Su Nianqin put down his cell phone. He was originally sitting at the dining table in the restaurant, reading and preparing for lessons, but now he closed the book and frowned.
Yu Xiaolu, who was sitting opposite him and keeping him company, flipped a page of a magazine and asked, "Who called you?"
"No one." He said calmly.
"No one yet? Then why are you hanging up the phone so quickly as if you were avoiding the plague?" Yu Xiaolu said with a smile.
Su Nianqin was too lazy to waste words with her. He slightly bent the fingers of his right hand and tapped the cover of the book lightly and rhythmically with his fingertips.
"Su Nianqin." Yu Xiaolu turned another page of the book.
"Hmm?" He tilted his head.
"You're distracted." Yu Xiaolu smiled.
He didn't answer, but reached for the Braille board next to him.
"Does that girl know you are Yi Jin?" Yu Xiaolu asked. During the phone call just now, Sang Wuyan spoke very loudly, and she vaguely heard a few words and guessed roughly.
"Um."
"Is it true?" Yu Xiaolu asked. She knew that although Su Nianqin should take it lightly, it was still a very serious matter for him. The reason why he never disclosed his privacy to the public was, firstly, because of his family, and secondly, because of his eye disease that he didn't want to tell others.
"I met her when I went to the radio station for an interview."
"If I had known this would happen, I would never have agreed to Sister Xi's request. What should I do?"
"Never mind her."
"Do you want me to go look for her? If she tells the media, it will be very troublesome."
Su Nianqin remained silent for a long time before she slowly said, "Probably not."
He said that it probably wouldn't happen. Yu Xiaolu didn't understand whether this meant that she wouldn't announce it to the media or that it wouldn't be troublesome after the announcement. When she wanted to ask again, she saw that Su Nianqin's face had sank with impatience, so she had to keep silent.
That day, Yu Xiaolu followed Su Nianqin's instructions to pick him up. When she stood in front of the car and watched Su Nianqin come out of KFC, she was shocked.
Because of his poor eyesight, Su Nianqin relied heavily on sound and smell to judge the outside world. Therefore, he did not like places with strong smells and noisy voices, and this kind of Western fast food restaurant just happened to be a combination of the two.
When the girl next to him said goodbye to Su Nianqin, she smiled and said, "Daddy, see you next time."
At that time, the veins on Su Nianqin's forehead twitched slightly.
When Yu Xiaolu got into the car, she couldn't help but wonder, "What child's father?"
"Drive!" Su Nianqin's face was instantly overcast.
After the 15th day of the first lunar month, the school started again. Su Nianqin was still the third grade Braille teacher, and Sang Wuyan was still the deputy head teacher of Teacher Li.
Since the last incident, Sang Wuyan began to pay attention to Xiao Wei. For example, whether her clothes were clean, torn, and whether her shoes were warm. During the break, some children would go to the canteen to buy snacks, and some children would bring some food from home. But Xiao Wei obviously did not receive these treatments. During the break, she would sit alone in her seat, silent.
It was raining that day, and no children went to play on the playground, so they ate food from the canteen in the classroom during breaks. The air in the classroom was filled with the smell of food. Sang Wuyan stood in the corridor outside the window, staring at Xiaowei in the corner.
She had experienced this kind of embarrassment before. Her parents were very strict when she was young. She was not allowed to go out until she had breakfast. Her mother would not give her any pocket money except for the bus fare. After the second class, there was a 30-minute break, and many people had breakfast at this time. It was very embarrassing to see her classmates eating with relish while she sat next to them. It was not about being hungry or not, but a very subtle self-esteem between children.
Sang Wuyan hurried back to the office, opened the drawer, took out her handbag, and went downstairs to the canteen. But in front of the canteen, the children were crowded in three layers, and she was half a teacher after all, so she couldn't squeeze in with the children. She hesitated, took her handbag and went back to the office on the second floor.
"Xiao Sang, I thought you had gone back." said Teacher Li.
"No, I wanted to go down to buy something, but there were too many students."
"Didn't you have breakfast?" Teacher Li always cared about her. "If you didn't have breakfast, I have some biscuits here." Then he took out the biscuits from the drawer and gave them to her.
