Chapter 1
In the thick night, An Huainan walked slowly towards the dormitory with two buns in his hands.
This road is his favorite. It is lined with beautiful bougainvillea. When it blooms, clusters of red flowers hang on the green trunks, which is very cute.
As soon as I reached the school gate, I saw Teacher Yang hurriedly walking in. When he saw An Huainan, he waved to him.
"Come on, follow me to the beach."
Before An Huainan could react, Teacher Yang had already dragged him out and waved to stop a taxi.
"What's going on?"
An Huainan fastened his seat belt, looking confused.
"Zhang Song, the top-scoring student in your class, didn't come to evening study today. I felt something was wrong during class. He's never asked for leave before, so I thought he might be feeling unwell. So while they were reading, I asked his deskmate, but he was hesitant and couldn't explain where he'd been. I wanted to rest in his seat, and I found this piece of paper under his textbook."
Only then did An Huainan see clearly what was in Teacher Yang's hand. It was already a little wrinkled. He took it and unfolded it, and it turned out to be a "suicide note".
"Suicide note - I'm sorry, I've let down all the teachers. I fell in love with a girl, but that girl doesn't like me. But I can't give up on her. Because of her, I can't concentrate on my studies, and my grades have been declining. I know that I'm sorry for everyone, but I really can't stand the disappointed looks of my parents and teachers. Let my soul return to the sea and pretend that I have never been to this world. After I'm gone, I hope you won't blame her too much. It has nothing to do with her, it's just my wishful thinking. --- Zhang Song."
"Look, kids these days can't handle even the slightest bit of frustration. They're ready to jump into the sea over such a small thing. With that kind of mental endurance, how are they going to survive in society in the future?"
Teacher Yang was still nagging when An Huainan suddenly thought of a place.
"Master, let's go to Bayfront Park."
He probably knew who the girl was that this kid liked. He had already noticed Zhang Song's little tricks during their last outing at Bay Park. However, he was neutral about things like premature love, neither advocating nor encouraging it. As long as it didn't affect their studies, he wouldn't suppress it. So, he didn't take it seriously and even secretly gave it a try. He didn't expect something like this to happen today.
"Have you called the police?"
"Not yet. I'll call the police right away."
As he spoke, Teacher Yang picked up the phone and dialed the number.
It started to rain outside. Summer is the peak of the Gaokao period, and some students entering their final year of high school may not be acclimated to the pace of their senior year, so fluctuations in their grades are normal. This period is also the most arduous for teachers. As the homeroom teacher, it was indeed a dereliction of duty for me not to pay close attention to Zhang Song's psychological state.
Although the driver didn't say a word during the whole process, he stepped on the accelerator as fast as he could after realizing what was happening from the conversation between the two people.
"The police said they'll be here soon."
"Master, how long will it take?"
"Three minutes."
An Huainan nodded and looked out the window.
The long coastline of Bay Park appeared in the sight of the two people in the back seat. Sure enough, under the dim street lights, a little boy in a white school uniform was walking with his head down. Fortunately, there was still time.
"open--"
After opening the car window, Teacher Yang was about to call for help, but An Huainan covered his mouth with his hand, and he swallowed the last word.
The little boy under the street light didn't notice the movement here and continued walking slowly with his head down.
"Don't shout, in case he sees us and reacts."
An Huainan explained calmly, but his eyes were staring straight outside without blinking.
Teacher Yang, with her mouth covered, looked up at Teacher An's clear jawline, and felt her face burning hot, turning completely red.
Among the single teachers teaching at Yucai Middle School, An Huainan is the most handsome one. He is 1.83 meters tall, has a pair of slender legs, slightly upturned almond-shaped eyes, and is a little nearsighted. When he looks at others, he always makes people feel a sense of seduction and confusion. In addition, he doesn't like to talk much, so he always gives people a cold feeling.
Yang Ping'an and An Huainan were both recent graduates who had joined Yucai Middle School to teach. An Huainan was the best student in the group, a graduate of Beijing University and a native of the north. As to why he chose to teach in Shenzhen, it's unknown. There were ten people who entered the group, but four stayed, including Yang Ping'an and An Huainan.
At that time, everyone lived together in the single dormitory for faculty and staff. Over the years, some faculty and staff who had started families gradually moved out of the dormitory and moved into their own homes. They were the only two people of similar age who still lived in the single dormitory.
She didn't know what An Huainan's ideal type was, but Yang Ping'an had always been attracted to him. She had always thought that boys should take the initiative, so she had never expressed her feelings. She just took care of An Huainan in her daily life, hoping that he would notice her.
But it was obvious that the things he did were not very obvious, and An Huainan's attitude towards him had not changed from beginning to end.
The taxi stopped steadily in the parking lot of Bay Park, which was closer to where Zhang Song had just been seen. An Huainan and Yang Ping'an got out of the car, and the driver also got down from his seat silently.
