Chapter 89: A New Opportunity For A (2/2)

“Was that your boyfriend calling you?” asked Cui Jing.  Her voice was a bit hoa.r.s.e, and her eyes did a thousand-yard stare.  Deep in her heart, she still hoped against hope that Li Hongbin could give her call.  Even if he wasn’t going to apologize or console her, if his call was just to curse or insult her, it would suit Cui Jing just as well.  At least that way, she would have no more illusions about their relations.h.i.+p. She would be free to feel that he wasn’t worth everything she had given him.  But instead, there was nothing, as if nothing had transpired, as if Cui Jing had never existed in Li Hongbin’s life.

“Oh, yeah, it was,” replied A-Jiao as she sat back down next to Cui Jing.  “Do you want some water?” A-Jiao had already tried to comfort Cui Jing for a while now.  Even though she had a feeling that Cui Jing’s present state had something to do with Li Hongbin, she couldn’t figure out exactly what had happened to her.  After all, A-Jiao wasn’t G.o.d either; she wasn’t omnipresent and couldn’t see what had happened to Cui Jing. As for Cui Jing’s present state, A-Jiao couldn’t help but take a small amount of pleasure in her misfortune.  She felt that it was past due for Cui Jing to get hurt; now that she had been, Cui Jing could finally see Li Hongbin for what he truly was, and only then could she leave his side.

“Ziyuan, are all men liars?” asked Cui Jing, not bothering to answer A-Jiao’s question.  She seemed to be muttering to herself. “My ex-boyfriend lied to me, now Binbin lied to me.  Is it because I’m stupid and easy to trick?”

“What are you talking about?  Of course you’re not!” replied A-Jiao as she wrapped Cui Jing in her arms.  “It’s all the fault of those stinking, lying men! They’re b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, all of them!”  As soon as A-Jiao spoke, her face grew red to the ear. Was Jiang Zhengkai a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, too, then?  Ah, whatever! Who told him to be born a man?  He can be on the receiving end of the insults this time around.

Jiang Zhengkai parked his car outside the preschool.  He arrived right when parents were all hurrying to pick up their children, so he didn’t rush in to find A-Jiao.  He parked the car right across from the preschool’s main entrance. That way, it didn’t matter if A-Jiao was in her art studio, cla.s.sroom, or office; she could easily see his car from all three locations.  As for Jiang Zhengkai, he didn’t actually get out of the police cruiser. He kept sitting in the driver’s seat and opened up the doc.u.ments that Zheng Yueshan had provided him. It was still a few minutes to six, so he might as well browse the drug ring doc.u.ments first.

A-Jiao saw Jiang Zhengkai’s cop car from inside the office, but Cui Jing was still sitting beside her, staring blankly into the air.  A-Jiao wanted to leave her to go find Jiang Zhengkai, but she knew doing so was inappropriate given the situation. At the end of the day, Cui Jing was A-Jiao’s friend and colleague, so she couldn’t just leave her alone in her time of need to be with her boyfriend.

“The two of you haven’t left yet?” asked an English teacher named Zhang Yali as she walked in.  “Oh right, Ziyuan, the princ.i.p.al is looking for you. It seemed pretty urgent. She told me to tell you to see her first thing tomorrow morning, but since you’re still here, you might as well go see her now.”

“Oh, okay!” acknowledged A-Jiao as she left her office.  Over in the princ.i.p.al’s office, the old lady told A-Jiao bad news that was good news.  That afternoon’s audited cla.s.s had unexpectedly been rated “excellent” by the school board.  As a result, A-Jiao had to prepare another audited cla.s.s, and the course content would of course be music again.

“But… Princ.i.p.al Li, I… I’m an art teacher!” protested A-Jiao as she looked awkwardly at Old Lady Li.  A-Jiao was correct in that she was indeed an art teacher. Although girls usually liked singing anyway, music wasn’t her specialty.  Plus, Cui Jing was her good friend, and A-Jiao had no intention of stealing this opportunity from her. “Could you perhaps let Cui Jing teach the cla.s.s instead?”

“Let Cui Jing teach?”  Princ.i.p.al Li glanced at A-Jiao, then shook her head.  “School Board Chairwoman Zhou came in person this afternoon.  How do you think I’m going to explain it when he realizes I swapped teachers between the first and second cla.s.ses?  What do you think that would do to the reputation of our preschool? Plus, Chairwoman Zhou said the young teacher he saw today was very special.  That means he remembers you!”

“Oh…” A-Jiao helplessly responded.  True, to be able to impress the School Board Chair was no small feat.  After all, Old Lady Zhou was in charge of all primary and secondary schools in the city, and there weren’t many teachers who were able to impress her.

“Alright, it’s settled then!” declared an overjoyed Princ.i.p.al Li, whose grin had turned her eyes into slits.  “The cla.s.s is scheduled for next Wednesday. Be sure to be well-prepared. If there is something you don’t know, feel free to come and ask me.  Remember, I used to teach music before I came a princ.i.p.al.” Old Lady Li added that last sentence that emphasize that she, too, was a subject-matter expert.

“Alright then.  Thank you, Princ.i.p.al Li.  I’ll be going now,” said A-Jiao before she left under the radiant smile of Princ.i.p.al Li.  Old Lady Li truly and deeply liked A-Jiao. She was obedient, diligent, didn’t cause trouble, was always punctual, and had a special talent.  With all of these qualities, A-Jiao was exactly the type of talent that Old Lady Li needed and wanted in her preschool. Whereas before, she favored A-Jiao and Cui Jing equally, Old Lady Li was now gradually starting to tilt towards A-Jiao.