Chapter 54: Exclusive to Jinjiang 1/2

In the end, they indeed made a large amount of dumplings, and the fridge couldn’t hold them all. Teacher Wang naturally handed a bag to Shi Zhang, asking them to take it home.

That’s how it was when visiting parents. You could go empty-handed, but you would never return empty-handed.

“Go, go, go, hurry back and get some sleep.” Teacher Wang didn’t even let the kids have dinner, waving them off. “Look at how you lazed in bed this morning, obviously lacking sleep.”

Song Fuzhi smiled falsely, and Shi Zhang, holding the dumplings, said, “Thank you.”

“No need to thank us. What’s there to thank your own family for?” Old Song patted Shi Zhang on the shoulder. “Go back; ah, you two take care.”

Ah, it’s really nice; they are all family now.

After they returned home, they tacitly didn’t mention those things again. Things would proceed as they should.

But when sleeping at night, Song Fuzhi felt a bit different. He didn’t reach out to touch the skin on Shi Zhang’s lower back; instead, he just laid his arm over him.

With closed eyes for a long time, Song Fuzhi still couldn’t fall asleep.

Suddenly learning about Shi Zhang’s past, Song Fuzhi needed some time to digest it.

The blind box figurines he bought for Shi Zhang were still in the car. Song Fuzhi’s mood had been a bit low recently; he wasn’t sure if it was the best time to give gifts.

He knew Shi Zhang kept a lot hidden and was unwilling to talk about many things, probably out of fear.

Fear of not being understood, fear of being abandoned.

Song Fuzhi wanted to empathize with his feelings but found it challenging.

He wanted to find a suitable way to tell Shi Zhang not to be afraid, but for a moment, he couldn’t think of a good idea.

In a somewhat confused state of mind, leaning into a warm embrace, Song Fuzhi unknowingly fell asleep.

He slept for a long time before Shi Zhang followed suit.

Back at school for classes, Song Fuzhi felt a simple happiness. The children were at their best age, with many dreams to fulfill.

The students chatted and laughed in the classroom, and Teacher Song surprisingly didn’t wear a stern face today.

However, when he returned to the office, Song Fuzhi felt that something was not right.

The next-door homeroom teacher was on the phone, and the other teachers were silent, looking serious.

Walking to Mr. Zhou’s desk, Song Fuzhi asked him in a low voice, “What happened?”

Mr. Zhou answered him quietly, “Mr. Mei’s class had a student fighting outside the school during lunchtime. It seems he started it, and the local police station called the school.”

Song Fuzhi’s expression darkened. Incidents like students fighting were not common at their school, but when they did happen, it was troublesome for the teachers.

Ms. Mei had classes scheduled for the afternoon but couldn’t teach them. She urgently found another teacher to cover her class, and she went to the police station.

Song Fuzhi had dealt with a student fight before. At that time, he was still young, it was his first time as a homeroom teacher, and he had the most troublesome class in the entire school. Other teachers avoided taking it.

During a break, two students in the class started fighting directly in the classroom, knocking down three rows of desks and chairs.

Teacher Song was stern-faced and very angry after understanding the situation. He had long discussions with both students and even talked to other students who were watching.

In fact, the cause was trivial. The two students didn’t get along, always having conflicts. That day, they had some minor friction on the basketball court, and one retaliated after the other bumped into him.

Impulsive teenagers with emotions—once they exchanged a few words, they started fighting. Once a fight began, it was hard to stop.

At that time, Teacher Song was even stricter than now. After understanding the situation, he didn’t compromise at all. He immediately called both students’ parents, asked them to apologize, write self-reflections, and report to the political education department for punishment.

This incident took a lot of Song Fuzhi’s energy and time, but he did it all because he wanted to teach students that using violence would lead to consequences.

In Teacher Song’s eyes, there were two things that crossed the bottom line: cheating and violence.

Especially because fighting over such trivial matters could cause harm to oneself and others.

After that incident, no one dared to make trouble in the class. It also made Song Fuzhi’s reputation spread far and wide; he even tamed the most troublesome class.

Ms. Mei returned with the student and went to a separate room for a private conversation.

Before this, Song Fuzhi had represented her class before, so he had some impressions of this student.

Big in stature, but with severe academic imbalances, yet very intelligent.

Mr. Zhou sighed. “Kids are just too impulsive. Why must they resort to fighting?”

