Chapter 115: Chapter 115: Misfortune
The third-grade homeroom teacher, Mr Wei, was in his sixties and the oldest teacher at the school. He insisted on sitting in the third-grade homeroom for a while, and then walked through the other seven classes one by one. He didn't find it interesting and decided to go back to the opera.
He thought he would be the first one back tonight, but he saw that the light in the room next door, where Teacher Jin taught Chemistry to Class 3-1, was also on. As he opened the door, he said hello, 'Teacher Jin is back too?'
The light in the next room went out in response, and a while later, Teacher Jin said, "I'm not feeling well, so I just went to bed.'
Before he finished listening to the Peking opera, Teacher Wei heard the door next door open a little, and then someone walking towards the back of the building. He thought, "Could it be that Teacher Jin has a tummy bug?'
When you're young, you never get enough sleep. But when you get older, you can hardly fall asleep, and even if you do, you're wide awake.
Teacher Wei was a little surprised. He was woken up several times in the middle of the night by the sound of 'chattering' from next door. One day at dinner, he even joked with Teacher Jin, 'Shouldn't you reinforce your bed a bit? It creaks when you turn over, and I can hear it clearly over here.'
Teacher Jin was a little nervous when she heard this and hurriedly apologised, 'I'm sorry, Teacher Wei, I haven't been sleeping well these days, I keep turning over at night, I didn't realise I was disturbing your rest. Don't worry, I'll staple it right away, if that doesn't work, I'll just sleep on the floor, okay!'
Teacher Wei felt that Teacher Jin really respected the elderly when she casually said that and got such a reply, 'No need, no need, I was just saying that.'
From that day on, in the evening, he really never heard the sound of Teacher Jin's bed creaking again. However, several times in the middle of the night and early in the morning, it seemed like he heard the sound of the door opening on his side. Teacher Wei didn't think much of it, assuming that Teacher Jin's stomach really wasn't feeling well.
Half a month before the final exam, Feng Yiping and the others were given their last half-month holiday of the semester. When they returned to school on Sunday afternoon, they felt that the atmosphere was wrong.
It happened to coincide with the recess of the third-year students. Strangely enough, they all walked out of the classroom today and gathered in groups of two or three in the corridor. It looked like they were very excited, but they spoke in a low voice, making it quite mysterious.
Although he didn't know what they were talking about, Feng Yiping knew that there must be something going on.
Sure enough, before the evening study session, the news spread that the chemistry teacher of Class 3 and a girl in the class named Yang Jiao were actually having an affair! Last night, when Yang Jiao came out of Teacher Jin's room in the middle of the night and returned to the dormitory, she was hit by a teacher who got up in the middle of the night.
This was a big deal, and the teacher didn't dare hide it. So in the middle of the night, the school leaders were all woken up. The head of the teaching department, still half-dressed, quietly woke up the female English teacher and questioned her. Faced with such a situation, Yang Jiao didn't hold out for long and told them everything.
The headmaster, who had drunk a little wine that night, chased after Teacher Jin in the courtyard and kicked him, cursing, 'You animal!'
Yang Jiao obviously couldn't stay at school any longer. As soon as it was light, the head of the teaching department took two teachers, one man and one woman, and sent her home.
When they returned at noon, exhausted, the head of the teaching department had a few more scratches on his face, and they were no longer three people, as Yang Jiao's father and two brothers, all of them furious, were following behind.
They asked for the room where Teacher Jin was staying, and immediately started smashing things up, and the other teachers couldn't stop them.
When they saw Teacher Jin, who had been temporarily left in the headmaster's courtyard, Yang Jiao's eldest brother picked up a large broom made of bamboo sticks behind the door and started to beat him up. His second eldest brother picked up a basin of potted plants and started to smash it over his head. This was not allowed, and several people, including the headmaster, joined in to wrestle the deadly object away from him.
By the time Mr Jin's elderly parents arrived at the school from the town, Mr Jin was already ragged and his face was covered in cuts and bruises.
Yang Jiao's father was relatively restrained, probably because there were some things he was ashamed to say. The headmaster and the others tried to reason with him, but all he kept saying was, 'I paid to send my daughter to school, so that she can study and receive an education...'
This one sentence silenced the principal and the others.
Teacher Jin's elderly father bowed his head and said, 'No matter what the fault is, it is all our fault. My unfilial son has done such a thing. No matter how much you beat him and scold him, we have nothing to say. Whatever you want, just name it. I will use my remaining years to atone for his sins.'
Yang Jiao's eldest brother said, 'What's there to talk about with you? Just go straight to the police and let them say what they want.'
Mr Jin's father heard this and dropped to his knees before them. 'Just name your demands, and blame me too. I only have this one son, and I haven't brought him up well enough to let him do such a stupid thing. But he's still young. As fellow parents, please give us a break. Can we discuss this privately?'
Although the three Yang family members were a little surprised, they were still angry, so they let him kneel. The teachers looked at Mr Jin's grey-haired father kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, and they all felt a little uncomfortable. The head of the teaching staff went up to help him, saying, 'Uncle, let's talk about it when we get up.'
Mr Jin also came over at this time, kneeling next to his father, slapping himself in the face while crying, 'Uncle, I'm not a human being, I'm an animal...'
...
There are many different versions of how this story ended, but in the end, the two families settled the matter privately and did not go to the police.
That day, Teacher Jin disappeared from the school without a trace and never returned. As for Yang Jiao, naturally she never came back to school either.
Feng Yiping had a vague recollection of Yang Jiao after hearing Wang Changning talk about her. She was indeed very pretty, and it could be said that beautiful women are more common in the general public.
As for the well-dressed, short, bespectacled and always gentle and polite Mr Jin, Feng Yiping really felt no sympathy at all.
He thought that his family must have paid a heavy price for the Yang family not to report to the police. While sympathising with Mr Jin's elderly parents, Feng Yiping felt that letting Mr Jin off like that was really too easy on him.
If a teacher-student relationship in university is still considered to have some foundation, then a teacher who lays hands on a junior high school student is definitely an animal!
He was lucky that Yang Jiao had just turned 15, otherwise he would have at least a few years in prison, which he could not escape.
The school knew and everyone knew, but on the surface, not a word was mentioned, as if it had never happened.
There were still consequences. Starting on Wednesday, two female teachers began with the three first grade classes, pushing the boys away and leaving only the girls, teaching them about physical hygiene.
Before the summer holidays, another rumour spread through the school. A classmate from Yang Jiao's village said that Yang Jiao had unfortunately become pregnant!
It was all the fault of that beast surnamed Jin. After this disaster, perhaps a girl who had a bright future was ruined by him.