The consequence of always mouthing off as he liked was that Cai Youyang could barely get up the next day. Supporting his weather-beaten waist, he hobbled his way to school. With great difficulty, he finished all his classes for the day. However, just as he had returned to the office to take a rest, Teacher Wu once again approached him.
Cai Youyang felt a little scared to see Teacher Wu. “Don’t tell me that the PE teacher asked for leave again. There’s no PE today!”
Teacher Wu replied, “It’s not that.”
Cai Youyang breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Teacher Wu continued, “It’s the music teacher who’s on leave this time.”
Cai Youyang: “…”
Cai Youyang felt very indignant. “Can’t even give the children some time to rest? Huh?”
“If I could find the music teacher, I’d definitely make her go to class,” said Teacher Wu. But the music teacher “asked for leave”. Even though he was the class’ homeroom teacher, he also couldn’t go to other people’s homes and drag people back to school.
Cai Youyang had a sore back and didn’t really want to go to class. He had already said what should be said. What else could he say? School regulations stated that there must be a teacher during each class. They couldn’t be changed into self-study classes.
Cai Youyang could only drag his tired body to class for the students. The students felt bad, but he felt even worse.
Liu Wei (figuratively) beat his chest and stomped his feet. “Teacher Cai, why is it you again?”
Hearing this, Cai Youyang suddenly did an uptake. “That’s right. Why is it me every time?” Although the PE teacher and the music teacher consecutively asked for leave, why was he the substitute every time?!
Cai Youyang thought of Teacher Wu’s beaming face and deeply felt that he had been cheated. In a rage, he waved his hand and brought the entire class to the playground. Seeing several hyperactive children scamper off without a trace as soon as they arrived on the playground, Cai Youyang hurriedly asked the class monitor to call them back and have them only play on the grass. Playing Duck, Duck, Goose and Eagle Catches the Chicks was fine. He wasn’t a PE teacher; he didn’t understand the potential dangers of many of the equipment here. If something bad were to happen to the students while there were moving about, there would be big trouble.
Liu Wei vomited blood and said, “Who still plays Duck, Duck, Goose nowadays?”
It was that unlucky child again.
Cai Youyang had him come over and said, “What do you want to play?”
Liu Wei carefully pondered for a moment before beating his palm and saying, “Honor of Kings!”
Cai Youyang: “…”
When Liu Wei saw his strange expression, he hurriedly corrected himself, saying, “Eating chicken’s fine too!”
Cai Youyang flicked his forehead.
Liu Wei: “Ow…”
In a patient tone, Cai Youyang persuaded, “So young and yet you’re playing what online games already? Don’t you know they’re bad for your eyes?”
The students collectively stared at the glasses on Cai Youyang’s face, not saying a word.
Cai Youyang: “…”
Cai Youyang grew very angry, so Qian Gang acted arbitrarily and no longer enforced democracy. “Duck, Duck, Goose is fine. Let’s play.”
A collective sigh.
Cai Youyang didn’t bother with these fussy students anymore. He walked to the side and sat down.
How would they play Duck, Duck, Goose?
Everyone exchanged glances and talked for a while with one another before joining hands to form a circle. The circle was initially small, but they each took one step backward at a time, enlarging the circle.
“Ah!” Liu Wei glanced at Cai Youyang before shooting everyone a wink.
The other students nodded knowingly, and as though they all shared a little secret, they had mysterious smiles on their faces. Afterward, they surrounded Cai Youyang in a very tacit manner.
After Cai Youyang replied to Lu Feng in WeChat, he looked up and found himself at the center of the circle.
Cai Youyang: “???”
The students: “Hahaha!”
Cai Youyang put away his mobile phone, sat on the ground, and said, “Ok. This way, Teacher can help you supervise whether anyone cheated.”
Liu Wei raised his hand. “Teacher, what if we don’t have any handkerchiefs?”
Cai Youyang swept his gaze over the students, thinking about using the class monitor’s red neckerchief. Then Liu Wei raised his hand again.
Liu Wei said, “Teacher, we can use Wang Xiaoxiao’s hair tie.”
