Chapter 47: Counselors

It seeTeacher that the second cousin’s advice had an effect. After being angry for a few days, Uncle temporarily set aside the issues with Auntie’s family. However, the second cousin mentioned that due to Uncle’s anger, his belly had even shrunk a Xiao.

Chen Jin was focused on tracking the progress at the Jinxiuxiao residential area, and at this time, Tian Miao had also quit her job at the supermarket, ready to roll up her sleeves and open her own small store.

Chen Jin didn’t have to worry much about stocking the store, as there was the “Yongfei Supermarket” run by her third uncle and aunt to use as a reference. Most of it could be copied directly. During this period, Chen Jin had Tian Miao follow her third uncle and aunt to learn what needed to be managed in running a supermarket.

The third uncle had gone through a lot of trouble to get the tobacco license before, but this time, after preparing all the materials with Chen Jin, they managed to get things done in one go.

Chen Jin posted a rental notice for the other shop and temporarily left the contact information for her third uncle’s supermarket, assigning Tian Miao to handle any inquiries and negotiations. Chen Jin had to prepare to return to work, so she had to put household matters aside for now.

However, there wasn’t much left for her to worry about. The Jinxiuxiao residential area only needed some ventilation now, and by August, they could start renting it out. Her third uncle would be there to manage things for a while, and after that, Tian Miao would take over rent collection. She also didn’t need to worry about the beautiful community area, as her third uncle was in charge of collecting rent. If anyone didn’t renew their lease, Bai Xinping could introduce new tenants. As for Qiaoxi Village, her cousin Meng Chong was managing it, so there was nothing to worry about there either.

So, now she really could just sit back and collect rent, without even the hassle of visiting each tenant to collect it herself.

There wasn’t much to clean up here either. She would first go back to live in her small villa for a while, and after working for half a month, she would probably come back to live in Hanlin Garden.

However, when she was pulling her suitcase downstairs to the parking lot, she unexpectedly saw Shen Baichuan waving at her. Rong City was really small—she could even run into her neighbor here.

Oh, right, she almost forgot. Shen Baichuan had mentioned before that he also had a house in Hanlin Garden. That made sense, since one of the developers behind Hanlin Garden was a real estate company under the Cheng Group.

With such a vast family business, no wonder he could afford to change luxury cars every day of the week. Tsk, yet another car she hadn’t seen before, and this time it was red—quite flashy, not exactly Shen Baichuan’s style.

Noticing Chen Jin couldn’t help but keep glancing at the red car behind him, Shen Baichuan found it amusing. In her eyes, he was really less attractive than his cars.

“Teacher Chen, are you heading to school to start work?”

“Yes,” Chen Jin replied, enviously glancing at Shen Baichuan. She was about to start work, while Shen Baichuan’s vacation had just begun.

It was funny, really. Before graduating, she thought she needed to find herself a job, but now that she actually had to go to work, she felt lazy and didn’t want to work. But if she didn’t work, she didn’t know what else to do.

Her uncle often said she was resourceful, but in reality, she just dabbled here and there, never mastering anything, and barely getting by. Her eldest cousin and second cousin were busy with their companies, Gu Minmin was a teacher—oh, she was also about to go on summer vacation. Chen Ting was working as a nurse in the hospital, and her third cousin was busy with his travel agency. As for Chen Jia and Chen Yongan, there wasn’t much to say—they hadn’t started working yet.

It seemed like she didn’t have much ambition when it came to a career. Maybe she just hadn’t found her path yet.

She was thinking too far ahead. Career plans could wait. Right now, she had to transform into “Teacher Chen.”

Shen Baichuan had just returned from somewhere and was going to be staying at Hanlin Garden for the time being, so running into Chen Jin at the parking lot was unexpected. The parking lot was empty, and their voices echoed slightly. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Chen Jin said goodbye and drove off.

After Shen Baichuan and the others left, he went to the trunk to grab something, only to see a long scratch along the side of the car. He laughed in exasperation and took out his phone, pressing the number heavily as he dialed.

