Chapter 84

"Goodbye, Teacher Shen!"

"goodbye."

Shen Jiangfu waved at them.

The last class at Kuantang Primary School was over.

With summer vacation approaching, Shen Jiangfu instructed them on various precautions, especially emphasizing that they were not allowed to swim in the river. In the hot weather of July and August, some elementary school students, unbridled and daring, often jumped into the river in groups of three or five to "bathe," but accidents occurred every year.

Chen Jiangfu watched as rows of students split into two groups after leaving the school gate. Yu Huo, who was standing next to her, naturally walked over to her and said, "It's summer vacation now. Jiangfu, are you going to play somewhere?"

Yu Huo, like Shen Jiangfu, was a student enrolled in a targeted normal school and came to Kuantang Primary School to teach. However, the difference was that Shen Jiangfu was originally from Kuantang Village and had grown up there.

Shen Jiangfu turned her gaze from the door to Yu Huo, a gentle look that only appeared to students lingering in her eyes, and she still kept a genuine smile on her face. "The temperature is rising across the country this year. I'm afraid of the heat, so I'll probably stay home."

Yu Huo looked at Shen Jiangfu for a long time and said softly, "Teacher Shen, I find that you look very beautiful when you smile now. Your smile before was a little... I can't put my finger on it. It felt a little polite and not a smile from the heart."

Some students rushed to the canteen to eat popsicles as soon as they left the school gate. A few elementary school students with large backpacks were gathered together, talking. Yu Huo heard laughter and looked in their direction. "I think you only show that gentle and kind smile to them." Then he added, "But you rarely do that to us."

Shen Jiangfu followed her gaze and looked over there without responding.

Seeing that Shen Jiangfu didn't say anything, Yu Huo patted her shoulder and said, "Okay, this is just my feeling, don't take it too seriously. Remember, you have to come to my wedding in August for the wedding banquet."

Shen Jiangfu smiled at her as she did before, "Okay."

Yu Huo saw her smile and said, "That's right! Remember to come to the wedding."

"I will go. I'm fine at home."

"That'll do."

The phone rang, Yu Huo answered it, and looked towards the school gate. She saw a man waving at her. Yu Huo stretched out her hand and waved a few times, "Yeah, I'll be there later."

After hanging up the phone, Yu Huo said to Shen Jiangfu, "My family is here to pick me up, so I'll leave first."

"Yeah, bye." Shen Jiangfu nodded.

Watching Yu Huo leave, Shen Jiangfu looked in the distance and saw Yu Huo's husband's car. At this moment, Yu Huo was standing next to the man, and the two of them were hugging each other. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on them, making people feel the warmth. This kind of happy scene was something Shen Jiangfu had never dared to imagine.

Originally, Shen Jiangfu hadn't wanted to apply for the targeted teacher training program, as her scores were high enough to get into a regular first-tier university. However, her parents' misfortune left a limited inheritance, which couldn't support her through four years of university. So, she opted for the targeted teacher training program. Now, she's glad she made that choice, because she wants to return to this land and spend the rest of her life protecting it.

Ever since she was wrongly accused of theft in her senior year of high school, and after her parents' death, Shen Jiangfu had begun to isolate herself. Although she presented a gentle image to the outside world, and most students enjoyed her classes, only she knew that her gentleness was a mask for an inner alienation.

She was imitating her, learning her gentle and generous appearance.

Liu Chanxin can be said to be a person that Shen Jiangfu both loves and hates.

In their third year of high school, they lived in the same dormitory. At that time, Liu Chanxin and Shen Jiangfu shared bunk beds, so they naturally became duty partners.

Liu Chanxin was cheerful and outgoing, and most of her classmates liked her, including many of the teachers. She was also very good-looking, and most of her classmates secretly discussed her, believing that she had the looks to become a star.

Originally, the two would occasionally go out to eat together and go back to the dormitory together after class. For a period of time, the two were often together, and their relationship gradually warmed up.

However, an accident happened one day, which was a fatal blow to Shen Jiangfu.

Liu Chanxin's popularity made her classmate Qin Chun very uncomfortable. She was both envious and jealous of Liu Chanxin. Because of a momentary loss of her composure, she lied, and Shen Jiangfu took the blame.

