The students are unresponsive, He Li Zhen says: “Then now everyone please introduce yourself. Just a simple introduction, let Lao Shi (Teacher) gets to know you.”
“Ah….” Finally they respond. A male student says: “Let’s not do that, we’ve been doing that for so many times. You could get to know us by checking the attendance list.”
He says it and everyone follows him. He Li Zhen notices that the students couldn’t be controlled. She claps her hands and everyone turns silent.
“So you guys don’t want to introduce yourself?” She asks.
“No—- We don’t want.” Everyone says it.
“Then let’s check the attendance list.” He Li Zhen opens up the attendance list book. “The one that I call, please stand up. Let me know you.”
“Jia Xin.”
“Here——“
“Song Jia Li.”
“Here ——“
“……’
He Li Zhen continues.
“Wu Yue Ming.”
“Not here.” A male student yells and everyone laughs.
He Li Zhen asks: “He is not here.”
A female student says: “Kun Ge (Bro Kun) is not here, he will not be here too.”
Kun Ge?
He Li Zhen looks at the attendance list and notices the name below Wu Yue Ming to be Wan Kun.
“Wan Kun?”
“He is not here too?”
“Who knows?” Another student says, “It’s the first day of school. Anyway we are not going to do anything.”
He Li Zhen frowns and doesn’t ask any more question: “Let’s start.”
She starts to teach, she starts to get into the state of affair and the students start to be sleepy.
During the class, some students are sleeping, some students are eating.
He Li Zhen doesn’t criticize them. First, it’s her first time to teach, she feels a pressure in her heart. She doesn’t want to make a bad moment with students. Second, she doesn’t want to mess up with her schedule as she has made a clear schedule of what she wants to teach.
When the bell rings, those students, who are sleeping, just wakes up.
He Li Zhen takes her books and leaves the room.
For her first period, she couldn’t express her feeling clearly.
On the way back to the office, she bumps into Hu Fei, who is preparing to go his class. She talks with him. “Hu Lao Shi (Teacher Hu), there are two students not coming today.
Hu Fei doesn’t even look at her and answers: “Wu Yue Ming and Wan Kun?”
“You know them?”
“Em.” Hu Fei says: “No need to mind them, those two wouldn’t come.”
“Why?”
Hu Fei explains to her clearly and says: “Those two have stayed behind for a year. Anyway, they don’t plan to study well. We even couldn’t find their parents. They always skip the class.”
He Li Zhen says: “Then how could I find those two?”
Hu Fei looks at her and says: “Why are you looking for them?”
He Li Zhen suddenly remembers that Hu Fei is the homeroom teacher of grade 12.6. She realizes that she seems to bypass the Hu Fei’s authority. She wants to apologize but Hu Fei just takes a small notebook and gives it to He Li Zhen. He says: “These are the phone numbers of the parents of grade 12.6. Wan Kun and Wu Yue Ming just leave their phone numbers. You could take a look about it. I’ll leave first.”
After Hu Fei leaves, He Li Zhen takes that book and opens it.
“I advise you to not mind about it.”
Then suddenly He Li Zhen hears a noise from behind, He Li Zhen turns her head and notices that Peng Qian is looking at herself in the mirror. Peng Qian is the biology teacher. Every time He Li Zhen looks at her, she would be doing online shopping or looking at himself in the mirror.
Because Peng Qian and He Li Zhen are the people of the same age so He Li Zhen talks casually to her as it’s more relaxing. “What do you mean that I don’t need to mind them?”
Peng Qian rubs her eyes and says: “You seem to be driven and I could understand it. But for those students you really don’t need to mind them.” She asks He Li Zhen: “You are a newbie so you might not know the situation. But two of them are not good people, it would be so troublesome. Especially that Wan Kun.”
He Li Zhen says: “There are just students, how could they be so troublesome?”
“Just?” Peng Qian opens up her eyes big and feels that this newbie really needs guidance.
“Last year during the final exams, he and Yan Lao Shi (Teacher Yan) of Dean’s office were fighting. He was scolded for half day.”
He Li Zhen shakes her head: “What happened?”
Peng Qian says: “Then the whole class boycotted the exams.”
“Ah? boycotted the exams?” It’s the first time for He Li Zhen to hear that kind of matter. She is so surprised.
“Right, you even couldn’t record a demerit for him. He said nothing and just placed his hands on the table.
He Li Zhen thinks about it and says: “He is the big boss of this school? So everyone listens to him?”
“Not really. At our school, there’s a group in our school but Wang Kun never joins in.”
“Why?”
“Because altogether he is coming together for only few days.” Peng Qian says: “That Wu Yue Ming always follows him around. No one knows what they do outside. But there’re lots of gossips about Wang Kun.”
