Chapter 26: Going to School

Wanqing listened to Lu Jin’an’s words in silence. She had followed Lu Demin to this village in accordance with the country’s arrangement, and now she had come to regard it as home.

At first, life was tough, but she endured. Later, when Bai An arrived, the family slowly began to improve. But now, with the villagers acting like bandits, invading her home, how could she accept this?

As Wanqing was feeling sorrowful, Lu Demin returned, pushing his bicycle in a rush.

Seeing the small cuts on Lu Demin’s face, Bai An furrowed her brows and asked, “Dad, what happened to your face? Did they hit you?”

“No,” Lu Demin replied. Even after their home was ransacked, he, like Wanqing, wasn’t overly concerned. He smiled and said, “Someone took my bike, but I went over and grabbed it as soon as they set it down.”

“Well, I rode too fast and fell.”

Bai An noticed some dust on her father’s clothes and pouted sadly.

“Be careful,” Wanqing said, brushing the dust off Lu Demin. “Go wash up first, it’s time for bed. You need to rest, or you won’t be able to get up tomorrow and work.”

Bai An looked up at Lu Jin’an, who was staring at his room, his expression unreadable.

“Brother, aren’t you angry?” Bai An asked curiously.

Lu Jin’an glanced at her and laughed lightly. “Angry?”

“A group of strangers took everything from our house right in front of us, of course, I’m angry.”

“I’m just thinking about some things. Don’t worry about it.”

Thinking about things.

Bai An looked at Lu Jin’an’s expression and couldn’t help but feel he was upset.

“In a few days, school will start. Bai An, you should go,” Lu Demin said to Bai An.

Bai An looked confused. “But after what they did to us today, do I still have to go to school? Will there be any problems if I go?”

Seeing Bai An’s concern, Lu Jin’an also looked at Lu Demin.

Lu Demin bent down and patted Bai An’s head, saying, “You should go. I just spoke to the village chief, and he emphasized that you need to go to school. Some people in the village have already started making comments.”

“So what if they’ve made comments? I can still teach Bai An at home,” Lu Jin’an said seriously, looking into Lu Demin’s eyes. “Dad, you know, the school can’t really teach much these days.”

Lu Demin shook his head and said, “Jin’an, you know why.”

Looking at the look in Lu Demin’s eyes, Lu Jin’an turned his gaze elsewhere. He knew exactly why.

It had been several days since their home was ransacked, and during this time, Cui Ju still hadn’t been found.

The villagers acted as if nothing had happened, always coming to Bai An’s house to chat with her mother, pretending to be friendly.

Her mother didn’t want to cause tension in the neighborhood because of the incident, so whenever they came, she could only go along with them.

Lu Demin had gone to speak with the village chief about the things they lost, but before he could find him, he saw their missing items in the village chief’s house.

Lu Demin didn’t say anything and turned away.

It felt like nothing had changed, but at the same time, everything had changed.

Finally, the day came for Bai An to go to school. She carried her old small bag, which only contained her lunch for the day, nothing else.

On the first day of school, Lu Jin’an had planned to see Bai An off, but Bai An said that Da Zhuang would be coming to walk with her.

Looking at Bai An and Da Zhuang walking side by side, Lu Jin’an’s face remained cold and indifferent.

“Da Zhuang, have you found Cui Ju yet?” Bai An asked as she looked at Da Zhuang.

Da Zhuang thought for a moment and replied, “I don’t know if she’s been found. I asked my parents, but they told me not to worry about it.”

Da Zhuang scratched his head, frequently glancing at Bai An, as if wanting to say something but unable to bring himself to speak.

“Da Zhuang, if you want to say something, just say it,” Bai An said, understanding that he probably wanted to ask about the previous incident.

After a while, Da Zhuang hesitated and said, “Bai An, I heard that the day Cui Ju went missing, the people from the village came to search your house.”

“But I didn’t know about this. My parents kept me inside that day,” Da Zhuang said seriously, looking Bai An in the eyes. “Did anything go missing from your house that day?”

Bai An glanced at Da Zhuang, her previously neutral expression turning even colder as she softly replied, “No, nothing went missing.”

What do you want me to say? You must know what’s missing from the house. Should I just say your parents are thieves?

Bai An silently stared at Da Zhuang.

“Really?” Da Zhuang stopped walking and looked at Bai An with intense seriousness. “Think carefully, did anything go missing from your house?”

Bai An, feeling uncomfortable discussing this topic, simply kept quiet and walked on toward the school alone.

Even Da Zhuang, despite his naivety, understood that Bai An’s attitude was because of something more than just the question.

He could only lower his head and, with a guilty expression, followed Bai An.

When they reached the school, Bai An went straight to the teacher’s office to ask which class she was assigned to.

The teacher’s face was familiar. Bai An had seen him the other night; he was standing at the back of the line.

The teachers were surprised to see Bai An, and they felt awkward. They quickly led her to the classroom door and told her, “Just find an empty seat and sit.”

The classroom wasn’t very big, with a few old desks and chairs scattered around. The students were of varying ages, with some as young as four or five and others as old as thirteen or fourteen.

Each student sat at their desk, their eyes bright, faces sunburned, with dried snot clinging to the underside of their noses, and black marks at the corners of their mouths.

Bai An stood at the podium, nervously clutching the corner of her clothes. She spotted Da Zhuang sitting at the back, but there was no seat next to him. The only available seat was in the middle.

The students quietly watched as Bai An walked from the podium to the empty seat. As she sat down, a small girl beside her whispered, “That’s Cui Ju’s seat.”

“It’s fine, I want her to sit there,” came a cool, clear voice from the door.

Lin Zhixia entered the room, carrying a military green crossbody bag. He glanced at Bai An sitting at the desk and smiled, saying, “Isn’t a seat meant for someone to sit in?”

When the others saw Cui Ju’s brother come over from another class to speak up for Bai An, several who had been eager to cause trouble immediately hesitated.

Lin Zhixia noticed that there were no other available seats nearby, so he fetched a chair from outside and sat next to Bai An.

Da Zhuang, seeing Lin Zhixia’s actions, felt something was off but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He just stood in the back, staring at them blankly.

Bai An glanced at Lin Zhixia coldly before lowering her head and staring at the desk, lost in thought.

“Hey, we’re friends, aren’t we? Aren’t you going to acknowledge me?”