Chapter 64

Su Ye handed the document to Lu’s parents and said, “You can take this now and use it to have Lu Siyuan’s criminal record cleared. Dad Lu, Mom Lu, would you mind if I borrow your house to give these children some extra lessons?”

Mother Lu sighed and said, “What’s there to mind? Teacher Su, you are truly a good teacher. If only our Siyuan could study well under you!”

Su Ye looked around at the people gathered in Lu’s house—one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight—there were indeed enough of them, and the ones who needed tutoring the most were all here.

The food that Guo Aiguo had requested was settled.

She pulled a stack of practice tests from her bag and cheerfully said, “I’ve remembered everything you all said. It’s better to come at the right time than to come early, I just happened to bring the exercises I’ve prepared for you. Finish them before you go home.”

Su Ye handed out the test papers one by one. “Turn them in when you’re done. I’ll come back to grade your tests. Write carefully, and don’t sneak peeks at your books.”

Yang Chenxing couldn’t believe it as he took the test paper, staring at Su Ye in shock. “Are you a devil?”

The group of young men didn’t expect to be doing homework today, and they were all completely stunned. In a panic, they glanced at Su Ye, realizing that she wasn’t joking.

Su Ye said, “I’m not joking with you. Always thinking about playing—how can you be lazy at a time like this? The graduation exams for the No. 1 high school are in two weeks. Can you guarantee you’ll get your diplomas?”

They resignedly pulled long faces and began to write their tests with a sense of deep frustration.

Yang Chenxing finished the test in half an hour, and when he was done, he realized that Su Ye was no longer in the room. She was outside chatting with the neighbors, surrounded by a few people, laughing and talking, completely at ease.

Yang Chenxing thought, Teacher Su really deserves the title of “friend of the people.” After just one test, she was already chummy with the neighbors near Lu Siyuan’s house? This person was terrifying!

Lu Siyuan’s home was not far from Yang Xue’s house. The children of workers from the grain and oil factory all went to the No. 1 high school. Su Ye had visited this area so many times for home visits, it was hard to keep track.

Yang Xue’s mother and several other women were warmly chatting with Su Ye. From their conversation, Su Ye learned some things about Yu Fuda.

Yu Fuda was originally an accountant at the glass brick factory, but two years ago, he was transferred to the grain and oil factory. He now serves as the deputy director of Changyou Grain and Oil Factory. He was a smooth and cunning person, and Yang Xue’s father didn’t like him at all.

Yang Xue’s mother often took up odd jobs like washing clothes and cooking for the neighbors, and she had plenty of gossip to share. What she revealed was even more explosive.

Yang Xue’s mother quietly said to Su Ye, “I see that Teacher Su is already married, so there’s no need to be shy about some things. This Deputy Factory Director Yu is not a decent person. He looks presentable, but privately, he often harasses the female workers at the factory.”

Another woman, hearing Yang Xue’s mother, quickly added, “That’s right, he targets young wives and girls who can’t stand up for themselves, touching their hands, hugging them. Some of them can’t resist and end up having an affair with him.”

Yang Xue’s mother gave her a disapproving glance. How could she speak so bluntly to Teacher Su about these sordid matters?

She continued, “Teacher Su, don’t listen to her crude words. Listen to me, I’ll tell you everything if you want to know.

“Wasn’t there a famine this year? Many workers at Old Yang’s factory lost their jobs. Comrade Qin, whose leg isn’t good, was forced to retire earlier this year. Speaking of Comrade Qin, you may not know him, but his daughter, Qin Lan, goes to the No.1 high school. She’s very pretty, you must have seen her. Deputy Factory Director Yu has been telling people that he’s prepared a 100 yuan and wants to marry Qin Lan.”

Su Ye certainly remembered Qin Lan. She was very quiet and had been studying hard recently. She was fair-skinned, with big eyes that shone like a deer’s, clear and expressive. She looked like a star from the 1980s Hong Kong film scene. Qin Lan’s face was especially delicate and far surpassed Yao Chunyu in beauty.

Su Ye had to admit that she couldn’t help but look at her a few extra times while teaching.

She had tutored Qin Lan for a while and found out that she was dating Xu Le. The two young, handsome, and elegant students were in the early stages of their relationship, filled with the sweetness of youth, which was a joy to watch. Su Ye had been hopeful that both of them would pass the university entrance exams.

What was a middle-aged greasy man like Yu Fuda doing trying to interfere?

After hearing all this, Su Ye was taken aback and asked, “Yu Fuda is already that old and hasn’t gotten married yet?”

Yang Xue’s mother sneered, “Who knows about him? Yu Fuda says his wife died. He’s not from here, he was transferred to the grain and oil factory. No one really knows his background. We’ve only seen his mother, who’s from the countryside, come to visit him during the holidays.”

“Teacher Su, let me tell you the truth. You don’t know this, but Qin Lan, that girl, she’s so fair and pretty, I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful. She hasn’t even finished high school yet, and young workers from the factory are almost trampling the threshold of the Qin family’s door. Who wouldn’t want to marry such a beautiful wife?”

