A young man from another world returned to his hometown.

The moment the door opened, a figure crouching behind it suddenly stood up, raised its hands high, and scattered colorful wildflowers into the air, covering Teacher Cheng's head.

"Teacher!!!"

Dozens of voices shouted in unison.

"Happy birthday!!!"

Teacher Cheng stood at the door, her broom hanging in mid-air, stunned for a long time.

The blackboard in the classroom was covered with colored chalk drawings.

In the middle is a cartoon character with wide, angry eyes, and next to it in large letters it says: Happy Birthday, Teacher!

Next to the words, there were many crooked and messy messages, which were obviously pieced together by everyone.

In front of the podium, several desks were pushed together, with things that the students had brought from home on them.

Local specialty snacks, milk tea bought near the school gate, and a small cake.

Teacher Cheng felt very shy at that moment, a kind of awkwardness that was hard to describe.

He scratched his head, unable to suppress the upturned corners of his mouth, and walked towards the podium.

"You guys...you tricked me! I thought someone was being mischievous again..."

Throughout his twenty-year teaching career, he either forgot about his birthday while working or didn't even remember it on the day itself, only realizing it the next day.

This is the first time that the school has celebrated so grandly. In the past, students would go their separate ways after the third year of junior high school, but this year is different. The changes in their hometown have turned the originally vague idea of ​​changing one's fate through education into a tangible reality.

In addition, most of the children's parents have returned home, so there are people at the dinner table and people asking about them when they come home from school.

The class's morale has fluctuated greatly during this period.

The carefree attitude of going our separate ways after graduation has quietly faded away without me even realizing it.

The squad leader then popped up, his phone still recording, looking completely innocent.

"Teacher Cheng, everyone wanted to give you a surprise."

Ah Jie scratched his head, his eyes looking a little unfocused.

Teacher Cheng complained: "...The real shock is..."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Er Gou, who was standing next to him, added a comment.

"Teacher, teacher, I picked flowers!!"

Liu Xiaohui slowly squeezed to the front of the crowd, pursing her lips, holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand, which she had also picked herself in the village. She lowered her head and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, teacher."

Teacher Cheng took the bouquet of flowers. When his fingers touched the straw binding the flowers, he paused for a moment. He didn't say anything, but simply raised his hand and gently patted Liu Xiaohui's shoulder.

He looked at the students in the classroom, at their faces, then lowered his head, looked at the bunch of wildflowers in his hand, and then at the cartoon drawing on the blackboard.

He opened his mouth, but his throat felt tight. He cleared his throat, and his voice was a little shaky.

"Thank you, teacher is very happy today."

The classroom fell silent, and everyone stared at them.

"But your teachers would prefer that you focus your attention on preparing for the upcoming high school entrance exam and physical education exam."

He glanced out the window at the increasingly bustling countryside near the school gate.

"Now, it's rare to have a respected elder like Boss Lin who has created such a great opportunity for you. Your seniors didn't have this kind of opportunity before, so seize it and use your education to change your destiny."

No one spoke. Even Ah Jie, who loved to chime in, kept his head down and remained silent.

"When you go far and stand firm in the future, you should help others just like the people who are helping you now. That is the best birthday gift for your teacher."

In the classroom, the girl in the front row choked up.

"Alright, the cake's been cut. Everyone, sit back down. Today is the last day before the holiday. We'll have evening self-study, and the class monitor will show a movie. After school tomorrow, everyone go home and get some rest to prepare for the physical exam."

The students in the classroom cheered.

……

The physical education entrance exam for middle school is getting closer and closer.

The atmosphere in Tamura quietly began to change.

On the dirt road, several students took off their shoes and ran barefoot on the road, leaving a series of footprints in the yellow mud.

"Run faster!!"

"You've only run a few laps, what are you yelling about!"

The boys chased each other noisily, while the girls threw medicine balls on the other side.

Nia and a group of boys occupied a large blue stone by the stream, with their phones in the middle, and collectively watched short videos.

Hahaha~

As soon as a funny video came out, the kids were laughing so hard they were doubled over.

"Lady Nia, Lady Nia, this! This is hilarious too!"

"I want to see! Let me do it!"

"..."

Nia was laughing, but she felt that something was off about the videos she was watching today. Usually, the little monkey would imitate the jokes in the videos, but why wasn't there that repetitive sound today?

Little Monkey is acting strange today. He's usually the most boisterous kid in the group, but today he's huddled up on the edge of the big rock.

Nia narrowed her eyes, made a shushing gesture, and quietly slid down the rock, going around to the back of the little monkey.

"Feed".

The little monkey was startled and quickly wiped his face.

"...Big Sister Nia."

"You cried."

The little monkey still had faint marks on his face. He looked away, pursed his lips, and didn't say anything.

Nia walked over, thought for a moment, and then, mimicking Lin Yan's usual manner, nudged the little monkey with her elbow.

"Tell me, what's going on?"

"..."

The little monkey lowered its head and remained silent for a while.

"My brother... is back."

The little monkey's eyes reddened again, and the choked sob welled up again.

"My brother is incredibly capable. He's super tall, incredibly strong, and very smart... But he used to work as a summer intern at a quarry in the county, and he got caught in a machine. One of his legs... is gone."

Little Monkey's voice completely broke down; he covered his eyes, and his shoulders began to tremble.

He used to be like a mountain, fearless of anything...

Because of his leg injury, he can only get half the points in the physical education exam for high school. To make up for those points, he studies and does practice questions day and night...

When I went out today, I saw so many older brothers and sisters running here, and I...

He couldn't continue, and tears streamed down his face.

"...I just felt really uncomfortable."

He used to be faster than anyone else.

Nia patted the little monkey. She looked at the students practicing running and thought to herself, "It's just one leg, isn't it?"

She clenched her fist, already starting to speculate in her mind: with severed limbs regenerating, was there some magic potion in her father's secret stash...?

That's settled! She's decided to help her little follower!

……

Lin Yan sat under the shade of a tree, holding Xier in one arm and lifting his chin with the other, admiring his wife's shy expression.

A gentle breeze blew by, and the soldier sensed a small figure darting past and into the second-floor window.

Lin Yan's eyebrows twitched slightly as he glanced in that direction.

With a sigh, I thought, "Alas, such a lovely child, it seems I can only save it for when it gets dark."

A suppressed gasp came from under the covers in the room.