At the time, Liu Chanxin was planning to transfer schools. As she was leaving, she discovered that the money her class had collected for materials hadn't been paid to the study committee. Back then, the homeroom teacher assigned all financial matters to the student affairs committee, and Liu Chanxin was on that committee.

Before Liu Chanxin left, she met with Shen Jiangfu. She gave the class materials fee to Shen Jiangfu and asked her to pass it on to Qin Chun, who would then pay it to the merchant.

After Shen Jiangfu handed the money to Qin Chun, Qin Chun lied and said the amount was wrong. Shen Jiangfu panicked and asked Liu Chanxin, but the answer she got was not the amount of money she had in her hand. Shen Jiangfu did not count the money because she trusted Liu Chanxin and had not expected any unexpected events.

In fact, Qin Chun had asked Liu Chanxin about it on WeChat from the beginning, and then when Shen Jiangfu went to pay, she secretly hid a 100-yuan note. She originally wanted to blame Liu Chanxin, so she didn't make things difficult for Shen Jiangfu.

However, the classmates in the class did not think so.

Some people thought Shen Jiangfu had accidentally forgotten it, while others thought she had taken it. The class was collecting tuition at the time, and Shen Jiangfu, who usually had trouble paying, would delay for several days before paying. Unexpectedly, this time, she paid it out quickly.

They were all very surprised where Shen Jiangfu got the money.

In the end, the lost hundred-yuan note could not be found, so the head teacher did not investigate and paid the difference out of his own pocket.

Although the classmates didn't say it publicly, everyone assumed it was Shen Jiangfu's who lost it. Qin Chun undoubtedly came from a well-off family; if she had lost it, she would have taken the initiative to replace it. And while Liu Chanxin came from a poor family, everyone knew she wasn't a thief. Only Shen Jiangfu was different. She spoke to almost everyone, and no one knew what kind of person she was. She was also very poor, even poorer than Liu Chanxin, and even her tuition was paid by her homeroom teacher.

In addition, Shen Jiangfu has a solitary personality. Apart from being close to Liu Chanxin, she generally doesn't like to talk to other people.

Someone mentioned this to Liu Chanxin, and she said she didn't do it, and that she had counted the money before giving it to Shen Jiangfu. But she didn't say it wasn't Shen Jiangfu's fault, so most of the students assumed that Shen Jiangfu had lost it.

Shen Jiangfu learned from others that Liu Chanxin suspected her, and she suddenly felt a pang in her heart.

She didn't ask Liu Chanxin about the matter, but she felt that she and Liu Chanxin were not the same kind of people. Maybe she didn't want to be friends with her. She had many friends, and she was just one of them. To Liu Chanxin, she was insignificant.

Because of the money loss incident, Shen Jiangfu became the one everyone in the class avoided. No one wanted to talk to her. Except for her roommates who would occasionally chat with her, but they would always end the conversation after a few words from Shen Jiangfu.

Later, after the college entrance exam, Qin Chun revealed the truth in the class group chat. She simply said she had put the money inside a tutoring material and discovered the missing 100 yuan while packing up her books. As for the real truth, she realized her mistake but was too embarrassed to speak out.

But who cares?

They did not change their opinion of Shen Jiangfu, but they felt surprised: it turned out that she did not steal the money.

Shen Jiangfu is a person who is extremely indifferent to emotions but also extremely sensitive. She doesn't like to get close to others, but cares about other people's eyes.

Liu Chanxin was the first person willing to approach Shen Jiangfu. In fact, Shen Jiangfu valued her very much, but she didn't show it.

When she knew that Liu Chanxin was willing to play with her, she initially wanted to ignore Liu Chanxin because she felt that she didn't need friends.

As for Shen Jiangfu's cold attitude towards her, Liu Chanxin didn't feel disappointed or annoyed. She continued to talk to her, even if Shen Jiangfu still didn't reply. This was because Liu Chanxin knew that Shen Jiangfu was quite kind. During a previous sports meet, Liu Chanxin lost a thermos cup. When Shen Jiangfu found out, she silently helped her look for it for a long time, missing dinner time. Later, the thermos cup was found, and Liu Chanxin was grateful to her. Since then, Liu Chanxin found that when she talked to Shen Jiangfu, she no longer talked to herself, and Shen Jiangfu began to respond to her slowly.

