Princess Dress and Iron Shirt (6)
Before the afternoon class, Teacher Mei really drove to pick her up to go to the hospital.
Along the way, seemingly trying to reassure Zhao Shihua that nothing serious would happen, Teacher Mei mentioned several students she'd seen injured in class, saying things like, "Bleeding profusely on the spot," "That leg bent 90 degrees," and so on. Her intentions were good, perhaps conveying, "Your condition isn't serious, don't worry," but she ended up backfiring and giving Zhao Shihua, who was in the passenger seat, a fright.
Zhao Shihua's biggest worry was that she might have a broken bone like she had as a child, requiring a cast and crutches, and perhaps even having to call her family to come all the way to care for her. Fortunately, the final result was a relief for both teacher and student. Knowing it was only a mild sprain, Zhao Shihua felt a sudden surge of joy. The doctor applied a pressure bandage, told her to continue applying ice that night, and asked her to come back tomorrow to check on her condition.
His spirits had improved, and his appetite had returned. It was already 4:30 when he left the hospital. Going back now would only allow him to catch the last half of class, which wasn't very meaningful. So, as he left the hospital, Zhao Shihua, almost forgetting the distance between teacher and student, generously asked the teacher if he could go to a nearby convenience store to buy something to eat.
Zhao Shihua was originally somewhat instinctively in awe of her teacher as an elder, but Teacher Mei never acted like a teacher while accompanying her to see the doctor. She supported her steadily all the way and not only did she not blame her for being careless when playing ball, but she also told her some funny things to cheer her up while they were waiting in line, just like her own sister.
"Don't you have some bread?"
Zhao Shihua didn't understand at first, but then she remembered that the teacher was carrying a bag when they left the school clinic, so she couldn't help but ask, "Isn't that yours, teacher?"
"It's not yours? That's strange. The plastic bag was on the bed next to yours, and there was no one else around. I thought it was yours, so I helped you carry it. Did another classmate get sick and come to see Doctor Sun at noon?"
"No... I don't know. I was asleep at that time."
"Eh? Could it be that Doctor Sun bought this for you?" Teacher Mei showed a look of surprise, as if she had guessed the riddle. However, her joy lasted only three seconds before her face darkened again. "Oh no! Could it be that Doctor Sun bought this for her son?!"
So the devastated Teacher Mei agreed to go to the convenience store, buy some snacks and make it up to the child, so as to ease her guilt for stealing other children's snacks.
"So, your homeroom teacher is Rong Shanshan?" Teacher Mei put down her Hong Kong-style milk tea. "What a coincidence! She and I were admitted to the same class at Normal University. We even lived together in the staff dormitory for a while at the beginning."
"Really?" Zhao Shihua stuffed a curry fish ball into his mouth and said something a little unclear. "You two are college classmates?"
"We didn't know each other in college. We only met after coming to Yangzhong." Teacher Mei pinched the straw, squinted her eyes, aimed at the pearls at the bottom of the cup, and sucked up a few in a row. "How is it, Shanshan, is she very good-tempered?"
"Is that so?" Zhao Shihua replied without thinking, but then wondered if she had misheard. After all, the nickname "Madame Rong" wasn't given casually. Even the normally unruly students would behave themselves when they saw their homeroom teacher, like Sun Wukong meeting Tang Sanzang. And even more so for a well-behaved student like her.
"That's what I told you. Her problem is that she's too gentle. Sooner or later, she'll be taken over by a disobedient student."
That day probably won’t come, Zhao Shihua muttered to himself.
"I remember there were several times when she was so angry that she cried." Teacher Mei turned around and glared at Zhao Shihua, "Hey, don't bully her!"
"Ah? We definitely wouldn't dare..." He said this, but nodded obediently.
While she was genuinely curious about the different faces Teacher Rong presented to her students and colleagues, she wasn't brave enough to proactively inquire about her backstory. She opened her mouth several times to ask, but ultimately kept her mouth shut, worried about whether she'd missed the key points her homeroom teacher had covered in the afternoon class. Oh, and maybe she'd even mention winter long-distance running before school ended.
"Teacher Mei, does that mean I can't participate in the winter long-distance race next week?"
"Running? Forget it! You usually need to rest for ten days or half a month." Seeing her frustrated expression, Teacher Mei asked, "Do you like long-distance running?"
It's not so much that I enjoy running, but rather that I want to participate in the lively, festive atmosphere. Winter long-distance running is also a tradition among the Sheep. Every year in early December, the first and second year high school students set out from school and run a lap around the neighboring university, a distance of about five kilometers, equivalent to a mini marathon.
