Chapter 218 Shen Zhaolin's Apology
Shen Zhaolin found Lou Yansui in a pavilion on campus.
He sat at the stone table, head down, writing something. His posture was upright and straight, and his pen flew across the paper quickly, his writing smooth and focused.
Shen Zhaolin walked quickly to him without him noticing, and he was writing intently with his head down.
Shen Zhaolin, slightly out of breath, called out to him, "Classmate Lou Yansui."
Lou Yansui looked up at the sound: "Teacher Shen?"
"Lou Yansui, your teacher wants to say sorry to you!"
As he spoke, Shen Zhaolin bowed solemnly to him.
Upon receiving the apology out of the blue, Lou Yansui was caught off guard and didn't realize what had happened. Looking at the dark head in front of him, he was startled and quickly put down his pen and paper, standing up in a panic.
"Teacher Shen?!" Lou Yansui quickly reached out to help her up.
After being a student for so many years, this was the first time in his life that he received a teacher bowing and apologizing to him!
This wasn't even in private; it happened in public. It was during break time, and students were scattered around the campus, with many people passing by. Who knows how many people saw this scene!
"Teacher Shen, what are you doing?"
Shen Zhaolin straightened up, his face full of guilt, and said to him, "I'm sorry, Lou Yansui. It was my oversight that I didn't take your feelings into account and disappointed you."
Lou Yansui paused for a moment, then quickly realized what he was talking about.
It's the teaching assistant's job.
Teacher Shen had to choose between him and He Mingshu, but did not choose him.
Many days had passed since the teaching assistant selection. At first, he was somewhat angry and aggrieved, but Mao Mao had already comforted him. After many days, he no longer cared about that matter.
Of course people will be biased.
Just like in Mao Mao's heart, her four older brothers are ranked first, second, third, and fourth, and he is the older brother Mao Mao likes the most.
Teacher Shen prefers He Mingshu, that's fine too.
It's like having two dishes in front of you to choose from; everyone will choose the one that suits their taste better.
As a person with feelings, and a student who deeply admired his teachers, he was naturally disappointed not to be chosen. Teacher Shen was the teacher he respected most, but the teacher he respected most had other students he preferred.
But this is just a tiny, insignificant little thing.
So, he didn't tell anyone except Mao Mao.
But he never expected that, several days later, he would receive a sincere apology from Teacher Shen.
Lou Yansui was stunned for a long time before slowly saying, "Teacher Shen, you don't need to do this."
Lou Yansui said, "You chose He Mingshu because He Mingshu's math scores are also very good, and he also got a perfect score in the last major exam. You don't need to apologize to me for this at all."
Shen Zhaolin shook his head.
"No, in fact, I did have my own selfish motives in this matter. From the beginning, I only planned to choose He Mingshu." Shen Zhaolin said with a face full of regret, "I just didn't expect that my decision would unintentionally hurt you."
Lou Yansui asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by 'from the beginning you planned to choose He Mingshu'?"
The two sat down in the pavilion and continued talking face to face.
Shen Zhaolin: "You may have heard about how He Mingshu was caught working outside by the discipline director before?"
Lou Yansui nodded.
It was something that happened in his own class, and he had already heard Jiang Cheng, that big mouth, mention it right away.
"He Mingshu has excellent grades, ranks among the top students, and is happy to help other students. He excels in all aspects and is an outstanding student." Shen Zhaolin paused, looked at his attentive listening, and then smiled and said, "Of course, since you enrolled, Lou, you have been the first in every exam."
Lou Yansui touched her nose and pressed, "Teacher Shen, what exactly is going on with He Mingshu?"
"Oh, right."
Shen Zhaolin continued, "As you probably know, his family isn't well-off."
Lou Yansui nodded.
He also frequented the wonton stall run by He Mingshu and his mother.
“He works outside to supplement his family’s income.” Shen Zhaolin: “However, as a student, he already has to attend classes during the day, which takes up all his energy. If he goes to work until midnight at night, it will only hinder his studies in the long run. That’s why the discipline director was so angry and ordered him to stop working.”
Lou Yansui listened silently.
Shen Zhaolin did not mention that He's mother was sick, nor did he mention that He Mingshu was working to save money for his mother's medical expenses.
He said, “He is just like you, smart, talented, and hardworking. I don’t want to see such an excellent student like him fall behind in his studies because of his financial situation. In this respect, I do have selfish motives and want to take care of him more. So, I thought of asking him to help me as a teaching assistant and assist me in editing the book.”
