Chapter 30

It seems everyone knows she's struggling financially.

It was as if everyone tacitly agreed that her feelings could be ignored.

Because of her good personality, she never gets angry or quarrels with anyone, and is always gentle, mild-mannered and polite.

The class bell rang, and everyone quieted down. Jiang Li glanced at her.

This person, who should have been the most arrogant and self-respecting during their student years, was quiet, calm, and had no presence, as if they were invisible.

At the same time, Yu Shu's deskmate handed him a piece of paper.

She's sick, don't pay her any attention.

After Guan Nan finished reading, he turned to her and shook his head, indicating that he was fine.

Then he turned around, took out a black marker, crossed out the words on it, crumpled up the paper, and prepared to throw it away after class.

A while later, the usually calm class monitor walked in, with the scars on her face still visible: "I have something to do. You can study on your own for now. The math teacher will be here later."

After saying that, Banban told the discipline committee member to take charge, and then went to the office.

A month later, Jiang Li once again cleared out the snacks stuffed in his desk and handed them to Yu Shu, who immediately understood.

"Here you go." Jiang Li rummaged through his bag, pulled out a strawberry-flavored lollipop, and placed it on her desk.

Guan Nan: "I—"

“Eat it,” Jiang Li said. “I just snatched it from my little niece.”

My little niece?

Rob······?

Guan Nan stared at the pink strawberry lollipop.

I can't bear to eat it even though I want to.

"Do you have any more bread?" Jiang Li didn't mention what had just happened. "My little niece ate lunch."

Guan Nan also found a pork floss cake that had been given as a free gift with the last purchase among the scallion and pork floss rolls. "Do you want this?"

"I'm not a picky eater." Jiang Li took the bread, his tone no different from usual.

Having eaten with him a few times, Guan Nan had no doubt about what he said.

When Yu Shu returned to his seat and heard this, he couldn't help but put on an expression of utter absurdity, and even wanted to spit on him on the spot.

The bread looked oily and greasy, and Yu Shu couldn't imagine how this fussy person could finish it without changing his expression, and then even praise it, saying, "The taste is okay, just a bit sweet."

“Sugar can activate the brain,” Guan Nan replied.

Jiang Li nodded, as if agreeing with her statement.

In the following days, the class was suspended for two days before returning. The English teacher, who had sprained her ankle and was very concerned about her image, limped to class with them every day.

Occasionally, Jiang Li and Yu Shu would go to help her, but she always managed to get back.

In the blink of an eye, it was Monday.

After the flag-raising ceremony, the principal issued a notice criticizing a parent in the Grade 11 office for assaulting a classroom student. The notice explained that the incident stemmed from the fact that after the October monthly exam results were released, the female student witnessed her grades declining at a visible rate, leading to this absurd incident.

Principal Chen Yi angrily said, "Students, every teacher at Fuling High School comes from a top-tier university (985/211), including many with master's, doctoral, or doctoral degrees from Tsinghua and Peking Universities. They've studied diligently for over twenty years, and now they work tirelessly day and night for a few thousand yuan a month. They've given you their all, and you think you can ruin their lives with just a few words? How could you possibly think that? How could you even dare to say that your teachers have improper thoughts about you?..."

Fearing his parents' "discipline," he impulsively fabricated a story about teachers harassing students. His parents, out of love for their son, immediately went to the school upon learning of the situation. Instead of seeking an explanation, they unleashed a torrent of abuse and insults at the teachers.

Fuzhong Middle School has a pragmatic and rigorous academic atmosphere, and its principal is a former soldier who carried the red flag.

Although he often promotes the idea of ​​"daring to fight, daring to be the first," he is also known for his foresight and down-to-earth approach.

Therefore, Guan Nan returned to the classroom early and, upon hearing these words, began to ponder whether there was some hidden story behind the rumors of Jiang Li hitting the teacher.

Guan Nan's thoughts drifted away as she gently bit the end of her pen cap. What could it be?

I remember that day, Jiang Li glanced at his phone, immediately rushed to the office, and stood in front of the class monitor and the English teacher. It wasn't a gesture of him fighting with the teachers; rather, it was an act of protecting them.

After spending time together recently, Guan Nan didn't believe the rumor about Jiang Li at all.

But why is there no other information besides "hitting the teacher"?

"Our teachers are completely innocent! The school has already advised this student to withdraw, and this is a school-wide public reprimand." Over the loudspeaker, the principal, a "local leading talent," spoke with confidence, his voice serious and loud: "Anyone who repeats this offense will be expelled."

The queue dispersed, and students poured into the teaching building in batches, like the rising tide of the Qiantang River.

Jiang Li returned with a Sprite, walked around half the classroom without disturbing her as she did her homework, and placed a bottle of strawberry milk on her desk as usual.

Guan Nan looked up and glanced at it: "..."

