Chapter 113 Mom, I raised you by picking up trash. 15

The math teacher just said it casually. Seeing that Xu Kangtai, the Chinese teacher, didn't take it seriously, she also put the matter behind her.

Xu Kangtai continued to flip through the newspaper, taking a sip of hot water from the thermos from time to time.

It was unknown when the math teacher went to class. The only sound in the office was the rustling of papers.

Xu Kangtai scanned all the news reports that interested him. Just as he put down the newspaper, the words of the math teacher echoed in his ears again.

Anyway, there is still time, why not go and take a look at that article "Grandpa Big Tree"?

What if the math teacher remembered the author's name wrong?

After hesitating for a while, Xu Kangtai picked up the newspaper again and found "Grandpa Big Tree" in the family column.

The author's signature was correct, "Jiang Fanyue".

Xu Kangtai read a few lines and frowned.

He seemed to have seen this childish style of writing about animals and forests in a student's weekly diary. But he had no impression whether that student was Jiang Fanyue. He never graded homework based on facts, not people.

Xu Kangtai suppressed his temper and quickly scanned the entire article.

He didn't understand how this childish style of writing was selected. Did the editor who reviewed the manuscript like this style?

There happened to be comments from the editor-in-chief at the bottom of the article, and Xu Kangtai read it word by word.

[The author uses this article and every word said by Grandpa Dashu to dissolve the reader's fear of losing a loved one and present a child's understanding of death.]

That's it?

Xu Kangtai thought about it and understood.

The style of this article is childish and the writing is simple, but the advantage is that its central idea is about death.

He has taught Chinese for more than 20 years, how could he forget that as long as the main theme of an essay is not biased, the grade will not be too low.

It seems that when he submitted his articles before, the topics he chose were not special enough.

***

On the first day of school, the students in the class did not withdraw their hearts, and the teacher did not lead everyone to learn new knowledge, but was reviewing the content of the previous semester.

At noon, Jiang Fanyue went to the cafeteria with her lunch box.

As soon as she left, the classroom was completely blown up.

"What's going on? Do any of you dare to ask Jiang Fanyue?"

"Why don't you go?"

"I never spoke to her before. Now I suddenly ask her why she has changed so much, whether her family has money, will she answer me?"

"... Now that you say that, it seems that no one in our class has ever spoken to her."

As soon as this was said, everyone looked at each other in surprise.

There were only so many people in the class, and Jiang Fanyue was still the center of their topic. As a result, after a few months, they actually didn't communicate with Jiang Fanyue.

"Yao Liangcai, you used to be the most positive about Jiang Fanyue's affairs, but now you don't even say a word? Do you know something?" At this time, Yao Liangcai's deskmate noticed something was wrong, and changed the subject, pointing the finger at Yao Liangcai.

Others followed suit.

"That's right, Yao Liangcai really didn't say anything today. We haven't seen each other for two months, why are you so timid?"

"Are you afraid of Jiang Fanyue?"

"No, no."

Yao Liangcai was a little embarrassed, and slammed the table angrily: "Don't you just want to know what happened to Jiang Fanyue? If it were me, I would ask her directly when she comes back. If we take the initiative to talk to Jiang Fanyue, she will definitely answer us happily."

Yao Liangcai's deskmate: "Then who will ask? You?"

Yao Liangcai blurted out "I'll go", but when the words came to his lips, he still didn't follow his heart.

Just when he was feeling uneasy, he saw Erniu from the next class walking through the corridor with her head down.

Yao Liangcai's eyes lit up, and he rushed out of the classroom and stood in front of Erniu.

Erniu was frightened and subconsciously raised her head to show her face.

Her facial features were actually very good, but a brown birthmark firmly grew on the left half of her face, destroying this harmony.

Seeing the deep disgust in Yao Liangcai's eyes, Erniu quickly lowered her head again, her hands hanging at her sides: "You...what are you going to do?"

Yao Liangcai put his hands in his pockets and rolled his eyes: "You and Jiang Fanyue are from the same village. I ask you, has her family made a lot of money recently?"

Erniu was alert: "I don't know."

"You don't know? I think you, an ugly freak, don't want to say it."

Erniu's eyes were fixed on her toes. She wanted to get around Yao Liangcai, but he didn't let her go. For several times in a row, Erniu's eyes were red.

