him, but he still collected the pencil ends left over by his
classmates and lengthened them to continue using them.
It turns out that there are traces of the past. Dunzhu only knows one side of the story, not the
other.
She listened in a daze as the past events gradually came together, and after a long while she
finally asked, "When did you know that Uncle Wang would not throw you away?"
"Very quickly. The next year he found some wooden boards and hammered them into a small
wooden bed for me, which he placed next to his bed. You know, the principal's dormitory is so
small that there is no room for anything else except a bed and a wardrobe. In order to fit my bed,
he dismantled his wardrobe and piled his clothes under the bed in cardboard boxes."
"So where did you sleep during your first year?"
"The living room. I was young at that time—" He paused and smiled awkwardly, "I was afraid of
the dark and ghosts. I had nightmares at night and always woke up crying in the middle of the
night. Later, he made up his mind and moved me into the bedroom to sleep with him."
From then on, he knew that Uncle Wang would not abandon him.
Later, he learned mathematics. He was a genius, so he quickly figured out that the eight hundred
yuan had been spent already, but Uncle Wang never mentioned it.
"Since you know he won't abandon you, why are you still so frugal?"
"Because Uncle Wang is more frugal than I am." Shixu said calmly, "As far as I can remember, he
has never bought new clothes. When I asked him why, he said that he is not like me who is young
and will grow taller. He has already grown up and does not need to change his clothes."
As a school principal, he returned to his hometown to build the city after graduating from
university, but his life was even harder than that of the teachers.
There are few regular teachers in the mountains, and most of those who graduate choose to
leave the mountains and will not stay. Since there are no people to recruit in the mountains, they
have to recruit teachers from the society. Therefore, except for a small number of regular
soldiers, most people in the school have not even graduated from high school. They enter the
school after a sloppy exam. As long as they can recognize words, do arithmetic, and teach
illiterate people to become semi-illiterate, they have completed the teaching task of primary
school.
The non-regular teachers had very low salaries, and most of them were from nearby hills. Uncle
Wang was paid as a principal, but he lived a harder life than them.
When saying this, Shixu's gaze remained on the empty wine can in his hand, and his voice did not
fluctuate too much.
But Zhu Jinxia could tell something from the way his knuckles were slightly white as he gripped
the wine jar tightly.
She didn't say anything, but slowly picked up a new can, opened it for him with a click, placed it
gently next to his hand, and then took out the can that was slightly deformed in his hand.
Time took the wine jar and told the second story.
In the few memories he had before he was eight, his mother was a singer. Nightclubs were
popular in the city at that time, and his mother was not famous, just a minor singer, singing all
night long until her voice became hoarse, and she would drink until she passed out and vomited,
in order to earn a ticket.
But the nightclub has a rule that the tips belong to the nightclub and have nothing to do with her.
He didn't know who his father was, and he grew up in one place after another, often moving to
another place before he could recognize all the faces. Fortunately, those heavily made-up women
were all very nice to him, but most of the time they were drunk and couldn't speak a complete
sentence.
Who knows, maybe she was drunk and treated him as her own child.
Sometimes when his mother was sober, she would remember that he hadn't eaten, and give him
a few dollars to buy something on the street to solve his own problem. Sometimes when she was
drunk, she would forget about him, or she herself would forget that people need to eat.
There were times when she drank too much and passed out. Shixu tried to wake her up, but
found that she didn't even recognize who he was.
Growing up in this hungry and hungry state, I began to cherish food even more.
"Do you hate her?"
"I did." Shixu said lightly, "I hated her for making money through illegal means, hated her for
giving birth to me but not caring about me, hated her for not knowing how to find a good place
to abandon me, but had to abandon me to the wilderness where chickens don't lay eggs and
birds don't shit."
He turned the sad past into black humor.
"But it took me many years to realize that sometimes life is just so fucked up and you have no
choice at all."
Not all good people are rewarded, otherwise why would such a good person like Uncle Wang get
Alzheimer's?
"She didn't choose this path. She didn't want to."
Time goes back slowly, and the can of wine in my hand is empty again.
"Later I remembered that when she took me into the mountains when I was eight years old, she
must have been sick. In just six months, she became so thin that only a skeleton was left..."
How could she not get sick? Ever since he could remember, she had never been sober for a single
day, singing, drinking with others, and sometimes she didn't even know where she was staying.
It would be strange if you could live to be a hundred years old with such a chaotic life.
Finally, he smiled faintly, "So I don't hate her anymore. I can't even remember what she looks like,
so why should I spend so much energy to hate her?"
Zhu Jinxia sat opposite him, staring at him blankly, wanting to comfort him but unable to speak
for a long time before finally remembering something.
"Have you ever had a cat?"
"Why keep a cat when you can't even feed yourself?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia: "I heard that domestic cats have feelings for their owners. When they are about to die,
they will find a corner to hide and not let their owners know that they are about to die..."
Shixu knew what she meant, but asked back: "Are you comparing my mother to a cat?"
Zhu Jinxia tried to defend herself, but when she saw him laughing, she realized that he was
picking on her. She wanted to put on a stern face and scold him, but in her eyes, Shixu was just a
poor little thing that no one loved, so she couldn't bear to scold him.
He hates alcohol and dislikes feasting and revelry.
But in order to apply for electronic devices for children, he should drink and show respect. Now
he is sitting opposite her drinking low-quality beer, saying that he does it occasionally.
He is stingy.
Never spend money recklessly.
But ever since she came to teach, he has never been stingy with the money, whether it is
necessary or not.
At this moment, Zhu Jinxia suddenly remembered what her teacher once said when she was
taking a teacher training course: What is the essence of education? It is to educate people.
What kind of light you give will determine what kind of tree will grow. If your light is weak and
dim, the tree will be short and thin. Only when you are strong enough will the tree thrive and
grow tall and majestic.
Now she finally understood the meaning of these words, because even though they had never
met each other, she saw the shadow of Uncle Wang in Shixu.
How dazzling must the light be to grow a tree like this.
She really wanted to meet Uncle Wang and wanted to know more about the time sequence and
the details of the central school. It would be best if the night was longer, the wine was more, he
drank slower and talked more.
She had countless questions, but in the end she didn't ask any of them. She just listened to what
he said.
The singer on the stage was still singing a very old song:
It's late at night, who else is there?
Let you stay awake like this and count your scars.
Why do you want to leave a light on before going to bed?
If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask.
If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask.

Chapter 24
The song ends and the crowd disperses, time urges Zhu Jinxia to go back.
When it came time to pay the bill, Qu Zhen refused to accept the money for the wine. Instead,
she turned around and stretched out her hand to Shi Xu, "Beef jerky, two hundred a plate."
She understands what differential treatment means and can make a clear calculation.
Zhu Jinxia wanted to pay the bill, but was stopped by Shixu again. She didn't want to compete
with him for the bill in front of Qu Zhen, so she just said, "I appreciate your kindness, you can
save the money to buy electronic equipment for the children."
"Electronic equipment costs tens of thousands of dollars, so this is not a big deal."
"…" I wish this summer, "No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat, save it and spend it
on the blade."
Shi Xu took her phone away and didn't let her scan the code. He paid the bill himself and then
returned the phone to her. "How do you know you're not considered a blade?"
He glanced at her very quickly.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned. Before she could react, the man had already paid the bill and stepped
out of the door. Finally, he turned back and urged her: "What are you doing standing there like an
idiot? Are you going to stay here?"
The face changes quite quickly.
Forget it, for the sake of the 200 yuan beef jerky, I won’t bother with him.
Thinking of beef jerky, I wish this summer a meaty pain: "I spent two hundred yuan on this thing
and didn't eat much of it. What a loss!"
"What's there to lose? Aren't they all here?" Shi Xu calmly took out a plastic bag from his jacket
pocket.
“…”
When did he pack?
"When you two were arguing at the front desk about whether to pay for the drinks." Time
seemed to be able to read her mind and saw through her thoughts.
“…”
You are worthy of it.
"Do you want to eat more?" He raised the bag of beef jerky.
Zhu Jinxia shook her head, "It's too fishy, I can't stand it. Take it back to Dunzhu."
"Okay." Shi Xu turned around and walked towards the hotel. After taking a few steps, he turned
back and stared at her with burning eyes.
The night was very quiet, and the leaves of the ginkgo trees at the corner of the street were
falling in the wind.
Zhu Jinxia was so nervous when she was stared at that, her heart was lifted, "What's wrong?"
Shixu's eyes fell on her ear.
“When did you cut it?”
"afternoon."
Zhu Jinxia then remembered about her hair and subconsciously reached out to smooth it.
The wind started to blow in the mountains as soon as night fell. Her hair fluttered like water grass
in the wind. If she had known earlier, she would have asked Tony to spray it with hairspray. She
felt a little annoyed. Her hair must be like a chicken coop now.
"Why cut it?"
“Isn’t it pretty?”
"It looks better."
What is your obsession with long, straight black hair?
Zhu Jinxia sneered: "Teacher Tony said that I am good-looking and I will look good with any
hairstyle."
"Then why don't you cut your head?"
“…”
"This is called deceiving consumers. I suggest you call 12315 to complain."
Zhu Jinxia looked at him, a little dazed.
The conversation in the tavern seemed like a brief illusion. Those plain and simple words and the
unknown past, in the chronological order, made the difficult years seem to have a lingering
aftertaste. This made her feel that life was just like this, and there was nothing that could not be
overcome.
But once they stepped out of the pub, they became their usual joking selves, saying heartless and
meaningless things.
The county town is small, and it only takes a few minutes to walk from the bar to the hotel.
The two stopped in front of the hotel.
Zhu Jinxia: "Are you going back to the hotel?"
"Um."
"Back to the hotel or back to the car?" She raised her eyebrows.
“…”
Shi Xu slowly glanced sideways, and the two looked at each other for a moment.
How would she know?
Then he guessed, "...Dunzhu?"
This big mouth. Sequence: "What else did he say?"
That's too much.
What about mending for three years, washing the sheets like steel plates, pencil grafting skills,
and not being anxious even if you don’t have meat every day…
Zhu Jinxia's mind was full of thoughts, but when he spoke, he said, "Nothing more."
How does that song go?
...If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t ask.
She didn't mention anything else, just asked: "Are you going to the meeting like this tomorrow?"
Shi Xu lowered his head and slept in the car all night. His shirt was like pickles. "I brought two sets
of clothes, which are in the car."
"What if I smell like alcohol?"
"Open the windows for ventilation. It will be almost gone by tomorrow."
“…”
He really is good at adapting to local conditions and is able to fight against enemies with his own
strength and block the water with earth.
"Go upstairs and take a shower before you go."
Without waiting for the right time to decline, Zhu Jinxia handed over the door card.
"803, you know." She touched her stomach, "I was hungry, so I went downstairs to have a
midnight snack. Your beef jerky smelled too strong, I didn't even eat two sticks."
She pointed to the barbecue restaurant next to the hotel and her attitude did not allow for
refusal.
"Come down and find me when you're done. Don't worry, I'll be staying in the store and won't be
going anywhere. Nothing will happen to me."
——
The hotel's elevator was made of mirrored glass. Standing in it, one could clearly see the newly
grown stubble on his chin, the bruises under his eyelids from not sleeping well, and the white
shirt that was wrinkled like pickles.
...It's time to take a shower.
Shi Xu's gaze moved away from the mirror and stared at the room card in his hand.
Although it is a thin piece of paper, it feels heavy in the hand.
Many times they quarreled, Dunzhu always said that he didn't consider him and Uncle Wang as
family members, and lived like a lonely person. This was true, he didn't like to trouble others.
Just like this time when they came to the county town, the teachers would stay with their
relatives and friends in the city, saving as much as possible on hotel expenses. It's not that Shi Xu
didn't have acquaintances. When he graduated from the central school, he went to junior high
and high school in the county town. He has a lot of old classmates here. But if he can make do in
the car, he won't come to bother them.
Taking a bath was not a difficult matter. After all, he was a well-known genius in the school. Now
that he returned to his hometown, it was just a matter of asking for permission to use the
bathhouse. But why should he ask?
He is a lazy person at heart, afraid of trouble, and would rather do less than more.
Even standing at the door of 803, Shi Xu was still staring at the thin card in his hand.
Therefore, with his personality, he should stay away from her room to wash up. Why is he
standing here now?
Do you want to go back?
Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but in the end he couldn't resist his instinct. As if
possessed by a ghost, he raised his hand to swipe the card, and after the sensor sound, he
stepped into her private area.
The room had clearly been cleaned, but her scent seemed to linger.
There is a smell of forest greenery in the air, which is very different from the dryness of the
plateau. It is a moist and fragrant scent of vegetation in the rainforest, full of fresh and rich green.
Shi Xu was already familiar with this smell. After all, this greenness had surrounded her since the
first day she met Zhu Jinxia.
Different from people who grew up in the mountains, Zhu Jinxia has a temperament cultivated in
a greenhouse. No matter what the situation is, she never gives up the pursuit of details.
It's like when everyone is lamenting about the hot weather, she's the only one worrying about
where to take a shower after sweating;
On a rainy day, the teachers rushed back to the dormitory to collect clothes, but she was worried
about the sand in her shoes after returning from the rain.
No matter how early she got up to go to class, she was always neat and tidy and always beautiful,
in stark contrast to Yu Xiaoshan and others who hurried into the classroom with messy hair.
One day when I came out of the kitchen with lunch, I saw her putting flowers in a plastic bottle. I
asked her where they got them, and she excitedly said that she picked them from the open space
behind the school.
In a group of people, she always stands out.
Stepping into the bathroom, Shi Xu saw a bottle of light green perfume on the sink. It had a
minimalist design, with a transparent upper part and a pure white lower part. The name of the
perfume was printed on the bottom of the bottle.
Untitled.
untitled.
He picked it up and put it close to his nose, and finally smelled the source of the green.
The whole process of washing up was very quick. With the mentality of less trouble is worse than
more, he did not look at anything he should not look at, did not touch anything he should not
touch, and prepared to leave after washing.
I opened the door and looked back to see that the clothes that were hanging on the hanger when
I entered were now scattered all over the floor.
When I looked up again, the window was wide open.
I guess it was the wind.
Timing turns around to pick it up.
There was no place to hang clothes in the room, so she hung them on the curtain rods with
hangers after washing them. Now that they were dry, he picked them up and put them on a chair
nearby.
At first he didn't pay attention to what he was holding, until he picked up the third piece. He was
startled and let go as if he had been electrocuted, and the small piece fell to the ground.
Soft lace texture...
Shi Xu suddenly turned his head away. Although he was the only one in the room, it seemed as if
someone had witnessed this scene.
After hesitating for a moment whether to pick it up or not, he finally stood up and didn't touch
the things on the ground again.
Who would believe it if I told them? A 33-year-old man was embarrassed by his underwear.
Turning around, he saw the snacks on the bedside table. She seemed to have eaten quite a lot.
He calmed himself down and told himself not to think too much. She came here to teach, and
taking good care of her was all he needed.
The two met at the barbecue restaurant downstairs.
There was a plate of peanuts on the table, but Zhu Jinxia didn't touch it much. There were only a
few peanut shells in the bone plate.
At a glance, the timing was clear. This was not because she was hungry and wanted to have a
midnight snack, but she was deliberately looking for an excuse to give him a chance to wash up.
He sat down and picked up a peanut.
"Add some more dishes?" Zhu Jinxia asked.
"No."
The barbecue restaurant was filled with noise and smoke, but they were the only two who kept
silent and quietly finished a whole plate of peanuts and edamame.
Later, Zhu Jinxia returned to the room and saw the clothes on the chair and the floor. She didn't
think much about it and thought that it was probably blown by the wind, some of them were
blown to the ground, and some fell on the chair.
...I just don't know if you have seen the timing.
So what if I see it?
She put away the clothes, along with the vague sense of embarrassment.
No matter how long the journey is, there will always be a return home.
——
The next afternoon, after the meeting, I drove to the hotel to pick people up.
Zhu Jinxia ran back and forth twice before she carried all the things to the lobby, and finally put
them one bag at a time into the back of the truck.
A quick look at the timetable showed that there were three large bags of stationery alone, and
there were also daily necessities.
"Are you planning to go back to school and open a canteen?"
Zhu Jinxia ignored his teasing and just looked around, "Where are the others?"
"At noon, the postal vehicle went to Niuzan Town and picked up a few people. A few others
returned on their own yesterday."
"Where's Dunzhu?"
"I took the postal service back home. The students will be back to school in the afternoon, so
someone has to watch them."
Zhu Jinxia had put all her things away and was about to get into the car when Shixu called her.
"No hurry, have dinner first."
It takes more than three hours to drive back to school, and it’s already evening when I get there,
so I have to fill my stomach first.
He took her to a nearby street, which was narrow and full of restaurants.
"Can you handle spicy food?"
"able."
Shi Xu took her into a Sichuan restaurant.
"Their fried kidney and grilled eel are the best."
"Both are unique." Zhu Jinxia found a grammatical error, "He's also a math teacher."
"I was not rigorous enough." Shixu followed suit, "What the Chinese teacher said is right."
The restaurant is small, but business is good. Before 6pm, most people are already seated.
Fortunately, the food is served quickly.
There were two large pots of food, filled with fresh peppers, so spicy that smoke came out of
your head, but it tasted fresh, spicy and refreshing, and was very appetizing.
I wish I could eat two big bowls of rice this summer.
Shixu finished eating before her, leaned back in his chair and said lazily, "Don't worry, take your
time."
Just as he finished speaking, another group of people came outside the store. The middle-aged
man in the lead recognized Shi Xu and called him Principal Shi. Shi Xu turned around, and Zhu
Jinxia was sensitive enough to notice that in just a moment, he had lost his previous lazy look.
Shi Xu called the person "Secretary" and greeted him politely but distantly, without any intention
of introducing Zhu Jinxia.
The secretary didn't care. He waved and let everyone go into the private room. He pulled out a
chair and sat down. He looked at Zhu Jinxia with a smile and asked, "Who is this beautiful lady?"
Shi Xu looked indifferent and answered, "Volunteer teacher."
"How come I didn't know when such a beautiful volunteer teacher came to our central school?"
The secretary was obviously very interested and introduced himself, "My name is Duoji, and I am
the secretary of the Yibo Township."
After shaking hands, he learned Zhu Jinxia's name and praised her highly, saying that the name
suits her.
Secretary Duoji looked very kind, and his eyes were curved like crescent moons when he smiled.
One moment he said that it was not right for the school to hide such a beautiful teacher from
him, and the next moment he was busy preparing a welcoming party for Zhu Jinxia.
Shi Xu had just said there was no rush and to eat slowly, but for some reason he suddenly sped
up and got up to pay the bill after saying a few words.
While he was checking out, Doji took out his cell phone and added Zhu Jinxia on WeChat.
"Teacher Zhu, you are new here and you are unfamiliar with the place. If you encounter any
difficulties in life or work, just tell me and I will make sure to make arrangements for you."
Zhu Jinxia thanked him with a smile, and went back to the car with Shixu in the wind.
After having a full meal and drinking, she was in a good mood. She said that the secretary was a
nice person and didn't put on airs. She also praised the dinner for being delicious.
Seeing her satisfied face, Shi Xu didn't want to throw cold water on her, so he swallowed the
words on the tip of his tongue and finally said, "You can know a person's face but not his heart, so
you must be on guard against others."
Probably since she met him, he always treated her like a flower in a greenhouse. Zhu Jinxia was
used to his nagging about everything, so she didn't take his words to heart.
As for Doji, she just treated it as an episode and quickly put it behind her.
The three-hour drive passed in a flash and we arrived at school.
It was already dark and there were students running on the playground. Shi Xu called a few
senior boys to move the things out of the car.
"You are using child labor again!" Zhu Jinxia lowered her voice.
"Why don't you move it yourself?"
After taking a look at the pile of things that looked like a small mountain, Zhu Jinxia immediately
compromised and gladly joined the ranks of employing child laborers.
The children were very happy to find it useful.
Under her command, some bags were moved into the office, and some bags were moved to her
dormitory, and everyone ran away carrying their things.
Shi Xu turned around and noticed that there was something else in the car.
Is this a leak?
The black plastic bag was heavy. He acted as the last porter and picked it up and asked Zhu Jinxia:
"Where should I put this bag?"
Zhu Jinxia smiled and said, "This bag is for you."
Shi Xu was stunned. Before he could even see what was in the bag, he heard her quickly say,
"Once you buy it, you have to use it. Don't waste it." Then she walked towards the dormitory
without looking back.
He lowered his head and opened the bag, and was stunned.
A brand new set of silk bedding.

Chapter 25
That night, time came to the door with the set of bedding in hand.
In the dormitory, Zhu Jinxia had just washed her hair with water from an electric kettle. As she
was drying her hair, she heard a knock on the door. She stopped and asked, "Who is it?"
"it's me."
Hearing the sound of time, she wrapped her wet head with a towel, and went to open the door
with her face bare.
Shi Xu also took a shower in the dormitory, changed his clothes, and his hair was still a little
moist.
His hair was hard, and Zhu Jinxia sometimes joked that he looked like a hedgehog, with each
strand of hair standing up like steel needles. But at this moment, they showed a rare tameness,
lowered their posture, and surrendered completely.
...Not all of them, at least there is a handful of stubborn people who are eager to try, and an
affair has occurred.
This also makes the time less grim, and for the first time in history it seems kind and deceptive.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth, but when she looked down, she saw
Shixu carrying the bedding she bought. Her smile suddenly disappeared and she closed the door
immediately.
"No returns!"
The door was not closed, and Shi Xu was quick to hold it with one hand.
“It’s not a return.”
Zhu Jinxia let go and stared at him vigilantly through the crack in the door.
"Can we exchange it?"
"No!" She was about to close the door again.
However, Shi Xu was very strong and he pushed the door open anyway.
"I'm a rough guy, I don't need such good things." Shixu pointed his chin towards the house, "You
use this, and give me the one you changed. I'll wash it and use it again. How about that?"
"Not so good." Zhu Jinxia was both angry and amused. She stood there with her arms folded and
snorted coldly, "Do you think I'm Taobao? You can return or exchange it within seven days
without any reason? If you really don't want to use it, just throw it away."
“…”
Returned empty handed.
Time went back to bed, closed his eyes for a long time but couldn't fall asleep. Finally, he got up
and stood in the living room staring at the bedding on the table.
The silver-gray mulberry silk shines, and memories flow back to many years ago.
He recalled the summer when he was nine years old and had nightmares repeatedly. One day
when he came home from school, Uncle Wang took his hand and walked him to the bedroom,
asking him to go in and take a look.
Shi Xu opened the bedroom door and suddenly found that the big wardrobe was missing and
there was a small wooden bed with brand new sheets and quilt cover on it.
Uncle Wang's family certainly couldn't afford mulberry silk, so they were just ordinary cotton
cloth, but the color was the same as the one Zhu Jinxia bought, gray with silver.
He mentioned it last night when they were drinking in the bar. He was drunk at the time and said
a lot of things without thinking. He said whatever he thought. He didn't expect Zhu Jinxia to
remember it, even though he himself had almost forgotten many details.
Shi Xu stared down for a moment, then went into the house to change.
That night, nine-year-old Shi Xu slept in a brand new little wooden bed. He finally did not have
nightmares anymore and slept until dawn.
That night, when the thirty-three-year-old time closed his eyes, he dreamed of the small wooden
bed when he was nine years old.
——
In the Chinese class on Monday, Zhu Jinxia commented on the composition.
Before reviewing, she asked everyone if they thought their writing was good - the answer was
unanimous: "No!"
"What's wrong?"
“Nothing is good.”
Zhu Jinxia smiled and said, "It seems that there is still one good thing about this."
The students in the front row asked curiously: "What's good about it?"
"Fortunately, I have self-awareness."
The children burst into laughter.
Zhu Jinxia did not criticize everyone. It doesn't matter if you don't write well. If everyone is a
genius, what do we need teachers for? But she still made a few objective comments on the
phenomenon that some students have similar paragraphs.
"Cedan, are you and Tashi Derong twins?"
"no."
"Oh, I see that both of you want to be the store manager, and you even want to stock the same
goods. I thought you two were twin brothers, with telepathy." Zhu Jinxia raised her eyebrows, "So
you're not?"
Some people laughed, some people blushed.
There was a little boy at the side of the second row who was laughing the most happily, with his
big teeth sticking out, and he was suddenly called out.
"Ding Zhengen sips."
He was startled, and his smile froze on his face, "Here!"
"Read your composition to everyone."
The boy's cheeks were already red from the plateau, and when he heard Zhu Jinxia's words, the
light red immediately turned into a dark red and spread rapidly. He stood up and began to stutter
and recite the article "If I Were Qin Shi Huang".
When people read that he wanted to be a tyrant, some people in the audience laughed.
If someone disobeyed him, he would hang him up over the fire and roast him until he was pitch
black, as black as an African. The whole class would laugh.
I can’t read any more…
Ding Zhengenjia's face turned red as if blood was about to drip out, and he looked at Zhu Jinxia
for help.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing, cleared her throat, took the composition book, and finished
reading the rest. But as she read, the children laughed, and the atmosphere didn't feel like a
Chinese class, but more like she was telling a crosstalk.
After reading it, she did not comment on whether it was good or bad, but let everyone speak one
by one.
At first, no one responded. After repeated encouragement, someone whispered, "This is a society
ruled by law. We cannot roast people..."
There was another round of laughter, the atmosphere became more lively, and more people
talked.
"Qin Shi Huang was not a tyrant, he unified the six kingdoms!"
“It is wrong to fight violence with violence.”
At first there were voices of opposition, but Zhu Jinxia nodded gently and asked, "Is there
anything good about the writing?"
Everyone started talking.
“He used a lot of idioms!”
"There's also an allusion!"
“He knows a lot of history!”
“Very imaginative!”
Ding Zhengenjia was still standing on his seat. He had blushed because he was embarrassed and
had almost buried his face in his chest. Now he was still blushing, but he slowly raised his head.
With every compliment, his eyes became brighter.
Finally, Zhu Jinxia gave him a set of stationery brought back from the county, and announced that
in the future, excellent weekly diaries would be selected every week and awarded with stationery
and books.
Under the envious gazes of the children, Ding Zhengenxia returned to his seat with his trophy in
his hands, as proud as a little rooster.
Zhu Jinxia nodded: "Very good, it has the flavor of Qin Shi Huang."
The children laughed again.
The atmosphere is just right, so I wish to strike while the iron is hot and ask: "Do you usually
dream?"
"Do!"
"What kind of dreams do you have?"
"I dreamed that I could fly!"
"Dreaming about Transformers!"
“I dreamed that I was flying a rocket into space!”
"I dreamed that my chicken gave birth to a puppy!"
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha cross species."
Amid the laughter, Zhu Jinxia also laughed.
She said she also had dreams, and the boldest one was to travel around the world alone. She
dreamed of going to Mount Everest to feel the biting wind, going to Kilimanjaro to see the snow
that never melted, crossing the Caribbean to see the endless sea, and standing in front of Niagara
Falls to listen to the roaring sound of the water.
She found many pictures from the Internet and put one for each place she talked about.
The classroom gradually became quiet, and the children opened their eyes wide and pricked up
their ears.
Finally, I wish this summer to turn around and write a word on the blackboard: dream.
She said, since everyone's dreams are so rich and colorful, why do they become so restrictive
when they are put on paper?
The so-called dream is to have a dream first before you dare to think about it.
In the silence, a child asked quietly: "So, Teacher Zhu, did you go to those places later?"
Zhu Jinxia was startled, then smiled and said, "Not yet, but I've already set off."
"where did you go?"
She answered earnestly, “I’m standing here.”
She crossed three mountains with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, traveled a long
distance, and came from afar. Before she met Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro, she first
crossed the Jinsha River and saw Mount Gongga.
No, to be precise, she fell into the Jinsha River.
When she talked about her first encounter with Yibo Township, the children laughed again.
Strangely enough, the scene that seemed funny and miserable at the time now seems humorous
and interesting when recalled.
Zhu Jinxia thought about it and wrote another sentence on the blackboard: A journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step.
Although coming here was an accident, she found out after arriving that what she thought was a
refuge was not actually a refuge, but a brand new, vaster and new world.
While encouraging her children, she also encouraged herself.
A week later, the books I ordered online arrived. I found some time to ride my motorcycle to the
post office in Niuzan Town to pick them up. There were two full boxes.
I wish this summer to find the "General History of China" and call Ding Zhengenjia to his office.
Before giving the children the books, she looked very much like a teacher. She asked the children
earnestly, "What do you want to do when you grow up?"
"I want to idle away."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia choked, thought about it and asked again: "Besides being idle, what else do you want
to do?"
Ding Zhengenjia also thought about it carefully, then shook his head and said seriously: "There is
nothing else."
“…”
"Think about it again. In order to be able to idle away one day, do we have to work hard first and
save enough capital to be eligible to idle away?"
Under the guidance of Zhu Jinxia's efforts, Ding Zhengenjia finally reluctantly agreed to do
nothing after retirement.
Zhu Jinxia then took out the book, touched the little boy's head, and encouraged him to move
forward bravely towards his own interests. In order to realize the dream and stop being idle as
soon as possible, we must first be diligent! We must forget about food and sleep! We must read
widely!
What is given away is books, and what is pumped out is chicken blood.
As a result, within two days, the timing received complaints from all parties.
Tibetan teacher: "Principal, fifth grader Ding Zhengenjia is reading miscellaneous books in class!"
Life teacher: "Principal, fifth grader Ding Zhengenjia doesn't sleep at night and reads
miscellaneous books with a flashlight!"
During the break: "Principal, fifth grader Ding Zhengen didn't do his exercises and is hiding in the
classroom reading miscellaneous books!"
Timeline: "..."
Nowadays, teachers are so strict that students have to come to them for help even for such a
small matter as reading a book.
Shixu dismissed them one by one. That afternoon, it was his turn to teach fifth grade math.
Looking at the student in the corner of the second row who was blatantly absent, Shixu even
smashed the table, but it was useless. The head would still bury itself again and again when he
was not prepared.
Finally he confiscated the book.
"Teacher Zhu." After dinner, Shixu slammed the book on the table and said expressionlessly,
"Fifth grader Ding Zhengenjia doesn't listen carefully and reads miscellaneous books during math
class."

Chapter 26
Chapter 26
On Wednesday morning, two vans stopped at the school gate, and a group of people got out of
the vans and walked into the campus in a mighty procession.
It was during the break and the children were all on the playground. Seeing the situation, they
stopped doing the exercises and turned their heads to watch the fun.
"Who is it?"
Amid the whispers, Zhu Jinxia also poked her head out from the large teacher's office on the first
floor and asked the same question.
Yu Xiaoshan looked outside and stood up suddenly. "...It seems to be the leader of the village."
Outside, Shixu ran into them. Without saying a word, he asked Dunzhu to come over and help
everyone carry boxes of things from the car. The middle-aged man in the lead did not do
anything. He walked over with Shixu, smiling.
Zhu Jinxia looked carefully and recognized him. Wasn't this the township party secretary whom
she met in the county town a few days ago?
what do you say that is?
What's Ji?
Before she could think about it, the secretary looked up and saw her. The school was small, and
she was the only one who stood out among the crowd. The man walked over with a smile and
patted her on the shoulder, "Teacher Zhu, we meet again!"
Pretty familiar...
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously dodged to the side and hurriedly said hello, Secretary.
"Just call me Doggie."
Yes, it’s Doji.
Zhu Jinxia smiled: "Secretary Duoji."
Duoji came to the school on behalf of the township government to deliver welfare. The heavy
boxes contained milk and bread. Zhu Jinxia asked if there were any celebrations, and the other
party smiled and said, "The township government cares about the future flowers of the
motherland and will send some things every now and then."
Very official wording.
The cadres were counting the items and the teachers were maintaining order. As the principal,
Shi Xu was busy on both ends. He took the time to look back and saw Doji sitting in the corridor
to avoid the shade, talking to Zhu Jinxia with a smile on his face.
He frowned.
"Principal, please sign here."
"headmaster?"
Looking back at the time, just after I finished signing, another teacher came to say that a child in
the third grade had diarrhea.
Then things were distributed.
Time doesn't allow for the corridor.
In the corridor, Duoji was greeting Zhu Jinxia, asking her where she was from, whether she was
adapting to life there, and what difficulties she had.
I wish everything goes well this summer.
"The environment in the school is simple, which is good, but the place is small. It's inevitable to
be bored if you stay here all day." Duoji suddenly thought of something and said excitedly, "After
distributing the things, I will take the cadres to visit the poor households in several nearby hills.
Teacher Zhu, do you want to go with us?"
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, "Will it not affect your work?"
Duoji smiled and said, "No. It's rare for you to come to Tibet, and you've never been to the
countryside. It's a good opportunity for you to go with us to take a look."
He said that the township responded to the country's call and started poverty alleviation many
years ago. Now it has achieved initial results and has achieved comprehensive poverty alleviation.
Today, the cadres will not only visit each family to express their condolences, but also have a
meal at the Tibetan family.
"Come along, you've been here for so long, but you haven't experienced our Tibetan customs."
After some official words, Doji invited warmly.
The cadres on the playground all wore work badges from the township government, wore white
shirts and black trousers, and looked clean and respectable.
Doggie smiled amiably again.
More importantly, a few days ago, I was still saying that a journey of a thousand miles begins with
a single step. I wish you a happy journey this summer.
When the milk and bread were almost distributed, Shixu was called away by Yu Xiaoshan. A third-
grade child had diarrhea, so he had to go check it out in person and call the parents.
When he had dealt with everything and came back, the playground was empty. The students had
gone back to the teaching building for classes, and the township committee cadres had also left.
Shixu looked around and saw that Duoji and Zhu Jinxia were no longer in the corridor.
I looked for her but couldn't find her. He arranged her class schedule himself and she knew it by
heart. She had no classes after the first and second periods today. Where is she?
After being busy for a long time, I didn't even have my phone with me. I walked quickly into the
office, picked up my phone, and saw a bunch of missed calls and WeChat messages.
Zhu Jinxia: Where are you? Just now, you were on the playground.
Zhu Jinxia: I don’t answer the phone either.
Zhu Jinxia: I didn't have classes in the afternoon, so I went to the township with Secretary Duoji
and others to visit poor households. We came back after dinner. I heard that they were going to
hold a bonfire party and perform the Guozhuang dance.
Zhu Jinxia: You don’t have to wait for me for lunch and dinner, the secretary said he would send
me back to school.
Shixu's heart sank and he ran out.
Yu Xiaoshan happened to come in from outside and the two of them bumped into each other.
"Hey, Principal, you are here. Teacher Zhu was looking for you everywhere just now."
He paused.
"...She asked me to tell Secretary Doji... Hey, the principal?"
Before Yu Xiaoshan finished her words, Shixu had already rushed out of the school gate.
Unfortunately, there was no trace of the van on the open space.
The sun is shining brightly in the sky, with no clouds in sight. It is another good day.
——
The central school is located in a valley with high mountains on both sides.
As soon as the car started going up, the cell phone signal was reduced to two bars, and it was
intermittent.
Two vans were driving one after the other on a narrow and dangerous mountain road. Zhu Jinxia
was sitting in the front van, Duoji was driving, and she was sitting in the passenger seat.
The seat was also arranged by Doji. Although she refused again and again, no one dared to let her
squeeze into the back row after Doji said one word.
A high-pitched Tibetan song was playing in the car with the volume turned up very high. Except
for Zhu Jinxia, no one seemed to feel any ear discomfort. She was too embarrassed to complain,
so she could only rub her eardrums and pray that her hearing would not be damaged.
It was a bit awkward at first, being in a confined space with a group of strangers made me feel
restrained.
Fortunately, Doji was amiable and introduced her to everyone. He also introduced the staff in the
back seat. Along the way, he talked about the specialties of Yibo Township and pointed out the
scenery along the way. I wish you a less tense summer.
The road from Mianshui to school is a national highway, and the road condition is good. But now
it is different when going up the mountain. The mountain road is bumpy, with a mountain wall on
one side and a cliff on the other. Not only is the road narrow, but there are no guardrails on the
side of the road.
Zhu Jinxia was sitting in the passenger seat, with a bottomless abyss to the side. Every time she
turned a 180-degree bend, her heart was in her throat.
Seeing her holding the handrail tightly with a nervous look on her face, Duoji smiled and said,
"Don't worry, Teacher Zhu. I have been driving this road for most of my life, and I won't make any
mistakes even if I drive with my eyes closed."
"I'm timid, you'd better open your eyes and drive."
I wish this summer a stiff smile. The steeper the curve, the more forced the smile.
After a while, Duoji called the girls in the back row: "Huahua, have a Huazi."
The girl named Huahua was of Han ethnicity. She followed Doji closely all the way. She looked
younger than Zhu Jinxia and had just arrived in the countryside, but she could already smoke a
cigarette expertly, light it in her own mouth, and then pass it to Doji.
Doji held it in his mouth, "The cigarettes with flowers are different, they are sweet."
Amid the laughter, Huahua pretended to be angry and called "Secretary" in a delicate voice.
Zhu Jinxia paused for a moment, looked away, and lowered her head to look at her phone. The
car was halfway up the mountain when she received the message that Shixu had sent long ago.
Time sequence: Stay safe and keep in touch. Call directly if you have any questions.
She replied: I understand, don’t worry.
Next sentence: What could happen?
The message was sent many times before it was sent.
On the other side, Shi Xu was standing on the playground, not feeling the heat under the
scorching sun. He waited for a long time before hearing "What's the matter?", which made him
even more annoyed.
What could happen?
I'm not afraid of ten thousand things, I'm afraid of one thing.
A head popped out of the window on the third floor of the dormitory, and Dunzhu called him,
"Brother, why don't you come back to cook?"
Shixu had a gloomy look on his face. He stood there without moving, and no one knew what he
was thinking.
Dunzhu called out again, "Where's Teacher Zhu? Ask her to come up and watch me make barley
cakes. Didn't she say she wanted to learn from me?"
I shouted for a long time but no one responded.
"Shixu, I'm calling you, are you deaf?"
Shixu finally turned around and glared at him from a distance. Dunzhu's neck shortened and he
shrank back into the window.
"Damn, is my period coming? Why do you look like that..."
Shi Xu held the phone, typed and deleted the message, but in the end he didn't send it.
Doggie is not a good person.
You shouldn't have gone with him.
Where are you now? I will pick you up.
…
The last thing I sent out was, "Have fun, come back early, and contact me immediately if you have
any questions."
I hope he is just worrying too much. With so many township officials around, what can Doji do?
She has also told him repeatedly that she is an adult and has the ability to act independently, and
he really shouldn't restrict her travel like a primary school student.
No matter how much I thought about it, I still felt restless all day long.
——
The higher the car goes, the wider the view.
The sky is amazingly blue, with birds occasionally flying by, like fish swimming in the deep sea.
Zhu Jinxia looked out the window, her hair flying fiercely in the mountain wind, and she couldn't
tell whether she was in the sky or in the sea.
Doji asked her if there was anything fun about teaching in the mountains.
Zhu Jinxia thought about it and remembered something.
"There are two boys in our class, who are both deskmates and good friends. One has very good
grades, while the other always lags behind in every exam. Yesterday I called the one with the
poor grades to my office and said, 'Look, his grades are so good. If you don't study hard, he will
definitely not play with you when he becomes successful in the future. Guess what he said?"
"What did you say?"
"He said: Impossible, you want to stand out after playing with me!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."
Another interesting thing is that there was a boy in the class who didn't like to study. He would
sleep in class and couldn't even recognize a few words. Zhu Jinxia called him over and talked
about his ideals earnestly, saying that if he didn't study hard now, how could he realize his ideals
in the future?
The boy scratched his forehead and said that his dream had come true.
Achieved?
"What is your ideal?"
The boy smiled innocently and said, "My ideal is not to study."
Wish this summer: "..."
When she talked about this, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but everyone was amused
and laughed continuously.
The car drove up all the way, getting closer and closer to the sky.
Halfway up the mountain, they arrived at their first stop.
The villages in the Tibetan area are different from the rural areas in Zhu Jinxia's memory. First of
all, there are animals wandering on the roadside. The Tibetan pigs are black and thin, and several
of them are curled up in a ball to sleep. There are calves basking in the sun at the entrance of the
village, wagging their tails and moaning, with eyes as clear as a spring.
The oxygen in the plateau is thin, the vegetation is short, and even the animals seem to be scaled
down, much smaller than those in the plains.
Zhu Jinxia stopped taking pictures and was pulled by Duoji affectionately, "Come on, Teacher Zhu,
let's go in and have some tea."
The man's hands were strong and sturdy, and he grabbed her arm, grasping it so high that his
fingertips almost touched her chest.
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously pulled her hand away and took a step back. Duoji seemed stunned as
well and quickly explained that the steps were too steep and he wanted to help her.
"It's okay, I'll climb by myself."
This was the second time Zhu Jinxia felt something was wrong. The first time was in the car, when
a girl named Huahua lit a cigarette for Doji and Doji made a joke.
I never expected that uncomfortable things would happen one after another.
At first, they had lunch at the villagers' homes. Although the poor households had been lifted out
of poverty, they were still far from being wealthy. Even though they had built a beautiful two-
story house with the help of the government, the interior of the house was still shabby. In order
to welcome the arrival of the cadres, the host slaughtered chickens and cattle. In the end, the
guests ate and drank heartily, and they just stood aside waiting to be sent.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Don't they sit down and eat together?"
Dorje said nonchalantly: "Their job is to entertain our distinguished guests."
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, asking the host family standing nearby to come out and sing
a song for the distinguished guest. Zhu Jinxia refused again and again, but Duoji said as if it was
normal: "Don't be polite, Teacher Zhu. This is our custom. When guests come from afar, we
Tibetan children must express our welcome."
Then why don't you stand up and sing?
——Zhu Jinxia looked at him and said nothing.
No matter what the reason for the song, she still applauded enthusiastically after the song ended.
Power is ugly, but singing is beautiful.
Doji still smiled amiably, but in Zhu Jinxia's eyes, it had nothing to do with harmony.
She didn't know whether Doji wanted to show his authority because of her appearance, or
whether he had always been domineering like this.
At first, he was chatting and laughing with his subordinates, but at one point he suddenly asked
them to tell the number of people in the village, the ratio of men to women, and last year's total
income... The cadres looked at each other, flipped through their notebooks, and answered one by
one.
Doji refused to give in and said that next time the county or state leaders came and asked about
these things, would you also look through your notebooks?
He slammed the teacup on the table and ordered everyone to pay a fine of five hundred yuan
each.
The young man who was in the same car with Zhu Jinxia explained: "Chunyun has always been
the one collecting this data. She was sick today and didn't come—"
What interrupted him was the teacup in front of Doji.
"Still making excuses!"
The young man tilted his head subconsciously, and the teacup flew past his ear and hit the
ground, shattering into pieces.
His expression froze, and everyone present fell silent. The huge living room was so quiet that
even a pin drop could be heard clearly, but the chickens raised by the owner outside the window
were screaming at the top of their lungs, as if someone was strangling their throats.
Duoji said angrily: "So many people are just eating for free? They know nothing and can't even
report the most basic population ratio. I am here today. If someone from above comes, I think
you will all forget about it!"
He switched between Tibetan and Chinese freely, and finally said "1,000 per person", which Zhu
Jinxia understood. I thought he was exaggerating, but he slammed the table and said, "Now! Pay
immediately!"
Everyone rustled cash out of their bags, one thousand per person, and placed a thick stack in
front of Doji.
The whole process was very quick and no one complained. It seemed that this kind of private
fines had been around for a long time and everyone was adept at doing it.
Duoji put the money into his bag, and in just a few seconds his expression changed again, putting
on a warm smile again, and asked with concern: "Teacher Zhu, are you not scared?"
Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth but no words came out.
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, this is just a small punishment...Where's the tea?" Doji said
as he stretched out his hand, but halfway through he realized that the teacup had fallen to his
ground, feeling a little embarrassed.
The male host, who had been hiding for a long time, hurriedly handed over a new teacup, poured
tea and apologized, then turned around and scolded his wife for being tactless. His wife nodded
and bowed, picking up the fragments on the ground in panic.
The host doesn't speak Chinese, but that doesn't stop Zhu Jinxia from understanding.
After showing off in front of everyone, Doji felt relieved and soon smiled as he did before. After a
while, he started talking and laughing, and invited Zhu Jinxia to have dinner.
"Try it, Mr. Zhu. This is our Tibetan fragrant pig. The meat quality is different from the ones sold
outside."
"This is ghee. Take a piece. You can eat it dry or soak it in tea."
"Hey, what's wrong? It's too fishy to eat? Hahaha, Abu, go get Teacher Zhu a cup of hot water so
she can rinse her mouth."
Doji took the bit of ghee from Zhu Jinxia's hand and continued eating it with a natural expression.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't tell what made her feel sick.
Doji's temper came and went quickly, and everyone's ability to deal with it was also quite good.
He was terrified when he was scolded, but he became indifferent after paying the fine.
There was a table full of good wine and delicious food, Duoji was talking and laughing, everyone
was chatting about everything under the sun, the host was very hospitable, outside the window
was blue sky and white clouds, and roosters could be heard crowing from time to time.
After the broken porcelain pieces on the ground were swept away, it was as if they had never
existed.
Zhu Jinxia looked up and saw the huge Tibetan-style living room with colorful walls, and the
entire wall was hand-painted by the owner. She took photos when she came and learned that the
couple had not even graduated from elementary school. She couldn't help but sigh inwardly at
the magnificence of national culture. It seems that the Tibetan people have an innate perception
of the art of color.
But looking at it again now, the colorful walls seem strange and bizarre.
After dinner, they were not in a hurry to leave. Doji asked someone to clear the table and bring
out the cards, and the men started playing fried golden flowers.
Zhu Jinxia was a woman, and even though she was a guest, Doji had no intention of letting her
participate. He just asked her to take a break and go to the next village after lunch.
Not to mention that she didn't know the way, the car took more than an hour to get up, and
there was no way she could walk back alone.
There was so much noise in the room that she simply went to the yard to get some fresh air.
The two girls in the car, Huahua and Xiao Zhang, were helping the hostess wash the dishes, and
she went up to ask if she needed help. Through the window, Duoji's loud voice came as expected:
"Huahua, take good care of Teacher Zhu, don't let the guests do it!"
Zhu Jinxia looked back and saw through the window that Duoji was smiling with wrinkles on his
face, while the host was still serving the pile in the room like a servant, serving tea and water
from time to time and saying a few compliments. A dozen people were sitting at the long table,
and each of them had a thick stack of banknotes in front of them.
She knew that Yibo Township was poor, and all she heard and saw along the way was extreme
poverty. Therefore, the piles of pink banknotes seemed even more glaring.
Huahua smiled and said, "Teacher Zhu, please stand further away so that you don't get splashed
with water or oil."
Zhu Jinxia came to her senses, talked to them, and asked them if they were locals.
"No, I'm from Kangding, and Xiao Zhang is from Tianquan." Huahua had two dimples when she
smiled, which made her look more childish. Without her leader by her side, she became more
lively, and her speech and behavior were not as sophisticated as before. "We both came to the
countryside at the beginning of the year."
"Just graduated last year?"
"Uh-huh."
Tianquan and Kangding are closer to the provincial capital. Although they are Tibetan areas, they
are much more developed than Yibo Township.
"Why did you want to come to Yi Bo?" A girl in her early twenties came to this place where
chickens lay eggs and birds don't shit.
There was some melancholy in Huahua's smile. "I have no choice. All cadres have to go to the
countryside. My family has no connections, so of course I'll go wherever I'm assigned to."
Xiao Zhang is still optimistic. "It's okay. I can be transferred in two years. Then I won't have to go
deep into the mountains and forests."
"No matter how far we walk, we're still wandering in the mountains. Where in this place isn't
deep in the mountains and old forests?" Huahua looked at Zhu Jinxia with envy in her eyes.
"Teacher Zhu, what does the provincial capital look like? Tell us about it. I haven't seen it yet."
I wish this summer has nothing to say.
The plateau has plenty of sunshine, and you can see colorful flowers along the way. Fresh life
blooms quietly in the mountains, regardless of whether there are passers-by stopping to look.
Suddenly someone tapped her on the shoulder.
"Teacher Zhu, what are you thinking about? Why are you so serious?" Duoji's face appeared in
the field of vision again. As he spoke, he took out a piece of yak jerky from the bag and fed it to
Zhu Jinxia affectionately, "Try it. The owner dried it himself."
I wish you will recognize my face this summer.
"Thank you, I had a very filling lunch."
Duoji didn't care. He fed one to Huahua and one to Xiaozhang. After feeding them, he hugged
each girl and asked with a smile, "Is it delicious?"
Zhu Jinxia's eyes fell on the two rough, dark hands, one on Xiao Zhang's shoulder, and the other
around Hua Hua's waist.
The two girls did not struggle. Instead, they laughed in unison and said it was delicious.
Duoji patted Huahua's butt gently and said, "Wash the dishes well. After you're done, come in
and play cards with me. When you're not here, no one will light my cigarette."
Huahua dodged skillfully and said coquettishly, "Don't squeeze me, Secretary. There's such a big
pool here. What will happen if I squeeze in?"
"Haha, just squeeze in and take a bath. You don't know, I'm an expert at scrubbing backs, let's do
it together--" Duoji smiled even more happily when he saw Zhu Jinxia out of the corner of his eye,
and winked, "Teacher Zhu and I'll scrub your backs!"
Zhu Jinxia said nothing, but the two girls laughed happily with Duoji. The hostess didn't speak
Chinese, so she didn't know what they were talking about, so she could only laugh along
awkwardly.
At least it looks like a happy scene.
After Duoji had finished showing off his presence, he left again. Zhu Jinxia looked at his back and
suddenly asked Huahua, "How old did you say you were?"
"twenty-three."
Only twenty-three.
Zhu Jinxia remained silent, turning his head to look at the flowers all over the mountains outside
the yard.
In such a bitterly cold place, it is too early for flowers to bloom.

Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Bureaucracy, I hope I don’t see too much of it this summer.
Although universities are not immune to the workplace practices, she is not in an administrative
position, nor does she have to take on projects or deal with clients like professors of science and
engineering. As a teacher of humanities and social sciences, and especially of the English major,
which is in an awkward and somewhat useless position today, she only needs to teach well and
do good research.
Although she was often annoyed by the endless meetings in the college and the endless policies
and guidelines given by the leaders, she faced passionate young people in their twenties in class
and interacted with literary giants in the history of English after class. Generally speaking, life
treated her well and her spiritual world was quite rich.
It was the first time I experienced such overwhelming bureaucratic style, and it was really...
refreshing.
What is thin on the mountain is not only the air, but also the veil of respect between people.
Zhu Jinxia was standing in a corner of the yard when she suddenly felt her cell phone vibrate.
When I looked down, I saw several messages coming in, none of which were instant messages.
Although there was a signal after entering the village, it was always tangoing between one or two
bars, and the messages sent intermittently arrived at the same time.
Where are you now?
Arrived in the village?
Have you got a meal yet?
The last one.
Timeline: Happy summer?
There is a time difference of several minutes to dozens of minutes between messages, and the
latest one was just sent.
Zhu Jinxia replied quickly: The signal is not good on the mountain, I just received it now.
The message was circulating in circles, and I didn't know if it was sent or not. The next second,
the call came from Shixu.
“Why don’t you reply to the message?”
Before she could answer, the next sentence came, "Is he okay?"
This tone...
Zhu Jinxia was slightly stunned, "What could it be?"
"..." The other end was silent for a moment, then his tone softened. "Since you haven't replied to
my message, I thought..."
Why?
She waited for a while, and then she heard: "Have you eaten?"
How foolish.
Zhu Jinxia took the phone away from his ear and took a look at it, but it was actually unnecessary
because the number needed to be confirmed, but the voice was not wrong.
Of course she knew who she was talking to, it just didn't seem like the timing.
"You rushed to find me just to ask this?"
There was a brief pause on the other end.
"No." Shixu chose his words carefully, "I'm worried about Doji. You don't know him. He—"
"A nymphomaniac?"
As a temporary Chinese teacher, Zhu Jinxia was kind enough to select the most accurate one for
him from the Chinese dictionary.
“…”
Shi Xu immediately realized something, and his voice became tense, "Why, he did that to you—?"
"No." Zhu Jinxia glanced at the girls who were washing dishes by the sink, stood a little further
away in silence, and walked to the other side of the yard. "They are two girls from the same car.
They just graduated and went to the countryside..."
She stopped by the fence and told me what she had seen along the way, her voice very low.
The sun was scorching in the afternoon, but luckily there was a big tree above our head with lush
branches and leaves, which blocked out most of the sun, leaving only a patch of scattered light
and shadows.
As the leaves swayed, Zhu Jinxia suddenly had an illusion that she was whispering and gossiping
with her good friends during her school days.
Shi Xu didn't seem surprised by what Duoji did. Zhu Jinxia couldn't help asking, "Did you know he
had this habit?"
"Um."
"Then why didn't you tell me?" Zhu Jinxia couldn't believe her ears, "You let me run away with
him and didn't stop me at all?"
I only heard a sneer from the other end, "Stop him? How can I stop him? The student had
diarrhea, I was gone for two minutes, and the next moment you were already on the mountain."
It would have been fine if she didn't mention it, but as soon as she mentioned it, Shixu got angry.
"Zhu Jinxia, did I ever say that the security in the mountains is bad?"
"Yes, but——"
"But you have legs, you are an adult, you have the ability to act independently, and you can be
responsible for your own decisions." He returned all the words she had said to her.
“…”
At a loss for words.
"How can I stop you? Cut off your legs?"
The sun was so strong that her face turned red.
Zhu Jinxia tried to fan the flames and change the subject: "So everyone knows that Doji is a
gangster?"
Forget about the timing. The other teachers watched her and Doggie leave, and no one
mentioned anything to her.
I wish you a bad mood this summer.
Fortunately, Shi Xu said: "They didn't have much contact with Doji."
I feel comfortable again.
but--
"Then how did you know that?"
"I saw it when I went to the county town for a meeting. And at the end of last year, there was a
female teacher in the school..."
The chronology is concise and to the point.
"What happened to the female teacher?"
“…”
"Tell me." she urged.
"There's nothing much to say. He was transferred away at the beginning of the year, and you
haven't seen him either."
"It's easier to say if you haven't seen it. This way you can't be considered to be talking bad about
someone behind their back."
What a fallacy.
Life in the mountains is boring, and the slightest disturbance can cause a storm.
Shixu was well aware of the principle of keeping silent, but he could not resist Zhu Jinxia's
constant questioning.
"... a new teacher who just graduated and was assigned to the school for less than two weeks,
Doggie found out about it."
"Then what?"
"Then?" Shi Xu sneered. There was no warmth in his smile, only cold sarcasm. "Then he came
with his right-hand men, slapping and candying the students first, and then showing off his power
to the teachers. After a few visits, they got to know the new teacher."
It's just like what happened at lunch today, Zhu Jinxia thought. He first got along well with
everyone, which made people feel flattered, and then suddenly got angry, which made people
dizzy.
It's like training a dog.
On second thought, she became happy again.
"So he came to deliver milk and bread this morning because of me?"
Although Shixu also thought so, he said, "Zhu Jinxia, your big face is a disease and needs
treatment."
Out of curiosity, Zhu Jinxia chose not to bother with him, "What happened next?" she asked in a
low voice.
"Then he did this twice more and frightened the man."
The township government is not far from the school, only ten minutes' walk away. The school
strictly disciplines the children, but does not restrict the teachers from going out. Maybe she
went out late at night, or maybe he stayed overnight after dark. The time sequence is unknown.
By the time he found out, the teacher's belly had already grown big.
In the cold winter, when even the faucets were frozen, he was awakened by a phone call late at
night. Someone was crying on the other end, with intermittent sobs mixed with chaotic cries for
help.
"headmaster……"
"Principal, save me..."
When Shi Xu rushed to the women's restroom, he saw a pale-faced woman lying on the ground
and a shocking pool of blood under her.
There is no hospital in the mountains. After calling 120, it takes at least three hours for the
ambulance to arrive from the county town. By the time it goes back and forth, the person is
already dead.
Shi Xu wanted to ask for help, but she grabbed his trouser leg.
The girl, who was in her early twenties, still had an innocent look on her face, and begged him
not to tell anyone before she died.
"Let people know that I can't survive..."
Shi Xu was petrified for two seconds, and without saying a word, he picked her up and rushed out
of the bathroom.
Lao Li's car was in the open space outside. He dropped the man off next to the car and ran
towards the repair shop without looking back. When he came back, he had the car keys in his
hand.
When he was sent to the county hospital, his face was as pale as gold paper, and he was
breathing out more than he was breathing in.
Shi Xu stood outside the operating room and waited until dawn, when the red light went out.
When the doctor pushed the man out, his thin body under the white sheet was motionless, just
like his heartbeat at that time.
"she……"
"He's fine." The doctor took off his mask and said that fortunately he was sent to the hospital in
time and his life was saved. "Are you the child's father?"
He hesitated for a moment, and the doctor took it as his agreement and started to criticize him
harshly.
"You seem to be quite old now. She is young and ignorant. Don't you understand it either?"
"Either give birth or get the abortion sooner rather than later. Are you trying to save your life by
taking it for more than four months and then getting an abortion?"
"If you're late, don't send me to the operating room, just go to the funeral home."
The child is gone.
Shi Xu subconsciously looked at the person who was still in a coma. She was lying quietly on the
operating table, her eyes and eyebrows were childish, and she was obviously still a child.
It was at that moment that he finally realized some details he had overlooked, such as Doji's
frequent visits to school and the girl from a poor family who was unusually flashy.
Or maybe he was also one of the accomplices. After all, in order to demonstrate his authority,
Doji kept sending supplies to the school, but he only saw the flowers in front of him and never
thought about the intentions behind them.
Zhu Jinxia listened to the end in silence and heard some heavy breathing on the other end of the
phone.
"it's not your fault."
"I know." Shi Xu said without pretense, "This is her personal choice."
They were all adults who could be responsible for their own actions. He was just the principal,
not her parent. Moreover, she never asked him for help until the last moment.
Zhu Jinxia looked up and saw Huahua and Xiao Zhang by the pool. They had finished washing the
dishes and were sitting on the steps playing with water. I don't know who started by scooping up
water and throwing it at the other party. It soon turned into a water fight.
In their early twenties, at the blooming age, they are no different from the female teachers in the
story.
Sitting by the pool at this moment, happiness is as simple as a child.
But when they lit a cigarette for Doji in the car, Huahua was also very comfortable with it. When
Doji put his arm around their shoulders and told them dirty jokes, they just smiled and didn't
resist.
What is power? It is poison to one man and honey to another.
Coming back to her senses, Zhu Jinxia heard a very light and quick sentence passing by her ear: "I
was just thinking, if I had discovered it earlier and intervened in time, maybe what happened
later wouldn't have happened."
But at that time, time itself was also in a state of panic.
"I just returned to the mountains, and the school is in a mess. Uncle Wang is sick, Dunzhu is
undisciplined, and the state wants to disband the school..."
Everything is urgent.
"...I didn't have time to pay attention to the teachers' private lives."
"She has longer legs, what's the point of paying attention to her?" Zhu Jinxia realized that the
atmosphere was too depressing and stopped immediately, "Let me ask you, Shixu, you are more
comfortable as the principal now than last year, right?"
“I guess so.”
"Didn't you tell me to abduct me anyway?" she said righteously.
The timing gave her a choke.
"So, there are only thieves who have been around for a thousand years, but there is no such
thing as guarding against thieves for a thousand years. You can't guard against them." Zhu Jinxia
laughed slowly, "Even someone as beautiful as me, whose eyes can't be moved away, can be
kidnapped right under your nose. Those who are not as eye-catching as me, it won't be too easy
to kidnap them."
Finally, a chuckle came from the other end of the phone.
"Zhu Jinxia, has anyone ever praised you for having a thicker skin than a city wall?"
It’s okay to be thick.
I wish Jin Xia could breathe a sigh of relief. At least he smiled, right?
only--
“Why not make Dorje’s words and deeds public?”
"Who do you think brought Doji up here?" Shixu spoke calmly, but his words were like a huge
rock that weighed down people's breath. "I wish Jinxia that the people in the mountains are
united enough and that everyone is in cahoots with them from top to bottom. Driving away the
jackals and wolves, but tigers and leopards are coming. It's just a drop in the bucket."

Chapter 28
When the card game in the house ends depends on when Doji wins a huge sum of money.
Just when Zhu Jinxia was wondering whether this trip would be spent on endless playing of Poker,
the game finally ended. This was all thanks to everyone's knowledge and understanding, and they
lost quickly.
Doji was satisfied and stopped, and they set off for the next two villages.
Looking at the pile of "gold and silver" on the table, Zhu Jinxia finally understood why Duoji went
out with an empty waist bag on his back. This is called foresight. He came with an empty bag, but
left with a bulging bag.
The van continued to drive upwards, the mountain wind was whistling, the clouds were floating,
and the sky seemed to be only a stone's throw away.
Along the way, Doji was still unbridled, hugging women left and right and flirting with them.
Huahua and Xiao Zhang also cooperated well, fighting back and forth like in a martial arts novel,
with a perfect understanding between them.
I wish your eyes hurt this summer. Technology is advancing with each passing day, why hasn't
anyone invented a manual shielding function on the eyelids?
Fortunately, Doji was quite polite to her. After all, she had just arrived and didn't respond, so Doji
didn't want to force it.
Between men and women, it’s important for both parties to be willing. A forced marriage is not a
happy one.
This is also consistent with the judgment of timing.
"He can't do anything in front of so many people. At most he can show off his power. Go early
and come back early. Don't deal with him again in the future."
I had to rush to the first math class in the afternoon, so I had to finish it hastily. At the end of the
call, he also said: "But you can't take it lightly, report safety regularly."
After hanging up the phone, Zhu Jinxia just remembered and sent him a message asking: What is
the scheduled time?
Timing: Every ten minutes?
Your sister.
Zhu Jinxia cursed with a smile, put away her phone and ignored him.
Putting aside Doji as a person, this trip is still worth it.
In the second village, she saw the unique local beekeeping. The villagers placed wooden barrels
horizontally and invited the queen bee, and the bees came in groups to build nests.
The bucket is bright yellow, and it is placed among the flowers, with the azure sky and golden
ground. Zhu Jinxia even wonders if a little bear Wei Ni will jump out of the picture in the next
second.
In the end, Wei|ni didn't come, but Doji did.
"Teacher Zhu, please try it."
He asked the host for a jar of this year's new honey, dipped his hand in it, and motioned for Zhu
Jinxia to open her mouth.
A pair of thick fingers attacked her from mid-air, but Zhu Jinxia dodged them nimbly.
"You're welcome. I'll do it myself."
You shouldn't hit someone who's smiling, especially in his territory. Zhu Jinxia didn't want to
refute him in public, so she just stepped aside and reached out to taste some of the honey.
The nectar is sweet and delicious, with the scent of wilderness flowers. It is indeed completely
different from what I have tasted before.
At Doji's suggestion, the host took out several jars of honey and gave one to Zhu Jinxia.
"Take it. You are a guest from afar, so here's a little token of your appreciation."
Duoji accepted the gift without mercy. When he introduced this family just now, he also said that
the owner had a disability and had made a living by beekeeping. And from what Zhu Jinxia saw,
there were only seven or eight beehives in the yard, which was not enough for mass production.
Those jars of honey must be the best harvest of this year, otherwise I wouldn't dare to take them
out to treat Doji.
What is this, offering flowers to Buddha?
Zhu Jinxia found a chance to stop Huahua and ask about the price. Before leaving, she silently
stuffed 800 yuan into the owner's hand. The owner was very grateful and thanked her repeatedly,
but was stopped by Zhu Jinxia.
She was afraid that the noise would cause a big disturbance and attract Doji's attention. What if
he forbade the host to accept the money, or accepted it himself, then all her efforts would be in
vain.
In the third village, Zhu Jinxia also met an "acquaintance" by chance.
To be precise, I saw a photo of an acquaintance.
In a home that was visibly poor, award certificates were hung all over the walls. When she looked
carefully, she found that they were all awards for "Three Good Students" and "Outstanding
Student Leaders".
There was a family photo on TV, with the couple hugging their three children, but there was only
one winner of the certificate: Ding Zhenjiacuo.
Coincidentally, there was also a little boy named Ding Zhenjiacuo in her class.
Zhu Jinxia took a closer look and recognized him. It was indeed the same person.
She remembered Ding Zhenjiacuo for two reasons. The first was that he had good grades and
neat handwriting. The second was that he was very handsome, with small double eyelids cut into
a swift's tail. Although he was not talkative, the way he looked up and down perfectly
demonstrated what it meant to be chased by the Creator to feed him.
She turned her head to look at the parents. The couple could not speak Chinese and just smiled
awkwardly at her the whole time. Their smiles were so naive.
What is this, a genetic mutation?
Zhu Jinxia pointed at the little boy in the photo and said excitedly: "This is a child from our class!"
Unexpectedly, when the male host heard this, his face suddenly fell and he started speaking
Tibetan.
She was confused and looked at Doji beside her.
"He said his son used to have good grades, but it was all because of your school's new principal
who took his son on business trips to Zhejiang every now and then, saying it was to let him see
the world. But when the child came back, he was like a lost soul, couldn't concentrate on his
studies, and didn't like to talk anymore."
Wish this summer: "..."
She immediately remembered that Shi Xu once said that two children in her class went on a
business trip to Zhejiang with him. After returning, they became depressed and had no energy to
do anything.
Later, Ding Zhenjiacuo's father kept reciting the sutras as long as they stayed in the room. He was
also very good at choosing people, and he knew that he couldn't recite it to the township leaders,
so he kept chasing Zhu Jinxia and reciting it.
Are you kidding me? I'm just a volunteer teacher!
I wish you a safe escape this summer.
Running out of the yard, she sent a message to Shixu indignantly: Look at the sin you have
committed!
Timing: ?
After listening to her accusation, time sequence: He recites his own words, and you can't
understand them anyway.
It is because I don’t understand that I don’t even have the chance to refute.
I wish to look back this summer. Maybe it's because the wind is strong in the mountains and the
doors and windows of the house are closed, but it is not only the wind that is blocked, but also
people's thoughts and vision.
She wanted to argue on behalf of Shixu. It was clearly an opportunity that she had fought hard
for, but in the end she was misunderstood and resented by others. However, the words were
blown away by the wind when they reached her lips.
In the end, I only uttered one sentence: You don’t understand, you don’t speak the language, and
you feel like you are going to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures.
Otherwise, how could I be chased by someone and recite Buddhist scriptures all the way?
——
Dusk is falling.
The last ray of afterglow disappeared behind the mountain mist, and the mountain breeze also
lost its temperature.
After finishing dinner at another family's house, Zhu Jinxia looked at the time and politely asked
to go back to school.
Doji refused.
He pushed open the wooden window, and along with the wind came in a Tibetan song that came
from somewhere unknown.
"Listen, the Guozhuang dance is about to start in the square over there." He clapped his hands to
the beat of the drums, looking intoxicated. "Teacher Zhu, you have to go and see it. I'll teach you
how to dance the Guozhuang!"
"No, I have classes tomorrow and I have to go back to prepare."
"That won't work."
Before Zhu Jinxia could even try to refuse, Duoji became displeased and turned around to scold
his subordinates for not being able to make arrangements and thus wasting time.
He cursed with spit flying at the mouth, and everyone who had been eating and drinking happily
just now immediately lowered their heads, tucked their tails between their legs and kept silent.
Another common tactic.
Zhu Jinxia soon realized that as long as she didn't give in, he would keep scolding her.
Doji cursed more and more loudly. Huahua, who was beside her, pulled her hand as if for help
and winked desperately. There were also signals for help from all directions.
If the eyes had power - Zhu Jinxia sat in silence, thinking that this guy was about to shoot her into
a sieve.
In the end, there was no way.
"Just stay for half an hour." She looked at the time seriously and asked Duoji to promise her,
"Nine o'clock, I must go down the mountain at nine o'clock."
The main reason was that Doji refused to give in, and no one dared to drive her down the
mountain, and she couldn't fly.
Doji agreed immediately, his expression changed so quickly, he looked like he had lost his parents
one second, but he was overjoyed the next, and invited everyone to go to the village activity
room.
With so many people coming and going, it seemed as if the previous incident had never
happened, and there was no sign of frustration on anyone's face.
Absolutely.
I heard that it takes countless years of hard work to master Sichuan Opera face-changing, but I
didn't expect that I could learn it without a teacher in the mountains.
The village activity room is about the size of two classrooms. There is a small square outside. Two
old-fashioned speakers are placed on the bumpy concrete ground, and a tall pile of firewood is
erected in the middle, with flames shooting up into the sky.
As we got closer, the Tibetan songs were deafening.
Guozhuang, the full name of Tibetan square dance. The villagers wore ethnic costumes and
danced around the fire hand in hand. Duoji reached out to pull, but Zhu Jinxia dodged flexibly.
She didn't give him a chance, holding Huahua with one hand and Xiao Zhang with the other.
Unfortunately, you can avoid the first day, but you can’t avoid the fifteenth.
After dancing for only two songs, Doji felt tired. With his big belly, he called for everyone to go
inside and rest.
In the activity room, long tables were arranged in a rectangular shape, and everyone sat in a
circle, with the tables filled with wine and meat.
Doji still kept Zhu Jinxia by his side and asked her to drink.
The wine was a Tibetan specialty, made from pork. A thick layer of fat floated on the top of the
cup, and the aroma of wine was everywhere.
I hope you don’t drink this summer.
So it’s the same old three things again.
——How did you make the wine? Even the teacher couldn't drink it. It's because you guys didn't
treat him well enough!
——Admit your mistakes to me.
——I wish the teacher would stop drinking, otherwise I would keep scolding him.
The scene froze again.
Zhu Jinxia was almost laughing out of anger, not to mention that Sun Wukong had seventy-two
transformations, Pigsy could at least transform into thirty-two, so it seems that you really have
not changed at all.
The time sequence is wrong. A forced melon is not sweet, but it quenches thirst. Doji's behavior
looks like a thirsty ghost reincarnated.
Zhu Jinxia insisted that she was allergic to alcohol and refused to give in.
If you have the guts, just curse. If you don’t mind being tired, curse all night long.
Love whoever you want.
Doji's hard approach didn't work, so he tried a soft approach and signaled the villagers to come
and toast him.
The one who came was an 80-year-old woman with wrinkles all over her face and she trembled
when she walked. Duoji didn't ask her to leave, so she kept shaking the wine glass in her hand,
which broke Zhu Jinxia's heart.
She thought of her grandmother.
Zhu Jinxia snatched the wine and asked Duoji, "Secretary, you said I'm allergic to alcohol, but you
still want me to drink. Is it because the food on the table is not delicious that you insist on
eating?"
Doji's face was frozen from choking.
No one on this mountain dared to refuse his respect. If he said he wanted to eat pork, no one
would dare to keep the pork until dawn if he took his fancy to any one of them. No one was
exempt from this.
Duoji's face was flushed, whether it was from the wine or anger, he came over and asked her
softly: "Teacher Zhu, you have a good relationship with Principal Shi, right?"
Zhu Jinxia paused, then looked up at his approaching face.
"Did he ever tell you that the central school should have been closed long ago?"
"You come from the city, so it's normal for you to look down on township officials, but the
mountains are different from your place. Sometimes I say something and Yibo Township
changes."
He still smiled, and his smile was very warm.
"Didn't Shixu always want an electronic screen? He was suppressed by his superiors for a whole
year. Alas, the superiors are short of funds. He doesn't understand. It's useless even if he drinks
himself to death."
The flesh on that face was trembling.
"Forget about the electronic screens. Whether the school removes them or not is just a matter of
my assessment form."
He held Zhu Jinxia's hands, pushed the glass of wine to her lips, and asked with a smile: "Teacher
Zhu, do you want to drink this wine or not?"
——
If Yuan Feng were present, he would definitely be happy to hear it.
He and Zhu Jinxia have been friends for twenty-nine years, and he knows every word in her
dictionary by heart. Even if he flips through it a hundred or eighty times, he will never find the
word "bowing".
At that time, she was well-known in the family area for being soft-hearted and not hard-hearted.
If someone bullied the weak, she would pick up a stool and fight, regardless of whether she could
win or not, and she was not afraid even if her head was broken and bloodied. But when the fat
monitor next door lost his class fee and cried, she would grit her teeth and smash the piggy bank,
and take out the breakfast money she had saved for a whole year to give to him.
Mountain bikes were popular at that time, and Zhu Jinxia wanted one very much, but the bikes
were too expensive. She didn't want to embarrass Grandma Zhu, so she saved the money for
breakfast every day and went hungry for a year.
However, at that time, not only mountain bikes were popular, but martial arts novels were also
popular. People in the martial arts world believed in sharing happiness and suffering. Yuan Feng
was the first to be affected and suffered greatly, so he had to share half of his breakfast with her.
Yuan Feng was feeling miserable as he couldn't starve to death but couldn't eat enough either.
So he was looking forward to it, hoping that Zhu Jinxia could save enough money to buy a
mountain bike as soon as possible, so that he could have enough food to eat, right?
When Yuan Feng saw Zhu Jinxia smash the piggy bank and give the money to the squad leader,
his eyes widened.
No, so he had been starving for the entire year, and his stomach would start to growl every
morning after the morning exercises, was he saving up class fees for the forgetful monitor?
And, do we have to starve for another year???
But Zhu Jinxia took Yuan Feng to visit the squad leader's home. His father died early, and his
mother opened a rice shop. Every day, the mother and son carried ten or twenty kilograms of rice
bags up the stairs in the family area, and they had to climb dozens of times a day.
She also pushed the little fat boy's hand closer to him and said, "You two should compete."
Yuan Feng just took a look and said nothing.
Whose sixth grader has calloused hands? It's so sad to see.
Well, be hungry. You won’t die even if you starve for another year.
In short, Zhu Jinxia is the kind of person who responds to soft words but not hard ones.
Now, facing Doji's naked threat, she did not get angry but laughed instead.
If Doji continued to curse, she would inevitably sympathize with everyone present. It would be
fine to drink the glass of wine, but he was clearly riding on her head.
The hands were hot and large, covering her in them and taking the opportunity to caress her in
an ambiguous manner.
Zhu Jinxia pulled his hand away, stepped back, and in front of everyone present, poured the wine
in a semicircle in front of Duoji, as if pouring it on a grave, curled the corners of his mouth, and
said with a playful smile: "Cheers to you."
The speakers in the square outside were still roaring deafeningly, and Tibetan music was cheerful
and loud.
Everyone in the room seemed to be dumb, and there was complete silence.
Even though the villagers didn't speak Chinese and couldn't understand what she was saying,
there were always commonalities between cultures, and this toast was like a loud slap in Doji's
face.
Doji was dumbfounded, his blood boiling, and his face turned red at a speed visible to the naked
eye.
It's outrageous.
He raised his hand in a hurry, but before the slap could land, a thin figure squeezed in front of
Zhu Jinxia.
It’s Huahua.
She picked up the wine jug on the table.
"Secretary, Teacher Zhu is allergic to alcohol. Let me help her drink."
Without waiting for Duoji to speak or Zhu Jinxia to respond, Huahua picked up the wine pot and
drank it down with big gulps. The wine was too strong and she couldn't help choking. The crystal
liquid flowed down the corners of her mouth and wet the clothes on her chest. She was still
swallowing.
I wish this summer was stunned.
“Huahua——”
Seeing the girl choking to the point of tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, she tried to
reach out to pull him away, but Xiao Zhang pulled her from behind, begging in a low voice: "Let
her drink, Teacher Zhu. The secretary can't get angry, and everyone will have a bad night
tonight..."
She looked up and saw that, as expected, everyone was lowering their heads in fear and didn't
even dare to look at Doji.
The villagers slaughtered chickens and cattle and offered all their wealth just for the allowance in
Doji's hand. If he loosened his hand and a little money slipped through his fingers, everyone
could have enough food for a whole year.
Now that he was angry, they were all terribly afraid. They were afraid that he would stop paying
them, that he would criticize them, or even that he would fine them.
The 80-year-old woman was so frightened that she was shaking all over like a sieve and could not
even stand steadily.
here we go again.
It happens again.
Zhu Jinxia could endure the drastic targeting, but she could not endure Huahua's tears, Xiao
Zhang's pleading, and the panic of everyone present.
She knew clearly that this was the web that Doji had deliberately woven. As long as she walked
out in anger, everything in this room would have nothing to do with her anymore.
But my feet seemed to have taken root.
The young girl was still drinking for her, and the villagers looked at her cautiously. Zhu Jinxia
finally grabbed Huahua and snatched the wine jug.
"Secretary, my hands were shaking just now and I spilled the wine." She said each word slowly
and drank the remaining half pot.
The wine is strong, but the fire burns from the bottom of the heart.
She turned the empty wine bottle upside down and bowed her head to apologize to Doji. After
hanging her neck for a long time, Doji finally smiled.
He helped her up and said, "Wouldn't it be nice if you behaved earlier?"
After touching her delicate white hand, Duoji's heart also became angry, but this was not the
same anger.
Women in the city are different.
Xiao Zhang quickly squeezed over, holding Huahua in one hand and Zhu Jinxia in the other, and
said with a smile: "Secretary, I want to go to the toilet. I drank so much. Do Teacher Zhu and
Huahua want to come with me?"
Regardless of whether Zhu Jinxia nodded or not, or how ugly Doji's expression was, she forcibly
pulled the two of them away.
Outside, the mountain wind was blowing and the temperature was very low, making people
shiver. Inside, the kang and stove were burning, and everyone was toasting to each other, and the
atmosphere was very happy.

Chapter 29
"You knew that the secretary was drinking the wine to toast the teacher, so what was the point of
drinking it?"
"I'm just worried that he will lose face and it will be hard for any of us."
"So do you think he's stepped down? Are we all better off now?"
"I, how would I know—Wow!"
In the vegetable field behind the activity room, Huahua was vomiting. Xiao Zhang ran back to get
some paper, then came back to wipe her face. Then he remembered that Zhu Jinxia had also
drunk half a pot of wine, so he turned around and asked, "Teacher Zhu, you——"
Before I could even ask "How are you?", I saw the person lying on the ridge of the field with his
arms and legs spread out.
Xiao Zhang: “…”
She let go of Huahua and hurried to pull the person on the ground, "Teacher Zhu, it's cold at
night, you can't sleep here!"
Zhu Jinxia covered her face with her hands and said something, but Xiao Zhang didn't hear
clearly.
"What did you say?"
She moved her face closer and heard the words: "I feel uncomfortable..."
"That wine has a high alcohol content. We dare not drink it easily. You drank half a pot in one
breath. How can you not feel uncomfortable?" Xiao Zhang tried to pull her up. "Get up first. Get
up first. How about digging it out in the vegetable garden like Huahua? You won't feel
uncomfortable after digging it out."
Zhu Jinxia closed her eyes. No matter how she pulled or persuaded him, she just lay there
motionless, without making any sound, which frightened Xiao Zhang so much that her face
turned pale.
Should I go in and ask for help? If the secretary finds out, that would be exactly what he wants.
Wouldn't it harm Teacher Zhu instead?
But relying only on her and Huahua - Xiao Zhang looked up at the man who was still kneeling on
the side of the road and vomiting - she couldn't even take care of Huahua, so how could she get
Teacher Zhu down the mountain safely?
Xiao Zhang was so anxious that he was sweating all over.
In a panic, I saw something shining on the ground. After a closer look, I found that it was Zhu
Jinxia's mobile phone. I don't know whether she had been holding it in her hand or it accidentally
slipped out of her coat pocket. Now it was lying on the ridge of the field, buzzing non-stop. Apart
from the firelight outside the activity room, the lit screen was the only light source.
Xiao Zhang picked it up and saw the caller ID:
Principal of Yibo Central School
It was like being pardoned.
She picked up the phone hurriedly, "Hello?"
The first words that came out of the receiver were swear words.
Xiao Zhang was a little confused and called out "hey" again.
pass?
I called for a long time but no one answered. It was already time to rush out of the school gate
and prepare to go up the mountain. I continued to dial while walking. I don’t know how many
times, but finally someone answered.
Listen to the sound again...
The heart that had just been put at ease rose to my throat again.
"Who are you?" He said in a tense voice, "Where is Zhu Jinxia?"
…
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Zhang looked down and found that Zhu Jinxia had opened her
eyes and was staring at the night sky, not knowing what she was looking at.
Someone came out of the activity room and shouted loudly: "Zhang Qun? Lin Jiaohua? Where is
she?"
Xiao Zhang quickly responded: "Yes, on the ridge behind the field!"
"The secretary asked you to come back!"
"Wait a minute, Huahua is still vomiting, come back when you've finished vomiting!"
The man said a few more words, rubbed his hands and went into the house. The night in the
mountain was too cold, and the wind was so strong that it seemed to lift off people's skulls.
The three girls were lying on the cold ridge of the field, some vomiting, some lying down, and
none of them was in a hurry to go back.
When Huahua had almost finished vomiting, she staggered over, sat down next to Zhu Jinxia, and
asked Xiao Zhang, "How is she?"
Xiao Zhang wanted to cry but had no tears: "I don't know. You ignored me. I closed my eyes just
now as if I had fainted. Now at least I opened my eyes."
The man on the ground heard this, suppressed his nausea, wiped his face and said, "I'm fine, I
just feel a little dizzy."
I felt nauseous as soon as I opened my eyes just now. I didn't even dare to speak. I could only
close my eyes and relax. Now I finally feel better.
Huahua also laughed and said, "You can drink quite well, I usually have to accompany you to
drink, and drinking half a pot of wine is enough to make me choke, but you drank half a pot and
didn't even vomit."
After that, he advised Zhu Jinxia to vomit. She was experienced and knew how to reduce the
burden on her body.
The young girl, who is only in her early twenties, already knows the rules of the game.
The girls had been out for a long time, so Duoji asked someone to ask them again. A few young
staff members came with their mobile phones flashing, saying they would help them go back.
Zhu Jinxia felt dizzy but her mind was clear. She supported Xiao Zhang and stood up by herself. "I
can walk."
She turned her head to look at Xiao Zhang, who nodded and pulled Hua Hua over. They each held
one side of Zhu Jinxia and went back outside the activity room together.
The house was still bustling with people, and through the window she could clearly see that it
was time for the villagers to perform. Doji sat at the head of the table, clapping his hands and
beating the rhythm, while in the open space surrounded by the long table, an old man with a
frosted face sang a ballad in a deep voice that she could not understand.
Zhu Jinxia stood still outside the door, as if watching a farce.
After a brief moment of unconsciousness, she took out her cell phone and called Shixu.
Almost as soon as I dialed the number, the call was connected.
"I'll be there soon."
The sound of time came to my ears, mixed with the whistling wind and the roar of the engine.
Zhu Jinxia's brain was a little slow, and she didn't have time to react, so she subconsciously asked,
"...where?"
Then I realized that the noise coming from the receiver did not sound like the noise coming from
the quiet campus at night.
"Where are you now?"
There is still an instinct when you are drunk.
"...You came to see me?" With a bit of disbelief and a bit of caution, Zhu Jinxia held her breath.
Time is silent, and it seems to be still at this moment. But sound is flowing, otherwise how can
we explain the wild sound of the wind and the noisy roar?
The noise became louder and louder, coming from far away and getting closer, as if it was right
next to us, and it came out of the receiver.
Until Zhu Jinxia raised her head and saw a beam of white light coming out from nowhere in the
dark wilderness, as if a bolt of lightning split the chaos and also split her unclear brain.
After the blinding white light, what appeared in the field of vision was Time and his black
motorcycle.
He stopped the car, took off his helmet, and strode towards her.
Zhu Jinxia felt as if she was under a spell, until he stopped in front of her, with the phone still
pressed to her ear, forgotten to put it down.
He rode all the way against the mountain wind, his hair disheveled and his face stern. He was
wearing the leather jacket he had lent her on the day she fell into the water, and his brows were
furrowed, as if he was ready to pinch a passing fly to death at any time.
She wanted to ask "Why are you here?", "Why did you come just now?", "How did you know I
was here?", and "Aren't you cold riding a motorcycle up the mountain so late at night?".
There are so many things I want to say, but they are stuck at the tip of my tongue and I don’t
know where to start.
In the end, it was Shixu who spoke first. He looked her up and down and asked only two words:
"Are you okay?"
I wish you a nod this summer.
"Let's go?" Still two words.
Zhu Jinxia nodded again. He took off his leather jacket and threw it over her shoulders. His
movements were not very gentle, and could even be described as rough and crude.
With the clothes on his shoulders, he pulled forward with force, almost strangling the person to
death.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes went dark and she stumbled towards him. Fortunately, she supported herself on
his shoulders and managed to steady herself.
She raised her head with difficulty, rubbing the back of her neck with a grimace, "Timing!"
Time asked with eyes:?
"Can't you be gentler? Do you think you are a horse lassoer?!"
“…”
At this moment, my pounding heart finally calmed down.
He even has the leisure to joke around, and it seems he hasn't suffered any injustice.
He turned his head, glanced at the two people beside him, and asked, "Zhang Qun?"
Xiao Zhang nodded quickly: "Me! I'm Zhang Qun!"
"Thank you for your care." Shixu nodded to her, his brows relaxed a little, glanced at the scene in
the window, and immediately frowned again, "Please tell Doji that I have taken the person away,
and thank him for being the host today."
The words were quite polite, but considering the speaker's cold tone and expression, Xiao Zhang
would never think that this was a genuine thank you.
Time was never gentle, and his facial features and eyes were extremely sharp. Now standing in
this dark night, his words were sarcastic, like a knife that had just been unsheathed.
Xiao Zhang didn't dare to stop him, and was afraid that Duoji would pursue the matter, so he
could only urgently persuade him: "Don't, don't convey it on my behalf, since you are here, you
should talk to the secretary yourself!"
If she just let the person go without even saying goodbye, Doji would definitely point the finger at
her.
The preface is concise and to the point: "No more." I am leaving with Zhu Jinxia.
How could Xiao Zhang dare to let them go? He hurriedly went to pull Zhu Jinxia and begged,
"Teacher Zhu, it's hard for me to do this. Please go in and say goodbye to the secretary. After all,
we have played together for a day today..."
I wish that when I look back this summer, I will see a false prosperity inside the window.
After drinking and seeing the chaos, why did you go in? Don’t you think you haven’t taken
advantage of Doji enough?
She had bowed her head many times for the insignificant people that day, and now she didn't
want to be slaughtered again.
What's more.
I wish Jinxia would look back at the time and see this man standing there straight. Even though
there are tall people to hold up the sky if it falls, the sky hasn't collapsed yet, so why should he
bend his waist?
She didn't want to let time get in trouble.
Zhu Jinxia broke free from Xiao Zhang's hand, gently but with strength. "I won't go in. Just tell
Duoji that I insisted on leaving and you didn't stop me."
She jumped down the steps to the door with light steps, but unfortunately her imagination was
always too good to be true.
Normally, she would just jump up and down, showing her girlish heart. But now, after getting
drunk, her legs were as weak as a mantis shrimp, and she fell to the ground with one jump.
Fortunately, Shixu was quick and reached out to pull her...
Didn't hold it.
Zhu Jinxia fell to the ground with a thud, first with her knees, then with her forehead, and finally
with her whole body prostrated on the ground.
When she was pulled up with stars in her eyes, she saw the dark eyes of Time.
"Performance Art?"
“…”
Ignoring the severe pain from her knees and forehead, Zhu Jinxia limped towards the motorcycle
without looking back. As long as she didn't look back, she would not be the one who was
embarrassed.
Xiao Zhang and Hua Hua stood at the door dumbfounded, listening to the follow-up conversation
from the two people who were walking away -
Time kept correcting her: "Walk in a straight line."
Then came Zhu Jinxia's rebuttal: "If I want to be able to walk in a straight line, do I need you to
support me?"
Hua Hua hesitated and said, "Are we really going to let them go like this?"
Xiao Zhang gritted her teeth, she was the one who made the call, she was the one who called the
person here, she had to take the blame for this. Thinking of Doji's methods, she knew that this
would not do.
She turned around and went into the house, walked through the crowd, squatted beside Doji and
whispered a few words.
Duoji's face changed, and the wine glass hit the table with a bang, and a lot of the wine that had
just been filled spilled. Xiao Zhang didn't dare to say anything, and quickly took a paper to wipe
his hands.
Doji looked impatient, pushed her away, and stood up shakily.
"What does his timing mean? Call him back to me!"
The young man sitting on the left had been following Doji all the way and was closest to him. He
hesitated for a moment, then came over and said, "Secretary, that's not Uncle Wang, it's the time
sequence."
They all knew that the central school was nothing, and the old principal was nothing. Doji was
not even the secretary, but just an officer, and he could still be looked down upon by that group
of people.
But even after becoming the secretary, he could not handle the time sequence like he did with
Uncle Wang.
Throughout the mountains, from Yibao Township to the county seat, no one was unaware of the
time sequence.
When that genius boy appeared out of nowhere, they all heard of his name. He was just a Han
orphan who was bullied in the Tibetan area. Who knew that he would walk out of the mountains
and even become a legend?
At first, he was just smart and good at studying, and he got the best grades in the continent in a
mere shabby primary school.
Later, he skipped grades and taught himself the textbooks. Even his teachers couldn't keep up
with his learning speed.
He participated in competitions ranging from mathematics to physics, setting records that had
never been achieved by students from the mountainous area, and beating a group of children
from big cities who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths and grew up with higher
education resources.
Doji and others only knew that he seemed to have entered Tsinghua University, and then stayed
in Beijing, and was awarded the title of the youngest scholar. He was everywhere in the news and
newspapers.
There are many details that they do not understand when they hear them, so they forget them
after listening. However, this does not prevent time from becoming an unattainable and lofty
existence in their eyes.
No one expected what would happen later. Uncle Wang grew old and sick, the central school was
about to collapse, and time went back at this time.
Mountains are so cold and ruthless that no matter how powerful a person is, once he enters the
mountains, he will be cut off from the outside world. Covered by the mountains, people cannot
see the outside world, and their skills seem to be useless.
Doji still remembers the first time he saw the sequence, and his heart was beating fast.
Even though Shiji was much younger than him, wearing a simple white shirt and black pants,
without any trace of power, he stood at the school gate, nodded casually at Duoji, and called him
Secretary.
Doji was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to deal with it. Logically speaking, since the
principal was a new one, he should be arrogant and show his authority, but Shixu's attitude
seemed to be that he didn't take him seriously at all, or maybe he never took anyone seriously.
After just a moment's hesitation, Doji missed the opportunity. He was unable to show his
previous arrogance and instead felt inferior.
The first contact between people is very important. After the difference between the two was
immediately apparent, Duoji has always been inferior. Even if he puts on airs later, he always feels
inadequate. Shixu didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes always makes people
uncomfortable, as if carrying a hint of mockery.
Perhaps the legend is too exaggerated, and the unknown is the most powerful. Doji has an
inexplicable fear of time.
He didn't understand where Shishu got the confidence from. He had nothing and was just a poor
principal, but he needed the title of secretary to dare to use the tiger's skin to draw the banner of
a big country.
Could it be that those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes?
Doji was unwilling to be in the state of wanting to suppress but not daring to do so for a long
time, and he refused to admit that he was afraid of time.
In particular, after he got involved with the new female teacher at the end of last year, it seemed
that Time knew about it. When he realized it, he could no longer get through to the woman's
phone, and he didn't see her when he went to school.
He went to Shixu's office and asked casually about the woman's whereabouts. Shixu just said
casually: "I wrote a recommendation letter for her and applied to change schools to teach."
Doji didn't know if it was because he was guilty, but he always felt that when Shixu looked up at
him, his eyes seemed particularly cold. He even saw mockery and contempt in them.
In the end, Doji fled, and only after he ran away did he remember, what right did Shixu have to
transfer the teaching staff without authorization? How did he send people to a new place with
just a letter of recommendation? Did he know about his relationship with that woman? Would he
expose it?
Later, Doji sent some things to the school every now and then, in the name of the township
government.
He wanted to test Time's attitude and find out how much Time knew, but this man was just like
the legends about him in the mountains over the years - unpredictable.
The supplies and schedule were all accepted, but the attitude was ambiguous and there was no
clue.
Doji is a smart man, but unfortunately he has not read much. He has been immersed in the
officialdom for many years and believes that everyone will follow the same set of rules. Later,
when he saw that Shixu had not taken any action, he gradually put his mind at ease. After all, if
he knew that thing, how could he not give it up in exchange for some benefits? Didn't he want
the electronic equipment? If he really knew something, shouldn't he come to him to exchange
conditions?
That is ignorance.
Duoji was relieved and decided to forget about the time schedule. At most, he would not make
things difficult or coax them, and treat them with respect. There were not many schools in Yibo
Township, and it was convenient for him to ask for benefits from the higher-ups.
But now time had come to him and took the person away from right under his nose.
As the alcohol got stronger, all the new and old grudges came to his mind. Duoji sneered, he
didn't do anything, he was kind enough to take people up the mountain for sightseeing, and
provided food and drink, so why was he making such a fuss?
With so many people watching, yet you dare not take him seriously? You are so shameless.
"How could a poor principal come back from Beijing in disgrace? He didn't keep his head down
after coming back, and now he dares to show off in front of me."
He flipped the table and stood up, and everyone present fell silent again.
The young staff member beside him was still sober and rushed to stop him, but was pushed away
by the drunken Duoji, "Who is your master, him or me?"
The more they tried to stop him, the more out of control he became. Duoji walked out the door
in a hurry, and several people behind him quickly caught up with him, surrounding him to settle
the score.

Chapter 30
In the open space, Shixu handed over a helmet.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes were blank, staring at the one in his arms, "I want the black one."
"What happened to the white one?"
"White is unlucky."
“…”
Drinking too much will cause trouble.
Shi Xu handed the black one to her expressionlessly, put on the white one himself, and said, "Get
in the car."
There was no movement for a long time.
Looking back, I think I'm struggling with my helmet this summer.
The princess from the city probably had never ridden a motorcycle or worn a helmet, and did not
understand that its original intention of design was to maximize life safety in the event of an
accident, so it required a tight fit on the head.
"It's too small." After trying it several times but still failing to fit, Zhu Jinxia's face turned red with
anger, "What a crappy helmet!"
"Your head is too big."
Shixu took the helmet and hit her on the forehead with force.
Dong, it went in. There was also a sound of "Ah".
But she didn't care about the pain, what she cared about was, "You're talking nonsense, what's
wrong with my head!?"
"Are you going to get in the car?"
Soon, the princess started fighting with the motorcycle again. The motorcycle was high and her
legs were weak. She tried several times but failed to climb up.
Time and patience ran out, so he got off the car and forced the person up.
"Zhu Jinxia, did I tell you not to drink?"
The drunkard sat on the motorcycle, his helmet swinging up and down, looking funny and cute.
Shi Xu couldn't laugh. He really didn't understand. Wasn't that phone call at noon enough? There
was already a precedent of a fatal incident, and she actually dared to drink Duoji's wine.
After evening self-study, seeing that it was almost time, he began to send messages. At first she
replied quickly, but later she stopped replying, and finally he couldn't even get through to her on
the phone.
Shi Xu called again and again, his heart in his throat. He finally got through, and it turned out to
be a female clerk who said Zhu Jin Xia was drunk and unconscious.
On the way here, Shixu once again recalled that night when the young female teacher was lying
in a pool of blood, her face as pale as gold paper. Only this time, the person in the picture
became Zhu Jinxia...
It was as if someone had punched him hard in the heart, and he even forgot how to breathe.
Fortunately.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
He put the person on the motorcycle, made sure she was seated firmly, and then he climbed on.
As soon as the engine started, a group of people rushed out of the activity room, and the leader
shouted: "Timing!"
Shixu turned around and his eyes met Doji's in mid-air.
Zhu Jinxia, who was standing behind him, sobered up when she heard the voice and pushed him,
"Go!"
Shixu rested his foot on the ground without moving.
"Principal, now that you're here, why don't you say hello to the secretary?" someone tried to
smooth things over.
"Yes, you should at least say hello to your boss when you see him."
"Come down quickly and have a drink before you leave!"
Duoji pointed at Shixu with his belly sticking out and said, "Come down! You can't just take him
away like this. Teacher Zhu is having a good time drinking. How can you just take him away like
that?"
There were many people who joined in the discussion.
Shi Xu said calmly, "She's drunk. Let's not disturb the secretary's fun."
"She drank too much, so you drink."
"I still have to ride my bike, I can't drink and drive."
You ungrateful animal.
Duoji was getting impatient, and ordered the people around him arrogantly: "Go, invite the
principal in for a drink." Looking at the sequence again, "The rules cannot be broken. You have to
drink this wine whether you want to or not, or you are not allowed to leave!"
Before anyone could get close, the motorcycle's headlights suddenly lit up, and the white light
made everyone squint.
Amid the roar, Shixu pretended not to hear anything and turned around and walked away.
"Timing!"
"Come back, time!"
Doji's roar followed closely. "Do you still want to open that crappy school?!"
The motorcycle braked suddenly. Time went back.
"What's the meaning?"
"It's nothing." Duoji smiled, "I asked you to come down and have a drink. You can't leave until you
have three cups."
Shi Xu narrowed his eyes, "What if I don't drink it?"
"Don't drink? I remember the state mentioned last year that Yibo Central School should be
closed. If I hadn't stood in the way..." Duoji sneered, "How old is Uncle Wang this year? Sixty-five,
I think. He has worked hard all his life to run the school, and you have the heart to let him watch
the school close down?"
Someone beside him whispered a reminder, and Doji nodded as if he remembered something,
"Oh, yes, he still has Alzheimer's disease, maybe he has been ill for less than two years."
Looking at the timeline again, he laughed, "How could you bear to let the old principal die with
regrets?"
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Shixu turned the car around and rushed straight towards
him.
The tires made a harsh friction sound with the ground.
The white light blinded everyone's eyes.
Doji was so frightened that he stepped back again and again, and the people around him
scattered like birds and beasts.
At the critical moment, everyone was trying to protect themselves, and no one remembered the
principle of leadership supremacy.
In a panic, Doji tripped over the steps behind him and sat down on the ground with a thud.
Seeing the white light approaching, he had no way to retreat.
In the back seat of the car, Zhu Jinxia yelled "Time Sequence", grabbed his waist tightly, and
closed her eyes subconsciously.
Everything happens in a flash.
The car stopped.
The roar stopped abruptly.
When she opened her eyes again, the front of the car almost stopped at Doji's face.
There is no front part of the car, but there is a fist.
Zhu Jinxia didn't have time to react before she was pulled out of the car by a huge force. Before
she could steady herself, the person in front of her rushed up and knocked Doji to the ground
with one punch.
"You want to say something else?"
Duoji was stunned by the beating. He touched his face and found that his nose was bleeding. He
covered his face in shock and anger, "How dare you hit me?"
"What's wrong with hitting you?" Shixu's eyes were cold and cold. He squatted down and looked
at him like he was looking at a dog. "If I didn't mind getting my hands dirty, I would have fucking
beaten you up a long time ago."
He seldom swears, firstly because of his upbringing, and secondly because he is the principal, he
has to pay attention to his image and not to lead the children astray. Now it is rare for him to
swear, and I wish Jinxia is still a little shocked.
As Shixu approached, Doggie reflexively dodged, "Aren't you afraid that I will close the school?!"
"Okay, you close it. I've thought of the reasons for closing the school. When the time comes,
report it to the State Education Bureau and say..." Shi Xu grabbed his collar, leaned in close, and
said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "In order to prevent young female teachers
in the surrounding areas from falling victim to the murderous hands of the township party
committee secretary and to protect the lives of teachers and students, it is better for the school
to close down as soon as possible."
Duoji was startled: "You, what did you say?"
Shi Xu looked at him for a moment and slowly said a name, "Liang Yushan. Don't you remember
her?"
For a moment, Duoji's pupils shrank, but he pretended to be calm. "Liang Yushan? Didn't she go
to teach at another school at the beginning of the year? What did she tell you?"
The person has already left, so anything you say now is groundless.
Duoji calmed down and sneered: "I didn't rape anyone, and I didn't kill anyone for money. It was
all consensual. Are you threatening me with this?"
Shi Xu looked at him for a moment, "In your eyes, only adults' lives are real lives, not children's
lives?"
"Child?" Doggie was stunned. "What child?"
"In the early morning of November 23 last year, Liang Yushan had a miscarriage in the school
toilet. She was bleeding heavily and was rushed to the county hospital for emergency treatment
until dawn. The doctor said that if it had been a step later, there would have been two deaths."
“…”
With Duoji and Shixu as the center, within a radius of five meters, only Zhu Jinxia was the closest.
The wind was strong on the mountain, and they deliberately lowered their voices, so she couldn't
hear what they were saying. She tried to prick up her ears, but she only caught the end of the
conversation.
Finally, it’s time to let go.
"Doji, God is watching what you do. You also have a wife and children. You Tibetans believe in
Buddhism. Even if you are not afraid of retribution, you should at least take care of your family."
They all turned around, and when his eyes met Zhu Jinxia, he turned back and said coldly: "Also,
don't mess with her, and don't mess with the Central School."
——
The mountain wind is like an unsharpened knife, cutting my body with every stroke.
Even though he was wearing a fashionable leather jacket, Zhu Jinxia still felt cold. When he first
put on the helmet, he felt stuffy, but now it has become a protective umbrella.
The night was dark and the car lights were the only light along the way.
The road was so dangerous and the wind was so strong, she had nothing to worry about and just
held on to Time's waist tightly.
It’s just this road——
Zhu Jinxia was stunned for a moment, "Aren't you going back to school?"
"What did you say?"
The wind is too strong and I can't hear clearly.
"I said--" she shouted, "Aren't we going back to school?!"
"No return."
The car lights could not illuminate the mountains, only a short section of the road ahead. In the
distance, the boundary between the mountains and the sky merged into one, and in the nearby
distance, the shadows of the trees were looming, wailing sadly in the wind.
At first we were going down the mountain, and when we passed a fork in the road, the sequence
suddenly turned and started climbing again, heading towards the other side of the mountain.
A small village soon appeared in sight, and the car stopped in front of a two-story Tibetan village.
Shi Xu took off his helmet and said, "It's too late. Let's stay here for one night and go down the
mountain tomorrow morning."
"Where is this?" Zhu Jinxia got into an argument with the helmet again.
Shixu reached out and took off the helmet with a "pop", like pulling out a carrot.
"Be gentle!" She cried out in pain again.
The lights in the house soon came on, and someone pushed open the door. When he saw Shi Xu,
his eyes lit up and he ran across the yard.
...is a girl.
She was wearing a gray-blue Tibetan robe and had two thick braids. She probably got up in a
hurry, so the robe she casually put on was still loose. When she saw the time, she was surprised
and happy, and danced with joy.
Zhu Jinxia looked at her carefully, dancing with joy? Was she so happy?
Looking at the time sequence again, could it be that the little brother has a bad love relationship
again?
Shi Xu didn't notice Zhu Jinxia's psychological fluctuations, so he introduced the two people: "Luo
Rong Zam. Zhu Jinxia."
“…”
Just say the name, it doesn't matter whether you introduce it or not.
Zhu Jinxia wanted to ask more questions, but Shixu had already opened the gate and walked in.
"Uncle Wang's house." He dropped a bomb in a calm voice.
I wish this summer was stunned.

Chapter 31
A small oil lamp was lit in the room, and Uncle Wang had already gone to bed.
Luolong Zhamu was like a little tail, following the sequence of events all the way. The two of them
didn't speak the whole time, only making gestures. Zhu Jinxia guessed that they were probably
afraid of waking up the old man.
She stared at the two people's gestures, but she couldn't understand a word. However, they
communicated with each other without any obstacles and had a tacit understanding.
She turned her eyes away and stopped looking.
Unexpectedly, the two of them went up to the second floor quietly while gesturing.
Zhu Jinxia sat on the kang in a daze...Has he forgotten about her?
The Tibetan-style living room is surrounded by a long Kang (a bed that is heated to the sky) on all
four sides. The Kang is covered with colorful fabrics, and one can sit cross-legged on it during the
day and use it as a bed at night.
She hesitated whether to catch up or sit here and continue waiting, while looking around in the
dim light.
Apart from the long table and the kang, there was no extra furnishings in the house. It was not an
exaggeration to say that the house was bare.
Uncle Wang had been a school principal for decades, but his family situation was not much
different from the poor family she visited today.
After being stunned for a while, the two came down again, one of them holding a pillow and
quilt, it turned out that he went to get the supplies for the stay.
Zhu Jinxia secretly looked at the Tibetan girl named Luolong Zhamu.
Shi Xu doesn't like to talk about himself. Even Uncle Wang only mentioned him a few times, let
alone Luo Long Zam.
I wish you won’t be able to tell her age this summer.
When she came to the mountains, she lost her sense of age. The sunlight in the mountains is
strong, and people's skin color is darker. With a healthy highland rosy complexion and wearing
colorful clothes and accessories, she will look much more mature.
Zhu Jinxia greeted her when she entered the house, but Luo Longzam just smiled without saying
a word, then turned around and ran up and down the stairs following Shi Xu.
They were busy running around, and she wanted to help, but Shi Xu stopped her with a sentence,
"If you've had too much to drink, just sit still." She could only sit cross-legged and watch the two
men shaking the quilt and making the bed.
“…”
The difference in treatment is really obvious. To her, he gives cold rejections and orders, while to
others, he speaks softly and the two of them are in perfect harmony.
"Pull it over a little."
"I heard it snowed in the mountains yesterday?"
"I'm glad you're not cold. Remember to give Uncle Wang an extra layer of clothes."
It’s all about timing.
Tsk, no one is paying attention to him, yet he is talking so excitedly alone.
"Next time, dress properly before going out. Don't be like that just now. When you were a kid,
you got sick every few days and had to take medicine. Aren't you tired of that?"
The girl smiled at him and touched her braid shyly.
Now Zhu Jinxia judged that she should not be very old, and there was still shyness and
childishness in her smile.
The two of them were interacting, and Zhu Jinxia felt like a light bulb, a 200-watt one, when she
saw them flirting with each other. She simply fell on the kang, turned her back to them, closed
her eyes and went to sleep.
...The ears are erect and pointed.
Unfortunately, they didn't speak again.
After a while, the bed was made, the wooden stairs creaked, and someone tiptoed back to the
second floor.
Zhu Jinxia wanted to look back to see who had left, but before she moved, she heard footsteps
approaching, so she quickly held her breath and continued to pretend to sleep.
The next second, someone shook open the quilt and gently covered her.
There is no need to look back now, it couldn't be someone else.
She faced the wall and listened carefully to his movements.
"Fell asleep?"
She said nothing.
"You have a big heart."
He laughed and fell asleep on the kang next to him.
After a long period of silence, Zhu Jinxia quietly raised her head from under the quilt and saw
Shixu lying on the kang next to her, with his head facing her. The two rows of kangs formed an L
shape, and he was neither far nor close to her.
She was still dizzy. The pork stew had a really high alcohol content. Her stomach was burning and
her mouth was dry.
Turning around, she saw a kettle and a cup on the long table and reached out to grab them.
"Drink it hot."
The sudden words scared her so much that her hands began to tremble.
On the kang over there, Shi Xu sat up, took the kettle, moved the stove in the middle of the room,
and put it on top.
The fire brought a faint smell of wood smoke, which brought on a belated feeling of nausea. Zhu
Jinxia thought something was wrong and ran out.
In the end, he couldn't escape the fate of squatting on the edge of the yard and vomiting.
She didn't pay attention when she came, and halfway through vomiting, she discovered that
there were yaks in the yard, and one of them, a black one, was right next to her.
At this moment, it turned around with a puzzled look on its face, flicked its tail, and came up to
look at her with its clear and stupid big eyes.
Zhu Jinxia was so frightened that she stepped back and sat down on the ground, luckily she didn't
sit in vomit.
She heard the footsteps of Shixu behind her, and she raised her hand quickly: "Don't come over!"
"What were you doing when you were drinking?" Shi Xu said, "I feel bad now."
“…”
"Have you finished vomiting?" Shixu stuffed the freshly heated water into her hands, "Rinse your
mouth after you've finished vomiting."
Knowing that she was concerned about her reputation, he got up and left.
By the time Zhu Jinxia finished rinsing her mouth and went into the house, Shixu was already
lying on the kang again.
She quietly crawled into bed, closed her eyes for a long time but couldn't fall asleep, then opened
them again.
"Are you asleep, Chronology?"
"Um."
"You're still talking while you're asleep?"
"daydream."
She wrapped herself in the quilt and moved towards that side like a caterpillar. "Let's talk when
you wake up."
"I have nothing nice to say to drunk people."
Zhu Jinxia pretended not to hear, "I thought Uncle Wang always lived in school, it turns out he
has a family."
"Who doesn't have a home? It's just that we go back seldom."
"That's right." Zhu Jinxia looked at the ceiling. Otherwise, how could the house be so empty? It
didn't look like anyone lived there. "So does Uncle Wang live on the second floor? Was he already
asleep when we got here?"
She asked a lot of questions here and there, and finally suddenly asked, "What about Luolong
Zham?"
Shixu slowly opened his eyes, "What happened to Zam?"
"I haven't heard you talk about her."
"There are so many things you haven't heard." Finally, I explained to her, "Zam is the same as me
and Dunzhu. She is also a child adopted by Uncle Wang. She is the youngest one."
"How young is the youngest? Eighteen, nineteen?"
"fifteen."
Fifteen, that means she can’t be a childhood sweetheart, she’s a minor.
Zhu Jinxia laughed, then froze. How could she feel relieved? And why did she feel relieved?
"Why do you ask that?"
"Just look at her. She's very close to you. When she sees you, she dances with joy and is
extremely happy..."
There was a brief silence.
Shi Xu asked: "Didn't you notice?"
"What did you find?"
"Zam can't speak," he said quietly.
When Uncle Wang adopted Zam, Dunzhu was still in primary school, and Shixu had already gone
to Beijing to study. When he came back from the Spring Festival, he found a new child at home.
Uncle Wang said he found her in the snow. She was so cold that her body was blue and purple,
and even her heartbeat was very weak.
"He was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment and survived, but his high fever damaged
his vocal cords and he couldn't speak anymore."
So they didn't talk much and used gestures throughout the whole process, not because Uncle
Wang was asleep and they were afraid of waking him up, but because Zam was a mute girl.
The reason for this tacit understanding is that this way of conversation has been throughout
Zam's entire life.
I wish this summer to be ashamed of her pettiness.
She lay in the dark, listening to Shixu talk about the past, about Luolong Zam's sickly childhood,
growing up drinking yak milk; about how she was disobedient and kept scratching her cheeks
when she got chickenpox, leaving two small pits on her cheeks; about how Uncle Wang had never
raised a girl, and that four years ago during the Spring Festival, Zam had her first period, and all
the men in the family were in a panic, but in the end it was Shixu who rode his bike down the
mountain to buy sanitary napkins and came back to teach Zam how to use them; about how after
she started to develop, he asked the female teacher at school to take Zam to buy underwear...
Once again, she found herself enjoying listening to Shi Shuo's speech. His voice was steady, but
his words contained the turbulent years.
The strange thing is that although these are bitter and miserable life experiences, they don't
seem so bitter after he narrated them so calmly. It's actually quite reassuring to listen to them as
a bedtime story.
"Then why is she at home now? Doesn't she have to study?" She yawned, and the tail end of her
words was almost unclear.
Shi Xu was silent for a moment, and just as he was about to answer, he heard the sound of even
breathing coming from the other side of his head.
When he looked up, the woman had fallen into a deep sleep.
He laughed dumbly, and seeing the half-scattered quilt, he raised his hand and silently covered
her again. When he took his hand back, he accidentally brushed her ear. She seemed to feel a
little itchy, and subconsciously shrank her neck, mumbling like a child, but did not wake up.
The hand paused in mid-air for a moment, and finally was retracted.
——
The next morning, Zhu Jinxia met the legendary Uncle Wang for the first time.
They say the early bird catches the worm.
That morning, bird number one got up early and was cooking in the kitchen. Bird number two,
Luolong Zam, was feeding the cows in the yard. In the living room, there was only a lazy bird with
a hangover who was still taking a nap.
The sunlight came in from the window, first resting on the lazy bird's feet, and then gradually
moving upwards.
The altitude is high and the ultraviolet rays are strong. I hope I will be woken up by the heat this
summer.
Before she woke up, she was dreaming that she was sitting around a campfire, eating a roasted
whole lamb, a fat lamb, oozing with oil. It was roasted from the front and back, and when it was
almost done, the scene suddenly changed, and she became the roasted whole lamb, being
roasted on the fire.
I didn't get to eat a single bite of the meat, but the heat woke me up.
When she opened her eyes, she suddenly saw a strange face. Someone was squatting beside the
kang, staring at her with cloudy eyes and a dull look. His old face was shiny dark and full of
wrinkles.
Zhu Jinxia screamed and fell off the kang in a panic.
The old man was also frightened by her.
When she came to her senses and saw the scene clearly, she remembered where she was.
"...Uncle Wang?" She got up and looked at the old man cautiously.
Wearing an old grey cotton-padded jacket and with sparse white hair, the old man half-knelt
there, leaning on a cane, his voice was hoarse but his tone was extremely innocent.
"Who are you? Why are you in my house?"

Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Who is she and why is she here?
...It’s a long story.
I wish this summer just woke up from a hangover, with a dry mouth, picked up the kettle and
drank water while considering how to answer, and then the next question came.
"Are you my mother?" Uncle Wang said shockingly.
The water that just entered his mouth spurted out again. Zhu Jinxia waved her hands repeatedly,
"I am not."
"What about my mother?"
“…”
The chronology did not mention Uncle Wang's parents, but the old man is already eighty years
old this year, and his parents probably passed away long ago.
Zhu Jinxia had never come into contact with patients with Alzheimer's disease, and was not sure
whether this disease could not withstand stimulation. She had to avoid the question and asked
Uncle Wang in a roundabout way what he wanted to do with his mother.
"I left breakfast for her."
Following his line of sight, there was a plate of breakfast on the table. On the wooden round
plate were Tibetan highland barley cakes, Chinese steamed dumplings, a dish of red oil
fermented bean curd, and a bowl of butter tea.
I vomited everything last night, and now my stomach is empty. When I see food, I feel hungry.
Uncle Wang asked her, "Are you my mother? Do you want to eat my breakfast?"
Just say "I am" and get something to eat?
The remaining rationality held Zhu Jinxia back. It was a small matter to take advantage of Uncle
Wang for breakfast, but it was a big matter to be strangled to death by time.
"woke up?"
There was a sound of door opening, and time came back.
Zhu Jinxia breathed a sigh of relief, and saw that he was holding another plate of breakfast, the
same one as Uncle Wang's, so she reached out to take it.
"This is Uncle Wang, you've met him." Shixu said, "Hurry up and have breakfast, then go back to
school."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Jinxia was already stuffing the second bun into his mouth.
"..." Shi Xu laughed and looked at Uncle Wang's untouched plate. "What's wrong, Uncle Wang,
why don't you have breakfast?
Zhu Jinxia stuffed her third bun into her mouth and whispered, "Uncle Wang is looking for my
mother..."
Shi Xu was not surprised, and squatted down skillfully to coax him to eat. "He can't wake up once
a day now. He looks for his parents every day when he wakes up."
He skillfully tied a bib on Uncle Wang and fed him with a spoon, "Don't grab it with your hands."
Uncle Wang turned his face away and said, "I don't want you to feed me."
"Be obedient and open your mouth."
"I don't want you to feed me!" Uncle Wang waved his hand.
The old man was confused but very strong. He slapped Shixu on the face and it hurt just by
hearing it.
I wish you a surprise this summer.
Shi Xu seemed to feel no pain, and said patiently: "Okay, I won't feed you, then you eat it
yourself."
"I don't want to." Uncle Wang looked around, "Where's the woman in red? I want her to feed
me!"
Shixu walked to the door and called back Luolong Zam who was feeding the cows in the yard.
Zam still had two thick braids and wore a dark red Tibetan robe with patterns. She was obviously
the "woman in red clothes" that Uncle Wang mentioned.
She smiled at Zhu Jinxia and squatted next to Uncle Wang. This time Uncle Wang was willing to
eat obediently, but he still asked the same question during the meal: "Are you my mother?"
Shixu said that except when he was awake, Uncle Wang didn't recognize anyone. He couldn't
even call out Luorong Zham, who accompanied him every day.
He would get angry during meals and yell at Zam, "Don't eat!"
When Zam asked why, he leaned on the door frame and looked out, saying, "Wait for the woman
in red to come back and eat together."
He would also get upset in the middle of the night. No matter how Zam tried to coax him, he
would not go to sleep and would only ask anxiously, "Where is the woman in blue? Why hasn't
she come back yet?"
When he met a woman in white clothes on the street, he would often rush up to her and hold
her tightly, scaring her.
At first, no one understood why, but after a while they realized that Uncle Wang didn't recognize
people. But subconsciously he knew that Zam, who cooked for him every day, wore a red apron,
so he had to wait for her to eat together.
And every night when he went to bed, there was always a woman in a blue nightgown to coax
him to sleep. When Zam changed into pajamas of other colors, he became anxious and restless.
There are also white clothes. The only photo of Uncle Wang's mother left is her wedding photo
with her husband, in which she is wearing a white Tibetan robe.
Zhu Jinxia was holding a half-eaten bun and had no time to eat it. She looked down at the white
Tibetan robe she bought in the county town, and suddenly she understood why Uncle Wang
mistook her for his mother.
Uncle Wang on the side still refused to eat properly. Not finding his mother, he seemed to be
getting more and more anxious, and changed his idea.
He asked Zam, "Are you my father?"
Zam shook his head repeatedly.
Asked about the timing.
The timing also says no.
His cloudy eyes were filled with anxiety.
"then who are you?"
"I am Chronology."
"Shixu?" Uncle Wang was stunned for a moment, and looked at his face carefully, but
unfortunately he didn't recognize him in the end, "Who is Shixu?"
The room was quiet for a short while, Shixu didn't say anything. Uncle Wang asked Zam and Zhu
Jinxia for help. Zam couldn't speak, and Zhu Jinxia hesitated whether to say "former scholar of
the Academy of Geological Sciences" or "acting principal of the Central School", and the words
were spinning in her mouth.
"It's your son." Shixu answered himself.
Zhu Jinxia glanced at him inconspicuously, and Luolong Zam grabbed his hand.
Amidst the usual sounds and scenes, there is a sadness that is visible to the naked eye.
Uncle Wang stared blankly at the time, as if he was trying hard to understand the meaning of the
words. Unfortunately, he still couldn't understand it in the end, "Then where is my father?" He
cried, "Where is my father? I want to find my father!"
Luolong Zam sat aside with red eyes, Zhu Jinxia was at a loss, only Shixu hugged the out-of-
control old man and kept comforting him.
Uncle Wang couldn't control himself, like a crying child, using his hands and feet, accidentally
hurting the time sequence many times, until he was finally tired, he once again asked: "Are you
my father?"
A moment’s silence.
This time Shixu nodded: "I am."
The hand that had been waving randomly stopped miraculously in mid-air. Uncle Wang turned
around and asked in a daze, "Who are you?"
"I am." Time replied, "If you say so, then so be it."
"You are my father?"
"I am."
They repeated it many times.
Finally, Shi Xu wiped away Uncle Wang's tears and said, "I am your son. But if you need me, I can
also be your father."
Like you once treated me.
There was a tired tenderness in the hoarse voice.
——
After Uncle Wang calmed down and started to eat under Zam's care, Shi Xu walked out of the
yard alone.
Zhu Jinxia hesitated for a moment, followed him out, and saw him smoking.
"Didn't Uncle Wang say that we can't smoke?"
Shi Xu looked back at the scene outside the window and said self-deprecatingly, "Look at him
now. He can still break my legs?"
"I saw that he was out of control just now, and he was quite aggressive when he started fighting."
Zhu Jinxia said deliberately, "How about we make a bet?"
"What's the bet?"
"If you just lie there and don't move, I bet I can still interrupt you."
Time is smiling, I wish this summer can breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing how heavily he smoked, she took the cigarette and took a puff herself, choking to death.
Shi Xu took it back, "Cigarettes are bad, don't smoke."
"So you still smoke?"
"Find an outlet."
Zhu Jinxia took back the cigarette again and stomped it out with his foot, "There are so many
outlets for me to vent, no need to smoke. Come on, talk, I'll listen."
Unfortunately, after waiting for a long time, he still didn't speak.
Zhu Jinxia did not rush him, but looked up at the sky and was stunned for a moment.
When she came last night, it was already dark. Now the sun was rising, and the morning light was
spreading all over the ground. She could see the scenery outside clearly. She was at a loss for
words and could not describe this world. It was as if, like Uncle Wang, she was left with only an
instinctive perception of colors.
Under the azure sky, the sun is as bright as fire, and the green mountains are lush and green.
Above the barren and dilapidated courtyard is the most generous gift from nature.
She took a deep breath and was shivered by the cold air.
The sequence of events begins at this moment.
He said: "We all called him Uncle Wang, but he was never just Uncle Wang."
"When I was a child, I wrote essays titled "My Father", and he was always the protagonist. When I
bought gifts for Father's Day, he was the only recipient. When I got first place in the exam, he was
the only one I wanted to share it with. When I was sick or had a fever, he was also the one who
cried and screamed."
"On the day I became an orphan, he took me to the town and paid for a bath and a haircut. While
rubbing mud on me, he joked to me, 'Boy, you don't look like you've ever suffered. You look as
delicate and tender as a girl.'"
"He said, you don't look like you are cut out for heavy work, so you should study hard and get out
of the mountains and return to your city in the future."
"Later, he brought me back to this mountain, saying that although the house was a little shabby,
it was still a home. I was small, so one more person wouldn't make much difference, so I would
stay with him. He was poor and couldn't afford to raise me much, but he would definitely keep
me from starving to death."
He cooked noodles for him, taught him how to make tsampa, and boil butter tea.
He took him to herd cattle and taught him to ride a horse.
He taught him how to write step by step, and although he realized that the boy was a genius
within two years and soon became helpless, all those past experiences and those enlightenments
were the most solid starting points in the process of his growth.
Every profession has its own specialty. Uncle Wang’s Chinese language level is not very good, and
it is barely enough for him to live in this mountain. The ancient poems and verses he teaches
about time sequence are the most basic.
When drinking, if we say “fine grape wine in the luminescent cup”, we can answer the timing by
“the pipa music urges me to drink”.
When he got the answer right, he was rewarded with a sip of wine. He choked and tears came
out. In the end, the father and son laughed together.
When eating dumplings, say "May we live long and share the beauty of the moon together even
though we are thousands miles apart."
Uncle Wang smiled and raised the ugly unformed dumpling in his hand, and said, "Boy, don't be
disgusted if you have something to eat. We Tibetans don't eat this. If it weren't for the great unity
of the nation, who would have gone to the trouble of making fancy things for you?"
When making glutinous rice balls, people say “the east wind blows thousands of flowers into
bloom at night, and blows down stars like rain.”
The Dragon Boat Festival says "Ride the steed and gallop, come to my way and lead the way".
The man had been a school principal all his life and remained single all his life. It's not that he had
no sweetheart, but there seemed to be a shortage of people in the mountains. He was unable to
get married and dedicated himself to the mountains.
He has no children, but he has a large group of children following him, and they all call him Uncle
Wang.
He was poor, embarrassed, did not know how to be an official, and had never held power. But
along the way, he rode on a steed and galloped, leading the way for us.
Who could have imagined that one day, he would be lying in bed in a daze, unable to even take
care of himself.
Shixu's words were blown away by the wind, and they seemed vague. "It's okay if he can't wake
up. He is such a proud person, how can he stay awake and tolerate himself becoming like this?"
The wind is so strong that it hurts my eyes.
"Happy summer."
"Um?"
"Didn't you ask me last night why Zam didn't continue his studies?"
"Um."
"The reason she dropped out of school was the same reason I came back from Beijing - Uncle
Wang's condition progressed too quickly. The doctor said it would only take a year or two. At first,
he was confused for a while each day, then he soon had very little time to wake up, and now, as
you can see, he can't even wake up once a day.
"I consulted experts in Beijing, but the doctors said that the current medical level cannot cure
Alzheimer's disease. Secondly, the old man is stubborn and insists on staying in the mountains
whether he is awake or unconscious.
"So, we all came back before he couldn't remember anything at all."
When the lives of these children stopped, it was Uncle Wang who moved the needle and pushed
them to move forward. Now, in the little remaining incomplete life of his, they also pressed the
pause button on their own lives and returned to his side.
So I left Beijing.
Left the Institute of Earth Sciences.
Leaving behind a promising future, also leaving behind unlimited glory.
They were silent for a long time, no one spoke, only the wind was blowing.
Finally, Zhu Jinxia asked: "Are you giving up on such a bright future?"
Shixu says: “People always have to make a choice.”
"You choose Uncle Wang?"
"I choose Uncle Wang."
"What if I can't go back?"
He laughed, "A man in his thirties who can't make a comeback after a two-year hiatus is nothing
more than a talent."
She also laughed and said, "Shixu, I find that I am more accustomed to your lawless and
boundless crazy look."
"I am crazy, but I am also mentally prepared that I won't be able to make a comeback."
"What if there's really no way to make a comeback?"
"Then just be an ordinary person." He smiled nonchalantly, "It's a pity that my name is Time
Sequence. No matter how ordinary I am, how ordinary can I be?"
It's really crazy.
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud. Looking at him again, the clouds in the mountains rolled and the
wind blew. The sunlight was blocked and appeared, appeared and disappeared, just like the
bright light in the corner of his eyes, too short, like an illusion.
But many things in this world, including life, are more touching precisely because they are short.
She looked at him, thinking about Uncle Wang, birth, aging, sickness and death, and also about
her own journey which was destined to be short and would eventually end.

Chapter 33
When we returned to school, the students had already finished two morning classes.
The time sequence class was in the first period, and Zhu Jinxia was in the second period, so both
of them were absent.
Fortunately, there was a firefighter, classmate Dunzhu. He had no classes in the morning, but
when he got a call from the school, he got up at seven o'clock, went to the sixth grade math class,
and then rushed to the fifth grade to teach Chinese.
"You don't know, my legs feel weak even when I stand on the podium."
Seeing Shixu, Dunzhu came up to him and complained.
"Your first day of class?"
Shi Xu glanced at him and thought, why is he pretending to be a pure tenor?
"Which one is it? I don't teach Chinese or math."
Shi Xu didn't bother to pay attention to him and walked straight to the office.
The little tail follows closely behind.
"In terms of teaching ability, I am at least the second seed among the male teachers in our
school. You suddenly ask me to cross over and perform. How embarrassing it would be if I
messed up?"
Time sequence: "There are only three male teachers in the whole school including me. Are you
proud of being ranked second?"
Dunzhu: “…”
After not coming home for the night, there were a bunch of things to deal with. Shixu was busy
all morning, but Pian Dunzhu kept asking questions whenever he had the chance, which made
him feel annoyed.
"If you have nothing to do, go clear the toilet. The guard said it was blocked late last night and it's
still blocked—"
Before he finished speaking, he disappeared, so quickly that his legs even appeared double.
Dunzhu didn't give up, he just changed the person he was pestering.
I wish the small building I live in this summer won’t get any sunshine, it’s cold during the day, and
I’m now in the living room enjoying the time sequence.
Dunzhu pushed the door open and, as expected, saw her sitting in front of the coffee table,
typing on her laptop.
"Teacher Zhu, are you preparing lessons?"
Zhu Jinxia stopped and closed the computer before he could see the screen clearly. "...Do you
have something to talk to me about?"
"It's okay. I came to report to you about today's Chinese class."
I just made up an opening remark casually, but I didn't expect Zhu Jinxia to be really ready to
listen attentively. I paused for a long time and said, "I taught new words for ten minutes, but I
didn't know how to teach the text, so I changed it to showing a movie..."
“…”
I wish you all the best this summer. When I was an undergraduate, I also encountered some very
bad teachers. They would show movies when it was windy and rainy, when I was not feeling well,
at the beginning of the new semester, and when exams were approaching.
The main theme is: when you are in doubt, watch a movie.
It is estimated that Dunzhu and he have the same master.
Since there was no class, there was nothing to say. Dunzhu was talking about this and that, but
Zhu Jinxia didn't respond and just buried his head in front of the computer.
It took her a long time to realize that the room was too quiet.
"Anything else?"
She realized it belatedly and looked up, and found Dunzhu sitting across from the coffee table,
drinking butter tea and seeming to want to say something.
"Dunzhu?"
The young boy looked at her with a resentful expression, "Even though it's just a movie, at least
you got up early in the morning..."
I wish this summer is very wise, "Yes, yes, you have worked hard and made great contributions."
Dunzhu burst out laughing, and the gloom on his face immediately disappeared.
As expected, she is a child. Her emotions come and go quickly. Her ponytail is still swinging
behind her head.
The child leaned over from across the coffee table, stared at her with his dark eyes and said, "In
return, shouldn't you also tell me what you and my brother did last night?"
"Last night? I visited the poor households with Duoji and others last night. We drank a little. Your
brother was afraid that they would drive drunk, so he went up the mountain to pick me up."
"But you didn't come home at night." Detective Conan said.
Wish this summer: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "The mountain road is too dangerous. For safety reasons, I stayed at Uncle Wang's
house for one night."
"You guys went home?!" Dunzhu opened his eyes wide, "Have you seen Uncle Wang? How is he?
Have you eaten well these two days?"
Mentioning Uncle Wang, the topic has been successfully digressed.
Zhu Jinxia hesitated for a moment, fearing that he would worry, so she omitted the sudden
incident in the morning and picked up some interesting things to say. After much persuasion, she
finally sent him to the kitchen. Dunzhu cooked while she typed in the living room, and the two of
them lived in peace.
Halfway through washing the rice, Dunzhu suddenly remembered something and poked his head
out of the kitchen again, "Teacher Zhu, next time there is an emergency, don't look for my
brother, look for me."
"……ah?"
"My brother is a very busy man. He has to take care of an entire school and has a lot of things to
do." The young boy smiled with two gentle and harmless dimples. "So you can find me next time.
No matter how late or far away it is, as long as you call, I will rush to pick you up immediately."
Zhu Jinxia was startled, then nodded a little late, "...Okay."
After getting the approval, Dunzhu was satisfied and hummed the whole time while cooking.
Zhu Jinxia is not slow. These days, Dunzhu is like a little sun, circling around her, releasing light
and heat. But he didn't say it clearly, so she could only play dumb, otherwise she would see him
every time she looked up, wouldn't it be embarrassing if she told him?
Fortunately, young people's emotions are like showers, coming and going quickly.
Zhu Jinxia was absent-mindedly typing away at the computer, deleting and reducing, and was
busy for the whole afternoon, but still hadn't finished the letter at hand.
A letter to the Acropolis.
——
I don't believe things are going well. During lunch, I wish this summer is not in a very good mood.
Dunzhu specially made a pot of pickled fish with fermented soybeans, originally wanting to
please her.
"What's wrong? The fish is not tasty?"
Tasted two chopsticks.
"pretty good."
In order to liven up the atmosphere, Dunzhu spoke more than usual.
Shi Xu put down the bowl and said, "Don't talk while eating fish, you don't have to worry about it
getting stuck."
As a result, he was right. Halfway through his meal, Dunzhuzhen got a fish bone stuck in his
throat. He had to drink water and vinegar, and was in a state of agony. He frowned and cursed
Shixu for his bad mouth, but when he turned around, he saw Zhu Jinxia's concerned eyes...
Hehe, it’s a good card, a wonderful card.
After dinner, Shi Xu went into the house to change clothes. He had not been home all night and
was very busy when he came back. Only now did he have time to tidy himself up.
As soon as the door was half-closed, Dunzhu came in with a basin of bowls, pointed to the living
room, and asked in a low voice, "Brother, what happened to Teacher Zhu?"
The two brothers looked through the crack in the door and saw that the people in the living room
began to stare at the computer again.
Timeline: "What happened?"
"Didn't you notice that something was wrong with Teacher Zhu?" Dunzhu scratched his head.
"She barely ate two bites of her meal, and she ignored what I said to her, with a look on her face
that said, 'Don't get close to me,'"
Shixu changed his clothes and turned away the face in front of him, "Mind yourself."
"Hey, why are you not loved by your colleagues at all?"
Shi Xu glanced at him indifferently, "Do you think everyone is like you, worrying so much?"
I slapped him on the back and said, "Go wash the dishes."
Dunzhu left cursing.
When there was no colleague to love, he lingered in the living room for a while, observing the
person in front of the coffee table quietly.
Was she scared by what happened to Doji yesterday, or was she still hungover and had no
appetite?
She looked listless, her whole body buried behind the computer, typing away on the keyboard for
a long time, and most of the time in a daze.
Shixu went into the kitchen to boil a pot of water, and came out to put it next to her.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Jinxia was absent-minded and didn't notice his approach at all until the silver
teapot fell from the sky. She was startled and looked up to see Shixu's eyes on the screen——
Snapped--
She moved abruptly and slammed the laptop shut.
There was a moment of silence. Shi Xu withdrew his gaze and turned to look at her. When their
eyes met, Zhu Jinxia's mind went blank. She wanted to explain, but she opened her mouth but
didn't know what to say.
"Honey water." Finally, Shixu pointed to the kettle on the table and said, "Drink some after a
hangover. It can help relieve nausea."
After saying that, he left.
The dormitory building was old and not soundproof, and his footsteps gradually faded away along
the corridor. Zhu Jinxia looked out the window and soon saw Shixu coming out of the corridor,
crossing the playground under the scorching sun, and finally disappearing at the door of the
office, going to work overtime.
Did he see it?
How much did you see?
She turned on the computer again and stared at the screen in a daze again.
On the other hand, Shixu was sitting in an empty large office reading materials, and he was still
on the first page after reading for a long time.
What you see is one thing, what’s in your mind is another.
It wasn't that I meant to spy on her, but now that I was in front of her, my eyes naturally fell on
the computer screen.
The moment was short, he only saw a glance and realized it was a letter. He felt something was
wrong and instinctively wanted to look away, but he didn't expect her to close the computer
faster than he did.
There was a loud bang, as if it hit him in the face.
Acropolis.
He remembered that this was the name she called when she fell asleep in the classroom while
she was staying up late to prepare for class that day.
...No wonder I was absent-minded the whole afternoon.
I concentrated my mind and tried hard to focus on the information in my hands, but I couldn't
read faster.
I kept thinking about that sentence over and over in my mind.
Acropolis:
I'm sorry to talk to you about divorce in the form of a letter.
…
Apparently, absent-mindedness is contagious.
Worked overtime for the whole day, task progress: 0.
——
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhu Jinxia finally finished typing the letter. After sending it, she
was exhausted and fell asleep on the table.
I even had a dream in such an uncomfortable posture.
She dreamed of a winter when she was in school. She had an argument with Weicheng and was
dragged out of the dormitory by him. They stood in front of the flower bed of the teaching
building and stared at each other.
Weicheng spoke kindly, took out a scarf and gloves from his schoolbag and put them on her,
"Don't be angry."
"Where did it come from?"
“I bought it over the weekend.”
"It's rare that your straight male aesthetic can buy such taste." Zhu Jinxia said sarcastically.
"Well, at least I paid for a nice meal and had someone choose it for me."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, "...Li Xin?"
"How do you know?" Weicheng was also stunned, and then his eyes widened, "So this is why you
quarreled with me?"
yes.
Yesterday was the weekend, and Acropolis disappeared for the whole day, acting mysteriously
and not telling me where he was going.
This morning in the cafeteria, he put his cell phone on the table while getting his meal, with the
screen on. Zhu Jinxia accidentally saw his conversation with his squad leader Li Xin, and only then
did she know that they went shopping in the city center together yesterday and had a Western
meal.
I was so angry.
It was for this. Zhu Jinxia looked at the gloves and scarf in silence.
It was actually for this. Weicheng was still terrified thinking about the weird things on WeChat.
In the dream, they reconciled quickly. Weicheng took off one of his gloves, held her fingers
tightly, and halfway around the playground, they met his roommate who was coming back from
the water room.
The other party teased them: "It's so cold, but the dry wood and the raging fire are not afraid of
the cold."
Zhu Jinxia withdrew his hand and stood aside with a foolish smile.
…
There was a sudden noise from somewhere, and the dream came to an abrupt end.
I wish this summer I opened my eyes drowsily and felt moisture in the corners of my eyes.
There were sounds of children fighting outside the window, some screaming, some cheering. She
looked down and saw some familiar faces - two children were fighting, a girl was riding on the
boy and beating him, and a group of people were watching.
Is he from her class?
Zhu Jinxia stood up suddenly and ran out while wiping her face.
By the time she ran out of the corridor, the situation had been controlled by Yu Xiaoshan who
arrived first.
"Xiaxiram, how can a girl hit someone?"
Two kids were fighting. The girl was tall and strong, and the smaller boy was pinned to the
ground and rubbed.
The girl said unruly: "He scolded me first!"
"Then you can curse back. A gentleman should use his mouth, not his fists. You've even made him
bleed from the nose."
"He has a foul mouth and I can't stop scolding him."
With Yu Xiaoshan keeping the peace, Zhu Jinxia did not intervene, but after listening to her, she
felt something was wrong. Yu Xiaoshan's logic was just one: girls should not hit people.
Xia Xiram obviously also heard it, "If I were a boy, would I be able to hit people?"
"Yes." Yu Xiaoshan said bluntly, "If you were a boy, I would ask everyone to make room for you
right now, and you can fight however you want."
"You-you discriminate against girls!"
The teacher and the student were at loggerheads, and no one noticed that the boy next to them
was still bleeding from the nose. Yu Xiaoshan was quite thick-skinned.
Zhu Jinxia had no choice but to take over, telling the boy not to tilt his head back so that he
wouldn't be choked by the backflowing blood from his nose, and then led him to the sink and
splashed his neck with cold water.
The conversation behind me continued.
"Do you know you're wrong?"
"have no idea!"
"You've beaten someone so hard that his nose is bleeding, and you still don't realize your
mistake?"
"He deserves it!"
Xiaxiram is very tough, and rarely surrenders or compromises.
Since arriving at the central school, Zhu Jinxia has seen children being cautious and careful, and
has never seen anyone talk back to the teacher.
The sun rises from the west?
Zhu Jinxia helped people stop the bleeding, but the dispute behind the scenes continued. Facing
Xiaoshan's increasingly harsh scolding, Xia Xiram was so angry that his face turned red.
"You just scold me and don't even ask me why I hit him?"
"The reason doesn't matter, it's wrong for you to hurt someone."
"If he didn't scold me, how could I hit him?"
"What did he scold you for?"
"He, he——" The little girl finally couldn't bear it anymore and burst into tears, "He scolded me
for having a father but no mother..."
Zhu Jinxia was standing by the sink, listening carefully. When she heard these words, her hands
stopped moving.
Children don’t understand the adult’s standpoint. Xiaxiram didn’t expect that she was the one
being scolded, but everyone stood on Jiacuo’s side—Teacher Yu criticized her, and Teacher Zhu
took care of Jiacuo gently.
She obviously liked Teacher Zhu very much. She liked the sound of her voice, her smiling eyes,
and the world outside the mountains that she described.
Even she is helping Jiacuo.
Xiaxiram was so angry that he burst into tears: "You all help him! You don't care about me!"
She stamped her foot, turned around and ran away.
Yu Xiaoshan tried to chase after her, but was stopped by Zhu Jinxia.
"You take care of Jiacuo, I'm going to chase Xiaxiram."

Chapter 34
I wish I found Xiaxiram under the big tree behind the cafeteria this summer.
It was a hot afternoon, and the girl was squatting in a small, cramped shadow, crying breathlessly.
She called her name, and the girl turned around and yelled at her: "Go away! I don't want your
fake kindness!"
Unfortunately, with his small face full of tears, he looked like a baby animal panting, without any
intimidation.
Zhu Jinxia stopped a few steps away and said gently, "Okay, I won't go over. I'll talk to you here."
Without mentioning the fight, she changed the subject to something unimportant - asking the
girl how tall she was and whether her parents were both tall and it was due to her genes.
The child had a simple mind. At first he was angry and refused to speak. But as his attention was
diverted, he gradually went off the topic.
Zhu Jinxia asked questions without leaving any trace, and soon found out that the girl's mother
died giving birth to her, and she was raised by her father.
Before she knew the whole story, she had only two impressions of Xia Xiram: she was tall and she
was strong-willed. No one in the class dared to bully her.
Looking back now, perhaps it was because I was raised by my father and there was a lack of
female participation in my growth process, so I lived like a boy.
Seeing that the girl had almost calmed down, Zhu Jinxia returned to the previous topic.
"Teacher Yu is not helping Jiacuo. He is criticizing you because you hit someone." After thinking
about it, he decided to smooth things over for Yu Xiaoshan.
“But he scolded me first.”
"He was wrong to scold you, but you beat him up until his nose bled, which was both right and
wrong."
——Which seems more serious, beating someone or scolding someone?
"What can I do? I can't scold him!"
Zhu Jinxia came closer and squatted down: "Then let me ask you, if a puppy bites you, will you
bite it back?"
"Bite!" A firm answer.
The way she clenched her fists made Zhu Jinxia laugh, as if she saw herself as a child, vindictive
and petty. She didn't want to suppress the girl's fierceness. In fact, there was no harm in children
from dysfunctional families being a little stronger.
"The puppy is covered with hair. If you bite it, won't your mouth be full of hair?"
Xiaxiram was slightly stunned, then changed his words, "I can kick it!"
Wish this summer: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "The puppy is so cute, how can you bear to kick it?"
She successfully twisted the question and confused the girl.
The topic quickly turned to how puppies are cute, they are humans' good friends, and we
shouldn't bully them.
Zhu Jinxia coaxed the girl into submission and re-tied her hair for her.
Unexpectedly, Xia Xiram suddenly grabbed her sleeve.
"Teacher Zhu, Teacher Yu said that girls shouldn't hit others."
She nodded: "Yes."
"So I was wrong today. Was it because I hit someone, or was it because I'm a girl?"
"Of course it's wrong to hit someone."
"What if I were a boy——"
"You can't hit people either." Zhu Jinxia corrected what Yu Xiaoshan had just said, "No matter if
you are a man or a woman, you shouldn't hit people. It has nothing to do with gender."
Xiaxiram said that the men in the village would fight all the time. If someone bumped into
someone else, picked someone else's fruit, or someone else's chicken was stolen, they would all
resort to fighting to resolve the issue.
This is the historical legacy of the mountains.
Zhu Jinxia: "That's why your father sent you to school. The purpose of going to school is to be
able to solve problems in a better way in the future instead of relying on brute force."
"What if I meet someone who is unreasonable? What if he starts a fight first? If I don't fight,
won't I be forced to be beaten?"
Zhu Jinxia braided her hair, paused, and quietly replied: "Under the circumstances where we
won't suffer any loss, we can fight back first, it's just self-defense."
Next sentence: "But remember to quit while you are ahead and leave the crime scene quickly!"
She winked at Gasilam, making the girl giggle.
Finally, a very practical reminder: "If there is a big difference in size, let's not fight, and try not to
rush if you can."
Xiaxiram was delighted.
"Teacher Zhu, you are so nice. Unlike Teacher Yu, you always treat boys and girls differently."
Why?
She didn't want to stir up students' dissatisfaction with Xiaoshan.
Zhu Jinxia thought about it and said, "Teacher Yu is not discriminating against girls. He just
doesn't want girls to suffer. After all, most girls are not like you. They are tall and strong. If they
face boys with a huge size difference, they will be easily bullied."
"No, she just discriminates!" Xia Xiram complained, "She never teaches boys to wash clothes, and
doesn't care if they don't take a bath or wash their feet. But if girls don't wash properly and their
clothes stink, she will punish us by making us do squats and run around the playground."
“…”
"Why did she punish only the girls and not the boys? She is discriminating!"
Zhu Jinxia was at a loss for words when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and
saw Yu Xiaoshan.
When their eyes met, she was embarrassed, but Yu Xiaoshan looked calm.
After tying her hair, she patted Xiaxiram's shoulder and told her to go back to the playground. The
girl was obviously still frightened by Xiaoshan and ran away from the scene.
Before she could run far, Yu Xiaoshan said, "You shouldn't encourage her."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned. "What did I encourage her to do?"
"Encourage her to defend herself properly and act accordingly—"
"Did I said wrong thing?"
"That's true, but it doesn't apply to her and the children here!"
Zhu Jinxia found it unbelievable. She did not accuse Yu Xiaoshan of being unfair, but the other
party actually blamed her instead.
Perhaps seeing that she had something to say, and considering other things, Yu Xiaoshan got
straight to the point: "Just say whatever you want to say. There's no need to be tactful with me.
We mountain people don't follow the city people's ways."
"Which one?"
"hypocritical."
Zhu Jinxia nodded, also angrily: "Yes, you only care about favoring boys over girls."
The two were at loggerheads, no one said a word, and they ended up parting on bad terms.
The place is small and remote, so they meet each other every day. Just in this afternoon, the two
of them ran into each other countless times in the playground office. One turned away, the other
looked straight ahead, and neither of them paid any attention to each other.
Whenever another teacher in the office chatted in Tibetan, there was no one to translate for Zhu
Jinxia. In the past, Yu Xiaoshan next to her acted as the translator to prevent her from being an
outsider.
Now everyone in the room is laughing, but she is the only one who doesn't understand what's
going on and feels out of place.
Zhu Jinxia is not a patient person. After thinking about it, he knocked on the door next to Shixu
before dinner.
Bang, bang, bang.
The iron door opened, and Yu Xiaoshan stared at her through the crack in the door, asking in a
bad tone, "What's the matter?"
"Can't you come if you have nothing to do?"
"That's just looking for trouble."
The two men faced each other for a moment.
The half-closed iron door suddenly opened, and Dunzhu stood in the room holding a spatula,
"What are you two doing?"
"none of your business."
"None of your business."
--in unison.
Dunzhu was so scared that he closed the door again.
With his interruption, the two of them could no longer hold back. Zhu Jinxia took a deep breath
and asked, "Should we talk inside or here?"
"Isn't it because you city people are worried that the house will be messy and you will be
disgusted by it?" Yu Xiaoshan said this but still opened the door.
"Don't worry, I'm not marrying you, and the mess is none of my business."
"..." Yu Xiaoshan was so angry that she stood at the door with her arms folded, "Then don't come
in. That's all I have to say."
Zhu Jinxia pushed her hand away and walked in. At first glance, "...it's really messy."
Yu Xiaoshan's face turned dark before she took out a Snickers bar from her bag and handed it
over.
"What?" Yu Xiaoshan didn't answer.
"Cheer you up."
I have lived for more than 20 years and have never seen such a coaxing person. Yu Xiaoshan
teased: "Your way of coaxing people is quite unique."
"Isn't this special love for a special you?"
The two of them stared at each other, and finally failed.
Yu Xiaoshan took the Snickers, let the person in, and poured a glass of water, "Sit down."
Zhu Jinxia looked at the small sofa piled with clothes and asked, "Where should I sit?"
"Just sit down when I told you to. You're so talkative." Yu Xiaoshan rolled her eyes at her. "They're
all clean clothes, and I didn't have time to fold them. I don't mind your dirty bottom, but you
mind that I have too many clothes."
Neither of them is the kind of person who would hide anything, and they got back to the point
after just a few words.
Yu Xiaoshan said that life is already difficult for girls in the mountains, and being less neutral is for
their own good.
"The mountains are different from the outside world. You visited the village yesterday, didn't you
notice? Most of the people at home are women, and many girls drop out of school after primary
school - they will get married anyway, so why bother to study so much? Men in the mountains
are emperors at home, they don't do housework, and have women to serve them. Here, beating
your wife is commonplace. If I don't treat these girls harshly, they will suffer in the future."
"But they come to study. Isn't the purpose of studying to change these things?"
"Teacher Zhu, we are just a primary school."
"What happened to the elementary school?"
"With the environment in the mountains like this, what's the point of just changing a few kids?"
"Change always starts with individuals. Someone has to change first before we can change the
environment."
"That's easy to say. Maybe you don't know that it's popular among Tibetans for two brothers to
marry one wife. If two men fight against one woman, can you win even if you are twice as tall as
Xiaxiram? Are you going to rely on your mouth to persuade them?"
“…”
"I also want to tell them that men and women are equal, but the general environment is
unequal," said Yu Xiaoshan. "I'm afraid that Xiaxiram will shout about equality, but in the future
she will return to the village and challenge the men and be attacked by everyone."
Zhu Jinxia was still trying to explain, but Yu Xiaoshan's next sentence came right after.
"Teacher Zhu, where were you at that time?"
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Finally, it was Yu Xiaoshan who ended the conversation. She said: "The weapon you gave her
today might become a murder weapon to stab her tomorrow."
After leaving Yu Xiaoshan's dormitory, Zhu Jinxia did not go to Shixu for dinner. She stood by the
playground for a long time, until the sky turned from azure blue to dim yellow and finally fell into
darkness.
The message on the phone finally arrived. It was from Acropolis. He just saw a new document in
the WeChat dialog box.
Acropolis: Are you willing to reply to the message?
Before Zhu Jinxia could speak, the next one came.
Weicheng: What’s going on? Professor Zhu didn’t answer the phone. Is it because you think it’s
too hot to talk to me and changed the text output?
Acropolis: Everyone has gone to hide in the mountains, why don’t they play dead?
Acropolis: Is this a resurrection?
After several phone calls, the conversations were not pleasant and often turned into mutual
accusations after a few words. Zhu Jinxia then came up with the idea of writing a letter to
communicate, but she didn't expect his reaction to be like this.
His fingers rose and fell on the screen, and finally there was a sentence: Take a look at it, and
then you can tell me.
Weicheng opened the document, read only one sentence, and then walked out with a sneer.
"Don't you think it's ridiculous? We've been together for seven years and I've never received a
single letter from you, but now the first letter I received is a farewell letter."
I wish you a speechless summer.
Compared to her, a girl of science, Weicheng is indeed a more romantic man of liberal arts. When
they first got together, he wrote her a three-line poem, and in the following seven years he
remembered every holiday, and roses and love letters were never absent.
She also thought about writing back, but the words "I love you" seemed pale and powerless
when written on paper.
The education she received since childhood was, "This summer, you must make a name for
yourself." Realism told her that the best way to love someone is not with flowers and sweet
words, but with down-to-earth efforts.
So she studied hard and worked hard. Then she bought a house and a car. She shared everything
she had earned with Acropolis, but in the end, they drifted apart.
She had clearly tried very hard, but it seemed like she couldn't do anything right.
Dunzhu popped his head out from the third floor: "Teacher Zhu, dinner is ready!"
Zhu Jinxia raised his heavy head and said, "I'm coming."
The atmosphere at dinner was even more depressing than at lunch. Dunzhu kept winking at
Shixu, but it fell on deaf ears. In the end, Shixu only said, "Are you having eye cramps?"
Dunzhu cursed inwardly, "You are the one who has cramps, your whole family has cramps!"
Halfway through his complaints, he realized that he had gotten himself into trouble, so he could
only huff and bury his head in his food.
It was Tuesday, and after dinner, the students were dancing Guozhuang on the playground as
usual. Dunzhu had a new idea.
"Come on, Teacher Zhu. I'll teach you how to dance. You'll feel better after a few dances."
Zhu Jinxia is not someone who would refuse. She knows that she is in a bad mood today. The two
brothers eat less than usual at the same table...
At Dunzhu's kind invitation, she joined the Guozhuang dance like a zombie. Unfortunately, she
got off to a bad start and twisted her ankle after dancing for less than two minutes.
Dunzhu came running over like a moth and asked her where she fell.
"fine."
"How can it be okay? Let me see!"
He wanted to lift up his trouser legs and carry her back to the dormitory. The emotions
accumulated throughout the day came flooding in at this moment, and Zhu Jin pushed him away.
"Can you leave me alone?"
The man who always had a smiling face suddenly had a seizure, and Dunzhu froze to the side
without moving.
——
Zhu Jinxia limped back to the dormitory and sat on the bed in a daze.
Too many things happened today, and she couldn't digest them all at once. She thought about
Xiaxiram, the Acropolis, Uncle Wang, and Dunzhu, whom she slapped away.
My palms are still burning, you can imagine how hard she hit me.
Zhu Jinxia pulled the pillow over to cover her face. She didn't know how much time had passed
before she vaguely heard a knock on the door and realized that she had fallen asleep.
"who?"
The knock on the door paused for a moment. "It's me."
Dunzhu was standing outside the door, his tone and expression were awkward, with Yunnan
spray in his hand.
"I remembered that there is this in the infirmary before going to bed." He lowered his head to
look at her feet. "Is it serious?"
"...It's not serious." Zhu Jinxia took the medicine, feeling mixed emotions.
She asked Dunzhu: "How about you, how is your hand?"
"Hand? What happened to your hand?" Dunzhu looked at his hand in surprise, then realized,
"Oh, you mean that one just now?" He touched his head honestly, "Don't worry, it didn't hurt. If I
feel pain even though I have thick skin, then you must have broken bones."
The two smiled at each other, Zhu Jinxia apologized, and Lord Dunzhu did not bear grudges, and
the small storm disappeared without a trace.
"Oh, and this." Finally, Dunzhu handed over the plastic bag in his hand, "My brother and Lao Li
went to the city to do some work, and bought this for you."
——
I wish this summer I will sit on the bed, holding a cup of milk tea and daydreaming.
The milk tea was in a super large cup, with densely packed words on a small label:
Full sugar, coconut flakes, pearls, taro balls, bobo, red beans, milk jelly...
The ingredient list can barely fit on a small sheet of label paper.
A cup of milk tea, mostly half a cup of ingredients.
Zhu Jinxia took a photo of the time sequence: Is this milk tea or porridge? ? ?
Shixu replied quickly: I don’t drink these, the store clerk recommended them to me.
Zhu Jinxia: How did you recommend it?
Time sequence: She asked me what to add, I asked her what tasted good, she said the whole
family likes it, whoever drinks it will like it.
Zhu Jinxia: I’ve been fooled by you.
Timeline: Not tasty?
I wish this summer: It’s unpalatable.
She sat cross-legged at the end of the bed, biting the straw, struggling to distinguish which was
taro and which was red bean in her mouth full of overly sweet liquid, typing away:
Next time, don’t add taro balls and coconut flakes, just add red beans.
One more thing to add: three parts sugar is enough.
Shi Xu saw the reply and laughed with unclear meaning.
…While saying it tastes bad, I’m already thinking about what to add next time.
Soon, Zhu Jinxia asked again: Where did you buy the milk tea? The taro balls were all soaked.
He paused in front of the computer for a moment, scratched his chin, and then picked up the
phone: Lao Li went to the city to do some work, and I stopped by to pick up something. On the
way back, I passed by the milk tea shop and bought this.
Zhu Jinxia thought to herself, no wonder she hadn’t seen him since dinner.
She sat in the dormitory, opened her Chinese textbook and prepared for class, sipping her milk
tea from time to time, and drank it all without realizing it.
When I went to the playground to wash up, the school was completely silent. Suddenly, I heard
footsteps.
She turned around and saw Mr. Li from the auto repair shop walking out of the teachers'
dormitory with brisk steps and a rosy face.
"Teacher Zhu, are you going to wash up?" Old Li greeted her.
She spat out the foam in her mouth and asked, "Drinking again?"
"The principal's plum wine is ready. I'll try it for him." Old Li smacked his lips. "He had a full jar of
it before he left, and when he came back, half of it went into my stomach. Haha."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, "Didn't you two go into the city together?"
Old Li was also stunned. "No, I didn't go anywhere tonight. I was drinking upstairs the whole
time."
"What about the timing?"
"Him? He lent me his bike to go into the city. He said he was going to buy something and he was
afraid of spilling something on the motorcycle."
Lao Li drank a lot and couldn't remember anything. On the way back to the repair shop, he was
still thinking, "What did I spill? Hey, my memory is so bad..."

Chapter 35
After spitting out the foam, Zhu Jinxia turned around and ran towards the teachers' dormitory.
She rushed to the third floor in one go and slammed the door loudly.
The knocking sounded in the middle of the night, and soon the house was filled with angry
voices.
"Who is it?"
"I." Her voice was tense, with a hint of accusation, "Zhu Jinxia."
When they heard it was her, there was silence inside the door for a moment.
"I'm already lying down. We'll talk tomorrow if you have anything to say."
In Zhu Jinxia's view, this is undoubtedly a sign of guilty conscience.
Bang, bang, bang.
There was another round of knocking, and the iron door was about to be removed by her.
"Open the door, time sequence."
Blame him. He thought that she was a volunteer teacher and a princess from the city, so he was
too nice to her. She was the only one in the school who dared to be so arrogant.
Shixu came to open the door with a sullen face, quickly put on an old man's shirt and shorts.
"Do you know what time it is--"
Zhu Jinxia was standing outside the door and interrupted him: "Didn't Lao Li say he was going to
the city to do some work and would give you a ride?"
He is fierce, she is even fiercer.
Zhu Jinxia climbed to the third floor in one breath. Now she was breathing rapidly and her cheeks
were a little flushed.
"..." Shi Xu looked at her for a moment, "What's wrong?"
Zhu Jinxia stared at him and asked word by word: "Did Lao Li go with you?"
“…”
Timing did not answer.
There was no need for him to answer, she had come with the answer. Zhu Jinxia pushed him
aside and strode towards the kitchen. There was a wine jar on the cabinet, which was full at
dinner time, but now it was half empty.
She turned around and asked, "Where's the wine?"
Shi Xu stood at the door, still not saying anything.
Until she came out of the kitchen, stopped in front of him again, raised her voice and asked again:
"I'm asking you a question, where's the wine?"
He then replied, "Don't you know everything? Lao Li drank it."
One left and the other followed. It was obvious that they collided.
Zhu Jinxia clenched her palms and asked again: "Where did you buy the milk tea?"
"county seat."
"What are you doing in the county town so late at night?"
What is this? Extorting a confession through torture?
Shi Xu rubbed his brows and said, "Didn't I tell you to go get something—"
"Time sequence." Zhu Jinxia looked at him, "Tell the truth."
The room was quiet for a while, and he put his hand down.
"Go buy some milk tea."
“…”
She just knew.
She just knows!
I wish this summer to be like a balloon with throbbing pain in the temples. Calculating the time,
dinner was at six o'clock, and the milk tea was delivered at eleven o'clock, which took five hours
to go back and forth...
“You were speeding???”
"There were no cars at night, so we drove a little fast."
"You're going to die!"
I wish this summer will jump up soon. There are mountains on one side and Jinsha River on the
other. If the car flips over, he will die. He dares to exceed the speed limit.
Shi Xu said: "This road has been opened for many years, and you can finish it with your eyes
closed."
"How dare you open it with your eyes closed???"
“…”
Time sequence: "I hope you can calm down a little this summer."
She was like a firecracker that ignited at a touch, totally ignoring reason and logic. Zhu Jinxia also
realized this, and was silent for a while, her mind in a mess.
The light bulb above my head was old and covered in dust, so it didn't light up at all.
At this juncture, I wish Jinxia still has dreams. Maybe it's not because of the heavy dust, but
because of the low wattage. He is so stingy that it's not surprising that he uses the lowest
wattage bulb.
But he was such a stingy person that he drove back and forth for more than five hours just to buy
her a cup of milk tea.
It's damn hard to drink!
Zhu Jinxia can hardly remember what that cup of milk tea tasted like. She only remembers that
the taro balls were so soaked that they were sticky to her teeth, and the red beans were not fresh
and could not be chewed at all.
She stood there in a daze, and suddenly realized why she was angry? She had no reason to be
angry at all.
An inexplicable sense of confidence supported her as she slammed the door loudly, went to the
man's house to demand accusation and get to the bottom of the matter. What next?
Then I found that my confidence had disappeared without a trace, leaving only an empty shell.
I looked up at the time sequence again. The old man's shirt was wrinkled and washed white, and
there seemed to be a hole on the shoulder.
The stubble on his chin had grown. He had come down from the mountain in the morning, and
there was a lot of work waiting for him at school, so he hadn't had time to shave. Now it was
green in the dim light, reminding him of the distant mountains that were looming in the clouds
when he came down the mountain.
Zhu Jinxia remained silent for too long, and finally he was the first to speak.
"Is it so unpalatable? Is it necessary to get so angry?" He sounded a little helpless.
"It tastes terrible." Zhu Jinxia stared at the hole in his shoulder. "It tastes terrible."
Shixu paused, and said helplessly, "Then I won't buy it next time."
"I shouldn't have bought it this time." She pinched her palms, and the more she looked at the
hole, the more upset she became. "The oil is free? Are you free? Aren't you a stingy person? Why
are you doing this loss-making business?"
Wouldn’t it be better to use the money to buy some clothes? Don’t you see how tattered what
you’re wearing is?
Zhu Jinxia's tone was very bad, but time became calmer and he looked at her for a long while.
"I checked online and found out what to do when you're in a bad mood."
She paused, her eyes moving from the hole to his face.
"...The most popular comment below is, just drink a cup of milk tea and eat some dessert."
grass!
Zhu Jinxia cursed for the first time: "Are you stupid? Do you believe what netizens say?"
"Just give it a try, it won't hurt anyway."
"Not at a loss? Isn't it a fucking loss on the gas money?"
Shi Xu smiled indifferently: "It's a loss, it's not yours."
"..." Zhu Jinxia choked and then asked, "What if milk tea doesn't work?"
Shi Xu nodded his chin towards the coffee table, Zhu Jin Xia turned his head and found a bulging
plastic bag on the coffee table with the name of a supermarket printed on it, exactly the same as
the one he sent to the hotel last time.
She walked forward and took a few bites. Snickers, Dove, jelly...all sweets.
She knew he didn't eat these, and she also knew how stingy he was. Given the consumption level
of the time, they were truly luxury items.
I am getting more and more anxious. I wish Huo will come back this summer.
"Why?"
"what why?"
“Why did you buy these?”
"Aren't you in a bad mood?" He asked as if it was a matter of course.
Do you have to buy milk tea and snacks when you are in a bad mood?
Just because someone is in a bad mood, would you drive more than five hours to make a trip?
He was so stingy that his vest was almost worn out but he was still reluctant to change it. How
come he doesn't feel sorry for the gas money now?
Countless questions were stuck in my throat, vying for the first place, eager to try, but the last
sentence that came out was: "You know what I'm asking."
Zhu Jinxia's chest rose and fell, and she looked at him steadily, "Shixu, why are you so good to
me?"
The room fell into silence.
Shi Xu looked at her fixed gaze and felt a little helpless.
Is he good to her?
Maybe.
Perhaps people are born with no immunity to some things. Shi Xu does not think he is a kind-
hearted person. He took over the school just for Uncle Wang. As for the children in the school,
although he cares about them, it is more out of a rational sense of responsibility, not emotional.
But towards Zhu Jinxia, he just felt a strange sense of sympathy.
What's even stranger is that she never showed any weakness.
When she fell into the river, he picked her up, but she pulled him like a fool and forced him to
jump down again to pick up the box.
Mingming was soaking wet and shivering in the wind. He kindly gave her clothes, but she refused
to accept them.
The school conditions were terrible, so she immediately backed out and remained unmoved no
matter how he tried to persuade her to stay.
When I first met her, I thought she was just a superficial and arrogant vase.
Until she took a bite of the barley cake; until she saw through his little trick, but still chose to stay;
until she stayed up late to prepare lessons and devoted herself to the teaching work.
The mountains are high in altitude and the conditions are harsh, so teachers from the city can't
adapt. Zhu Jinxia is no exception, but she never complained about the hardship.
Time has seen her being frightened by rats and bats in the middle of the night, she has also seen
her fighting against the dry toilet with deep hatred, she has seen her fetching water to bathe and
wash her hair every day, and she has seen her lips cracked and bleeding due to the dry climate.
But whenever he asked, she always acted as if nothing had happened, with bright and
determined eyes.
and after.
Later in Niuzha Town, she was chased by a drunk man all the way, the whole place was in chaos,
and she was scared half to death, but she still kept her head down and didn't say a word, not
making a sound.
It was not until he lifted her chin that he saw her face was full of tears. But even so, her eyes
were still stubborn as hell.
How to describe this contrast, I don’t know. Why there is such a contradictory contrast in people
is unknown.
He only knew that when Zhu Jinxia clenched her teeth and refused to show any vulnerability, he
was the one who was panicked.
He had a strange desire to protect this kind of strength that was trying to hide but only made it
more obvious.
Time can't stand others crying, but it can't stand Zhu Jinxia not crying.
She was not in the right mood all day, and he was not in the right mood either. So she asked Lao
Li to borrow her car, and drove back and forth for more than five hours, just for a cup of broken
milk tea that she commented was "terribly unpalatable".
He also felt incredible halfway through the journey and asked himself what was wrong with him.
Didn’t he calculate the fuel cost and think about the waste of time?
But there was a cup of milk tea lying quietly on the passenger seat.
Netizens all say that drinking it will make you feel better.
…
Shi Xu had no other thoughts, he just subconsciously hoped that she would be happier.
It's all good to make jokes, be sharp-tongued, and be sarcastic.
Stop making him uneasy.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the night, Zhu Jinxia came to his dormitory and looked at him
with that kind of eyes. Although she was asking for an explanation, there was still something in
her eyes that could break at the slightest touch.
I don't understand the timing. I've already drunk the milk tea, but why am I still not happy? The
Internet is really a lawless place. There are telecom frauds everywhere. What a lousy suggestion.
"A question for you, timing."
Time is pulled out of the chaotic thoughts.
What did she ask him?
...Why are you so nice to her?
After a long while, "Why are there so many reasons? You are here to volunteer as a teacher, so
shouldn't I take care of your daily life?"
"There is a limit to goodness. Have you exceeded it too much?"
"I don't think so."
"Eating is a daily routine, fetching water is a daily routine, but going back and forth for five hours
to buy milk tea is not a daily routine?"
Shixu looked calm, and his logic was quite rigorous.
"Speak." Zhu Jinxia raised her voice.
Before he could say anything, the door of the dormitory next door suddenly opened a crack, and
Yu Xiaoshan, who was awakened by the sound, appeared behind the door.
"What are you two doing? Arguing so late at night?" Her eyes were like machine guns, shooting
back and forth across their faces. She mouthed to Zhu Jinxia, "Do you need help?"
Zhu Jinxia shook his head at her.
Shi Xu said, "Let's talk about something." He closed the door again, turned around and said to
Zhu Jin Xia, "The door is not soundproof, please keep your voice down."
"Why, are you feeling guilty?" He sneered.
“…”
"If you feel guilty, close the door tightly."
The sequence did not move, for a long while, "It's on."
"Now you know how to avoid suspicion." Zhu Jinxia sneered, "Why didn't you think about
avoiding suspicion when you traveled thousands of miles to buy milk tea?"
So what now?
Three-court trial?
I was feeling upset at the time. I should never have bought that cup of milk tea.
She continued to urge: "Go ahead."
Shixu rubbed his temples and felt a headache. "I bought you milk tea with good intentions. I
didn't expect you to be angry."
Just because it was well-intentioned, too well-intentioned, so well-intentioned that she couldn't
bear it.
Zhu Jinxia remembered Weicheng’s accusation that she was an ungrateful person and that it
would be in vain to be nice to her, and that she was a dog that could never be tamed.
She didn't have the time or the mood to care about whether he was both a wolf and a dog, or
whether he could keep her stable on one species.
She was lost in thought for a moment, her eyes moving from the bag of snacks to the furnishings
in the house.
The dishes washed in the evening were still in the plastic basin. Even though they were chipped,
he was reluctant to replace them. However, he never gave her the chipped ones.
There were fruits in the basket. In the first week, there were apples, pears and bananas. Later, I
found that she didn't like pears, so in the second week, there were only apples and bananas.
A whole day of emotions came rushing in, and Zhu Jinxia turned away and said stiffly: "Don't be
so nice to me, I can't afford it."
Shi Xu laughed, "I never thought of asking you to pay it back."
"They always say that." Zhu Jinxia gritted her teeth, "At the beginning, they said they only wanted
to be good to me and that I didn't need to pay them back, but in the end, they always blamed
me."
"What do you accuse you of?"
"Ungrateful. An ungrateful person. A dog that can never be tamed." She tried her best to restrain
herself and hold back the sob in her voice.
"Who said that?"
"..." The breathing became heavier.
Shi Xu looked at her for a moment, then suddenly frowned, "Aren't you a sharp-tongued person?
You won't refute that he is farting?"
I wish this summer was stunned.
"What's wrong with being ungrateful?" Shi Xu said, "Didn't he say you don't have to pay it back?
Go back at him."
Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by time.
He asked, "Zhu Jinxia, I've wanted to ask you for a long time, besides teaching and educating
people, making jokes, can't you learn to say no and defend yourself?"
"What?"
Shixu said: "When you come to the mountains, you must get along well with everyone. Smile
when you are happy and smile when you are unhappy. Is there anyone pointing a gun at you and
forcing you to greet everyone with a smile?"
He looked at her almost strangely.
"If you don't like bitter melon, don't eat it. If you don't like goat milk, don't drink it. Why do you
eat it when Dunzhu asks you to? You would rather retch after eating than refuse?"
"Duoji is so shameless, and you still want to maintain a calm appearance. Tell him to get lost, tell
him to stay away, is it so difficult to break up? So what if he gives everyone a cold shoulder? What
does it have to do with you? Do you have to consider the overall situation and get yourself
drunk?"
"And today. You disagreed with Yu Xiaoshan, but you didn't have a mouth? You clearly didn't
agree with what she said about Xia Xiram, but you didn't refute it?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia's heartbeat paused. He still knew.
"You were absent-minded and depressed the whole day, but you forced yourself to laugh, but
your laugh was uglier than crying. You danced the Guozhuang when Dunzhu asked you to, but
you looked like you were dying. Was that the Guozhuang or the Great God you were dancing?"
“…”
It was clearly she who came to attack, but in the end it was him who spoke with conviction.
"Zhu Jinxia, I don't know where you got your people-pleasing personality from. If you don't want
to laugh, you don't have to laugh. If you don't want to talk, you can keep silent. If you don't want
to do anything, just refuse directly. Do you have to cater to everyone?"
"Have you said enough?" Zhu Jinxia raised her head, "What do you know? You know nothing!"
I only had time to see those red eyes before she slammed the door and left.

Chapter 36
Chapter 36
I rushed back to the small building, only to find that the toiletries were still by the sink. Zhu Jinxia
wiped her face vigorously and thought seriously for two seconds. Anyway, they were all bought
by Shixu, so she might as well throw them away!
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't go without washing my hair and face from
tomorrow on, so I had to turn around and go back.
Unexpectedly, I ran into time again on the playground.
Shi Xu chased out of the dormitory building, but didn't see anyone, but he saw a bucket next to
the sink. When he got closer, he found that there was not only a bucket, but also toiletries in the
sink.
These things were prepared by Zhu before he came this summer.
He paused for a moment, packed up his things silently, filled the bucket with water, and finally
held the basin in one hand and the bucket in the other, preparing to return to the small building
when he turned around and saw the man who had left and returned not far away.
The lights were still on in the playground. Zhu Jinxia was standing next to the dormitory building,
right on the boundary between light and darkness. Her face was covered in shadow, and her
long, slender shadow stretched across the ground.
Only when I got closer could I see his expression clearly.
She held out her hand coldly, "I can do it myself."
"Didn't you sprain your ankle?"
I heard about the Guozhuang incident when I came back. It was Dunzhu who sent the Yunnan
Baiyao on schedule. I glanced at her feet and didn't see anything unusual.
"It's none of your business if you twist it." She reached out to grab the bucket.
Normally, she would only fetch half a bucket of water, because she couldn't lift it if it was full. But
today, she fetched a full bucket. He lifted it with ease, but she couldn't lift it at all.
After a series of operations, the plastic bucket was snatched away. It hit the ground with a thud,
and the splashing water soaked my shoes.
"You can't lift it."
"It's none of your business if I can't lift it."
Zhu Jinxia became stubborn and refused to show weakness. She gritted her teeth and picked up
the bucket, and even freed up one hand to grab the basin in his arms.
Shixu also got angry, "Are you done yet?"
"Didn't you say that?" She said sarcastically, "If you don't want to do something, just refuse it
directly - isn't that what you just taught me?"
“…”
"So I reject your kindness now, please let go."
OK, you're shooting yourself in the foot.
After a few seconds of confrontation, it's time to let go.
I wish Jinxia would just grab the bag and leave, but unfortunately she had to carry the bucket in
one hand and the basin in the other, and she was limping. It was really difficult for her to walk,
and she couldn't walk in a carefree manner.
Shi Xu looked at her coldly, thinking that she deserved to die, so why should he care about her.
But his legs refused to obey him and he rushed forward again. He grabbed the bucket.
Best wishes this summer:?
"what are you doing?"
He said nothing, brushed past her and went straight to the small building.
"Give me back the bucket!"
Shi Xu didn't even turn his head. "Return it to you? I bought the bucket, and I have the right to
use it. I can carry it whenever I want."
Compared to being unreasonable, how could her people-pleasing personality be his opponent?
Zhu Jinxia was so angry that she yelled, "Time, you bastard!"
He also sneered, "Keep it up, that's the momentum, be a real person from tomorrow on, curse if
you want, be real."
“……………………”
Zhu Jinxia was furious, but he turned around and asked, "How is my pronunciation, English
teacher?"
This is a blatant provocation and is simply too much!
Shi Xu walked briskly into her room with the things in his hands, turned around and walked out,
bumping into Zhu Jinxia who was chasing him aggressively at the door. She didn't have time to
brake and bumped into his shoulder.
Fortunately, Shixu grabbed her.
Looking again, Zhu Jinxia's eyes were full of tears, and I couldn't tell whether she was in pain or
angry.
His hand tightened and his voice dropped suddenly: "Is anything wrong?"
Zhu Jinxia pulled back her hand and covered her forehead: "Get out!"
"I wish you a happy summer—"
"Get out, get out, get out!" She went into the house, took out the water he had just brought in,
and threw it in front of him with great effort, "Take your bucket and go back to where you came
from!"
A lot of water splashed out again, and the cement floor was wet.
"I wish you a happy summer—"
"I told you to go away. Don't you understand what I'm saying?"
When she stood up again, her face was already covered with tears.
She knew that she was like an ungrateful shrew, losing control of her emotions and taking her
anger out on innocent people.
There were empty milk tea cups in the trash can at my feet.
In the closed laptop, lies the letter that was sent in an attempt to communicate with others but
was met with ridicule.
There were piles of composition books on the table. She wrote detailed comments on each one,
with the number of words almost as long as the composition itself. However, Yu Xiaoshan's
inappropriate accusations against her could only echo in her ears.
Nothing went smoothly.
I thought I could find a safe haven in the mountains, but it turned out to be full of leaks.
Tears flowed uncontrollably, falling down her cheeks in large drops.
She raised her hands to cover her face, but they flowed out from between her fingers again.
Finally, only the breath left: "You know nothing."
"Time, you know nothing!"
The timing is indeed unknown.
He didn't know that the human tear glands are like a faucet and can produce so many tears.
I don't know why they hit the ground without making any sound, but it was deafening.
He didn't know what prompted him to reach out and grab her slender and thin arm. He wanted
to do something, but suddenly stopped as if he had received an electric shock.
He knows nothing.
He just slowly lowered his head, watching the tears flowing from her fingers, wondering vaguely
how he should treat her and where the so-called limit was.
He was still holding her, his arm was so thin and frail that it made people worry that it would
break if he exerted even a little force.
So they dared not use force, nor did they dare to be careless.
I'm afraid of being too abrupt if we get too close, but I'm also unwilling to let go.
Time seemed to stand still until Zhu Jinxia woke up from her dream. Huo De withdrew his hand
and took a step back.
When did he... ?
She felt a sudden surge of panic in her embarrassment. She raised her sleeve and wiped her face
violently, then retreated back into the house.
"It's getting late, time to go to bed!"
As he said this, he was about to close the door.
Before it could be closed, someone held it with his hand.
Shi Xu looked at her steadily, neither speaking nor letting go.
Zhu Jinxia asked anxiously: "What are you doing?"
"Didn't you say I know nothing?" Shixu calmed down strangely and said calmly, "Then don't sleep,
and continue talking."
"……say what?"
"Until I know."
"I, I don't know what you are talking about!"
"To be honest, I don't know either."
Time's gaze gradually moved down from her moist eye sockets, to her nose which was red as if it
was wearing a clown ball, pitiful and funny, and then to her lips which were originally rosy but
now bitten white.
He leaned against the door and asked, "What are you feeling guilty about, Zhu Jinxia?"
Zhu Jinxia felt as if she was pricked by a needle, "Am I guilty?"
Shi Xu looked at her, "You don't have it?"
His expression was too calm, his eyes too composed, like the sky after the snow had cleared.
The words of rebuttal were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say them out loud. Zhu Jinxia
stood inside the door, opened his mouth, but his mind was empty.
They stared at each other for a long time, and finally she looked away first. All her previous anger
and rage were released like a balloon punctured by a needle.
She stared at a small spot on the ground and took a deep breath.
"Did you see it? After lunch, when you were standing behind the coffee table..."
He knew what she was talking about, the letter on the computer.
So he responded, "Yeah."
"I've said it before, Shixu, I've been married." She stared at the mottled spot, absentmindedly
identifying its shape, "When Aunt Fang insisted on bringing us together--"
"Yeah." He simply responded to indicate that he remembered.
"That night when I came back from town, I asked you why you didn't ask me why I came to teach.
You said that we were leaving anyway, and it was enough for me to come and the children
benefited... At that time, I was glad that you didn't ask any further questions."
"What now?"
"Now I want you to ask."
She seemed to have made up her mind and took her eyes off the ground. No matter what shape
it was, all she saw was time.
Shi Xu nodded and followed suit, "Why did you come to teach?"
"To escape," Zhu Jinxia said. "I wanted a divorce, but my husband disagreed. The whole thing
became known to everyone, so I ran away."
Timing silence.
No wonder, no wonder he packed his bags and set off on his journey right after he asked about
teaching. No wonder he fell into the trap without even asking for the conditions.
"The wedding was supposed to be in August, less than half a year left. I got the certificate,
booked a wedding company, chose the wedding dress, and took the photos, but I regretted it in
the end." She said mechanically as if she was explaining someone else's story, "That's how it is. I
came to the mountains to escape the mess. I don't have any lofty ambitions or dedication. My life
outside the mountains is also a mess, and I can't stand any more trouble."
After saying this, she felt a little tired.
She thought it would be best if he didn't say anything, but the breath she held subconsciously
revealed her inner hope. Maybe he could say something, anything.
After a long while, Shi Xu nodded, "I understand."
There was another moment of silence, with only the sound of wind and water in my ears.
In the end, he was the one who cleaned up the mess.
"It's getting late. You have your first class tomorrow. Go to sleep."
In the end, nothing was said.
He silently carried the bucket, which she had abandoned twice and filled with one-third of water,
back into the house. This time Zhu Jinxia did not resist, stepped aside to make way, and
whispered a thank you.
Shi Xu brought in the water, bent down and put it under the table, checked if there was enough
mineral water in the corner, and took away the full garbage bag. He walked out the door, but
finally turned back.
"Happy summer."
She looked up at him, her heart hanging in the air. Her chest swelled when she saw his uneasy
look. She was still pretending to be strong, but he knew better than anyone that she was just
pretending to be strong.
He looked into those eyes, said nothing in the end, and turned away.

Chapter 37
The next day, Zhu Jinxia did not go upstairs to eat breakfast.
Before entering the mountains, she was lazy and ate breakfast casually: she would eat if she got
up early, and she would not eat if she got up late. After entering the mountains, she would cook
regardless of the weather, which helped her develop a good habit of eating three meals a day on
time.
Unfortunately, it was broken by a cup of milk tea last night.
She tossed and turned for most of the night and slept very late. When she looked in the mirror in
the morning, her complexion was terrible.
We walked to the dormitory building of Shixu, hesitated for a long time, and finally turned
around and went into the teaching building.
She didn't know that someone at the window on the third floor could see everything she did.
Living high up, you can see far, and Shixu's kitchen is opposite the small building where Zhu Jinxia
lives. When he saw her leaving, he took the buns out of the pot and brought them to the living
room.
I stood there for a while, but she didn't show up. There was no sound from outside the door, and
no sound from the corridor.
He walked to the living room window and looked down to see the man standing in a daze at the
entrance of the corridor. There was a look of struggle written all over the back of his head. Finally,
as if he had made up his mind, he turned around and walked towards the teaching building.
Shi Xu didn't say anything and just watched her disappear in the teaching building.
Soon Dunzhu came, his voice arrived before he even showed up.
"I'm so hungry, what are we going to eat today?"
He looked at the table and laughed, "Dumplings? You're making dumplings so early in the
morning. How early do you have to get up?"
If you can't sleep, you'll have to get up early.
Shi Xu didn't say anything, picked up the millet porridge and took two sips.
Dunzhu asked again: "Where is Teacher Zhu? Hasn't he come yet?"
Shixu didn't say anything, but glanced at the teaching building opposite. Dunzhu followed his line
of sight and asked in surprise, "You're going to the classroom so early? You didn't even have
breakfast?"
"Who knows?" After a moment, Shi Xu said calmly, "Practice the core values of socialism and be
dedicated to your work."
After working hard to make the buns all morning, most of them went into Dunzhu's stomach.
Thinking about it, I sent a message to Zhu Jinxia: "No breakfast?"
I looked out the window and could see the person in the classroom sitting behind the desk. He
slowly picked up his phone and replied slowly, "I'm not hungry. I'm attending the morning
reading."
Time sequence: "I didn't hear any sound. Did they all skip their meals like you?"
A few seconds later, the sound of reading, which was trying to be concealed but became more
obvious, could be heard outside the window.
The moon sets, the crows cry, and the sky is full of frost. The maples on the river bank and the
fishing fires are right in front of me, making me sleepy.
The bell of Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City can be heard by the passenger ship at midnight.
The children's faces were red and their necks were thick from shouting. It was not known
whether the bell reached the passenger ship, but the sound of reading reached the teachers'
dormitory building.
Dunzhu was busy eating a bun when he suddenly heard a military training chant. He looked up
and asked in surprise, "Which class are you from? Are you bored?"
He craned his neck to look out.
Shi Xu slowly replied, "I think it's an acting training class."
When I looked away, I realized there was not much left on the table.
"How many servings do you want to eat? Are you possessed by a pig spirit?" Shixu slapped away
Dunzhu's hand that was touching the buns, put the remaining three on a plate, and filled a
thermos with half a bottle of millet porridge. "Send it to the other side after you finish eating, so
that the guy can have some food."
"Who?"
Who else?
The monitor of the acting class.
When the morning reading was almost over, Dunzhu suddenly showed up, stood at the back door
of the classroom and waved to Zhu Jinxia, smiling like a servile eunuch, and offered her breakfast
humbly.
Zhu Jinxia was already so hungry that her stomach was growling, and she started eating while
standing in the corridor.
“Sprout buns?” She took a bite and puffed her cheeks. “Did you make this?”
"My brother did it. I don't know how early he got up, he's quite diligent." Dunzhu laughed, "Look
at him, doesn't he look like a young wife who gets up early and works late to cook for her
husband?"
"cough--"
I wish you a happy summer.
Eunuch Dun quickly unscrewed the lid of the thermos cup, "Are you in a hurry to eat? Have some
porridge!"
While drinking porridge, Zhu Jinxia absentmindedly recalled a certain morning when, while she
was chewing on a dry barley cake, she inadvertently mentioned that when she was in elementary
school, she would buy sprout buns at the school gate every day.
"The grandmother who sells buns has a surname of Wang. Everyone is laughing and saying why
Grandma Wang stopped selling melons and switched to selling buns."
"At that time, the buns were only two yuan a basket. They were fragrant, soft and juicy when you
bit into them. I loved the bean sprout filling the most."
At that time, Shi Xu was sitting opposite me and said indifferently, "Eat your cake. Who has the
time to make you buns so early in the morning?"
Zhu Jinxia curled her lips: "But I can't eat biscuits every day, right?"
"It's good to have something to eat."
"I'll scratch you to death!"
"A really stingy person won't care about your breakfast. One meal a day is enough to maintain
basic vital signs."
…
There is one bean sprout bun left on the plate. I wish you a happy summer.
The buns are white and plump, and every wrinkle is symmetrical and cute. The craftsman who
made them is very skilled, and the buns have become works of art.
Didn't you say that you don't have time to do these things early in the morning?
Dunzhu urged her, "Why don't you eat? Eat quickly and I'll take the plate back. Class will start
soon."
I hope you can pick it up this summer.
How to describe its taste?
In the classroom, the children were reading aloud: "This is what I experienced in my dream last
night. I just woke up..."
She was startled. It turned out to be the taste of childhood.
——
The awkward atmosphere continues.
In addition to skipping breakfast, Zhu Jinxia also stopped participating in physical exercises during
breaks.
It takes time for the sun to climb into the sky, and it usually only appears when the children are
doing exercises. In the past, at this time, Zhu Jinxia would always sit by the playground to bask in
the sun and watch the demons dancing.
...By the way, I laugh at the timing of maintaining order around the queue. It's really like a brick of
socialism, it can be moved wherever it is needed.
The children love to play and are keen on chatting while doing exercises, and the timing appears
at the right time.
"What are you talking about so happily? Tell me something to make me happy too."
Child: I can’t be happy. JPG.
Others prefer to cut corners and give a perfunctory finish until he appears behind them out of
nowhere.
"You didn't eat breakfast this morning, why are you so weak?"
The child was so frightened that he trembled all over, and then he performed the radio
gymnastics with the momentum of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.
Zhu Jinxia laughed: "Tsk, wherever I go, it's like seeing a ghost."
…
Now, Shi Xu stood quietly in the corridor. The children on the playground were still dancing wildly
and cutting corners. Everything was the same as before, except for the person who always joked
with him during the break.
Not only did she not come to the playground to bask in the sun, she also stopped going to his
room to eat, drink, or sit at the coffee table.
When eating lunch, he eats as fast as a starving ghost. He runs away as soon as he finishes eating,
as if his feet are greased.
Dunzhu looked at Zhu Jinxia in confusion: "How can she run so fast?"
Shixu put down the bowl and said, "It's time to ride on Hot Wheels."
“…”
After hiding for a few days, Zhu Jinxia thought that if she kept hiding, the incident of that day
would be over. The best timing is that of a goldfish, with a seven-second memory.
Shixu thought so too. She could hide if she wanted. After hiding for a while, the snail would
eventually get out of its shell. If she really couldn't get out, then she shouldn't try to get out.
Anyway, you'll leave sooner or later, and when you leave, there's naturally no need to drill
anymore.
——
On Wednesday morning, something ridiculous happened: a strange smell suddenly appeared in
the fifth grade classroom.
We can't take showers in school, and the children have a high metabolism, so it's normal to have
smells, but today the smell is really too bad.
The children obviously smelled it as well, and started to make a commotion during the class.
Under normal circumstances, no one would dare to do so.
Time stopped and the chalk poked heavily on the blackboard twice.
"Be quiet, everyone."
The students were afraid of the time and dared not say a word.
But the stink persists.
After class, almost as soon as the time came, the children started shouting.
“It stinks!”
"Who farted?"
"I didn't!"
Some people sniffed one by one, following the smell to locate the source of the stench.
"It seems to be Shiro's side!"
"You're talking nonsense!" The boy named Silang Yongjin stood up with a red face, "I didn't fart!"
But the smell did come from him.
The children whispered--
"It must be him!"
"I don't know what I ate last night, my farts are so smelly."
"He still won't admit it."
In the following time, Silang listened to everyone's talk with his golden ears, and when he heard
someone mention him, his face turned red and his neck became thick, ready to fight with that
person.
After the bell rang for class, the commotion was suppressed by Yu Xiaoshan. She walked into the
classroom, picked up a book, rushed forward, and hit each of the children who were fighting with
each other with a stick.
"What are you doing? Stop it!"
Pull people away.
"Are you so brave? You dare to fight in my class?"
"Tell me, why are you fighting!"
He couldn't hold back his ferocious expression, and before anyone could answer, Yu Xiaoshan also
smelled the strange "fragrance" and immediately covered her mouth and nose.
"What is the taste?!"
There was no time to investigate the cause of the fight.
The children started to complain. Some said it must be someone who didn't wash his feet last
night, and some said it must be someone who farted.
Yu Xiaoshan struggled with them for a while, but she didn't want to delay the class, so she had to
stay away from the center of the stench and finished the class with great difficulty. As she was
thinking, no matter who stinks, all the sixth graders have to wash their feet on the playground
tonight! No one can run away!
mainly--
"It stinks! Who can understand that I was in the middle of a lecture, and I nearly spit out my
breakfast without saying anything?"
When the bell rang, Yu Xiaoshan was the first one to rush out of the classroom. She ran back to
the teacher's office in one breath, holding her chest and gasping for breath.
"Let me know whose feet are so smelly, I'll use a steel wool to scrub off a layer of his skin!"
Later, during the break, the children lined up in squares and began to dance wildly under the
supervision of their teachers.
After a while, the teachers on patrol also began to whisper to each other.
"What's going on? The fifth graders there really stink!"
Yu Xiaoshan stood far away. "What did I say?"
"Why doesn't it smell like foot odor?" Dunzhu touched his chin and pondered, "It feels more
like..."
At this moment, the loudspeaker just rang out: "Seventh section, jumping exercises."
Before Dunzhu could figure out what the smell was like, the children had already jumped up in a
mess. At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "Look, Silang is holding gold!"
A single stone caused a thousand ripples, and all the teachers and students looked towards the
source of the sound.
It turned out that just a few seconds ago, the boy named Silang Yongjin was standing in the fifth
grade team. As he jumped lightly, something suddenly fell out of his trouser leg.
The children standing next to him quickly noticed that the thing was very similar in color and
shape...
"It's Shiro who's holding the gold!"
The children in the class screamed.
"Silang Baojin has shit in his trouser pocket!"
Suddenly, no one was doing exercises on the playground. Everyone rushed up and surrounded
the red-faced Silang Yongjin and the unidentified object.
The truth was revealed. The source of the stench was indeed Silang Yongjin. For some unknown
reason, he defecated in his pants during class, and because no one knew about it, he was afraid
that others would find out, so he secretly did not deal with it. In this way, the poop was stuffed
into his trouser legs until he jumped and moved, and the thing accidentally fell out...
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Silang Yongjin's face turned red and white, and he could
no longer argue. Amid everyone's pointing and criticizing, he angrily pushed aside a corner of the
crowd, and ran away without even looking back.
The teachers finally came back to their senses from their astonishment.
The physical exercise during break is over.
"What are you doing? Go back to the classroom!" As soon as Shi Xu gave the order, the children
scattered like birds and beasts.
As a teacher, I have seen many teaching accidents, but this is the first time.
Yu Xiaoshan was worried about the child, so she hurriedly said, "I'll go see Silang Yongjin!"
Zhu Jinxia was afraid that she would be impatient and, like the day she taught Jia Xiram, she
might accidentally hurt the child's self-esteem, so she quickly followed and said, "I'll go with you."
Other teachers also said: "I go to the classroom to watch the students."
"I asked the class committee to maintain order."
"I still have lessons to prepare."
The playground was soon cleared out, leaving only Dunzhu standing there in shock, looking down
at the thing in disbelief and marveling at it.
When Shixu walked up, he heard him say.
"Fuck, that's really shit!"
“That’s awesome.”
Suddenly, a slap hit him on the back of his head. Dunzhu screamed and turned around, "Who?"
Seeing the sequence, he covered his head and asked, "Why did you attack me?"
"Get it away."
"……?"
Dunzhu's eyes almost popped out of his head. "I didn't pull it out, why should I take it away?"
"Because you're stupid." Shi Xu was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and asked
expressionlessly, "Look at what others are doing."
Dunzhu looked up and around, and then he woke up from his dream.
Seeing that the situation was not good, a group of smart people immediately found various
excuses and scattered on their hot wheels, but he was the only one who stood there watching...
He was the only one left in the huge playground. If he didn't pick up the shit, who would?
"Aren't you still here?" Dunzhu looked around and didn't find anyone. Finally, he turned around
and said to his brother without giving up -
etc.
Where is his brother?
Dunzhu opened his mouth, looked down at his father, and then looked at the completely empty
playground.
“…………………………”
Shit, what the hell is this guy doing?

Chapter 38
Silang rushed back to the boys' dormitory with the gold in his arms. Yu Xiaoshan and Zhu Jinxia
hurriedly followed him, but he had locked the door and refused to open it.
"Open the door!"
“…”
"Can you open it?"
“…”
Yu Xiaoshan sneered, asked the life teacher for the key, and opened the door in no time.
As the saying goes, the higher the virtue, the higher the devil.
The door opened, but no one was seen for a long time. Finally, Zhu Jinxia bent down and found
that Silang Yongjin was squatting under the table, with his face buried in his knees, motionless,
and refusing to look up to see anyone.
There is still a faint odor in the room.
Zhu Jinxia remembers it very clearly. On her first day at the central school, she was about to back
out because of the bad conditions. When time had already sent her to the school gate, a senior
boy suddenly ran up to her, took out a piece of barley cake from a woven bag filled with pig feed
and gave it to her, then ran away without looking back.
That boy is Silang Yongjin.
It is still vivid in my mind when I think back on it.
Zhu Jinxia was responsible and patient in coaxing people. Yu Xiaoshan had no time to deal with
him, so she held her nose and rummaged through the drawers in the boys' dormitory. Finally, she
found the pants that Silang Yongjin had worn and got dirty last week and had not had time to
wash.
I could smell something sour from a distance, Zhu Jinxia: "...Is this still wearable?"
"What else? Should we let him run naked?" Yu Xiaoshan raised her orchid finger to reduce the
contact area between her hand and the pants as much as possible, and glanced at Silang Yongjin,
"Just wear it. No matter how smelly it is, it can't be as smelly as the one he's wearing."
The children go home every two weeks, and when they return to school, they wear clean clothes
and bring a change of clothes. This is the second week, and Silang Yongjin has nothing to change.
Yu Xiaoshan said that if it weren't for the mandatory requirement after Shi Seung-min returned to
the mountains to take office, the children would never have brought any change of clothes and
would have worn the same set of clothes for two weeks.
I managed to get by in the winter, and went to class in the summer...
"You've heard of people getting carsick and seasick, but have you ever heard of people getting
classroom sick?"
As soon as I entered the classroom, it felt like I was walking into a group of homeless people's
shoes. It was so sour and refreshing that I felt dizzy.
Yu Xiaoshan said this as she changed the child's clothes, and Zhu Jinxia helped by fetching water,
towels and soap.
Silang was dodgy with the gold and refused to let Yu Xiaoshan change it for him, nor did he let
Zhu Jinxia clean it for him.
Yu Xiaoshan was annoyed: "What are you covering?"
"My mother said that men should not let women see their penises..."
Yu Xiaoshan: "You dare to call yourself a man even though your hair hasn't even grown out yet!"
“…”
"Also, have you ever seen a man pull his trouser pockets?"
Silang Yongjin's face turned pale and he said nothing.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so she pulled Yu Xiaoshan away and said to the
child gently, "Then change it yourself. The teacher is waiting for you at the door."
Yu Xiaoshan cursed and walked out with her dirty pants, leaving them aside in disgust. "You stinky
boy, what do you eat all day long? How can your shit be so stinky? I'll die of the stink!"
Zhu Jinxia lowered her voice: "Say less, the child also has self-esteem."
Having said that, he glanced at the pants on the railing and stood further away without saying a
word.
"You only have self-respect, but where is your sympathy? You just pooped on yourself and made
everyone feel bad all morning..." Even though she complained, Yu Xiaoshan's voice became
smaller.
Through the door, she could hear the rustling sound of someone changing pants inside. After a
while, the sound of clothes rubbing stopped, and was replaced by a strange and subtle
movement. Zhu Jinxia called out "Silang Yongjin".
The child paused slightly and responded with a heavy nasal tone, probably crying.
Yu Xiaoshan was about to push the door open, but was stopped by Zhu Jinxia. She shook her
head very lightly, signaling Yu Xiaoshan not to go in yet.
"Tell the teacher." Zhu Jinxia tried to relax her tone as much as possible through the door. "You
have an upset stomach. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? If you are not feeling well, the
teacher will take you to the hospital."
She was worried that Silang was embarrassed because he was sick.
After a while, a muffled voice came from inside the door: "No."
"Is that a cold or diarrhea?"
“Not really…”
Zhu Jinxia tried all kinds of ways and racked her brains to ask, and finally pried the child's mouth
open, and finally found out -
"He just wanted to poop, but because he was afraid of the principal, he didn't dare to raise his
hand. In the end, he couldn't hold it in and farted."
——Yu Xiaoshan said in disbelief in the office.
Everyone: “…”
In the office, the topic quickly turned to how terrible the time sequence was, which would scare
the child so much that he would rather poop than raise his hand to go to the toilet.
Shixu's face turned black.
"Can you blame me for this? I have never stopped students from going to the bathroom, and I
have told them many times that if there is any emergency, you can raise your hand—"
Dunzhu: "And then the child was so suffocated that he pulled his pants pocket?"
“…”
Shixu quickly called Silang Yongjin to his office and asked with a frown, "Did I tell you to tell me
immediately if there is any emergency? Whether you feel unwell or want to go to the toilet, just
raise your hand. There is no reason to stop you from going."
“…”
Silang held the gold, shrank his neck, trembling with fear and not daring to say a word.
After some education.
Time sequence: "Next time this happens, don't hold it in. Raise your hand and report to the
teacher immediately. Do you hear me?"
Nodding like pounding garlic.
"Speak." Shixu was unhappy.
"Listen, I heard it!"
Seeing his pale face, he huddled up in fear, Shi Xu asked, "Are you afraid of me?"
Shake your head.
"Don't lie."
The head that was shaking like a rattle stopped immediately, and then started nodding like a
chick chasing rice.
Shi Xu took a deep breath and said, "I don't lose my temper or delay class. What are you afraid of
me doing?"
"I'm afraid you'll punish me by making me squat or run laps..."
"Those who are punished are those who don't do their homework or are naughty. You have never
been punished." Shi Xu frowned. "Besides, when have I ever punished a student for wanting to go
to the toilet during class?"
The boy murmured something as he glanced at the time cautiously through his weed-like bangs.
Timing: "Louder."
"#￥%&*..."
Still couldn't hear clearly. Shixu's brows were almost knotted, "Do you need me to get you a
loudspeaker?"
Si Lang was so overwhelmed with gold that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He
had no choice but to shout loudly: "You look too fierce!"
He ran away after shouting.
Time sequence: "..."
The whole office was filled with laughter.
Shi Xu was too lazy to pay attention to them. He took his textbook and went out. When he
reached the door, he remembered something and turned back. "Oh, by the way, I have to go to
the school next door for a meeting tomorrow. Someone needs to help me with the third class in
the morning."
He glanced around, checked his get out of class schedule in his mind, and locked his eyes on the
person who was the most idle. But before he could say anything, Zhu Jinxia said bluntly, "No."
Time sequence: "..."
Time sequence: "You only have one class tomorrow—"
"I'm a Chinese teacher and I can't teach math."
Seeing Zhu Jinxia avoiding his gaze, Shi Xu knew that she was still upset about what happened
last night. Looking at the two bruises under her eyes, he also knew that she must not have slept
well last night.
never mind.
Someone else was called upon to do the job. "Dunzhu, you go."
Perhaps Zhu Jinxia's effective refusal inspired Dunzhu, who immediately said, "I won't go either."
"?"
Shi Xu was silent for a moment, "What did you say? Say it again."
After staring at each other for a few seconds, Dunzhu received a warning from his cerebral cortex.
"I said yes, brother, go ahead and attend the meeting. Leave the class to me and I will make sure I
complete the task."
The timing has gone.
Yu Xiaoshan sneered and looked at Dunzhu with a squint: "Look at what you have accomplished."
Dunzhu was not convinced: "If it were you, would you dare to refuse?"
"Then how dare they refuse?"
This question made Dunzhu stunned. He turned around and asked, "Yes, Teacher Zhu, how dare
you refuse?"
Wish this summer: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "What's wrong with rejection? He can't do anything to me."
Recalling the different treatment his brother received after Teacher Zhu came to the school,
Dunzhu thought unhappily that it was good not to get a salary and not have to act according to
the capitalists' wishes, unlike him, who was a dependent child.
Why.
——
During the afternoon break, Silang Yongjin was pressed by Yu Xiaoshan against the sink, and he
washed his dirty pants with great effort.
It's not a big deal for a child to poop his pants, but for the closed campus and boring life in the
mountains, it is big news anyway.
At least during the break the next day, Zhu Jinxia witnessed with her own eyes that the children
were doing their exercises even more absent-mindedly. They all stared at Silang Yongjin's trouser
legs with giggles, as if they were expecting history to repeat itself and a suspicious object would
fall out of them again.
Especially during jumping exercises, everyone was talking to each other and the air was boiling.
Silang held Jin in silence, his face flushed red, and he looked like a bloated balloon that would
explode at any time.
Zhu Jinxia was very nervous and wanted to ask if she could help everyone who was looking for
fun to make trouble. But when she turned around, she saw Dunzhu standing next to her, also
staring at Silang Yongjin's trouser legs.
Wish this summer: "..."
The same was true during recess. The kids who usually didn't want to go downstairs to play
would suddenly rush down and point at the air from a distance.
Zhu Jinxia, who was passing by, saw the playground crowded with people and looked up as well.
"What are you looking at?"
The child didn't say anything, but pointed above his head with a smile.
Following those chubby fingers, Zhu Jinxia saw that on the clothesline outside Yu Xiaoshan's
window, the pants that Silang Yongjin wore yesterday were hung on the clothesline after being
washed and fluttering in the wind.
Wish this summer: “…………”
A few days later, I heard that the children gave Silang Yongjin a nickname, calling him Silang
Yongshi.
Zhu Jinxia felt something was wrong and didn't care about hiding from time and went to the door
on his own initiative.
In the middle of the day, Shixu was typing on the computer in the living room. He looked up and
saw that it was her and raised his eyebrows.
"A rare visitor."
“…”
Fuck you.
Zhu Jinxia pretended not to hear and spoke briefly about how everyone laughed at Silang's
possession of gold. Finally, he reminded Shixu: "The child has a strong sense of self-esteem. If this
continues, I'm afraid he will have psychological problems."
Shixu said: "It's like this in the mountains. Life is too monotonous. Even the smallest things will be
magnified. You don't have to treat it as a big enemy—"
Having said this, he paused and looked at her indifferently, "But you seem to be treating
everything as a formidable enemy."
Otherwise, why have you been avoiding him these days?
Wish this summer: "..."
Let's talk about the matter at hand. Why did you point at me?
She took a deep breath and continued to talk about Silang Yongjin: "In short, if we don't pay
attention to it and protect him well, I'm worried that he will become bored with school. After all,
children have fragile hearts."
"Glass heart?" Shixu let go of the mouse, tapped the table with his knuckles pointing downward,
"Same as you?"
Wish this summer: "..."
She shouldn't have bothered with this!
Slam the door.
After she left, the man behind the coffee table couldn't help scratching his chin.
Seems to be mad?
Chapter 39
It was the last class in the afternoon, and the three of them had no classes, so they gathered in
the Time Dormitory, which was a rare occasion.
Dunzhu asked Zhu Jinxia, you haven't been seen recently, why did you suddenly come to the
coffee table today.
Zhu Jinxia looked back at Shi Xu who had just entered the room and said nothing. Didn’t she have
time to leave?
It's time to come back to work overtime. He sits in front of the coffee table with a thick stack of
documents at his hands.
I hope he has never been idle this summer.
An acting principal who does not receive a salary does not even have a personal life all day long.
Students can go home from get out of class, and teachers can go home from get off work, but the
clock is like a robot, running tirelessly 24 hours a day.
He is different from the people around him. He never plays with his phone or watches short
videos. Occasionally, when Zhu Jinxia visits the living room, she will see him sitting in front of the
computer in the bedroom.
She peeked curiously through the half-open door and saw densely packed English words on the
screen in a familiar format.
I looked at it a few more times and was stunned.
He is reading core foreign journals.
At that moment, Zhu Jinxia realized that there is no such thing as a comeback, because the
mountain has always been there, just dormant.
In an unknown corner, he never gave up his ideals.
When his brother was working overtime, Dunzhu took it upon himself to cook. Zhu Jinxia went
into the kitchen, using the excuse of helping Dunzhu so as not to confront the workaholic.
Shixu didn't say anything. The man who had never done housework was willing to go into the
kitchen to avoid him, so he could be considered to have done a great deed.
I could hear some random conversations going on in the kitchen.
"Did you put too much salt?"
"It's okay, they were all bought by my brother, I don't feel bad about it."
"I don't think it's necessary to spend his money to choke both of us to death."
"Eat a few more mouthfuls of rice, or you'll choke to death."
Time sequence: "..."
"How about I knead the dough?"
"No need. You girls are weak and kneading dough is a strenuous job. Leave it to us men."
"I'm quite strong."
"Come on, you have skinny arms and legs, you want to compete with me in strength?"
"..." Zhu Jinxia paused, "No, it's mainly because there's mud in the cracks of your fingernails, and
I'm afraid it's unhygienic to eat..."
Dunzhu: “…”
Wish this summer: "Go wash your hands."
Dunzhu: "There is a saying that goes 'If it's not clean, you won't get sick if you eat it.'"
Wish this summer: "Wash your hands."
We are having beef noodles tonight. We use yak beef grown in the mountains. It has been
braised since noon and is already smelling delicious.
After washing his hands, Dunzhu came back and lifted the lid of the pot, lamenting that in the
past he could only eat such good things during festivals.
"My brother treats me differently. Ever since you came, the meals have been so sumptuous that
it's like Chinese New Year every day. The last time I had braised beef was on my birthday last
year." Dunzhu counted on his fingers, "Before you came, he didn't care about my breakfast. When
you came--"
Before he could divert the topic further, Zhu Jinxia interrupted.
"Do you guys eat longevity noodles for your birthday?"
“Isn’t it the same across the country?”
"My grandma also makes longevity noodles for me every year." Zhu Jinxia smiled.
The time master was in the living room, and in order to prevent Dunzhu from talking nonsense,
she simply took over the topic.
The people of Bashu seldom cook noodles. What they usually have at home is dried noodles.
They can cook a bowl of noodles in five minutes by boiling water.
Since the 1990s, Mianshui City has become a major heavy industrial city, owning the railway
locomotive factory in the entire southwest region. At that time, countless skilled workers from
the north were also assigned here.
“My parents were also workers in the locomotive factory.”
People from all over the country came together, and naturally, people from the north brought the
technique of making pasta into the family quarters.
"At that time, my parents had to go to work, so my grandmother came to take care of my three
meals a day. She learned how to make steamed buns and noodles from the aunties in the
community. Later, every year on my birthday, she would make longevity noodles for me."
People in Sichuan and Chongqing eat rabbits, and my grandma loves to make rabbit noodles. The
rabbit is braised in brown sauce, served with spicy seasonings, and half a bowl is poured on the
white noodles. The side dish is pakchoy, which my grandma calls pakchoy. After being rinsed in
the pot, it is crispy and green.
"The last part is the finishing touch. It's my grandmother's secret recipe that she never tells
anyone else. It's called the Fire Explosion Tube."
"Fire bomb?"
"It's actually stir-fried chili pepper rings. Cut the erjingtiao into thumb-sized rings, put them into
the pan and fry until they are charred, and you can see the tiger skin. Then add vinegar, the
sourer the better. Finally, put it in a small bowl and eat it with noodles."
Zhu Jinxia is still describing: "A mouthful of noodles, a mouthful of spicy and fragrant rabbit, a
refreshing cabbage, and then chewing two sour and spicy fire bombs - hey, what's that at the
corner of your mouth?"
Dunzhu slurped and swallowed the saliva around his mouth.
The people in the living room put down the information, glanced at the kitchen, and thought to
themselves, isn't this a unique secret recipe that will never be passed on to others? One of them
asked casually, and the other said, "What kind of unique secret recipe is this?"
The small talk in the inner room continued.
"How long is your birthday, teacher?"
Zhu Jinxia smiled, "Have you forgotten my name?"
Dunzhu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "So you were born in summer, that's
why you're called Jinxia!"
He was eager to ask, "Did you have your birthday or not? Did you have rabbit noodles this year?"
Zhu Jinxia smiled and said, "No. But it doesn't matter, I haven't had it for a few years."
First, he went out to study and rarely celebrated his birthday at home. Later, when he was old, he
joined a sunset tour group to Zhangjiajie and fell, breaking both his hands. After recovering, he
could no longer knead dough.
Amid Dunzhu's regretful voice, she rubbed the silly boy's head, and the flour in her hand dyed his
skin white like snowflakes.
She couldn't help but burst out laughing, "It's just a bowl of noodles. Is Sichuan worried about
not having rabbit noodles?"
"That wasn't made by grandma either."
I wish you a happy meal this summer. “Yes, no matter how delicious it is, it won’t taste the same.”
The person in the living room was still reading some documents. Upon hearing this, he looked up
at the kitchen and saw only a disappointed smile.
In the evening, Yu Xiaoshan received news from Shixu.
"In which cabinet did you put the volunteer teachers' information?"
Yu Xiaoshan had already laid down and was playing with her mobile phone, but was suddenly
questioned by the principal and got up nervously.
“They are all in the data room.”
Shi Xu stood in the data room, looking up calmly at the three rows of large iron cabinets.
"Which cabinet number is it?"
Yu Xiaoshan: "Ah, every time I printed it out, I put it in the cabinet I used at the time, so over the
years, some are in this drawer, some are in that drawer..."
The more I talk about it, the more guilty I feel. The main point is to open a blind box randomly.
After a moment.
Shi Xu still asked: "Where is Zhu Jinxia?"
He quickly received the resume that Zhu Jinxia had submitted when he participated in the
Rainbow Project.
My eyes fell on the birthday column, and the date was actually...
the day after tomorrow?
Shi Xu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood why when she was making noodles
today, she inadvertently thought of the longevity noodles made by her grandmother.
It turns out to be so close.
——
There are 13 hours left until my birthday.
Zhu Jinxia walked out of the classroom and looked down to see three unread messages on
WeChat.
Yuan Feng asked her: "How was your participation in Metamorphosis?"
"I said before that you're turning 29, so we won't have birthday cake this time. Let me take you to
experience how adults in the city celebrate their birthdays. But the man disappeared."
"So how are you going to celebrate your birthday this year?"
Zhu Jinxia replied: "But."
but--
Zhu Jinxia: "How do urban adults celebrate their birthdays?"
Yuan Feng: "A wise man does not fall in love, an adult should wash his feet and have a massage. I
will take you to get a full health treatment!"
Zhu Jinxia: "Go away."
Yuan Feng laughed at the other end, and finally asked her: "You are only one step away from
turning 30, how do you feel?"
Thoughts?
I wish that this summer when you look up, above the lush mountains and forests, the sky will be
like a blue Milky Way, stretching into the distance.
a long time.
"I don't have any feelings. I just know that the first 28 years were routine, and I don't want to
spend the 29th year like this."
as well as--
"I want to eat noodles. I want the rabbit noodles made by grandma."
——
At lunch time, Dunzhu was the only one in the dormitory.
At first, I thought Shixu was still working overtime, until Dunzhu came out of the kitchen with
dishes and chopsticks. Zhu Jinxia realized, "Just two sets?"
"My brother went to the county town to do some work and will be back in the evening."
Zhu Jinxia felt that it was just right. She was tired after hiding for a few days. Even eating was like
a battle. Today she could finally eat slowly.
She stretched out for a rare moment, and her sitting posture became more comfortable.
Why does the guy opposite seem to have a cramp in the corner of his mouth?
"What are you laughing at?"
"I'm happy to see you eating so well. A few days ago, you just ate a few mouthfuls and left in a
hurry." Dunzhu held the bowl and smiled with two rows of white teeth, with her ponytail swaying
behind her head. "It's rare that my brother is not here, so it's just the two of us eating. Don't you
think the food is more delicious?"
“…”
"That's what I think anyway."
The legendary world of two people.
Zhu Jinxia put down her chopsticks and said calmly: "It would be even better if you could
disappear with your brother."
Dunzhu: “…”
The little heart shattered into pieces with a snap.
All day long, there were people in the school looking for time sequences.
Dunzhu answered in unison: "I went to the county town to do some work."
In the afternoon, the principal of the neighboring school also came over the hills to look for him,
"Where is your principal?"
"I went to the county town to do some business." Still the same answer.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know. He said it was urgent."
The other party grabbed Dunzhu's hand and said, "Forget it. It doesn't matter if he's not here.
Where are his state exam materials? Lend them to me to copy! The higher-ups suddenly notified
us that there will be a surprise inspection tomorrow. Several of our schools haven't gotten them,
so he must have gotten them!"
When Dunzhu rummaged through Shixu's desk and took out the state exam materials—
"Hahaha, he really has finished it! It's still our timing, reliable!"
They come and go in a hurry. The principal who is cramming for the exam looks no different from
the students.
After being searched for a whole day, I returned to school at dark, exhausted.
He took off his helmet, smoothed his flattened hair, untied the rope from the back seat of the
motorcycle, and carried two bags back to the dormitory.
It was already daybreak when I left, but now everything was quiet and all the students were
resting in the dormitory.
On the way, I met Yu Xiaoshan who was washing up in the sink with a basin. I yawned and asked,
"Principal, why are you back so late?"
"Um."
"Is everything done?"
Shi Xu smiled, looked at the two heavy bags in his hands, and nodded again.
Yu Xiaoshan also saw it, "What's in your hand?"
Shixu paused and said, "Salary."
"Huh?" Yu Xiaoshan became excited. "What salary? Whose salary?"
Shixu didn't answer, but just briefly asked about the teaching situation today. He felt relieved
when he learned that everything was in order.
After returning to the dormitory, he went straight to the kitchen, took out the freshly killed rabbit
from the bag and soaked it in water, then fished out a handful of shiny young Chinese cabbage
and picked out the leaves.
There are no rabbits for sale in the town. If you want to buy some, you can only go to the county
town. If you go too late, you won’t be able to buy any.
The rabbit needs to be marinated and braised, and kneading the dough also takes time. It took
more than two hours to finally make a bowl of rabbit noodles.
Shixu sent a message to Zhu Jinxia: "Where are you?"
The other party replied: "Dormitory."
Next sentence: "Are you back?"
Timing: “Yeah.”
Time sequence: "Would it be convenient for you to come to my dormitory now?"
It's easy to bump into people on the road if you carry the noodles like this.
Zhu Jinxia: "What's the matter?"
Time series: "Yes."
It’s the same as not answering.
Zhu Jinxia felt awkward again and subconsciously refused: "It's too late, why don't you just talk on
WeChat, or if you're not in a hurry, we can talk about it tomorrow."
Timing: "Very urgent."
Wish this summer: …
She slowly replied "I'll be there soon", put on her coat and went out. She had boiled water to
wash her hair tonight, so her hair was still wet and draped over her shoulders. The night wind
was quite cold, and she couldn't help shrinking her neck.
All the way I was wondering what could happen to him.
When I walked into the corridor, there was no light at first. I turned on my cell phone to shine
light and accidentally saw the time: 11:47.
She suddenly realized that she only had thirteen minutes left until she turned twenty-nine.
When I looked up, I was already on the third floor, with the iron gate right in front of me. Her
steps were too light, and the voice-activated light was not very sensitive, so I was not woken up
by her. Zhu Jinxia just stood in the dark corridor, and for some reason, she didn't knock on the
door.
In a trance, I recalled many scenes related to my birthday.
11:48.
When I was a child, I always looked forward to my birthday. What kid doesn’t like cake?
Zhu Jinxia can no longer remember how her parents celebrated her birthday when they were
alive, as they passed away early. But she remembers that her grandmother would celebrate her
birthday twice a year - making birthday noodles on the lunar calendar and eating birthday cake
on the solar calendar. The reason is that the lunar calendar is the calculation method used by us
Chinese, while the solar calendar is the international Gregorian calendar, so of course it must be
internationalized.
11:49.
No matter how attentive the care is, there are always things that are difficult to achieve. For
example, her grandmother raised her only with her pension. Even though the school tuition was
free and the government provided poverty assistance, she still had financial difficulties.
Seeing other parents coming to the class with multi-layer cakes, the little birthday boy wearing a
crown and being treated like a celebrity, and the whole class singing birthday songs together, Zhu
Jinxia was also full of envy.
Her cakes are always small and have no ice cream or chocolate on them.
She dreamed of owning the Barbie dolls and teddy bears that the girl sitting next to her desk
received, but she was precocious and knew that the small fruit cake had already cost her
grandmother a lot of money.
11:50.
When she was nine years old, Zhu Jinxia made a wish loudly, hoping to have a princess dress.
In that era, fluffy white gauze skirts, waist-pinched silk ribbon bows, a fairy wand, and a cheap
plastic crown were popular, and every girl could become a princess.
But the next day, my grandmother bought a skirt from the children's clothing store. It had no
white tulle or bow on it.
It was an ordinary cotton skirt. Although the style was lovely and the color was beautiful, but——
"I don't want this! I want a princess dress!"
Grandma said: "This skirt is breathable and comfortable to wear. It is so cool to wear in summer!"
"I want a princess dress!"
"Grandma has seen that those gauze skirts are stiff, made of poor quality material, uncomfortable
to wear, and not elastic. You won't be able to wear them next year when you grow taller."
"I just want a princess dress!"
"This summer—"
"I want a princess dress! I want it! I want it!"
Unfortunately, in the end, Zhu Jinxia never got her princess dress.
Grandma Zhu loved her, but on the one hand, she was concerned that the child had no parents
around her, and as the only elder, she had to shoulder the responsibilities of both a loving mother
and a strict father and could not spoil her endlessly; secondly, her finances were limited. In that
era, a nice princess dress would cost four or five hundred yuan, which was enough to feed the
two of them for a month.
She hardened her heart.
"Jinxia, can you understand something? Whose princess do you think you are?"
She said, if it weren't for me, you would have been an orphan.
She said, grandma is old, and is no more important to you than other parents to your children.
She can’t accompany you for so many years. When I’m gone, who can you rely on?
You have to work harder than others to live the life that others already have.
You have to study hard.
You must stand out.
So in the end, not only did she not have a princess dress, but the nine-year-old Zhu Jinxia also
realized for the first time that she had never been a princess and could never be a princess.
11:55.
I wish you can be admitted to the best middle school and the best experimental class in the city
with excellent grades this summer.
But the place is small, there are many people with connections, and there are countless children
of cadres in the locomotive factory.
The first display of privilege was that there was no need to run for class committee members. The
teacher just called a few students to the office and the assignment was done without any
discussion.
Zhu Jinxia was admitted as the first in the exam, and luckily was assigned to the propaganda
committee member position which no one else wanted. This was truly an unexpected surprise.
There is a reason why no one is interested in it. The position of propaganda committee member
sounds like someone who watches the water dispenser and sits on the bench in the class
committee, but he is responsible for the weekly blackboard newspaper.
Do the most work and get the least attention.
The only sense of her presence is that during the weekly class meeting, the head teacher would
say: "Everyone look back at this issue of the blackboard newspaper. The publicity committee
member has worked hard."
Amid the sparse and half-hearted applause, no one knew how she managed to stay up until dark
on a deserted Friday, eat a mouthful of chalk dust, and finally lock the door and leave.
On my thirteenth birthday, which happened to be a Friday, Zhu Jinxia wrote in the corner of the
blackboard: Happy Birthday!
The next day, the head teacher ordered me to erase it.
11:58
Later, she really became the "other people's child" in the family quarters and "made it".
Weicheng bought the dolls she had always dreamed of in her childhood and piled them up in half
the room, although in the end they all gathered dust in the corner.
Every year on her birthday, Weicheng would buy her a gift from the same brand, because he
preferred the slogan "Only one person in a lifetime". Unfortunately, that brand was famous for its
everlasting flowers, but due to lack of practicality, they eventually ended up gathering dust along
with the dolls.
In addition to the gifts, they will also have a big meal, watch a popular movie, and then return
home.
——Weicheng went into the study and continued playing games with his friends every day; while
Zhu Jin returned to the second bedroom and continued reading and writing papers.
Except that dinner is a little more expensive than usual, and no one will touch the extra cake on
the table, so most of the cake is often left over, birthdays are actually no different from last
weekend or next weekend.
It's strange that birthdays are becoming more and more grand, but they seem to have lost their
fun.
Just like the dolls and cakes that you couldn't afford in your childhood, when you own them as an
adult, they become boring.
11:59.
One minute left.
In the blink of an eye, one third of life has passed, which is really unexpected.
I wish this summer that my thoughts are surging, and finally I realize that for so many years, what
I missed on my birthdays were the noodles made by my grandmother when there was a shortage
of material in my childhood, and the cheap cream on the cake that took a long time to melt in my
mouth but was so sweet.
In that era, people had very little, so everything seemed precious.
She lowered her head and smiled, thinking that wild boars really couldn't eat fine bran. Even if
she paid a high price these days, she probably wouldn't be able to buy that kind of cake.
As I was thinking about it, my phone suddenly vibrated twice.
The time sequence has been sent a message to urge us.
The iron door is not soundproof, and the vibration sound can be clearly heard inside and outside
the house.
Shixu was ready to deliver the noodles to the door. He paused after hearing the sound and
opened the door.
12 o'clock sharp.
He opened the door, and also opened the prologue to her twenty-nine years old.
Zhu Jinxia raised her eyes, and there was a flash of astonishment in her eyes. She seemed not to
have seen Shi Xu for a long time. Although they met every day, her eyes were always wandering
and she dared not stay.
He was still wearing the gray shirt he had worn when he went out in the morning. He must have
been riding a motorcycle to the county town to do some work, and he had been sitting in the car
for too long, so the corners of his shirt were wrinkled.
His hair was pressed all over the place by the helmet. He should get a haircut. His eyes were
almost covered by his fine bangs, but they were still so bright that people dared not look directly
at them.
He had been busy all day and looked tired. I didn't know what he was happy about.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned and discovered once again that she could always see the smile in Shixu's
eyes.
——Even the corners of his mouth didn't even bend.
——Even if that smile was fleeting.
She wanted to ask you what you were laughing at, but what came out was, "What's the smell?"
The wattage of the light bulb above my head was low, barely enough to make the room dim. The
cramped room was filled with mixed smells, including the sour smell of vinegar, the spicy smell
that hit my nose, and the aroma of braised pork...
Crossing the time sequence, Zhu Jinxia suddenly looked at the coffee table.
Then he was stunned.
She turned the clock aside and walked to the table.
In the noodle bowl, the rich-colored rabbit meat covered most of the bowl, and the shiny
cabbage was floating in the soup.
There is also a small bowl next to it, with fingernail-sized chili rings fried until crispy and fragrant.
The spicy flavor and the vinegar flavor collide together, making your mouth water just by smelling
it.
Zhu Jinxia stared at them blankly, her mind going blank.
"Not eating?"
She looked up and saw Shi Xu had walked to the other side without her knowing when, turned
around and took a pair of chopsticks and handed them to her.
She opened her mouth, "…What is this?"
"salary."
"What salary?"
"You don't earn any income from teaching, so just consider it as my salary."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia wants to ask you, do you know any scumbags on the Internet, the kind that transfers a
red envelope of 2.5 yuan to express love.
She is paid with a bowl of noodles, so is she considered a beggar?
But she looked down at the bowl of noodles and said nothing. She only knew that the childhood
she had been dreaming about the last second was right in front of her.
"If you don't eat it yet, the noodles will become clumpy."
Zhu Jinxia was a little slow, took the chopsticks and sat down.
Shi Xu suddenly remembered something and said "wait a moment". He got up and went into the
kitchen. When he came out, he suddenly pressed the light switch on the wall.
The hut was suddenly plunged into darkness.
I wish that when I look back this summer, I will see only a lit candle, and behind the candle are a
pair of vague eyes, like the hazy moon in the sky.
"There aren't many good cake shops in the county town, and it takes time to make cakes on the
spot. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make them in time, so I bought a ready-made one. It's a
nice touch."
He brought the cake to her.
"Happy birthday, summer."
When you get closer, you can see the cheap canned fruit on the cake, which is yellow peaches.
Coincidentally, the cake my grandmother bought when I was a child also had yellow peaches on
it.
There was a piece of chocolate in the corner of the cake with "Happy Birthday" written on it,
which reminded me of the small words written by a propaganda committee member on the
corner of the blackboard at dusk, not long ago.
Zhu Jinxia stared blankly at the cake, watching the candles melting under the flickering flame and
falling down like tears.
The man's laughter is in my ears——
"If you don't make a wish, the candle will burn out. The boss is stingy and only gave me this one."
"Are you sure you're not stingy and only want to buy one?"
She also laughed softly, clasped her hands together, opened her eyes again, and blew out the
candle.
Shixu got up and turned on the light. Looking back, he saw Zhu Jinxia already eating noodles with
her head almost buried in the bowl.
"Are you a reincarnated ghost who died of starvation?" he asked, "Dunzhu didn't cook today?"
She didn't say anything and just focused on eating.
At first I thought she was extremely hungry, until one moment, when I saw something falling
down her chin into the bowl, I suddenly realized something.
My heart skipped a beat.
The hand hanging under the table moved for a long time, clenched and unclenched. He stopped
talking and just looked at her across the coffee table.

Chapter 40
I was halfway through eating noodles when I was interrupted by an unexpected guest.
Yu Xiaoshan rushed out from the dormitory next door and was about to raise her hand to knock
on the door, but the door was not closed tightly. As soon as she touched it, it opened by itself.
She stumbled in and almost fell.
——In order to avoid suspicion, whenever there were guests in the dormitory, the door was
always left half-closed.
After seeing the situation inside the house clearly, Yu Xiaoshan was stunned for a moment.
Although she wanted to ask what the two of them were eating here in the middle of the night,
she was in a hurry.
"What's wrong?"
She was anxious and pulled up the time sequence, "Still eating? Silang ran away with the gold!"
Just now, the life teacher got up in the early morning and suddenly found that the door of a
dormitory was not closed and was wide open. He had a feeling that something was wrong.
At ten o'clock in the evening, when the lights were turned off, all the chicks were sent to bed. She
shone the flashlight from room to room, and clearly closed all the doors before leaving.
How come there's a door open?
The life teacher turned on the flashlight again and went into the room to check. There were four
beds in the room, eight people sleeping in pairs. But after scanning the flashlight back and forth
several times, there were only seven figures.
My heart skipped a beat.
Did you go to the toilet?
She asked the child: "Where is the other person?"
The children opened their eyes dazedly and said they didn't know.
The life teacher didn't care about much else and rushed to the toilet downstairs, but he searched
both the men's and women's toilets inside and out, but there was no one!
Finally, I returned to the dormitory, woke up all the children, and counted them one by one...
"Where is Shiro's gold?!"
The children looked at each other, shook their heads and said they didn't know.
It would be fine if it was someone else, but it was Silang Yongjin, and the rumors about him
pulling his trouser pockets were already known to everyone. The life teacher suddenly felt that
something was wrong and called Yu Xiaoshan.
Shi Xu rushed to the dormitory and stood in the small room. He glanced at the seven listless
children and turned back with anger. "Why didn't you find me first?"
The life teacher said awkwardly, "I thought I could ask Teacher Yu to look for the child together
and bring him back. There's no need to disturb you..."
Shi Xu took a deep breath. This was not the time to settle the score. He began to carefully
question the child about where Si Lang's gold had gone, but the answer was still "I don't know."
"What does he do before going to bed?"
The children looked at each other and just shook their heads.
There are eight people in a dormitory, four seniors and four juniors - this is his idea. The school is
short of staff, so the older children have to take care of the younger ones.
The three older ones couldn't ask a question, so Shi Xu called out the four younger ones
separately.
At first the children were afraid to speak, and Shi Xu said lightly, "If you tell me, it will have
nothing to do with you. If you don't tell me, you will be punished. No one can escape it." The kids
got a little panicked.
They were all afraid of Shi Xu. Whenever he had a fierce look on his face, they would tremble, not
to mention his fierce eyes at this moment, as if he wanted to eat them alive.
Under the pressure, the second-grade kid started crying first. He spoke in broken Chinese and
stammered about how several older kids had made fun of Silang for having gold. In addition to
calling him names and mocking him verbally, they had even gone further in the past few days and
started pulling his pants before going to bed.
Silang fought back desperately with Jin, but he was often ridiculed and then nothing happened.
After going to bed tonight, as soon as the life teacher left, someone farted and they started to
make a fuss again, saying it smelled so bad and someone must have pooped. They insisted that
Silang Yongjin take off his pants so that everyone could check.
Of course Silang Yongjin refused, so a physical fight broke out. The younger ones didn't dare to
move and just watched, while the three older ones held him down with two men, and the other
one started to pull his pants off.
Of course, it was impossible to find anything about something that had never happened, and the
pants were clean. The senior student loosened his grip, let go of Silang Yongjin, and threw the
pants back to him. Everyone laughed and said, "Fortunately, Silang Yongshi didn't happen today."
The ridicule over the past few days has overwhelmed Silang Yongjin, and this is the last straw that
breaks the camel's back.
He suddenly jumped up and kicked the man who was pulling down his pants on the calf, causing
him to bend over and hug his foot, grimacing.
As expected, the four seniors started fighting. Silang was as thin as a bamboo pole, and he was
outnumbered by three. How could he win? He even had a nosebleed, and he ran away with his
hands covering his face.
what to do?
The kids in the dormitory looked at each other, all confused.
The senior student said, "What are you afraid of? If he has the guts, he won't come back tonight."
"What if he tells the teacher?"
"He was the first to start it. It's not our fault to sue the teacher!"
"That's right. There are seven of us here. The teacher won't listen to his one-sided story. As long
as he insists that he was the one who beat us, we are just acting in self-defense!"
As they spoke, several senior students threatened the juniors, “Did you hear me? If the teacher
asks you about it, tell me the truth!”
Of course, the children did tell the truth, but they said too much and explained everything that
happened before Silang took the gold.
Shixu handed the scene over to the life teacher, and called Dunzhu and others out of bed, "Look
around to see where he is hiding."
Adjust the monitoring yourself.
It was the middle of the night and the school was in chaos.
Twenty minutes later, the teachers gathered in the office and searched the school inside and out,
but couldn't find the person.
On the timeline side, Zhu Jinxia followed. The two checked the surveillance again and again. The
last time Silang and Jin were seen was downstairs of the dormitory building. He ran down from
the upstairs, crying all the way out of the dormitory building, but he did not appear in the
surveillance in the playground or corridor.
There are blind spots in surveillance.
The security guard was also called over and said that the gate was locked and three meters high,
so it was impossible for a child to climb out. Besides, the door had been in disrepair for a long
time and creaked when touched. If someone really climbed over the door, he would definitely be
woken up.
Things have come to a standstill and everyone is on edge.
Shi Xu made a prompt decision: "Keep looking. Yu Xiaoshan, Zha Rong, go to the dormitories and
look for him one by one to see if he is hiding in another room."
"Dunzhu, Xijin, search the teaching building again."
"You two go to the cafeteria and the playground."
After finishing the arrangements, he picked up the car keys, turned around and walked out.
I wish you all the best this summer, "What about me?"
"Go back to bed."
She was puzzled. "With such a big incident, everyone is busy. How can I sleep?"
Shi Xu frowned but kept walking. "Then you decide. Help them find it."
He strode over to the motorcycle, and just as he got on, the back seat sank and someone else got
on.
"what are you doing?"
"I'll go with you."
Shixu was furious at the moment, "He was hiding a few days ago and couldn't be found, but now
he is following me on his own initiative."
He scolded her, "Just do what you need to do. It's cold at night. Are you afraid you'll freeze to
death by wearing this?"
"Like you're wearing more than me?"
One of them was wearing a shirt and the other a long T-shirt, and neither of them was much
better than the other.
He started making noodles as soon as he returned to the dormitory. She thought she would just
go to his dormitory to say a few words and then leave. No one wore extra clothes. Now it was
urgent and there was no time to go back and add more clothes.
"Can we be the same?" Shixu said impatiently, "I——"
"It's such a critical moment, and you still have the time to argue with me?" Zhu Jinxia was even
more impatient than him, "If you delay any longer, it will be too late for you to regret if
something happens to the child!"
Shixu's face was as gloomy as water, just like the dark sky. He turned his head and confronted her
gloomily, but she didn't seem afraid.
She pushed him hard and asked, "Are you going to leave or not?"
Shi Xu gritted his teeth and started the scooter suddenly. The person in the back seat fell
backwards due to inertia. He subconsciously hugged his waist, which was like hugging a hard
stone, so hard that it hurt his hands and so hot that it was frightening.
The roar cut through the darkness, and the motorcycle sped along the road like an arrow. The
hands quickly loosened their grip, as if they had been electrocuted, and grabbed the corner of his
clothes.
It's too late for Zhu Jinxia to regret now.
The night wind scraped at my face like a knife, blowing my hair into disarray.
Well, after washing my hair I still felt like a fairy sister with long flowing hair, but now I can only
be Mei Chaofeng.
She was in the back seat, drinking cold air and yelling, "What did I tell you before?"
He ignored her.
"Didn't I tell you that children have fragile hearts and that you should pay more attention to
Silang Yongjin?"
“…”
"Shixu, do you know what this is called? This is called not listening to the advice of the elders, and
suffering the consequences!"
She criticized him in the back seat. Suddenly, the car braked suddenly and stopped beside the
road. Zhu Jinxia was thrown forward by inertia and hit his back with a plop, and stars appeared in
her eyes.
"……You deliberately!"
Shi Xu jumped out of the car with a grim face, came to an open space by the river, looked around,
but to no avail, he turned back.
Zhu Jinxia glanced at the fast-flowing river, then at Shi Shu's gloomy expression, and stopped
making sarcastic remarks.
The two continued searching along the way on their motorcycle.
The temperature dropped extremely low at night, and the mountain wind was howling. Zhu Jinxia
scanned the road with his eyes wide open, while huddling and trying to hide himself behind the
time sequence.
Unfortunately, the wind is too cunning, coming from all directions and cannot be stopped.
Shi Xu noticed that the person in the back seat was shaking and his teeth were chattering when
he spoke. When he got out of the car again, he suddenly unbuttoned his shirt, took it off, and
threw it at her head.
"Put it on."
Suddenly her eyes were covered by clothes, and her vision was completely blocked, but her other
five senses were intensified. The smell of men was everywhere - a faint smell of tobacco, the
unpleasant smell of sweat after a day of running around, and a faint scent of mint - she had also
smelled this smell when he took off his jacket and gave it to her on the day he fell into the water.
She once guessed whether it was the smell of laundry detergent or the fragrance of shower gel,
but she had no idea.
I wish I had a moment of ecstasy this summer.
She doesn't sweat easily, and doesn't like others sweating profusely.
When we were on duty together, doing the same work, others were sweating profusely, but she
was neat and tidy, so she was always laughed at and said she was lazy and careless. In fact, it was
not true, she just didn't like to get too close to sweaty people, so she stayed far away and did her
own thing.
In the summer, when I came back from shopping with my grandmother, her nose and forehead
were all sweaty. When she turned around, she saw the little girl looking refreshed.
"Why aren't you sweating?" Grandmother took her hand and wiped her forehead. "Look at me,
I'm sweating all over."
Zhu Jinxia quickly retracted her hand, turned around and rushed into the bathroom, washing her
hands over and over again with soap.
"Why, you even dislike grandma's sweat?"
It has nothing to do with who it is. Zhu Jinxia is just simply rejecting sweat and body odor. It's an
instinctive reaction.
Later, when he was with Weicheng, he found that men seemed to sweat more easily than
women. When they slept in the same bed, his sheets and quilts were always wet, just like a
sauna. So he simply covered himself with a quilt. Zhu Jinxia even asked him not to sleep naked
and to wear pajamas to avoid soaking the bed.
Weicheng always said that she had many problems.
But now, standing in the wind, she hurriedly pulled down her shirt, threw it back and said, "It
stinks, who wants to wear it?", and she realized a little bit late that she didn't seem to mind the
smell.
Even though it was fleeting, it should have been avoided. Given her bad habit, she should have
wanted to jump into the river to take a bath and rub off the skin on her body.
But no.
That breath only brought a sudden wild heartbeat.
Shixu quickly stuffed the clothes back in, shook them out, put them on, and even buttoned the
top two buttons without giving anyone the chance to refuse.
Although his actions were so ferocious that he almost strangled her, and he said mercilessly,
"Since you want to follow me, you have to listen to me. It's nothing to freeze to death outside",
Zhu Jinxia looked at his lowered eyes and the trembling shadows left by his eyelashes, and knew
that if he raised his head, his eyes would probably still be full of bright tenderness.
He gave her the shirt, leaving Shixu with only a black T-shirt underneath his clothes.
Unlike his cold voice, his shirt still retained some body temperature, effectively blocking the wind
blowing in from all directions.
"What if you freeze to death?"
"One of us has to die, right?" He said angrily, striding forward with his long legs and getting on
the motorcycle again, "Get on!"
Thinking about Silang's gold, Zhu Jinxia had no time to think about it and climbed back into the
back seat.
The wind was still the same, cold, hard, and merciless. She lowered her head and held onto the
corner of Shixu's clothes as before, keeping a distant and safe distance. It was strange, because
the shirt was also thin, but she suddenly didn't feel cold anymore.
They were traveling in a narrow valley surrounded by towering green mountains. It was dark,
with only the car lights illuminating a small palm-sized patch of sky and earth ahead. At a certain
moment, Zhu Jinxia couldn't tell the speed and had an illusion that they were carrying lanterns
and moving slowly forward.
The wind whistled past my ears, even noisier than the city. But the bright lights and revelry only
made people feel noisy, and the noise in front of me was another kind of silence.
There are only two passers-by left between heaven and earth.
She looked up and saw a clear half-moon on the top of the mountain. Clouds were floating under
the moon, like the fleeting time.
It was a chaotic night, but my heart suddenly felt peaceful.

