The crow in the park, Akon, has been having a good time lately, and Akon has lived as if there is nothing left in the world to worry about. No, there is one thing left, and that is Wang Daben. These days, Wang Daben has been rushing with Ma Fengyun to make his "smart medicine", and he has no time to run to the elementary school anymore, and he hasn't seen him for some days. Akon hopes he will never be in elementary school again.

Whenever dusk falls in the park, there is often an old man with a cane, strolling along the park path. Many of the people who come to the park know him and greet him as "the old principal". Many years ago, before the old man retired, he was the principal of a primary school. He is also the grandfather of Natsuba-san.

Ah Kang had known this kind old man for a long time, and he also knew that he was Xia Ye's grandfather. Because sometimes Natsuba will go for a walk with him. However, the old headmaster of these two years often seemed worried and sullen.

The old headmaster was worried about his granddaughter. There are usually two types of students in schools, one is very smart but somewhat lazy, and the other is very diligent but not smart enough. But Xia Ye's children are smart and hardworking. She always wants to be the best in her class.

The old headmaster was officially worried about this. Looking at his granddaughter, who was busy preparing for this kind of exam and that kind of competition every day, put on small glasses early, he felt distressed. Learning is to help people live and work better, not for test scores and competition rankings. Natsuba's mother is proud of her daughter's excellence. The mother thinks that her daughter is excellent now, and she has hope to become a successful person when she grows up.

When the old principal expressed his concern, the family was surprised.

The old headmaster didn't have such an attitude towards life in the past. He used to be the principal of an elementary school. I remember one year when the Chinese women's volleyball team won the world championship, a calligrapher happened to come to the school to participate in the event. He asked the calligrapher to write a plaque: How many times can life be beaten. He wants to use this phrase to motivate himself and his colleagues to work hard. This plaque has been hanging on the wall of the foyer of the school's teaching building, and it has been hanging for more than ten years. He was only quietly plucked off after he retired. Because everyone thinks the plaque is old and outdated.

Natsuba's mother was also unimpressed with the old man's opinion. She said that the elderly have been retired for many years, separated from society, and do not understand the social reality of "relying on hard work to win". At this point, Xia Ye also disapproves of her grandfather, whenever she wins a competition, she is praised by her teacher and envied by her classmates, which makes her very satisfied. To do this, she prefers to give up some play and rest time.

The old principal began to reflect on his own life. He has been working in this elementary school for 40 years. The first 20 years were ordinary teachers, and the last 20 years were principals. In the past 40 years, he has indeed demanded that of himself and others. Classes - Exams - Rankings, Classes - Exams - Rankings, this is the most important job in school. Of course, we should also pay attention to campus safety and avoid accidents.

After retiring, he had another important job. Together with his wife, he helps his son and daughter-in-law and takes care of his little granddaughter Xia Ye. The loss of the old headmaster began when Natsuba went to elementary school. He found that this granddaughter was busy with various extracurricular classes and homework every day, and had no time to pay attention to other things in life. There was no time to discuss with her grandfather all kinds of new things in the world that had made her curious as before.

One day the old headmaster was walking alone on the path in the park. He was depressed and wanted to smoke a cigarette to ease his mood, but he couldn't. He used to be an "old smoker" who smoked for more than ten years, but a few years ago he quit smoking. In order to be with this granddaughter, he made up his mind not to smoke anymore.

It was a hot and humid day, and the old headmaster felt a little tired, so he found a bench and sat down. He held his cane in both hands, staring at this helpless world. Feeling a little sleepy, I put my chin on the back of my hand and closed my eyes.

The old headmaster remembered the gardener in the park, as if he hadn't seen him in days. What can I do if no one cares about these flowers and plants? Some people just lack a sense of responsibility when it comes to their work. No way, I'll be a temporary gardener.

The grass seems to need to be watered. The old headmaster pulled a long rubber pipe and opened the connected water valve. Water squirted out from the other end and sprinkled on the grass. Strangely enough, the meadow quickly became watery, as if it had turned into a swamp. The old headmaster felt that he had to turn off the water valve immediately. He lifted his feet to walk to the valve, but found that his feet were so deep in the mud of the swamp that he couldn't pull them out. The old headmaster looked around to see if anyone was passing by and could help him. But the surroundings were empty. I had to wait, but I felt that I was sinking deeper and deeper into the mud, and the old headmaster was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. Just then, he heard a crow cry overhead. When I looked up, I saw a crow standing on a branch overhead, looking at me.

"You seem to be in trouble and need help?"

"Are you the legendary talking crow?"

