Chapter 25
On the weekend, Zhang Jusong went to Teacher Ju’s office as scheduled.
The hallway was dim in the daytime as the lights were off. Zhang Jusong looked at the office numbers one by one.
1108, 1109…1112! This is the right one.
I could still hear the laughter from inside through the door.
With a nervous mood, Zhang Jusong knocked on the door gently.
"Come in—the door is unlocked."
Gently pushing open the door, she saw Teacher Ju sitting behind the desk. There were two other people in the office. When they heard the noise, they all looked in her direction.
Zhang Jusong's palms were sweating a little, and he smiled stiffly at the teacher: "Teacher."
"Ah, you're here."
Teacher Ju stood up and introduced: "This is Zhang Jusong, the very smart girl I mentioned to you before."
She said to Zhang Jusong in a friendly manner, "This is your senior brother. His surname is Hou, so everyone calls him Brother Monkey. You can just call this beauty A-Yan."
Before I could say hello, Senior Sister Ayan came up to me and said with a smile, "What a lovely girl! No wonder you brought her here so early to do hard labor. Are you afraid that other teachers will snatch her away?"
"I'm afraid you'll scare people." Teacher Ju joked, "She's a quiet and gentle person, don't mess with her. Ju Song, Ayan is very outgoing, you'll understand after you spend more time with her."
Zhang Jusong just nodded shyly, and they greeted each other, which meant they knew each other.
Brother Monkey is tall and thin, wears a pair of rimless glasses, and doesn’t talk much, but he is not difficult to get along with.
Senior Sister Ayan is a very cheerful girl. She took her hand and told her all the big and small details about the project.
The first stop for the social survey today is a women's hotel, which is cheap and is said to be mostly occupied by migrant workers. They will use questionnaire surveys, field observations and interview surveys.
"Don't worry, it's not that complicated." Sister Ayan said, "Just chat with them, ask them to complete some questionnaires, and then observe their living environment a little bit."
Although he was mentally prepared, Zhang Jusong was still a little surprised when he actually saw such an...uninhabitable living environment.
It was called a hotel, but in fact it was a two-story building deep in the alley, with three pairs of bunk beds in the small room. As soon as Zhang Jusong and her friends stood between the beds, the whole room was immediately crowded.
Students from A University who came out to do social research were naturally welcomed, and so were the aunties and grandmas in the women's hostel. When a gray-haired grandmother heard that they were from A University, she took out a dry and flat apple from the red plastic bag next to her pillow and said, "Here, have some fruit."
"No, no." Zhang Jusong quickly declined.
But the old lady insisted: "Take it, take it."
After much pushing and shoving, Zhang Jusong was afraid that he might accidentally hurt the old man if he moved too much, so he had no choice but to accept it.
"Thank you, grandma."
An aunt brought a stool and placed it under the narrow window, which was the brightest place in the whole room.
Because she was going to be interviewed, the old lady took out a wooden comb from somewhere - several teeth of which were broken, and combed her trembling white hair again and again before sitting down.
With her back to the light, the old grandmother's old and cloudy eyes are still gentle.
When she was young, she must have been a beauty, right? This thought flashed through Zhang Jusong's mind.
My arm was gently pushed by Senior Sister Ayan, who was smiling.
"You ask." Senior Sister Ayan mouthed the words.
Zhang Jusong clenched the gel pen in his hand and cleared his throat: "Well, how old are you this year?"
"What?" The old lady said loudly, "My girl, your voice is too soft. I have poor hearing."
"I asked—how old are you?"
The old lady finally heard the voice clearly: "Fifty years old!"
The pen was suspended on the white paper, and he was about to write something down when he suddenly realized something was wrong. Zhang Jusong raised his eyelids, a little stunned. This head of gray hair, fifty years old?
A shorter auntie next to her chuckled: "Grandma, she's not the employer, just tell the truth!"
"Oh, I'm used to it." The old lady smiled, "I'm sixty years old this year."
Why lie? Zhang Jusong was puzzled, but due to her upbringing, she couldn't ask such an impolite question.
The aunt next to her was outspoken. She said in a flurry, "Oh, it's not easy for her to find odd jobs at her age. When people ask her about her age, even the sweeping jobs won't hire her. She has no choice but to say she's younger and try her luck to find a job."
