Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Xi Yan sent the duty schedule that had just been arranged to the parents' group. Before she could even catch her breath, the parents' group erupted like a boiling pot, with one message notification tone after another emerging.
["Why is our family arranged to clean the toilets?"]
["Wiping windows is so dangerous. Why let our child do it?"]
["My baby is reluctant to do housework at home. How come he has to mop the floor at school?"]
["My child is allergic to dust. Why is he still arranged to clean the blackboard??"]
["We send our children to school to study. Are they sent to be cleaners?"]
["Can't the school afford cleaners?"]
["Can't the teacher clean the classroom herself? Teachers nowadays are too comfortable, right? Apart from teaching two classes, they don't have to take care of anything else?"]
...
Xi Yan took a deep breath, pretended not to see the real-name notes of the parents one by one in the group, and sent a message to the group expressionlessly: ["Parents with doubts, please privately chat with the class teacher."]
As soon as this was said, for the next two hours, Xi Yan's phone never stopped ringing.
It was still the same matter, but when chatting privately, the parents' attitudes became much more peaceful.
Being peaceful makes communication possible.
Xi Yan presented the prepared remarks one by one.
First, emphatically praise that this student is usually a child with a strong sense of collective honor. Of course, this is all due to the family education of mom and dad. Secondly, emphasize cultivating children's life skills and social adaptability, and that the school and teachers will definitely prioritize safety.
Finally, express the democracy of the duty schedule arrangement. Students sign up voluntarily, and the teacher makes adjustments later. Of course - I hope parents can also support their children to make gradual changes and breakthroughs.
...
After being talked to at length by her like this, whether willingly or not, the parents couldn't pester too much anymore.
After dealing with the students' parents, it was already completely dark.
She was the only one left in the office.
In Jiangcheng, the wind is strong, and the temperature difference between day and night is particularly distinct.
Xi Yan revealed a tired smile, then supported herself on the office desk and stood up, preparing to go and post the printed duty schedule in the classroom.
As soon as her hand touched the printer, her phone rang again.
Who is it again?
She looked down. It was a landline number.
Judging from the area code, it should be a local number.
Xi Yan took a deep breath and answered the phone in a suppressed voice: "Hello."
"Hello my ass." Lin Zhou's plaintive voice came through the receiver: "Today is the first official day of business for the bar. Are you planning to grade homework at school?"
So she was calling from the bar's landline.
It was very noisy on the other end of the phone. The heavy metal rhythm was immersed in the enthusiasm of the band, and there was also the revelry of a group of lonely people.
"Of course not."
Xi Yan replied quickly, but she was indeed a bit guilty. Although she didn't plan to grade homework at school, she had truly forgotten about the bar's opening behind her mind.
After hanging up the phone, the printer just spat out the duty schedule in black ink.
Xi Yan locked the office, took the duty schedule back to the class, and posted the paper beside the blackboard.
She checked again whether the classroom doors and windows were locked properly. Only then did she leave the school under the moonlight.
The streetlights elongated her figure and made it shine brightly.
Thinking that she was going to a bar, she didn't drive but called an online car-hailing service.
According to the address provided by Lin Zhou, the online car-hailing service stopped in front of a dilapidated... well... a dilapidated bar.
There was an oilcloth covering the iron shed. The wind blew up the oilcloth, and there were rust spots everywhere, etched as if they were about to perforate.
The sign light was hung vertically. The oilcloth made it sway left and right. It turned out that there was only one fixing nail left, and no one knew when it would fall off either.
The light appeared and disappeared all of a sudden. It was extremely mysterious.
Lin Zhou's WeChat was in the third position at the top of the list. Xi Yan quickly found her and sent her a picture.
["I didn't hear clearly just now. Is your place a bar or a haunted house?"]
Lin Zhou didn't reply.
Probably busy.
Xi Yan pursed her lips and lifted the plastic curtain.
Only then did she see inside.
Unlike the dilapidation outside, it was empty inside. Although it couldn't be said to be luxurious, that metal door was very heavy and had a great texture.
The two security personnel were also quite good-looking, satisfying Xi Yan's pickiness as a beauty lover.
Xi Yan identified herself. The metal door in front of her was pushed open heavily, making a rumbling sound like a mountain gate opening.
Going down the cement-gray stairs to the basement, the unique atmosphere of the bar finally hit her.