She glanced at Su Ye, flattering her, “Of course, Teacher Su is also very beautiful! Not only is Teacher Su good-looking, but she also has a special kind of aura!”

The others nodded in agreement, “Yes, yes, Teacher Su is cultured and has an ink-like charm!”

Su Ye gave them a quick look, silently thinking, “Thanks for the compliment and for buttering me up.”

She decided to change the subject, “Yang Xue’s mother, Zhou Zhou’s mother, Guo Zi’s mother, I have something to do, so I won’t stay and chat today. I’ll come back another day.”

She stood up, turned to Yang Chenxing, and instructed, “I’ll go to the hospital to check on Yu Fuda’s condition. Later, you can help me grade the papers and give them some extra lessons.”

Yang Chenxing stared at Su Ye in shock. It was bad enough that she caught them writing test papers on the weekend, but now she was going to make him grade them and give lessons? Was Su Ye even human?

He quickly tried to appease her, saying, “Teacher, I want to go to the hospital too! I’ll grade the papers tonight and do it when I get the chance. Is that alright?”

Su Ye agreed, “Alright, go ahead.”

—

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The parents of the Lu family went to the police station.

Officer Li looked at the couple without speaking. Just yesterday, he saw Yu Fuda lying on a hospital bed, on the verge of death. It seemed pretty credible at the time, but it turned out to be a lie? But looking at the stamp on the document from the hospital, it didn’t seem to be forged.

Officer Li furrowed his brows, took the document, and personally went to the hospital to verify.

City No. 1 Hospital.

Su Ye and Yang Chenxing arrived at the hospital, where she had invited Doctor Fei’s friend to examine Yu Fuda.

Yu Fuda hadn’t been hospitalized at first, but when he heard about Liu Li being investigated, Liu Li was suspended from his post and placed under investigation within a day. Realizing something was wrong, Yu Fuda rushed back to the hospital and obediently lay down in bed.

Su Ye entered the hospital room and saw a fat man sleeping soundly on the bed. Upon hearing the rumors from others earlier, she couldn’t help but feel disdain.

To be so fat during such hard times, it was obvious he’d been sneaking food and drinks. Su Ye’s meals, filled with fish and meat, didn’t even come close to his weight. Meanwhile, Director Lu was thin and always had a grim, dark expression on his face. The two were a stark contrast.

“At his age, still causing trouble for a child, isn’t that shameful?” Su Ye couldn’t help but comment.

The doctor beside her coughed in response. Su Ye, with a serious face, quickly corrected herself, “I mean, Doctor Niu, please make sure to thoroughly check Comrade Yu.”

Doctor Niu, a friend of Doctor Fei and a doctor at the hospital, was entrusted to give Yu Fuda a second examination.

He readily checked Yu Fuda and said, “Comrade Su, based on the initial examination, Mr. Yu’s physiological indicators are all normal. As for why he is unconscious, I’ll need to conduct a more thorough examination. Xiao Hu, take this patient to get an X-ray.” He instructed the nurse.

Yang Chenxing noticed Yu Fuda’s eyelids slightly twitching and his breathing becoming heavier. He stopped Doctor Niu.

“Teacher Su, Doctor Niu, there’s no need to go through all this trouble. No need for an X-ray. I have a traditional family remedy. One needle and he’ll be fine.”

Yang Chenxing didn’t yet know whether Yu Fuda had suffered any major injuries, but he grabbed the doctor’s arm and pulled out a needle from his pocket.

Upon seeing Yang Chenxing pull out a steel needle, Yu Fuda felt both angry and frustrated. He was forced to open his eyes and wake up.

Su Ye smiled as she looked at the now-awake Yu Fuda. “Comrade Yu, you’re finally awake? I’m Lu Siyuan’s teacher.”

“Yesterday, Doctor Liu misdiagnosed you. You’re fine now and can be discharged immediately. However, your family falsely accused my student, so you’ll need to go to the police station to withdraw the lawsuit.”

When Su Ye saw he wasn’t responding, she added, “What’s wrong? Don’t believe me? Doctor Niu, maybe you should take him to the imaging room for an X-ray.”

At this point, Doctor Niu could see clearly that Yu Fuda was perfectly healthy. He felt disgusted by people who pretended to be sick, wasting natural resources and delaying others’ time.

Doctor Niu said coldly, “There’s no need. He looks perfectly healthy to me. He can get out of bed and walk right away.”

He quickly wrote a diagnosis on the medical record, signed it, handed it to the nurse, and also copied a version to give to Su Ye.

Su Ye took the new diagnosis, blew it dry, and handed it to Yang Chenxing to take to Officer Li, who was investigating at the hospital.

Yu Fuda slowly got out of bed and awkwardly tried to smooth things over, saying, “I woke up this morning. Since the doctor says I’m fine, I’ll leave the hospital. I don’t know what happened, but I was unconscious for so long that my bones are sore from sleeping.”

