I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

Page 6

"Shinohara-san, although it may be a bit rude to ask this question..."

"Please ask Mr. Hirakawa."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi tried to be as polite as possible.

"That is to say, I have been trying to call Shinohara-san's mother before, but the person who answered was always her assistant... and I was always rejected."

"I won't be rejected again if I suddenly come here today, right?"

To put it bluntly, it means you will be blocked from entering the door. If that happens, there is nothing you can do.

Faced with this question, Shinohara Shiori helplessly explained: "Teacher, our Shinohara family would never do such a disrespectful thing."

"That's it, that's good."

After heaving a sigh of relief, Shinohara Shiori beside him didn't stop, but continued to speak, with a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"After all, my mother has always been very good at superficial etiquette."

"..."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi said he couldn't respond to such words. "It is unreasonable to scold the father to the son", the same logic applies here. Even if Shinohara Shiori took the initiative to bring it up, he couldn't respond.

But that didn't stop him from agreeing with it in his heart.

If you think about it carefully, it is not wrong. For example, he said "respect the wishes" on the surface, but actually turned around and planned to let Shinohara Shiori give up voluntarily; for example, the assistant kept saying "I will report this matter to the boss", and warned him through the principal instead of warning him directly.

This is called superficial etiquette, right?

This also gives us a glimpse into Shinohara's mother's style of doing things.

Ah, speaking of this, about Shinohara's mother——

"Shinohara-san, if it's convenient, could you tell me what kind of person your mother is?"

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. This is a truth that all Japanese middle school students understand - by the way, Japan can be said to have studied the country where its culture originated very thoroughly. As a Chinese teacher, he often sees some famous articles that he was familiar with in his previous life in the textbooks.

From ancient Chinese characters to Chinese poetry, from the Hundred Schools of Thought to Bai Juyi and so on, these are all things students need to learn.

Therefore, it is no problem to say that Japanese middle school students understand Sun Tzu's saying "Know yourself and know the enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles." And it is impossible for this well-educated and intelligent young lady to not understand this truth.

So after pondering for a long time, Shinohara Shiori began to speak.

"On a weekend during my third grade, I was supposed to continue with some extracurricular studies, etiquette classes, foreign language classes, and so on."

"But that weekend, I suddenly wanted to take a break, and my mother respected my wishes, so she agreed."

After hearing this, Tetsufumi Hirakawa thought that the next step must be "then" or "but".

"Then."

You guessed it right.

"For the next month, almost all of my free time after school was taken up."

"..."

Amid the sound of the car driving smoothly, Shinohara Shiori continued to explain.

"Occupancy means: if I ask for a break, she will agree."

"But after agreeing, she would stay by my side and watch me silently."

"It's like your eyes are asking me all the time:"

"Are you done resting?"

"..."

"Teacher, can you understand this feeling?"

"……Um."

For a third grader, nothing is more uncomfortable than having his mother following him around and staring at him all the time.

"It felt like I was being watched. Resting was more difficult than studying. So I 'actively' filled my schedule with study sessions that month."

"..."

In the emphasis that Shiori Shinohara put on the word "initiative", Tetsufumi Hirakawa gained a deeper understanding of the so-called "Shinohara's motherly initiative".

Is this Shinohara’s mother?

I feel like it's a bit difficult...

Amidst such worries, the vehicle finally arrived at its destination, Shinohara Shiori's home.

Chapter 8 So-called Surface Etiquette

Tetsufumi Hirakawa admitted that the action this time was a bit hasty.

But there is really no way, the deadline set by Shinohara's mother is getting closer and closer. Yesterday, Mr. Toda, who is in charge of club work, made another "suggestion".

Although the suggestion was rejected, as mentioned before, his rejection was useless except that it sounded quite cool.

Therefore, if he doesn't do something else, I'm afraid Shinohara Shiori will really "take the initiative" to give up music.

So he has to take the lead.

But it was no use thinking about whether he was not ready yet. Looking at Shinohara's mother, who was kneeling gracefully on the other side of the table, Hirakawa Tetsufumi concentrated his mind.

"Hello, Mrs. Shinohara. I am your daughter's Chinese teacher at school, Tetsufumi Hirakawa. I apologize for this hasty visit."

The Shinohara family home is in traditional Japanese style, and is no different from ordinary Japanese cottages except that it is bigger, bigger, bigger, and more luxurious.

They were meeting in the Shinohara family's living room, a room full of Japanese style.

Mrs. Shinohara, who was wearing a kimono, also returned his greeting very solemnly.

"Teacher Hirakawa, thank you for taking care of my daughter Shiori in the past."

"That's too much. It's what a teacher should do."

In short, after this meaningless but necessary greeting, Shinohara's mother asked questions and finally got to the point.

