The matter didn't become public knowledge, and the students, unaware of the full story, assumed that Zhang Xiaoxia had fallen seriously ill and hadn't returned to school.
Bonnie learned some details from Teacher Ma; her husband and Zhang Xiaoxia's father worked at the same company, so he knew more.
"Bonnie, you've tidied this up so neatly and cleanly. It's a pleasure to look at."
After the first class in the afternoon, Teacher Ma came over with a water cup and talked to Bonnie.
"It's alright, I'm used to it, I can arrange them easily. The orchid is on leave, I feel a little out of sorts."
Bonnie only found out that Orchid had taken the day off when she arrived this morning. Half a day has passed, and she feels like something is missing.
"Yes, when she was around, I thought she was really talkative and chatty. But without her, it feels like several people are missing."
Teacher Ma shared the same sentiment, noting that Comrade Lan Hua was an important figure in their library.
"Bonnie, your daughter is in junior high now, right? She's all grown up. I'm just saying this today, don't think I'm being annoying."
Teacher Ma went around in circles for a long time before finally getting to the point.
"Teacher Ma, what are you saying? Just tell us what's on your mind. We can't keep things to ourselves."
Bonnie sensed that something was wrong with Teacher Ma, and she was right.
"It's that girl from our school who fainted before. Her dad works at the same company as my husband. He said some things that I think all families with daughters should take seriously."
"What happened to that girl? We haven't heard from her since."
Bonnie guessed that the child might be pregnant, but the news hadn't spread and she hadn't heard anything about it.
"The girl is pregnant, more than seven months along, has dropped out of school, and has married the child's father."
She and her husband went to a wedding banquet, and to their surprise, the boy was beaten up badly; he still had bruises on his face on the day of the banquet.
"Is it someone you know, someone you fell in love with?"
Bonnie felt a little relieved; it would be better if she hadn't been bullied, otherwise, the psychological trauma would have been too difficult to overcome.
"It wasn't exactly a free love relationship. The boy was a few years older than the girl, they lived in the same residential compound, and their parents knew each other. It was just a mistake made on impulse."
Teacher Ma explained what had happened, and only then did Bonnie understand what had occurred.
"The girl was so clueless that she didn't even know she was pregnant. She thought she had just gained weight and was afraid her classmates would laugh at her, so she always wrapped her belly in the bed sheet. Her family didn't notice either."
The boy, in a moment of impulse, scared the girl with a few words and ran away, without even thinking about the pregnancy. After returning from the hospital, the two families sat down face-to-face to talk things over.
The fetus was already over seven months along, so an abortion was no longer an option; the baby had to be born. The two children weren't yet of legal age, but they held a wedding banquet before registering their marriage.
The boy got beaten up by his father, and the girl's parents were furious, but they had to swallow their anger and accept it. At this point, having a child out of wedlock was a serious matter; although they wouldn't be thrown into a pig cage, the public criticism could be devastating.
Teacher Ma listened to the discussions at the banquet and didn't know what to say.
Bonnie thought that the boy's behavior was a crime, but since they knew each other and were already pregnant, what good would it do for the girl to report it to the police? So they chose what they thought was the best solution and dealt with the problem.
From beginning to end, the most innocent one was that girl. I heard she had good grades and a bright future ahead of her. Now, everything is gone.
"It's a pity for that girl, she has to bear such a heavy burden at such a young age."
"Who can argue with that? Her mother's eyes were red from crying, but she still decided to let her daughter get married, otherwise her family wouldn't be able to make a living in that area."
Teacher Ma has lived there all along and knows the destructive power of rumors.
"Sigh, it's all because of ignorance. If children were taught about sex from a young age, they would have a sense of self-protection, and things would often not be so bad."
Bonnie knew that in this era, no one would tell the children where they came from; most answers were, "They were dug out of a latrine, picked up from a woodpile, or carried from a woodpile..."
As a result, some children think that's how they were born, and have no concept of sex education whatsoever.
“No one would talk about these things; they’d be called indecent.”
Teacher Ma herself was young once, she's been through that phase. The first time she got her period, she was so scared she cried, thinking she was going to die, why was she bleeding?
When her mother found out, she gave her a menstrual belt and told her how to use it, but didn't explain why.
When she got married, her mother said that she should listen to her husband in everything, which made her suffer terribly on her wedding night and think that this man was too terrible.
Teacher Ma thought about it and felt that the past was too painful to recall.
"The general environment is like this. Although we keep saying that women can hold up half the sky, women's status is still not as good as men's."
Especially when something like this happens, women are often the ones who suffer the most.
Families with daughters often lack this kind of knowledge, leaving them unsure how to protect themselves or prevent gynecological diseases.
Bonnie remarked with feeling that, not to mention those of her mother and others, when they feel unwell, they don't think about going to the hospital because they feel embarrassed and just want to endure it.
"That's right, I don't have a daughter, and I'm too embarrassed to talk about this with my son."
After the wedding banquet, my husband and I discussed it at length, and I asked him to talk to our two sons about this matter to avoid making mistakes.
Teacher Ma himself can't avoid this topic; it's something he was raised with.
“My two children are doing well. I’ve been teaching them about the differences between boys and girls and some biological knowledge since they were little, so they can learn about these things.”
Bonnie knew that Teacher Ma wanted to say that she had a daughter and that she should be careful, but she was too embarrassed to say it directly, probably because she was afraid that Teacher Ma would be offended.
Bonnie was grateful; Teacher Ma was doing it for her own good, fearing something might happen.
"You're quite impressive. Most people wouldn't think of that, and even if they did, they wouldn't know how to say it. Okay, I'm going back to work now."
Teacher Ma really likes Bao Ni's daughter, Liu Jiu. She talked a bit too much today, otherwise, she wouldn't have risked being scolded to say these things.
After seeing Teacher Ma off, Bonnie had some ideas in her mind. She wanted to write some short stories about puberty and health education, so that the confused children would have some knowledge about sex and not be completely clueless.
I remember a joke I heard before, about a middle school student who accidentally fell on his lips with a girl. He was worried for a long time, fearing that the girl would have a baby.
He had heard that kissing could result in having a child, and he firmly believed it.
Bonnie wasn't sure if she could tell the story clearly, or if newspapers or magazines would accept it after she wrote it down.
Sitting at the table, my mind was a jumble of thoughts, I didn't know where to begin, and I couldn't find a starting point.
Bonnie took out her notebook and wrote down an idea, planning to look up relevant information or ask Teacher Zhai later.
Thinking of her son Liu Jiu, Bonnie decided to make this happen.
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