61: Chapter 64 Su Xiaoxiao's Good Morning, Teacher Fang's Number One Fangirl Group

It was 7:15 AM.

There weren't many people in the Class 18 classroom yet.

Teacher Fang was sitting behind the podium, holding a thermos and flipping through his lesson plan, while keeping an eye on the doorway out of the corner of his eye.

He was wondering whether Su Xiaoxiao would come today.

Yesterday's incident had caused quite a stir, and Boss Ma had been taken in.

The social worker arranged by Old Chen had temporarily placed Su Xiaoxiao in a transitional apartment on Qiaonan Street.

The Foundation had even paid for a lady to take care of her daily needs.

Teacher Fang had called Su Xiaoxiao last night.

Her voice on the other end still carried a nasal tone, but the timid trembling that used to be there had faded.

"Teacher Fang, I want to go to school tomorrow."

"You have injuries, no need to rush. It's fine to rest for a couple more days."

"I want to go."

Teacher Fang replied: "Alright, get some sleep early."

After hanging up, Teacher Fang stared at the ceiling for a long time.

In his mind, the blood-stained hemp rope in the woodshed kept flashing by.

Now, sitting at the podium flipping through his lesson plan, he wasn't actually absorbing a single word.

7:23 AM.

Footsteps sounded at the door.

Teacher Fang looked up; Su Xiaoxiao was standing at the classroom door.

She was wearing a washed-out school uniform and had her hair in a ponytail.

A small bandage was stuck on her forehead.

The ligature marks on her wrists were covered by her sleeves, and her back was held straight.

This was the first time Teacher Fang had seen Su Xiaoxiao stand so straight.

She had abandoned her usual habit of keeping her head down and hugging the wall to sneak into a corner.

She stood right next to the doorframe.

She lifted her face and looked toward the podium.

"Teacher Fang, good morning."

The greeting wasn't loud, and it still carried that local accent.

Yet, the pronunciation was crystal clear, with every syllable distinct.

Teacher Fang's action of flipping through the lesson plan paused for a moment.

He unscrewed his thermos and took a sip of water.

He maintained his usual tone.

"You're here early."

Su Xiaoxiao grinned.

Revealing two small canine teeth.

Teacher Fang coughed violently.

He almost choked on the water in his thermos.

He had never seen this girl smile.

Not since school started.

In front of him, Su Xiaoxiao had only ever shown the timidity of someone shrinking her neck, afraid to look at others.

And the stubbornness of biting her lip to hold back tears after being bullied.

Today was a third expression.

Teacher Fang: ( ᵕ ̤ ᴗ ᵕ ̤ )

He quickly shifted his gaze back to the lesson plan.

And lowered his voice by half a degree.

"Don't just stand in the doorway, come in and sit down."

Su Xiaoxiao trotted into the classroom.

She stopped as she passed the podium.

She took something tightly wrapped in plastic wrap out of her schoolbag.

She placed it on the edge of the podium.

"Red bean cakes the lady made this morning; I brought one for Teacher Fang."

Teacher Fang glanced at the clumsily wrapped red bean cake.

On the plastic wrap was a sticky note with the words "Thank you, Teacher Fang" written on it.

And the handwriting was neat and tidy.

A lump formed in his throat.

"Alright, I got it. Go back to your seat."

Su Xiaoxiao acknowledged him.

She trotted all the way back to her seat, which was still that one in the corner.

Today, she had broken the habit of curling herself into a ball.

She put her schoolbag away, opened her textbook, and sat up straight.

Teacher Fang put the red bean cake into his drawer.

He casually peeled off the sticky note.

And tucked it into the last page of his lesson plan book.

7:40 AM.

Students arrived one after another.

Zhao Dazhuang was the first to notice something unusual.

"Holy crap, Su Xiaoxiao, what's up with you?"

Zhao Dazhuang threw his schoolbag onto his desk.

He stared wide-eyed at the corner.

Su Xiaoxiao's posture sitting there was completely different.

Before, she would have tried to shrink her whole body under the desk.

Now, her shoulders were completely relaxed.

Her back was straight, and her eyes were looking out the window.

Su Xiaoxiao turned her head.

She smiled at Zhao Dazhuang.

"Zhao Dazhuang, good morning."

