2

After some arrangement, Fang Siying's small single dormitory is also very refreshing, and elegant and gratifying.

On the window, there were new curtains with pale green striped flowers, and on the bed, there were bedspreads of beige and coffee, a small rattan coffee table, a table towel with crochet and empty flowers, two black satin cushions on two rattan chairs, and on the small desk, there was a small table lamp with a beige lampshade, and in a green-glazed vase, a few emerald green bamboos that had just been picked from the hillside behind. A small dresser sits a few simple pieces of cosmetics.

Everything was arranged, Fang Siying sat down in the chair in front of the desk, looking around the room, she had a feeling of confusion and disbelief. Come to think of it, just a few months ago, she was far away from the sky, with a well-paying job and a luxurious apartment home. And now, she is staying in a small school in the suburbs of Taiwan, working as an elementary school teacher, which is simply unbelievable! She still remembers what Mr. Zhang, the "Ministry of Education" who introduced her to this school, said to her:

"I don't know about you, Miss Fang, with your qualifications, the 'Ministry of Education' can easily introduce you to any university as a lecturer, why did you choose this Zhengxin National Primary School? Elementary school teachers are not well paid, and it is not easy to teach, and you have to know phonetic symbols. ”

"I know phonetic symbols, don't worry, Mr. Zhang, I will be competent and happy." This was her answer at the time, "I don't want to be a lecturer, I like children, college students make me scared!" ”

But why do you choose righteousness? Is it okay for other schools? ”

"Oh no, I just hope it's righteousness, I like the environment there."

Now, she is staying in the staff dormitory at Zhengxin Primary School. Leaning against the window, she could see the green hills in the distance, the hillsides outside the school and the tea plantations scattered all over the hillsides, and the sparse bamboo forests. Yes, the environment is picturesque, but is it only the environment that makes her so determined to stay and teach? Or is it some other inexplicable reason? She also remembered the surprise and amazement that Principal Liu, the fat, good-natured, forty-year-old woman here, had shown her.

"Oh, Miss Fang, I've wronged you too much to teach here!"

"No, it's the job I've been hoping for for a long time." She said she was surprised to learn of her master's degree from abroad.

"So, would you like to be a sixth-year tutor?"

"Sixth grade? I'm afraid I won't be able to teach the graduating class, but if I can, will I be able to teach the fifth grade? Preferably Kozhin. "Fifth grade, after the summer vacation, the kid should be in the fifth grade.

In this way, she was in charge of the fifth grade mathematics.

It was the end of the summer vacation, and there were still two days left for her to walk, see, and get to know other teachers in the school. She walked over to the dresser and looked at herself with satisfaction, her hair loosely tied up on top of her head, a faint amount of powder, a pair of myopic glasses, and a plain, dark blue suit. She already looks like a "teacher".

Grabbing a handbag, she walked out of the dormitory. She was going to walk outside the school, and it was dusk, and the fields under the setting sun were bewildering. Walking out of the school gate, she walked along the main road, which was lined with tea plantations on both sides, and dwarf plants were neatly planted in the fields. She looked at the tea trees and imagined that when she was picking tea, the field was full of tea-picking girls, tying hats to their heads with turbans, wrapping their hands and feet with cloths, bending over, carrying tea baskets, that scene must have been very moving.

Not long after walking, she saw the Kashiwa House, which looked very beautiful in the light of the setting sun, and outside the wall, it was also surrounded by tea plantations. She stopped for a moment, just as the red door of the Kashiwa Mansion opened, and a *-year-old Chevrolet drove out and sped away in the direction of Taipei, kicking up a puff of dust. * Chevrolet! It's 1965, and that man is quite generous! Fang Si thought about it. In the United States, most international students study cars when they have nothing to do, and she has also contracted this habit, so she can call the year and the name of almost any car at a glance.

After crossing the cypress house, it didn't take long for her to see the "Smoky Villa" again. The burned-out house tempted her, and she hesitated for a moment, and then went through the iron door, and sure enough, the roses were still blooming well, and she plucked two branches. Stood there, staring at the ruins for a long time. Then, turning around, she walked out. The sunset burned so beautifully in the sky, she took a deep breath, enough was enough, she felt her whole body full of heat and strength.

"I will never regret my choice!"

She said to herself.

Back in the dormitory, she inserted two roses into a vase on the desk, the red of the roses lined with the emerald green of the bamboo leaves, which was bewilderingly beautiful. All night, she stared at the vase. As night fell, she listened to the sound of frog drums and insects chirping in the surrounding fields, and then she let out a low, soft sigh. Opening the desk drawer, she pulled out a stack of letterheads, and began to write a letter in English, which read:

Dear Ali,

I'm sorry, I've decided to stay in Taiwan and not go back to the United States, I hope you don't get angry with me, I wish you can find a better woman than me. I can't explain what everything is about, it's just ...... It was just a chance that on that May afternoon, I would run to the countryside on a whim, and then I was mesmerized by a pile of ruins and a little girl......