The parents of the Lu family had arrived at the hospital at some point and had seen everything that had just transpired.

Mother Lu, with red eyes, said, “Yu Fuda, we believe we haven’t wronged you in any way. Why are you trying to harm Siyuan?”

Yu Fuda snorted coldly. “Sister-in-law, you misunderstood. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. What do you mean, I harmed Siyuan? He’s disrespectful to his elders, always fooling around, gathering a bunch of troublemakers to beat me. I haven’t even pursued that yet.”

Father Lu turned to Officer Li and said, “Thank you for coming all the way here.”

Father Lu shook Su Ye’s hand gratefully. “Thank you, Teacher Su. I’ll make sure Siyuan personally thanks you when he gets the chance.”

Su Ye smiled, “You’re too polite. It’s enough that he can come to school and attend classes.”

Mother Lu looked at Su Ye, feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude but not knowing how to thank her. Su Ye was a teacher, so giving money or gifts seemed inappropriate. But other than that, mother Lu couldn’t think of any other way to express her thanks.

She turned to Yang Chenxing and asked kindly, “What does Teacher Su like? Your uncle and I would really like to thank her properly.”

What does Teacher Su like? This was no problem for Yang Chenxing. He remembered that Su Ye’s desk was always filled with snacks, either pastries or candies. He said, “Teacher Su likes to eat, she really loves it.”

Upon hearing this, Mother Lu’s face lit up, and she quickly came up with a way to thank her.

—

Monday.

Su Ye was teaching math to Class 3 of the third year of high school when she unexpectedly saw Lu Siyuan.

He had cut his hair into a crew cut, no longer hiding his eyes behind long bangs. Gone was the depressed and gloomy demeanor, and in its place was the bright appearance of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy. He looked much more refreshed.

His gaze, however, was the same as before, displeased with everyone, dark and rebellious.

After the lesson, Lu Siyuan called out to Su Ye, “Teacher Su, wait a moment.”

Su Ye stopped and smiled, “Your new haircut looks good. Much better than the messy look before. Now, just focus on studying well.”

Lu Siyuan couldn’t tell if he was happy or not, his face remained tight and serious.

He had been mulling over what to say for a while and finally spoke, “Thank you, Teacher. My parents want to invite you to dinner tomorrow at six in the evening at Jufu Restaurant. If you don’t want to go, I can help you decline.”

“No need for dinner, it’s too much trouble,” Su Ye nodded and replied.

Looking at the well-groomed Lu Siyuan, Su Ye thought about his caring parents and hesitated before saying, “Lu Siyuan, I’ve heard people say that you’re very smart, but I think you’re still not smart enough. This time, you didn’t think about the consequences of your impulsive actions. Let me ask you, if you ended up in prison at the age of sixteen or seventeen, what would you, your family, and your friends do?”

“I once told you that the best age is when you should do the most meaningful things. Lu Siyuan, have you found what you should be doing?”

After reprimanding Lu Siyuan, Su Ye turned and headed back to her office. She quietly opened her backend and was shocked to find that there had been an increase of 100 pounds of Fuqiang flour in the warehouse!

What does 100 pounds of Fuqiang flour mean? She quickly turned to look at Lu Siyuan.

Su Ye’s disdainful expression turned into one of surprise, and she smiled warmly at him, adding, “It’s okay not to be smart. It’s never too late to make up for past mistakes. I have a test for you, come to my office after school and take it.”

Lu Siyuan didn’t show much reaction, and it was unclear whether he agreed or not.

After school, Lu Siyuan came to Su Ye’s office.

There was no test for Lu Siyuan to take. Su Ye had never considered him to be in the category of students needing help. Instead, she rummaged through Zhou Yi’s drawer and pulled out a teacher recruitment test paper from the No. 1 High School, scratched out the title, and handed it to Lu Siyuan.

Lu Siyuan wanted to protest and didn’t want to write, but his protest was ineffective. He frowned deeply and, suppressing his impatience, wrote for an hour.

Su Ye took a red pen and started marking it, quickly going through each question. She was already very familiar with the answers to this test, after all, she had carefully done it herself before. The more she went through it, the more her eyelids twitched.

After finishing the last question, Su Ye took a deep breath and pulled out the red pen to mark it with a “70.”

Although it was far lower than the score Su Ye had received at the time, she had prepared for it, while Lu Siyuan had done it on the spot, writing for only an hour.

Su Ye finally understood the feelings of the teachers in the No. 1 High School office at that time—how could such a high score be achieved? Because… she had misjudged him. She had overlooked everything from the start.

No wonder, when she touched this group of people, the food in the warehouse started disappearing quickly. It turned out that most of the reward for the food came from Lu Siyuan. Su Ye acknowledged her mistake and knew it was not too late to fix it.

She tapped the desk and said to Lu Siyuan, “Tomorrow at six in the evening, right? I’ll remember.”