Meng Xiaozhi Sugar Core

"What's wrong?" I felt a little embarrassed as everyone was staring at me, so I touched my hair and face to make sure no one was playing a prank on me.

"Teacher, is that bottle of mineral water?" a boy couldn't help but ask curiously.

I was stunned. I didn't expect that their focus would be here.

"Yes what's the matter?"

"Teacher Li, can we have a little drink?" A tall girl stood up and said, "I saw an ad on TV before and it said this water tastes a little sweet."

I choked up, and was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to answer. I was overwhelmed with emotions and my eyes were a little wet.

Seeing that I didn't reply, the kids probably thought I was angry, and the leading boy quickly apologized: "Ah, if Teacher Li doesn't want to, forget it. We are just a little curious."

"It's okay. Come, take your water cups and line up here with the teacher. I'll pour some for you all." I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my right hand, and wiped away the tears that were about to fall, and said to the children with a forced smile.

"Yeah!" The children cheered and ran up with their enamel cups and plastic cups.

I had already drunk half of a 500-ml bottle of mineral water, and now I had to share it with more than a dozen children in the class. Naturally, each person would not get much water.

"Students who have received water are not allowed to drink it first. They have to wait until everyone has received water and then drink together. Do you hear me?" I said as I poured water for each student.

Until finally, Qiu Yin also walked up to me and took out her unique water cup - a porcelain bowl.

"Do you usually use this to drink water?" I felt surprised and distressed.

"Well, the school installed a new water dispenser last year, so I use this to pour some water to drink." Qiu Yin smiled and nodded. The so-called water dispenser is actually a large mountain spring water filter, which is a device of the government's rural welfare project.

Out of selfishness, I poured more for the child and gave her the rest of the mineral water.

"Okay, students, you can drink now." After everyone got the water and sat in their seats, I nodded and agreed for them to start drinking.

The children all raised their heads to drink the water and finished it in no time.

“It’s cool…”

“It seems to make no difference…”

“It seems a bit sweet?”

"It's not sweet...it doesn't have any taste."

The classmates were talking to each other, and they all seemed a little disappointed.

"Teacher Li, it seems to have no smell." The boy who stood up first said to me.

"What's your name?" I asked back.

"Hu Haoran..."

"Student Hu Haoran, your sense of taste is not wrong. This water is indeed not sweet... You are very honest." I praised him.

"Then why does TV say that?" he was puzzled.

"Teacher Li will take this opportunity to teach you something beyond the textbook today." I looked at the children's expectant eyes and said, "What is said on TV may not be all right. What the teacher says may not be all right. When facing any theory, you must learn dialectical thinking and learn to question authority, even when facing me."

Chapter 1 Whirlpool ()

As the sun sets, the last rays of afterglow also gather in the mountains. The school, which was originally bright and golden, suddenly becomes gray. Even in the summer, the sunset in the mountain villages is very early.

"Goodbye, Teacher Li!" As the last student waved goodbye to me, the once lively classroom became quiet. I returned to the podium, sorted out the textbooks that needed to be packed, hugged them to my chest and prepared to go back to the office.

I actually finished a day's class? I was a little excited. I took out my phone and took a selfie and sent it to Tang Xin. "Tang Xin, I finished a day's class by myself. At first I was a little worried that I couldn't handle these kids, but after getting to know them, I found that they were much more obedient than I thought."

"Wow, this photo is so touching. She looks like a little teacher!" Tang Xin replied immediately.

"Are you staying by your phone?" I laughed.

"Hey, I was afraid that you were in class during the day so I didn't dare to disturb you. And I set a special ringtone for your phone, so you will definitely reply immediately when you hear it."

"I'm so hungry, I need to go eat."

"You must be tired after a day of classes alone, right? Go eat quickly, then go back to the dormitory and have a good rest." Tang Xin sent a worried cat head.

"Yeah, remember to tell your aunt and the others that you're safe!"

As soon as I sent the message, I bumped into someone in front of me. Fortunately, she grabbed me and said, "Hey, are you texting with your boyfriend again?"

I looked up and saw Sister Chen, who was smiling, and blushed: "I guess so..."

"Hey, I don't know which boy can win the heart of such a beautiful woman. I'm a little jealous." Sister Chen let go of my hand and said, "Remember to look at the road when you walk. It will be bad if you fall next time."

"Okay..." I nodded shyly, "Sister Chen, have you eaten yet?"

"Aren't I here to find you?" Sister Chen motioned for me to put away the materials and go with her.

Dinner was still held in the cafeteria, and Fu Le and Wu Xinghui walked in at about the same time.

"It's time to eat!" I greeted them.

Fu Le waved his hand towards me, his face full of fatigue, "I'm starving..."

"I'm so tired too." Wu Xinghui was also in a bad state. He sat down on the chair with half of his body lying on the table.

"Come, let's eat." Old Wei came over with a tray. Compared to the two vegetarian dishes and one soup at noon, dinner at least had some more chicken offal.

After Fu Le and Wu Xinghui served their food, they started eating with big mouthfuls without caring how the food tasted.

"You look starving." Sister Chen looked distressed. "Eat slowly. Eating so fast is bad for your stomach."

"Teacher Chen, I see that the teachers are working so hard, and we really don't have any good ingredients here." Old Wei was a little embarrassed, "Can we get some meat from outside so that the children can have some."

