Chapter 27
Jiang Rong didn't want to follow him at first, but they were going to a coffee shop after all. After hesitating for a moment, she finally followed him in.
What surprised her even more was that Shen Jianye was the acquaintance he mentioned.
The head teacher stood beside Shen Jianye, quietly watching the man perform latte art. Shen Jianye didn't notice anything wrong for a moment, and calmly handed the coffee in his hand over, followed by a customary phrase: "Hello, customer, what would you like?"
Then he turned his head and was stunned by the bright forehead in front of him. When he looked at his face again, Jiang Rong was about to step forward to introduce him, but Shen Jianye shouted in surprise: "Teacher Zhou, why are you here?"
"And your hair..."
The head teacher, Mr. Zhou, stroked his thinning head and said, "Well, I've only been taking care of the kids these past few years. But you've grown up so much. We haven't seen each other in years, right?"
Shen Jianye couldn’t help but said: “I’ve been to the school gate. This is what you look like now, teacher. I wouldn’t recognize you if you hadn’t come to me.”
Jiang Rong looked at the familiar look of the two people, her brain working frantically. She knew that Shen Jianye had studied in her high school before, and the head teacher at that time...it was possible that he had already started working.
Just as he was thinking, Shen Jianye had already seen himself behind Teacher Zhou. Teacher Zhou didn't notice Shen Jianye's familiar look and introduced him: "Ah, this is your schoolmate Jiang Rong. I'm here for a home visit."
"I didn't expect to run into you. This is your senior, an outstanding graduate. He opened a coffee shop like this. Not bad."
Shen Jianye raised his eyebrows, “Home visit?”
"Isn't she the only one in her family?"
Director Zhou's eyes widened. "How did you know that? It seems your deeds are indeed very famous, Xiao Jiang. You didn't even know that the girl was deceived. She said someone was sponsoring her, and she didn't even sign a contract or anything."
Shen Jianye originally stretched out his hand, wanting to call Xiao Min to pour a glass of lemonade, but upon hearing this, he turned his hand into a wave, signaling Xiao Min and Xiao Dai to take care of the business, while he took Teacher Zhou and found an empty seat in the corner and sat down.
Teacher Zhou was still talking, speculating with the deepest malice: "And I don't know who lives next door, but now she's living in someone else's house. Xiao Jiang is so beautiful, she has no idea of other people's bad intentions."
Jiang Rong pursed her lips, smiled at Xiao Min's curious eyes not far away, and then silently interjected, "The sponsor and the neighbor are the same person."
Upon hearing this, Teacher Zhou slammed the table and said, "Listen and look, this is simply taking advantage of someone's misfortune!"
"She's just a little girl, and she doesn't even know who that guy is. She asked him for a favor, and now she's blaming him. Tell me, is that right?"
Shen Jianye bent his eyes and glanced at Jiang Rong who was hiding behind Teacher Zhou. Jiang Rong curled her lips silently, and then Shen Jianye suddenly admitted calmly: "Teacher, it's me."
Teacher Zhou didn't understand at first: "You agree with what I said, right? Wait!"
He narrowed his eyes: "What did you say?"
Shen Jianye was also very frank: “I said, teacher, the man you are talking about is me.”
Teacher Zhou was obviously stunned. He probably thought about his previous compliments and felt as if he had eaten a fly. He opened and closed his mouth: "No, you..."
"How did you..."
For a moment, he couldn’t utter a complete sentence, and it was Shen Jianye who took the initiative to say: “How did I become such a person?”
Teacher Zhou gradually calmed down and raised his hand to call for a halt: "Wait a moment, so you really want to support Jiang Rong?"
Shen Jianye nodded, and Teacher Zhou was still struggling: “Then why didn’t you tell the teacher, and you are like this…”
The man raised his lips helplessly: "Isn't this the same reason she hid in my house as if seeking help? I also felt that such a good child shouldn't be dragged down by family reasons."
Jiang Rong actually thought Shen Jianye’s words were a bit strange, but Teacher Zhou believed it and simply nodded: “You are right.”
"This child has a hard life, but it's not appropriate for him to live in your house, right?"
A single man and a single woman, both of whom are so good-looking, the perceptive teacher Zhou always feels that something is wrong.
Shen Jianye did not continue to explain, but took off the cloth on his body and said directly: “Then come with me to the house to take a look, teacher.”
"Aren't you curious about what I'm doing now?"
Teacher Zhou didn’t say anything else, but followed Shen Jianye and walked up together, which made Jiang Rong stunned. If she and the director were just relatively familiar with each other and not very afraid, Shen Jianye and Teacher Zhou were just like old friends who hadn’t seen each other for many years.
The two of them started chatting like people of the same age, and Jiang Rong followed behind curiously. Along the way, Shen Jianye asked curiously: “No, Teacher Zhou, why are you like this now?”
He stroked his sparse hair again and said, "Isn't this because I'm getting older? Besides, what about becoming the director?"
Shen Jianye was a little surprised: “You are the director?”
Jiang Rong raised her eyebrows in confusion. To be honest, despite Teacher Zhou's appearance, he was actually quite a responsible person.