It's a lovely pink strawberry flavor again.

Are they treating her like a child?

"Want a drink?" Seeing her gaze turn towards him, Jiang Li waited for a moment, but when he didn't hear her speak, he lowered his eyes and handed it to her without thinking.

His actions were unexpected, and Guan Nan shook her head: "No need, thank you."

"Thank you?" Jiang Li raised an eyebrow, a half-smile on his face.

"Then..." Remembering what he had said, Guan Nan licked her lips and said dryly, "No thanks?"

Jiang Li chuckled softly but didn't say anything.

Several times he hesitated to speak, and his words "in short" stuck in his mind. Guan Nan almost asked, "Did you hit the teacher? Is there a hidden reason?"

In the end, I restrained myself from asking.

Somehow, what Chen Aimei said that day reached Jiang Li's ears: Guan Nan was to practice sit-ups during physical education class.

Their scheduled physical education class happened to coincide with Lin Rui's class.

Guan Nan couldn't find anyone to stretch her legs, so she brought out a few javelins from the equipment room and put them on her feet, but the weight was still not enough, and her feet kept running uncontrollably.

"Hmm," Lin Rui said, holding a basketball and pointing to the person on the foam mat who was hunched over trying to do something, "Isn't that your class monitor? Why don't you ask someone to hold your legs down while you're doing sit-ups?"

Jiang Li looked over upon hearing this.

“Damn, it really is,” Yu Shu also looked over. “I remember she signed up for the school sports meet, I think it was for sit-ups, and oh right, sprints.”

Lin Rui was surprised: "Report so much?"

"Nonsense, she's the only one in our class who signed up for the girls' group. Liu Yang couldn't find anyone no matter what."

"Liu Yang?" Lin Rui asked, "The big, charcoal-faced guy who played with us last time?"

Yu Shu didn't want to talk to him anymore: "..."

The three of them crossed the gymnasium and walked together toward the foam mat, wondering how she could complete the sit-up exercise on her own.

The next instant, Guan Nan added two more javelins to his feet.

"You..." Lin Rui's expression was indescribable, "You're quite clever."

It's just that they're smart but haven't used it in the right way.

A javelin has weight, but without someone to support it, it's still unstable when pressed down on someone's feet.

The school is full of students in uniform, so you can only recognize people by their faces or by their backs, because you might accidentally put your arm around the wrong person, put your arm around their back, or call out to the wrong person.

Guan Nan looked up, her gaze lingering for two seconds on the hand carrying Sprite and strawberry milk, and recognized the person who had come.

Her gaze was directed upwards, presenting an upward-looking posture.

Backlit, his features were soft and non-aggressive.

It made my heart tremble uncontrollably.

"Hmm," Guan Nan quickly looked down at the javelins still lying awkwardly on her feet, and belatedly moved them away. "Everyone was busy, so I just found something for myself."

Not only javelins were on the foam mat, but also a shot put stuck on the crossbar of the stool.

The sun was too strong today, and after the physical education teacher finished the training as required, there were almost no people left on the playground.

Looking around, Yu Shu saw someone under the shade of a tree, but their face was unfamiliar.

He simply suggested, "This won't work. Let Jiang Li help you. After all, you two are deskmates."

"No, no need." Guan Nan's eyes widened upon hearing this.

Jiang Li looked at him for a while and asked Yu Shu, "How many per minute?"

“There’s no rule,” Yu said, then turned to ask Lin Rui, “I remember last year there wasn’t a rule about how many, it was just ranked by the number of times you could complete it within one minute.”

Lin Rui: "That's how it was last year."

Jiang Li remained expressionless: "..."

The other two ignored him and started chatting, and the conversation quickly turned into something else entirely.

Jiang Li couldn't just sit idly by, so he half-squatted down in front of Guan Nan, and the two of them instantly went from looking up at each other to looking at each other at eye level. "I'll hold you down, you do it."

He didn't move; his words sounded like a question.

Guan Nan hesitated for a moment, feeling that it was difficult to agree or not.

Just then, someone passed by, holding up their school uniform jacket to shield themselves from the sun. Jiang Li called out, "Hey, can I borrow your jacket?"

Hei Zi paused for a moment, then recognized Jiang Li and saw Yu Shu and Lin Rui. He walked over with a smile and said, "What are you doing here too?"

“Nonsense,” Lin Rui said nonchalantly, “My family owns the school.”

He handed his jacket to Jiang Li and punched Lin Rui in the chest, saying, "You're already in your second year of high school, how come you're still acting like this? What are you two doing? Go play basketball later."

"Eat the ball." Lin Rui held up the ball.

“He’s an idiot, ignore him,” Yu said. “We’ll play ball together later, we’re waiting for Jiang Li.”

“Okay,” Hei Zi glanced at Jiang Li and the girl, and smiled, “Then I’ll go first.”