Zhao Dazhuang stood frozen in the middle of the aisle.

He didn't even notice his schoolbag strap sliding off his shoulder.

Zhao Dazhuang: (⊙ ᗜ ⊙)

"Did you take the wrong medicine today?"

Teacher Fang tapped the desktop on the podium.

"Zhao Dazhuang, when someone greets you, just return it properly. Don't make a fuss."

Zhao Dazhuang quickly picked up his schoolbag.

He scratched his head and gave a silly laugh.

"Morning, Su Xiaoxiao, good morning."

Qian Duoduo followed right behind, entering the door.

Seeing Su Xiaoxiao take the initiative to nod at him.

The gold chain around his neck even shook along with him.

Qian Duoduo: (눈 _ 눈)

"Teacher Fang, did Su Xiaoxiao get swapped out?"

"It's your brain that got swapped out; hurry up and sit down."

Lu Zihao was among the last few to arrive.

He slowed his pace as he passed Su Xiaoxiao's seat.

And out of the corner of his eye, he swept over the edge of the gauze faintly visible on Su Xiaoxiao's wrist.

He walked to his seat and sat down without a word.

He deliberately moved his chair back a little.

Making space for the corner to access the aisle.

This movement was very subtle.

No one noticed it except Teacher Fang.

Teacher Fang lowered his head and flipped a page of his lesson plan.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

8:00 AM sharp.

The morning reading bell rang.

Xia Rui stepped into the classroom on the tail end of the bell.

Her makeup today was lighter than usual, her eyeliner was drawn very short, and she only had a thin layer of lip balm on her lips.

She was a different person from her usual heavy makeup.

She stopped in the middle of the aisle and cast her gaze toward the corner.

Su Xiaoxiao was looking down, flipping through her Chinese Language textbook.

Sensing someone watching, she looked up.

Their eyes met.

Xia Rui opened her mouth.

But made no sound.

The classroom went quiet.

Qian Duoduo pricked up his ears.

And Zhao Dazhuang secretly poked half his head out from behind his textbook.

Su Xiaoxiao spoke first.

"Xia Rui, good morning."

The tone was very ordinary.

There was no fawning or shrinking emotion.

It was just the most ordinary greeting.

Xia Rui's fingernails dug into the cover of her textbook and pressed down hard.

Her throat rolled once.

She walked to the front of Su Xiaoxiao's desk and stood still.

"Su Xiaoxiao."

Su Xiaoxiao looked up at her.

Without flinching.

Xia Rui took a deep breath.

And lowered her voice.

"I was wrong about what happened last time."

The classroom became completely silent this time.

Zhao Dazhuang's mouth was wide open, unable to close.

And Qian Duoduo's gold chain also stopped shaking.

Even Lu Zihao, who was lying on his desk pretending to sleep, turned his head slightly.

Xia Rui looked away and then turned back again.

The expression on her face switched back and forth between awkwardness and sincerity.

"I shouldn't have stepped on your workbook."

She paused for a moment.

And lowered her voice.

"I'm sorry."

Su Xiaoxiao looked at Xia Rui.

She was silent for a few seconds.

Then she shook her head.

"It's okay, Teacher Fang replaced it with a new one for me the next day."

Xia Rui bit her lip, stunned.

And her eyes turned red.

She had originally thought that Su Xiaoxiao would accuse her, cry, or bring up old scores.

She had absolutely not expected.

That Su Xiaoxiao would say the words "It's okay" in such an extremely gentle tone.

These few words were more than any accusation.

They made her stomach cramp and tighten.

Zhao Dazhuang: ( ° Д ° )

Liu Ya didn't know when she had stood behind Xia Rui.

She was clutching a paper bag in her hand.

She lowered her head and spoke in a muffled voice.

"Su Xiaoxiao, this is a new workbook I bought; take it and use it."

She placed the paper bag on the corner of Su Xiaoxiao's desk.

She didn't dare look the other person in the eye at all.

A third girl also moved over.

She was the classmate who had previously turned her face to the window and never turned back.

She stood at the very back and squeezed a few words out of her throat.

"Me too, I'm sorry."

Su Xiaoxiao looked at the three girls in front of her, feeling her eyes heat up.

She tried hard to hold back her tears and nodded to them.

"Thank you all."