Cai Youyang followed his gaze. Oh, there was a big red flower on the girl’s hair tie. It really was suitable.
Wang Xiaoxiao immediately blushed. She then grabbed a handful of weeds and threw them at Liu Wei. “Stinky Liu Wei. What are you talking about!”
Liu Wei smiled.
Cai Youyang gently coughed.
Wang Xiaoxiao grew silent. Would she be criticized for swearing in front of Teacher Cai?
Liu Wei glanced at Wang Xiaoxiao and hurriedly diverted Cai Youyang’s attention, saying, “Teacher, you haven’t told us what we should do about the handkerchief.”
Tut, tut. This little boy’s mind.
On the inside, Cai Youyang laughed in his sleeve as he shot Liu Wei a meaningful look. Afterward, he turned back to the class. “Get your red neckerchief.”
The class monitor nodded and handed him the red neckerchief.
Everything was finally ready. It seemed that they could start the game when Liu Wei once again spoke up.
Cai Youyang finally became a little impatient. He said, “What’s the matter, Liu Wei?”
Liu Wei opened his mouth very wide, but his voice was quite soft. He also had a nervous expression on his face. “Teacher! The vice-principal is coming!”
Cai Youyang quivered before turning around to take a look himself. Oh, it wasn’t only the vice-principal. There was also a group of people in suits who looked like bigshots walking toward them.
Cai Youyang held his forehead. His rotten mouth. Good things didn’t come true, but bad things did. How great. The vice-principal really did catch them.
What were they going to do?
While Cai Youyang was still scheming, Fang Xin tossed a book to Liu Wei. Liu Wei rushed forward and stuffed the book into Cai Youyang’s hand. “Read the book!” Liu Wei quickly reached a consensus with Fang Xin.
Cai Youyang followed this plan and opened the book. Regardless of which page he turned to, he immediately began reading it.
At this time, the vice-principal, who was accompanying the leaders from the Bureau of Education in their school inspection, was scolding Cai Youyang again and again in his heart. What the hell? He was a Chinese teacher. What was he doing, bringing the students to the playground? An inspection team had come to conduct a surprise inspection, and he actually caused trouble for himself!
The vice-principal decided to deduct Cai Youyang’s bonus.
The leader of the inspection team was very interested in the scene in the playground. Didn’t the vice-principal say there wasn’t any PE class at this time? And yet they saw that a class was currently being held there.
The team leader shot the confused vice-principal a glance. He then smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go and have a look.”
Cai Youyang’s ears perked. Hearing the group getting closer and closer, he felt his heart pound but pretended to be focused and continued reading the book in his gentlest voice.
“When the gates of the new school came into the mother and daughter’s view, Little Doudou stopped. Because the gates of her previous school had exquisite concrete pillars, and the school’s name was written outside in very big characters. In contrast, the gate pillars of this new school were simply two small leafy trees.
Liu Wei gazed at Cai Youyang with rapt attention, as if completely immersed in the story.
The other students learned from one another and also put on a look of concentration.
And so, this was what the team leader saw. “This teacher is telling the students a story.”
The vice-principal didn’t know how to briefly express what he wanted to say. “Yes, Little Doudou by the Window.”
“This is the Chinese language teacher?” questioned the inspection team’s leader.
The vice-principal gritted his teeth. “This young man’s lines of thought are a bit confounding, but his ideas are good.”
Seeing how engrossed the students were as they listened to the teacher narrating the story, the team leader knitted his eyebrows but soon eased up. Then with an emotional expression on his face, he said, “This young teacher is skilled.”
What an unexpected plot twist. The vice-principal was stunned. “Huh?”
The inspection team leader patted the vice-principal on the shoulder. “We should learn from the younger teachers.”
The vice-principal changed his mentality and put on a smile. “The ideologies of the older generations like us are already old-fashioned and can’t keep up with the times.”
Director Fang, who was also a part of the inspection team, stared at Fang Xin from the distance. When he heard the vice-principal say that the title of the book was “Little Doudou by the Window”, he suddenly remembered that this was the non-academic book he had given Fang Xing when he was packing his school bag today.