She didn't finish the letter, and when she dropped her pen, she sighed in vain. It was something that couldn't be explained, and Ari would never be able to understand what it was, she couldn't tell. He'll be when she's insane! Yes, she stared at the two roses on her desk, and God knows, why did she stay? There is a man overseas who wants to marry her, she is over thirty years old, and she should have been married a long time ago. God knows! She may have really had a nervous breakdown!

It's been three days since school started.

Standing in the classroom, Fang Siying was lecturing while looking at the girl sitting in the middle of the first row. She was teaching the chickens and rabbits in the cage, but the girl's eyes did not look at the blackboard, she held her chin with one small hand, her eyes were dazzled to the window, and there was a certain look of concentration on her little pale face, so that Fang Siying could not help but follow her gaze to look out the window. Outside the window is the campus, there is a huge banyan tree, and in the distance, there are a few white clouds floating in the sky. Fang Siying stopped talking and called softly:

"Bai Tingting!"

The girl was unaware, still staring out the window. Fang Siying couldn't help coughing, raised her voice slightly, and shouted again:

"Bai Tingting!"

The child still hadn't heard, her dark eyes were deep and dark, not like a child's eyes, her focused expression was not like a child, what was it that occupied the child's mind? Fang Siying frowned, and her voice raised:

"Bai Tingting!"

This time, when the child heard it, she jumped to her feet and stood up, looking at Fang Siying for a moment with a pair of frightened eyes. Her small, bloodless lips quivered slightly, and her thin fingers clutched nervously at the textbook on the desk. She opened her mouth and spat out softly:

"Oh, teacher?"

This timid, slightly begging tone knocked Fang Siying down. She involuntarily relaxed her frowning brow and walked over to the child's table. Bai Tingting looked up at her with a passive, waiting to be scolded.

"You didn't listen," Fang Siying's voice was unexpectedly gentle, "what are you looking at?" ”

Bai Tingting moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, and Fang Siying's gentle tone and kind eyes encouraged her.

"There's a nest in that tree," she whispered, "and a mother bird keeps taking something in and flies in, and I'm looking to see if there are any birds." ”

Fang Siying turned her head, really, in the thick foliage of the tree, a bird's nest was firmly built at the fork of two branches. Fang Siying turned around and looked at Bai Tingting intently, she couldn't blame this child.

"Okay, sit down, you have to listen carefully in class, otherwise, how will you understand?" She paused and added, "After school, come to the faculty lounge, and I'm going to talk to you." ”

"Oh? Teacher? A look of horror crossed the child's face again.

"Don't be afraid," she said, soothingly pressing her hand on the child's shoulder, how thin it was! "Nothing, just talking. Sit down! Let's get back to the books and leave the birds alone. ”

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the flag-lowering ceremony passed. Fang Siying sat in the faculty lounge and watched Bai Tingting walk in slowly. Spread out on her desk was Bai Tingting's workbook, she had never seen such a bad exercise, and almost none of the ten four-question questions were correct, and they were ridiculously wrong, so that she wondered how she had read it in her fourth grade. Now, as she stood timidly in front of her, her two thin arms peeking out from under the short sleeves of her white shirt, so thin that they seemed to break at the touch of a touch. She couldn't help but feel a strong, unspeakable pity and trembling in her heart. What kind of child is this? What kind of life is she living? Didn't her parents notice her weakness?

"Teacher." Bai Tingting screamed softly and lowered his head.

"Come here, Bai Tingting." Fang Siying pulled her to her side and carefully examined the weak and beautiful little face, "Do you know all the books I taught in class?" ”

"Oh, teacher." The boy let out a low cry and lowered his head.

"Don't you understand?" Fang Siying tried to keep her voice as gentle as possible, "If you don't understand, you should ask me, do you know?" You're not doing a good job! ”

The child sighed lowly.

"What? What questions do you have? Tell me. She asked patiently.

"I just don't understand," the boy sighed, "why put chickens and rabbits in one cage?" What a hassle that is! Moreover, the head of a chicken is completely different from the head of a rabbit, so why count how many heads and feet there are! My family has chickens and rabbits, and they have never been so troublesome, and it is easy for me to count them! She sighed again.

"Oh!" Fang Siying was stunned, facing that innocent little face, she didn't know how to answer, "It's just a method, a way to teach you calculations, understand?" She explained awkwardly.

