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In other words, before going to see the principal, Cai Wenchuan already knew that everything was settled and he was powerless to change it. However, at that time, he was still in good spirits. He even said boldly that at worst, he would be expelled from Q University, and then he would go to teach at a well-known university abroad. At that time, although Ye Wenyu lacked confidence in the future, Cai Wenchuan was full of confidence.
Therefore, by analogy, if it were merely that she was stripped of her status as a student from a poor family, and he failed to reason with the principal, he would not have suffered such a great blow.
However, when he came out of the principal's office, he seemed like a different person. His face was as pale as paper, his steps were slow and heavy, as if filled with lead, his eyes were weary, and when he occasionally looked up, his face was full of a sense of desolation and uncertainty.
The feeling is like a flying insect that has been trapped in a spider web for many years. When it thinks it has regained its freedom, it suddenly looks back and finds that it is still in the web, only the web is bigger and deeper than before.
Ye Wenyu stared at Cai Wenchuan not far away. He was answering the female students' questions absentmindedly, as if his body was constantly bleeding. Ye Wenyu's heart was filled with confusion and worry.
A female student, who had also noticed the problem, asked with concern, "Professor Cai, what's wrong?"
Cai Wenchuan gave a helpless, bitter smile, his hands trembling as he flipped through the textbook, like leaves in a storm.
Another female student also sensed that something was wrong with Cai Wenchuan and asked with concern, "Are you sick? Should we take you to see a doctor?"
Cai Wenchuan shook his head. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. He tried to smile at the students, trying his best to control himself and answer their questions one by one. However, today, his logic was chaotic, his words were incoherent, and his hand holding the pen trembled slightly, like the shadow of a tree in a storm.
The students who asked the questions weren't really interested in studying; they were just looking for an excuse to get close to the handsome professor. So, when they saw that he seemed out of sorts and not feeling well, they wisely dispersed in twos and threes.
Only Cai Wenchuan and Ye Wenyu remained in the large classroom. A profound silence descended, like that of a valley.
Cai Wenchuan sighed, walked to the students' seats, and sat down in a chair. His act of sitting down was like a jade mountain collapsing; Ye Wenyu seemed to hear a crashing sound, and she was filled with fear and worry.
The classroom was quiet except for the two of them. She walked over, lowered her head, and looked at Cai Wenchuan with concern. His face was as pale as a dead man, and his eyes were cold and tired. He was looking at a graveyard, not the blackboard. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans were seeping from his forehead, and his hands on the desk were still trembling like leaves. His back was soaked with sweat, and he looked as if he had just been pulled out of the water.
"What's wrong?" Ye Wenyu reached out to touch his forehead to check his temperature, but Cai Wenchuan turned his face slightly away.
Seeing his state, Ye Wenyu naturally knew that his attempt to reason with the principal had yielded no good news. She forced a smile and said in an extremely optimistic tone, "I know it's useless for you to go to the principal. The school will definitely revoke my eligibility for the poverty subsidy. The evidence is irrefutable, and I was already mentally prepared. So don't worry about hurting me. I'm fine. Think about it, without the school's poverty subsidy, I can only work hard and take on multiple jobs to gain social experience. For a student, these work experiences are invaluable. Besides, I've already adapted to working life. I like working. Before, you didn't understand me. You had the school subsidy, so why did I still go out to work? Okay, I'll tell you now. The reason I still go out to work even with the school subsidy is because I like working life. Also, I have some savings. So, Brother Wen, you don't need to be sad, don't feel guilty, don't worry about me. Don't have any psychological burden, don't be so sad, okay?"
Cai Wenchuan was stunned, as if he only just understood what Ye Wenyu was talking about. He looked at her with a strange expression, his heart filled with shock and guilt. He didn't know how much time had passed before he lowered his head again and slowly nodded. However, he did not receive any comfort or become happy like Ye Wenyu did. He remained gloomy and silent.
This is so strange!
The reason he was so devastated was not because she was stripped of her status as a student from a poor family, but because he went to the principal to reason with her and failed.
Ye Wenyu had no choice but to step forward and sit next to Cai Wenchuan. She took his cold hand and shook it, asking with concern, "So, what exactly happened?"
Her small hands were warm, but his big hands were like ice, even though it was the hottest time of the year. The weather was so hot it felt like being in a sauna.
Cai Wenchuan tried to pull himself together and said to Ye Wenyu in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I'm useless." His throat seemed to have suddenly developed a serious throat ailment, and he became terribly hoarse.
He tried to hide his pain and talked to her about some urgent problems that needed to be solved.
Ye Wenyu laughed, squeezed his hand, and said to him, "I know it has nothing to do with you. It's fate's arrangement. Heaven will entrust great responsibilities to those who are destined for them, and will first test their minds and bodies, won't it? I started working in my freshman year of college, and I believe that by the time I graduate, I will be the first person in my class to find a good job because I have rich work experience."
She tried her best to speak wittily and humorously, pretending to be nonchalant, hoping to cheer Cai Wenchuan up.
Cai Wenchuan stared at her. He wanted to laugh, but the smile that burst from his pupils disappeared from the corners of his eyes before it could spread to his face.
His life was like a flying insect trapped in a glass bottle, constantly fluttering, yet still inside the bottle, unable to escape.
A beautiful figure kept echoing in his mind, and a silvery laugh resonated within him. She was like the high moon, wearing a white sailor dress, playfully perched on a towering ancient tree, a scene both thrilling and romantic. In his youth, he had stood beneath the tree, looked up, and shouted, "Little Moon, come down quickly, it's dangerous!"
He thought he would never see her again in his life, but fate played a trick on him, and they met again.
She has grown into a princess, even more beautiful than when she was a child.
Cai Wenchuan heard the sigh in his heart, the helplessness of having his soul and destiny controlled by others, which engulfed him like a tide, suffocating him.
He thought he was free, but now he finds himself still in a cage. In life, one either loses personal freedom or emotional freedom, becoming a slave to others.
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