Because of a conspicuous birthmark, Erniu has been called ugly wherever she goes since she was a child.

She is luckier than Jiang Fanyue because she has a brother who is willing to stand up for her. Whenever she returns home crying, her brother will go to warn those who bully her the next day.

But over time, Erniu found that this was not feasible.

Her brother also has his own life. It is impossible for him to follow her every day to block cold words for her and scold those who bully her.

And many times, children's bullying is invisible.

They will not beat her or scold her, but just exclude her and dislike her.

She was bruised all over by their attitude, but she was accused of being unsociable in character... It seemed that she was always wrong.

Erniu mustered up the courage and repeated it again: "I really don't know."

Yao Liangcai was angered by Erniu's attitude.

He suspected that Erniu was no longer afraid of him after hearing about Jiang Fanyue beating him up, so she dared to refute his question so strongly.

In addition, the classmates in the class were all standing by the window looking at him. Yao Liangcai clenched his fists: "You live in the same village with her, don't you know what her family situation is like? What, do you think you are capable and become arrogant?"

Erniu took a step back in fear.

In fact, Yao Liangcai was just trying to scare her, but seeing her pale face, he couldn't help but take a step forward: "I tell you--"

"Yao Liangcai! What are you doing!"

Jiang Fanyue returned to the classroom with her lunch box and saw this scene at a glance. She shouted loudly and ran over, protecting Erniu firmly behind her: "Are you trying to bully me again?"

Yao Liangcai subconsciously put his fists behind his back and looked up at the sky: "I didn't, I just chatted with her for a few words."

Jiang Fanyue looked back at Erniu and felt relieved.

Glancing at the lunch box in Erniu's hand, Jiang Fanyue softened his voice: "Go to the cafeteria to get food. Today we have fried pork with beans. It tastes very good. If you go too late, it will be gone."

Erniu looked at Jiang Fanyue, then at Yao Liangcai, and suddenly quickened her pace and ran past Yao Liangcai.

This time Yao Liangcai did not stop her.

Erniu breathed a sigh of relief.

But at the fork in the road, Erniu hesitated for a moment, then stopped and went back to Class 1.

After Erniu left, Jiang Fanyue ignored Yao Liangcai and walked into the classroom.

A boy in the front row suddenly shouted, "Hey, Jiang Fanyue, you look so good now, do you not have to pick up trash anymore?"

After saying that, he slapped the table and laughed.

Jiang Fanyue stopped and looked back at the boy who was talking: "What do you want to express?"

The boy's laughter stopped abruptly: "What?"

"You called me and said such a thing, and you were still laughing after speaking. Do you think you are very humorous?"

Being stared at by other classmates, the boy felt a little embarrassed: "Are you kidding me? I just wanted to say hello to you. If you don't want to answer, you don't have to answer. Don't think you can be so arrogant just because your family is rich."

"Aren't you the arrogant one?" Jiang Fanyue has always felt other people's emotions very clearly, "Who said hello and emphasized the three words "picking up trash"?"

"What's wrong?" The boy was annoyed. "This is the fact, why don't you let people say it? We used to call you a garbage king every day, and you never refuted. Now that your family has money, you start to act arrogantly, right?"

Jiang Fanyue put away his lunch box and walked straight to the boy.

I don’t know why, even though Jiang Fanyue’s expression didn’t change at all, the boy felt timid: “You…what are you going to do…”

“I just want to reason with you.” Jiang Fanyue smiled and glanced at Yao Liangcai, “I won’t beat you up like I did to Yao Liangcai before. After all, this is a school.”

Everyone in the class: “?”

Yao Liangcai: “…”

Jiang Fanyue continued: “I didn’t refute it at first because I didn’t have the courage to stand up. Since when did it become wrong to defend yourself? If I call you a shorty and attack your height, would you be happy?”

The shortest boy in the class: “…”

"See, you're unhappy."

Jiang Fanyue looked around at everyone: "I don't think that having a recycling station at home makes me inferior, but your attitude of disdain always makes me feel that I'm a particularly bad person."

She smiled, and a light flashed in her eyes: "Until recently, I figured out one thing. It's not me who is bad, but you who hide malice under nicknames, get psychological satisfaction by laughing at others, and do evil in the name of the collective without knowing it!"