"Hello," replied the crow, "I see you in the mud. ”

"Yes, but no one can help me. ”

"One moment I'll fly down, you grab my feet, I'll pull you out of this quagmire. ”

"Can it really work?"

"Try it. ”

The crow flew down, and the old headmaster reached out and grabbed the crow's feet, and the crow flapped its wings vigorously. The old headmaster felt himself being pulled out of the mud little by little. The crow led the old headmaster back to the park path, and finally put his feet on the stone slabs of the path. The old headmaster let go of his hands, and the crow immediately flew up to the treetops.

The old headmaster wanted to thank the crow, but suddenly he felt his body shake, as if he was about to fall.

It turned out that it was the cane supporting his hands and chin that shook and woke the old headmaster from his dream. Looking up, there was really a crow standing on the old elm tree next to him, did what happened in the dream just now? The puzzled old headmaster felt a chill under his feet again, and looked down to see that the grass under the bench was being watered, and the water pipe was lying on the grass, and the water gurgled out of the mouth of the pipe, and flowed to his feet, soaking the soles of his shoes.

The next day, when the old principal walked into the office of the principal of the elementary school, Principal Zhao Sihua warmly took his hand and invited him to sit down. Zhao Sihua has a deep affection for his teacher and former leader. The old headmaster said:

"It's been a long time since I've been here, I miss everyone, I miss campus. If you're not busy, we'll sit together for a while, and if you're busy, I'll take a look around myself. ”

"Not busy. It's been a while since you've been back to campus to talk to everyone. ”

Zhao Sihua made two cups of tea and invited the old principal to sit on the sofa together.

"When people get old, they always like to remember the past.

"I worked as a farmer in the countryside for a few years before I became a teacher. One year we planted a patch of sunflowers in that village. When sunflowers grow to a meter tall, they begin to grow flower buds. There are often two or even three of them popping up on a plant at the same time, just like twins and multiple births. The old farmer led me to the field and assigned work. He told me that each sunflower plant should only have one 'head' left, and that the excess should be broken. I went to break it, but I stopped again. Asked him, "Which one should I keep?" The old peasant said that he would leave a big one. But they were all about the same size? The old peasants laughed at me: 'You city boys, you read a lot, but you are dead-eyed. As he spoke, he broke off one.

"In autumn, each sunflower bears a large sunflower head with full seeds. Isn't it ridiculous to conclude that in the spring I keep all the buds that will bear good fruit, and break off the bad ones? Isn't it ridiculous to conclude that?

"Please don't treat your child like that. Although they will become different people in the future, we are not 'God' or 'prophets' who are our teachers. Every child has a unique side. Our society has changed a lot in recent years, giving young people more opportunities for development. As they grow, they make their own choices that meet the requirements of society. The environment will also help them make a choice. And those arithmetic problems are not qualified to distinguish children. It's like 'child's play' and it's a disservice to the children. ”

Zhao Sihua understood the old man's words, but the reality made him helpless. For many years, the students in primary and secondary schools have had a hard time, and the teachers have had a hard time. Everyone has put in a lot of time and energy, but it seems to be in the wrong place. Zhao Sihua felt that these hardships in school were caused by the social environment, and individuals were powerless.

"Teacher, do you remember the plaque you hung in the foyer?"

"Of course I do. ”

"Then they said it was too old and took it off. I didn't throw it away, it's still in the storeroom. The campus has been renovated over the past few years, and it looks quite new, but there are still many things that have not changed. Our focus is still on school-to-school comparisons, and students are comparing themselves to their peers. ”

"yes. Our school has always had a good reputation in this regard. After many years of retirement, my neighbors are willing to call me 'old principal' when they meet. The community generally thinks that we are a good primary school. However, if the direction is not right, the horse will run farther away from the target than the horse, which is contrary to the original intention. “

The old man looked out the window, and the flower bed in front of the window was full of flowers.

"I saw that the flowers and plants on campus were well taken care of.

"In the past few years since I retired, I have often reflected on my career as a teacher and felt some regrets. Look at that flower bed, some seeds are planted in the spring. But the flower bed does not guarantee what kind of flowers those seeds will bloom or whether they will bloom or not. The task of the flower bed is to let those seeds fall in the dirt and not on the concrete floor outside. It is not the credit of the flower bed that the seed later becomes a flower, but the mistake of the flower bed when the seed falls outside the flower bed.

"What I regret for myself is that over the years, I don't know how many seeds I have lost. Our top results can't make up for it. ”

Reality and ideals are often far apart. When Principal Zhao Sihua sent the disappointed old man out of the school, he was inevitably a little disappointed in his heart.