Chapter 41
At two o'clock in the morning, they had already searched the entire mountain, back and forth.
With Silang Yongjin's speed, it would be impossible for him to escape so far after ten o'clock even
if he ran.
I kept in touch with Dunzhu along the way and communicated with him in real time, but
unfortunately I couldn't find anyone at the school.
Yu Xiaoshan and the life teacher woke up almost all the children in the school and searched the
dormitories one by one.
The central school was so small, and everything was turned upside down. It seemed as if Silang
Yongjin had disappeared out of thin air.
Shixu parked the car in a village halfway up the mountain, got out, took out a pack of cigarettes
from his trouser pocket, and put one in his mouth. The series of actions were smooth and
flowing, but unfortunately his hands were shaking when he lit the cigarette, and he couldn't light
it.
I wish this summer will step forward and take away the lighter.
He thought she was going to stop him, and was about to say "Just one", when he saw her light
the lighter, and the blue flame shot up high.
Zhu Jinxia held the flame with one hand and lit his cigarette with the other. After a pause, Shixu
lowered his head and saw that the hands looked even whiter under the moonlight.
Soon, the blue-green fire was replaced by a little bit of red.
He looked up and saw her withdraw her hand in the faint smoke. She whispered to him, "Just
one."
Shixu was stunned again, then he laughed.
"Yeah," he said, "just one."
Zhu Jinxia: "Can you still laugh?"
She looked at him carefully and said, "Your hands were shaking just now. It seems that you were
not scared but cold."
Shi Xu exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Both."
Seeing that his face was too serious, Zhu Jinxia interrupted him slightly: "Forget about smoking,
can you smoke something a little better? I haven't even heard of the brand, and I'm not afraid of
dying from smoking."
"What's the difference between good and bad cigarettes? No matter how expensive they are,
they are harmful to health. It's just a matter of dying early or late."
"So you still smoke?"
Shi Xu said calmly: "Isn't there anything we can do? Let's have a cigarette to relieve stress."
A moment later. Zhu Jinxia: "What should I do now?"
Shi Xu said nothing, pinched his brows, exhaled the last puff of cigarette, and extinguished it.
"Let's go."
"Where are you going?"
Shi Xu walked towards the village, "Silang supports the Jin family."
In the early morning in the village, even the dogs have gone to bed, every house is dark and all is
silent.
Zhu Jinxia was nervous, worrying about the safety of Silang and Yongjin, and anxious about the
upcoming meeting with his parents.
After a moment, she came to her senses and thought it was strange. Shi Shu was the principal's
business. She didn't need to go through thick and thin with him!
Or, let him die on his own while she waits for him there?
No matter what she thought, her feet had their own will and she continued to follow him steadily
without losing a step.
There is a street lamp at the entrance of the village, which is dim and makes the shadows of
people look very long.
Zhu Jinxia looked at the shadows on the ground anxiously, one in front and one behind, and it
was difficult for her to walk just by looking at them.
Fortunately, when she was halfway there, Shixu's cell phone rang. She couldn't wait to get close
to it and saw the words "Lao Li" on the screen.
Shi Xu picked up the phone, hung up after a few words, and turned around and walked towards
the village entrance.
Zhu Jinxia chased after him, "How's it going? Did you find the person?"
"found it."
With a thud, a huge rock fell to the ground.
——
They turned back the way they came, walking very fast. Their footsteps woke up someone's dog,
and the barking was particularly loud in the middle of the night. A single stone caused a thousand
ripples, and soon, dogs in every household started barking, one after another, making it very
lively.
Zhu Jinxia was startled and hurried to follow him, "Will he catch up with us?"
Timing was silent.
She began to ask three more questions: Is Silang Yongjin okay? Where did he find it? Who found
it?
Still no response.
Shixu had been suppressing his emotions before, but now that he knew the child was safe, he
relaxed, and once he relaxed, he was filled with anger. When he got angry, he didn't yell at
anyone, but just kept silent and looked sullen, and no one could do anything about it.
Zhu Jinxia felt it was strange, because when the person disappeared, he looked as if nothing had
happened and was unusually calm. But now that the person was found, why did he suddenly stop
talking?
"Time sequence?"
"Are you mute?"
"Why are you ignoring me?"
She called him while catching a cold wind, but no one responded.
After getting on the bike, he rode even faster, exceeding the speed limit so much that the traffic
police were scared. Zhu Jinxia was also scared, watching the shadows of the trees on the side of
the road pass by so quickly that she didn't have time to see clearly.
She grabbed his clothes around his waist and said, "Shixu, ride slower!"
He didn't react until she put force on her hands and shouted in his ear, then he woke up as if
from a dream and slowed down the car.
I wanted to apologize, but my throat was extremely dry. The word "apology" was stuck in my
mouth, and when it came out of my mouth, it was blown away by the wind. I don't know if she
heard it.
The return trip took only about ten minutes. We passed the school without entering it and drove
straight to Lao Li's auto repair shop.
At this time, the roller shutter of the repair shop was still half open, the lights were on in the
windows, and the dim little house was the only light in this valley.
Shi Xu got off the car first, turned around and looked at Zhu Jinxia's pale face. He moved his lips,
but was interrupted by her before he could speak.
"It's okay." She seemed to know what he was going to say, and whispered again, "It's okay. Take
care of the children first, and we'll deal with other things later."
She took off her shirt, stood on tiptoe, put it back on him, turned around, bent down before him,
and went through the rolling door.
The repair shop has two storefronts, one for repairing cars and one for living. If you get too close,
the smell of engine oil will inevitably spread over, and you can smell it as soon as you enter the
house.
The residence was also very simple. It was a square room the size of a palm with a cement floor.
There was only a bed and a wardrobe. There was a bench and two futons at the entrance.
At this moment, a man and a child were sitting opposite each other on a mat in the room. Old Li
had a stern face, and the child was wolfing down a bucket of instant noodles.
I wish you can smell it as soon as you enter the house this summer...
Traditional pickled cabbage.
Somehow, she actually felt like laughing, and after seeing this scene, she relaxed.
Shixu came in just one step later than her. Just as he entered the rolling door, before he could
even straighten his back, he heard the child gulp down the last mouthful of soup and raise his
head to ask crisply, "Uncle, can I have another bucket?"
Old Li was overjoyed, "Who are you calling uncle?"
He turned his head to look at Shixu, "This is your uncle."
He patted his butt and stood up. "You came just in time. Hurry up and help this kid get
reimbursed. He drank a bottle of Coke from me and ate a bucket of noodles from me. The Coke
cost 3.5 yuan, and the noodles cost 5 yuan, a total of 8.5 yuan. Considering our long-term
friendship, you should round it up to 10 yuan!"
Wish this summer: "..."
It’s such a great favor.
Shi Xu said calmly: "There aren't many people who can get 1.5 yuan from me these days. Do you
think you are one of them?"
“…”
Old Li recalled that when he had just returned to the mountains last year, he had wanted to go to
the school to discuss some business. Besides repairing cars, he could also go to the school to
repair electrical appliances and earn some extra money. However, the business did not go
through and he ended up working for the school for a year.
The worst thing is that I have to buy some things from the shop every now and then. If the
speaker is broken, I have to repair it. If the projector is broken, I have to replace parts. In a word, I
lose both the wife and the army.
This guy Shixu is so mean and wicked that not only does he lure people into this trap for no
apparent reason, but he also makes people feel that they are willing and it is natural.
Later, after watching many short videos and learning about some strange psychological effects,
Lao Li finally came to his senses.
"Shixu, you're puaing me again!"
He cursed with all his might, but his body was very honest. When Lao Li came to his senses, he
had already opened the cupboard and taken out the second bucket of instant noodles for the
child. He had just torn off the paper cover with a click.
Lao Li: “…Fuck!”
What can be done? Kaifeng has no way back, and can only continue to show its love.
I wish this summer will have a good time watching from the sidelines.
On the other side, Silang Yongjin was different. As soon as Shixu entered the rolling door, he
stood up suddenly and almost knocked over the empty bucket on the bench. Fortunately, he
caught it in a panic.
"Principal..."
It was visibly that the child's face turned pale and he didn't know where to put his hands and
feet.
Zhu Jinxia wondered why everyone was so afraid of Shixu. Did he have three heads and six arms
or three eyes and two mouths?
She turned her head to look at the principal's tense face. Although it looked fierce, it was a
handsome and pleasing fierceness.
...Even if a big cat that is too cute stretches out its claws, it is still a big cat and cannot scare
people.
However, the big cat in her eyes was a man-eating tiger in Silang Yongjin's eyes. The child was
trembling and shaking like a sieve.
Shi Xu stared at him and said calmly, "Come here."
The child came closer tremblingly, but halfway there, his legs went limp and he sat down on the
ground, crying loudly.
I wish you a wonderful summer.
Before the big cat even stretched out its claws, the man was already paralyzed with fear.
Shi Xu stared at the small figure on the ground, feeling so angry that he had no place to vent it.
He wanted to scold fiercely, but all that came out was a foul breath.
I was very nervous on the way there. Uncle Wang had been the principal for decades, and
nothing had ever gone wrong in the school. When he came back to take over, he was told over
and over again to take good care of the school and the children. But after just one year,
something like this happened.
He was really afraid. He was afraid that he would not be able to explain to Silang's wealthy family,
and he was also afraid that he would not be able to explain to Uncle Wang.
I don't know which one I'm more afraid of.
Fortunately, everything is fine.
Fortunately.
Old Li was annoyed and put the second bucket of noodles on the bench with a thump. "If it
weren't for me, you would be in big trouble!"
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Where did you find the person?"
Lao Li said, "In the cowshed at the back. I drank too much water before going to bed, so I went to
the cowshed to pee in the middle of the night. Halfway through peeing, I vaguely saw a figure,
white and frightened me so much that I almost sprained my urinary tendons—"
Shi Xu frowned, "Will you speak properly?"
The women and children are all there.
Old Li choked and awkwardly changed his tone to a more serious one.
Zhu Jinxia then discovered that not only teachers and students, but even Old Li was afraid of
time.
"Anyway, I was just peeing when I found this kid sneaking into my cowshed. I guess it was
because it was cold, so he just hugged the cow and wouldn't let go, and we slept on the straw
together."
"Then I quickly asked him what happened, and the child cried and told me that he was bullied by
his classmates and they had a fight. He got angry and climbed over the back wall. He didn't know
where to go, so he stumbled into my cowshed."
Wish this summer: "..."
Time sequence: "..."
Silang was still sobbing softly on the ground with Jin in his arms.
Shi Xu wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhu Jin Xia. She was afraid that he would
be mean to the child again. Or maybe he wouldn't be mean, but no matter what he said, no
matter how gentle he was, it would probably be mean in the eyes of the child.
She pulled Silang Yongjin up and asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
I raised my dirty little face and found a scratch on my cheekbone. I checked my hands and feet
and found that my wrists were also broken.
"Being beaten?"
The child shrank back, and a suspicious blush appeared on his defeated little face.
"…When I was climbing over the wall…I fell…"
Shi Xu's face turned pale: "Where did you find this?"
"There is a tree behind the dormitory..." The voice gradually faded away.
"Then what?"
"I, I climbed up the tree, jumped over the railing..." Pause.
"Say it all in one breath, don't squeeze the toothpaste."
"There's a slope at the bottom. I didn't see it clearly, and I just rolled down..."
"Should!"
Shixu just said one word, and the child shrank his neck in fear again.
Zhu Jinxia glared at him, not allowing him to say anything, and turned back to check the child's
limbs and joints. "Besides the abrasions, is there any sprain? Move it around and see where it
hurts."
The way she turned her head to face him was a complete 180-degree change from her attitude
when talking to the child. He was obviously the one who was frightened. Couldn't he tell who
was the naughty child who was making trouble?
Shixu raised his lips, but finally shut up.
Old Li was watching from the side and was amused. He came over and said, "Hey, Shixu, you have
come to this day too?"
"Is there anyone who can control you???"
“Oh my—”
"Brother Li." Zhu Jinxia's eyes immediately turned sharp, "You shut up too."
Old Li: “…”
He quickly demonstrated a zippering motion and manually muted the sound.
Zhu Jinxia finished the examination and confirmed that the child was fine except for the
scratches. Finally, she patted the dust off his clothes and said, "Finish this bowl of noodles first.
You can sleep at your uncle Li's place tonight without worry—"
Old Li: “???”
Lao Li: "No, why do you want to sleep here with me?"
Zhu Jinxia: "Shixu will give you the money for noodles and Coke, as well as accommodation."
"Is this about money?" Lao Li paused and rubbed his hands, "And the accommodation
fee? ...How much?"
This time it was Shixu's turn to look sideways: "?"
"Why should I give it?"
Zhu Jinxia turned around and walked out of the rolling door, "You, come out with me."
She didn't even look back, as if she was sure that time would obey her command. And time did
so.
This situation is quite strange.
Old Li touched his chin and thought, this volunteer teacher is quite powerful and totally
overpowers the principal... Who is the principal after all?
Indeed, I was suppressed.
Shi Xu followed Zhu Jin Xia. Although he felt something was wrong, he was really being controlled
by someone else and he followed their orders and left the auto repair shop.
Zhu Jinxia deliberately walked away to avoid the two people in the house.
"You asked me why—" Zhu Jinxia turned around and met his gaze, "Because you failed in your
duty."
“…”
"Have I ever reminded you that students also have self-esteem? I explained the situation to you
right away, but you didn't take it to heart and said that's how it is in the mountains. The accident
tonight was the result of your negligence and oversight."
“…”
The two confronted each other for a moment, and Zhu Jinxia was waiting for his counterattack.
Soon, Shi Xu nodded, "You are right."
Zhu Jinxia immediately followed up: "You can't even make excuses--"
Huh? Wait.
He didn't seem to be making excuses.
I hope this summer is also stuck.
The two stared at each other, and Shi Xu admitted frankly: "It's my fault, I admit it."
This time it was Zhu Jinxia's turn to be speechless. Her chattering just now came to an abrupt end
and she looked at the time suspiciously.
Shi Xu asked back: "What's with that look in your eyes?"
"I wonder if you have a backup plan."
"What back-up plan?"
"If you want to promote me, you must suppress me first, and then kill me by surprise."
Time sequence: "..."
"I overthink you. Wrong is wrong. It is indeed my fault for not considering this matter carefully
and failing to do my job. You are right. I have nothing to refute."
Even though he was proud and wanted to refute, he would become silent when he thought of
Uncle Wang.
Shi Xu said slowly, "I grew up in the mountains, so I couldn't help but think that you were an
outsider and wouldn't be more familiar with the environment here than I am, so I didn't take
your words to heart..." He smiled self-deprecatingly, "I was arrogant. You deserve to be
frightened."
But, it almost hurt the child.
If anything bad happened to Silang, he would be the sinner.
…
Zhu Jinxia reflected deeply after listening to the time sequence. Maybe it was too deep, she
actually felt a little bit reluctant.
"You don't have to cry blood on every word..." She tried to smooth things over, "After all, the
child isn't really in any trouble right now, so you're fine."
In short——
"He can't go back to the dormitory tonight, and he won't be able to sleep well if he goes back. I
think he and Lao Li get along well, so why not let him sleep here? I'll pick him up and take him
back to school tomorrow, and then deal with the follow-up matters. What do you think?"
Principal Shi pondered for a moment, then stepped down and said, "I'll do as you say."
Zhu Jinxia nodded with satisfaction, turned around and went back to the house. When she was
almost at the door, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to say, "We can't delay
Lao Li in vain. As I said just now, you have to pay me back."
Shi Xu paused slightly, nodded reluctantly, and followed Zhu Jinxia into the rolling door again.
The boy inside devoured the food quickly and had finished half of his second bowl of noodles. He
was looking for something in the bowl with his fork, but couldn't find it. He looked up and asked
Lao Li in grievance, "The previous bowl had intestines, why isn't this one?"
Lao Li: "I added that bowl for you just now!"
"Then why don't you add this bowl?"
"Hey kid, why are you still pushing your luck?"
Si Lang Yong Jin curled his lips: "Instant noodles without sausage, they won't taste good..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the principal coming again. His face, which had just
turned gloomy, became dark again after he said the word "add intestines".
Sequence: "What to add? Intestines! He's already eaten two buckets of noodles. How can a kid
like you eat so much?"
Old Li was full of questions: "No, this is my face and my intestines, right? I don't feel bad about it,
why do you feel bad about it?"
Zhu Jinxia coughed and said, "Well, I will reimburse you for tonight's expenses when I pick up the
child tomorrow."
Old Li's eyes lit up, "Accommodation, too?"
Nodding. "Accommodation is also included."
Old Li immediately smiled and turned around to take out the sausage from the cabinet, "Hey,
here are the sausages, kid, as much as you want!"
Turning his head to look at the time sequence again, he raised his fingers and made a three.
Shi Xu narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Three yuan a stick, why the hell don't you go and rob
it?!"
"Isn't there any money for transportation? Besides, it's the middle of the night, and I'm making
instant noodles and sausages, so shouldn't I pay for the labor?"
"Then put it down. Whoever wants to eat it should do it. Si Lang has gold, but you don't have
hands? Do it yourself."
"Hey, why don't this person know the pain of the child? People just have just been beaten, and
they are still injured. Are you a bit sympathetic?"
Silang holds the gold: "..."
Wish this summer: “……………………”
There was a lot of noise inside the rolling door, and the dim light seemed warm.
Thinking that the stingy principal Shi was going to bleed a lot today, Zhu Jinxia no longer stopped
him from venting, but just quietly covered Silang Yongjin's ears and said, "Be good, let's eat
noodles and ignore them."

Chapter 42
When I got back to school, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
I tossed and turned in the middle of the night, with something on my mind, wishing that Jinxia
had no time to think about anything else. Now that I had relaxed, hunger and fatigue swept in
like a tornado.
Shi Xu originally wanted to say "Go back to sleep first", but before he could say it, he heard a
strange noise. He turned around and saw Zhu Jinxia holding her stomach with a suspicious red
face.
"hungry?"
That’s right. I had only taken two bites of the longevity noodles and hadn’t even had time to
touch the cake before I followed him all over the mountains to look for the child.
"Let's go, eat the noodles and then go to sleep." He took the person back to the dormitory.
The misunderstanding was resolved, and the night was silent again.
The life teacher's phone call woke everyone up, and after Shixu found Silang Yongjin, another
phone call dispelled all the anxiety. Now everyone has returned to their positions, some are
sleeping, some are dreaming.
Only the small window on the third floor still had a dim light on.
Stepping into the dusty corridor covered with spider webs and onto the smooth and shiny steps, I
wish this summer will follow the sequence of time and walk through the iron gate again.
The noodles on the table had become a mess and were inedible.
"Eat some cake first, and I'll start over."
The man went into the house, changed into a black tank top, and headed straight into the
kitchen.
There was still some dough that had been kneaded earlier, so I put some wet gauze on the
surface, stretched it a little, and put it into the pot into another large bowl.
Zhu Jinxia sat at the edge of the coffee table and scooped a spoonful of the cake that had not
been touched before. It tasted as bad as it looked. The sweet and cheap cream was so thick in
her mouth that it could not be dissolved, and the yellow peaches were sour... the taste of
childhood sealed in a can.
She looked at the gray light bulb above her head, the mottled marks on the ceiling, the bumps
and dings on the iron cabinet, and finally turned her head to look at the person in the kitchen.
The vest she was wearing had been worn for some time and had become pale from washing. The
thin fabric formed a sharp contrast with her tall and firm body.
When the man stretches the noodles, you can see the rise and fall of his muscles in his skillful
movements, but it is not the kind of surging power, but a subtle, smooth and tough one.
His hair had grown longer, with the scattered strands covering his eyes. He tilted his head
impatiently and met her gaze.
The water in the pot has already boiled, with rolling white mist, hazy lights, and an old cottage.
Everything looks like a yellowed old photo. Only the man standing hunched over in the smoke has
bright eyes and brows, and cannot blend into the dimness.
They looked at each other for a moment, then looked away.
The noodles are ready, but there is only one bowl.
Shi Xu put the noodles in front of her and said, "Eat it."
As usual, the bowl was filled with half a bowl of rabbit meat, garnished with shiny young Chinese
cabbage.
"You don't want to eat?"
Shi Xu said nothing. He picked up the bowl of mushy noodles and went back to the kitchen. He
heated it up in a pot, added water, and started eating while standing by the stove.
Zhu Jinxia stood up suddenly and asked, "What are you doing?"
"It's not appropriate to throw away the longevity noodles." He said concisely.
Zhu Jinxia wanted to stop him, but Shixu ate very fast, and before she could get to him, he had
finished the food in just a few bites.
"If you don't want me to eat the leftovers tomorrow, just finish your bowl." He laughed, "Only if
you finish it all can you live a long life, right?"
He also hoped that she would live a hundred years. With the treatment he gave her, it would be
good enough if her life span was not shortened.
I wish Jinxia could eat all the noodles and cake without leaving a single bite even if she died of
stuffing, and then go back to the small building.
Time was also tiring, and I was too lazy to wash the pots and pans, so I piled them all in the
kitchen. I fetched some water to wash my face, then went back to the bedroom and lay down,
but I didn't close my eyes.
Through the wide-open curtains, he turned his head to look at the small building opposite.
Ever since she came to teach, he stopped drawing the curtains.
At first, I was worried about her life, and occasionally when I saw her going out to fetch water, I
would go downstairs and pretend to bump into her and help her. When I saw her staying up late,
I would ask on WeChat if she was short of mosquito coils or purified water.
Every night he would wait until the window was dark before he closed his eyes. It wasn't that
long actually, but the habit was formed.
And tonight, the light seems to show no sign of going out.
I looked at the time and sent her a message asking her why she wasn't asleep yet.
Zhu Jinxia replied that she was so anxious looking for the child that she broke out in a sweat. She
had to fetch some water, boil some water, take a bath, and then go to bed.
…She is particular.
He recalled what people in the office often said, that no matter it was raining or shining, Teacher
Zhu would always drink three buckets of water a day, take a bath at night, and wash his hair in
the morning. How refined.
In the middle of the night, you have to fetch water again and again, and boil pots of water one by
one. Shi Xu wants to ask you why you have so much to do, but after rubbing your face, you sit up
and put on your coat again.
He called Zhu Jinxia and said, "Bring your toiletries and see you at the playground."
The electric kettle was still gurgling over there. Zhu Jinxia asked, "Why? Do you want to check if I
washed my feet clean, just like checking if I washed my feet thoroughly?"
"How long will it take you to boil one pot after another like this?" Shixu said angrily, opening the
door and walking out. "There is a natural hot spring down the slope. The developer was halfway
through developing it when the epidemic stopped construction, but it can be used. Let's go and
make a quick decision."
Before Zhu Jinxia could say anything, the phone was hung up.
It was 3:30 in the morning, and people were already confused, with only instinctive reactions left.
When she heard that she could take a shower, Zhu Jinxia drowsily turned off the kettle, quickly
grabbed a change of clothes, took her toiletries, put on her coat, and went out.
When they met on the playground and walked down the slope step by step following the time,
she came to her senses.
When I first came to school, I seemed to have heard Yu Xiaoshan mention such a hot spring, but
——
"Why don't you go take a bath in the hot springs?"
Timeline: "Who would dare to wash in the wilderness?"
...Then why did you bring me here?
I wish this summer to look around, eager to try but with a little hesitation.
When it was so close, I realized that the timid ones really didn't dare to come.
There is no village or shop in the middle of Yitiantian. The developer built a rockery around the
hot spring, with a dozen pavilions and pools scattered around.
After the epidemic, I don’t know if the company collapsed, but no one took over the built hot
spring resort, and it has been abandoned for several years.
"It looks like it's been built, but in fact there are only two pools that can be used, and they have
the most rudimentary water pipes."
"You came before?"
"During the Chinese New Year, the teachers drank too much and vomited all over the place, so
they came here as a group to take a bath."
"Aren't you not allowed to take a shower after drinking too much? Your pores will open and you'll
easily get palpitations and suffocation." I wish Jinxia had some common sense.
Shi Xu snorted softly, "It's better to suffocate to death than to stink to death."
“…”
Pushing open the useless iron door, the two walked down the stairs one after the other.
This place had been unattended for a long time, and there were weeds all along the way. Zhu
Jinxia stepped on a long and thin thing halfway and thought it was a snake. In panic, he grabbed
Shixu and almost jumped on him.
After a few seconds, I could see clearly that the motionless thing on the ground was a dead
branch.
“…”
Time sequence: "Everything is fine?"
"……fine."
"If you're alright, can you please let go of my hand first?" He said expressionlessly, "If you keep
holding on like this, I'm afraid something will happen to me."
Zhu Jinxia followed his gaze and found that she was almost hanging on him, with her hands
pinching his arms tightly, her nails almost digging into the flesh.
“…”
Let go immediately.
"sorry Sorry."
Shixu rubbed his arm and just said, "Follow me." He took many detours and led the man to one
of the pavilions. He squatted down, opened the valve and tested the water temperature. "It's a
little hot. Can you bear it?"
I wish this summer also reached out and felt it.
"should be no problem."
Although it is called a hot spring, there is no water in the pool, so you can only take the simplest
and roughest water bath.
The pond is in the pavilion, but the pavilion is windy on all sides and there is no shelter.
I wish this summer will realize this fact and slowly open her eyes.
"Wash here?"
"if not?"
“…But I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”
"Who told you to take a hot spring bath?"
Shixu jumped down the stairs, walked away, and said to her with his back to her, "You wash
yourself, I'll keep watch for you. It's the middle of the night, no one will come here."
There was no movement for a long time.
Shi Xu raised an eyebrow, "Don't you trust me?"
That's not the case.
"No." Zhu Jinxia said, "...I just haven't taken an open-air bath."
"Everything is difficult at the beginning. You will get used to it after washing it twice more."
"There's no need to get used to this kind of thing!" she said angrily.
Shixu laughed out loud.
The wind blew everything, the grass and trees swayed, but his back remained motionless.
"Hurry up and take a shower. It will be dawn soon."
Well, now that I'm here, it's him, so there's nothing to worry about.
Find a scene where Si Lang embraces gold, and wish this summer to sweat a lot, but it is really
uncomfortable to cover up, so just stop being shy.
She took off all her clothes and put them in her backpack, jumped into the pool, and showered
under the hose.
The water temperature was slightly high, and it carried the smell of natural sulfur. It wetly
crawled over the body, leaving behind a hot shudder and also soothing the tiredness of a whole
night.
Except for Sundays when you can go to town to take a tub bath, it is rare to have a good bath.
It was just pitch black all around without a single ray of light, and apart from her and Time, there
was no one else in sight. But when the wind blew, dark shadows loomed in all directions.
After seeing movement in the grass several times in a row, Zhu Jinxia froze in his tracks.
"Are there any snakes here?" She couldn't help asking Shi Xu, "I always feel like there's something
moving in the grass."
"No. There are no snakes at this altitude."
Zhu Jinxia felt a little relieved, but when she was washing her hair and just closed her eyes, she
heard the rustling noise again.
"Time sequence...?"
"what happened again?"
"Are you still there?"
"Who are you talking to if you're not here?"
"Just to make sure." She said uneasily amid the sound of running water, "I'm washing my hair
with my eyes closed. I can't see anyone, so I'm a little scared."
“…”
And the whole process that follows——
"Time sequence?"
"exist."
"Time sequence?"
“Still.”
"Time sequence?"
"Are you done yet?"
Zhu Jinxia rubbed her head and suggested: "If you don't want me to keep calling you, why don't
you sing a song so that I know you are still there."
"Why don't you let me tell a crosstalk?" Shixu's head hurt.
The other end paused for a moment, "Then can you speak?"
“…”
Won't.
"Time sequence?"
“…”
"Time sequence?" He was silent. The other party became anxious and started to rush to his head,
"Where are you? Don't leave. If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me--"
"Yes, it's still there." Shi Xu sighed, "Take your time to wash, don't rush."
So the noise that had suddenly become louder just now gradually returned to normal.
The time sequence person stands on this side, but listens to the other side. If the listening is too
focused, it is easy to have a sense of picture. Many details that are deliberately ignored can never
be driven away, making people inexplicably irritated.
The rustling sound means taking off clothes.
Turn off the valve and start applying soap.
She was frightened, her slippers made lively sounds in the pool, and she called his name in a
trembling voice.
…
Shixu turned his back to the pool, his brows furrowed so tightly that they could pinch a fly to
death.
Bringing her to take a bath was nothing more than wanting to make a quick decision. Otherwise,
would she have to boil water in pots until dawn? But she didn't expect that there would be so
many things to happen later.
When she was going down the stairs, she was frightened by the dead branches and rushed into
his arms, almost hanging on him. It was obviously just an accident, but at that moment his body
tensed up and even his breathing stopped.
It is as light as a dandelion, soft and delicate, as if it would break in your hand if you apply the
slightest force.
He subconsciously lowered his head and saw only the top of her fluffy black hair. The first
moment he regained his breath, he smelled her unique fragrance.
Full of green, like a flourishing spring day.
Her arm was grasped by her, the contrast of their skin colors was too stark, one was like the dark
ears of wheat in a rice field in midsummer, the other was like a handful of snow on the top of a
mountain, both white and shocking.
what is this?
Dunzhu often played with him and physical contact was common, but only at this moment did
Shixu realize that men and women are different after all.
Her slenderness, softness, exquisiteness and lightness all startled him.
My breathing became disordered and I haven't calmed down yet.
Shi Xu stood not too far from the pond, and repeatedly reminded himself that a gentleman
should not think about such things.
I don't know if it was to reassure her or myself, but Shi Xu started to talk incoherently.
"Have you ever been to a hot spring?"
"I have."
"Where did you soak it?"
“Hot spring hotel.”
"…They are all artificial hot springs, right?"
Zhu Jinxia asked back: "You haven't been there?"
"No."
"You didn't go there when you were studying and working in Beijing?"
"No." Shixu said lazily, "Based on your understanding of me, can't you guess that I have to rush to
take a shower, for fear of paying an extra dime for water?"
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud, "That's such a shame. Bathhouses in the north offer back scrubbing
services, rubbing horizontally and then vertically. You've never experienced this before. You must
have wasted your time in college."
“Have you ever experienced this?”
"Me? I haven't. I always feel that it's too embarrassing to lie there naked and get rubbed in the
mud, so I don't dare to try it easily. But I saw Wei--" The voice stopped abruptly. After a burst of
water sound, she continued as if nothing had happened, "I saw others have experienced it."
guard?
Acropolis?
There was a brief silence.
Shi Xu smiled: "Ex-husband?"
Zhu Jinxia choked, and then he said, "Oh, I was wrong, I'm still your boyfriend."
“…”
"You have a birthday today, your current brother doesn't have any expression for it?"
"How can you express your gratitude? Give me a divorce gift package?"
Shi Xu smiled and asked, "How did you celebrate your birthdays before?"
"Watch a movie, eat, and buy Roseonly's preserved flowers."
He knows that brand.
"A rose corpse worth thousands of dollars? That's quite a lot of money to spend."
They mentioned the Acropolis casually. The person asking the question was not cautious, and the
person answering the question did not act as if they were facing a great enemy. Everything
seemed to be said naturally.
So the sequence learned that they had kissed in the cinema, watched snow in winter, stepped on
water in the rain, and there were times when their eyes and fingers wished they could always be
glued to their phones.
Young people in their early twenties, when they are in love, look at the stars and the moon, and
think that this is their lifetime.
But when he was about to reach thirty, he looked up again and found that one was an ambitious
man who had been running for many years and could not stop, and the other was a little prince
who had a smooth family and was content with the status quo.
She was in pain because the man who lived next to her was always playing games, and his
greatest hope for the future was that every day would be the same as today, and that his favorite
hero would have a new limited skin.
He was in pain because the woman on the other side of the wall was always reading or writing.
When she read until her eyes lit up or wrote until she forgot everything else, she would come to
share her thoughts happily. But at that time, he was unable to do two things at once and would
always see the screen go black, and his teammates would frantically signal him where he was and
to keep him on the line.
But even so, she would still think his response was too perfunctory.
She didn't understand his game, and didn't know that he was the center of everyone's praise in
another world. In the game, he no longer lived in her shadow, but was a hero who could
accomplish feats that ordinary people could not.
Just as he did not understand what she read and wrote, he did not know that the girl he loved
seemed well-behaved and docile, but was also able to hold high the torch in her writing, like a
warrior who fought bravely for her ideals in every immortal era.
They shared three meals a day and four seasons together, but in the end they became just dining
companions.
——The worst thing was that later on, everyone ate their own meals and there was no cooking at
home.
In the steaming hot bath, Zhu Jinxia completely relaxed. She complained a lot and laughed
heartily. After laughing, her eyes became hot and she fell silent again.
Shixu listened to everything in silence and stated: "First of all, my following remarks are not
mixed with any personal stance, they are purely nonsense from a third party."
"Please go ahead."
He laughed, "Uncle Wang once had a lover, and they were almost getting married, but it didn't
work out in the end."
"Why?" Zhu Jinxia recalled the social news she had read, "Dowry price not agreed upon?"
"What are you thinking about? Is Uncle Wang such a materialistic person?"
"Isn't this just thinking about what would happen to the other party?"
"If she were this kind of person, Uncle Wang wouldn't like her." Shi Xu laughed, "It seems that
under such passionate feelings, there is no possibility of interaction in life."
One is a medical student who has gone through untold hardships to get out of the mountains and
seek education and experience. The other is a rural school principal who stayed in the mountains
after graduation, followed by a bunch of little kids and adopted a bunch of orphans.
Her world is outside the mountains, and his ties are in the narrow gap in the sky, so why bother
dragging each other down?
There is such a huge difference between us, is it really possible to live a life just relying on
romance?
"I once read a passage that said, when people socialize, they think about what to eat today,
where to go tomorrow, what to do together on weekends, and whether they can travel together
during long vacations. But is this the essence of socializing? No, it's just something incidental."
"The essence of a relationship is to support each other's lives and become each other's strength.
It is something that can give you the courage to move forward in difficult times as long as you
think of each other."
He had been standing for a long time and was getting tired. Having said this, he slowly leaned
against the pillar of the pavilion and looked up at the moon on the eaves.
It is pale and bright, close at hand yet high above.
"The meaning of meeting is to illuminate each other, otherwise why be together? After all,
drinking alone is romantic, and blowing in the wind alone is sober."
Shixu didn't look back, but smiled and asked lazily, "Are you right, Zhu Jinxia?"
There was silence behind me for a long time. Finally, a very light and nasal response came from
the sound of water, like the cry of a small animal.
He still looked up at the moon and reiterated: "I am discussing the matter at hand, without any
personal stance."
It's like the case of trying to cover up one's own mistake.

Chapter 43
When we left the hot spring villa, the sky was already turning pale.
The road there doesn't seem as scary as the road here. People's fear of the unknown can often
be overcome through experience.
The two of them stood one in front and one behind, facing each other in silence.
When going up the stairs, there were dead branches growing out of the grass on the roadside. As
time goes by, I learn from my mistakes. Since my arm was still aching from being scratched, I
reminded him in time: "Be careful."
He reached out his hand to help, but Zhu Jinxia paused and did not take it. He just said "I see",
and then stepped over carefully.
The hand paused in mid-air for a moment, then retracted.
The mountain wind picked up again, and the grass and trees swayed.
No one mentioned the Acropolis again, as if the conversation just now was just to ease her fear
of the surrounding environment while taking a bath, and it would be forgotten after a while.
The nasal whimpering response also seemed like a brief illusion.
They parted in front of the dormitory building, and Zhu Jinxia felt a little awkward.
"…It's already this late, and you can't sleep."
The timing was brief and to the point: “It’s all right.”
Seeing her gloomy face, he pulled the corner of his mouth and added: "It's not the first time
you've tormented me."
Zhu Jinxia choked and asked unconvincedly: "Where is the first time?"
"Last time in the mountains, when I was drunk."
“…”
She retorted: "It wasn't me who asked you to go up the mountain that time. You wanted to come
on your own. How did it become me who was torturing you?"
Shi Xu said coldly: "If I don't go, I'm afraid you'll wake up the next day and be the secretary's
wife."
Zhu Jinxia paused for a second, "No, isn't Duoji married?"
……?
Time sequence: "It's over, why?"
"He's already married, how can I be the secretary's wife?"
“…”
Shi Xu laughed, "Why, if he wasn't married, would you be happy to be the secretary's wife?"
Zhu Jinxia curled her lips and said, "I can't be that person either. Even if he's not married, I'm
married."
"Isn't this right away?"
Look at him, it sounds so light.
"Attempted!" Zhu Jinxia stressed, "The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to
work hard!"
Shi Xu looked at her and smiled.
"why are you laughing?"
"I was laughing at you for being so tight-lipped before, not saying a word about this matter, being
so secretive, but now you can make fun of yourself."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, and before she could come to her senses, Shi Xu suddenly asked her,
"Zhu Jinxia, what's your zodiac sign?"
"Chinese Zodiac?"
"Um."
"I am a dog. What's wrong?"
"Really?" Shi Xu smiled, "I thought you were a frog."
"Why?"
Because the frog is boiled in warm water.
She looks distant and cold, but in fact she is just passive. Poke her and she jumps, but she always
falls into the trap in the end.
It was as if they were trying to distance themselves just now, but as soon as he interrupted them
with a few words, the cold atmosphere disappeared and they returned to their usual joking and
bantering ways.
But some people are still unaware.
Shi Xu yawned lazily, "Go back, if you don't sleep now it will be dawn."
"……Oh, bye-bye."
Seeing her turn around and walk towards the small building alone, he suddenly remembered
something.
"Happy summer."
I wish this summer will look back soon and ask, "What happened?"
"I forgot to mention, happy 29th birthday to you."
She was stunned for a moment, "...Thank you."
"I should thank you." Shi Xu smiled, put his hands in his pockets, looked lazy, but his eyes were
serious, "You can come to Yi Bo to teach, I——"
After a brief pause, he corrected the subject: "Everyone is very happy."
That moment of pause was like a stone thrown into a lake, causing ripples to appear.
I wish this summer’s heart feels like being gently tickled by a feather.
Across the basketball hoop, she tried to discern the time's expression, but unfortunately dawn
had not yet arrived and the dim light of the sky was too late to illuminate his face. In the
darkness, she could only see those eyes, like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea, like a silent
valley, carrying everything gently and powerfully.
Although his words were brief, she could tell he was serious.
Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth, but finally just nodded awkwardly.
"I am also very happy to be able to come here to teach."
Shi Xu stared at her, as if he had something to say, but in the end he just nodded.
"Let's go back."
After running around all day, I was extremely tired. But when I returned to the small building, Zhu
Jinxia lay on the bed, but I couldn't fall asleep.
My heart seems to be hanging in the air, with no place to go.
In my ears is the sound of the rushing river outside the window, which never stops.
There was a hard single bed under me, and I could hear the wooden boards creaking every time I
turned over.
The canteen at the school gate still only sells expired cola, and the only snack that can satisfy your
cravings is melon seeds, which come in small packages.
When she had nothing to do, she would always buy a bunch of them. In the afternoon, she would
bask in the rare sunshine, like a landlord with spare money but nowhere to spend it. Others gave
out cigarettes, but she gave out melon seeds.
The teachers called her the melon seeds tycoon, saying that she monopolized all the melon seeds
in the entire store.
As a result, one day at noon, the boss really touched his head and said to her in stiff Chinese:
"You bought all of them. Wait for me to go buy more at the weekend."
“…”
Without the seventh dimension, the eighth dimension will do. A copycat may be a copycat, but it
has no flaws.
Dry toilet.
The dry toilet was still dirty and smelly, but people's adaptability was truly amazing. After more
than a month, she could actually squat in the toilet without even noticing it.
There is no takeout in the mountains. Every meal is home-cooked. We eat from chipped bowls,
and occasionally you can taste the egg shells that Dunzhu has carelessly cooked into the soup.
Shixu would calmly add, "That's good. Since we can't afford calcium tablets, we can find another
way to supplement calcium."
Zhu Jinxia lay on the bed with her eyes closed. A ray of light appeared in her vision, which should
have been pitch black. At first, it was countless fragments of the time after entering the mountain
that flashed by like a kaleidoscope. Later, everything returned to silence, and the light gradually
turned into the shape of a pair of eyes.
She seemed to have had a very long dream. In the dream, those eyes had been looking at her
quietly.
He said that the purpose of meeting is to illuminate each other. And tonight, he illuminated her
dream.
——
The next day, Zhu Jinxia was squatting in the corridor brushing her teeth while talking to Yuan
Feng with headphones on.
Yuan Feng originally made a phone call to express his condolences to the birthday celebrants in
the mountains, but suddenly he heard some gossip.
"You mean, you dreamed about your cunt-fingered principal all night?"
I wish you a mouthful of foamy stars in your mouth this summer.
"My friend, the Chinese language is vast and profound. It is true that there are word
combinations such as idiot, pit bull, etc., but if the words 抠 and 逼 are used together, it
becomes very ambiguous—"
"Why are you teaching me? I don't pay you, why do I want you to teach me?"
"No one pays me for teaching here."
"That's hard to say." Yuan Feng sighed, "Last time you sent me a group photo, that cunning--
Principal Wang was pretty handsome--"
Although he said "don't teach me", his body practiced that a child can be taught.
"Who says that only giving money counts as wages? You're having sex with him, so it's also
considered a reward for your work, right?"
Zhu Jinxia spit out the foam with an expressionless face, "I think you have to crowdfund a pound
of stain remover powder. There is nothing else important, I'm hanging up."
"Hey, don't be so quick to deny it. I've already started dreaming about him. Although today's
dream is just pure and innocent, tomorrow it might be--"
"beep--"
All Yuan Feng was left with was a cold busy tone.
Zhu Jinxia tidied herself up, looked at her bloodshot eyes in the mirror, patted her face and
walked out.
The phone in my bag vibrated and I took it out to take a look.
Yuan Feng seamlessly continued: "——A colorful dream."
Yuan Feng: "A dream of spring."
Yuan Feng: "It's called Chunmeng for short."
Zhu Jinxia laughed angrily, "Hello, have you forgotten that I'm married?"
Yuan Feng: "Prepare for a rainy day, understand? The divorce is already under discussion, so we
can prepare for a second spring."
Zhu Jinxia: "If you were in ancient times, you would have been thrown into a pig cage with your
moral standards."
Yuan Feng retorted: "You have such noble moral integrity, but no one has ever given you a
chastity memorial arch."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia put away her phone, stepped out of the building, and when she looked up, she saw
someone on the third-floor balcony holding a spatula and looking at her from a distance, and she
paused.
The pair of eyes that had watched her all night returned to reality from the dream and appeared
before her eyes again.
Sequence: "Why are you standing there? Come up and eat."
Zhu Jinxia felt guilty for some reason and looked away in panic.
"oh……"
——
The breakfast was very rich, with steamed buns, side dishes, mushroom porridge, and a bowl of
poached eggs.
Dunzhu took a bite of the bun and mumbled in dissatisfaction, "Why is it bean sprout filling
again? You clearly promised me that you would make mushroom filling next day!"
Shi Xu took the plate away and said, "Eat if you want, eat. If you don't, get out."
Dunzhu was quick to stuff the three rescued buns into his mouth. "You said you were impartial,
but you treated me differently!"
He turned around and grinned at Zhu Jinxia, "Don't worry, Teacher Zhu, I'm not targeting you."
Zhu Jinxia smiled at him, but somehow she didn't dare to look up at Shixu's expression. She
finished her meal in a few bites and urged someone to go and pick up Silang Yongjin.
Shi Xu was holding the pots and pans, and said calmly, "You can pick up the kids by yourself. I still
have to wash the dishes."
If he hadn't been here for more than a month and hadn't seen him and Dunzhu shirking the
responsibility of washing dishes several times a day, Zhu Jinxia would have almost believed it.
The two looked at each other for a moment.
Zhu Jinxia narrowed her eyes: "Don't you want to pay?"
Time sequence: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "It's okay if you don't go. Just transfer the money to me via WeChat and I'll help you
settle the bill with Lao Li."
Since the money has to be paid anyway——
Shixu remained calm, put down the pots and pans, and said to Dunzhu: "Think carefully, the child
is more important, you should wash the dishes today."
“…”
The morning sun had not yet climbed into the sky, and the only thing in sight was a deep blue sky.
The two of them walked through the morning mist to pick up the child.
When they arrived at the repair shop, Silang Yongjin was the only one in the room. He was
happily chewing on a sausage, but when he saw the time, the sausage in his hand immediately
lost its flavor.
Old Li just happened to come in from behind the house, cursing.
"You stinky boy, what do you eat every day? Why does your shit stink so bad?"
Looking up and seeing Shi Xu and Zhu Jin Xia, he said unhappily, "That's great, you two go to the
cowshed in the back and shovel the shit."
Zhu Jinxia: "The cowshed?" She turned to ask Silang Yongjin, "Did you poop in the cowshed?"
Silang Yongjin answered her verbally, but his eyes were looking at the time, "The toilet is too
dark, I dare not go..."
Well, I don’t have to wash the dishes anymore. I have to shovel manure in the cowshed instead.
This is even worse than washing dishes.
So Zhu Jinxia helped the children dress up in the house, while Shixu was outside cleaning the
poop, bargaining with Lao Li as he did so.
"Brother, we have known each other for so many years, I won't take advantage of you, just V me
three hundred." Lao Li made an offer.
"You're asking for too much after eating two buckets of instant noodles from me. Why don't you
go and rob them?"
"I clearly marked the price, I didn't take advantage of you." Lao Li began to use an abacus in the
air, "Listen to me calculate for you: ham sausage is two yuan a piece, he ate half a bag of my
sausage, five pieces is ten yuan. Instant noodles is five yuan a bucket, he ate two buckets, also
ten yuan--"
"That's only twenty dollars."
"I know you're anxious, but don't worry. He hasn't showered in the past two weeks and slept on
my sheets and quilts. Should he wash them?" Lao Li said, "At this level, you need to use at least
two pumps of laundry detergent. One pump costs you two yuan, which is four yuan -"
Time sequence: "Okay, add up the water and electricity bills, as well as the oxygen he consumed
in your room, and you can continue to make up the difference."
Lao Li rubbed his hands and said, "Big Head is not here..."
"Where is that?"
Old Li pointed his chin towards the cowshed and said, "There he is. Late last night, he sneaked
into my shed and scared Da Huang a lot. This morning he came to take a dump again, and it made
my cow stink. Look, he didn't even touch the new feed and grass. He's wilted. The kids are so
hungry and skinny."
"so?"
"So this, this awesome mental damage compensation..." Old Li sighed, "Brothers have to settle
accounts clearly, don't you think?"
Shixu paused and nodded readily: "Yes."
Wish this summer: "..."
Right, you.
It turns out that the problem of picking is contagious. You can't find a single normal person in this
mountain.
Seeing that the child had put on his shoes, Zhu Jinxia turned around and walked out, ready to roll
up her sleeves to help Shixu, but she obviously underestimated Shixu's fighting ability.
Behind the house, Shixu put down the broom and washed his hands slowly, "Since we have to
calculate, let's calculate it carefully."
"What is that?"
"Last week you drank half a jar of my wine. According to the market price, it should be at least a
hundred or eighty yuan. You drink a lot, am I right about that?"
"……ha?"
"Last month, I opened two bottles of Moutai given to me by others. What is the price of Moutai?
Can you tell me?"
"Ah, this——"
Shixu washed each finger slowly and said with a lazy smile: "Every weekday, I cook a good meal.
You have never missed it. All the food and drinks are mine. I don't think we have ever settled the
bill. How much is a pound of yak meat? Tell me, and calculate how much you have eaten before
and after?"
"..." Old Li choked, his face reddened, "But, but over the years I have also repaired a lot of things
for the school for free, and I paid for many parts out of my own pocket."
"Then where did the things in your room come from?" Shi Xu smiled. "Where did you get your
TV? Who brought the bed back from town for you? The repair equipment in your shop is only
sold in the provincial capital, who had it shipped back from outside? The rent of your shop hasn't
been raised for ten years, right? Who negotiated it for you?"
“…”
In the cowshed, Da Huang looked innocently at the two people engaged in a tug-of-war.
The atmosphere was stagnant for a moment, and Lao Li clapped his hands, "Hey, we're brothers,
why bother talking about money? Talking about money hurts our feelings!"
He waved his hand and said, "Instant noodles with sausage, just eat it. The child is growing up,
and Uncle Li is worried about the future flowers of the motherland, so why would he care about
these material things?"
Shi Xu raised his eyes and looked at the big guy in the bullpen. "What about mental damages?"
Old Li walked over quickly and slapped Da Huang on the butt. "The child never eats with appetite,
most likely he's pretending. Just starve him for two meals and he'll be fine."
Dahuang mooed in dissatisfaction.
Zhu Jinxia, who had already walked around to the back of the house, was both amused and
confused. When she turned around, she gave a thumbs up.
"If you want to know how to bargain well, go to Yibo Central School and find Kouwang."
Time sequence: "..."
——
When returning to school, time is ahead of us, and Zhu Jinxia is following behind, holding the
children's hands.
Silang Yongjin felt as if his feet were filled with lead, and asked with a sad face: "Teacher Zhu, can
I not go back to school?"
Although the voice was small, it was still caught by the person in front, who turned around and
asked, "If you don't go back to school, where do you want to go?"
Si Lang took the money and hid behind Zhu Jin Xia, "I, I can learn how to repair cars from Uncle
Li..."
"Have you asked your uncle Li if he's willing?" Shi Xu asked, "You can't read a few words, and you
can't even understand the markings on the parts. Do you still want to learn how to repair cars?"
“……”The child stopped talking.
Zhu Jinxia lowered her voice and warned Shixu: "What did you promise me last night?"
“…”
He promised her that he would not pursue Silang's case for gold, and that he would reflect on his
negligence in his duties. He also promised her that he would not be mean to the child, and that
he would change his mindset and pay more attention to his educational methods.
Shixu was silent for a moment, then changed his mind and tried to tempt Silang Yongjin with
food: "Are you hungry?"
"I'm hungry." The child nodded.
"If you're hungry, go back to school. I still have some steamed buns and porridge..." After
receiving Zhu Jinxia's affirmative look, Shixu continued to persuade her, "Or do you want to eat
something else?"
I wish he would give me a thumbs up this summer.
Shi Xu thought, are you treating him like a child? But his brows relaxed unconsciously.
I can be picky about food. Happiness comes too suddenly. Silang was thinking hard while holding
the gold, and his eyes lit up.
"I want to eat thousand-layer cakes." He said crisply, "The kind made by Grandpa Zhang in town.
The cake should be made into three layers. The first layer is filled with chives, the kind that are
just picked. The second layer is filled with beef, chopped yak beef. The third layer is spread with
his secret sauce, which is spicy. The cake should be fried until it is fragrant and crispy, charred on
the outside and tender on the inside, and finally sprinkle some sesame seeds on it."
You know how to push for more.
Shi Xu's face turned stern, and before he could say anything, Zhu Jin Xia glared at him and
mouthed: Don't be so mean!
He was silent for a few seconds, then said gently to Silang Yongjin: "Then you should stay hungry."
Wish this summer: “………………”
The attitude is right, but there seems to be something wrong with the content.

Chapter 44
Of course there was no thousand-layer cake, but the steamed buns and porridge were also very
good, and Silang wolfed them down in one meal.
Zhu Jinxia smiled and said, "Look, the buns made by the principal are not much worse than the
cakes made by your Grandpa Zhang, right?"
"That's still a long way off—"
"What did you say?" Shi Xu in the kitchen turned around and raised his eyebrows dangerously.
Si Lang Yongjin choked, "I, I mean, Grandpa Zhang is far worse than you!"
Strong desire to survive.
Shixu brought out a new basket of buns, "Eat them if you have them. If you dare to dislike them
again—"
Halfway through his words, he saw Zhu Jinxia across from him picking up the fruit knife on the
table. He paused for a moment and said, "——Then I will work hard to learn from Grandpa Zhang
and strive to go one step further."
…The knife returned to its original position.
Unfortunately, the undercurrent was a matter between adults, and the children knew nothing
about it. They only knew that they were quick to sweep away the remaining steamed buns and
ruin the second basket.
Shi Xu hooked his legs, pulled out a chair, and sat down next to Zhu Jin Xia. "Is this how you teach
your students?"
"how to teach?"
"If you don't obey, you'll bring a knife?"
"What are you thinking about?" Zhu Jinxia snorted and laughed, "This is tailor-made for
disobedient students like you."
In ancient times, prisoners on death row were fed before being executed. Today, Silang goes to
the battlefield after having a full meal. Time is behind, Zhu Jinxia is ahead, and the two generals
Heng and Ha are escorting him.
Unfortunately, the closer he got to the classroom, the heavier his steps became. Finally, in the
corridor just one step away from the classroom, he turned around and held Zhu Jinxia's hand.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Jinxia stopped and shook his hand back, "Are you scared?"
nod.
His hands were so painful from being held. His palms were sweaty, cold and damp.
Zhu Jinxia thought about it and squatted down, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me when I say
this, but I'm afraid too."
"What are you afraid of?"
"I was afraid to enter the classroom; I was afraid to go on stage; I was afraid that as an English
teacher, I would overestimate my abilities and travel thousands of miles to the mountains to
teach Chinese, and that I would mess up the lesson; I was even more afraid that I would fail to
live up to Mr. Bao's instructions before he left and fail to teach you well."
Silang held the gold and stared at her in amazement.
Zhu Jinxia: "Do you remember what I learned in my first class?"
Nod. "Father's Love Boat."
"Then guess how long I've been preparing."
This time it was a shake of the head.
"One day and one night." Zhu Jinxia pointed to the wall and smiled, "I stayed in this classroom all
night, writing on the blackboard and trying out my lectures. If the principal hadn't sent me back,
you would have seen me in a state of panic the next day when you came to the classroom."
"But you are a teacher..." Silang Yongjin hesitated, "Will a teacher be afraid too?"
"meeting."
"What about the principal?"
"The principal will be afraid too," Zhu Jinxia said. "Everyone will be afraid."
"Then what is the principal afraid of?"
What is he afraid of? Isn't it obvious? Shi Xu didn't say anything, but chuckled and looked at Zhu
Jinxia.
But Zhu Jinxia didn't look up and didn't give him a chance to speak.
"The principal is more afraid than we are." She stared at Silang Yongjin and whispered, "You
climbed over the wall and ran away last night. He was afraid that something happened to you
and that he wouldn't be able to explain to your parents."
"He was afraid that he couldn't do the job well, and you would have no books to read and no
food to eat. He was afraid that he couldn't recruit teachers to teach you, and your grades were
not good, so the state would close the school. He was afraid that he couldn't get funding, and you
would have no teaching equipment, and the classrooms would leak. He was also afraid that the
old principal would be seriously ill, and when he handed over the school to him, the Yibo Central
School was in good shape, but in the end, because he failed to take over and protect you, he
couldn't even close his eyes."
The air froze briefly.
Silang Yongjin was trying hard to digest the food, and the smile in Shixu's eyes suddenly
disappeared. He looked quietly at the person squatting on the ground.
She didn't look back and continued, "From birth to death, there is no stage where we are not
afraid, but fear cannot stop us from moving forward."
She said, "You see, the principal is afraid, but he still tries his best to be a good principal. I am
afraid, but I still have to step into the classroom to teach everyone."
Finally, she smiled and asked, "So Silang has the gold, are you willing to overcome your fear and
take me into the classroom?"
Zhu Jinxia stood up and extended her hand to the child in front of her.
That hand was white and slender, like a magnolia flower emerging in spring, capturing the
attention of adults and children alike.
Silang hesitated and shuddered as he held Jin's hand. Finally, he took a deep breath and shook
the hand back.
The little knight was pale and his steps were unsteady, but he still bravely protected Zhu Jinxia as
she stepped into the classroom and onto the podium.
The moment he entered the room, all eyes fell on him, some probing, some examining, some
mocking, some not understanding. He nervously clenched his hand, but he noticed that she also
exerted a little force, as if responding to him.
Silang raised his head with the gold in his arms, and fell into a pair of gentle and bright eyes.
The woman leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Thank you for protecting me, Silang Yongjin."
At that moment, all gazes disappeared, leaving only a youthful joy and a little pride.
Shixu stood at the back of the classroom, watching the big and small children walk into the
classroom, one standing on the podium, and the other sitting back in her seat. He said nothing,
did nothing, just stood there quietly, watching her quietly.
Zhu Jinxia said: "Let's write an essay today."
How can we correctly let children accept the fact that everyone will make mistakes, forget about
it and stop laughing at Silang Yongjin? How can we make Silang Yongjin understand that being
laughed at is not a big deal?
Zhu Jinxia turned around and wrote on the blackboard: "My most unforgettable embarrassing
incident."
There was no word count requirement or specific limit. She asked the children to write about
their most embarrassing experiences, and there would be rewards for those who wrote well.
Before starting to write, she also encouraged everyone to discuss and talk about any
embarrassing moments they had.
At first the children looked at each other and no one said anything, so she smiled and said, "Then
I'll go first."
"When I was in high school, there was a very good-looking boy in the class next to me. I could see
him riding his bike past me every day on my way to school. He looked like he came out of a
cartoon. Later, I decided to write him a love letter."
Such a start was of course very exciting. The children all pricked up their ears, and some even
slammed their tables and made a noise. Halfway through the shouting, I felt a burning sensation
at the back of my head. I turned around and saw the death stare from the principal. My voice was
immediately stuck in my throat, and I turned around and sat up straight.
I wish this summer not to be shy about anything and continue with a smile.
"I wrote the love letter for several days. I put it in my coat pocket. When I went to the toilet, I
looked around at the door of the next class for a long time. Finally, I mustered up the courage to
call him out. I was too nervous at the time and didn't even dare to look at him. My hands and
feet were shaking. I took out the love letter and stuffed it into his hand, then ran into the toilet
without looking back."
"and after?"
"and after!"
"Did he accept you?"
"It doesn't matter whether I received it or not. What's important is that when I ran to the
bathroom, I touched my pocket and found the letter was still in my bag."
"ah!"
"what happened?"
"Didn't it give it away?"
Zhu Jinxia said faintly: "The letter is still there, but when I touched it again, the sanitary napkin in
the other pocket was gone..."
The atmosphere froze for a second, and the whole class burst into laughter.
The girls blushed, the boys winked, in the closed environment of the mountains, neither
menstruation nor love letters were easy to talk about. But Zhu Jinxia not only talked about it, but
also talked about it openly and humorously.
The atmosphere was heated up all of a sudden, so of course we had to strike while the iron was
hot.
"Everyone has embarrassing moments—" Zhu Jinxia said as she walked to the back of the
classroom. Finally, she stopped beside Shixu and patted his shoulder. "If you don't believe me, ask
the principal. He must have embarrassing stories to tell too."
Fiery gazes, like searchlights, are cast upon time from all directions.
“…”
Shi Xu was also laughing at first, but he didn't expect that the fire would spread to him. He
glanced at Zhu Jin Xia and lowered his voice: "It's fine if you're the one who's being attacked, but
why are you dragging me into this?"
Zhu Jinxia also lowered her voice and said with a smile: "As the old saying goes, if you often walk
by the river, how can you not get your feet wet? Since your feet are wet, why not take a bath."
As a last resort, Shixu had no choice but to take a shower.
He also told a funny story, saying that when he was in primary school, he had a stomachache. It
happened that day that he had a Chinese class and the teacher asked everyone to imitate ancient
poems. He just wanted to go to the toilet, but when he told the teacher, the teacher thought he
was making trouble. He went to the toilet three times before the class started.
Zhu Jinxia added: "It must be because you were too naughty at the time that the teacher had this
misunderstanding about you."
Shixu was too lazy to deny it, and just smiled: "Anyway, in order to go to the toilet, I finished the
poem in one minute, raised my hand and said I was done, and ran out of the classroom."
Of course the teacher didn't believe it, and suspiciously asked the classmate to stand up and read
the masterpiece on time sequence.
My desk mate picked up his notebook, stood up, and burst into laughter before he even opened
his mouth.
The poem about time sequence is called "Jie Da Shou" (a dialect in Sichuan and Chongqing,
meaning defecation)——
The teacher asked me to write a poem, but I couldn't even start writing.
If you ask me why, I actually want to relieve myself.
By the time he returned to the classroom, he had already become famous in the world and was
nicknamed: Prince Jie Dashou.
Even though he had a blank expression and a cold face throughout the story, without any
emotion at all, it did not stop the whole class from laughing, especially Zhu Jinxia, who laughed
unrestrainedly.
With Zhu Jinxia and the time sequence as a foreshadowing, the children were free to speak
without restraint. In the stories they shared, there were stories of wetting the bed and the
vagina, burning off eyebrows while playing with fire, jumping into the river to swim, having their
underwear washed away, running home with their bare bottoms and being beaten, and there
was also a story of holding the wrong parent’s hand at the market because it was too crowded,
and the adult was careless and only realized after holding the hand for a long time that the child
was not their own.
Half of the class was spent on discussion, and by the time I started writing, the class was almost
over.
In the corridor, two people stood together, leaning on the railings to supervise the children in the
classroom writing essays.
Time sequence: Looking at the time, "Is it possible to finish this class?"
"Isn't there a next section?"
"..." Shixu glanced sideways, "Isn't the next class mine?"
"It's been requisitioned, isn't it?" Zhu Jinxia smiled, "Don't forget, whose ass am I cleaning up
for?"
At this point, she was happy and came over, "Isn't that right, Prince Jie Dashou?"
Time sequence: "…………"
It's fine if he is confiscated, but this funny character really doesn't need to be attributed to him.
He sneered, "Do you really believe it?"
Zhu Jinxia was stunned for a moment, "You didn't say that yourself? ... Did you make it up?"
"I don't have the quick wit to make up a story on the spot. It is indeed a true story, but it's a pity
that the protagonist is not me."
What he said was true. With his chronological experience and personality, and his precocious
intelligence, how could he be a naughty boy in the eyes of his teacher? Even if he was in a hurry
to go to the toilet, he would not write such a poem.
Zhu Jinxia pondered for a moment, "Could it be... Dunzhu?"
Shi Xu smiled and leaned lazily on the railing, "I didn't say that."
So when it was time for lunch, Zhu Jinxia's eyes frequently fell on Dunzhu.
Dunzhu was as attentive as ever, picking up dishes for her and serving her soup. He noticed that
Teacher Zhu looked at him with bright eyes today, and he felt ecstatic. Could it be that his hard
work was finally paying off?
He touched his face shyly, "Teacher Zhu, why are you staring at me today?"
"No, I just want to ask--" Zhu Jinxia asked tentatively, "Are you--"
Um?
Is it what it is?
Do I like you?
Dunzhu was ready, just waiting for her to ask, but -
"Untie the Big Hand Prince?"
Dunzhu: ???
Dunzhu: !!!!!!
"You, how do you know?"
Dunzhu was puzzled, but when he looked back at the time sequence, he understood.
"Well, fellow countryman, a shot in the back!"
The two brothers started fighting fiercely again.
It is worth mentioning that, inspired by the poems of Prince Jie Dashou, the children's
enthusiasm for writing essays has been mobilized unprecedentedly. In the evening, Zhu Jinxia
read one essay after another, laughing so hard that she fell backwards and was overwhelmed
with joy.
Until by chance, I saw a little girl named Basang wrote:
When I was seven years old, during the Spring Festival, a man and a woman, an uncle and an
aunt, came to my house. The uncle was carrying a lot of bags and had a beard on his chin, and
the aunt was short and fat, carrying a lot of gifts. When they saw me setting off firecrackers in the
yard, they took out two candies from their bags and said they would give me candies as long as I
called people.
There is no such candy in the mountains. I have only seen it on TV at the village chief's house.
There are colorful boxes and thick rolls of pink candy that can blow bubbles. I was very happy. I
took the candy and shouted "Hello, Auntie", but Auntie cried, crying very sadly. When I looked up
and shouted "Hello, Uncle", I found that Uncle was crying too, his long beard twitching, and his
tears were drowned in it.
It was not until grandma came out with a cane that she told me with a mixture of laughter and
tears that these were not uncles and aunts, but mom and dad.
It turns out that as far as I can remember, my parents have been working outside the mountains.
My grandmother said that they wanted me to have a better life, so they went to faraway places.
But the mountains are too far away, and the travel expenses are expensive. They rarely come
home during the holidays, so I don’t remember what they look like.
Later, when I grew up and recognized my parents, they would still take out the gifts they gave me
and ask me to call people when I came home for the New Year. When I called them correctly, they
would joke, "Don't call them uncle or aunt this time?" Every time this happened, my
grandmother and I would laugh out loud, and no one would cry anymore.
Isn't this an interesting thing?
…
Just a few short lines, I hope you read them over and over again this summer.
Across the coffee table, Shi Xu noticed her expression and asked her what was wrong, and she
handed him the notebook.
Shi Xu took the notebook, lowered his head to finish reading it, and then met those wet eyes.
"I thought I could bring something to the children by coming to the mountains, but in fact they
taught me more."
She took back the composition with a smile and held it solemnly in her hands.
"This is the best birthday present I've ever received."

Chapter 45
Chapter 45
This physical education class in the sky is simply a torture.
The afternoon sun hung in the center of the sky, the heat waves were steaming, and the
playground seemed like a huge oven, melting everything.
The physical education teacher was a strong Tibetan man, who had been exposed to the sun for
many years and was as dark as a fire stick. As resistant to the sun as he was, after standing on the
playground for less than two minutes, he looked like he had been fished out of the Jinsha River,
and his white T-shirt had become transparent on the front and back.
He asked the children to run around the playground and then called it a day.
"Disband."
Except for a few basketball-loving warriors who insisted on playing despite the scorching sun, the
rest of the students scattered like birds and beasts and ran to the corridors to seek shade.
This is the norm in the summer. The mountains are at a high altitude and the ultraviolet rays are
strong. The children lie in a row in the corridor with their butts sticking up, whispering to each
other while doing their homework.
The room was stuffy and hot, and there was no air conditioning. Even if the fan blew hard, it
could only blow out gusts of hot air that was useless. The teachers also moved a large desk to the
corridor and gathered in a circle to correct homework. Natural wind is definitely stronger than
the wind in the steamer.
Zhu Jinxia was correcting weekly diaries when Yu Xiaoshan poked her with her elbow.
“Look!”
Not far away, a little girl from the lower grade was lying on the ground with her back to them. Her
pants were almost falling down, with most of her butt exposed, but she was completely unaware.
“…”
I wish you a happy summer. Put on the pen cap and ask, "How old are you?"
Yu Xiaoshan said to her from behind: "It's no use helping her put them on, the pants are too
short!"
Sure enough, Zhu Jinxia had just helped someone tidy up their clothes and just as she turned her
head, the girl knelt down again and her □□ fell down again.
Yu Xiaoshan looked like “What did I say?”
Zhu Jinxia looked around and saw that there were two classes taking physical education classes:
the fifth grade she taught, and the second grade she didn't teach... and few of the children had
clothes that fit them.
"Either they are clothes worn by older brothers and sisters and are too big, or they are old
clothes from a few years ago and are too small." After Yu Xiaoshan finished speaking, she found
Zhu Jinxia browsing Taobao. She went over to take a look and was shocked. "No way, you're
buying books and then clothes? There are hundreds of people in the school!"
Before Zhu Jinxia could say anything, a shadow suddenly fell on the composition book spread out
in front of her. Someone stood behind her and lightly took away her cell phone.
I wish you can look up and meet a pair of cold eyes this summer. You know what, they suit the
weather very well and bring a slight coolness to people.
"Does your family run a charity?"
Shi Xu took the phone and glanced at the screen. She was indeed looking at children's clothing.
"Don't bother, it's a waste to buy it." His fingertips quickly skimmed across the screen like a
dragonfly skimming the water, and he stuffed it back into her arms, "Look over there—"
Zhu Jinxia took the phone and looked in the direction of his finger.
The warriors on the playground jumped up like moths to grab the ball, and they collided with
each other in mid-air and fell into a ball. Even so, no one gave up. They started to fight on the
ground again. The boy at the bottom was almost flattened, but he still held the ball tightly in his
arms and refused to let go.
"Give me!"
“No!”
“Grab it for me!!!”
“Ahhhhhh!”
Some were pulling their clothes, some were pulling their pants, it was a horrible sight.
"Did you see that?" Shi Xu said calmly, "With all this going on, why don't you consider buying a
helmet?"
Wish this summer: "..."
She looked down at her phone again and found that the interface was different. She swiped twice
and found something wrong.
"No, I'm on Taobao."
"You uninstalled my Taobao??!"
"I'm helping you save money, no thanks." The man walked away leisurely.
Wish this summer: "..."
She finally downloaded the books from Taobao, but didn't buy any clothes. Thinking that the
books she bought last time were almost all delivered, she placed an order for a new batch. As a
professional, when she chose foreign classics, she was very particular about choosing translations
by excellent domestic translators.
Weekly diaries were still written as usual, with new themes every week. As the saying goes, a big
reward always attracts a brave man. Whether you love reading or not, seeing the brand new,
beautiful books with the scent of ink will make your heart beat fast. Gradually, the "twins"
disappeared, and everyone began to rack their brains to take a different approach, trying to stand
out from the weekly diary competition.
"The place I want to go most"--
Zhu Jinxia was relieved to see that finally not everyone wanted to go to a county town three
hours away by car. Some people wanted to go to Venice, some wanted to go to Tiananmen
Square, and some wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower. Although among them there were also those
who wanted to go to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures...
My Favorite Book -
I wrote about this topic twice. The first time I wrote about it, Zhu Jinxia hadn’t given out
extracurricular books as prizes yet. When I collected the essays and saw them, my eyes went
dark. Almost everyone in the class wrote Chinese and math books.
"Have you never read any other books?"
"No—there—!" They answered in unison, and it sounded quite cheerful.
Under the policy of rewarding extracurricular readings for good weekly diaries, a month passed
and almost all the children in the class had new books. Because she not only set up a prize for the
best weekly diary, but also a prize for the best improvement, a prize for the most originality...
There were a few children in the class who could not speak clearly and their books were full of
typos. In order to let them get the new books, Zhu Jinxia racked her brains and came up with the
"Best Room for Improvement Award."
Shixu pointed at the award and asked, "What is the Best Room for Improvement Award?"
"There is still a lot of room for improvement."
Commonly known as the consolation prize.
Time sequence: "..."
I have the greatest room for improvement in the class, so I don't know why I'm so happy about
receiving this award.
Under such a strong spur, everyone got a new book. So, a month later, although there were still
some crooked typos in the essays handed in, at least no one liked the Chinese and math books
the most.
Some people like "Don Quixote", some people like "Romeo and Juliet", some people like "The
Diary of Anne Frank"... Finally, almost no one doesn't like "Harry Potter".
Who doesn't like the wizarding world?
Pencils have a new purpose. During breaks, there are always people holding thin sticks to
confront each other, one shouting "Expelliarmus" and the other shouting "Avada Kedavra".
When playing basketball, a bird landed on the basketball hoop. Someone shouted, "Golden
Snitch!" Then everyone ignored the basketball and chased the bird with great enthusiasm. The
bird was so frightened that it turned pale and lost several feathers while fluttering.
The person who found it said happily, "Quill pen!"
So a group of people rushed forward vigorously again -
"mine!"
"Give me!"
What’s even more outrageous is that the brooms of the fifth grade always break faster than those
of other grades - simply because there are too many people riding on the brooms.
Later, Yu Xiaoshan caught Ding Zhengen riding a new broom. This was a case of hitting the right
spot, so of course he had to be killed to scare the monkeys.
Ding Zhengenjia rode a broom and ran wildly, saying confidently: "When I fly, you can't catch up
with me!"
The result, of course, was that he was caught and beaten up.
Gradually, teachers and students noticed that the fifth-grade children seemed different. Although
they couldn't tell what the specific changes were, they were enough to attract attention.
They still played truant in class, but instead of doodling on their books, they secretly read books
in drawers.
After opening the door to a new world, children seem to have a sense of awe for books.
So Li Bai no longer had wings, Lu Xun no longer rode a motorcycle, and Du Fu no longer had
flaming red lips. In a book about the history of American films, they saw a blonde with real
flaming red lips.
She is plump and light, and she delicately covers the white hem of her skirt that is blown by the
wind, like a beautiful dream.
That weekend, while going home on holiday, one child briefly asked for the use of his parents'
mobile phone. After returning to school, he was able to imitate the woman in the video, standing
on the table, covering his invisible skirt, pursing his lips into an O shape, and uttering a series of
"Oh~~~" that made people think deeply.
During the next day's physical exercise, the fifth graders all started to moan at the same time.
Other grades waited and watched.
"What is this doing?"
“Like Marilyn Monroe!”
“Who is Marilyn Monroe?”
"An American star!"
After three consecutive inquiries, they were still confused, and that action seemed to have
become a secret code that only the fifth graders understood.
The girls were still keen on chatting, but the topics were different from before, ranging from the
chickens laying eggs at home, to the calves standing up and walking, all the way to "Who do you
like better, Darcy or Rhett", and "How thin is Scarlett's waist".
In "Gone with the Wind", it is said that Scarlett's waist is only 17 inches, the smallest waist in the
three counties.
Everyone looked at each other.
"So, how long is seventeen inches?"
In math class, we learned about millimeters, centimeters, and decimeters, but never inches. After
being entangled in the world's unsolved mysteries for several days, out of curiosity, someone
finally peeked through the door frame of the office and stretched out a tentative little foot.
"headmaster……"
The children are afraid of the teacher and rarely ask questions after class. If they have to ask,
Shishuo will definitely be on the blacklist.
Just kidding, who would ask the fierce principal? If I saw him halfway, I would want to take a
detour.
But how many centimeters are in an inch? Yu Xiaoshan didn't know, Dunzhu didn't know, and
none of the teachers could answer. As for Zhu Jinxia, she rolled her eyes and said, "I forgot. Why
don't you ask the math teacher?"
In the end, I could only ask for help from timing.
Shi Xu also found it novel. The Xiaxiram in front of him was obviously very nervous. His not-so-fair
face turned red, but he still stood straight and tried to be confident.
Looking outside the door, I saw a group of little girls clinging to the door frame, holding their
breath. After getting the answer from him, they ran away cheering.
Zhu Jinxia on the side teased him: "The sun is rising from the west, and someone actually came to
ask you a question."
"It's a pity that it has nothing to do with textbook knowledge."
"Be content with what you have done. Asking questions is a good start." She snorted. "This is all
my credit. If it weren't for the book I gave you that aroused your curiosity..."
"Yes, yes, yes, thanks to you, you have really worked hard and made great contributions."
Unfortunately, within two days, it was the life teacher's turn to come to the door in a rage,
"Principal, this is terrible, the fifth graders cut the dormitory curtains!"
"What?"
At the same time and in the same place, the same group of girls came to ask questions. This time,
they stood in a row and were interrogated in the office. At their feet was the evidence of the
crime that the life teacher had brought in angrily - a blue curtain that had been cut into tatters
and was in a mess.
The curtains were made of fabric bought from the town. In order to save labor costs, the life
teacher took on the task of sewing the curtains, making them stitch by stitch.
Shi Xu had to put on a stern face and ask them why they were destroying public property.
The children hung their heads and dared not breathe.
In fact, it doesn't matter whether they answer or not. It is a fact that the curtains were damaged.
No matter what the reason, they were wrong. If they did something wrong, they would be
punished. Maybe their parents would be called in. If the situation is more serious, they would
probably have to pay compensation... Some timid girls were already secretly wiping their tears.
Shixu went through the punishment in his mind, but before he could announce the conclusion,
he saw Zhu Jinxia walking quickly. She picked up the faded curtain with two fingers with a little
disdain, looked at it for a moment, but couldn't figure out what it was, and even shook it twice in
the air.
…The room was filled with dust, fluttering like falling snow.
The chaotic coughing broke the originally solemn atmosphere.
Timeline: "What are you doing?"
Zhu Jinxia ignored him. As the curtains were shaken open and spread out before her eyes, she
suddenly understood and laughed, "Are you making skirts?"
The girls looked up at her and finally nodded.
In "Gone with the Wind", the war caused a shortage of supplies. Scarlett lost her endless new
dresses and the lively balls she could attend. But she turned around and cut down the green
velvet curtains, made a beautiful new dress, and walked into the street with pride.
The book said that the skirt was extremely gorgeous and dazzling.
But is it really a skirt that she lacks? Or is it that when fate is trapped, she looks for opportunities
just to make her dry life flow again.
Zhu Jinxia was moved and no longer complained about the dirtiness, and looked at the curtains
carefully.
"Just shears won't do. You also need a needle and thread."
Xia Xiram said weakly, "I borrowed my grandmother's sewing box when I went home last week."
"Does your grandma know that she lent it to you?" Shi Xu hit the nail on the head.
Watson, you found the blind spot!
Xiaxiram shrank his neck and kept silent.
Zhu Jinxia immediately helped her child to cover up: "The elbows are not cut symmetrically!"
Yangjin whispered, "It's Xiaxiram. I told her to cut it according to the bottom of a mineral water
bottle, but she has clumsy hands—"
"Your haircut is also bumpy, right? And you're still blaming me."
The serious atmosphere quickly disappeared. Everyone, who had just been acting as if they had
made a mistake and were being criticized, now had started discussing why the skirt had failed.
The life teacher felt something was wrong and poked Shixu's arm, "Principal?"
Zhu Jinxia on the other side had already spread out the curtains with great interest. While asking
them what kind of skirt they were going to make, she was searching in her mind for the details of
watching her grandmother make skirts on a sewing machine when she was a child.
That was last century, when there was no air conditioning in the summer, and fans were not
turned on all night to save electricity. The grandparents and grandchildren lay on a cool mat, and
grandma fanned them with cattail leaves, saying that she would buy some silk cloth to make a
vest dress for them tomorrow so that they could wear coolly.
The next day, the old lady brought back a piece of floral fabric from the market and started
sewing on the sewing machine with her hands flying.
Zhu Jinxia was sitting on a mat nearby eating watermelon. The juice accidentally dripped onto her
clothes. She quickly turned around and wiped it carefully, but was finally discovered.
The old man was both angry and amused, and called her a little enemy. She said, "You see that
the new skirt is ready, so you are looking for an excuse to not want the old skirt, right?"
Because of the long time, the summer in my memory is no longer bright and faded like the
curtains in front of me. But for the young Zhu Jinxia, that skirt is still shining and colorful.
While growing up, she always heard adults teach children not to be greedy for fame and fortune,
and not to pursue appearance. Because of this kind of beauty shame, even during adolescence,
girls of the same age would resist wearing skirts and only wear loose clothing in black, white and
gray. Zhu Jinxia herself is no exception.
It was not until she grew up that she gradually came to her senses and realized that there was
nothing wrong with pursuing beauty.
Even in barren soil, we should pursue beauty. Compromising with life will only make people
numb. The more limited the space, the harder we should fight and resist.
Zhu Jinxia raised her head and announced, "Well, you guys go back first, and I'll figure out the
skirt issue."
Time sequence: "?"
The volunteer teacher seemed to be completely unaware that she was overstepping her
authority and even stroked her chin in thought: "The curtain fabric is too thick, and the skirt
made from it cannot be worn..."
"I think I should go to the county town this weekend and bring back some fabrics and needles
and thread." She even included the life teacher beside her, "Sister Su, you have a sewing
machine, right?"
The life teacher nodded confusedly, "Yes."
"That's good. We'll have to ask you to teach us when the time comes. Hey, why don't I give you a
hand?" Zhu Jinxia came over, held her hand and sighed, "They're the same hands, why is yours so
coincidental?"
"Eh? Not really." The life teacher smiled embarrassedly, "Practice makes perfect. You smart
people are learning knowledge, so the hard work can only be done by us clumsy people, right?"
In a few words, they had already agreed to go shopping for fabrics together on the weekend.
Time sequence: "..."
No, does anyone still remember him as the principal?
When Zhu Jinxia finished this, she looked back and found that the forgotten principal was stuck in
a rare state.
Shi Xu said calmly: "Is it arranged?"
“…”
Didn't you hear it all?
Guilty conscience.
"The skirt is ready." Shi Xu glanced at the ground, "Then what about the curtains?"
Zhu Jinxia quickly said: "We have to buy the cloth for the skirt, and we also have to buy the cloth
for the curtains!"
“Who’s buying it?”
"I! I'll buy it!" She said firmly, raising her hand without hesitation.

Chapter 46
Chapter 46
The days went by very slowly.
Just like the rising sun which is always late, it has to wait for several more hours before it can
slowly climb up to the sky even though it is bright in the morning.
In the mountains, Zhu Jinxia's clock also slowed down.
She no longer needs to get up early in the morning and rush to school in rush hour traffic; she no
longer needs to race against time to switch between administrative meetings and teaching tasks;
she no longer needs to correct papers before the deadline, and work hard for papers that have
no academic value; she no longer needs to take care of her weekly date with her husband as a
routine, or visit both families on weekends to ask about their well-being.
Outside the mountain, she is Teacher Zhu, Associate Professor Zhu, the wife of Weicheng, the
granddaughter of her grandmother, and the daughter-in-law of her parents-in-law. In the
mountain, she is just Zhu Jinxia.
It seems that there are two completely different units of time measurement in the mountains
and outside the mountains.
In Yibo Township, she could sit in front of the stove for most of the day, holding a cup of butter
tea in her hand and watching the milk foam bubbling in the small silver pot.
In the afternoon when there are no classes, you can lie in the empty little building, on the
wooden bed that creaks when you turn over, outside the window you can hear the never-ending
sound of rushing water, when you open your eyes you can see the damp and moldy ceiling, and
when you close your eyes you can fall into a sweet and peaceful dream.
She would go into the kitchen to watch Donzhu making highland barley cakes. The young man
had dark, rough but extremely dexterous hands, and in the blink of an eye he could turn the
white grains into delicious delicacies.
I would also lie in front of the coffee table of Time, eating melon seeds and staring at the
playground outside the window. The people taking physical education classes changed one after
another, but the children's faces were always full of energy.
The sun in the sky slowly climbed up and then slowly slipped away, and the narrow sky changed
from the deep blue sea to the orange-red goldfish tail.
In this rhythm, Zhu Jinxia gradually got used to not using her mobile phone. Sometimes she
would forget to bring it to early class and would not notice it the whole day.
Anyway, whoever wants to find her, just shout "Wish you Jinxia" and while startling a group of
flying birds, there will also be countless "little birds" transmitting signals on the campus.
Therefore, Zhu Jinxia missed twenty-three calls from Acropolis on a certain day when she forgot
to bring her cell phone.
It was a Wednesday, a week after she turned twenty-nine.
June 7th was supposed to be his and Weicheng's wedding date, but Zhu Jinxia's clock was
stopped by the mountains and she completely forgot about it.
She also didn't know that, in fact, on her birthday, Weicheng had been sleepless all night, fiddling
with his phone over and over again, typing birthday wishes word by word in the dialog box, but
found that it was too stiff no matter how he wrote it, so he finally deleted it word by word.
He looked through his old circle of friends. Every year, they were together on this day, except this
year.
In the dialog box, the conversation between the two was still about his mockery of Zhu Jinxia's
letter.
He didn't know why they had come to this point. Everything was fine, but suddenly one day when
he opened his eyes, the people around him seemed to have suddenly realized something and no
longer wanted to maintain the status quo with him.
It's not like they haven't quarreled before, but Zhu Jinxia is a person who is cold on the outside
but warm on the inside. She is soft-hearted and even has a people-pleasing personality because
of her lack of love. So every argument ends with her rational compromise. No matter who is right
or wrong, she will actively communicate. In comparison, Weicheng is the more impulsive child.
But he was used to it. Zhu Jinxia had always been the restrained and calm one, and he thought
they had long been accustomed to this mode of getting along.
He thought it would be the same this time, and he didn't do anything wrong this time. Weicheng
thought, everything would be fine after she got over her anger.
Who would have thought that the two of them would develop from a stalemate and cold war to
the point of divorce, and Zhu Jinxia was determined to leave him as if she had eaten a weight.
Eight years, eight years have passed like this, now he has not changed, but she has changed.
Weicheng is an ostrich, and he has never been at the helm of this relationship. He still has the
fantasy that maybe things will get better one day? As long as he doesn't give in, things will turn
around.
But in the blink of an eye, Zhu Jinxia is 29 years old, and the original wedding date is getting
closer, but she still hasn't changed her mind.
The time on the calendar passed day by day, and on the day before the wedding, Weicheng
finally couldn't sit still anymore. He had already applied for wedding leave for this day, and even
though Zhu Jinxia filed for divorce, he didn't cancel it.
On June 7, after finding a small town in western Sichuan 800 kilometers away on the navigation
system, Weicheng finally decided not to sit and wait for death and decided to fight to the death.
He just wanted to see if he was really so unbearable, and if she could really find the ideal pure
land after leaving him.
The journey started before dawn and ended at nightfall. Weicheng didn't eat a single bite of food,
but he drank up eight bottles of coffee that he bought at a rest stop.
He was unable to drive to Yibo Township in one breath, and just like Zhu Jinxia when he came to
the mountains, he checked into the Holiday Inn in the county town in the early morning - at this
time of the day, everyone at the school had gone to bed, and he didn't want to be an uninvited
guest.
Although he knew very well that he would never be popular no matter what.
The hotel environment is not good. The dampness is overwhelming when you enter the room.
We left in a hurry and didn't bring anything. We even borrowed the charging cable from the front
desk.
After driving all day on difficult roads and at a high altitude, his body was already exhausted. But
he didn't know if it was the eight bottles of coffee that were causing the problem. He lay on the
bed with his clothes on, unable to calm his thoughts.
How long has it been since they last met?
It’s been almost three months.
The last time they met was in the hospital. She had acute gastroenteritis and her face was pale as
she received an IV drip. He never gave her a good look and always spoke coldly to her.
Later, when he recalled that night countless times, Weicheng would repeatedly ask himself what
was wrong with him that made him like a helpless bipolar patient.
He clearly wanted to save his marriage, but every word he said seemed to push people away.
He replayed the scene in his mind over and over again, as if he was reviewing a Word document
over and over again, annotating the mistakes from time to time, even though the deadline had
long passed and he had nowhere to submit his revised version.
But Weicheng didn't know what else he could do besides recalling the past. His brain seemed to
have lost control and he couldn't find the stop button. All he could think about were fragments of
the past.
He had been living like this for a long time, and in order to fall asleep quickly, he would even take
sleeping pills or drink alcohol before going to bed. The effect of the pills made people drowsy,
and the alcohol made people numb, so they could fall asleep.
Unfortunately, we left in a hurry and didn't bring any alcohol when we went into the mountains.
It was already early in the morning when we arrived at the county town, and there couldn't be a
24-hour convenience store nearby.
Without the sleeping aid, he tossed and turned until the sky turned pale before he finally fell into
a deep sleep.
I have never been to the Acropolis in Tibet, and have never experienced the bright sunshine on
the plateau. I forgot to close the curtains before going to bed, so of course I was awakened by the
first ray of sunshine in the morning.
The blinding light shone in from the window, and the burning sensation spread from his feet to
his face, almost waking him up.
When he opened his eyes, Weicheng felt dry mouth and dizzy. It took him half a minute to wake
up from the chaos and remember where he was.
The body is still tired, but the brain starts to become active.
He simply got up, took a shower, shaved himself with the disposable razor on the sink, checked
out and left.
There is a noodle shop downstairs from the hotel. Weicheng swallowed three taels of beef
noodles without any taste, and ordered a basket of steamed buns, as if he wanted to fill his
hungry stomach all at once.
Soldiers must have a full meal before going to the battlefield, right?
Thinking of this, he began to laugh at himself again, thinking that maybe he was not going to the
battlefield, but the guillotine.
Finally he got into the car and entered the destination in the navigation. He closed his eyes, and
when he opened them again, he was driving towards the road to Yibo Central School.
The mountain road twisted and turned. At 10:30 in the morning, just when Weicheng thought
that this road with mountains on one side and rivers on the other side would last forever, the
navigation suddenly reminded him that they had reached their destination.
He didn't have time to step on the brakes and had already passed the school. He quickly braked
and stopped by the roadside. Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw clearly that there was
indeed a very humble building behind him, with a shabby gate and a mottled plaque.
Looking up again, it is indeed a school.
The old handwriting reads: Yi Bo Central School.
Weicheng didn't rush to get out of the car. He opened the window and lit a cigarette.
He took only one puff and put his hand holding the cigarette on the car window. The ash was
already very long before he remembered to take a second puff.
I seemed to hear Zhu Jinxia’s voice in my ears.
"No smoking! I hate the smell of cigarettes the most!"
He paused, but finally put out the cigarette.
In high school, he watched a lot of Young and Dangerous, mistaking childishness for maturity, and
started smoking. Later, when he met Zhu Jinxia in college, because she hated the smell of
cigarettes, he followed her example and quit his not-so-big addiction.
Weicheng looked at himself nervously in the rearview mirror, over and over again, as if to confirm
that every hair was flawless. Unfortunately, he couldn't eat or sleep well these days, and he lost
more than 30 pounds. His clothes were hanging on his body, his cheeks were skinny and there
was no flesh, and his eyelids were dark blue.
It's no different than a zombie attack.
He smiled self-deprecatingly and wished Jin Xia could leave with peace of mind. Even if he grew
up to be like Daniel Wu or Takeshi Kaneshiro, would that make him stay?
If she was really such a superficial person, he wouldn't have to be so exhausted. It could be
solved by going to a medical beauty clinic. If one visit doesn't work, he can just go a few more
times.
Weicheng calmed himself down, took out his cell phone, and dialed a familiar number, but no
one answered, over and over again.
Maybe in class.
He sat in the car, trying to control his temper, but he still felt a little anxious while waiting and
couldn't help smoking again.
When there were cigarette butts piled up outside the car window, I finally heard the bell for the
end of get out of class.
I called again, but still no one answered.
At eleven o'clock, the sun had already climbed into the sky, making the roof and the interior of
the car scorching hot. The mountains were cool in the morning and evening, but extremely hot at
noon. Weicheng had closed the car windows and turned on the air conditioner. The air vents
were blowing cold air, but it couldn't blow away the anxiety in his heart.
He is a person who is not good at socializing and speaking. In the past, when Zhu Jinxia went out,
it was usually Zhu Jinxia who negotiated with others, and he followed along patiently. Now he
only wants to get in touch with Zhu Jinxia himself, instead of rashly breaking into the school to
look for her.
Unfortunately, until 11:40, when the last bell rang, Zhu Jinxia still didn't answer his call.
Acropolis made a total of twenty-three calls, the last of which was at two o'clock in the
afternoon, when the first bell rang.
During these few hours, he waited patiently until his patience ran out, and smoked a whole pack
of cigarettes. When the last cigarette was extinguished, he opened the car door, stepped on it,
and slammed the door shut.
There are only about a hundred households in the small Yibo Township, and everyone knows
everyone else. Any unfamiliar face will attract attention, let alone such a fair face, which looks like
an outsider.
The guard stopped him and started talking in a gibberish that he couldn't understand.
Weicheng patiently explained who he was and who he was looking for, but unfortunately the
other party didn't understand at all and just stopped him from entering.
In the corners of Tibetan areas, anyone who could recognize a few more words was caught and
made into a teacher. The rest were left to work as security guards and canteen cooks. Most of
their lives they had never left the mountains and did not speak a word of Chinese.
The afternoon sun made him dizzy. Due to lack of sleep and the large amount of nicotine intake in
a short period of time, Weicheng was sweating all over. The unreachable phone calls for several
hours made him even more anxious.
The door was only ajar but not locked. Seeing this, Weicheng didn't bother to talk to the old
Tibetan man and walked straight in.
The other party became anxious and stretched out his dark arm to stop him, but one of them
attacked hastily and the other walked hastily, and they failed to control their strength well, and
the palm hit Acropolis' abdomen by accident, which immediately triggered a physical conflict.
Weicheng's nerves were instantly ignited. He turned around and pushed the old man away,
angrily saying, "Try to touch me again?"
Some lower grade children were taking physical education classes and were attracted by the
noise. Those playing ball on the playground and doing homework in the corridor all looked up.
The physical education teacher was still the same fire stick. He lost the ball and ran over sweating
profusely. "What happened?"
The guard pointed at Acropolis and spoke quickly and hastily, gesticulating with his hands, his
fingertips almost touching Acropolis' face several times.
Weicheng was already impatient, and when he was poked and pointed at, he almost slapped the
person away, "I'm here to find someone!"
The guard took two steps back and covered his hit shoulder.
The PE teacher's already dark face suddenly turned even darker. "Just find someone if you want
to. Why do you hit someone?"
"Then why does he point fingers at me?"
"Did he touch one of your fingers when he pointed at him?"
"I just pushed him, is that considered hitting someone?"
There is no shade, the sun is scorching, and the ground is hot.
The weather fueled his temper, and the conflict broke out before Weicheng even entered the
house. He was not a person with such a hot-tempered and irritable personality, but because of a
series of triggers, he became neurotic and hysterical.
The physical education teacher didn't even ask him who he was looking for. He turned around
and told the security guard to call the police station, and then he stood at the door like a
mountain.
Acropolis's temples were throbbing, his whole body was steaming with heat, and his clothes
were almost soaked.
I thought that by traveling thousands of miles to see her, I could express my feelings and find a
way out, but I didn't expect that she wouldn't answer her phone calls and I couldn't even step
through the door.
It was like a red-hot iron being thrown into cold water. With a hissing sound, everything around it
began to boil, blurring one's rationality.
In the afternoon on campus, students in class were listless, low plants were withered, insects and
birds had all hidden away, and only silent heat waves remained in the narrow strip of sky.
Suddenly a voice broke through the heat wave and burst into the campus.
"I wish you a happy summer—"
“Happy summer!”
"Are you here to celebrate this summer?!"
The sound was deafening, waking up every drowsy person in the narrow passage, and it
continued one after another, as if it would continue without a response.
Teacher Huogun was anxious and grabbed Weicheng's arm, "Are you sick?"
"I wish you a happy summer—"
"This is a school, students are in class, you yell again?"
“Happy summer!”
The whole teaching building was in commotion. The teachers stopped teaching and the students
looked out the window restlessly - although they could not see anything and were quickly
stopped by the teacher. They could only scratch their heads and watch the adult on the podium
walk out of the classroom holding the book.
Weicheng originally thought that Zhu Jinxia would finally come out, but he didn't expect that
after shouting again and again, he still couldn't see her figure.
Soon, a man walked out of the classroom at the end of the third floor, glanced over here in mid-
air, turned his head and seemed to say something, and the others went back one after another,
and he disappeared from sight.
When I saw him again, he was already outside the corridor on the first floor, walking towards the
door at a very fast pace.
Weicheng yelled again at the top of his lungs, but was interrupted by him in a harsh voice: "What
are you yelling for?"
As he arrived, the security guard took a step back and the physical education teacher also
released his hand that was blocking Weicheng.
He seems to be in charge.
"What's my name? My name is Weicheng." Weicheng raised his eyes and looked at him for two
seconds with a defiant look on his face.
The man confronted him for a moment through the rusty iron gate. His voice was as hard as a
knife, without any warmth.
"Who cares what your name is? I'm asking what the hell you're yelling about."
——
I wish I wasn’t in school this summer.
Her classes today were all in the morning. After class, she didn't even have lunch. She took
Dunzhu and ran to the county town, excitedly buying fabrics for the girls to make curtains and
skirts.
Due to the principal's timing, it was inconvenient for him to leave school during the week, and
without him, the school would be without a backbone, so Zhu Jinxia found Dunzhu who also had
no classes in the afternoon.
The two of them drove Lao Li's pickup truck to the county town with great enthusiasm. One had
never been to a market in the Tibetan area, and the other had a rare chance to sneak out on a
weekday to stroll the streets - and with his sweetheart, it made him happy just thinking about it.
After buying everything, Zhu Jinxia found a Sichuan restaurant in the county town to have a meal
with Dunzhu. Dunzhu wolfed down the food while critically commenting that the barley cakes
were not as chewy as his and that his cutting skills for twice-cooked pork were far worse than his.
Zhu Jinxia raised an eyebrow, "Don't force it, if it doesn't taste good, don't eat it."
"How can that be possible? My brother said that not wasting food is a traditional virtue of the
Chinese nation." Dunzhu raised his head from the bowl, with a grain of rice still stuck to the
corner of his mouth, "Boss, bring me another bowl of rice!"
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud, and took a tissue to pick up the rice grains for the ponytailed kid who
never grew up. The next second, his body trembled, his face turned red, and his head was about
to smoke.
"I...you..."
Dunzhu spoke unclearly and hesitated, not knowing what to say, like a young girl about to get
married.
"What are you thinking about all day long?" Zhu Jinxia crumpled up the paper into a ball and
smashed it on his forehead. "Have you finished eating? Leave after you finish eating, or you won't
be able to go back until dark."
A small kid with a head full of pink bubbles.
The two of them returned to the car with a lot of purchased things. The car was scorching hot
and the air seemed to be compressed. Their butts fell on the leather seats, just like fried tofu.
Dunzhu turned the air conditioner to the highest setting, but the car was too old and the air
conditioning was not effective, so he had to open the window to let in some natural wind.
"This is such a broken car. Old Li is a mechanic, but he doesn't know how to fix his own car!"
Zhu Jinxia smiled: "You should make good money and buy one of your own in the future."
"It's difficult." Dunzhu shook his head. "As long as my brother is here, I can't save any money."
"Why?"
"He has given all his money to the school. How can I watch him suffer alone? I can only jump into
the fire pit with him."
The two chatted casually and were almost driving out of the county. Zhu Jinxia suddenly saw a
small supermarket on the side of the road and her heart was moved.
"parking!"
"What's wrong?" Dunzhu stopped the car on the side of the road, "Is there anything else you
want to buy?"
"I suddenly remembered that there is something else..." Zhu Jinxia was vague, opened the car
door and jumped out, then went into the supermarket to search.
The supermarket was too small and the variety of goods was scarce, but at least there was what
she was looking for. Although it looked like a random brand, it was barely usable.
When she finished paying and returned to the car with the plastic bag, Dunzhu stretched his neck
to see, "What did you buy?"
I wish this summer not to say much, but unfortunately the bag is transparent and can't hide
anything.
"Razor?" After seeing what was in the bag, Dunzhu asked curiously, "Why did you buy this?"
This question stumped Zhu Jinxia.
While eating in the morning, she accidentally saw a cut on Shixu's chin. She asked what
happened, and Shixu touched his chin and said that it was caused by shaving. The blade was
blunt and not working well, so he was a little too heavy-handed and didn't expect to use too
much force and cut the cut.
The wound looked quite deep, with slight bleeding. After a while, it coagulated into blood beads,
like a small red bean hanging on the side of the chin, which was quite eye-catching.
"You should." Zhu Jinxia laughed at him, "Who still uses a razor blade to shave these days?"
"It's okay. No one in the mountains cares about me anyway."
If he wasn't the principal and had to set a good example for everyone, he wouldn't even bother
to shave.
The main focus is on the original ecology.
…
Just now when she passed the supermarket, Zhu Jinxia suddenly remembered this and stopped
the car reflexively. Since she was already here, she naturally thought and did so by bringing him a
razor.
But when Dunzhu called her out and saw his inquiring look, she suddenly realized that the razor
seemed to be a very private object.
Dunzhu was still asking what this was for.
I wish this summer to be quiet. Holding the plastic bag in my hand, I hear myself say, "...hair
removal."
“…”
On the way back, the car was quiet for a while.

Chapter 47
It’s a three-hour drive from the county town back to school. With Zhu Jinxia around, Dunzhu
wanted to speed but didn’t have the courage to do it.
It was almost dinner time when the two arrived at Yi Bo Township.
Dunzhu parked the car in front of the repair shop and poked his head out, "Brother Li, I've filled
up your tank! Where are you parking the car?"
What was strange was that not only Lao Li was in the shop, but Yu Xiaoshan was also there. The
two of them were eating melon seeds together and talking about something mysteriously. When
they heard the words, they both turned around.
"Hey, Yu Xiaoshan, you're not in school during class time, but come here to slack off?" The man
who just came back from the county town had no self-awareness and still had the nerve to
criticize others.
Under normal circumstances, Yu Xiaoshan would have started a fight with him, but today,
unusually, she did not fight back.
Zhu Jinxia jumped off the truck holding a plastic bag, and looked up to see Lao Li and Yu Xiaoshan
looking at her.
"……What's wrong?"
She touched her face. Could it be that there were rice grains stuck to her lips like Donzhu?
Yu Xiaoshan threw away the melon seeds, pulled her into the house, and said solemnly: "Teacher
Zhu, please stay here with Lao Li first, and don't go back to school for the time being."
I wish this summer to be curious, "Why?"
"...someone came to the school, looking for you." Yu Xiaoshan turned around, hesitating, "Yes,
it's you..."
I wish this summer's heart skips a beat and stands still.
"What is it?"
"It is said that he is your husband..." Yu Xiaoshan said in a mosquito-like voice.
"What?!" Before Zhu Jinxia could react, Dunzhu at the side reacted first, his eyes widened, "Who?
Husband? Whose husband???"
Yu Xiaoshan was startled and covered his mouth with her hand, "Keep your voice down! Are you
afraid that someone will know?"
"I think everyone knows about this." Old Li said quietly, "The people arrived in the morning, and
the fight started in the afternoon. They were fighting and making noise at the school gate. I could
hear it clearly while I was repairing the car."
Zhu Jinxia turned around and walked out of the shop.
Yu Xiaoshan called her: "Hey, where are you going? Didn't I tell you not to go back yet?!"
Not going back? He had come all the way to her house, could she really hide away like a turtle
and not show up?
Zhu Jinxia looked up at the familiar little building. She could hide there for a while, but not
forever.
In the shop, Dunzhu was even more distraught than she was, muttering to herself: "Husband?
She has a husband? Is she married?"
Yu Xiaoshan then noticed that something was wrong with him and looked back at him with wide
eyes.
"No, what's going on with you?"
"She never mentioned that she had a husband—" Dunzhu suddenly looked up, "Did you hear it
wrong?"
"Did you hear it wrong? It's not just me, all the teachers and students in the school heard it. If
you don't believe me, go ask them." Yu Xiaoshan rolled her eyes, looked at him like this, and
recalled his usual attentive behavior. She understood a little, "No, whether Teacher Zhu is married
or has a partner is none of your business. What are you doing jumping around here?"
"you--"
"Or is it you...hahahaha, I can't tell, Dunzhu, you're not that old, but your face is quite big."
The two were used to quarreling with each other, and finally Yu Xiaoshan got the chance to be
sarcastic and, of course, ridicule her severely.
"Don't you have a mirror in your dormitory? Don't you know how to look in the mirror before
going out? You're like a toad wanting to eat swan flesh, hahahahahaha!"
"you--!"
Before Dunzhu could fight back, Yu Xiaoshan had already run out of the door in big strides.
"Where are you going?"
"Nonsense, just reading gossip!"
"You, why are you taking advantage of someone's misfortune——"
Before Dunzhu finished speaking, Lao Li beside him also rushed out, pulled the roller shutter and
followed closely behind.
Dunzhu was surprised: "Where are you going now? Are you not doing business anymore?"
"You won't die if you work less. Let's go, let's go read some gossip!"
Dunzhu beat his chest and stamped his feet for two seconds, but finally followed.
——
There is no Acropolis at the school gate.
The iron gate was ajar, and the security guard was sitting on a small bench next to it as usual.
When he saw Zhu Jinxia, he stood up suddenly, pointed at her, pointed inside, and said
something excitedly.
Zhu Jinxia didn't understand and pushed the door to go in, but was stopped by him anxiously.
"Male", "very fierce", "beat you", "not going"... He struggled to search for key words from the
vocabulary library that he was not familiar with, trying to stop Zhu Jinxia.
The hand was dark and rough, and its texture was like used sandpaper. It stood in front of her,
trying to stop her, but not daring to actually touch her.
Zhu Jinxia has been here for more than two months. Although they cannot speak the same
language, she nods to him whenever she comes in and out. Every time she goes to the store to
buy melon seeds and drinks, she never forgets to give him a portion when she comes back. The
old lady is always flattered and thanks her. Before taking the things, she repeatedly wipes her
hands on her clothes, fearing that she will think he is dirty.
She had heard from Shixu that the old man was from the same village as Uncle Wang, who was
born with a slight intellectual disability and stayed at home for most of his life, being bullied by
both adults and children in the village. Later, Uncle Wang came back to run a school and brought
him down the mountain to guard the gate, where he has been guarding for most of his life.
Now Uncle Wang has returned to the mountain, but he is still there.
He had a simple mind and could not think of anything too complicated. He only remembered that
on the day he went down the mountain, Uncle Wang told him: "From now on, you should regard
yourself as a door god. No matter what time it is, you must stay here firmly and not leave your
post without permission. Do you understand?"
He nodded repeatedly. This was the first and only job he had in his life, and he worked there for
decades.
He didn't go to the cafeteria to eat, but squatted at the door to eat; he didn't go to the toilet to
wash, but wiped in the small guard room; whenever a stranger came in or out, he would hold on
to the other person until a teacher came hurriedly and allowed him to enter, and then he would
let go.
Sometimes his stubbornness can be a headache and easily cause unnecessary trouble, but with
him around, teachers and students feel at ease.
I've hardly seen him leave here this summer.
One time, she came back from the store as usual and gave the old man a handful of melon seeds.
The old man suddenly called her over, muttered something, took out an orange, held it in both
hands, and carefully put it into her hands.
Zhu Jinxia knew that he lived frugally and couldn't bear to accept it, so she quickly refused and
said, "You eat it, you eat it!"
He didn't understand either. He tilted his head and thought for a long time before he
remembered the two words. He waved his hands and said, "Not dirty, not dirty!"
He stretched out his hands to show her, then hurriedly pointed to the sink at the other end of the
playground, indicating that he had washed his hands.
…
Now, Zhu Jinxia looked down at the pair of hands that stopped her, dry and cracked, vividly
interpreting what it means to be a child of the earth.
Old Li said that Weicheng was "fighting and making a fuss" at the gate. Given the old man's
stubborn temper, he probably wouldn't know how to back off after being beaten and would just
stand guard at the gate.
Zhu Jinxia felt a tightness in her chest, took a deep breath, deftly pulled the old man's hand, and
carefully checked if he was injured. The old man was startled and uneasily retracted his hand, still
repeating those words persistently, signaling her not to go in, because there was a fierce man
inside who wanted to cause trouble for her.
Zhu Jinxia patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, it's okay."
There are some red marks on the dark back of the hand. I don’t know if they were left by the
Acropolis. Fortunately, there are no more serious injuries.
I wish you can open the iron gate this summer and walk into the orange-red campus.
The last class in the afternoon had ended. The children were playing balls on the playground, or
cleaning the public areas. When they saw her come back, they swarmed over and surrounded
her.
The class she had never taught was around her, the fifth graders were nearby, and the girls held
her hands, their eyes full of worry.
"Teacher Zhu, there is a fierce man coming to see you. He is so fierce!"
"That afternoon, I shouted at the gate so loudly that everyone in the school could hear it!"
"who is he?"
The boys stepped forward and patted their chests.
"Don't go! We will protect you!"
"Go, go, go, do whatever you need to do!" In the office, the physical education teacher came out,
first dispersed the children, turned back and looked at her awkwardly, "You're back, Teacher
Zhu..."
Zhu Jinxia: "Where are they? Have they left?"
"No. He's in the principal's dormitory." Huogun said awkwardly, "We told him you were out, but
he didn't believe us and made a fuss at the door for a long time. So the principal took him back..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhu Jinxia had already strode towards the teachers' dormitory.
Outside, the wind gradually cooled after the sun went down, and the sunset melted gently,
turning the playground into orange jelly. But there was no light in the corridor, and as soon as I
entered, the coldness hit me from all sides.
She mechanically walked up the stairs and stopped outside the iron gate on the third floor.
The door was ajar. As Shi Xu was the principal, he was always visited by people, so he did not
close the door to make it convenient for everyone to come in and out.
It is called the principal's dormitory, but in fact it is equivalent to half an office.
Zhu Jinxia took a deep breath, and before she raised her hand, the door was suddenly opened
from the inside. She was caught off guard by Shixu's eyes, which were as dark and bright as ever.
He stood behind the door, and seemed to have caught the sound of her footsteps long ago, with
a normal expression.
"came back?"
The tone was the same as when she came back to eat with her textbooks after class every day.
Zhu Jinxia slowed down for a moment and turned his head to look towards the window.
There's one more person there.
Weicheng was wearing the clothes and pants she bought for him. If he hadn't lost too much
weight, the clothes that used to fit him would now hang loosely on his body. Everything was the
same as before.
How could he...
Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth, unable to believe that he had become so thin, with almost no flesh
on his cheeks.
The resentment and anger that had been accumulating outside the school gate suddenly froze
the moment she saw him, with no way to vent.
After eight years together, they are too familiar with each other.
But the Acropolis in front of her was unfamiliar to her.
Shi Xu's eyes swept back and forth between the two of them.
"You guys chat, I'll go downstairs to check on the students."
He brushed past her and closed the door, but before it was completely closed, he turned back.
"Call me if you need anything. I'll be downstairs."
——
Acropolis was by the window, half of his figure was dyed red by the sunset. Zhu Jinxia had not
moved since she entered the door, still holding the plastic bag in her hand.
The two stood in the room for a long time, and no one spoke.
Shixu's dormitory is in an excellent location. Standing from the window, one can have a
panoramic view of most of the campus. Therefore, Weicheng knew about Zhu Jinxia ever since
she appeared at the school gate.
When I saw that familiar figure, my heart tightened uncontrollably, like a blade of grass curling up
after being touched.
Every minute and every second he waited here, he was tortured, his anger grew uncontrollably,
and his rationality almost broke through his head. Especially when he saw this dilapidated school,
the corridors full of cobwebs, and this room that was called the principal's dormitory but was full
of water seepage, yellow and cramped.
What about her, where does she live?
Weicheng could hardly hold back a sneer, he was just so unbearable, she was a university
professor, she didn't want a job, she didn't want a home, she would rather hide in this shabby
place where neither chickens laid eggs nor birds shit, than to live with him?
Then, he saw the old security guard hurriedly trying to stop Zhu Jinxia, but she suddenly held him
with her backhand, and the old man was so scared that he kept retracting his hand.
Weicheng's breathing stagnated, and he looked down at his hands unconsciously, remembering
that he had attacked the old man. It was also at this time that he recalled the moment when he
lost control, and he seemed to have failed to control his strength...
He moved his fingers, and his previous confidence suddenly disappeared.
He watched her walking along, surrounded by children, talking to the dark-skinned burly man,
and finally walking quickly towards the small building where he was.
My heart started beating wildly.
Countless thoughts were clamoring in my mind, such as questioning her, accusing her, just like
what I had rehearsed in my brain every sleepless night before the alcohol numbed it. But when
Zhu Jinxia really walked in, those voices disappeared again, and my brain felt as if the vacuum had
been sucked out, and it was frighteningly quiet.
They faced each other in silence, and he realized that he was actually shaking, his heart pounding
wildly in his body, the sound was deafening.
This reminded him of the day they first met - to be exact, the day she first met him - after all, Zhu
Jinxia had long been known as a top student in her grade, so how could he not know her?
But before, he always sat in the audience and watched her competitions, saw her go on stage to
receive awards, and watched her smart and friendly competition classes.
She was the moon in the sky, and he was just an unknown wave on the roadside. No one would
know that he was once overwhelmed by it when he raised his head.
That day, they were both audience members at the drama competition of the Foreign Language
Festival. When he was looking for a seat, he saw that it was her sitting next to him, and he didn't
know what to do with his hands and feet.
Noticing that someone had sat down, Zhu Jinxia looked up at him and curled the corners of her
lips politely. Weicheng didn't even know how he sat down. When he thought about it later, he
only vaguely remembered that he seemed to... have lost his hands and feet?
The show in the auditorium that day was "Romeo and Juliet", which was said to be the most
exciting performance in the past five years. Unfortunately, Weicheng's attention was not on the
stage at all, but was completely taken away by the side.
Although she didn't really make much movement.
As the final exams were approaching, she probably stayed up late to review. The scene was so
lively, but she actually fell asleep leaning on the back of the chair. She was not disturbed at all by
the noise on and off the stage and slept very peacefully.
He swore he heard a very gentle snoring, which was not funny but extremely cute.
As her head drooped little by little, Weicheng's heart began to beat like thunder, and suddenly he
had an absurd idea: it would be best if she could fall towards him.
If she fell towards him, it must be a hint from fate.
Perhaps God heard his inner voice and played a big joke on him, allowing him to get what he
wanted.
Weicheng held his breath and saw the head move towards him little by little, and finally fall
gently on his shoulder.
The drama on the stage had already begun, but his curtain had just been opened.
Under the lamplight, Romeo climbed up the high balcony and said affectionately: "I fly over the
garden wall on the wings of love, because the walls of brick and stone cannot stop love."
In the dark, Weicheng lowered his head and saw the girl's fine hair. At this moment, the light
wings of love also leaped over the high wall and flew out of the auditorium.
…
Eight years later, he stood in a cramped room in a strange school, his heart pounding like thunder
again, and he was as helpless as a child. The moment he saw her, all those questions and anger
melted away, leaving only a soft grievance.
Acropolis felt an itchy feeling in his throat, as if a ball of cotton wool had entered his throat.
Let's make peace.
Just give in.
He knew Zhu Jinxia. She was such a gentle person that even the stray cats and dogs on the
roadside would stop to look at her. He only asked her for favors, and there was a chance.
The words were on the tip of his tongue when he suddenly saw that she was holding a bag.
The plastic bag is transparent, so it is easy to see what is inside.
It was a razor.
Men's razor.
The cotton wool seemed to be soaked in cold water and suddenly lost its lightness. It blocked his
throat tightly and made it difficult for him to breathe.
Where did the principal say she was going this afternoon?
……county seat.
——What are you doing?
--shopping.
I drove here from the county seat, which is more than three hours' drive, so I know the Acropolis
very well.
He stared at the plastic bag intently, then suddenly strode over and snatched it away roughly.
Zhu Jinxia was not careful for a moment and was strangled by the bag.
"What are you doing——"
"Is this what you wanted to buy in the county town?" Weicheng raised his head.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned and opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.
No, she wasn't going to buy a razor.
It's just a favor, I'm on my way.
The actual shopping items are still in the back of Lao Li's truck, and Dunzhu should move them
back to school.
…
Many words got stuck in my throat and I didn't have time to say them out.
The next second, she saw Weicheng's furious eyes. The anger that had accumulated for several
months ignited his nerves at this moment, and his rationality was destroyed.
He pulled the razor out of his bag and slammed it at her.
The knife was unopened, with one side made of cardboard and the other side made of
transparent plastic. The blade couldn't touch anyone, but that didn't stop it from carrying its own
weight, and it was used heavily by the man to smash him.
Zhu Jinxia only had time to turn her head but failed to dodge.
The corner of the package hit her left cheek squarely, leaving a deep cut in an instant. She
couldn't see her face, but only felt a sharp pain, as if warm liquid was gushing out.
My mind went blank. I probably didn't expect that the reunion after more than two months
would be like this.
At this moment, Zhu Jinxia was actually thinking, why do men have to grow beards? First, Shixu
was cut, and then she was cut. If men didn't grow beards, wouldn't there be so many troubles?

Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Dunzhu was the last one to arrive at the school.
Yu Xiaoshan and Lao Li ran out of the repair shop one after another, but he was the only one with
a confused mind. He stood in front of the shop for a long time to digest the news, but he still
couldn't accept the fact that Zhu Jinxia was married.
An idea gradually became clear. Go and ask, you have to find out what is going on.
Dunzhu grabbed his hair in annoyance and kicked over the small stool by the door. The wooden
stool was harmed and fell to the side. After walking two steps, he remembered something,
turned around and jumped onto the truck, grabbed two pieces of cloth and a bag of stationery
from the back, and hurriedly carried them back to school.
Evening self-study has not started yet and the playground is in a mess. Some people are playing
ball, some are having fun, and some are holding brooms and mops but not doing anything else.
They are holding them in their hands as weapons and fighting with bayonets.
The strange thing is that the teachers gathered in twos and threes at the office door, while Shi Xu
was standing outside the corridor of the teachers' dormitory. No one knew what they were
thinking, and none of them paid any attention to the students who were acting rudely under
their noses.
It's all messed up.
Carrying large and small bags did not affect Dunzhu's brisk steps. When he saw Shixu's figure
from a distance, he suddenly felt more confident and ran over.
"Brother, why are you here!"
Shixu stood in front of the corridor like a door god, "Where else should I be?"
"..." Dunzhu Kadun looked around, "Where is Teacher Zhu?"
"upstairs."
"She, she——" She couldn't say the word husband no matter what. Dunzhu paused for a moment
before saying, "Didn't they say someone was looking for her? Where is that person?"
"Upstairs." It's still those two words, focusing on being concise and to the point.
Dunzhu raised his head and glanced towards the third floor.
"…Is she really married?"
Timing doesn’t speak.
"If she really got married, why didn't she tell us?" Dunzhu hung his head, puzzled, "We live
together day and night, we see each other every day, why didn't she mention it once..."
I was in a daze for a long time, then looked up at the time sequence again.
"Brother, please say something."
"What?" Shi Xu looked at him calmly.
Dunzhu was a little confused, "...Aren't you surprised or angry?"
"Why should I be angry?" Shi Xu said, "She is here to teach, and she has done her job very well.
As for her personal affairs, she has no obligation to tell everyone."
What he said made sense, but Dunzhu didn't listen. He stared at the time sequence for a long
time as if exploring it, and suddenly he understood.
"No, you already knew it!"
The two brothers grew up together, so they understand each other. Judging from his expression
and tone, he obviously knew it a long time ago.
Seeing that Shixu did not deny it, Dunzhu became even angrier.
"Didn't you say that it's a personal matter and you have no obligation to tell everyone? Then why
did you tell you and not me?"
It's fine if other teachers don't know, but how is he worse than Shishu? Why does Shishu know
and he doesn't?
Yes, she ate in Shixu's dormitory every day, but Dunzhu was there too! Even when Shixu was very
busy as the principal, he was the one who cooked the meals. Why did she only share such a big
thing with Shixu and not tell him a word when the three of them were together day and night?
How does that song go?
——It’s obviously a movie about three people, but he still can’t have a name!
Dunzhu's eyes were sore, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, okay, you all treat me like a
child. It's okay if she doesn't understand me, but what about you? You know that I like her, but
you don't tell me——"
"Dunzhu." Shixu interrupted him, "Can you use your brain to think about it? If their marriage is
happy and their family is happy, why would she run to the mountains to teach? She is a good
university teacher, and the semester is not even halfway through, but she came just like that. Do
you think this makes sense?"
Dunzhu was stunned, "…what do you mean?"
“…”
"So, her marriage is unhappy and her family is unhappy?"
Shi Xu was in a bad mood, so he said patiently, "They are getting a divorce and are hiding in the
mountains. Do they really need to make a big fuss and announce it to everyone with a
loudspeaker?"
Dunzhu was struggling to digest this even more explosive news, and was feeling sad when he
suddenly came to his senses.
"Wait, are they in your dormitory now?"
"if not?"
"No one else?"
"Gone."
"No, you let Teacher Zhu stay alone with that man?" Dunzhu was in disbelief and almost jumped
up. "You said they were getting a divorce. How could Teacher Zhu ignore everything and run to
this barren place like ours? What if that man is a domestic violence man?"
Before Shixu could say anything, Dunzhu remembered again.
"Wait, didn't Yu Xiaoshan say that he was fighting and making a fuss at the door when he came?"
Shi Xu's eyes moved slightly, but he said, "They want to talk alone, what right do I have to stay
there?"
"You, it's already this late, why are you so stubborn?" Dunzhu was furious, carrying his things and
rushing upstairs, "No, I have to go and see! Teacher Zhu is so fragile, if that man attacks her, she
will be powerless and will only suffer!"
Shixu shouted, "Dunzhu, come back!"
Although he was shouting in a hurry, his hands were just pretending to stop him. This action was
no match for Dunzhu. He rushed upstairs in a hurry, carrying large and small bags, in the blink of
an eye.
Shi Xu glanced at the third floor, making sure that the sound just now must have been heard, and
then followed suit, still "anxiously" persuading: "They are just a couple talking, what does it have
to do with you? Come back quickly and don't disturb them!"
Then, following closely, without wasting a second, the two brothers went to disturb others
together.
The door was not closed tightly and was pushed open by Dunzhu's elbow. When he entered the
room, he stepped on something hard and when he looked down, he saw it was a razor.
My heart skipped a beat.
There was a stranger standing by the window. He didn't have time to look at him, so he looked at
Zhu Jinxia who was nearby.
"Teacher Zhu?!"
Zhu Jinxia stood there holding her left cheek. Her hair, which had just been cut short two months
ago, had grown longer again. When she left the repair shop just now, she had tied it behind her
head with a shark clip, but now it was scattered on her shoulders for some reason.
Shi Xu, who arrived a step late, saw this scene outside the door. He rushed over without saying a
word, and almost knocked Dunzhu against the wall when passing by him.
Shi Xu said nothing and suddenly pulled her hand away. Without the cover, the wound on her left
cheek was exposed to the air, and her face and hands were covered in blood, which was shocking
to see.
She has fair skin, which makes the red look particularly bright.
Dunzhu, who was knocked aside, managed to steady himself. When he looked up, he saw this
scene. Blood rushed to his head. He didn't care why his brother hit him. He turned to Weicheng
in disbelief, "Are you a man? How dare you hit a woman?"
Dunzhu was carrying two rolls of cloth on his shoulders and a heavy bag of stationery in his
hands, which affected his movements when he went upstairs, but now they could be used as
weapons. Without thinking, he threw the bag at the Acropolis, and with his free hand, he
grabbed the cloth and started to hit it.
Weicheng was hit by a bag of miscellaneous things. His chest hurt. He took a few steps back and
subconsciously said, "I didn't hit anyone--"
Before he could finish his words, the sunny boy opposite him was already picking up two pieces
of cloth and throwing them at him.
Weicheng raised his hand to block it, while looking at Zhu Jinxia through the gap.
He threw the razor in a fit of rage. He never thought of hitting her, let alone hurting her. After he
threw the razor, her hair was scattered and she raised her hands to cover her face. He didn't
know that her face was cut. Now that someone called her out, he anxiously went to check. But
the two people who rushed in, one was next to Zhu Jinxia, and the other attacked him without
knowing the reason. He couldn't let it go.
Shi Xu ignored the two people fighting over there and pulled Zhu Jinxia towards the bedroom.
Zhu Jinxia struggled to pull Dunzhu, "Stop, Dunzhu, stop hitting me"
A strong grip on her arm hurt, and she was dragged towards the bedroom. Zhu Jinxia turned
around and shouted at Shixu, "Why are you pulling me? Go stop Dunzhu!"
"Don't worry, we can't kill him." Shi Xu said coldly without turning his head.
After a moment, "——You deserve to die."
He had a black face, a black heart, and black hands. He pressed Zhu Jinxia down on the bed with
astonishing force, then turned around and took out a medical box from under the bed, and took
out iodine and cotton swabs from it.
Zhu Jinxia turned her head to look at the living room and said anxiously, "No, they are still fighting
outside. Do you want to apply the medicine later? -"
Bang—Time kicked the door shut, causing the earth to shake.
I wish this summer to shudder and look back at the time.
One of them was sitting and the other was standing, and she had to look up to see the expression
on his face.
Shi Xu took out a few cotton swabs, held them together, and was about to dip them in iodine.
However, because he couldn't control his emotions and used too much force with his hands, he
actually broke the cotton swabs.
Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth. There was chaos outside, but the house fell into silence.
"He didn't hit me." After a long while, she said softly, touching her face with her hand while
explaining, "I accidentally hit you when I was throwing something."
"What are you throwing?" asked Shixu.
“…”
I wish you would stop talking this summer.
But she knew, and he knew, too, that the razor was lying on the ground when she entered the
room, and Dunzhu picked it up and took a look at it. The four people in the room knew exactly
what had hit her.
"Why did you buy a razor?" Shi Xu asked coldly.
“…”
I could tell Dunzhu the excuse of hair removal, but I couldn't lie to him.
Zhu Jinxia looked away, listening to the incessant noise outside, bearing the oppressive gaze of
the dark cloud above her head, and felt inexplicably panicked, and wanted to get up and open
the door.
"I'm going to go take a look outside!"
...was once again held down by time.
He put one hand on Zhu Jinxia's shoulder and pushed her back to the bed. He once again took
out a few cotton swabs, gathered them into a bundle, dipped them in iodine and applied
medicine to her.
The wound was not shallow, and when it suddenly came into contact with the cold medicine, Zhu
Jinxia gasped in pain.
While the husband outside the door was still making a farce, the man inside the house lowered
his head, lifted her chin, suppressed his anger and applied medicine to her.
At that moment, the two were very close. She could even see the deep wrinkles between Shixu's
frowning brows, and could also sense his suppressed emotions from his warm breath.
Zhu Jinxia moved uneasily, wanting to step back, wanting to distance herself from this dangerous
distance.
But the hand on her shoulder held her firmly, not allowing her to avoid it.
"Zhu Jinxia, did I ever tell you that I'm downstairs and you can call me if you need anything?"
For this reason, others turned a blind eye to students chasing and fighting on the playground in
the name of cleaning the public area.
Shi Xu looked at the gaping wound and gradually exerted force on his hands.
He was questioning her, but in his heart he was cursing himself. He shouldn't have left and
shouldn't have left them alone in the room.
"Why buy a razor? I told you I don't care about my appearance anymore. If the blade is dull, it's
dull. It's not unusable!"
"Isn't the knife in your hand? Why did you give it to him? Why did you let him use it to hit you?"
"Aren't you usually quite capable? I say one thing, you say ten things, and you never suffer any
loss. In the mountains, you could challenge Doji and beat him like pouring wine on his grave in
front of so many people. How come you can only be weak, pitiful and helpless and be
slaughtered today?"
Being emotional, he hit her too hard. Zhu Jinxia hissed, turned her head away, and inhaled in
pain.
Shi Xu threw away the cotton swab and turned her over again.
"What are you doing!" Zhu Jinxia was shocked and angry. Her shoulders were held down by him
and her chin was restrained. She was afraid of making too much noise, so she could only struggle
while lowering her voice to stop him, "Let me go!"
Unfortunately, the other party did not respond.
They were facing each other, one standing, the other sitting. One lowered his head, the other was
forced to look up.
They were too close, so close that they could hear each other's breathing clearly, and the heavy
and rapid panting filled their ears.
The hand that pinched her chin was quite strong, not giving her the slightest room to struggle.
She could even feel the heat left by his hot, rough fingertips on her skin, like charcoal falling on
her flesh, burning her to the point of trembling with fear.
In the living room, her husband was still fighting with Dunzhu, and in the bedroom separated by a
door, she and another man maintained a strange posture. No matter how she struggled, the
disparity in strength could not shake the man's iron-like hand.
For a moment, Zhu Jinxia felt like a prey caught in a spider web. Time came from the darkness,
bringing with it the pressure of determination to win.
Is this still the sequence? In her impression, he had never been so aggressive. Even when Silang
escaped with gold and even when Uncle Wang fell ill, he always maintained the most basic
composure. At that time, she laughed at him for not changing his expression even when the
situation was extremely bad.
"Time sequence..." Zhu Jinxia tried to push his hand away again, "Let go first, let go and we will
slowly--"
Before he could finish his words, the next second, all the light in front of his eyes disappeared.
The afterglow of the setting sun that shone in from the window fell on the edge of the bed,
swaying at their feet. The man bent over, held the woman's face, not gently, but even covered it
roughly.
Zhu Jinxia suddenly opened her eyes and her heart stopped beating.
His scent came from all directions, just like the smell she had smelled when they first met at the
ferry and he put that old leather jacket on her shoulders, a scent between tobacco and grass,
with a faint soapy feel, which easily reminded her of the wind on the plateau, spicy and biting.
It's just that at that time, the two of them had never met each other, and she was full of disgust,
but now she seems to be familiar with this smell. It sneaks into her life secretly when they are
together every day, and it penetrates every pore.
That moment was actually very brief, just a matter of lowering the heads and touching the lips,
but an invisible hand stopped the clock, so the heart stopped beating, the person stood still, and
time froze at this moment.
In a trance, the face of time was infinitely magnified, and the warm breath melted into her skin.
Zhu Jinxia stepped back subconsciously, but was still firmly restrained by the hands on her
shoulders and chin, leaving her with nowhere to retreat.
Just as their lips were about to touch, a scream suddenly came from outside the door.
"Someone's fighting!"
In an instant, time stopped.
He stopped just a few feet away from her and looked at her intently.
It was as if someone had set a fire in those deep pupils, burning them to the point of being
unconscious and making her tremble with fear.

Chapter 49
The kids from the lower grades came to hand in their homework. After climbing up to the third
floor, they found the door of the principal's office was wide open. There was some noise going on
inside, and they looked out and their eyes widened.
"Oh no, there's a fight!"
Throwing away his homework book, the child panicked and ran downstairs, starting to shout
across half the playground. He was too young and couldn't speak Chinese fluently, so he switched
to Tibetan after just a few words and rushed into the office like a firecracker.
The players playing ball on the playground stopped, and the kids fighting with bayonets also
stopped fighting temporarily.
In the corridor outside the office, the teachers who were originally gathered in twos and threes,
whispering, were startled when they heard the words.
"What? Fighting again?"
Yu Xiaoshan didn't think twice and rushed to the third floor with Huogun and others, panting as
he ran.
"Is that man sick? He fought at the school gate and then fought again after entering?"
Huogun was also furious. "Who does he think he is, Bruce Lee, trying to pick a fight with
anyone?"
He rolled up his sleeves and cursed: "These Han people are too unreasonable. Do they really
think that we Tibetans are easy to bully? They come all the way here to cause trouble!"
"Hey, hey, how can you talk like that!" Yu Xiaoshan turned around to protest in the midst of her
busy schedule, "I am also Han Chinese, and the principal and teacher Zhu are also Han Chinese,
what did we do to you? Are you discriminating against ethnic groups? Are you just being too
aggressive?"
By the time several men rushed into the dormitory, the living room was in a mess and Dunzhu
had already been pinned to the ground.
The two people in the bedroom just came out, and the three parties gathered together, almost
filling up the small dormitory living room.
Huogun took a look at the fighting scene and breathed a sigh of relief: It's okay, they Tibetans are
still brave!
Weicheng was pinned to the ground by Dunzhu and was beaten unilaterally. He wanted to fight
back but had no strength to do so.
The dormitory of Shixu was always tidy, but now it was a mess. The coffee table was crooked, the
chairs were scattered all over the floor, the textbooks and exercise books were all scattered on
the floor, and even the peppers and garlic planted on the windowsill were affected.
Yu Xiaoshan stared at the two people by the window in astonishment, "What are they doing? No
one is stopping them?!"
As he spoke, Dunzhu was already riding on Weicheng.
The person closest to him was Yu Xiaoshan. Seeing that the situation was not good, she hugged
Dunzhu from behind. Seeing that Dunzhu had raised his fist, she was afraid that something might
happen if it hit his face, so she quickly reached out to stop him.
Fortunately, she was big and strong enough, and she managed to catch the punch in mid-air.
"Someone come, I can't hold him down by myself!" she shouted anxiously, her face flushed red.
No matter how bad Weicheng was at fighting, he shouldn't just be the one getting beaten.
However, he lost a lot of weight for several months and his body became weak.
But Dunzhu was completely different from him, he was a boy who grew up on the grassland, had
been free in the mountains since he was young, and was very strong. In addition, seeing Zhu
Jinxia injured, the morale of the whole team was high, and as one side gained strength, the other
lost strength. It was natural that Weicheng was at a disadvantage and could only be beaten.
Until Yu Xiaoshan joined in, the situation of the battle turned around instantly. With her hug and
blocking, Dunzhu immediately lost the ability to move.
Weicheng found an opportunity to counterattack, and with quick eyes and hands, he kicked
Dunzhu away, and Yu Xiaoshan fell to the ground with him.
What's worse is that she was at the bottom and Dunzhu was at the top, so she became the
scapegoat.
"Oh my god!"
Yu Xiaoshan grimaced, it was really an unprovoked disaster.
She fell to the ground with her arms and legs spread out. She pushed Dunzhu away in pain and
turned to ask Shixu: "Hey, principal, are you standing there watching the show? You're still
standing by and watching after being beaten like this???"
Huogun pulled the two people who had fallen to the ground up, and he became anxious and
yelled at Weicheng: "What's wrong with you? You hit everyone you see. Are you a mad dog?"
Weicheng was so angry that he almost laughed.
Are these people still being reasonable? From the beginning to the end, it was this ponytailed kid
who rushed in and beat him up without any reason, and he even had a weapon in his hand. (If
cloth and stationery are counted?)
Weicheng was worried about Zhu Jinxia being dragged into the bedroom and not knowing what
was going on. At the same time, she was pinned to the ground and beaten. Now that he finally
fought back, he was called a mad dog.
Looking at Zhu Jinxia again, she stood behind the principal without saying a word, with her hair
disheveled and her expression unclear.
Weicheng was furious and clenched his fists, wishing he could fight with everyone present again,
but when his eyes fell on her face, he subconsciously looked for the wound.
How is she?
……he did not do it on purpose.
Is the wound deep?
My feet involuntarily walked towards Zhu Jinxia.
Dunzhu's eyes were red with anger. Seeing that he was trying to get closer to Zhu Jinxia, he
rushed over, holding his stomach, "What else do you want to do!"
"Dunzhu!" Yu Xiaoshan was anxious, "Principal, what are you doing? Stop him quickly!"
Time did reach out to stop it, but it was not Dunzhu who stopped it, but Zhu Jinxia.
She was about to rush forward, but Shixu pulled him back to block him. She watched Dunzhu
punch Weicheng twice more before she stepped forward to stop him.
"enough."
Seeing that Dunzhu was grabbed again, Weicheng seized the opportunity to fight back, but was
caught by Shixu's fist in mid-air.
He grabbed one in each hand.
"Is it over yet?"
The pitch-black eyes, without any warmth, fell on Acropolis' face like a knife.
Weicheng tried to pull his hand out with all his strength, but failed. It was obvious that Shixu was
also using all his strength, as if he wanted to crush him, and the force was increasing.
There was a sharp pain in his wrist, but he endured it and said nothing.
The two of them were stuck in mid-air.
He exerted force, and he also exerted force.
The room was tense and war seemed imminent.
Yu Xiaoshan was extremely shocked. No, it was okay about Dunzhu, but how come even the
sequence of time went crazy?
She looked around, trying to find someone with a normal brain to ask for help, but before she
could open her mouth, Zhu Jinxia moved.
"Timing."
There was a brief silence.
Strangely enough, the hand that Weicheng had tried so hard to break free was pulled away by
Zhu Jinxia so lightly, as if she had called not his name but a magic spell like "Open Sesame".
In the previous second he was still furious with a fierce look in his eyes, but in the next second he
seemed to be melted by spring water.
At this moment, Weicheng seemed to realize something, looked up at her, and then looked at the
time sequence.
He suddenly remembered a story he had heard when he was a child:
Two women were fighting over a child, both claiming the child was theirs. So the county
magistrate decided the case by asking them to each hold one of the child's arms and pull it
towards them. Whoever grabbed the child first would own it.
During the struggle, the child started to cry loudly because of the pain. One of the women let go
first and cried, "The child is yours!"
But the county magistrate awarded the child to her, reasoning that only someone who truly loves
a child would risk losing him rather than seeing him get hurt.
Just now, Yu Xiaoshan was accidentally injured while trying to stop Dunzhu and fell to the ground
as a scapegoat.
Now it is Zhu Jinxia's turn, and time has let go of her faster than anyone else.
Zhu Jinxia looked up at Weicheng and asked him if he had finished fighting.
"After the fight, let's go out and talk."
She was so calm that it didn't seem like she had just witnessed a storm.
Dunzhu on the side said angrily: "Still talking? You still have a wound on your face, aren't you
afraid that he will hit you again?"
Yu Xiaoshan and Huogun were shocked when they heard this, and they looked at Zhu Jinxia
together. They found that she had an injury on her face.
The wound was just below the cheekbone, and because of its prominent position, it was slightly
turned outward like a child's mouth. After a simple treatment, the bleeding stopped, but it was
still shocking to look at.
Yu Xiaoshan took a breath and asked, "Did he hit you?"
He glared at Weicheng again, "You hit her?!"
The next second, she started to roll up her sleeves, "Fuck, I just helped stop Dunzhu, I'm only
1250!"
No one in the central school was calm. When they saw Zhu Jinxia was injured, they all wanted to
join the fight.
Huogun quickly pulled her away, "What are you doing? We finally reached a truce, why don't you
stop interfering!"
Yu Xiaoshan said angrily: "The First War has stopped, but the Second War has begun!... Hey, what
are you doing? Let me go!... Hey!"
...In the end, he was forcibly pulled away by a fire stick.
The room was silent for a few seconds.
"Let's talk outside."
Without caring whether Weicheng caught up or not, Zhu Jinxia turned around and walked out.
When she reached the door, Shixu grabbed her.
He didn't say anything. He met her eyes as she turned back. The two of them were in a stalemate
for a moment, but he didn't let go.
She was unusually calm, with no unnecessary emotion on her face, and her distinct black and
white eyes were like the surface of a windless water in the afternoon.
This is her business, and no one can stand in front of her and handle it for her.
After a few seconds, Shixu understood and let go.
When Acropolis in the back saw this scene, his blood began to rush uncontrollably to his brain
again.
Fortunately, Zhu Jinxia spoke up in time: "Let's go."
That voice brought Weicheng back to his senses. He seemed to have a premonition that if he
continued to make trouble, he and Zhu Jinxia would be completely finished.
Weicheng gave Shixu a cold look, clenched his palms, and followed without saying a word.
Time stopped at the door. Although my sight had followed them, my feet seemed to be rooted
there.
Dunzhu wanted to chase him out, but he was stopped by him.
"Let her go."
"Are you comfortable leaving them alone together again?!" Dunzhu was incredulous. "She still
has bruises on her face!"
"Let her go." Three identical words.
Dunzhu was worried and struggled to break free, "Let me go, you are not worried about her, but I
am worried about-"
"Who said I'm not worried?"
Listening carefully, the sound of time is so tense that it is hoarse, and it is obvious that it is just
being endured.
Dunzhu was stunned and looked back at him, "Then you..."
"That's her life, her marriage, and it's up to her to decide what to do."
——
I walked out of the building from the dark corridor. The sun outside had already set and the lights
on the playground had been turned on without me noticing.
In the gap of the sky, the sky still has the last ray of light, showing a satin-like texture, peaceful
and beautiful.
They walked across the playground, facing the children's gazes, like fish swimming upstream,
after a long journey to reach the school gate.
It is a school that cannot be any smaller, but the distance seems infinitely far away.
Along the way, children kept running up, screaming.
"Teacher Zhu, what's wrong with your face?"
"Teacher Zhu, are you hurt?"
The childish voice and the gaze that wandered back and forth between her and his face made
Weicheng extremely embarrassed.
The child didn't know how to hide his feelings. He looked at him with eyes that were clear and
full of hostility, as if he had determined that the man in front of him was the culprit. After all, he
had caused a big commotion at the school gate when he arrived.
In fact, he was indeed the culprit and had no way to defend himself.
I wish this summer to answer again and again: "I'm fine."
"The teacher is fine."
"it does not matter."
Fortunately, the bell rang on the way and the children began to rush to the teaching building. The
playground, which was bustling a moment ago, soon became quiet, which in turn reduced the
psychological pressure on Acropolis.
Zhu Jinxia opened the iron gate, stepped out after hearing the creaking sound, stopped in front of
the guard room, and said to Weicheng without turning back: "Apologize first."
Weicheng was stunned.
The Tibetan gatekeeper was still sitting on a small wooden stool by the door, but when he saw
the wound on Zhu Jinxia's face, his expression changed. He stood up suddenly, speaking words
they couldn't understand, pointing at the Acropolis with an unfriendly look.
I wish Jinxia didn’t understand, but that doesn’t hinder her understanding.
"I'm fine, really fine." She stopped the uncle and turned back again, "Weicheng, apologize."
After coming out of the dormitory, this was the first time she turned around and looked at him
straight in the eye, but it was to make him bow his head and apologize.
Weicheng's heart sank to the bottom.
"You don't ask me if I'm okay, or how I'm doing, or if I was injured by them just now, and you only
care about this?"
"Let's put things one way and one way." Zhu Jinxia insisted, "We can talk about other things later.
You should apologize to them first."
This is their usual pattern, which started from the day they got together.
A certain movie said that girls of the same age always mature earlier than boys, and this is true.
Zhu Jinxia has been an orphan since childhood and was raised by her grandmother, while
Weicheng was born into a healthy family with loving parents and a harmonious family - one is a
precocious girl who doesn't even come from a single-parent family, and the other is a carefree
and sunny boy who grew up happily, and the gap between the two is even wider in maturity.
This also meant that Zhu Jinxia always played the role of the elder in the relationship.
Like many other men of his age, Weicheng grew up under the gentle care of his mother while
studying, and after graduation he naturally transitioned to the care of his partner. It was just a
natural change from the care of the former to the guidance of the latter.
At graduation, Zhu Jinxia helped him pass the make-up exam and get his diploma smoothly.
When he was looking for a job, it was Zhu Jinxia who helped him prepare his resume,
accompanied him and encouraged him, so that he successfully found a fairly good job.
As a university professor, Zhu Jinxia had a fairly good salary. In addition, she was diligent and had
scientific research output throughout the year. When all the project bonuses were added up, her
income was much higher than that of Acropolis.
So in the years that followed, during festivals, Zhu Jinxia would prepare red envelopes for him,
and he would give them to both families; when partying with friends, she would watch Weicheng
go to pay the bill, but in private it was always her who transferred pocket money to Weicheng.
Logically speaking, his salary is pretty good, but he has been obsessed with games over the years,
constantly recharging for the dazzling new skins in "League of Legends" and spending money
again and again on the new characters with full lives in "Genshin Impact". He is a complete
moonlighter.
Zhu Jinxia has also said many times that you should not spend money without limit in games, but
this is the only hobby that Weicheng has had since he was a child, and it seems too cruel to
deprive him of it.
So when he was short of money, she gave it to him. When he made a mistake, she made up for it.
He was used to it a long time ago.
So later, when Acropolis realized that he was about to lose his shelter, he was at a loss, like a lost
bird.
He had never actually been independent.
He may not realize why Zhu Jinxia left, because even she herself could not tell the specific reason,
but he knew that his dependence must be one of the reasons.
Weicheng was determined to show her what he was doing, starting with working hard, quitting
games, and running to the mountains to prove his determination to her.
But Zhu Jinxia turned around and asked him to apologize to the Tibetan man.
Weicheng was choked by humiliation for a moment. He could apologize to her and give in, but he
was unwilling to bow to others.
He has always been arrogant and not good at speaking, otherwise he would not have chosen to
give up his diploma rather than seek help from teachers.
Subconsciously, he knew that he and she were on the verge of being separated, and it was best
for him to follow her wishes and lower his head.
But the gatekeeper glared at him, and even though he didn't understand Tibetan, he could hear
the condemnation and resentment in the other party's tone.
This made Weicheng unable to apologize no matter what.
The atmosphere was tense again and again. Zhu Jinxia's eyes lingered on his face for a long time,
and finally retracted and fell on the old man. She bowed her head and apologized, saying sorry
solemnly. Although the two of them did not speak the same language, she still expressed her
apology in full.
This scene was very familiar, just like the time when they had a big fight and she locked herself in
the room, personally called the vice president in charge of teaching, and begged him to give
Weicheng a chance to pass the make-up exam.
They had just graduated that year, and 22 was the age when one was full of vigor and vitality. He
did not bow his head, so she bowed her head - even though she cried bitterly afterwards, she
comforted herself that it didn't matter, as long as he graduated successfully.
Now, they are 29 years old, only one year away from turning 30. Acropolis once again raised his
proud head, so Zhu Jinxia had to bow his head again for the mistakes of others.
It’s hard to describe how she felt. She found that she no longer felt ashamed as she did before,
nor did she feel so wronged.
She was even calm, as if everything was expected.
Weicheng stared at her back in a daze, his mind going blank.
Life in the mountains must have been hard, and the environment was bad. She had lost weight
and darkened. The hair that hung on her shoulders was dry and yellow. I don't know if it was
because of the poor water quality in the mountains or because she was not getting enough
nutrition.
When she lowered her head, her slender neck was exposed, with sharp bones pressing against
her skin, which was frightening to look at.
Weicheng's throat was dry. He wanted to say something, wanted to pull her up, but as soon as he
stretched out his hand, Zhu Jinxia had already stood up, said nothing, and turned to walk towards
the car parked on the side of the road.
He subconsciously unlocked the car for her and the car lights suddenly came on.
I wish you to be the first to get in the car this summer.
"There are a lot of mosquitoes outside, come in and talk."
She rolled down the car window and turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were calm and
clear, like the hills just after sunrise.

Chapter 50
The two of them were sitting in the car with the window half-down, and could faintly hear the
sound of reading in the teaching building.
On the other side of the road, the river water was surging forward tirelessly. It was the peak
water season in summer, and the sound of the water flow was so loud that the silence in the car
became even more silent.
Zhu Jinxia looked up and, not surprisingly, saw someone standing motionless behind the window
on the third floor of a small building not far away.
He is looking at her.
At this distance, she couldn't see Shi Ji's expression or his face. She couldn't even recognize if it
was him. Even if it was, it was so dark in the car that he couldn't see what they were doing.
But she knew he was watching.
Such a thought made her surprisingly calm. She didn't even think about how Shixu treated her,
nor did she bother to analyze the strange force field between them. She didn't even care about
his derailed behavior in the bedroom just now.
She knew that what she was going to say and do next would only concern her and the Acropolis
and had nothing to do with the time sequence.
After all, she had already prepared for divorce before she met him.
Zhu Jinxia stopped looking far away. She retracted her gaze and looked at the person beside her.
"Being this thin, can your body handle it?"
Weicheng was stunned for a moment, as if he had never expected the opening remarks to go in
this direction.
"……fine."
He thought she would pursue what happened just now.
In fact, the moment she bowed her head to apologize, he regretted it. He had been thinking
about the words all the way, but she didn't say a word, and the words he had prepared were of
no use.
Zhu Jinxia's gaze lingered on his face for a moment.
"All right? What's wrong?"
A face full of acne marks, dark circles under the eyes, and a pale complexion, it is obvious that he
has an irregular diet and lack of sleep.
Before getting on the bus, he saw a pile of cigarette butts on the ground. The bad habit that he
had tried so hard to quit, he finally picked it up again.
Zhu Jinxia opened the passenger seat drawer, and sure enough, there was an unsealed pack of
cigarettes inside.
After closing the drawer and looking at Acropolis again, there was a flash of panic on his face, like
a child who was caught for making a mistake, but then he calmed down again.
He looked at her with a half-resentful and half-mocking look and asked, "Who made me become
like this?"
Indeed, what he would say was within her expectations.
When they had a quarrel over the make-up exam, Weicheng had accused her: "You never think
from my perspective! You are a grade cadre, you have a good reputation in front of the school
leaders, but who am I? Why should they help me?"
Later, he secretly borrowed money from the Internet to spend tens of thousands of dollars, and
in the end it was Zhu Jinxia who helped him pay it back.
Weicheng said: "You spend every day writing papers and looking up information. What can I do? I
can only play games!"
Later, he was involuntarily dragged by his friends to sing karaoke, play billiards, and eat and drink
at clubs. When it was time to pay the bill, everyone sat there pretending to be dead, and he had
to stand up and pay the bill because he couldn't save face. The amount of consumption was often
above four figures.
This happened again and again, and Zhu Jinxia was puzzled: "Why did you want to be such a
sucker?"
Weicheng argued: "We have been friends for so many years, they insisted on asking me to go, it
would be bad if I didn't go..."
"What kind of friend would actively ask you to pay and then play dead?"
"But we earn more than them! Just pay it, there's no need to be too fussy about money between
friends."
Countless times, Zhu Jinxia was driven by impulse and wanted to say to him: "But you spent my
money."
However, the words were never spoken.
She knew Weicheng well, and knew how much damage this remark could do to him. Over the
years, her friends joked that "her success brought prosperity to the whole family" and that
Weicheng "married well." Whenever this happened, Weicheng would be unable to bear it, and
after returning home, he would lock himself in the study to play games, and it would take him
several days to recover.
He has the self-esteem that most men have, and he does not allow himself to be protected by
women. But the fact is that in this marriage, he is indeed taken care of by her, and covering one's
ears and stealing the bell cannot change the essence.
They argued again and again, each sticking to their own opinions, always blaming each other and
defending themselves.
Today, Zhu Jinxia suddenly didn't want to argue anymore.
She found that she could actually understand the Acropolis—
Judged out of the happy marriage that everyone envied, he was on the verge of collapse. We
can't ask him to face the fact that he was abandoned and admit that it was his weakness and
incompetence that led to today's result when he lost his partner and his life was turned upside
down. How should he deal with it then?
People always need to find an outlet to vent their emotions. When they are abandoned or hurt,
they have to find someone to resent. That is the driving force behind people's lives.
After a moment of silence, Zhu Jinxia said, "I'm sorry."
Weicheng was stunned. He thought that after his sarcastic remarks, the two would quarrel like
before, but she actually apologized.
In just ten minutes, this was the second time she said sorry, the first time was to the guard, the
second time was to him. He knew Zhu Jinxia was a proud person, and he also knew that it was
not easy for them to bow their heads.
But she apologized.
His chest seemed to be blocked by something, and all his resentment disappeared. Weicheng
finally remembered the words that had been lingering in his mind on the way.
"I wish you a happy summer..."
When he called her name, he realized that they hadn't had a good conversation for a long time.
"If I say that I will not play games, spend money recklessly, or pretend to be rich, can you give me
another chance?"
Finally said it.
Weicheng's voice was struggling to finish these short sentences, and after he finished speaking he
felt as exhausted as if he had just finished running 3,000 meters.
My palms curled up unconsciously at my sides, empty and soaked with sweat.
He heard his own heartbeat like thunder, louder than the rushing river outside.
There was no movement around me.
One second, two seconds...the Acropolis became even more anxious.
He couldn't wait even a second.
He raised his head and looked to his side. Zhu Jinxia looked straight ahead, leaning quietly on the
back of the chair.
She seemed to be thinking seriously, and when he called her anxiously, she turned around and
shook her head, still saying those three words.
She said sorry.
Acropolis' breath froze.
He couldn't even hear his own voice, and only asked mechanically: "Why?"
Zhu Jinxia said: "Because we are not happy. For a long time, we were together just for the sake of
being together, but being together did not bring us any happiness."
"But I told you I would change!" Weicheng's voice got louder. "You were busy with your thesis in
the first half of the year, and you always stayed up late. You can't blame me for your
unhappiness!"
here we go again.
It's like the instinctive reaction of a child after being hurt: shirking responsibility, getting angry,
and blaming others.
She did not argue, but said affirmatively: "Of course I made mistakes. I am sorry that I did not do
well in many aspects as a wife for the first time."
Weicheng: "Stop being sarcastic. Aren't you just mocking me as a husband for not doing a good
job?"
He asked back: "Then tell me, besides not being able to make money and loving to play games,
what exactly did I do wrong?"
Without waiting for Zhu Jinxia to answer, he started counting.
"You stayed in the room doing scientific research, and I served you tea and water. It was you who
said it wasn't necessary to be so troublesome!
"You can't cook, but over the years, whenever you wanted to eat something, I would always take
the initiative to cook for you."
"When your grandmother came to stay at home, and when your aunts and uncles came to visit, I
served them all well. Ha, even so, there are still people who are justified in saying that I eat your
food and use your things, so I should serve you!
Weicheng is a liberal arts man. He is more romantic and more sensitive than Zhu Jinxia.
When he met her, he knew she was the moon in the sky. He was inferior, introverted, shy and
uneasy, not knowing how he could have the ability to pick the moon.
So later on, even when faced with accusations and suppression from others, he endured it
without saying a word. At most, he would turn a disapproving look at Zhu Jinxia, but he would
continue to endure it afterwards.
He thought this was probably the price of picking the moon.
Now that he had spoken it all out at once, his emotions finally overflowed, and all the grievances
of the past burst out.
"You love reading. Every time you go shopping, you go to the bookstore and spend half an
afternoon there. Have I ever said anything? Even if I fall asleep playing with my phone next to
you, I will still accompany you.
"And my parents, are they not good to you? You stayed up all night and wanted to sleep in, but
my mother was afraid that you would be hungry, so she always prepared meals for you early in
the morning and brought them to your bedside for you to eat. But you said you couldn't sleep
after eating, and you wasted her kindness so many times. Do you know how sad my mother was?
"And my dad. Last Spring Festival, the whole family gathered together. I know you are not used to
having the family reunion dinner outdoors in the countryside, but there is only one day every
year. Even for my sake, can't you be more patient? But you said it was too cold and ran to sit in
the car. All the relatives were there, and my dad couldn't face it, so he drank a few more glasses.
Do you know what he said? He said: Jinxia doesn't like us here, and doesn't like our family."
Weicheng's breathing was rapid and his eyes were wet.
He grabbed Zhu Jinxia's hand and said, "Do you think you are the only one who is working hard?
Do you think I am not working hard, and my parents are not working hard either?"
For the sake of this moon, the whole family endured it, and even when they were drunk, no one
said a bad word about her. They just reflected with inferiority that their daughter-in-law was an
educated person who could make money, and it was because they were born in the countryside
that they could not make her feel more comfortable and at ease.
Due to his emotions, Weicheng couldn't control his strength, but when he saw the wound on Zhu
Jinxia's left cheek, he suddenly felt scared and subconsciously loosened his hand.
He choked, hating her and himself.
He knew that he was a complete loser, and that he could not give her anything when he loved
her, and now he could not hate her completely.
But what could he do? He couldn't separate them, but she wouldn't agree if he didn't separate
them.
Everything in front of him was blurry, Weicheng clenched his teeth to stop himself from crying,
but in the dim light he saw Zhu Jinxia turn around, pull out a tissue from the back of the seat with
ease, and put it in his hand.
——She bought the stuffed duck for tissues herself and put it in the car.
"You don't need to sympathize with me." Weicheng pushed her hand away, refusing to accept the
crocodile's tears. He raised his hand and wiped his face with his sleeve, and his eyes suddenly
became clear.
When he looked up again, he found that Zhu Jinxia was also crying.
Unlike his grief that was shouted at the top of his lungs, her tears were silent, flowing quietly and
wantonly.
She said: "I'm sorry, Acropolis, I'm so sorry."
Of course she knew that people are not perfect and love will have flaws, but she naively thought
that marriage could be like studying, as long as you work hard enough, you will achieve
perfection.
It was at this moment, after listening to his accusation, that she suddenly realized what she had
really done wrong.
During the years they were together, they were like two young vines, trying hard to get closer and
grow together. To this end, they even cut off their overly independent branches and leaves, just
to stay tightly entangled with each other.
But is being together necessarily right?
Looking back over these years, Weicheng has never really been himself, and has never faced his
own happiness. He is like a vassal, and he sacrifices himself because she is more in line with the
universal excellence and perfection.
“Acropolis, haven’t you discovered the problem yet?
"You obviously don't like bookstores, but you spend a lot of time with me. You obviously can't
stand my family's bossing you around, but you still compromise and think it's a sign of love for
me. You like games so much, but you quit because of me.
"What about you? Where is your life?"
Eight years ago, he left his mother's protection and entered her wings, which were not yet fully
grown. Was it a blessing or a curse? Everyone envied him for having a rich and happy family life,
but who asked him what kind of life he wanted? Even he himself forgot that he had any other
choice.
He seemed to exist only to be Zhu Jinxia's partner, to adapt to her schedule and take her
preferences into account.
Maybe even Weicheng himself has never thought about it. In fact, he may not necessarily like
playing games. He just forgot to explore and discover his own preferences. So during Zhu Jinxia's
busy time, he could only play games, and he has been playing for eight years.
Eight years later, he had become accustomed to this kind of life and had completely lost himself.
"It's a tragedy for two people because neither of us is happy."
Weicheng argued hollowly: "We can work hard, try to find something we both like to do, and
work hard to cultivate common interests and hobbies. Yes, I didn't like reading before, can't I start
reading from now on? Maybe I will like reading in the future!"
He knew these were empty words, but he didn't know what else he could do except fight hard.
Finally, after repeating the same argument over and over again, he slowly calmed down.
He heard Zhu Jinxia's voice becoming clearer and firmer.
"That's not the case, Acropolis. What you need to do is not to force yourself to cater to other
people's lives. You can find a partner who also loves playing games. You can play together, scream
together, and waste time together. No one stipulates that people must work hard. Lying down has
its own happiness. It's just that the environment I grew up in made me accustomed to running
forward all the time."
"I feel tired when I pull you. You feel overwhelmed when I push you forward. In fact, we should
have realized that we are two completely different people."
"I want to be a confidant of my partner, with endless things to say and endless love to do. We are
best friends first, and then lovers who blend in perfectly. When we are together, we do all the fun
things, and when we are not together, we each have a fun journey, rather than being tied
together in the name of husband and wife, catering to each other's life, and pretending to be
harmonious and happy."
She turned her head to the side, and although she was crying, a smile appeared on her lips.
The fog cleared and the road ahead suddenly became clear.
She said, "Acropolis, let's break up. Thank you for spending the past eight years with me. I have
never regretted my decision to be with you. It's just a pity that we have to go our separate ways. I
hope that in the future, we can find a rhythm that suits us better, and live happily every day with
or without a partner."
There are still tears in my eyes. The past is like the rushing river beside the road, moving forward
all the way and never looking back.

Chapter 51
"Why doesn't he leave?"
In the dormitory on the third floor, Dunzhu stood in front of the window with a spatula in his
hand, staring at the white car outside the school gate with an unfriendly look.
Shi Xu picked up the chair and was checking the chair legs that seemed to be broken. He tilted his
head and smelled a smell coming from the kitchen, and his brows frowned.
"I don't know whether he will leave or not, but I know for sure that if you don't keep an eye on
the pot, you will have nothing to eat tonight."
Zhu Jinxia was sweeping the floor. When she heard this, she paused, put down the broom and
walked towards the kitchen. "I'll go take a look."
"Forget it, let me do it!" Dunzhu held up a spatula and swept past her like a whirlwind, "You can't
cook, what's the point of just watching?"
The pot was filled with potatoes and pork ribs. When he turned the lid over, he saw that the
bottom layer was indeed burnt, brown with a hint of black. Dunzhu had an idea and quickly took
the dishes out of the pot - the burnt ones were at the bottom, and the ones on top were safe and
sound.
It’s okay, as long as he can’t see it, just pretend the food is not burnt.
Even if he saw it, it's okay as long as his brother didn't see it.
While setting the dishes, Dunzhu asked, "Is he going to leave or not? Is he going to stay here
forever? How was your conversation going, Mr. Zhu? What did you two talk about?"
The landing point is carefully explored.
"Why do you have so many questions?" Shi Xu placed the last stool, glanced at him, then turned
his gaze to Zhu Jinxia, obviously waiting for her reaction.
Dunzhu thought to himself: Why are you pretending to be so high and mighty? Don’t you want to
know too?
"I've said everything that needs to be said." Zhu Jinxia glanced out the window, "He will leave."
"What about you?" Dunzhu asked hurriedly, "Will you go with him?"
I hope I haven’t thought about this question this summer.
She came to the mountains to escape her marital difficulties. If everything ends well, she seems
to have no reason to stay here. Her students are still in the city, so she should return to her
original life... right?
Shi Xu saw her hesitation clearly, and when she didn't answer, he asked suddenly, "So he
agreed?"
"No." Zhu Jinxia came back to her senses, turned her head to look in the direction of the car, and
said with some confidence, "But he will figure it out."
At eight o'clock in the evening, the meal was finally served, which was two hours later than usual.
The cook was absent-minded, the potatoes were mushy, and the rice had too much water, so it
was hard to tell whether it was porridge or rice. Fortunately, the eaters were also distracted, and
no one had any objections to the control of today's dishes.
Before picking up his chopsticks, Zhu Jinxia looked up at the time and asked, "Can he come up
and eat with us?"
There was no village or restaurant nearby, and there was no place to eat in the Acropolis. After
calculating the time, she guessed that he probably hadn't even had lunch.
Dunzhu was the first to object vehemently: "Why? You just fought with me, and now you want to
eat me?"
Shixu glanced at him casually, and Dunzhu understood instantly:
First, it was clearly him who unilaterally beat Acropolis; second, every dish and every grain of rice
on the table was timed and had nothing to do with him.
"But I cooked the meal!" he said confidently, "Besides, the store is still open, he can go buy
instant noodles, he won't starve to death."
Anyway, I don't want to eat at the same table with that guy.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes fell on the timing surface, waiting for his reaction.
Shixu ignored Dunzhu's winking and nodded decisively: "Okay."
She breathed a sigh of relief and took out her cell phone to call Acropolis.
Under the table, Dunzhu stepped on Shixu's instep and expressed his dissatisfaction with his
eyes.
Shi Xu stepped back and thought that even if she called, there was no telling whether the man
would come. He looked like his self-esteem would not fall even if the universe exploded. How
could he be so shameless as to eat him?
Why doesn't he be more generous and show that he is very graceful?
Sure enough, Zhu Jinxia's repeated invitations did not receive a response. Weicheng thanked her
for the invitation, but rejected her without any room for negotiation.
"So what do you eat?"
"At worst you'll just starve to death. If no one pesters you, then you'll get what you want, right?"
Weicheng mocked subconsciously. After he finished speaking, both parties fell silent, and he
began to regret it again.
He always regrets.
Taking a deep breath, he said, "Don't worry, there is a small store on the side of the road. I won't
starve."
Finally, Zhu Jinxia went to the kitchen to get a big bowl, put some food in it and sent it to
Weicheng.
The car was still at the school gate, but Weicheng was not in the car.
She searched around with her bowl and chopsticks, and then saw him in the window of the
convenience store. When she walked over, he was holding a bucket of instant noodles and
struggling to ask for hot water from the boss who spoke Chinese not very well.
The boss said stiffly: "No."
"How can I make instant noodles without water?"
The boss turned around, picked up a bottle of mineral water from the shelf, and placed it in front
of him.
"Fuck you——" Weicheng laughed angrily, "You use cold water to soak your instant noodles?"
There are footsteps approaching behind me, I hope this summer will show up in time.
Weicheng turned around and asked, "What are you doing here?"
He looked down at the food in her hand and said, "...I told you I'm not hungry."
"Then why did you buy instant noodles?"
“…”
Weicheng didn't bother to ask the boss for some hot water. He paid the money, took the noodles
and mineral water, and headed for the car.
Zhu Jinxia followed behind with the bowl and said, "Let's eat. Man is iron and rice is steel. Even if
you want to quarrel, you have to eat until you are full so that you have the energy to quarrel."
Weicheng got into the car and looked up at the school. Two men were standing at the window on
the third floor, looking at them from afar. He smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "Zhu Jinxia, can't
you leave me some self-respect?"
He has nothing left, and this little bit of face is the only thing he can defend.
Zhu Jinxia seemed stunned, and stood by the car for a moment, without trying to persuade him,
and only asked: "Are you going home tonight?"
"No." Weicheng tore open the instant noodles, crushed them and ate them dry. "I haven't agreed
to divorce you yet, why are you leaving?"
Although he was still resisting verbally, for some reason, looking at him like this, Zhu Jinxia had a
clear premonition - things would soon be settled.
At least his emotions have stabilized and he can think rationally. Even if it takes time, he can
always figure it out.
"Where do you live then?"
"None of your business."
"There are no hotels or inns around here—"
"so what?"
Zhu Jinxia seemed not to be able to hear the impetus in his tone, and said patiently, "How about
this, you come back to school with me first, the small building I live in is empty, just clean it up a
little, and I'll ask the principal for bed quilts and quilt covers, and we can make do with sleeping
on the floor—"
Weicheng got annoyed when he heard the word "Principal" and interrupted her unhappily: "Who
wants his quilted quilt cover?"
“…”
"I'll sleep in the car." Realizing that he was on the verge of losing control again, Weicheng pulled
back and scratched his hair in annoyance, "Leave me alone. I haven't forgiven you yet. Don't think
you can get rid of me just by showing me some kindness."
Zhu Jinxia suffered a setback, but was not angry.
She thought, this is good, a little setback can really make people grow. Look, he used to have no
control over his temper and would lose control at any time, but now he has learned to regulate
himself.
Even though they were no longer lovers, eight years of getting along had forged a deep
friendship. Even though this friendship had nothing to do with romance now, it did not stop her
from caring about him and hoping that everything was going well for him.
"Okay, I don't care about you." Zhu Jinxia said, "You can stay here as long as you like. Feel free to
come to me if you need anything."
"I won't look for you." Weicheng was still very persistent.
She pretended not to hear and said, "I just ask that you don't disturb the students in class."
Weicheng paused and snorted coldly: "I'm not that idle. I'm just bored."
Yeah?
Zhu Jinxia remained silent. If he wasn't so free, why would he stay here?
But she didn't dare say that.
Before leaving, she reiterated several times: "It's uncomfortable to sleep in the car. If you change
your mind, feel free to contact me. My phone is not muted—"
"I beg you to leave quickly. If you continue to care about me like this, I don't know whether you
are going to divorce me or propose to me."
“…”
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhu Jinxia turned around and walked away with cold rice
and cold dishes in her hand, her steps moving with great enthusiasm.
A hint of laughter appeared in Weicheng's sadness. Damn, he still thought she was cute at this
time. God must be fucking with him.
——
When I returned to the dormitory, Dunzhu was gone.
"Where is Dunzhu?" Zhu Jinxia asked.
Shixu was repairing the stool that had been broken during the fight in the afternoon by the coffee
table, "I'm going to supervise the evening study."
Zhu Jinxia was slightly stunned, and suddenly remembered that today seemed to be her evening
self-study class...
!!!!
Putting the bowl on the table, she turned and ran.
"Don't go. Let him help you keep watch. Haven't you eaten yet?" Shi Xu put down the stool and
glanced at the bowl of cold food. He was not surprised. "He doesn't want to eat?"
"Yes." Zhu Jinxia turned around, "I'll eat this bowl."
After staying in the mountains for a long time, she gradually developed the habit of being stingy.
Not wasting food is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation.
She sat down and prepared to eat, but Shi Xu stood up and walked to the kitchen with the bowl,
"It's cold, heat it up first."
I hope to catch up this summer: "I will do it myself."
They were deadlocked at the kitchen door because the room was too small and the door frame
was narrow, only allowing one person to pass through.
She was holding the bottom of the bowl, but Shixu showed no intention of letting go.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and Zhu Jinxia let go as if she had been electrocuted,
took a step back, and stopped arguing with him. It was at this moment that she belatedly
remembered the scene that happened in the bedroom in the afternoon.
After that, both of them were very silent, one was heating up food in the kitchen, and the other
was sitting at the coffee table.
Zhu Jinxia was a little uneasy. The face that suddenly magnified in time passed by her eyes again
and again. She even wanted to give up the meal and thought it was more important to attend the
evening self-study.
But that is tantamount to running away. If I can escape tonight, can I escape tomorrow?
Zhu Jinxia turned her head and looked through the window, her eyes passed over the playground
and stopped on the car outside the school gate.
The Acropolis is still there.
This thought prompted her to calm down, and she asked herself: Is it useful to escape again and
again? She had already realized that her marriage was in trouble, and escape made her hide in
her shell. She had been a snail for eight years, but in the end, she could not escape the collapse.
Is it useful to escape into the mountains? After running thousands of miles, we were caught up by
the Acropolis and caused a lot of trouble for everyone.
Today, if she has really learned anything from this experience, the first thing is to stop running
away.
There is no use in escaping.
If you pretend not to see the knife hanging over your head, does that mean it doesn't exist?
So, after Shixu brought the reheated food, Zhu Jinxia raised her head, no longer as flustered as
before.
She took the bowl and chopsticks, thanked them first, and then moved them twice. She found
that the time had been specially handled and all the burnt food was picked out. She paused
slightly, but was not surprised.
Zhu Jinxia buried her head in her food, appeased her hungry stomach with two mouthfuls, and
then raised her head and asked casually, "What happened to you this afternoon?"
She asked so casually, and her expression was so natural, as if he wasn't forcing her to kiss him,
but had a cramp in his leg and accidentally fell on her.
Shi Xu slowly raised his eyes and met hers. He had a hunch - she was trying to fool him.
Sure enough, Zhu Jinxia took the initiative and asked him what was wrong with him, whether his
hand slipped or his ankle was sprained. With such a heavy person falling on her, it would be really
easy to cause a stampede.
Just one table away, Shi Xu said nothing and just watched her pretending to be ignorant.
She frowned and performed poorly: "Luckily you didn't touch the wound, otherwise it would hurt
me to death."
"He was supposed to apply medicine to me, but he almost made things worse."
"If something really happened, the school is a hell of a place where chickens don't lay eggs and
birds don't shit. If I were sent to the hospital, I might lose too much blood and die."
…
She talked for a long time, but didn't find the right time to continue.
Gradually, Zhu Jinxia couldn't say any more. She stopped talking, put down her chopsticks, and
her heart skipped a beat.
Only then did Shixu speak up: "Why don't you continue?"
"Continue what?"
“Performing stand-up comedy.”
“…”
The two of them stared at each other. He was very calm and she did not back down.
I wish this summer’s frown will gradually turn into a knot.
No, why is he so calm?
She was visited by her "ex-husband to be" and had her face injured by an unexpected accident.
Not only did he not help, but he also added unnecessary drama to himself. How could he still be
so confident now?
There was a brief stalemate.
"Time sequence." Zhu Jinxia stood up and stopped leaning on the back of the chair. She asked
him softly across the coffee table, "Do you really have to break this layer of window paper
without leaving any room for maneuver?"
The two looked at each other for a moment.
Shi Xu answered the question irrelevantly: "Is he about to compromise?"
“…”
"When he agrees to divorce, you should go back."
It's not a question, it's a statement.
I wish this summer was stunned.
Shixu sat quietly opposite her. The low-wattage light bulb cast a dim light on the people and
objects in the room, including him. There was still a scratch on his chin from the morning, but it
had closed up now, leaving only a light red mark that looked like ink left by a red pen when
correcting homework.
He was the same as always, wearing a washed-out T-shirt, not bothering to take care of his long
hair, and being as calm as an outsider. It seemed as if he didn't care at all about the sharp decline
in his life after returning to the mountains and becoming the school principal. He just did what he
thought was right.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money.
It doesn't matter if life is hard.
Nothing seemed to matter in his eyes, and his look always seemed calm and casual.
But at this moment, he was not so calm.
His eyes followed her closely, and his hands clasped on the table seemed too tight.
"You're leaving soon, why should I keep the window paper?"
For no apparent reason, Zhu Jinxia's throat became dry, as if an invisible hand was clutching her
heart, lightly at first, then gradually tightening until she felt palpitations and difficulty breathing.
She tried to stay calm. "You said it, I'm here to teach, and it's enough for the children to benefit.
Why add to the trouble? We have to leave anyway..."
The room was quiet for a moment.
She heard Shixu chuckle and repeat, "We all have to leave anyway."
She had clearly said it herself, and her voice was clearly very soft, but for some reason it felt like a
heavy hammer hitting her eardrums, making a buzzing sound.
After a while, Shi Xu smiled and admitted straightforwardly: "It's my fault."
He changed the subject and asked her, "Have you finished eating?"
Eh?
Zhu Jinxia's mind hadn't yet come to its senses, so she nodded subconsciously: "I'm done eating."
Shi Xu then got up and cleaned up. He quickly carried the bowl into the kitchen and put the
bowls and chopsticks that he and Dunzhu had used before into the plastic basin. Finally, he stood
by the door holding the basin and looked at her.
"Help me wash the dishes again."
After a pause, he called her, "Teacher Zhu."
Just like the first day she came to the mountains.
Is it just passed over like this?
Zhu Jinxia was unable to come to his senses. They were still confronting each other in the last
second, and seemed to have turned around in the next second... But it's always good if he is
willing to cooperate.
She was a little dazed and followed the time to go downstairs.
The voice-activated lights had fallen into disrepair and were no longer lit, leaving the corridor in
total darkness.
Zhu Jinxia was in a state of anxiety and, not surprisingly, she missed a step on a step and her body
tilted.
"Be careful." Shi Xu held the basin in one hand and grabbed her arm with the other.
The man was very strong and had big hands. He held her arms tightly, and she returned to the
step steadily.
Zhu Jinxia thanked him awkwardly and wanted to move on, but found that she couldn't because
the hand was still on her arm, restraining her completely.
The clothes were thin in the summer, and through the cotton short-sleeved shirt, she could once
again clearly feel his scorching heat.
She trembled uncontrollably as if she had been burned, and her heart was in her throat.
I tried to pull my hand out in panic, but found that I couldn't.
?
Coming again?
"..." Zhu Jinxia held her breath, "Time sequence?"
As if some command was shouted, the seal was lifted, and the next second, Shixu let go of her
hand.
He said nothing, his empty hands hanging by his sides, clenched into fists, and walked out of the
corridor and towards the sink without saying a word.
No one spoke during the whole process of washing dishes, but a strange tacit understanding
seemed to have been developed in just two months. Shixu was responsible for wiping the dishes
with detergent, and Zhu Jinxia was responsible for flushing; he wiped the water stains, and she
took it and put it in the basin.
The more coordinated the actions, the more tormenting the silence.
Obviously, it wasn't like this before today.
Zhu Jinxia mechanically took another plate and looked at the mud and sand sinking to the bottom
of the sink. She felt like she was like that pile of mud and sand, slowly and uncontrollably falling
to the bottom of the valley.
As a slow-moving person, she often takes a long time to adapt to a new environment and accept
a person. Looking back now, in just two months, she integrated into the mountains at an
unprecedented speed and regarded herself as a part of the central school.
In just two months, she and the people around her established a strange tacit understanding.
They were like close friends with no barriers between them and could talk about anything.
As a result, it became like this.
I wish this summer to be doubly bleak.
She didn't have any romantic fantasies, and she never thought that she was qualified to develop
any new relationship at this stage. She even knew that she and Shi Xu were on different paths.
Even if she extricated herself from her original marriage, she would not have any intersection
with him in the future.
All she expected from this journey was that everyone could reach the end happily, whether it was
him, Dunzhu, Yu Xiaoshan or the children. It would be perfect if everyone could have a great
time.
Why did things come to this?
Is it so difficult to leave her a happy ending?
It's all his fault.
It all depends on timing!
It was obviously not like this yesterday. We were all having a great conversation yesterday and
everyone was very comfortable. Why did he take the initiative to do such a thing?
I wish you a very happy summer.
He just said that it was his fault. If he was wrong, he should be beaten. If he was wrong, he
should make amends. Why did he let things continue to deteriorate uncontrollably?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She had no place to vent her anger, but
she knew that if she said it all out, it would only make everyone more embarrassed.
Now there is only a small hole in the window paper, which has just been poked by him. If she
goes crazy again, it will probably be all ruined.
She tried to hold it in again and again, but finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
If I can’t say it, then there has to be an outlet, right?
The next second, Zhu Jinxia raised her hand and dropped the bowl. With a bang, the enamel
bowl containing potatoes and pork ribs "accidentally slipped" from her hand, hit the ground with
a crisp sound, and then broke into pieces.
The hands that were wiping the dishes stopped.
The hand that was throwing the basin also stopped moving.
Shi Xu looked down and saw that his most expensive, best, most exquisite and most practical
bowl had been smashed.
My heart is bleeding.
There was a brief silence at the sink.
He took a deep breath and bent down to pick up the broken pieces. "...It's okay, it's just a bowl--"
Before he finished speaking, there was another crisp sound.
Before he could straighten up, the second best plate fell to the ground with a crack and broke.
Time sequence: “………………”
He raised his head and looked at Zhu Jinxia who had "slipped her hand" again. She smiled but
didn't. She said she was sorry and it was all her fault. Then she asked him, "Are you
heartbroken?"
Shi Xu stood up and said calmly, "I'm not sad. It's just a plate. What's there to be sad about?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she was seen reaching out her evil hands again towards the
dishes in the basin that had already been wiped.
Fortunately, Shi Xu was quick to act and grabbed her.
“Happy summer!”
"Don't you feel heartbroken?" Zhu Jinxia turned around, her smile gone, and squinted her eyes at
him. "If you don't feel heartbroken, I'll keep hitting you until you feel heartbroken."
Stand off for a moment.
Sequence: "If you are unhappy, come to me, there is no need to smash the bowl."
"Come for you?" Zhu Jinxia's eyes turned red almost instantly, "What can I do to you?"
She breathed deeply, her chest heaving violently. She was obviously extremely angry, but her
eyes were red.
“…”
There was an illusion in the timing, as if she was about to burst into tears in the next second. He
subconsciously reached out to wipe her tears, but she slapped him down in mid-air.
With a crisp sound, the back of the hand turned red instantly.
He paused, took his hand back, and said, "I'm sorry."
"What's the use of saying sorry?!" She was extremely fierce, but her red eyes made her
completely intimidating.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Shi Xu asked back.
What did she want him to do?
Zhu Jinxia tried her best to hold back the sour heat, and gritted her teeth and said, "I want you to
go back to the time before today! We want you to talk about everything without any barriers! We
want you to joke around and feel relaxed! We want you to live under the same roof without any
awkwardness! We want..."
What do you want?
She wants too much.
The voice gradually disappeared in mid-air, and when it finally spoke again, it was a sentence with
a crying tone.
"There's no way we can go back!"
Shixu was caught off guard by this outburst, and the hand that had been holding her loosened
unconsciously. This gave Zhu Jinxia an opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity. She
grabbed Shixu's few remaining "valuable belongings" from the basin and smashed them to the
ground with a bang.
"Shixu, you bastard, I'm going to fuck you!"
Time sequence: “…………………………”
A pile of tableware remains, some alive but some not, on the ground were still weeping silently in
the night wind, and he could only watch the "bowl killer" cover his face and run away.
The bell for the end of get out of class rang soon, and the first evening self-study session ended.
Dunzhu rushed out of the teaching building to take care of something urgent. He saw Shixu
squatting by the sink from a distance, so he braked suddenly, turned around and rushed over.
"What are you doing? Where's Teacher Zhu? Has she eaten? Has that guy eaten?"
One button four consecutive.
I ran to the front and found out——
"What the hell?!"
Dunzhu urgently rummaged in the plastic basin and found that all the "valuable goods" for
tonight's vegetables were gone, and the debris on the ground looked more and more familiar,
which was simply terrifying.
He opened his eyes wide with fear, "Brother, Uncle Wang has Alzheimer's, but you have
Parkinson's at such a young age?"
"..." The situation was like a dumb person eating bitter herbs, and he could only keep silent.
Dunzhu bent down, holding the pile of porcelain pieces with tears in his eyes, "No, what are we
going to eat tomorrow?! I am Tibetan, not from Xinjiang, and I don't like to eat with my hands...!"
…
Shi Xu returned to the dormitory without saying a word. That night, he stood in front of the
bedroom window, staring motionlessly at the only lit window of the small building opposite.
The curtains were drawn tightly, and occasionally a figure could be seen moving. He could tell
from the vague movements what she was doing: boiling water, washing her hair, drying her hair,
and then sitting at the desk, writing quickly, probably writing a lesson plan.
She seemed very irritable, otherwise she wouldn't have written and stopped, and walked back
and forth in the room until midnight.
Don’t we have early classes tomorrow?
Shi Xu rubbed his brows, picked up the phone, typed the three words "I'm sorry" in the input box,
deleted them, deleted them, typed them again, but in the end he didn't send it.
It was useless to say anything at this time. Even if he kowtowed to her on the spot, she would not
be able to fall asleep peacefully, but would become more uneasy.
Fortunately, the lights went out after a while, and the figure on the curtain disappeared.
He knew that in the near future the small building would be deserted, as if no one had ever lived
there.
Shi Xu lowered his head and looked at the dark blue razor in his hand. He had held it for so long
that the handle had become warm, just like his heart that had been numb for many years and
suddenly woke up during these days and began to beat violently.

Chapter 52
Chapter 52
If possible, she really wanted to practice fasting and never have to eat again from today on.
Zhu Jinxia stood downstairs of the Time Dormitory with dark circles under her eyes. She struggled
for a full minute about going upstairs to eat breakfast. She looked back at the particularly eye-
catching white car outside the school gate, and resigned herself to her fate and went into the
dark corridor.
It doesn't matter if she doesn't eat, there is someone outside who ate instant noodles last night.
If she continues to be so hungry, the one who will ascend to heaven might be the Acropolis.
I climbed up to the third floor, stood outside the familiar iron gate, took several deep breaths,
and wished this summer would push the door open.
Shixu and Dunzhu were both in the room. Breakfast was already set on the table. Looking closely,
there were steamed buns, pickled vegetable porridge, and a few golden poached eggs on the
plate.
If you look more closely, you'll find that the bowls and plates used to hold the rice are all second-
hand items, with parts missing and many cracks on the edges of the bowls, as if they had been
gnawed by dogs.
“…”
I wish this summer to quickly withdraw her gaze and put the fact that she is a tableware killer
behind her.
If you want to blame someone, blame the timing. He brought it upon himself.
Dunzhu just kept talking about something else, pointing at the edge of the bowl in sorrow,
"Teacher Zhu, you are also wondering why we use this kind of bowl today, right?"
“…”
No, she wasn't puzzled at all.
Dunzhu expressed his worries about Shixu who unfortunately suffered from Parkinson's disease
at a young age and smashed all the dishes last night. After talking for a long time, he found that it
seemed that Shixu was not the only one who was sick. Zhu Jinxia also seemed to have aphasia
and did not say a word.
He was the only one left in the room, mumbling to himself.
"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well?" Dunzhu looked carefully and found something strange.
"Teacher Zhu, are the dark circles under your eyes too dark?"
It would have been fine if she hadn't mentioned it. As soon as she mentioned it, another pair of
eyes were cast towards her, giving people an invisible sense of oppression. Zhu Jinxia's face
became a little stiff.
She had deliberately not looked at the time sequence since she entered the room. If she couldn't
beat him, could she hide? If she couldn't hide herself, she could at least avoid his gaze.
She pointed at the table and went straight to the point: "Can I take one away?"
It was Shixu who answered her: "To Mr. Wei?"
Mr. Wei, you were not so polite yesterday.
"Yeah." Zhu Jinxia looked at her nose with her eyes and her heart with her nose, but still didn't
look at him.
Shi Xu smiled and said, "He has eaten."
Um???
There was no time to dodge this time. Zhu Jinxia was startled and looked up at him.
...I was suddenly dazzled.
Did he get a haircut overnight? His hair, which was always neglected, became shorter overnight,
and his bangs no longer covered his eyes.
Not only that, he shaved his beard on purpose, so his chin was no longer slightly blue as usual,
and he looked a lot fresher.
He was no longer wearing the faded old man's shirt, but a shirt that was 90% new. With silver-
wire glasses on his nose, he looked like a gentleman... no, he looked like a teacher.
“…”
what happened?
Although it was unbelievable, two words subconsciously emerged in Zhu Jinxia's mind: heroic
competition.
Could it be that the Acropolis gave him a sense of crisis?
She quickly rejected the idea. With her understanding of time, she shouldn't be so naive.
But to be fair, some people can dazzle others with a little dressing up. She subconsciously thought
that Weicheng, who had been fasting for several months, looked like an immortal and haggard,
and it really didn't require him to dress up so carefully to "outshine".
"Are you going to get married?" Zhu Jinxia couldn't help herself.
"We have guests coming to the school, so what's wrong with paying attention to image
management?" Shi Xu said calmly, "I am the face of the school after all."
The two people's eyes met in mid-air, the corners of his mouth curved slightly, and he smiled
calmly and cheerfully. Zhu Jinxia was slightly startled, and for some reason she felt relieved.
She knew that time always had the ability to change the situation in a few words and make
people feel relaxed. The awkward atmosphere last night seemed to be just a temporary illusion.
Dunzhu interrupted: "What about me? Look at me! Teacher Zhu, am I handsome?"
Zhu Jinxia turned her head and saw Dunzhu's shiny and smooth head, which had been smeared
with countless amounts of hair wax, and a ponytail swinging behind her head.
The two brothers are more showy than each other.
"...What's going on with you? Are you the best man when he gets married?"
"My school is number two!" Dunzhu said confidently, glancing at the time. "Besides, Lian Po is
old, can he still lead? Sooner or later, I will usurp the throne and replace him."
"..." Zhu Jinxia nodded reluctantly, "I wish you success."
And, "Two idioms in one sentence, good, today I have escaped the level of semi-illiterate."
She picked up an empty bowl and was about to pick up food from it, but was interrupted by
Dunzhu again.
"No need to serve him. Didn't my brother just say that he has already eaten?"
Zhu Jinxia was stunned, looked up at him, and then confirmed with Shixu, "Has he eaten?"
Shi Xu nodded and said, "After it's done, I'll send one down."
Best wishes this summer:?
what's the situation?
"…He ate it?"
"have eaten."
Wish this summer: ???
Zhu Jinxia: "No, he didn't eat it yesterday when I gave it to him. Now it's your turn to give it to
him today. Will he eat it?"
Dunzhu snorted: "Not only did he eat it, he also accepted the mosquito coils I sent him. The store
was closed, so I couldn't buy water, so my brother also sent him a few bottles of mineral water,
and he accepted them all."
I wish your jaw will drop to the ground this summer.
Wait, is this the Acropolis she knew? Such a stubborn person, who yesterday refused to accept
charity, now happily accepts breakfast from her "enemy"?
Why, was the divorce such a huge blow that it gave him a second personality?
Zhu Jinxia digested the food for a while while holding the empty bowl, "...he was possessed by
another spirit?"
Dunzhu shook his head. "It's not that the other side didn't work hard, but that we were too
cunning."
He pointed at the time sequence and said, "This guy is amazing. He brought a bunch of supplies
with him and didn't ask for anything else when he arrived. He just asked for a quote first."
"What's your price?"
"A plate of mosquito coils costs 20 yuan. A meal costs 30 yuan. A bottle of mineral water costs 10
yuan. At night, when the wind is strong and the temperature is low, a blanket costs 41 yuan."
Shi Xu calmly corrected him, "The mosquito coils are twenty per one. How much do I earn from
selling twenty-one plates? Isn't that charity?"
Wish this summer: "..."
Dunzhu said faintly: "You could have just robbed the money..."
Time sequence: "This is called treating the disease with the right medicine. I don't care if he asks
for money, can he accept the things with peace of mind?"
He smiled and said, "To deal with stubborn people, we have to find another way."
"..." Zhu Jinxia took a deep breath, "How much did you earn this morning?"
Shixu stretched out his index finger and made a three.
three hundred?
"As expected of you." Zhu Jinxia teased, "Tsinghua top students are different. Look at their
business acumen."
"Thank you." Shi Xu smiled leisurely, "It's mainly to help you out of your urgent need. That's why I
enjoy helping others. As for generating income, it's just a side thing."
“…”
You are a very nice person.
After breakfast, I stepped out of the dormitory and slowly exhaled this summer. My heart, which
was so heavy when I came here, finally returned to its original place and became light again.
She understood one thing from the attitude of time.
When washing dishes yesterday, he asked her: "So what do you want me to do?"
At that time, she answered him, "I want you to go back to the time before today, so that we can
talk about anything without any barriers, joke around and feel relaxed, and live under the same
roof without any awkwardness."
Those were just words spoken in anger. In fact, she knew that she couldn't go back. But the
principal seemed to be omnipotent. In just one morning, he turned the situation around. Without
saying a word about what happened yesterday, he turned the clock back to normal.
Before going to the teaching building for class, Zhu Jinxia quickly walked out of the school gate
and came to the car.
Acropolis was still sleeping, and the car window was opened a crack to prevent air circulation in
the car.
There was a half-burnt mosquito coil on the passenger seat, and next to it were the plates and
bowls that he had seen at Shixu's place. The fried eggs and steamed buns had all been eaten up,
leaving only half a sweet potato, which Weicheng had not even touched - he had always been a
picky eater and basically didn't eat coarse grains.
He looked tired, lying uncomfortably on the lowered chair. The thin blanket brought by the time
had slipped to his legs. He seemed to be afraid of the cold and curled up slightly. This made him
look a lot smaller, which reminded people of the time when they first met.
His overly thin cheeks were a little sunken, the skin of the arm draped across his chest was pale,
the blood vessels were clearly visible, and his wrist bones were jagged, as if they would break if
bent.
Zhu Jinxia did not wake him up, nor did she reach out to cover him with the blanket. She just
watched him quietly for a moment, then turned around and went back to the teaching building
for class.
Everyone has to learn to take care of themselves, she does, and so does he.
What she didn't know was that after she turned around, the "sleeping" person quickly opened his
eyes, looked at her leaving back, and slowly sat up.
——
Weicheng certainly didn't sleep well. He only had a pack of instant noodles last night and was
starving late at night. Unfortunately, the convenience store was closed and he couldn't find
anywhere to buy food.
I turned on the navigation on my phone and wanted to find a nearby store, but how could there
be navigation for small shops in the mountains? The nearest store shown on the map was
actually a small supermarket in the county town, three hours away!
Besides, at this time, the supermarket has already closed, and it is not a 24-hour convenience
store in the city.
He raised his head and looked at the store not far away...
Should I go knock on the door? At worst, I can give a little more money?
This idea was quickly dispelled by the ferocious face that flashed before his eyes. When he
bought instant noodles in the evening, the boss was not willing to sell him any. Weicheng only
figured it out later. He was an outsider who made such a fuss at the school gate and almost beat
up the guard. No one in the neighborhood who knew about it would like him.
After a whole day, I only had a full meal in the morning. I also consumed a lot of energy from
driving and fighting. I was starving in the middle of the night...
I can only bear it.
Being hungry is a small matter. The bigger challenges are sleeping unsteadily in the car and the
mosquitoes are particularly rampant on summer nights.
No, it's okay that the people in these mountains are barbaric, but how come even mosquitoes are
so big?!
Close the car windows tightly, or you will suffocate.
If you don't take it seriously, it's like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth.
Acropolis was tossing and turning in his lowered seat, going crazy.
There are mosquito bites all over their bodies. How can they successfully break into the
forbidden area of dense leg hair? ? ?
The last disaster: cold.
He left in a hurry yesterday and left empty-handed, not even taking his brain, let alone clothes. As
a result, the temperature dropped sharply in the mountains at night. The hottest temperature
during the day was still around 30 degrees, but it was only a dozen degrees at midnight.
Weicheng huddled in the car, shivering. Even if he started the engine and turned on the air
conditioner to keep warm, it would not be a long-term solution.
There is a conflict in my mind: should I leave or stay?
But he was unwilling to leave like this.
When he was about to collapse, someone suddenly knocked on the car window, scaring him.
Weicheng sat up suddenly and saw a man standing outside the window. After taking a closer
look, he recognized him as the principal.
He cursed and asked who the hell you were trying to scare to death.
He rolled down the car window and looked down, only then did he realize that the other party
was holding a bunch of supplies in his hands, each of which could just solve his urgent needs.
Shit, is this guy a roundworm?
"Ascaris" had a harmless face, smiled sweetly, and kindly handed the supplies in his hand into the
car window.
"See if there's anything you need?"
Weicheng didn't believe that he had such good intentions. In the afternoon, he was like meeting
an enemy, but now he changed his face to a bodhisattva. There is no good person in this lousy
school!
He said stubbornly: "What do you need? Nothing!"
Who wants you to pretend to be kind!
Shi Xu leisurely flipped through the things in his hand and said regretfully, "Are you sure?"
He turned over the blanket first. A thick blanket. A magical blanket that seemed to get rid of
goose bumps.
Then he shook the mosquito coils. A whole plate of mosquito coils. The mosquito coils that, when
lit, could kill all the "terrorists" who broke into the Forbidden Forest of Leg Hair and attacked him.
Finally, there was mineral water. Weicheng had brought a bottle of mineral water back to the car
in the evening. The plateau was dry and he was thirsty almost all the time. In front of him, Shixu
brought three large bottles of mineral water and shook them in his hands.
Nongfu Spring, a little sweet.
Acropolis: “…”
A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated.
He remained stubborn and looked away: "No."
"You don't want it? Forget it." Shi Xu shrugged, picked up the things and turned away.
Frankly speaking, he was happy to see Weicheng suffer, but thinking of Zhu Jinxia, he couldn't just
stand by and watch. After thinking for a long time in the dormitory, he finally took the pile of
things downstairs.
Shixu knew it very well. This was the person who had lived with her since childhood. Even if they
had no love, they had relatives, friends and friendship. If she allowed Weicheng to suffer a great
crime, she would feel sympathy no matter if he was sick or haggard tomorrow morning.
People's hearts are made of flesh, and Shixu doesn't want to take this risk.
He had no intention of breaking up the two, nor did he have any idea of taking advantage of the
situation. He also knew that he and Zhu Jinxia were not from the same world at all. She would
soon return to the prosperous city, and he had no choice but to continue staying in these
mountains.
He just hopes that she can be free, without interference, no longer have to please others or take
too many things into consideration, and truly choose her own life according to her own wishes.
And right now, Acropolis is suffering in the car, which is one of the interfering factors.
This thought made time stop and turn back again.
He returned to the car window and asked calmly, "I'm not giving it to you for free. How about you
spend some money to buy it, and we won't owe each other anything? How about that?"
As soon as the bait was thrown out and the other side fell silent, he knew he had succeeded.
As expected, Weicheng, who was very proud, hesitated for only a few seconds and realized that
he had fallen into the trap of "Shi Taigong".
If you buy it with money, wouldn't that preserve your dignity?
Weicheng entered shopping mode in a moment, and condescendingly reported a string of goods
to the "merchant" who came to sell: "Blanket, mosquito coils, mineral water."
The "merchant" didn't say much and handed the things to him one by one.
Acropolis was also freezing. He didn't ask the price or pay the money. He just shook out the
blanket and put it on. He opened the bottle of mineral water and gulped down half a bottle.
Obviously, the young master who was born and raised in the city never worried about money.
This indirectly proved that Zhu Jinxia had taken good care of him over the years.
I have no idea that human hearts are unpredictable.
After I drank half a bottle of water, I heard the quote.
"A blanket costs 40 yuan, a bottle of mineral water costs 10 yuan, and a mosquito coil costs 20
yuan."
Acropolis sprayed a mouthful of water on the windshield.
Shi Xu said calmly: "This one bite costs at least five yuan, I suggest you don't spray it."
Acropolis: “…”
Weicheng pinched his throat and coughed for a long time, "You are taking advantage of the
situation?"
Timeline: "Love or Not."
After a moment of stalemate, Shixu asked again: "Do you want it or not? Don't freeze this bottle
of water."
As soon as I put on the blanket, my legs stopped shaking and the goose bumps disappeared. As
soon as I drank the water, I felt alive again.
Weicheng could still vaguely hear the buzzing of mosquitoes beside his ears. He scratched the
mosquito bite on his thigh and could only willingly accept the slaughter.
"…poor mountains and bad waters give rise to unruly people."
No matter how much you curse, you still have to scan the QR code on WeChat and pay.
"How much?"
Time sequence: "Two hundred."
???
Weicheng: "A blanket is 40 yuan, a bottle of mineral water is 10 yuan, and a mosquito coil is 20
yuan. How the hell did you calculate 200 yuan? Did you fail math?"
Timeline: "It's not that the mineral water is ten yuan, it's that the bottle is ten yuan."
"That's only thirty!"
"Twenty mosquito coils. Not twenty per plate, twenty per coil. There are ten in this plate, and I'm
giving you a 50% discount."
Acropolis: “…”
Should I thank you again?!
He calculated in his mind and roared, "That's only one hundred and seventy. Where did the other
thirty go?"
Shi Xu smiled and said, "The store doesn't open until noon. Are you sure you want to be hungry
until then? I can provide meals for you, morning, noon, and night, for thirty yuan each. This thirty
yuan counts as breakfast, and I'll deliver it to you at dawn."
Acropolis: “…”
"What do you think, do you want it or not?" Shi Xu looked at him leisurely.
Weicheng was torn between his conscience and his desire. Impulse drove him to throw the thing
back at the man's face, but the alternating cold and hunger made it impossible for him to give up
the blanket or resist the food.
Ultimately, physiological instincts prevail. Face is precious, but life is more precious.
It’s more important to stay alive.
He swallowed his anger and scanned the code to pay.
The "swindler" accepted the money and, after making a fortune, he walked quickly towards the
school. However, after taking only two steps, he seemed to remember something, took out a
lighter from his bag, turned around and waved his hand.
"By the way, do you need a lighter for your mosquito coil?"
Acropolis's lighter had been thrown away during the fight in the afternoon, and he hadn't even
been able to smoke a cigarette the whole night. He really needed it now, otherwise he wouldn't
be able to light the mosquito coils.
He stuck his head out of the car window and said aggrievedly, "Yes."
The "profiteer" came back and brought the lighter to the bedside. When Acropolis was about to
touch it, he suddenly withdrew his hand.
Weicheng looked up: "... Are you kidding me?"
Shi Xu smiled harmlessly, "Lighters, one hundred each."
Acropolis: ???
He couldn't help but curse: "Are you a fucking bandit? With such a love of money, are you
qualified to be a teacher?"
Shi Xu was calm and composed. "Don't think I'm targeting you. I'll treat everyone the same.
We're poor in the mountains, and for the sake of the children, of course we have to find ways to
generate income. No matter how hard it is, we can't let the children suffer. So there's no way to
cut costs. We can only think of more ways to increase revenue, don't you agree?"
He said so, right?
It's bullshit.
Weicheng transferred the accounts, snatched the lighter, and lit the mosquito coil while cursing.
Click, the moment the lighter is lit, not only the sound is familiar, but even the texture is
extremely familiar.
He froze slightly, having a strange premonition. With the faint light from the phone screen, he
moved closer and took a closer look.
Fuck! Isn't this his fucking lighter? ! ! !
When I looked up again, the man had already walked away, leaving behind a sentence: "By the
way, I teach mathematics, and I'm pretty good at it."
Chapter 53
Now that I had a blanket and the mosquito coils were lit, the second half of the night was finally
not so unbearable.
Unfortunately, pain also follows the law of conservation. It will not appear out of thin air, nor will
it disappear out of thin air. It is simply transferred from the physical body to the mental body.
Weicheng came to this deep mountain forest, but instead of being persuaded to go back, he was
blackmailed and extorted, which made him so angry that he almost died.
I finally fell asleep, but had a bunch of messy dreams in which I was angry. Finally, I vaguely
smelled the aroma of food and was awakened by my rumbling stomach.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw a person standing next to the car window, holding
supplies in his hands... The same scene happened once a few hours ago. If it wasn't dawn this
time, he would have thought he was still dreaming.
After regaining consciousness, Weicheng had only one thought: the bandits were coming again.
Shixu didn't know how long he stood there, holding his breakfast in one hand and chewing a
piece of corn in the other. When he saw Weicheng wake up, he raised his eyebrows and said,
"Your breakfast."
One must have a business attitude when doing business, and he is very patient when there is
money to be made.
Weicheng's face turned dark. He took the plate without saying a word and quickly rolled up the
car window.
He didn't want to look at the time sequence any more.
Unfortunately, the person outside did not leave and even knocked on the window.
The car window was lowered a crack, and the person inside looked at Shi Xu warily: "What are
you doing? Are you still trying to cheat me out of money?"
Every failure makes one wiser. He was forced by the situation last night, and there is no way he
will be blackmailed again today.
Shi Xu smiled and asked, "Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
"?" Weicheng said impatiently, "Why do you care what I am forbidden to eat?"
"Or if you want to eat something, you can tell me and I'll make lunch for you."
"Who wants to eat your lunch?" Weicheng said unhappily, "After this meal, let's go our separate
ways!"
There was a brief pause, and Weicheng thought he had given up, but he pretended not to hear
him. After thinking for a moment, he spoke again: "Do you like fried chicken?"
“…”
Are you deaf?
"Dry pot rabbit, twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts, pig's trotter soup? Or do you want boiled
pork slices?" The sequence continued, and he played the role of a good host. "Yaks are abundant
here, and boiled pork slices can be made with yak meat, which is tender and fresh. In addition,
there is plenty of sunshine in the mountains, and the peppers produced are spicy enough..."
Acropolis: “…………”
Are you toxic?
After asking for a long time without any response, Shi Xu said regretfully: "You don't want to eat?
Forget it. Eat your breakfast while it's hot. I'll have someone bring the dishes and chopsticks
later."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Weicheng was so hungry in the car that he felt dizzy, but when he looked at the porridge and side
dishes on the plate, the list of dish names that appeared in his mind were those in the time
newspaper.
He did it on purpose, right?
Weicheng hasn't had a good meal for many days. His love life has died, and the only thing left of
his seven emotions and six desires is appetite.
Seeing the man walking away, he tried to hold back, but couldn't help but stick his head out of
the car window and said, "Come back!"
Shi Xu stopped and looked back at him in surprise, "Anything else?"
"..." Rage was raging, but hunger was stronger. Weicheng said quickly with a dark face, "Boil yak
meat without onions and a little garlic. Add spicy rice and give me two more bowls. If possible,
stir-fry some spicy and sour potato shreds."
The speed of speech is so fast that it seems that as long as the time is short enough, it is
equivalent to not saying anything if rounded off.
Shi Xu tried his best to hold back his laughter, but still couldn't control the curve of his lips. He
could only pretend to cough and put his hand to his lips to block it. He said in a brisk tone: "Okay,
but the meal standard is different, and the price is also different."
"…What's changed?" Weicheng's eyebrows raised dangerously.
"The costs have gone up, and thirty is not enough."
"you--"
Seeing that the people in the car were furious and about to run away, Shixu quickly concluded:
"But Teacher Zhu has been teaching voluntarily and has helped the school a lot. For her sake, I
will give you a discount. Fifty will be fine."
To eat or not to eat, this is a question.
In the end, Acropolis suffered a second hemorrhage due to hunger and cold, and the WeChat bill
was: -50 yuan.
He swore that he would never set foot in this place again in his life. If he had to come, he would
bring 12315 with him to wipe out this bandit den.
——
It is impossible for people to be angry endlessly, and emotions will always calm down.
The space in the car was small. After staying in the Acropolis for a whole night, there was no
place to stretch my hands and feet, so I finally chose to get out of the car to get some fresh air.
He had nowhere to go in the wilderness, so he simply lit a cigarette and walked towards the
school. As expected, he was stopped by the security guard again.
This time he didn't get angry. He just turned around and took out the empty plates and bowls
from the car. "I'm going to return the tableware. These are your principal's things. Do you
recognize them?"
Worried that the other party might not understand, he pointed at the window on the third floor
with the bowl and explained it several more times.
On the other side of the playground, Dunzhu had no classes and was standing outside his office,
getting some fresh air. He saw this scene from a distance and walked over quickly.
"What are you going to do?"
Acropolis: "Return the bowl."
"Just give it to me." Dunzhu was very alert and took the tableware. "The bowl is returned, and
you can leave."
Weicheng was silent for a moment, "Can I go in and take a look?"
"What are you looking at? Do you want to cause trouble?" Dunzhu said in an aggressive tone.
Weicheng looked at the ponytail behind his head and the youthful face, and suddenly realized
that he was at least ten years older than him, and he had wrestled with him like a brat yesterday.
Thinking back on it today, I felt a sense of absurdity for no apparent reason.
After entering the mountains, he did not rely on alcohol to fall asleep for two consecutive nights,
and his mind seemed much clearer.
After a while.
"I'm not mentally ill. One episode of the same madness is enough."
Dunzhu stared at him suspiciously, and then heard him say, "I promised Zhu Jinxia that I would
not affect students' classes again. I kept my word."
The man looked tired and his decadence was obvious, but his attitude was good.
Dunzhu's arrogance subsided a little, and he slowed down his tone: "Then are you willing to leave
after you have seen it?"
He would not let go unless the other party made a firm statement.
In the deadlock, a phone call came in. Dunzhu looked down and saw that it was Shixu.
On the phone, Shi Xu didn't say much, just four words: "Let him in."
Dunzhu looked back and around, but couldn't find anyone. He didn't know where this person was
taking a bird's-eye view again.
I could only cover my phone and lower my voice and say, "What if he starts making a scene
again?"
"Let him in."
“…”
After hanging up the phone, Dunzhu reluctantly opened the door and said, "Come in. Let me be
frank with you. If you make trouble again, I will really call the police this time."
——
There are the sounds of reading in the campus in the early morning, and walking in the
playground is like returning to youth.
Weicheng looked at the old basketball stand. Although the specifications were not standard and
there was only a bare basket without a net on the backboard, he still remembered the past days.
At that time, he was carefree and full of confidence in the future. Life seemed as simple as
putting a basketball into the basket. He could reach everything by just raising his hand.
Dunzhu was worried that he might cause trouble, so he followed him closely. However, because
he was a chatterbox and could not stand long periods of silence, he would occasionally talk to
him.
"Isn't today a workday? You came to the mountains without having to go to work?"
After a long while, Weicheng said, "I took the annual leave."
"Since you've taken a leave, why are you sad?" Dunzhu said confidently, "Let me teach you a
lesson. Never be sad on weekends or holidays. This is your time. You should be sad on weekdays.
You need to learn to be paid emo."
Weicheng: "...I've learned your lesson."
After being interrupted by him, I couldn't feel sad even if I wanted to.
The people in the mountains seem to be very forgetful. They fought yesterday, but today they can
forget the past. They were sniping at each other in the first few sentences, but later they were
actually talking and laughing.
Dunzhu told Weicheng not to be sad, because the ultimate meaning of life is just one: it's okay as
long as you're alive, but if you can't, then die.
He also said that the school's educational purpose was metaphysics and that students could not
drop out.
Let me talk about my personal experience: All difficulties can overcome me. Those who can't kill
me might as well kill me.
Weicheng kept asking “…” and “…” all the way, and finally asked only one question: “Your name is
Dunzhu?”
"Yes what's the matter?"
"nothing."
Weicheng thought to himself, why call it Dunzhu, it’s better to call it Yizhu, a dazzling lost pearl in
the crosstalk world.
He stopped in front of the corridor and asked, "Which grade does she teach?"
Dunzhu, who was still talking nonstop a second ago, suddenly stopped and regained his vigilance:
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't mean anything else, I just want to take a look." Weicheng said calmly, "I suddenly
remembered that I have never seen her in class in these years."
The last time was when he was in college. The National Teacher Skills Competition was held at
Mianshui University. Zhu Jinxia represented the School of Foreign Affairs in the competition. At
that time, he was pulled to join the audience. He looked up and saw her walking up to the stage
with an upright posture, a calm smile on her lips, and introducing herself in fluent spoken English.
She said her name was Zhu Jinxia, the Jin of today and the Xia of summer.
At that moment, a poor student like Acropolis suddenly had Shakespeare's sonnet in his mind for
some reason, even though he obviously hated the history of British literature the most.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
It happened eight years ago, but it felt like it happened yesterday, and he hardly remembered
yesterday.
…
Dunzhu didn't dare to let him go easily. What if a teaching accident happened?
"wait."
He walked into a dark place, dialed the time sequence number, talked about this and that, and
finally came back.
"You can take a look, but you have to make sure you don't disturb the students in class."
"I promise."
It seems like it happened yesterday.
Going up to the third floor, Weicheng was standing at the back door of the classroom. He did not
show his face. He just stood still in the shadows, listening to the movements in the classroom.
In the first half of the class, we were teaching Liu Yuxi's "Bamboo Branch Songs".
The willows are green and the river is calm. I hear my lover singing on the river.
The sun rises in the east and it rains in the west, it is said that there is no clear sky, but there is
clear sky.
The woman's voice was brisk and powerful, telling the story of the love between a young man
and a young woman:
On a fresh spring day, a girl in first love stood on the bank of a river with green willows and a
mirror-like surface. She heard her lover singing and was anxiously wondering if he was interested
in her. The sun was rising in the east of the river and it was raining in the west. The weather was
as unpredictable as her mood and as erratic as her lover's mind. Maybe there was affection or
maybe there was no affection. Anyway, love was like this, making people look forward to it and
feel uneasy.
When talking about love, the children smiled slyly, excited and shy.
The woman on the podium paused deliberately, "What are you laughing at?"
"Laugh at them for being in love!" Ding Zhengenjia shouted.
As one of the few people in the class who likes to read extracurricular books, Ding Zhengenjia has
achieved dominance in the field of weekly diaries for two months, and now he is a rich man with
several "trophies". Naturally, he became bolder and actively responded to the teacher's call for
class, and he was always the first to make a fuss.
When everyone heard this, they laughed even harder.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Who can tell me what love is?"
The children started chattering and the results of the discussion came out quickly.
"When I was sick, my mother stayed up all night to take care of me and fed me medicine. This is
love."
Zhu Jinxia wrote on the blackboard: Love is the bitter medicine that you feed into your mouth
when you are sick.
"In the spring, I told my mother that I wanted a new schoolbag. She said that our family was poor
and that we didn't have any extra money to buy a schoolbag. I went back to school disappointed.
But the next Sunday, when I got home, I found a brand new schoolbag by the bed. When I went
out to look for my mother with it on my back, I found that she had cut her long hair that she had
kept for many years. She used the money from the haircut to buy me a schoolbag. This is love."
On the blackboard: Love is the new schoolbag that mom buys you in exchange for cutting her
long hair.
"Last winter, my dad broke his waist while herding cattle, and my mom became a superman.
Although my dad is very heavy and tall, and my mom is small and weak, she carried him from the
bedroom to the living room, and from the living room to the bedroom every day. Later, my dad
recovered from his injury, but my mom's waist was not good. When it rained and the weather
changed, she couldn't stand up straight because of the pain. This is also love."
I wish this summer to write: Love is a back that is willing to be bent and unable to straighten up.
"My pony is called Tea Egg because it is brown and smaller than other horses. My father said it
was born with a disability in its hind legs and is a bad horse that can't run, but I still love it very
much.
"When it was still young, I would sneak into the yard to sleep with it, bathe it during holidays, and
secretly feed it the candies that I was reluctant to eat.
"Then it grew up, and so did I. One day I didn't find it when I went home, so I asked my father and
learned that he had sold the pony because it couldn't work and would only waste food. I cried for
a long, long time, and I didn't dare to think about it later. Until now, I often see it in my dreams. It
grew up with me, and it is my favorite pony."
I wish this summer will breathe heavily when she turns around, and write on the blackboard:
Love is an old friend that you don’t want to think of but always appears in your dreams at
midnight.
By this time, no one in the classroom was laughing anymore. The boy who told the story about
the pony sat down, sobbing quietly and wiping his tears.
Zhu Jinxia said that love is the most wonderful thing in the world, it cannot be seen or touched,
but it is everywhere. It follows the body from the moment life is born in the mother's belly, and it
never leaves after life disappears.
Love is someone you dare not miss but always think of.
She said that in this week's weekly diary, we should write about love.
The moment she finished writing on the blackboard and turned around, the man standing
outside the classroom withdrew his foot and disappeared into the darkness, fulfilling his promise
not to affect the teachers and students in class.
Weicheng lowered his head and suddenly understood that love is a hand that wants to touch but
then pulls back.
He wandered around the campus like a ghost all morning.
He saw a little girl crying loudly at the door of the office. Yu Xiaoshan tried his best to comfort her
but it was of no avail. He asked her why she was crying. She said that her parents were working in
other places and had promised that if she got first place in the midterm exam, they would come
back to see her, but they broke their promise.
He saw the lower grade children receiving supplies from all directions at regular intervals, and the
young teacher squatting in the corridor, calling out the names one by one from the roster. When
a child came forward, the teacher would take off and put on his shoes with ease, and his
practiced posture showed that he had done it countless times.
Later, after the break, he avoided the crowd and came to a small open space behind the teaching
building.
There are two simple swings under the big tree, with bare iron frames, dirty iron chains and
wooden cushions.
He stopped to the side and watched two little girls swinging on the swing. One of them looked at
him curiously for a long time, then suddenly jumped down and said in unstandard Chinese:
"Uncle, you play."
Weicheng was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't want to play."
The little girl said crisply: "It's okay, you can play, I can play every day, you adults don't have time
to play when you grow up."
The sun finally came through the shade of the trees and poured down on his head, soaking his
heart. It was also like a pot of hot coals warming and burning him.
Weicheng's throat was blocked, and he said thank you in a hoarse voice, but still sat on the swing.
The little girl was very lively and ran behind him happily, "I'll push you!"
The small hands pushed him again and again.
She asked him, "Uncle, why are you coming to our school?"
"Looking for someone." After a long time, he answered.
"Did you find it?"
"found it."
"Then why do you look unhappy at all?"
Weicheng said: "Because she refused to go home with me."
The little girl suggested: "Then you can give her candy and buy her new clothes, then she will
definitely agree."
Weicheng couldn't help laughing, he tapped the ground and stopped the swing. He reached out
and touched the girl's head, saying, "What should I do? She is not like you. She doesn't like candy
or new clothes."
This puzzled the little girl. She thought about it seriously and asked again: "What does she like?"
Weicheng looked up into the distance and saw a group of flying birds flying over the top of the
mountain, passing through the crack in the sky, and flying higher and higher.
He murmured, "She likes freedom."
"Then just give it to her." Although she didn't know what freedom was, the little girl still said very
skillfully, "Give her what she likes, and she will definitely go home with you!"
Weicheng smiled slowly, nodded, and said thank you, uncle got it.

Chapter 54
The lunch was wonderful.
Although Shixu was a dishonest businessman, he was honest. He accepted Weicheng's money
and prepared a big meal based on his conscience. In Dunzhu's words, such a sumptuous meal
could only be enjoyed on two occasions: either during the Chinese New Year or at a banquet.
Thanks to Acropolis, everyone celebrated the New Year in advance. Unfortunately, the
atmosphere was too weird and no one paid attention to the food.
Zhu Jinxia originally thought that Weicheng would insist on eating in the car, but who knew that
he would step into the Shixu dormitory right after her.
Before she could react, Shixu had already brought out four sets of bowls and chopsticks from the
kitchen, and nodded to Weicheng like an old friend, "Sit anywhere."
So what is the situation now?
Hope to see these two this summer, they are obviously still out of shape.
Weicheng pretended not to notice her stiff expression and pulled out the stool next to her.
Unfortunately, before she sat down, a figure rushed over from the other side of the table at
lightning speed and sat down on it.
"Excuse me, this is my exclusive stool." Dunzhu occupied the seat and pulled out the small stool
next to him, "Come, sit here!"
The intention of separating the two people is obvious.
Weicheng looked at him, and Zhu Jinxia's heart rose to her throat, fearing that war would break
out at any moment. But surprisingly, the next second, Weicheng withdrew his gaze and sat
submissively in the seat arranged by Dunzhu.
Best wishes this summer:?
So when Shixu came out of the kitchen again with the rice bowl in his hand, he saw this three-
legged scene.
“…”
He sat down across the table and looked at the three of them. "Is it so cold that you have to
huddle together for warmth?"
No one spoke.
As a brilliant pearl in the crosstalk world, Dunzhu is unwilling to let any of his jokes fall flat: "This
is called three people walking together, and there must be one who can be my teacher."
Later, during the entire meal, he was the only one telling crosstalk.
He praised Shixu's cooking skills and seriously suspected that Shixu's academic qualifications
were fake.
"How can this person be a graduate of Tsinghua University? Could he be a top student of New
Oriental University?"
Then I praised Zhu Jinxia on the right. Teacher Zhu's skin is really white, like tender tofu. I
stretched out my black arm to compare, "No wonder they say men are made of mud and women
are made of water."
Taking another look at the time sequence of the opponent whose skin was between his and Zhu
Jinxia's, he made a fair comment: "Time sequence is made of cement."
Finally, looking at the "ex-husband" who had been eating in silence on the left, she scratched her
head, unwilling to favor one over the other.
"Brother Wei, you have a great figure without any extra fat. How did you do that?" He poked Wei
Cheng with his elbow.
The call of "brother" was very natural, without any sense of the two of them fighting yesterday.
Weicheng said calmly: "It's not difficult, just get a divorce."
The other three people: "..."
Dunzhu laughed dryly twice, and continued to praise as if he hadn't heard it: "Oh, if I had your
figure, I would wear tight pants even for my burial clothes."
As long as he is not embarrassed, it is others who are embarrassed.
Before he finished his meal, Shi Xu suddenly received a phone call. Before the other party could
finish speaking, he stood up suddenly and his face changed drastically.
The call came from a family in the mountain. The man spoke Tibetan and said he didn't know
what had happened. Luolong Zham suddenly ran into his house, took out his mobile phone and
called Shixu to ask him to talk to him.
Zam was a mute and couldn't speak, and the man could neither read nor understand sign
language, so he had no idea what Zam wanted him to say to Shixu.
"I don't know what happened to her. She rushed in and shoved the phone into my hand, babbling
and looking very anxious." He said in Tibetan in confusion, "She's still gesticulating and looks like
she's about to cry..."
The people living in the mountains were not like those in the city. Neighbors were far apart from
each other. Sometimes you had to walk for most of the day to see a family. The family that Zam
rushed into was the closest to Uncle Wang's house in the village.
Even through the phone, Shi Xu could hear Zam's anxious and disorganized voice.
He paused for a moment, then immediately realized where the problem lay.
Uncle Wang.
There is only one reason that could make Zam run out of the house regardless of everything and
ignore the old man with Alzheimer's disease: something happened to Uncle Wang.
Shi Xu's heart was pounding, but he suppressed his emotions and said to the man, "Give the
phone back to Zam, tell her not to worry, and send me a text message immediately!"
He guessed that Zam must have been so anxious that he rushed into someone else's house
without caring about anything and even forgot to send him a text message.
A moment later, he received a message from Zam.
"I forgot to lock the door while cooking, and when I returned to the room, Uncle Wang was
gone."
Next post: "I searched everywhere in the house, including the yard and the pigsty, but couldn't
find him. Brother, what should I do? I lost Uncle Wang."
Shi Xu's heart sank, and he typed quickly: "Keep looking near home, bring your phone with you,
and keep in touch at any time."
Looking up again, he called out to Dunzhu, "Let's go back to the mountain immediately!"
Dunzhu was still holding the bowl and chopsticks, not understanding what was going on: "What
happened to Zam?"
"It's not Zam, it's Uncle Wang." Shixu snatched the bowl from his hand and slammed it on the
table. "Uncle Wang is gone."
Shixu rushed downstairs first, and Dunzhu's face turned pale. He stood up anxiously and caught
up, almost tripping over a chair. Fortunately, Weicheng was quick-witted and held him.
He was so panicked that he said sorry instead of thank you and ran out like a headless fly.
Zhu Jinxia also stood up, exchanged glances with Weicheng, and said quickly, "Uncle Wang is the
old principal of the school. He raised Shixu and Dunzhu. A few years ago, he got Alzheimer's and
was sent back to the mountains to recuperate. Only a mute girl was taking care of him. The last
time I saw him, his condition was so serious that he could not wake up once a day and would lose
control of his emotions at any time."
She paused and said, "The school has limited staff, with only a few teachers. If Dunzhu and Shixu
leave school at the same time, there might be problems. Let's go and help!"
It's not a tone of negotiation, it's a tone of decision.
Weicheng only paused for a moment and quickly caught up with Zhu Jinxia, closing the dormitory
door before leaving.
The two caught up with the two brothers outside the school gate. Shixu and Dunzhu were riding
a motorcycle each and were intercepted by Zhu Jinxia.
"You two can't go together." She said decisively, "Leave one of you to look after the school,
Weicheng and I will go to help!"
The teaching staff in the mountainous area was weak and the staff changed frequently. Except for
the two brothers, none of the other teachers in the school had stayed for three years and their
prestige was not enough. Only Shixu and Dunzhu were brought up by the old principal. They went
from being students to becoming teachers in this school. They could barely hold up the backbone
in the stormy times.
Shi Xu looked at Zhu Jinxia in front of the car and was speechless for a moment.
The mountain breeze blew by, and his mind became a little clearer. He quickly made a decision
and turned back to say to Dunzhu, "You go back, and let Yu Ming come instead. The four of us will
go up the mountain."
“I won’t!” Dunzhu’s face turned pale and he looked like he was about to cry. “I want to go find
Uncle Wang.”
"Uncle Wang will find him, and someone will have to watch over the school. I'll be responsible for
finding him, and you'll be responsible for watching over this place for him—"
"What are you looking at!" Dunzhu wiped his eyes and shouted fiercely, "Without Uncle Wang,
who will take care of this broken school?"
"Don't you remember what Uncle Wang told you before he went back to the mountain?"
“…”
"Be obedient, Dunzhu." For the first time in his life, Shixu did not scold him.
Dunzhu's eyes suddenly turned red as he recalled the turbulent last year.
At first, Uncle Wang hid his illness from everyone. Later, the frequency of the illness changed
from occasional to frequent. He often left school for unknown reasons, and when he woke up, he
found that he had walked to a nearby hilltop, and it was several hours later when he hurried
back.
At that time, Dunzhu joked that he didn't expect Uncle Wang to learn to be lazy. It is conceivable
that the term "cunning and sly" does make sense, as people become cunning when they get old.
Uncle Wang did not argue, but the lines between his eyebrows became deeper day by day.
The school is in turmoil. Shixu, who has grown up, is far away in the capital with a bright future,
while Dunzhu, who is still in school, has just graduated and returned. He is a novice teacher in
front of the students, but still a half-grown child in front of him.
No one could take over, so Uncle Wang could only grit his teeth and hold on. He was afraid that
once he stepped down, the group of people in the state would become even more unscrupulous
and would directly close the school.
Until one night, he fell ill again on his way back to school after waking up. He woke up and fell ill,
woke up and fell ill again, and did not return home on the last night.
The next day, a villager who was grazing cattle on the mountain found Uncle Wang shivering on
the side of the road. The other party called his name, and he looked up in confusion, not knowing
who the other party was calling.
"Uncle Wang, don't you recognize me?"
The villagers realized something was wrong and immediately called Dunzhu. Dunzhu hadn't been
able to contact Uncle Wang all night and was almost dying of anxiety. After rushing up the
mountain, he found that Uncle Wang was not in good condition. He had fallen and broken his leg.
What was worse, he seemed not to recognize people.
Seeing him sitting on the roadside in a state of embarrassment, Dunzhu's heart was in a knot. He
rushed over, knelt on the ground, and held the old man's hand, "What's wrong, Uncle Wang?
Where did you fall?"
The old man's first reaction was to break free, and while pulling his hand back in panic, he asked
him, "Who are you?"
Dunzhu was dumbfounded.
Did he fall and become stupid?
The man was rushed to the county hospital, where the doctor performed an MRI and a full-body
CT scan, and found that only his legs were injured, with no other parts of his body even
scratched.
Dunzhu asked the doctor in a tearful voice, "Then why doesn't he recognize people?"
Uncle Wang woke up at this time. The first thing he did when he opened his eyes was to hold his
hand and say, "Call Shixu back."
"Are you awake, Uncle Wang? What's wrong with you? Why were you talking nonsense just now?
You didn't even recognize me!" Dunzhu was scared and kept asking Uncle Wang questions.
Uncle Wang said briefly: "I don't know how long I can stay awake, or when I will have the next
attack, so you should call the time back immediately. Tell him that I have Alzheimer's disease and
I am often confused. It seems that I can't stay in school any longer."
If I continue to stay here, what if I get sick and it affects the students?
After a phone call, Shixuan got on a flight from the capital to Chengdu that night, and then took a
private car over the mountains and back to Yibo Township.
Later, before Uncle Wang returned to the mountain, the two brothers knelt in front of them, and
he held one hand with each other.
He said to Shi Sequence, I have no one to rely on, so I can only call you back. You can watch the
school first, at least... at least survive this period, and don't let them take advantage of it to shut
down the school.
He said to Dundup, you must listen to your brother. If I am not here, his words are mine.
The old man's hands were dry and weak, his palms were covered with calluses and cracks, and his
dark skin could not cover the age spots on the back of his hands. He held the two of them with all
his strength, even though his whole body was exhausted, his tone was firm.
He said that Yibo Township is small, but the mountains are very high. Generations of people have
lived here and have never left in their entire lives. Closing the school means completely cutting
off their way out.
He said that every time he went out, it was one. I didn't expect that there would be a second
time sequence in this mountain, but at least I could see the second and third Dunzhu. That's good
enough. After I finish my studies, I will continue to teach the next generation. Even if I don't go
out, my eyes must fly out. I must never be an illiterate blind man.
His father and mother were illiterate and had been farming for their whole lives, but the land was
barren and they could not grow anything. They had been herding cattle for their whole lives, but
even though they had more than a dozen yaks at home, they still lived a poor life, because yaks
grow slowly and it often takes several years for one to grow into a full-grown yak. Tibetans
believe in Buddhism and do not care much about material things and fame and wealth. They
often donate all the money from selling yaks to temples.
When he was a little more sensible, he found that everyone in Yibo Township was a miniature of
his parents, from the elderly to the young children. He could almost clearly see the future of
these children. It was like a cycle.
He saw a TV for the first time in his life when he was at the market. At that time, TV was still black
and white, not color. He saw the people on the TV talking, speaking words he couldn't
understand. He saw them holding piles of papers, reading them with relish for some reason. He
saw them walking in a strange place, where there were no mountains or water, but gray forests
made of steel and concrete.
He asked his boss, "What is this?"
The boss answered him, this is a TV.
"I've only seen roosters and hens, but never a TV chicken." Uncle Wang touched the square box
carefully, "How could there be a person in this chicken?"
The boss laughed and said no, there was no one inside.
"What happened to these people? Aren't they locked up?"
The child's words were innocent and made the boss laugh. But he couldn't explain why he
laughed. He could only say to the child, "Go read more books and you will know why."
Uncle Wang said, "Where can I go to study?"
"The county town. Ask your parents to send you to the county town. There is no school in Yibo
Township. You can't study here."
He agreed without hesitation and went home to tell his sister, who was four years younger than
him, about the incident. His sister said, "When you finish your studies and know what TV chicken
is, remember to come back and tell me."
He nodded and agreed solemnly.
The sister gave him all the candies she got during the Chinese New Year, saying it was a reward.
The brother and sister sat by the window and ate them one by one.
Later, Uncle Wang began to pester his parents to go to school in the county town.
Children in the mountains don’t go to school. They have been herding cattle since they were
young. No one clamors to study, and no one wants to go to the county town.
The county town is too far away, what is there to do there?
But Uncle Wang kept crying and making a fuss. He just wanted to study. He said he had promised
his sister that when he found out why that thing called TV chicken could hold people, he would
come back and tell her.
They make a fuss one day, two days, and they make a fuss whenever they think of it.
Later, he even ran away from home, wanting to go to the county town by himself. He didn't know
that the county town was very far away, and it might take him ten days or half a month to get
there by walking over mountains and hills.
Finally, his parents couldn't persuade him anymore, so they sold a yak, stopped a car on the
roadside, and took him to the county town.
On the day he left home, his sister, with her hair in two braids, ran to the village entrance crying,
asking him to come back soon.
He grinned and nodded in agreement: "Don't worry, brother will be back after finishing his
studies."
"Remember to tell me what TV Chicken is about."
He patted his chest and said, "Just wait, I'll come back and tell you."
Uncle Wang was already 12 years old when he entered school, several years later than others. He
could not read or understand Chinese, so it was very difficult for him to learn. But he was
stubborn and never gave up, and he finished elementary school and junior high school at an
"advanced age". However, there was no high school in the county, so if he wanted to go to high
school, he had to go to the farther county next door.
So the family sold a few more cows.
When Uncle Wang graduated from high school and returned, he found that his only sister was
already married. She was only fourteen years old and was married to a man from the same
village by her parents.
My sister got pregnant when she was fifteen, but the baby died in her womb when he was three
months old.
A few months later, she became pregnant again and had another miscarriage.
In the following years, she experienced intermittent pregnancies and miscarriages, miscarriages
and pregnancies. She was blamed and beaten by her husband's family, and finally jumped off the
mountain one spring when she was nineteen years old.
In those days, there were no telephones in Yibo Township, and he had no way to contact his
family.
While studying abroad, transportation was not well developed and he never went home.
No one in the village could read, so even if he wanted to write a letter, he had no idea where to
start.
After missing for several years, when Uncle Wang returned home, he learned that his sister had
died at the beginning of the year. He went to her house like a madman, but she accused him of
marrying a hen that didn't lay eggs.
After she got married, there was nothing related to my sister in the house, as if this person had
never existed.
Uncle Wang came home with a bruised face and sat by the window, covering his face with his
hands, tears streaming from between his fingers. He remembered that spring, when he came
back from the market, he and his sister sat here and ate candy.
He remembered that the sun was warm that day, the chickens in the yard were pecking at the
rice, and the yaks were wagging their tails briskly.
He remembered that he was laughing, his sister was laughing too, and the candy in his mouth
was sour and sweet, with a fruity taste.
But he couldn't even remember what his sister looked like.
My sister didn’t even have a grave. She jumped off a cliff and sank into the turbulent Jinsha River.
She doesn't even have a name. Everyone calls her "Ni Mao", which means little sister in Tibetan.
The family she married into were close relatives. Among the whole village, only Uncle Wang knew
that inbreeding would cause genetic problems, which was the reason why my sister had habitual
miscarriages.
But who can he blame? His parents? His boyfriend's family? They were just accomplices. Even his
sister herself didn't know that it wasn't her fault at all.
The real murderer is the mountain, the mountain that blocked the eyes, blocked the mouth, and
cut off the legs.
He came to the Jinsha River at the foot of the cliff, and called out to his little sister, tears
streaming down his face. He said that it was not a TV chicken, but a TV. He said he knew how it
worked, but he came back too late to tell her.
The next day after returning home, Uncle Wang packed his bags again and set out on the journey
to study.
This time, he said he wanted to go to college and come back to start a school.
…
Thirty years later, the two orphans he raised stood outside the dilapidated gate of Yibo Central
School and decided to split up, one to guard the school and the other to go up the mountain to
look for someone.
There were a hundred or so confused little kids inside the gate. Although their skills were not
very good, at least everyone could read.
Outside the gate is the still surging Jinsha River. The river is buried with sand and soil, as well as
that unknown period of time.