Director Fang took another look at the book in Cai Youyang’s hand. He was too far away, so he couldn’t tell whether it was their book. But after thinking for a while, he decided to stand up and speak out.
Director Fang said, “Team Leader, see how attentive those children are in their studies. Can learning inside the classroom achieve such effects? This is a vividly successful case of an all-rounded education.”
The team leader nodded. “You spoke well.”
Thus, the matter of “the Chinese teacher bringing the students to the playground for recreation” was settled by the inspection team’s leader. As everyone parroted their agreement with his sentiments, they discussed the issue of an all-rounded education.
The group stared at the “successful case of an all-rounded education” for a while and took several photos before leaving, continuing to discuss amongst themselves.
A few days later, the principal went to a meeting. When he came back, he found the vice-principal and said that the Bureau of Education had commended Hongxing Primary School.
“An outstanding young teacher has won glory for our school!” whispered the principal to the vice-principal. “Such talents should be retained.”
“…” The vice-principal was in a complex state of mind.
After the principal looked around and saw no one, he added, “Give him a bonus, but don’t disclose it.”
The vice-principal’s mood grew even more complex. He was just about to deduct someone’s bonus.
Misunderstanding, the principal said, “Don’t look at me like that. I also can’t do anything about this.” He rubbed his thumb and index finger together. “We have many teachers with a good performance record, but the school is short of funds. It’s not like you aren’t aware of this.”
The vice-principal waved a hand, a headache forming inside his skull. “I get it, Principal.” He then hurriedly found an excuse to slip away.
If he were to talk to the principal again, he might just decide to publicly praise him as well. Originally, Cai Youyang was already capable of jumping high. But now, he wouldn’t just be able to jump to the skies! You should know that he is a teacher of a graduating class. He couldn’t simply let him have his way.
The vice-principal thought about how he could accurately convey the principal’s instruction to reward Cai Youyang without making him feel complacent afterward, but it only made things worse.
With such a worrisome matter filling his mind, the vice-principal’s eyebrows almost became knotted.
The consequence of always mouthing off as he liked was that Cai Youyang could barely get up the next day. Supporting his weather-beaten waist, he hobbled his way to school. With great difficulty, he finished all his classes for the day. However, just as he had returned to the office to take a rest, Teacher Wu once again approached him.
Cai Youyang felt a little scared to see Teacher Wu. “Don’t tell me that the PE teacher asked for leave again. There’s no PE today!”
Teacher Wu replied, “It’s not that.”
Cai Youyang breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Teacher Wu continued, “It’s the music teacher who’s on leave this time.”
Cai Youyang: “…”
Cai Youyang felt very indignant. “Can’t even give the children some time to rest? Huh?”
“If I could find the music teacher, I’d definitely make her go to class,” said Teacher Wu. But the music teacher “asked for leave”. Even though he was the class’ homeroom teacher, he also couldn’t go to other people’s homes and drag people back to school.
Cai Youyang had a sore back and didn’t really want to go to class. He had already said what should be said. What else could he say? School regulations stated that there must be a teacher during each class. They couldn’t be changed into self-study classes.
Cai Youyang could only drag his tired body to class for the students. The students felt bad, but he felt even worse.
Liu Wei (figuratively) beat his chest and stomped his feet. “Teacher Cai, why is it you again?”
Hearing this, Cai Youyang suddenly did an uptake. “That’s right. Why is it me every time?” Although the PE teacher and the music teacher consecutively asked for leave, why was he the substitute every time?!
Cai Youyang thought of Teacher Wu’s beaming face and deeply felt that he had been cheated. In a rage, he waved his hand and brought the entire class to the playground. Seeing several hyperactive children scamper off without a trace as soon as they arrived on the playground, Cai Youyang hurriedly asked the class monitor to call them back and have them only play on the grass. Playing Duck, Duck, Goose and Eagle Catches the Chicks was fine. He wasn’t a PE teacher; he didn’t understand the potential dangers of many of the equipment here. If something bad were to happen to the students while there were moving about, there would be big trouble.
