Jiang Xue, who had ridden her bicycle out, had now arrived in town.
Relying on her memory, she found her homeroom teacher’s house. It was summer vacation, and she had come quite early. Teacher Yang had already finished his meal and was squatting by the hand pump in the yard, washing dishes. Seeing Jiang Xue’s arrival, he looked a bit puzzled.
“Teacher Yang,” Jiang Xue called out. Seeing this familiar face from her memories, her heart ached, and her eyes grew moist.
Teacher Yang had passed away unexpectedly the year she was admitted to university.
During the National Day holiday, he had tried to save a drowning child in a newly opened park but accidentally drowned himself.
She hadn’t learned the news until she returned home for the Lunar New Year.
In her previous life, Teacher Yang had truly helped her so much. His salary wasn’t high, but during her third year of junior high, he often invited her and other students to his home for meals, buying supplementary books and test papers out of his own pocket for her and other classmates from poor families.
He said that he and his wife had no children of their own, and with no sons or daughters around, his students were like his own children.
After she started boarding at high school and was no longer his student, he and his wife still visited her at the school. Her own parents had never paid much attention, but Teacher Yang and his wife, after seeing her, worried that her quilt was too thin and her shoes weren’t warm enough. They brought her a warm quilt and shoes made by his wife—cozy and perfectly fitting.
After graduating from university, she rarely returned to her hometown, and her parents didn’t keep in touch often. Yet, she still made time to visit his wife, often calling her. His wife would ask if she was busy or tired outside, telling her to eat well and not push herself too hard.
When she left, his wife would give her homemade pickles, cured meat, washed fruit, and handmade slippers.
His wife resembled the image of a mother in her heart—gentle, considerate, and emotionally steady.
Now that she had returned in this life, with four years ahead, she would definitely prevent Teacher Yang’s death when the time came.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Yang Anzhi wiped the water from his hands and asked with concern.
“I want to take a leave of absence, but I’ll definitely come back. I know the third year of junior high is very important, and I’ll study hard outside without neglecting my studies. I want to go out and earn a few months’ wages to save for my high school tuition. I want to go to school, take the high school entrance exam, and attend university.” Jiang Xue poured out her thoughts in one breath.
“Your family no longer supports your education?” Yang Anzhi asked worriedly.
“Yes,” Jiang Xue nodded.
“Sigh, should I go talk to your parents?” he asked with a sigh, sounding somewhat helpless.
“No need. I want to rely on my own efforts to earn my tuition and go to school.”
In the end, Yang Anzhi didn’t criticize her parents much, because situations like this were all too common.
People in this area favored sons over daughters, believing that education was useless for girls. It was better for them to go out and work early to earn money for their brothers to build houses and marry wives.
After entering junior high, the gender ratio in the entire class became severely imbalanced. From the first to the third year, many students dropped out midway, most of them girls.
As long as boys performed decently, their parents wanted them to study a few more years. If their grades were good, they were willing to do everything possible to support the boys through their education.
In contrast, among the many classes he had taught, there were quite a few girls with good grades but poor family conditions. Their upward trajectories were sacrificed—either sent out to work and earn money or engaged and married off early.
"When school starts, I'll speak with the principal about keeping your student status. You must come back for the final exams, and you must keep studying diligently while you're away. Only through education can you move forward. If your grades drop significantly, you must return to school immediately and continue your studies."
"Thank you, thank you, Teacher Yang. I will definitely study hard, get into high school, and then university! Teacher Yang, I really can't thank you enough." After saying this, she bowed deeply.
"Wait here a moment." With that, he went inside the house. After a while, he returned with a slip of paper and handed it to Jiang Xue.
Jiang Xue took it and saw a string of phone numbers, followed by a name: Tian Yuan.
"You mentioned earlier that you're going to S City to work with relatives, right? This is my daughter's number. If you encounter any difficulties, you can contact her."
Daughter? Weren't Teacher Yang and his wife childless? Perhaps sensing her confusion, Teacher Yang continued, "This is my child from my previous marriage. She lives in S City with her mother."
Teacher Yang didn't elaborate further, and Jiang Xue didn't ask more questions.
Jiang Xue carefully stored the slip of paper with the phone number.
After chatting with the teacher a bit longer, Jiang Xue bid farewell and left.
She went to the town's post office to open a postal savings account and deposited all 1,200 yuan into it.
In her previous life, she had always felt self-conscious about being older than her classmates due to her ID listing her age as several years older. Now, however, she was grateful for that discrepancy. Without it, her underage status would have prevented her from doing many things.
After setting up the account, she rode her bicycle toward her aunt's house.
Before she reached the house, she encountered Jiang Xiaodie on the road, holding a child.
"Xiaoxue, what brings you here?"
"Auntie, I came specifically to tell you that I plan to go out to work with Aunt Qiuxia. When is she leaving? I'll go with her."
"Qiuxia came back this time because someone introduced her to a potential match. She originally planned to leave tomorrow, but it looks like it'll be the day after tomorrow instead. When it's time to leave, I'll call the Consignment Selling shop to notify you."
"Alright, then I'll head back. I won't go to your house. Goodbye." Declining her aunt's polite offer to stay for lunch, Jiang Xue pedaled away on her bicycle.
So when Jiang Haiyang called his younger sister and said, "Xiaoxue won't be going out to work with Qiuxia after all."
Jiang Xiaodie replied, "Second Brother, you and your daughter are really something. Your daughter just came by saying she wants to go, and now you're saying she won't. So, is she going or not?"
"Did Xiaoxue come to your house and say she wants to go out to work?"
"Yes, she just left."
"I'll call you back later."
Jiang Haiyang hung up the phone. Thinking about what his younger sister had said—that Xiaoxue had just left and might already be on her way back—he waited at the village entrance. Sure enough, before long, he saw his eldest daughter riding her bicycle into view.
"Dad," Jiang Xue called out, waiting for Jiang Haiyang to speak.
"You went to your aunt's house and told her you want to go work with her sister-in-law?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you going to study anymore?"
"I am. I plan to work for a few months to earn some tuition money and support myself through school."
"You silly girl, your parents are right here. Why would you need to earn money to support yourself? Your mother has already softened her stance. I'll work on your grandmother these next couple of days. If she really refuses to take care of you, I'll stay home and look after you so you can continue studying here."
"Yes, my parents are here. But what difference does it make whether they are or not?" Jiang Xue asked with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes.
"Isn't me going out to work the result you wanted most? I've agreed, shouldn't you be happy? Finally, you won't have to feel torn because of me, passing me around like a hot potato with no one willing to take me in."
"No… I, your mom… sigh." A heavy sigh. Faced with his daughter's questioning, he had no strength to refute.
"I'm sorry, it's all because your dad is useless."
"If you really feel sorry for me, I hope you can convince Mom that the money I earn myself won't be left for you—I'll use it for my own tuition."
"Of course, I'll talk to your mom."
"I'm going home." Jiang Xue finished speaking and rode off on her bike. Out of her father's sight, she smiled mockingly.
His promises always came so easily, and she had once believed them wholeheartedly, only to end up with a few apologies—"I'm sorry, it's all because Dad is useless."