Following the slap, the woman revealed her true form and screamed, "How can your school have a student like you who dares to seduce my husband?" While saying this, she grabbed her hair with a ferocious look, and pulled her hair with her other hand.
Now, we finally reacted.
Bai Lin was sitting outside and was the first to rush over and push the woman away.
The other students rushed out of the door and complained to the girl:
"How do you hit someone?"
"Why do you hit people?"
The woman staggered after being thrown, and when she saw so many of us fighting her together, she became even more hysterical. She grabbed Song Qiqi's long hair and continued to curse in a louder voice: "Why do you say I hit people? Just because she seduced my husband and destroyed my family. Vixen, she was your teacher!"
The three of us were stunned.
The noise echoed throughout the corridor on the seventh floor. Several classes stopped classes and many people gathered to watch the fun.
Finally, the department leaders were alarmed.
After being persuaded by the teachers, the woman stopped swearing and went to the office together.
After the woman calmed down, she told us the whole story with tears in her eyes. We then learned that she was Xiao Zheng's wife and they had been married for three years.
I was shocked and looked at Song Qiqi, speechless.
Song Qiqi kept her head down and remained silent, with the distinct five-finger mark clearly visible on her face.
The dean said, "That's impossible. Song Qiqi is the most outstanding student in our English department. Is there a misunderstanding?"
Xiao Zheng's wife wiped her tears and sneered: "Misunderstanding?"
Zhao Xiaotang took three steps forward and stood in front of Song Qiqi: "Qiqi!"
Song Qiqi lowered her head, her whole body numb. She still didn't speak, and didn't look at anyone.
Zhao Xiaotang said, "Song Qiqi, tell her that you didn't know. You didn't know that Xiao Zheng was married. He lied to you. You are so much younger than him and you are still a student. It is so easy for him to lie to you, just like an adult lying to a child."
Slowly, I saw Song Qiqi raise her face, her eyes were empty, and she answered, "No."
"From the time I fell in love with him when I was seventeen until now, he has never lied to me from beginning to end."
"He said he was married, and I said I didn't care. He said he wouldn't divorce for me, and I said I didn't care. He said he wouldn't give me a good ending, and I also said I didn't care." Song Qiqi's words came out word by word, and they sounded unusually clear in this empty office.
Then, Zhao Xiaotang's hand trembled, and he raised it and slapped Song Qiqi hard: "I'll beat you to death, you useless bastard!"
Over the years, Zhao Xiaotang was indifferent to everything. She even failed many subjects in the exams and was warned by the counselor several times that she could not get her degree certificate. I saw that she just sneered and looked indifferent.
At this moment, Zhao Xiaotang was crying, her hands were shaking, and she was about to slap Song Qiqi angrily, saying, "I really want to beat you to death!"
She was even more severe than Xiao Zheng's wife.
Song Qiqi didn't hide, she just stood there and endured it.
I stood in front of Song Qiqi and cried to Zhao Xiaotang, "Stop hitting her, Xiaotang. She's in enough pain, stop hitting her."
Bai Lin also held Zhao Xiaotang tightly.
In the end, the four girls hugged each other in the office and cried.
Because of my mother's special job, I have heard from her about the past of women serving sentences in prison since I was a child. It is said that most of the crimes committed by women are caused by family or love.
My mother often uses a famous saying to describe them: I pity their misfortune and am angry at their lack of resistance.
I don't know if this was what Zhao Xiaotang was thinking when she slapped Song Qiqi. She likes to be alone, and there are four of us in the dormitory. It seems that she doesn't like to get involved with us, so we are a little distant emotionally.
However, after she beat Song Qiqi, she hugged us tightly and cried like us. Then I realized that there are so many people in the world who like to hide their emotions.
A lot of people saw what happened that day, so it caused a big fuss. With so many people talking, word spread quickly, and messages were flying everywhere.
Xiao Zheng's wife insisted that the school expel Song Qiqi, or else she would report the name of University A. According to someone, her original words were: "Let the society see that the famous school and the talented girl are all dirty water."
The department did not make any statement, so they just asked Song Qiqi to suspend classes for a few days, reflect on her actions, and wait for further advice.
During those days, she didn't go out. She either lay in bed or sat in a chair in a daze. Her mother was also on the train from her hometown to City A.
The counselor was afraid that she would become depressed, so she asked us to watch her until her mother arrived at the school.
Behind Song Qiqi's back, Bai Lin asked, "What if Qiqi is really fired?"
"No." I comforted her without any confidence.
"Is this in the school rules?" Bai Lin asked again.
"I don't know. I didn't notice it before." I sighed.
"Let's think of a solution for her. But if she is really fired, what future will she have?" Bai Lin said.
The first person I thought of was Secretary Wu, who was always so kind and caring towards me. But he had been attending meetings out of town since the beginning of the semester and couldn't take care of this place.
The second one is Chen Ting.
Chen Ting said: "I can only give it a try, after all, the impact is too bad."