Winding smoke, messy light.
The suppressed sound waves were like a mountain torrent bursting forth, as if they were about to break through her eardrums.
Xi Yan rubbed her ears and went straight to the bar. Lin Zhou placed a mojito in front of her.
Xi Yan held the mojito and drank it like water.
"Are there any interesting things at school?" Lin Zhou sarcastically said: "So that our Teacher Xi doesn't go home after work?"
Xi Yan then vividly told Lin Zhou about the turmoil of arranging the schedule.
Seeing the sentence ["Can't the teacher clean the classroom herself? Teachers nowadays are too comfortable, right? Apart from teaching two classes, they don't have to take care of anything else?"] in the parents' group, Lin Zhou was furious: "Do some parents really think teachers are nannies?"
"Even more outrageous is that a student's parent said that their family business has a housekeeping service company under its name and can send people to clean the class every day."
Lin Zhou pushed another mojito over. Xi Yan quenched her thirst. She lowered her eyes and held the glass without drinking anymore.
"Quit." Lin Zhou: "Who are you looking down on? You didn't become a teacher because you were short of money. Aren't the profits from the resort and the bar enough for you to support Bubble and Xiaofan? Do you have to be angry with school leaders, students, and parents on three sides?"
"Let's not talk about this." Xi Yan bit the straw: "I came to the bar to forget my troubles, not to find troubles."
"Okay." Lin Zhou suddenly lifted her collar: "But I say, Teacher Xi, can you not come to the bar wearing school uniforms?"
Xi Yan smiled triumphantly: "Why, does your bar not welcome people's teachers?"
"Who the hell wants to drink and still think of their elementary school teacher?" Lin Zhou threw a paper art gift bag over from under the bar: "Prepared for you."
Xi Yan had just uttered half of the word "thanks" when she heard Lin Zhou say: "XS."
"..." Xi Yan.
XS is not impossible to wear. It's just that the chest is a bit tight. It's not small originally. Moreover, after pregnancy, there was a second development.
Xi Yan was only talking to Lin Zhou and didn't notice that at Table 3 not far from her, a man was looking at her.
Jiang Cheng was extremely curious: "Would people's teachers also come to such a place?"
Xi Yan walked out carrying the paper bag. Passing by Table 3, Yan Xu saw clearly the school logo embroidered on her chest. He read it aloud: "Xingmang Elementary School. Isn't that the teacher of Yan Xu's son?"
Yan Xu looked up. Indeed.
Jiang Cheng looked at the back of the elementary school teacher and joked: "Aren't you going to say hello?"
"Say hello here? Am I sick? Would President Jiang say hello to patients in a bar?" Yan Xu clinked beer cans with Jiang Cheng with a smile: "Besides, I now have a shadow over elementary school teachers."
Jiang Cheng remembered something: "Did your son's homeroom teacher really reject your suggestion of arranging regular services from a housekeeping company?"
Yan Xu helplessly said: "The new teacher this semester. I thought she was a soft persimmon, but it turns out she is very experienced in dealing with parents."
Jiang Cheng nodded towards the man sitting in the dark. He was sitting in the blind spot of the light. He didn't drink or talk. If Jiang Cheng hadn't reminded him, Yan Xu would have almost forgotten that they were three people drinking.
"Why don't you let him go." Jiang Cheng continued to talk nonsense: "If this works, your son won't have to clean the toilets at school."
Yan Xu became a little interested.
He turned his face towards the pitch-black air and said, "Brother, do me a favor."
In the dark, the man who was weighing the lighter with his eyes down suddenly stopped moving. Only the sound of his thumb sliding the lighter could be heard, once, twice.
Until -
The lighter emitted a light blue flame. That cold light just barely illuminated his two thin lips. They opened and closed slowly, and he slowly uttered three words: "Not interested."
-
Xi Yan entered the dressing room.
What Lin Zhou prepared for her was a black halter dress with a circle of rhinestones around the neck, and a large area of skin on the back and shoulders exposed.
It had been many years since she had worn something so freely.
Xi Yan simply untied her bubble braid. The golden soft hair spread all over her shoulders, half covering the large expanse of snow-white on her chest.
She was suspiciously thinking that she better not run into a student's parent or something here. So she borrowed Lin Zhou's gold powder eyeshadow and put on a shiny makeup.