“I went to the old house today, and when I came back, there was a scratch on my car. Either you transfer the compensation to my account now, or I’ll head back and we can continue discussing what we talked about today.”

On the other end of the line, the old man cursed furiously. It was unclear whether he was cursing Shen’s half-brother for being careless, or if he was using the opportunity to accuse Shen of taking advantage of the family’s company now that he had grown independent.

Shen Baichuan held the phone away slightly, calmly sitting on the hood of his car, waiting for the old man to offer a final solution.

In the end, he ended up with enough money to buy a new car.

No matter how many cars the old mansion had, they couldn’t cover the cost of compensating him anymore; now, they had no choice but to pay him.

Chen Jin returned home, walking barefoot up and down the house, feeling the coolness underfoot and enjoying the comfort. But Professor Song, hearing the noise, came over with some food, and upon seeing her barefoot, insisted she put on shoes or socks.

“It’s too hot these days. We’re thinking of spending some time in the countryside.”

The countryside that Professor Song referred to was an ancient village near Rong City, which had been developed into a tourist spot. The village was full of large banyan trees that practically covered the whole place. Even in the daytime, you didn’t need an umbrella while walking on the village roads.

Chen Jin had only visited once during college as part of a class activity, and it left a deep impression. It was a picturesque village, like something straight out of an ink painting. But if it weren’t for Professor Song bringing it up, she would’ve forgotten that Rong City even had such a place.

Next weekend, she thought, she’d drive over for a visit.

“By the way, one of your high school classmates sent me a wedding invitation. I didn’t expect them to be getting married so soon.” Professor Song knew that Chen Jin didn’t mind hearing about her ex, so she was curious if Chen Jin had also received an invitation.

Amused, Chen Jin replied, “They probably wouldn’t dare send me one.”

Even if they did, she wouldn’t want to go. She wouldn’t even have the appetite to eat, so it would just be a waste of time.

Those two were finally tying the knot, and she was relieved. If they were to break up and find new partners, it would only harm others. It was better for them to be stuck together.

Once Professor Song and Dean Xi left with their large bags, and with both neighbors away, she could turn the volume on her speakers all the way up without bothering anyone.

The next day, she started work.

The summer work schedule was pretty reasonable, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m., with a two-and-a-half-hour lunch break.

Her previous counselor, Chang Jianjian, whom Chen Jin addressed as Mr. Chang, was now more or less her mentor at work. Mr. Chang had just finished overseeing her cohort of students and was supposed to start with the new freshmen, but the counselor for the next batch had resigned to work in the private sector, so the college had him step in.

If it hadn’t been for that resignation, there wouldn’t have been a vacancy for her to be hired, and she would have had to look for jobs elsewhere.

“Being a counselor, the most tedious thing is the daily management of students. Today, someone will ask for leave, and tomorrow, someone will come to you with other matters. You also have to determine if their reasons for leave are legitimate. Most importantly, student safety is the biggest concern. A couple of years ago, a female student went out with classmates from another major, stayed out all night, and if she hadn’t encountered the police, she could have been abducted and thrown into a car.”

“Safety is the most crucial issue, and it needs to be emphasized repeatedly, even during holidays. A few years ago, a girl from another department was invited by her roommate to her hometown, and she almost ended up being sold to the mountains to marry one of those bachelors who couldn’t find a wife. Students are still very naive and haven’t seen much of the darker side of humanity. If someone sweet-talks them, they might just believe it…”

“Apart from daily management, it’s also important to talk to them, get to know them, and have heart-to-heart conversations. Being young is an advantage because it makes it easier for you to connect with students. Then there’s the scholarship evaluation process. You should be familiar with the process since you received scholarships every year, but now, as a counselor, your role is to ensure fairness in the selection…”

“I also have some work summaries and reflections that you can take with you to read. They might be helpful for managing students in the future.”

“Besides managing students, there are some administrative tasks, like preparing materials for evaluations and inspections.”

That morning, Mr. Chang walked her through the basic duties of a counselor.

At lunch, he said he wanted to “welcome” her by treating her to a meal and invited two other counselors from the office.

