Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 989 Teacher Xie Wen
On a cold winter morning, Wang Zhan put on his cotton-padded coat. Today was the day of the midterm exams, and he got up early to prepare breakfast.

Wang Li is on vacation now. She spends her days at Aunt Sun's house and comes back in the evening. Wang Zhan is very busy, so the two siblings can only chat for a while after dinner.

Wang Li always thinks about the chickens she keeps on her social media. And sure enough, several of the hens have already started laying eggs. Collecting eggs has become an indispensable part of Wang Li's daily routine after finishing her homework, and it's also one of her joys.

Another thing Wang Li was very interested in was picking mushrooms on the back mountain of the cabin. The storeroom in the east wing of the cabin had become her treasure room, where all the food was kept. Every time, she would take out a little and have Wang Zhan cook it for her.

After finishing his chores at home, Wang Zhan rode his bicycle to school. The school staff and teachers of the School of Mechanical Engineering were all familiar with this student who did not live on campus, and they smiled as they saw him enter the campus.

Wang Zhan excelled academically, especially in mechanical design and mechanical drawing, two subjects that had become benchmarks for the entire school. His performance attracted the attention of a senior teacher, who was not their instructor but Xie Wen, the school's only teacher with a Level 5 Engineer title.

Today, despite his busy schedule, Teacher Xie Wen took time to come to Wang Zhan's exam room to check on Wang Zhan's performance and answers.

The day's exams went smoothly, and Wang Zhan didn't notice anything unusual, except that there were more proctors. Around 3 p.m., after the last exam of the day ended, Wang Zhan planned to go home, still thinking about his younger sister.

At this moment, the class teacher found him and asked him to go to Professor Xie Wen's office on the third floor. Wang Zhan was a little confused. He didn't know Professor Xie Wen personally, but he still knew his name. He was a real Level 5 engineer and his teaching position at the school was part-time. He was a professor at the School of Mechanical Design and Research.

Wang Zhan didn't dare to be negligent. After packing up, he carried his bag to Teacher Xie Wen's office. Teacher Xie Wen didn't appear at school often, only coming back to teach two classes a month. He was on the list of people above, so he had many tasks and was very busy.

Wang Zhan knocked gently on the door, and an old man's voice came from inside, saying, "Please come in."

This is an office that couldn't be simpler, with just a desk and an office chair, and two simple wooden chairs in front of the desk.

Wang Zhan said, "Hello, Teacher Xie, this is Wang Zhan. You were looking for me?"

The white-haired old man sitting behind his desk put down the documents in his hand, took off his glasses, and said with a smile, "Oh, it's Wang Zhan. Come, have a seat."

Wang Zhan sat down at the desk, and Teacher Xie Wen smiled and said, "How was the exam?"

Wang Zhan didn't know why Teacher Xie Wen wanted to see him, so he answered truthfully, saying, "It's alright, I think I did well on the test."

"Yes, I've seen your answers. Good thinking, solid foundation. Your grades won't be bad," Xie Wen said.

After the two talked for a while, Teacher Xie Wen said, "I want to take you as my disciple. As you know, our lineage also emphasizes the master-disciple succession. What do you think?"

"Now? I've only been studying for half a year, and I don't understand anything yet, do you?" Wang Zhan was a little confused by Teacher Xie Wen's suggestion.

"Oh, no, no, not now. You can't be in my class now. It will be at the end of next semester. I've spoken with the school leaders about this. If you can rank in the top five of your major in the final exams next year, I'll arrange for you to be in my major class to study mechanical design. What do you think?" Teacher Xie Wen quickly explained.

Wang Zhan agreed. Even after leaving Xie Wen's office, he was still feeling dizzy. He didn't think he was particularly good at his major; he was just quick-witted and had many ideas. Oh well, he decided to stop thinking about it. After his exams, Wang Zhan would be on holiday and planned to go home to spend the New Year with his little girl.

After saying goodbye to Lü Qing and his friends, Wang Zhan rode off on his bicycle. Lü Qing watched Wang Zhan's retreating figure with envy. The brothers still had to pack their luggage and unwashed clothes, and take the bus home, which meant another long journey home.

It was almost 8 p.m. when Wang Zhan got home. It was getting dark, so Wang Zhan went to pick up his younger sister first. This time, his sister couldn't stay awake and fell asleep at Aunt Sun's house. Aunt Sun said that the girl had been playing wildly with the two younger children all afternoon and she didn't know where she had gone. She was very worried about her.

Wang Zhan frowned. This girl is getting bolder and bolder, she even dares to run around outside. No, I have to talk to her about it tomorrow.

Wang Zhan carried Wang Li back home, put her in the west bedroom, covered her with a blanket, lit the stove, checked the flue, and then returned to his own bedroom.

Wang Zhan sat for a while, thinking about his meeting with Teacher Xie Wen today. He smoked a cigarette before going to the kitchen to cook himself a bowl of noodles. He then sat alone in the main room and ate.

What he still can't understand is why Professor Xie Wen accepted him as a student. He doesn't think he has any outstanding professional skills, so why did Professor Xie Wen insist on accepting him as a student?

After finishing his noodles, Wang Zhan still couldn't figure it out, so he decided to stop thinking about it. He took a cigarette and some matches, sat down at the stone table in the courtyard, and looked at the early winter night. Suddenly, Wang Zhan thought of his parents.

Wang Zhan hadn't thought of them for a long time. Suddenly, he looked at the starry sky and tears streamed down his face.

The next morning, before Wang Zhan was even awake, Wang Li ran over, grabbed his ear, and shouted, "Brother, I'm hungry!"

Wang Zhan woke up groggily and looked at his sister, saying, "You must be hungry. You went to bed so early yesterday and slept until dawn. Tell me, what do you want to eat?"

Wang Li thought for a moment and said, "How about we go to Zhang Erya's house to eat? Zhang Erya said yesterday that her dad would make fried liver today."

"Oh ho, you've found out all that. Okay, let's go after your brother washes his face." Wang Zhan finally got out of bed and started getting dressed.

After washing up, Wang Zhan took his sister out the door, greeted the early-rising neighbors in the front yard, and headed straight for Old Zhang's breakfast shop at the entrance of the alley.

Zhang Erya waited there early in the morning, confident that Wang Li would come. Her father had invited her to dinner several times, but she had refused each time, as she was waiting for Wang Li.

Finally, Zhang Erya saw Wang Zhan and Wang Li and happily ran out of the breakfast shop, heading straight for Wang Li. Wang Zhan realized that the two girls had planned this together.

Wang Zhan greeted Old Man Zhang, ordered two bowls of fried liver and four steamed buns, and sat down at a table where the two girls were chattering away.

(End of this chapter)