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

Her mind was full of ideas, and she wanted to draw them, and she wanted to draw them now. She hadn't drawn a picture seriously for a long time, but if her grades dropped, Teacher Tong would be worried, and she didn't want to accept either result.

Does drawing comics conflict with studying?

If you are determined to complete a work, there will definitely be a conflict.

"Han Han dropped out of high school to write novels and was very successful..." she whispered.

"You don't want to drop out of school, do you?" Tong Yao frowned, and for the first time, she was a little angry at the little girl. "How many people only have one Han Han? Do you think you have Han Han's level?"

Seeing Tong Yao angry, Ruan Qian panicked and shook her head desperately: "No... I just... just..."

She just wanted to convince Teacher Tong to support her, but she couldn't even convince herself.

Even though her family sent her to No. 1 Middle School, they would never support her in drawing comics in the future.

"Just listen to Teacher Tong," Xu Yin smiled at her, "It's not too late to consider it after the college entrance examination."

Ruan Qian nodded slightly.

——She still wants to paint.

Not only does she want to paint, she also wants to get good grades, and this is the only way to have the best of both worlds.

Although she has achieved nothing, she still retains the most naive and childish ideas and feels that she can achieve it as long as she works hard.

-

-

In the evening, Tong Yao received an invitation from Lu Bingjie for a midnight snack.

The spicy hot pot at the back door of the school is full of flavor.

Lu Bingjie didn't care about her image and stuffed the food into her mouth like a hungry tiger. Tong Yao was embarrassed and picked up a string of tofu and blew it around her lips.

"Didn't you have dinner?"

"Yeah," Lu Bingjie burped, "The music club pestered me to be their instructor and invited me to listen to their performances. I was so busy that I forgot to eat dinner."

"Oh," Tong Yao held her cheek absentmindedly, "Teacher Lu, do you know about comics?"

"Comics? I love reading them. I have a few volumes of Doraemon at home."

"What about cartoonists? Who usually becomes a cartoonist?" she continued to ask.

"Well, I actually know about this. Either they dropped out of school or they are from art academies. There are quite a lot of junior colleges, but relatively few of the others." Lu Bingjie told me everything she knew.

It seems that the educational background of these cartoonists has influenced the little girl's mentality.

Tong Yao bit off a piece of tofu and suddenly thought that the person in front of her was a perfect example.

"Mr. Lu, how are your high school grades?"

"…Not very good." Lu Bingjie choked and coughed a few times, "But I'm an art student! Why is Teacher Xiaotong suddenly interested in this? Do you want to be a cartoonist?"

"No, I'm the only one..." The word "student" was too easy to arouse curiosity, so Tong Yao changed the topic to "friend."

"Actually, it's not too late for you to become a cartoonist at 18, Mr. Xiaotong. Hehe, a beautiful girl cartoonist will definitely be very popular!"

Tong Yao rolled her eyes, but was thinking about how to get the little girl to give up the idea of ​​drawing comics.

It's not that she is against it, but now, studying must be the first priority. There are many people who can escape the test-oriented education when they become famous at a young age, but she doesn't think the soft little girl will be one of them. The best choice is to take the road of college entrance examination steadily.

But she also knows that the comics industry will undergo tremendous changes within a few years. The currently popular "Zhiyin Manke" will decline rapidly in a few years. The decline of traditional paper media is irreversible, and most people do not have the habit of subscribing to genuine comics online. The domestic comics industry may enter an unprecedented low point.

By then, the little girl might be able to see the future clearly and be glad that she did not sacrifice her studies for comics.

She did not expect Ruan Qian's gratitude. She just wanted to fulfill her responsibilities as a teacher and did not want her students to make a choice that they would most likely regret. That was all.

But when she thought... that the little girl was angry with her because of her lack of support, she would still feel sad.

Lu Bingjie was already very drunk and ordered two bottles of beer. Tong Yao, who never drank, just watched her drink and finally had to support this staggering drunk on her way back to school.

It's half past ten.

Lu Bingjie kept muttering that she was getting fat.

Tong Yao supported her and suddenly stopped.

Downstairs in the dormitory, a little girl was reciting her lessons in the light from the first floor.

"...soft?"

she shouted softly.

"What's soft?" Lu Bingjie said in a daze.

Ruan Qian looked up with a look of surprise on her face. She ran over, not knowing how to help Tong Yao support Lu Bingjie. Tong Yao shook her head and indicated that she would do it herself.

"Why are you waiting here again?" she asked.

"Because..." The smile on Ruan Qian's face disappeared, replaced by guilt and self-blame, "I want to apologize to Teacher Tong."

She paused, took a deep breath, and looked down at her feet. "I know Teacher Tong cares about me... I have thought about it carefully and will draw comics after the college entrance examination."

The drunk Lu Bingjie suddenly looked up and waved her fingers: "Are you the one who wants to be a cartoonist?"

Ruan Qian was stunned and hadn't reacted yet. Tong Yao shook her shoulder and Lu Bingjie almost fell down.

"It's good that you've thought it through." Tong Yao said with a straight face, "Go and have a rest. I'll help Teacher Lu upstairs."

"okay."

Ruan Qian nodded subconsciously.

She looked at Teacher Tong's back and finally realized what Teacher Lu meant. She lowered her head, unable to hide the smile on her face.

She has no reason not to work hard.

-

-

One o'clock.

Chen Xi got up from the bed irritably and glared at Ruan Qian angrily:

"It's one o'clock. Are you going to sleep or not? Are you sick to study so late?"