One was Teacher. He Chunmei, who was in charge of the soon-to-be sophomores. She and Mr. Chang had been counselors in the literature department for seven years, both of them graduates from the Normal University.

The other one was Mr. Zhou Ding, who had been selected alongside her during the interview process and was a psychology graduate. He was to take over the soon-to-be juniors, but the transition wasn’t happening immediately, as their current counselor, Mr. Mo, was still in place.

Zhou Ding’s handover seemed tricky, as Mr. Mo had been offered a transfer to the administration building, but no formal notice had been issued yet. Meanwhile, the college had already hired his replacement…

Chen Jin figured this might turn into a bit of drama.

Mr. Mo declined the lunch invitation, opting to go home to eat.

All morning, Chen Jin hadn’t seen Mr. Mo smile once, especially after he returned from the dean’s office. The entire office felt tense, so she kept her head down and stayed quiet. But Mr. Chang, being a senior staff member, didn’t seem to mind, and continued explaining things to her. Meanwhile, she noticed Zhou Ding quietly taking notes with a pen and notebook.

She felt a Xiao sorry for Zhou Ding—it was going to be tough for him.

Mr. Chang suggested they eat at a small restaurant just outside the west gate, which would also be on his way home afterward. Both he and Teacher. He were already married, and their spouses worked at the university as well. Back in the day, they were lucky enough to be assigned housing as a couple, so they had settled down near the campus.

As for Zhou Ding, no one knew when he would get housing, but for now, he was staying in the student dorms with other counselors from different departments. Though his accommodations were a bit better than the students’, as he shared the dorm with only one other person.

The sun outside was too strong. Although the road wasn’t far, Chen Jin still chose to drive. She first dropped off Teacher Chang and the other two at the roadside on Wutong Road, then drove back to the community and parked in an empty space inside the gate, informing the guard before heading to the small restaurant.

She should have kept an umbrella in the car; it seemed she had forgotten to take it from her home in Hanlin Garden.

Meanwhile, Teacher Chang and the others who came in Chen Jin’s car felt the reality of her “wealth.”

They had heard the news that Chen Jin’s family had become wealthy due to a redevelopment project, a rumor that surely circulated among students and reached the teachers. However, they only knew she had money; they had no idea how wealthy she truly was.

Once they got into the sedan, they realized that a Santana costs over a hundred thousand or even two hundred thousand. Then they thought about current housing prices… Ah, this is truly something to be envious of.

And when Teacher He learned that Chen Jin owned a small villa, she felt even more numb. A small villa? How much would that cost? Nowadays, even having money wouldn’t guarantee one could buy it.

When Chen Jin returned to the small restaurant and saw the complex expressions on everyone’s faces, she smiled and asked if they had ordered. The conversation quickly shifted to the signature dishes of this seemingly ordinary yet actually remarkable small restaurant, and it was clear that Teacher Chang was an old regular, familiar with every dish on the menu.

Chen Jin had no intention of downplaying her wealth in front of her colleagues. She kept most of her wealth private, but her car and villa were something she used regularly and lived in, so it was hard to hide. It was better to let people know openly.

In reality, there was no need to hide; Teacher Chang had taught her class, so she definitely knew her address.

“Let’s toast with tea instead of wine to welcome our two new colleagues,” Teacher Chang raised her glass, reminding her and Zhou Ding: “At the beginning, listen more and say less. If you don’t understand something, just ask. Don’t panic when something happens; if the sky falls, the leaders will be the first to handle it.”

Chen Jin laughed. It would be best if the leaders truly took charge. As long as it wasn’t her business, she wouldn’t mind stepping in.

“Chen Jin and Zhou Ding, do you have partners yet? If not, feel free to tell me your requirements, and Sister He will make sure to introduce you to suitable candidates.”

Here it comes! Chen Jin’s alarm bells went off. She remembered what her second uncle said—that the older brothers and sisters at the workplace love to play matchmaker for the younger ones during their free time.