Liu Wei vomited blood and said, “Who still plays Duck, Duck, Goose nowadays?”
It was that unlucky child again.
Cai Youyang had him come over and said, “What do you want to play?”
Liu Wei carefully pondered for a moment before beating his palm and saying, “Honor of Kings!”
Cai Youyang: “…”
When Liu Wei saw his strange expression, he hurriedly corrected himself, saying, “Eating chicken’s fine too!”
Cai Youyang flicked his forehead.
Liu Wei: “Ow…”
In a patient tone, Cai Youyang persuaded, “So young and yet you’re playing what online games already? Don’t you know they’re bad for your eyes?”
The students collectively stared at the glasses on Cai Youyang’s face, not saying a word.
Cai Youyang: “…”
Cai Youyang grew very angry, so Qian Gang acted arbitrarily and no longer enforced democracy. “Duck, Duck, Goose is fine. Let’s play.”
A collective sigh.
Cai Youyang didn’t bother with these fussy students anymore. He walked to the side and sat down.
How would they play Duck, Duck, Goose?
Everyone exchanged glances and talked for a while with one another before joining hands to form a circle. The circle was initially small, but they each took one step backward at a time, enlarging the circle.
“Ah!” Liu Wei glanced at Cai Youyang before shooting everyone a wink.
The other students nodded knowingly, and as though they all shared a little secret, they had mysterious smiles on their faces. Afterward, they surrounded Cai Youyang in a very tacit manner.
After Cai Youyang replied to Lu Feng in WeChat, he looked up and found himself at the center of the circle.
Cai Youyang: “???”
The students: “Hahaha!”
Cai Youyang put away his mobile phone, sat on the ground, and said, “Ok. This way, Teacher can help you supervise whether anyone cheated.”
Liu Wei raised his hand. “Teacher, what if we don’t have any handkerchiefs?”
Cai Youyang swept his gaze over the students, thinking about using the class monitor’s red neckerchief. Then Liu Wei raised his hand again.
Liu Wei said, “Teacher, we can use Wang Xiaoxiao’s hair tie.”
Cai Youyang followed his gaze. Oh, there was a big red flower on the girl’s hair tie. It really was suitable.
Wang Xiaoxiao immediately blushed. She then grabbed a handful of weeds and threw them at Liu Wei. “Stinky Liu Wei. What are you talking about!”
Liu Wei smiled.
Cai Youyang gently coughed.
Wang Xiaoxiao grew silent. Would she be criticized for swearing in front of Teacher Cai?
Liu Wei glanced at Wang Xiaoxiao and hurriedly diverted Cai Youyang’s attention, saying, “Teacher, you haven’t told us what we should do about the handkerchief.”
Tut, tut. This little boy’s mind.
On the inside, Cai Youyang laughed in his sleeve as he shot Liu Wei a meaningful look. Afterward, he turned back to the class. “Get your red neckerchief.”
The class monitor nodded and handed him the red neckerchief.
Everything was finally ready. It seemed that they could start the game when Liu Wei once again spoke up.
Cai Youyang finally became a little impatient. He said, “What’s the matter, Liu Wei?”
Liu Wei opened his mouth very wide, but his voice was quite soft. He also had a nervous expression on his face. “Teacher! The vice-principal is coming!”
Cai Youyang quivered before turning around to take a look himself. Oh, it wasn’t only the vice-principal. There was also a group of people in suits who looked like bigshots walking toward them.
Cai Youyang held his forehead. His rotten mouth. Good things didn’t come true, but bad things did. How great. The vice-principal really did catch them.
What were they going to do?
While Cai Youyang was still scheming, Fang Xin tossed a book to Liu Wei. Liu Wei rushed forward and stuffed the book into Cai Youyang’s hand. “Read the book!” Liu Wei quickly reached a consensus with Fang Xin.
Cai Youyang followed this plan and opened the book. Regardless of which page he turned to, he immediately began reading it.
At this time, the vice-principal, who was accompanying the leaders from the Bureau of Education in their school inspection, was scolding Cai Youyang again and again in his heart. What the hell? He was a Chinese teacher. What was he doing, bringing the students to the playground? An inspection team had come to conduct a surprise inspection, and he actually caused trouble for himself!
