Chao Ningning's Repayment of Kindness
After finishing her phone call with Jin Can, Chao Ningning seemed lost in memories of the past and remained silent.
"What's going on! Although I managed to calm her down, why is the system suddenly acting like this? Weren't the two of them having a good time on the spring outing today?" Shi Yanxi rested her chin on her hand and muttered to herself like a machine gun.
Zhou Yu was also beside the two, her gaze fixed on the photo of Ge Ouchen in her hand, her heart filled with unspoken words.
The three of them squatted together on a secluded roadside not far from No. 2 Middle School. If they weren't wearing No. 2 Middle School uniforms, or if this path was rarely used, they would look like rebellious delinquents, which would lead to misunderstandings.
Several minutes later...
"Never mind, let's go back first." Chao Ningning stood up and stretched.
As darkness fell completely, the neon lights of the metropolis painted the night sky with a hazy, warm hue tinged with purple and red.
The other two also got up.
"I need to go ask about the latest tech updates. See you tomorrow." As soon as Shi Yanxi finished speaking, the three of them disappeared together around the hidden corner.
Chao Ningning returned to her familiar dormitory. An old-fashioned desk lamp was on, its dim yellow light shining through the worn lampshade, barely illuminating the space in front of her desk.
It was still early morning here, and the sky was not yet bright.
The lights accentuated Chao Ningning's tired features, completely separating her from the image of a high school student who was dressed in a neat school uniform and exuded youthful energy during the day.
The firm lines on her cheeks, once those of a young girl, now seemed to have been gently touched by the fingertips of time, revealing fine textures.
Her eyes, once clear or confused like those of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, have become deep, calm, and even carry a hint of undeniable aging.
Her shoulders slumped slightly, as if weighed down by the responsibilities of adulthood and the burdens of life, forming a curve that was difficult to straighten.
At this moment, she revealed her true appearance—a slightly tired woman who had just entered middle age, sitting quietly in that simple, even somewhat shabby, teacher's dormitory.
This is her real home.
The walls were painted with rough white paint, and in some places they were damp, with mottled yellow stains and peeling paint.
A single bed, a desk, and a faded wardrobe are all that's in this tiny dormitory room.
The air was filled with a simple, austere atmosphere, a mixture of old books and dust.
Chao Ningning's day job is as the principal of a high school in a remote town.
Her life, like this dormitory, is simple and plain, yet it carries a weight that outsiders can hardly imagine.
This small town was her birthplace. The sky was very blue, and the clouds were always exceptionally white. However, the town was extremely poor in terms of educational resources.
The town's only middle school, the one she is now painstakingly managing, doesn't even have a proper laboratory for conducting science experiments.
Physics experiments rely on teachers to draw diagrams and explain, chemistry experiments can only select the safest and simplest ones to demonstrate on the podium, and as for biology experiments, the only ones students can actually operate themselves are probably the onion epidermal cells they bring from home.
The students took turns stepping forward to observe the objects using the only microscope in the entire school.
What's even more suffocating is the mental constraint.
This place was once deeply eroded by outdated ideas.
In the parents' eyes, investing in their daughter was a losing proposition.
"What's the use of a girl studying so much? Knowing a few words and being able to do basic arithmetic is enough. She'll get married sooner or later anyway, and then she'll just stay at home to be a wife and mother, right?"
As her mother picked vegetables, she spoke to her in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Save the money for your younger brother to buy a house and get married in the city later. That's the important thing. He's the root of our family!"
The father, drinking cheap liquor, banged on the table with bleary eyes, basking in his own "far-sightedness."
Such words, like the dust that never dissipates over the town, permeated Chao Ningning's entire childhood and adolescence, infiltrating every nook and cranny, attempting to mold her into a docile, submissive, and traditional woman.
Unfortunately, she did not give up.
"On what grounds?"
Does gender alone determine a person's social standing?
"You just wait!"
Her true youthful self was far more "lively" and "outspoken" than what she presented on the stage of No. 2 Middle School.
But here, this isn't a good thing.
In short, she soon realized that there was no easy path or way out for her in life.
These exam papers, filled with red checkmarks and marked with bright scores, were her only ticket to escape this small town and change her predetermined fate.