Chapter 55
When Dunzhu joined this large family with no blood relationship, Uncle Wang was almost fifty
years old and his health was beginning to decline. There were more and more people in the
school, and he was too busy to be distracted. However, Dunzhu was in his naughty period that
even dogs didn't like him, and he was full of energy.
Uncle Wang could only take care of one of them, the school and Dunzhu, so the power fell into
someone else's hands, and the burden of educating his younger brother fell on Shixu's shoulders.
Faced with this non-blood-related stepbrother who would go to war every three days, Shi Xu had
long ago taken up the banner of "eldest brother is like father".
Children love to act out of turn. The more you reason with them, the more unreasonable they
become. Therefore, Shixu was rarely gentle with Dunzhu. His educational philosophy was simple:
either be obedient or be scolded; if scolding doesn't work, then beat them.
He was a precocious person and naturally believed that all the children in the world should be as
sensible as him.
In addition, Shixu was a man of few words and had a harsh temper. Dunzhu had lived under a
high-pressure policy since he was a child. Fortunately, he was convinced by his brother, and the
two of them had fought and quarreled, and they had gotten through all these years.
Now Dunzhu was clamoring to go up the mountain, but surprisingly, the time sequence did not
occur.
"Be obedient, Dunzhu."
There was a strange tenderness in the slightly tired voice, as if the pause button was pressed, and
Dunzhu lost his voice instantly. He looked up at the silent eyes, swallowed the rest of the words
back into his stomach, wiped his face fiercely, got out of the car, and rushed into the school
without looking back.
"Yu Ming!" Dunzhu shouted Huogun's name, asking him to go up the mountain to help.
After a while, Yu Ming came out jogging. He took over Dunzhu's motorcycle and looked at Zhu
Jinxia and Weicheng hesitantly, "You two are going too...?"
Didn't you fight yesterday? Are you making peace today?
But now was not the time to gossip. Seeing Zhu Jin nod, he asked again, "Four people, two cars,
how do we sit?"
Time sequence: "We rode on bicycles, each carrying one."
Yu Ming: "Okay, then get in the car quickly."
Time was running out, and Zhu Jinxia didn't think much about it. Time was getting closer to her,
so she subconsciously moved closer, but unexpectedly, she was grabbed by Weicheng.
"You take that one."
Weicheng didn't give her any room to think, he pulled Zhu Jinxia away and sat on the back seat of
Shixu. Zhu Jinxia was slightly startled, but without hesitation, she turned around and sat on the
back seat of Yu Ming.
Actually, Weicheng wanted to say that he could ride a motorcycle too, and he could take Zhu
Jinxia with him. In the past, he would have probably made a fuss, but now was not the time to
say such things. Time was tight, and finding someone was important, so he suppressed all his
emotions.
Two motorcycles were speeding through the mountains, one in front and one behind. Even
wearing helmets, you could hear the whistling mountain wind, wild and arrogant.
The road leading into the village deviates from the national highway and has no guardrails. On
one side is a steep mountain wall, and on the other side is a thousand-foot cliff. The bends are all
180 degrees.
I hope this summer is ok, after all I have experienced it. But this is my first time going up the
mountain to the Acropolis, and also my first time riding a motorcycle up the mountain. When I
saw the road conditions, I had difficulty breathing.
Unfortunately, the car was going too fast, and several times it seemed like it was drifting around
corners. Weicheng's heart almost jumped out of his chest - if there was any mistake, both of
them would fly down the mountain with the car.
He had no choice but to hold onto Shixu's waist tightly and yell at him through his helmet: "Slow
down!"
Timing is deaf.
Persuasion was ineffective, so Weicheng could only yell at him: "If anything happens to you, what
will happen to Uncle Wang? What will happen to the school?"
The person in the front seat still hadn't spoken, but the car was clearly slowing down.
It took them only twenty minutes to reach the destination, which was a half-hour journey. When
they got off the bus, Acropolis' legs were so weak that he almost couldn't stand.
Shixu helped him up in time, and when he took off his helmet, he whispered an apology.
Weicheng was startled. Seeing his dark eyes and the anxiety that was difficult to conceal, he
opened his mouth and said, "...It's okay. Go find Uncle Wang."
——
This was Zhu Jinxia's second time stepping into Uncle Wang's home. The courtyard was still as old
as before, but Luo Long Zam had kept it clean and tidy.
It was a hot afternoon, and a few yaks were basking in the sun in the yard, wagging their tails
briskly, paying no attention to the joys and sorrows of humans.
After pushing open the gate, I could see Zam squatting under the eaves from a distance, with her
face buried between her knees, curled up into a small ball, trembling all over. When she heard
the noise, she raised her head with tears on her face and rushed over, throwing herself into
Shixu's arms, crying like a human.
Shi Xu held her firmly, but quickly let go. He asked, and she gestured while crying. The two of
them moved very quickly. Not to mention that Zhu Jinxia didn't understand sign language, even if
she did, she would not be able to keep up.
When I look back, time has already decided.
"We have mobilized the nearby villagers to search the village. The four of us will act separately.
Yu Ming and I know the way, and each of us will lead one person. Yu Ming will lead people to
search in several villages at the foot of the mountain, and I will lead people to search on the
mountain, checking every household on the way. Zam will be responsible for staying at home. If
Uncle Wang comes back or the villagers find him, we will call them immediately."
His gaze passed over Zhu Jinxia, paused slightly, and finally stopped on Weicheng's face.
"You're coming with me?"
Weicheng nodded, "Okay."
——
Zhu Jinxia once again got on Yu Ming's motorcycle, and the two drove towards several villages at
the foot of the mountain. This time, their speed was much slower than when they went up the
mountain, for fear of missing Uncle Wang halfway.
The ultraviolet rays on the mountain are more intense than those in the narrow sky. Zhu Jinxia
came out in a hurry, so she wore a short-sleeved shirt. The exposed skin was exposed to the sun
and felt burned after a while.
But she didn't care, instead she took off her helmet and shouted Uncle Wang's name along the
way.
The helmet would muffle the sound, so in order to let the sound out as much as possible, she
chose not to wear it.
It has only been two months since she came to the mountain, and this is the second time she has
searched all over the mountain for someone. The last time was Silang Yongjin, and this time it
was Uncle Wang. The last time was at night, and this time it was during the day.
The motorcycle drove into villages one by one, and after entering the village, there was only a
winding path, so they had to get off the motorcycle and walk. Sometimes they climbed up,
sometimes they climbed down, one called Uncle Wang in Chinese, and the other called in
Tibetan, and in the end their voices became hoarse.
The path was difficult to walk on, with gravel all over the ground and the road was steep. Zhu
Jinxia slipped halfway and only managed to hold on with her hands to avoid rolling down.
Yu Ming quickly turned around and pulled her back, "Are you okay?"
Zhu Jinxia pinched the cut palm, "...It's okay, keep looking."
There was a burning pain in her arm, but she chose to ignore it.
On the way, he met some villagers one after another. The mountainous area is vast and sparsely
populated, so not all of them knew each other, but without exception, they all knew Yu Ming -
after all, every household would send their children to the central school - Yu Ming went up to
them and asked in Tibetan if they had seen Uncle Wang, and the answer was unanimous shaking
of the head.
He also knocked on countless doors, but all to no avail.
At the beginning, after each visit to a village, Zhu Jinxia would stand at the entrance of the village
and call Shi Xu, because she would always lose the cell phone signal quickly after leaving the
village, and she wanted to exchange information in time.
After fighting a few times, I just stopped.
I really can't stand the other party answering the call with great anticipation, only to end up
hanging up in disappointment.
There is no point in fighting unless we find Uncle Wang.
At 5:30 pm, they had arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain, which was the last village
nearby. In fact, with Uncle Wang's current age and physical strength, they all knew that he could
not walk here on foot in a short time, but they still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts.
Time passed by minute by minute, the sun gradually set, and Zhu Jinxia's heart was falling to the
bottom little by little at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She knew that if it got dark, it would be more difficult for them to find him and Uncle Wang
would be more likely to have an accident. The temperature would drop sharply at night, and it
was also a question whether Uncle Wang could withstand it.
After climbing up and down the high-altitude mountains for a whole afternoon, Zhu Jinxia's legs
had begun to tremble nervously, and the soles of her feet were in unbearable pain. Every step felt
like walking on the edge of a knife.
She did not cry out in pain, but bought two bottles of water at the store at the entrance of the
village. She handed one to Yu Ming and unscrewed the other and gulped down half of it. Finally,
she turned around and rinsed the wound on her palm twice where Yu Ming could not see.
"Are you okay?" Zhu Jinxia turned around and asked Yu Ming.
Yu Ming squatted on the side with sweat all over his forehead, his clothes were soaked, and he
simply poured water on his head. "It has to be done even if it doesn't work." He smiled bitterly,
drank the remaining half bottle of water, and stood up again.
"Let's go." Zhu Jinxia took the first step, but before she took two steps, her cell phone suddenly
rang.
Her heart was pounding and she picked up the phone in a panic.
"Come back." On the other side, Shixu's voice seemed to come from a distant valley, with
exhaustion and relief, "I found Uncle Wang."
Before the setting sun fell into the valley, dusk arrived as expected. The sunset glow condensed
the entire mountain and field into a gentle orange jelly, and also brought everyone's hearts,
which had been hanging in the air, back to their original positions.
Zhu Jinxia raised her head and wiped her wet face. She choked up for some reason and smiled at
Yu Ming with red eyes, "I found Uncle Wang!"
Yu Ming slumped down on the ground, heaved a long sigh of relief, and just laughed, unable to
speak.
——
Aunt Fang is also from Yibo Township. She lives in the village closest to the top of the mountain,
which has the highest altitude.
She is six years younger than Uncle Wang. It was under the influence of Uncle Wang that she
became the second young person in the village to go out of the mountains to study, and also the
second college student in the village.
At that time, the medical and health conditions in the mountains were backward. Once people
got sick, they basically had to endure minor illnesses and wait for death for serious illnesses. Few
people sought medical treatment. After all, the hospital was far away in the county town
hundreds of kilometers away, and motorcycles were not popular. How to transport people there
was an epic problem.
There are traveling doctors in several nearby hills, but they have no medical qualifications and no
medicine that can cure the disease. It all depends on luck whether the medicine they prescribe
can cure the patient or not.
Aunt Fang's parents gave birth to five more brothers and sisters after her, but none of them
survived.
After entering the school, Aunt Fang decided on the direction of her studies. She was the second
college student in the mountain and the first medical student. When she returned after
completing her studies, she was already 35 years old.
She opened a clinic in Niuzha Town. She usually lived and traveled in the clinic, and only went
back to the mountain very occasionally.
Yu Ming knew where her home was. After resting for a few minutes, he got on his motorcycle
again and rushed to the top of the mountain with Zhu Jinxia at lightning speed.
The sun completely set halfway through the journey, the temperature dropped, and the
mountain wind became fierce. The two people wearing only short-sleeved shirts got goose
bumps all the time on the motorcycle. Unfortunately, Aunt Fang lived on the top of the mountain,
and it got colder the higher they went.
Fortunately, the news of finding Uncle Wang made people feel grateful for surviving a disaster,
and the cold seemed to be within the tolerable range.
Half an hour later, two people with snotty noses arrived at the village entrance.
There are no street lights in the mountains, and it is pitch black at night. Only the small courtyard
in front is lit with a dim light, like a refuge.
There was a fire burning in the house, a characteristic of Tibetan architecture, and butter tea was
hot on the stove. As soon as you entered the house, you could smell the salty and fresh milk
aroma.
Zhu Jinxia and Yu Ming ran into the house one after the other as if they were fleeing. They were
still trembling when they entered the room, as if they had taken Xuanmai and couldn't stop.
In the huge living room, everyone is——
Uncle Wang sat on the innermost kang, while Zham held a bowl of glutinous rice balls and fed
him spoonful by spoonful, while Aunt Fang stood beside him.
Acropolis sat on a small stool nearby, also holding a cup of tea;
Shi Xu was guarding by the fire, closest to the door. He turned around and saw two people
shivering with cold. He turned around, poured two cups of steaming butter tea, and walked over
quickly.
Yu Ming almost cried with joy. He didn't care about the heat and gulped down the tea. "Finally
I'm alive!"
The other cup fell into Zhu Jinxia's hand, and Shi Xu reminded her in a low voice: "It's hot, drink
slowly."
The fire was crackling brightly, and although it was freezing cold outside, the house was warm as
spring.
Zhu Jinxia took the tea and after drinking a few sips, warmth spread to every part of his body and
he stopped shivering.
She subconsciously glanced at the boiling teapot on the stove - it was full, specially made for
them.
Somehow, she suddenly remembered that when she first came to Yibo Township, Shixu also
made a pot of tea for her. He seemed to have been doing it all the time, but never said anything.
"Where did you find Uncle Wang?" she asked Shi Xu.
Shi Xu replied, "It's at Aunt Fang's place."
Zhu Jinxia was puzzled: "Then why didn't Aunt Fang call you to tell you? Doesn't she have your
phone number?"
"Aunt Fang just came back from town this afternoon. Before she got home, she saw someone
sitting in the yard from a distance. She was startled. When she got closer, she saw that it was
Uncle Wang. She called me immediately."
Aunt Fang glanced at Uncle Wang and said unhappily, "What a coincidence! I'm old now and
don't have the time to run up and down the mountain. I usually don't come back once every ten
days or half a month. But when I came back today, I found him lying at my door."
She snorted, "Luckily I'm back, otherwise the old man would have been frozen to death."
Yu Ming drank the remaining butter tea in one gulp, put the cup aside, and asked curiously, "Why
did Uncle Wang come to your place? He came all the way here."
It was far enough. It took 20 minutes to ride a bike from Uncle Wang's village to Aunt Fang's
village, and even longer to walk. With Uncle Wang's current legs and feet, this distance could be
described as a long journey.
Zhu Jinxia was also curious, how could he find this place so accurately, was it just a coincidence?
Yu Ming's question was not answered. The man who had just been answering questions and
solving doubts remained silent. Aunt Fang also suddenly stopped talking. The only sound in the
room was the crackling of burning firewood.
Just at this moment, Uncle Wang suddenly moved.
He was fine just now, but now he pushed Zam away and refused to eat the glutinous rice balls
she fed him.
Zam didn't understand what was going on, so he picked up the spoon and fed him again. But
when he fed the left side, Uncle Wang turned his head to the right; when he fed the right side, he
turned to the left again.
Zam looked back at Shixu in embarrassment. Shixu stepped forward to take the bowl, but Uncle
Wang still refused to eat.
"What's wrong, Uncle Wang?" Shixu said patiently, "You ran out without having lunch, and you
just had your meal now, aren't you hungry?"
Uncle Wang turned to Aunt Fang and said something shocking: "I want her to feed me!"
Aunt Fang laughed angrily, "You old man, you are quite good at ordering people around. You
came all the way to my house and eat my food, and now you want me to feed you?"
Shi Xu didn't want to cause trouble for her, so he tried to coax her patiently, but Uncle Wang just
wouldn't agree.
Aunt Fang rolled her eyes and took the bowl. "Okay, okay, I'll do it. I'll feed him!"
The glutinous rice balls were freshly cooked, and the sesame filling was still hot. Aunt Fang
complained, but her actions were very gentle. She scooped a spoonful, blew it close to her
mouth to cool it down, and then passed it to Uncle Wang.
A wonderful thing happened. Uncle Wang, who had just rejected Zam and Shixu, suddenly
became an obedient child. He opened his mouth obediently and ate the meatballs fed by Aunt
Fang bite by bite.
Halfway through feeding her, he pulled Aunt Fang's sleeve and said, "You eat."
Aunt Fang: "I don't want to eat."
"Eat, you eat!" Uncle Wang urged anxiously, "You eat, I eat too!"
"You mean if I don't eat, you won't eat either?"
Uncle Wang nodded rapidly.
But Aunt Fang is not Dunzhu or Zam, and she is not used to Uncle Wang’s bad temper. Upon
hearing this, her eyebrows raised dangerously, “I worked so hard to make this for you, and you
just say you don’t want to eat it?”
When she got angry, Zam was frightened and subconsciously looked at Uncle Wang, fearing that
he would lose control of his emotions and have an attack.
Even Zhu Jinxia who was standing by was startled. After all, she had witnessed Uncle Wang losing
control last time she saw him. An old man who was sick was just like a unreasonable child. If he
was displeased, he would throw a tantrum in a matter of minutes and cry loudly at the very least,
or even hurt others at the worst.
But something strange happened again.
Instead of getting angry, Uncle Wang shrank back uneasily. Then he carefully took Aunt Fang's
hand, opened his mouth, and took the initiative to eat the spoonful of meatballs.
Aunt Fang looked at him sideways: "Are you still making trouble?"
He shook his head obediently.
The room was very quiet, and everyone fell silent, watching Uncle Wang eat up the bowl of
glutinous rice balls bite by bite.
Shi Xu retreated back into the crowd and whispered, "Before you came, Uncle Wang mistook
Aunt Fang for his mother."
Zhu Jinxia almost immediately remembered that the last time Uncle Wang fell ill was because he
couldn't find his mother.
Sure enough, after dinner, Uncle Wang still held "Mom"'s hand tightly, and patted the cushion
beside him, asking Aunt Fang to sit next to him.
"You're the only one who has too many things to do." Aunt Fang sat next to him unhappily, "Tell
me, what do you want to do now?"
Uncle Wang smiled contentedly, and with a hint of mischief he reached out his hand and carefully
touched her grayish-white braids, and suddenly said, "She also has two braids."
Aunt Fang: "Who is it? Who has two braids?"
The hand touching the braid paused for a moment, and Uncle Wang slowly frowned, as if he was
thinking, but unfortunately, he tilted his head in the end and said in confusion: "I forgot!"
Aunt Fang rolled her eyes and before she could complain, she heard what happened next.
"She has two braids, very thick and long." Uncle Wang said, comparing the touch of his hair with
his hands, with a hint of disdain, "Thicker than yours, darker, longer and shinier!"
Aunt Fang's face darkened, and she snatched back her hair, "Then go ask her to feed you!"
Uncle Wang grinned again, grabbed her sleeve and said, "Just like you, with a bad temper!"
Aunt Fang: “…”
Everyone laughed, including Zhu Jinxia. She knew that Aunt Fang had a bad temper. After all, the
first time they met, she knocked on the door of the drugstore in the middle of the night and was
chased and beaten by Aunt Fang with a cane.
Uncle Wang was still chattering, saying over and over again that the girl with pigtails had long
pigtails, was so pretty, sang beautifully, and was very powerful when scolding people, and that he
liked her very much.
Aunt Fang scolded him: "You are such a frivolous old man. Don't you realize how old you are? You
still like pretty girls!"
Everyone burst into laughter. At this lively moment, Uncle Wang suddenly slapped his forehead
and said, "I remembered it!"
"What did you remember?" Aunt Fang looked at him sideways.
Uncle Wang grinned and said proudly, "I remember now, she is a doctor."
The laughter stopped abruptly, and Aunt Fang froze in her movements. She had been trying to
snatch the braid back from Uncle Wang just a moment ago, but now her hands were stiff, and she
no longer cared about the braid. She just slowly, slowly raised her head.
She asked Uncle Wang: "What else?"
"Anything else?" Uncle Wang was confused.
"What do you remember?"
Uncle Wang tilted his head and tried to think, but in the end he could only remember: "Doctor,
big eyes, very smart. He always scolded me and got angry when he saw me. He made delicious
food for me. Later, he didn't see me anymore..."
At the end of his speech, his mouth pursed and he looked like a child, in danger of bursting into
tears at any moment.
But he didn't cry in the end, because the woman next to him cried before he did.
Uncle Wang was startled and forgot to make a fuss, just staring at her in a daze. He saw large
transparent tears falling from the woman's slightly cloudy eyes, falling along her wrinkled face,
falling on her gray braids on her chest, and falling on the back of her dry, thin, and long-lost
hands.
He suddenly felt sad. He reached out his hand at a loss and clumsily wiped her tears.
"Don't cry." He said in panic, "I was wrong, don't cry!"
Aunt Fang asked him in a low voice: "Think about it carefully, what is her name?"
Uncle Wang's face turned red, but he still couldn't remember it. Finally, he could only say in a
crying voice: "I don't know, I really don't know..."
Seeing another string of tears, he panicked even more, like a helpless child.
"Don't cry, I was wrong, I will think about it carefully!"
He said he would try hard to think about it and would definitely remember it next time.
Seeing his helpless look, Aunt Fang smiled again. She wiped away her tears, touched Uncle
Wang's head, and coaxed him like a child: "Okay, okay, I get it. It doesn't matter, just forget it if
you can't remember it."
The usually impetuous woman put away her bad temper at this moment and became patient for
the first time in her life.
It doesn't matter if you can't remember.
Anyway, she is old, it doesn't matter if he doesn't remember her. Look at him, he is so sick and
doesn't remember anything, but he still remembers when she was the most beautiful.
That's enough, isn't it?
Anyway, she is already this age, and one day even she won't remember it.
In the silent room, no one spoke except Aunt Fang and Uncle Wang.
It was at this moment that Zhu Jinxia seemed to understand something. She stared at Aunt Fang
in a daze, at her eyes that were no longer bright, her braids that were no longer thick and long
and shiny, and her face that no longer looked graceful after aging.
That doctor...
That kind and beautiful "doctor", the former lover, is now called "Mom" by Uncle Wang. She
listened to him chattering about the past to everyone. Although there were tears in her eyes,
there was a gentle smile on the corners of her mouth.
It was at this moment that Zhu Jinxia finally understood the situation. She remembered what Shi
Xu once said, that Uncle Wang also had a lover when he was young, and they had loved each
other passionately, but one was a medical student who had finally walked out of the mountains
to gain experience in the wider world, while Uncle Wang also had a mission and was determined
to guard his school and students in this narrow strip of land for the rest of his life.
Destiny, like a gear, finally fits perfectly into place at this moment.
——
After searching for people all afternoon up and down the mountain, everyone was hungry. Aunt
Fang said there was nothing to eat at home, only glutinous rice ball flour and flour, so everyone
decided to make something to eat.
She wanted to cook, but Uncle Wang wouldn't let her go and kept clinging to her.
Zam took the initiative to bring the ingredients from the kitchen, and everyone worked together,
some kneading the dough and some making the dumplings.
At this time, Weicheng walked over quietly from the corner next to him and squeezed next to Zhu
Jinxia, and Shixu also took a step back without saying a word.
Weicheng took over the hard work of kneading the dough, then handed the glutinous rice
dumpling filling to Zhu Jinxia, "You do this."
He knew that Zhu Jinxia was not very strong and was quite unfamiliar with cooking, but
unfortunately he had something on his mind and did not pay attention to the details.
Shixu was still sharp-eyed. He suddenly grabbed Zhu Jinxia's hand, turned it over and asked,
"What's wrong with your hand?"
There was a deep cut on the palm of his hand, with the pale red flesh turned inside out.
"Hey, when did you get hurt?" Yu Ming slapped his forehead and finally realized, "Was it from
that fall in the afternoon?"
Weicheng subconsciously pulled Zhu Jinxia back from Shixu's hands, and while checking the
wound, he eagerly asked about the process, how did she fall, was it serious, and did it hurt.
Shixu paused for a moment, then silently left the crowd, asked Aunt Fang if she had any medicine
at home, and went upstairs. When he came down again with the medicine box, Weicheng was
still concerned. He patted Weicheng, handed the medicine box over, and signaled him to apply
the medicine first.
With the Acropolis around, he couldn't rush to do these things.
Weicheng was stunned, and thanked him with a complicated expression. Just as he opened the
box to find the iodine and gauze, he heard Zhu Jinxia say, "I can do it myself."
He refused to let go, but heard her calmly say, "I just got a cut, not a broken hand. I just applied
some medicine. Only when you do it yourself will you know the severity of the injury."
Out of habit, Weicheng was always the one who obeyed orders. His hand holding the medicine
froze, and she quickly took it.
"You guys cook. Today I'm the injured one, so I can eat ready-made food with peace of mind."
Zhu Jinxia stepped aside and sat next to Aunt Fang. She lowered her head and carefully applied
the medicine, staying away from the center of the vortex.
Aunt Fang noticed something and came over to ask in a low voice: "You didn't get along with us
just because of him?"
Wish this summer: "..."
"You two are not suitable." Aunt Fang said bluntly, "I saw that you have strong opinions the first
time I met you. Xiao Wei is far worse than you. He is indecisive and not down-to-earth."
Although what she said is true, but
"How could you tell so much in just a short while?" Zhu Jinxia said with a hint of sarcasm, "You
really spared no effort to help Shixu get out of being single."
She hasn't even gotten divorced yet, but Aunt Fang has already started tearing the house apart.
Aunt Fang said seriously, "I'm not talking nonsense. This has nothing to do with time. Look for
yourself. What did he do since you entered the room? You and Yu Ming were freezing, but he just
asked you if you were cold. Anyone with eyes in this room can see that you are shivering."
Aunt Fang snorted coldly, "Look at what Shixu said. He didn't say anything, but he started to make
butter tea before you came back."
“…”
"And what's more, when I was cooking, I pushed everyone aside and came to you! So what? I
didn't see you get hurt even though I was so close to you. In the end, wasn't it us who saw it?"
“…”
Aunt Fang sighed, "He just keeps yelling, as if he's afraid that others don't know how much he
cares about you. Instead of talking, couldn't he have gone to get you some medicine and
bandaged you up?"
Aunt Fang said that you have to choose a man who can get things done, rather than someone
who is romantic in words but a drag in life.
She also said, isn't being a wife tiring enough, why is she rushing to be a mother?
The final conclusion: "It still depends on our timing."
Wish this summer: "..."
As she spoke, she had already swiftly disinfected herself, put on gauze, packed up the medicine
box, and then turned around and asked Aunt Fang: "Actually, I have a question for you."
"you say."
"You know I'm married, but you still spared no effort to match me up with him—" Zhu Jinxia said
in a low voice, "I know you're not a pedantic person, but isn't this a little too advanced to rob
Peter to pay Paul?"

Chapter 56
That night, by the time everyone had dinner, it was already ten o'clock in the evening.
Uncle Wang, who had been busy all day, was already exhausted. He leaned on Aunt Fang's
shoulder and fell asleep. He was snoring, but his hand was still tightly grasping Aunt Fang's
sleeve, like a child relying on his mother.
Aunt Fang tried to pull her hand away and get up several times, but he woke up in a daze, opened
his eyes, and found that she was still there. He held Aunt Fang's hand tighter, then closed his eyes
and fell asleep peacefully.
Aunt Fang had no choice but to "sacrifice" an arm and said, "Let him sleep here. He must be tired
after running all the way here."
It wasn't just Uncle Wang who was tired, everyone present was tired.
It was too late and the temperature outside was too low, but fortunately the Tibetan living room
was large enough with a kang on all four sides, which was enough to accommodate everyone.
Shixu obtained Aunt Fang's consent and decided to stay at Aunt Fang's house tonight, send Uncle
Wang back tomorrow morning, and then rush back to school.
——The ladies live upstairs and the men sleep on the kang, and no one has any objection.
Weicheng didn't even have time to say a few words to Zhu Jinxia, and watched her and Luo
Longzam go upstairs. Shixu and Yu Ming made the kang for him and told him to go to bed, so he
fell down silently.
The fabric on the kang was a bit rough and rubbed his skin uncomfortable, but he fell asleep
almost the moment he closed his eyes and didn't even have time to be picky about the
environment.
It's funny that a person who had been suffering from insomnia for days had a good sleep for the
first time in a strange place full of snoring.
The next morning, Weicheng was the first one to wake up among the group of men. Hearing
someone coming downstairs quietly, he rubbed his eyes and sat up. He saw Aunt Fang smiling at
him, making a hushing gesture, and pointing to the kitchen, indicating that she was going to make
breakfast.
Acropolis also got up and followed into the kitchen, politely saying that he could help.
Aunt Fang was not the kind of person who cared about formalities. Of course, it was nice for
young people to help her, but with her old limbs, she felt too tired to cook for so many people by
herself.
The two talked while cooking.
"Give me that one."
"good."
"Can you knead dough?"
"meeting."
"Then you come, and I'll take advantage of my age and be a little lazy."
"no problem."
Weicheng is not a talkative person. He is introverted and silent most of the time. Even when he is
with Zhu Jinxia, he listens more than responds. But now, he is in the same room with the old man
whom he met for the first time yesterday, and surprisingly, there is no barrier between them.
He was lost in thought. Perhaps it was because of what he had witnessed about Aunt Fang and
Uncle Wang yesterday that it was like opening a yellowed book, with all the past events unfolding
before his eyes. They seemed like old friends who had known each other for a long time.
Knowing that the old lady had never married, Weicheng couldn't help but ask, "When did you
and Uncle Wang get together?"
"About twenty years old."
From the age of 20 to 60, forty years have passed, and the man is still unmarried and the woman
is still unmarried. This is like a myth in the fast-food era.
"So what happened next..." Weicheng was considering how to continue the question when Aunt
Fang took over generously.
"What happened later? Are you asking if I fell in love with someone else later?" Aunt Fang said it
very naturally, and she didn't seem embarrassed at all.
Not to mention talking about love with the elderly, Weicheng has never discussed this topic with
anyone. Which straight man would talk about love and romance with others at any time?
...but I couldn't suppress my curiosity.
Or maybe what he wanted to explore was not the old man's love, but just wanted to glimpse the
axiom of love from it so as to deal with his own predicament.
In stark contrast to him, Aunt Fang was not shy at all. She laughed heartily and asked, "What does
the poem say?"
——In the past, transportation was slow, letters were far away, and a lifetime was only enough to
love one person.
Apart from Uncle Wang, she has never loved anyone else in her life.
Not to mention that era, in such a closed mountain area, a good man like Uncle Wang is one in a
million even now.
But Aunt Fang still looked disdainful.
"He is a stubborn person who doesn't know how to talk. Not only does he not think quickly, but
he is always eager to suffer losses."
"He doesn't care about his appearance, doesn't like to dress up, is very stingy, and looks very
fierce."
"Not only is he fierce, he also doesn't like to smile. He's always bitter and resentful, and treats
everyone like a debt collector."
"The most annoying thing is that he is timid. I have never met such a timid man. I am a woman
who came back from outside the mountains, prepared to do nothing with him, but he said he
was afraid that I would regret it and that he was afraid that my bright future would be delayed, so
he sent me back outside the mountains. I said until my mouth was dry, saying that I can take
responsibility for my own life and I will not blame him even if I regret it in the future, but he was
still afraid."
Aunt Fang laughed and scolded at the same time, but at the end, there was still a gentle
melancholy in her eyes.
"That's fine." She lowered her head and smiled, skillfully taking the noodles out of the pot.
"When you're married, there's still the risk of separation. If you're not married, you can live in
harmony for the rest of your life."
When she was young, she met amazing people, but when she looked at others later, they were all
like passing clouds. So more than ten years later, when she had gone out into the bigger world,
she chose to return to the mountains.
At that time, Uncle Wang was already 40 years old, his school was bigger, there were more
orphans in his family, and he had less money. He almost emptied himself from the inside out,
truly burning himself to light up the sky.
It’s not that Aunt Fang didn’t look for him. People are vulgar. Even if they have seen a lot of the
world, they still desire a happy ending.
But Uncle Wang still rejected her. He had become more resolute and open-minded over the
years, but when facing her, he was still the coward he was back then.
No, he became more timid.
If he once had fantasies of trying to own the moon in the sky, now he has nothing in his hands
and has long lost the qualifications of being young and frivolous. He is old and has no energy or
material foundation to start a family. Living with anyone would be a burden.
He said that this was his own choice and there was no need to drag others into it.
Weicheng remained silent for a long time, but still somewhat persistent.
"Since you love each other, why don't you be together?"
Aunt Fang handed him the noodles in her hand and said, "They haven't gotten up yet, let's eat
first."
The two of them squatted beside the stove, eating lard noodles with green vegetables. There
were seldom people at home, so food was scarce. The only green vegetables were picked from
the back of the yard, which were juicy and crisp.
Aunt Fang said halfway through the meal that not every relationship will have a result.
Sometimes, for various reasons, your love may not be reciprocated, but this does not hinder the
beauty and preciousness of the relationship.
Weicheng thought about it for a long time before asking the last question: "Have you ever
regretted letting him go?"
Aunt Fang thought about it and smiled. She said that compared to a family and a marriage, I
know he loves his school more.
"Does loving someone mean possessing him? Seeing him live happily makes me happy."
——These were Aunt Fang’s last words. She had no regrets.
Weicheng finished the bowl of watery noodles. When he swallowed the last bite, he realized that
he had no idea how the noodles tasted, whether they were salty or bland, delicious or not.
He squatted in the kitchen in the early morning, slowly raised his head and saw the old woman's
wrinkled face. Behind her was the rising sun, so bright and glorious, as if it would clear away all
obstacles and illuminate the world.
The questions that had troubled him for a long time seemed to have answers at this moment. He
didn't know whether Aunt Fang was answering his doubts or simply expressing herself. He only
knew that they seemed to be on different frequencies, but at this moment they actually
resonated.
There were footsteps coming closer and closer outside the door. Weicheng seemed to have a
premonition and looked back.
I wish you a happy summer.
She slammed on the brakes at the door, as if she had not expected Weicheng to squat in front of
the stove to eat with Aunt Fang... This was not like him.
Weicheng stood up slowly and thanked Aunt Fang first. He didn't know whether he was thanking
her for answering his questions or sharing gossip, or simply thanking her for treating him to the
bowl of noodles.
He walked towards Zhu Jinxia and said, "Let's talk."
In that small courtyard where the red sun was rising and one could see the golden mountain in
the sunlight, Weicheng realized for the first time that the world was so vast. Apart from himself,
the sky and the earth were so big, and there were so many sights worth seeing and things worth
exploring.
Who would have thought that this is the feeling that can only be gained by leaving the huge city
and running to the deep mountains?
He looked at the Gongga Snow Mountain floating in the clouds and slowly exhaled.
He said to Zhu Jinxia, go ahead, from today on, you are free.
She was free, and he was free too.
——
Everyone got up one after another, had a quick breakfast, and prepared to return.
Unexpectedly, Uncle Wang got into trouble again.
He was crying and snotting, and he refused to leave Aunt Fang's side. He had already cried
because he didn't see her when he got up just now. Fortunately, Aunt Fang came back in time,
and as soon as she appeared, Uncle Wang burst into laughter.
Now it was time to send him home, and he started to throw a tantrum again. A man in his sixties,
he rolled around on the ground like a child. You know, after the old man's body shrunk, he was no
different from a child.
Timing headache.
Yu Ming was a little flustered. He kept checking his phone and reminded the time quietly: "I have
my first class today..."
Shi Xu hummed and continued to try to reason with Uncle Wang. Halfway through his speech, Yu
Ming came over and said, "Well, will my salary not be deducted for absences due to work-related
reasons?"
Looking back in time:?
"If you don't want to deduct it, Principal, you can slowly persuade him. The old man has a bad
temper. We don't need to rush. Ah, don't rush!"
Time sequence: "..."
Among the group of people, only Aunt Fang was not in a hurry. She stared at Uncle Wang who
was holding her hand tightly, and suddenly smiled.
"Let him stay here." Aunt Fang decided, "Zam should stay here too, and stay with me for a few
days."
Shi Xu frowned: "That's a big trouble for you."
"When he was young, I hoped he would trouble me, but he refused. Now that he finally agreed,
let me take care of him." Aunt Fang smiled, "When he wants to go back, I will send them back.
You don't have to worry about me, as long as I am here."
There is really no need to worry. Aunt Fang is a doctor. With her around, there is no time to rest
assured.
He subconsciously looked at Uncle Wang, wanting to give him some instructions, but after getting
Uncle Wang's approval, his expression immediately changed. He was rolling on the ground crying
one second, and the next second he got up from the ground, laughing and going to hold Aunt
Fang's hand.
He chased after him and wanted to say something, but Uncle Wang shook his hand away and
asked impatiently, "Who are you?"
Time sequence: "..."
There was a hint of laughter in his silence. When he was young, Uncle Wang gave up his
sweetheart for him and those children. Now that he is old and has forgotten everything, he has
gained real liberation and can act according to his heart and preferences.
The twist of fate is like a black humor.
After returning to school, some went to class, some went to work, and everyone was as busy as
ever.
When it was almost noon and Shixu came out of the office, he suddenly remembered that there
was still Acropolis who was doing nothing. Where were the others?
I heard from Dunzhu that he wandered around the school all day yesterday, auditing classes and
interacting with students. He couldn't be inspecting today as well, right?
Shi Xu first walked around the school but didn't find anyone.
I went up to the teaching building and looked around, but still didn't see it.
Finally, I even went to my own dormitory and Zhu Jinxia’s small building, but there was still no
sign of the Acropolis.
Shi Xu was startled and turned to walk out of the school gate. From a distance he saw the white
car that had been parked outside for several days... It was gone.
He took a few quick steps and wanted to ask the security guard, but Zhu Jinxia just happened to
come out of the teaching building after class. Their eyes met and his steps slowed down.
"Where are the others?"
He didn't mention anyone by name, but Zhu Jinxia knew who he was talking about. She also
looked outside the school gate and found that the car was gone.
"Gone?" She was not as surprised as Shi Xu, she just turned around and smiled, "He didn't even
say a word, that's his style."
Weicheng's reactions in the past two days were too calm and too mature. It was not until this
moment that she found some clues and saw a little shadow of the boy in him.
Shi Xu's gaze fell on Zhu Jin Xia.
Although he and Weicheng were not rivals in love, he did not welcome Weicheng's arrival. Now
that he was gone, he could not be happy.
After a long while, "What about you? When are you leaving?"
Zhu Jinxia raised his eyes and said after a long while: "Let's finish this week."
Divorce matters must always be handled in person.
Dunzhu poked his head out of the window of the third-floor dormitory, saw the two people, and
banged the bowls with a spatula, "Dinner is ready, dinner is ready!"
Knowing that Uncle Wang was fine, he became that heartless little sun again.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing, and on the way back to the dormitory with Shixu, she suddenly
said, "It's fine."
"What's good?"
"Everything in the mountains is good. The people are good, the food is good, and the scenery is
good." She stepped into the corridor and took a deep breath. "Even this damp and stale smell,
once you get used to it, it feels good."
"Where's the toilet?" Shi Xu asked back.
Zhu Jinxia rolled her eyes at him and said, "Why are you bringing up something that's not
relevant?"
He laughed again, and only then asked, "Is everything settled?"
"Yeah." She nodded, "It's all solved."
"Just solve it."
His reaction seemed a little cold. As the only person who knew the inside story of her divorce
since she came to the mountains, he had attacked her hard when trying to persuade her, but now
that he knew the result, he did not ask for any details. Zhu Jinxia was a little dazed.
Only when she reached the iron gate on the third floor did she slow down and look back at the
man following her.
"What's wrong?" asked Shixu.
He came up from a few steps lower than her, and she went from looking down to looking up
again.
"Time sequence." Zhu Jinxia asked softly, "Aren't you happy for me?"
Time paused for a moment, and he lowered his head to look at her. The corridor was not very
bright, and it was too dim even during the day, which made her look a little blurry. She was
obviously very close, but seemed very far away.
After thinking for a while, he answered the question irrelevantly: "Zhu Jinxia, you have been in
the mountains for more than two months. Are you happy?"
She nodded without hesitation, "Happy."
Shi Xu smiled, took his hand out of his trouser pocket, and pushed open the half-open door next
to him.
In an instant, the light slanted out, illuminating the entire corridor and her face.
He turned around and looked at her with a little smile on his lips.
He said, "If you are happy, I will be happy too."
From beginning to end, he never asked her: Will you come back?

Chapter 57
The day after Weicheng left, Zhu Jinxia received a letter.
Before this, Zhu Jinxia had sent him two messages.
The first one: "You went back?"
Second: "Did you arrive safely?"
Weicheng didn't reply a word. Out of worry, Zhu Jinxia opened the short video app on the night
he left, and when she saw him online late at night, she felt relieved.
At least we arrived safely.
Weicheng, who had no news, chose not to reply to the message. He just typed the last word in
the dead of night and threw a word document into the WeChat dialog box.
When Zhu Jinxia saw it, it was already the next morning. It was bright and she was on her way to
the Time Dormitory for breakfast. As soon as she stepped into the corridor and saw the news
about the Acropolis, she suddenly froze in place.
There is a slight pause when your fingertips touch the screen.
Wish you this summer:
Good news.
This should be the last letter I write to you.
We have been arguing about divorce for more than half a year. I thought it would drag on until
you got tired and changed your mind. I would not change my mind anyway. I didn't expect that
after a trip to the mountains, I would change my mind in just three days. It was strange enough.
The place was so poor and closed, but I felt so narrow and insignificant there. OK, it shows how
ridiculous I have lived for almost 30 years and how narrow-minded I am.
Before I left, I always blamed you. From a result-oriented perspective, you gave me a happy life,
but you also destroyed it yourself. Frankly speaking, I still feel resentful as I write this, but I am
more relieved because I know that in the near future, even this resentment will completely
disappear.
We have spent eight years together, nearly three thousand days and nights, and I owe you a
thank you. I used to think that I had given a lot to you, but now I look back and see that it was a
bit of moral blackmail. You never asked me to do so, and you didn't even like the roses and gifts I
spent so much time buying. It was my own wishful thinking that loving someone meant self-
sacrifice and continuous dedication. I admit that you are right, there has never been equality
between us.
The reason why I say thank you is because of your companionship and your subtle influence over
the years, they have indeed changed me. Before I met you, I had no other pastime except playing
games. Until I was with you, I learned to cook; I learned to watch various movies with you and
express my opinions at your request; and I was also I traveled around with him and saw many
scenes I never expected. Although I still don’t like reading, I have heard you mention a lot of
classics and literary genres in the leftovers of time - you see, I even use the expression "leftovers
of time". If you think about it carefully, It is obviously an expression that only you can express, but
in the end it has been integrated into my life, and it can be easily picked up at my fingertips.
After working for two years, I met many people. My colleagues and partners all praised me for
being gentle and worldly. Now I think about it, it's all your credit. It's your love for life that
brought me into the three meals a day and four seasons, and made me seem "well-informed",
enough to talk about literature and movies with others, and talk about the places they dream of
visiting. If it weren't for you, the Acropolis would not be what it is now. Although it is probably
still a hopeless situation for you, compared with yesterday's me, I can reluctantly accept myself
today.
Finally, I want to thank you for shamelessly hiding in the mountains, so I can chase you all the
way. Once again, you pushed me to leave my comfort zone and see new scenery. Whether it is
the golden mountain in the sun or the plateau lake, whether it is the adults or children in the
mountains, it is breathtaking. Please also help me convey my gratitude to Aunt Fang, thank you
for her guidance. And, I hope Uncle Wang is healthy and lives a hundred years; I wish the central
school and the children will get better and better; oh, and I wish that bandit principal will go
bankrupt soon and be poor for the rest of his life (please be sure to convey my best wishes).
Everyone is busy with their own life, so it’s time for me to get on the road too.
I didn't want to wish you well, because if you live well after leaving me, it would be like mocking
me for holding you back. But now that it's come to this, it seems that I am petty if I don't wish
you well. So in the end, I still wish you happiness. Although I don't want to admit it, I have to
admit that you are much more dazzling in the mountains than at home. Well, at least it shows
that my letting go is reasonable, and one of us will get what he wants.
That's about it. I've already signed the divorce agreement. I'll wait for you to come back to deal
with the final details. I wish you a happy summer. I hope your future life will be free of constraints
and always be as warm and unrestrained as this summer.
Zhu Jinxia stood in the corridor for a long time, and when he looked up, he felt as if he was in
another world.
Shixu opened the iron door and saw her standing outside the door without any surprise. She had
been in his sight since she stepped out of the small building. He didn't know why she stood in the
corridor for so long, but he could see the mist in her eyes, like a hot and humid rainy season.
"Not coming in?"
She went in silently, and the whole meal seemed too quiet.
Dunzhu had already heard from Shixu that Zhu Jinxia would leave after finishing this week's
classes. He felt very lonely, like a little white flower drifting in the wind, but he couldn't say
anything to persuade her to stay.
Yes, she has a great life, why does she stay in this deep forest?
But he was still sad.
So the usually lively morning became particularly lonely today. One of them was absent-mindedly
eating, and the other was always glancing to the side with a resentful look.
Shi Xu sat opposite, taking in everything, and said nothing.
Only when Zhu Jinxia had finished her meal and was about to go to the classroom with her
textbook in her arms did he suddenly ask, "What do you want to eat today?"
I wish you a happy return this summer, “…anything goes.”
I never asked her before.
Shi Xu looked at her for a moment and said, "We're leaving tomorrow, so at least have a good
meal."
When Dunzhu heard this, his mouth sank again. He turned his face away bravely and cheered
himself up.
Dunzhu, you are the best! Don't cry!
Zhu Jinxia smiled and said: "Don't be so particular, just eat what you usually eat today."
I couldn't get any information out of her, so I decided not to ask her anymore and decided to
figure it out on my own. I watched her leave, and when I turned around, I found that Dunzhu was
still there, clenching his fists, with a constipated expression on his face.
"Why are you standing here if you're not going to class?"
Dunzhu sniffed, opened his arms pitifully, and said, "Brother, I'm heartbroken——"
Before he could finish his words, he was kicked out by his brother.
"roll."
——
After the morning class, Zhu Jinxia told the children that she was leaving, and there was an
immediate wailing in the classroom.
The children rushed up and grabbed her, some hugged her arms, some hugged her calves, and
with sad faces they refused to let her go.
"Don't go, Teacher Zhu!"
"Who will teach us Chinese if you leave?"
"I don't want you to leave!"
Zhu Jinxia didn't know who would take over. Wasn't she originally here to take over from A Bao?
There would always be someone to take over.
She just smiled and patted the child's head, "It's not like you'll never come back."
"When will you come back?" with eager eyes.
Zhu Jinxia paused, unable to answer, and after thinking for a while, he said, "I will come back
eventually."
She said you guys study hard, I will come back to visit you from time to time.
"I still have to continue writing my weekly diary. I will ask the principal to collect my homework
for me."
——She had thought it all out. Every weekend, she would ask Shixu to take photos of each paper
with his mobile phone and send them to her, and she would correct them remotely.
"Will the prizes still be given out?"
"Send it as usual." She smiled and tapped Ding Zhen's nose, thinking about her little clever boy,
he was still thinking about her book.
This guy has now become the biggest writer in the class, and eight out of ten excellent essays
include his contributions.
Unexpectedly, the little guy shouted eagerly: "Then we don't want books or prizes. Teacher Zhu,
can you stay?"
“…”
"Yeah, we don't want you to spend money, so does that mean you don't have to go back to the
city to make money?"
"We can go and beg the principal to give you more money and a higher salary!"
"The principal is very rich!"
He has nothing! He is the poorest in the entire central school.
The children's innocent words made people laugh. Zhu Jinxia wanted to laugh, but for some
reason, her voice became hoarse when she opened her mouth.
She was harassed for the entire break until the bell rang and Yu Xiaoshan walked into the
classroom. Thanks to her rescue, Zhu Jinxia was able to escape.
I didn't see Shixu at lunch, and only Dunzhu was in the dormitory. When I asked where Shixu was,
Dunzhu said he didn't know and left the school on a motorcycle early in the morning.
"She said she would cook you a good meal, but she just sent me a message saying she would not
be back at noon and asked me to take care of it."
Dunzhu sniffed in grievance, shocked by his brother's indifference and callousness!
Zhu Jinxia was stunned for a moment, and thought to herself, it’s okay, if you want to leave, you
should just leave quietly, don’t make such a big fuss.
She didn't want to see Dunzhu's resentful expression, so she quickly finished her meal and ran
back to the dormitory to pack her luggage.
There wasn't much stuff, so I packed it all in less than half an hour.
In the afternoon, I received a short video from Time. The video showed blue sky and white
clouds, a mountain lake, and a group of vultures gnawing on the remains of a pig by the lake.
Zhu Jinxia: "Where did you go?"
Shixu answered: "Go up the mountain to catch fish."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia thought to himself that he still had a lot of free time. She was about to leave, but he
could still slack off on weekdays.
This is real slacking off.
She sat on the edge of the bed and typed slowly: "Did you catch it?"
Timeline: "No. The weather suddenly changed, which made it a little difficult."
change of weather?
Zhu stayed in the dormitory this afternoon and did not go anywhere, for fear that he would run
into fifth-grade students if he went out. Everyone had to hold hands and look at each other with
tears in their eyes.
I opened the curtains and took a look, only to find that the weather had indeed changed.
It was sunny in the morning with blue sky and white clouds, but the wind suddenly blew and the
sky became dark. The shadows of the trees were looming, and dark clouds came from afar, and it
looked like it was going to rain.
It's like this in the narrow gap, I wonder how cold it is on the top of the mountain.
She quickly typed: "Come back soon if the weather changes. I'll catch you next time."
There was no movement from the other end for a while, and after a long while, a reply came: "No
time."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned and saw the following text -
"The fish here are plateau fish, different from those outside. I thought you were leaving, so you
should try some before you go."
Her heartbeat suddenly became slow, and before she could reply, she heard a knock on the door.
Dong Dong - two very light taps, with a cautious tone.
"Who is it?"
Zhu Jinxia got up and opened the door, and saw three children standing in the corridor outside,
from left to right, they were Ding Zhen Genga, Xia Xilamu, and Ding Zhen Basang.
Only then did she realize that she had been able to call out the names of all the students in the
class since she didn't know when.
Two little girls held her hands, one on each side. Ding Zhen was a boy and was too embarrassed
to take the lead, so he just walked in front to lead the way.
He said, "Teacher Zhu, come with us, we have prepared a surprise for you."
I didn't expect that after hiding in the dormitory for a whole day, I still couldn't avoid this. Zhu
Jinxia was forced to do something she didn't expect.
She doesn't like farewell occasions, nor does she like to cry.
Zhu Jinxia has an early memory and still remembers that when she was three years old, her
parents died in an accident in the factory. On the afternoon of the accident, she was having
snacks in the kindergarten and was suddenly picked up by her grandmother.
Most of the people in this city work in the factory area. Even the kindergarten is run by the
factory. The news spread like wildfire as soon as it happened.
The life teacher probably knew about it, and with a look of pity on her face, she handed Zhu
Jinxia to the old man who was in tears at the time, and whispered, "I am sorry for your loss."
Zhu Jinxia didn't understand what condolences meant, so she just looked up and asked curiously,
"Grandma, am I not going to school today?"
The grandmother shook her head, picked her up and went out to get a taxi. She told the driver
her destination in a hoarse voice: "To the city funeral home."
Three-year-old Zhu Jinxia didn't understand what a funeral home was. She was still holding half a
frog cake in her hand and looked at her grandmother in confusion, "Grandma, why are you
crying?"
It would have been better if she hadn't asked. When she asked, her grandmother didn't say
anything. She covered her face and sobbed until she burst into tears, with tears pouring out from
between her fingers.
Zhu Jinxia was shocked and at a loss for a long time. She carefully handed over the remaining half
of the cake in her hand, "Grandma, do you want to eat the cake? You will stop crying if you eat
it..."
In kindergarten, children always cry when they wake up from a nap, and the teacher will coax
them: "Be good and don't cry, you will have cake to eat soon, and you will stop crying after eating
it."
Unfortunately, the cake appeased the little girl, but not her grandmother, who rejected her cake.
Seeing such a tiny little girl without a father or a mother, she was overwhelmed with grief and
couldn't stop crying.
When she arrived at the funeral home, Zhu Jinxia saw her parents lying in transparent glass
coffins. They looked different from usual and a little strange.
She didn't know at that time that the machine tool accident was extremely tragic. Even her
parents' bodies had to be stitched up by a grooming artist, and with the help of careful makeup
and clothes, they barely looked normal.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't explain why, but she always felt that the people in the crystal coffin were not
her parents. It looked very scary, so she clutched the corner of her grandmother's clothes and hid
behind her repeatedly.
That afternoon, many people came to the funeral home, including uncles and aunts she knew,
and a large number of factory leaders she had never met before.
Because of this accident, her parents, who came from an ordinary family, were able to be buried
in the largest and most luxurious funeral hall of the city funeral home after their death, and
received farewells from countless people.
My grandmother was already very old, and even distant relatives came from all directions to help
with the funeral. No one could tell whether they came for the vague kinship or the relatively
generous pension for the deceased.
But my grandmother was alone and weak, and she had no time to worry about anything else at
the moment.
People came to the factory in groups, all dressed in suits and ties, with sad expressions. After
bowing and burning incense, they all handed over a thick envelope without exception.
The dead are already dead, but the living still want peace of mind.
Zhu Jinxia could no longer remember whether it was her third aunt or her third aunt who was in
charge of holding her hand. She only remembered that the woman wiped away her unfounded
tears, pressed her head, and said, "The filial son and virtuous grandson kowtow."
She didn't know why she should kowtow. She had only been greeting people during the New Year
since she was a child, and her parents and grandmother had never taught her to kowtow.
My mother often said that in this world, gold is not only found under the knees of men, but also
under the knees of daughters. She wished this summer to live a prouder life and not to learn
those feudal customs, and not to even kneel before the heavens and the earth and her parents.
But that day, the woman forced Zhu Jinxia to the ground, taught her how to kowtow, and asked
her to cry, the harder she cried, the better.
Zhu Jinxia asked in confusion: "Why are you crying?"
The woman was stuck and it was not easy for her to tell him directly that her parents were dead,
so of course she had to cry.
But since she was young, her parents have taught her that brave children don't cry. No matter
what difficulties she encounters, crying is the most useless way to solve the problem because it
can't solve any problem.
The woman in front of her was just the opposite. She ordered her again and again: "No, you have
to cry! Someone will come later, you have to cry when you meet them. The harder you cry, the
better. This is your filial piety!"
Zhu Jinxia was still too young. She did not understand the meaning of life and death, nor did she
understand what filial piety was. She only ran to the crystal coffin alone at night when her
grandmother fell asleep from crying herself tired and the relatives were playing mahjong and
keeping vigil nearby.
"Is that Mom and Dad?" she asked with her big eyes clearly visible in black and white.
No one responded.
"Are you guys asleep? Why are you ignoring me?" She knocked on the glass. "I haven't seen you
for just one day, how come you've changed?"
A few days later, my parents were buried. I received a large amount of pension, so my relatives
also held a grand celebration. Taoist priests played music, guests were welcomed and sent off,
paper money, paper villas and a bunch of fancy things were piled high, and the group went to the
cemetery in a mighty procession.
Once again, Zhu Jinxia had her tiny body held down by someone. They asked her to kneel down
and kowtow, to cry her heart out, and to shout "Daddy and Mommy" over and over again,
wishing her a safe journey.
Zhu Jinxia had already realized that her parents probably would never come back. They lay
quietly in the crystal coffin for several days, and were finally pushed into a long passage. When
they reappeared, only an ebony urn was left.
She cried too, but she only shed tears and bit her lips, refusing to cooperate.
She doesn't like parroting.
She looked up at the black and white wedding photo of her parents on the pale tombstone, tears
streaming down her face, but she quickly wiped them with her sleeves and even smiled at the
photo.
Her parents always told her not to cry and said she looked prettiest when she smiled.
Her smile scared the relatives present. They whispered to each other. Some said that the child
was still young and ignorant and did not understand the meaning of death. Others said that she
was weird. For example, the third aunt or the third aunt said that the child had a weak sense of
family affection and would definitely have a heart of stone when she grew up.
…
There are many things that I didn't understand at the time, and I understood them only after I
grew up, but the habits have been formed. I wish this summer that I don't like the so-called
rituals, and I hate crying partings even more.
But when the children took her hand and led her into the classroom, which was completely
different from the morning, she was still moved.
The tables, chairs and benches were pushed to the corners of the classroom, leaving a large
space in the middle, where the children stood in a square formation.
The front and back blackboards were filled with students' messages written in colorful chalk. The
handwriting was crooked and looked like ants crawling across the ground.
Zhu Jinxia looked at them one by one and found that she could recognize many familiar
characters. When she corrected the homework every day, she always corrected the handwriting -
there was always a problem with the left and right structure of Xiaxilamu, and the three water
drops of Yangjin were often connected together...
"Teacher Zhu, I really don't want to leave you."
“You are our best teacher.”
"Thank you for the book you gave me. I will take good care of it!"
"Teacher Zhu, our whole class loves you."
Finally, on the blackboard in the middle, was a letter written to her by the whole class.
Dear Teacher Zhu:
We are fifth-grade students of Yibo Central School. Thank you for your care and concern for us.
You accompany us like a mother, and shine into the mountains and our hearts like a beam of
light. I really hope you will be with us forever and never leave. We will cherish the books you sent
us, and we will listen to you, read many books, and write many words. The world outside the
mountains is big. I hope you will not forget us and come back to see us often. By then, we will
definitely write better essays and make you proud of us.
Thank you for your hard work! I wish you good health and we will always love you!
The letter was not long and I finished reading it in the blink of an eye. It was signed by all the
fifth-grade students of Yibao Central School.
The handwriting was crooked and there were many typos. There were several different
handwritings in one letter. It was obvious that the letter was written in a hurry and was the result
of the children's concerted efforts.
Zhu Jinxia stared at the blackboard in a daze and heard someone start talking behind her.
"one two three--"
When she looked back again, the children in the square were already using sign language and
singing.
They sing and listen to me saying thank you, because of you, the four seasons are warm; thank
you, thank you for making the world more beautiful.
That was the evening study bell of the Central School, which sounded every evening. When I
heard it for the first time, Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing, and asked why Shixu chose this song.
The Internet has played with it so much.
Shi Xu said expressionlessly that this was an election by the state and what did it have to do with
him.
But after listening to it so many times, I got used to it and no longer wanted to laugh.
Now the children sang loudly with their childish voices, and everyone sang at the top of their
lungs. In the end, no one knew who started crying first, and everyone followed suit. Their dirty
little faces were disfigured, and the song ended in a whimper, from a collective chorus to a
collective cry.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes swept through the classroom one by one, as if to freeze something.
A dilapidated classroom with mottled concrete floors, scratched desks, and leaky window glass.
A dirty little face, dark skin, and a rich highland red.
None of those clear eyes were the ones she had seen on the brochure, but each pair was exactly
the same as the ones above, full of hope and desire, like the morning dew, like the rising sun on
the top of the mountain.
Zhu Jinxia really wants to say that you don’t have to thank me. In fact, my original intention of
coming here had little to do with teaching. I fled the city and came to the mountains with the
mentality of taking a breath.
She really wanted to say that everything she had done was insignificant. In just over two months,
she had started well but ended badly, and had not achieved anything at all.
If there was anything that was really gained from this trip, it should be her. She thought she had
brought a ray of light to the city, but she didn't expect that in the end, she would be the one
being illuminated.
…
The crying children lined up again, and with Yu Xiaoshan's encouragement, each of them picked
up a white Hada from the table and took turns presenting it to Zhu Jinxia.
Zhu Jinxia lowered her head and leaned down to see the white hair gradually increasing on her
neck. The Hada was so light, yet it weighed heavily on her heart.
She hugged each child, wiped their tears one by one, and said softly, "Don't cry, don't cry."
However, as she watched the children crying, her eyes gradually became hot and her vision
blurred.
She thought of what her parents had said, and thought to herself with self-mockery that she was
not brave enough. She promised not to cry, and to leave with a smile, but in the end she failed to
do so.
She knows that life is actually mostly trivial and ordinary, and only a small part of the time has
extreme joy, anger, sorrow and happiness. When she is old and sitting by the fire looking back on
her life, she may only remember a few vague moments, such as the first time she experienced
separation and death in her life, such as the time she ran away from home and felt abandoned by
the whole world, and the kiss that was so strong that it was almost suffocating when she was in
love, and the tears that seemed to never dry up when she broke up.
In a life that is dull and boring, the throbbing of life is rare and precious, but isn't the purpose of
living for those few moments?
I wish you laugh and cry this summer.
Great, she thought, she had one more moment.
That evening, after leaving the classroom, she stayed in the corridor for a long time before wiping
away her tears and walking into Shixu's dormitory.
When I pushed the door open, I saw that Shixu had returned and was making soup in the dim
kitchen.
There was a strong wind outside, the sky was dark, and the temperature was extremely low, but
he stood quietly in front of the stove, stirring the soup slowly with a spoon in his hand. He turned
around to meet her red eyes, and suddenly stopped moving.
As Zhu Jinxia entered the house, she smelled a strange fragrance and walked towards him in a
daze - in the pot, four small fish from the plateau lakes were boiled into a pot of snow-white and
delicious soup.
She opened her mouth: "...Didn't they say that the weather has changed and we can't catch him
anymore?"
Shi Xu smiled, his eyes lingered on her red eyes for a moment, then he looked away, turning off
the fire and saying casually: "Spend more time, you will always catch it."
Just as he finished speaking, Dunzhu rushed in from outside, saying as he ran, "I heard that there
was hail in the mountains today?"
I wish this summer was stunned.
After a while, Shixu responded: "Yeah."
"You're still fishing in this horrible weather?" Dunzhu ran into the kitchen and took a look. "Fuck,
you actually caught some?"
He exclaimed in amazement: "You are really good. Old Yu said the water was about to freeze, and
hailstones were hitting us. Everyone else went ashore, but you stayed in there for most of the day
and refused to leave even though you couldn't catch anything. What's the matter? Do you have a
grudge against this fish?"
Zhu Jinxia looked up suddenly, and only then did she have time to check the time. He was
wearing black clothes and rain boots, and it was hard to tell without a closer look. She reached
out and touched it, and it was wet.
Looking at the hair again, because it is hard and feels like it is being pricked by needles, you can't
tell whether it is dry or wet. Only when you look closely can you see water droplets on the ends
of the hair.
She pinched her palms, "...Why didn't you change your clothes after coming back?"
"No time." He didn't look back at her, and said it calmly.
Zhu Jinxia felt like her chest was blocked by something and it became difficult for her to breathe.
He tasted the soup quickly and found it was cooked to the right temperature and had enough
saltiness, then he served a bowl to Zhu Jinxia.
"Try it," he said.
Zhu Jinxia heard the dull heartbeat in her chest, but she didn't know how to react. In the end, she
could only mechanically take the soup and take a sip.
"How is it?" Shi Xu observed her expression.
"It tastes good." Her voice was a little hoarse.
Shi Xu smiled, carried the soup to the living room, and said as he walked, "As long as it tastes
good."
It was worth his effort to save himself from the hail.
Dunzhu was still chasing after him, jumping up and down and saying, "Why don't you change
your clothes? This horrible weather is really taking your health as a defense system." At the same
time, the aroma from the pot made his mouth water. He immediately took the bowl and
chopsticks to serve himself, and finally did not forget to look back.
"Teacher Zhu, come and drink the soup and eat the meat!"
"Well, I'll come."
Zhu Jinxia stood in the kitchen holding a bowl, slowly raised her head, sniffed, and tried hard to
force the heat back into her eyes.
She thought that when she sat by the fire in the future, there would probably be countless
moments when she was thinking about the Central School.
There are too many, too many unforgettable moments, too many faces that I don’t want to
forget.

Chapter 58
On the last day at the central school, I didn’t sleep well in summer.
That night, until 11pm, children continued to visit. The adults turned a blind eye, so they took the
opportunity to bypass the playground, run into the small building, carefully knock on the door,
and deliver letter after letter.
The letter paper was torn from an exercise book, and there were rough edges on the edges.
There were words and drawings on the letter, some of which were folded into a heart shape, and
some were folded into a thousand paper cranes.
At first I didn’t understand what the children were drawing, until I saw the label in the lower right
corner of one of the “paintings”: “My Teacher”.
Zhu Jinxia finally understood that the horrible matchstick figure in the painting was her, and the
pile of matchsticks behind her were the children themselves.
The contents of the letter were varied and made people laugh and cry.
Dear Teacher Zhu Jinxia:
I am Tashi Zhima from the fifth grade. You are leaving tomorrow and we will miss you very much.
You are our best teacher. I will beat you up when I grow up.
Wish this summer: "..."
"Repay" was written as "beat violently". She deserves to be beaten for teaching her students like
this.
Then it was Ding Zhengengga. At the beginning of the letter, the little guy said something
shocking as usual:
Dear Teacher Zhu:
Hello!
The first time we had hotpot, I was mesmerized by your beauty. From that moment on, I wanted
to be your student. Fortunately, God heard my voice and he transferred Teacher Abao away!
Wish this summer: “………………”
If Abao sees this letter, Ding Zhengeng's butt will definitely be beaten to a pulp.
And those who improvise and write novels -
"Jingle Bell"--
It's time for class. Who is the one who walks up to the podium with a youthful look and
confidence? It's her, our teacher Zhu!
She is 29 years old, a beautiful young woman with shiny black hair and big round eyes like
sparkling gems. When she laughs, she shows a row of white teeth, like Snow White in the fairy
tale. She has a kind and pure heart, like Grandma Bing Xin.
…
Zhu Jinxia read the letters one by one, smiling until tears welled up in her eyes. She packed them
all into her suitcase. This was a gift from the mountains, and she would treasure it.
When she was in school, she liked Zhang Liangneng's poem "Xiao Chongshan" very much: "The
old times are everywhere to be found. There is no place to be found, only the heart of youth."
In these ridiculous homework papers, Zhu Jinxia glimpsed the childlike innocence that she had
long lost.
At exactly eleven o'clock, the bedtime bell rang and the small building finally became quiet, with
no one visiting anymore.
In a place that Zhu Jinxia cannot see, time stands alone outside the small building like a door god,
driving away the tireless children one by one.
"Teacher Zhu is going to take a rest. Go back and just write to me."
He held a thick stack of letters in his hand, and only looked back at the dim window when he was
sure that no one would disturb him again.
He did not go forward, but was lost in thought that from tomorrow on, no window in the small
building would be lit up every evening.
——
Zhu Jinxia woke up at dawn the next day, folded the quilt, and cleaned the room spotlessly. Then
she carried her suitcase and backpack and stepped out of the house where she had lived for
more than two months.
Turning back, she scanned the single bed, kettle and daily necessities one by one, then took out
her mobile phone to take pictures.
I had my last breakfast in the Time Dormitory, which was so sumptuous that I almost exclaimed
that the principal was broke.
Dunzhu was like a rabbit the whole time, looking at her with red eyes. He felt sad even when
eating, as if he would burst into tears if he was not careful.
He shook his chopsticks and told Zhu Jinxia that if she got bored of staying in the city, she was
welcome to return to the mountains. The central school would always be her home, and if she
wanted, she could also be the mother of his child—
Shixu stepped under the table and warned him with his eyes: Are you done yet?
Dunzhu didn't respond, but Zhu Jinxia, who was standing beside him, slowly raised her head and
asked Shixu with tears in her eyes, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Time sequence: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "If you have something to say, just say it directly. Why are you stepping so hard?"
Time sequence: "..."
Dunzhu then realized that his brother was going to step on him, and the two of them started
arguing with each other.
Zhu Jinxia picked up her phone again and quickly took a picture of the scene. Dunzhu hurriedly
said, "Do it again, let me put on a more handsome expression!"
"No need." Zhu Jinxia looked down and saw the two brothers in the photo acting in "The Foolish
and the Unhappy" as usual. "This is good."
After breakfast, she deliberately chose to leave during class so as not to disturb the children, but
unfortunately she miscalculated.
Shixu was walking in front carrying her suitcase, and Dunzhu was walking behind carrying her
small schoolbag. When the three of them were walking out along the playground, someone
suddenly shouted from the teaching building.
"I wish you a happy summer—"
Zhu Jinxia suddenly looked back, raised her head, and saw Yu Xiaoshan who was supposed to be
in class.
She stood in the corridor on the third floor and shouted loudly. After she finished shouting, a
group of little heads popped up from behind her. Everyone rushed to the railing, shouting
"Teacher Zhu" in unison.
Yu Xiaoshan waved at her and said with a bright smile: "Have a safe trip. I look forward to seeing
you back home next time!"
The children also parroted the words and shouted with all their might: "Have a safe journey!
Looking forward to your return home next time—"
This scene easily reminds people of two months ago when Zhu Jinxia stepped onto the fifth grade
podium for the first time and the children, like now, recited the text with all their might.
The text was called "The Boat of Fatherly Love". At that time, Zhu Jinxia and Shixu complained
that this was not a boat of fatherly love, but revenge for the murder of one's father.
Everything is still vivid in my mind, and the story seems to end where it began.
Zhu Jinxia raised her hand and waved at them vigorously. Tears welled up in her eyes, but her lips
were raised high. She also smiled brightly and shouted at them: "Go back, go back to class. Study
hard and make progress every day!"
Unexpectedly, more and more people appeared in the corridor——
On the first, second and third floors, the teachers in the classrooms stopped teaching and
brought their students out. Countless familiar and unfamiliar faces appeared on the morning of
leaving the central school.
They waved at her, all with a smile.
Zhu Jinxia kept the corners of her lips raised from beginning to end, smiling until her cheeks were
sore and stiff, until she finally left the school gate, got on Lao Li's truck, closed the door, and then
sank down in front of the seat and covered her face with her hands.
There was a sound of door closing beside him, and Shixu sat down. He let her cry in silence and
just waited patiently.
He knew that she always restrained herself in front of others and would cry in secret.
It was very quiet in the truck. Zhu Jinxia made no sound when she cried, she just trembled.
Shi Xu turned his head and his eyes fell on her cheek, where a small strand of hair was blown
away by the wind, soaked by her tears, and finally stuck to the side of her face.
The hands hanging by his side moved involuntarily.
He wanted to brush it off for her.
Shi Xu looked away and suppressed the impulse with difficulty. He appeared calm on the surface,
but there were marks from his fingernails on his palms.
He didn't dare look any further.
His gaze wandered and fell on her ears. She cried so hard that even the roots of her ears turned
red. The small earlobes were like agate, showing a translucent color.
She was wearing a simple white ramie vest, her slender neck was exposed through the collar, and
even a corner of her butterfly bone was vaguely visible.
The head drooped too much, making the neck look even thinner, as if it would break if bent.
Shi Xu couldn't help but frown. She was too thin.
I try different ways to cook her favorite dishes every day, so why can’t she gain weight?
Although he never asked her much, he always observed her preferences carefully. A dish that she
didn't eat with two chopsticks today would definitely not appear again tomorrow, and a dish that
she took a few more bites of would become a regular at the dinner table.
But when my eyes fell on her bony shoulders, I still felt a sense of powerlessness as if I had failed
to achieve my goal.
He thought absentmindedly that after she left, he would not eat properly. Without him and
Dunzhu, the Acropolis was a thing of the past, and she could not cook, he did not know how life
would be.
But those are her business, she has her own life, it's not his turn to worry about it.
The myriad of issues are like a blunt knife cutting flesh; they are not fatal, but hard to ignore.
Zhu Jinxia leaned in front of the car, crying for only a short while, and soon stopped crying, with
only a slight tremor in her body. She raised her hand to wipe her tears, thinking she was very
strong, but she didn't know that in the eyes of others, she looked even more frail and pitiful.
Shi Xu sat there dully, feeling unwell all over. There seemed to be a strange resonance in her
chest, and every time she trembled, her heart trembled with it.
He suppressed his emotions, took out a tissue and handed it over.
Zhu Jinxia said thank you in a hoarse voice, reached out to take it...but didn't take it.
Shi Xu held one end of the tissue tightly and didn't let go.
She looked up at him blankly, her eyes moist and red, with traces of tears still visible, a sense of
broken beauty.
Shi Xu took a deep breath, repeatedly reminded himself not to move rashly, and then reluctantly
let go of his hand.
It's funny to say that he has been self-righteous for half his life, always believing that nothing in
the world is difficult as long as he works hard, but today he finds that there are still many things
that can stump him.
Just resisting the urge to wipe her tears was exhausting.
And then, he would personally send her away.
Shixu stepped on the accelerator and cursed under the cover of the engine noise. After cursing,
he thought to himself that he didn't have a mother anyway, so cursing didn't matter.
When the truck passed the repair shop, there was someone waiting on the side of the road, and
the speed suddenly slowed down.
Old Li knew that Zhu Jinxia was leaving today, and he drove the car to the school gate last night,
so he specifically asked Shixu to drive her off. He waited here on time, raised his hands high, and
waved them vigorously.
When he saw the car stopped, he picked up the cardboard box at his feet and handed it in
through the window.
"Here, Mr. Zhu, this is the matsutake mushroom grown in our village. I dried it myself and took it
back to make soup!"
Zhu Jinxia thanked him, and he smiled again: "Hey, what are you thanking me for? You came all
the way here to teach, you didn't get a penny of salary, and you even paid for so many books and
stationery. We should be the ones thanking you!"
The man in his forties, who had been exposed to the highland sun for a long time, was as dark as
the mountain people. Although he was an outsider, he kept saying "we" and "our hometown". He
complained at ordinary times, but as soon as time called, he would rush to the school with his
toolbox, hammering here and repairing there.
The school has nothing to do with him, but he calls himself a "non-staff member".
Looking at the figure in the rearview mirror that was gradually getting smaller but still waving at
the rear of the car, Zhu Jinxia was a little stunned.
As Yu Xiaoshan said, Yibo Township is very small, so small that if Shixu stepped on the accelerator
twice more, they would have driven out of the township. But Yibo Township is also very large,
large enough to accommodate travelers returning from all over the world, whether they are
outsiders such as Lao Li and Shixu, whether they are Aunt Fang and Uncle Wang who have
returned after completing their studies.
The Line of Sky is narrow and deep, with barren land and rich souls.
——
They were both silent along the way.
The weather is bad today. It has been gloomy since the morning, as if the bad weather from
yesterday has continued, and there are even signs that it will get worse.
It was as if God didn't want her to go.
Less than half an hour after we got on the highway, the sky suddenly became overcast and strong
winds blew.
There is sparse vegetation on the plateau and it is dusty. The dust is blown high up by the wind,
and the yellow sand mixed with stones hits the car windows with a crackling sound.
In the dust, visibility dropped sharply and the sky and the earth became dark.
Shi Xu frowned, "It's going to rain heavily."
Sure enough, a few minutes after the dust storm, a rainstorm followed. The summer rain was
abundant, and the rain suppressed the dust, but it also quickly formed puddles on the uneven
road.
It seemed as if there was a hole in the sky, and heavy rain poured down.
The wipers worked continuously, but the windshield was always blurry. The truck was like a small
boat floating on the vast ocean, isolated and helpless, with not even a single car or pedestrian in
sight.
The sound of wind and rain was already loud enough, and coupled with the sound of the rushing
water in the Jinsha River beside the road, it was extremely shocking for a moment.
The road surface was uneven, and there were puddles of water and rocks blown down by strong
winds. The car had slowed down, but because the "landmines" under the water were invisible,
they would occasionally run over them, causing the truck to inevitably experience severe bumps.
There were several times when Zhu Jinxia's body was lifted into the air, and after the bumps, she
fell heavily back into the seat, but fortunately she was protected by the seat belt.
Shi Xu's expression was solemn. He turned the steering wheel sharply at a fork in the road and
immediately changed route to the nearest Niuzan Town.
"It's raining too hard. It's easy to slide down on this day. Let's take shelter first."
The car turned around and continued to move forward in the heavy rain with difficulty.
Zhu Jinxia was terrified, "I checked clearly, the weather forecast didn't say there would be heavy
rain today."
Shixu said: "During the rainy season, the weather on the plateau can change suddenly, and the
weather forecast is unreliable."
He quickly glanced at Zhu Jinxia. Lao Li's car was too old and the windows were not closed tightly.
Now that it was raining heavily, water started to leak from the window gaps.
Her right arm was already wet.
Shixu frowned and quickened his pace.
Zhu Jinxia was born in the Sichuan Basin and grew up in the Chengdu Plain. When had she ever
seen such a terrible rain? Listening to the howling of wild beasts outside the window, I suddenly
saw a flash of lightning in the gray sky, followed by a thunderous roar from a distance, covering
the sky and the earth.
She couldn't help but hold on to her seat belt tightly, her heart beating faster.
Shi Xu looked ahead, and noticing her nervousness, he suddenly made small talk: "Are you
scared?"
"You're asking about thunder?" Zhu Jinxia laughed dryly, "I was afraid of it when I was a kid."
"Are you not afraid now?"
“…Not so scary anymore.”
As he was speaking, another flash of lightning streaked across the sky. Zhu Jinxia had a
conditioned reflex and raised his hands to cover his ears before the thunder came.
Shi Xu glanced at her quickly, with a hint of understanding in his eyes, "You call this fearlessness?"
"..." Zhu Jinxia put down her hand awkwardly after the thunder, "I'm almost thirty, I don't have to
be afraid."
When I was a child, I could crawl into my grandmother’s bed on thundering days. As long as I
buried my head in the old lady’s arms and felt the occasional pats on my back, I would fall asleep
peacefully.
Later, when I grew up, I learned to fall asleep alone listening to the thunder.
"How old is your grandmother this year?" asked Shixu.
"Eighty."
"How are you?"
"I was pretty strong before, but not so strong in the past two years." Zhu Jinxia felt a little sad
when talking about this. "It seems that people don't grow old day by day, but one day, they
suddenly become old without knowing why."
In the past twenty years, everyone praised my grandmother for her youthfulness, good teeth and
good appetite. Every year, she would join the sunset tour group with her old sisters.
It was not until the winter vacation two years ago that Zhu Jinxia finished supervising the last
paper and went home to celebrate the New Year one afternoon with a suitcase.
She called to ask if her grandmother was home, and her grandmother replied, "Yes, I'm waiting
for you at home."
Wish this summer: "..."
She clearly heard the sound of mahjong on the other end, and someone happily said, "Eighty
thousand, bang!"
Sure enough, when she got off the bus and just stepped into the community, she saw an old lady
in front of her, walking out of the community chess and card room.
The two people were walking one in front and one behind, only about ten meters apart. The old
man had a hunched back and was trembling as he walked towards home.
For a moment, Zhu Jinxia couldn't even recognize herself.
Is that grandma?
Zhu Jinxia clearly remembered that her grandmother's hair was iron gray, but the old lady in front
of her had gray hair, a hunched back, and a shrunken figure, as if she had just walked out of the
dwarf country in a fairy tale.
She tentatively called out "Grandma", and it was not until the old woman turned around slowly
that she confirmed that it was her grandmother.
Grandma turned around slowly. Not only were her movements slow, but her eyes seemed out of
focus. She squinted for a long time before recognizing Zhu Jinxia. Then she smiled with wrinkles
on her face and said, "You're back, my dear."
Outside the truck, there was the overwhelming sound of wind and rain, and inside the truck,
there was a very light wish for this summer.
"At that moment, I suddenly realized that the only relatives I had left in this world would also
leave me in the near future."
It was a countdown, the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads.
At the same time, keep your eyes forward and drive as steadily as possible to protect people
around you from the bumps.
But in a place that Zhu Jinxia had never seen, the pair of hands gripping the steering wheel
seemed to be holding too tightly, and the knuckles were slightly white.
Time reminded him of his mother who abandoned him when he was nine years old, and also of
the people who got separated along the way. Uncle Wang raised many children, some of whom
never came back after leaving the mountains, and some of whom would visit him during festivals.
He also thought of Uncle Wang and what the doctor had said: "It was only in the past two years."
The car fell into silence.
After a long while, time finally said: "In life, no one will always be with you. Be it your parents,
friends or partners, most people will only accompany you for a part of your journey. But after one
part, there will be new companions for the next part, so don't worry about being alone."
Just like the central school, teachers come and go, and although their faces are changing, for
Uncle Wang, as long as the cycle continues, everything is meaningful.
Zhu Jinxia smiled and said, "Should I thank you for accompanying me along this journey?"
"You're welcome." Shi Xu also smiled, "I just hope that I walked fast enough on this section of the
road, keeping up with your pace and not falling behind."
Zhu Jinxia remained silent, turned her head to look at him for a moment, and as time went by,
her heart began to hang in her throat, as if she was being held up in the air.
He remained calm and did not look back at her, only staring at the rain in front of him that
seemed to never dry up.
After a while, I heard her whisper, "More than that, you're not holding me back, you're actually
carrying me."
In less than three months since coming to the mountains, he had taught her countless lessons.
Yesterday's decisiveness, today's freedom, and her rapid progress were all related to him.
After Zhu Jinxia said this, the car returned to silence again.
After turning countless corners, the outline of Niuzan Town finally appeared faintly in the rain.
The roads in the town were narrow and the trucks could not enter, so they could only park in an
open space outside the town as before.
Shixu turned off the engine, unbuckled his seat belt, and turned back to look at her before getting
out of the car.
He said, "I wish you all the best this summer. Even if this journey is over, I hope you can continue
to fly, fly farther, fly higher, even if there are three snow-capped mountains with an altitude of
more than 4,000 meters between us, I must still be able to see you."
After saying that, without waiting for Zhu Jinxia to reply, Shi Xu opened the car door first and
rushed out quickly.
The rain was still going on. There was no umbrella in the car, and even if there was one, it would
not be able to withstand the torrential rain.
Time moved from the driver's seat to the co-pilot seat, opened the door on Zhu Jinxia's side,
quickly took off his leather jacket, and lifted the clothes high to cover the small piece of sky above
the woman's head.
"Use this to block the rain. Run faster and try to avoid getting wet."
Zhu Jinxia was startled, looking at his short-sleeved shirt that was almost soaked in seconds, and
stretched out her hand to push it away, "What are you blocking? Put it on!"
"For those who grew up in the mountains, a little rain doesn't matter."
"It's raining so hard, what can a piece of clothing protect us from?" Zhu Jinxia was anxious and
pushed him twice, "Time sequence!"
Time is unmoved, "I can block as much as I can, so I'll take it."
Both of them were very stubborn, but Shixu was too strong and Zhu Jinxia couldn't get away from
him. Watching the rain pouring down on him like a waterfall, Shixu could hardly open his eyes.
She was anxious, so she jumped out of the car and ran away quickly.
For some reason, Shi Xu was not surprised, as if he had guessed that she would have this reaction
and that he would not be able to defeat her.
This woman is as stubborn as a donkey.
He chased after them, both angry and amused, and lifted his jacket over their heads.
"Is this okay?" He glanced at her from under his jacket, his tone very impatient, "Block them
together!"
Someone else might be frightened by the tone and look, but Zhu Jinxia knew that Shixu was a
paper tiger, so she was not afraid of him at all.
She raised her head and glanced at him hastily, knowing that the space was small, the distance
was too close, and the posture was inappropriate, so she should refuse, but somehow she didn't
say anything.
In fact, the jacket can't block much rain. The wind is so strong that the rain can hit my face with
the wind.
But she acquiesced.
"run!"
At Shi Xu's command, the two of them quickly ran towards the only street in the town.
He deliberately slowed down his pace, and she tried to speed up. In a short time, they found a
delicate balance and ran side by side in the rain.
This reminds Zhu Jinxia of the rainy days in her childhood. If it suddenly started raining on the
way home from school, the friends who were lining up together to go home would run wildly in
the rain. The group would be a huge group, laughing and screaming like bandits.
The jacket was draped over their heads, and the air was filled with his scent, like grass, like wind,
like the fresh, dry trees in the mountains, and a hint of soap.
Most of the clothes were covering her head, and his arm was still firmly attached to the side of
her shoulder.
He was only wearing short sleeves and she was also wearing a sleeveless top. There was only a
layer of wet rain water between their skin, and they rubbed against each other while running.
Soon, the cold rain water became scalding hot.
Zhu Jinxia didn't know whether Shishu noticed it, or maybe she was the only one who couldn't
ignore it. Even if she tried her best to focus on her feet, her right arm gradually became hot, as if
it was burned by fire, which made her feel uneasy.
She didn't know where they were running to. The rain was so heavy that she couldn't tell the
direction or even see the road under her feet.
She just instinctively followed the flow of time and it didn't matter where she went.
It seemed like they had been running for a very long time and yet it also seemed like only a few
minutes had passed. Time finally stopped and grabbed Zhu Jinxia and jumped onto the curb.
She looked up, panting, and saw the familiar street and the familiar door.
Long wooden planks were stuck in the crack of the door. Shi Xu moved them one by one and
pulled Zhu Jinxia in.
The cement floor was polished smooth and shiny by time. There were reading glasses and an
open book on the eight-immortals table. Neatly arranged and densely packed Chinese medicine
cabinets lined the walls - this was her second time here.
Aunt Fang was in the mountains and once again sheltered them.
The room was dark. Shixu was dripping with water. He didn't bother to turn on the light. He
threw his leather jacket on a stool beside him, turned around to look at the person who was also
soaked, and suddenly laughed.
Zhu Jinxia was shaking off the water by the door. She was stunned for a moment when she heard
the voice and turned around to look at him.
"It's raining so hard, is there water in your brain?"
Time is still laughing, one laugh after another, and there is clearly audible joy in the laughter.
"..." Zhu Jinxia was annoyed, "Just gloat over other's misfortune!"
Now I can neither leave nor go back.
She muttered, glancing at the stormy sky outside, "What bad luck, it rains so heavily today."
"Yes." Shixu said, "It's unlucky that it rains heavily today."
Zhu Jinxia paused, squinted her eyes and looked back: "...Why do you sound so happy?"
"Shouldn't we?" Shixu's eyes fell lightly on her face, and he laughed again, "Just let it rain. I hope
it will rain all the time, preferably until next year, or even until the end of the world."
“…”

Chapter 59
"Just let it rain. I hope it keeps raining. It would be best if it rains until next year. It would also be
good if it rains until the end of the world."
Hearing this, Zhu Jinxia's heart skipped a beat. He looked up at the time sequence. His sharp-
edged profile was like a charcoal pencil outline on white paper. The room was dark and there was
no light, and the outside was stormy and rainy, but he had a calm and bright look.
Noticing her gaze, he turned around, with a lazy curve at the corner of his lips, but his eyes were
dark, like the dark clouds outside, threatening to cover the sky.
Zhu Jinxia was at a loss for words. He looked away for a long time before saying dryly, "If it really
rains until next year, the central school will be flooded, right?"
"It's flooded, so it's flooded. I can resign openly and honestly. It's just the right thing for me to not
have to be the principal anymore." Shi Xu looked up at the sky and smiled indifferently.
I wish this summer just thought he was joking.
"What should we do now?"
She looked at the time, then at herself. They were like drowned rats. Just a short while after
entering the house, a puddle of water had already accumulated on the ground. Her hair was
sticky to her face, and her clothes were tangled with her skin. She felt very uncomfortable.
Without any hesitation, Shixu took off his wet clothes and put them on a chair beside him.
The man's body suddenly appeared in the field of vision, like branches and leaves stretching out
in the light, broad, upright and slender.
Zhu Jinxia's heartbeat became chaotic again, and she subconsciously looked away. She heard him
say, "Wait a minute, I'll make a call."
He can go shirtless, Zhu Jinxia is a girl after all.
Shi Xu called Aunt Fang and said that the incident happened suddenly. They broke into her house
and asked Aunt Fang if there were any clean clothes in her house that they could lend to Zhu
Jinxia.
Zhu Jinxia didn’t hear the previous message until Aunt Fang suddenly raised her voice: “What?
You let her go?”
There was a slight pause, and it was a little funny. "Aunt Fang, the legs are on her body, why do
you ask me to let her go? It's her business whether to go or not, and I can't make the decision."
Aunt Fang kept scolding him for being stupid, saying that he was crazy, that he had been a
bachelor for thirty-three years, and that he finally met a girl he liked, but he was willing to let her
go.
"Do you really want to be single for the rest of your life?"
The sound was so loud that even though there was a storm outside, the roaring sound could still
be heard from the phone.
Wish this summer: "..."
Looking back at the sequence of events, as soon as Aunt Fang raised the decibel level, he
automatically moved a few centimeters away from the receiver, and took the time to glance at
Zhu Jinxia's face. She saw that her nose was not a nose, and her eyes were not eyes. She tried
hard to pretend that she heard nothing, but it was no use——
Her embarrassment and uneasiness could be seen from the sudden blush on her cheeks, not to
mention the toes rubbing unconsciously on the ground.
He wanted to appreciate her embarrassment, but water was still dripping from her body. If this
continued, she would get sick.
Shi Xu gently interrupted Aunt Fang: "How about you tell me where the clean towels and clothes
are first, and then I'll find them for her, and then you can continue to scold me?"
Aunt Fang: “…”
"Or if you can't wait, you can let me look for it while you scold me?" Shi Xu suggested kindly.
Aunt Fang: “………………”
Following Aunt Fang's instructions, Shi Xu went into the inner room. When he came back, he still
held the phone to his ear in one hand and handed the towel and clothes to her with the other.
"Go in and change."
When Zhu Jinxia took the soft fabric and walked in, she heard Aunt Fang's voice coming from the
receiver.
"Have you found them all?"
"I found it."
"Can I continue to curse?"
"You scold." He was calm and patient.
Wish this summer: "..."
Aunt Fang’s clinic doesn’t look big, but when you lift the curtain, there’s a whole new world
behind it.
There is a small window in the bedroom, and outside the window is a small courtyard. Outside
the courtyard is a small river, which is probably a branch of the Jinsha River that is so small that it
cannot be any smaller. It passes through Niuza Town and passes by Aunt Fang's yard.
Normally there wouldn't be much water in the ditch, but today due to a heavy rain, the water
volume increased sharply and was rushing forward happily.
Zhu Jinxia looked at the towel in her hand. It was brand new, with the tag still on. Shixu found a
cotton skirt with a white background and blue flowers for her. It was a basic sleeveless style
without a waist. It was very much like the one her grandmother wore when she was a child, soft
and cool.
She still remembered that every summer, the old ladies in the residential area would wear such
flowery skirts, and in the evening, they would hold cattail leaf fans and fan themselves under the
trees in the community to cool off, fanning themselves occasionally.
She smelled the clothes and there was still a faint smell of soap.
After taking off her wet outer clothes, Zhu Jinxia discovered the problem: her underwear was also
wet. What should she do?
Do you want to take it off together?
But if you take it off, won’t it just be… empty?
I wish this summer: fall into silence.jpg.
Clothes can be borrowed from Aunt Fang, but underwear cannot be borrowed. What's more, this
cotton skirt has a white base and looks quite translucent.
There was only a layer of curtain separating the inside and outside of the door. Zhu Jinxia heard
Shixu was still talking to Aunt Fang, and she didn't want to interrupt him, so she had to hold the
clothes, lift the curtain, and walk behind him again.
On the phone, Aunt Fang said in a loud and powerful voice, "How dare you say you don't like
her?"
"If you say so, then so be it. You won't listen to anything I say anyway." Shi Xu tried to settle the
matter peacefully. "I'll give her the clothes. I'll buy you new ones someday."
Aunt Fang sneered and snorted, "Do I need you to buy me new ones? I'm much richer than you!
You and your uncle Wang, you two are poorer than each other. This morning, when I saw Zam
changing the old man's clothes, I realized that your family is so poor that even your underwear
has to be patched up! One is not enough, he patched three and still wears them!"
Shi Xu was about to explain when he suddenly saw a shadow under his feet. Turning back, he saw
Zhu Jinxia's eyes sizing him up and down, right at his lower body.
“…”
I am not, I didn’t, please don’t accuse me.
When I looked again, I realized that she hadn't changed her clothes.
Without the time to joke with Aunt Fang, Shi Xu hung up the phone and asked Zhu Jinxia, "Why
don't you change? Do the clothes not fit?"
"no."
"what is that?"
Zhu Jinxia didn't tell him the reason, she just looked around and said, "Aunt Fang, do you have an
umbrella? Lend it to me. I'm going back to the car to get something."
"What do you want?" Shixu said quickly, "I'll help you."
"No, I'll go by myself."
"It's raining so hard that there's water on the road." Shi Xu glanced at the white sneakers on her
feet and frowned, "I'm wearing flip-flops, so it's more convenient for me to go."
Unable to refuse, after a few more words of nagging, Zhu Jinxia became a little anxious and finally
couldn't help but said, "Okay, I want to get some clean underwear, so you go?"
Time sequence: "..."
He took a black umbrella from the corner, opened it and walked quickly into the rain, "Wait for
me here."
……?
Zhu Jinxia rushed to the door, "No, hey!"
No response.
"Time, come back!"
In the blink of an eye, the person was gone.
Wish this summer: "..."
She was obviously being sarcastic, who asked him to really get the underwear? !
After sitting there restlessly for a while, Zhu Jinxia finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw
Shixu coming back with a suitcase.
Fortunately, he didn't actually open the box and came back with the underwear.
There was water on the ground and it couldn't be mopped. Shi Xu carried the suitcase in one
hand and held an umbrella in the other, and stepped out from the rain in the blink of an eye.
The box was dripping, and so was everyone else. In such horrible weather, umbrellas were
completely useless.
The box was filled with his belongings from the past few months, and it was conservatively
estimated to weigh about 30 to 40 kilograms, but he actually carried it back with his bare hands.
Zhu Jinxia hurriedly took it, and when she saw a red and white mark on his hand, her eyes froze.
Shi Xu calmly put away the umbrella and folded his palms without leaving any trace. "Go change
your clothes."
Zhu Jinxia changed into clean underwear and put on Aunt Fang's silk skirt, and she felt much
more refreshed.
The timing was rather tragic. Aunt Fang had been alone all her life, and there had never been a
man in her family, so of course there were no men's clothes. She could only take off her soaked
shirt, but her lower body was still wearing wet pants.
After all, being shirtless was unsightly, so he picked up a clean towel and hung it around his neck,
trying not to expose himself.
Zhu Jinxia’s comment: The last fig leaf for contemporary civilized people.
Shixu went into the kitchen to boil a pot of water. When he came out with the kettle, the towel
was swinging back and forth around his neck, and those two points were struggling between
being exposed and not being exposed. A thin waist, a broad chest, a flat belly, and a faintly
visible...
Zhu Jinxia murmured in her heart again: How come she seems even more erotic with the pipa still
in her arms and her face half covered?
She quickly stuffed two packets of stain remover into her head, and reminded herself not to look
blindly, but as soon as her sight moved, even the corner of her eyes could see those two spots.
A little desperate.
The timing of the dew point was unaware of the complex psychological activities of
contemporary scholars. He picked and chose in the medicine cabinet, got two pieces of orange
peel, soaked them in the teapot, and poured a cup for Zhu Jinxia.
"It's hot, it warms me up."
She had just been caught in the rain, her hair was wet and even the tip of her nose was red. She
picked up the water cup and took a sip, and then she recovered.
Shi Xu turned his head to look at the rain outside which was not letting up at all, "I guess I can't
leave today."
With this kind of rain, the river water must have risen sharply. Uncle Wan didn't run the ferry, and
they couldn't cross the Jinsha River. Even if they did, he couldn't let Zhu Jinxia drive over the
mountains in such a rainy day.
The weather was not good, and Zhu Jinxia could not leave. But Shixu looked up at the volunteer
teacher opposite him who was holding a cup and muttering to himself, "God is so inconsiderate."
He was lost in thought again -
Quite insightful actually.
He smiled silently, leaned back in his chair, and thought, one more day has passed, as if it were
stolen.
Moreover, there were no children or Dunzhu on this day, no bells from the central school, and no
idle people, only the two of them.
How could God not see clearly? If you ask him, this is called God opening his eyes.
——
Aunt Fang lives alone, and her family doesn't stock up on vegetables all year round. Anyway,
Niuzan Town is so small, with only one street. There are vegetable vendors on the left and
restaurants on the right, so she doesn't need to stock up on vegetables.
Sometimes when I was busy, I would stand at the door and shout, "Restaurant owner, bring me a
box lunch!"
It didn't take long before the boss sent food over.
Shi Xu didn't know her habits, so he just looked around the kitchen and found that there was no
food, but they still had to have lunch together.
It's windy and rainy outside, and an umbrella is useless. I just went to the car to get the suitcase,
and even with an umbrella, I still got wet.
Seeing that it was lunch time, he turned around and told Zhu Jinxia: "Wait for me here, I'll go to
the restaurant to pack some food."
Zhu Jinxia: "Why bother? Let's go together."
"Wait here." Shi Xu frowned and gave the order with the dignity of a principal.
So throughout the day, he went out several times. In addition to buying food, he also went to the
supermarket at the end of the street to buy fruits and snacks, and finally even bought a pair of
slippers.
Although we all brought an umbrella when we went out, we couldn't open it when we came back
because we had so many bags in our hands. In the end, we could only tuck the umbrella under
our arms and carry the bags with both hands.
The whole person looked like he had been fished out of the water, having never done anything
from beginning to end.
"Put it on."
When he came back for the last time, he took out a pair of slippers from the bag, unpacked them,
squatted down, and placed them in front of Zhu Jinxia.
Her sneakers were soaked, and it made her feet wet just by looking at them.
Zhu Jinxia was peeling fruit, holding a knife in one hand and a half-peeled apple in the other.
Seeing this, he wanted to put down his things and wash his hands, but time stopped him.
"You cut yours, I'll do it."
"Hey? Stop it——" Zhu Jinxia retracted her foot, and before she could refuse, someone grabbed
her ankle.
?! ?!
Before she could react, her shoes were pulled off, and her socks were also pulled off, and in the
blink of an eye, she had a pair of slippers on her feet.
His hot palms burned her like charcoal, and then disappeared in the blink of an eye, like a brief
illusion.
Wish this summer: "..."
Watching him take away her shoes and socks as usual, she felt so ashamed and angry that her
ears turned red.
"Timing!"
But when he turned back, his face was calm, "What?"
Wish this summer: "#￥@%……&*（!"
She couldn't stand it any longer, her face flushed as she said, "Can you please pay attention to
your boundaries? I'm a married person after all!"
Shixu hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why, touching your feet is considered cheating?"
“…”
Shi Xu curled his lips again: "It doesn't matter. You won't be married for many days anyway. Isn't it
time to go back and get a divorce?"
“………………”
After Shixu went into the inner room and came out again, he said, "The shoes are hung on the
porch in the backyard. They are not exposed to the rain. Let's let them dry in the wind and see if
they can dry in the morning."
He opened the plastic bag from the supermarket again, "Blow dry your hair, don't catch a cold."
Zhu Jinxia looked carefully and found that he had actually bought a new hair dryer!
“…”
Zhu Jinxia was speechless: "Why buy this? How many times can it be used? I have to leave after
today..."
"Yeah." Shi Xu smiled indifferently, "So I won't be able to spend money very often, so just let me
spend as much as I want."
He handed over the hair dryer and there was a brief silence in the air.
He had obviously changed into clean clothes, and he was obviously the one who was soaking
wet, but Zhu Jinxia felt as if his whole body and the heart in his chest were soaked in cold water.
She looked down at his tattered flip-flops, then at his shorts that were still dripping with water,
and finally up to his face, who was looking at her quietly with clear eyes.
Zhu Jinxia felt uneasy when being looked at like that and looked away involuntarily, but suddenly
noticed that there was something in the supermarket bag next to her, but she couldn't see clearly
what it was through the plastic bag.
"What else did you buy?" she asked in a daze.
Shixu said nothing, took out a cup of instant milk tea from the bag and placed it on the table.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes fell on the cup and she was stunned again.
"I saw it in the supermarket and bought it casually." Shixu spoke in a flat tone.
Really? You just bought it?
It was as if an invisible hand was grabbing her heart, and Zhu Jinxia had some difficulty breathing.
She vaguely recalled the day she came down from the mountain. She witnessed Uncle Wang
falling ill, tried to communicate with Weicheng by letter but failed, and had a quarrel with Yu
Xiaoshan because of the fight between Xiaxiram and Jiacuo... Everything went wrong that day,
and she was like an unpredictable landmine.
It was also on that day that Shixu drove five hours to and from the county town to buy milk tea
for her. The small label had the ingredients: coconut flakes, pearls, tea jelly, red beans, boba, milk
jelly...
He added everything that could be added.
On WeChat, he asked her if it tasted good, and she replied: It’s awful.
But after thinking about it, I added: Next time, only add red beans and three parts sugar.
Time seemed to have passed in a flash, but today, when he "casually" bought milk tea from the
supermarket, it was red bean milk tea.
Even though he said he didn't need her to repay him, even though she had nothing to give him in
return, there was still an impulse like a burning fire in her heart, driving her to do something.
Zhu Jinxia didn't say anything, nor did she take the cup of milk tea. She stood up in her new
slippers and searched the wall for a long time in silence.
Shi Xu asked her, "What are you looking for?"
She didn't answer either. Finally, she found a power strip in the corner, plugged in the hair dryer,
and pulled out a chair in front of the eight-immortal table: "Sit down."
Time sequence: "?"
"Just sit down if I tell you to." His tone sounded cold. She didn't look at him, but just lowered her
head to fiddle with the hair dryer and test the wind setting.
Shi Xu looked at her with her head lowered. Her wet hair covered her cheeks, but her red eyes
were faintly visible.
He paused slightly, as if he knew what she was going to do.
He sat down.
She stood behind him.
"Look up." She said calmly.
He did as he was told.
When the hair dryer started, warm wind blew from behind him, and a hand gently stroked his
hair, like a mother touching her child.
There was a moment of trance in the sequence, as if the wind was not blowing on the top of the
head, but on the chest; the hand was not plucking the hair, but the heartstrings.
They listened to the roar of the hair dryer in silence, and the sound of wind and rain in the
distance.
He closed his eyes and heard the person behind him say amid the noise: "Since you've already
bought it, you might as well use it a few more times."
——This counts as using it once more, doesn’t it?
Shixu also smiled, and after a while he said, “Many things are good enough once they happen.”
——
That night, there was sudden lightning and thunder.
There was only a single bed in Aunt Fang's bedroom. Before going to bed at night, Shi Xu spread
out the sheets and quilt cover and let Zhu Jinxia sleep on it. She then brought two benches
together and slept next to the medicine cabinet in the outer hall.
Until there was a sudden thunder in the middle of the night, he woke up from his dream, got up
silently, and carried the stool to the corridor outside the bedroom.
Separated by a curtain, Zhu Jinxia had already been awakened by the thunder and lightning, and
when she heard the noise, she couldn't help but sit up.
"Time sequence?"
"Yeah." He lay down on the bench again, "It's me."
Zhu Jinxia didn't ask him why he moved to sleep at the door. After a long while, she said vaguely,
"Didn't I tell you that I'm not afraid of thunder anymore."
"Yeah, I know." Shi Xu said in a normal tone, "I'm scared. So you have to protect me with all your
might."
“…”
I want to laugh this summer, but as soon as I open my mouth, my eyes become hot.
She wanted to say, "You're talking nonsense. You're not afraid of anything. The word 'afraid'
doesn't exist in your dictionary." But the joke kept going around in circles on her lips, but only
two words came out of her mouth.
"Thanks."
She buried her face in the quilt and smelled the aroma of buckwheat husks in the pillow. The man
outside the curtain whispered in response and told her to go to sleep.
Twenty-nine-year-old Zhu Jinxia, on a rainy night with thunder and lightning in the summer long
after she became an adult, was once again protected by someone to weather the thunderstorm.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep peacefully.

