My teacher

Xin Xuan's final appearance was not good.

The date for her burial has been chosen by someone; it will be three days from now.

The body was placed in a rented freezer at home for three days, covered with a thick Raschel blanket, with the bright red wildflowers kneaded together, and the layers of folds filled with beautiful petals.

Xin Xuan never married. The only time she left Milu Town was to go to school. After returning, she taught at the local primary school. When the junior high school was short of students, she taught junior high school, teaching Chinese and mathematics round after round.

Her small frame always made her hunched over the podium, scribbling away, as if she had an endless supply of homework to correct.

Jin Xilu still remembers when she was in junior high school, she became withdrawn and would not move around much after class. She would just sit in her seat, cover herself with the curtains, and observe Xin Xuan's every move.

She had a lot of homework that day, and without realizing it, she had started to imitate Xin Xuan's way of holding a pen, and even her expression when thinking was unconsciously mimicking Xin Xuan's.

"What are you doing?"

When Jin Xilu suddenly appeared behind her, Xin Xuan was so startled that she dropped her pen, and black ink splashed onto the book, creating a small ink flower.

She picked up her pen and gripped it tightly again. Her eyes lowered, but she couldn't help wanting to get a closer look at Xin Xuan's expression. So she shifted her position and leaned back, backing against the cold wall. With nowhere else to hide, she dared to look up and meet Xin Xuan's sunken eyes.

"Ah, I'm writing an essay."

Jin Xilu gripped the pen tightly, unaware that it had already malfunctioned. Holding the pen, she closed her eyes and poked it down, immediately splashing black ink all over her hand. The page of the composition paper with the title just written on was also not spared.

When Xin Xuan was young, her eyes were probably very standard double-lidded big eyes. Although her eyes are not small now, her deep black pupils are somewhat cloudy, like a puddle of mud that keeps sinking.

As she stared at you, you were standing in the middle of the mud, entangled in the mud and water, and it was only a matter of time before you sank in.

"What happened? Come on, I'll take you to wash your hands..."

Jin Xilu couldn't remember what Xin Xuan said after that. She only remembered that Xin Xuan took her clean other hand and led her away from the wooden bench that had pinned her down all day.

She stood beside the moss-covered cement platform behind the classroom, neither speaking nor resisting, letting Xin Xuan cup her hands in her palms and rinse them again and again with the cold tap water. Her dazed appearance was just like an airtight steamer cloth.

“You’ve been arguing with your grandma again lately. I’ve never seen anything like it. Only you can provoke her temper, that peacemaker.” Xin Xuan’s calluses were just as many as Jin Meiling’s. When their hands were clasped together, Jin Xilu was momentarily stunned.

"No, I didn't argue with her." Kim Hee-ro turned her face away. The students coming and going, their lively laughter and chatter contrasted sharply with their secret silence.

“Yes, you didn’t argue with her, but your silent treatment is also a form of bullying towards your stupid grandma.” Xin Xuan turned off the tap, glanced at the girl with pursed lips, and spoke without gentleness, her words still like a cold knife piercing the heart.

"Hmm, did she call you here to persuade me?" The sound of water stopped. The faucet was old and in disrepair, and a few more drops dripped after Jin Xilu finished speaking.

Tap tap, beep—

"No, I'm here to apologize." Xin Xuan had just finished speaking when the school bell rang, and the boys who had been playing wildly on the playground rushed into the classroom one by one as if in a race.

After the extreme noise subsided, the world around her gradually quieted down, and then Kim Hee-ro heard Shin-ro say, "It's not Kim Mi-ryung who should apologize to you, it's me."

Being abandoned by her grandmother and then accidentally abducted to Zhujialing has always been a source of deep regret for Jin Xilu.

It was probably around this time that Jin Xilu realized she had changed. She went from being afraid of Xin Xuan to gradually wanting to understand Xin Xuan, yet not wanting her to know. This strange feeling intensified, and she began to unconsciously imitate Xin Xuan.

When she reads, she always buries her head very low, as if she is sucked into the book. Her withered fingers smooth the corners of the book, and then her dry eyes blink gently a few times before continuing to read.

