Chapter 93 He's rich and powerful, so don't feel sorry for him.
When Sister Wang heard her ask about Sun Xiaomei, she also kowtowed: "I don't know much about this either. I just know that she somehow offended Commander Le of the military region. Yesterday afternoon, she was directly called away by the guards in the commander's office and never came back."
Another female teacher with sharp ears in the office also came over. She fanned herself with her lesson plan book and joined the conversation with a smirk: "What do you mean, offending the leader? It's all her own doing."
Liu Meimei is the kind of person who can't keep a secret, and she spilled all of Sun Xiaomei's secrets like beans from a bamboo tube.
“She takes advantage of her father being a martyr and asks the military region for this and that every day, demanding preferential treatment. When her father was alive, he arranged a marriage for her back in their hometown, but she refused to marry him because she thought he was a peasant from the countryside. She came directly to our military region and refused to leave.”
“I’ve heard about it,” Liu Meimei said, getting more and more excited. “Her fiancé, who was engaged to her, used to come to the military region’s gate and make a scene a couple of years ago, yelling at the top of his lungs, demanding that the military region return his wife! The scene was so horrific, people who didn’t know better would think this place was a den of human traffickers, how awful!”
"In the end, it was Chief Le who personally intervened and, I don't know what he said to the man, managed to persuade him to leave."
That's why we sent her to our school to appease her.
A young female teacher who had just been assigned there overheard this and muttered, "But I think Teacher Sun is quite courageous. What era are we living in? They're still using that kind of arranged marriage stuff. We should rebel against it."
Liu Meimei immediately glared at her and sneered, "Courage? What do you know? I heard that Sun Xiaomei ran off with all the dowry the man had given her, the money he had saved up for years to marry her, and that's why that man chased her all the way to the military region! Otherwise, who would be so bored as to come here and cause trouble every day?"
Once the conversation started, everyone in the office was talking at once, chattering and gossiping.
The new male teacher, who had been keeping his head down and silent, seemed to have had enough. He frowned almost imperceptibly, silently tidied his lesson plan, stood up without a word, and walked straight out, clearly having no interest in the women's gossip.
In a few days, heavy snow will block the roads, and the students of the affiliated primary school will be preparing for a long holiday.
After the last class, several children who were close to Jiang Wanqiu surrounded her, their little faces red from the cold, and asked her all at once where she planned to go during the holidays.
Looking at their innocent and cheerful smiles, Jiang Wanqiu felt a warmth in her heart. Her bright almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents as she softly said, "Teacher hasn't decided yet."
"Teacher Jiang, let's go ice skating at our house!" a chubby-faced boy exclaimed eagerly. "The big river in front of my house is frozen solid now, and people can run on it! It's so much fun!"
Another little girl with pigtails chimed in, "Teacher, let's go play on the mountain where we live! My dad says we can find Ganoderma lucidum, deer antlers, and even ginseng!"
Jiang Wanqiu was stunned, her eyes widening in surprise. These things were extremely valuable medicinal herbs in the South, and had long been contracted out to the commune or important figures. How could they be picked up from the mountains so casually?
However, she smiled and politely declined the children's offer.
But some children still tugged at her clothes, vowing that when they returned in the spring, they would bring her the most beautiful flowers and the most delicious wild fruits from the mountains.
After school, Jiang Wanqiu stayed in the classroom to accompany Gu Feiyan and the children as they practiced the piano.
After Gu Feiyan finished playing a section, she put down her violin and asked half-jokingly, "Teacher Jiang, now that school is on holiday, will I have nowhere to practice my violin?"
Jiang Wanqiu was amused by her: "How could that be? If you want to practice, come to our house. Our Battalion Commander Zhao's door is always open for you."
Unexpectedly, Gu Feiyan just smiled and didn't reply.
He lowered his eyes, staring at the bow in his hands, and remained silent for a long time before softly saying, "Actually, I wanted to go home for the New Year and play the violin for my dad."
Jiang Wanqiu asked, "Does the old man also enjoy listening to the zither?"
Gu Feiyan shook her head: "After my mother sacrificed herself, he broke down and developed severe depression. Now that he's older, his mind is starting to dementia, sometimes he's better and sometimes he's worse. I was thinking of playing the violin for him, I wonder... if he can still remember some things from the past."
Jiang Wanqiu felt a pang in her heart, her nose stung, and her eyes instantly reddened.
An image immediately filled in her mind: a lonely old man, living alone in a dilapidated hut in the northern countryside, frail and mentally unstable.
She quickly comforted him, "Don't be sad, things will get better. Your uncle will remember you when he hears your music."
Gu Feiyan smiled reassuringly at the woman, "Thank you, I feel much more at ease knowing that."
Jiang Wanqiu returned to her office, packed her things, and prepared to go home, her eyes still red.
Liu Meimei, who was still working overtime grading papers, saw him and asked with concern, "Oh dear, Xiao Jiang, why are your eyes so round? Did someone bully you?"
Jiang Wanqiu was still feeling sorry for Gu Feiyan, so she told her about her family's situation.
To everyone's surprise, Liu Meimei, instead of showing sympathy, burst out laughing after hearing this.
“My dear sister, did you really believe his whole story?” Liu Meimei leaned closer, giving him a “you’re so naive” look. “He’s miserable? He’s not miserable at all! His father is a retired senior cadre who lives in a detached villa in the city, and he has a personal caregiver to take care of everything for him! With his family’s wealth, otherwise, how do you think a young man in his twenties could sit in the position of a staff officer in a regiment?”
Jiang Wanqiu blinked.
Upon reflection, she realized it made sense.
In this day and age, how could an ordinary family cultivate a woman who can play the violin so well? And how could the family she married be any less than good?
I was really oversimplifying things.
On her way home, the north wind picked up again. Jiang Wanqiu wrapped the thick scarf that Zhao Wenchang had bought for her tighter, thinking that she should go home and stay cozy as soon as possible.
This place is indeed not suitable for staying outdoors for extended periods.
As I was thinking about something, I suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps behind me.
"Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law! Wait!"
She turned around and saw Zhao Wenchang's bodyguard, Xiao Zhang, running towards her breathlessly, his young face red from the cold wind.
"I've finally caught up with you!" Xiao Zhang ran up to her, panting, and said, "Sister-in-law, I just came from the main gate of the military region. There was an old lady there, about fifty or sixty years old, asking the sentry about you! She said she was looking for you."
Jiang Wanqiu was completely confused.
An old lady? Looking for her?
She quickly went through her thoughts, but there was no such person among her relatives in the south.
Who is that?
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