Chapter 65 Human Nature

On the night of January 1, the classroom of Class 13 had never been as lively as it was on that day. Leaders of the No. 168 Middle School in the city, who were rarely seen on normal days, came in waves. Their faces no longer had the usual calmness, and they all walked in a hurry.

The Dean of Studies, Luo Dahai, also came. After learning about the situation from the firefighters and students of Class 168, he left immediately, notified all faculty and staff of the school to attend an emergency meeting, and arranged for teachers to go down and notify students to cancel evening self-study. The entire teaching building was quickly evacuated.

All the students from Class 168 who were attending evening self-study were left behind. They stood in the cold corridor, not knowing what to do and feeling lost. Some girls squatted at the entrance of the corridor and sobbed quietly.

Jiang Lihua, the head teacher of Class 168, took his wife and children back to his mother's home in the north of Jiangchuan City tonight. It was his old rival Luo Dahai who called to inform him about the fire. When he hurried to the school, the fire had been put out and firefighters were investigating the cause of the fire.

No one was killed and no students were injured. Jiang Lihua breathed a sigh of relief, but when he arrived at Class 168 and saw the devastated scene in the classroom, his blood rushed directly from the soles of his feet to his forehead.

Jiang Lihua immediately went to the corridor, asked the girls in the class to go home, and called all the boys in the class who had attended evening self-study to his office. His face looked very bad, as black as the bottom of a pot, but he did not get furious as usual. He just sat on the chair, smoking one cigarette after another.

After a long while, he put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray and said, "Tell me, this fire started tonight."

He glanced at everyone. Except for Zhang Yunqi, everyone bowed their heads and remained silent. He said, "Zhang Yunqi, you go ahead and talk."

In fact, Zhang Yunqi had already asked Wang Xiaokai about the cause of the fire. When he went to the canteen to buy candles, the boys in his class were swinging small stoves in the classroom. The classroom was pitch black. It was unknown whether the two guys' small stoves collided with each other and all the coal inside spilled out.

The coal in the small stove was very small and scattered everywhere. There were books on everyone's desks, so it was easy for it to catch fire. Everyone was trying to put out the fire, but there were too many fires. After putting out one fire here, another one would start there. Moreover, the classroom was dark and no one paid attention to many places, which eventually led to the fire.

Now that Jiang Lihua asked about the situation at that time, Zhang Yunqi couldn't just ignore it. Such a big thing had happened, he had to give an explanation to the school. So he told the school the cause of the fire truthfully. He had already reported these words to many school leaders who came to understand the situation.

After listening, Jiang Lihua nodded, looked up at the crowd and said: "Who brought a small stove tonight?"

No one said anything, everyone tilted their heads.

Jiang Lihua said: "Those who don't have a stove, please step back!"

Everyone hesitated for a moment, and finally two boys took a step back. Zhang Yunqi, who did not bring a small stove, also took a step back.

Jiang Lihua stared at the group of boys who had not retreated and asked: "Which two of you bumped into the small stoves?"

No one said anything, everyone tilted their heads.

Jiang Lihua lit a cigarette and said, "Those who didn't hit the stove should take two steps back!"

This time everyone hesitated for a long time.

The school hadn't called yet and there were only two candles in the dark office. Under the dim light, everyone's expressions were a little uncertain. In this depressing atmosphere, there was suddenly a sound of shoes rubbing against the ground and someone stepped back.

One, two, three...

People kept retreating.

In the end, there was only one person left standing in the front, Zhang Yunqi, because given the current situation, he felt that it would make no difference whether he retreated or not.

Jiang Lihua knew that the fire had nothing to do with Zhang Yunqi, and he was not at the scene when the fire broke out. Then this situation was a bit funny, and he was so angry that he wanted to laugh, but this was human nature, and he had no choice.

In fact, Jiang Lihua knew that asking like this would lead to no results. Without evidence, how could anyone admit to such a big thing? He just thought about having to attend an emergency meeting at school, and he had a headache. He didn't know how to report to the principal at that time!
Seeing that the group of people were all wet, and worried that the children would catch a cold in the middle of winter, he sighed and waved his hand, saying, "You all go back and rest first, and we'll talk about this tomorrow. I'll notify your parents to come to the school to see how to deal with it then."