Although it was not a formal competition, and some students who hated running even managed to get through the entire event by brisk walking, Zhao Shihua, who listed "running a marathon" as one of the "100 things to do in life", still hoped to take this opportunity to try her hand at it. Therefore, she had been looking forward to it since the end of the school sports meet.
Zhao Shihua sprained her ankle at this very moment, and she was filled with regret and hatred for the culprit who caused her sprain. She bit down hard on the fried tofu puff, and the soup splashed on her face.
"Is it really impossible to participate?" Zhao Shihua counted the days again. Today is Tuesday, and the winter long-distance running is next Friday. Even if he tries to squeeze it in, it will take ten days. What's more, the doctor said it was just a mild sprain and should not be serious.
Unexpectedly, Teacher Mei suddenly frowned: "I tell you, for the sake of your feet, don't even think about it. Since you asked this, I will definitely keep an eye on you that day. If I find out, I will, I--" There was no further news. It seemed that Teacher Mei didn't have any substantive warning to offer.
However, for Zhao Shihua, this was enough. The serious tone made her realize that the other party was a teacher after all, not a family member who could be irritated at will.
"But you can go help the Culture and Sports Department when the time comes," Teacher Mei explained, noting Zhao Shihua's disappointment. "It's just like running a marathon. There have to be staff along the way. Besides, our school's winter marathon doesn't close the roads in advance. It's just a lap around the university, so we'll have to assign teachers or students to check in at every important fork to prevent anyone from getting lost."
"How could you lose such a large group of people in front of you?"
"Yeah, I find it unbelievable too. They weren't a bunch of elementary school students. But I actually encountered that once, and I guess that kid ran with his eyes closed."
While we shouldn't underestimate the academic level of Yang Middle School students, we shouldn't overestimate their self-care abilities either. Zhao Shihua couldn't help but laugh at this thought, then remembered how she'd once been completely lost, so she decided to stop laughing. She instinctively raised her hand to sign up: "Then I want to be a volunteer!"
"It just so happens that we're short on staff. Come to the sports office after school this Friday. I think the meeting will be around five o'clock."
Zhao Shihua was instantly overjoyed, forgetting all the pain. "Okay! ...But I have one question. Where is the sports office?"
But later on she didn't know whether she should be glad or regretful for her active participation in it.
Zhao Shihua couldn't tell whether his experience could be considered a happy ending after suffering.
After returning to the dormitory from the hospital, many girls came to visit and contributed dozens of rehabilitation suggestions for sprained feet. Of course, they were nothing more than cold and hot compresses, less exercise and more rest, and drinking more bone soup, etc. A few people even got the order of applying cold compress first and then hot compress wrong. In the end, the injured person who had just experienced the whole process personally had to be responsible for the scientific popularization.
In addition, since Zhao Shihua had to take another day off to lie in bed the next day and go to the school hospital in the afternoon, not only did Zhuo Siqi offer to continue to convey the key points of each class to her, but Xu Jiamei and Qiao Xiaoling also took the initiative to take over the task of helping her with meals.
Zhao Shihua felt a warm glow in her heart, suddenly remembering how it was the same when she was sick as a child. Her family was too busy on weekdays to care for her, and only when she was sick would they take extra care of her. Unfortunately, thanks to her martial arts training, she had rarely been sick since she started elementary school, and she was as strong and healthy as a child who grew up in a garbage dump.
Not only was she deeply moved, but even her enthusiastic roommates seemed to be moved by their own feelings, having finally been able to act like Lei Feng. Despite Zhao Shihua repeatedly insisting she'd already eaten at the convenience store, they went to the cafeteria and brought back a full meal, barely able to even close the box, presumably with enough leftover for breakfast the next day. So, at 7 p.m., while everyone else was attending evening self-study classes, Zhao Shihua lay alone in bed, not to recuperate, but to massage her stomach to aid digestion.
After resting for a while and feeling better in her stomach, she grabbed her schoolbag to see if there was any exercise book she could take out to do. However, there was only an English book in it. She had put it in there to prepare for the English class of her homeroom teacher in the afternoon, so she didn't even bring a pen with her.
Zhao Shihua couldn't finish her homework at night, and her time was wasted. Frustrated, she pulled out her phone, turned off airplane mode, and planned to send a WeChat message to Zhuo Siqi. Then, remembering that her deskmate rarely looked at his phone, she decided to ask Xu Jiamei or Qiao Xiaoling to bring some homework back, at least to ensure she had something to do during the day.