“No, no, no.” Sang Wuyan waved his hands, “I don’t want to buy it myself.”
Teacher Li smiled and said, "From now on, you have to hurry and go before the bell rings."
Su Nianqin on the opposite side raised his head, and his eyes vaguely fell on Sang Wuyan.
Although Su Nianqin had been avoiding her since the last time and tried not to be alone with her, she had also thought about finding an excuse to get close to him, but he always avoided her naturally. They never talked about the topic of "Yi Jin" again, and they understood each other tacitly.
Sang Wuyan was also wondering, why did he trust her so much that she wouldn't go on the big mouth broadcast
In the third period, Sang Wuyan followed Teacher Li to attend her class. When they reached the door of the classroom on the third floor, Teacher Li realized that she had forgotten to bring a water cup. She had a sore throat recently and had been soaking herbs in the cup. If she didn't drink it during a class, her voice would become hoarse. Sang Wuyan said, "It's okay, go to the classroom first, I'll get it for you."
She took the cup and found there was no water. She hurried to the water dispenser, filled a cup, covered it with the lid and turned to walk out.
Just as she was backing away and looking back, she accidentally bumped into someone coming from the opposite direction. This person was none other than Su Nianqin. Half of the boiling water in the cup spilled out and all over Su Nianqin.
Fortunately, it was winter and Su Nianqin was wearing thick clothes, so the water didn't seep into her clothes immediately. Before she could finish celebrating, she saw Su Nianqin's hand.
Sang Wuyan couldn't help but take a breath.
The boiling water was poured onto his hands, and his skin began to turn red rapidly.
"Are you burned?" She quickly put down the cup, grabbed his hand and asked.
"It's okay." He said, pulling back his hand.
I don't know if he was really fine or if he just wanted to keep a distance from Sang Wuyan. However, the opposite happened, the burned skin not only turned red but also began to swell rapidly.
Sang Wuyan began to get anxious, "How can it not be serious? It's boiling water."
In a panic, she suddenly remembered that there was aloe vera in the garden below the teaching building. In the past, Mother Sang used aloe vera as a burn medicine for her at home.
"You sit and wait for me." Then she ran downstairs, not caring about the rain, went to the garden to tear off a few aloe leaves, and ran back with a thump.
Then, she took Su Nianqin's hand to the faucet, rinsed it with cold water, and then gently rubbed the back of his red hand with the broken part of the aloe leaf.
"What?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Aloe vera." Sang Wuyan replied.
A blister seemed to have appeared at the base of his index finger, and when the aloe vera juice was applied on it, his hand trembled slightly.
It probably hurts a lot.
His fingers were long and slender, with faint blue veins visible under the skin. Perhaps due to years of playing the piano, his hands were not so perfect, with slightly thicker knuckles, slightly upturned fingertips, and calluses on the fingertips.
Most of his understanding of the world comes from his hands, so his sense of touch may be more sensitive than that of ordinary people.
"I definitely didn't mean it." Sang Wuyan said guiltily, "Don't be angry."
"Really?" he asked casually.
Sang Wuyan said anxiously: "I swear!"
The transparent and sticky aloe vera juice immediately gave me a cool feeling when it touched my skin. The window was open, and the wind with moist water vapor blew gently, and the elegant plant fragrance between the two of them spread into the air.
Su Nianqin took a shallow breath.
So this is what aloe vera smells like, he thought.
"What happened next?" Cheng Yin asked.
"Someone came upstairs, and I felt embarrassed to keep holding his hand, so I picked up the cup and went to the classroom."
Cheng Yin chuckled, "You didn't even take advantage of the situation?!"
"Go to hell." Sang Wuyan kicked her, "Stop making fun of me and go to the supermarket with me."
"What?"
"Buy food."
The next morning, Sang Wuyan went to work with a bag of snacks. When he arrived at the office, Su Nianqin, who was sitting opposite him, had already arrived.
Sang Wuyan glanced at his hand. The abscess had been punctured and medicine had been carefully applied.