The child looked at her with innocent eyes and shook his head.

"Teach us how to complicate things?" She asked.

"Oh, that's what math is all about, it's going to test your mind, it's going to train you to do calculations, and you have to be trained to do that, and when you grow up, you're going to have a lot of problems that you need to use what you've learned to solve. You know? ”

"I know," Bai Tingting lowered his eyelids and sighed again, "I think I'm stupid. ”

"No, don't think so," Fang Siying said quickly, taking the child's two little hands in her hands, her eyes resting on her face with infinite tenderness, "I think you are a very smart and lovely child. ”

Two blush flew on Bai Tingting's cheeks, she quickly raised her eyelashes, and glanced at Fang Siying, there was shyness, comfort, and joy in her eyes. A shallow smile crossed the corner of her mouth, and the look was very moving.

"Tell me, who are some of your family?" Fang Si couldn't help but ask, she was suspicious of the child's thinness.

"Dad, Mom, Yazhu and Lao You." Bai Tingting replied without thinking, and then explained, "Yazhu is a maid, and Lao You is a driver and gardener. ”

"Oh," Fang Siying was stunned, and then looked at Bai Tingting carefully, "but—" she whispered, "does your mother like you?" ”

The child jumped, she quickly raised her eyelashes, and looked directly at Fang Siying, the pair of dark eyes were burning and pressing.

"Of course I do!" She almost shouted, her face flushed with excitement and her breath short, she seemed very angry and full of hostility, "They all like me, Daddy and Mommy!" Lowering her eyelashes, she bit her lip with her thin white teeth, and raised her head again, the hostility in her eyes disappeared, replaced by an almost mournful look, "Teacher Fang," she said in a low voice, "You don't listen to other people's nonsense, you don't listen!" My dad and mom love me, really! I don't lie to you, really! ”

There was a serious look on her little face, which actually made Fang Si linger a pain in her heart. Don't listen to what others say, how do you say that? She looked at the child, and remembered that May afternoon, the blind father, and the child...... She took a breath.

"Alright! Bai Tingting, no one doubts that your parents don't love you! She touched the child's hair, and one of the braids was loose, and she asked her to turn her back to her, helped her tie the braids, and then turned her face around, "Go back and ask your mom and dad something, okay?" ”

"Okay."

"Ask your mom and dad if they can make you stay at school for an extra hour every day, and I'll make up for your arithmetic. You come to my room after school, and I'll start with the basics for you, or you'll not be able to keep up with work, you know? ”

"Okay, teacher."

"So, go ahead!"

"Goodbye, teacher." The child looked at her again, and there was a special light in his eyes, a gentle, childish, attached light, which tightened Fang Siying's heart. She knew that this child liked her, and she knew that this child must live in loneliness, because a little love and care would bring her so much happiness! Looking at her retreat to the door of the faculty lounge, she couldn't help but stop her again: "There is another sentence, Bai Tingting!" ”

"Teacher?" The child stood still, turned to look at her.

"Do you have any younger siblings?"

"Nope."

"Your mom and dad are just your child?"

"Yes."

"Are there any grandparents?"

"Grandma died three years ago, grandpa died a long time ago, I never saw him."

"Oh." Fang Siying looked at Bai Tingting contemplatively, "Okay, it's okay, you can go." "Bai Tingting is gone. Fang Siying sat deeply in her chair, still staring at the door where Bai Tingting had disappeared. She held a pencil in her hand, and subconsciously bit the eraser head on the pencil with her teeth, biting the eraser head into a big gap. It wasn't until another female faculty member came over that her musings were interrupted.

"I see you're asking Bai Tingting, is this kid in trouble?" The female teacher asked with a smile.

"Oh," Fang Siying raised her head, it was Li Yusheng, who taught fifth-grade Chinese, this is a very good-tempered, very young female teacher, she has been teaching in Zhengxin for three years, in addition to teaching Chinese, she also serves as the tutor of Baitingting's class. "It's nothing," Fang Siying said, "I didn't do well in math, so I asked her to talk about it, this is a very special child!" ”

"Yes, it's special!" Li Yusheng said, pulling up a chair and sitting down opposite Fang Siying, "If you see her composition, you will never believe that it was written by an eleven-year-old child." ”

"What? Well written? ”

"Yay! Your imagination will surprise you! Li Yusheng shook his head with a smile, sighed and said, "This kind of biased child is the most nerve-wracking, she has always been a problem child in our school, every year, we have a meeting to discuss whether she is promoted or not, her math has always been bad, but her Chinese is amazingly good!" But don't let that kid fool you, it's a little elf! ”

"Fool me?" Fang Si said in confusion, "What do you mean?" Did she lie? ”

"Lying?!" Li Yusheng smiled exaggeratedly, "She is a first-class expert at lying!" You'll find out slowly. ”

"How?" Fang Si frowned in confusion.

