Struggle Life in the 1970s

Chu Ye's eyes widened in disbelief, and she subconsciously looked at the director. Among the people in the room, only the director usually took extra care of her.

The director looked reluctant and turned away.

"Leaders, I promise you that I can handle this matter. They won't come to the school to find me again, and it won't bring bad influence to the school." Chu Ye said sincerely.

"But Mr. Chu, the school has been complained by many parents because of you. We must give an explanation."

"To be frank, our school has no way of explaining your case. All the parents are watching us. The best thing to do is to get you out of school."

"But I didn't do anything wrong. I can go and explain it to the parents, and maybe—"

"Teacher Chu, how do you want to explain this matter? You didn't handle your family relationships well, which led to your family making trouble at school." The vice principal interrupted her.

He had watched the girl in front of him grow up. When she was an intern, she led this group of students to the dormitory by herself. Among this group of students, he also took a liking to Chu Ye, so when the Teaching Department wanted to keep her to work in the school, he also signed the consent form.

He sighed softly, thinking of Chu Ye's recent award for outstanding teachers from the county, and felt a little sorry. If possible, he didn't want to fire such a young and promising teacher, but he had to consider the overall situation and not just solve the problem based on personal feelings.

"This is the result of our joint discussion. All you need to do is submit your resignation letter and we will agree. We will also give you three months' salary as compensation."

Chu Ye wanted to say something, but the vice-principal waved his hand and asked her to leave.

This matter is finalized and there is no room for negotiation.

Chu Ye turned around numbly, her mind was in a mess and her steps felt like they were filled with lead. If she couldn't continue teaching, then what was the point of all her efforts? She had been determined to get out of the mountains since she was young, to study, to have a self-sufficient job. She had worked hard to get everything, but now it all turned into bubbles?
She turned around, looked at everyone, and argued for herself, "Leader, I know I have caused trouble for the school this time. Can you give me another chance? I have finally come here, and I don't know where I can go if I leave school? I will try my best to settle this matter and will not let the school suffer any criticism."

The room was silent. Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The vice principal sighed deeply, "Teacher Chu, you are indeed an outstanding talent. We were also very sad when we made this decision, but we hope you can understand our approach. This matter is indeed too big a fuss."

On the afternoon when the incident happened, he immediately went to talk to Chu Ye. After learning the whole story from her, he felt very sorry for this little girl who was forced to leave by her family. When he heard her say that she had resolved the matter, he was relieved.

He is really optimistic about Chu Ye. The fact that their school can shine among all the schools in the county this time is inseparable from Chu Ye's efforts.

Considering her excellent teaching performance, the school can turn a blind eye to her incident this time.

Moreover, at that time, even if some students heard those words, they would only spread them quietly in private. Besides, children are playful and may forget about it after a while.

But no one expected that a parent would know about this matter, and it even became more and more popular, forcing the school to respond.

Chu Ye opened her mouth, her mind went blank. She didn't know what to say, but she also knew that once she left at this moment, she would leave this school forever and completely bid farewell to her identity as a teacher.

She was unwilling to give up and didn't even know where to go if she left here, or what else she could do?
All efforts to start over are meaningless.

She lowered her head in dejected silence. The director stood up from his seat. With a "swish", the table legs rubbed against the ground, making a harsh sound. Everyone looked over. The director's expression remained unchanged, and he shouted for Chu Ye to come out.

On the empty playground, Chu Ye followed the director and walked around aimlessly. After a long while, the director sighed, "Xiao Ye, this matter really cannot be undone. We also went through several rounds of discussions before finally deciding on this result."

He patted Chu Ye's shoulder, as if silently comforting her, "We also know that dismissing you will be a huge loss to the school, but now the public pressure is here, and many parents don't want to listen to explanations."

"Besides, even if you explain, what can you say? Bringing out the conflicts at home? That would be counterproductive."

What he said was from the bottom of his heart. When the leaders discussed this matter, he always sided with Chu Ye. However, when it came to the final vote, the minority had to obey the majority, and he failed to keep Chu Ye.

"Director." Chu Ye shouted and there was no further words. What else could she say?

The school gave her up in order to appease the parents, allowing her to submit her resignation and also giving her salary compensation, which was already a favor to them.

Even if she tried her best to persuade the school, she would not be able to withdraw its decision. She could only accept this result.

She murmured, "Director, I have been working hard to have a stable job so that my family won't arrange things for me at will. But now, I don't know what to do."

What she was more panicked about than being fired was that she didn't know what to do. The beautiful life she had imagined was shattered overnight, like a complete mirror that was now shattered. She didn't know what to do in the future.
The director shook his head. He understood what Chu Ye meant, but he was powerless. However, he still comforted her kindly, "Since you can't be a teacher, you can find other ways out while you are still young. Life still needs to go on."

Chu Ye walked back to the dormitory in a daze and lay on the bed.