Kim Hee-ro also wanted to study hard, to read, to read, to read; this thought filled her diary.

Just like Xin Xuan, I took the exam and went abroad.

Regardless, the wild seed of wanting to escape had already taken root and sprouted in her heart, domineeringly occupying her mind, leaving her with little room to pay attention to Jin Meiling's increasingly frail body.

Xin Xuan wasn't always frowning or unapproachable; she also had moments of joy.

The summer before Jin Meiling passed away, Xin Xuan arrived at the Jin family's door with a package. Early in the morning, before the dew in the yard had even dried, the Jin family's door was being banged on.

Jin Meiling had a fever that day and was lying in bed in a drowsy sleep. She didn't hear the knocking. It was Jin Xilu who opened the door wearing a long-sleeved cotton summer nightgown. She was surprised to see Xin Xuan standing at the door.

Thinking she was looking for her grandmother, Jin Xilu, leaning against the doorframe, hesitated, "That Teacher Xin..."

She had barely opened her mouth when she was so startled by Xin Xuan's excited, loud voice that she almost dropped the door. Seriously, she had never seen Xin Xuan like this before.

You passed the exam!

Xin Xuan had short hair that reached her shoulders, with four or five white hairs sticking out from her forehead as she trembled with excitement. Her voice drowned out the rooster crowing on time next door, so much so that Jin Xilu, who had just woken up and was still groggy, thought she was hallucinating.

Looking further down, Xin Xuan was still wearing her dark black pajamas, with a large, overblown white camellia embroidered on the neckline. She was wearing a pair of old slippers, and it seemed she was holding a large envelope in her hand. Jin Xilu thought: Oh, so Teacher Xin won the lottery.

Why did Teacher Xin tell me immediately after winning the lottery?

But Jin Xilu rubbed her eyes and honestly said, "Congratulations, Teacher Xin has won the lottery."

"It wasn't me, it was you! You got accepted into the targeted medical student program!"

Jin Xilu was rubbing her eyes when Xin Xuan slapped her hand. It was as if she was meeting Xin Xuan for the first time and realized that Xin Xuan's voice and strength could be so loud.

"Ah, I passed the exam."

"Yes, it's you. You can go to school to register this September." Xin Xuan looks especially beautiful when she smiles. Her skin is very fair and her teeth are neat and white. However, she is usually serious and doesn't smile much, which makes her seem too rigid and boring.

"Great news! Grandma, Grandma, I passed the exam!"

When Kim Hee-ro heard the news, her first thought was to share it with Kim Mi-ryung.

The three of them gathered in the small, unassuming room of the Jin family home, touched the admission notice in the envelope, and smiled. A few days later, Jin Meiling invited several tables of relatives and friends in the courtyard to celebrate Jin Xilu's admission to the targeted medical student program.

The narrow courtyard was bustling with activity back then. As night fell, all the lights in the courtyard were turned on.

Of course, Jiang Yilin also came. He not only came in person, but also brought a gift for Jin Xilu to open later.

Jin Xilu was a little shy but still accepted the gift he gave her in a generous manner. This scene was witnessed by a busybody, who looked at her with a sour expression and said, "Tsk tsk, I didn't expect that. Jin Xilu usually looks like a very simple girl, but I didn't expect her to be so capable."

"She's already hooked up with Chief Jiang's son. Meiling told me, why is the girl still in school? She can just wait two more years and come to your house for her wedding. Oh! Could it be that the Jiang family doesn't approve?" The uncle from the Jin family sitting in the seat was talkative and ugly.

After he said that, the room was quiet for a few seconds, and then someone who loved to stir up trouble immediately chimed in: "That's right, that's right, Meiling, you're so lucky."

But the woman next to the man looked a little stiff. She quickly realized that there were too many people here today, and they were gossiping about the young master of the Jiang family. If this got back to the clan leader, it would not be good. She quickly tried to smooth things over for her husband: "Oh dear, Meiling and Xilu, don't take it to heart. Old Jin is just too happy. He drank too much because he saw how successful his niece is."