"I figured more people would mean more strength."
I hadn't noticed just now, but the driver turned out to be a man in his forties, of medium build, with a simple, yet absolutely reliable appearance. An Huainan nodded gently and led the two of them toward the scenic highway.
Zhang Song kicked the stones on the road, his eyes moistened.
Growing up, his parents had high expectations for him. His mother, in particular, always said their family was poor, and they'd sold everything they had in the hope that he'd get into college, find a good job, and provide them with a good life. But it was clear he'd disappointed her. Thinking of the disappointment his mother had shown him when he'd returned home twice, Zhang Song's tears flowed silently again.
But he just liked Lin Xiaoling. He didn't know why, but he just wanted to be close to her, just wanted to look at her. After class, he wanted to play with her. During class, he thought about how to please her, to make her look at him more. He knew that Lin Xiaoling was so beautiful, such a talented girl, and came from such a wealthy family, it was unlikely that she would be attracted to him. But he just couldn't control himself.
Zhang Song wanted to tell his mother about his worries, but every time he mentioned it, his mother would get angry and say that he was shameless and that he didn't use his mind on the right path all day long. He would just be a street urchin in the future.
Zhang Song was very sad. He didn't know how to suppress his feelings, nor did he know how to focus all his attention on studying.
He was very sad because his academic performance had dropped, but what could he do?
Thinking of this, Zhang Song's tears began to flow again. He looked up, trying to hold back his tears, but he found that the three people running towards him were actually his homeroom teacher An Huainan, his Chinese teacher Yang Pingan, and a strong man. Were these people here to arrest him and interrogate him?
Zhang Song felt nervous. He had never done anything out of the ordinary before, so he subconsciously ran in the opposite direction.
"stop!"
When An Huainan saw Zhang Song running away, he quickened his pace and chased after him.
“Ula Ula——”
Several police cars drove towards Zhang Song from the direction he was heading. Zhang Song was a little dumbfounded. Why were the police here too?
He looked back and saw that the teachers were chasing him. With no way to retreat, he ran towards the beach.
“Boom—”
A few muffled thunders struck down, and the sky seemed to be split open. Rain poured out instantly, covering the people with a layer of rain and mist.
Zhang Song only felt the discomfort of the rain hitting his face, but he could not care less and just ran desperately into the sea.
"Stop, stop—"
Several policemen got out of the police car and started chasing.
"Oh no, today is the fifteenth day of the lunar month, and with such heavy rain, the tide will soon be high."
The driver who followed them was out of practice and had fallen behind after such a long journey, gasping for breath. "Catch him quickly! Don't get close to the beach."
When An Huainan heard this, he pushed his already sore feet against the ground even harder and ran forward.
Zhang Song had already entered the chest-deep water and was grabbed by An Huainan. Just as he was about to walk back, he heard someone behind him shout "Be careful!" and a wave came down and hit the two of them.
An Huainan was instantly swept away by the sea, feeling limp and powerless. Zhang Song in his arms was also scattered by the waves, and no one knew where he had gone. Only then did An Huainan realize with a woeful sadness that he was a landlubber.
Growing up in the north, he'd had little contact with water, no doubt. In the years since arriving in Shenzhen, he'd been so focused on his work that, aside from strolling around the school to improve his meals, he'd barely ventured out. And let alone enrolling in swimming lessons.
After struggling for a few times, it was all in vain except for wasting his energy. An Huainan simply stopped struggling and handed his chance of survival to the police on the shore, leaving it to fate.
Anyway, it seems that there is nothing left in this world to be nostalgic about.
He didn't know that the shore was already pounding with waves. Several police officers forced the driver and Yang Pingan into the car and drove away quickly, fearing that they would be too slow to catch up with the waves.
The torrential rain accelerated the rising tide, and almost in an instant, everything on the coast was swallowed up by the sea. In front of nature, humans are still insignificant.
"Teacher An! Teacher An! Let me go, I want to save An Huainan!"
Yang Ping'an struggled hard, trying to jump out by clinging to the window, but the policeman and the driver in the back seat worked together to hold her firmly in the seat.
"Comrade, wake up! In this situation, you'll be committing suicide if you go down there."
"Aren't you the people's servants? Isn't it your duty to save the dying and the wounded? How could you abandon them and run for your own lives?!"
Yang Ping'an was pressed on the seat, unable to move, and cursed in panic.
"I'm sorry, but we're limited." The young officer holding Yang Ping'an down tried to explain the stakes. "If we go to rescue them, there's no guarantee we'll ever get back, and your lives will be at risk. We need to ensure your safety first, then find a way to rescue those two. Calm down. It's going to be very difficult for us to handle you like this."
Although Yang Ping'an knew this, she just couldn't accept it. Teacher An, who had just been sitting in the back of a taxi with her to look for students, was swept away by the waves? How could he just leave like that?
Tears fell silently.
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