Teacher Zhou rubbed his chin guiltily. "Well, the main reason is that we caught quite a few people in premature love, as you know."
Shen Jianye smiled. This smile was not the fake smile he showed in front of other people, but a smile of genuine feelings when facing Jiang Rong, or now when facing Teacher Zhou: “It turns out that we were the ones who harmed you in the first place.”
Jiang Rong felt like her eyes were spinning in circles, she couldn’t understand what they were talking about at all, and for the first time she felt that although Shen Jianye was standing in front of her, there was so much distance between them.
Jiang Rong was still in a daze. Shen Jianye seemed to notice her confusion and turned his head to ask, "By the way, Xiao Jiang, do you know Teacher Zhou's age?"
Before Jiang Rong could answer, Teacher Zhou thought for a moment and said, "I didn't say that."
Jiang Rong also shook her head: "I don't know."
Shen Jianye smiled slightly: “Then guess.”
Jiang Rong pursed her lips, and Teacher Zhou waved her hand: "Whatever you want to say, I'm not angry."
I remember when I took my son to the slide in the community, several children said, "Brother, your grandpa is so old."
"That's right, how did your grandpa manage to have so little hair?"
At that time, Teacher Zhou was so angry that he gritted his teeth and tried hard to prove that his son was his son and that he was his uncle, not his grandfather.
But this obviously led the children into a misconception, with one or two of them saying, "No way, Grandpa, you are so old, how can you still give birth to a little brother like this?"
"That's right, a father-in-law is a father-in-law, and only an uncle can give birth to a younger brother."
Then an older child came over and said, "It must be because you are old and have a child, right?"
"I have a relative who had a child in his old age."
Teacher Zhou was almost angry to the point of fainting. He was so angry that he never went downstairs to play with his children again, unless his wife was angry and forced him to do so. But that was the child's opinion, and Teacher Zhou was looking forward to Jiang Rong's answer.
Jiang Rong frowned, remembering the internet slang Lin Yue had introduced her to. She looked him up and down, "Although he has very little hair, his facial features make up for it quite well."
"I think so."
Thirty is too young, sixty is too old, so if we take the middle value... "Teacher Zhou, are you 50 years old this year?"
Teacher Zhou's face turned pale, and his body trembled. He finally steadied himself by holding onto the handrail beside the stairs. He asked tremblingly, "Are you already this old?"
Okay, Jiang Rong already knew that she guessed wrong.
But Shen Jianye didn’t let Jiang Rong feel embarrassed, but rushed to explain: “Right, I said, Teacher Zhou, you just look different now than before, don’t blame me for not daring to say hello.”
"And how come you don't take care of yourself at all?" Shen Jianye sighed and introduced to Jiang Rong: "When I was studying at school, Teacher Zhou just graduated from the Normal School. We can be said to be his first batch of students. At that time, Teacher Zhou looked really..."
Shen Jianye couldn’t stop sighing, and probably thought of something and smiled slightly: “I think I still have photos, I’ll go back and find you and send them to you.”
"The question is, teacher, how come you've changed so much after not seeing you for a few years?"
Teacher Zhou was silent for a while, with an expression that he couldn't bear to watch. "Don't ask me, ask the children nowadays. I don't know if it's just that the times have changed."
Shen Jianye praised without hesitation: “Then I think Jiang Rong is very good.”
Teacher Zhou nodded in agreement. "Of course I know, otherwise why would I come to visit your home?"
"You're so shameless to deceive a little girl's feelings."
Shen Jianye couldn’t help but defend himself: “No, teacher, you really think too much, okay, it’s almost time.”
This was Teacher Zhou's first time coming to the old factory, and Jiang Rong also wanted to leave a good impression on the teacher, so he would deliberately block some doors.
But the one with Xiaolu was too obvious. The good news was that the lights at the door of Xiaolu’s store had never been on. The bad news was that Jiang Rong hadn’t seen her for a long time. The girl was a little worried, but she still took Teacher Zhou back home first.
Teacher Zhou looked at the layout of Shen Jianye's house and nodded with satisfaction. The chaotic scene he imagined did not appear. Even though one of them was at work and the other was at school, the house was surprisingly clean. He couldn't help but ask again: "Did classmate Jiang Rong follow you all the time?"
“Although I am still relieved about Shen Jianye, after all, I know him, and I know some of his things.”
Jiang Rong was a little confused, but Shen Jianye quickly expressed his opinion: “Of course, I also asked someone to help check the debt matter. Anyway, there are two rooms, so it won’t be a problem for Jiang Rong to live here.”
Teacher Zhou sighed softly: "Alright, alright."
"Then you can discuss it among yourselves. If you need a witness, call me."
I thought he would stay for a while, but he just sighed and was about to leave. Jiang Rong was a little surprised and couldn't help asking, "Teacher, are you relieved now?"
Teacher Zhou glanced at Shen Jianye and said, “The main thing is that I do know Shen Jianye.”
"And he's a good kid."
Jiang Rong was a little confused, she didn't know why Teacher Zhou also said that Shen Jianye was a good child, and why Teacher Yang also said that Shen Jianye was a good child. It was only at that moment that she realized that she and Shen Jianye obviously lived together, but seemed to be very far apart.
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