When Mingzhu came back from dinner, she was shocked by her appearance at first, and then asked her what happened. Chu Ye remained calm and told her that she could not teach anymore.

Mingzhu was furious and pulled Chu Ye to find the leader, but was stopped by her. "It's useless, Mingzhu. I've said everything I need to say. This incident has a huge impact. The school has no choice but to do this for the sake of its reputation." Chu Ye lay back on the bed, speaking calmly as if it was not his business.

"Damn school! You've done so well, but they don't speak for you. This is all your parents' fault. Why should you bear the consequences?" Mingzhu pulled a bench over and stood by Chu Ye's bed.

“Maybe this is what it means to be a son paying off his father’s debt?” Chu Ye smiled with a forced smile, his whole calmness was a little abnormal.

Mingzhu choked and struggled to digest this cold joke. After a while, she asked, "Where are you going next?"

Silence spread in the dormitory.

"I don't know either. I don't know what I can do. I don't know where I should go." Chu Ye stretched out his arms and placed them across his eyes, with transparent liquid dripping from between his fingers.

"It seems like everything I do is in vain and I can't get what I want. I don't know why God makes me like this. I used to think I was a lucky person, but now I think this is a disaster. If nothing can be changed, why give me such a life." Her voice was full of grievance. The girl who had been trying to walk for a long time finally bent her back.

If hard work is meaningless, why did God let her start over?
Since we have the chance to do it again, why not let her get what she wants?
Her dreams have always been small, but why can't they come true?
She finally burst into tears, and all the grievances she had suffered along the way suddenly found an outlet. Her tears flowed out like a flood, unable to stop.

Mingzhu was so frightened that she didn't know what to do. She just randomly took a tissue to wipe away her tears, but the more she wiped, the more tears came. She squatted beside the bed and took her hand with heartache.

Miss Qiao, who has always been lawless, was unusually quiet at this moment.

When Chu Ye was tired of crying, she rolled up the thin quilt and wrapped herself in it like a big cocoon. She twitched slightly under the quilt from time to time. Mingzhu was worried and stayed by the bed.

After an unknown amount of time, there was no more movement in the big cocoon, and the hand that had been holding Mingzhu relaxed unconsciously and finally drooped down.

Mingzhu was afraid that washing would disturb her rest, so she turned off the lights and went to bed.

The next morning, when she woke up, she saw Chu Ye sitting beside the bed with her head lowered. There was packed luggage on the bed.

Mingzhu's brain, which was not very clear when she just woke up, suddenly became clear. She rubbed her eyes and suppressed the urge to scream.

"You, you are leaving so soon." She quickly got out of bed and looked around the dormitory. Sure enough, Chu Ye had packed up all his things.

"Are you so impatient to leave?" Mingzhu's scalp tingled. She only knew yesterday that Chu Ye was leaving, and she packed her things this morning without giving herself any buffer time.

Chu Ye looked over expressionlessly upon hearing this. Her ponytail, which she usually tied up high, was now completely loose, covering her pale face. Her eyelids were swollen and she looked very depressed.

Mingzhu was speechless. She had just spoken without thinking. Since she was going to leave, she must do it as soon as possible while there were fewer people around.

"...Haha." Mingzhu laughed dryly, "You're leaving too soon. I can't bear to part with you."

"That's why I waited for you to wake up before leaving." Chu Ye's voice was hoarse, perhaps because he cried himself to sleep last night.

"Are you leaving today?" Mingzhu patted her clothes. She didn't want to cause any noise last night, so she went straight to bed without taking off her clothes. The hem of her clothes was wrinkled after being pressed down all night.

"Yeah." Chu Ye nodded, then stood up, carrying two large bags and prepared to open the door.

"Hey, where are you going? Wait for me, I'll go with you." Mingzhu quickly picked up her luggage and followed closely.

Early in the morning, when it was just daybreak and there was still white fog in the sky, the two of them carried their luggage, left the school gate and headed for the hotel in the town.

"I have nowhere to go now, so I'll stay here first. If you want to see me, you can come find me here." After the two put their things into the hotel room, Chu Ye turned and said to Mingzhu.

Mingzhu nodded. Chu Ye had a lot of things, so the two of them ran around again. Before leaving the school, Chu Ye went to the office, piled up the lesson plans and teaching materials, placed them neatly on the table, and took away his personal belongings.

Finally, Chu Ye stood at the door with his luggage, looking deeply at the school, as if he wanted to imprint this building in his heart.

"Hey, Teacher Chu, when you went to the town just now, a postman came and put a letter. I think it was sent to you." The security guard didn't know that Chu Ye had been fired. Although he didn't understand why she went out with so many bags so early in the morning, he didn't say much and handed over the envelope as usual.

Chu Ye took it doubtfully. The envelope felt thick. She glanced at the sender and found it was Chu Guangyao.

(End of this chapter)