Li Yusheng's body leaned closer.

"You're a new teacher, you don't know the story of her family." Li Yusheng said, with a mysterious face. Since the beginning of human beings, women have had an instinct to tell stories.

"Story?" Fang Siying's brows furrowed even tighter, "What story?" She stared deeply at Li Yuxi, but the shadow of the blind man floated in front of her.

"Bai Tingting's father is Bai Peiwen, you know Bai Peiwen, right?"

Fang Siying shook her head.

"Hey, you really don't know anything!" Li Yusheng said, "Bai Peiwen's wealth here is well known, do you see those tea gardens outside the school? That's all from the Bai family! His family is not limited to these tea plantations, in Taipei, he also has a large tea processing factory. People in the area say that no one can estimate the property of Bai Peiwen. is also too rich to set fire to a big house! ”

"What?" Fang Siying was taken aback, "What did you say?" Set fire to it? Who set the fire? ”

"Have you noticed a burned-down house called Smoky Heights?"

"Yes."

"It turned out to be the Bai family's house, and it is said that Bai Peiwen set fire to it by himself!"

"Bai Peiwen himself?" Fang Siying's eyebrows were tightly knotted, "Why?" ”

Some say that because the house was haunted, others because it reminded him of his dead wife, he simply set it on fire. However, after the burning, Bai Peiwen regretted it again, so he often ran to the ruins to find his wife's ghost again. ”

"His wife?" Fang Siying's eyes widened, "You mean, his wife is dead?" ”

"His first wife, that is, Bai Tingting's biological mother, is now a continuation."

"Oh." Fang Siying swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her eyes staring blankly at Bai Tingting's exercise book on the desk.

"It is said that Bai Tingting is not Bai Peiwen's daughter." Li Yusheng continued, as if he intended to leak this story bit by bit, so as to arouse the surprise of the people who listened to the story step by step.

"What?" Sure enough, Fang Siying quickly raised her head and opened her mouth wide in surprise, "What did you say?" ”

"That's right, I heard that Bai Peiwen's first wife was a very beautiful and shy little thing, but she was not from a good background, it turned out to be a female worker in Bai Peiwen's factory in Taipei, but Bai Peiwen fell madly in love with her, and he married her home despite the opposition of his family. Two years after marriage, she gave birth to Bai Tingting, and an accident broke out. It is said that when he discovered that his wife was having a secret affair with one of his tea plantations, he threw his wife out of the house in a fit of rage. Unexpectedly, his wife threw herself into the river that night. As for the person in charge of the tea garden, he was also driven away by Bai Peiwen. Therefore, everyone said that Bai Tingting was the daughter of the tea garden manager, not Bai Peiwen's. ”

"Oh!" Fang Siying said with difficulty, "But......" She remembered Bai Tingting's resemblance to her father.

"That's the reason," Li Yusheng said to himself, not noticing Fang Siying's confusion, "Bai Tingting has not been favored by his father since he was a child, and after he has a stepmother, Bai Tingting's life will be even more difficult. What's more, Bai Peiwen is blind again......"

"Has he been blind for many years?"

"It's been six or seven years."

"How are you blind?"

"I don't know." Li Yusheng shook his head, "I heard that he was injured during the fire, anyway, this is a legendary family, any story can happen, who knows how he was blind?" ”

"Then doesn't stepmother like Bai Tingting?"

Li Yusheng smiled implicitly.

"Bai Tingting must have told you that her mother loved her very much, didn't she?" She said, "I won't talk about it, but if you're interested in this child, you're going to find a lot of stories in her." You are studying education, studying children's psychology, this child is the best research object, you might as well get close to her, and then, I believe," she pursed her lips and smiled, looking at Fang Siying, the whole school knew that Fang Siying came to teach with a righteous heart, just to have an "interest" in children, not like other teachers, in order to have to "work", "She will surprise you greatly!" Give it a try! ”

Li Yusheng stood up and looked out the window, the sun had already set, the twilight had poured in from the window, and in the faculty lounge, the other instructors had already left.

"Oh," she said, in astonishment, "we talked so late that I had to leave at once." She lives in Taipei, hurriedly picked up her handbag, and said, "Goodbye." ”

"Goodbye!" Fang Si watched her leave. And then, still sitting in that chair, she stared silently, distractedly, for a long time, out of the twilight window.