"Su girl, isn't it school time now? Why are you outside? Are you going home?" An aunt asked Su Xingran. She was actually curious about what was wrong with Su Xingran that made her not go to school.
"Aunties, I have to go home. I asked my teacher for leave. You all take your time on your journey. I'm going home first." Su Xingran wasn't oblivious to the aunties' curiosity; she didn't want to make her own private matter public.
At 2 PM, Su Xingran arrived at the principal's office on time to take the remaining exams. She finished the three exams in one hour and forty minutes. Principal Zheng told her that she would be notified of her exam results the day after tomorrow, and then the decision on Su Xingran's requests would be made based on her scores.
Since Su Xingran had about an hour left before school ended after her exam, she left school and went straight home. Unfortunately, she was seen by someone from her village on her way home, but Su Xingran didn't notice and was focused on getting home.
The next day at noon, after work and lunch, several women were gossiping under the big tree at the village entrance. "You know what? Yesterday afternoon, I saw Su Guomin's daughter, walking home before school was over."
Oh, you saw her this afternoon? I saw her this morning with a few girls from the village. It wasn't time for school to let out yet. One of us asked her what she was doing outside during school hours. She said she had asked to go home for something.
We haven't heard anything from Su Guomin's family since yesterday until this morning. I think maybe that girl did something wrong at school and was sent home by the teacher.
Women love gossip, and the news spreads like wildfire. In half a day, almost half the village knew that Su Xingran had made a mistake at school and been sent home by her teacher.
Su's parents also heard about it and told Su Xingran when they got home. Su Xingran found it amusing; the aunties in the village were still the same—they didn't ask about the truth and only believed what they saw. She couldn't control it, and she didn't want to. Anyway, after the results came out, she would spend her junior high school years at home.
At the village chief's house, the village chief was asking his daughter, Su Guo, "Guo Guo, what's wrong with Xing Ran at school? Did something happen to her that made the teacher scold her?"
Dad, what are you saying? How could that be? Xingran is a model student in the teacher's eyes. Her grades are excellent, ranking first in the class. Dad, you say Xingran has such good grades and is beautiful too. Mom says Xingran looks like Uncle Guomin and Aunt Huilan. Look at me, don't I look like you? That's why my face is a little chubby.
What nonsense are you talking about, girl? Your father was quite good-looking when he was young, otherwise, why would your mother have chosen me? Besides, you're lucky; your face will mature as you grow up, and you'll be even prettier then. What I mean is, Xingran, how have you been at school these past few days?
Dad, you mentioned the past two days, and it reminded me of yesterday. I didn't see Xingran in the classroom at all. She went to school with me in the morning, but as soon as we got there, she disappeared. I didn't see her again all day after that.
"Dad, why are you asking these questions out of the blue? Has something happened? Is it related to Xingran?" Su Guo didn't know what had happened either. She hadn't seen Xingran yesterday except for the morning when they went to school together. She was planning to ask Xingran if something had happened when she finally saw her.
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