Chapter 47
Seeing Jian Wu in a daze, Song Shuci reminded him, “Didn’t we agree I’d pick you up and we’d go home together?”
“Didn’t I say there was no need?” Jian Wu came to his senses, subconsciously glanced at the time on his phone, “And you’re too early, I still have over an hour before I finish work.”
“It’s okay,” Song Shuci said, “I had some business here this afternoon, so I came early.”
Jian Wu glanced at his obviously dressed-up appearance and asked, slightly concerned: “What business?”
“Dean Ling wanted to see me,” Song Shuci said.
Dean Ling, completely unaware of being blamed, was sneezing violently in his office, looking at the weather outside in confusion.
Jian Wu actually believed him and guessed: “Because of Old Hu?”
Song Shuci said without missing a beat: “Mm.”
“Did you resolve Old Hu’s issue?” Jian Wu asked.
“Mostly resolved,” Song Shuci said truthfully this time, “Thanks to your backstabbing.”
Jian Wu was unhappy: “Who’s backstabbing?”
Song Shuci rephrased: “Thanks to your lucky star.”
“That’s more like it.” Jian Wu smiled slightly, and Song Shuci smiled along with him. He asked Jian Wu: “Are you still busy later?”
“A little.”
Jian Wu was truly busy these days, spending all his waking hours reviewing practice questions and writing analyses until he almost vomited.
They walked towards the office side by side. The junior high students, full of energy, were running around after class, their youthful voices filling the campus. Song Shuci said beside his ear: “I suddenly feel like your job is actually quite good. Being here makes me feel like I’m back in my childhood.”
Jian Wu didn’t have time to respond, as a sprinting boy almost crashed into him. “Hey, be careful,” he pulled the boy back and reminded him, “If you want to go to the playground, don’t run in the hallway!”
Seeing the boy behave, he turned to Song Shuci: “What’s so good about it? It’s very difficult to manage them. And…” he brought up the past, “Didn’t you complain about my job not long ago?”
“One thing at a time,” Song Shuci said, “I just think the salary doesn’t match your qualifications.”
“Actually, when I first left City A, I also thought a high salary was the most important thing,” Jian Wu seemed to have gained some insight, “But after earning money for a few years, I realized it’s no use earning money if you don’t have the time to spend it.”
These words subtly hinted at the three years Song Shuci missed. He frowned slightly, wondering if he should ask again, when a familiar voice suddenly came from around the corner—
“Jian Ge, eh? Isn’t that Professor Song? Why are you here?”
Seeing He Yong approaching, Song Shuci had to put aside his thoughts and made up an excuse: “Teacher He, long time no see, I’m here for a visit.”
“Visiting for your child?” He Yong asked curiously, “Did you get your child back from your fiancée?”
Song Shuci didn’t react for a moment: “What child?”
“Your child,” He Yong said, “Hasn’t the whole school heard about it? Many people asked Dean Ling about you after you joined, and Dean Ling said you already have a child, telling them to only consider you if they can accept a second marriage… But honestly, I really couldn’t tell, Song Ge, that you’re already a father. I didn’t believe it when I first heard it, only later, when everyone was saying it, did I realize it was true.”
Song Shuci: “…”
Jian Wu, watching the drama unfold, chuckled, enjoying the sight of him hoisting himself by his own petard.
“It’s not true,” Song Shuci tried to clarify, “I don’t have a child.”
“You don’t?” He Yong was confused, “What’s going on?”
“He was joking with Dean Ling, it’s actually a pet,” Jian Wu finally took pity on him and explained.
He Yong suddenly realized: “Oh, I see, I thought, Professor Song looks so young, then so—” he asked again, “What are you doing at our affiliated middle school?”
Song Shuci glanced at Jian Wu, who looked up at the sky, indicating he had to come up with his own excuse. So he said: “Just looking around, admiring the… architecture.”
“Then let me show you around,” He Yong said enthusiastically, “Jian Wu is busy these days, he and Ling Meng are preparing for the middle school exams, they don’t have time to hang out. I’m all alone now.”
Unlike teachers with exam subjects, PE teachers usually had less to do towards the end of the semester. His students had successfully passed the early admissions for No. 4 and No. 6 Middle Schools, so he was free from pressure now. His classes were often borrowed by other subject teachers, so he had nothing to do every day, even bored of playing.
Song Shuci looked at Jian Wu again. The young man was looking at the floor, lost in thought.
Song Shuci asked him: “Are you really that busy?”
“Aiya, don’t make things difficult for Jian Ge,” He Yong interrupted, “Don’t I know whether he’s busy or not? I wouldn’t lie to you. Don’t worry, I’ll show you around. Although I’m not as good at explaining things as Jian Ge, our school is so small, there’s not much to explain anyway.”
They arrived at Jian Wu’s office. Jian Wu’s hand, about to turn the doorknob, paused. He turned and asked Song Shuci for his bag: “Give me my guitar.”
Song Shuci took off the guitar case from his shoulder. As he handed it over, he whispered in his ear: “Then I’m going?”
“Go ahead,” Jian Wu took the bag, rubbed his ear, and entered his office.
He Yong said: “Let’s go too.”
Song Shuci finally tore his gaze away from Jian Wu’s office door: “Okay.”