"Old Wei!" Teacher Yu interrupted Old Wei, "How can you let the teachers pay for the children's food? It's already great that they come to teach here."

"Wait a minute, Principal Yu. I have always had a question." Sister Chen stopped using her chopsticks and turned to ask him, "Logically speaking, the government should give a certain amount of support funds to the school every year, right? That money should be enough for school repairs and cafeteria expenses, right?"

Teacher Yu frowned and sighed, "Teacher Chen, there are some things I can't help. Can we stop asking?"

"If I remember correctly, Principal Yu, the government's recent poverty alleviation funds are quite sufficient, right?" Sister Chen continued to ask.

"Let's eat." Principal Yu looked embarrassed and changed the subject.

Sister Chen probably didn't continue asking questions because she wanted to save face and didn't want to make the atmosphere awkward.

After dinner, I obediently returned to the dormitory. Sister Chen seemed to have gone to talk to Principal Yu again. She waited until I had taken a shower in the room and was lying on the bed looking at my phone before coming back.

"Welcome back." I greeted her with a smile.

"Hmm..." She nodded, feeling a little depressed. She walked to the table, picked up the kettle, poured a glass of water, and drank it gulply.

"what…"

The thermos cup of water was finished in an instant. Because she drank it in a hurry, there were many water drops on the corners of Sister Chen's mouth and chin, dripping down.

"What's wrong?" It was the first time I saw her angry, and I felt a little worried.

Sister Chen raised her head, wiped the corners of her mouth with the sleeve on her shoulder, and gave me a forced smile: "It's okay, it's just that the school's funds are not going away. Principal Yu refused to tell me."

"Could it be that he embezzled it?"

"It's hard to say, but it doesn't seem like it." Sister Chen shook her head. "If it was him, he wouldn't have behaved like this today. I'm worried that there's something else going on."

"How could this happen? Won't the Discipline Inspection Commission investigate?" I said angrily.

"What does it mean that the emperor is far away? If they hadn't received any reports, they wouldn't have been able to investigate here." Sister Chen shook her head.

"How can you do this?"

"You should go to bed early. You can't take care of this matter. Just teach well. Leave this matter to me."

"But?"

"There's nothing to worry about. Do you know who embezzled the money? Is there anything you can do?" Sister Chen said helplessly, "Call the police? Do you have evidence? Report it? Are you sure they don't have someone behind them?"

“……” I didn’t know how to answer her, as if there was something pent up in my chest.

"Are you angry?" She smiled. "When you start working, you will realize that there are too many injustices in this world. It is completely different from what is written in the books."

"I know, I just feel a little powerless." Are you kidding? You were just a little kid when you were struggling in your previous life. How could I not understand these principles?

"That's normal. How much can you accomplish alone? Is your father the provincial party secretary? Or is your boyfriend's father the minister of education?" Sister Chen rubbed my head. "Go to sleep. Thinking too much will only add to your troubles."

……

The next morning, before the alarm went off, we heard a knock on the door. Sister Chen and I struggled to get out of bed, put on our pajamas and went to open the door.

I saw Teacher Yu standing at the door with an anxious look on his face.

"What's going on? It's so early in the morning." Sister Chen was a little annoyed. After what happened last night, her face was not very good. She looked at the time. It was only six o'clock in the morning.

"I'm so sorry. The village chief told me early in the morning that the county party secretary would come to inspect early this morning and asked us to make preparations in advance. There was nothing I could do about it." Teacher Yu felt extremely guilty and was stuck in the middle, feeling like he couldn't behave himself.

"What does the leader's visit have to do with us?" I was a little speechless. "The course is going on normally. Can't they just come and see it themselves?"

"Oh, Teacher Chen, how can this be? Students should practice the welcome ceremony!" Teacher Yu was also anxious.

Chapter 2 Whirlpool ()

"Let the students go to greet them?" I was half asleep just now, but when I heard this, I woke up instantly.

"Yes, teachers, please teach us some welcoming words and some welcoming gestures." Teacher Yu nodded, "It doesn't have to be complicated, just the formality will be fine."

"The children have worked so hard to learn, how can they be asked to do these things?" I was a little angry, "This is such a waste of children's study time."

"Then we can just skip a few physical education classes. There's really nothing we can do about it. If the leaders think it's not good, our school might not exist next year." Teacher Yu pleaded, "At least we have to let these kids graduate well."

"Ah?" I was stunned. "Is it that serious?"

"Our school was going to be closed down because of insufficient enrollment, but I have tried very hard to keep it closed down. If the school closes, the children will have to walk more than 10 kilometers every day to the neighboring mountain village to attend classes."

"Okay, Li Xiaomeng, wake up Fu Le and the others first, then we'll wash up quickly and have a meeting the next morning to discuss what to do." Sister Chen held her forehead and looked very troubled. After all, once this matter involves the interests of students, we as teachers have no way to deal with it.

……

Early in the morning, we ate a few bites of pancakes and fried dough sticks and ran to the office. The six of us looked at each other in a strange silence.

"Um, let me ask, when will the leader come?" I couldn't help but ask first.

"I don't know, maybe in the morning?" Teacher Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed, "The village chief will call me when we are almost there."

"How should the students welcome us?" Sister Chen shook her head. "They should form two teams and applaud and welcome us?"

"I think it's okay. How about making it a little simpler? Just let the leaders see the children's spirit and energy." Principal Yu nodded.

……