Hospitalization

Lu Er had only walked a few steps out of the office when Ruan Xiyan followed closely behind.

"Weren't you guys discussing a problem?" Lu Er glanced at him, her eyes filled with doubt.

Ruan Xiyan shrugged, and the two walked up the stairs together. "I told him I understood, and he let me out. But he'll probably come back to ask me again tomorrow." After saying this, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and asked, "Teacher Lu, what did the teacher just say to you?"

“…It’s nothing.” Lu Er touched his ear. “I’ll go up and give a speech about the 100-day countdown rally.”

Ruan Xiyan slowed her pace as she walked up the steps, remaining silent. A moment later, Lu Er felt him catch up in a few steps, his tone as cheerful as ever: "Oh, I see. You did so well on the exam, it's only natural that you go up as an example."

"……Um."

Class 23 was on the second floor, and Class 18 was on the fourth floor. Upon reaching the second floor, Lu Er had to part ways with Ruan Xiyan.

Lu Er turned around, stood on the second step between the third and second floors, and waved to him: "Bye-bye."

Ruan Xiyan didn't rush into the house. He stood there, looking up at her with a rare calm in his eyes: "Teacher Xiaolu."

Lu Er paused for a moment: "Hmm?"

Ruan Xiyan continued to gaze at her: "If there's anything you're hiding from me, could you please not keep it from me?"

She was silent for a moment, then smiled slightly and said, "Okay." Her tone was unusually gentle. "But I'm fine, really."

"..." Ruan Xiyan looked down at the ground, then suddenly looked up at her with a sweet smile, "Good night."

"good evening."

Saying nothing was wrong was a lie; she was just trying to comfort Ruan Xiyan. Lu Er knew that with Ruan Xiyan's personality, she would be more considerate of her than anyone else.

That idiot, can't he think more about his own affairs?

-

The "100-Day Countdown Rally" refers to a pledge taken by all senior high school students on the day exactly 100 days before the college entrance examination, in order to boost morale and inspire enthusiasm.

The speech was effective. After the 100-day countdown rally, Deng Lianchun personally turned the three-digit red calendar, and the students of Class 18, seeing the countdown with only two digits remaining, seemed to be deeply moved.

Later, more and more students came to Lu Er for help with their questions.

After school one afternoon, Ruan Xiyan came to find Lu Er from Class 18 and bumped into Chen Xiang asking Lu Er a question. Chen Xiang was asking about the geometric proof of a math problem and had brought a past year's exam paper to solve. Lu Er explained the thought process to him several times, but Chen Xiang still only vaguely understood. So she broke down the steps in detail, explaining the theorems, the cause-and-effect proofs, and the conclusion to him.

Lu Er spoke responsibly, and Chen Xiang listened with great seriousness, while Ruan Xiyan, who was sitting backwards in his chair, was displeased. He rested his chin on the back of the chair and waited for a long time, until the hard back of the chair left a red mark between his fair neck and chin.

"How long are you going to keep talking?" she said to the two of them, while secretly glaring at Chen Xiang.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lu, the college entrance exam is coming up soon, your studies should be the priority." Chen Xiang waved his hand twice, as if shooing away flies, "Please do not disturb me if you are not a relevant person."

Lu Er gave him a reassuring look, meaning, wait a little longer.

Ruan Xiyan pretended to be angry: "Wait until I hire Teacher Lu, then let's see who explains the problems to you."

This wasn't the first time; several times during breaks, Ruan Xiyan came to find Lu Er. She was either doing problems, on her way to do problems, explaining problems to others, or on her way to explain problems.

He later complained to her, "We can only talk when no one else is around, but I don't see any time when no one else is around."

Lu Er smiled helplessly to herself and agreed, promising to reply to his text messages on her phone whenever she had free time.

Besides this, Lu Er was also thinking about how to make money. After much deliberation, she decided that tutoring was the most suitable option. However, her current status was a major constraint, and after a week, she still hadn't come to a conclusion.

Lu Er began to consider whether to wait until after the college entrance examination to make preparations.

On Saturday, Lu Er was browsing the wall of the Third Middle School campus when she inadvertently came across a post recruiting tutors.

@RabbitShrimp: I'm lagging behind in my class and don't dare ask a teacher for help. I'm looking for a student who ranks in the top ten of the grade to tutor me. They should be a senior in high school, studying science. Salary is negotiable.

The comments below were varied, but all mocked how students from No. 3 Middle School were so worthy of being scammed by outsiders.

@光光光: Those who believe will have a lifetime of happiness.

@ouo: I'm a senior in high school, not an idiot.

@PasserbyDing: Do you think the top ten students in your grade even acknowledge you?

...

Lu Er was just looking at this when the class bell rang, and she hurriedly put her phone away.

The words of that post haunted Lu Er's mind like a ghost. She spent the entire class period pondering that post.

During her lunch break, Lu Er secretly contacted that person.