B Medical University Affiliated Middle School was indeed small, as He Yong had said. Besides a few teaching buildings, there weren’t any other buildings. The playground and cafeteria were shared with the university, and there weren’t many students.
“Are you usually busy?” Song Shuci asked He Yong.
“It’s alright, usually the main subject teachers are under more pressure, they have to grade homework every day, and they have more performance requirements. They always like to hold criticism sessions under the guise of performance analysis meetings. Vice subject teachers like me and Jian Ge have it much easier. I teach six classes, twelve lessons a week. Jian Ge teaches three or four classes, I think? Including club activities, it’s only two or three lessons a day. He’s only busy during exam season. That’s why the school leaders tried so hard to persuade him to teach math, but he refused.”
“Math?”
“Didn’t you know? Jian Wu used to teach high school math.”
Song Shuci thought, he probably knew what Jian Wu was doing before returning to City B. He asked: “Where did he teach?”
“I don’t really know,” He Yong said, “I just heard he was quite amazing, our leaders even wanted him to teach competition math.”
Song Shuci wasn’t surprised that Jian Wu could teach math. Jian Wu’s father had been a math teacher at No. 6 Middle School, so he was naturally good at it. He had also tutored math before, since it paid the most. But what Song Shuci couldn’t understand was, if Jian Wu was a teacher at another school before coming here, why was he so secretive about those years, even Cheng Xian helped him cover it up.
But it seemed He Yong didn’t know either. Song Shuci dismissed the thought of asking further and returned to casual conversation.
Meanwhile, in the office, the minute hand finally reached six.
Jian Wu glanced at the time, then continued grading papers. His colleagues looked at him in surprise.
“Are you okay, Jian Wu? Why are you working overtime today?”
“Did you forget it’s Friday? You can leave at 4:30.”
“Did the director want to talk to you?”
…
Amidst the greetings, a younger voice chimed in: “Teacher, you’re not acting normal today, why are you still here at this hour?”
Jian Wu looked up and saw his class representative.
“What are you doing here?”
The class representative chuckled and handed him a book: “I’m returning a book.”
Jian Wu usually kept some popular science and psychology books in his office, which the students could borrow. The class representative filled in the return record on the registration form and handed it to him, but didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he pulled a chair and sat beside him.
At the same time, the office door opened.
Song Shuci walked in behind He Yong. Jian Wu and Song Shuci made eye contact, but his class representative interrupted his thoughts: “Teacher Jian, can you help me analyze the test paper?”
He Yong led Song Shuci to greet the other teachers still in the office. Jian Wu turned to his class representative and said: “Didn’t you get a perfect score again this time?”
His class representative retorted: “Doesn’t a perfect score deserve analysis?”
Jian Wu: “?”
The class representative said: “Then let me share my secrets to getting a perfect score.”
Jian Wu: “…” His professionalism prevented him from interrupting his class representative’s bragging and said respectfully, “Go ahead.”
“This is a long story,” the class representative leaned forward, “I believe my excellent grades are mainly due to the following three reasons…”
Jian Wu listened to his class representative’s summary of study methods with one ear, and with the other, he listened to the teachers in the office praising Song Shuci’s good looks and adding him on WeChat. Then, he heard the thoughtful He Yong say to Song Shuci: “Jian Wu is talking to a student, let’s go outside.”
As the door closed again, Jian Wu’s grip on his pen tightened.
“So, Teacher, how was my presentation?” the class representative looked at him with a proud expression.
Jian Wu, who had been jotting down the study methods mentioned by his class representative, nodded sincerely: “It was good.”
The class representative rubbed his hands together: “Then can I share my study experience with the class next time?”
Students sharing study tips with each other was a good learning method. Although Jian Wu felt something was amiss, seeing his enthusiasm, he didn’t refuse. After all, sharing study tips couldn’t be a bad thing.
“Then organize it again and share it with everyone before the next class.”
“Okay! Thank you, Teacher Jian!”
After his class representative flew out like a happy bird, a teacher beside Jian Wu said casually: “Teacher Jian, your student is in a puppy love relationship, didn’t you know?”
“Ah?”
Jian Wu was a subject teacher and wasn’t as familiar with the class situation as the homeroom teacher. The speaker was Jian Wu’s mentor, the teacher who had guided him when he first joined the affiliated middle school. Seeing Jian Wu’s confused expression, he explained: “I ran into Teacher Liu, their homeroom teacher, in the cafeteria the other day. Teacher Liu said this kid recently fell for a girl in their class and has been acting like a peacock, it’s giving her a headache.”
Jian Wu: “…”
So that was why this kid had been so enthusiastic about studying recently and even wanted to share his study experience.
He glanced at the registration book and saw that the book his class representative had just returned was titled “How to Improve Your Personal Charm.”
Good grief.
Before he could comment on this, his mentor suddenly said pointedly: “Spring is a good season, Xiao Jian, you should also be brave like your class representative.”
Jian Wu was looking out the window, wondering if Song Shuci had left yet. He didn’t react for a moment and subconsciously asked: “What?”
The May spring scenery was beautiful, the warm sunlight illuminating the afternoon campus. The happy old man, nearing retirement, looked at him and, enjoying the scene, said, holding his thermos: “If you keep craning your neck like that, you’ll break it.”