The school uniform jacket was draped over Guan Nan's legs. Jiang Li circled her ankles through the fabric of the uniform, and the moment his fingers encircled her ankles, only one word came to mind: "thin".

She is too thin.

It gives the illusion that one could easily lift the bag with one hand.

Guan Nan was very nervous when her legs were grabbed, and the sit-ups under such high tension made them even more tiring. The presence of two spectators nearby added to the pressure.

When she had done about twenty, Guan Nan stopped for a few seconds, holding her head, and took a deep breath.

Prepare to go all out and do it continuously for a full minute without stopping.

32.

33.

34.

Guan Nan counted silently in his mind, and victory was just around the corner.

Her hands slipped and fell.

Unfortunately, I did half of the sit-up, and my head was about a third of the way above my knees. I lost control due to inertia, and my hands quickly grabbed the support.

Jiang Li, who was kneeling on one knee, raised his head from the other side of her knees.

His hair fell across his forehead, obscuring his eyes, and his drooping eyelashes made it impossible to see the expression in his eyes.

All I remember is that his skin was translucent and glowing, covered with a layer of fine velvet, hazy and blurry.

They were too close. In her panic, Guan Nan instinctively pulled her hands back, realizing she had grabbed his arm. "Excuse me, I—"

“It wasn’t intentional,” Jiang Li said calmly. “I know, please continue.”

Guan Nan pursed her lips, composed herself, and kept her head down, not daring to look at him again.

Even if that person is right in front of you, even if their body temperature is intertwined with yours.

Ding-chu! Yu Shu, who was keeping time for her, pressed the timer button precisely on time: "Time's up, how many?"

“47,” Guan Nan counted.

“That’s about right,” Yu said. “Some only have twenty or thirty, they’ll definitely pass.”

After listening, Guan Nan relaxed a bit.

In the blink of an eye, he heard Lin Rui mocking him: "Tsk, why don't you compare yourself to the better ones?"

Guan Nan: "..."

She doesn't care about rankings; she just wants to avoid being at the bottom.

After putting away his phone, Yu Shu glanced at the two of them, put his arm around Lin Rui's shoulder, and left. Before leaving, he didn't forget to say goodbye to Jiang Li and ask him to move the things back to the equipment room.

They were going to play ball together, but Guan Nan didn't want to put Jiang Li in a difficult position: "You go ahead, I can manage on my own."

"Okay." Jiang Li replied, then grabbed his javelin and shot put and turned to walk towards the equipment room.

Guan Nan felt a sense of powerlessness: "..."

With no one practicing, Guan Nan also handed over the height adjustment bar in front of the sponge mat, and walked towards the equipment room with the stool in her arms. When she turned around and came back, she found that Jiang Li had rolled up both sponge mats.

It looks like they're planning to move all at once.

Seeing this, Guan Nan quickly ran over, and the two of them worked together to put it back in the equipment room.

"Jiang Li." Guan Nan couldn't help but call out to him.

"Um?"

"Just now," Guan Nan stammered, "thank you. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have finished by the end of get out of class."

Jiang Li put everything away and looked at her: "Anything else?"

"Anything else?" Guan Nan was speechless for a long time.

Jiang Li calmly voiced her questions one by one: "Also, why did I kick someone? Why was Liang Jie acting so strangely? And why did I hit the teacher?"

"I didn't," Guan Nan said softly.

"I've noticed you've been hesitant to speak for so many days, why don't you ask?"

His expression suggested he knew she would ask him, so Guan Nan wrinkled her nose and weakly protested, "I didn't."

"Oh, then ask me now."

"······"

"If you don't ask now, you'll never have the chance to ask again," Jiang Li reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Guan Nan didn't hesitate any longer and responded with an "Mmm" to what he had said, "I don't know how to ask."

What I was most worried about was that I might infringe on Jiang Li's privacy and upset him.

“How will you know whether you should ask or not if you don’t ask?” Jiang Li said bluntly. “There’s no need to worry about uncertain things and add unnecessary psychological burden to yourself.”

Guan Nan moved her lips slightly, knowing that he was right.

“Liang Jie is my aunt,” Jiang Li said.

Guan Nan thought for a moment; her English teacher's full name was Liang Jie. She hesitated, then tentatively replied, "Yes."

"My mother's younger sister, her own sister."

"Then," Guan Nan recalled that day when Yu Shu called the English teacher "auntie," and asked incredulously, "Yu Shu, he..."

"We grew up together, we're used to calling each other that."

Realizing she had misunderstood, Guan Nan gave a frustrated "Oh".

But now that you put it that way, everything seems to make sense.

It is only natural for an aunt to discipline her nephew.

"The story about me hitting the teacher is true."

"······"

The equipment room fell silent immediately.

After a moment of silence, Guan Nan, as if making an excuse for him, said, "You must have a reason."

