Two days later, it was Friday—the official day for students to report for the new term.
Zhou Nuan arrived in the classroom fifteen minutes earlier than usual.
Yesterday afternoon, with help from some students and parents, the classroom had been fully prepared, and all the new textbooks were neatly stacked on the top-right corner of each desk.
On the blackboard at the back of the classroom, a handcrafted banner read, “New semester, keep it up!” The blackboard at the front had large chalk characters: Welcome Shi Xuzhi to Class 2(1)!
Under the watchful eyes of nearly all second-grade teachers, little Shi Xuzhi walked into Class 2(1), carrying his backpack.
Accompanying him was a middle-aged woman in her forties.
Normally, parents weren’t allowed to enter the school. But due to his special status and the fact that he was transferring mid-term, the school had specially allowed her to accompany him so he wouldn’t get lost.
“Excuse me, is this Class 2(1)?” the woman asked politely, glancing at the sign above the door.
“Yes,” Zhou Nuan smiled and nodded.
“Are you Teacher Zhou Nuan?” she asked again.
“Yes,” Zhou Nuan nodded once more.
“This must be Shi Xuzhi?” she pointed at the boy beside her.
“Yes,” the woman nodded, then pulled the boy closer. “Come on, Xuzhi, this is Teacher Zhou, your new homeroom teacher.”
The boy politely greeted Zhou Nuan, “Hello, Teacher Zhou.”
“Hello, welcome to our Class 2(1),” Zhou Nuan replied with a sweet smile.
“Teacher Zhou, I’ll leave now. Xuzhi… take care,” the woman said politely, nodding to her.
“No trouble at all, it’s my duty,” Zhou Nuan said with a courteous smile.
“Aunt…” the boy tugged at the woman’s sleeve, reluctant to let her go.
“Be good,” the woman crouched, patted his head, and said, “Don’t worry, Teacher Zhou is very nice. She’ll take good care of you.”
Then she stood and walked out of the classroom.
The boy froze in place, clutching his shirt corners tightly, looking somewhat lost.
“Come, Shi Xuzhi, this is your seat,” Zhou Nuan said, taking his hand and leading him to the first seat in the back row by the wall.
He sat down, still holding his backpack on his shoulders—perhaps too nervous to even remember to put it down.
“Let’s put your backpack down first,” Zhou Nuan said gently, helping him unload it and place it beside his desk.
One by one, the other students arrived.
As expected, everyone’s attention was drawn to the new boy.
“Teacher, is this the new student?” some of the bolder students asked.
“Yes,” Zhou Nuan replied with a smile.
“What’s his name?” another student asked.
“Don’t worry, I’ll formally introduce him shortly.”
During morning reading class:
“Shi Xuzhi, come up to the podium,” Zhou Nuan called him.
Under the gaze of dozens of classmates, Shi Xuzhi nervously walked to the podium.
“Let me introduce our new classmate—Shi Xuzhi. Everyone, give him a warm welcome!”
The class erupted in applause.
“Shi Xuzhi, would you like to say something to your classmates?” Zhou Nuan asked with a smile.
“I…I…” Perhaps due to nerves or the unfamiliar environment, the boy gripped his shirt tightly, unsure of what to say, his small face flushed red.
“You can say, your name, where you’re from, how old you are…” Zhou Nuan whispered as a gentle prompt.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Shi Xuzhi. Shi as in time, Xu as in order, Zhi… Zhi as in take care of yourself.” After a long pause, he managed to say these few words.
Laughter spread through the classroom—the name was already clearly written on the blackboard.
“Did anyone prepare a gift for our new classmate?” Seeing his nervousness, Zhou Nuan changed the topic.
She had already announced the new student in the parent group yesterday, so it was expected that classmates would bring gifts.
“Teacher, I brought one!”
“Me too!”
Many students raised their hands.
“Alright, let’s start from this row. One by one, come up and give your gift to the new student. Remember to introduce yourselves while giving the gift,” Zhou Nuan guided them gently.
“Hello, Shi Xuzhi, I’m Wang Zhonglv from seat one. Here’s a gift for you.” Wang Zhonglv handed a pen to Shi Xuzhi.
“Thank you.” Shi Xuzhi took it with both hands, glanced secretly at Wang Zhonglv, then quickly looked down.
One by one, students came up. Pens, notebooks, books, cards—the gifts piled up across the podium.
Shi Xuzhi gradually went from nervous and downcast to slowly lifting his head, observing the students below.
It seemed he was slowly adapting to his new environment.
The twenty-minute morning reading class passed quickly, and the welcome ceremony concluded.
Zhou Nuan collected the gifts in a large paper bag and placed them in her office.
At dismissal, she handed the bag to the middle-aged woman picking up Shi Xuzhi.
“Hello, these are gifts from your classmates for Shi Xuzhi.”
“So many?” The woman looked surprised at the bag full of gifts.
“Yes, just a little token from everyone,” Zhou Nuan explained, “Nothing expensive.”
“Oh, thank you.” The woman nodded and took the bag.
Because of the father’s special status, she usually avoided accepting gifts in public. But gifts from children were a different matter.
That evening, when Shi Anlan returned home, Shi Xuzhi had finished dinner and was doing homework in his room.
“How was he today?” Shi Anlan loosened his tie and asked Shi Yan, who was tidying up.
“He seems to be doing well,” Shi Yan replied after a moment’s thought.
“Look, he even received quite a few gifts from classmates,” she said, pointing to the large bag at the door.
“Gifts?” Shi Anlan frowned reflexively.
“They’re just pens, notebooks, and books from classmates—nothing valuable,” Shi Yan quickly clarified.
“Oh.” The man relaxed slightly.
“When he was going to class, he kept tugging at my sleeve, not wanting me to leave. But when we returned, he was bouncing around, like a completely different person,” Shi Yan reported.
“Is that so?” Shi Anlan glanced again at Shi Xuzhi’s room, thoughtful.
“Did you meet his homeroom teacher?” he asked.
“Yes,” Shi Yan nodded. “In the morning when we sent him, and in the evening when we picked him up.”
“She’s a very bright and responsible young girl,” Shi Yan evaluated. “It seems your choice that day was the right one.”