It's the students' fault if they are too popular.

He looked to be in his forties or fifties, with dark skin, wearing a dark old cloth coat, and a hunched back. He asked everyone he met if Xia Zhi was in the class. The name "Xia Zhi" attracted her, and when the man came over, she frowned slightly and asked:

"Excuse me, are you Xia Zhi's parent?"

man said:

"Yes. Where is she?"

Chapter 163: Guardian

"Hello, my Xia Zhi's homeroom teacher, how did you know about today's parents' meeting?"

The sudden appearance of the man made Tong Yao suspicious and uneasy.

The man said, "Her aunt told me. Where is she?"

It seems that he is really Xia Zhi's father.

She knew where Xia Zhi was. At this time, Xia Zhi should be working part-time in a small supermarket, but she didn't know whether she should tell him.

She pursed her lips, apologized to the other parents, and said to the man in front of her: "I'll take you there."

The man said yes.

Going downstairs, Tong Yao glanced at Xia Zhi's father from the corner of her eye and asked:

"Excuse me, do you have a cell phone?"

“Yes.”

"But Xia Zhi said you didn't have one, and she didn't leave a phone number when she reported to school."

"She ran away by herself," said the man.

Tong Yao was slightly stunned.

After leaving the teaching building, next to it was the school gate, where parents and students were surging and car horns were honking. She and Xia Zhi's father were about to step down the stairs in front of the teaching building, but saw Xia Zhi, carrying a schoolbag, staring at her blankly at the bottom of the stairs.

And his own father.

At that moment, the fear buried deep in her heart burst out from the girl's eyes like a flood. The school dam no longer protected her, and her first reaction was to run away.

"Stop right there!" the man roared. They were too close. He caught up with Xia Zhi in a few steps and grabbed the girl's backpack. Before Xia Zhi dropped the backpack, he grabbed the girl's hair and said, "Run! Run!"

"What are you doing!" Tong Yao was furious and stepped forward immediately. Xia Zhi's father didn't dare to be rude to others, so he loosened his hand that was holding his daughter's hair. Tong Yao quickly took off her schoolbag and threw it on the ground, protecting Xia Zhi who had escaped behind her, and glared at the man in front of her.

The man kicked his schoolbag and yelled at his daughter in a dialect that no one else could understand. Xia Zhi cried and shook her head, grabbing the corner of Tong Yao's clothes tightly and refusing to let go.

People gathered around and watched the three people in confrontation with curiosity, pointing and commenting on this farce. The man obviously couldn't stand this kind of onlookers, and wanted to bypass Tong Yao and catch Xia Zhi, but Tong Yao always stood in front of him and kept backing away, like a funny eagle catching a chicken, but no one laughed.

"What's going on?"

"It seems like that guy wants to take that girl home."

"Fuck, in broad daylight..."

"Clap it, shoot it."

The man's ears were callused, and he couldn't help but yell at the crowd: "I'm her father! It's none of your business!" Then he turned to his daughter, "Where did you get the money to go to school? Tell me!"

Xia Zhi was shaking with fear. Tong Yao turned around, held the girl's shoulders, and comforted her softly:

"It's okay, don't be afraid, the teacher is here."

The crowd formed several circles around him. The man became more and more impatient and even wanted to push Tong Yao away and grab Xia Zhi directly. But when she was about to touch Tong Yao, she looked straight at him coldly and said:

"Would you like to try touching me?"

The man took one look at her bright and exquisite clothes and her fearless attitude, and ultimately did not dare to make a move.

Tong Yao was not so calm. She was not sure whether the other party would use violence against her. She looked around the crowd and found that even the security guards at the door had come. She quickly asked them for help:

"Xiao Zhang, please take this gentleman out."

It was strange for her to call someone Xiao Zhang at her age, but other teachers did the same, so she followed the local customs. Xiao Zhang, who was wearing a security uniform, felt a little embarrassed, after all, the other party was a student's parent, and not a very reasonable one.

Tong Yao frowned and added, "I will take responsibility."

Xiao Zhang immediately said: "It's okay, he disturbed the order."

Several security guards rushed over, and the man roared and struggled, cursing in his hometown dialect, but he was ultimately no match for the young men and was escorted out by the security guards. While he was being carried, he turned around and roared, and even those who couldn't understand knew that it was a threat and insult.

After the chaos, only a mess was left.

"What happened just now? Wasn't that Xia Zhi and Teacher Tong?" the newcomer was puzzled.

"I'm telling you, you missed a good show..."

Passersby sighed, and it happened to be a parent-teacher meeting, so parents passing by could take the opportunity to say to their children, "You should be glad that we are not that kind of people."

Many parents also know that they are not as good as others but better than others, so they must seize the opportunity to highlight themselves.

In the crowd, Xia Zhi stared blankly at the school gate, lowered his head and wiped away his tears.

Even after the flood recedes, it is unknown how long it will take to recover from the damage it caused.

Tong Yao gently took Xia Zhi's hand and led her out of the noisy crowd. Those sympathetic, pitiful, watching, and gloating eyes crawled all over Xia Zhi's body like ants. She felt like a criminal exposed to the world and couldn't help trembling, especially in front of those people she knew. She almost wished she could disappear from this world immediately.

"Make way, thank you." Tong Yao pushed through the crowd and took Xia Zhi away from this place of trouble. Where could they go? Actually, there was nowhere to go. She didn't know if the man was still at the school gate. She didn't want Xia Zhi to be hurt again. She could go out through another door, but maybe it would be better to stay in school.