Lin Zhou was so shocked by Xi Yan after putting on makeup that she couldn't say a word.
So was Jiang Cheng at Table 3.
She had a small face but big eyes. The parallel-shaped double eyelids had shiny pieces and gold powder applied around them. The bright chestnut pupils exuded a sense of innocence that was conquered.
"The chest is a bit tight." Xi Yan said truthfully.
"Isn't that just right?" Lin Zhou came to her senses.
Xi Yan sipped her second mojito in small sips: "I am the mother of two children."
"Doesn't a mother have the right to flirt with men?"
Xi Yan: "I don't think so."
"Who said no?" Lin Zhou lifted her chin: "The man at Table 3 has been staring at you all night."
Xi Yan didn't move her gaze. Blinking her innocent eyes, she said, "Is he good-looking?"
"Not bad."
There were three people at that table. Lin Zhou pretended to wipe a glass and described the characteristics of the three men at Table 3 to Xi Yan one by one.
When it came to the third man -
"He is playing with a lighter. His nose and mouth shape are very nice."
Xi Yan was a bit hungry and lowered her head to eat the small snack ginkgo fruit jerky supplied by the bar. Casually asking, "What about other parts?"
Lin Zhou: "Can't see."
"Huh?"
Xi Yan looked in Lin Zhou's direction and tilted her head. But... weren't there only two people at that table?
The looks were okay.
However, Xi Yan didn't really come to the bar to flirt with men. She withdrew her gaze and continued to chat with Lin Zhou casually.
Lin Zhou had something to do and left for a while.
The man at Table 3 came over to strike up a conversation: "Teacher from Xingmang Elementary School?"
Xi Yan's hand trembled, and the ice cubes in the glass almost spilled out.
No way? Did she really run into a student's parent?
This place was not suitable to stay for long.
Xi Yan made an excuse to go to the toilet but took her bag and coat and walked towards the exit.
Jiang Cheng returned disappointed and was extremely depressed.
Pointing at the slender silhouette quickly moving towards the exit, he fell into deep self-doubt: "Am I so annoying?"
And the man who had been sitting on the sofa all night finally raised his eyes and glanced in the direction of the exit.
Immediately after, he blinked and said his second sentence of the night: "I seem to be drunk."
Jiang Cheng finally couldn't bear it anymore: "You are drinking water."
He rubbed his eyelashes: "Oh, then I'm not drunk."
His gaze tightened, and he lifted his leg and followed her out.
The cool night breeze blew over, lifting the neon sign and making it sway and flash gaudy light. The street was deserted, and he didn't see anything.
Not drunk, but it seemed like he was crazy.
Shi Shu went on a business trip to the branch company. The assistant to the general manager of the branch company was a management trainee who had just graduated. The boy was fair and clean, and his smile was cute and obedient.
He always carried a black bag on his shoulder. Inside the bag were shirts, trousers, hangover pills, liver protection tablets... When Shi Shu inspected the work, he took out a tablet from the bag. The PPT charts were complete, concise, and focused.
After the entertainment, he sent Shi Shu back to the hotel. The evening breeze was cool. Shi Shu subconsciously gathered her arms. He quickly took off his backpack from his shoulder.
Shi Shu looked at him with a half-smile: "Could it be that there is also a down jacket hidden in your bag?"
The boy's hand holding the warm baby froze. Then he took off his down jacket and handed it over with both hands: "If President Shi doesn't mind, please make do with wearing this first."
Because of this, Shi Shu snatched someone else's assistant: "He is so cute. Follow me from now on."
-
Xu Yu was taken by the group president to be the president's assistant. His former leader reminded him that Shi Shu was a female president. When taking care of her, he must be even more meticulous.
From then on, Xu Yu's... bag on his shoulder became even heavier.
When Shi Shu was on a business trip, U-shaped pillows and nap blankets were available at her call;
When Shi Shu had her period, he handed over sanitary products wrapped in a handkerchief;
When Shi Shu's fingernails grew long, he knelt on one knee and trimmed them round for her.
When Shi Shu's old problem of insomnia struck, he took out the few sleeping pills he had. Biting his teeth... he dumped them all into the trash can.
Shi Shu: "... Are you rebelling?"
Xu Yu's neck turned red: "Can I sing to lull you to sleep?"