But this needed careful judgment. Some people genuinely thought you were a good match and just happened to know someone with similar qualifications, thinking of bringing them together. But others were far more complicated; seeing that you were decent, they viewed you as a resource to introduce to someone they knew, without caring if the match was a good fit for you. To put it bluntly, they were treating you as a favor or stepping stone.

In any case, no matter who wanted to introduce her to a partner now, she would shake her head.

She hadn’t even figured out her job yet and couldn’t be certain about what her colleagues were like privately. Even with Teacher Chang, whom she had known for four years, she hadn’t really gotten to know her well.

Zhou Ding shyly smiled and said, “Not yet, but I’m not in a hurry; I just graduated.”

After saying that, he glanced at Chen Jin.

Chen Jin smiled and said, “Me too; I don’t feel rushed. My family also said I’m still young and should play for a few more years. My siblings all got into relationships and got married later; the elders in my family don’t urge marriage.”

“No worries, enjoying life now doesn’t conflict with slowly finding someone. Once you have standards, it’ll be easier to find a suitable partner later, right?”

Teacher Chang looked at Chen Jin, interrupting Teacher He, and urged everyone to eat quickly, saying they still needed to go home for a nap after lunch. Teacher He didn’t sense anything wrong, thinking they were colleagues now, and there would be plenty of time to ask in the future.

After lunch, Chen Jin said her goodbyes and went to a fruit shop to buy two bags of fruit.

She had a thing for fruit. Since moving into her villa, she had frequented this fruit shop and bought quite a lot each time. The shop owner remembered her well and, after weighing and charging her, slipped in a handful of longans as a bonus.

“Your school is getting ready for vacation, right?”

“Yes, some colleges are a bit later, and some students have already gone home.”

Once the students go on break, at least half the shops on Wutong Road will close.

Lan Meiying mentioned she would set up a stall near the school. She went to Normal University, where there were more girls. Once the vacation started, it was uncertain where she would move her stall.

After a short nap, Chen Jin had to be at work by two-thirty. She dawdled until ten minutes before she had to leave. It took her only six minutes to drive from her house to the school building, leaving her four minutes to walk to the office.

She arrived only to find Teacher Mo already there, which startled her into thinking Teacher Chang and the others had been called for a meeting. But soon, Zhou Ding arrived too.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

This was all due to the “aftereffects” of her internship at Cheng’s Group. As an intern, they didn’t demand much from her. But as a full-time employee, it was different. Chen Jin often heard Sister Ming, who gossiped with Teacher Chang, say that sometimes leaders would come to the office early and call everyone for a meeting. Those who arrived just on time would get reprimanded.

She hesitated about whether she should come a bit earlier in the future, but when she saw that Teacher Chang and Teacher He arrived more than twenty minutes late and told her and Zhou Ding, “No special matters, generally you can come before three,” her heart settled.

She hadn’t made a wrong choice in this job!

In the afternoon, Teacher Chang took the two newcomers to meet the leaders, saying that there would be a faculty meeting at the end of the semester, and they would be introduced to everyone publicly.

Chen Jin imagined the scene where many of her subject teachers would be seated below, suddenly reminded of her thesis defense. Thankfully, this time there wouldn’t be any questions; she wasn’t afraid of not being able to answer.

After three days of work, Chen Jin had fully adapted to the office hours. She left home every day quite happily, humming Xiao tunes, shaking her keychain, and strolling leisurely.

With the semester’s teaching work in the School of Literature winding down with the final exams, Chen Jin went to help Teacher Chang prepare materials to distribute to the students who were about to advance from their junior year to their senior year.

Teacher Chang took over this group of students midway and currently only knows a small portion of them. There are several classes, and instead of holding separate class meetings, they organized a unified grade meeting.

Chen Jin followed Teacher Chang, learning about everything from setting the meeting time, location, and agenda, to writing the meeting content and informing class committee members to notify their respective classes. Every Xiao detail held significant meaning, and Chen Jin felt she was learning a lot; being a counselor seemed to be more complex than she initially thought.

Holding meetings wasn’t particularly difficult, but at the moment, there was a student submitting a leave application with a destination that was neither Rong City nor the student’s hometown, but Beijing. The student mentioned wanting to travel and see the sights during the summer vacation.