But after being wrongly accused of stealing money, Shen Jiangfu suddenly realized the difference between them. In Shen Jiangfu's mind, Liu Chanxin was a heartthrob, beautiful, cheerful, and generous despite her poor family background. Meanwhile, Shen Jiangfu reflected on herself, who came from a similarly poor family background, but lacked Liu Chanxin's generosity and was instead depressed and negative.

After the college entrance examination, the two gradually lost contact.

It wasn't until five years later, in Kuantang Village, that the two met again. Liu Chanxin had become an actress, one of the hottest young actresses of her generation. At that time, Shen Jiangfu, watching the still radiant Liu Chanxin, felt a surge of jealousy. She found herself still blaming her, blaming her for giving her the money, blaming her for letting her be wronged.

Liu Chanxin is the heroine of another story, and Shen Jiangfu is the supporting actress in that story, and cannot be considered the second female lead in the book.

At the time, Liu Chanxin was filming a treasure hunt variety show in Kuantang Village, which was scheduled for three days. The production team was looking for part-time workers in the village to act as "guides," similar to NPCs in scripted killing games, who would take the artists to their designated locations.

Shen Jiangfu also participated, playing a teacher. However, she took Liu Chanxin to a remote mud-brick house halfway up a mountain, surrounded by bamboo forests and trees, and with no villagers nearby. This caused Liu Chanxin to get lost and sprain her ankle.

Shen Jiangfu didn't know that the production crew had also placed cameras in the yellow mud brick house. Later, after the show aired, the production crew broadcast this segment, and although it was censored, netizens still found Shen Jiangfu.

The comments were all scolding Shen Jiangfu for being unfit to be a teacher, and all kinds of disgusting remarks were attacking Shen Jiangfu. Later, due to public pressure, Shen Jiangfu was suspended.

Later, Shen Jiangfu bought several bottles of pesticide and ended her life. Her body was discovered a week later by a neighboring family, who even paid for her burial out of their own pocket.

Shen Jiangfu also knew that her hatred for Liu Chanxin was inexplicable. Liu Chanxin hadn't hurt her, and it was only she who had been hurting her. She had made all the choices herself, but she couldn't find a way to vent, so she dumped them all on Liu Chanxin.

Before her death, Chen Jiangfu had only three wishes. She wanted to find her own sense of recognition, and to express her gratitude to Liu Chanxin for the passion she had released in her back then. That passion had given her strength at the time, and she also wanted to thank the person who helped bury her.

Liang He received the commission and agreed.

"Okay, I promise. From now on, I'm yours."

In the distance, a little girl came trotting over with a heavy schoolbag on her back and a popsicle in her hand, shaking her schoolbag up and down. "Teacher Shen, I'll treat you to a popsicle!"

Shen Jiangfu looked at her, her eyes slightly moist, "Thank you Xuanchu for the popsicles, you can take them back for your sister."

Chen Xuanchu didn't expect the teacher to remember her name. Her face suddenly flushed and she said excitedly, "Okay, teacher, see you next semester." Then, she bowed to Shen Jiangfu. Because her schoolbag was too heavy, she stumbled forward. "Goodbye, teacher!"

Shen Jiangfu looked at her and replied, "Goodbye, classmates."

Shen Jiangfu watched her leave. The girl held popsicles in both hands, then trotted out of the school gate. She met someone she knew, her face filled with joy. Seeing this, tears fell from her eyes.

Shen Jiangfu wiped her tears and said, "Okay, it's time for me to go. You keep an eye on them for me from now on."

She looked up at the five-star red flag hanging in the sky, and said with a smile, "Thank you, Liang He."

After her death, Shen Jiangfu was transported to an incomparably dark place. She didn't know how long she stayed there until a voice appeared, saying it could return to the past for her, become her, and help her complete the things she still regretted.

Shen Jiangfu agreed. At the same time, she also made a small request, which was to allow her to go back in time to say goodbye to her students and see them again.

Now that it was done, it was time for her to go.