“It’s over.” Qiao Zaoyao said these two words calmly, because no matter how she calculated it, the money was not enough. Even if she did not eat or live on campus, the cost of materials was still not enough.
Upon hearing those two words, Li Wenxiang just wanted to cry. What had she done to make Yaoyao so desperate yet so calm?
"Qiao Zaoyao!"
She turned around and saw that it was her homeroom teacher, a very capable teacher, but a bit strict.
"Teacher Sun." Qiao Zaoyao greeted her obediently. Although this teacher was very serious, she took good care of her. She would try to help her solve the problems she didn't know, and sometimes she would give her some high-quality questions from other schools to do.
Sun Feifei looked at Qiao Zaoyao: "You don't look well. What are you doing here?"
"I just came out for some fresh air," Qiao Zaoyao said.
“I saw you at the hospital a couple of days ago. You seemed to be very sick. I just heard you mention that you had to quit your job. Tell your teacher what exactly happened to you.”
Sun Feifei had been paying attention to Qiao Zaoyao's situation for a week. She saw Qiao Zaoyao alone in the hospital getting an injection, and it seemed that she only had one breath left.
Everyone else has a parent accompanying them, but Qiao Zaoyao only has one.
Someone in her family was hospitalized those few days, so she went to the hospital more frequently. Then one day when she went downstairs, she saw a nurse telling Qiao Zaoyao not to come to get her injections alone anymore.
After Qiao Zaoyao left, Sun Feifei heard from the nurse that the little girl had just fallen asleep, the medicine had been finished, and the entire drip tube had turned red. If someone hadn't noticed, she might have stayed asleep forever.
Sun Feifei suddenly remembered Qiao Zaoyao's family situation, which she had asked Ning Yajing about before.
It's just a problem with her family. It's not appropriate to say that her family favored boys over girls. They treated their adopted daughter like a princess, spoiling her with the best food and clothing.
But he was harsh on his daughter, Qiao Zaoyao.
She didn't see Qiao Zaoyao again after that. She went to the doctor to find out that she had pneumonia and should have been hospitalized, but she only asked for an IV drip. The doctor even said that with her serious condition, she should have been on an IV drip for four or five days.
Sun Feifei knew the reason: Qiao Zaoyao probably didn't have any money on her.
She wanted to contact Qiao Zaoyao; she wanted to offer the child some help, out of sympathy and also out of a teacher's fondness for a good student.
The teachers in their office all knew Qiao Zaoyao. One teacher even said, "In this school, the person I admire the most is Qiao Zaoyao. She is a girl who has done things that I could not persevere in. She has always carried the physical and mental pressure, but she has never fallen behind in her studies."
But she couldn't find Qiao Zaoyao. She had come out to buy things today and saw Qiao Zaoyao looking at something on the street. She followed behind Qiao Zaoyao.
Seeing Qiao Zaoyao purse her lips, Sun Feifei sat down next to her and said, "Qiao Zaoyao, you'll be a senior in high school in a year. Senior year is a crucial time. You're a good student, you should focus on your studies instead of worrying about these things."
Li Wenxiang, inside Qiao Zaoyao's body, felt her heart tremble.
Having been tempered and refined over the years, Qiao Zaoyao said quite normally, "I know, teacher, I won't let anything else interfere with my life."
“No, you don’t know.” Sun Feifei shook her head. “In this kind of environment, your grades are still among the best. If you had no worries about studying, Qiao Zaoyao, you know your scores would be even better. Your scores could even get you into Tsinghua University or Peking University.”
Qiao Zaoyao lowered her head and gave a muffled "hmm".
Sun Feifei grasped her hand, feeling its icy coldness, and frowned: "Teacher wants to discuss a collaboration with you."
Even though she knew that Qiao Zaoyao was a flower that grew out of the mud, she still subconsciously wanted to protect the girl's self-esteem.
Qiao Zaoyao understood what she meant. She felt the warmth of her teacher. She lowered her head, wanting to pull her hand away, because her hand would make the teacher's hand cold too.
But Sun Feifei grasped her hand: "Qiao Zaoyao, I want to make a deal with you. After school starts, your teacher wants to lend you 1,000 yuan every month. You'll have to write an IOU to your teacher and guarantee it with your grades..."
She thought for a moment and said, "You can still work after the start of your second year of high school, but don't do it in your third year. Your grades need to be consistently in the top five of your grade, otherwise the teacher will deduct your allowance and increase the interest."
"Interest?" Qiao Zaoyao asked, puzzled.
Sun Feifei smiled and said, "Of course, the teacher said it was a loan to you, and the interest will be calculated according to the bank's tax rate."
"Don't rush to reject me. You need a better future. Your teacher knows you are a soaring eagle." The warmth of her hand made Qiao Zaoyao feel dazed.
“But no eagle flies forever; they also need to rest,” Sun Feifei said.
Qiao Zaoyao only thought for thirty seconds before she broke free from Sun Feifei's hand, stood up, and bowed to her: "Thank you, Teacher Sun."
Later, Sun Feifei took Qiao Zaoyao to a nearby milk tea shop, where Qiao Zaoyao borrowed paper and pen from the shopkeeper.
Then, sitting in front of Sun Feifei, they searched for the correct format of the IOU. The two of them were calculating in the milk tea shop how long Qiao Zaoyao would have to attend classes at school.
Sun Feifei initially disagreed with Qiao Zaoyao's plan to work during summer and winter vacations.
But Qiao Zaoyao's simple sentence forced her to agree.
"Teacher, during winter and summer vacations, I not only have to do housework at home, but I also get beaten. It's better to come out and earn money."
After Sun Feifei and Qiao Zaoyao separated, Qiao Zaoyao went home and stayed on her small balcony.
The winter was so cold as the New Year approached. Li Wenxiang could feel that Qiao Zaoyao's hands and feet were icy cold. The balcony was drafty, and the quilt was cold and hard.
Qiao Zaoyao usually falls asleep as soon as she lies down, but today she seemed to have something on her mind. She slowly sat up and covered her face.
Tears streamed down Qiao Zaoyao's face through her fingers. She hadn't been as calm as she was when she was in the park. She was terrified. What would become of her if she didn't have a teacher? She had finally made it this far.
She dared not cry in front of her teacher, nor did she want to cry in front of the Qiao family.
She only dared to cover her face and wail silently in the dead of winter nights.
Scalding tears dripped onto the blanket, the heat burning Li Wenxiang's hands. She wanted to leave; she didn't want to experience this breakdown.
After crying, Qiao Zaoyao wiped away her tears and lay down to sleep. The only use of crying for her was to vent her emotions; the rest she had to handle on her own.
When Qiao Zaoyao doesn't go out, she's like a ghost. The small balcony is a place that the Qiao family dislikes; they won't come over, and Qiao Zaoyao won't leave.
She even discovered that Qiao Zaoyao liked to watch TV, and the small balcony was right in front of the TV, even though there were no lights there. She would close the glass door to the balcony, draw the curtains, and then secretly leave a crack open so she could watch TV without being discovered.
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