"What if there isn't?" Jiang Li countered.

“I believe you,” Guan Nan said firmly. “You wouldn’t hit someone for no reason.”

“Indecent assault against minors”.

Guan Nan was immediately startled.

“Fuyang Foreign Language School has summer foreign teacher classes, which are not as strict as Fuyang Middle School. You can enroll as long as you pay. The diplomacy is also sloppy, and all the certificates are fake.” Jiang Li’s face was expressionless, and you could not tell his emotions. “The foreign teacher classes are not the same as regular classes. The venue is rented out. They just use Fuyang Foreign Language School’s name to recruit students.”

Guan Nan listened and said, "It must be very expensive, right?"

"Fifteen thousand yuan for a summer vacation, one hour per class—basically a daycare for minors," Jiang Li said. "The foreign teacher classes don't have after-school care; if you skip class or are absent, as long as you sign in, nobody cares. It's called a daycare, but it's more like a playground—you're free to come and go..."

Guan Nan nodded, indicating that she was listening.

Once, when they skipped class and went back to pack their things, they found the foreign teacher holding a female student's hand while lecturing in the classroom. At the time, Yu Shu praised the foreign teacher for being conscientious. It wasn't until they saw everything clearly that they realized the foreign teacher's hand was wandering over the female student's body.

From initial restraint to later indulgence, the girl trembled but couldn't break free.

Without thinking, Jiang Li rushed in.

This girl, whoever has won over the students diplomatically for so long, has a knack for using threatening language, specifically targeting the students' sore spots: the word "grades."

Upon hearing the diplomatic threat, Jiang Li kicked him, grabbed his collar, and brandished his fist:

"Fuck you!"

Respect teachers and value their teachings; show respect and love to elders and children.

At that moment, his mind went blank, and he threw a punch.

After the school learned of the incident, it made no mention of the foreign teacher's crimes or the school's non-public interest leasing of the campus for profit when it made a public announcement. Furthermore, the individuals who committed the act, along with their previous record of truancy, skipping classes, and fighting, were all punished with repeating a year as evidence.

If it weren't for this incident, Fuyang Foreign Language School's international high school division would never have pushed them out and handed them over to Fuyang Middle School.

After hearing all this, a sentence suddenly came to Guan Nan's mind.

"He deserves a beating."

That's really infuriating.

“This time is different. Principal Fuzhong has a clean record and is known for being pragmatic and protective of his own. He won’t just stand by and watch an excellent teacher fall.”

"If sexual harassment were to occur in any other context, regardless of whether it's true or false, Ms. Ban would not only face unemployment but also have to prepare for public scrutiny." Guan Nan also knew the seriousness of this incident: "If any unscrupulous media outlets continue to sensationalize the case without knowing the truth, Ms. Ban's life could be ruined."

The direction of public opinion is considered uncontrollable.

Once things spiral out of control and reach an extreme, regardless of whether the person is innocent or not, someone will inevitably have to be sacrificed to appease the heavens.

After so many years of studying and working diligently, if this is truly the outcome, it's not only pitiful but also tragic. It will also instill fear and disillusionment in students still in school.

“Yes,” Jiang Li said seriously, “At the police station, the principal made a decision immediately after learning about the situation. His attempt to protect the female student’s self-esteem was thwarted when her parents implied that the entire responsibility should be placed on the class teacher.”

What Jiang Li didn't say was that things got even worse at the police station.

The female student suffered a double beating from her parents at home because of her declining grades. After this happened several times, she became afraid and started lying. This was not the first time, but it was the first time it involved a "teacher-student relationship".

This female student was not a student in Class 1, but one of the many proctors in Class 2. The reason Class 2 was chosen was twofold: first, Class 2 stopped her from copying the answers; second, Class 2 was known for being kind and considerate of the students.

Therefore, they chose Banban without any other choice.

After the words were spoken, the two looked at each other silently, neither of them saying a word.

"And this time," Guan Nan was still thinking about what the history teacher had said in class that morning, "the class monitor..."

He hasn't been to school for several days, and everyone is concerned about him.

Her worry was also on her face. Jiang Li raised his hand and patted her head, smiling lazily: "It's okay, I'll come as soon as I'm healed."

hurt······

Guan Nan recalled the obvious scratch marks on Banban's mouth and cheek that day.

After a two-second silence, Guan Nan solemnly assured him, "I won't tell anyone."

"Yeah, almost everyone who came from Fuwai knows," Jiang Li said with a low laugh, not caring much. "Nobody will spread rumors."

"But--"

Seeing her confusion, Jiang Li explained the culprit behind the rumors to her: "Lin Rui."

He had barely finished speaking when he added, "He can't keep his mouth shut."

Guan Nan had already witnessed this.

"Then," Guan Nan was still curious, "a tiger chasing a rabbit?"

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow slightly: "It's a secret."