She felt embarrassed holding so much food in her hands, so Sang Wuyan opened two bags of candy and put a handful of candy on the desks of the teachers present. She walked to Su Nianqin and hesitated before saying, "Teacher Su, you have some candy."
He refused calmly: "I don't eat sweets."
Those five simple words reservedly distanced them from each other, as if what happened yesterday had never happened.
Sang Wuyan bit her lip, then smiled again, "Then... I'll treat you to something salty next time."
Then, she carried her things to the classroom, but unexpectedly Xiaowei had not arrived yet.
After the second get out of class, Teacher Xiao Wang returned to the office and reminded Sang Wuyan, "Xiao Sang, weren't you looking for Su Xiaowei just now? She is in the classroom now."
Sang Wuyan picked up his things and went to the classroom. Xiaowei was wiping the desk on the podium with a duty student armband on her arm.
"Xiao Wei." Sang Wuyan stood at the door and called her. The radio was playing gymnastics music, and the child was very focused on what she was doing, so she didn't hear it.
She wiped it carefully, first with a dry towel, then rinsed the rag in a basin, wrung it out and used it to wipe it a second time. Her left hand first explored the way ahead, and the rag in her right hand moved little by little.
Sang Wuyan smiled, "Xiao Wei."
Xiao Wei turned around, "Teacher Sang?"
"I'll give it to you..." Before Sang Wuyan could finish her words, Su Nianqin appeared behind her and grabbed the bag in her hand. Then he shook his head and put his index finger in front of his lips to make a gesture of silence.
"What's wrong? Teacher Sang." The child did not notice that Su Nianqin was still at the classroom door.
"Are you on duty?" Sang Wuyan changed the subject.
"Yeah. They were playing in the classroom just now and threw the broom on the table. The next period is Mr. Su's class, and Mr. Su likes cleanliness, so I have to clean this place before he comes to avoid dirtying his clothes."
Sang Wuyan was not a person who liked children, but seeing Xiaowei's serious expression, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Do you like Teacher Su?"
Xiao Wei narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Teacher Su is very gentle."
"Really?" How come she never noticed it? Sang Wuyan asked, looking back at Su Nianqin.
Su Nianqin seemed to have noticed her gaze and turned his head slightly.
After finishing the conversation, she followed Su Nianqin to the end of the corridor.
"Why don't you want me to give it to her?"
"What they need is not a bag of candy from you today, or a box of cookies from someone else tomorrow."
"But..." Sang Wuyan felt speechless, "But, isn't this all I can do?"
"That's all you can do, so why not do nothing at all?" His expression was not indifferent, but such harsh words still sounded unusually cold when they came out of his mouth.
Sang Wuyan was also a little angry and said: "It's obviously you who are too sensitive. I just want her to know that although she has no father or mother, there are still so many people who care about her and miss her."
"Sang Wuyan, please put away your pity and charity. This is not what they want. You don't understand at all."
"I don't understand? Why do you know?" Sang Wuyan's words were full of sarcasm and anger.
Su Nianqin turned around, paused for a moment, and said slowly: "Because I also grew up in an orphanage."
Sang Wuyan heard this and suddenly raised her head and looked at him in surprise. He had his back to the window at the end of the corridor, and looking from Sang Wuyan's direction, it was a bit backlit.
At that moment, Su Nianqin's face was not clearly visible in the morning light. Sang Wuyan's fingers curled up slightly, and the five fingers gently rubbed each other a few times. It was this hand of hers that touched his skin yesterday. At that time, his brows were relaxed, his expression was unusually peaceful, and it seemed so real.
But at this moment, the figure standing upright against the light suddenly makes people feel a little empty...
Before knowing that Su Nianqin was Yi Jin, Su Nianqin's source of livelihood had always been a mystery to Sang Wuyan.
Teacher Xiao Wang said that the school paid Su Nianqin for his substitute teaching. But you have to know that in this kind of school, even if you are a regular teacher, your salary is very meager, not to mention that he is a substitute teacher who teaches less than six classes a week.