Ruan Qian was stunned, feeling a little overwhelmed and bewildered.

She was very careful and made almost no sound.

"Your desk lamp is very dazzling," Chen Xi lowered his voice impatiently, "Go to bed early."

There was a desk under the bed in the dormitory. Even though she had dimmed the light, Chen Xi opposite her was still affected.

"I'm going to the balcony."

She quietly moved the chair, put the desk lamp between her arms, and went to the balcony carrying Wu San and the sketchbook.

The lights in Teacher Tong’s house are still on. Has Teacher Tong not slept either?

Sleepiness swept over her, but she didn't find it that difficult.

She didn't want to give up any of her grades and comics, Teacher Tong's expectations and her own dreams.

Then, the only thing you have to give up is the time for rest and entertainment.

Chapter 23: The little girl is sleepy

"Ruan Xi, wake up."

He Xueyu's voice came from outside the quilt, and a hand pushed her calf. Ruan Qian woke up, opened her hazy eyes, raised her legs, clamped the quilt tightly again, and rolled around.

"……immediately."

"It's almost six fifty, and we have to report to the labor camp. I'm leaving first. Don't be late for exercise."

"Um……"

The little girl got up sleepily. She wanted to continue sleeping, but was afraid of being late for morning exercise and being pulled out and scolded.

She and the leisurely Chen Xi were the only ones left in the dormitory.

Today it is Chen Xi's turn to clean the house. According to the rules, the person who cleans the house does not have to do exercises, which is actually a good thing.

"Ruan Xi, hurry up," Chen Xi urged impatiently, "I need to mop the floor."

"Sorry, right away."

Ruan Qian quickly changed her clothes. She had no time to fold the quilt, so she had to pick up the quilt and stuff it into the closet. There should be no water stains on the sink after brushing teeth, no footprints on the tiles after mopping the floor, and slippers should be placed in a consistent manner with the heels facing outwards... There were so many rules that it made her scalp numb, but after getting used to them, she got used to it. Finally, after finishing the tidying up, she rushed to the playground with her schoolbag on her back. The sound of the athletes' march suddenly stopped. She was so scared that she sprinted desperately to get into the queue of Class 7 before the running music sounded.

Several latecomers looked pale and were assigned by Li Hanqiang to stand aside as punishment.

Fortunately, I caught up...

Ruan Qian breathed a sigh of relief.

"powerful."

Jiang Yiming gave her a thumbs-up gesture.

After running, it was time to have breakfast. Most of the breakfast at No. 1 Middle School was rice noodles, which sometimes made people feel sick of it, so students would sneak out to buy breakfast when the security guards were out in the morning. Ruan Qian didn't have the mood for that today. She yawned continuously, took out the ID card that Teacher Tong gave her, and got a bowl of rice noodles. Because it was the teacher's window, the minced meat that the aunt gave her was almost covered with a layer.

The little girl looked around for a seat, when a man who was also looking for a seat saw her.

When their eyes met, Ruan Qian tensed up and lowered her head slightly:

"Hello, Teacher Lu."

Lu Bingjie held two bowls of noodles, blinked, responded and walked away. Suddenly, she turned around, with a look of inquiry on her face:

"You are... Ruan Xi, right? Why are you getting food at the teacher's window?"

Ruan Qian was stunned. She didn't expect that Teacher Lu could remember her name among so many classes.

"Because... Teacher Tong lent me her work badge." The little girl said timidly.

"Hey," Lu Bingjie was slightly surprised, "She is so nice to you."

"Um……"

Lu Bingjie pressed her temple. Her memory of last night was a bit fuzzy and she couldn't remember it for a while. Just as she was trying to recall, a voice pulled her back.

"Not okay yet?"

Tong Yao came over with two pairs of chopsticks, and when she saw Lu Bingjie and her little girl together, her expression instantly became wonderful.

...Lu Bingjie didn’t say anything to Ruan Qian, right?

She had finally managed to keep a straight face and get angry, and she wanted to maintain this dignity for a while, but she didn't want it to be broken immediately.

"Your rice noodles." Lu Bingjie handed Tong Yao a bowl and smiled, "Call your students over as well."

"Isn't he your student too?" Tong Yao said helplessly, turning to Ruan Qian, "Ruan Ruan, do you want to come over and eat with us?"

She knew that students were not very willing to eat with their teachers. Maybe she was an exception, but this time there was also Lu Bingjie.

But the little girl nodded and followed happily.

Ruan Qian sat next to Teacher Tong during their first meal.

The hard rice noodles in the cafeteria suddenly became delicious.

"Hey, a teacher at No. 4 Middle School molested a student and made the news." Lu Bingjie slurped noodles while browsing the news, "The pervert is so close to us."

"People like this deserve to die."

Tong Yao commented expressionlessly.

"Yes," Lu Bingjie agreed, "I remember a senior high school student confessed his love to me last year, but I didn't agree. To be honest, it was a pity. He was quite handsome."

Lu Bingjie is 23 years old and was only 22 last year. Female college teachers who have just graduated from campus do have a fatal attraction to high school boys.

"What a pity," Tong Yao said indifferently, "I was just impulsive. I won't fall in love with a younger student. It's so childish."

Ruan Qian lowered her head and ate rice noodles silently.

"It was just a whim," Lu Bingjie laughed, "but it's not bad to have someone whim for you, it's cute. That boy did well in the college entrance exam and is still in contact with me."

"You don't really like him, do you?" Tong Yao raised her eyes.

"No," Lu Bingjie said, "I just miss it a lot."

Tong Yao didn't feel any nostalgia.