Forest Memories

Chapter 11. Introduction

The seven-day holiday was cut to three days, and the students of grade 3 had to return to school early.

There is usually no special arrangement for the evening study session before the first day of school, and students learn on their own. After receiving the monthly exam report card and hearing a lecture from the head teacher Niu Qingfeng, the students in the science class changed their seats according to the monthly exam results.

Anna gave the notebook back to Jack, but she continued to jot down her ideas as soon as she had them. She bought a nice notebook again, wrote about herself, commented on herself, and gave herself advice.

Over time, Anna's composition level has been improving. This time, her Chinese score in the monthly exam exceeded 100 for the first time since the 150-point system was introduced. Her total score and ranking also rose sharply, reaching the 36th place in the class.

In October, Anna helped Li Heng, the 21st person.

Li Heng is a CP fan of Jack and Zhang Xiaojing. Just as Zhang Xiaojing is a thousand-year-old phoenix tail in the Lait class, Li Heng takes every opportunity to choose their front row, sitting in front of Jack and above Zhang Xiaojing's left.

So, Jack became Anna's left corner.

Although he helped Anna, Li Heng could not help her at all. He was overwhelmed by her in math, physics, chemistry and biology, and he felt powerless in English. As a result, they seldom communicated about their studies, but they did talk about CP together.

"The relationship between the five of us is actually quite complicated."

"How complicated is it?"

The break exercise in the third grade was cancelled, and the whole half hour was spent resting. Anna and Li Heng began to whisper gossip on the desk again.

"Jiang Gong likes Zhang Xiaojing, Zhang Xiaojing likes Jack, and Jack is wavering between Zhang Xiaojing and Fang Zixing. Hey, I'm the only one who can do my best."

"Haha..." Anna smiled and glanced back. "Is Jack really wavering between Zhang and Fang?"

"forsooth."

"Tell me about it."

……

Li Heng finished, and the two men slapped the table and laughed.

The two people in the back row did not know what was going on. One was lost in thought at a book, and the other was lost in thought at the person who was lost in thought.

Jack stared at the data book, but he was thinking: Why is she so happy? They have only been classmates for less than three days. When did they become so close?

The more he thought about it, the sadder he felt, as if he had eaten a fresh lemon.

Zhang Xiaojing looked at Jack studying earnestly and felt empty in her heart. She thought to herself: When did he become so cold to me? In the past, they talked about everything.

The more she thought about it, the colder she felt, as if she had drunk mung bean ice.

Anna and Li Heng in the front row didn't know about the sourness and coolness of the back row. They laughed so hard that —— had to go to the bathroom.

Anna misses two people perfectly on her way to the bathroom, one of her good friends, Su Mian, and one of her father, Qing Hongzhi.

At this time, Su Mian was going downstairs to buy snacks in the small supermarket, and happened to meet Qing Hongzhi.

"Uncle, how did you come?"

Qing Hongzhi stopped just as he was about to go upstairs. "It's Mianmian! I came to the county for something and happened to visit my daughter Yi Yi."

"Uncle, Iyi's classroom is on the first floor. Let me show you."

"Well, that's a hassle."

"No trouble, no trouble."

Su Mian took Qing Hongzhi to the special class and then went to the supermarket.

Qinghongzhi walked through two doors and three Windows several times to make sure Anna was not in the classroom.

The daughter was indeed not there, so Qing Hongzhi focused on her new classmates with the attitude of waiting.

Among the crowd, Qing Hongzhi recognized Jack at a glance.

The impression of that evening was not very strong, but when I looked closely at the boy, he was particularly dazzling.

Such a boy... Qing Hongzhi frowned and lost himself in thought.

Feeling that he was being watched by an unknown eye, Jack looked out of the window and saw a tall, thin middle-aged uncle.

The old man's eyes were so sharp that Jack felt a little pain. He changed his hand from supporting his head with one hand facing south to supporting his head with the other, facing away from the door.

"Who is that tall and handsome uncle outside?"

"I don't know. I've been here for several minutes and I don't know who to look for."

"I noticed that he stared at Jack for a while. Oh, Brother Xi, are you looking for you?"

Jack: "No, I don't know him."

Jiang Gong: "Oh, is he a pervert? Did he see a handsome man coming to him?"

Jack glared coldly, "What did you say?"

"Why don't you go out and ask him who he is looking for?" Zhang Xiaojing signaled Jiang Gong.

Jiang Gong shivered: "No, no, he didn't look at me."

“……”

For some reason, Jack stood up and walked to the door.

"papa."

Jack had just arrived at the door when he heard Anna calling the uncle. His eyes were filled with surprise, joy and panic.

Jack jumped, and he probably understood why the uncle was staring at him. It must have been the little gesture he made when he dropped Anna off that day. He stood there for a few seconds, then turned around and went back to his seat.

"How did you get back?" asked Jiang Gong.

Jack sat down and tapped his right upper corner with his index finger, "Anna's dad."

The students next to him began to croak again.

"Wow, her dad looks so young and handsome. He has the charm of a middle-aged man."

"Yes, yes, I think so. The looks are as good as the old actors."

Jiang Gong: "I told you, fat people are potential stocks. Look at his father's appearance, his daughter must be about the same."

"Where, haven't you noticed that the uncle looks tired and sick?"

"It's a bit sick."

Hearing the illness, Jack suddenly looked out of the classroom, but the uncle had already gone away.

……

To make it easier to talk, Anna took her father to the end of the teaching building, which was just a wall away from her classroom.

"Dad, Dad, how did you get here?"

Qing Hongzhi smiled, "Come and see you."

Didn't you just see it two days ago? You just returned to school! And dad didn't seem to welcome you when you got home.

When things go wrong, there must be a demon. Anna's gut feeling was bad.

"Dad, this is my new class and my new classroom," Anna said, pointing to the white wall beside her.

Qing Hongzhi lifted his eyelids and nodded, "Yes, very good."

“……”

to make the conversation awkward.

Anna felt very upset. It was not like this between father and daughter before.

Although her father loved her, this was the second time she had been to the school. The first time was on the first day of high school. So Anna had reason to believe that her father was not just coming to see her casually, but must have something to do with it. She didn't rush to ask, waiting for him to tell her in person.

Sure enough, Qing Hongzhi spoke first.

"Iyiyi, I guess you guessed that dad came to the county for some reason."

Anna nodded and smiled. "What's wrong, Dad?"

"Dad's going to have a minor operation in a couple of days."

Anna opened her eyes and was about to speak, but Qing Hongzhi hurriedly reached out his hand and signaled with his eyes, as if to say: Don't say anything, listen to me.

Anna nodded obediently.

Qing Hongzhi licked his lips and moistened his throat. After a long time, he said, "My father has been suffering from schistosomiasis since he was a child. It has been cured for so many years, but now it is in the late stage. He needs to have his spleen cut off to save his life."

"What?" Anna froze.

"You've read that any surgery is risky, right?" he continued. At this point, Qing Hongzhi began to choke up.

Anna nodded stiffly and waited for her father to say more.

Qing Hongzhi: "If the operation fails and Dad... dies, you will follow your aunt and uncle. I have told them and they promised to take care of you. You must listen to me and study hard. If you can get into a good university in the future, Dad will die without regrets."

Anna was silent, her face dark, her eyes staring blankly at her old father.

Qing Hongzhi touched Anna's head, "Child, you have a hard life. You have never felt the love of your mother since you were a child. Now you are... You must walk your own way in the future, but don't go astray."

Anna nodded.