She didn't have the money to attend those expensive tutoring classes in the county town, so while others were playing and watching TV, she worked out the most basic examples in her textbooks over and over again.
She would use different methods to solve the same problem until she thoroughly understood every step and every formula and imprinted it in her mind.
Most teachers in schools have limited expertise, and they often explain complex concepts vaguely.
She saved every penny of her meager breakfast money and, at the cost of a week of going hungry, went to the town's only used bookstore to buy secondhand textbooks, full of notes and creases, discarded from the city, to study on her own.
Those musty, yellowed pages were the brightest light in her youth;
The first ray of light filtering through the window in the early morning was her most loyal companion during her youth.
Fortunately, her talent and tireless efforts were not completely buried by this barren land.
And she was also lucky enough.
The school's former principal, by chance, saw her almost perfect math test paper, along with the three different problem-solving approaches written densely on the back.
This kind-hearted old man used his meager salary to quietly support her, buying her the latest exercise books, paying her overdue tuition and fees, and persuading his parents to help her.
It was this selfless kindness that enabled her to complete her high school studies despite the unfriendly environment for girls.
She exerted all her strength and staked her entire youth, ultimately carving out an exit for herself on the single-plank bridge of the college entrance examination.
She got into a university, a second-rate 211 university, located in the bustling city where Jin Can and Ge Ouchen lived.
This outcome may be a somewhat poignant end for these privileged children who at least have happy families and have been blessed with urban educational resources since childhood.
But for a girl from a remote town who relied almost entirely on self-study, this was the best future she could grasp at the time, despite all her efforts.
After graduating from university, unlike her classmates who were desperately trying to stay in the big city to make money and settle down, she made a choice that puzzled everyone.
She chose to return to her hometown, to the dilapidated middle school, and to the old principal who had once sponsored her, becoming an ordinary teacher.
She started as an ordinary teacher and quickly rose to become the dean of studies. Finally, after the old principal retired, she took over the heavy responsibility and became the principal of the school.
She used her meager strength and gave her all to help one girl after another, just like she had in the past, who were trapped in poverty and prejudice, to complete their studies.
Her ideal is to give more girls—ideally all over the world—who are trapped in small towns like her, a chance to change their destiny through knowledge and to see the wider world beyond their small towns.
A miracle happened on a rainy night when she was exhausted.
At that time, she was running around trying to help a female student who was academically excellent but was being forced by her parents to drop out of school and get married.
As she braved the torrential rain to try and reason with the girl, she was once again violently pushed out the door by the girl's father, and an unprecedented despair enveloped her.
Perhaps it was her unwavering dedication and kindness in wanting to help others, so pure and untainted, that unexpectedly touched some fundamental law of the world at that moment.
A powerful force, inexplicable by any scientific theory, suddenly surged into her body, warming her.
She could feel that every cell in her body was undergoing a miraculous transformation under the influence of this force.
Before her eyes, for the first time, appeared a technologically advanced, blue-glowing control panel belonging to the "Superpower Management Bureau," visible only to her.
The panel clearly displayed her personal information, along with a welcoming message that baffled her: "Welcome, Ms. Chao Ningning. The system has been activated due to the detection of your highly stable 'benevolent resonance' trait. You have awakened a special ability: Memory Anchoring."
The system spent two days guiding Chao Ningning step by step, ultimately helping her solve the girl's problem.
That girl is now the dean of students and a teacher at this high school.
Her life thus began with a second, seemingly absurd "job"—becoming an employee of the Superpower Administration.
Her mission is to use her awakened superpowers related to "memory" to handle special cases caused by abnormal energy that cannot be explained by science.
She can not only easily read or modify memories to a certain extent, but also "anchor" a memory to make it a powerful fulcrum that influences reality, or "unanchor" unstable memories to make them return to ordinary, harmless information flow.
This superpower also played an unexpected role in her regular work.
She can skillfully "anchor" knowledge points in students' short-term memory, helping them learn more efficiently; she can also subtly "anchor" the deepest, most primal love for their children in the hearts of those stubborn parents when communicating with them, allowing them to return to their true humanity when making decisions.
Gradually, the school's college entrance rate improved significantly, especially the female students' grades, which improved by leaps and bounds.
The townspeople have also changed their views on "girls going to school" and have even begun to take pride in it.