"Have you never felt that you did anything wrong?"

"When others are in a bad mood because of what you said, you will say innocently: Ah, I'm just stating the facts, is there any need for you to be so fussy about it? But a truly innocent person, even if he offends others, must have done it unintentionally, and will feel sorry for his offense, and will always empathize with the difficulties of others."

"Ask yourself, do you really think you are innocent?"

"How can it be fussy to stand up and defend your own reputation? It is obviously an act full of courage."

Having said this, Jiang Fanyue took a deep breath, looked around, and took in everyone's surprised, confused, or angry expressions.

"I know that I spent so much time talking to you, but you may not understand. Even those who understand may not take it to heart, and may not reflect on their own words and deeds."

"But these words have been weighing on my heart for a long time. I just want to lift the fig leaf and show you the magic mirror, so that you can see for yourself how hateful you are when you build your happiness on the suffering of others!"

The short boy who was almost scolded by Jiang Fanyue said angrily: "Jiang Fanyue, you are sick. I just wanted to ask if your family has become rich."

Why didn't he know that Jiang Fanyue was so talkative before.

Isn't she dumb?

"That's right." Others also chimed in, "We didn't do anything to you this time, do you have to scold us all?"

Jiang Fanyue looked at the person who was speaking dimly, "I scolded those who deliberately made fun of my family background and Erniu's appearance. You are so eager to identify yourself, it seems that you know very well what you have done." The

person who just chimed in: "..."

Jiang Fanyue suddenly smiled: "I know what you are curious about. Yes, my family situation has indeed improved. My mother is running a factory now. Although I haven't made a lot of money for the time being, I can have a lot of new clothes and new toys."

"Let me guess what you are thinking."

"You must be thinking that I dare to speak out and say these things because my family is rich. But I stand out, not because of my family background, but because I realize that if I really let your gossip break me down, then your conspiracy will succeed."

Conspiracy?

Yao Liangcai and the others were bewildered.

They just laughed at each other, how could it be considered a conspiracy?

Jiang Fanyue walked across the aisle and waved to Erniu outside the door: "The so-called conspiracy means that you think that children who grow up picking up garbage will definitely make a living by picking up garbage in the future. Children with birthmarks on their faces will be discriminated against when they enter society and will always be at the bottom of society."

"If I believed what you said, I would really have to pick up garbage all my life. Maybe one day I would die in a garbage dump and no one would know."

"I will study hard, make a name for myself, do my best to do things, live a wonderful life, and leave people like you far behind. This is my biggest revenge on you."

In the afternoon, when Xu Kangtai came to class, he found that the atmosphere in the class was very depressing.

Except for Jiang Fanyue, everyone else looked dazed and daydreaming.

Xu Kangtai patted the desk to remind them that the bell had rung, but it had little effect. He frowned and simply recited the ancient poems he had learned last semester.

Finally, the school was over and everyone left the classroom.

Jiang Fanyue carried her schoolbag and went downstairs to push her bike.

Erniu followed her, pushing her bike, and thanked her out loud.

Jiang Fanyue invited: "We all have to go back to the village, let's go together."

The two rode in silence for a while.

Erniu opened her mouth several times, as if she wanted to say something to Jiang Fanyue, but she lost her courage at the last moment.

Jiang Fanyue smiled and spoke up, not letting her get tangled up any more: "What do you want to tell me?"

Erniu was startled, and the bicycle's route immediately went all over the place. She fumbled to steady the front of the bike: "That's right, I think you've changed a lot..."

Under Jiang Fanyue's gaze, Erniu slowly organized her words: "I want to ask, how did you make the change."

She swallowed and added: "If it's inconvenient, forget it. It's okay."

Jiang Fanyue looked at Erniu, as if he saw his former self.

In fact, his former self was even more timid than Erniu.

"Erniu, I used to envy you a little."

"Envy me?" Erniu couldn't believe it.

Jiang Fanyue nodded, and the wind whistled from behind, blowing the fluff on her cotton coat forward: "Yes, you have a very good brother. But later I didn't envy you anymore, because I just found out some time ago that I also have a very good cousin. It's just that he is too far away from me, so far that he can't stand in front of me and help me drive away those bad kids."