After I thanked him and prepared to leave, he stopped me again.
He said, "Xue Tong, tell Song Qiqi that you hope she can come back. That kind of feeling is not love at all. That man has no right to mention the word love in front of her. Fortunately, he changed his career a few years ago, otherwise he would not be worthy of being a teacher."
"Thank you, Teacher Chen. We have been persuading her." Chen Ting is a good person.
He added: "Her affection for that man in middle school was just a kind of dependence on older men and she was just craving for fatherly love. That was the essence of it, not love."
After he finished speaking, he looked at me meaningfully.
I thought a lot during those days.
Song Qiqi's parents are both workers. Her mother is very beautiful and can sing well. When she was young, she was a famous beauty in the factory. Song's father is her colleague in the same workshop. He is not good-looking. But her mother thinks he is kind and honest. However, she didn't expect that honest men are always afraid that their wives will cheat on them. So after marriage, if Song's mother said a word to any man, she would beat him up as soon as she got home.
After Song Qiqi was born, Song's father's temper got worse. Later, a relative accidentally said that Song Qiqi didn't look like him, which made him more suspicious that his daughter was not his own flesh and blood. Whenever he was unhappy, he would take it out on Song Qiqi.
Over the years, there was almost no affection between father and daughter.
Therefore, Chen Ting's conclusion that Song Qiqi's love for Xiao Zheng is actually a desire for fatherly love is not entirely unreasonable.
What about me
Song Qiqi and I are so similar.
Later, after a three-party mediation, Song Qiqi was given a demerit. In view of the impact of the incident, the school asked her mother to take her home, suspended her classes for three months, and stopped her scholarship and all personal honor applications.
Every time I see Song Qiqi's empty bed, I don't know why, but I feel a sense of grief for the deceased.
After thinking calmly for more than a week, I finally made up my mind to make an appointment with Mu Chenghe to meet at Starbucks, where I met Xiao Zheng and Song Qiqi a few months ago.
This time, I arrived early and sat in the seat where Song Qiqi had sat before, looking at the endless stream of vehicles and pedestrians outside.
I was having dinner with him and Chen Ting that day, and it was mostly Chen Ting who talked to me.
I always felt that Mu Chenghe was not a taciturn person.
But that day, he spoke very little. Sometimes he looked at me, then at Chen Ting, like a bystander, and rarely joined in our conversation.
Among them, we talked about the teacher who recharged the meal card in the third canteen in the West District.
I said angrily, "If you give that chubby teacher a hundred yuan and ask him for change, he will throw the money out and say in a bad tone that he has no change. And if you take five yuan a piece to make twenty yuan and go to him to recharge your card, he will still impatiently push the money out of the window and ask people to take the whole money. What do you think he wants?"
Chen Ting laughed happily: "Really? Luckily I always bring whole money to top up 100 yuan."
I turned around and asked, "Has Teacher Mu ever met that person?"
He didn't answer, just smiled. He refused to approach me with words even for a small question.
Until Chen Ting came out to smooth things over.
On the contrary, I am more casual when talking to him on MSN.
So, I always felt that he must know something and was deliberately avoiding me.
At the exact time, Mu Chenghe arrived as promised.
I quickly stood up and asked, "What do you want to drink? I'll go get it."
Before coming here, I was trained by Bai Lin. She said that Starbucks requires you to pay at the counter first and then take the food to your seat, just like McDonald's. She told me to remember this, so as not to make a fool of myself.
Maybe my actions were too intense, which made Mu Chenghe stunned.
He said, "I'll go."
"No! It's my treat today. What do you want to drink?"
Seeing that I insisted, he didn't continue to argue with me, and said, "Whatever, as long as it's not too bitter."
Then I looked up at the price list at the cashier for a long time. I felt dazzled. Finally, I said to the waiter, "I want coffee that's not bitter." After I said it, I felt that what I said was quite stupid.
The waiter smiled and said, "Our new product is black cherry mocha, which is sweeter."
"Then I'll buy two cups."
"Excuse me, what size do you want, large, medium or small?"
I asked another embarrassing question: "Is the price the same?"
"no the same."
"Then I'll have a small cup."
"Two small black cherry mochas for seventy dollars. Do you need anything else?"
“No…” I took money out of my wallet with difficulty and returned to my seat with two cups of coffee. I felt my heart bleeding. If I had known this, I would not have pretended to be so noble.
Mu Chenghe asked: "What happened to finding a job?"
"Actually..." Actually, I just used this topic to ask him out this morning, but I already had the lines in mind, "Actually, I'm quite hesitant about my future job."
"Don't know how to choose?"
"Yes. Our school has a job fair in November. I really want to try it. But that day, the counselor told me that the department was going to recommend me to stay in school."
Mu Chenghe hesitated for a moment and asked, "Have you discussed this with your family?"
"My mother was transferred to another place. I mentioned it to her on the phone and she said I could choose whatever I wanted."
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I don't know..." I said with a frown.