“What gossips?”
“They say that that his family is rich, his family is doing some kind of business.”
He LI Zhen shrugs his shoulders: “Ao.”
“Anyway it’s better for you to not trouble. This school seems to turn a blind eye to him.” Peng Qian looks at the mirror again. “So that’s why I tell you to not mind it.”
He Li zhen is worried for another thing: “But he keeps on missing out the school, there would be effects for our performance.”
“There’s nothing you can do.” Peng Qian says: “I only could say that you are unlucky that you get that class. See even Hu Lao Shi (Teacher Lu) already uses to it.”
He Li Zhen returns to her own seat and opens up the small notebook. She notices Wang Kun’s name on the list.
She considers it and memorizes Wang Kun’s number. Then she closes the book and returns the notebook.
Teachers’ working time is much more steadier, at 06:00 p.m. The teachers could leave.
He Li Zhen takes her backpack to go home. On the way back home, her head is full of that phone number.
Actually He Li Zhen knows taht she is fixating on unnecessary thing.
But she has no way. She is a new teacher, she is afraid that the class she thought to have a bad performance. Those students would affect the average performance of the class. After arriving back home, He Li Zhen just eats half of her food and decides to want to try.
She takes out her phone and gives Wan Kun a call.
The call is answered.
“Who is it?”
It sounds so noisy. The person, who is answering the call, sounds low spirit. He Li Zhen says: “Hi, are you Wan Kun?”
“Em. Who are you?”
He Li Zhen says: “I am your language and literature teacher.”
“…….”
Wan Kun turns silent for a while, He Li Zhen thinks that he couldn’t hear him clearly. “Hey, hey, could you hear me out?” Suddenly the noise seems to lower down. He seems to get into a more peaceful room.
“Language and literature teacher?” Wan Kun’s voice sounds like he is holding his laughter. “Which one of language and literature teacher?”
He Li Zhen says: “I’m language and literature teacher of Grade 12.6. Are you the student of grade 12.6?”
Wan Kun squats down and smokes. He says: “Our language and literature teacher is a man.”
“Ah…..” He Li Zhen says quickly: “That’s right. Zhao Lao Shi (Teacher Zhao) cannot continue to teach your class. I’m your new language and literature teacher. My name is He.”
Wan Kun says nothing and He Li Zhen says again: “Then, today it’s the first day of school. Why didn’t you come to the school?”
Wan Kun laughs and says: “Today it’s the first day of school? I forget about it.”
He Li Zhen frowns and it’s obvious that she knows that Wan Kun doesn’t forget about it. He just does this to satisfy her. Her tone turns serious: “Tomorrow could you come to the school with Wu Yue Ming too?”
Wan Kun says: “I don’t know.”
He Li Zhen bites her lips: “I don’t care what your previous teacher taught you. But for my class you should come, if not…..”
Wang Kun looks at the sky and says casually: “If not, what would you do?”
He Li Zhen thinks for a while and because of her shallow experience, she says like threatening an elementary student. “If not, I would tell your head of family?”
Wan Kun turns silent for a while. He LI Zhen could hear his breathing. Then Wan Kun snorts. He throws away his cigarette and hangs up.
“….” He Li Zhen puts down her phone and sits down there helplessly.
“Why do I feel that I have no bit of dignity….” He Li Zhen says to herself. “Am I too simple?”
It turns out that for the next three days, Wan Kun and Wu Yue Ming still don’t come to school. He Li Zhen knows that her ability is limited so she doesn’t call him again.
During the weekend, He Li Zhen goes to the furniture store. The apartment is new but there’re lacking of lots of thing. He Li Zhen goes to buy bookshelves, a table, a chair and small furnitures.
The store helps her to take it back to her apartment.
It’s a relaxing weekend for He Li Zhen. At first she wanted to have a sleep. But someone keeps making noise outside her apartment.
Her apartment is in the middle. On the left there’s Zhang A Yi (Auntie Zhang)’s apartment and on the right there’s Li A Yi (Auntie Li)’s apartment. They are chatting with very loud voice.
He Li Zhen is filled with grief.
She flips around her bed and finally decides to prepare to her next lessons.
On Monday, she goes to the office room.
Today she needs to join flag- raising ceremony.
It’s been a long time since she joined one. He Li Zhen stands inside the group and looks at the flag.
He Li Zhen is disinterested in joining this ceremony, she couldn’t help but to yawn.
This time, she hears someone is yelling: “Kun Ge (Bro Kun)!”
He Li Zhen is surprised and turns her head back to look around. She notices there are two people over. They are coming inside the school. They are going toward the classroom.
Because it’s too far away, she couldn’t make out their face. She could only see their figure. They don’t even wear their uniform. Those people disappear quickly from her gaze.
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