She looked back at Xia Zhi and suddenly remembered an old movie called "Léon: The Professional". She was the uncle Leon and Xia Zhi was the girl Ma Tingda who lost her family.

And that classic dialogue.

“Is life always painful or only in childhood?”

"Always like this."

She thought that pain was probably the tone of Xia Zhi's life for the past fifteen years.

-

-

Xia Zhi's story is simple.

A remote mountain village and vast wheat fields were her entire life before she went to high school. She lived in an adobe house, her toys were tiles covered with moss, the TV at home had no signal, and her daily work was housework and feeding chickens. Her father was idle, lived on a meager family income, and spoke to her by scolding her; her mother died early, and the burden of the family was almost entirely on her alone.

She has a younger brother, but they are not close. She attended the local simple primary and junior high schools. After completing her nine years of compulsory education, her father could not wait to urge her to go home, but when she got home, she secretly heard her father arranging marriages for her.

That was when she panicked the most.

She doesn't want to get married.

At least not at this age.

Many of her classmates dropped out of school and went home, as if the children in the mountains had no youth and no dreams, only a depressing reality.

But she is different. She has seen other people's dreams, other people's youth, and other people's love, so she also yearns for it.

Since she was a child, Xia Zhi never missed any knowledge in the textbooks. She wanted to see the outside world, like a bird eager to escape from a cage and fly into the blue sky.

She made a copy of her household registration booklet, but was afraid of being caught by her father, so she didn't dare to go to the local school. Her junior high school teacher was a female college graduate who had just graduated. She was caring and patient with her. With the help of her junior high school teacher, she was able to apply to this high school which was not very good but good enough for her.

She lived in her teacher's home for a summer vacation, doing the same thing every day, handing out flyers and playing with dolls. When she saved enough money, she took a bus to Changsha.

This prosperous city only exists in her imagination.

Half a semester has passed and it has been hard, but she feels it is worth it.

But today, the shadow of the past came back again, and she thought she could not hide, was about to be caught, her wings were broken, and she could never escape again. At this time, Teacher Tong stood in front of her, like Noah's Ark saving the desperate people.

She had nothing, just a piece of driftwood on the ocean.

Xia Zhi stood on the wooden bridge, and suddenly, lowered her head and burst into tears again.

This is a small bridge and flowing water at the edge of the school. There are no fish in the pond, but there are many tadpoles. The road is paved with pebbles. Normally no one comes here.

"Don't cry." She listened to the girl's story quietly and took out a tissue. "No one can take you away."

Xia Zhi sobbed:

"But...he is my father..."

"The teacher will protect you." She said gently, "Everyone will protect you. If he comes to catch you again, I will let the classmates drive him out. If you don't come to school one day, the teacher will go to your house to rescue you."

After hearing this, Xia Zhi cried even harder and almost burst into tears.

High school is no longer compulsory education, and no one can force Xia Zhi's father to let his daughter go to high school.

As for other matters, such as forcibly taking the child home and the child not wanting to leave school, it is not that the child is missing, so these matters are so small that no one will care.

The girl cried until her voice was hoarse. While wiping her tears, the tissue accidentally fell into the pond. She bent down and reached out subconsciously, but of course she couldn't pick it up. She was the kind of child who would feel guilty for a long time if garbage fell into the pond. The teacher happened to be there, so she felt embarrassed and guilty.

"It's okay, someone cleans the pond." Tong Yao laughed, "And toilet paper will degrade."

"Oh." Xia Zhi shrugged and said embarrassedly, "...Thank you, Teacher Tong."

"You're welcome. Wasn't your former junior high school teacher very kind to you?" She smiled. "Remember to go back and see him later."

"Ah."

Xia Zhi nodded vigorously and gently rubbed his red and swollen eyes.

She will definitely come back to see Teacher Tong.

Fate gave her such a father, but also gave her two very good teachers.

-

-

night.

It was already eight o'clock when she got home and it was dark. Dongyang was hungry and ate a lot of snacks at home, which made her feel very apologetic towards the little girl.

"I'll make some soup, Dongyang, do you want some?"

"Hmm... drink a little." The child touched his full stomach and made a "a little bit" gesture.

Tong Yao went into the kitchen and cooked corn and pork ribs soup. During the process, she received a phone call from someone who said "husband".

She was very upset. When did the girl secretly change the note? It had been so long since she had called that she had no way of verifying it.

It would be terrible if Dongyang saw it.

She answered the call: "Hello?"

"Yaoyao." The little girl's voice was a little depressed, "You're on the hot search."

"what?"

"I know everything. Protecting students and that awful parent..." the little girl said, "or that schoolmate named Xia Zhi."

"..." She held her face and suddenly became serious, "Since you know all this, let's break up."

Ruan Qian: “!!!”

The little girl's voice suddenly became sad and gentle: "You don't want me for that woman, you don't love me anymore..."

Her voice was really heartbreaking. Tong Yao was stunned. She knew that both parties were joking, but she couldn't bear it:

"Okay, I was just kidding, I..."

She picked up the phone and said shyly, "I love you the most."

She thought the girl would be touched, but she pushed the issue further:

"Loving me the most means you still love others!"

Tong Yao's face flushed with shame and helplessness, she whispered:

"Then...I only love you, okay?"

"Ok!"

Ruan Qian turned her chair and smiled like a fool. The sweetness of honey melted in her heart, circulated in her blood, and flowed throughout her body. Then, she said:

"I will always love only you."

Chapter 164: Christmas

"Hello, Mr. Tong, we are from Daxiang.com and would like to interview you..."

“Sorry, no interviews.”