Chapter 60
When the sky brightened, Shixu woke up on the bench and subconsciously turned his head to
look at the sky.
…The rain has stopped.
He sat up with a gloomy face and stretched his stiff back.
The person in the bedroom was still sleeping, and his even breathing could be faintly heard
through the curtain. Shi Xu listened outside the curtain for a while, then walked out of the yard
quietly.
He stood under the eaves, looking speechlessly at the big red sun in the sky. The weather
changed so quickly that there was no trace of yesterday's wind, rain, lightning and thunder.
But we know rationally that it is impossible for the rain to last until the end of the world, so a
stolen day is already a pleasant surprise.
Thinking of this, Shi Xu looked back at the small window of the bedroom. The curtains were not
drawn tightly, and he could vaguely see the quilt on the bed piled up like a small hill. The person
inside was curled up in a ball, sleeping like a child, with no sense of security at all.
She was lying on her side, facing him.
After a day's rest, the sun began to show off its might again, shining into the house through the
gaps in the curtains and climbing up her face arrogantly.
I wish I started to sleep restlessly this summer and my brows gradually furrowed.
Shi Xu knew that with the intensity of ultraviolet rays in the mountains, she would be quickly
woken up by the burns, but the curtains were in the house and he could not reach them.
Before he could react, he had already taken a few steps forward, standing outside the window
and blocking the gap with his body.
Now the light couldn't harass her anymore, it all hit him in the face.
Shixu felt the scorching heat and cursed in his heart. What was he doing? Standing guard? Was
he not satisfied with being a principal and changed his career to become a security guard, or was
he pretending to be a parasol?
This kind of stupid behavior is very unlike him, and more like something that only Dunzhu would
do.
He was endlessly mocking himself in his heart, and mocking his brothers at the same time, but
despite his thoughts, his body was still honestly blocking the window. As the sun gradually rose
and the light moved, he occasionally looked back and adjusted his position, trying to block out
the light completely.
The wind blows the leaves in the forest, and birds sing from time to time.
When Zhu Jinxia opened her eyes drowsily, she was startled to see a figure outside the window.
Everything she saw was unfamiliar. She sat up and looked around, then she remembered that a
heavy rain had trapped them last night, so they had to change their route to Niuzan Town and
stay the night at Aunt Fang's clinic.
He looked out the window again.
...What is he doing?
She looked at him puzzledly, standing outside like a shadow, moving with the light, and
occasionally taking a step...
Zhu Jinxia's eyes moved and she quickly realized that he was helping her block the light.
Because of his presence, not a single ray of sunlight leaked through the window.
...How long has he been standing outside?
It's like squeezing out the juice from an unripe fruit, and my heart feels full and sour.
Zhu Jinxia got up from the bed, walked to the window barefoot, pulled open the curtains and
pushed open the glass window.
"Time sequence?"
Shi Xu's back froze, and he turned around and asked, "Awake?"
The next second, he saw her feet without slippers on the floor, and frowned, "The floor is cold,
put on your shoes."
"What are you doing standing outside?"
Zhu Jinxia pretended not to know, turned around, put on her slippers and walked to the bed
again, and pulled her messy hair, trying to make it look less like a mess.
Shi Xu's gaze fell on a handful of fish that had escaped the net on her head. He tried to hold back,
but couldn't help but raised his hand to brush it away for her.
"Swearing in the street."
“…Who are you scolding?”
"Oh my God." Shi Xu said calmly, "He sent him down to the end of the world, but it stopped in
one night."
Wish this summer: "..."
"I was just saying yesterday that God has opened his eyes." He corrected his earlier assessment
somewhat harshly, "I can only say that he has opened his eyes, but not much, just a crack."
Zhu Jinxia couldn't hold it back and burst into laughter, and when she looked at him again, even
though he was scolding her, there was still a broad smile in his eyes.
Well, yesterday stayed at yesterday. After the sadness, they still have to be on the road, so why
not be happier?
The two of them had such a tacit understanding, and the rest of the journey was indeed very
easy, and they returned to their usual state of making jokes and arguing with each other.
When they left Niuzan Town, Shi Xu took her to the noodle shop at the town entrance for
breakfast. Perhaps he had some obsession with the family portrait, so he made her another bowl
of luxurious beef noodles with extra ingredients, while his own bowl was still mediocre.
He also asked her if she wanted to drink milk, and he went to the supermarket next door to buy
some.
Zhu Jinxia thought about it, nodded and asked for a box of pure milk. While he was shopping, she
pushed the beef and offal in her bowl into his bowl.
When time came back, I saw that the bowl was half full.
The instigator sat aside smugly, folding his arms and saying that they should share the happiness.
His arrogant and domineering look reminded people of the time when she first arrived on the
boat and ordered him to jump down to get the box.
I was speechless at that time, but now I feel a little nostalgic. The blind boxes sent by fate are
always unexpected.
Shi Xu stood at the door for a long time before he stepped in. He curled his lips, inserted the
straw into the milk, handed it to her, and saw her drinking it madly. He said, "A starving ghost
reincarnated? Drink slowly."
Zhu Jinxia snorted while holding the straw in her mouth, "What's the matter? The rain hasn't
fallen until the end of the world, but you still want me to drink until the end of the world?"
Time sequence: "..."
Sequence: "Okay, you can poke me wherever it hurts. Do you think you are going to run away
soon? I am too far away to do anything to you."
"Yeah, what can you do?" She glanced at him lightly.
Shi Xu chuckled, "I wish you all the best this summer. You are going back to Mianshui, not to the
moon. If there is a weekend or a winter or summer vacation, I can take a car to your doorstep to
fight you. So I'll give you a little immature advice. Leave some space for us so that we can meet
again in the future?"
See you later?
Zhu Jinxia's heart was moved, and the words to retort were on the tip of her tongue, but what
came out of her mouth was: "Then it's a deal."
Shi Xu paused, "Is it a deal?"
Wasn't he talking about fighting?
Zhu Jinxia gulped down the milk and said as he walked out: "I'll wait for you to come to Mianshui
to find me..."
After a moment, "Fight!" he added, making things even more obvious.
Shi Xu looked at her back, a smile escaped his lips, he picked up the bags, and followed her with
brisk steps.
The noodle shop was at the entrance of the town, and not far from the parking lot was the empty
space. She walked very slowly, and he also deliberately slowed down. Even though the suitcase in
his hand was really heavy, he had the thought that it would be best if he could walk until the end
of time and never reach his destination.
Unfortunately, the journey is long and arduous, but one must return home one day.
Sitting on the truck, Shixu handed the bag in his hand to her.
"I bought some snacks and drinks. We'll be on the road for a long time, so I'll fill my stomach if
I'm hungry."
Zhu Jinxia had a meal and opened the bag. In addition to the snacks she was familiar with, there
were also two oxygen tanks.
"There is an oxygen gap when you are climbing over many mountains. If you get altitude sickness,
just take a few breaths." He seemed to remember something and said slowly, "Don't go back to
Mianshui. The first thing you do when you get off the car is to kowtow to passers-by."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia wanted to curse, but when she met his dark and bright eyes, she laughed out loud.
"I know." She rolled her eyes. "I let you take advantage of me without realizing it. Do you think
you can let others take advantage of you?"
Shi Xu asked back: "Oh, so I am the only one who can take advantage of you?"
After seeing her choke up, he said nothing more. He glanced at Zhu Jinxia and saw that she was
still holding the boiled egg that she had not eaten for breakfast. Perhaps because of his stingy
temperament, she also started to cherish food and learned to pack up the food she had not
finished.
He smiled again, and without rushing to leave, he took the egg from her hand and tapped it
gently on her head - snap, the shell broke.
I wish you get hit unexpectedly this summer and cover your forehead.
"What are you doing!"
"Put your hand out." Shixu pulled out a piece of paper.
"......?" Zhu Jinxia spread out her hands in suspicion.
He spread the tissue in her palm and very patiently peeled the egg bit by bit, placing the shell in
her hand.
I wish this summer would realize later: …treat her as a trash can?
Just as the anger was about to burst out of his throat, he had already peeled a smooth and
complete egg in no time, and finally took away the paper and shell together and exchanged the
egg.
"Eat it."
"……?"
I hope this summer, look at the eggs and then look at the time sequence, and something will pop
up in your mind like mushrooms after rain.
That night when they were drinking in the bar, Shixu told her two stories, one of which was about
how his mother abandoned him alone in the mountains.
He said that when he was nine years old, the woman sent him to school for the last time before
leaving, put on new clothes for him, and had breakfast at a noodle shop at the entrance of town.
She also gently asked him if he wanted to drink milk or eat eggs.
Finally, she peeled the egg herself and fed him in small bites.
The egg in her mouth suddenly became hard to swallow, and it felt dry and choking like sand. Zhu
Jinxia looked up at the time and saw from his slightly gloomy eyes that he, like her, had fallen into
the quagmire of time.
So everything this morning was because of parting. When he was nine years old, his mother left
him in the narrow gap in a grand way in his eyes, and now he sent her off in the same way,
because he also thought this was a farewell forever.
We say we can see each other again, but why should we see each other again when our lives
have never intersected?
She clearly remembered that she had countless close friends in her childhood, and that they
were inseparable at every point in time when they separated.
"We will be good friends for life."
"Even if we go to different schools, I will call you every week."
"You'll always be my best friend."
They all took it seriously when they said it, but with the birth of new environments and new
friends, the weekly phone calls gradually fell by the wayside. No one will always be anyone's best
friend, but there will always be someone sitting on the best friend throne.
He is right, life is a series of separations.
I wish you can swallow the egg with difficulty this summer and force a smile.
She said, "Smile now, Shixu. Silang Yongjin is right, you look too fierce. You are really scary when
you don't smile."
The timing was not funny.
She reached out again and hesitantly patted the back of his hand on the steering wheel.
"I'm not her. I won't disappear." Zhu Jinxia said, "It only takes a day and a night to drive from
Mianshui to Yibo Township. I can come back anytime."
She assured solemnly: "Really, you believe me."
The pious look seems like a promise.
She thought, it's okay to believe in the words of a child again, who knows what will happen in the
future, but now she is eager to return here, desperate to not say goodbye to him forever.
The torrent of time has swept away too many people, and she doesn't want time to be one of
them.
…
On the Jinsha River, Uncle Wan blew the whistle again, and the dilapidated ferry cut through the
shimmering river surface, gently turning time back to the starting point.
They parted at the station in the county town.
There is only one minibus a day from the county seat back to Mianshui. If you miss it, you have to
wait until the next day.
The station is not big, and it has the style of the last century. Even the walls are white on top and
green on the bottom. Some people fall asleep on the seats, some stand aside and eat instant
noodles, and some people hesitate to go in at the ticket gate, holding hands and looking at each
other with tears in their eyes.
I hope this summer can't beat the schedule, he bought the tickets.
Every time she came, he seemed to be spending money. Thinking about it this way, it seemed a
good thing for her to leave early, so as not to make his already poor life worse.
According to regulations, people seeing someone off are not allowed to enter the ticket gate, but
the management in this small place is not strict. Shishu said hello to the security personnel, and
they let him in with them, and even joked, "Are you seeing your girlfriend off?"
Shi Xu smiled politely and said nothing, and Zhu Jin Xia also remained silent.
The uncle took it as their tacit agreement and praised them again: "The man is talented and the
woman is beautiful, what a perfect match!"
"Wait for me here."
After entering the station, Shi Xu carried her backpack in one hand and the shopping bag from
the supermarket in the other, found a seat near the front, put all her things away, and then
turned around and got off the bus.
By the time he put the suitcases into the lower level of the bus, there were only ten minutes left
before the bus departed.
The driver shouted loudly: "Everyone get on the bus, everyone get on the bus, the ticket checking
will start!"
Zhu Jinxia turned around and looked at Shixu, and he also looked at her silently.
A wrinkled black T-shirt, tattered flip-flops, and a bluish mist on his chin from not shaving for just
one day.
He hadn't changed at all, and looked exactly the same as when they first met, still the sloppy and
poor principal, but in her eyes he seemed to have a completely different meaning.
Behind him, above the high clouds, Mount Gongga appeared again. The sky was azure blue after
the rainstorm, and the sun shone brightly on the golden mountain.
The light hurt my eyes, and scene after scene flashed before my eyes like a kaleidoscope.
When they first met on the river, they were at loggerheads.
During his first class, he hid outside the classroom door and listened in secretly.
When I went to Niuzan Town to take a wooden barrel bath, he was guarding the door like a door
god.
Being chased by a drunk, he stood up for her like a bandit leader.
They went to the deserted hot spring to take a bath late at night, and he stood guard for her.
On her 29th birthday, he spent the whole day making rabbit noodles for her with great care, put
birthday candles on the cheap little cake, and asked her to make a wish.
He didn't ask her what she wished for, but her wish had come true -
I hope that no matter where you are or when, you will have the courage to fight for your
freedom.
But today, after her wish came true, she felt that if she had known that the gods in the mountains
were so powerful, she would have made a different wish.
She told herself to smile and wish this summer a happy life, and not cry when leaving.
But tears have their own consciousness.
I wish that when this summer bows her head, warm liquid will fall to the ground.
The driver reminded me a second time from behind: "Get on the bus, hurry up and get on the
bus, we're leaving!"
She cheered herself up, wiped away her tears, forced an ugly smile, and reached out to Shixu.
Got to say goodbye.
Say goodbye properly.
She was a little choked up, but still tried to smile and thanked him. She said thank you, Shixu,
thank you for so long -
Before she could finish her words, he grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her into his arms.
A solid hug cut off the rest of her words.
The smell on the man was not pleasant. After all, he had been caught in the rain and had
nowhere to take a shower or change clothes, but she still smelled a familiar scent.
As vast as the mountains, as clear and dry as the pine trees on the cliffs, with a hint of mint.
There was an extra hand on her back, he held her tightly, as if he wanted to embed her into his
body, with such force that Zhu Jinxia felt like she was on the verge of suffocation. She struggled a
little, and heard his voice coming from above her head: "Don't move."
I hope I won’t move this summer.
His strength decreased slightly, but he still did not let go.
"Just for a moment." She heard Shi Xu chuckle softly, "Just for a moment."
It was the same inactive tone as always, but she could hear his forbearance and restraint in it.
He rested his chin on the top of her head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The lush greenery and moist rainforest, he still remembered the name of the perfume, Untitled.
untitled.
Just like between them, even if they enjoyed the wind and the moon together, laughed and cried
together, in the end everything came to nothing.
Shi Xu closed his eyes, as if he wanted to remember the smell firmly. Finally, when the driver
honked his horn to urge him, he let go of his hand and took a step back.
"Bon voyage and have a great summer."
He smiled and looked deeply into her eyes.
The minibus drove out of the platform very quickly, and Shixu's face disappeared from the side
window so quickly that Zhu Jinxia could only look back to see him. The figure became smaller and
smaller, and after a moment, it disappeared along with the platform.
She stood up quickly and tried to catch the disappearing face, but in the end it was in vain.
The moment he disappeared, Zhu Jinxia lowered her head and covered her face, her palms
forming a warm lake.
Sitting next to me was a little Tibetan girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with rosy
highland red hair. She carefully handed me a tissue and said, "Sister, don't cry. Your crying makes
me sad."
She took the tissue, whispered thanks, and wiped away the tears that seemed never to dry.
"Who is that? Your boyfriend?" the girl asked.
"no."
"That's...your brother?"
“No.”
"Then why are you crying so sadly?"
I wish this summer to look up and watch the county town gradually disappearing outside the car
window, followed by endless green mountains and rushing rivers.
She thought she really shouldn't be sad.
For three months, they talked about everything except love; they did nothing, yet it seemed as if
they had done everything.
Who can say that is not love?
——
At Mianshui South Station, the person who came to greet us was Yuan Feng.
I hope to receive a text message from him before arriving at the station this summer: "Are you
entering the station?"
What era are you from? Why are you suddenly sending text messages?
Zhu Jinxia opened WeChat and sent a message saying "Just arrived at the station, the car hasn't
stopped yet", and soon received a red exclamation mark.
……?
She called him and asked, "You blocked me?"
Yuan Feng hesitated and just said that they could talk in detail when they met, and then gave his
location.
"When you come out of the West Plaza, you can see the 7-11 across the street. Turn left toward
it. After walking about 200 meters, you will see an alley. Go straight into the alley and turn right
at the end. I'll be waiting for you at a cafe called Wuming over here."
"..." Zhu Jinxia: "Is there a way for you to pick someone up? Do you still want me to come find
you?"
Yuan Feng: "It's hard to put it into words. It's hard to put it into words. You will understand when
you come here."
"I have a lot of bags and I don't have time to beat around the bush and engage in guerrilla
warfare with you. If I have the time, I might as well just take a taxi home."
I wish you a bad summer.
Yuan Feng knew he was in the wrong, so after hesitating for a moment, he compromised: "Okay,
okay, I'll be there right away. Then go down to the underground parking lot and I'll come find
you."
Ten minutes later, a strange black car stopped in front of him, and Zhu Jinxia didn't react.
The man in the car rolled down the window. He was wearing a baseball cap and a mask, and
sunglasses on his big face. He waved at her desperately like a thief, "Hurry up and get in the car,
hurry up, hurry up!"
As he spoke, he looked around.
Zhu Jinxia: "...convulsion?"
She gestured to Yuan Feng to hold his luggage in one hand and his bag in the other, "Won't you
help me put it down?"
Yuan Feng quickly opened the trunk and said, "Put it aside by yourself. This is an emergency. Get
in the car quickly!"
As soon as Zhu Jinxia got into the car, before she even sat down properly, he had already stepped
on the accelerator and flew out.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Did you change your car?"
"How can that be possible? This is my uncle's car."
"Where's your car?" Zhu Jinxia asked three questions in a row, "Why did you delete me? And with
this look on your face, did you just rob a bank?"
"Don't mention it." Yuan Feng took off his sunglasses, his hat, and finally his mask, and said
unhappily, "Doudou and I had a quarrel and didn't let me pick you up. Not only did he use my
phone to delete all your WeChat and QQ, he also called a few girlfriends to squat at the South
Station, saying that if they caught me, I would be in big trouble. I didn't even dare to drive my
own car, for fear that they would recognize me!"
Doudou is Yuan Feng's girlfriend, and also his and Zhu Jinxia's former high school classmate. She
was a lively girl when she was in school, with pierced ears and dyed blonde hair. She and Zhu
Jinxia, one is a top student and the other is a poor student, so naturally they could not like each
other.
But Zhu Jinxia is aloof and has a people-pleasing personality, and would never be rude to others,
so she can still save face.
But Doudou couldn't help but dislike her.
The reason for disliking her is very simple. Zhu Jinxia and Yuan Feng were childhood friends who
grew up wearing open-crotch pants. It is said that they took baths together and slept naked when
they were babies.
Even though they are so pure that they have almost no gender characteristics in front of each
other, just like a third gender, Doudou still doesn't want Yuan Feng to associate with her.
At the beginning, Zhu Jinxia found herself blocked by Yuan Feng (his girlfriend) every other day. It
was not until she got together with Weicheng that Doudou turned his attention to other women
around Yuan Feng.
Because of this, Zhu Jinxia and Yuan Feng's contact became less frequent for a while, until they
both entered Mianshui University. Because of work, they saw each other every day, and then
they returned to normal.
Zhu Jinxia frowned: "What's going on? Wasn't she fine before? Why is she suspicious of me
again?"
Yuan Feng looked hopeless, "She said you're getting divorced soon, so I have another chance..."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia turned her head to look at her childhood friend. He used to be a handsome boy, but
now he is nearly 30 years old, fat and girthy, and sometimes gets crazy. What is Doudou worried
about?
"Am I blind?" She teased Yuan Feng, "Am I really that horny that I would rather leave a good
principal like you and mess around with you?"
"Hey, hey, how can you talk like that!" Yuan Feng was annoyed, "We should be united against the
outside world, why are you firing at me?"
Perhaps because Doudou had tormented him enough, Yuan Feng sighed and said that she hadn't
been nice to him for three days.
"You've been through this before, how about you give me some emotional advice?"
"What advice? Regarding relationship issues, I always suggest breaking up." Zhu Jinxia said
expressionlessly, "Why are you arguing about something that can be solved by breaking up? Do
you love each other very much? If you love each other very much, why are you arguing?"
Yuan Feng: “…”
Excuse me, he is out of his mind. Find a divorced person for relationship advice.
But Yuan Feng still couldn't help but say to her: "Zhu Jinxia, I find that your current mentality is a
bit problematic. How can you just break up so easily when you are in a relationship? What about
the good times you once had?"
Zhu Jinxia sneered: "It's seaweed."
Yuan Feng: “………………”
Okay, let’s not talk about feelings anymore.
In order to improve the food for the Transformation contestants who returned from the
mountains, Yuan Feng booked a private restaurant. The car turned around and drove into a
secluded path. The green bamboo at the door swayed gently in the breeze. When he stepped
into the garden, bamboo lanterns illuminated the small bridge and flowing water.
Zhu Jinxia watched all this in a trance. The mountains tried hard to catch up with the city, while
the city tried vainly to return to nature.
During the meal, Yuan Feng asked her if she wanted some wine since the transformation was
finally over, but Zhu Jinxia refused.
"What would you like to drink?"
She subconsciously said: "Butter tea——"
Before he finished speaking, he was stunned for a moment, then changed the subject and said,
"Let's have a Coke."
Yuan Feng looked at her and said nothing.
There were two people on the table, and most of the food was left over. Before leaving, Zhu
Jinxia asked the waiter to pack up.
Yuan Feng said, why pack it? Neither of us is good at cooking at home. Forget it. It will go bad in
the refrigerator if we take it home.
Zhu Jinxia looked down at the delicious food on the table and said with a smile, "Let's pack it up.
I'll microwave it tomorrow and eat it all."
Yuan Feng looked at her for a moment, called the waiter to pack up the food, got back into the
car with the packed box, and sent Zhu Jinxia back to the community.
Familiar routes, bright street lights, the city is brightly lit at night, and the nightlife has just begun.
Zhu Jinxia stared out the window in a trance. It was obvious that she had only not been back for a
few months, but she suddenly felt strange.
The car stopped for a short while when the light turned green. An old lady was selling gardenias
in a bamboo basket on the side of the road. She held up a bunch and asked her if she wanted any.
"Give me two, please."
Zhu Jinxia didn't bargain, paid the money, tied a string around the buttons on her collar, and
handed the string to Yuan Feng.
"Please forgive me. If I take this home, Doudou will definitely find it."
Zhu Jinxia raised her eyebrows: "Are you really not going to tell her that you are here to pick me
up?"
"Isn't it good to be alive?" Yuan Feng said softly.
"It's better to tell the truth and be honest. Even if she is angry, it will only be for a moment. If she
is found out of lying, the trust will collapse."
Zhu Jinxia was playing with the string of gardenias when she suddenly remembered what
someone once said.
"...The essence of a relationship should be to support each other's lives and become each other's
strength. It should be something that gives you the courage to move on when you think of each
other in difficult times." She repeated it in a low voice, suddenly laughed, and looked at Yuan
Feng again, "Lies can't support each other. My advice is, tell the truth."
There was silence in the car for a moment.
The evening breeze blows gently, and the fragrance of gardenia surges silently.
Yuan Feng turned his head to look at this childhood friend, and suddenly said, "Zhu Jinxia, I
noticed that you seem to be a completely different person after going into the mountains."
Zhu Jinxia asked: "What's different?"
"I can't really put it into words." Yuan Feng looked at her and smiled slowly, "I just feel like I'm
more real, more down-to-earth, and more relaxed, unlike before."
"What happened before?"
"I used to be so serious and pretentious, but now my emotions are all on my face."
"..." Zhu Jinxia said unhappily, "Thank you."
"I am serious."
Yuan Feng thought of the wishes she had made to him before she left. He sincerely believed that
Zhu Jinxia was a bird, but she had been locked in a cage before. Now that she had finally flown
out, she should fly higher and farther.
Now it seems——
"The soil and water in the mountains are really good for health. Look at you. After this trip, your
face has become much rounder and you look radiant."
Thinking of the conditions in the mountains, Zhu Jinxia said slowly: "How about I help you apply,
and you can go there to teach?"
"Then tell me, what is there in the mountains?"
"There are mountains and water, vultures, and herds of cattle and horses—"
"Come on, does your company still need horses and cattle?" Yuan Feng lost interest when he
heard it. "I do, and so do you. Every day when I go to work, everyone around me is a horse and
cattle. Do I really need to go to the mountains to look for them?"
I wish you a hearty laugh this summer, and then turn around and you’ll be home.
She took the suitcase out of the car, put on her bags, turned around to thank Yuan Feng, watched
the black car drive away before turning back, and suddenly stopped after taking a few steps.
There was a small truck parked outside the gate of the community. It was dark blue and covered
in dust, exactly the same as Lao Li's.
Zhu Jinxia's heart was pounding and he subconsciously looked towards the driver's seat.
……not him.
The middle-aged man opened the car door and sat inside waiting for passengers. The car was full
of apples, and on the small blackboard next to it was written: Red Fuji apples from the place of
origin, 10 yuan for three pounds.
What is she thinking about?
Zhu Jinxia almost wanted to laugh. She saw a similar truck and thought it was him.
However, I should tell him.
His heartbeat returned to normal. Zhu Jinxia let go of his luggage, slowly took out his phone from
his pocket, opened WeChat, and found the familiar avatar.
His profile picture remains unchanged for thousands of years, a minimalist sketch with a few blue
strokes outlining the mountains on a white background.
She looked down for a while and sent him a message: "I'm here."
The time sequence replied very quickly: "You just arrived now?"
Zhu Jinxia: "No, I arrived a while ago. My friends came to welcome me, and I just got home after
dinner."
There was a pause on the other end before the message "typing" was displayed.
Time sequence: "Okay, as long as we arrive safely."
Next post: "Rest early, you have worked hard during this period."
Social software is so pale. It isolates expressions, blocks tone, and only leaves cold text.
It makes the tone of time seem distant and alienated, official to the point of being almost
indifferent.
Zhu Jinxiaruoyouxsui replied with one word: "OK."
Then I picked up the suitcase and continued walking home. When I got home, I changed into
clean sheets and quilt covers, took a shower, and was even drying my hair, but I still felt bad.
After thinking about it, she poked the mountain open again.
On the other side, Shixu was in the classroom, logging into WeChat on his computer and
connected to a large PPT screen, where all the faculty and staff of the central school were sitting.
The state temporarily issued an urgent document for everyone to discuss, so he urgently called
everyone in. With WeChat open on his computer, he directly opened the file in the group for
everyone to browse.
When the new message arrived, I thought it was a notification in the group. After all, the
conversation with Zhu Jinxia had come to an end, but the messages in the group were still
continuing.
"Principal, are there any new instructions?" a teacher in the audience reminded.
The icon in the lower right corner was flashing, and I had no doubt about the timing.
Unexpectedly, when I opened it, a new dialogue window suddenly popped up.
"You're being too formal, Principal Shi. It's been less than 24 hours since the talented person left,
and you're already trying to socialize with me like a stranger?"
Before he could close it, the second one popped up.
"Do you know what ruthlessness means?"
Shi Xu raised his head and looked at all the faculty and staff who had just been sleepily
complaining about the problems of the Education Bureau and how they were making trouble in
the middle of the night. Now they were looking at him with bright eyes.
“…”

Chapter 61
On the third day after returning to Mianshui, Zhu Jinxia went to say goodbye.
The government service hall opened at 8 a.m., and she and Acropolis agreed to meet at 8:30.
She woke up very early that morning and went out early because she was afraid of traffic jams
during the rush hour.
Before eight o'clock, the morning sun was already high in the sky. At this point the sun was not
too hot, even a little gentle.
When Zhu Jinxia was waiting for a bus outside the community, she looked up for a while, took out
her mobile phone and took a few photos.
The office workers around me were in a hurry, and many of them looked up. After a quick glance,
they cast strange looks, as if asking what was so good about it.
They don't know that the sun at eight in the morning is a luxury. After all, in the narrow strip of
sky deep in the mountains, the sun never rises as early as eight. It's good if it can rise as early as
ten, and it sets early.
The sun there is never gentle. Once you encounter it, it will be like Pikachu emitting 100,000 volts
and will not stop until you are sunburned to a layer of skin.
I wish this summer arrives early. The service hall has just opened and there is already a long
queue outside the door.
Seeing that they had not arrived at the Acropolis yet, she went to a nearby convenience store to
buy breakfast. The store was filled with the smell of oden, and there were all kinds of breakfast in
the food cabinet, except for barley cakes and butter tea.
She only bought a bottle of hot milk and came out to sit on a bench by the roadside to drink it in
small sips.
Across the street is a primary school, full of children jumping around, and parents following
behind them with various schoolbags on their backs.
Zhu Jinxia drank her milk slowly, trying hard to distinguish the patterns on the schoolbag. There
were Spider-Man, Elsa, and many cartoon characters whose names she couldn't even remember,
but there were no beautiful female warriors or Detective Conan.
Things that were popular when I was a child are no longer seen today.
Once again, she felt the power of time. It seemed that people did not grow old slowly, but one
day when they looked up, they found that the years had suddenly passed.
On the adjacent bench, an old man was smoking a leaf pipe, with choking smoke wafting out of
the long pipe.
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help frowning. The next second, she suddenly made eye contact with an old
woman in a wheelchair. The old woman said in a rather loud dialect, "These old men nowadays
have no morals at all!"
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the pipe shaking in mid-air. The old man cursed, "If you don't
want to smell second-hand smoke, stay away," but he still stood up and walked away angrily,
holding the pipe.
I wish I couldn't help laughing again this summer.
As people came and went, the milk got cold, the sun disappeared into the clouds, and the line at
the entrance of the hall grew longer and longer. Finally, a pair of feet walked up to Zhu Jinxia and
stopped.
"Have you been waiting for a long time?"
The acquaintance between people is like a sunrise. In the anxious waiting, the sun is reluctant to
show up, but unexpectedly, after a long dawn, the red sun rises, but it only lasts for a blink of an
eye, a moment of brilliance.
Just like their marriage.
Zhu Jinxia looked up and saw Weicheng's thin face. He was still the same as when he entered the
mountain, so thin that his clothes couldn't hold him up, and he looked like an immortal. But he
had shaved his beard and cut his hair short, and he looked much neater.
Glancing at the empty milk in her hand, Weicheng couldn't help but say, "You're quite proactive.
You came so early. You can't wait, right?"
Zhu Jinxia seemed not to have noticed his sarcasm. She threw the empty box into the trash can
beside her and turned to ask, "Have you brought everything? If you have, go in."
“…”
Weicheng looked at her back and followed her silently.
The marriage registration office and the divorce registration office are in two adjacent offices. The
former is crowded with people, with many people queuing in the lobby; the latter is empty and
deserted, but Zhu Jinxia and Acropolis entered without any obstruction.
The next step was to sit in front of a double seat and fill out the information. Almost every
document required signatures from both parties.
The two of them had a tacit understanding. After signing one copy, they exchanged them.
Even when pasting the photos, Zhu Jinxia picked up the photo and Weicheng handed over the
glue; Weicheng used scissors to trim the outlines and Zhu Jinxia picked up the cut paper scraps.
I didn't expect that the tacit understanding that has been tempered over the years would be
reflected at this time. Even the staff couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"It should be fine." The clerk collected the documents and announced officially, "Within thirty
days from today, if either party raises an objection, the divorce procedure will be terminated. If
both parties have no objection, you can come back here one month from today to get the divorce
certificate."
When we walked outside the hall, the sun was already getting brighter and the line was still
getting longer.
Weicheng asked, "How are you going back?"
He came by car. Although the car was bought by Zhu Jinxia, she lived close to work and only
needed to walk to school in ten minutes, so he drove the car all the time.
In the divorce agreement, Weicheng asked for the car and half of the savings to be his. Zhu Jinxia
had no objection and was in agreement.
It was not her usual decent style to spend so much time calculating money at a time like this.
Zhu Jinxia replied: "Take a taxi."
Weicheng: "I'll take you there."
Zhu Jinxia glanced at the car, turned back and smiled, saying it was not on her way, so she didn't
need to take it.
She waved at the roadside, and a blue taxi just happened to pass by and stopped in front of her.
"Happy summer!" Acropolis' voice suddenly sounded behind him.
She turned around, but he didn't speak. He was holding the file bag, which was empty after
submitting all the information. His hands were clenched so tightly that they were almost fists,
and his knuckles were white from the exertion.
Zhu Jinxia got into the car, rolled down the window, and smiled brightly at him.
She said go back, Acropolis, thank you.
The blue taxi sped away. Weicheng wanted to ask her why she was thanking him, thanking him
for setting her free, or thanking him for his companionship over the years, but was the answer
really important?
Aunt Fang’s words rang in my ears.
"Does loving someone mean possessing him? Seeing him live happily makes me happy."
Weicheng loosened his hand and the file bag fell to the ground. He thought vaguely, she smiled
so brightly just now, she must be happy, right?
——
I hope that when I return to school this summer, I will find that the campus has been completely
renewed.
When I left three months ago, pink and purple morning glories were still blooming along the way,
and the lotus leaves in the lake in front of the library were just beginning to show their tips. Now
that I'm back, the morning glories have long withered and the lotus flowers are nowhere to be
seen.
In their place are the fragrant golden osmanthus and brilliant begonias.
She deliberately chose to arrive at school during lunch break in case the dean was in class and
she would be unable to find him.
Just as she reached the office door, she saw a familiar old professor with a white beard walking
towards her from the end of the corridor. He was staggering with a plastic bag in his hand at a
very fast pace. When he saw her, he paused and a look of guilt flashed across his face.
"Teacher!" Zhu Jinxia called him with a smile.
When he came closer, Zhu Jinxia finally understood why he felt guilty. A foul smell came from the
plastic bag, so fragrant that it could be smelled even before people came to it.
"Are you back?" The old man quickly opened the door and waved at her like a thief, "Come in
quickly and close the door!"
Zhu Jinxia did as she was told and glanced at the bag. "It's noon now, you don't want to eat, but
only stinky tofu?"
The dean's white beard shrugged, and after a long while he snorted, "You don't understand. After
dinner, you take a walk and eat another meal on the roadside."
"Where have you been walking around?"
She thought the cafeteria didn't sell this thing.
"……snack block."
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud, "No wonder you spent ninety-nine, you must have planned this in
advance."
"I can't help it. I just like it. But your wife thinks it stinks and won't let me eat it in front of her. So I
can only eat it secretly at school?" The old man opened the bag and handed over a pair of
chopsticks. "Together?"
He was prepared for Zhu Jinxia's rejection. After all, he knew his students best. This child was
reserved and polite, and he didn't usually get along with others. Although he was gentle, he
always kept a distance from others without leaving a trace.
She would never eat stinky tofu with her elders and leaders.
The chopsticks made a feint in the air and were about to be retracted, but he never expected that
Zhu Jinxia would intercept them halfway.
"OK."
She spoke cheerfully, took the chopsticks, opened the plastic bag, quickly picked up a piece of
stinky tofu from the bowl, and began to eat leisurely.
Dean: “…”
Only eight dollars in total!
Heartache!
Seeing that the girl had already started to eat the second piece, the dean quickly joined the
group eating and started eating first to show his respect.
The stinky tofu was quickly eaten up. The old man patted his belly and burped in a very careful
and graceful manner. He clenched his fist and put it to his mouth. However, the burp was too
loud and echoed throughout the office.
“…”
“…”
The dean's eyes wandered, pretending not to notice the expression on the other side, and
silently comforted himself in his heart.
…It’s okay. She’s not an outsider anyway. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this girl is his last
disciple. He was the one who supervised her undergraduate thesis, then her graduate student,
and then her doctorate…
I thought that after suffering in the mountains and going through a divorce, her face would be
sallow and peeling, but now I didn't expect that she was just a little tanned, and seemed to have
become rounder, with bright eyes.
"How are you? Are you living well in the mountains?" Zeng Yuan leaned back in his chair and
looked at her curiously.
I wish you a happy summer this year and say that everything is fine.
"Tell me, what new things have you seen?"
Zhu Jinxia thought about it and picked out a few things that impressed me the most.
For example, poverty - children have to carry woven bags to school, they cannot take a shower in
school, and the toilet conditions are terrible.
For example, the education level is backward - lower grades cannot speak Chinese, higher grades
cannot recognize all the characters, and English is not taught at all in primary school classes.
For example, the idealism deep in the mountains - Uncle Wang's founding of the school, Shi Xu's
succession, Aunt Fang's return to her hometown to practice medicine, and Lao Li's selfless
dedication.
Another example is some primitive and crude bureaucracy - representative figure: Doji.
The dean listened with great interest, "You have been staying on the university campus and have
never experienced the harsh beatings of society. Seeing these things can be considered a way to
broaden your horizons."
I wish you to remain silent this summer, and think to yourself, teacher, don’t you…
The old man couldn't hear her thoughts, so he asked again, "How's the divorce going?"
"I went to the Civil Affairs Bureau yesterday to complete the formalities. After another month of
the divorce cooling-off period, the dust will be settled."
"Little Wei didn't make a fuss?"
Zhu Jinxia briefly recounted what happened after Weicheng chased her into the mountains and
figured it out later.
The dean was amazed: "It seems that the water and soil in this mountain are really different. Can
a trip there cleanse your body and mind?"
Once again, he quoted Shakespeare's classic words: Adversity can test a person's character, and
extraordinary circumstances can show extraordinary integrity!
Finally, he raised his head, stroked his white beard, and said with emotion: "In this case, young
man, let me give you another word. Hugo also said that people are not born to hold chains, but
to untie their wings..."
The master and apprentice have been together for many years, and Zhu Jinxia has already figured
out his style. The old man has studied English and American literature for most of his life, and
suffered a lot during the Cultural Revolution in his early years, but he is optimistic and open-
minded. Even after experiencing the lowest point in his life, he is still willing to believe in the light
of literature.
He is fascinated by great masters such as Shakespeare, and loves to use classic quotes from books
to educate his children. Zhu Jinxia can almost memorize the famous quotes he often uses.
"Teacher." Zhu Jinxia, who had always been obedient, raised her hand for the first time today and
said sincerely, "I have an immature suggestion."
"Hmm?" Dean Zeng paused with a hint of surprise, "You go ahead."
Zhu Jinxia sighed: "Don't always give young people a word. What young people need most is not
a word."
"what is that?"
“It’s money.”
Zeng Yuan: “…”
The master and disciple looked at each other for a few seconds. Zhu Jinxia was the first to laugh,
followed by the dean who also laughed.
He looked at the sly smile on his little disciple's lips and pointed at her. He wanted to say that
your rebellious period came a little late, but what came out of his mouth turned into a sigh.
"That's great. Going to the mountains makes you look a lot more cheerful."
Zhu Jinxia was slightly stunned and her smile faded a little.
"In the past, how could you have eaten stinky tofu with me? Not to mention interrupting me or
teasing me." The old man nodded at her, "Look, you came to school in a T-shirt and shorts, with
no makeup on. You were not like this before. You always dressed yourself up as if you were going
to the founding banquet at the Great Hall of the People."
Zhu Jinxia looked down and said, "...I will pay attention next time."
"What are you paying attention to? This should have happened a long time ago."
He always felt that she lived a harder life than her peers. Later, when he learned about her life
experience, he understood the reason. She was a child tattooed by her mother-in-law, and the
rules and burdens were deeply rooted in her bones.
Now, the 29-year-old apprentice sat across the table in a relaxed manner, looking at him with a
smile, with a mischievous and cunning look in his eyes that had never been seen before.
Perhaps she herself did not realize that some burdens seemed to have been unloaded in the
mountains, while some simpler and purer childlike innocence was inadvertently picked up by her
and brought back to the city.
Before leaving that day, the dean couldn't help but say, "I have one more thing to say..."
Eyes met.
"What's that expression on your face?" The white beard was shaking, and the dean was angry.
"This time I really mean it!"
Zhu Jinxia scratched his ears, indicating that he was all ears: "Okay, who said it this time?"
The dean pretended not to hear, snorted, and said, "Remember, from now on, don't always keep
people at a distance, Sha...someone said it well, love everyone, trust a few people, and don't let
anyone down."
Zhu Jinxia looked at him for a few seconds and grinned.
"Shakespeare, As You Like It, huh?"
I remember that she was the class representative of English Literature History class.
Zhu Jinxia shook her head and sighed, "You really love Shakespeare. Do you remember what your
wife said so clearly? Did she have any objections?"
Dean: “…”
Dean: "Why don't you go back to the mountains and stay in prison for a few more months."
The door was almost closed when he remembered something and shouted again, "Remember to
compensate me for half a bowl of stinky tofu next time!"
You little bastard, you came at the right time.
Walking out of the office building, Zhu Jinxia stared at the begonias on the roadside in a daze.
She was thinking, is it really that magical? After going to the mountains, everyone said that she
had changed.
——
Life in the mountains remains the same as before. Zhu Jinxia's departure does not delay
everyone's classes, but everyone seems to feel that something is missing in the school.
During the break, a teacher in the office was joking in Tibetan. Yu Xiaoshan reflexively wanted to
translate for the person next to her. As soon as she opened her mouth, she found that the desk
next to her was empty.
...Yes, Teacher Zhu has passed away, and she is no longer needed as a translation assistant.
The next day, Xiaxiram had another argument with Jiacuo.
Ever since they had a fight last time, they have been disliking each other. Either you pass by me
and "accidentally" knock my book down, or I get angry near you and "accidentally" hit you on the
forehead.
This time, over a trivial matter, the two started quarreling again, rolling up their sleeves and ready
to have a big fight.
Yu Xiaoshan rushed out of the office, strode to the playground, and pulled one away with each
hand.
"Are you two done yet?"
When Xiaxiram saw her, he became dispirited and took a step back. He no longer expected her to
be fair and just, and he lost interest and stopped his fight.
Yu Xiaoshan stopped him: "Where are you going? Come back!"
The girl turned around listlessly, bent down and lowered her head: "I'm sorry. Teacher Yu, I was
wrong. I will never fight with Jiacuo again--"
Is this okay?
Yu Xiaoshan looked at the head that lowered reflexively, and for some reason, her chest felt
swollen.
The argument with Zhu Jinxia is still ringing in my ears. She said that they traveled a long distance
down the mountain to study, just to change the phenomenon of favoring boys over girls.
She said that change always starts with the individual, and someone has to change first before
the overall environment can be changed.
Yu Xiaoshan looked at the drooping head and took a deep breath, "Xiaxiram, raise your head."
The girl was stunned for a moment, then raised her head and straightened her back. She heard
Yu Xiaoshan turn around and ask Jiacuo, "Tell me, why did you fight again this time?"
Jiacuo defended himself by saying, "I walked by her and stepped on her foot accidentally, and she
wanted to beat me..."
Yu Xiaoshan sneered, "Accidentally? You've been careless too many times! The day before
yesterday you accidentally broke someone's cup, yesterday you accidentally pushed someone
during exercise, and today you accidentally stepped on someone's foot. You have an
uncoordinated limb, and you can't be careful all day long?"
Yu Xiaoshan recounted everything in detail. Xia Xiram didn't understand what she meant, but her
eyes gradually brightened. She didn't dare to speak, nor did she dare to expect too much. She
just held her breath and looked at the woman cautiously.
Yu Xiaoshan saw it all, felt sour in her heart, and her mouth felt bitter as if she had eaten unripe
fruit.
When she saw Xiaxiram lower his head obediently, she realized that she hoped they would learn
to lower their heads to avoid getting hurt, but lowering their heads itself was a direct injury to
their personality.
Did she really hope to see these few resistances submit to the laws of the mountains?
Yu Xiaoshan punished Jiacuo by making him do frog jumps on the spot, and he had to do 200 of
them before he could stand up.
"Since your limbs are not coordinated, you should practice more. From today on, if you make a
mistake once, you will do 200 frog jumps. If you make a mistake a second time, you will do 400,
and so on."
Jiacuo opened his mouth in disbelief, unable to resist. Finally, he could only squat aside with a
bitter face and start frog jumping.
Xiaxiram's face turned red and he stared at Yu Xiaoshan with wide eyes, wanting to ask but not
daring to.
Yu Xiaoshan rummaged in her bag for a while and suddenly saw a Snickers bar - that was the one
Zhu Jinxia gave her when she went to her dormitory after they had quarreled last time, and she
said it was to coax her.
It appears at this moment, like a belated metaphor.
Yu Xiaoshan was lost in thought for a moment, then a smile appeared on her lips. She took out a
Snickers bar and handed it to the girl, "This is for you."
Xia Xiram took it carefully and said hesitantly, "Thank you, thank you Teacher Yu."
"No need to thank me." There was a strange light in the woman's eyes, and she snorted at the
end, "If you want to thank someone, thank your teacher Zhu."
Yu Xiaoshan thought that she had not really compromised, nor did she agree that Zhu Jinxia's way
of handling things was better than hers. The mountains had their own set of rules, and being
reckless was not a good thing, but occasionally she was willing to lean on Zhu Jinxia.
There is no other reason, just because their original intention is to hope that the girls in the
mountains, who already have a difficult life, can have a better life.
On this road, they still have many difficulties to overcome and a long way to go, but groping and
getting closer to each other can also be regarded as a kind of "strength in numbers".
Of course, Zhu Jinxia, who was far away in the mountains, had no idea that her argument would
have a "long-tail effect". She only received Yu Xiaoshan's WeChat message at night.
"I didn't get to eat the Snickers you gave me last time!"
……?
Zhu Jinxia: "Where did you go?"
Yu Xiaoshan: "Give it to Xiaxiram."
Zhu Jinxia: "Why did you give it to her?"
It took a long time to get a reply from Yu Xiaoshan. She said, "Xiaxiramu and Jiacuo had a fight
again today. I made Jiacuo do frog jumps as punishment and gave Xiaxiramu a Snickers bar as a
consolation."
Next post: "I didn't even get to eat it! You have to compensate me with a Snickers bar!"
At this time, Zhu Jinxia had just resumed classes and was reading the history of British literature
that she was going to lecture on the next day. She read the news over and over again three times
and couldn't help laughing out loud.
Zhu Jinxia: "Compensation, just compensate."
Opening Taobao, she added two full boxes of Snickers bars and a bunch of miscellaneous snacks
to the shopping cart, and sent them all to the central school, with the recipient being Time
Sequence.
Then he left a message to Yu Xiaoshan: "No matter how long the night is, the day will eventually
come."
Soon received several exclamation marks.
Yu Xiaoshan: "Stop talking nonsense to me!!!"
She copied the English passage, searched it in the browser, and soon the Chinese translation
appeared in front of her.
"No matter how long the night is, the day will eventually come."
The source is Shakespeare's "Macbeth".
Yu Xiaoshan stared at the words in a daze.
On the other side, in Mianshui City, in the study room late at night, Zhu Jinxia couldn't help
scratching her chin...
Oh no, it seemed like she also felt the joy of her teacher reciting Shakespeare’s lines one by one!
After the conversation with Yu Xiaoshan came to an end, she felt a little eager to do something.
After working on the courseware for a while, her eyes kept drifting to her mobile phone.
Finally, I couldn’t help it and clicked on a familiar “mountain”.
Happy summer: [Taobao screenshot. JPG].
Time quickly replied: “?”
Next: "For me?"
God knows, the earth knows, he knows, she knows, that Shixu would not eat any of this pile of
messy snacks.
Zhu Jinxia: "You wish. It's for Yu Xiaoshan. She doesn't have a car. When the things are delivered
to Niuzan Town, you can go and pick them up for her."
It took half a day to receive a reply from Timing.
"I don't have a share of the stuff, but you still want me to be a porter? Teacher Zhu, now that
you're gone, have you forgotten your conscience at the Central School?"

Chapter 62
I wish that on the first day of classes this summer, there will be deafening cheers in the
classroom.
The students complained collectively: "Gin, if you don't come back, we are all going to be
tortured to death by Qiao Sir's hypnosis!"
Qiao Sir’s original name was Qiao Hanzhi. He was Zhu Jinxia’s senior. He also majored in literature
and was a top student from Harvard. In terms of scientific research achievements, he was
considered a leader among the young teachers in the School of Foreign Affairs. But as we all
know, when God opens a window for you, he will most likely close a door for you.
The door that Qiao Hanzhi was locked behind was called the door to making lectures less boring.
God welded this door so tightly that the students joked that when Sir Joe opened his mouth, it
was like Jigglypuff singing in Pokémon Go. Wherever his singing went, the students fell into a
sleeping spell and no one was spared.
Zhu Jinxia's class representative said quietly: "I have obviously tried very hard to keep my eyelids
open, but I can't help it. Sir Qiao, the great devil, has great magic power. It means one ear goes in
with the left ear and the other comes out with the right ear. You left three Over the past month,
my British literary history has plummeted, but my sleep quality has improved significantly..."
Afterwards, Zhu Jinxia conveyed the student's words to his senior brother intact.
Senior Brother Qiao was not surprised at all, he just said frankly: If that classmate has a lot of
money, please pay the ASMR live broadcast fee. It just so happens that you didn't give me a
substitute teaching fee.
White noise hypnosis anchors can’t be taken for nothing, right?
I wish you could treat this as a joke this summer and share it with Shixian on WeChat during your
lunch break.
Shixian took the time to reply: "I took your classes for three months for free. Your senior brother
is quite nice."
Zhu Jinxia didn’t know whether the senior brother was a nice person or not. She only knew that
Shixu’s tone was weird.
Before he could think too much, several familiar faces rushed into the teacher's cafeteria. Zhu
Jinxia quickly put down her phone and waved, "This way!"
During her absence, the teachers in the external school shared her teaching hours and completed
many teaching chores for her. She wanted to treat everyone to a luxurious meal, but everyone
waved their hands and said no, "I will cover your class today, and you will cover my class
tomorrow. Who doesn't have inconveniences sometimes?"
"If you really want to thank us, just give us a good meal at the luxury window at noon today."
Zhu Jinxia went to the luxury window as she was told and ordered a bunch of stir-fried dishes,
and drinks were brought in one after another.
"From today on, I will be responsible for all the experience and lessons learned from the Party
branch activities this semester. From now on, if any teacher needs to substitute for a class, I will
be on standby without hesitation."
The teachers also cheered.
Senior Brother Qiao immediately suggested: "I think we can make an Excel file, and everyone can
take turns to have something to do, so that her days won't be too busy, and she can have a class
every day."
Zhu Jinxia: "...Brother, you are good at hypnosis in class, but how come you are so enlightening
outside of class!"
Behind the scenes, I once again sent a short essay to Shixu, explaining "Senior Brother Is Not a
Human Being".
Timely reply: "Okay, I'll start writing serials for you. Will I publish them on Qidian or Jinjiang?"
Zhu Jinxia: "Why, you want to give a reward?"
Timeline: "This title sounds like something that can be reported for pornography."
"……roll."
The days became slower and slower, and being alone felt a little lonely, but the time at school
became more lively than before.
While waiting for the cool-off period for the divorce, Zhu Jin picked a weekend and hired an
organizer and a cleaner to help him declutter and clean the house.
She packed up all of Acropolis's clothes and sent them to him by express delivery within the city.
She also put away the everlasting flowers and dolls that were gathering dust in the corner.
The house suddenly became empty, and Zhu Jinxia was a little dazed again. From now on, no one
would accompany her to watch movies on weekends, and no one would open her bedroom door
with a spatula at noon after staying up late to wake her up for sweet and sour pork ribs.
She learned to go to the movies by herself, buy a bucket of popcorn, and be in a room with a
group of strangers, laughing out loud or crying silently.
She saw a scene in a youth movie where the principal ferociously punished students by making
them squat, so she sent a message to Time Sequence: "Are all crows black?"
Time series reply: "Who has sympathy for the principals of the world?"
After a while, he asked again: "Watch a movie?"
"Um."
"With my brother?"
He is in conflict with Senior Brother Qiao.
"Alone." After thinking for a while, Zhu Jinxia typed again, "Next time I'll have to ask friends to
watch it together. Movies are something that you can't complain about alone. It's so suffocating."
Sequence: "Aren't you complaining to me right now?"
Zhu Jinxia: "You don't understand. To complain about something like this, you have to be face to
face and spit out your mouth to have fun."
It took a while for the other party to reply.
"It's better to read it alone. Didn't Hesse say that God makes people lonely through various
means so that we can walk towards ourselves?"
Wish this summer: "..."
It is reasonable to suspect that spouting famous quotes is a contagious disease that can be
transmitted from person to person and has now spread to Yi Bo Township at the speed of light.
The subsequent developments will probably disappoint the timing. Zhu Jinxia was not able to get
along well with herself. Her single state was soon broken by everyone's invitations. Colleagues
began to invite her to dinner and join their weekend gatherings.
In the past, Zhu Jinxia rarely participated in these activities. If we use the popular MBTI
personality test, she is a typical i person, allergic to social interaction. But after going into the
mountains, she has integrated into the environment that is difficult to integrate into, and now it
seems that there is nothing to be afraid of.
I wish you will try to accept the invitation this summer, slowly stretch out your feet, and explore
outside your comfort zone little by little.
The old professor who teaches the morphemes class is named Li. He likes to play cards and is
worried about the difficulty of recruiting students every week. After all, the young teachers are
not like her who have completed their professional title evaluation a long time ago, do not have
such great scientific research pressure, and still have the leisure time to play cards.
Now that we have caught Zhu Jinxia who is alone, we can make as much money as we can from
her.
"Come on, Xiaozhu, play some cards to activate your brain and avoid Alzheimer's disease!"
God knows she is only 29 years old, why does she have to start preventing Alzheimer's disease?
But when talking about this illness, Zhu Jinxia thought of Uncle Wang again. She took the time to
ask Shi Xu how Uncle Wang was doing, and her thoughts seemed to be pulled back to the small
courtyard on the top of the mountain.
Three months ago, after the incident in Acropolis, everyone knew that she was getting a divorce.
Professor Li tried every possible means to develop mahjong friends: "How can men be as fun as
mahjong? Mahjong can be varied, but men are always the same."
Her husband, an old man with gray hair and silver-framed glasses, sat on her left and said
expressionlessly, "Wouldn't it be better to wait until I have to pee in the middle of the day before
telling you this? You're showing disrespect to my face. I don't care about my face."
"I have always advocated that people of integrity should not speak in veiled terms." Professor Li
was quick to respond, "I will fight you!"
The old man vomited blood, "How many times have you argued with me today? As expected,
love and marriage, once you get them, you don't cherish them."
Professor Li laughed and said, "How does that saying go? For many things in the world, the
excitement when pursuing them is always stronger than the excitement when enjoying them."
The old man stopped talking and said, "Forget it. I can't argue with you people who study
literature."
Zhu Jinxia was laughing at the side, and was caught by a sharp glare from Professor Li.
"Xiao Zhu, tell me, where did this paragraph come from?"
I wish this summer to sit up straight immediately, "From The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare."
Professor Li smiled with satisfaction and said it was okay and that he had not forgotten
everything I taught him.
The old man shook his head and sighed: "It's an occupational disease. Are you playing mahjong
or attending class?"
"This is called doing it with both hands, you know nothing!" The hot-tempered Professor Li, while
training her husband, took the time to give Zhu Jinxia a test. During the mahjong game, he kept
saying golden sentences. After a long while, he looked up and asked the other side, "Why doesn't
Xiao Qiao speak?"
Senior Brother Qiao, who was caught as a poker partner, knew the situation and said respectfully,
"When a lady is talking, it is not the place for a man to interrupt."
The old man was disappointed with his failure, "...It is a shame for our generation!"
"You are a role model for your generation." Professor Li glared at him. "As the saying goes, it
takes three days to learn to talk, but a lifetime to learn to keep silent. Learn more from Xiao
Qiao!"
Amid the laughter of the whole table, Zhu Jinxia looked at his cards with unskilled skills. After
checking them again and again, he said hesitantly: "All three cards of the same suit, I think I
won!"
The other three people: "..."
The smile stopped abruptly.
Weekends are no longer lonely.
The teachers began to invite Zhu Jinxia to watch movies together, about women, about marriage,
and about life.
They watched "Barbie" and "Poor Thing" together, admiring the implicit and polite female
expression in the former, and also had a heated debate on female independence from a male
perspective in the latter.
Unlike previous movie-watching experiences with Weicheng, they could not watch the same
movie. Weicheng preferred popcorn movies. Although he accompanied Zhu Jinxia to watch her
favorite movies without hesitation, he was always drowsy and stopped watching. On the way
home, Zhu Jinxia tried to discuss it, but Weicheng always nodded and said "um" and "ah" while
watching short videos.
Now, Zhu Jinxia finally doesn't have to listen to the applause from people around her anymore.
She starts to hear feedback and rebuttals. In the fierce collision, countless new ideas come into
being like threading a needle.
In addition to teaching, she works harder than ever to enrich her extracurricular life, as if as long
as she fills her free time, there will be no lonely moments in life.
It was when she met Brother Qiao in the cafeteria and had lunch together that she accidentally
learned that it was Dean Zeng who privately asked the teachers to take her out to play more
often.
Qiao Hanzhi said: "However, do you think that with your unapproachable personality, who would
want to stick their head against your cold butt every other day?"
Zhu Jinxia held the chopsticks in a daze and didn't eat a single bite for a long time.
Seeing that she seemed to be greatly shocked, Qiao Hanzhi tapped her plate and said, "Eat, why
are you standing there like an idiot?"
"..." Zhu Jinxia felt slightly hurt, "Was I really that annoying before?"
"I'm not that annoying, at most I look a little stinky, fake-smile girl."
“…”
Qiao Hanzhi leaned on the backrest and looked at her for a moment, then curled his lips and said,
"Be more confident, Junior Sister. Having a stinky face is not a bad thing. For people with
interesting souls, even if they have a stinky face, it doesn't stop people from trying to get close to
them."
He also asked: Why do you think the master would be so proud to ask everyone to take care of
you? He knows you and your character, and knows that as long as you take the first step, you will
not let everyone down.
Doesn't she?
Even Zhu Jinxia herself was not so sure, but her fellow students and teachers pushed her forward,
and she seemed to have no reason to disappoint anyone.
In addition to daily interactions, Zhu Jinxia also made new attempts in three meals a day.
When persuading her not to divorce, Weicheng's parents said: "You can't do housework. If you
leave him, who will cook for you? Who will arrange your life?"
Now, Zhu Jinxia still has no intention of learning how to cook. After asking the property
management, she hired a cook in the community for 1,000 yuan a month. She has lunch in the
cafeteria at noon and can eat hot meals when she returns home in the evening.
Professional matters should be left to professionals, and for a clumsy person like her, burying
herself in books and papers is also a good choice.
At the age of 29, Zhu Jinxia began to think about what true independence is. In the past, she
always thought that she was independent enough, relying on herself for everything and striving
to be independent.
Looking back now, who said that independence must be all-encompassing?
True independence means being able to face your own shortcomings honestly, not being afraid to
ask for help from others, being willing to divide the work and cooperate, being able to integrate
into the crowd flexibly, and being able to be tenacious and self-reliant.
The world is a huge valley and does not need her to stand out alone.
In class that day, we talked about Byron's poem, "Cantos to Augusta".
Your soul is gentle， yet never compromises.
When she reached this point, she suddenly paused. When the students looked up at her, she
curled the corners of her mouth and recited it again.
You have a gentle soul, but you never compromise.
She gave this poem to herself, hoping that her future life would be like this.
——
In the central school, Xiaoshan was not the only one who felt that something was missing in her
life, but Dunzhu was even more so.
Unlike Yu Xiaoshan who only sends messages to Zhu Jinxia when there is something new
happening with the fifth graders, Dunzhu follows a daily routine.
When he sees the garlic blooming on the windowsill, he will send the picture to Zhu Jinxia.
"Garlic said: My flowers have bloomed, why haven't you come back yet?"
Zhu Jinxia: "…they are all in bloom, hurry up and pick them and eat them."
Or if he made highland barley cakes, he would use sesame seeds for eyes and carrots for a
mouth, and then send them to Zhu Jinxia with a click.
"Bingbao said, eat me, eat me."
Zhu Jinxia: "…eat it for me, bon appetit."
Dunzhu rushed out of the kitchen with a spatula and asked his brother: "Help me in times of
emergency, what does bon appetit mean?"
He read each letter to Shixu, but was too stingy to show the chat history.
There was no need for that. In his contact list, the only person who could come up with this word
was someone he could easily guess at the time.
"You can't live without harassing her for a day, right?" Shi Xu stopped typing on the keyboard and
asked expressionlessly.
"How can this be considered harassment? This is because I miss you so much that I can't control
it and can't express it in words." Dunzhu said, "Humph, a bachelor like you who has been single
for a lifetime will never understand the innocent hearts of us young boys!"
Then he urged: "Tell me quickly, what does bon appetit mean?"
Shixu replied: "I don't know. Look it up in the dictionary yourself."
Dunzhu: "Hey, I have a bad temper, but you just read more books than me, why are you so
proud?"
Having said that, I was still very active in looking up the dictionary. Unfortunately, although I
found the answer in the end, the rice in the pot was burnt, and I was criticized a lot that night.
Dunzhu was like a wilted dogtail grass, sighing for a long time, not enjoying his meal, his little face
was stretched long, and even the ponytail behind his head did not swing back and forth as usual.
He tied it into a bun, saying it was to commemorate his unrequited love.
Old Li came to eat, and seeing his pointed face, he quietly asked Shi Xu: "Is he okay? It looks like
he's serious this time..."
Shixu said it was okay. He fell in love as fast as purchasing goods. He had a new one every few
days. If he went to the county town in two days, who knows, he might fall in love with a girl in the
supermarket.
Old Li smacked his lips and said, that’s true. In the past, transportation was slow, so one could
only love one person in a lifetime. Now, the subway is fast, and one can fall in love with five or six
people in two stops.
Dunzhu took the pancake and almost smeared it on their faces. He said angrily: "You Han people
are really annoying!"
Old Li was not happy.
"Why are you so excited about a breakup?"
"Isn't it? You Han people talk a lot of nonsense. The other fifty-five ethnic groups all sing and
dance when they get drunk, but you Han people are the only ones who do that. Listen to me."
Old Li: “…”
There is no way to refute it.
In the end, one can only sigh that although he suffered a broken heart, it did not affect Dunzhu's
status as a shining pearl in the crosstalk world.
Facing Dunzhu's stepmother face every day, the time was too much for him, so he put down the
bowl and said calmly, "That's enough, people with nothing in their fate wouldn't be so sad, and
you, who don't even have anything, why would you be so sad?"
"What do you know? Have you ever been in love? Do you know how it feels to like someone?"
Dunzhu pressed the key three times in a row, "You have never been moved, so it's easy for you to
talk without any pain in your waist!"
“…”
How do you know my waist doesn't hurt?
"Wait." Dunzhu's mind turned and he suddenly realized what was happening. He asked
suspiciously, "Who is this person you are talking about?"
“…”
"Is there someone in our school who is interested in Teacher Zhu? Do I have a rival in love???"
"Have you finished eating? Go wash the dishes after you're done." Shi Xu put down his chopsticks
and said expressionlessly.
Dunzhu once again transformed into a resentful little white flower and went to wash dishes with
a bun on her head.
Shi Xu stood in the dormitory, looking at the playground outside the window. Evening self-study
had not started yet. The children were playing ball and skipping rope on the playground. The
central school was the same as usual, but for some reason it seemed empty.
He grew up here and came back to teach here, a total of many years had passed, and she had
only been here for three months, but the changes had taken place quietly, and he didn't notice it
at first until she left.
A few days ago, when he was cooking, he walked out of the kitchen with his bowl and chopsticks.
Dunzhu, who was sitting in the living room waiting for food, asked, "Why, is there anyone who
wants to come and eat at noon today? Yu Xiaoshan or Lao Li?"
Shi Xu was startled, and when he looked down he realized that he had brought out three sets of
bowls and chopsticks.
One afternoon, the children came to him and asked him what "the saints and sages in ancient
times were all lonely, only the drinkers were famous" meant. He also responded conditionedly:
"Ask your teacher Zhu——"
Before he finished speaking, he paused, and the children also paused.
Habits become second nature, but he never knew that the habits he developed in three months
could easily overturn the habits of the past thirty years.
He never closed the bedroom curtains again, no matter how blinding the light was the next
morning. In the past, he would go downstairs to see if she was fetching water, so that he could
"accidentally" run into her and help her. But now, before going to bed, he always looked at a
window in the small building opposite, as if expecting it to light up suddenly at some moment.
Unfortunately, the small building is now deserted. There is no longer a dim light in the middle of
the night, and no one goes out with an empty bucket to fetch water.
Zhu Jinxia is no longer in the central school. She is gone, but her shadow is everywhere. The
teachers always mention her, such as the resentful Dunzhu, the angry Yu Xiaoshan who
complained, and even the life teacher asked him for Zhu Jinxia's WeChat, saying that the children
went to find her and shouted that Teacher Zhu promised them to make skirts together.
Yu Ming also came to complain, saying that Teacher Zhu was so charming that his children would
come to him every day before evening self-study to borrow his cell phone to call and send voice
messages to Zhu Jinxia. The calls would last for half an hour, so that he couldn't even use his cell
phone. When he got it back, the battery was often zero.
Not only him, but all the teachers in the school, except for the principal who was feared by the
children, had their phones borrowed.
In this bustle, there was no such thing as time. He also occasionally received Zhu Jinxia's daily
sharing, and some scattered fragments pieced together gradually revealed her new life.
He always listened and watched, but never took the initiative to send her a message.
The entire central school was thinking about her, but he seemed not to care, nor was he too sad.
He continued to do his own thing and was busy.
Until other teachers began to agree with Yu Ming, saying that children borrowed mobile phones
every few days.
"Tsk, I don't have that much to talk about with Teacher Abao. I have to report trivial things like
diarrhea today and indigestion tomorrow to Teacher Zhu."
The act of borrowing mobile phones has seriously affected teachers' leisure time. Who doesn't
have the habit of watching short videos and eating electronic pickled mustard with meals?
Shi Xu paused for a moment, then calmly said, "Next time they come to borrow a phone, let them
come to me."
Yu Ming hesitated for a moment: "There's no need to punish them for this, right? The children
also like Teacher Zhu..."
"Who said I wanted to punish them?"
That evening, before evening self-study, the children tried to borrow mobile phones from
everywhere but to no avail. Finally, they bravely followed the teachers' advice and came to find
Shixu.
One head, two heads, and countless little heads popped out from behind the iron gate.
"headmaster……"
As soon as he opened his mouth, Shixu handed over a fully charged mobile phone.
Children: “Huh?”
The principal had a stern face, as usual, and said calmly: "Aren't you going to call Teacher Zhu?"
Nodding like pounding garlic.
"Take it and hit it."
"Yeah - long live the principal!" The children cheered, snatched the phones and ran away.
"Wait, come back. What if you take my phone away and break it?" Shixu had only one request,
"Play it here."
The children came back to their senses and swarmed into the small dormitory living room, filling
the room to the brim, and happily called to wish Jinxia a happy summer.
——
I wish this summer the first time I received a video call from my children was on an online ride-
hailing car one weekend.
She spent the whole day in the municipal library, borrowing some classic books and materials. As
the new semester's scientific research project was about to be launched, she was also actively
preparing for it.
I left the library in the evening with a thick stack of information and found a noodle restaurant
nearby to fill my stomach.
It was already past dinner time, and the shop was empty with few customers.
The boss asked her: "Beauty, what would you like to eat?"
Zhu Jinxia glanced at the menu and found "…rabbit noodles."
After eating the noodles, she took a taxi home and unexpectedly received a call from Weicheng's
mother in the car.
Weicheng did not tell his parents that they had gone to the Civil Affairs Bureau to register for a
divorce. It was only when Wei's mother received several large boxes of express deliveries sent by
Zhu Jinxia that she realized that there was no room for maneuver. She questioned Weicheng and
finally learned the truth.
Her reaction was quite intense. She cursed Zhu Jinxia loudly over the phone, saying that she was
ungrateful.
"Have you forgotten that when your grandma broke her arm and you were on a business trip
giving a lecture, who took care of her in the hospital and took care of her excrement and urine?"
…
"Now that you have a good life and can make some money, you don't need our Acropolis
anymore?"
…
"If you want to divorce him, just give him a car. Are you treating him like a beggar? How much did
you pay for your house? If I remember correctly, it was two million. Why don't you give him half
of the money?"
The house was her pre-marital property.
Zhu Jinxia once disagreed with the criticism of Weicheng's rural origin by her relatives and
friends. In her opinion, although Weicheng's parents were not well educated, they were at least
polite to her. Although they had different concepts in life, on the one hand, they did not live
together and the other was out of reach, and on the other hand, Weicheng always stood on her
side. The two families only spent a few days together during the holidays, so they were
considered harmonious.
But now, she had to admit that sometimes the so-called kindness was due to not facing extreme
situations. When the two were about to separate, Wei's mother began to tear her face off and
asked Zhu Jinxia to give Weicheng more compensation regardless of the consequences.
She said that ever since Zhu Jinxia and Weicheng got together, they, as parents, have never
worried about Weicheng's life. Whether it was a car or a house, Zhu Jinxia took care of
everything. Now Weicheng is about to turn 30, and without Zhu Jinxia, the 30-year-old guy won't
even have a place to live.
"Divorce is fine, but you have to at least make sure his quality of life doesn't deteriorate
compared to when you were together!"
Zhu Jinxia felt unbelievable and couldn't help asking back no matter how good her temper was.
"mom--"
"Don't call me mom. You two are divorced, so who is your mom?"
Facing the woman's sarcasm, Zhu Jinxia paused and said softly: "Okay, Auntie."
She said: "I just want to ask you one question. Is your son disabled, or is he still a benefactor to
me? Does the law stipulate that I have an obligation to support him for life?"
"you--!"
The other party was stunned, because Zhu Jinxia has always been a people-pleasing person. No
matter what the other party said, she would always smile good-temperedly. But now she fought
back so forcefully that it was rare for her to do so, which caught Wei's mother off guard.
Before Wei's mother had an attack, Zhu Jinxia quickly hung up the phone.
She turned her head to look at herself in the dim light in the car window, and her temples were
throbbing with pain.
The next second, her phone buzzed again - she hadn't turned off the vibration mode since she
came out of the library - she thought it was Wei's mother calling again to fight back, but she
didn't expect that the screen showed a video call from Yu Xiaoshan.
……?
Zhu Jinxia was slightly stunned and answered the call hesitantly.
"Xiao Shan?"
The person who appeared in the picture was not Yu Xiaoshan, but a face facing the camera
directly. He blocked most of the light, and it was pitch black for a moment, and one could not see
clearly who it was.
"Stay away, why are you getting so close?"
Soon, Yu Xiaoshan's voice sounded, and a hand appeared in the camera, pulling the child and the
camera away. Now Zhu Jinxia saw clearly that it was Ding Zhengen holding up the phone, grinning
at her.
He said, "Teacher Zhu, do you still recognize who I am?"
Yu Xiaoshan slapped him in anger, "I wish the teacher doesn't have Alzheimer's disease!"
Before Zhu Jinxia could answer, more voices suddenly came from the other end.
"Teacher Zhu——"
"Give it to me, give me the phone!"
"I want to see too!"
"And me! Me, me, me!"
The screen quickly began to shake and the earth was spinning, from the blackboard to the ceiling,
countless little hands were scrambling to grab the phone, making people dizzy.
"Hey, don't break it!" Yu Xiaoshan took back control of the phone, "Everyone, move back, move
back!"
The picture stabilized again.
Yu Xiaoshan said, "Wait a minute, Teacher Zhu."
She quickly fixed the phone on the desk and turned it slightly, so that the picture turned from the
blackboard to the back of the classroom.
"Isn't that enough? Why are you fighting for it? Everyone gets a share."
Zhu Jinxia was sitting in the back seat of the car, his eyes fixed on the screen. About thirty
children appeared on the screen, all standing in the fifth grade classroom. When they saw
themselves on the screen, they jumped up one after another.
"Teacher Zhu, look at me!"
"Look at me, look at me!"
"Teacher Zhu, where are you? Why are you so dark?"
In the picture, the poster on the back blackboard still retains the moonlight on the lotus pond
before she left. The incandescent lamp at the rear right side of the classroom has been repaired
and no longer flickers.
The children talked a lot, asking her if she missed them, and whether she had eaten well after
returning to the city. They also said that the new teacher had not arrived yet and the principal
was teaching them Chinese now. They all wanted to revolt because his teaching was so boring.
They didn't leave her much room to talk. They chatted back and forth like people at a market, as
if they wanted to take advantage of this brief time before evening self-study to tell her everything
that had happened since she left.
They complained that the uncle in the cafeteria never changed the dishes and they were about to
vomit.
Speaking of Silang Yongjin, he got up late yesterday morning, wore his shoes on the wrong sides,
and fell on his butt while doing exercises.
They also said that the principal's hair was messy this morning, with a tuft of hair standing on his
forehead that couldn't be pushed down no matter how hard he tried. Everyone wanted to laugh
but didn't dare to, and they felt a stomachache from holding it in.
Finally, there is a soft longing.
"Teacher Zhu, we miss you so much..."
Every little face had a highland red, and the children pouted their lips and looked pitifully at the
blurry faces in the camera.
She should be thankful for the dim light in the online car-hailing vehicle, which allowed her to
hide her tears well. However, she could hide her tears, but not the trembling in her voice.
In this world, there is always something that can defeat something else.
All the arguments and unhappiness from a few minutes ago melted away in this soft love.

Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Time is a gentle hand. In the blink of an eye, everything changes.
When the one-month cooling-off period began, Zhu Jinxia was still a little uneasy, for she was
worried that Weicheng would change his mind at the last minute and all her previous efforts
would be wasted.
When time is fully occupied by work, the days circled on the calendar are unknowingly forgotten.
September is the start of the school year, and time is like the compressed biscuits on the
supermarket shelves, every inch of which is filled. I hope you will be busy this summer.
When scheduling classes last semester, the teachers took the initiative to help her share the
teaching tasks in view of her special situation. This semester, she took the initiative to take on
more courses.
In addition, Dean Zeng also began to give her full support and use her at will. A lecture today, an
academic discussion tomorrow, and even exchanges with foreign universities were given to her in
full charge. He even gave her a beautiful name for it: filling time and turning grief into strength.
God knows what kind of hell it is to ask someone to work as a receptionist.
I wish you will be extremely busy this summer. Coupled with your perfectionism, you will strive
for perfection in everything and soon enter a state of selflessness.
Specifically manifested as——
She no longer wears makeup to work, and takes every opportunity to sleep in;
No longer engage in polite and hypocritical socializing with others without getting to the point,
but strive to get straight to the point;
The time spent on the phone dropped sharply again, almost returning to the state I was in the
mountains.
She had to admit that it was really comfortable to get rid of the constraints. She began to stop
considering other people's feelings too much, because once people were busy, they had no time
to care about their own feelings. The only things left were instinctive reactions such as being
hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and needing to go to the toilet.
She even learned to break into the dean's office during lunch break, complaining about the
teacher's blatant exploitation of her while snatching stinky tofu from the white-bearded old man
as a way of venting her anger.
With just one sentence, "turn grief and anger into strength", she was enslaved to death by the
dean.
She asked Dean Zeng: "Which eye of yours saw my grief? I'm clearly free again, and I'm so
happy."
"If you weren't sad, how could you turn your sadness into strength and steal my stinky tofu every
other day?"
Dean Zeng covered his heart and began to consider buying two servings starting tomorrow, as
one serving was really not enough.
Zhu Jinxia snorted and said that you can get a 996 office worker in exchange for a serving of
stinky tofu, you are really making a fortune.
Zeng Yuan also snorted.
"Eat slowly. Look at your round face. Do you still want to start a second spring?"
Zhu Jinxia's fist hardened slightly, and he said, "Have you forgotten what I study? If you continue
to objectify women like this, I will show you how to punch you." Zeng Yuan laughed out loud.
On a busy midweek, Zhu Jinxia overslept for the first time ever and was a few minutes late.
University classes have a high degree of freedom. Under normal circumstances, it is no big deal if
the class starts a few minutes later and ends a few minutes later.
It was a pity that it was the Academic Affairs Office's turn to conduct a teaching inspection that
day, and Zhu Jinxia was caught in the crossfire.
The leader stood at the door of the classroom and pointed at his watch in a businesslike manner:
"Teacher Zhu, class starts at 9 o'clock. Can you see what time it is now?"
Zhu Jinxia lowered her head to look at her phone, paused when she looked up again, and
answered: "8:63?"
The leader tried hard but couldn't hold it back and burst out laughing the next second.
Later, this matter spread throughout the college, and teachers all said: I have learned something.
From that day on, Zhu Jinxia became famous again in the Foreign Affairs College and even in the
whole school. The last time it was because of her looks, and this time it was because of her
shamelessness.
This incident left a sequelae, so that later, whether she went to the cafeteria or the library, if she
met students from her own college, everyone would call her Teacher Zhu, and if she met students
from other colleges, people would call her 863.
Shixu's comment on this was: "Sounds a lot like a technician."
Wish this summer: "..."
Time passed by in a flash as she was busy like this. When Weicheng sent a message to remind
Zhu Jinxia to meet at the Civil Affairs Bureau on Saturday morning, she was shocked to realize
that the one-month cool-off period for divorce had come to an end.
When she received the red divorce certificate, she still felt a little unreal. But when she walked
out of the hall, she found that everyone on the street was wearing long-sleeved jackets. Summer
had been washed away by the torrent of time.
She said goodbye to Acropolis politely, and this time it was a real goodbye.
Let’s part ways and be happy.
On that day, Zhu Jinxia went back to her grandmother's house. This was something she had
planned long ago. She wanted to tell her grandmother about the matter on the day when the
dust settled.
The divorce issue lasted for more than half a year, and Grandma Zhu had repeatedly asked about
it, but as Zhu Jinxia went to the mountains to teach, the matter was left unresolved.
At that time, even Zhu Jinxia herself didn't know what to do, so she could only comfort her
grandmother and said, "Weicheng and I have decided to separate for a while and calm down."
Later, the only things she sent to her grandmother on WeChat were the mountain scenery and
her children’s embarrassing moments.
It’s not like Grandma Zhu hasn’t asked before: “How are you and Weicheng doing lately?”
Zhu Jinxia evaded the question by all means.
"That's it."
"No quarrel?"
"How can we quarrel when we can't even see each other?"
In the eyes of the elderly, as long as there is no quarrel, there is still room for improvement.
"It's good that you don't quarrel anymore. Life as a couple always has ups and downs. It's
impossible for them to be in love all the time. It's a good thing for you to separate for a while.
When you meet again, maybe you will have changed your mind after a short separation."
Before I realize that the spring grass in the pond is a dream, the parasol leaves in front of the
steps are already making the sound of autumn.
Finally, Grandma Zhu waited for Zhu Jinxia and the certificate in her hand.
In the old-fashioned family quarters in a secluded corner, Grandma Zhu was busy preparing lunch
in the kitchen wearing an apron. When she heard the door open, she walked out while wiping
her hands, her eyes falling behind Zhu Jinxia.
"... Didn't Weicheng come back with you?"
Zhu Jinxia paused slightly, shook her head, turned around, closed the door, and pulled her
grandmother to the living room.
"Grandma, I have something to tell you..."
Grandma said, "There's still soup in my pot. I have to go and watch it."
"Not urgent."
Zhu Jinxia led the person to the sofa, helped her sit down, then took off her shoulder bag and
took something out of it.
The thin little book felt heavy in her hand. Zhu Jinxia took a deep breath, paused for a few
seconds, then took out the crimson certificate and placed it on the coffee table.
"Grandma, Weicheng and I are divorced." She dropped the bombshell calmly, as if announcing
what to eat for lunch today.
The living room is connected to the balcony, and the midday sunlight shines into the house,
making it bright.
Grandma Zhu was stunned and stood up suddenly.
"You didn't tell me a word, but you got the certificate?"
This was just like when she got the marriage certificate with Weicheng without telling him, both
of them were done first and then reported.
"It was like this when we got married, and it was still like this when we got divorced. Zhu Jinxia,
how old are you? Is marriage a joke to you?"
Seeing that her face had turned blue, Zhu Jinxia quickly pulled her to sit down again, fearing that
the old lady would get hurt by the anger.
"Why are you sitting here? I can't close my eyes even if I die!"
Facing her furious grandmother, Zhu Jinxia could only apologize and said, "Okay, okay, it's all my
fault, you can scold me but don't get angry at yourself."
The dishes were prepared and the soup was stewed in the kitchen. Grandma Zhu had been in the
kitchen all her life and knew how to manage her time just right. She had originally planned to
wait for her granddaughter to get home, take a short break, and the meal would be on the table
on time.
Unexpectedly, something went wrong and the two argued in the living room for a long time. Of
course, it was mainly because of Grandma Zhu who was angry, while Zhu Jinxia was trying to put
out the fire.
Finally, it was the granddaughter who reminded: "Why don't we go to the kitchen first, I'm afraid
your soup has dried up."
The soup is boiled dry, and her brain is almost boiled dry!
Grandma Zhu said nothing, turned around and walked towards the kitchen. Just looking at her
back, she looked furious.
Zhu Jinxia followed in with her head lowered, and seeing the old man looking at the soup, she
tactfully went to pick vegetables from the sink.
Grandma Zhu tasted the soup and turned around to see her granddaughter picking vegetables in
front of the sink with quite skilled movements.
After looking at it for a while, she frowned and asked, "Where did you learn this?"
"Huh?" Zhu Jinxia was stunned for a moment, and said coquettishly, "Do I need to learn this?"
"I don't know you?" Grandma Zhu looked at her. "Before, I asked you to make green beans, but
you didn't tear the tendons or break the beans into pieces. You just threw the whole thing into
the pan and fried it. It was too tough to chew. Now you can actually make it like this."
...That's because I worked as a helper in the mountains for a long time.
So, this is the bad thing about being a family. No matter how trivial the things are, they
remember them clearly and the dark history cannot be erased.
But precisely because we are a family, any dark history can be easily torn off like a calendar.
Grandma Zhu softened her attitude and snorted coldly.
"Sure, after a divorce, you will do housework. It seems that you also know that you will have to
rely on yourself in the future without a househusband?"
After hearing this, Zhu Jinxia also understood that the matter was almost settled.
But the incident was over, but the grandmother was still angry. She kept scolding her while
cooking.
I wish Jinxia would help carefully and cautiously, admitting her mistakes and passing on side
dishes or seasonings whenever possible, being knowledgeable and considerate in every step.
After dinner, seeing that grandma's anger had almost subsided, she looked exhausted and her
face did not look very good, Zhu Jinxia quickly helped her to rest on the sofa.
"I haven't washed the dishes yet."
"I'll do it, I'll wash it." I wish this summer to be more positive than ever before, "You watch TV."
My grandmother has the habit of taking a nap on the sofa after dinner while listening to TV
series.
"Hmph, you wash it. You have never liked doing housework since you were a child. You always do
it perfunctorily and can't even wash the dishes cleanly..."
Zhu Jinxia listened to the chatter outside, took the dishes into the kitchen, and washed them in a
daze. She remembered that on the first evening at the central school, Shi Xu also said he would
teach her how to wash dishes.
After she nearly broke the bowl, the stingy principal immediately said that she would never have
to wash the dishes from now on because -
"Manpower is valuable, but tableware is even more valuable."
The evening breeze of that day is still vivid in my mind, and it easily blew away the restlessness in
my heart. By the time Zhu Jinxia finished washing the dishes, her energy had been almost
restored.
When she put the leftovers into the refrigerator, she found that her grandmother had frozen half
a watermelon for her and smiled.
"Grandma—" she held the melon and asked the people in the living room, "Do you still have
room for melon?"
No one responded.
Zhu Jinxia poked her head out of the kitchen door and asked, "Falling asleep?"
On the sofa, grandma lay quietly on the backrest, just like countless afternoons before. At that
time, Zhu Jinxia would always take the remote control quietly, either turn off the TV or turn down
the volume. But grandma would always wake up at the first moment and ask in a daze: "Where is
my TV series?"
Zhu Jinxia explained: "I saw that you were asleep, and I was afraid to disturb you——"
"I am happy to fall asleep while listening to it. I can't fall asleep without listening to it."
Zhu Jinxia was so confused that she could only turn up the volume again.
She smiled as she thought about the past. After cutting the watermelon and arranging it on a
plate, she quietly brought it to the living room.
"Grandma, have some watermelon."
Zhu Jinxia held the plate in one hand and gently pushed her grandmother with the other.
The next second, she saw her grandmother's eyes closed and her whole body sliding down the
sofa. Finally, her body tilted and she fell limply to the ground.
That afternoon was very gentle. Although the autumn heat was still scorching, the air-conditioner
was on in the house, and there was a cool breeze without any heat. Her grandmother had turned
on the air conditioner when she saw she was going home. On weekdays, the old lady was used to
saving money and would never turn on the air conditioner if she could use a fan.
Bright sunlight, cool breeze, and freshly cut iced watermelon, everything is just right.
Until the grandmother slipped to the ground and was held in Zhu Jinxia's arms, no matter how
she called out, the old lady never opened her eyes.
At that moment, Zhu Jinxia's heart stopped beating and she almost lost her soul. She laid the
man flat on the ground and was shaking all over when she dialed 120. She could hardly press the
number with her hands.
She called 120 first, and then tried to find someone for help.
After searching for a long time among the contacts, he finally found Yuan Feng.
After listening to her incoherent narration, Yuan Feng immediately said: "I will drive over right
away, don't worry, I will be there soon."
A girl's voice came from the other end: "Who is it?"
Probably because she came closer to look at the phone screen, she said unhappily: "Why is it her
again? What's the matter that makes her call you in the middle of the day? You are not allowed to
go..."
Zhu Jinxia had no time and no energy to care about anything else. Yuan Feng repeatedly told her
to stay where she was and then drove over in a hurry.
He even arrived before the ambulance.
The medical staff lifted the grandmother onto a stretcher. Yuan Feng saw Zhu Jinxia was about to
walk out with one foot in slippers and the other in socks, so he quickly grabbed her.
"Put your shoes on."
Zhu Jinxia lowered her head and saw her socks stained red by the watermelons on the ground.
Without saying a word, she took off her socks and threw them aside, then put on her slippers and
chased after him.
The old man on the stretcher had a head full of silver hair and his eyes were quietly closed, as if
he was asleep.
The sound of the ambulance woke up the neighborhood in the afternoon. Residents all went
downstairs to see what was happening. Many neighbors came forward to ask about the situation.
However, Zhu Jinxia didn't want to answer. She couldn't even hear anyone talking to her.
Yuan Feng got into the ambulance with her, holding her shoulders the whole time, and
whispered, "It's okay, don't cry, it should just be a high blood pressure attack. Didn't it happen
once a few years ago? I wish grandma to have a physical examination every year, and there's
nothing wrong with her, don't think too much."
The medical staff connected the elderly man to an ECG monitor and measured his blood pressure
in real time. They found that his systolic pressure had soared to 210.
Yuan Feng said: "See, I was right, wasn't I? Stop crying."
Is she crying?
Zhu Jinxia only knew that she was shaking the whole time. She wiped her face and found that her
tear glands were like a broken faucet and tears were flowing silently.
She quickly said "I'm fine", and then asked the doctor in a steady voice whether the situation was
dangerous, how long it would take to get to the hospital, and what tests would be done when she
got there.
While saying this, she looked very calm, except that her body was shaking uncontrollably.
The nurse beside her held her arm and said, "Sister, please raise your hand."
When the medical staff held her arm to treat her wound, Zhu Jinxia realized that she was injured.
Her grandmother had fallen to the ground just now and she threw the watermelon casually,
breaking the plate into pieces. Maybe she accidentally touched the porcelain pieces, or hit the
coffee table, and a deep cut appeared on her forearm.
She said: "I'm fine, please keep an eye on my grandmother."
The medical staff said that the testing equipment is all set up and there is nothing we can do at
the moment. Please stretch out your hand and we will treat the wound to prevent tetanus.
As a result, she kept shaking, and it was difficult for the doctor to operate on her. In the end, it
was Yuan Feng who held her arm while the medical staff applied medicine and bandaged it.
"Thank you." Zhu Jinxia said in a low voice.
Yuan Feng paused and said, "Do we both need to say thank you? I have eaten a lot of food at
your house. She is your grandma, and also my grandma."
When they arrived at the hospital and the medical staff were carrying the stretcher inside,
Grandma Zhu regained consciousness briefly. She opened her eyes with difficulty and called out
"Jin Xia" in a low voice.
Zhu Jinxia was right next to the stretcher, helping the medical staff push the cart. Upon hearing
this, she held her grandmother's hand and couldn't stop crying.
"I'm here." She shouted, "Grandma, I'm here."
Grandma Zhu's unfocused eyes slowly gathered in mid-air. After seeing her, she seemed to be
relieved and slowly closed her eyes again.
When they arrived at the door of the CT room, Zhu Jinxia kept holding on to his hand and refused
to let go. His hand was dry, rough, and dull, with age spots dotted on the back of his hand.
It pulled her through her childhood when her parents were absent, all the way to her adulthood.
It was once strong and powerful, but now it is withered and dull.
Yuan Feng came to pull her.
"Let go of your hands, Jinxia, and let Grandma Zhu come in to check."
Zhu Jinxia let go after a while. While waiting, she sat on the bench at the door, lowered her head
and covered her face. After a long while, she said in a hoarse voice, "It's all my fault."
"How can you be blamed for this?" Yuan Feng comforted her, "You didn't infect me with high
blood pressure. Elderly people with this disease are at risk of developing the disease."
"I knew she had high blood pressure, but I still told her about my divorce..."
"You can't keep it a secret forever. If she asks you why Weicheng never visits her, won't it be
exposed sooner or later?"
After the CT scan, an MRI was scheduled. After a long time, the old man was finally sent to the
intensive care unit and connected to an electrocardiogram monitor.
After ruling out cerebral hemorrhage and myocardial infarction, which are common among the
elderly, it was ultimately determined that the patient's condition was shock and coma caused by
high blood pressure.
The doctor said: "Ordinarily, high blood pressure is not a big deal, but at her age, her high blood
pressure is as high as 210, which is level 3 high blood pressure. If you are not careful, it can easily
cause significant damage to the heart, cerebral blood vessels and kidneys, which is already a very
serious situation."
Zhu Jinxia asked how to treat it.
"Take the antihypertensive medication and stay in the hospital for a few days for observation.
Although the CT scan is negative, it needs to be rechecked every 24 hours. Once the condition is
stable and the blood pressure is under control, you can be discharged."
Back in the ward, Zhu Jinxia slowly walked to the bedside where her grandmother was lying
quietly.
She squatted down, held her grandmother's hand, and felt a little scared.
After finishing all this, an entire afternoon had passed. Yuan Feng was still following her like a
shadow. She heard his cell phone vibrating again. This was the nth time that had happened.
I have the impression that it seemed like it didn't stop for the entire afternoon. Every time it
trembled, he pinched it off; every time it trembled, he pinched it off again.
"It's Doudou, right?" Zhu Jinxia didn't look back. Only now did she have time to think about other
things. "Hurry up and answer the phone. Don't let her worry."
“She knows what it is.”
If you know it but still beat her, it means you are worried about her.
Zhu Jinxia squatted beside the bed without moving.
"Then you can go back first. There's nothing to do here. There are doctors and nurses here. I'm
just a figurehead."
"No, I'll accompany you--"
Before he finished speaking, the phone rang again, and the buzzing sound was particularly abrupt
in the quiet ward.
"Go back and have a good rest. You may have to substitute for me in classes tomorrow or the day
after tomorrow."
Yuan Feng wanted to say something but stopped himself. Finally, he could not withstand the
series of life-threatening calls. He gave a few instructions and went home ready to die.
——
Zhu Jinxia stayed in the ward all the time and didn't even have dinner.
When the nurse came to check on the patient, she also advised her to eat.
"The cafeteria is downstairs. I'll watch over it for you. Come back after you finish eating. Nothing
will happen."
I hope you can eat anywhere this summer.
The nurse said, "You have to get something for the old lady. When she wakes up, will she starve
with you?"
Zhu Jinxia then went downstairs to buy some porridge and side dishes. When she entered the
ward, her grandmother had already woken up and was talking to the nurse.
Seeing her come back, the nurse left. Zhu Jinxia walked to the bedside and asked her
grandmother if she felt any discomfort.
"It's just a small matter, why do we need to go to the hospital?" said the grandmother. "You are
making a big deal out of nothing!"
"The blood pressure is already 210, the doctor said it's very serious—"
"Of course the doctors are exaggerating the situation, otherwise how could the hospital have
such good business?"
She looked a little weak and her face was pale, but her tone was still familiar, that of the stubborn
and tough old lady.
Zhu Jinxia finally breathed a sigh of relief, set up the small table for her, and served her food.
Grandmother said: "I have hands and feet, come on your own, don't treat me like a patient."
His tone was still stiff, and he was obviously still angry about what happened at noon.
Zhu Jinxia said nothing, her eyes reddened, and she leaned gently into her arms, holding her
waist tightly.
After she became an adult, she was shy and timid, and rarely expressed affection in words or
actions. Occasionally, her grandmother would tease her, saying that she used to be affectionate
when she was a child, but now she has grown up to be a weird girl.
Now, she snuggled into her grandmother's arms for the first time in a long time, and her tears fell
down, wetting her grandmother's clothes.
She choked up and said, "Grandma, I was wrong."
Being held by such a big girl and seeing her crying non-stop, Grandma Zhu's heart had already
softened, but she still asked, "What did you do wrong?"
Yuan Feng was right. It was impossible to conceal the truth. The truth cannot be hidden.
Zhu Jinxia said: "If I had known that you would be so angry about my divorce, and even so angry
that you fell ill, I should not have divorced no matter what."
Unexpectedly, her grandmother became furious and pushed her away.
"Is this what you call a mistake?"
Zhu Jinxia looked at her at a loss.
"If you really think so, then there's no point in me living." Grandmother said angrily, "I've taught
you my whole life, and all I've taught you is to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens? Go
away and don't get in my way!"
"grandmother……"
Seeing that she was angry again, Zhu Jinxia quickly apologized, fearing that she would be too
emotional and her blood pressure would not be stable again.
Seeing her granddaughter busying around, she was so scared that tears were streaming down her
face. Grandma Zhu finally couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"Jinxia, think about it again and think about where you went wrong."
I wish this summer to hold her breath, stand in front of the bed like a child who has made a
mistake, and listen to the old man's instructions.
"Where did you go wrong? You went wrong because when I firmly opposed you and Weicheng
being together, you refused to listen and insisted on having your own way.
"My mistake was that I was unhappy but I kept it to myself. I didn't know how to cut the Gordian
knot, but only knew how to whitewash the situation.
"My mistake was that I had the idea of divorce, but I didn't ask for help and I hid in the mountains
with it all on my own.
"You made a mistake by hiding it from me during the divorce. With your personality, you were
taken advantage of by others. You gave him money and cars. Haven't you paid enough over the
years? You don't think about yourself at all. Yes, you are noble, so you should let your philistine
and vulgar grandmother come forward. Let me be the common people and the villains. The
whole family is plotting against you, and you, a scholar, are the only ones to suffer the
consequences, right?"
Later on, my grandmother burst into tears, she beat her chest and said, "It's my fault that I made
you stupid."
Zhu Jinxia hurriedly hugged her, and the two of them cried together. She cried so hard that she
looked unrecognizable. While crying, she advised her grandmother to take care of herself and not
to get angry.
Grandma Zhu pressed her temples tiredly, but she eventually succumbed to the discomfort and
after drinking a few mouthfuls of porridge, she soon fell into a deep sleep again.
Zhu Jinxia asked the nurse to keep a closer eye on her and went out to the small supermarket
outside the hospital to buy daily necessities.
She had to stay in the ward tonight, so she bought some daily necessities. Just as she finished
paying and walked out of the store, her cell phone suddenly vibrated.
Look down.
Timing.
Or a video call.
Zhu Jinxia stood there for a few seconds before their first video call was connected.
She seemed to have a premonition that given his personality, he would not call her without
saying a word. Sure enough, after the call was connected, the face of a fifth-grade kid appeared
on the screen.
They borrowed the phone from someone else and greeted her with a flurry of chatter, just like
they did every time they talked.
Xiaxiram asked her: "Teacher Zhu, when will you come back? We miss you so much!"
Ding Zhengenga interrupted: "Teacher Zhu has only been gone for a month, and you want her to
come back. Doesn't it cost money for the bus fare?"
"We can crowdfund!" someone suggested.
"Who should I ask for help?"
"The principal!" a child immediately shouted, "The principal is from the capital, he's very rich!"
"Yes, then let's ask the principal to raise money for the bus fare. I wish you come back soon,
teacher!"
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing. She didn't know where the kids learned these new words, but
they started shouting without even understanding their meaning.
Having said that, the crowdfunding was only for the principal, which was extremely unlucky.
The children chattered for a long time, but the main point was still that they missed her very
much and hoped she would come back soon.
Zhu Jinxia stood at the street curb for about ten minutes, until the evening study bell rang across
the street and the children panicked and ran back to the teaching building.
"Bye bye teacher!"
They waved their hands and were about to hang up the phone when a familiar voice suddenly
broke into the noise, like the wind blowing across the vast wilderness, bringing up endless waves
of wheat.
"Don't hang up."
The scene was spinning, and soon a hand appeared in the camera and took the phone steadily.
The next second, Shi Xu's face appeared on the screen for the first time. This was the first time
Zhu Jinxia saw him since leaving the central school.
My heart felt like it was lifted high into the sky and even my breathing became disordered.
At first glance, it felt familiar yet strange.
Familiar because the eyes are still the same eyes, dark and bright. The mouth is still the same
mouth, with the thin lips pursed subconsciously, revealing a subtle fierceness.
The reason why he was strange was that he didn't have a head of aho-hair as the students
described. His hair was cut short, and his beard was shaved clean for the first time. He was
wearing a white T-shirt that wasn't wrinkled at all. He looked like a new willow just plucked from
a branch, bright and effortlessly bright.
Zhu Jinxia was stunned and heard the other side asking her.
"Why, you don't recognize me?"
As he said this, his lips were no longer pursed, but instead showed a faint smile. The tone and
smile were obviously a little harsh, but there was something in his eyes that could be called
gentle.
It was hard to explain why, but the turbulent emotions that Zhu Jinxia had just suppressed in the
ward suddenly erupted. The fear and regret of the whole day came at this moment with such
force that she was almost out of control.
"I'm not Uncle Wang, how could I not know you?"
She pretended to joke with him normally, but her voice became hoarse as soon as she opened
her mouth.
The time sequence in the picture paused and looked at her steadily, "What's wrong, Zhu Jinxia?"
Zhu Jinxia's eyes were hot, he looked up at the sky, fanned himself with his hands, and said that
Mianshui was too hot and it looked like it would rain today.
There was silence for a long while, then someone called out again: "Zhu Jinxia."
She fanned herself and replied randomly: "If you have something to say, just tell me. Why do you
keep calling me?"
There was only a dim street lamp outside the store, but with the weak light, Shi Shu could still
clearly make out her red and swollen eyes.
He searched over and over in the low-definition picture, carefully searching for details, and finally
saw the store sign behind her.
Xueji Supermarket, Mianshui First People's Hospital.
His eyes darkened and he asked, "Zhu Jinxia, where are you?"
Zhu Jinxia was still holding on, saying where could it be, in the supermarket. She raised the bag in
her hand, and sniffed imperceptibly at the sound of the plastic bag rubbing against her.
Fearing that her emotions would get out of control, she pretended to be relaxed and said, "It's
going to rain soon, I'm going home. You don't have to stay at the evening study session today?"
There was silence for a moment, and Zhu Jinxia had to turn her eyes back to her phone. On the
screen, Shi Xu's smile had disappeared, and the tenderness in his eyes was gone.
He frowned and asked in a deep voice: "Who is sick? You or your grandmother?"
Zhu Jinxia tried to hold back her tears, but couldn't hold them back anymore. Hot tears burst out
of her eyes like a flood. She clearly told herself that distant water cannot quench nearby fire, and
she didn't need to tell Shixu about this at all. What's the point of making people worry about her
for no reason from such a long distance, or racking her brains to comfort her?
She held a bag in one hand and a cell phone in the other, and turned her face away to look at the
Rainbow Bridge near the hospital, where car lights were constantly passing by.
After a long while, he choked up and said, "I got the divorce certificate today."
There was a brief pause, then he hummed and said, "I know."
he knows?
Zhu Jinxia only posted a message on WeChat Moments a month ago when she went to the Civil
Affairs Bureau to arrange for the cooling-off period, recording a date, and didn't mention
anything else.
Shixu never liked the post, nor did he ask her. She didn't know whether he saw it, and even if he
did, he could guess what day it was.
Now he said "I know", obviously he had seen it, guessed it, and kept it in mind.
Zhu Jinxia didn't even know whether the students suddenly switched to his phone to video call
him today was at his instruction.
"Go on." Time is pressing.
"I went back to my grandmother's house after getting the divorce certificate and told her
everything. As a result, she was so emotional that she had a high blood pressure attack in the
afternoon..."
She explained the matter briefly.
Recalling that scene, Zhu Jinxia still feels palpitations.
"I was really scared to death. She lay on the ground motionless. No matter how I called her, there
was no response."
Zhu Jinxia wiped the tears from her face and squatted on the roadside in embarrassment. Some
people were entering and leaving the supermarket, and she couldn't help but turn her head to
look at her. However, this was the vicinity of the hospital, and there were countless people who
worried about birth, aging, sickness and death every day, so they were not uncommon.
Zhu Jinxia said self-deprecatingly: "My first reaction at that time was, I am such a bad-mouthed
person. I was telling you a while ago that grandma is my only relative, and if she leaves I will be all
alone. It hasn't been long since then and it has come true——"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Shi Xu frowned and interrupted her, "If you are really
that powerful, why would people still worship the Buddha? They should just worship you."
He asked again: "What about now? How is grandma?"
"It's stable for now. I'm on blood pressure medication. The doctor said I need to stay in the
hospital for a few more days for observation."
"And you?"
"I'm staying with her in the hospital."
After a pause, Shi Xu asked, "How many days will she stay here for, and how many days will you
stay there?"
"Um."
“…”
Shi Xu pinched his brows and was silent for a moment.
Zhu Jinxia glanced at the time and realized that she had been away for too long. She walked
across the street and said, "I've been out for too long. I have to go back. Don't worry. I'm fine.
There are doctors and nurses watching me. You can go back to study."
The other end paused briefly, then quickly replied, "Okay."
Shi Xu didn't say much, didn't tell her to take care of herself, didn't mention her grandmother,
and just hung up the video.
Zhu Jinxia crossed the road and stopped outside the hospital gate. He looked down at the black
screen and felt like it was an overly short dream.
His face appeared on the screen for only a few minutes, during which time she didn't even dare
to look at him.
She put away her phone wearily and hurried back to the ward carrying her bag.
——
On the other side, Shixu’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter. He stood in the living room for a
moment and quickly made a decision.
He took out a black bag from under the bed in the bedroom, stuffed a set of clothes into it, and
hurried out carrying it.
He went to the teaching building first, looking for Yu Xiaoshan and then Dunzhu. Tomorrow was
the day of the holiday, so he told them about the holiday arrangements and asked them to hand
over the children to the parents who came to pick them up one by one.
Dunzhu looked at the bag in his hand, confused.
"Where are you going?"
Shiji paused for a moment and replied calmly, "Meeting."

Chapter 64
In the classroom, the children were having evening self-study. There was some commotion due to
the appearance of the principal, and everyone stretched their necks to look into the corridor.
Dunzhu turned around and said unhappily: "Do your homework well!"
He whispered about the timing in the corridor.
"What meeting? Why haven't I heard about it?" He didn't remember Shi Xu mentioning that he
would go to the county for a meeting at the weekend.
After a few seconds.
Shixu said: "It was announced at short notice."
Dunzhu didn't think much about it. This is how things are in the state and county. They hold
meetings every other day, and even the smallest matter can cause everyone to be called to an
emergency meeting. This is a Chinese characteristic.
"So when will you be back?"
"Before class on Monday."
"Ah, it takes so long?" Dunzhu counted on his fingers, three whole days, "Why is it so long-
winded?"
"I'll try to go early and come back early." Shixu paused, "Please keep an eye on the school. If you
have any questions, feel free to contact me. I'm here 24 hours a day."
After receiving a positive response from Dunzhu, Shixu left.
He didn't care about borrowing the car from Lao Li. After being away for several days, Lao Li
would have difficulty moving around after borrowing the car.
With his backpack on his back and his helmet on his back, he rode his motorcycle to the county
town. It was 7:30 in the evening when he left. He walked fast and arrived at 10 o'clock.
The car was speeding on the road. Apart from the noisy sound of the wind in my ears, I seemed
to be able to hear Zhu Jinxia talking.
"Are you going to die? Stop speeding!"
During those three months, she always gave me this kind of advice.
Shi Xu grew up in the mountains and could see clearly that Zhu Jinxia had a completely different
kind of law-abidingness. She obeyed the rules and regulations and adhered to the moral bottom
line, which was far from the drinking and unrestrained style of the people in the mountains.
There are no traffic police or traffic lights in the mountains, let alone the huge traffic volume in
the city. Many times when driving at night, people can drive as fast as they want.
In addition, Tibetans love to drink, so drunk driving is common.
But Zhu Jinxia firmly opposed it. Whenever he and Dunzhu showed signs of speeding, she would
chant a spell until they obeyed.
Occasionally, when Lao Li got drunk and drove back to the repair shop from school, she would
repeatedly warn him not to do so and urge the sober teachers to take him back.
Old Li joked that this was not a volunteer teacher but a Wu Zetian.
Thinking of this, Shixu’s brows relaxed a little and were no longer as solemn.
As a thought came to his mind, everything related to her seemed to be connected and popped up
one by one. On the way to the county town, he remembered that she had a hard time carrying
even half a bucket of water, and she would be so cold when washing a bowl that she almost
broke it.
She neglects housework and has poor hands-on skills, unlike her talk which makes sense.
This goes against the principle of bringing up children in the mountains. The main thing in the
mountains is to raise a child who is hardy and tough, but she is a real scholar. When you first
meet her, you can imagine how her family brought her up. She has probably never had to do
housework since she was young, and has always had everything provided for her.
How else could such a clumsy princess be raised? She only talks about highbrow things and
doesn't care about worldly affairs.
But although he is surrounded by down-to-earth people, he still yearns for that kind of noble and
otherworldly soul.
Shi Xu couldn't imagine how she could take care of patients in the hospital when she couldn't
carry anything on her shoulders or hands. Could she lift a kettle, could she tell the difference
between the grains in the cafeteria, could she help the elderly get up at night...
For a moment, Shi Xu even thought that it would be good if she hadn't divorced. At least
Weicheng would be by her side to help her. Even if he wasn't a qualified husband, he could still
be a capable nanny, right?
Along the way, he was revolving around these strange thoughts, the most clear of which was -
He must be crazy, otherwise why would he rush to Mianshui overnight?
What can I do if I rush there? Isn't it intrusive?
It's like being possessed by a demon.
But there was always a face flashing in front of her eyes. The woman looked up at the sky with
red eyes, saying that it was very hot and it was going to rain, even more obviously than before.
His brows were furrowed deeper and deeper, and he rode his bike as fast as he could, exceeding
the speed limit with ease.
He parked the car in the parking lot of the county primary school, said hello to the guard, and
turned around to call a driver he knew. There is only one minibus going to Mianshui every day in
the mountains, but there are many drivers who drive private cars.
The other party was surprised and asked: "Mianshui? Leave now???"
Although private cars have flexible schedules and can leave at any time, it takes a long time to get
from the mountains to the city, and they usually leave before noon and arrive just in time for the
night. In addition, many people leave in the morning, so you can get a car in a few minutes.
This was the first time we set off at this point. It was dark and the driver was not very happy.
After all, the mountain road was too dangerous and we had to cross the snow-capped mountains.
It's already the end of September, and at the highest altitudes, snow can already fall when the
temperature drops to very low levels at night.
"You're all alone, and it's late at night. Forget it. If you have something to do, can't you just leave
tomorrow morning?"
The timing is concise: "I can add money."
The first one paused, "How much more?"
"You have the final say." Without any hesitation.
After Shixu finished talking for a while, he felt strange again. He was really crazy and didn't even
care about money.
Normally, we would share a car to Mianshui for 300 yuan per person, but today, I only wanted to
rent a car for one person, and the driver asked for 1,500 yuan.
The price had been negotiated, and the driver couldn't help but give him an idea out of
conscience.
"You're not getting a good deal. How about this? I have some friends here who drive big trucks
and have to travel at night. I'll find you a truck that goes to Mianshui tonight. You can go with the
truck. Just give me some money as a token of your appreciation."
This saves him trouble, and it saves them trouble too.
Tibetans don’t care that much about money and are sometimes more willing to do things in a
convenient way.
Half an hour later, a dark blue truck carrying goods stopped outside the gate of the county
primary school. Someone poked his head out of the window and asked, "Are you going to
Mianshui?"
Shi Xu got on the bus carrying his shoulder bag and took out the cigarettes and lighter he had just
bought at the store, a pack of Yuxi cigarettes at 25 yuan.
The master was a man in his forties. He took the cigarette from him and said, "What's the
matter? Why are you rushing to the city at night?"
Shi Xu said casually: "Something happened at home."
——
In the hospital.
My grandmother's condition has not relapsed and her blood pressure is recovering, but she is not
very energetic and has been sleepy.
She woke up for a while at night, and Zhu Jinxia moved the accompanying chair to the bedside.
She sat on the chair, resting her head next to her grandmother, and the two of them leaned
against each other and chatted casually.
Grandmother poked her forehead. "Look at you, you didn't know how to get a divorce earlier, but
you waited until now. The last time I saw the news, experts said that the best childbearing age for
women is between 25 and 29 years old, and you are about to miss it."
Zhu Jinxia said cheerfully to make her laugh: "Don't listen to the experts. What can't be the best
thing to do at this age? At this age, I will go to pick up trash. It's fast and I can do it a lot. I'll be the
boss of the garbage station."
It made Grandma Zhu laugh.
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
"Besides, who wants to raise a child? It's a waste of time." Zhu Jinxia asked seriously, "Grandma,
do you know who is the woman I envy the most in my life?"
"who is it?"
"It's White Snake." Zhu Jinxia said, "After giving birth, I went to Leifeng Pagoda for vacation. I
didn't have to take care of the child, help with homework, or deal with family matters. When I
came out, my son became the top scholar. Isn't it too easy?"
Grandma laughed so hard that she couldn't breathe, and was frightened by Zhu Jinxia, so she
quickly said that she would not be naughty anymore.
There was a night light on at the head of the bed, and the grandmother and grandson were
talking nonsense like this. In the end, the grandmother let go of the divorce.
She had only one request: "Next time you look for a partner, I must be the one to screen them!"
"Okay, okay, you take care of it." Zhu Jinxia asked again, "Then may I ask what your requirements
are for my future partner...?"
"First of all, you have to be handsome, so that you can have good genes." Grandma counted on
her fingers.
Zhu Jinxia nodded, saying that she inherited this from her grandmother, who is obsessed with
looks.
"Secondly, he should be good to you. Don't be the kind of person who talks big. You don't have to
talk, but you have to do things." Thinking of Acropolis, the grandmother was still angry. "Men still
have to be responsible and capable. It's nothing for women to support the family and play games
all day long."
How big a thing is considered to be doing practical work?
Zhu Jinxia paused slightly, and inexplicably thought of a certain principal who had a sharp tongue
but a soft heart, and who always made silent contributions.
Is it a big deal to teach and educate people without asking for anything in return?
She shook her head uncomfortably, trying to shake the person out of her mind.
"anything else?"
"The last point is that you have to have good character." Grandmother tapped her forehead.
"Look at that family. They seem to treat you well on weekdays, but when the critical moment
comes, hmm, the whole family conspires to cheat you of your money. We have to find someone
who is willing to spend money on you, not just after your money."
Spend money on her...
The figure that just disappeared suddenly popped back into my mind.
Zhu Jinxia recalled countless moments, from the bowl of luxurious noodles with toppings from
his "old lover" to the coffee he bought her the night before her first class, from the increasingly
sumptuous meals she had after she went to the central school, to the milk tea he later bought for
her when he traveled back and forth to the county town.
Wait, Zhu Jinxia reminds me of the Internet scumbag, the kind who only gives out red envelopes
worth five yuan and twenty yuan, but always gives them out during every festival.
She hesitantly asked her grandmother, "How much is considered a worthy expense?"
My grandmother said, "How can there be a fixed number? People are rich and poor. Even if a
billionaire spends 100,000 or 80,000 yuan on you, it is not as good as someone who earns 10,000
yuan a month spending 8,000 yuan on you."
Soon, Zhu Jinxia realized that what she was comparing in her mind was actually the time
sequence. She felt that something was wrong and quickly changed the subject by talking about
other things.
"This is your standard. I only have two standards when looking for a partner."
"Which two?"
"There are two kinds of people we cannot have. One kind is those who are in a relationship, and
we cannot do such immoral things."
Grandma nodded. "What about the other one?"
"The other type is single. If others don't want one, then we don't want one either!"
“…”
The grandparents and grandchildren laughed in the ward.
After talking for a while, grandma felt tired again and gradually closed her eyes.
Zhu Jinxia was lying on the nursing chair, ready to sleep, when she suddenly heard a light sigh
from above her head.
"This summer."
"Um?"
"It's not that you just got divorced and I'm urging you to find another partner. It's just that
grandma always thinks that your parents are not around and you have had too little since you
were a child. It would be good to have more people who love you."
Her breath hitched.
"My body is getting worse day by day, and most of it is buried in the ground. I always hope that
after I am gone, there will be someone who will love you for me."
Zhu Jinxia's eyes were wet. Fearing that her grandmother would be sad, she deliberately said,
"Take your time. It's not that fast. I'm looking for a partner now because I'm married for the
second time, which is not popular in the marriage market. So you should take good care of
yourself and live a long life to see my new partner."
My grandmother smiled and said, “This is not the girl I taught.”
"I tell you, if a person's value is worn out by marriage, then it means that marriage is not a good
thing. It is rotten."
I wish this summer was stunned.
“So you must find someone who loves you, someone who won’t feel that your value has been
reduced because of a divorce. If remarriage can’t make you happier, then you’d better never get
married again. Do you remember this?” My grandmother spoke each word with sonorous and
powerful words.
The old lady had a son and a daughter. She lost her husband in her middle age and her son in her
old age, but she managed to survive all by herself. She was good-looking and well-educated, and
many people introduced her to second marriage partners in the early years, but she would rather
be single than marry someone bad and never compromised.
People around her advised her that it was not easy for a woman to raise a child alone, so why not
find a partner to live with.
The old lady said, "It's already difficult for me to raise a child alone, so why should I find an old
man and someone to serve him?"
That kind of stubbornness has carried her through all these years, and is now beginning to show
in Zhu Jinxia.
Under the dim night light, Zhu Jinxia nodded slowly and vigorously in response.
"I remember."
——
She couldn't sleep well in the hospital. The accompanying chair under her creaked when she
turned over. Zhu Jinxia tossed and turned for a while. She was afraid of disturbing her
grandmother's rest, so she ran to the bench in the corridor in the middle of the night and sat
down.
She took out the research project materials and read them for most of the night until she felt
sleepy. When she was sure that she could fall asleep immediately, she tiptoed back to the nursing
bed in the ward and took a short nap.
It seemed as if she had just closed her eyes not long ago when the sound of footsteps in the
corridor increased. A considerate nurse pushed the door open and urged her to take the old man
for a follow-up check-up.
"When there are too many people, we will have to queue up again. Now that there are not many
people around, I will go and get the CT scan done."
Zhu Jinxia borrowed a wheelchair from the nurse's station. When her grandmother saw it, she
burst into laughter.
"I just have high blood pressure, not hemiplegia, is it really necessary to go to all this trouble?"
"The doctor said that your blood pressure has not yet fully recovered, so you should not move if
you can."
She insisted on pushing the old man to the CT room. She stayed up late and didn't eat breakfast,
so she was out of breath after pushing the old man a short distance.
The inpatient building and the CT room are in two buildings, and the outpatient department is
overcrowded. While waiting, Zhu Jinxia saw that the benches at the door were full, so she simply
sat in a wheelchair.
She almost didn't sleep for half the night, and took a nap in the second half of the night. Her eyes
were still swollen, and she didn't know if it was because of crying yesterday or edema due to lack
of sleep. She sat in a wheelchair and looked at herself on the phone.
During this time, the phone suddenly lit up, the face on the screen disappeared, and the avatar of
the mountain appeared instead.
Her heart beat faster and she opened the phone to see that Shixu had sent her a message asking
how her grandmother was doing.
Zhu Jinxia replied: "It's OK, it looks stable, and I'm doing a CT scan now."
He checked the time and asked again, "You don't have class in the first period?"
There was no movement from the other side.
Zhu Jinxia yawned, then sat in a wheelchair holding her cell phone, waiting for her grandmother's
examination and for the time to be restored. Her eyelids drooped heavily as if they were filled
with lead.
——
The message about the time sequence was sent outside the main gate, and at this moment he
was already standing at the hospital entrance.
The night road seems to have no end, with mountains and rivers passing by, and only the Jinsha
River as a companion along the way.
At daybreak, the green hills beside the road gradually disappeared, and the car drove from the
national highway into the city expressway, and then took an exit and merged into a wide and flat
eight-lane road.
There were no mountains or water in sight, the city was shrouded in smog, and the endless
stream of vehicles broke the tranquility of the morning.
At this time, Shixu, who didn't smoke, had already finished half a pack of cigarettes with the
driver, and there were fine red bloodshot in his eyes.
The driver dropped him off at the hospital entrance according to the navigation system and
wished him all the best and a safe family.
Shi Xu got off the car carrying the deflated shoulder bag, and looked up at the imposing hospital
gate in front of him. His chin, which had been shaved clean yesterday, had grown blue stubble
overnight, and his clothes were as wrinkled as pickles.
He bought a bottle of Oriental Leaves at the newsstand at the door, gulped it down, then turned
back to ask the shopkeeper for some chewing gum. After opening the package, he threw several
into his mouth in one go.
The strong mint smell brings a cool feeling straight to the top of my head, which is very
refreshing.
After finishing all this, he picked up his bag again, walked into the outpatient hall, and looked
around for the CT room. Before he saw the sign, he saw the man dozing in the wheelchair.
It was strange to say, the hall was bustling with people coming and going, but she was wearing
light-colored clothes and was sitting in a wheelchair, which made her look shorter and blocked by
the crowds of people. She should not have been so conspicuous.
But he saw it at a glance.
When we first met in the mountains, it was okay at first sight, after all, people in the mountains
are dark, and few are as white as her, like a 100-watt light bulb.
But nowadays everyone is white, but she is still as if she has turned on a layer of filter, and she is
surprisingly eye-catching in his eyes.
Shi Xu smiled and felt that he was probably hopeless.
After driving all night, he took turns driving with his master for fear that the driver might be tired.
The first thing he did when he arrived at the rest stop was to go to the toilet, and the second
thing was to buy coffee. He drank five or six bottles of coffee along the way, but he was still tired.
After concentrating for a long time, my brain becomes like a paste and I can't think straight, just
like a string stretched tightly.
But the moment I saw Zhu Jinxia, the string suddenly loosened.
On the way here, I kept asking myself whether it was rude or not. I came all the way here and
asked if the other person needed me.
But seeing her made him feel it was worth it. Even if he was scolded for being rude, at least he
saw her, right?
how long it has been?
It’s been more than a month.
After a long journey of mountains and rivers, we finally arrived.
He really deserves to be their teacher Zhu.
Shi Xu stopped and stared at the woman and her sexy mount from a distance. He curled the
corners of his mouth and quickly started walking again, faster than before.
He stopped in front of Zhu Jinxia and watched her head drooping towards her chest. Every time
she woke up, she would just squinted her eyes and slightly raised her chin without even opening
her eyes, and she would fall asleep again the next second.
...It's just like when I first came into the mountains and fell asleep in his class the first time I
attended it.
What was he thinking at that time?
——She is worthy of being a princess from the city, but she is so disrespectful. She slept so
soundly that the bell for the end of get out of class didn’t wake her up.
Her thoughts slowly returned to her mind. In the center of the outpatient hall was a translucent
arc ceiling, and the light gently fell on her, like a silver yarn paved by moonlight.
One of the rays hit her face, which was a bit dazzling. It made her unable to sleep and her brows
furrowed slightly.
Shi Xu looked at the tired and pale face and noticed two slightly bluish dark circles under her
eyelids. People with fair skin are just different. They will look particularly haggard after staying up
all night.
He lowered his head and stared at her, then raised his hand slightly to block the light exactly.
The original intention was to let her sleep more peacefully, but unfortunately, when the light and
shadow changed, Zhu Jinxia noticed something, her eyelashes trembled twice, and she slowly
opened her eyes.
First reaction – how did she fall asleep?
After seeing the person in front of me clearly, my second reaction was - maybe he hasn't woken
up yet?
Zhu Jinxia stared blankly at the person in front of her with a dazed look, her sight moving from his
slightly messy hair to his stubble that was sprouting like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, to his
wrinkled clothes and the flat shoulder bag in his hand. He looked completely different from the
person he was in the video last night.
“…Am I dreaming?”
Zhu Jinxia frowned in confusion, thinking that she was still not awake, and without thinking, she
raised her hand and slapped herself.
With a snap, a crisp sound.
She took a deep breath and found that the person in front of her was still there. She looked again
and realized that this was the same clothes she had seen in the video last night.
You can't even dream of such details? !
Zhu Jinxia widened her eyes in disbelief.
"Time sequence?"
The man looked down at her.
"……How did you come????"
Shixu threw the bag in his hand onto her legs.
"Let's see your performance art."