"My daughter is a college student now!" These boastful remarks have shaken the old notions that once looked down on girls' education.
Chao Ningning understood that the fate of these girls in their respective families of origin was ultimately in their own hands, just like her own relationship with her family.
But in any case, as long as she can provide them with stronger support in their studies, she will have a clear conscience.
Moreover, the rewards from the Administration far exceeded her expectations.
One day, a provincial-level key support document stamped with a bright red seal quietly appeared on her desk; the food in the school cafeteria suddenly became nutritious and delicious; and the dilapidated student dormitory was completely renovated within a summer vacation...
At least the school no longer has to worry about making a living. Everything happened so efficiently and quickly that it was hard for Chao Ningning not to associate it with the power of the Administration Bureau.
This time, the reason she disguised herself as a "transfer student" and came to the prestigious high school where Jin Can was was because of a special mission issued by her sister organization, the "Time and Space Administration Bureau" where Shi Yanxi worked.
The task files were transmitted directly to her blue control panel as a data stream.
In each spacetime quadrant, a core exhibiting abnormally violent energy fluctuations has appeared at this school, known as "Second Middle School," suspected to be the source of new life. Its emotions are extremely unstable, like a miniature black hole, constantly distorting the surrounding real-world parameters. If not guided in time, it could have unpredictable consequences for the real world.
Her task was to approach and guide this "core" in the most natural way, to help his emotions return to stability, and to prevent further disruption of the reality parameters.
This core is not gold.
It's Ge Ouchen.
The name made it impossible for her to refuse the task.
Because in her small, struggling school, there is a wall covered with the names of donors, forming a huge "wall of kindness" that symbolizes love.
The names on the wall vary in length; some are those of successful local entrepreneurs, while others are those of government officials who care deeply about their hometown. But in the most inconspicuous corner of the wall, the name "Ge Ouchen" is engraved.
In her own time and space, she met Ge Ouchen once.
Back then, he was much more mature than the boy he is now. He wore a simple white shirt and jeans, spoke very little, and had a cool and aloof look in his eyes that was unique to adults.
At that time, he was still a student and came to the town as a volunteer teacher organized by his top university.
Jin Can was not by his side; in Chao Ningning's life, she had never met this somewhat quirky girl.
Chao Ningning later learned from the notes on the donation list that he had no connection with the town and was neither a rich second-generation who spent money like water nor a successful young entrepreneur.
He was just an ordinary young man who established himself in society through his exceptional intelligence, working a high-paying, desirable job in the conventional sense.
Ordinary, yet excellent, which made Chao Ningning feel gratified.
Ge Ouchen only taught here for a few months by chance, but since then, he has donated money to the high school where he once poured his sweat year after year.
His annual donations are not large, even less than the cost of a single meal for some entrepreneurs.
But his donations have never stopped for ten years, ever since he graduated and received his first paycheck.
That was the pure kindness he accumulated through his own intellect and hard work, one paycheck after another.
Therefore, for Chao Ningning, Ge Ouchen is more like a "benefactor" to her and her students, lighting the way forward for countless girls like her.
When she saw the case posted by the Administration that required close contact with her "benefactor" during his childhood, she agreed to assist with the mission almost without hesitation.
She wanted to see for herself what kind of person this young man, who silently donated his hard-earned money to strangers every year, was when he was a child.
She wanted to repay the kindness that had supported her and her school through the most difficult times in her own way and with her own abilities.
Help Jin Can pass the exam smoothly so that they can have a happy and regret-free youth, thereby stabilizing Ge Ouchen's emotions.
This was both her mission and her way of "repaying a debt of gratitude" to Ge Ouchen.
...
However, Jin Can, a high school student currently being forced by the system to frantically play the guzheng, has no way of knowing these adult stories about sacrifice, struggle, and reward, nor does he need to know them.
Chao Ningning thought to herself.
Little Jin Can has little worries; Ge Ouchen, who thinks he's grown up, still only has minor worries.
Young people are so adorable; they are the force that will change the world in the future, or as they say, "save the world" and make it a better place.
"I was probably studying at university on the other side of the city. I wonder if they ever had the chance to pass by me back then."
A kind smile appeared in Chao Ningning's eyes.
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