The vice-principal decided to deduct Cai Youyang’s bonus.
The leader of the inspection team was very interested in the scene in the playground. Didn’t the vice-principal say there wasn’t any PE class at this time? And yet they saw that a class was currently being held there.
The team leader shot the confused vice-principal a glance. He then smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go and have a look.”
Cai Youyang’s ears perked. Hearing the group getting closer and closer, he felt his heart pound but pretended to be focused and continued reading the book in his gentlest voice.
“When the gates of the new school came into the mother and daughter’s view, Little Doudou stopped. Because the gates of her previous school had exquisite concrete pillars, and the school’s name was written outside in very big characters. In contrast, the gate pillars of this new school were simply two small leafy trees.
Liu Wei gazed at Cai Youyang with rapt attention, as if completely immersed in the story.
The other students learned from one another and also put on a look of concentration.
And so, this was what the team leader saw. “This teacher is telling the students a story.”
The vice-principal didn’t know how to briefly express what he wanted to say. “Yes, Little Doudou by the Window.”
“This is the Chinese language teacher?” questioned the inspection team’s leader.
The vice-principal gritted his teeth. “This young man’s lines of thought are a bit confounding, but his ideas are good.”
Seeing how engrossed the students were as they listened to the teacher narrating the story, the team leader knitted his eyebrows but soon eased up. Then with an emotional expression on his face, he said, “This young teacher is skilled.”
What an unexpected plot twist. The vice-principal was stunned. “Huh?”
The inspection team leader patted the vice-principal on the shoulder. “We should learn from the younger teachers.”
The vice-principal changed his mentality and put on a smile. “The ideologies of the older generations like us are already old-fashioned and can’t keep up with the times.”
Director Fang, who was also a part of the inspection team, stared at Fang Xin from the distance. When he heard the vice-principal say that the title of the book was “Little Doudou by the Window”, he suddenly remembered that this was the non-academic book he had given Fang Xing when he was packing his school bag today.
Director Fang took another look at the book in Cai Youyang’s hand. He was too far away, so he couldn’t tell whether it was their book. But after thinking for a while, he decided to stand up and speak out.
Director Fang said, “Team Leader, see how attentive those children are in their studies. Can learning inside the classroom achieve such effects? This is a vividly successful case of an all-rounded education.”
The team leader nodded. “You spoke well.”
Thus, the matter of “the Chinese teacher bringing the students to the playground for recreation” was settled by the inspection team’s leader. As everyone parroted their agreement with his sentiments, they discussed the issue of an all-rounded education.
The group stared at the “successful case of an all-rounded education” for a while and took several photos before leaving, continuing to discuss amongst themselves.
A few days later, the principal went to a meeting. When he came back, he found the vice-principal and said that the Bureau of Education had commended Hongxing Primary School.
“An outstanding young teacher has won glory for our school!” whispered the principal to the vice-principal. “Such talents should be retained.”
“…” The vice-principal was in a complex state of mind.
After the principal looked around and saw no one, he added, “Give him a bonus, but don’t disclose it.”
The vice-principal’s mood grew even more complex. He was just about to deduct someone’s bonus.
Misunderstanding, the principal said, “Don’t look at me like that. I also can’t do anything about this.” He rubbed his thumb and index finger together. “We have many teachers with a good performance record, but the school is short of funds. It’s not like you aren’t aware of this.”
The vice-principal waved a hand, a headache forming inside his skull. “I get it, Principal.” He then hurriedly found an excuse to slip away.
If he were to talk to the principal again, he might just decide to publicly praise him as well. Originally, Cai Youyang was already capable of jumping high. But now, he wouldn’t just be able to jump to the skies! You should know that he is a teacher of a graduating class. He couldn’t simply let him have his way.
The vice-principal thought about how he could accurately convey the principal’s instruction to reward Cai Youyang without making him feel complacent afterward, but it only made things worse.
With such a worrisome matter filling his mind, the vice-principal’s eyebrows almost became knotted.