He probably had expected my answer, and without surprise, he analyzed it for me: "Do you want to be a translator?"
"I've thought about it in my dreams. But with my limited foreign language skills, it's too embarrassing for me to be a full-time translator." I regret not studying hard before.
"Want to work as an employee in a corporate company?"
"I don't know what they study, but they know what I study. What can I do if I go there? I can only be a clerk, typing and running errands. Bai Lin said that if I want to get ahead, I should do sales, but I'm stupid and can't do it."
"Then why don't you consider staying in school?"
"be a teacher?"
"What? You have an opinion too?" He shook his head and laughed.
"to be honest?"
“…” He didn’t answer, probably thinking that my question was quite depressing.
I had to tell the truth: "I think being a teacher is boring. Every year I read from the textbook, repeating it over and over again. In the end, I become like Tang Seng, nagging and talking loudly."
He smiled.
"I didn't say you." I explained hastily.
After a while, I couldn't help asking, "Teacher Mu, why do you want to be a teacher?"
"I don't know anything except physics, so I have no choice but to become a teacher," he said.
"You're talking nonsense. According to your students, you're going to win some award again."
"Which of my students likes to advertise for me so much?" he said unhappily.
I stuck out my tongue, not wanting to betray Senior Brother Li, and quickly pretended to drink coffee, taking a big sip. It was indeed so sweet that it was sickening, and I really regretted it. But then I thought, at least it's thirty yuan, which is better than having it taste bitter.
He suddenly said: "I personally think you are more suitable to be a teacher."
"Why?" I asked, tilting my head.
"You have an easygoing personality, can get along with anyone, are cheerful all day long, and don't have any ulterior motives. The campus environment is quite suitable for you. But..."
"But what?"
"If you want to stay in school, your undergraduate studies won't last long, and you'll have to take the postgraduate entrance exam sooner or later. This is something you have to consider."
Then, Mu Chenghe analyzed several pros and cons.
I looked at his face and many thoughts came to my mind.
I read in a book before that love is not just a momentary throbbing, but it should be that you feel that you and the person sitting opposite you can stay together for fifty years, and can support each other calmly no matter the ups and downs of life, illness, pain or death.
I have never thought about what it would be like if I really got married to Mu Chenghe, and then lived together, had children, grew old together, and even faced death together.
I never thought about it that way.
I just thought, if he was nice to me, if he always cared about me, if he said he liked me, if he could hold me in his arms, I would be extremely happy and excited.
All I wanted was to take, just as I took from my father.
Every time I encountered difficulties, the first person I looked for help was Mu Chenghe. When I was lost, the first person I thought of was also Mu Chenghe.
Because he gives me comfort, encouragement and care.
What the teachers said in the office that time: It is only in certain circumstances that one will have a feeling of admiration for certain people.
At this moment, I couldn't help but laugh.
Even with a little bitterness, I still smiled.
He asked, “Did I say something wrong?”
I smiled and said, "No."
He was stunned for a moment: "Have you decided how to choose?"
I nodded: "I've thought about it."
Since it is not love, but just liking. Since this liking has not been responded by him, I will freeze it before it disturbs him and treasure it in my memory.
Then, we talked about other things.
As the sun was setting, I had to go home to get something, so I left first. He said he was not in a hurry, and the traffic was so bad anyway, so he would sit for a while.
I left Starbucks and walked to the platform on the same side to wait for the bus. I stood there for a while, but no bus came. Looking at the slowly moving vehicles, I couldn't help but look back and glance over there from a distance.
He sat there, facing me sideways.
Because the distance was too far, I couldn't see his face clearly, I only knew that he was holding the mug and continued to drink the mocha, intermittently. The left hand holding the coffee was the left hand that had given me so much warmth and fantasy.
I paused, then hurried back and pushed open the glass door.
The doorbell rang.
The waiter who had just received me was cleaning the table closest to the door. When he saw me come in, he said gently, "Welcome."
Mu Chenghe heard the voice and turned back slightly. Then, his eyes met mine.
I approached slowly.
He stood up.
"I forgot to say it just now," I said sincerely, "Mr. Mu, thank you. You are a good teacher. Being your student is the luckiest thing that happened to me in my four years at university."
Mu Chenghe stared at me with his clear eyes and didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, I said, "Goodbye."
He replied, "Goodbye."
Just as I turned to leave, Mu Chenghe suddenly grabbed me. It was early autumn, and I was wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt. His five fingers clasped my wrist, and the warmth of his palm penetrated through the cotton fabric. He didn't use much force, but he quickly and effectively stopped me from leaving.
I looked back in surprise.
He paused for a moment, then said calmly, "It's not convenient to take a car now. I'll take you there."
"It's okay. My home is very close to here. It only takes two stops. I can walk back very quickly."
He nodded and let go: "Then be careful on the road and don't get back to school too late."
I went back to the street and kept walking forward. After I passed the traffic light, I continued walking forward, not daring to look back.