pjbooks Chapter 24 Little Report
Chapter 24 Little Report
Seeing her father's anxious expression, Guan Xiaolin paused for a moment, then laughed: "Dad, what about the male classmates? And what about the female classmates?"
At this moment, Guan Xiaolin's mother also came over upon hearing the noise: "What are you two talking about?"
Guan Xiaolin repeated the question she had just asked, and her mother was also a little surprised: "Xiaolin, what's going on with this classmate?"
Guan Xiaolin then said, "That's how it is... My classmate's family is quite poor, and he eats only cornbread and plain water for three meals a day."
"I originally wanted to ask my classmates to donate money to help him improve his living conditions, but he said he had his own way and I didn't agree."
"I need to get back early after school in the evening, and I need someone to turn off the classroom lights and close the doors and windows for me, so he did that for me."
"I treated him to lunch today, but I feel like this can't go on. I wanted to help him out or take him out for lunch, but it doesn't seem appropriate since he didn't agree at first. He must have a strong sense of pride."
After listening to Guan Xiaolin's story, her father seemed thoughtful: "From your description, he must be a boy from a poor family. How is his academic performance?"
"I'm not quite sure yet," Guan Xiaolin said. "I just entered my senior year of high school and haven't taken any exams yet."
Guan Xiaolin's father and mother exchanged a quiet glance, their unspoken understanding unspoken.
"Dad, what's a natural way for me to help him again, without seeming like I'm doing it on purpose?"
Guan Xiaolin's father pondered for a moment: "This matter is actually easy to handle."
"However, the key point is that you feel indebted to him after he helped you, and you don't want to deliberately help him as if you're repaying a favor, which would make the friendship between classmates seem impure and hurt his self-esteem, right?"
Guan Xiaolin's eyes lit up: "Yes, Dad, that's exactly what I meant! You're so good at this, explaining it so clearly in just a few words. It's like having a thermos hanging on an airplane!"
"Where did you get those witty remarks from?" Guan Xiaolin's father chuckled. "Don't imitate them."
He added casually, "People are poor and feel inferior, they are unsociable and sensitive and suspicious, they feel inferior yet have excessive pride."
"To help someone like this, you need to be mindful of your approach. If you offer help directly, he might perceive it as charity or an insult."
"Don't think about how to help him, but think about how to get him to help you; once he has helped you many times, it will be natural for you to invite him to dinner and help him, and he won't feel inferior."
"In this way, classmates become good friends."
Upon hearing this, Guan Xiaolin suddenly understood: "Oh, I see, Dad. But I don't think I need his help with anything else..."
He asked again, "Is there any other way, Dad?"
"Yes, telling the teacher about this and letting them worry about it is one way," said Guan Xiaolin's father.
Guan Xiaolin paused for a moment, recalling Teacher Tian's cold, unsmiling face, and shook her head: "That won't do..."
"I'd better think about how to be friends with him."
After speaking, he waved to his parents and turned to go back to his room.
"I thought you would try to stop it..." Guan Xiaolin's mother said in a low voice.
Guan Xiaolin's father chuckled: "What are you trying to stop? It's just normal socializing for my daughter. The more you stop her, the more trouble will happen. The less you stop her, the more she'll just be classmates and friends."
"We're not happy about Zhao Weimin, but she's taken a liking to a poor student from the countryside."
Guan Xiaolin's mother said, "Aren't you afraid she might really..."
"You don't understand... I know the daughter I raised." Guan Xiaolin's father lowered his head and picked up his pen again.
"Our daughter is not the kind of person who is easily swayed by a few words, nor is she the kind of unrealistic rich girl who would fall for a poor scholar."
Guan Xiaolin's mother immediately retorted, somewhat annoyed, "Yes, yes, you think you know everything!"
After she left, Guan Xiaolin's father smiled faintly at the lamp, then lowered his head again.
…………
Early the next morning, Tang Huaiyi, Song Siyuan, and Li Jialiang left the dormitory and went to their respective classrooms.
"Are you feeling better?"
Tang Huaiyi asked Li Xiujuan in a low voice.
Li Xiujuan nodded: "The painkillers are very effective."
"Never tried it before?"
"Um."
Tang Huaiyi was somewhat surprised, thinking: You're really lucky to have survived this long.
"Don't forget to drink some brown sugar water today. Your body is lacking in calories, so brown sugar water will help replenish it... How about we get a meat dish for lunch to nourish your body?"
Li Xiujuan quickly shook her head, indicating that she didn't need it.
The bell rings, and morning reading begins.
Tang Huaiyi held the book and read it carefully, trying hard to memorize it—he dared not underestimate the college entrance examination of this era. The first two years after the resumption of the college entrance examination were relatively simple, and the difficulty began to increase in the third year. By the 1980s, the difficulty was no less than that of the college entrance examination in later generations.
Tang Huaiyi does indeed have memories and experiences from the future, giving him a bit more foresight than current students, but this doesn't mean he can automatically get high scores in his studies.
As he was reading, a rough, large hand reached out and tapped on his desk.
Tang Huaiyi turned his head in confusion and saw that his homeroom teacher, Ms. Tian, was looking at him coldly. She slightly turned her head and gestured for him to go outside to talk.
Tang Huaiyi was puzzled, but he still put down his book, stood up, and followed Teacher Tian outside.
Teacher Tian walked over to Song Siyuan's desk, knocked on it, and woke Song Siyuan up.
Song Siyuan thought it was a random check of the text, so he nervously took his Chinese textbook and followed them out.
Once outside the classroom, Teacher Tian slightly raised his head and stared at the two of them—he was indeed rather short.
"Do you know why we let you out?"
Upon hearing this accusatory tone, both Tang Huaiyi and Song Siyuan shook their heads slightly, indicating their confusion.
It seems like I didn't make any mistakes, right?
"After the dormitory lights were turned off and the power was switched off at night, you two talked, disturbing the other students' sleep, didn't you?"
"Huh?" Song Siyuan exclaimed in disbelief.
Tang Huaiyi raised an eyebrow in confusion: Just those two sentences, and someone actually reported such a trivial matter to the homeroom teacher? Was it even worth it? Isn't that just nitpicking and making trouble out of nothing?
There are some weirdos among my roommates...
"What do you mean, 'huh'?" Teacher Tian scolded sternly, "Do you know how hard your parents work, getting up early and working late? They send you to school so you can stay up late chatting like this?"
"If you don't study, does that mean the other students don't need to study either?"
"But, teacher, we only said two sentences in total—" Song Siyuan said aggrievedly.
"Not a single word!"
Teacher Tian said sternly, "After lights out, you must rest properly and not say a word. Students are supposed to study. The school has its rules. If you want to talk, go home and do it. You might as well not come to school at all!"
"This time I'm just giving you a reprimand, but if it happens again, I'll call your parents in!"
Song Siyuan felt wronged and lowered his head.
Tang Huaiyi remained unmoved.
Who snitched on this?