Chapter 65
Chapter 65
In the outpatient hall, people are constantly moving around. The hospital seems to be bustling all
year round, always bustling with people.
Zhu Jinxia was still sitting in the wheelchair in a daze, the red light of the CT room hanging high
above her head, as if making up for the sunrise she missed while taking a nap.
The man a few steps away threw a black satchel toward her. She caught it subconsciously, and her
movements were very coordinated. However, it was not difficult to tell from her wide-open eyes
and slightly open mouth that she was still confused.
Anyone who wakes up from a dream and sees someone far away suddenly appear right in front
of him or her will doubt whether he or she is still dreaming, right?
The residual force of the slap still remained on her cheek, reminding her that she had woken up
from her dream.
She realized belatedly that there was no romance when they met again after more than a month
of separation. She actually fell asleep in the wheelchair like a fool and slapped herself in front of
Shixu.
“…”
It's a bit hard to describe.
Before she could continue to feel upset, the iron door of the CT room was soon reopened, and
medical staff in white coats came out with a small notebook.
"Yang Chenzhi! Is Yang Chenzhi's family here?"
"Hey, here!"
Zhu Jinxia suddenly woke up, remembered where he was and what he was doing, responded
quickly, climbed out of the wheelchair, turned around and pushed the cart to go and meet them.
There was a hint of laughter in the question coming from behind: "Is your grandma's name
Orange Juice?"
……?
Zhu Jinxia took time out of her busy schedule to turn around and glare at him: How dare you
make fun of my grandma?
Shi Xu curled his lips and there was a casual smile in his eyes: I'm just asking casually.
The wheelchair was an old item from the hospital. It had been used for a long time, and all the
parts were old and worn out, and it was not flexible enough. Zhu Jinxia had a hard time pushing
it, and it got stuck in the groove at the entrance. She pushed it several times but couldn't get it in.
The next second, someone reached out and took it.
"I come."
"No, I can do it myself—"
Before she could finish her words, Shixu easily pushed her aside and took over the physical work.
It was as if history was repeating itself. Back in school, the bucket that was so heavy in her hands
became light as a feather in his hands. The wheelchair was no exception. She had difficulty
pushing it and it didn't respond to her commands in any way, but he pushed it skillfully and easily.
"...Hey, why are you occupying my place again?" Zhu Jinxia shouted at his back.
The person in front seemed not to hear anything and easily pushed the wheelchair into the CT
room. In a few seconds, he was helping the old lady to sit up.
My grandmother was being served by a stranger without knowing what was going on. After the
man sat down, she was confused when she saw that the other party was not wearing a white
coat.
"Who are you……?"
Zhu Jinxia quickly stepped forward to explain: "Grandma, this is the time sequence. I am going to
teach at the school where the principal is."
Shi Xu was used to seeing parents. After all, he had been the principal for more than a year, so he
was not flustered. He greeted Grandma very politely. However, compared with his usual
appearance in school, he was less serious and stern, and more respectful and kind like a junior,
with a faint smile on his face.
She has never spoken in such an approachable way.
Tsk, how can you eat with food?
When Zhu Jinxia glanced at him, Shi Xu pretended not to see it. He asked where the ward was
while pushing the old man back.
Grandma Zhu got into a stranger's black car in a daze. Although she was old, she was very smart
and quickly realized that something was wrong.
She asked Zhu Jinxia: "Didn't you go to the mountains in western Sichuan to teach?"
Looking at the time sequence again, "Why is the principal in Mianshui?"
It's tens of thousands of miles away.
...She wanted to ask this question, too. Zhu Jinxia was speechless, and also raised her eyes to look
at the time sequence, indicating that he should answer his own question.
Shi Xu smiled and said calmly, "I have a meeting this weekend. I will come to the city for the
meeting."
The first time he told the lie to Dunzhu, he thought about it for a few seconds, but the second
time it was much smoother.
"I learned last night that you were ill. It's okay that I wasn't here. Since I've come to Mianshui, of
course I have to return the favor. Teacher Zhu helped us a lot when he went to the mountains, so
it's only right for me to come and see you."
Look how seamless it is.
"Hey!" Grandma thanked me repeatedly, "How can that be so kind? I am really sorry to trouble
you... Jinxia, don't let the principal get tired, come on, push me!"
"It's okay, Teacher Zhu is not strong enough, let me do it."
"No, no, no, this is too much trouble for you——"
"It's not a big deal. Compared to what Teacher Zhu did in the mountains, what I did is nothing."
Shi Xu spoke in a gentle tone, smiling even more warmly. "I'll follow her and call you grandma. Do
you mind?"
"Hey, I don't mind, I don't mind!"
Zhu Jinxia had seen the power of Principal Shi a long time ago. Whenever he wanted, a few short
words could make people feel like they were in the spring breeze and make them dizzy.
Otherwise, how could she take the bait and stay in the central school on her own initiative even
though she was extremely uncomfortable with the mountain environment?
If you are not from the same family, you will not enter the same door. The grandmother was just
like her, and she was kind and could be deceived. In a few words, she was also hooked by the
time sequence. At first, she called him the principal, but soon she started calling him "xiao xiao".
I wish this summer will be criticized in her heart, but she is still very quick.
After exchanging pleasantries, the three of them arrived at the ward. Zhu Jinxia didn't even have
the chance to ask a few more questions, as Shixu had already swiftly helped the old man onto the
bed, taking away Zhu Jinxia's position as her granddaughter.
Not only did he help people, he also adjusted the bed and helped return the wheelchair...
For the first time, Zhu Jinxia felt that she was so redundant. She stood outside the nurses' station,
watching the time and busying herself like a hardworking little bee.
"No, what are you doing? Is this my grandma or your grandma?" She looked at his back with both
anger and amusement.
"Your grandmother." Shi Xu said lazily without turning his head, "But respecting the elderly and
loving the young seems to be a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation?"
All right, quite justified. The curse words were on the tip of my tongue, but for some reason I
couldn't say them. Zhu Jinxia slowly let out a breath and smiled.
She looked at his wrinkled clothes and the faint stubble on his chin and thought subconsciously,
he looked different in the video last night, but he returned to his old ways overnight and looked
like a homeless man again.
He is really handsome for only three seconds.
But just looking at it like this, she felt it was pretty good. Maybe she had seen it too many times
and was used to it. She even felt that this kind of homeless temperament was pleasing to the eye
in a unique way.
The CT images appeared in real time on the doctor's computer. When the doctor examined them
carefully, Shi Shuo and Zhu Jinxia were standing in the office waiting together.
She noticed that from just now until now, whether it was the pedestrians in the corridor, the
medical staff at the nurses' station or even the office, they were all looking at the time sequence.
She continued to look at him inconspicuously.
His clothes are a little wrinkled and his beard is a little longer, but after not seeing him for more
than a month, how come he looks better?
I don't know if it's due to genetics or because he grew up in the mountains, but in terms of
height, he is already far ahead of those around him. Even when he is standing still, he can give
people a sense of oppression.
Unlike the male teachers and students she was used to seeing in humanities and social science
colleges, they were bookish but slightly thin, and their gestures were more powerful. He was not
nearsighted, and never hunched over. He was always relaxed and at ease, like a lush tree facing
the light in a primeval forest.
His wheat-colored skin is slightly darker than the people around him, which adds a bit of wildness
to his already sharp features. He always looks overly serious when he is not smiling, but once he
looks at you, even if he looks casually, his deep brown pupils can ripple with gentle waves,
swaying and pulling you into an endless wilderness.
From the mountains to the outside of the mountains, he attracted everyone's attention like a fish
swimming from the deep sea to the fresh water.
As if realizing that Zhu Jinxia was staring at him too intently, Shi Xu turned around and met her
gaze calmly.
"That's enough," he said.
Wish this summer: "?"
She didn't understand at first, until she heard him say, "If you keep looking at me like that, my
back will catch fire. I wish you a happy summer."
“…”
I wish this summer would stutter for a few seconds and react quickly.
"Excuse me?" She pretended to pat him on the back, "I'm looking at the bird shit on your back."
As he spoke, he quickly stretched out his hand in the air to show him, "Here, look."
It's not an exaggeration to say it was a phantom hand. Within 0.01 seconds of extending her
hand, she retracted it guiltily. However, Shi Xu was quick-witted and grabbed her wrist.
"Where?" He looked at her clean palms and asked calmly.
Zhu Jinxia shrank twice, but didn't pull back, and just laughed dryly twice.
"I guess it was pooped on you this morning, and now it's dry, and you can't get it off even if you
pat it."
Shixu laughed leisurely: "Oh, the emperor's bird shit?"
“…”
You can even come up with the Emperor's New Clothes and use allusions so well. You shouldn't
teach maths, you should teach Chinese.
——
After the review, the possibility of complications was ruled out and the two returned to the ward
from the doctor's office.
There was a bathroom in the single room, and the sound of water could be heard from inside.
Zhu Jinxia looked out and found that her grandmother was restless and was fetching water from
the small plastic basin distributed by the inpatient department.
"You're back?" Grandmother said. "I was just thinking of getting some water to wash my face."
Zhu Jinxia took over quickly and said, "Go lie on the bed and I will serve you."
Grandma said that he was not that delicate, saying that he had high blood pressure, not
hemiplegia. She urged Zhu Jinxia to take good care of the time.
"You came to the hospital early in the morning, so you must not have had breakfast. Take Xiao to
eat, and after that, just bring me something to fill my stomach."
Shi Xu said, "I passed by the cafeteria on the way here. I'll go buy breakfast and let—" After a
pause, he said, "Let Jin Xia help you wash up."
The word "Jin Xia" successfully nailed the person fetching water in his place, but he said it calmly,
as if it was not the first time he called her like that and it was very natural.
Zhu Jinxia hissed and felt a tingling sensation from the top of her head. Her scalp felt tight and
she turned her head to look at him.
In the past at school, he would either call her by her name or politely call her Teacher Zhu in front
of others. He never removed her surname and called her by her first name alone.
At first glance, it just seemed strange and odd, yet also tinged with a kind of intimacy that was
hard to describe.
Zhu Jinxia wanted him to be more normal, but it was as if Shijue hadn't received her warning. He
twitched his chin and said, "The water is full, don't you want to close it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the water in the basin overflowed, and the cold water splashed
on his hands. Zhu Jinxia quickly turned around and frantically turned off the faucet, and her ears
caught his very light and quick laugh.
My scalp felt numb again.
By the time she came out of the bathroom carrying the basin of water, Shi Xu was no longer in
the ward.
"Where are the people?" She looked around.
Grandma sat on the bed and answered, "I went to buy breakfast."
Going now? Zhu Jinxia muttered: "Run fast enough."
"He said to wait until you're done before going, because the day lily will be cold." Grandma
seemed to find it funny, and there was a smile in the wrinkles at the end of her eyes. Finally, she
shook her head and sighed, "She was polite when she was young, so you should have refused her
politely. She came from afar, so there's no reason for you to rush around for her."
Zhu Jinxia wrung out a handkerchief to wipe her face while comforting her.
"It's okay, relax and don't feel bad. I helped out a lot in the mountains before. I didn't take any
salary, and I even bought things for the students out of my own pocket..."
When Shixu came back with a large variety of breakfasts, she was still picking and choosing,
asking why the buns tasted this way. She either wanted sweet or salty porridge, but he insisted
on making millet porridge without salt or taste.
Grandmother looked at her sideways for a moment, patted the back of her hand lightly, and
scolded her in a low voice.
"Whose family raised such a rude girl? I don't remember teaching you this."
Zhu Jinxia blurted out without thinking: "We are all family, no need to follow him——"
Before he could finish his words, he came to his senses and got stuck.
Fortunately, Shixu didn't say anything. He handed the millet porridge to his grandmother and
explained lightly: "Sweet food can easily cause high blood sugar, and salty food is not suitable for
cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, so I chose millet porridge because it is easier to
digest."
Grandmother praised him for being attentive and asked Zhu Jinxia to learn from him and see how
well other people take care of others.
Zhu Jinxia stood quietly aside, thinking that you old man don't know, this man is very good at
judging food and eating. Today he is showing his attentiveness and thoughtfulness. In the past,
when he was at school, he would always say "If you like it, eat it. If you don't like it, get out" to
Dunzhu.
The attentive and thoughtful "Shi Xiao" arranged the dishes for the elderly, and finally slowly
pulled out an overlooked one from the various food bags and stuffed it into Zhu Jinxia's hand.
"Take it. There's only one left with sprout filling."
Zhu Jinxia: “…Thank you.”
Shi Xu smiled and said you're welcome, then completed what she hadn't finished saying just now:
"We're all family, no need to be polite."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia successfully made her face turn red, but she had said it without thinking, so she had no
way to refute it.
The grandmother sat on the hospital bed, drinking porridge while looking back and forth at the
two of them, vaguely sensing something was wrong. She knew her granddaughter well, and
although the elderly did not know the term "people-pleasing personality", they knew that Zhu
Jinxia was afraid of bothering others on weekdays, but today she used people properly, and she
felt at ease.
Something is wrong.
After breakfast, a lot of garbage is generated, so it is necessary to pack and take it away in time to
prevent the air in the ward from being blocked and the garbage from producing odor after being
left for a long time.
Grandma went to the toilet and came out, not seeing anyone. She asked if Shixu had left. Zhu
Jinxia said, "No, he went to take out the trash."
The grandmother was even more surprised. Was he the principal or the delivery man? He was a
guest from afar. Not only did he buy food, but he was also responsible for taking out the garbage.
She looked up at her granddaughter and asked, "What about you? Are you just sitting here with a
clear conscience?"
"I said I was going." Zhu Jinxia quickly defended herself, "He thought I was clumsy and said if I
went, I might spill the beans."
This was the case when she was in the central school. She had long been accustomed to sitting
back and enjoying the fruits of others' labor, and she did not think there was anything wrong with
being a hard-working little bee. She was not responsible for cooking, and she was not allowed to
wash the dishes. Zhu Jinxia had become lazy without realizing it, even though she was not very
hardworking.
Grandmother paused for a moment, then asked, "Did you know he was coming?"
"have no idea."
"Then why did he come here? Western Sichuan is so far away, and it's so early in the morning."
Zhu Jinxia's heart skipped a beat when she noticed a scrutinizing look in her grandmother's eyes.
"Didn't he say he had a meeting? He came for a meeting, not to see us..." She avoided her
grandmother's sight and suddenly saw a soy sauce packet left on the small table. She
immediately grabbed a life-saving straw and said, "There's garbage here. I'll go throw it away!"
There is always a sense of fleeing in the back.
——
There were two oversized trash cans in the water room at the end of the corridor. I dealt with the
things in Shixu and had just washed my hands when I was blocked by someone on my way out.
"Come with me."
Zhu Jinxia grabbed his sleeve, just like grabbing a naughty kid who made a mistake in school, and
carried him to the stairwell in a menacing manner.
The timing was a little funny. I followed her lazily, and inexplicably I missed the tense atmosphere
in front of me.
How long had it been since she treated him so harshly? The last time was the last time. No one in
the central school could control him, and he matured precociously. Uncle Wang had let him go
eight hundred years ago. Only she rolled her eyes at him, complained about him, and confronted
him all day long.
Stockholm syndrome is true. It turns out that being scolded for a long time can be addictive.
The door of the stairwell was semi-automatic. She stepped in and he followed. As soon as he
loosened his grip, the door closed automatically, hitting him hard on the heart with a thud.
As soon as the door closed, it was as if a vacuum was drawn. The corridor suddenly became quiet
and the light dimmed. It was like stepping into a random door and returning to the cold and dim
corridor of the central school in a trance.
Although the room in front of him was dim, there were no cobwebs or dust. There was a distinct
smell of disinfectant in the air, which was as thin and dense as needles and penetrated into his
nostrils.
"Tell me, why did you come here?" Zhu Jinxia turned around and looked accusatory.
Shi Xu met her gaze and spoke the same words, with his hands in his pockets nonchalantly.
"Didn't I tell you? There will be a meeting."
"What will happen?"
“The Education Bureau’s meeting.”
"What's the subject?"
"What could be the theme of the Education Bureau's meeting?" Shi Xu said calmly, "Of course it's
education."
“…”
The two of them chatted back and forth, she asked questions quickly and he answered fluently.
Zhu Jinxia hissed and said, "What you are talking about is nonsense. If the Education Bureau's
meeting doesn't talk about education, what else can it talk about? Crosstalk?"
Shi Xu seemed to find it a little funny. "What's going on?" He stood with his arms folded, looking
at her with his dark, clear eyes, and laughed briefly. "Who is the principal between the two of us?
Are you checking on me?"
Zhu Jinxia ignored his interruption and asked again: "Tell me, what is the topic? I called you all the
way from western Sichuan to come here. This must be an urgent super meeting. Is your travel
expenses worth it?"
Once the thick iron door was closed, the noise in the corridor was blocked out. The bell from the
nurses' station could no longer be heard, and there was no sound of carts bumping back and
forth. The air was completely quiet.
Zhu Jinxia examined the sequence of time, scanning him up and down with the machine-gun-like
eyes in a detective drama.
She was so inquiring, Shi Xu really didn't know how to answer. He was very mobile, and when he
came, it was basically just a thought, and he was already on the way. How to explain it now?
Fortunately, Zhu Jinxia's cell phone suddenly rang, and the vibration interrupted her
"interrogation".
She glanced at him, said "wait a minute", and turned to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
The call was from Yuan Feng, who first asked about Grandma Zhu's condition. After learning that
the old lady had recovered well, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he began to hesitate and asked
if the hospital could leave.
"What's wrong?"
Yuan Feng was a little evasive.
Zhu Jinxia didn't get a response for a long time, so she urged him: "If you have something to say,
just say it, don't beat around the bush."
I only heard Yuan Feng say dryly over there: "I can't substitute for you today, how about you go to
school and I will come to the hospital to take care of grandma?"
Zhu Jinxia smelled something was wrong and asked, "What happened?"
The other end avoided answering at first, or talked about other things, until Zhu Jinxia frowned
and asked him what was going on with a little anger.
Yuan Feng finally said with despair: "Doudou and I had a fight and scratched my face and chin. It's
okay for him to come to the hospital with such injuries, but it's unacceptable for him to go to
school to teach students..."
"Fight?" Zhu Jinxia was startled and said reflexively, "What about her? Is she injured?"
Yuan Feng is a big guy of 1.8 meters, while Doudou is a petite girl. The difference in strength is
huge. If he can be scratched on the face, how badly will Doudou be injured?
I wish all your hopes are lifted this summer.
"How could she be injured?" Yuan Feng finally managed to say after a long pause, "Okay, I was
beaten unilaterally, are you satisfied?"
Zhu Jinxia's heart sank and she asked him why he fought, but she already had the answer in her
heart.
"…Because you took my grandma to the hospital yesterday?"
yes.
Yuan Feng admitted it.
Zhu Jinxia's breath was choked. "Then why did you come to the hospital today? Does she have
any objection?"
have.
Zhu Jinxia was silent for a moment and told him not to come. She would ask Senior Brother Qiao
to substitute for the class at school, and she would also be watching over him in the hospital. She
wanted to apologize to Yuan Feng, but when the words were on her lips, he seemed to know
what she wanted to say and interrupted her at the right time.
"Stop it. I warned you yesterday not to say thank you or sorry or anything like that. We have been
friends for decades and you cannot hear that."
Zhu Jinxia paused for a moment, smiled bitterly, and said, "Okay, let's not talk about this. Then
you handle it well."
"What are you dealing with, the injury or the feelings?" Yuan Feng also tried to make the best of
it and laughed.
“Both.”
After hanging up the phone, Zhu Jinxia took a deep breath facing the wall, feeling suffocated. She
didn't know whether to be angry with herself or with Doudou. She couldn't be angry with her
grandmother, right?
Is it because she shouldn't have fallen ill? This way, she wouldn't have to ask Yuan Feng for help?
There was no point in thinking too much, as there were more important things at hand. She had
classes in the afternoon, so she could only call Senior Brother Qiao and ask him to substitute for
her.
Before the call was made, a hand reached out from behind and gently took the phone away.
"What are you doing?"
Zhu Jinxia then remembered that there was a "prisoner" being "interrogated" behind her. She
opened her mouth and looked back, only to see Shixu exit the call page and put the phone back
into her hand.
"Go to class."
"…What about my grandma?"
Shixu said, "Isn't this me?"
Zhu Jinxia was silent for two seconds, narrowed her eyes, and asked a soul-searching question
word by word: "You, don't, have, a chance, do you?"
"Yes." The timing was also stuck for two seconds, and he quickly replied, "It will be online."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia was so angry that she almost laughed. "Online meeting, why did you come to
Mianshui???"
Facing her self-righteousness and aggressiveness, he was very calm and had no guilty conscience.
He just looked at her indifferently.
"Why, Mianshui is your home, so I can't come?"
“…”
"Then tell me, why did I come here?"
“…”
Seeing her face with a nose that wasn't a nose and eyes that weren't eyes, the timing was funny.
A paper tiger is made of paper after all, and it can only hold up its frame. When he got a little
closer, she even had trouble looking at him straight in the eye, and her ears turned red.
Shi Xu noticed that she was holding a soy sauce packet in her hand, so he decided to let her go
and reached out to take it away.
"Just think of me as someone who comes here to eat and drink for free."
His hands suddenly felt empty, and Zhu Jinxia looked at him again.
"...Didn't you pay for breakfast?"
"Yeah." Shi Xu smiled, "How about you reimburse me?"
"Let me pay." She lowered her head to unlock the phone and opened WeChat to transfer money.
"Let me pay the car and road expenses together. Tell me, how much is it——"
Before she could do anything, someone grabbed the phone and held her right hand in his palm.
My heart skipped a beat and I took a step back... there was a wall behind me.
I pulled my hand back subconsciously...but I didn't.
I had just thrown away the garbage and washed my hands. The tap water in the hospital is
groundwater, which is very cold. My hands are still cold.
She just felt like she was electrocuted.
My scalp seemed to be numb again, as if someone was sewing it on the top of my head,
twitching again and again.
"……Hello!"
Zhu Jinxia protested, and even she was surprised by the sound she made. It sounded like a cat's
meow, hoarse and weak.
She leaned against the wall, her back felt cold but in front of her was a burning gaze.
Time approached suddenly, holding her with one hand and lifting her chin with the other, looking
down at her, his bright eyes like X-rays, as if he wanted to see her clearly inside and out.
The tingling electric shock sensation on the top of his head quickly spread downwards, flowing
through his limbs and bones like a stream of water.
Zhu Jinxia was about to spontaneously combust. The place where her chin was pinched by him
instantly became hot, as if it was being fried by an iron, and she could almost hear the sizzling
sound of her flesh.
"You, what are you going to do?"
She was extremely panicked, her eyes wide open, her heart beating like a drum, almost bursting
her eardrums.
Time was getting closer and closer, so close that the dark brown eyes were within reach, and she
could almost see a hint of smile in them, clear and transparent, just like the glass marbles she
used to play with as a child.
Just when her brain was about to crash due to lack of oxygen, Shixu's gaze fell on her eyelids,
scanning back and forth several times.
"Are your eyes not swollen today?"
"……?"
"It seems that you have stopped crying." A sneer followed closely behind.
The next second, Shixu let go of her hand, setting her free, and at the same time, he took out a
small box of iron from his bag and shook a few pieces of chewing gum into his mouth.
"Go to class. I'll be watching over the hospital."
He handed her the small tin box.
Zhu Jinxia seemed to be floating in the air. One second her heart was pounding because of the
close distance, and the next second she was at a loss because of the distance. However, she
refused to admit that she was disappointed. She just took it slowly, shook two pills in her palm,
put them in her mouth and asked vaguely, "...Aren't we talking about reimbursement?"
Shi Xu let out a light laugh from his nose, "Reimbursement?"
"Don't cry like you did last night, then this trip won't be in vain."

Chapter 66
Under the persuasion of time, Zhu Jinxia still went to school, but she had something on her mind
and she didn't sleep well last night, so she was tired.
During the break, she bumped into a teacher from the School of Chemistry in the teacher's
lounge. The teacher greeted her and, after taking a look at her, he said in surprise, "Wow, Teacher
Zhu, your eyes are quite unique!"
"Ah?" Zhu Jinxia touched it subconsciously, "Is it swollen?"
She thought to herself, before we set out, didn't the time sequence say that there would be no
swelling today? Thinking of this, the various things that happened in the corridor naturally
emerged in front of her eyes, and her heartbeat became irregular.
"No, I mean the dark circles under your eyes, like natural smoky makeup."
Zhu Jinxia put down her hand awkwardly, laughing at herself for being paranoid and imagining
things based on random words from others.
Seeing that she was not in good spirits, the chemistry teacher casually told her about the funny
thing that happened in class today.
"I said dry ice is not ice, and asked everyone to give some similar examples. Some said 'aqua regia
is not water', and some said 'soda ash is not alkali'. At the end of the day, I saw a fat boy playing
games in the back row. I called him up and asked him, guess what he said?"
"What did you say?"
"He told me a bunch of things in one breath, saying 'hot dogs are not dogs', 'light cats are not
cats', 'snails are not cows', and also -" he paused, and the tone suddenly turned high, "pheasants
are not chickens! Can you believe it?"
“…”
The chemistry teacher said quietly, "Kids nowadays feel like sitting on pins and needles when they
attend class for two hours, but they are as calm as a rock when they play games for a whole day
and night."
Zhu Jinxia was amused and thanks to him, she was in a good mood in the second half of the class.
At six o'clock in the afternoon, the evening class ended and it was the rush hour for getting off
work. The road back to the hospital was extremely congested. The roads on the navigation were
almost all dark red, and at worst all yellow.
She sent a message to Shixu, saying that she was stuck in traffic and estimated that she would not
be able to reach the hospital until 7:30, and asked him how things were going over there.
Time sequence returned a short video. The grandmother was sitting on the hospital bed watching
TV with a half-eaten ice cream cone in her hand. The man behind the camera chuckled and said,
"Say hello to Jin Xia, grandma." The old woman grinned and made a "yeah" gesture with the hand
that was not holding the ice cream.
It was amazing that the tiredness of the whole day was suddenly washed away.
Zhu Jinxia smiled and asked him, "Did you buy the ice cream cone?"
"Um."
"Didn't you say this morning that high sugar foods are bad?"
Shi Xu's answer: "After dinner, I asked her what kind of fruit she wanted to eat, and she said
strawberry. I was just wondering where to buy strawberries in the world, and she immediately
said 'ice cream with the flavor of...'."
Shi Xu laughed at that time. She was so clever that he felt he saw the shadow of Zhu Jinxia in her.
The old lady is already 80 years old this year, but she still insists on washing her face and hair
every morning. When Shi Shu went out to buy ice cream, she embarrassedly asked him to
remember to bring her a bottle of elastin when he came back, otherwise her hair would be frizzy
and curly...
Live a very refined life.
When Shi Xu was by her side, he would always watch her every move in a trance. He wanted to
wait for thirty to fifty years, hoping that Jin Xia would look like this when she got old.
If the journey they had taken was limited to this section, then he would most likely not have been
able to see the little old lady in person. So it was worth the trip to take a quick look today.
Zhu Jinxia didn't know what he was thinking, but she just found it funny that her grandmother
had become so familiar with him so quickly and could ask for ice cream in various ways like a
naughty boy. In fact, most of her reluctance to bother others came from her grandmother, and
she was just imitating her.
She rubbed her swollen temples in the online car-hailing service and asked, "Did you guys have
dinner together?"
Shi Xu replied: "She ate it, but I haven't."
Zhu Jinxia asked again: "Why don't you eat?"
After saying that, she felt that she had asked a question that she already knew the answer to. She
banged her head against the car window in annoyance, and then added, "I haven't eaten either.
Can we eat together?"
In the rearview mirror, the driver looked at her curiously, but she pretended not to see it.
In the hospital, four words have been edited in the dialog box of the time sequence: "Waiting for
you."
Before he sent it out, he had already received her reply. He smiled, deleted the words "waiting
for you", and clicked send.
"Together."
After hearing this, Zhu Jinxia smiled relaxedly while sitting in the back seat. Once a person
relaxes, he or she can no longer resist fatigue. Holding her phone, she slept soundly in the stop-
and-go online ride-hailing car. It was strange that although her body was tired, she still had a
smile on her face when she woke up, and her spirit was satisfied.
When we arrived at the hospital, it was dark outside the window and night had already fallen.
As soon as I got off the car, I saw a young couple arguing on the side of the road. The girl was
walking quickly in front, and the boy was chasing after them while explaining, attracting the
attention of passers-by.
Zhu Jinxia suddenly remembered something and took out her cell phone to send a message to
Yuan Feng.
"How's that? Is the World War over?"
Since the incident was caused by her, she couldn't help but feel apologetic.
There was no answer at first, until she passed the outpatient department and stepped into the
elevator of the inpatient building, when suddenly a phone call came in.
When the elevator door closed, Zhu Jinxia picked up the phone without any preparation.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the call was connected, a woman's sharp voice came from the other
end.
"Happy summer, right?"
The caller was not Yuan Feng, but his girlfriend Doudou. It seemed that the world war was not
over, but was getting more and more intense, with a momentum of creating a new battlefield.
The piercing sound made her eardrums hurt, and Zhu Jinxia reflexively held the phone farther
away. Before she could say anything, the other party started cursing at her.
"Are you addicted to men? Why do you have to have all the men around you revolve around
you?"
——This is Doudou’s opening remarks.
She said that it was like this when she was in school. One boy after another was obsessed with
Zhu Jinxia. She was so horny and just enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention.
The sudden insults caught Zhu Jinxia off guard.
She was not the only one in the elevator. There were also several family members of patients and
a nurse pushing medicines. Apart from the floor announcement, no one spoke in the small space.
It was so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard. Therefore, this sharp insult exploded like a
bomb in the closed environment, and everyone could hear it clearly.
The elevator was surrounded by spotless mirrors, which reflected everyone's embarrassment.
Zhu Jinxia stood at the front and looked up. The people in the mirror were looking at their noses
with their eyes and their hearts with their noses. One of them met her gaze and hurriedly
lowered his head.
The cursing continued in the receiver.
"Why don't you say anything? Are you feeling guilty?" The other party sneered, "When you had a
husband, you always ordered Yuan Feng around. Now that you're divorced, you're even more
unscrupulous, right? You said you had acute gastroenteritis before you even got divorced, and
you asked him to go to your house in the middle of the night. If I hadn't stopped you, how would
you have seduced him? We're all women, why don't you just speak frankly."
Zhu Jinxia didn't want to argue with her. First, they didn't agree, and second, it was for Yuan
Feng's sake.
"Where's Yuan Feng? Let him answer the phone."
"What phone call are you on? Are you trying to instigate him to quarrel with me? Thanks to you,
the quarrels we've had are enough to write a novel. Can't you just calm down and get out of our
lives?"
The person on the other side gnashed his teeth and continued to list her crimes one by one.
"Before, he lied that he was sick, but when he found that he couldn't get him to move, he started
using the old lady as a shield. Zhu Jinxia, don't say that your grandma is sick. Even if your
grandma is dead, it has nothing to do with him—"
"Are you done yet?"
When it comes to her grandmother, Zhu Jinxia becomes furious. No matter how good her temper
is, she cannot withstand such provocation.
It is normal for people who are trapped in love to lose their rationality, but the other party kept
talking about his grandmother. Not to mention that the old lady had just gone through a life-and-
death crisis yesterday, even if she was safe and sound, as a close relative, she could not bear to
hear such outspoken words.
Ding—we’ve reached the floor.
Zhu Jinxia walked out of the elevator and did not rush to the ward. Instead, she strode towards
the elevator room on the side, closed the door, and avoided the people in the corridor.
"It doesn't matter if your head is empty, the key is to keep it out of water."
She was sharper than ever before, and said word by word: "Please shake your brains before
talking to me. First of all, Yuan Feng and I don't have any friendship beyond friendship. Secondly,
what happened to my grandma has nothing to do with you. Please keep your mouth clean. Your
mouth is for eating, not for farting."
The woman on the other side seemed shocked. They were classmates in high school. Although
they did not develop any deep friendship, they had been classmates for three years and had a
general understanding of each other.
Zhu Jinxia left everyone with the impression of being a soft persimmon who never argued with
others, but whenever a conflict arose, she would definitely be the first to give in.
Doudou was a little confused, probably because her existing impression of her had been
overturned. She froze for a few seconds before finding her rhythm again. After all, she used to be
a spirited little sister, and swearing and bullying the weak were her specialty.
"You're right. You dare to yell at me?" The voice was even more powerful than before. "I knew
eight hundred years ago that you were not a good person. You pretended to be weak, but in fact
you were just trying to make people feel pity for you! Do you know why you are so unpopular
with girls? Do you want to know why we hate you——"
"I don't want to." Zhu Jinxia said coldly, "You are not important."
“…”
The other side choked, why is this not playing by the rules? She was preparing for a new round of
counterattack, but she didn't expect Zhu Jinxia to get there first.
"Huang Jianya, there is something I have wanted to tell you for a long time, but due to your
relationship with Yuan Feng, I have been holding it in my heart."
“…What did you say?”
"Love is not the whole of life, but you are willing to die for a man. Your three meals a day and
every breath revolve around him." Zhu Jinxia said, "If you really love Yuan Feng, you shouldn't
stop him from having normal interpersonal relationships. Or do you have so little confidence in
yourself that you have to have him isolate and block every woman in your life for you so that you
can have the so-called sense of security?"
Every message is checked, every conversation is investigated, every female friend is under strict
surveillance, and everyone who knows him knows that Yuan Feng has a girlfriend who checks on
him all the time.
Over the years, because of her control, Yuan Feng was like a monk living in a temple. He would
avoid any woman he saw. Before going home every day, he would carefully check WeChat and
QQ in the corridor, and delete the chat windows with female colleagues over and over again,
until he was sure that apart from work information, they did not even leave greetings such as
"Are you busy?", "Are you there?", "Is the food in the cafeteria delicious today?", etc., before he
dared to open the door and go home.
Even so, Doudou would still cause trouble.
"Who is this Li Yan? Why did she ask you to print out forms for her?"
Yuan Feng said: "I was just about to go to the printing room, so she asked me to help her print it."
"Doesn't she have hands? Isn't there anyone else in the office? Does she have to find you?"
…
Such incidents occurred one after another, and Yuan Feng's life became restricted and he couldn't
even socialize normally.
Once he and Doudou had a quarrel and felt miserable, so he wanted to find Zhu Jinxia to
complain, so he sent her a link. Zhu Jinxia clicked on it and saw that it was an online document
that could be operated by both parties at the same time, typing freely on the same document.
I wish this summer to slowly type a question mark in the document:?
Yuan Feng explained: "I'm afraid that I'll forget to delete the chat history, or that she'll see you
looking for me one day. If you have anything to say in the future, just type it in the document."
Sympathy aside, Zhu Jinxia still responded gently with one word: "Go away."
As the number one enemy on Doudou's list, she has been blocked and deleted from Yuan Feng's
social media countless times. She also knows very well that she must not say any reasonable
words because Doudou's butt is crooked and he will definitely not listen to her advice, which will
trigger a new round of war between her and Yuan Feng.
But now, she was too lazy to endure it.
She had to cut the Gordian knot between her and Weicheng, but didn't Yuan Feng have to do
that? If you stick your head out, you'll get a knife. If you hide your head, you'll also get a knife.
Would it be okay to bury your head like an ostrich and avoid death?
Doudou on the other end was still asking: "You just said so much nonsense, what exactly do you
want me to hear?"
"The next sentence." Zhu Jinxia said word by word, "Listen carefully, if you have a disease, take
medicine. If you are so serious, you should not be in a relationship. You should sit on the side of
the road and apply tempered glass."
After saying that, she hung up the phone without hesitation.
There was no one in the stairwell, going up and down, except for the faint echo and the pale light
above her head. The light went out every ten seconds, and she had to stomp her feet before it
would light up again.
After finishing the call, I turned on the light and turned around to find that the door had been
opened at some point. There was a narrow gap and someone was standing outside, revealing half
of his body and his entire face.
She was so scared that she screamed and almost threw her phone away.
Shi Xu was quick to act and snatched her phone in mid-air and put it back into her hand.
Wish this summer: "..."
Zhu Jinxia: "Why are you here?"
"Go get some water for grandma from the water room next door." He was at his leisure, holding
the kettle in his hand. "When I came out, I vaguely heard someone arguing in the stairwell."
"…Where did you start listening to it?"
Shixu laughed with an ambiguous tone: "Why don't you shake your brains first before you talk to
me?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia's heart skipped a beat when he saw her ferocious and sharp-tongued side, but she
forced herself to keep a straight face and pushed the door open. As she walked towards the
ward, she frantically recalled in her mind what she had passionately expressed just now.
It was also a bit of bad luck. I had been a stubborn person who had to swallow my anger for half
my life. Today, I finally stood up for once and was caught by him.
Just as I was feeling frustrated, a sentence came slowly from behind me.
"Sure, I wish you all the best this summer."
Zhu Jinxia stopped outside the ward, turned around and gave him a warning look, meaning that
you should think about it, anyway, you have already seen it just now, I am no longer the same
person I was before...
I don't know if the meaning was conveyed clearly.
The next second, Shixu reached into his bag, took out a piece of bubble gum and stuffed it into
her palm.
"……?"
"A gift."
"What gift?"
"Congratulations on reaching the 29th year of your life and finally having a mouth."
Wish this summer: "..."
She looked at the bubble gum, then laughed unhappily the next second and stuffed it back into
his hand.
"Don't congratulate me, just congratulate yourself."
Shi Xu raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you congratulating me for?"
"He, you taught me well." She glanced at him with a half-smile, "Who told me in the beginning
that if I don't want to laugh, I can just not laugh. If I don't want to talk, I can just keep silent. If I
don't want to do anything, I can just refuse directly - haven't I put it into practice?"
Seeing Shi Xu's slightly solemn expression, she snorted and said that it was all the principal's fault
and she was just following his advice.
After saying that, he pushed the door open and walked in, even his back was filled with
arrogance.
Shi Xu laughed, and his ears felt itchy from the hum. He scratched his ears, but felt that the itch
was probably somewhere else.
She took his words to heart and lived more freely than before.
——
As soon as I returned to the ward and greeted my grandmother, she urged me repeatedly: "Hurry
up and go eat with Xiaoshi. They have been waiting for you. You must be starving now."
God knows, she didn't eat anything either, so why did her grandmother only care about Shixu?
Zhu Jinxia thought it was funny and looked at Shixu with a squint, but Shixu looked calm and
composed.
The two walked out of the hospital and found a 24-hour convenience store nearby to have a
meal.
Zhu Jinxia bought some oden, picked up two bottles of cold drinks, and picked out some bento,
and the two of them started eating on a bench by the roadside.
Logically speaking, if it were someone else, Zhu Jinxia would at least do as her grandmother said
and choose a higher-end restaurant to express her gratitude properly, but the person in front of
her was Shi Xu, and their past interactions were daily and casual, so she would not talk about
those empty things.
"What's going on at school?" Zhu Jinxia asked as she unpacked her chopsticks. "The principal ran
away. Isn't the mountain in chaos?"
"Today is the holiday, so I asked Dunzhu and Yu Xiaoshan to help watch it."
"Do they know you're here on Mianshui?"
"have no idea."
"So what did you say?"
"What can I say?" Shi Xu smiled. Seeing that she had been trying to unscrew the bottle cap for a
long time without success, he took it, unscrewed it, and gave it back to her. "Just say you went to
a meeting."
Zhu Jinxia took the drink back in disgrace, emphasizing, "Because it's a cold drink, there's water
on the bottle cap, and my hands slipped, so I couldn't twist it open."
"Yes, I know. It's definitely not because you're weak." Shixu readily accepted the advice and lazily
lifted the lid of the teriyaki chicken rice. "Don't worry, I don't have the guts to discriminate
against women's physical fitness. You can eat in peace and save your punches for those who need
them more."
“…”
So, that's the downside of knowing her too well. Before she even started boxing, he had already
learned it by himself and could counter her moves.
Zhu Jinxia glared at him, pretending she didn't hear him, and asked again: "I've been gone for a
month, how are you guys doing?"
"Good."
"You're still teaching fifth grade Chinese?"
"I teach."
"That's it." Zhu Jinxia sighed, "I spent three months working hard to raise the language level of
everyone, but now you have wiped it all out."
Shixu gave it a nonchalant look and said, "I thought that Tsinghua's undergraduate and master's
degree programs, although not of high value, should at least be presentable."
"It has nothing to do with academic qualifications. I have admired your school for a long time."
Zhu Jinxia smiled, pretending, "It's mainly because of your teaching method. Everyone has to use
all their strength just to resist hypnosis. How can they have extra energy to listen to the lecture?"
As she was talking, she noticed that Shixu was quick with his hands and eyes and picked up the
Arctic Wings in her cup with one chopstick.
???
Zhu Jinxia: "Hey, what are you doing? I just bought a bunch of that!"
The time sequence was solved in no time. "Since you were just talking, I thought you didn't like to
eat."
"you--"
Zhu Jinxia was very angry, but throughout the whole process, as soon as she said something
unpleasant, Shixu would "misunderstand" and eat her favorite food.
Shi Xu asked her how she felt about returning to the university campus for the new semester.
She said that she had just received her divorce certificate a few days ago, and an old professor
had already tried to match her up with her and wanted to introduce her to teachers in the
science and engineering fields in the school.
"What are the conditions?"
"Not bad." She counted on her fingers. "The one from the School of Chemistry takes on projects
outside. Each project takes half a year to a year. I heard that he can earn seven figures for one
project."
"The one from the School of Mathematics is a Yangtze River Scholar at such a young age, and he
has a bright future."
"Oh, there is also a person in the humanities and social sciences, teaching history. Although
teaching doesn't make much money, he has a good family background. My senior brother said he
has an island in Southeast Asia. I don't know if it's true or not."
Chronology said lazily, "I have an island too."
"What island? Forget it?" Zhu Jinxia said deliberately.
"Destitute and destitute."
She laughed, and before she had stopped laughing, the last ball of potato salad had been
scooped away by a spoonful.
Zhu Jinxia stopped smiling and stared at him with dead fish eyes, "This is the fourth time."
"What fourth time?"
"This is the fourth time you've taken away my favorite food."
Shi Xu put down his chopsticks regretfully and said, "Sorry, I don't know."
"Come on, forget it." Zhu Jinxia was furious. "You're always right. Don't you know what I like to
eat?"
"How would I know what you like to eat?"
Shi Xu had an expression that said "Don't accuse anyone wrongly" on his face. Although he didn't
seem panicked, he seemed to be cooperating with her in her accusation.
The two sat on a bench, separated by the food in the middle. They sounded tense, but in fact
they looked relaxed. Some people in this world like to treat each other with respect, while others
are used to bickering for fun.
Zhu Jinxia looked at him sideways, "You don't know?"
"I don't know." Shi Xu leaned back on the bench calmly, "I never asked you, and you never told
me."
"Don't be so pretentious. During those months in the mountains, if I didn't eat pears today, you
would only buy apples and bananas tomorrow. If I didn't eat bitter melon and Artemisia
selengensis tomorrow, you would kick them out of the vegetable list the day after tomorrow.
How dare you say you don't know what I like to eat?"
"Oh——" Shi Xu stretched out the last syllable, with a look of sudden enlightenment, "So that's
what you think?"
"Is not it?"
"You watched the movie when you were a child, right?" Shixu answered the question irrelevantly.
Zhu Jinxia's expression froze, thinking she had heard wrongly, "...What movie?"
"Don't think too much, it's not the kind of movie you think it is." Shixu laughed from his nose,
"When I was a kid, the discs I rented from the video store all had that sentence at the beginning -
any similarity is purely coincidental."
Zhu Jinxia narrowed her eyes. "So you mean to say that you never noticed what I like to eat and
what I don't like to eat, and it's all my own whim?"
"if not?"
"Wow, Shixu, you are such a pig with an onion in your nose, pretending to be an elephant!"
"Thank you." Shixu scratched his ears, feeling contented.
"Who praised you???" Zhu Jinxia was amazed, "I really envy your skin, you take such good care of
it!"
"Really? Thank you. Maybe it's because she's naturally beautiful."
“…This isn’t a compliment to you!”
…
Noisy, noisy.
The person who was scolding was not angry, and the person being scolded was also happy. His
words sounded fierce, but if you listened carefully, it was just the meaningless bickering of three-
year-old children.
Pedestrians were strolling on the roadside, cars were coming and going on the Rainbow Bridge in
the distance, and under the city overpass, a branch of the Tuojiang River was flowing briskly, only
slightly more reserved than the Jinsha River.
There was a full moon in the sky, penetrating the clouds and quietly looking at the people on the
ground. The night wind thought the moon was too rampant, so it blew the clouds together,
covering the moon's eyes like a veil.
After a long time, Zhu Jinxia burped, turned her head and found that time had eaten up all the
food she had left.
This person is destined to be a swill bucket.
Zhu Jinxia rolled her eyes at him again and said, "Look at you, you look a lot younger now."
"How to say?"
"Experts have shown that poverty can make people younger." Zhu Jinxia touched her belly,
"When you are old in the future, you will be able to hear your descendants bragging about how
my grandfather was the principal of Yibo Central School, and he is now in his seventies or
eighties, but he is as stingy as a grandson when he goes out."
Shi Xu's shoulders were shaking from laughing.
He put away the lunch box and threw it into the trash can on the side of the road. He came back
and stood in front of the bench, and gently kicked her legs, which were crossed in the air in an
unpresentable manner, with his toes.
"What are you doing?" Zhu Jinxia, who had eaten and drunk his fill, was lying there like a middle-
aged man, feeling very relaxed.
The man put his hands in his trouser pockets and looked down at her with a smile.
"Teacher Zhu, we are all trying our best to find you a second love, but have you found someone
you like?"
Zhu Jinxia looked up at him, curled her lips, and said slowly, "I thought you didn't care."
"Just chatting after dinner, just asking."
"Then don't ask."
“…”
A moment of silence.
"Just say yes or no." Shi Xu laughed and took his hands out of his trouser pockets. His eyes were
dark and bright, like the absent stars in the sky tonight.
Zhu Jinxia groaned, and seeing him staring at her, she felt that she had whetted her appetite
enough, so she raised her lips and said, "No. My standards are very high, and I don't easily look
down on the cats and dogs on the street."
Shi Xu laughed, "Either you make a seven-figure income casually, or you have an island at home.
Is this also called a cat or a dog?"
"Didn't the principal graduate from Tsinghua University? Didn't he learn that wealth and honor
can't lead to debauchery?" Zhu Jinxia sneered, "Money can make the world go round, but money
can't buy my happiness."
As he said that, he curled his lips and snorted, "This is a crappy school. There isn't even one
person I want to have sexual relations with, but there are many people who want to kill me..."
Shixu laughed again.
It's autumn now, the night wind is cool, and the branches on the roadside are rustling in the
wind, as if they are playing music.
Zhu Jinxia raised her eyes and suddenly saw Shixu squatting down and lying in front of her with a
calm expression. Now their eyes were completely level.
Her heartbeat paused, and she heard him ask, "What about me?"
……?
"…You what?"
"Zhu Jinxia, when you look at me now, do you want to kill me or lust after me?"
Shi Xu curled his lips, as if he was asking a casual and insignificant question. Except for this, he did
not blink, but stared into her eyes quietly, like a silent night river, flowing quietly and unstoppably
into the distance.

Chapter 67
When she looks at him now, does she have murderous intentions or lustful intentions?
Zhu Jinxia sat on a chair, watching the man squatting in front of her, looking at her with his dark
and bright eyes that seemed to be quenched by light.
She had a momentary illusion that this posture shouldn't appear in this kind of occasion.
If he changes into a suit and holds a ring in his hand, the style might be more appropriate.
So is it murderous intent or lustful intent?
To be honest, his current image can only be described as terrible. If they didn't know each other,
she would never sit on the roadside and have dinner with such a homeless guy.
But as they stared at each other at such close range, only one thought gradually became clear in
her mind -
To be fair, he seems a little too handsome.
People are very strange. When there is no concrete object, they always set strict rules for
themselves. When she was in school, her role models were the male protagonists in idol dramas
and romance novels.
Not to mention wearing a white shirt and looking bookish, at least the hair should be clean and
tidy, the chin should not be untidy, and white is the standard.
As the saying goes, a white complexion can hide a hundred flaws. I have never seen any
handsome guy in an idol drama who is dark-skinned.
Looking at the chronology, none of the above points are related. Not only are they not related,
they are completely opposite and far from each other.
I always have unkempt hair, and the highland wind is so strong that it is often blown into a mess,
like a chicken coop, making it frizzy and messy.
Among the few clothes he had, most were old men's shirts, some of which were untied and some
of which were bleached by washing.
When Zhu Jinxia went to the county town to get a haircut, she stood still outside a clothing store.
The clothes hanging on the outermost row of shelves looked strangely familiar, and there were
two lines of small words written on the discount card:
Clearance Sale
Fifty-three items.
She looked at it carefully for a long time, and finally came to the conclusion that it was indeed the
same style. At this point, she almost understood the source of the clothes he usually wore.
So it’s not that my aesthetic taste is bad, it’s that I’m just living a makeshift life.
Although transportation is not convenient in the mountains, the postal service can reach Niuzan
Town, and teachers in the school occasionally shop online, but the delivery cycle is a bit longer.
Among this group of beauty lovers, Shixu is an exception, and even Dunzhu dresses better than
him.
The fact that the skin is not white probably has little to do with genetics. No one can have white
skin after staying in the mountains for so long.
As for his untidy beard, as far as she could remember, she had never seen him shave on his own
initiative, except when he went out for meetings or met with students' parents on weekends.
"If I shave it today, it will grow back tomorrow anyway, so I might as well do something useful
with this time." This is the argument of time sequence.
Zhu Jinxia teased him: "Then you don't have to eat. You'll poop the next time you eat anyway."
"How can this be the same?" Shi Xu glanced at her, "Not eating will kill you, and not shaving will
kill you?"
"Why not?" Zhu Jinxia said firmly, "It will be so ugly."
In short, in her impression, Shixu's chin was always foggy and green, like a distant mountain or a
frozen lake.
Today is no exception.
Even though she clearly remembered that the man in the video yesterday did not look like this
now, but after a day and a night, he came over mountains and rivers, his clothes were wrinkled,
his hair was messy, and the beard that he had shaved with great difficulty had reappeared.
Women can be overly sentimental sometimes. It was clearly like this before he met her, but now
that he came for her, these details seemed to have become evidence, proving that they were
caused by her.
Thus, all the rules and regulations of the past twenty-nine years collapsed in the face of overly
biased feelings.
It's not boiled chicken, why do you need such white skin? Wheat color is more wild.
Which man doesn't have a beard? Either he is a eunuch or he lacks male hormones. The timing
shows that his hormones are normal and his body functions are quite good. (She swears she has
no other intentions)
The clothes are a little old, and the style is a little outdated, but he is a clothes hanger, and he can
hold them up easily. Don't you see that he looks like a homeless person, but people always cast
enthusiastic glances at him on the street?
I wish your thoughts this summer will swim all over the world like fish.
"I'm asking you a question."
The urgency of time brought her back to reality.
What did he ask her?
I wish he could see through the look in Carton's eyes this summer, and he could also be
distracted at this time. He was quite impressed.
He reminded her unhappily: "I'm asking you, are you looking at me with lustful intentions or
murderous intentions?"
Zhu Jinxia pretended to think, and after a few seconds, he uttered two words: "Killing intention."
Shi Xu didn't say anything, his eyebrows gradually rose, forming a dangerous arc.
She couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, "Murder is against the law, so it's better
to be reluctant to have such a dirty thought."
Still doing it reluctantly.
Shi Xu stared at her for a moment and said, "I think you are blinded by greed."
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud, then looked at him again, patted his butt unhappily and stood up,
asking her if she wanted to leave, go back to the hospital, as her grandmother was still waiting.
On the way back, time was ahead of her and Zhu Jinxia fell half a step behind. She looked up at
his back with the corners of her mouth curved the whole time.
There were many heart-pounding moments between them, but they would always fall into a
familiar and natural rhythm because of the subsequent jokes.
Obviously at that moment just now, as long as she admitted in person that she had improper
thoughts about him, with that kind of distance and that kind of atmosphere, many things would
fall into place naturally.
But there are always strange episodes that interrupt the ambiguous process.
The strange thing is that Zhu Jinxia did not feel very regretful. Looking at the time sequence, he
did not seem angry either. They found their own rhythm in such an unconventional mode.
They said goodbye and thought they would never cross paths again, but after returning to
Mianshui, no matter what happened, even the most trivial things in daily life, she would naturally
share them with him on WeChat.
When his grandmother fell ill, he rushed down from the mountains overnight without saying a
word.
Many tacit understandings have already been developed invisibly, and many emotions flow
silently.
Zhu Jinxia looked at his relaxed back and suddenly realized a truth - there is no need to rush for
many things. Life is so long, why do we have to rush to achieve it today.
If they couldn't reach the end of the lovers, then they would just get along as they did today.
With such a loving and loyal companion, what else could she be dissatisfied with?
There were still some obstacles between them, a layer of unclear mist, and the process of
clearing them away might be unbearable, but because it was him, she always felt happy.
——
That night in the hospital, the two argued for the right to keep vigil.
Zhu Jinxia said that she had already troubled him a lot, and if she asked him to keep watch again,
her grandmother would scold her for having her conscience eaten by a dog.
Shixu says that your conscience had been eaten by dogs in the mountains a long time ago, so
how could you sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor with a clear conscience?
Zhu Jinxia choked, and then said with confidence that my grandmother is a woman, and old
women are also women. Don’t you understand the principle that men and women should not be
intimate with each other? It’s not convenient for you to be here.
Forget it, aren't you a feminist? Are you being feudal with me? If you are really being feudal, I
would have married you many times based on the level of physical contact between us.
Wish this summer: "..."
Shixu pressed on: "I can save the cost of opening a hotel by staying in the hospital. The hospital
has beds and air conditioning, which is great."
But those who are capable of this can tell clearly what is going on.
Before they could finish their argument in the corridor, the grandmother in the ward said, "Go
back, my blood pressure has finally come down, if you two keep arguing, I think it will go up to
300."
The sister at the nurse station also smiled and said that it was nothing serious, and that they
were here, so the two of them could go back without worry. They would be discharged tomorrow
and there was no need to keep watch.
Zhu Jinxia fetched water for her grandmother to wash, then walked out of the hospital gate,
looking back every few steps.
The two stood under the night sky, looking into each other's eyes.
Zhu Jinxia hesitated and said, "I'll help you open a hotel?"
Shi Xu looked at her for a moment and asked casually, "Can't I go to your house?"
Zhu Jinxia's heart stopped beating, and she heard him laugh again, "Or are you worried about me
and have to go to so much trouble to open a hotel?"
"What's there to worry about?" She turned her face away and muttered, "I'm relieved to take a
bath in front of you in the mountains. I'm just taking him home to spend the night. Let's go."
She lowered her head to hail a taxi and heard Shi Xu laughing softly beside her.
He said, "Zhu Jinxia, you really are a frog, right?"
He had said this that night, and Zhu Jinxia remembered it. Today, she had time to ask, "What do
you mean?"
Say she's ugly? Say she's noisy?
The car arrived very quickly. Before getting in, Shi Xu looked at her with a half-smile and said five
words: "Boiling a frog in warm water."
——
The residential complex where Zhu Jinxia lives is near Mianshui University. When passing by the
university town, she pointed it out to Shixu, saying that this was where she had lived for many
years, from college to graduate student, from doctoral student to finally becoming a teacher
here.
The university town is a city that never sleeps. The lights are always on and it becomes more
lively as the night progresses.
Seeing her enthusiastic introduction, Shi Xu suddenly asked: "Let's go down and take a walk?"
They did not enter the campus, but walked along the pedestrian street outside the campus
towards the community where she lived.
After the urban management officers get off work, small vendors pop up like mushrooms after a
rain. There are many snacks in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions, from egg cakes to pickled
chicken feet, from wolf tooth potatoes to sweet water noodles, not to mention the famous Bobo
chicken, fried skewers and other delicacies.
Walking around me are all college students, and their faces are filled with carefreeness, as if the
world is at their feet and their dreams are just around the corner.
The air was filled with the aroma of food.
This kind of worldly life is completely different from that in the mountains and seems a little
unfamiliar to the time sequence.
There are very few people in the mountains during the day, and once night falls, the mountains
and ridges become even more desolate and deserted, with few people around.
Zhu Jinxia asked him: "Haven't you lived in Beijing for many years? Aren't all big cities the same?"
"On the surface, they look similar, but in reality, they feel different. Beijing's pace is too fast, and
there's no such leisurely pace of retirement as in the Land of Abundance."
During rush hour, everyone is in a hurry and it is rare to see people strolling leisurely on the
street.
Due to the involution at work, after completing the required working hours beyond the stipulated
time, almost no one is willing to spend energy to hang out with friends after work, and would
rather lie down if possible.
When eating, every second counts. Even when making a dinner appointment with someone, the
focus is mostly on business.
Not to mention the standardized management of the capital, it is difficult for small vendors to
gather together on a large scale to form such a grand food city that never sleeps.
Shixu remembered something and told a joke: "When I first went to Beijing to study, there was a
Beijing native in my dormitory. Everyone asked him if he had any delicious food to recommend.
He spoke authentic Beijing dialect and said that when you come to Beijing, how can you not try
Changsha stinky tofu, Tianjin Goubuli steamed buns, Chongqing hot pot, and Wuhan hot dry
noodles?"
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud to show her respect.
“The legendary food desert?”
"There are also some good food to eat. There are several good restaurants near the Institute of
Earth Sciences. We used to go there often for dinner together. If there's a chance..." Shi Xu said
this casually, but stopped here. The unspoken words turned into a short laugh and he stopped
talking.
Maybe there is no chance.
Zhu Jinxia keenly caught the emotional change at the end of the sentence, and looked up without
leaving a trace, her expression was as calm as usual. But the more ordinary he was, the heavier
she felt, her heart seemed to be soaked in salt soda, sour bubbles welled up.
“There must be a chance.”
She tried to hold it in for a long time, but could only manage a clumsy and forced word of
comfort, which made her feel even more depressed. She was a literature major and taught
Chinese in the mountains, so how could her vocabulary be so limited?
An emo vibe emanated from her, and Shi Xu turned his head to look at her. There was visible
annoyance on the woman's face. He understood her intention. It was just like a child who didn't
do well in the exam and had to report to his parents.
In an instant, the vague worry was diluted, and he couldn't help laughing.
"Zhu Jinxia, has anyone ever praised you for your strong empathy?"
I wish Jinxia would understand what's the point of having strong empathy. It has no practical
effect and is of no help at all.
Shi Xu asked her: "Do you know why there is such a thing as hospice care in the world?"
The woman was a little surprised. "Aren't we discussing empathy?"
"It's just an analogy." Shi Xu smiled. "For people who are terminally ill, medicine is useless, so
they need hospice care. Empathy is more useful than a panacea. Similarly, no one can help me in
my situation, but you care about me and my feelings, which is already an unexpected bonus."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned in place, and after a long while she muttered, "You've only been teaching
Chinese for a little over a month, and you've already started using analogies with your seniors.
You're a little too arrogant, Principal Shi."
As they were walking through the night market, a few girls came towards them, holding bowl-
shaped cakes in their hands. The transparent bowl-shaped desserts were decorated with fruits,
red beans, and cherry blossoms. They were crystal clear and very beautiful.
Shi Xu took a closer look, and Zhu Jin Xia guessed, "You don't know what that is, do you?"
Shixu generously admitted that he really didn't know.
I don't know this...
Zhu Jinxia sighed in her heart. The more she looked at him, the more he looked like the cabbages
in the field. He looked even more like the things she had played with when she was a child.
She felt an inexplicable surge of maternal love in her heart, and a surge of ambition and
ambition. She said in a deep voice, "Follow me."
Next, she took him through the night market with ease, and not only bought bowl cakes, but also
packed up family-style egg cakes, Zunyi egg-wrapped potatoes and other items.
Snacks are not expensive, especially in this university town, and they are both good value for
money.
Since graduation, Zhu Jinxia has seldom touched these things. Firstly, her interest in snacks has
been decreasing day by day, and secondly, as a teacher, she would feel a little uncomfortable if
she was caught by students "having fun with the people" at the night market.
Now she had a clear goal. In this spider-web-like night market area, she was like a diligent guide
who had memorized the map by heart. She traveled through it in time and found every delicacy
that the other party had never tasted when she asked.
Shixu wanted to pay, but she refused because of her wealth.
"You look down on me?" The woman rolled her eyes at him angrily and confiscated his phone. "In
the mountains, you always protected me. Now that you are in my territory, of course it's my turn
to protect you."
Shixu took a step back in amusement, indicating that he would not argue with her, but——
"Can you please return my phone to me?"
"I'll return it to you when I get home."
She put the cell phone into the shoulder bag she was carrying and carefully zipped it all the way
down, indicating that you should give up.
Shixu lost control of the phone, so he had to settle for the next best thing: "Then lend me your
phone."
"Hmm?" Zhu Jinxia turned back suspiciously, "What are you going to do?"
Shi Xu said nothing. He easily took the electronic product in her hand, pulled her thumb, swiped
the fingerprint lock, and finally opened the original camera.
Click.
Before she could react, a dull, staring photo was created. The background was a glass cart filled
with colorful bowls of cakes. The boss, who was over 40 years old, was wearing an apron and
deftly threaded one cute dessert after another out of the bowl.
"Hey you--"
Zhu Jinxia tried to grab the phone in a panic, but he avoided her using his height advantage. Shixu
raised the phone above his head, opened WeChat, and sent the photo to himself.
After finishing it in one go, he returned the item to its original owner.
I wish Jinxia would be so angry at the photo that she would become a pufferfish. "Who would
take photos of people with an original camera? This is too ugly!"
"Is it ugly?" Shi Xu looked up and showed the photo to the boss who was grinning.
The boss cooperated by shaking his head like a rattle, "What's ugly about you? You are so
beautiful! I think you are the most beautiful girl on this street, beautiful girl."
Next sentence: "This handsome guy is also very handsome, you two are a perfect match!"
It came with two thumbs pointing upwards, shaking in the air many times.
Zhu Jinxia wanted to curse the times, but when she opened her mouth she burst out laughing.
She wants to say, are you an elderly person and don’t you know that a photo can be withdrawn
within three minutes of being sent?
But do you want to withdraw it?
Zhu Jinxia looked down at her dull and somewhat stupid self. The pimples on her chin caused by
staying up late were still clearly visible. The eye-catching dark circles under her eyes made her
look like the most representative national treasure of the Land of Abundance. Her expression was
truly horrible.
The photos are truly outrageous and completely out of the comfort zone of modern beautiful
women's selfies.
But she looked down for a few seconds, turned off the screen, and left it.
It's okay to be ugly. I've taken too many photos in the past, with exquisite makeup and neat
clothes, but they look formulaic because they are too perfect.
But this one is different, it is a sudden freeze frame, capturing her silly and stupid side behind the
camera on an autumn night when she was 29 years old.
The location was chosen by chance outside the university town. Although she looked almost
thirty years old, her peculiar expression made her appear younger and did not seem out of place
with the surroundings.
They walked back with a bunch of snacks they couldn't finish, one taking a bite, the other tasting
a piece.
"Is it delicious?" She asked this question countless times.
The nitpicking principal always used neutral words such as "okay", "so-so", and "average". When
asked if he had a taste bud disorder, he replied calmly that it was not like she hadn't tasted his
cooking before, and what was in front of her was nothing compared to his works.
Zhu Jinxia laughed at his big face, but at the same time admitted in her heart that what she said
was not wrong.
I bought too much and there was a lot left over. My old habit of timing came back and I criticized
Zhu Jinxia: "Another waste of food."
Zhu Jinxia played rogue: "Then you eat it all."
"Do you think I didn't have enough leftovers tonight?" Shixu reminded her that he had finished
eating the extra oden she bought at the hospital entrance.
Zhu Jinxia said that you are a swill bucket anyway, an oversized one. Before she finished speaking,
Shixu flicked her forehead and she cried out in pain.
She jumped up holding the bowl of cake and said, "How dare you hit me?"
The two of them were arguing loudly, when suddenly a weak voice came from the side: "Teacher
Zhu?"
Zhu Jinxia paused, twisted her neck and looked forward stiffly... It was indeed her student.
The next second, she put her hands behind her back, hid the bowl of cake, and smiled dignifiedly
again, "Hey!"
Seeing the students' eyes wandering between her and Shixu's faces, their excitement beyond
words, Zhu Jinxia had to stiffly pretend not to see it.
After a few pleasantries, the elegant teacher Zhu walked away without looking around. Only after
she left the night market and was sure she was out of the students' sight did she chase after Shi
Xu in a rage.
"It's all your fault, all your fault! My reputation has been ruined!"
Shi Xu held the food in one hand, and with his free hand, he clamped her wrists with his large
and powerful advantage.
"How can you blame me for this? Did I ask you to jump up and hit me?" He snorted and laughed,
"You can only blame yourself for being too violent."
"If you don't hit me on the forehead, can I fight back?!"
"Relax, you've seen it. Who says that teachers must be dignified and elegant?" Shixu joked, "From
today on, it would be nice to be a lively and real Professor Zhu, wouldn't it?"
Zhu Jinxia lost both hands and was so angry that she headbutted him on the chest.
Even when he was knocked unconscious, he still cursed fiercely: "Why don't you be more honest?
If you have the guts, then act like a scoundrel in front of the students and let them see your
shameless and stinky side!"
"That's impossible." Shi Xu smiled and let go of her hand. He rubbed his chest which was hurt by
the collision and said, "This is tailor-made for you. If others see it, it won't be worth the price."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia also covered her forehead with her hands, not knowing whether her heart was
pounding for his special treatment, or she was angry at his shameless look.
"Who asked you to tailor it?"
"Let go." Shi Xu pulled her hand away from her head, leaned forward to take a closer look, and
found a red patch. "I told you to hit it so hard, why didn't you get a concussion?"
"Get lost." Zhu Jinxia slapped him away, strode forward, and left him behind.
Not surprisingly, that person had long arms and legs, so even if he was walking slowly, he could
still catch up quickly.
Soon, his lazy voice also floated from behind my head.
"How did you feel after that collision?"
"I feel like I can use a little more force. I'd better knock you so hard that you can't speak.
Otherwise, the dog can't spit out ivory."
Shi Xu laughed, and then asked: "I was asking you how it felt to touch me. Didn't you think I have
a good figure and hard chest muscles?"
I wish this summer would slam on the brakes and almost fall over.
She turned around and looked at Shixu in disbelief, her face flushed, "Fuck you, what we drank
just now was clearly osmanthus wine, how come it feels like we drank fake wine?"
Shi Xu stared at her intently and felt that he had drunk fake wine.
Otherwise, why is the sky spinning and the earth moving, and why is it that even though it is a
completely silent night, there are always rivers of stars rolling and stars shining brightly.
Chapter 68
They bought some toiletries at the entrance of the community.
Remembering that the toothpaste was almost gone, Zhu Jinxia took two new ones. When she
turned to look for someone on the next shelf, she happened to see Shixu taking a razor.
"Don't you shave easily?" she questioned, standing at the end of the shelf.
He paused for a moment and said simply: "There will be a meeting."
"When did online meetings become so important?"
"..." He pretended not to notice her expression, walked past her and went to pay the bill.
The community is well-greened, with the fragrance of osmanthus along the way. The bright
yellow street lights stretch the two shadows in front and behind and overlap them.
Time soon discovered that the shorter one was moving on the ground. When he walked, she
walked; when he stopped, she stopped too. Upon closer inspection... the shorter one was
stepping on the longer one.
Looking back, I wish this summer was indeed childishly stepping on his shadow.
He asked her how old she was, and she said why? In ancient times, asking a girl's age was to
marry her off.
"Marry her if you want."
“…”
After we walked into the elevator, I heard her utter: "Have you asked me if I'm going to get
married?"
Their eyes met in the bright mirror, Shi Xu's mouth opened, but he couldn't say the words "Will
you marry me or not?" Tonight, he had allowed himself to say too many things that he shouldn't
have said in the name of joking. Any more would have been disrespectful to her.
The mirror reflects her clear black and white eyes, which are round in shape. When she looks at
you motionlessly, you will feel as if she has abandoned everything and is only concentrating on
listening to you.
So Shixu couldn't say anything that he couldn't take responsibility for. Even if it was just a joke, he
felt like he was bullying someone. If he wasn't absolutely sure, he would rather keep silent.
When I stepped into Zhu Jinxia's residence, I subconsciously slowed down my breathing, and
then laughed at myself as if I were on a pilgrimage.
Zhu Jinxia turned on the chandelier on the wall, took out a pair of brand new men's slippers from
the shoe cabinet, turned around and handed them to him.
"You wear these."
Step on it at the right time and the size is just right.
He didn't ask about the old slippers from Acropolis, nor did he ask why she prepared new men's
slippers at home, nor did he ask whether the size was chosen according to his.
He raised his head and looked around.
Zhu Jinxia's residence is just like her, bright and simple, reflecting the owner's elegant aesthetics
everywhere. Her delicacy and pursuit of details are beyond the reach of mountain people.
The home furnishings are mainly white, which is not luxurious but full of ingenuity.
Surrounded by green plants, it is easy to remind people of the bottle of perfume she usually uses,
which is full of lush greenery.
There is no traditional TV in the living room. Instead, the entire wall is covered by a huge laser TV.
Behind the double-sliding barn door is the study. Apart from a French classical desk in the middle
of the room, there is nothing else. Surrounding it are built-in bookcases, and books cover the
entire room from ceiling to floor.
Being in this place, it is easy to have the illusion of being a scholar in the bright moonlight and
breeze.
Time has inadvertently viewed this fairy-tale garden, and has keenly captured a clue, that is, this
garden has changed from being jointly owned to being exclusively privately owned.
He did not find any trace of the second person.
Whether it was the shoe cabinet at the entrance or the furnishings in the living room, including
the fact that she once mentioned that Weicheng was keen on playing games, she always avoided
him and went to the guest room to write papers, leaving the study room for him to play e-sports.
Now there is no desktop computer in the study. The desk is clean and tidy, with a laptop placed in
the middle - he recognized it, after all, he took it to the repair shop in Niuzan Town to repair it
after it fell into the river.
I wish this summer is not a person who drags things out, and the past will completely remain in
the past.
This realization caused Shi Xu to have subtle emotional fluctuations. The corners of his mouth
rose uncontrollably, but because he was restraining himself at all times, the corners of his mouth
only rose for two seconds and were not noticed by Zhu Jinxia.
She just noticed that the person next to her was walking very slowly, as if describing everything
he saw with his eyes.
She followed closely behind, feeling a little nervous.
"…The house is a bit messy, so the aunt will come to clean it tomorrow."
Actually, no, my aunt came here the day before yesterday.
As soon as she said this, Zhu Jinxia felt as if she had returned to her teenage years, feeling
cautious in showing her perfection. But she knew, as did Shixu, that all her imperfections and
most embarrassing moments had been exposed in front of him.
Fortunately, Shi Xu did not notice her little thoughts. Coming out of the study, at the end of the
corridor was the master bathroom, on the left led to the bedroom, and on the right led to the
guest room.
He soon noticed a small piece of white stuff on the sink in the master bathroom. He didn't see it
clearly at first and subconsciously looked at it a few more times. It was not until he saw the white
lace on the edge of the underwear that he realized it was probably the remnants of the single
hostess's bath.
He suddenly withdrew his gaze and paused.
Noticing his reaction, Zhu Jinxia was puzzled and looked in the direction he had just looked... The
next second, she almost jumped up, rushed over, picked up her underwear and went into the
bedroom, her movements smooth and flowing, like a frightened rabbit.
After a while, she came out again with a red face and coughed lightly, "Well, I said that the house
was a bit messy..."
"Yes, I know." Shixu completed the sentence for her calmly, "Auntie won't be here until
tomorrow."
“…”
Zhu Jinxia pretended not to hear and took him to the guest room, saying, "You can stay here
tonight." She also asked him if he wanted to take a shower first.
After a night of running around and a busy day at the hospital, Shixu really needed a good
shower. He took out a change of clothes from the black bag he carried with him, picked up the
toiletries he had just bought at the convenience store at the entrance of the community, and
quickly went into the guest bathroom.
Zhu Jinxia's voice came from outside the door: "Do you want me to teach you how to use the
shower?"
Shi Xu was silent for two seconds. "It seems that the dormitories of Tsinghua University and the
Institute of Earth Sciences are not so backward that you need to boil water to take a shower."
She smiled, and the sound of her footsteps faded away, briskly.
It was time to take a refreshing bath. There was plenty of hot water, boiling steam, and the bright
bathroom was enough to eliminate the tiredness of the whole day.
Except for the smell of the shower gel, which was a bit ignoring his nose - the rich and dense
foam was filled with a mixed floral scent. Upon closer inspection, there were roses and other
types he couldn't identify.
The exquisite princess even used a scented shower gel, the kind that would last for a long time
even after being rinsed in hot water several times. After washing, Shixu sniffed his arms and felt
that if he didn't wear a skirt, he would be sorry for the little shower gel he had wasted.
He took out a razor from the bag hanging on the wall and shaved off the stubble bit by bit in front
of the mirror until his chin felt smooth and free of foreign matter.
After he finished all this, he pushed open the door of the second bedroom and found that the
light was on inside. Zhu Jinxia was making the bed.
The bed sheets had been made smooth, and she was now struggling to put the quilt core into the
quilt cover.
It is worthy of being a fairy tale world. Even the bedding is in pastoral style with white
background and yellow florals, and dreamy lace edges.
Shi Xu leaned against the door and laughed for a while.
Seeing him coming, Zhu Jinxia felt as if she had been granted amnesty, and stuffed everything in
her hand into his arms, "That's great, you can do it yourself."
Seeing her holding her waist and running as if she had run 800 meters, Shixu took over and asked
while doing it: "Don't you usually change the sheets and quilt covers?"
"Every week when the cleaning lady comes, she will change them together." She added, "It's not
that I can't do it, I just don't like to do it!"
Shi Xu asked in return: "Who in this world loves to do housework?"
That’s true.
She was about to agree when she heard the next sentence: "There are too many lazy people, so
the hardworking people have to suffer more."
Zhu Jinxia: "…Who are you calling a lazy bum?"
"Here." Shi Xu deftly tucked the four corners of the quilt in and handed two of them to Zhu Jinxia,
"Don't be idle, shake them out together."
Zhu Jinxia Dead Fish Eyes: "I've been called a lazy bum. Should I not work hard to justify this
title?"
After all that, I still caught the corner of the quilt.
With the combined efforts of the two, the quilt floated in the air and spread out. The light yellow
daisies that seemed a little childish just now instantly bloomed all over the bed, as if the long-lost
spring had been brought back to the room and carefully treasured.
The moment he straightened up, he was a little dazed. In this brief moment, he seemed to
understand the meaning of romance.
Zhu Jinxia standing by was also in a daze.
Except when she was a child and her grandmother asked her to do so, she had never shared a
bed with anyone, including Acropolis. At first he did it, and later her aunt did it.
Today, for the first time, I am doing it with the sequence.
In fact, it was a very trivial matter, but their eyes met again and again in the waves. She
complained that he threw too high, and he laughed at her for not throwing hard enough. This
gave her a momentary illusion that they seemed like close lovers and partners, surrounded by the
trivial and delicate daily life.
The waves occasionally blocked his view, and his face seemed to be rising and falling in the
waves.
She could hear the sound of the quilt shaking in the wind, which made the hair around her ears
flutter and rub against her cheeks, causing waves of itchiness.
She had a wonderful experience, and some details that she had missed in her previous marriage
appeared before her in a completely new way.
After making the bed, it was neither early nor late. After they said goodnight, Zhu Jinxia went into
the bedroom, but she couldn't fall asleep, so she simply got up and went to the study to pick a
book to read by the bed.
When I was halfway through picking it up, I heard a noise behind me.
Looking back, Shi Xu was standing at the door of the study.
They both spoke at the same time—
"Can't sleep?"
After a pause, he said at the same time—
"Not sleepy yet."
"I can't sleep."
Zhu Jinxia smiled and put the book she had finally picked back to its original place. "How about
watching a movie?"
The oversized laser TV was turned on, and Zhu Jinxia began to hesitate and pick and choose
again, asking Shishu whether he had seen this or that, and the answers he got were all no.
The vague maternal love surged in her heart again. She looked at the little cabbage with pity and
said, "Don't you have a childhood or youth?"
Shi Xu looked at her calmly and said, "Yes."
"What have you been doing?"
"At first I was busy skipping grades, then I was busy taking entrance exams to Tsinghua University
and Peking University, and then I was busy studying for a master's and doctoral degree and doing
scientific research."
Mother's love came to an abrupt end amid the cursing.
Zhu Jinxia showed dead fish eyes for the Nth time and said you better shut up. Shixu saw her
angry look as she wished, and even the hair on her ears seemed to stand up faintly. Of course, it
was not because she was angry, but because of the wind blowing in from the window.
He subconsciously raised his hand, stretched it halfway and stopped.
Zhu Jinxia looked at him in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Then he handed the remote control to him, "...or do you want to choose it yourself?"
"……Um."
Shixu took the remote control, suppressed the anger in his heart, and randomly picked a movie
on the homepage. Even if he had never seen it, he had heard of its reputation.
La La Land.
He asked Zhu Jinxia: "Have you seen it?"
"I've seen it." Zhu Jinxia said flatteringly, "I quite like it. It's not bad to watch it again."
She put out the unfinished snacks from tonight on a plate, took out a bucket of popcorn from the
snack cabinet, and opened a large bottle of soda.
Shixu said he was full, who would eat all this? Will you eat it?
Zhu Jinxia said you don’t understand. Eating or not is one thing, but watching a movie should
have the atmosphere of watching a movie. This is worthy of the more than one or two hours.
She always makes her crooked arguments sound justified, and I have long been accustomed to it.
As for the popcorn she brought, the scented candles lit on the coffee table, and the only sunset
lamp left after turning off the main light source, they once again made the rough old man from
the mountains experience the fairy-tale dream-making feeling.
He is the rough wind above the mountains, and she is the most delicate rose in the glass
greenhouse.
The movie is very suitable for tonight, with graceful music flowing in the room, beautiful
encounters, pretty faces, great dreams, and love that ends without a result. They float lightly on
the screen, and yet they seem to weigh on the heart, with a little weight, not enough to make
people cry, but moving.
I watched the sequence very carefully, and then turned my head to find that the person next to
me had fallen asleep leaning on the pillow.
He paused, then came to his senses. She had spent a night in the hospital and attended classes
for half a day, so she should have been exhausted long ago.
It stands to reason that a careful person like him would not ignore these details, but times have
changed. Perhaps in his subconscious, it would be good to spend more time together, so he
selectively ignored some things.
Or maybe she thought so in her heart, otherwise why would she stay here and watch a movie
with him that she had seen countless times even though she was so tired that she couldn't even
keep her eyes open?
There was only a floor lamp in the living room, and the light surrounded them ambiguously, as if
the whole world had been darkened except for this small piece of heaven and earth before their
eyes.
The light from the movie flickered, and her face was also bright and dark. He seemed to be able
to see the fine hairs on her cheeks, but he suspected that it was just an illusion left by the light
and shadow.
She leaned her head against the pillow, wearing a long-sleeved, ankle-length nightgown, with no
makeup on and her hair hanging loosely on her shoulders. She looked extremely tired, but also
extremely at ease, not at all worried that there was a playboy visiting for the first time beside her.
In fact, even time itself cannot trust itself.
He lowered his head and looked at her quietly, just like when he squatted at the hospital
entrance and asked her whether she had sexual or murderous intentions. Although her breathing
was heavy and her heartbeat was wild and powerful, her expression was always calm.
He is always looking ahead and behind, and his worries are all in his heart.
At such a close distance, he could touch her eyebrows and eyes with just his hand, and even
without raising his hand, his eyes would have followed her outline, tracing it over and over again.
It was already autumn and the nights were very cool, but he felt as if it was still summer. The
room seemed stuffy, hot and stuffy.
He had some unbridled fantasies, some thoughts that he couldn't tell others about, and they had
been there for a long time, and he felt dirty when he kept them in his heart.
When did it start? As early as when she entered the mountains, before she got rid of the shackles
of marriage.
He was constrained by morality and self-restraint. Even if he acted appropriately, his heart felt
like it was burning with a wildfire. It started out as just a spark, but later it spread all over the
mountains and plains.
She would not know that after she took a bath in the abandoned hot spring villa that night, he
could not sleep all night, so much so that he revisited the place in his dreams countless late
nights afterwards.
He didn't act like a gentleman in his dream.
In the dream, he turned his head.
In his dream, he subconsciously thought, since he couldn't let her stay, then let's leave together.
If he leaves the mountains and the central school, he can also make a lot of money.
Professors at the Academy of Earth Sciences will not earn less than professors at Mianshui
University. If he works hard, he will be able to reach the elite class.
In the past, he never thought that there was anything he could not do. As long as he left the
mountains, he was still the lawless person.
When he was in school, he had a strong rival who came from a superior family and argued with
him. The rival pointed at his nose and said, "Time, you know, this world has natural laws. People
have their peaks, things have their limits, and your background is destined to not take you far."
How did he answer at that time?
——He said that wherever he is, that is the top.
Even if there are rules in the world, the rules are set by people. Who says that the people who
make the rules must be the first to come? Latecomers can also be superior, right?
It was not until Uncle Wang fell ill that he returned to the mountains to take over the central
school. Only then was he reduced to his original form and became the orphan abandoned in the
mountains by his mother at the age of eight.
It turns out that human power is limited after all, and birth, aging, sickness and death are all
determined by God.
But it was different in dreams, in those brilliant but short dreams, he had no boundaries, her face
was close at hand, within easy reach. In dreams, I had thought about the sequence of events for
almost my entire life, but when I opened my eyes, it was only a sunrise before I was back to
reality.
The central school is right there, and Uncle Wang is worried about it.
He had a responsibility and a debt of gratitude on his shoulders, and he couldn't just ignore her
and drag her into the mountains. Since he couldn't get out and would never take her in, he
couldn't do anything.
Can he give her a future? How can he build a solid relationship when he doesn't even know
where he is going?
She had been disappointed once, and he couldn't convince himself to drag her into another
gamble when he wasn't sure.
He knows that love doesn't have to be eternal in the fast-food era, but he is too rigid and serious
about some concepts to let them go. His mother's wandering life has prevented him from
pursuing short-lived romance, and Uncle Wang's loneliness has also left an indelible mark on his
life.
Either be alone or find your destined one.
And if you cannot give the other person a stable life, it is better not to start. Otherwise, it would
be a pity to live with regrets for the rest of your life like Uncle Wang and Aunt Fang.
These thoughts were like sobering drugs, quickly calming his chaotic brain. Time returned to
clarity, and he could see that it was already in front of her and was about to touch her fingertips.
The beautiful thoughts were like snow on pine branches, which were shaken violently by the
strong wind and fell away.
——
I wish I had a restless sleep this summer, with familiar music playing in my ears and flickering light
and shadow dancing on my eyelids.
In a trance, she seemed to return to the mountains, back to Yibo Township. The familiar smell
lingered in her nose again, with a hint of soap, like the wind in the mountains, clean and cold.
The difference was that this time the scent was mixed with another familiar smell to her: rose,
sunflower seed and iris.
That was her shower gel, a type she had loved for many years and refused to change.
Zhu Jinxia's eyelids trembled, he opened his eyes in a daze, and unexpectedly crashed into a dark
deep sea.
The time is near.
Realizing that his hand was still suspended in mid-air, with his fingertips almost touching her
eyebrows, she blinked, and her originally unclear brain seemed to be forcibly injected with a shot
of medicine, and the whole person suddenly became awake.
"Time sequence?" She spoke softly, as if afraid of disturbing the birds resting on the branches,
and stared at him without blinking.
The timing didn't move, and my breathing became heavier.
He may have never been in love, nor established an intimate relationship, and he may even have
no idea about this overly gentle relationship because he lacked female care during his growth.
However, this did not prevent him from seeing one thing from Zhu Jinxia's eyes: if he crossed the
line in any way at this moment, she would simply accept it.
Her face was so close, and it looked even more fragile and soft under such light. The strong light
from the mountains didn't seem to have much impact on her. Even when she was so close, her
skin was still porcelain white and smooth, without a single blemish.
The lip petals are the Gesang flowers of early summer, swaying gently in the night breeze. The
softer they are, the more people want to pick them.
His breathing involuntarily became heavier, and his Adam's apple rolled slightly. That movement
attracted Zhu Jinxia's full attention.
He was hesitating, struggling, and struggling with his own conscience.
She was waiting, expecting, concentrating and holding her breath.
After a long time, as if unable to bear the torture, Zhu Jinxia took the initiative to move forward a
few centimeters, bringing the already intimate distance even closer.
"What are you waiting for, Shixu?" She exhaled softly again and called his name.
Noticing that the man was about to back off, she finally stopped caring about anything else and
gently grasped his hand that was suspended in mid-air, exerting all her courage and reserve in
this life.
"Won't you kiss me, Chronicle?"

Chapter 69
Zhu Jinxia once read a poem called "The Best Viewing Point" which said:
People are only fit to watch from afar,
Not suitable for close scrutiny.
The more you can't get, the more you will be overwhelmed.
The closer you look, the less beautiful it becomes.
Please stay.
I just love him for not caring about my own affairs and being superior to others.
After she said goodbye to the mountains and returned to Mianshui, everything returned to
normal. She also repeatedly chewed it over in her heart, telling herself that time was the best
viewing point for her.
The moon that cannot be picked is the brightest, and the rose that cannot be smelled is always
fragrant.
Separated by numerous mountains, there is a perfect distance between them, so the white
moonlight will not turn into white rice stuck to the chest, and the cinnabar mole will not turn into
mosquito blood.
But no amount of rationality could stop her from going back to the brink.
She opened her eyes and looked at the person who was so close to her. Even at such a close
distance, she could even see a very light mole on the side of his nose, like a fallen star kissing his
skin.
He pursed his lips tightly, like the most rigid and self-disciplined gentleman, but his rolling Adam's
apple betrayed him. Even gentlemen have human desires.
Zhu Jinxia looked at the little mole, then at his trembling Adam's apple, and was encouraged by
the nameless wave.
He shaved tonight and deserved a reward.
She stared at the clean, clear curve of his jaw, where a shadow left a bend. At such a close
distance, she could almost smell the scent of shaving water, spicy with a hint of mint.
At this moment, I wish Jinxia to suddenly realize that no matter how many brilliant books one
reads or how many profound theories one learns, humans will eventually become slaves to
hormones and bow down to them when they are tempted.
The person is right in front of you, within easy reach, why should you push him away?
She looked at the small mole with a fiery gaze, and her sight gradually moved upwards. Under the
dim light, Shixu's face was clearly defined, and his brow bones were so superior that it made
people sigh at how biased God was in his creation. He lowered his eyes slightly, and a reserved
wrinkle appeared at the end of his double-eyes, like a shy swift hiding under the eaves.
There are many such moments in memory. He said nothing, just looked at her like this. His eyes
were obviously filled with inexplicable desires, but he always maintained a trace of clarity,
restraining and forbearingly keeping a distance.
He doesn't know that sometimes silent struggle is more fascinating, better than romantic words,
better than talking about everything and answering every question.
More importantly, he didn't need to say anything, she could understand it all.
Who could remain unmoved when encountering such a look?
It's as if someone has sown a handful of seeds in one's heart. They all rushed out of the soil, but
instead of growing into flowers or towering trees, they turned into a field of thorns.
I wish this summer just wants to split them apart, cut off all obstacles and split them apart.
She followed her heart, grabbed the hand that was suspended in mid-air, and moved closer.
She asked him: "Won't you kiss me, Shixu?"
It was visible to the naked eye that Shi Ji's breathing became heavier, his eyes became darker, and
rigid lines appeared faintly on his deep brows. The look in his eyes was either that of a lover or an
enemy, or both.
For the first time in her life, Zhu Jinxia felt that she had transformed from a good girl and an
excellent student into a bad woman.
She saw his struggle, so she asked the question maliciously, but without waiting for his answer,
she took decisive action.
The chaos in my mind was like a huge rock falling and causing a flood. Many words were on my
lips, but I couldn't find a clear mind to connect them together.
He rarely had such moments. His past life was more like a math problem. No matter how difficult
it was, there was always a solution. He was used to the methodical and clear-minded problem-
solving process.
"You wanna kiss me, Chronicle?"
——The answer is of course no.
"Calm down," "Think before you speak," "Do you think you're still dreaming?" There were many
joking words that could stop her, but the words of rejection were still on her lips. Before he could
open his mouth, the figure in front of him was already getting closer to him.
Shi Xu subconsciously turned his head to avoid, but he didn't avoid it completely enough, and
only missed his lips. The kiss finally landed not far away.
Whether it was intentional or he really couldn't avoid it, he couldn't excuse himself.
He only knew that the next second, he felt a soft touch at the junction of his jaw and neck,
accompanied by a heavy and hot breath, which burned him so much that he almost trembled all
over.
Thirty-three years, never happened before.
A familiar smell lingers in the nose, the lush greenery and the floral scent of shower gel mixed
together, like the song of a siren, determined to pull all passers-by in this sea of desire into its ups
and downs.
He could feel his whole body trembling, his Adam's apple shaking like a branch heavy with snow
from the overload.
The hand that was being held suddenly tightened, covering her with greater force, almost
breaking it.
The person in his arms let out a cry of pain, the sound muffled in his neck, and turned into a new
spell that dragged him into dire straits.
He was very aware that compared with his brutal strength, she was completely different in
fragility and softness. With just a little force, he could break this beautiful and lonely flower.
The secrets and inhuman worldly desires in his dreams had tormented him for countless
sleepless nights, but now they had turned into reality.
He had to use all his strength to control himself.
Uncle Wang.
Central school.
A line of sky.
Mountain.
It kept churning in his mind, like a curse that had been entangling him for half his life, or like a
shackle that was tied around his head.
It took all his strength to restrain himself from holding her in his arms.
"I wish you a happy summer..."
Finally, everything settled down, and Shixu managed to calm himself and pull her away.
When the warm touch left my neck, the moist breath she left behind evaporated in the cool night
breeze and immediately turned into goose bumps, as if protesting the departure of the source of
warmth.
It was only a few seconds of closeness, but after leaving, I felt empty-handed.
With his resolute movements, Zhu Jinxia was pulled out of his arms, and slowly, slowly raised her
head to look at him.
Shixu didn't speak, and she didn't speak either.
His eyes showed the dust having settled after a struggle; although gloomy, they were clear
enough.
Zhu Jinxia understood what was happening, and this made her blood, which had been boiling just
now, suddenly freeze.
People really shouldn't act impulsively. Impulsiveness is the devil, and it will be too late to regret.
She pulled her hand back, rubbed her wrist that was hurt by his grip, and chuckled, "You can
remain calm even when someone comes to you. You shouldn't call it time, you should call it time
benefit."
She kept making jokes as usual, but her tense voice betrayed her inner thoughts. Zhu Jinxia
almost ran away, quickly moving away from the sofa and away from him. The moment she put on
her slippers, she hurriedly said "I'm going to bed", trying to hide herself in a more secretive and
safe corner.
Before he had taken two steps, someone grabbed his wrist.
"I wish you all the best this summer." Shi Xu pulled her back to the sofa and stared at her with his
dark eyes. "Let's talk."
——
For a long time, Zhu Jinxia was in a state of self-isolation and could hardly hear what the time
sequence was saying.
What is there to say?
She took the initiative and was rejected.
She went to kiss him, but he pushed her away.
She began to question herself, what medicine had she taken wrong, why did she make such an
attempt? When she brought him back, she had no expectation of doing anything tonight.
She even began to judge herself morally:
I wish you all the best this summer. You just got divorced, and the certificate is still warm in your
hand. Two days ago, you made up your mind to be an independent woman, but today you can't
wait to throw yourself into someone's arms?
This is outrageous.
It's so embarrassing.
All kinds of negative emotions surged up in her mind. She was like a monarch in danger, trying to
suppress the violent thoughts, but she was powerless.
It was a slightly humid autumn evening. There seemed to be a layer of mist outside the window.
Or perhaps her eyes were misty, so everything around her seemed unclear.
There are huge floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides of the living room, which are large enough
to see the lights of thousands of homes in the community. The windows are like ice cubes in
whiskey, floating above the night sky.
Zhu Jinxia sniffed and felt a little embarrassed, but fortunately she was 29 years old this year, not
19. At 19, she might have been trapped in negative emotions all night, but at 29, she struggled for
a few minutes and simply raised her hands in surrender.
Adults are responsible for everything they do, so cheer up and clean up the mess.
She finally calmed down, looked up and asked Shi Xu: "Did I mess everything up?"
The man beside him paused for a moment and asked, "What's your definition of screwing up?"
"The time you kissed me in the mountains," Zhu Jinxia said, "I got angry afterwards and said that
you did such a rude thing without permission, which made it impossible for us to go back
together. It was awkward to meet face to face, and we couldn't talk about anything anymore. This
was a mess."
Timing paused for a while before saying, "I didn't kiss you."
……?
Zhu Jinxia was a little bit incredulous and raised her voice: "Are we discussing whether we kissed
or not?"
"You didn't kiss me just now either, so we're even."
She burst into laughter, because she was angry.
"Okay, okay, okay, we didn't kiss, so we're even."
"So you don't need to be embarrassed. You can just tell me that this is a tit-for-tat." Shi Xu took
out a piece of paper, suppressed the urge to wipe her tears, and put it in her hand.
Zhu Jinxia slapped him away angrily and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Then why did
you come to Mianshui? Just to seduce me and make a mistake, and in the end I was rejected by
you. Is this a tit-for-tat?"
The sequence of events seemed helpless, "Zhu Jinxia, please be reasonable, how did I seduce
you?"
"You came here overnight on the pretext of having an event, taking care of my grandma, and
saying that if I stopped crying, it wouldn't be a wasted trip." Zhu Jinxia's words became more and
more convincing. She finally pulled herself out of her self-pity and began to shift her fire to the
culprit, "You still dare to say that it wasn't you who seduced me?"
She continued listing the charges.
"You went to the night market with me, took pictures of me, ate my leftovers, and even joked
about marrying me. I fell asleep just now, and when I opened my eyes, your hand was about to
fall on my face. What? Are you going to tell me that you were going to slap a mosquito?"
"Where do the mosquitoes come from in this weather?" Shixu asked back.
Look at him, his logic is still clear even at this time.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Then tell me, what are you going to do by extending your hand?"
Shixu was silent for a long time before he said, "I don't know."
Zhu Jinxia was stunned for a moment, and just as she was about to ask further questions, she
heard him say, "I probably wanted to do the same thing as you, wanted to touch you, wanted to
get closer, so when I didn't even know my intention, my hand had already reached out
consciously."
She stopped suddenly, not knowing what to say. Her mind, which had been burning with
thoughts just now, was ignited again, and all the negative emotions were burned away by his
words.
In the end, he could only mutter the same thing: "Then you dare to say that you didn't seduce
me, so the governor was allowed to set fire and the people were not allowed to light lamps?"
Shi Xu smiled helplessly, and they sat side by side on the sofa. She was hugging the pillow angrily,
and he was sitting sideways casually with his hands clasped and his elbows resting on his legs.
"Tell me, Zhu Jinxia, what are you angry about right now? Are you angry that you didn't kiss me,
or that I rejected you?"
“Is there any difference?”
"Yes." The man turned his head, his dark eyes focused on the night, overwhelming the sky and
the earth, "I only rejected your actions at that time, not you."
This sounds ridiculous.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "If you didn't reject me, why did you reject me kissing you?"
After a pause, she smiled softly: "Why, do you think this mouth has been kissed by others and is
afraid of being dirty——"
"Wish you a happy summer." Shi Xu's expression suddenly changed, and he almost interrupted
her harshly. He frowned and spoke word by word, "This has nothing to do with whether you are
married or not, or whether you have kissed someone before. Please don't use dirty words to
describe yourself casually. You know that marriage will not affect your personal value."
"Really?" Seeing him speak so harshly, Zhu Jinxia had an idea and deliberately said, "But I see that
the people introduced to me recently are either second or third marriages, or playboys who have
had enough and are ready to quit. No one has ever matched me with a high-quality person like
Senior Brother Qiao who has never been married."
Shi Xu looked at her solemnly for a long while and said, "I don't care what others think, but you
can't think like that. If someone looks down on you for this in the future and uses the fact that
you're divorced to belittle you, tell him to come find me."
"Looking for you?" Zhu Jinxia was stunned. "Why do I want to look for you?"
"Argument or fight, it's his choice."
For a moment, Zhu Jinxia wanted to laugh, but she held it back and said unhappily, "Why, are you
possessed by Dunzhu? Why do you always want to quarrel and fight with others?"
Before he could say anything, she asked again: "Also, you are in the mountains and I am in
Mianshui. We are so far apart, how can you confront others online?"
Shi Xu raised his eyes to look at her and said calmly: "Even though we are so far apart, am I not in
front of you now?"
“…”
"How you came this time, you will come the same way next time."
Zhu Jinxia was completely speechless. There was a layer of mist in her eyes, perhaps because of
the rejection at first, but later because of his anxious tone and serious words.
She could see his irrepressible concern and his determination to keep his distance.
The two of them sat on the sofa for a while, and suddenly it began to rain outside the window.
The rain was heavy, and the slanting wind blew wet air into the screen window, causing the
clothes on the balcony to sway from side to side.
She rushed to the balcony, but because she was in a hurry, she didn't lower the clothes rail and
just stood on tiptoe to reach it. She missed the first two times.
On the third attempt, someone came up behind her, held her down with one hand, and easily
took off the hanger with the other hand, asking her, "Where do you put it?"
Crackling, the raindrops hit the awning, making a loud noise.
The cool wind blew the rain into the screen window, wetting the hem of her skirt and her cheeks.
She turned around, took a few pieces of clothes without saying a word, and walked towards the
bedroom.
Footsteps followed behind.
She entered the house first and slammed the door shut. After a few steps she heard him knocking
on the door again.
"Happy summer."
"what?"
She was not actually angry, but she did not know how to face him. She was afraid that he would
see her fragile appearance. She hoped that in this short night before he left, she would be strong
and independent enough.
So she held back her tears and said in a muffled voice, "It's eleven o'clock, and the lights in the
school should be turned off. From now on, no talking is allowed. My family has the same rule as
the school."
The knocking stopped, there was no sound of talking, but there was no sound of footsteps going
away either.
Zhu Jinxia instinctively held her breath and listened to the noise outside the door, but she didn't
expect that the next second, the mobile phone in her nightgown pocket suddenly buzzed twice,
scaring her.
Take it out and take a look.
Shixu sent a message: "Then I'll talk here?"
Zhu Jinxia shouted out the door again: "WeChat doesn't work either!"
After a few seconds, the Q|Q message came again.
"What about this?"
Before she could say anything, QQ was no use. Soon, text messages flooded into the screen.
Timing: "1"
……………………
1Your sister1.
I wish this summer I want to curse, I want to laugh, but hot tears suddenly well up like spring ice
melting.
She didn't hesitate any longer, lowered her head to wipe away the tears that seemed to never dry
up, turned around, strode to the door, and opened it.
Whether he saw it or not, Zhu Jinxia was still Zhu Jinxia, standing in front of him exactly as she
was, a brave soldier unafraid of accepting any ridicule or praise.
The man outside the door put away his phone and was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking
about how to start the conversation. Finally, his eyes settled slightly and fell on her wet face.
His throat was hoarse and tight because of the Milky Way.
"Zhu Jinxia, how many times have you been in love?"
Zhu Jinxia was startled, not understanding why he suddenly asked about her love history. After a
slight hesitation, she answered, "Just once."
"I don't need to ask who it was with." Shi Xu said, "otherwise someone would have come to kill
us."
Wish this summer: "..."
He then asked: "How many people have you liked?"
In addition to the Acropolis...
"In sixth grade, I followed the crowd and paid attention to a transfer student in my class. When I
was in high school, I had a vague crush on the study committee member of the next class. Later,
when I was an undergraduate, I secretly admired the French teacher who taught me a second
foreign language."
Zhu Jinxia thought Shixu wanted to talk to her about his love history, but she guessed wrong.
Shixu threw out the next question without hesitation: "So what do you think about when you like
someone?"
What were you thinking about? Those ignorant and childish moments were gone, and she could
only remember some special fragments, but could not piece together too many complete
memories.
"What could I think?" she said strangely, "I was too young at that time. I didn't think about
anything except liking him."
"Really?" Shi Xu looked at her quietly and said, "I'm just the opposite."
“…”
"When you meet someone in your teens or twenties, you don't think about anything else but just
like him or her. But when I met someone in my thirties, I thought about everything except liking
her."
That day, Shixu spoke more than he had ever spoken in all the previous days.
They were always joking and laughing, and rarely had such serious moments. This time he was
talking and she was listening.
He said that many people like someone, perhaps because the other person is good-looking,
because she shines at a certain moment, because she can fill in the fragments of their past life, or
perhaps they just want to have someone to accompany them, have a spiritual support, or satisfy
their physical desires.
"But I'm not like that to you."
"It's not just holding hands, hugging and kissing that will satisfy me. Listening to you and Dunzhu
teasing me while we eat, or watching you rehearse repeatedly while preparing lessons, even if I
just listen to you mumbling quietly, time will seem to go by very slowly."
"When you were in the mountains, every night when I saw the lights in the small building go out,
I would think that it would be great if the next second the sun rose, so that I could meet you at
dawn."
"After you left, I started keeping my phone close to me. Every time it vibrated, I would
immediately check to see if it was a message from you. If it didn't ring, I would check every once
in a while to see if I had missed anything."
"When there is no news, I will speculate whether you are in class. I can even imagine you
standing on the podium and talking. When there is news, I will read it over and over again,
hoping for those The life of Xue Yue that I missed by some accident will be perfect with you."
He rarely replied, and even when he did, he was always reticent because he didn't want to be the
shadow of her life, restricting her vision and restricting her freedom.
He would rather be a gust of wind passing through her world, and if possible, help her fly higher
and further, and even if he cannot, he can quietly exist in her life, far or near. , watch her live
freely.
"There are too many things in life that are beyond our control. God has been harsh on me and
has placed more shackles on me, but you are different."
He had a strong influence on her divorce. One could say that he was selfish and usurped the
throne, or that he was selfless and added fuel to the fire. In short, she had flown out of the cage.
How could he pull her into his own world and clip the wings that she had finally managed to
break free from?
That's not love, that's selfishness.
The conversation that night was like a stream-of-consciousness prose poem, endless and without
a center. Just like their relationship, it had no ending point and felt unfettered and refreshing.
There is a heavy rain outside the window, making the world poetic. Even in the dark night
without any light, the world is not dim.
The wind shakes the blue waves,
After the rain, green clouds are swirling.
In a trance, Zhu Jinxia returned to the day when he left the mountains. It was still late summer,
and there was a heavy rain in the mountains, covering the sky and earth as if it would swallow up
the world.
She and Shixu stayed in Aunt Fang's small courtyard, listening to the heavy rain and the sound of
rain hitting the banana leaves.
She never said it, but in fact she used to hate rain. She hated the unintentional way of raindrops
carrying mud and sand into the soles of her shoes, and she also hated the stickiness of sleeves
and skirts sticking to her skin. She didn't like dark days, nor did she like overly noisy nights.
But that day she was extremely grateful for the rain, which trapped them in the small courtyard
and allowed them to stay for one more day.
Later we returned to Mianshui, and it never rained from late summer to autumn.
Zhu Jinxia seemed to be trapped in that summer and never came out. She has been waiting for
the same rain since that day.
Now it finally starts to rain again, and the drizzle is the autumn rain in the city.
They stood at the door of the bedroom, talking endlessly, with wetness on both of their faces.
She said that if she were still the 18-year-old Zhu Jinxia, she would definitely return to the
mountains at all costs, run to him, and run to those children.
He also said that if he were still eighteen years old, he would definitely ask her to accept him
without hesitation, to go back together or start over.
But after all, they are not eighteen-year-old boys anymore.
Twenty-nine-year-old Zhu Jinxia has been working hard in her favorite literary world for a long
time. She bravely moves forward with the torch in hand and has no intention of returning to the
mountains, because there are no books she wants to read, no literature she needs, and no access
to the great minds she longs to listen to.
She likes time and even loves him, but she cannot stop her life process for him.
She also knew that she could not persuade Shi Xu to leave the central school because Uncle
Wang had fallen ill. That school, those children, and those mountains all needed him.
Shi Xu smiled and said that this was a good idea. How did that sentence go?
"One is riding a white horse and wearing a spring robe in the literature, while the other is
working hard and living a miserable life in life."
She looked at the brilliant stars, and he looked at the fireworks.
I wish this summer to breathe heavily and ask softly: "Time, will you regret it?"
"No." He looked at her with clear eyes and smiled slowly, "Knowing that another me in the world
is living the life I long for freely in a corner of the city, I have already achieved the best result I
expected."
Zhu Jinxia turned her head away and wiped away another line of tears, then laughed and said,
"That's right, what is the result? Getting married?"
"Look at me, I got married but also got divorced."
Shi Xu asked: "What about growing old together?"
She said: "Growing old together is not an outcome, one of the two will always pass away first."
"So what is the result for you?"
Zhu Jinxia can no longer see him clearly, but still tries hard to wipe away her tears and look at
him.
She said timing, the moment you honestly and bravely opened your heart to me and shared your
vulnerability tonight, I got the result I wanted.
It is said that a single moment between people is enough——
"But you and I, we have more than just one moment, we have countless moments of resonance."
Those are the moments when she grows old that will remind her again and again that she once
lived and loved hard.
That night, time never kissed Zhu Jinxia until the end.
Although he had imagined her countless times in his dreams, he was restrained and only used his
eyes to depict her. He could cross the mountains to come for her, but he could not bring her back
to the narrow gap.
So he stood in the corridor, separated from her by a narrow door frame, which also seemed like
the border between Chu and Han.
Like a devout believer, he adhered to his own principles and watched the queen ascend the
throne and rule the kingdom of freedom.