He also paid some compensation for this.
The book editing job was also an excuse; he specifically called a familiar publishing house to ask for the job. Only in this way could he legitimately pay the remuneration.
When Shen Zhaolin proposed selecting a teaching assistant, he also brought up the issue of remuneration.
However, Lou Yansui did not take the reward to heart.
His family gave him plenty of pocket money, so the small reward was insignificant to him. What he cared more about was the pretext of helping with book editing.
Unexpectedly, it turned out that 'compensation' was the main purpose of this teaching assistant job.
After Shen Zhaolin finished speaking, he was filled with remorse: "This matter was indeed due to my lack of consideration and improper actions. I only thought about getting He Mingshu to accept my good intentions, but I neglected the feelings of the other students. Lou Yansui, I apologize to you."
Lou Yansui lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow. He pursed his lips and said, "Teacher Shen, you don't need to do that."
“I have already heard from Jiang Cheng that you have been misunderstanding and thought that I deliberately did not choose you because of my differences with your father’s views.”
Shen Zhaolin paused, looking somewhat embarrassed: "I did do it on purpose, but I want to make it clear to you that I have never had any issues with you because of your father."
Lou Yansui: "..."
Jiang Cheng, that big mouth!
“I know,” Lou Yansui explained. “If you minded my father’s identity, you wouldn’t have helped me with other practice questions.”
It was tutoring unrelated to the course, and he didn't receive any payment. Given Shen Zhaolin's status, it was purely out of good intentions to help the student. That's why Lou Yansui admired him so much.
Shen Zhaolin breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, then I can rest assured."
"..."
Lou Yansui stared at the ink stains on her fingers that she had accidentally gotten while writing for a while before looking up.
Lou Yansui: "Teacher Shen, you don't need to apologize to me specifically for this matter. If you apologized to me just now, others might have seen it."
"Hmm?" Shen Zhaolin waved his hand dismissively and laughed, "It was my fault to begin with. Since there's a misunderstanding between us, we should clear it up."
"..."
"Although I am a teacher, I am not perfect either, and you students are my mirror. I don't want you to develop an aversion to learning because of me."
"disgust?"
"Lou Yansui, why haven't you been doing the extra exercises I assigned you lately?"
"..."
Lou Yansui scratched his face. Although he hadn't done anything wrong, he suddenly didn't dare to look up and meet his gaze.
It's like the guilty conscience of a student who skips class when facing their teacher.
He looked away and mumbled, "I...I'm writing something else."
Shen Zhaolin laughed heartily and patted Lou Yansui on the shoulder: "Lou Yansui, you are the smartest student I have ever met. Intelligence is a remarkable talent, and I hope you will not waste it."
"Teacher Shen, I will not give up my studies because of such a small matter."
"That's good."
After apologizing, you should offer compensation.
Shen Zhaolin started by saying, "Then the teaching assistant..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lou Yansui shook his head.
"You can choose He Mingshu; he's doing a very good job."
Furthermore, he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about using his free time to answer questions for the whole class. His classmates were really not very bright.
Of all the tasks proposed by Teacher Shen, Lou Yansui was most interested in helping Teacher Shen edit a book. Mao Mao would be incredibly proud to have her name appear in the same book as Shen Zhaolin's.
But in reality, as long as he continues to create and write his own stories, he is already the most amazing older brother in Mao Mao's heart.
Shen Zhaolin paused for a moment.
Before he arrived, he had prepared to ask Lou Yansui if she would be willing to be his second assistant. But before he could even ask, he was rejected.
Shen Zhaolin swallowed his words: "Since that's the case, then I'll..."
A gust of wind blew by, making the manuscript papers on the table rustle. Several sheets of paper were blown into the air.
Lou Yansui subconsciously reached out to grab them, but missed, and the few sheets of paper fell to the ground.
"Why!"
Shen Zhaolin offered to help him pick it up.
"Teacher Shen, I can do it myself, you don't need to trouble yourself."
"It doesn't matter."
Lou Yansui deftly picked up the manuscript paper that had fallen to the ground, counted it, and found that one sheet was still missing.
He searched around and found that the last piece of paper was in Shen Zhaolin's hand. Shen Zhaolin held the paper and looked at it very intently, his eyes behind his silver-rimmed glasses becoming brighter and brighter.
"Teacher Shen?"
"What is this?" Shen Zhaolin looked up from the manuscript in surprise and asked him, "Lou Yansui, did you write this?"
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