Photo Album
"Lin Jingming, I just know what I want."
Xia Zhitang realized early on that it is impossible to have everything in life, and she is already very satisfied to be able to continue studying and working in the field of art.
"Why didn't you make full use of it when filming 'Blue Luan Jie'? Weren't you coming here for me?"
At that time, Lin Jingming would rather be used by Xia Zhitang, as he believed in equal exchange. When Xia Zhitang was unwilling to please him, Lin Jingming was angry.
"I just suddenly felt that there was no need to lose myself because of hatred."
Xia Zhitang saw in Gu Zian the shadow of her own youth - simple and passionate. This made her willing to help Gu Zian, because it would make her feel less alone in the world.
Gu Zian once asked her why she treated him so well, and Xia Zhitang herself couldn't answer at the time.
But now she suddenly understood, because her parents had treated her the same way.
"Don't you want fairness? You don't love that man that much."
Lin Jingming harbored a secret jealousy towards Xia Zhitang's ex-husband that he himself was unaware of, but after saying it out loud, he felt a little regretful.
"Yes, but I'm just tired. I want to rebuild my heart before I continue working hard. Lin Jingming, I don't want to be controlled by hatred."
Xia Zhitang allowed himself to take a breath when he was tired, and built a solid wall in his heart before setting off again.
"Where are you now?"
A hint of hope flashed across Lin Jingming's eyes: Xia Zhitang, do you still need me now?
"I think I'm living a good life now. I'm making the films I love and meeting so many real, lovely people." Xia Zhitang turned to look at Lin Jingming, who had been staring at her. "What about you? Lin Jingming, are you free?"
"What is freedom? There are always things in life that you can't get." Lin Jingming sat down next to Xia Zhitang and lay down on the bed. "It's just that some conflicts may resolve themselves with the passage of time."
Xia Zhitang got up and looked at Lin Jingming: "Don't be depressed."
"Xia Zhitang, don't underestimate me." Lin Jingming suddenly pulled Xia Zhitang over and held her under him.
One day, you will beg me.
Lin Jingming held her loosely and pinched her nose gently: "Don't stay in my room, go back to sleep."
He said and stood up and took out his pajamas and towel: "I'm going to take a shower."
Xia Zhitang felt that Lin Jingming was a little baffled: "You invited me to prepare lessons!"
"I'm ready." Lin Jingming felt that Xia Zhitang had been a little too slow recently. "If you don't leave, do you want to take a bath with me?"
"Ugh!" Xia Zhitang threw a pillow at Lin Jingming.
Lin Jingming caught the pillow: "Auntie, I really need to take a shower."
"Hmph." Xia Zhitang got up angrily, jumped to put on his slippers, picked up the book thrown on the bed and rushed out angrily.
Lin Jingming grinned helplessly as he heard the sound of a door closing next door.
The real Xia Zhitang is much cuter than he imagined...
After Xia Zhitang sorted out the students' volunteer expectations, he looked around and saw that all the teachers were still busy.
Lin Jingming had also finished and was busy correcting the filming.
After the students went back, she was still wondering whether she should help with the filming when she saw that Teacher Wu had also finished.
Xia Zhitang's eyes lit up and he hurried over to stop Teacher Wu.
"Teacher Wu, please help!"
Teacher Wu was startled and his expression was a little stiff.
Xia Zhitang pulled the person to the corner affectionately, as if he didn't see anything.
"The students' preferences have been initially screened. I'm not very familiar with these, so please take a look and give me some suggestions!" Xia Zhitang laid out the organized form.
Her form was identical to Lin Jingming's, simulating the application process and cataloging the various majors and applications. Each school and major was divided into two columns, with student feedback and teacher analysis and commentary.
Now the column that students should fill in has been filled in by the students, and the column for the teacher's analysis and comments is still empty.
Teacher Wu looked at Xia Zhitang's form and his eyes lit up: "This method is very good."
Teacher Wu's voice is a little thin, and she likes to lower her head and cover her face with her bangs.
Xia Zhitang's impression of her was that she was somewhat socially anxious, so he tried to express anything that needed to be communicated in simple terms.
"I'll send the electronic version to the group." Xia Zhitang felt that Teacher Wu would definitely want this.
Teacher Wu smiled shyly and began to help Xia Zhitang look at the form.
"The estimated scores for these schools in previous years are roughly like this. If you don't have any special requirements, it would be better to put this one at the front." Teacher Wu picked up a pencil and started writing and drawing on the application form.
When she explained this as if it were a test, her voice wasn't as subdued as it usually was when she spoke.
"Great! I'll go back and look up the specifics of each major so I can arrange for them to answer my questions!" Xia Zhitang felt that this kind of work still needed to be analyzed by a teacher who was familiar with the annual application situation. "Could you help annotate the form in Director Lin's hand? Ours are in the same format."
Xia Zhitang glanced at Lin Jingming who was still busy directing the filming, and decided to shamelessly ask Teacher Wu for help again.