@Bait: Hi, do you need tutoring?

@兔兔虾: Yes, please add this [redacted] number to discuss details.

Lu Er actually searched for that QQ account. The homepage showed that the user was female, and the pictures displayed on the QQ space were also selfies of a female user.

Lu Er breathed a sigh of relief for no apparent reason. Thank goodness, it wasn't Ruan Xiyan... Why did she think it was that idiot Ruan Xiyan? She couldn't explain it, Lu Er thought. Maybe because she had been bathed in Ruan Xiyan's light so much, every ray of sunlight she received now made her think it was his shadow.

Lu Er shook his head, trying to banish the thought from his mind.

Rabbit Shrimp's real name is Lin Lanyan, and she's in Class 12. She wanted a top student to tutor her individually, so she arranged to meet Lu Er at noon in Class 12.

The picture Lin Lanyan and Lu Er had glimpsed in the [redacted] space looked exactly the same; it was her. She offered very generous terms: if her overall subject scores improved and her overall grade ranking rose, she would receive a raise.

Lu Er nodded; she would do her best in every job she took on.

After the mock exam, the weather gradually warmed up. In early spring in Huai'an, the plane trees lining the roads are green like the ribs of an umbrella.

Lin Lanyan only required Lu Er to attend tutoring classes during lunchtime from Monday to Friday, and to rest on weekends. During the half-day off on Sunday, Lu Er was often dragged by Ruan Xiyan to sit in an ice cream shop.

Ruan Xiyan rested her chin on her hands, looking at her with a deep gaze: "Teacher Xiaolu, why did you come out with me? Are you still doing your homework here?"

Lu Er remained unmoved, her pen moving swiftly across the draft: "Only eighty-two days until the college entrance examination."

Ruan Xiyan snorted and her two long, bent legs nudged her knee restlessly: "But we only have this much time to spend together each week."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Let's stroll together, ride bikes together, draw plaster dolls together, exercise together, drink milk tea together..." When he got to the last one, he glanced at her shyly, lowered his voice, and said, "With one straw."

After he finished speaking, he felt righteous and started to raise his voice: "You still have so much to do with me."

"..." Lu Er tilted her head, looked at him, and coaxed him like a child, "After the college entrance exam, I'll do it with you again."

Ruan Xiyan didn't look happy, but her voice still rang out: "Well, okay then." He suddenly leaned forward, looking at her heavy eyelids, "Why aren't your dark circles gone? Don't you sleep well behind my back?"

Lu Er rubbed his face briefly: "I took on a tutoring job, so I didn't have much time to sleep at noon."

"..." Ruan Xiyan's voice lowered, as if she were talking to herself, "It's definitely better to let me do it."

Lu Er looked out the window to relieve her eye strain. As she did so, she saw Lin Lanyan. She also remembered the girl standing next to her; her name was Li Xianjing, and she had met her at summer camp.

Lin Lanyan and Li Xianjing chatted for a while by the roadside, then walked hand in hand and disappeared from sight. Lu Er looked away and gently tapped Ruan Xiyan's head, who was staring at her intently, with her pen: "You should learn from me too."

"Aww!" Ruan Xiyan exclaimed dramatically, then obediently replied, "Oh."

-

After the 100-day countdown rally, major exams, minor exams, and monthly exams lined up neatly, bombarding the senior high school students week after week.

"Remember to reflect on each exam and learn from your mistakes. By the time you've absorbed all the knowledge before the college entrance exam, you can pick out points one by one from the basic questions, and getting 60 points won't be difficult. That's how the college entrance exam is; there's nothing to be nervous about."

One afternoon, Director Vulture passed by Class 18, who had just been notified that their physical education class had been taken over, and casually delivered this passionate speech.

The whole class was like a dead river, completely unresponsive. Only a few students, like white-eyed fish floating belly-up, responded listlessly. Director Vulture glanced around and said to Deng Lianchun at the door, "The emperor isn't worried, but the eunuchs are."

Deng Lianchun nodded with a smile. After the director left, he said with a cold expression, "Cheer up, everyone. Are you all tired? Aren't you teachers tired?" Then he softened his tone and encouraged the whole class, saying, "There are still seventy days left. If you can get through these seventy days, you will be free."

Everyone said listlessly, "Okay." A boring physics class was over; the next class was English.

The English class representative had just wiped the blackboard and was about to call on students to come up and recite words and phrases in order: "This time, it's Chen Xiang, Wang Zhilei..."

After the vocabulary dictation was finished, my deskmate came to grade it. After my deskmate finished grading, the English class representative wiped the blackboard clean.

This round ended, but Ms. Mina still hadn't appeared. The chatter below gradually became uncontrollable; at first, it was just one or two whispers, but then it sprang up like mushrooms after rain, infecting most of the class.

Lu Er picked up the latest mock exam paper and was writing the cloze test when, for some reason, her heart felt like it was on a swing, constantly swaying back and forth.