"Then Mr. Hirakawa, what's the matter with you coming here today?" Mrs. Shinohara, the host, made him a cup of tea, and there was absolutely no fault in her manners.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa took it with both hands.

"I'm disturbing Mrs. Shinohara today for a home visit. Mainly, I want to talk to Mrs. Shinohara about Shinohara..." He wanted to say "Shinohara-san", but after thinking carefully, the person sitting opposite him was also "Shinohara", so he changed his words.

"Regarding Shinohara Shiori's wishes, please resolve the issues that were not made clear during the trilateral talks."

"That's it."

Mrs. Shinohara, who was in very good condition, glanced at Shiori Shinohara, who was kneeling in the corner of the table with her head lowered, and responded with a smile.

"Actually, I've received a message from Mr. Pingchuan that you wanted to visit my home, but I'm sorry that I haven't been able to find the time to respond."

"I am the one who should apologize for disturbing you in such a hurry today."

After hearing this reason, Tetsufumi Hirakawa seemed to be apologetic but he was actually complaining in his heart.

Not having time is a universal reason for rejection. No matter what happens, if you say you don't have time, you won't be able to raise any objections unless the other party is specifically finding fault.

After all, time is a magical thing. It is too common that you always have time to talk to person A, but never have time to talk to person C.

So in fact, in many cases, not having time is just another way of saying you are not valued.

Hirakawa Tetsufumi is quite aware of this. But there is no need to expose such words. Social etiquette is like this.

After he took a sip of tea with a smile on his face, Shinohara's mother opposite him continued speaking.

"What about the content of the trilateral talks... What issues do you think are left unresolved, Mr. Hirakawa?"

"As for Shiori Shinohara's wish, she doesn't want to give up music."

"Well... I have always supported Shiori's desire to study music." Mrs. Shinohara said lightly, "It is good to have your own ideas."

This attitude was somewhat annoying, especially the sentence "It's good to have your own ideas." From the corner of my eye, I could already see Shinohara Shiori couldn't help but look up.

"However, Mrs. Shinohara, from what I understand, you should also have the idea of letting Shiori Shinohara study finance so that she can inherit the family business in the future."

"Yes."

"To be honest, I understand Mrs. Shinohara's idea. Parents want their children to have a better life. You think that studying finance and inheriting the family business will be more beneficial for Shinohara Shiori, and this idea is correct."

"Really? It seems that Mr. Hirakawa agrees as well."

"No matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense to leave the family business lying around."

"I think so too." Mrs. Shinohara nodded gently. Then she changed the subject, "But there is nothing I can do if my daughter Shiori doesn't want to."

“It certainly takes a little time for ideas to change.”

"Hmm? Mr. Hirakawa thinks..."

"I think that as for Shiori Shinohara's unwillingness to inherit the family business, we can spend more time to communicate with her. Communication between parents and children is very important."

“Yes, communication is important.”

"So, at least until the third year of high school, it should be okay for Shinohara Shiori to stay in the wind band and continue to participate in the national competition."

After talking for a long time, Tetsufumi Hirakawa finally said the most important thing.

"This period can serve as a buffer. Mrs. Shinohara can have a good talk with Shinohara Shiori during this time."

"Well... this is a good idea." Mrs. Shinohara seemed to agree.

"Therefore, there is no need to rush Shinohara-san to quit the brass band right now."

"Huh? Shiori wants to quit the wind orchestra?" Mrs. Shinohara looked at Shiori Shinohara in surprise.

"…I don't want to." Shinohara Shiori denied it as she looked into her mother's eyes.

"That's no problem," she said. "I also hope to see Shiori in the national competition."

"..."

I have to say, facing such a Shinohara mother, such a Shinohara mother who displays such "superficial courtesy", I really feel powerless.

She seemed to have heard everything, yet also seemed to have heard nothing.

What Tetsufumi Hirakawa has always said is that he hopes to spend more time with Shinohara Shiori, instead of saying "I saw her give up music on her own initiative before her second year of high school."

Shinohara's mother was also very understanding and could not find fault with her at all. She also fully supported her daughter's music.

But this is the biggest problem. Because she appears to agree, we cannot show any contradictions.

Hiding all the problems means there are no problems, right?

Totally impossible, right?

The so-called superficial respect really makes people feel deeply powerless.

"Teacher Pingchuan, is there anything else?"

Shinohara's mother asked with a smile.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Tetsufumi Hirakawa took a deep breath.

"Mrs. Shinohara, I'm sorry, but let me get this straight."

"Hey, Mr. Hirakawa, just say what you want to say."

"Why is Mrs. Shinohara so anxious to get Shiori Shinohara to give up music?"