Jiang Lihua's last words cast a shadow in everyone's heart. After coming out of the office, everyone hung their heads with a listless look, and no one spoke.

Arriving at the bottom of the teaching building, Zhang Yunqi saw Chu Jian standing at the gate. She was holding a schoolbag in her hand and wearing his big cotton-padded jacket. The cold moonlight was shining down, falling on the snow and reflecting on her little face, casting a bright white light.

Everyone immediately looked at Zhang Yunqi, but he was very tactful and left without saying anything. Wang Xiaokai patted him on the shoulder and said, "We'll wait for you in the dormitory."

Zhang Yunqi agreed.

After everyone left, Zhang Yunqi walked over and said, "Why haven't you gone home yet?"

"Your clothes are still here with me. Here." Chu Jian took off Zhang Yunqi's cotton coat and handed it over.

Zhang Yunqi took the cotton coat and put it on Chu Jian, saying, "It's so late and there are no buses. It's not safe for you to be alone. Can I take you home?"

Chu Jian pursed his lips and said okay.

The two of them came to the parking shed at the school gate, Zhang Yunqi pushed out his bicycle, and took Chujian out of the school. It was already late at that time, and the shops on both sides of the street were closed. Rows of street lamps were on warm light, and there was snow on the road. The wind was very strong. Zhang Yunqi only wore a sweater. It was really cold, but he felt at ease walking on this street with Chujian on the road with few lights.

On the way, Zhang Yunqi suddenly remembered that everyone had burned everything in the classroom, and asked: "Chu Jian, have you taken out all your important items?"

Chu Jian at the back hummed: "I brought out all my things, including some of your books."

Zhang Yunqi asked: "Were you loading my books when the fire started?"

Chu Jian smiled and said, "Yes, but I was in a hurry at the time, and there was a lot of smoke in the classroom, so I couldn't see clearly. I only took the books on your desk. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take the books on your desk. I don't know if I left any important things of yours."

Zhang Yunqi was suddenly moved. After a long while, he said, "Didn't you notice that your cotton coat was on fire?"

He seemed a little embarrassed when he first met her, and said softly, "I didn't see it. The fire was behind me. Fortunately, you came."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "You also know that it's a good thing that I'm here. Now I'm your savior. How do you thank me?"

Chu Jian was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't know."

"Well, you promise me one thing."

"whats the matter?"

"I haven't thought about it yet."

"When will you decide?"

"I'll tell you when I've thought it over."

"Oh alright."

The two chatted as they walked through Jiangchuan City, which was covered in snow. The wind was strong, the night was deep, and the atmosphere was warm, but the road was not far, and they soon arrived at Chu Jian's home.

Zhang Yunqi had taken her to a place he had just met before. Her home was in a shantytown on Hongshan Road in the north of the city. The environment was very poor and the security was terrible. There were only dilapidated old houses, garbage everywhere, children fighting with their bare butts, and thieves and gangsters were rampant.

It is hard for Zhang Yunqi to imagine that Chu Jian grew up in such an environment. The saying "untainted by the mud, yet elegant and graceful" may be referring to such a girl.

Zhang Yunqi stopped the car at a place far from Chu Jian's home. After Chu Jian got out of the car, she returned the cotton coat to Zhang Yunqi and said with a smile: "I will bring the book back to school for you tomorrow."

Zhang Yunqi agreed.

When we first met, I said, "Then I'm going back."

Zhang Yunqi said wait a moment.

He took out a pair of white gloves from his pocket and handed them to Chu Jian: "This is for you."

I was stunned when I first saw it.

She looked up at Zhang Yunqi, shook her head and said, "This is not good."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "Didn't you say before that you had to promise me to do something? Now I've made up my mind, I'll accept this. It's a promise, and you can't go back on your word."

After saying that, Zhang Yunqi directly stuffed the gloves into Chu Jian's hands, jumped into the car, said goodbye and said: "I'm going back first, you go home early."

"Yunqi, you need to slow down. The road is slippery."

"know."

Zhang Yunqi rode away on his bicycle.

Chu Jian stood there, silently watching his back disappear in the snow. After a long time, she looked at the gloves in her hands, pursed her lips, and put on the white gloves.

Fluffy and warm.

(End of this chapter)