Teacher Wu glanced at Lin Jingming with some hesitation on his face.
"If there's anything else, I'll ask other teachers." Xia Zhitang didn't force her. "He's busy filming and can't take care of this for the time being. I'm just asking on his behalf. Your analysis is much more professional than ours."
"It's okay, I can help." Teacher Wu felt a little embarrassed when he heard Xia Zhitang say this.
"Thank you so much!"
In the evening, Lin Jingming had just come out of the bathroom after taking a shower when Xia Zhitang suddenly rushed over and knocked on his door.
"Lin Jingming, look at this!" Xia Zhitang excitedly held up his phone, "Where are your clothes?"
She looked at him shirtless, with a few drops of water still on his chest, and subconsciously turned around: "Put on your clothes first!"
"I just finished taking a shower, and my shirt accidentally fell to the ground." Lin Jingming complained as he pulled his clothes on, "You scared me by suddenly looking like you were going to tear down my door."
Xia Zhitang smiled and handed over the phone: "We have new material, and Teacher Wu agreed to accept our interview!"
"What is this?" Lin Jingming looked at the old photos in the chat history.
“The missing piece of the puzzle.”
Under the camera, Teacher Wu's fingertips gently stroked the yellowed album cover in his hand.
"My junior high school teacher loved taking pictures. Even though the adults said she was weird and told us not to follow her example of not getting married even though she was decades older, I really liked her."
When Teacher Wu saw the camera crew for the first time, he immediately thought that it would be great if they could record the stories in the album, but he was surprised.
There were some teams that came to take pictures of their girls' high school. Teacher Wu was always indifferent to those people and hoped that they would not notice her.
In the dead of night, she would suddenly wake up, take out the photo album, and stroke every page inside.
In the simple filming studio, everyone was quietly waiting for Teacher Wu who suddenly became dazed. Lin Jingming and Xia Zhitang did not say anything, and no one else dared to say anything.
After an unknown amount of time, Teacher Wu suddenly moved. She gently opened the photo album and told the story behind it.
"I'm a student in Class 1, Grade 9, Qingshui County No. 1 Middle School, Class of 2009. Our class is a so-called key class. There are 50 students in the class, 12 of whom are girls."
In the camera, her fingertips gently slid across the photo of 12 girls on the cover page, and she gently read out everyone's name: "Lijuan, Chuntao, Xiaocao..."
After she said the last name, she fell into a daze again. After a while, she sighed and said softly, "In the end, I was the only one who continued to study in high school..."
The tears that had been suppressed for years fell without warning. She thought she was used to it, but it turned out that she had just suppressed all the past events in the deepest part of her heart.
Xia Zhitang picked up the tissue, tugged at Lin Jingming's clothes, raised the tissue in her hand, and looked at Lin Jingming questioningly.
After the other party nodded slightly, Xia Zhitang silently handed over the tissue and bent down to pat Teacher Wu on the shoulder.
She gave Teacher Wu an encouraging smile, then quietly retreated.
Teacher Wu cried for a while before she gradually stopped the sadness that was erupting like a raging flame in her heart.
Under the camera, Teacher Wu sniffed and raised his lips slightly, but he felt a little happy inside.
These photos, which have been buried in the dust for years, have finally found the most suitable place to display them.
Teacher Wu turned to the next page and saw a short-haired girl holding a straw rabbit and pursing her lips shyly in front of the camera.
"This is Lijuan. She used to be able to weave the twelve zodiac animals with wild grass. She is my good friend. Not only is she good at weaving, but her English is also better than mine." When talking about the interesting stories of her former classmates, Teacher Wu's voice rose.
Then, her expression turned regretful. "Last summer vacation, I met her at the market. She was selling bamboo baskets with her four children. She greeted me, but I almost didn't recognize her."
Teacher Wu almost burst into tears when she recalled this memory: "Her dream was to become an English teacher."
"This is Ye Qing. She's quiet but very kind..." Teacher Wu flipped through photo after photo. These girls, each with their own distinct appearance and personality, had been brought together briefly by the gears of fate. Then, they each embarked on a different, yet fundamentally similar, trajectory.
Some set up stalls, some work on the farm, and some follow their husband’s family into business…
No matter what their dreams and beliefs were, their bodies and souls remained here, becoming extremely ordinary women in Qingshui County, and mothers of children that can be seen everywhere.
Teacher Wu flipped to the last page of the album, the paper on which it appeared was remarkably new. The girl in the album wore two smooth pigtails, her tranquil beauty visible even through the screen.
Teacher Wu's hands trembled slightly. "Her name is Chuntao. She was number one in the class that year."
She paused, a look of sadness on her face. "On the day the results came out, she was in the next county. My brother was in his twenties and still single, but he met someone generous enough to marry him, and his parents were overjoyed and agreed. On the night she gave birth, her in-laws said a caesarean section would be too expensive..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