“Lucky it didn’t happen in Teacher Song’s class,” a teacher said. “Otherwise, he would have surely faced disciplinary action.”

Song Fuzhi smiled and shook his head. “Not necessarily.”

“How so?”

“We must first find out why he fought. If there’s some special reason, then we can make a judgment after understanding it,” Song Fuzhi said.

This depended on each child’s personality and the situations they encountered. Each issue needed to be analyzed specifically, and Song Teacher wouldn’t immediately start scolding people without understanding the situation.

“However, Song Fuzhi does not like such behavior; it is indecent and immature.

Fortunately, they are still children, and there is plenty of opportunity for correction. If it were an adult who enjoyed fighting, Song Fuzhi would truly be disgusted.

Song Fuzhi is quite confident in his students. Though a bit mischievous, they can distinguish right from wrong.

On Teacher Song’s desk lies the magical Pokémon capsule toy gifted by Yuan Jun. A glance at it instantly lifts his mood. That’s how teachers are, despite the exhaustion; the small moments of appreciation from students are unique to their profession.

The atmosphere in the office has been serious these days, but the arrival of the delivery room’s elder livens it up.

“Hello, comrades. Here are your letters and items.”

The elder cheerfully distributes items to the teachers, all sent to the school from outside.

Most are award certificates, notices, and personal items like clothes or books. Back in the day, the delivery room had to handle a lot more letters or postcards for the school, but now it’s rare.

The elder hands out the items to the teachers, and finally, there is a large envelope left, placed on Song Fuzhi’s desk.

“Teacher Song, today it’s not flowers,” the elder jokes.

Other teachers laugh too because, besides Qiao Xuyang, someone had previously sent flowers to Teacher Song, delivered by the delivery room elder.

The scene was quite amusing as the elder rushed in, eager to clarify that it wasn’t a misunderstanding and that the flowers were from a young man outside.

Teacher Zhou leans over, teasing, “Could it be a love letter, Teacher Song?”

“It would have to be a love letter from my husband.” Song Fuzhi rarely indulges in such jokes. “Otherwise, I can’t accept it.”

Song Fuzhi evaluates the envelope; it’s quite heavy and thick. He has no idea what’s inside but decides to open it and take a look.

As he opens the envelope, Song Fuzhi peeks inside. At first, he doesn’t see clearly, but after staring for a few seconds, his expression changes.

“Is it really a love letter?” Teacher Zhou casually teases; he hasn’t paid much attention to what’s happening on Song Fuzhi’s side.

“Yeah.” Song Fuzhi smiles. “I don’t know who sent this love letter, but it’s not from my husband, so I can’t read it.”

Saying this, he folds the envelope and puts it aside.

Teacher Zhou laughs heartily.

By lunchtime, when Song Fuzhi is the only one left in the office, he finally opens the large envelope.

His fingers are a bit shaky when opening it, but he does it anyway.

The first thing he sees is a black and white piece of paper.

Administrative detention record of five days for engaging in a physical fight.

Below are stamped with Shi Zhang’s full name and ID number.

The date is about twenty years ago.

A red stamp from the Public Security Bureau is next to it.

In fact, administrative detention is not a criminal record, but seeing this piece of paper suddenly leaves Song Fuzhi stunned for a moment.

Fighting and Shi Professor are two unrelated terms, but Song Fuzhi suddenly sees them together.

Song Fuzhi’s first reaction is that this must be fake. Then he thinks that, even if it’s true, Shi Zhang must have had his reasons at that time.

He was still a minor then; surely someone had pushed him to his limits.

Song Fuzhi realizes that he’s calm when dealing with students and can ask them about reasons coldly, but not when it comes to Shi Zhang; he’s biased.

Almost immediately, he is certain that Shi Zhang is on the right. Even if he did commit violence, it must have been under duress.

Song Fuzhi quickly realizes who might have sent this, probably only Shi Zhang’s father.

The remaining contents are probably more of Shi Zhang’s “dark history,” an attempt to sow discord here, create cracks in their marriage, maybe lead to a divorce, and then Shi Zhang can go back and get him a grandchild.

Song Fuzhi’s expression turns cold; it’s a boring and insidious tactic, something beneath contempt.

What’s the point? Bringing up fights from Shi Zhang’s teenage years can only highlight how much effort he has put into becoming an outstanding adult over the years.

Actually, seeing this, Song Fuzhi doesn’t want to continue reading. He can’t believe this old man’s one-sided story.