Chapter 70
What victory can you win with secret love?
If you can pick it, who would still call it the moon?
Be impulsive, be hasty, be blind,
To love deeply even when you are surrounded by enemies.
Summer is so long.
It's not worth it if you don't have enough fun.
--"process"
——
Miraculously, Shixu had a good sleep.
I thought I would toss and turn, after all, I had said so many things that made me feel unhappy,
and she was sleeping next to me.
But the whole room was filled with Zhu Jinxia's breath. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at
everything in sight under the bright light, as if there was an echo everywhere.
The French-style desk at the foot of the bed is made of walnut. Various documents are placed on
the desk. When you open them and take a look, you will find that they are all related to British
and American literature.
Zhu Jinxia's research areas include African-American literature and feminism. She once said that
in order to avoid people playing games in the study, she spent countless nights typing on the
keyboard in the guest room.
Now it was his turn to stay in this room. When his eyes fell on the desk, he always felt that he
could see her writing at her desk countless times late at night.
The bedding was not only pleasing to the eye, but also soft and delicate to the touch. This
reminded him of when he was in the mountains, she had said in disbelief to his washed-out,
hardened sheets: "Are you cultivating immortality in the mountains or becoming a monk? How
can you sleep on these?"
Shi Xu turned off the lights and closed his eyes, and smelled her scent in the darkness.
That flourishing green may not be in the air, but it doesn't matter, he has memorized the smell
and it follows him everywhere.
The next day was Saturday, the last day he could stay in Mianshui. He had to rush back to Yibo on
Sunday. On Monday morning, when all students had their first morning class, he had to be at the
central school.
But it doesn’t matter, I have stolen another day and I am already very content with the time.
He fell asleep in such a peaceful joy, and even had a beautiful dream. In the dream, he did not
return to the central school, but was still doing scientific research in Beijing. The dormitory of the
Institute of Earth Sciences was not big, with one bedroom and one living room. He was scratching
his chin facing the small sofa, and after a while he began to look at the single bed in the
bedroom.
It seemed like there wasn't enough room for two people to live together. This was the question
he was thinking about in his dream.
When I woke up, the room was still dark. I thought it was still early, but when I picked up my
phone, I realized it was already 9:30 in the morning.
He hadn't slept till this point in a long time.
I got up in time and opened the window. I pulled open the blackout curtains and pushed open
the window glass. Along with the birdsong, the sound of people talking in the community also
broke into the house.
It was the first sunny day after the rain, but the sun was not very warm, hiding in the light clouds
with a bit of reserve.
Looking down, some people are riding bicycles, some are carrying vegetable baskets, and they
are walking slowly in the community with plenty of green vegetation, as if they are strolling in a
garden.
He hadn't felt a moment like this in a long time.
There is no worldly noise in the narrow passage, and no so many different faces.
The school's wake-up bell rang at 6:30 every morning, including on weekends. As the principal,
he had to get up before everyone else. How could the principal still sleep in bed when all the
teachers and students were busy?
As soon as half past six arrived, the school was like a march or a war, and everyone was busy.
I'm used to the timing.
It was at this moment that he suddenly felt the long-lost life. He looked down at a pair of white-
haired elderly people walking together, and they seemed to be dragging a shopping cart in their
hands. For a moment, he hoped that he could be one of them.
In an instant, I remembered last night's dream and smiled.
Should we say he is too optimistic, or is he preparing for a rainy day? He was just kissed last night,
and in the middle of the night he was thinking about loveseats and double beds.
When Shixu opened the bedroom door, he was greeted by a strange aroma of food.
The kitchen is open, and Zhu Jinxia is busy at the island and stove, turning on the oven to take out
sausages, opening the steamer to take out corn, turning off the toaster to take out bread, and
finally opening the microwave to take out hot milk.
Seeing Shixu looking at her from afar with disheveled hair, she did not forget to glance at him
sideways in her flustered state.
"You're just going to sit back and watch the fire?"
"I just find it strange." Shi Xu turned his head to look out the window, "Why doesn't the sun rise
from the west?"
He was teasing her for being able to cook.
Zhu Jinxia laughed out loud and looked at him with bright eyes, "I just feel that I have been taking
advantage of you in school for three months. Now that you finally came to Mianshui, I should
show some hospitality to you."
Upon hearing this, Shi Xu came over with his hands behind his back like a leader and inspected
the island platform.
There was toast with Italian sausage, ketchup and butter on a plate next to it, hot milk in a cup,
and steam coming out of the coffee pot.
"Is this your courtesy as a host?" Shi Xu said, "They are all pre-made, not a single decent dish."
The leader gave a very critical review, but the chef rolled his eyes at him.
"You know I'm lazy and don't know how to distinguish grains, but it's good enough for me to have
this table. You should stop while you're ahead!"
They sat opposite each other on the island counter, one drinking coffee, one drinking milk, one
eating bread with sausage, and one eating corn. The room was filled with lazy jazz music from the
vinyl record player, a perfect Saturday morning.
No one mentioned what happened last night.
That misplaced kiss was like the hasty rain, which all stayed before sunrise.
——
Before lunch, the two went to the hospital together. They found a flower shop at the entrance of
the community and packed a bouquet of pink and white carnations.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Why buy this useless thing?"
Shixu said: "For the elderly, they will be happy after a serious illness."
"She won't be happy and will just say you're wasting money."
"How about we make a bet?" Shi Xu handed the flowers to the shopkeeper and smiled back, "I
bet she will say it's a waste of money, but she will definitely laugh happily."
Zhu Jinxia was startled, and then heard the following words.
"You said that grandpa passed away very early, and grandma raised two children alone, and then
she never got married again. She is 80 years old this year. When was the last time she received
flowers?"
That bouquet of flowers cost him fifty dollars, but he didn't even blink an eye. Instead, Zhu Jinxia
felt sorry for him.
When he stepped out of the flower shop, Shi Xu laughed at him: "Zhu Jinxia, have you noticed
that you are more vulgar than me now, always talking about money and being obsessed with
money?"
Zhu Jinxia laughed angrily, "Who am I feeling sorry for?"
Shi Xu was calm and composed. "My salary is not your responsibility yet, so don't worry about it
for now."
Zhu Jinxia choked for a long time and finally said, "Then don't try to please my grandma. She's my
grandma, not yours, and you're not her grandson-in-law!"
The two stared at each other for a long time and then laughed.
Shi Xu handed the flowers to her and said, "Here."
"Don't you have hands?" Zhu Jinxia retorted, "Whoever's flowers belong to them can take them."
"How can I ride a bike if I take it?"
Shi Xu stuffed the flowers into her arms, stopped at the shared car area on the side of the road,
and took out his mobile phone to scan the code.
"Shall we go by bike?" Zhu Jinxia's eyes widened.
This place is five or six kilometers away from the hospital!
"I just had a blood loss, so of course I have to save money." As he spoke, Shixu had already
opened the way for an electric bike with a back seat and sat in it first, "Get in."
I wish this summer, holding flowers, stopping on the roadside and smiling for two seconds.
"What do you call this? Riding a bicycle to a bar, saving money or spending money?"
"Get in the car." The stingy man said calmly, "Or do you really want me to tell you, Princess,
please get in the car?"
Zhu Jinxia laughed even harder, "Whose princess is riding in an electric car? Yours?"
Shi Xu said calmly: "I do think so."
With just one sentence, Zhu Jinxia was successfully unable to laugh.
She climbed onto the bike slowly, thought for a moment, and grabbed the corner of his clothes,
as if she was sitting on the back of his motorcycle in a narrow gap.
She never thought that there would be this day and this moment when she realized that she
actually missed him very much.
The grass and trees were moist after the rain in autumn, and there were puddles on the roadside
left by the sudden rain last night, which were crushed into countless reflections by the wheels. In
each reflection, there were two figures, one in front and one behind. The electric bike was not
very fast, but it could lift their hair and even lift the corners of their mouths.
He was riding his bike with his eyes fixed straight ahead, while she was sitting on the back seat
holding flowers, mumbling meaningless words, with her skirt fluttering at her feet.
In the hospital.
Grandmother was very happy to receive the flowers. She smiled from ear to ear while
complaining that it was good enough for people to come and not spend money.
Shi Xu's eyes were looking for Zhu Jin Xia. She realized that he was asking: How is it, did I win the
bet?
They had lunch with their grandmother, completed the discharge procedures, and took the old
lady home in the afternoon.
The grandmother was very busy with the times and felt very sorry. She could only sigh that her
granddaughter was not good enough. She had studied all her life but had poor hands-on skills.
Whenever something happened, a man had to be present in the family to help.
Zhu Jinxia rolled her eyes and said that she had learned feminism, but she didn't expect her
grandmother to say something that was not conducive to gender equality.
Grandma also asked in a fashionable way: "How about you give me a set of boxing?"
All I can say is that if you are not from the same family, you won’t enter the same door.
Shi Xu helped the old man sit down on the sofa, smiled and said it was okay and he could come to
him if he had any problems in the future.
This successfully diverted the target. Grandmother looked at him with an inquiring look and said,
"But you are in the mountains. Why did I come all the way here to find you?"
Without waiting for a reply, Zhu Jinxia changed the subject. She walked out of the kitchen
carrying washed fruits and said, "Try it. These freshly-released persimmons look sweet."
Grandma took one and looked at the time series again. "I heard from Jin Xia that you are a
doctoral student graduated from Tsinghua University. After graduation, you worked in the
Institute of Earth Sciences. You returned to your hometown to become a principal for your family.
This is such a pity. Do you have any plans for the future--"
"Grandma." Zhu Jinxia spoke again, handing the peeled persimmon to the old lady in exchange
for the untouched one in her hand, "Don't talk while eating. Persimmons are juicy, don't let it drip
everywhere."
She did not let Shi Xu stay at her grandmother's house for long, and urged the old lady to go to
the chess and card room in the community to play mahjong.
"Your old sisters must be missing you. Go ahead. You must be itching to touch them after not
having any contact for a few days."
Seeing that her granddaughter didn't want her to ask more questions, the grandmother also
tactfully carried her small bag and went to the chess and card room. She only reached out to
point at her and mouthed, "You!" when she was putting on her shoes.
Zhu Jinxia turned around and saw Shixu standing in the living room holding a persimmon. She
also smiled and said, "Aren't you leaving?"
Shi Xu asked: "Where to go?"
"I don't know." Zhu Jinxia blinked, "But you finally came to the city to relax for a day, shouldn't
you stay at home?"
That being said, when she went out she realized she didn't know where to go.
It's funny to say, people come to this world only once, life is short, we should eat the food we
want to eat, meet the people we want to meet, see the scenery we like, do the things we like, but
often when we look back we realize that we have not done so.
Everyone is making compromises, working hard, and always saying that it is for a better
tomorrow.
When she said this, Shi Xu smiled and said, "Not today."
"there is nothing?"
"No compromise." He lowered his head to look into her eyes and said, "I ate the food I wanted to
eat, saw the beautiful scenery, and saw..." After a slight pause, he omitted the object that they
both knew even without saying it, "You can do anything without a purpose."
Zhu Jinxia had no response, so she hurriedly took out her cell phone and said, "Then wait for me,
I'll plan a travel route for you."
Time allowed her to do this, and did not expose her suddenly red eyes.
He just felt that time was too short and there were too many things he didn't have time to say. In
order to have fewer regrets and at least make today's life a little more complete, he chose to be
honest. Since there were mountains between them, there shouldn't be too many things he
wanted to say but didn't want to say.
Didn't she say that the moment he was honest with her, she got the result she wanted?
For the next half of the afternoon, they wandered aimlessly in this familiar yet strange city.
Familiar, because Zhu Jinxia grew up here and took root here. Strange, because she was used to
looking at her phone as soon as she got on the bus, and traveling in a hurry without even seeing
the scenery outside the window when she took the subway. In nearly 30 years, she didn't know
much about this huge city.
Shi Xu still took her on the shared electric bike, and they toured the city in every corner, stopping
occasionally.
"There's a delicious hot and sour noodle restaurant at the end of the alley." Zhu Jinxia raised her
hand.
"Eat." Shixu braked decisively and stopped by the roadside, asking the boss for two bowls of hot
and sour noodles.
"There is a jelly shop around the corner. When I was a kid, it was located near the farmers'
market and had good business. Now that street vendors are being cracked down on, it has moved
to a streetside shop. It used to cost one yuan per bowl, but now it's increased to ten yuan per
bowl, but business is still as good as ever."
"eat."
The "driver" was very supportive and made a sharp turn and drove to the door of the jelly shop.
After an afternoon, both of them had bulging bellies. They stopped at the entrance of an arcade,
and Zhu Jinxia asked Shixu if he had played it before, and got the expected negative answer.
She felt childish and sympathetic, and exchanged hundreds of coins at a time, dragging the time
and threatening to play all the arcade games and experience them all.
As a result, when playing shooting, she was beaten badly by the time sequence.
When it comes to racing, he's miles ahead of her.
When playing the coin-operated machine, he was quick-witted and could calculate the scores, so
he could always pay out more coins than her.
Even with the most basic shooting, he can hit 99% of the time with extremely high accuracy - the
remaining 1% is when Zhu Jinxia can't stand it anymore and deliberately bumps into his shoulder,
then spreads her hands innocently and says, "Oops, sorry, I accidentally bumped into you."
If Zhu Jinxia didn't know Shixu's background, she would have thought that he deliberately lied
about his experience. He was obviously a veteran in the video game arcade, but he said that he
had never been to such a place.
Shixu stood in front of each machine and was able to get started very quickly after a brief
observation. At this moment, the advantages of a science and engineering man quickly emerged.
Coupled with the hands-on ability cultivated from years of immersion in the laboratory, he was
like a fish in water and was the undisputed superstar in the video game arcade.
I hope Jinxia will soon realize that it is not wise to compete with him, so she might as well give up
and find a project that can bring mutual benefit and win-win results.
She pulled the timer in front of the claw machine and said, "Come on, grab a few. Let me see how
accurate you are at this."
Unexpectedly, Shixu played all the machines except the claw machine. He put his hands in his
pockets and calmly refused, saying, "I'm not interested."
"Why aren't you interested?" Zhu Jinxia was confused. "Everything else is fine, but not this?"
"Well, this one won't work."
"Why?"
"You ask me why?" Shi Xu turned around and asked her with a smile, "Zhu Jinxia, have you
forgotten everything you said?"
Zhu Jinxia racked her brains for a full half minute, searching her memory bank for their
conversation about the claw machine, but she couldn't remember it.
Did they talk about this? No...
Until Shixu asked back: "Who said that you didn't have money to buy dolls when you were a
child, and then you were with that guy, and he bought you a lot of dolls, but unfortunately they
are all gathering dust in the corner?"
He sneered and said okay, forgetting what he said the moment he turned around.
Zhu Jinxia's eyes suddenly widened and she instantly remembered the original conversation.
She just didn't expect that he would remember it and take it to heart just by mentioning it.
"No way, Shixu, you—" Zhu Jinxia was in disbelief and stood with her arms folded, "Should I say
that you have a good memory, or should I say that you have a bad temper?"
"My suggestion is that you should reflect on whether you are forgetful or heartless."
The man glanced at the annoying claw machine and thought to himself that this broken machine
took up two entire rows of space and was an eyesore.
A boss without business acumen will go bankrupt sooner or later.
He had only taken two steps when someone grabbed his arm.
Time goes back and says stop trying to persuade him, it is impossible to catch him——
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by her bright smile.
Zhu Jinxia said while laughing: "I'll catch it, I'll catch it for you!"
“…”
"Is this all right?"
Although her hands are a little clumsy, she is willing to spend money.
The machines in the arcade have all been debugged, and basically one game can be produced for
about ten coins. Zhu Jinxia spent almost all of his remaining game coins here. He buried his whole
body in front of the glass window, his eyes were bright, his brows were furrowed, and he was
determined to clean out the store.
Later, a group of people came to watch and cheer for her.
"Sister, that one, that one has to be caught!"
"Sister, please catch this bear. This bear is so pretty!"
"Aunt--"
"Who are you calling auntie?" The woman who was enthusiastically putting in coins was hit in the
sore spot. She turned around suddenly and looked at the naughty child who called her auntie
with unhappiness.
The little fat boy reacted immediately and changed his words: "Sister, beautiful sister!"
Zhu Jinxia was very satisfied and took out a Pikachu from the cart of time. "Here, this is for you."
The little fat boy smiled happily with two rows of white teeth showing: "Thank you, sister, the
most beautiful sister in the world!"
Unexpectedly, the man next to him grabbed Pikachu away.
"This is mine." Shi Xu calmly took back the doll with one hand and grabbed a handful of game
coins from Zhu Jinxia's cup with the other hand and stuffed them into the child's hand, "If you
want it, grab it yourself."
The little fat boy took the coins and left in a daze, leaving Zhu Jinxia laughing so hard that she
couldn't straighten her back.
In this place filled with childishness and fun, they also became reckless children. Since they have
to behave like adults when they go out, why not be children who have not grown up in this world
where no one can see them?
This feeling was also quite strange. Shixu was pushing the cart and saw the wealthy woman in
front of him patting her chest and asking him which one he wanted, and she would catch them all
for him.
Soon, a high mountain of coins piled up in the time cart, and only a few coins were left in the cup,
not enough to grab a doll.
"What else do you want to play?" Zhu Jinxia poured the coins into her palm, counted them, and
generously said that they would split the rest, "You have four, I have eight."
Shi Xu asked back: "Why do you have twice as many as me? Shouldn't each person have six?"
Zhu Jinxia said confidently: "Because I die quickly no matter what I play. When I die three times,
maybe you haven't even finished the first time."
In response, Shixu said: "That makes sense."
But he didn't expect that after the unreasonable distribution, Zhu Jinxia still ended the game
faster than he expected. When he started the car for the third time, the woman appeared behind
him.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "Which round is it?"
"Round three."
"This is unscientific," Zhu Jinxia questioned. "How can you play three rounds with only four
coins?"
Shixu said: "Someone joins the game. As long as I win, I can continue playing without inserting
coins."
"Sure you can."
Zhu Jinxia began to search around for who was his defeated opponent, until he came to the row
of machines behind him and saw the fat boy who was only seven or eight years old.
The child was only as tall as the driver's waist, and he was using all his strength to steer the
wheel, his face flushed red as he struggled.
Unfortunately, he was defeated in the end.
After losing three rounds in a row, the kid jumped up, shouting, "There's something wrong with
the machine! Boss, where's the boss?"
Zhu Jinxia laughed so hard that she couldn't stop. She took out her mobile phone to take a
picture of this scene. A man and a boy were sitting in front of a racing car, one laughing and the
other making noise, separated by a whole row of machines.
They walked home in the starry night, with Shixu carrying two large bags full of dolls in his hands.
Passersby were looking at him, probably because the doll and his temperament were too
different, and the two bags were too big and too eye-catching.
Shixu has a sour face and wants Zhu Jinxia to help him share the burden.
Zhu Jinxia said with a smile: "Didn't the teacher teach you? You should do your own things and
carry your own baby."
Shi Xu smiled with a fake smile: "My teacher only taught me to help others."
"Now Teacher Zhu will teach you, have you remembered it?" Zhu Jinxia said confidently, "Come,
repeat after me, and do your own things by yourself."
“…”
Shi Xu wanted to say, "I wish you are poisonous this summer," but he just laughed. He looked at
her and thought, "How wonderful! Even with all these jokes, he felt that time was infinitely
good."
Finally, Shi Xu carried the baby back to the mountain the next morning, without missing a single
one.
While waiting for the train at the station, a man next to him spoke to him and said, "Brother, you
are quite creative. Other people bring local specialties, but you bring dolls."
Shi Xu just smiled, and turned around to look at the woman who was blocked outside the ticket
machine in the hall. He said that someone had caught her and he didn't want to let the other
person down.
The rules in big cities are stricter than those in small places. If they say only passengers are
allowed to pass, then they can only enter with a ticket. She couldn't get in and could only watch
from afar.
He was on the platform and she was in the hall, and their sight was blocked by the heavy flow of
people.
He saw her tiptoeing and occasionally jumping.
The station was very noisy, so she could only call him and said to him amid the din: "Shixu, don't
come to Mianshui so often next time. You are such a stingy person, why don't you keep your
money for something else?"
Shi Xu was carrying two large bags of dolls and looked at her lazily: "Why? Mianshui is owned by
your family. You can't come just because you say you can't?"
When he said this, he had no idea that just one month later, Zhu Jinxia would stand in front of
him and return the words to him exactly as they were spoken.
At the end of that autumn, the cold arrived in the mountains earlier, and the mountains in
western Sichuan had already snowed several times.
The students put on thick cotton clothes, and charcoal fires were lit in the teachers' dormitories
for heating.
It is the season when the sun sets early again.
Unlike those office workers who work from nine to five, the sun comes late and leaves early. In
winter, it disappears from sight as early as 2 pm, but no one can do anything about it.
On such a late autumn night, Shixu was reading his thesis by the fire in his dormitory, oblivious to
the noise of fighting outside the window.
Ten o'clock in the evening is the time for the children to wash up. The weather is cold and the
water is cold, so they are even more resistant to it. It often requires strict supervision from Yu
Xiaoshan and Dunzhu before they can wash their faces and brush their teeth perfunctorily.
This moment is no exception. Outside the window is the sound of children chasing and fighting,
occasionally mixed with the roars of teachers.
"Where are you hiding? Come out and wash your face!"
"Look at your stained face. If you don't wash it, you'll become a spotted cat!"
"You call this brushing your teeth? You call this brushing your teeth?" Dunzhu said angrily, "Tell
me, did your toothbrush touch your teeth?"
Noisy, noisy.
Timing turned a deaf ear to it and just checked the experimental data over and over again with a
frown on his face. On WeChat was a report sent by his senior, saying that they had checked it
several times but couldn't find the error, so he asked Timing to help take a look.
Finally, he sighed, "When will you come back? If you don't come back, I'm afraid that Dean Sun
will kill us."
Shixuhui paused, did not address the question directly, and only replied: "One has already
escaped. If he kills a few more, who will he find to work for him?"
"That's different. He keeps talking about you all the time, saying that you are worth a group of
us." The senior brother also complained, "Don't talk about him. We miss you too. We didn't feel
anything when you were here, but we realized after you left, who will do the dirty work after you
left!!!"
Shi Xu laughed, but he didn't bother to reply. He just said, "I have to hurry up and read the report
first. I have to supervise the children to go to bed later."
Senior Brother: "Sure. I'm a bachelor for thousands of years, but I've already mastered a hundred
techniques of raising children. If I don't become a principal, I can be a nanny."
Just as Shi Shu was concentrating on the experimental data, the sound of a car horn suddenly
came from outside the window, honking twice, very deliberately.
Cars occasionally pass by in the mountains, but there are no pedestrians or places to stay nearby,
so horns are rarely heard.
There was a slight pause in time, and then the sound of children playing suddenly disappeared,
followed by a huge cheer that was even louder than before.
what's the situation?
Dunzhu and the others didn't even keep an eye on it.
Shi Xu thought to himself that this school wouldn't function properly even for a minute without
him.
He frowned, listening to the waves of noise outside that were getting louder and louder. He
walked out of the bedroom, walked all the way to the window in the living room, and pushed
open the glass window.
The original intention was to scold people, scolding children for having nothing better to do, and
scolding adults for not paying attention.
The cold air came with the night wind, making people shiver.
Before I could say anything, I saw a white SUV appear outside the school gate with its headlights
on. In the foggy night, they were like two searchlights cutting through the almost frozen air.
For some reason, the guard opened the door without his permission, and the people in the car
got off early and had already walked to the playground.
It was a cold day, and fog started to fall in the mountains at night, so visibility was low. As a result,
he couldn't see the two people on the playground clearly, but this didn't stop his heart from
skipping a beat.
The children's cheers and the guard's unusual act of opening the door were enough to make
Shixu have inappropriate thoughts, even if he didn't hear clearly what everyone was shouting.
He even forgot to close the window. His eyes darkened and he turned around and walked out
with big strides.
When going downstairs, he took three or four steps at a time, which was incredibly fast.
He walked through the dark corridor and arrived at the playground in the blink of an eye. He
suddenly slowed down his pace, and only his rapid breathing revealed his impatience.
Through the thick fog, he saw Zhu Jinxia walking towards him.
The children jumped up and cheered, and surrounded her, laughing and shouting.
Dunzhu and Yu Xiaoshan also rushed forward, and Yu Xiaoshan directly grabbed her hand.
Zhu Jinxia was accompanied by a man of the same age. Shi Xu didn't recognize who he was, but
his eyes didn't linger on him for too long. He instinctively caught her sight amidst the thundering
heartbeat.
Amid the clamor that sounded like a triumphant welcome for her return, he saw Zhu Jinxia look
around, and finally their eyes met his in mid-air.
She walked towards him through the crowd.
He walked towards the crowd.
She was wearing a thick black down jacket and a pure white scarf around her neck. She didn't say
a word, but white breath was already coming out of her mouth.
He was only wearing a dark grey sweater and a pair of cotton slippers, but he didn't feel cold at
the moment.
At a distance of not too far, Shi Xu's voice was tense, but he pretended to be casual, put his hands
in his pockets, and asked her with a half-smile: "Why are you here?"
Zhu Jinxia stood at the front of the crowd, her lips curved, her eyes bright, and she said in a brisk
tone: "Why, you opened Yibo Township, so I can't come?"
A month had passed, but the scene of their separation on the platform was still vivid in his mind.
But now she had crossed over many mountains and appeared before him again, returning the
parting words to him intact.
Shi Xu wanted to ask her what she was doing there, whether she was here to eat or drink, but
when she opened her mouth, she only said a light sentence.
"Yes, why not?" He curled his lips and said lazily, "The princess is coming, but you didn't tell me in
advance. I'm sorry for not welcoming you."
Chapter 71
The moment he saw Zhu Jinxia, Shi Xu was stunned for a moment. He never believed in gods or
Buddhas, but at this moment he began to doubt whether God really had the ability to see into
people's hearts.
Two weeks ago, the first snow fell in the mountains. Overnight, the ground and mountains turned
white. Even the Jinsha River was reflected in white by the snow along the banks.
At this time, Uncle Wang was knocked down by a severe cold, with a high fever and constant
coughing. Aunt Fang tried everything to make him better but failed. She had to call Shi Xu
overnight, and everyone drove Lao Li's truck to take him to the county hospital for an IV.
The school still had to be taken care of by Shixu, and the burden of taking care of Uncle Wang still
fell on Luolong Zam and Aunt Fang. Shixu and Dunzhu would take turns riding their bikes to the
county hospital every other day to take care of him, and the rest of the people would stay at the
school.
The disease was severe and the situation was not optimistic. The high fever soon developed into
pneumonia. Uncle Wang had a weak constitution to begin with, and after a week of illness, he
looked extremely old and haggard. He could hardly speak clearly, and a stringy sound could be
heard coming from his throat when he breathed.
Fortunately, he had Aunt Fang. Although he could never wake up, as long as he saw her around,
he would feel much more at ease. He would not cry or make a fuss, but would just half-close his
eyes while receiving intravenous drips, and become increasingly thinner.
Luolong Zam cried anxiously and dragged his two brothers to the temple on the mountain to
burn incense and worship Buddha.
Tibetans believe in Buddhism, but not Shixu. He just grew up in such an environment and had no
way of questioning it. He always acted as a dispensable bystander.
In fact, Uncle Wang himself was not a devout believer in gods and Buddhas, and the three
brothers and sisters followed suit. Needless to say, Donzhu and Luolong Zhamu only went
through the motions during festivals.
But Zam was desperate and had no choice but to rely on superstition.
That morning, they set out before dawn. When they reached the top of the mountain, the red
sun was rising, the sky was full of rays of light, and above the cumulus clouds, the sun was shining
on the golden mountain.
The vermilion temple was covered in snow, the whole world was white, the sky and the earth
were spotless, and on top of the snow-capped mountains, the golden tower top was the closest
thing to the sky.
At this moment, even time has to admit that at least what is seen is sacred, and people can't help
but feel awe.
Donzhu and Zam knelt from outside the temple to inside, their knees and elbows soaked with
snow. The brother and sister changed their previous perfunctory attitude and their eyes and
attitude were more pious than ever before.
Shi Xu still did not kneel, but just stood aside and watched. The Buddha statue was solemn and
compassionate, but he did not know whether it could really listen to the voices of mortals.
If God has eyes and can really see everything in the world, why does he allow Doji and others to
do evil and watch a good person like Uncle Wang suffer?
He asked repeatedly in the silence.
Until the sound of bells pierced through the valley in the early morning, knocking on his heart,
Shixu turned and walked towards the depths of the temple. Along the way, monks were clearing
snow. He frowned, with a lot on his mind. Finally, he stopped in front of a hall deep in the temple
and looked up.
Medicine Buddha.
Like an amazing coincidence.
The monks at the door were placing lotus lanterns on the table. Looking throughout the hall,
there were countless lamps placed around the Buddha statue from high to low. The monks added
oil every day to keep the lamps from going out.
Seeing him stop, the monk asked him if he needed anything. The lotus lamp of Medicine Buddha
can maintain health and one lamp can be offered for a whole year.
Shi Xu thought it was ridiculous. If there really were gods in the world, with powers all over the
world, how could they covet such a small amount of money from mortals?
But the Buddha looked at him compassionately, its golden body shining brightly in the deep and
secluded hall under the countless flames. His eyes flashed across Uncle Wang's frail face, and he
thought of the brother and sister kneeling devoutly outside the hall.
It’s better to believe it, right?
Shixu lowered his head and chose a lamp on the small table.
The monk took out red paper and writing brush and asked him the name of the person he was
offering sacrifices to, and then asked if one lamp was enough.
Shixu paused, "Two."
That morning, he spent a "huge sum of money" to offer two lotus lanterns in the Medicine
Master Hall, one for each year. There were two names on the red paper, in addition to Uncle
Wang, there was another with three small words: Zhu Jinxia.
Being a stingy person, it was impossible for him to spend money on such things. Since he was
superstitious, he wrote the names of the two most precious people in his life on paper and
offered them before the Buddha.
It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, just take it as a way to gain peace of mind.
As for Uncle Wang, he knew that birth, aging, sickness and death were beyond our control, but
he still hoped that he could complete his last journey more peacefully, or at least not suffer so
much.
As for Zhu Jinxia, if there is no happy ending between them, at least I wish her peace, happiness,
health and good luck.
Shixu still did not kneel. He stood in front of the hall and stared at the monks placing two lamps
on the high platform. Finally, he just laughed softly and teased himself: Shixu, Shixu, you believe
in supernatural powers, you have read all the books in vain.
He really wants to believe in the existence of gods and Buddhas in his lifetime, unless they send
people to him.
But I didn't expect that just a few days later, Zhu Jinxia actually showed up at the central school.
Shi Xu stood in front of the corridor, his head buzzing as if he had been struck by lightning.
……?
Did the Buddha appear?
——
Returning to the central school was not a spur of the moment decision.
After the time passes, I wish you two opportunities this summer.
The first opportunity was the Rainbow Project: several universities in Mianshui City sent dozens
of teachers to mountainous areas to teach last semester, with remarkable results. The Municipal
Education Bureau and the State Education Bureau immediately decided to carry out long-term
cooperation. At the beginning of the new semester, Mianshui University took the lead.
At the regular meeting of faculty and staff of the School of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, after the
dean talked about this matter, Zhu Jinxia had an idea and came to the door immediately after the
meeting.
The second opportunity was Yuan Feng, who broke up with his girlfriend of many years after
repeated quarrels. This relationship started in high school and lasted for more than ten years, but
it ended in nothing, which was very painful.
At first, both Zhu Jinxia and Yuan Feng thought that Doudou’s departure was just like their
countless breakups in the past, and that after the cold war, they would reconcile as always.
Unfortunately, a month later, a friend sent Yuan Feng an electronic wedding invitation from
Doudou.
"You two are teasing me. You're pretending that the bride is getting married, but the groom is not
your role??? What? Do you think I'm part of your play?"
The other party thought it was a prank, but he didn't expect that the bride really went far away
and got married quickly.
Yuan Feng bought a plane ticket according to the address on the electronic invitation, and went
to Dou Dou's house like crazy, but in the end he didn't even get to see her.
She said on the phone that she was tired and had not loved him for a long time. Her current
husband was a businessman and was very rich, and she just wanted to be a wealthy wife, but
Yuan Feng could not give her such a life.
"We can't go back anymore, and don't come to see me again. I'm pregnant with his child."
Twelve years of affection were thrown out of the mind in just a few words. It was a relief for
those who left, but it was like cutting flesh with a blunt knife for those who stayed.
After more than half a month of commotion, Yuan Feng's condition has plummeted, even worse
than Zhu Jinxia who was previously threatening to divorce him.
I wish Jinxia is the one who leaves on her own initiative, because the one left behind always feels
more pain.
In fact, a relationship that lasts twelve years is no different from a marriage with or without a
certificate.
Yuan Feng's parents, who were over fifty years old, found Zhu Jinxia and almost cried, asking her
to help persuade Yuan Feng.
"You two grew up together. This summer, help your uncle and aunt to enlighten him. You have
been through this before, so don't let him become so depressed."
In fact, they didn't need to beg him. Zhu Jinxia had tried to persuade him, but she had said
everything and her mouth was dry. Yuan Feng refused to listen. Finally, she had an idea and
remembered what Yuan Feng had said when she first returned to Mianshui.
He said that the mountains were so nice and that a visit there would cleanse his body and mind,
so he also wanted to go.
It was just a joke at that time, who would have thought that he really needed to cleanse his body
and mind now?
Zhu Jinxia thought, maybe.
Try to save the dying horse as much as possible. Didn't she also see another world in the
mountains and then realize that people should not make mistakes?
Therefore, when Dean Zeng looked at this little disciple with suspicion, although she had changed
a lot recently but was still very smart in essence, and questioned her decision to be the person in
charge of the Rainbow Project, Zhu Jinxia dragged Yuan Feng into the water cleanly and neatly.
Childhood friends are meant to share the good and bad times with you, so it would be a waste if
you don’t make use of them.
She said that although I am an arrogant person and cannot afford to lose face, Yuan Feng is very
good and is shameless in his work and life. With him around, our project now has me as the
backbone, plus him as a diplomat, and it will definitely be a great success!
When conveying this to Yuan Feng, Zhu Jinxia cleverly replaced the word "shameless" with
"smooth and smart".
In order to take care of my childhood friend whose heart is broken into pieces, I have to say nice
things.
The matter was quickly finalized. In order to make one more trip to the central school before the
winter vacation, Zhu was very busy this summer.
The university had an early holiday, and the end of November was the exam month. She finished
her classes ahead of schedule, completing a semester's worth of courses. At the same time, she
stayed up late to write countless versions of the plan, not only matching dozens of primary
schools in the state with universities in Mianshui, but also having to hold meetings again and
again to connect with countless teachers on the application form.
When her partner Yuan Feng fell into a slump, she took the initiative to take on more
responsibilities. Fortunately, the leader had the rights of a leader. In the end, she waved her hand
and readily arranged herself and Yuan Feng to Yi Bo Central School again.
Just for this reason, all the hard work has not been in vain.
She even suggested that since university courses end earlier and almost every semester has a
month's holiday earlier than primary and secondary schools, it would be better to develop it into
a larger-scale project, with Mianshui University testing the waters first and taking teacher
trainees to the mountains for practice during this month. This way it would not be one-way
assistance, but rather two-way growth.
The teaching staff is limited, but it is different with college students. There is strength in numbers,
and there is fresh blood every year, so the teaching support can continue from one term to the
next.
After many twists and turns, Zhu Jinxia almost lost a layer of skin in just one month.
Dean Zeng finally made the decision: "After finishing this semester's courses, you should go to
check out the place in advance. Whether the students will go or not will depend on next
semester. After all, time is too tight. This matter still needs to start with mobilization and
registration. We can't rush it."
Just like that, Zhu Jinxia took Yuan Feng, who still had half his life left, and became a desperate
volunteer teacher, under the pretext of testing the waters.
The car belonged to Yuan Feng, and it was loaded with a whole carload of stationery collected
from the school, books collected from the school library, and clothes donated by the students.
Zhu Jinxia arrived at the central school in a grand manner.
Of course, we knew about the Rainbow Project in advance, and the State Education Bureau had
held countless meetings for this purpose, but the contact person at the central school had always
been a person named Yuan Feng, who said that he would come to the school in the near future,
but did not specify a specific time.
It was not until Zhu Jinxia stood at the central school with her follower named Yuan Feng that he
slowly realized that some people seemed to have planned it in advance.
On the playground, students were talking around, Yu Xiaoshan and Dunzhu were asking questions
excitedly, but Zhu Jinxia turned a deaf ear and just smiled as she looked at the time in front of
her.
"Don't call me princess." She raised her chin proudly, "I brought you a lot of help on this trip, call
me the knight."
Shi Xu looked calm, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
"When was the decision made?" he asked, adding at the end, "Miss Knight."
Zhu Jinxia curled the corners of her lips, "Almost a month."
"You did a good job keeping it secret."
"Isn't this a surprise for you?"
Shi Xu asked slowly, "Is it a surprise or a shock?"
"Who knows?" Zhu Jinxia propped up her chin and looked at him for a moment, "But I think you
are quite happy."
Shi Xu laughed softly: "You've already left, why are you coming back when you can't stay in this
nice city?"
"I can't help it. The students need me." Zhu Jinxia spread her hands, looking innocent. "Instead of
letting them borrow my phone to call me every day, why don't I come back to teach in person to
save the declining quality of Chinese teaching in the central school due to someone's substitute
teaching?"
"that's all?"
"if not?"
"Just for the kids?"
Shixu took two more steps towards her, strolling in the garden. Now they were face to face, one
looking down from above, the other looking up slightly. His eyes were dark and bright,
illuminating everyone.
Zhu Jinxia's heart skipped a beat and she felt a little guilty, but the next second she found her
confidence and pulled Yuan Feng beside her.
"And him!"
Shi Xu's eyes fell on the hand that she held onto Yuan Feng's arm without a second thought. He
paused and said calmly, "...What happened to him?"
Only then did she have time to look at the person next to her.
The man looked to be the same age as Zhu Jinxia, with a delicate appearance, thick eyebrows and
big eyes. From his skin color alone, one could tell that he was another young man from a city
similar to the Acropolis.
Speaking of their condition, the former Acropolis and the latter him, both ran to the mountains
with unshaven beards and haggard looks, with a hint of death in their eyes and a look of despair
on their faces.
Zhu Jinxia said: "This is Yuan Feng, I used his number... Ahem, the person who contacted you half
a month ago was him."
She said that Yuan Feng had experienced some minor setbacks in life, and was currently a sad
person who needed some guidance. She didn't have the skills to do that, so she could only bring
people to the master for help. After all, it was also thanks to the master's guidance that she was
able to get out of the trough so quickly.
She had a hundred reasons to return to the mountains, but she never mentioned herself.
Shi Xu looked at her quietly, and finally asked, "What about you?"
"...Me? What's wrong with me?" Zhu Jinxia asked knowingly.
"The students have to go to class, the guy next to them has to heal his wounds, and what about
you? What do you want?"
Zhu Jinxia's eyes moved slightly and the corners of his mouth curled up.
"What do I want? I miss Uncle Wang, my students, the yak meat and butter tea in the mountains,
the funny essays written in fifth grade, and..."
Finally, she slowly raised her eyes to look at him, without saying a word, but her eyes were clear.
Although Yuan Feng was heartbroken, his mind was still there. He stood aside and looked at Zhu
Jinxia, then at the principal, and soon realized something was wrong.
There seems to be something in the look between you two?
No, didn't they agree to come to the mountains to experience the suffering of the people and to
give up all love? They agreed to come out of the mountains as heroes, and from now on, wise
men will not fall in love, and adults will wash their feet and get massages?
Why is the air filled with the smell of estrus?
So he is here to participate in "Super Boy", and Ms. Zhu is here to participate in a dating variety
show?
Yuan Feng turned his head and looked at Zhu Jinxia in disbelief, asking with his eyes: Hello, does
anyone care about my life or death?
……No.
Zhu Jinxia just stared at the principal as if no one was around, and it was unclear whether he was
sending Morse code or encrypted signals with his eyes.
Yuan Fengqi laughed. Okay, these days some people cheat people for money, some cheat people
for sex. How could he, a poor student, be tricked into coming to teach in the countryside?
How do you say that?
——Prevent fire, theft and best friends.
Netizens are honest with me!
His girlfriend left him and got married quickly, but his childhood friend stabbed him in the back at
this time. Yuan Feng was so angry that he bit his teeth to pieces.
Buddha said if I don't go to hell, who will go to hell? He bah. In his Yuan Feng's opinion, if I want
to go to hell, everyone must go!
With a change of mind, Yuan Feng had already reached out and held Zhu Jinxia's arm. Although
he was over 1.8 meters tall, he leaned on her shoulder like a little bird and spoke sweetly.
"My dear, don't just talk about the past, introduce yourself to me, this is——"
It was visible to the naked eye that the principal's eyes fell on his face as cold as an ice knife.
Wish this summer: "..."
Unfortunately, before Shixu could react, Dunzhu in the crowd had already rushed over, crossed
his hands, and blocked the two people from behind.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong with you!" Dunzhu intervened and stood between the two of them,
shouting like a firecracker, "How can you touch a girl in public?"
Yuan Feng didn't wait for the real boss to show his power, but waited for a husky to roar wildly on
the edge.
Looking past Dunzhu, he cast an incredulous look at Zhu Jinxia: Hello, sister, so you are not here
to teach, but to flirt with girls and have women everywhere?
It’s worthy of being a dating variety show, with male contestants coming one after another!
Yuan Feng was in awe of Zhu Jinxia. They grew up wearing open-crotch pants, but he didn't know
she had this ability. So this trip to the mountains was under the banner of breaking off all feelings
and love, but in fact, it was to expand his harem and recruit soldiers for him?
——
That night, Zhu Jinxia asked for sheets and quilt covers from the warehouse of Shixu, and
instructed Yuan Feng to make the bed and clean the small building by himself.
And her bedding next door was laid out by time.
While making the bed, Yuan Feng questioned unconvincedly: "We are both here to teach, why
are you treated differently from me? I have to make my own bed, but your bed is made by the
principal himself?"
Zhu Jinxia said: "Why don't you go to the next door and ask him if he is willing to help you lay the
bed?"
Recalling the principal's sharp gaze like a knife falling on his face, and that cold and stinky face,
Yuan Feng thought, forget it, taking a step back will give you a broader view.
"Since you are here to experience life, you might as well make yourself well-fed and well-
clothed..." He curled his lips.
I hope you'll take a look here this summer and then go next door.
It was still the room she stayed in last time. Shixu had already made the bed and was calling
Dunzhu to bring two boxes of mineral water from his dormitory.
Looking back, their eyes met.
Zhu Jinxia walked in slowly and looked at everything in the room. "So I've been gone for more
than two months, and you haven't touched this room at all?"
The desk was still there, the single bed was still there, and even the daily necessities she had
packed away when she left were still placed on the table intact, all they had to do was wipe off
the dust before they could be used again.
She moved closer, looked up at Shixu's dark eyes, and asked boldly, "Why, are you reminded of
someone by the sight of something?"
Shi Xu looked down at her with a smile on his face.
"I'm talking to Teacher Zhu." He put a finger on her shoulder, poking her a little further away, and
said calmly, "Before you interrogate me, can you explain who the person next door is?"
There was a brief silence.
Zhu Jinxia blinked: "The guy next door? He's my partner, the teacher who came here to teach
with me. You've been in contact with him for more than half a month, so you wouldn't know him,
right?"
Shi Xu looked at her expressionlessly, "Really?"
She suddenly realized and said, "Oh, or do you want to ask about my personal relationship with
him? I want to tell you that our relationship is quite complicated——"
Before she could continue to play dumb and tease him, Shi Xu suddenly leaned over, with his
cheek almost touching her left breast.
Zhu Jinxia was startled and instinctively stepped back, but he reached out and pulled her back.
He put his palm on the back of her waist to stop her from moving.
"do not move."
Her heart stopped beating.
There is a wolf in front and a tiger behind.
If I step back, he will hold me, if I move forward, my face will be close to his. Although we are not
touching each other, the distance is extremely dangerous. If I move even a little, I will be
doomed.
I wish you a restless summer.
"You, what are you doing..." She stuttered, and suddenly she lost all her momentum, her voice
almost drowned out by the thunderous heartbeat.
Shi Xu still maintained that posture, but with his chin slightly raised, he looked up at her from the
bottom up.
The pair of eyes were dark and translucent, with a little light in the center of the pupil. Because
the light from above her head was blocked by her, the light flickered, like the undercurrent
surging beneath the seemingly calm sea.
He curled his lips and said, "Let me see if you are lying."
“…”
"Go on." He smiled lazily, "What is your relationship?"
Boom.
Knock knock.
Zhu Jinxia really couldn't tell a lie anymore. In fact, she even forgot what she was going to say.
The room was completely silent; even the wind on the corridor had stopped blowing. The oxygen
on the plateau was thin; she had been here for half a day, but only at this moment did she feel a
little breathless.
The altitude sickness seems to have come a little late.
Zhu Jinxia swallowed hard and smelled the familiar scent lingering in his nose again, the
freshness of grass and trees, and the chill of wind.
She didn't dare look at those too dazzling eyes, and her gaze moved down involuntarily, across
the tall nose, lingering for a moment on the thin and moist lips, and then down to the Adam's
apple.
I wish this summer will inevitably think of the night a month ago.
Remember how it trembled, like snow on the branches, like a cedar on the mountain top.
At this distance, it's either kissing or biting...
"Where are you looking?"
The man opened his thin lips, closed his eyes slightly, and laughed.
She couldn't help but shudder along with the laughter again, and saw out of the corner of her eye
that the shadows on the ground were also moving. They were more entangled than the real
them, and at first glance, their bodies were almost entangled.
The atmosphere was extremely tense, which was both unbearable and made people unwilling to
extricate themselves.
Until the next second, someone rushed over from next door and said, "I've made the bed—"
The sound stopped abruptly.
Yuan Feng stood at the door with an expressionless face. He hesitated for two seconds between
"excuse me" and "sorry", and chose to rush into the house and stand between the two people.
"What are you doing? Do you want to take me with you?"
He shamelessly approached, looked to the left, then to the right, and said with a fake smile: "As
the saying goes, if three people are together, there must be one who can be my teacher."

Chapter 72
Three people stood in a three-way balance, Yuan Feng stood in the middle with a calm look, one
hand hooked on the left shoulder, the other hand on the right back, obviously thinking of himself
as this bright light bulb.
Shi Xu shrugged, shook his hand off his shoulder, and looked at Zhu Jinxia.
"Would you like to introduce yourself?" His tone was indifferent, and no emotion could be heard.
This time, Zhu Jinxia didn't have the slightest bit of ridicule in his mentality and spoke very
smoothly in one breath.
"This is the contact person for the Rainbow Project, Yuan Feng, who is also my childhood friend.
We grew up wearing open-crotch pants, and except for the fact that we are not related by blood,
we are no different from siblings. We are the kind of relationship where even if he chases me
naked for two blocks, I will never look back at him."
Yuan Feng:?
"Do you think I'm dead?" Yuan Feng sneered, and was the first to express his dissatisfaction.
"Let's not talk about why I chased you naked for two blocks. Since I chased you and made such a
big sacrifice, why don't you turn back?"
Wish this summer: "..."
She took a deep breath patiently, "My dear friend, is this the time to discuss this?"
Yuan Feng made a very exaggerated gesture of a gentleman inviting her: "So, my dear friend Miss
Zhu Jinxia, what are we going to discuss now? Your wedding date?"
The two were about to start a fight.
Shixu couldn't bear to watch it anymore and asked calmly, "Are you two here to perform
crosstalk?"
He glanced at the two of them, went to check next door, and after confirming that Yuan Feng
could check in smoothly tonight, he said, "Go to bed early, and we'll talk about the specific
arrangements tomorrow."
Considering the two of them's fatigue from the journey, we tried to save words and give them
time to rest as early as possible.
He gave a few more instructions and finally his eyes fell on Zhu Jinxia.
"Remember to lock the door when you go to bed at night."
Yuan Feng didn't notice anything wrong at first, until his figure disappeared at the end of the
corridor, then he reacted.
"Wait, what does he mean?" Yuan Feng pointed at the direction where his back disappeared in
disbelief and questioned Zhu Jinxia, "Does he suspect that I have ulterior motives towards you?"
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing and asked, "Who asked you to chase me naked for two blocks
and forced me to turn back?" Yuan Feng was chasing her and reciting Buddhist scriptures.
"I've already chased you, if you don't look back, won't I be embarrassed?"
Yuan Feng thought about it and narrowed his eyes again, "Also, what were you two doing just
now? If I hadn't come in, would you have kissed?"
Zhu Jinxia's face flushed, and he immediately retorted: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"So, what are you two doing?"
“……”I can’t say.
Yuan Feng sneered: "I thought you were so kind, that you wanted to make selfless contributions
to the education cause in the mountains, and you wanted to bring me here to overcome the
tribulation and gain experience. It turns out you came here just to meet your lover."
"I don't--"
"Zhu Jinxia, last semester when I encouraged you to plan ahead and prepare for your second
spring, what did you tell me? You didn't have the idea, you didn't have the energy, and what
happened? You got together with someone without saying a word. You're doing great things in
silence!"
"Yuan Feng." Zhu Jinxia said seriously after hearing this, "It's really not what you think. Nothing
inappropriate happened between him and me during the teaching period. Don't let your
imagination run wild."
"Humph." Yuan Feng didn't believe it, "You dare to say you don't like him?"
"I like it." Zhu Jinxia admitted it without any hesitation.
Yuan Feng was stunned for a moment. He thought she would continue to argue, but he didn't
expect her to admit it so straightforwardly.
Before he could ask, Zhu Jinxia continued, "So what if I like him? Work is work, and personal
feelings are personal. I admit that I took on the Rainbow Project and came all the way here
because I like him, but I definitely didn't come here to fall in love."
"...Then why did you come here?"
"I want to help him as much as I can, and let him know that he is not fighting alone."
"..." Yuan Feng was silent for a moment, then sneered, "The excuse you found for yourself is quite
plausible."
Zhu Jinxia smiled and kept her eyes on him for a while.
"I feel the same way towards you, Yuan Feng."
"Same what?"
"I also want to tell you that you are not fighting alone."
Yuan Feng said calmly: "Stop spreading chicken soup. Humans don't have true empathy. You can't
feel the pain I'm feeling."
"Yes, the injury is on you. I can't feel the same degree of pain no matter how hard I try, but it
doesn't stop me from feeling heartbroken. I also hope that you can get better, and that you can
experience a different life in the mountains and put Doudou behind you, just like I put down
Acropolis."
Yuan Feng didn't say anything and looked away for a while, "... forget it, who wants you to feel
heartbroken?"
Zhu Jinxia burst out laughing, knowing full well that her childhood friend was not good at
anything else but being tough. He was so good at talking that even when someone died, he was
still tough.
She looked around and pulled people to the corridor. One side of the small building faced the
school and the other side faced the rushing Jinsha River. There was almost no light visible in the
dark sky, but the world was not dim.
Just when Yuan Feng was wondering where the light came from.
"Look up." Zhu Jinxia said.
Yuan Feng looked up without knowing what was going on, his eyes suddenly widened.
Above the narrow and deep sky, the Milky Way sparkled infinitely. Far away from the light
pollution of the city, the sky seemed like dark blue velvet, dotted with the largest and brightest
stars he had ever seen in his life.
The sky was so close, and the stars were so close at hand. Yuan Feng couldn't help but stretch out
his hand, feeling that he could pick one by just raising his arm.
"Sometimes when there's no way forward, just turn back. It's not shameful to turn around and
walk away." Zhu Jinxia asked softly, "Do you really have to bang your head against the wall until it
bleeds? Look in another direction, maybe there will be a more beautiful sky."
"I warned you, don't give me chicken soup, I don't like it."
Having said that, Yuan Feng's expression relaxed a lot and he stared at the Milky Way without
blinking.
"It won't kill you to listen to it."
Yuan Feng laughed helplessly beside him, "But I'm tired. I don't want to listen to anything, go
anywhere, or see any scenery."
Zhu Jinxia said without hesitation: "If you are tired, just fall back, I will catch you."
Yuan Feng retracted his gaze, looked at her sideways, snorted, and said, "With your small body,
there is no way you can catch me."
"How do you know if you can catch it if you don't try it out?"
"Please don't do that. How dare I fall?" Yuan Feng turned and walked towards his room, saying
lazily, "If I hold your hand, there will be wolves and tigers staring at me covetously. If I dare to fall
on you, won't those two kill me?"
He dragged his heavy body into the house while slowly reciting "Now people are the butchers
and I am the meat".
Zhu Jinxia only whispered after he closed the door: "Go to sleep and have a good rest."
There was a laugh from inside the door.
"You're going to fall asleep, it's a miracle. I'm already feeling bad, and now you have to suffer in
this hellish place where no chickens lay eggs or birds shit. It's like adding insult to injury..."
The fact that he could complain like this showed that he was in a much better mood.
Zhu Jinxia also laughed softly, went back to her room, closed the door, stared at the box of
luggage for a moment, and then gave up.
After a whole day of bumping up and down the western Sichuan plateau, she was so exhausted
that she decided to fall asleep.
Before going to bed, he suddenly remembered something, walked to the window and pulled
open the curtains.
Swoosh——
Sure enough, on the third floor of the teachers' dormitory opposite, someone was standing
quietly at the bedroom window looking at her.
Zhu Jinxia's face was flushed, but a smug smile appeared on her face. She took out her cell phone
and sent a message to that person: "Are you the husband-waiting rock?"
When I looked up again, I saw the person opposite me was also fiddling with his phone.
He quickly replied: "I didn't see you."
"Then what are you looking at?"
"Look at the window."
Zhu Jinxia: "…What's so good about the windows?"
Continue editing.
He replied: "I just think it's rare, so I want to watch it for a while longer."
"What's so difficult?"
I waited a little longer before receiving the next message.
"It's rare that it lights up again."
"I thought it would never light up again."
She suddenly froze where she was, her heart aching, and she no longer had the heart to joke.
After a long while, he replied: "Isn't it bright again?"
Timing: "Yeah."
Last one: "Hopefully it stays on longer this time."
——
The next day, Dunzhu got up before dawn.
In fact, he had been harassing his brother for half the night, starting from when Shixu settled the
people in the small building and returned to the dormitory, until Shixu kicked him in the butt and
kicked him out of the door, and then he stopped.
...In fact, it hasn't stopped.
He was in the hallway, slamming the door angrily, "Brother, you are such a jerk! Teacher Zhu
came all the way here to volunteer, and you just don't care about her life or death!"
Shi Xu's cold voice came from inside the door: "Why don't I care about her life or death?"
"You arranged for her to live next door to that ill-intentioned guy, and they live alone in a small
building. If that guy has any bad intentions towards her, it will be a disaster. You don't care about
her life or death, right?"
Shi Xu opened the door again and said to him patiently, "I'll say it again, they are colleagues and
childhood friends. Compared to him, I think you are a much greater threat to Teacher Zhu—"
"Or childhood friend?!" Dunzhu was shocked and automatically ignored the second half of the
sentence, "Childhood friends are even more dangerous! Haven't you heard that rabbits like to eat
grass near their nests, and those who are close to water get the moon first?"
He almost jumped up and held Shi Xu's hand, "Brother, how about this? You arrange for me to
live next door to Teacher Zhu, and I'll clean up tonight. Let that Yuan come live in my room. My
room is spacious, with a living room and a kitchen! I can leave all my things to him, and he can
use them however he wants..."
Before he could finish his words, Shixu pulled his hand away, and with a bang, the iron door
closed mercilessly again.
"Watch less weird stuff. This is reality, not fiction."
Dunzhu felt very sad. He tossed and turned in the dormitory, unable to sleep. Sometimes he was
overjoyed at teacher Zhu's return, sometimes he sighed for the man with bad intentions living
next door to her, and sometimes he was heartbroken for his brother's ruthlessness.
After thinking it over, he sent a WeChat message to Zhu Jinxia.
"Teacher Zhu, if the guy next door makes any unusual moves, call me immediately and I will be
there at the first moment to protect you from being violated!"
The other side replied him with a string of “…”
Zhu Jinxia didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You're overthinking it, Dunzhu, they are my
sisters and my brothers, they won't do anything to me, go to sleep quickly, good night."
I wish the teacher said good night to him!
Dunzhu felt relieved and fell asleep with his phone in his hands. When he woke up the next day,
he had another epiphany.
How is it written in novels? Isn't it that they all pretend to be friends and occupy the throne next
to each other, and then boil the frog in warm water!
Thinking of this, a small spark of fire ignited in Dunzhu's heart. He got up before dawn, ran to the
dormitory, cooked food, and made a battle plan to protect Zhu Jinxia in his mind.
The fire in his heart was burning so fiercely that it directly affected his limbs, so much so that the
dough made the basin bang loudly while he was kneading it, and the bowls and chopsticks
bumped into each other everywhere.
The noise in the kitchen could not be ignored. In the bedroom separated by a wall, Shixu was
naturally woken up. He threw back the quilt with an extremely ugly expression.
I didn’t go to bed early last night, so I was woken up before dawn today. Anyone would be
irritated.
He cursed inwardly, and sat up unable to bear it any longer. However, when he saw the small
window outside the wide-open curtains, his anger instantly dropped to zero, and the ice in his
heart melted away, leaving only a trickle.
It was still dark, with only a faint blue-green light visible.
The window was not lit either, but he knew there was no need to be impatient, because it would
slowly light up after the alarm bell rang.
With this thought in mind, Shi Xu sat quietly at the head of the bed, listening to the sounds of
cooking coming from next door while staring at the small window.
The sky gradually brightened, changing from a dull blue to a grayish beige, and finally to a brilliant
orange-yellow.
The moment the bell rang in my ears, suddenly, the window lit up.
Soon a figure appeared on the curtains. From the shadow's movements, we could tell that she
was combing her hair, changing clothes, boiling water to wash her face, and...
The next second, the figure suddenly grew larger and appeared at the window. As the curtain
opened, Zhu Jinxia was completely exposed behind the window.
Bang—Shi Xu fell down subconsciously with an astonishingly fast movement. If he were in an
anti-Japanese drama, he would definitely be able to dodge bullets by relying on instinctive
reaction.
His head hit the bed board violently and even saw sparks flying in front of his eyes.
But he didn't care about so much. The moment he fell down, he was still thinking: She shouldn't
have seen it, right?
At the sound, the noise in the kitchen next door stopped abruptly. The next second, someone
pushed the door open with a spatula and made eye contact with the man who was lying on the
bed with his hand on the back of his head, looking guilty as a thief.
Dunzhu hesitated and asked, "Brother, are you awake?"
Shixu changed his posture slightly, and calmly put down the hand that was rubbing the back of
his head, "Wake up."
"Why don't you get up after waking up?" Dunzhu asked curiously, "And you're still in this
position..."
"What posture?" Shi Xu realized it belatedly and got up. Without showing any expression, he put
on his slippers and walked out.
Dunzhu followed behind with a spatula in his hand, "... a posture that is very touching."
Time paused.
"I'm in my own room, what can I steal?"
After a moment, the phone in my hand buzzed twice, and I picked it up and took a look.
Zhu Jinxia: "Don't hide, I see you."
I wish this summer: "When you look at your husband at the Waiting Stone, you will peek!"
Time sequence: "..."
What can be stolen?
peep.
——
On the first morning back at the central school, Zhu Jinxia had a lively breakfast.
Donzhu was so excited that he prepared a delicious meal. In addition to butter tea and highland
barley cakes, he also cooked pickled vegetable porridge, fried two small green vegetables, and
even steamed two pieces of sausages and bacon that his brother had kept in the bottom of the
box, and sliced them and arranged them on a plate.
Shixu stared at the New Year goods on the table and asked Dunzhu what day it was today, was it
New Year's Day?
Dunzhu almost beat the gongs and drums, saying that teacher Zhu is back and today is happier
than Chinese New Year, so of course we have to celebrate with great fanfare.
"You are happy, why are you using my New Year's gifts to entertain guests?"
"At worst, you can just deduct it from my salary!" Dunzhu patted his chest generously.
Shi Xu sneered, "Count how many times you've said this this month? You've almost deducted all
of next year's salary."
He is his brother, not someone else. Dunzhu has long been accustomed to his cowardly
appearance. Anyway, even if he scolds him, he will not really let his brother starve to death on
the streets.
Without even taking a breath, Dunzhu said shamelessly: "Isn't there still the year after next?"
Yuan Feng on the opposite side gave him a thumbs up, "Brother, you have a good attitude."
Dunzhu didn't appreciate it, turned his head away and snorted: "Who is your brother!"
The little ponytail is swinging behind her head, which makes her look very tsundere.
Yuan Feng glanced at Zhu Jinxia with a half-smile, and mouthed: "Rotten, peach, blossom."
Zhu Jinxia saw that he had bad intentions and gave him a warning look: "Don't mess around."
It's a pity that they have collarbones, but Yuan Feng has only a rebellious body. He was in a bad
mood, and seeing the two brothers looking so happy about Zhu Jinxia's arrival, he just wanted to
drag them into the fun and watch the show.
With a thought in mind, he picked up a piece of bacon with his chopsticks and put it in Zhu
Jinxia's bowl, saying lovingly, "Honey, eat this."
On the opposite side, Shixu put down the bowl silently, and Dunzhu widened his eyes with fire in
his eyes.
"Hey, there's a bunch of hair here that's not tied in." As he spoke, Yuan Feng gathered the
person's hair again.
"I can do it myself." Zhu Jinxia snatched the hair back and gave another warning look: Are you
done yet?
Yuan Feng pretended not to see it and proved with practical actions: it’s not over yet.
Soon, he drank up the butter tea in the cup again, and "conveniently" took Zhu Jinxia's cup,
"You're really thirsty, I'll drink the rest, do you mind?"
Dunzhu jumped up immediately, "There's more in the kitchen, I'll pour it for you!"
Yuan Feng waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "No, I'll just drink hers."
"How can this be possible?" Dunzhu got anxious and jumped off the chair and ran to the kitchen.
Unfortunately, when he came out, Yuan Feng had already finished his tea. While asking him not
to be so polite, he said, "We have been like this since we were young. Let alone drinking a glass of
water, we have never slept in the same bed without clothes—"
Zhu Jinxia spat out a mouthful of porridge and choked to death.
Before he could tell her more explosive news, she covered his mouth and hurriedly explained, "It
happened when the baby was just born. We both wet the bed and changed diapers on the same
bed with our bare bottoms!"
She didn't notice the time sequence, only to see him calmly drink a sip of butter tea, his eyes
slowly falling on her cup which had now been drained by Yuan Feng.
“…”
After a quick breakfast, Zhu Jinxia couldn't taste the delicious food even though it was a rich
meal. Before she even walked out of the corridor, she couldn't stand it anymore and kicked Yuan
Feng.
"Do you need to put a lock on your mouth? What nonsense are you talking about all day long?"
"What are you doing?" Yuan Feng nimbly avoided the second kick, "I'm helping you!"
"Help me? Help me spread rumors?"
"Are you stupid? You don't understand this?" Yuan Feng looked at her with disdain. "I'm helping
you create a love rival to upset your principal. Just wait, he'll get jealous and fail."
“…”
In the dormitory.
Dunzhu almost overturned the coffee table with one palm.
"What did I say? That Yuan guy, that Yuan guy definitely has no good intentions!"
Shi Xu glanced at him and said, "Use your dog brain. If he really had feelings for people, he would
have done it eight hundred years ago. Why would he have come to the mountains?"
"What does he mean? Showing off in front of me? Didn't you see that he always said things that
could lead to misunderstandings? He even drank the butter tea left over by Teacher Zhu!"
Dunzhu was so angry that he was shaking.
"People who are frustrated in love have different brain circuits than normal people. You don't
have to go crazy with them."
Regardless of the time sequence, when his eyes fell on the cup that she had drunk from and then
emptied in one gulp, there was still a flash of gloom.
"Wash the dishes." He frowned and instructed Dunzhu.
By the time Dunzhu, with her ponytail swung and her anger still lingering, brought out the plastic
basin from the kitchen, his brother had already left in a hurry. When Dunzhu received the last
one, he suddenly found that there were only three plates, three bowls, and two cups in the basin.
Hmm? There's another one?
He looked around and finally found the discarded cup in the trash can.
Um???
Dunzhu was slightly stunned. Could it be that -
After a moment's reaction, Dunzhu understood.
His brother, who was so stingy that he even went to his grandmother's house, actually threw
away an intact cup just because he cared about his feelings!
How did he know that he felt upset just looking at this cup?
Dunzhu wept with gratitude and stuffed the cup deeper into his pocket, hoping that out of sight,
out of mind.
It turns out that my brother is the best in the world, woohoo.

Chapter 73
Zhu Jinxia is familiar with the teaching career again. Returning to the central school is like going
home. Every breath is very comfortable.
In contrast, after Yuan Feng got to know the current situation of the school in depth, he said that
he was the victim of a telecommunications scam. The difference was that others were deceived
into going to northern Myanmar, while he was deceived into coming to this deep mountain
forest.
Zhu Jinxia pretended to pick his ears and said, "Don't you think this sounds familiar?"
Yes, when she was about to come here to teach, she also asked him the same question: "Isn't this
a telecom fraud?"
At that time, Yuan Feng answered her angrily on the phone: "What nonsense are you talking
about? How can a seminar held by the Provincial Education Bureau be a telecom fraud?"
Unexpectedly, he has come here now. As expected, the harsh environment that once defeated
Zhu Jinxia has defeated him one by one.
After sleeping in the small building for a night, Yuan Feng felt sore in his waist and back. The
single bed was narrow and hard, and it creaked when he turned over. Not to mention the low
temperature in the mountains, the mountain wind was pervasive. He slept in his clothes and
wrapped in a blanket all night. He could only describe the living environment in two words: "Too
miserable."
He had a breakfast that was said to be only available during Chinese New Year, but the butter tea
tasted like salty milk, the highland barley cakes were so hard that they could break teeth, and
what was so luxurious about the bacon and sausages? He wouldn't even bother to eat them if his
mother served them on the table normally, right?
Regarding the food, Yuan Feng: “Too bad.”
Looking at the facilities, not to mention that the teaching building is weathered and old, water
leaks when it rains, and the tables, chairs and benches are all broken, just talk about the teaching
equipment. Yuan Feng remembered that when he was in high school, schools in Mianshui City
had already started using electronic equipment. Now that he came to the central school, he once
again saw the chalk blackboard, as well as the outdated white screen that could not connect to
the Internet and could only be plugged in a USB flash drive.
"How strange! Isn't this something I used when I was in elementary school? In this day and age,
there are still people using it?"
Yuan Feng: "Too poor."
When he saw that the lower grade students could not speak Chinese fluently, he also saw that
the upper grade students did not know anything when asked.
“Too bad.”
The last hurdle fell on the urgent need of people, and after walking around in the toilet, Yuan
Feng quickly pulled up his pants and rushed out, saying, "Where is Zhu Jinxia? I want to go
home!"
This is no longer something that can be described as too stinky.
It was Dunzhu, not Zhu Jinxia, who accompanied him around the campus. When he first arrived,
it was necessary to get familiar with the environment, but when Zhu Jinxia actively and
enthusiastically said that she could take Yuan Feng around as an experienced person, Shixu's eyes
passed her and fell on Dunzhu.
Dunzhu understood immediately, and took the responsibility of accompanying Yuan Feng.
Yuan Feng kept cursing and cursing, and he couldn't understand why Zhu Jinxia, who grew up in
the same family quarters as him and went through the prosperous era of state-owned
enterprises, never had the same meals three times a day and was the same group of people who
had afternoon desserts in kindergarten, could endure the environment of the central school?
"Or is this what love can do to overcome all difficulties?" Yuan Feng couldn't help retching when
he thought of what he saw in the toilet just now. He rushed back to the small building and asked
Zhu Jinxia angrily, "Forget it, the person is about to die from the fumes. What's the point of
love?"
Zhu Jinxia seemed to see her former self. Perhaps they saw her in the same way at the beginning.
She was obviously from a big city, but she was like a frog that had just jumped out of a well. A
little bad environment could quickly defeat her.
"It's love, but not the kind of love you imagine."
Zhu Jinxia didn't plan to say anything more. She wanted Yuan Feng to feel it for himself.
She asked Yuan Feng to attend the class, starting with the lessons on time sequence and Dunzhu.
As expected, an accident happened - Yuan Feng fell asleep.
When the bell rang for the end of get out of class, Yuan Feng wiped his saliva and looked up, only
to find that he was being stared at by the children with a confused look on his face, while Zhu
Jinxia was laughing outside the window.
Yuan Feng's face darkened, and he became more determined to go home, but Zhu Jinxia patted
him on the shoulder and comforted him.
"Don't take it to heart, it's just a small matter."
"I fell asleep in class on the first day of teaching, and was surrounded by students. Who the hell
has the nerve to teach students?" Yuan Feng said firmly, "Forget it, whoever wants to teach can
teach, I can't teach anyway!"
Zhu Jinxia said slowly: "I can teach you, why can't you? You are much thicker-skinned than me."
Yuan Feng was walking downstairs. He paused when he heard the words and turned back with an
idea in mind. "Hmm? You wouldn't..."
Before he finished speaking, he understood from Zhu Jinxia's sympathetic expression and leaned
over to whisper, "So you fell asleep too?"
Zhu Jinxia honestly acknowledged his fellow sufferer, "I fell asleep, too."
Even such an excellent student can fall asleep...
"I said it wasn't my fault." Yuan Feng suddenly realized, "I had my notebook open and my pen
steady, but as I was listening I fell headfirst onto the table, as if I had been drugged!"
I wish you endless laughter this summer.
Yuan Feng suddenly came back to his senses and narrowed his eyes: "Wait, you knew that the
Haier brothers had the hypnosis method, but you specially picked their class for me to attend,
what's your intention?!"
Zhu Jinxia blinked and smiled with her white teeth, "We are brothers in distress. Of course I want
to take you on the journey I have walked."
"you--"
With some fun and laughter, Zhu Jinxia's class started.
"Now that we have reviewed the negative materials, let me show you a national-level
demonstration class. Let's go!"
After she came back, Shixu quickly handed over the former fifth grade, now the sixth grade, to
her again. She promised Shixu that after getting back on track, she would take over the new
fourth and fifth grades as well.
She couldn’t teach the children in the lower grades because they couldn’t speak Chinese fluently.
She could only teach from the fourth grade onwards, when they were already able to follow the
lectures without any problems.
Yuan Feng, carrying his textbook, stepped into Zhu Jinxia's classroom again. As soon as he
entered the door, he was startled by the children's enthusiastic cheers, and his eardrums were
almost broken.
What’s going on, a star-chasing scene?
He was slightly surprised to see his usually reserved childhood friend blend in with this group of
people with different skin colors like a fish in water.
The children were talking at once.
"Teacher Zhu, you are finally back!"
"We missed you so much!"
"If the principal keeps teaching me, I'll soon get zero marks in Chinese!"
The innocent words of a child made Yuan Feng unable to hold back his grin.
The next second, Zhu Jinxia put the spotlight on him and said that not only was she back, but she
also brought a very powerful friend with her.
The children immediately turned their heads, and countless pairs of black and white eyes looked
at Yuan Feng without blinking. Warm cheers and applause rang out in the classroom again.
Yuan Feng subconsciously took a step back, but there was a wall behind him and he had nowhere
to retreat, so he could only smile awkwardly.
You are bragging to the sky, aren't you afraid of it being blown out of shape?
When he was a student, he was an absolute problem student. Now that he is a teacher, he will
probably be an absolute problem teacher, which has nothing to do with being great.
Pianzhu Jinxia asked everyone: "How is the new teacher?"
Ding Zhengeng took the lead in making a noise, his voice drawn out: "Very - handsome -!"
There was laughter.
This classmate has good taste, Yuan Feng couldn't help but say: "How handsome is he?"
"Super handsome!"
"Than your principal?"
"Ah, then the principal is more handsome!" The children quickly changed sides and spoke in
unison to support Shixu.
“…”
Yuan Feng shook his head and sighed in annoyance, quickly denying his previous conclusion. It
turned out that the children in the mountains had never seen the world and had poor vision.
He sat at the back of the classroom, listening to Zhu Jinxia's lectures, the children's speeches, and
their readings of the text in drawn-out voices.
You ask me when I will return, but there is no date. The night rain in Bashan swells the autumn
pond.
When shall we cut the candle in the west window together and talk about the night rain in
Bashan?
Those dark-skinned faces, very different from those of city children, have the same innocence.
It was rainless today, and Yuan Feng turned his head and saw the flickering candle in the
reflection of the window glass. He was a little more involved in the conversation between the
people in the mountain and the outside world.
After that class, the children surrounded him and asked him what subject he taught, how old he
was, where he was from... The barrage of questions caught Yuan Feng off guard.
They called him Teacher Yuan, one word at a time.
As shameless as Yuan Feng was, he felt more guilty than ever before. He had been in the
Academic Affairs Office for so many years, and although he had always been called Teacher Yuan,
he knew in his heart that this had nothing to do with being a real teacher.
People like Zhu Jinxia are teachers.
Because of this self-awareness, he would procrastinate and be unwilling to help on the rare
occasions when Zhu Jinxia asked him to substitute for a class. It was not because he was afraid of
trouble, but because his temperament was not related to being a teacher, and what he had in
mind was even further away from that.
He was afraid of misleading the students.
When they were going down the stairs, Zhu Jinxia asked him while holding her textbook: "How is
it going? Are you still leaving?"
Yuan Feng paused and sneered: "I don't know what you are thinking. You think I am not your
student and your teaching results are not linked to your salary. So you drag me in to fill in the
numbers and mislead the students?"
"You and I may have different views on misleading students." Zhu Jinxia said, "I once had the
same concerns as you, but someone told me that there are no students in this mountain that I
can mislead. Now I say the same thing to you, so you can rest assured to teach me."
Thinking of the scene at that time, Zhu Jinxia couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
Yuan Feng looked up at her.
"If you can't even teach these elementary school students who can't speak Chinese fluently, then
I really have to suspect that your academic qualifications are fake." Zhu Jinxia raised an eyebrow,
"Is your undergraduate diploma not issued by Jiuyanqiao?"
Jiuyan Bridge is a well-known gathering place for fake certificate dealers in the provincial capital.
Yuan Feng sneered, "Don't provoke me. Am I someone who can be tricked by just a few words
from you?"
He pretended to walk down, waiting for Zhu Jinxia to persuade him to stay, but she did the
opposite and said regretfully: "What should I do? I stay here and you go back to Mianshui?"
“…”
This scene was too familiar. Zhu Jinxia couldn't help but think of the original scene. She curled her
lips and looked sideways at the sky. "Since you don't want to stay, I'll let the principal send you
away. It's getting late, and it's hard to travel in the mountains at night. You'd better leave early."
She even copied and pasted the timing of the words exactly as they were.
Yuan Feng stopped at the last few steps of the stairs and asked, "What's going on? Are you letting
me go right now?"
"A forced melon is not sweet." Zhu Jinxia saw through his little thoughts, "Or... can you stay for a
while reluctantly?"
“…”
The two looked at each other for a few seconds.
Yuan Feng was annoyed: "The reason they stayed here has nothing to do with your provocation.
It's mainly because they have such bad vision. They actually said that I am not as good as your
shitty principal. Wow, like teacher, like student. You and your students have the same bad vision!"
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help laughing, "So, you're still willing to stay?"
"It's not impossible to stay for a while." Yuan Feng rolled his eyes, "It won't be too late to leave
after I've corrected their distorted aesthetics."
"Yes, yes, Mr. Yuan has the best taste, Mr. Yuan is the most handsome!"
Sure enough, the timing method is easy to use.
Zhu Jinxia stood in the corridor, laughing so hard that her shoulders were shaking. She watched
Yuan Feng walk out with big strides. Just as she was about to catch up with him, someone
suddenly grabbed her arm and she was startled.
Turning back again, it’s time sequence.
The children had all gone downstairs to do exercises, and now the teaching building was empty.
He lagged behind and apparently heard the entire conversation between the two.
Shixu let go of her hand and said with a half-smile, "Teacher Zhu, have you paid the copyright
fee? You're copying others very quickly."
Zhu Jinxia's attention was focused on the place where he had just held her. She subconsciously
looked at her wrist that had been freed. She was a little slow in thinking and paused before
asking, "Isn't this helping you to recruit men? Do I have to pay for using your method?"
The legendary knowledge payment?
"Also," Shi Xu ignored her and repeated what she said, "Teacher Yuan has the best vision, and
Teacher Yuan is the most handsome?"
“…”
"Are your eyes damaged when you go back to Mianshui?" Shi Xu glanced at her.
Zhu Jinxia laughed unhappily and said, "I just followed his nonsense. Do you believe it?"
"Okay, you can say nonsense to others to make them happy, and you can say nonsense to me to
make me angry." Shixu sneered and calmly pointed out her unfair treatment.
"Hey, be reasonable." Zhu Jinxia rolled her eyes at him. "Who am I doing this for? The school is so
short of people, and I finally managed to trick this backbone into coming here. What's wrong
with saying a few nice words? He's leaving, so where can we find another man?"
He and we. Clearly distinguished terms.
The childhood friend he had known for nearly thirty years became an outsider in front of him,
but he became one of his own. Shi Ji was inexplicably pleased, and his dark and clear eyes
seemed to be thinking about something.
Zhu Jinxia asked: "What are you doing? Why don't you go down and keep your moral integrity?"

After the second class, the children were preparing to do radio gymnastics in the playground, and
the music filled the school.
"Go, why not? Teacher Zhu has done so much for me--"
The moment he paused, Zhu Jinxia's heart beat faster, and she only heard the next words after
taking a deep breath.
"——For the sake of the central school, I must take the lead and set a good example."
He passed her by and walked away slowly.
Wish this summer: …
——
The able-bodied man Yuan Feng stayed and followed in Zhu Jinxia's footsteps.
From that day on, Dunzhu went from being a brilliant pearl in the crosstalk world to one of the
pearls left behind. In his 23 years of stand-up crosstalk career, he had never met a fellow crosstalk
artist, but now he finally found his match, and he and Yuan Feng sang the same tune, successfully
making Zhu Jinxia and Shixu feel like they were surrounded by flowers, with two little bees
buzzing in their ears every day.
At first, they were at loggerheads with each other and would quarrel over the slightest
disagreement.
For example, during dinner, Dunzhu wanted Zhu Jinxia to help him look at the syllabus. The
Education Bureau had a target for this semester, requiring teachers to submit their own syllabi,
which would also be evaluated. Dunzhu had never thought about winning any awards, but he
heard that those who failed would have their wages deducted.
Winning an award is a small matter, but having no money is a big matter.
He humbly asked for advice and interacted with his sweetheart at the same time, so he came
over with the outline.
Yuan Feng was sitting next to Zhu Jinxia. He stretched his neck and turned into a giraffe, aiming
hard.
"It was fine before, but at this point, my thoughts are a little confused..."
Dunzhu specifically asked: "What do you mean by a little confusion in thinking?"
Just as Zhu Jinxia was trying to organize her words tactfully, thinking about how not to discourage
the young boy's enthusiasm, Yuan Feng interrupted her decisively.
"Look, from here on, your head is like a Yunnan mushroom pot, messy and toxic. Are you talking
to your students or reporting to your boss? Sometimes you use teaching language, sometimes
you use reporting language. Or did you eat mushrooms and write so crazy?"
Dunzhu: Me? @#￥%……&?
That day, if it weren't for the suppression of time, Zhu Jinxia would have been unable to stop the
fight and a bloody fight might have been inevitable.
For example, after the outline was completed under the guidance of Zhu Jinxia and Shixu,
including the comments of Yuan Feng, Dunzhu shook her ponytail, held the manuscript very
proudly, and recited the names of the first two loudly in the acknowledgments at the end,
expressing her gratitude for their careful guidance and patient help.
Finally, he looked at Yuan Feng.
"As for those who have bad intentions and always try to disturb my mind, I will not include them
in the scope of thanks."
Yuan Feng: "Thank you for not mentioning my name, because this is not a thank you, it is a false
accusation."
So the Second World War broke out again with great vigor.
The third time was when Dunzhu took the initiative to provoke him. He had nothing to do, so he
followed Shixu and attended Yuan Feng's first class. Yuan Feng took over Shixu's baton and taught
mathematics.
In order to maintain class discipline, Dunzhu did not interrupt the class, but only used his eyes to
fight with Yuan Feng.
"What are you trying to do, little guy?"
"Have you used hair wax? Do you think you'll be more handsome than me after using it?"
"Yeah, you slipped up? Hahahahaha you've got this day too!"
Halfway through the class, Shi Xu, who was standing next to them, kicked everyone out of the
classroom with an expressionless face.
During dinner that night, Zhu Jinxia asked Yuan Feng how he felt today. Her class today
overlapped with Yuan Feng's, so she was unable to attend.
"You should be fine, right? Of course you should be fine. I remember when we were little, we
competed in storytelling, and you always told better stories than me. At that time, your parents
and my parents both said that you would be a teacher or a salesperson in the future, and you
would be great."
Yuan Feng said modestly: "It's OK, what do you think, Principal?"
Shi Xu received the hint from Zhu Jin Xia's eyes, and after a few kicks under the table, he paused,
nodded and said sagely, "Better than me."
Although being better than him was nothing to be proud of, Yuan Feng still puffed out his chest
with pride.
Until Dunzhu on the side snorted and said, "You guys can brag as much as you want, I want to see
if you can blow this bragging to the sky."
Yuan Feng tilted his head and squinted, "Do you have any opinions?"
"No, what can I say? Teacher Yuan is so good." Dunzhu swung her ponytail. "It's a pity that your
teaching quality is not sent abroad for everyone to observe, but is kept in China, and in our small
place."
Yuan Feng had a hunch that something was fishy, and sure enough, he heard what followed.
"With your teaching quality, once it falls into the hands of foreign forces, you can single-handedly
set their country's education level back by ten years!"
The Third World War kicked off with great fanfare.
Mountains have their own magic. No matter how difficult the conditions are or how reluctant
visitors are at first, they can integrate into the mountains after a short period of time, and even
fall in love with them like crazy.
Yuan Feng, like Zhu Jinxia before him, gradually got into the groove. He even started practicing
chalk calligraphy and mingling with the kids.
One evening, Zhu Jinxia stood at the window of Shixu's dormitory, looking at Yuan Feng who was
playing mobile games downstairs surrounded by a group of naughty kids, and couldn't help but
curl up the corners of her mouth.
The children were shouting, "Get out of the way, get out of the way!"
Yuan Feng deftly controlled the little man and dodged the dragon's attack, saying with a little
pride: "Am I awesome?"
"Great!" they answered in unison.
While launching a new round of attacks, he asked back without making any comments:
"Compared to your principal?"
He is so petty. I still remember that day when everyone said he was not as handsome as Shi Xu.
The children said: "The principal doesn't play games."
"Who among modern people doesn't play games? Old antique, primitive man..." Yuan Feng
muttered.
The boy closest to him whispered, "I don't play games either."
"I don't play either."
“We don’t play!”
Yuan Fengqi asked, "Why not play? Is it the parents or the principal who won't let you play?"
"Because there are no mobile phones." The children said in unison.
Yuan Feng was slightly stunned, "...where's the computer?"
"nor."
"Where's the TV?"
"I have one at home."
"I don't have any at home."
There are very few families with televisions. They don’t know what Genshin Impact is, nor what
League of Legends is. They don’t even know what Candy Crush Saga, which has been popular for
many years, is.
Yuan Feng asked what they usually played, and they said they played shuttlecock and skipped
rope. But not everyone had shuttlecock and rope, and they had to take them out from the school
gym to play for a short period of time.
The childhood entertainment that is commonplace in the eyes of city people seems so luxurious
for children in the mountains.
Yuan Feng was in a daze when he suddenly heard someone shouting, "Ah, teacher, you are
dead!"
He lowered his head and saw a dark screen.
But the game can be played over again, but children only have one childhood.
An idea came to Yuan Feng’s mind: go out.
They have to go out.
It was at this moment that he remembered what Zhu Jinxia said. When he teased her that love
can overcome all difficulties, so she stayed, she replied: "It is love, but not the kind of love you
imagine."
The breadth of love is never limited to the love between people.
While Yuan Feng was talking to the children, Zhu Jinxia stood in front of the small window on the
third floor and watched quietly. She heard footsteps behind her and she could tell who it was
without turning back.
Shi Xu appeared beside her, and seeing that she was still smiling, he asked, "What are you so
happy about?"
"I'm glad he likes it here as much as I do."
"You know again?"
"We are childhood friends." Zhu Jinxia responded with a conditioned reflex, "Even if he farted, I
know he is going to poop or pee."
Shi Xu laughed and said in an ambiguous tone, "Are you so in tune with each other?"
Zhu Jinxia realized it, retracted her gaze, and sniffed in front of him.
"What are you smelling?" Shi Xu asked her.
"So sour." Zhu Jinxia sniffed, "Principal, are you jealous?"
The two looked at each other for a moment, and Shi Xu smiled.
"What on earth are you doing in the mountains?" he finally asked. "It's not like you to take on the
Rainbow Project."
"Oh? You know it again?"
"That's right. Although I don't know Yuan Feng as well as you do, for example, if you fart, I don't
know whether you will get a big one or a small one—"
"Time sequence." Zhu Jinxia laughed angrily, "Is this the end?"
He also chuckled, "But I still know what you like and what you don't like."
"So you think I don't like the Rainbow Project?"
"No, you like this project, but you only like teaching, not the tedious social life and the exhausting
parts of it."
I wish you a happy smile this summer, "But I still took it."
He stared into those bright eyes, "Yes, but you still took it. Why?"
"Shixu, are you asking even though you already know the answer?" Zhu Jinxia glared at him.
Shi Xu laughed softly and scratched his ear, "What if I say I don't know?"
Even though he knew, he couldn't help but doubt, because he didn't try to pick the moon, but the
moon came to him. How could he have such a bright and dazzling moon?
"As expected of you, you always act like a slut after getting the advantage." Zhu Jinxia was
unhappy.
"So, why is that?"
"Because of those kids, I can't bear to leave them. Because of Uncle Wang, I want to contribute
to the school. Because it snows in the mountains in winter, but not in Mianshui, and the kids in
the south want to see the thick snow covering the vast expanse of ice. Because -"
She slowly and leisurely uttered a series of irrefutable reasons, and finally looked at the time
steadily and snorted.
"Do you really want me to say it? Are you sure you won't push me away after I finish speaking?"
"Go ahead and talk. It's not against the law." Shi Xu raised his eyelids nonchalantly. "After all,
you're right in front of me. I can't push you back."
At this point, he chuckled, "Zhu Jinxia, you are good at acting first and asking for permission
later."
Zhu Jinxia didn't say anything. She looked at him for a moment before she asked softly, "So Shixu,
are you going to push me away this time?"
The light in the evening sky disappeared early, and the orange lights in the teaching building on
the playground came on. Fog was rising above the green hills in the distance, and the white mist
was spreading towards the near. There was wind blowing, and it went into the neck through the
collar.
She looked at the man in black in the quiet little room. After she came back, he began to learn to
shave every day.
His windowsill used to be filled with the garlic and peppers he grew, but now it is replaced by a
row of colorful dolls. He carried them back from outside the mountain and placed them neatly
one by one where the sun shines in.
On the second day after she and Yuan Feng went into the mountains, he personally rode his bike
to the county town to bring back several boxes of mineral water and a large number of daily
necessities. When she returned to the dormitory after class, she saw the terraced lattes, her
usual shower gel, and her toothpaste and electric toothbrush on the table. He had copied and
pasted them all.
There was a birdcage heater placed in the middle of the room. He bought it for her because he
was afraid that she would be too cold to sleep at night.
There is a hand warmer at the bedside, which is fully charged and is in the shape of a bright red
Christmas stocking with a small snowflake in the middle as an embellishment.
Once again, he began to take great pains to cook for her. Everything on the table was her favorite.
He said nothing and took good care of Yuan Feng as well.
Zhu Jinxia thought, there was actually no need to ask anything. No matter whether it was him or
her, they both knew why she came, and they also knew that he had laid out flowers and a red
carpet for her arrival. He watched her turn on and off the lights in front of the small window
every morning and night, and perhaps he even met her in his dreams.
Why ask again?
She had been reserved for many years, always treating people with a layer of veil, and could
never say no. However, from him, she learned to overcome obstacles and face her emotions.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jinxia didn't ask any more questions, but just looked into his eyes with bright
eyes.
"Timeline, if everything goes well, the Rainbow Project will continue. I have submitted a detailed
plan to the dean, and applied to lead the team and normal students to practice in the mountains
at the end of each semester starting from the next semester. I know you can't leave the
mountains for the time being, and everyone is counting on you. It's okay, I'll bring people to help
you."
"The Rainbow Project was initiated from Yibo Central School. I will make it a key base. With the
targeted support from Mianshui University and so many eyes watching from the state and
province, it will not be easily closed."
"As for you and me, I haven't thought too much about it. Long-distance relationships sound too
unreliable, and we are not young people with a lot of passion anymore. But on second thought, it
seems pretty good to be able to come and see you every semester, eat the food you cook, and
chat with you on a message basis. What do you think?"
When she smiled, her eyes were bright, brighter and more dazzling than the stars that would
gradually light up later.
Shixu didn't say anything, just looked at her quietly. In the sound of his increasingly wild
heartbeat, he suddenly remembered a line of poetry by Gu Cheng:
"I wish to be a moon in the daytime, not seeking dazzling glory, not being confused by the tides
of the world."
To him, she was the moon. After being illuminated by such brilliance, how could he have the
courage to return to the darkness?
Shi Xu looked at her, looked at her lively eyebrows, the calmness in her eyes, looked at the smile
that could not be hidden at the corners of her mouth and her eyebrows and eyes, and felt a tide
surging in his chest.
The waves rose and fell day after day with the changing of the moon, and he also surged with the
ups and downs of her lips.
Under such gaze, Zhu Jinxia gradually felt a little uneasy. She said so much in one breath,
explaining the itinerary and analyzing herself, but why did the other party remain silent?
She lowered her eyebrows and coughed twice, "If I don't say something now, am I really a man?"
I raised my eyes and glanced again, and saw Shixu's mouth curled up.
After waiting for a long time, he finally spoke.
"Happy summer."
"Um?"
Her heart gradually lifted, rising higher and higher. What would he say? Would he respond to her,
or would he emphasize once again that they were impossible?
She held her breath and waited. A few seconds passed like years, and finally she got his next
word.
I only heard Shi Xu ask, "Zhu Jinxia, how many days have you been in the mountains?"
Um?
What topic is going on?
Zhu Jinxia subconsciously counted on her fingers, "Four days, what's wrong?"
"It's been four days." Shi Xu sighed, "Doesn't that mean I haven't taken a shower in four days?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia was startled and raised her hand to sniff. What? Did it stink? Did he smell it?
That's not right. It's winter and she's not sweating. Besides, she boils water for a bath every night
and washes her hair every morning. How could it be smelly?
Zhu Jinxia sniffed left and right, and finally looked up uncertainly and asked: "I haven't showered
for four days, what's wrong?"
Shixu's laughter was barely audible. He raised his eyebrows, leisurely appreciating her expression,
and finally whispered seductively, "Do you want to go to town and take a tub bath?"

Chapter 74
In places where material things are scarce, human happiness becomes extremely simple; a hot
bath can make people cheer.
Zhu Jinxia asked where to go for a bath, "Hot Spring Villa?"
Shi Xu looked out the window with amusement, "This Tianshang Hot Spring Villa? I don't mind
you taking an outdoor bath to save some money, but I'm afraid that after you take a bath, you'll
get seriously ill and all the extra money will be spent on medical expenses."
Winter is coming, and the temperature is close to zero degrees at night. Although I take cold
showers in winter, I hope I won't have to endure this hardship this summer.
He withdrew his gaze from the window, looking at the princess from the city with a half-smile.
She was delicate and frail, so fragile that she could not even take an open-air bath. He suspected
that a slightly stronger mountain breeze could blow her away.
"Then where can we wash?" He asked, but the answer in his mind had already surfaced. Zhu
Jinxia just couldn't believe it. "So late at night in the middle of the week, we're going to Niuzan
Town?"
"In one word, whether to go or not."
"go!"
Zhu Jinxia cheered and ran out quickly. Even when everyone was in the corridor, his voice was still
floating back into the room exceptionally loudly.
"Wait for me, I'll be right there after you pack your things!"
It was almost running to the leak before Zhu Jinxia came to her senses and had to call Yuan Feng.
To be honest, I don't want to scream.
During the days in the narrow sky, I was always in school. Occasionally going to the town to relax
was like a short trip. Since it was a trip, two people were enough, and one more would seem
crowded.
So when she asked Yuan Feng, she deliberately said, "The town is a little far away, and it's quite
cold to ride a motorcycle on the road. If you don't want to go, you can just boil some water in the
small building and take a bath. Anyway, I'm not here, so it's convenient for you to move around
by yourself."
Unfortunately, Yuan Feng was not so easy to get rid of. "Go, why not?"
He narrowed his eyes, raised his index and middle fingers, pointed at his eyes and then at her, "I
must not let you stay with someone else and be affectionate with me while I am on this journey
of breaking off all feelings and love."
“…”
A few minutes later, the two simply packed their toiletries and clothes and met Shixu outside the
school gate.
Lao Li's broken truck was in the open space. Zhu Jinxia originally thought that they would drive it,
but Shixu was standing in front of a silver-white van.
The car looked 70% new and clean, and parked side by side with Lao Li's truck, which was
covered in dust and mud, it looked even more spotless. Zhu Jinxia had never seen it before,
whether during the last semester at school or during this trip back to the central school. It was a
strange new face.
"Whose car is this?" She looked at it curiously.
Shixu answered: "The school bus."
It's strange. The school is so poor that it has to pay out of its own pocket frequently and can't
even afford to buy an electronic screen worth tens of thousands of yuan. How can it have spare
money to buy a car?
Zhu Jinxia asked in surprise: "Did someone donate money, or did the higher-ups allocate the
money?"
"None of them." Shixu opened the car door and answered as he got in. "I helped Beijing solve a
technical problem before, and my senior applied for outsourcing fees for me. I thought it would
be a problem to always borrow Lao Li's car, and the school still needs a car, so I bought a second-
hand one."
Seeing Zhu Jinxia standing there in a daze, he lowered the window and asked, "Aren't you getting
in the car?"
The wind blowing from all directions made people's scalps tense. Yuan Feng on the side couldn't
stand it anymore. He opened the door and jumped into the back seat immediately, urging Zhu
Jinxia to hurry up.
Zhu Jinxia didn't do so. Instead, she walked to the driver's window and stared into Shixu's eyes.
"Is it because of me?"
After looking at each other for a moment, Shi Xu raised his lips and asked, "What do you think?"
——
The van has been carefully maintained and the interior is also very clean. Zhu Jinxia sat in the
passenger seat and her biggest feeling was that the side windows no longer leaked air.
When I was riding in Lao Li's car before, the passenger window could never be closed. It let in air
when the weather was fine and let in rain when the weather turned bad.
But she couldn't be happy. She pursed her lips tightly, unconsciously held the seat belt in her
hand, and felt heavy in her heart.
Shi Xu looked straight ahead, but he seemed to be able to read minds. After honking at a bend,
he said without looking away: "I've already bought it, and I can't return it. Don't be so bitter and
resentful."
Yuan Feng sneered from the back seat: "Yeah, I didn't spend your money, why are you so upset?"
Zhu Jinxia said nothing, turned her head and looked out the window, thinking that it was because
she felt more distressed about spending his money than her own.
She didn't say a word along the way, but Yuan Feng talked a lot, and the half-hour drive ended
quickly.
The car was parked as usual in the open space outside Niuza Town. In the dark valley, a thin mist
filled the air at night, but the small town ahead was lit with tiny lights, the light was gently
blurred by the mist, and the shadows were hazy as if covered by a layer of gauze.
Yuan Feng whistled while carrying his backpack, then strode towards the town.
Zhu Jinxia also got out of the car and was about to follow when she was grabbed by a man who
came around the passenger seat. He held her right hand and quickly let go.
Zhu Jinxia was startled, her heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and her hand, which had been held
and then freed again, unconsciously folded around her, "...what are you doing?"
"See if your hands are cold." Shi Xu said calmly, "They are quite warm. It seems that the car was
not bought in vain. At least it doesn't leak anymore, right?"
He took the toiletries bag from her and walked forward slowly.
"Zhu Jinxia, don't think too much. The school transportation is inconvenient, and you will have to
buy a car sooner or later. Now that you are here, I have brought this matter forward. It's just a
matter of time."
Zhu Jinxia stood there for a moment, sighed silently, and then chased after him with a feeling half
heavy and half moved.
She suddenly remembered what her grandmother had said: to judge a person, don't judge by
what he says, but by what he does. In the past, she had heard all the romantic words and vows,
but in the end, she realized that the burden of life was on her shoulders alone. Now, the man in
front of her, his words were not pleasant to the ears, but he quietly filled every gap in her life and
kept her from worrying about anything.
In order to avoid putting psychological pressure on her, he even downplayed his own
achievements.
Zhu Jinxia looked up at him. The man had long arms and legs, and was carrying her pink and
white toiletries bag and walking slowly. It was obvious that he was considering the difference in
height and leg length, and was silently waiting for her to catch up.
My heart is so soft.
——
Niuzan Town, when Zhu Jinxia first heard of the name, she laughed at its name, but now they are
old friends.
She had been chased by a drunkard here, and had taken many tub baths in the bathhouse at the
end of the town. The largest supermarket in the town had the ridiculous Octave Space, and Aunt
Fang's courtyard was also here. She and Time were once trapped there by a rain.
Yuan Feng laughed at the strange name just like she did when she first arrived, while Zhu Jinxia
introduced him as they walked.
The shops along the way were still open, so she bought yak yogurt and air-dried yak meat for
Yuan Feng. Yuan Feng was not used to it, and he looked disgusted after just one bite, "This is too
fishy."
Zhu Jinxia's original intention was just to let him experience it, so she didn't buy much. Seeing his
face wrinkled like a bitter gourd, she smiled and said, "Hey, don't spit it out. Just don't eat the
rest. Just swallow it. I paid for it."
Yuan Feng was too lazy to pay attention to her. He vomited on the side of the road, rinsed his
mouth with mineral water, and teased her after that.
"No wonder they say that people get redder when they keep company with good people, and
blacker when they keep company with bad people. Zhu Jinxia, have you noticed that you and a
certain principal are becoming more and more alike?"
"What's the similarity?"
"They are all so stingy."
Shi Xu, who was standing by, said calmly, "There's no need for a third party to be involved in the
war between two people."
Soon, Zhu Jinxia remembered something and looked around the street. Shixu asked her what she
was looking for, and she leaned over and whispered, "Why didn't I see any cow dung today?"
She still remembers the experience of stepping on cow dung when she first went to Niuzan Town.
Shixu understood immediately, "Follow me."
He knew everything about Niuzan Town, who raised cattle and which section had the most
"minefields". So Shixu led the way, and Zhu Jinxia followed to divert Yuan Feng's attention, and
they walked to the "minefield" while talking about this and that.
Yuan Feng was just hearing about the phenomenon that many women in Tibetan areas marry
two husbands. He was so engrossed in the gossip that he didn't pay attention to his feet.
Suddenly, his foot sank into the soft swamp. He looked down and saw that something was wrong!
"Fuck!" he yelled, and soon turned into a parrot, uttering a series of "fucks".
Zhu Jinxia, who was standing by, saw the thunder from a distance, but she had been holding back
her laughter all the way, and she was pretending to be serious while talking about her
experiences. Now she finally laughed out loud. Shixu clenched his fist and put it against his lips,
but he couldn't stop laughing.
Yuan Feng understood now, and finally pulled his right foot out of the cow dung, "You two
teamed up to mess with me?"
Zhu Jinxia said confidently: "Since I'm here, of course I have to walk the path I've walked before."
"You didn't say you wanted to step on the shit you stepped on before!"
Yuan Feng sneered all the way.
"You two are such a good match, one is a killer and the other is a lookout. Lock them up for me as
soon as possible and get married quickly!"
At this point he seemed to remember something, and looked at Shi Xu with regret, "Oh, I forgot
you are penniless and have no money to get married."
He patted Shixu's shoulder and quickly comforted her, "It's okay. Zhu Jinxia is rich. She has a car, a
house, and savings. We don't have to worry about it—"
The next second, she slapped her forehead again, and turned to Zhu Jinxia with even more
regret, "Oh, sorry, look at my memory, I forgot again, I just got divorced, the car is gone, and the
savings have been divided up with my ex-husband."
Time sequence: "..."
Wish this summer: "..."
Yuan Feng's mouth is really amazing, he is not afraid of fighting two people alone.
When they arrived at the bathhouse, there was a restaurant on one side and a wooden barrel
bath on the other. The three of them decided to take a bath first and then eat.
There was a price list on the glass window: wooden tub bath, thirty per person.
Yuan Feng immediately handed over a hundred-dollar bill generously: "I'll treat you tonight."
When Shixu tried to stop him, he rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, one of you is broke and the
other just went bankrupt. Although I don't have any feelings for you, I have a lot of money."
The one who paid was the uncle. When the boss said there was a luxurious big room and two
slightly smaller single rooms, Yuan Feng very consciously went to the luxurious big room.
The two single rooms were adjacent to each other. After Zhu Jinxia entered the room, she locked
the door as usual. When she was taking off her clothes, she heard the noises from next door.
From taking off clothes to putting a disposable bath sheet on the wooden barrel, to turning on
the faucet to run water, all kinds of sounds were clear.
Zhu Jinxia shouted: "Time sequence?"
The other end responded: “Hmm?”
The sound was so clear that it seemed like it was right next to my ear.
Wish this summer: "..."
This is too soundproof. She knocked on the wall and found that it was a thin layer of painted
wood. No wonder.
Fortunately, water was running on both sides, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. We
could chat after soaking comfortably in the wooden barrel.
It’s my first bath after entering the mountains, and it’s on such a cold night. The hot steam makes
my bones feel soft. I wish I could bathe forever this summer.
She closed her eyes and lay in the bucket, calling out "Time" again.
The person next door still responded to her with a "hmm".
"We have nothing to do anyway, so let's talk."
Shi Xu asked her, "What did you say?"
"Tell me about the years you spent in Beijing." She asked without hesitation, as if she had wanted
to ask this for a long time.
Shixu paused, "Why do you want to hear this?"
"Adapt yourself in advance to not being a principal in the future and returning to geological
research." She said with certainty.
Shi Xu laughed twice and asked, "How do you know I can definitely go back? Technology is
changing with each passing day. What if I fall behind too much in the past two years and can't go
back?"
"Impossible." The person in the water seemed to splash twice, and the sound of water was
everywhere. Even through the wooden wall, one could imagine her straightening up and looking
serious. "That's the Institute of Earth Sciences. Everyone there has a brain. How could anyone
with a brain not want you?"
She had too much confidence in him.
Shi Xu was stunned for a moment, and the smile on his lips faded. For a long while, he did not
mention himself, but only said: "You overestimate this group of people."
"Why, are there still brainless people trying to fish in troubled waters?"
"No, they are all quite smart, but sometimes being too smart is not necessarily a good thing."
I wish this summer to let him start talking, and the time sequence will be casually mentioned.
Geologists can be broadly divided into two types of workers. One is responsible for going to the
front line and personally going to various environments to conduct exploration and investigation;
the other is responsible for conducting analysis and research in the laboratory.
The Institute of Earth Sciences is a state-affiliated unit, and the salary is just so-so, so these smart
people quickly figured out ways to make money.
From large oil companies to small real estate developers, all projects that are about to start must
go through the hands of geologists and obtain research reports before they can begin.
"Some land that originally had problems and was not suitable for building buildings was changed
from unqualified to qualified through money and power transactions. This is the source of many
shoddy projects.
“But this is just petty profit.
"The greater interests lie in the exploitation of resources such as oil. For example, you should
know that the two major oil giants in my country were actually one family before, but later they
split into two groups and there is a competitive relationship between them."
Zhu Jinxia interrupted: "I don't know, only liberal arts students don't understand these things."
Shi Xu smiled and said: "Don't let anyone represent all liberal arts students. You are a foreign
language student, so of course the moon is rounder abroad."
There were a few more splashes of water. Zhu Jinxia wanted to argue for his patriotism, but Shixu
asked him back, "Do you want to continue listening?"
Shui Hua reluctantly stopped, "...you continue."
"The state stipulates that if you want to launch an exploration project, you must first ask
someone at the academician level to endorse you, and in order to invite an academician as a
consultant, the group must pay at least eight figures.
I wish you a hundred thousand and ten thousand this summer. “Tens of millions?!”
"Well, this is just the beginning."
As long as there is the endorsement of an academician, the project is basically secured. When the
geologists arrive at the target area and, after a series of sampling surveys, they only need to
produce an experimental report to prove that there is more than a 90% chance of oil being found
underground, and the state will allocate funds.
This amount of money is much more than eight figures.
"my country allocates huge amounts of research funds every year. After all, science and
technology are the primary productive forces. How this funding is allocated is basically decided
by the academicians. They first get their own funding, and then invest in projects. Back to the
example just now, when an oil mining company gets this funding, it basically makes a lot of
money. As for whether it can be mined later, everyone is happy if it can, but if it can't, the money
has already been obtained."
Zhu Jinxia asked in return: "If so much money is allocated but it is not paid out, won't the higher-
ups be held accountable?"
Shi Xu chuckled and said, "Accountability? Isn't the development of science and technology just a
small step forward based on countless failures? If there is no success and accountability, how
many people would dare to do this business?"
If no oil is extracted, they only need to issue a report stating that they encountered
insurmountable geological problems during the extraction process. For example, deeper drilling
will cause mountain movements, or when mining to a certain depth, they found that there are
rock layers underground that are too hard to break through. In short, there are various reasons
and the project can be terminated.
Therefore, less than 10% of oil extraction projects in my country can actually produce oil.
"If only one out of ten projects produces oil, it's considered good."
Therefore, people who work in this industry either become extremely wealthy or stay in poverty.
The rich can earn eight figures a year, or even more, while the poor can only earn hundreds of
thousands or even hundreds of thousands a year, and still have to work in the front line, in the
wind and rain.
Zhu Jinxia asked in astonishment: "Then why did you choose this line of work? Didn't you know
about it beforehand?"
"I didn't know at first, but I found out later." Shixu's voice came from the hazy sound of water, as
if it was also stained by the mist in the air, and it was a little hazy and unclear. "But for me, a
dozen or twenty is quite a lot. You probably don't know that the central school has about a
hundred teachers and students, and the total annual expenditure does not exceed 100,000. This
salary is more than enough."
She paused again and said, "If you want to go somewhere else and not return to the Institute of
Geosciences, there should be a lot of people rushing to hire you, right?"
Shi Xu smiled and said, "You seem to have a lot of confidence in me."
After a while, his voice came through the steam: "I have my own selfish motives. As you can see,
this area has sparse vegetation and poor land. It is not even accessible by the Sichuan West
Tourism Loop. We have been poor for so many years. We cannot survive long-term by relying
solely on external funding."
"I decided to study geology in the beginning because I wanted to see if these mountains that
blocked my vision and blocked my steps could become more than just obstacles."
His laughter seemed a little careless, but she could hear a different kind of firmness in it.
"I can't be Yugong, and I can't move the mountain, but maybe I can be a lever to lift this
mountain for everyone."
After a long while, Zhu Jinxia whispered, "It's a great wish."
"It's not that great." The man next door laughed again, "It sounds nice, but I just want to repay
Uncle Wang. As for the other people in the mountains, I never thought so much about them
before."
It was not easy for him to grow up, so he didn't have so much energy to care about others. It was
not until last year when he returned to the mountains, took over Uncle Wang's responsibility and
became the principal of the central school that he slowly included those children in his vision.
Habits were terrible things, and now he could not easily abandon them.
The two chatted aimlessly, each lost in thought, until a sudden resentful voice from the next
room interrupted them: "Excuse me for interrupting, but I want to ask you two philosophers and
scientists, are you taking a bath for too long?"
“…”
Zhu Jinxia realized later that since the wall between her and Shixu was made of wood, the wall
between Yuan Feng and them was naturally the same.
Yuan Feng said quietly, "My hands and feet are all soaked. Should I get out of the bath? Let's go
out and eat and chat?"
Ten minutes later, the three of them sat down in a small restaurant next door. Yuan Feng calmly
took the menu and ordered almost all the dishes.
"Order less, there are only three of us." Zhu Jinxia quickly stopped them.
"I'm happy to. It's me who pays the money, not you. You outsiders, shut up!" Yuan Feng tried to
pinch Zhu Jinxia's little chicken mouth with his hands.
I was caught by a glance from Shixu who was standing beside me: “Hey.”
Yuan Feng let go, and rolled his eyes as he took his hand back, "What on earth am I doing in the
mountains? One of you grew up wearing open-crotch pants, with your elbows bent outward, and
the other one is already protecting me before you even marry me."
In the end, they cut half of the dishes they ordered. After feasting on the food, they walked
towards the open space where they came from.
The temperature dropped again, the wind was blowing hard, and winter had come too early in
the mountains.
If the last time I came here, I felt the summer wind, which was like a lover caressing your cheek,
warm and refreshing, then the wind now is like someone slapping you in the face, hot and
merciless.
The three of them quickened their pace and walked towards the town entrance with their necks
hunched. Yuan Feng even jogged and said as he ran: "This wind reminds me of a sentence."
"What are you talking about?" Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth and swallowed a mouthful of wind,
which froze her internal organs.
The wind carried Yuan Feng's voice to his ears: "Cui Guo, smash her mouth."
She burst into laughter again.
The two gentlemen were fine, as they both had short hair that dried in the time it took to eat.
But Zhu Jinxia had long hair that was wet and scattered on her shoulders. The hair fluttered wildly
in the wind and was almost frozen.
She reached out to gather her hair, but the wind was too strong and blew a few strands of hair
out. She had left the rubber band in the bath and had no way to tie it up. Her hands, which had
been holding her hair down, were exposed to the air and soon became red from the cold.
Zhu Jinxia was gritting her teeth and shaking when suddenly a shadow fell on her head. She was
startled and found that Shixu had taken off his coat again and covered her head with it like he did
when it rained before.
It was still the same leather jacket. He only had a few pieces of clothing to change into.
At this time, the advantages of the leather jacket are revealed. Although it is a bit old, it is
windproof. The cold wind that was pervasive before can only be blocked outside, howling
unwillingly in the ears, but unable to break through the obstacles and get in.
Zhu Jinxia said anxiously: "Put it on quickly, aren't you cold?"
"I grew up in the mountains, and this little bit of wind can't knock me down."
Time is catching up with Yuan Feng at a great speed. I wish this summer can't catch up with him.
She has to wear it whether she wants to or not.
She quickened her pace and inhaled subconsciously. His scent lingered at her nose again, but
because the wind was so strong, it was fleeting, like a cold and clear dream.
Yuan Feng, who was in the front, looked back, looking unbearable, and hugged himself
exaggeratedly, saying to Shi Xu who caught up with him: "Principal, I'm cold too."
"Just bear the cold." Time's attitude is as ruthless as the wind.
"Why don't you give me your coat?" Yuan Feng said sarcastically, "Tsk, the principal treats me
differently."
“How am I treated differently?”
"Women take off their coats to show their tenderness, while men just freeze to death. Isn't this
discrimination?"
Shi Xu smiled and said, "Wrong."
Yuan Feng asked: "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Shi Xu looked at him with a smile on his face, "In my place, there is no distinction between men
and women, only between Zhu Jin Xia and others."
Yuan Feng paused, unable to utter any jokes. He just looked at the timing carefully, as if he
wanted to see how serious he was.
Finally they arrived at the parking lot. Zhu Jinxia was still shivering when she returned the jacket
to Shixu. Seeing this, Shixu pulled Yuan Feng who was about to get in the back seat and said, "You
drive."
Yuan Feng was stunned: "I don't know the way."
The preface is concise and to the point: "There is only one way back from here, there is not even
a fork in the road, I will watch and show you the way."
"Hiss, you are worthy of being the principal. You are really good at ordering people around."
Having said that, Yuan Feng still jumped into the driver's seat.
Zhu Jinxia wanted to sit on the passenger seat, but Shixu pulled her and said, "Sit in the back."
After saying that, he also got into the back seat of the car.
Yuan Feng then realized: "Fuck, do you really think I'm a driver?"
The return trip took more than 40 minutes. Yuan Feng was not familiar with the road and did not
drive fast. He felt lonely on the road and turned on the radio. Although the car was clean, it was a
bit old. The radio was not very smart, it was cracking and making a hissing sound from time to
time, which he complained about again.
Not afraid of disturbing others in the mountains, he turned up the music volume very loudly, and
the radio was playing old familiar Cantonese songs.
Zhu Jinxia didn't know why Shixu pulled her to the back seat, but she soon found out.
He reached out his hand in the darkness and touched the back of her hand, which was as cold as
ice as he expected. He frowned, then pulled her, turned his head to the side amid the noisy
music, and whispered in her ear: "The other one."
Zhu Jinxia understood, but was hesitant to move. A burst of burning heat crept up to her ear - the
one that was touched by his warm breath.
Seeing that she didn't move, time moved on its own. He quietly grabbed her other hand and held
it with both hands.
It was strange that even though he had taken off his coat for her, his hands were still warm. Zhu
Jinxia subconsciously shrank back twice, but didn't pull back.
His hands were so wide and big that he could hold her completely in his palms with just a light
touch, leaving no gaps.
Zhu Jinxia placed her palms against his, with both backs of her hands covered by him. While
feeling the huge difference in body temperature between her and him, like ice and fire, she
gradually became aware of the rough calluses on his fingertips and the edges of his palms.
He wanted to warm her up quickly, so he rubbed her gently, which made the touch more
sensitive. One was the delicate skin of a woman who had never touched water, and the other was
the rough and strong flesh from being used to work. It didn't hurt when he rubbed her, but there
was a strange feeling that gradually climbed up her limbs and bones along the skin that touched
him, and finally penetrated into her heart.
It's very itchy, makes me feel uneasy, and my breathing becomes rapid and I can't control myself.
Zhu Jinxia's heart was pounding like thunder and she kept looking at the front seat. Fortunately,
Yuan Feng was concentrating on driving and had no time to pay attention to them, but every time
he occasionally glanced at the mountain road in the rearview mirror, Zhu Jinxia would become
nervous, as if they had done something shameful in the back seat.
The car is well insulated from the cold outside. Although there is no air conditioning or heating,
at least there is no strong wind.
Soon she no longer felt the cold, but was replaced by an uncontrollable shivering caused by
nervousness and anxiety.
Shixu noticed it and asked her, "Are you still cold?"
She gritted her teeth and shook her head.
"Then why are you shaking?"
Zhu Jinxia couldn't say anything and could only get angry and try to pull her hand away. As soon
as Shixu realized her intention, he immediately exerted force. Of course, she failed again and was
still held tightly by him.
Amid the music, because the distance was too close, she could clearly hear him laugh in a
muffled voice.
Zhu Jinxia was extremely embarrassed and turned her head to glare at him. However, in the
darkness, her clear black and white eyes showed more shyness than anger, which made Shi Xu's
eyes dim.
He lowered his head and looked into her eyes, wondering how come she still didn't understand
men even though she had some emotional experience.
The more she looked at him with a bullied look, the more he wanted to bully her.
Zhu Jinxia had no idea what Shixu was thinking, she only knew that his hands were getting tighter
and tighter, and she could vaguely hear Alan Tam's voice coming from the old radio.
They stared at each other like this, and after a moment she saw Shi Xu smiled, and he said,
"Listen."
She subconsciously pricked up her ears and listened attentively. Amid the noise, the man's voice
was full of vicissitudes, as if it came from another distant time and space:
I would rather not speak a word for the rest of my life than lie to you
If you notice our relationship, you will find that there is a little distance between us.
I dare not speak of my silent love
Say I really love you
The last sentence moved her heart, and when she looked at him again, there was a hot and open
sea in his eyes, accumulating an unfathomable surge.
They just stared at each other like this, as if they were back at the dormitory window in the
evening again.
"Time sequence." Using the music to cover up the situation, Zhu Jinxia lowered her voice and
asked the same question she had asked in his dormitory before, "So this time, you're not going to
push me away?"
Shi Xu looked at her steadily, and after a moment, he said, "I won't push it anymore." This time he
answered directly.
Zhu Jinxia curled her lips, pulled her hand back, and said, "You rejected me at my house last
month, why are you changing your mind now?"
His Adam's apple moved slightly, a laugh escaped from his lips, and he took her hand back. They
hid and chased each other, taking advantage of the dim light in the car and the loud music on the
radio, and they happily played this game under Yuan Feng's nose.
It was not until she heard Shi Xu say the last sentence that Zhu Jinxia suddenly stopped hiding.
She froze and turned her head to stare at him blankly.
He held her hand, sighed imperceptibly, and said, "I wish you all the best this summer. I have
tried to control myself."

Chapter 75
When the car stopped at the school gate, her hand was still tightly held by Shixu.
She was as cold as ice when she got in the car, but it was scorching hot when she got off. Not only
did she get infected with his body temperature during the process, but her palms also showed a
thin layer of sweat. However, she couldn't bear to pull her hands away, and Shi Xu never let go.
It was not until Yuan Feng turned off the engine and pulled out the key that the music suddenly
disappeared.
Zhu Jinxia finally came to her senses and pulled her hand away. The movement was so large that
it attracted the attention of the person in the front seat. Yuan Feng's hand stopped in mid-air
while he was about to open the door. He turned around and looked at her, "What are you
doing?"
Zhu Jinxia shook his hands and laughed dryly, saying that his legs were numb.
Yuan Feng: "Why are you shaking your hands when your legs are numb?"
“…”
The lights in the school had been turned off long ago, and the children were all lying in bed at this
time, daydreaming.
The three of them crossed the playground and arrived at the teachers' dormitory first. Shi Xu
glanced at them briefly, his gaze paused on Zhu Jinxia's face for a few seconds, said good night,
and walked into the corridor silently.
Yuan Feng yawned and said, let's go back to sleep. After a few steps, he heard someone beside
him say, "I suddenly remembered that I have something else to do. I'll go find the principal."
Yuan Feng's face was full of disbelief. "Is it urgent? Do you have to find it today?"
“…Not really.”
"That's it, I'll look for it tomorrow."
Someone was watching closely from the sidelines, and Zhu Jinxia regretted her decision to bring
this giant Buddha to the mountain more than ever before.
But she did not give up. Just as she and Yuan Feng went back to their respective rooms, she heard
the door closing next door and sneaked out again quietly.
She turned around and closed the door gently, then tiptoed past Yuan Feng's door. She knew she
had to control the sound of her footsteps, but she couldn't help but walk faster and faster. As
soon as she walked out of the small building, she ran recklessly. Her heart was like a bird leaving
its nest, flying into the sky.
The night wind was blowing, her half-dry hair was dancing in the air, the cold air inhaled into her
lungs made her shiver, but she felt that her blood was boiling.
I was a little choked up, but not because of sadness, but because of an indescribable excitement.
There was a voice in her heart laughing at her, Zhu Jinxia, how old are you? You are not a teenage
girl, and you have not experienced love. Why are you still so rash, impulsive and reckless?
But that is the sequence, not others.
She almost had a pilgrimage mentality, as long as it was him, she would go against the wall.
There is an open space between the small building and the dormitory, and next to it is the locked
cafeteria. It is pitch black with no lights around, with only scattered stars above the head.
Zhu Jinxia felt that the scene in front of her was extremely bright, like the Avenue of Stars. She
ran faster and faster, her breathing became rapid, and her heartbeat was almost ringing in her
ears.
Suddenly, she bumped into someone at the corner of the dormitory building. The other person
was walking in a hurry. She almost threw herself into his arms, her heart almost jumping out of
her throat.
She screamed subconsciously, and before she looked up, she smelled a familiar scent, clear and
warm, sweeping over her like an overwhelming force.
There is no need to look up, it is the sequence of time.
She instinctively wanted to step back, but he held her in place, his broad, hot hands pressed
firmly against her vest, the heat almost penetrating through the thick clothing to her skin.
"Why are you here?" she asked in a trembling voice.
"Aren't you here too?" He chuckled.
It was like an inexplicable tacit understanding. They had no prior agreement, but they ran
towards each other tacitly.
Zhu Jinxia's ears felt numb from his laughter and she was too embarrassed to look up. He held
her down, with her head resting on his chin and her cheek pressed against his chest.
Shi Xu was only wearing a thick sweater. He took off his coat almost as soon as he entered the
room, and then he ran out on a sudden impulse without even having time to put on his clothes.
She could feel his chest rising and falling more violently than usual, perhaps because he had
walked too fast before, or because he was as excited as she was. The furry touch of the fabric
caressed her face with his rapid breathing, and she felt a little itchy, but she couldn't bear to
separate.
His body temperature seeped out through his sweater, and he was like a heat source.
Once again, Zhu Jinxia started shaking uncontrollably.
The voice of Shixu came from above: "Cold?"
"It's not cold." She heard the sound of her teeth chattering.
Shixu quickly lowered his head and touched her forehead with his. It was warm, not cold. He
looked at her with his dark, clear eyes and asked, "Why are you shaking if you're not cold?"
Before Zhu Jinxia could answer, footsteps suddenly sounded from the other end of the
playground, and the two of them stopped talking immediately. Shi Xu was quick to pull her into
the corridor, and the two of them huddled together in a narrow corner.
I wish this summer to hold her breath, unable to tell for a moment whose heartbeat the
thumping sound beside her ear is, or if it is both.
On the playground, the security guard was yawning and walking towards the toilet with a
flashlight, not noticing that there were two people meeting on the Magpie Bridge nearby just a
few seconds ago.
The footsteps gradually approached and then gradually faded away.
Shi Xu suppressed his laughter and suddenly asked in her ear: "Zhu Jinxia, do you know what we
look like now?"
Zhu Jinxia nodded in silence, "I know, it looks like an affair."
After she finished speaking, she heard him laugh, and she couldn't help but laugh along with him.
He maintained the posture of pressing her against the wall, their bodies almost touching each
other, and even their tremblings resonated when they laughed.
She stopped talking, reached out and grabbed his collar, slowly buried her face in his chest, and
rubbed it gently.
very nice.
God knows how long she has been waiting for this moment. She didn't dare to think about it
before, and later she knew it was impossible, so she didn't want to think about it. It was very sad
to think about it.
The atmosphere was just right, but Shixu suddenly spoiled the mood by asking, "What should we
do at times like this?"
"You ask me?" Zhu Jinxia raised her head in disbelief and met the man's thoughtful eyes.
"I have no experience and don't know how to proceed in this situation."
Shi Xu looked at her with a dark gaze, which gradually moved downwards, from her watery eyes
to the tip of her small and straight nose, and finally stopped at her two rosy and moist lips.
Like the first blooming apricot blossoms in spring, they are full and gorgeous, always tempting
passers-by to pick them.
Zhu Jinxia's heart trembled when he looked at her.
“How do you want to develop?”
"If I say I want to kiss you..." His voice was low and slow, but his eyes were fervent and powerful,
like an invisible brush drawing her lips in the air, "Will it be too fast?"
Won't.
There was a voice in her heart that said it clearly, but Zhu Jinxia opened her mouth and said,
"That won't work. You rejected me once. I have to reject you back."
They say that no one needs dignity when in a relationship, but she does.
Well, if I’m not stubborn, I wouldn’t be Zhu Jinxia.
Shi Xu sneered, and the tremor was transmitted to her body again.
"Is that so?" He lowered his eyes, the smile in his eyes growing deeper, "Then I'll ask a few more
times."
He lowered his head and pecked the corner of her lips gently, "Tell me, Zhu Jinxia, how many
times do you have to refuse me before I can kiss you?"
The warm touch fell on the lips like a dragonfly touching the water, and it was like sparks
splashing on the skin. Zhu Jinxia shuddered all over and her breathing became heavy.
And then he touched it again.
"What now?"
The third time.
“Is it even?”
This is simply a foul. While asking her if it's okay, I've already taken action.
The corridor was dark, with only a small patch of dim yellow light from the playground at the
entrance. She could smell the damp dust in the air, but more of it was his scent, a faint mint, like
snow falling on a high mountain, with a chill that was completely different from body
temperature.
On a cold night, with the occasional breeze blowing in from the corridor, although it was clearly
not a very pleasant season, she felt the heat of midsummer from it.
In a trance, she heard the chirping of cicadas, just like the countless afternoons when she sat on
the corridor, the ultraviolet rays were rampant, the playground was scorched, the grass all over
the mountains was dying, but the children who were not afraid of the heat were chasing each
other playing basketball under the sun.
The summer she spent here was more vivid than any other summer in her memory. She felt the
man's hot breath and knew why.
In between his pecks, Zhu Jinxia protested hoarsely: "How can this be..."
"What is this?"
"While asking if it was okay, he was already kissing me."
Her ears could hear his gentle laughter, and his breath made her neck itchy. Zhu Jinxia shrank up
like a shrimp, her whole body burning.
"Does this count as a kiss?" Shixu stopped and asked seriously, "I've never kissed anyone before,
and I thought it didn't count if it didn't touch lips."
Zhu Jinxia was embarrassed and poked him in the heart, "Shixu, are you pretending to be a pig
and eating a tiger?"
He laughed so hard that he grabbed her hand that was against her chest and said, "Why, you also
know that you are a tiger and are vicious all day long?"
"That's your fault, why don't you see me being mean to others?"
As they were talking, there was movement outside again. The security guard came out of the
toilet and seemed to hear voices when he walked nearby. The footsteps came from far away and
then stopped at the entrance of the corridor.
"Who's there?"
Soon, the light of the flashlight came in and fell right at her feet.
Zhu Jinxia was so nervous that she forgot to breathe and grabbed Shixu's sleeve. Shixu led her
inside without saying a word, and the two of them hid behind the door without moving.
Fortunately, the security guard was outside and did not come in. He just roughly scanned the
front, back, left and right with the light beam, then turned around and walked back to the guard
room.
It was just a brief interlude, and I wish this summer would break out in a cold sweat.
"Are you so afraid of being seen?" The voice of Shixu came from above his head.
"You're not sleeping in the middle of the night and hiding in the corridor doing bad things. Aren't
you afraid of being seen?" She glared at him hard, her eyes misty with nervousness, exactly the
same as when she glared at him in the car, making people want to bully her even more.
"Since you've said that I did something bad, should I be convicted of this crime?"
Shi Xu was restrained and polite, one hand intertwined with hers and the other hand lifted her
chin.
"Have you thought about it?"
——If I think about it carefully, I will kiss you.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Jinxia did not answer him. She looked at him for a moment, curved the
corners of her lips, and suddenly stood on tiptoe, following the clear outline of his lips in the
darkness, and kissed him accurately.
Their lips and teeth were close to each other, their breaths were intertwined. She did not close
her eyes, but opened her clear black and white eyes, looking at the person who was so close to
her seriously.
This is the time sequence. It is the first time in her cautious life that she rushes towards it
regardless of the consequences. Whenever she thinks of it, she will be filled with courage and
strength.
One hand was intertwined with his, and the other hand was holding his shoulder. Her whole body
was trembling, but her kiss was firm.
At first it was just a light peck, then a deeper exploration, she cautiously entered the stormy
waves, even though she was not skilled in this matter and he was completely inexperienced, but
it didn't matter, love taught people to learn without a teacher.
In the darkness, they kissed tirelessly deep in the corridor, their movements gradually developing
from gentle touches to an uncontrollable competition, until later on, they seemed to want to
swallow each other up.
With a cold concrete wall behind her and a hot, hard body in front of her, Zhu Jinxia was like a
prey caught in a spider web, with no hope of escape, but she did not want to escape.
Love is a boundless deep ocean, lovers are willing to sink into it and never come ashore.
After a long time, his lips were rubbed so hard that they were burning. Zhu Jinxia was almost out
of breath, so he turned his face away with a heavy breath.
"Let me..." She panted, "Let me breathe."
Shi Xu silently let go of her hand, took a step back and turned his back.
His sudden withdrawal was puzzling. Zhu Jinxia paused and said, "…I just took a breath. I didn't
ask you to leave."
Shi Xu turned his back to her, smiled helplessly twice, and said in a hoarse voice: "Zhu Jinxia, I
also need to take a breath."
Just breathe, why are you turning your back to her?
Zhu Jinxia was about to ask, but when the words came to her lips, she suddenly had an idea,
opened her eyes wide, and was overjoyed. She glanced in the dark, but unfortunately the light
was too dim and he was facing away from her, so she couldn't see anything.
She pretended to be innocent, sighed and said maliciously: "I'm so sad that you turned your face
away and didn't recognize me right after we kissed."
"…Why did you turn your back on me?"
"You don't hug me, but you turn your back to me." I wish the tea in this summer will be filled
with a hint of resentment.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Shi Xu saw through her tea smell and asked calmly,
"Continue to hold you, and then accidentally fire the gun?"
Zhu Jinxia finally laughed out loud, her face flushed and she was feeling very proud. Just as she
was preparing to press on with her victory, she heard a door opening upstairs, followed by
someone coming downstairs, with footsteps approaching gradually.
Her face changed, and she lowered her voice and said, "Hold your gun, I'm going to run away
first!"
Then he ran away.
All the way back to the small building, I was wondering who was coming downstairs and whether
they would see how anxious I was. The more I thought about it, the happier I became, and my
steps became lighter and lighter.
She smiled foolishly, like a girl in love, and returned to the nest happily, covering her face.
She ran to the door, but unexpectedly the door of the next room suddenly opened. Yuan Feng
stood behind the door with an expressionless face and his arms folded. She was so scared that
she braked slamming on the brakes.
"It's so late, why haven't you slept yet?" Zhu Jinxia laughed dryly and pretended to be calm.
"It's so late, you haven't slept either?" Political Commissar Yuan glared at her like a machine gun.
"Where have you been in the middle of the night?"
"……To the restroom."
"Really?" He looked Zhu Jinxia up and down, narrowed his eyes and asked, "Your face is red and
your mouth is swollen after using the toilet? What's going on? Did a mosquito bite you in the
toilet?"
“…”
"You're quite good at picking places to bite, the mouth?"
Zhu Jinxia's brain was racing, thinking whether she should come up with an excuse that she was
constipated and bit her lips too hard until they were swollen, then she heard Yuan Feng sneer.
"Zhu Jinxia, who has never been in love? I have sharp eyes, do you think I'm blind? On the way
back, you two were playing tunnel warfare in the back seat, do you think I didn't know?"
“…”
There is no need to make excuses now, the truth has already been revealed. Zhu Jinxia raised her
hands in surrender and admitted it.
She thought Yuan Feng was going to nag her again, scolding her for being disloyal and rubbing
salt into his wounds, but she didn't expect him to just stare at her for a long time, and finally
asked in a bad mood: "Are you sure it's him?"
Zhu Jinxia was startled, then nodded and said casually, "It's him."
"You are really something. You are still in a long-distance relationship when you are 30." Yuan
Feng rolled his eyes at her. "Let me make it clear first. Long-distance relationships are probably
not going to work. If you have to cry in the future, don't come to me with tears and snot to
complain!"
Zhu Jinxia asked curiously: "Wait, aren't you going to persuade me to stop right now?"
"What are you trying to persuade? How can you stop a wild horse that has broken free from its
reins?" Yuan Feng was annoyed. "The child sent me into the house in the middle of the night and
sneaked over to kiss me. Can I still break up a couple?"
Listening to his tone, it felt like the good cabbages from his own garden were being eaten by pigs.
Even though Zhu Jinxia's face turned red, he couldn't help laughing out loud.
Yuan Feng looked at her bright eyes and rosy lips. It was difficult for him to see this side of Zhu
Jinxia in the past thirty years. She was free and in high spirits, as if she had made up for all the
rebellious period she had missed.
I still remember when he was in junior high and high school, he was hated by everyone. His
father even broke several belts and his mother scolded him every now and then.
At that time, Yuan Feng said confidently: "Who doesn't have a temper during adolescence? Isn't
it just climbing over the wall and going to a black Internet cafe? Who doesn't have a rebellious
period?"
His mother immediately pointed at the building next door and said, "This summer, I have always
been very well behaved and have never been rebellious!"
Yuan Feng held it in for a long time before finally saying, "Zhu Jinxia is not an Earth creature. If
she is an alien, we can't compete on the same track!"
Now in the mountains, he finally saw her rebellious side. During adolescence, she did not fall in
love prematurely, nor did she climb over the wall to go to the black Internet cafe. But at the age
of 29, she sneaked out to kiss someone, and the way she lied to him in person was like a 17 or 18-
year-old girl arguing with her parents.
Having been childhood friends for 29 years, Yuan Feng wanted to condemn the scoundrel who
led his girl astray in the name of his brother-in-law. He also wanted to reenact the drama of
forcibly breaking up a couple, but Zhu Jinxia was laughing so happily that he lost his temper.
My daughter is already 29 years old, and the lotus is just beginning to sprout. Alas!
My thoughts went through several turns and finally stopped at a pier which gradually became
clear - well, if things don't go well in the east, there will always be someone who is doing well in
the west.
Yuan Feng smiled and said to Zhu Jinxia, since you have made your choice, don't worry about it.
Take advantage of this month or so to enjoy yourself.
Zhu Jinxia looked at Yuan Feng seriously and said, "Don't worry, I will still give it my all without
reservation this time."
Many people say that after experiencing a failed relationship, people will become reserved, but
this is not fair to those who come after them.
If every time you fall in love, you lose some of your courage to love, then it means that love itself
is not beautiful. Why do it again and make yourself even more timid?
People have praised love throughout the ages because the process of falling in love with a person
is not only a closeness between souls, but also a journey of self-knowledge.
Thanks to Acropolis, she discovered that she did not yearn for a life that followed the rules. She
also longed for freedom and a stronger opponent.
Now that she has met a soul of equal strength, she is even more powerful. In the past, it was
Shixu who took care of her and traveled a long way for her, but today, she is on her own and
comes to help him with a mission.
She used to be a socially anxious person with a people-pleasing personality, but today she finally
has a reverse scale and has developed a belated rebellious character.
Adults taught her to be flexible and to smooth out her edges, but it was the repeated questioning
of time that made her realize that people are born different, so why should they be similar?
Only by finding yourself can you get rid of the shackles.
Zhu Jinxia returned to her room, opened the curtains, and as expected, she caught his figure in
front of the small window on the third floor. They were like two small boats facing each other
across the sea, drifting and rising and falling in this night.
She curled the corners of her mouth and soon received a call from Shixu.
There was a hint of laughter in his voice, which sounded soft and bright. "Why are you running so
fast?"
"Are you waiting to be caught if you don't run?" Zhu Jinxia asked back, "Who was that person
who just came down the stairs?"
"Dunzhu." Shixu couldn't help but curse in his dialect, which roughly means that lazy people have
a lot of shit and piss.
Zhu Jinxia laughed. It was rare to hear him say anything related to shit, piss, or fart, let alone
speak in dialect. After joking around with him for a while, she finally stopped laughing and called
out his name.
"Time sequence."
"Yeah." He looked at me from a distance, his voice steady.
"I like you, you know." She said it without any hindrance, as if she was stating an axiom, an
objective fact that had long been widely known.
Shi Xu guessed what she wanted to say next and interrupted her with a smile: "Zhu Jinxia,
shouldn't you leave the words of confession to me?"
"Why?" she quickly asked back, "Don't tell me it's because you're a man, or I'll punch you right
away."
"Yes, I almost forgot that our teacher Zhu studied feminism." He smiled vaguely from the other
end, and after a moment, "Okay, then go ahead and talk. I'm listening."
Zhu Jinxia would like to say thank you first, thank him for letting her board the train heading to
the wilderness. In this initially aimless journey, with his guidance, she found a new direction.
"What's the direction, love?"
"No, it's myself."
Shi Xu smiled and said, "Oh, I was just being sentimental."
She smiled with the corners of her mouth curved, "It's not that I'm being sentimental, you're an
unexpected gain."
Then she told him to come on, and asked him to stabilize the central school and not give up his
ideals.
"It is true that you as the principal make me feel brilliant, but your talent should shine in a higher
place."
"Isn't it said that there are 360 professions and every profession has its top talent?" Shi Xu asked
deliberately, "Is a geologist definitely more meaningful than a rural school principal?"
"No, the meaning lies in the individual, but I always feel that God gave you such intelligence and
talent, not to trap you in the mountains." She was very serious, and every word was clear. "Many
people can be the principal, including me and Yuan Feng. Although we can't completely sacrifice
ourselves like Uncle Wang, as long as we are willing, we can all push the central school forward."
Pause.
"But time is not the same for everyone. Not everyone can shine in the field of scientific research
like you. Even if many people have this desire and work hard for it, they may not be able to reach
your current position. Now that you have reached that point, you should not look back."
“…”
"Didn't you tell me that your field of geology is also in chaos, with poor researchers and traumas
of the times that cannot stand the test? You have even greater ambitions and want to go to
places that fewer people have been to."
He was somewhat moved, and stared quietly at the small window and the vague figure.
"So, Shixu, please promise me that no matter how long the school's precarious situation lasts,
you will work hard to solve it and let all trains go in the direction they should go."
They looked at each other from a distance through two windows.
For a moment, Shi Xu's throat tightened, and he wished he could cross the distance, run towards
her with big strides, and hug her tightly in his arms.
After a long while, he replied in a deep voice: "I promise you."
Like a pious promise.
Then I heard her laugh.
She suddenly changed the subject and talked about timing. Long-distance relationships are very
hard. Are you afraid of it?
"A little bit." He collected his thoughts and laughed, "After all, the cotton water is so big, and our
teacher Zhu is recruiting so many people."
“Why am I hiring???”
"You're not hiring yet?" He has an excellent memory for time. "I just got my freedom back, and
people are flocking to me to introduce me to potential partners. Some of them have an annual
salary of one million, or their families have an island."
Zhu Jinxia couldn't help but burst out laughing and said, what can I do, but I just like being poor.
He also laughed, and then said: "I am afraid, but I still have some confidence."
How can I not be afraid? Love makes people worry about gains and losses.
But everything they had experienced together, their similar souls and moments of resonance,
made him not afraid.
As she said, there were too many moments between them that were difficult to replicate, which
many people probably never encountered in their entire lives and which were irreplaceable.
Changing a person or a place may lead to new encounters, but Zhu Jinxia is Zhu Jinxia, she is
unique.
He knew that for him and for her, they would rather see more scenery with the person in front of
them rather than see similar scenery with different people.
During the phone call that night, they did not talk about the past, nor did they ask about the
future. They did not clearly define their relationship, nor were they in a hurry to discuss progress.
Wherever fate takes them, they will set sail with confidence.
Shi Xu knew that there would be another separation soon. She would leave and he would stay
behind.
But it doesn't matter, Zhu Jinxia also knows that although they always see each other again,
goodbye is for the sake of seeing each other again.
In the city of steel and concrete, the brave sunflowers will never wither. And in the valleys where
no one cares, there will always be nameless flowers blooming.
They will meet in a summer, watch the green waves on the Jinsha River, the undulating
mountains and the endless wilderness. They will also reunite in every winter, watch the vast
expanse of snow and the sun shining on the golden mountains.