The old lady just smiled, even a little embarrassed.
Looking at such a smile, Zhang Jusong was speechless for a moment.
Senior Sister Ayan patted her shoulder, took over the topic, and asked loudly: "Grandma, where do you usually find a job?"
"In the small square in front of the gate..."
Senior Brother Monkey came over and reminded her in a low voice: "Take note."
"……good!"
The pen moved a few lines on the paper, and this section of the investigation into the old lady's twilight years was concluded. It was time for the next person to come on, and when the next one was finished, there was another one.
The people who live here are not well-off, have low cultural level, and have bad living habits. They spit on the ground and wipe the spit with the heels of their shoes, but they have a different kind of vitality.
Zhang Jusong's emotions gradually stabilized. When it was her turn to interview the next person, she mustered up the courage to say to Senior Sister Ayan, "How about I ask?"
"Okay." Senior Sister Ayan gave up her seat promptly and efficiently.
Just as he asked the question, there was a sudden loud noise, and the iron door of the outer room slammed against the wall, and the mud and dust fell down and turned into debris on the ground.
"Fuck you!" The woman came in cursing, "We agreed to give him eighty dollars for moving the house, but he only gave fifty! It's a seven-story building, there's no elevator in the middle of summer, and the stairs are high and narrow. That dog is dressed like a decent person, and he's an intellectual! He only gave fifty! Fifty! Save the thirty dollars and use it to buy a coffin for him!"
"Hey, Hongzi," the short aunt called out, "Students are doing their homework, stop making noise."
"Who's making noise?" Hongzi's voice got louder and louder. "She's a rich lady, a pillar of the country, she has time to hang out, what about you? You don't want to eat today? You don't go out to find a job, but play house with me!"
"you--"
"What do you mean by 'I'?" Hongzi strode over and glared at Zhang Jusong fiercely, "Get out of the way! You're blocking the way."
With a collision like that of a bull, Zhang Jusong's right arm hit the bed frame with a loud noise.
Senior Sister Ayan quickly came over to support her: "Ju Song, are you okay?"
Zhang Jusong took a deep breath, covered his arms, and shook his head gently to indicate that he was fine.
Seeing this, the old lady's face darkened: "Hongzi, apologize to this little girl."
Hongzi just vented her anger: "Humph, she was blind enough to stand by my bed, and you blame me? You old thing, you want to flatter someone else, go do it yourself!"
The lady boss who came over after hearing the noise also had a stern face: "Hongzi, why are you so rude to Grandma Liu? She even sent you flowers on your birthday."
"Bullshit! It's just a pot of soil!" Hongzi's nose flared, and she was so angry that she found a rough porcelain pot full of soil from the corner and smashed it on the ground! "Bullshit flower! I have raised it for half a year, and I haven't seen it bloom!"
There was chaos everywhere.
On the way back to school, Zhang Jusong covered his arms and looked dejected.
Senior Sister Ayan tried to comfort her: "That kind of person is just impatient, don't bother with her. Does it still hurt?"
"Much better." said Zhang Jusong.
"That's good," Senior Sister Ayan sighed, "Let's go to school. Senior sisters and brothers will treat you to a good meal. You behaved very well today, really! You are like a great general."
Zhang Jusong forced a smile and walked towards the cafeteria with Senior Sister Ayan and Senior Brother Monkey.
It was lunchtime, and there were many students on the road, making it crowded.
Passing by her dormitory building, I suddenly saw a familiar figure.
Xia Zhiheng stood under a tree. People were coming and going, but he was the only one waiting quietly.
From a distance, their eyes met.
Then——Zhang Jusong walked away as if he saw nothing.
She didn't even look back.
The power of the autumn heat is still there, but Xia Zhiheng feels like he has fallen into an ice cave.
How could she just...walk away like this?
Xia Zhiheng stood there in a daze, as if he had lost his way.
These days she seldom replies to messages, and when she does it's just a few short words. She doesn't go to the stargazing club anymore, and you can't even see her on campus.
Was she—avoiding him?
This realization made Xia Zhiheng's heart ache. No, no!
He dropped his eyes and clenched his fists.
I have to think of a way, a way that will make her come to see him willingly.
Artistic processing, real social research will not be so dramatic
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