Well, if a student wants to go out and see the world, the counselor needs to ask questions, call the student’s parents for confirmation, and clarify the student’s travel plans…

She felt that the students’ parents were quite casual. When the student expressed the desire to travel, the parents simply agreed, leaving the counselor more worried than they were.

Since the student was a boy, Teacher Chang felt more at ease. However, when she saw a girl submitting a leave application with a destination to a classmate’s home in a small town in another province, and upon asking, found out that the parents were unaware of this, she firmly refused to approve the leave for that female student and immediately called her parents.

The parents were much more concerned and quickly said they would contact their daughter to have her return home.

Seeing the girl taking notes while listening attentively, Teacher Chang smiled helplessly, saying, “Do you feel this is rather trivial and different from what you expected?”

Chen Jin nodded, “It is a bit different. I used to think being a counselor was like being a village chief, but I didn’t expect it to be more like a street mediator.”

Teacher Chang laughed, “Your understanding isn’t wrong.”

After a few days at work, Teacher Chang noticed that Chen Jin and Zhou Ding were completely different situations. Zhou Ding was quiet, which might not solely be due to his personality, but also because of Teacher Mo’s “exclusion.” However, since that involved internal issues among the college leadership, he couldn’t get involved and could only advise Zhou Ding not to overthink it—just focus on working, and for now, observe and learn since there was no handover.

Chen Jin, on the other hand, was curious about everything and would ask a few questions. She was not intimidated by the college leadership and spoke freely. However, Teacher Chang noted that Chen Jin didn’t seem to be trying to impress anyone in front of the leaders. He guessed that she was probably just looking for a job. Unlike them, she could just go home and lie down if she didn’t have this job.

Having a backup plan made a person more relaxed, and they wouldn’t overexert themselves.

For example, Teacher Mo, thinking he had worked longer, asked Chen Jin to fetch him water.

If he had asked in a normal tone, believing it was a common request among colleagues, he was sure Chen Jin wouldn’t refuse. But Teacher Mo acted with an air of authority, making it seem like he was the boss of the office.

Chen Jin responded, “I’ll do my own tasks; I see Teacher Mo isn’t busy with anything.”

After saying that, she briskly left the office.

The office fell silent, followed by Teacher Mo’s dissatisfied grunt. When Chen Jin returned with the water, he was muttering sarcastically to himself, and Chen Jin was busy with her work, completely ignoring Teacher Mo.

Teacher Chang felt pleased; finally, there was someone to keep Teacher Mo in check! Did he think he could control everyone? The last teacher who resigned did so because Teacher Mo had made it unbearable for him, driving him to leave and start a business instead. Teacher Chang and Teacher He arrived early, but they were only one year ahead of Teacher Mo and had not been spared from his Xiao schemes.

During Chen Jin’s time, Teacher Chang had heard complaints from Qin Xuemei in Chen Jin’s dorm, saying Chen Jin cursed at her roommates and classmates. Later, he found out it was just targeted at Qin Xuemei for her excessive behavior, which led him to believe that Chen Jin had a bit of a tough temper.

Now… a tough temper is good!

He had also advised Chen Jin to be a bit gentler in the office.

At the time, Chen Jin had said, “I can’t; I just got here, and I can’t be soft.” She was quite familiar with such matters from high school and university. It was important to establish her boundaries from the start so others would know she wasn’t someone to be pushed around, which would help avoid many troubles.

So Teacher Chang decided not to bring it up again.

A strong backbone gives one the confidence to speak up.

After a week of work, Chen Jin noticed that not many people called her “Teacher Chen” yet, but rather “Xiao Chen.”

On the last day of that week, they held a faculty meeting at the college, where Chen Jin and Zhou Ding, the two new teachers, stood on stage to introduce themselves.

Looking down, Chen Jin saw the teachers from the College of Literature seated in two rows, looking at her with kind eyes, as if to say their own child had finally succeeded.

Chen Jin sighed, wondering when the school year started and when she would approach these teachers with various student issues, if they would still remember this moment of warmth and kindness.