As soon as the phone connected to the signal, more than a dozen messages popped up. Because they were received in reverse order, Zhao Shihua saw the last message first:
Pineapple Cake (14:32): I'm going to the teacher
Zhao Shihua's mind was full of questions. "Go to the teacher"? To the teacher's office? But what did Shao Yifu's going to the teacher's office have to do with her? She tapped the top of her phone screen and rewound back to the first unread message.
Pineapple Cake (12:09): Are you okay? Is your foot okay?
Pineapple Cake (12:40): [Where are the people?]
Pineapple Cake (13:11): Have you had lunch?
Pineapple Cake (14:28): You can’t come this afternoon?
Pineapple Pancake (14:30): Sorry, I didn't mean it.
Although Shao Yifu apologized for what wasn't his fault, Zhao Shihua was still furious and didn't want to talk to him at all. She closed the chat box, replied to two or three greeting messages from other classmates, and then memorized some vocabulary. In the end, she couldn't help herself and called Zhao Shuhua to complain.
Although Zhao Shihua tried to downplay the situation over the phone, her family inevitably exaggerated the severity of the situation. It's no wonder that children from far away often report good news but not bad news. So, despite repeated requests for "Don't come over," she still accepted the large pot of traditional pork rib soup from her classmate at noon the next day, which her sister had handed to her at the school gate. But the feeling of yesterday was gone. Zhao Shihua stared at the pot of soup and two boxed lunches in front of her, feeling worried.
She had originally thought Zhao Shuhua wouldn't come, so she asked her roommate to bring up some food. Just as she was feeling depressed, she suddenly had an idea. She remembered that Zhuo Siqi never ate until 12:30, so she frantically called him. Of course, no one answered. After much difficulty, she contacted several classmates and finally invited him back to share a hearty hospital meal.
By the third day, the swelling in her ankle had subsided considerably, and she could probably walk again. All the way from the dormitory to school, Zhao Shihua was treated like a shrew, supported by everyone, fearing she might fall. In the classroom, she sat still, and most of the students nearby offered to help.
Of course, there were exceptions, like Zhou Xin. Zhu Miaoyan had offered to fill Zhao Shihua's water bottle twice during the break, but she didn't dare drink too much at once. Firstly, she worried about frequent bathroom breaks, and secondly, she didn't understand the reason for Zhao Shihua's sudden change of heart. She was almost flattered, so she declined. Seeing this, Zhou Xin stretched out his long legs, blocking Zhu Miaoyan's path, and squeezed out a sob, "I twisted my ankle too. Can you help me?"
Zhu Miaoyan didn't bother to pay attention to him. She hit him on the head with an empty kettle, rolled her eyes, and turned away. However, Shao Yifu kicked him as if he saw something unfair and said, "Wait until your leg is really broken before you tell me!"
When it comes to Shao Yifu, Zhao Shihua gets mad; not just fuming, but in a state of rage that can't be vented. Last time during physical education class, she'd planned to vent her anger, but ended up losing both the battle and the prize. She sprained her ankle, skipped class, and even had to miss the winter long-distance race.
When he exposed that dark past without regard for her own dignity, she completely gave up on reconciliation. Apologies, amends, all bullshit. Since Shao Yifu wasn't prepared to forgive her for her reckless behavior in elementary school, Zhao Shihua wasn't prepared to forgive him for trampling on her pride either.
If she had previously felt guilty about the past, she had now completely let go of it. To deal with a vindictive, petty person, returning evil with kindness in the hope of influencing them was simply wishful thinking; she was not a saint; if someone slapped her, she had to return the favor.
The vigor and energy he had in his childhood seemed to have returned. Zhao Shihua really didn't know whether he should thank the master and junior fellow apprentices behind the scenes for making him feel like he had returned to the past; or should he thank his mortal enemy for lighting the fuse and detonating the landmine that had been buried for many years.
But that morning, as she limped past with a sullen expression, Shao Yifu suddenly handed her a bag filled with glutinous rice chicken, a tea egg, and a cup of soy milk. The steam from the bag had turned the transparent plastic bag white. Seeing she didn't react for a while, he shook the bag again, smiling and saying kindly, "You can't go to the cafeteria these days, right? Here, I bought you breakfast!"
Faced with the white flag raised high, Zhao Shihua, who was originally preparing to concentrate his firepower on counterattack, was instantly at a loss.
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