"When Jin Xilu was little, she always played with my son Jin Fang. Jin Fang would always praise Xilu for being cute. At the time, I thought I'd wait until she grew up..."

The woman's words became increasingly outrageous. It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned Jin Fang, who was stupid and incredibly ugly. But as soon as she mentioned Jin Xilu, she flew into a rage, shaking off Jin Meiling's attempt to stop her. Before she even reached the table, she stopped in shock.

The table fell completely silent. Everyone watched as Xin Xuan, who hadn't said a word and seemed to have no presence, suddenly stood up, threw a plate of braised pig's head at the man's face, and did something so swift that no one had expected Xin Xuan to do it.

"Who are you! Do you want to die?"

"Sorry, I didn't drink, my hand slipped." After saying that, Xin Xuan let go of her hand, her expression revealing undisguised disgust and disdain.

The plate slid off the man's face, staining it with red oil. The last few pieces of the greasiest pig's head meat stuck to his eyes, and a few sprigs of green cilantro dangled from his nostrils.

In addition, his skin was already dark, and under the yellow light, he looked exactly like a plate of braised pig's head.

It's not very appetizing and makes people lose their appetite.

"The one who's most troublesome is your son, Jin something I forgot. I only remember that he got zero in elementary school and gave gifts to change classes, got into a fight in middle school and was in jail for two months, and recently he was scammed out of money at home and is too scared to go out."

Seeing her husband so embarrassed, his wife became furious and yelled at Xin Xuan, "Xin Xuan, you're spouting nonsense! What business is it of yours if you're an old woman nobody wants? Are you crazy?"

In contrast to the woman's anger, Xin Xuan remained calm. Of course, she hadn't been drinking, and she spoke clearly: "You care so much about Jin Xilu, but I've never heard you praise me. Jin Xilu is my student. I'm happy that she did well on her exams, and everyone is happy too. It's just that you guys are so sour and disgusting that no one can eat anymore."

Later, Jin Xilu went to Xin Xuan to thank her because of this, but Xin Xuan rolled her eyes and pushed her away: "Idiot, no matter what, you're still so close to that Jiang family boy. Don't tell me you really like her."

Kim Hee-ro blushed instantly, stammered, and finally nodded.

That night, Xin Xuan stayed until the very end, and after helping Jin Meiling tidy up the yard, she said to her, "Keep an eye on your child. I don't want her to be the second He Min."

A few weeks later, Kim Mi-ryung suddenly fell ill and was bedridden. Kim Hee-ro panicked and called a doctor to examine her. The doctor told her that it was bone cancer and she needed to have surgery immediately.

The surgery would cost 100,000 yuan, but Jin Xilu couldn't afford that much. In the end, Jiang Yilin approached her and offered to take the money that He Min had left behind, along with the wages that the Jiang family had withheld from Jin Meiling. They had a total of 120,000 yuan to use first and get the surgery done quickly.

No one knows how these 120,000 things came to light later, but as the story spread, it became that the Jin family's maid had indeed had an ambiguous relationship with the Jiang family's young master, and that the money for Jin Meiling's medical treatment was the dowry given by the Jiang family.

"Tsk tsk, I never expected that Chief Jiang would like this kind of woman."

At midnight, Xin Xuan's old house had become a quiet mourning hall. Several people were keeping vigil by the fire, eating melon seeds, and chatting softly.

"Haven't you heard? Chief Jiang brought a woman back and she's staying at the Jiang family's house."

"It's time for Chief Jiang to settle down and start a family."

"That's right, that's right. If it weren't for the Jin family girl holding him back, he would have been married and had children long ago."

Kim Hee-ro stood alone in front of the altar in the main room, replacing the burnt-out candles. The firelight reflected on her pale, delicate face, revealing nothing of her thoughts.

After changing the candles, Jin Xilu took three incense sticks, lit them, and waited for the smoke to rise before bowing to Xin Xuan's serious black and white photograph.

She remembered that on the composition paper stained with black ink that day, the title of the composition she hadn't even started writing was written: My Teacher.