Erniu felt the same way: "Actually, my brother is the same. He has to work to earn money and can't be with me all the time."

"That's it."

Jiang Fanyue raised her hands and put on her hat to protect her ears that were red from the wind.

Her voice came from under the hat, a little muffled.

"Since I realized this, I have been trying to make changes and breakthroughs. But I was always at a loss until that day when I beat up Yao Liangcai."

"I know about this." Erniu added some satisfaction to her voice, and she said embarrassedly, "I secretly went to see Yao Liangcai at that time, and he was beaten into a pig head by you."

Jiang Fanyue also smiled with her: "Then did you come to see me at that time? I was not hurt at all."

Erniu nodded.

Jiang Fanyue said: "I found that Yao Liangcai was just a paper tiger. When I had the courage to resist him, he dared not provoke me again."

"The courage to resist?"

"Yes. Your family will always protect you, but there will definitely be times when they are not protecting you well. At that time, you have to stand up and protect yourself."

Erniu silently recalled what Jiang Fanyue said in her heart.

Jiang Fanyue said, "It must be difficult to do all this at first. But it doesn't matter, we are friends, I will help you."

"Will you be my friend?" Erniu's eyes lit up instantly.

Jiang Fanyue was very generous: "Of course. We can play together and do homework together in the future. If you are free, you can come to my house to play with me anytime."

The village was just around the corner, and the two people's homes were not in the same direction. Jiang Fanyue waved goodbye to Erniu and turned around on his bicycle.

When he arrived at the door of his house, Jiang Fanyue pushed his bicycle into the cowshed. With his peripheral vision, he saw a pot of flowers in the corner, and exclaimed, "Hmm?" "Did you buy flowers at home?"

Jiang Fanyue squatted in front of the flowerpot and touched the dry grass covering it.

"Back?" Yao Rong came out of the kitchen, saw her movements, and explained, "I want to learn how to grow flowers recently. When I went to the town to buy the newspaper "Changjin Weekly", I bought a flower pot and a bag of Gesang flower seeds. I plan to try to cultivate it and germinate it in winter."

"Gesang flower?"

"It also has a particularly nice nickname, called the flower of happiness. It is said to be a flower that can bring happiness to people."

Jiang Fanyue's heartstrings moved.

Although she had never seen the appearance of this flower, inexplicably, she had a preference for it from the bottom of her heart.

"This flower is well named."

Yao Rong agreed, and asked her how she was doing at school today: "You look very happy."

Jiang Fanyue stood up from the flower pot: "Mom, I want to tell you something. Don't be sad after listening to it, because it's all in the past."

Yao Rong showed a puzzled look.

Jiang Fanyue took Yao Rong into the house.

She had hardly told her mother about her school life before.

Life was already hard, and she didn't want her mother to be sad about her.

But now, she can show her mother all the scars in detail.

Because she will no longer be troubled by those scars.

After listening to Jiang Fanyue's words, Yao Rong was silent for a long time, stretched out her hand and gently hugged Jiang Fanyue, whispering in her ear: "Yueyue, do you know what your greatest strength is?"

"Your greatest strength is that you still maintain your childlike innocence in the midst of anger and pain, and still have fantasies and love for this world. Even though you have experienced many bad things, you still hope to write beautiful things."

"You are the Gesang flower seed in the flowerpot. One day you will take root and sprout, bloom, and bring happiness to everyone who sees you."

Jiang Fanyue's eyelashes trembled slightly. So, is this the reason why her mother planted Gesang flowers on purpose? It's

just that bringing happiness to everyone...

This goal is too grand. Can she really do it?

Just when Jiang Fanyue was doubting herself, Yao Rong stuffed a black signature pen into her hand.

Jiang Fan held it tightly in her mind under the moonlight.

She understood.

It was difficult to bring happiness to everyone, but she had found the key.

As long as she held the pen in her hand and never stopped creating, she would be able to achieve this goal.

Late at night, Jiang Fanyue bent over the desk and began to create.

The light of the kerosene lamp shone down obliquely, falling on the paper, with light and dark interlaced.

The tip of the pen slid across the soft paper, making a rustling sound. Page after page of blank paper was filled with hard work night after night, and the novella "Wishing Mirror" was finally completed.