A boy suddenly ran in through the door, shouting loudly, "This period is for self-study!"

Why?

"Teacher...the teacher has been taken to the hospital!"

Lu Er stood up immediately.

No one knew what had happened; all they knew was that an ambulance with its siren blaring suddenly pulled up on the third-year high school building. It was during class time, and there weren't many onlookers downstairs. A group of teachers and several doctors in white coats were gathered in the office, forming a circle, and then the circle moved toward the ambulance.

The boy happened to be asking the chemistry teacher a question when he saw it. He had initially been watching with a curious gaze, but when he stood on tiptoe to look, he discovered that the person lying on the stretcher was none other than Teacher Mina.

"Is the teacher sick?" several girls asked anxiously. They were the ones who liked to run to Ms. Mina's office the most.

"have no idea."

"The teacher's complexion always seems a bit off; she's extremely pale, almost translucent..."

One boy said, "When I had a one-on-one meeting with the teacher before, I saw the teacher taking some kind of medicine, but I couldn't see clearly. It might be something serious..."

His words cast a heavy shadow over the entire Class 18. Class discipline vanished instantly; everyone was discussing the situation, filled with anxiety.

At this time, the class monitor should step in, call everyone to study on their own, and maintain normal order in the class.

But Lu Er remained silent, sitting there like a statue that had been bowing its head since birth.

It was the vice class monitor who spoke up: "Everyone, please be quiet. The teacher has been taken to the hospital, but she'll be fine. Let's focus on our studies."

The students in Class 18 managed to quiet down. A chilling sense of panic still lingered in the air.

Lu Er read the questions several times and started answering them. But she couldn't understand the first word: tailor, present, conservation… what did these mean? This seemed to be her first time learning English.

Lu Er couldn't control the trembling of her fingers. She put down her pen and prayed repeatedly for Teacher Mina in her heart.

Evening self-study session started, but still no news came. Lu Er was sitting in her seat when her classmates, one after another, informed her of something: the homeroom teacher was looking for her outside.

As Lu Er walked out of the classroom, Deng Lianchun, holding Mi Tian's hand, looked at her apologetically: "Sorry to bother you, class monitor. The English teacher is still in the hospital... It's not good for her daughter to stay there. She doesn't want to go with the teachers in the office, so she said she wants to stay with you."

"Can you sleep with her tonight? I've already informed the instructor."

Lu Er nodded slightly and took Mi Tian from Deng Lianchun's hand. Mi Tian's face was deathly pale, like a puppet who had lost its soul, letting them pass her around in their hands.

“Teacher,” Lu Er looked at him and asked the question that had been haunting her, “Teacher… is she alright?”

Deng Lianchun remained silent for a long time, glanced at Mi Tian, ​​and then lowered his face: "It's hard to say... You know, the English teacher has a heart condition. She usually teaches a graduating class, which is very tiring, and her health isn't good either. This heart condition is like a time bomb..."

"The doctor said she's been resuscitated and is currently recovering, but we'll have to see how she fares..."

Lu Er felt a burning pain in her throat: "I understand, teacher."

After evening self-study, Lu Er held Mi Tian's hand and walked towards the dormitory building.

My feet felt like they were swimming, until I reached the base of the sycamore tree, when a voice suddenly sounded behind me.

Lu Er turned around. Ruan Xiyan, panting, strode up to her, staring at her with a serious expression: "Teacher Lu, I just found out about Teacher Mina..."

"..." He caught his breath and then didn't know what to say. "Are you... alright?"

Lu Er shook his head, his lips tightly closed.

"Don't worry." Ruan Xiyan raised her hand and placed it on Mi Tian's lowered head. "Everything will be alright. Get a good night's sleep tonight, and we'll go see Teacher Mina together tomorrow afternoon."

Lu Er nodded and said, "Okay."

Back at 306, Huang Lingling saw Lu Er holding a little girl's hand. She opened her mouth in shock, but then noticed the identical expressions on their faces, so she wisely closed her mouth and didn't ask any more questions.

Mi Tian remained silent throughout the entire process. From the moment she was handed over to Lu Er, to when Ruan Xiyan patted her head, and from the moment she and Lu Er returned to their dormitory, she was like a mute, not uttering a single sound.

The lights went out, and Lu Er lifted her blanket to let Mi Tian climb in first.

In the silent darkness, both of them held heavy hearts.

Lu Er sensed Mi Tian leaning closer and reached out to touch her waist. Lu Er then opened her chest, allowing Mi Tian to bury her face in her lower abdomen.

Her lower abdomen was being soaked by drops of water, and tears seeped through her short sleeves, staining her skin. It felt icy cold.

Mi Tian didn't even cry out loud.

Lu Er hugged Mi Tian tighter and whispered in her ear, "It's okay. She'll be alright."

She's so good, she'll definitely get better.