He is blind and has a meager income, so how does he make a living
He always dresses neatly, wearing a thick wool coat or a black down jacket in winter. Sometimes he wears it for several days in a row and it still looks very clean. There are obvious markings or logos on his clothes.
The way Su Nianqin dresses is a living example of what Mama Sang often taught her: no matter what you wear, as long as it's clean and tidy, you're beautiful.
Later, she found that every time he went home, a young lady would drive to pick him up. The car was a gray-blue sedan, a fairly ordinary model in City A, neither good nor bad.
For this reason, Sang Wuyan also discussed it with Cheng Yin.
"She's a rich woman, and this Su Nianqin is willing to be her gigolo." Cheng Yin said.
Sang Wuyan rolled his eyes, "You've read too much celebrity gossip."
It couldn't be what Cheng Yin thought.
She had seen Su Nianqin showing displeasure to that woman. If they were in that kind of relationship, could the secretary be more arrogant than the sponsor
"Or vice versa. He is the boss and she is the secretary." Cheng Yin said again.
Sang Wuyan shook his head again.
Still not like it.
When he found out that Su Nianqin was Yi Jin, the truth seemed easy to see. Sang Wuyan didn't know how much one of his songs could sell for, but judging from the market reaction, it should be considered "highly expensive".
But no matter how much I guessed, I could never have guessed that Su Nianqin had such a background.
Sang Wuyan sat on the bus on her way home, staring blankly at the street outside the window. She recalled the aunt named Zhang who had chatted with her at the welfare home during the Chinese New Year.
Aunt Zhang said that many of the abandoned children are baby girls, and some are physically defective. Some parents think that children with defects are unlucky, and they are afraid of being laughed at by fellow villagers. Some families simply do not have the financial ability to raise such children, and always feel that they are a burden. Even if they grow up, they are still a burden to the family and a burden for the rest of their lives.
Thinking of this, Sang Wuyan felt a little sad.
She sat quietly in the second-to-last row by the window, and for no apparent reason, she shed tears. There were passengers on the bus, and her face was facing the window, so no one noticed her.
At night, Sang Wuyan was lying on the bed doing weight loss exercises alone. Today was Wednesday, and Su Nianqin had no classes on Thursday and Friday, so she would not come to school. The next time we saw each other would be next week.
Sang Wuyan stopped moving and stared at the ceiling in a daze. She was often bullied when she was a child, and it was Huang Xiaoyan who protected her at that time. When she was in middle school, she began to rebound and became particularly competitive. If anyone provoked her, she would definitely fight back, just like she did to Xu Qian and Wei Hao. However, she could not stand up to Su Nianqin.
He taunted her again and again. But she...
After finally getting through four days, on Monday, Sang Wuyan arrived at school only to learn that Su Nianqin had taken a leave of absence and would not be attending classes.
Sang Wuyan pretended to ask the gossipy teacher Xiao Wang casually: "What about our class's Braille class?"
"During the meeting, they said that it depends on Teacher Su. If the delay is too long, we will probably have to hire another teacher."
"What is it?"
"I don't know." Xiao Wang shrugged.
Sang Wuyan bit the pen, hoping that he was not avoiding her on purpose.
As a result, Su Nianqin showed up on time the next day and behaved normally towards her. Sang Wuyan then realized that she had overestimated her influence on Su Nianqin.
It is raining again.
The climate in City A is very humid. To exaggerate, it rains from the autumn of the first year to the early spring of the second year, so Sang Wuyan often carries a folding umbrella in his bag.
Sang Wuyan received a call and had to go back to University A to fill out the graduation information form, so he left before the fourth class. When he walked to the door, he happened to see Su Nianqin waiting for the bus. He also had no classes, so he came out several minutes earlier than Sang Wuyan, and it was obvious that the bus had not arrived yet.
The rain was falling gently.
It's not big, but it's small, but it can still get your clothes wet. Like many men, Su Nianqin doesn't like to carry an umbrella, and he saves money whenever possible. Now it happens to be raining.
He stood under the shade of the trees on the sidewalk, and some raindrops still seeped through the gaps between the leaves and fell on his shoulders, leaving a small spot of his clothes wet.