Vol 1 Chapter 12 (1/2)

2 When I Met Him

Recognizing the importance of teachers in a child’s life, Chinese traditional culture has always been e the need to respect teachers

Respect for teachers has long becoet that due to the importance of teachers in children’s lives, teachers should be the ones to respect children

Only when they have respect for an individual would they be able to properly guide these individuals

Near the end of Year 3, there were rumors that as the school’s number of students had risen, the classes would have to be divided again I secretly prayed for this, please change Teacher Zhang!

In our school, we have a flag raising cere, the Principal will first give praises, then criticism and at the end, award the previous week’s best class

This as the sa the ceremony, I lowered my head and didn’t bother to concentrate since whichever class got awarded had nothing to do withthe class, the Principal started talking in a serious ainst the law

A boy was lead up the stage and the Principal started announcing the boy’s cri a teacher’s wallet, blackher year levels, forcing the a Year 6 boy with his bicycle chain, writing love letters to girls froher year levels…

This 12 year old boy seeht into jail for his crimes The students were dumbstruck as they listened and all stared at him However, what drew my attention wasn’t the crimes he had committed but his expression

He was taller than the other boys of his year whichslackly on his fraht, fro He stood there lazily with his head bowed as though he was acknowledging his crilanced up, the corners of his mouth were curled up into a smile

Could he not see everyone’s stares? Did he not feel embarrassed? He was in front of the entire school! I could not understand him

After the cereirls around ained some information about the boy He was the same year as me but as he repeated Year 2, he was older than us I heard that he was the youngest in his family, his parents only had him when they were over 40 years old He had four sisters ere much older than him Apparently his family was very rich, his sport shoes were Nike and the watch on his wrist was froht overseas by his brother in law In the late 80s to early 90s, overseas was still a very distant word so I had no understanding of any significance of the brands I was just confused, if he had money then why did he steal money and blackmail others for money?

His actions and his expression were like a mystery to me InJun However, I believe on that day, I wasn’t the only one who remembered him

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In Year 4, ere allocated to new classes and two unlucky things occurred: the first was that ; the second, she wasn’t only my maths teacher but also my homeroom teacher

Zhang Jun was in the same class as me but we didn’t talk to each other We hadturns to co lessons, we both didn’t listen, he was always sleeping and I was always daydrea However, we also had many differences

Although his grades were bad, all the guys in the class still played with hiirls didn’t dislike him because he often treated them to ice creahter In class, he was always sleeping but as soon as the bell rang, he’d be full of energy and rush with everyone to the sports field to play soccer or basketball As for me, I would find a place to hide and read a book, occasionally liftingsoccer

I was already used to being lonely at home as I could read books Books were filled with countless excitement My little sister liked to tattle tale but I could hide fro to little sister’ Teacher Zhang was dissatisfied with me but it was only 2 or 3 minutes of torment in maths class so I was able to expressionlessly endure it

If the days continue like this, then it can be regarded as a kind of peace However, life always likes to tease us When you’re losing hope, life will light up a spark of hope for you to not give up; when you’re at peace, it will suddenly give you a jolt, not letting you be too satisfied

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One summer’s afternoon, we had one hour of free time The students who didn’t need to be on duty all ran out to the fields to play As I liked the spot of sunshi+ne by the , I sat on the sill reading and looking out into the distance

After free time was over, everyone ca that her fountain pen had disappeared, sadly saying how the pen was bought specially for her by her dad, she had used it before free ti decided that this was a serious ation on the people who stayed in class during free ti Jun had rushed out of the class with a group of guys as soon as the bell ran and played soccer the entire time There wereasked hi and put it on the desk for her to check Under his cal i a suspect

Then, with still two or three other potential suspects, Teacher Zhang calledas I return it, she will forgive me!

I couldn’t believeby thebut with the sunlight brilliantly shi+ning on me, I felt cold all over The eyes of the whole class of thirty so students were all on me, their eyes were each like a sharp sword, painfully stabbing me

I forced back , I didn’t…didn’t take her pen”

However, Teacher Zhang didn’t believe me In her heart, of all the students who stayed in the classroom, I was the only bad student so I was the only one who could do this sort of bad thing At break, I didn’t go out to be wild Instead, I stayed inside the classroo so I was an unreasonable freak She repri ain that I didn’t steal it

Teacher Zhang lost her temper and ordered me to stand at the podium and then, in front of the entire class, she proceeded to search me all over I only felt an unbearable sense of humiliation and shed tears as I allowed her to search all over me

The whole class silently watcheda good show, anticipating the h my eyes were blurred with tears, I saw at the back of the room, an unusually calm pair of eyes that didn’t contain the excited anticipation like the others; in midst of the cold and detached stares was an indistinct compassion and behind the looks of contempt there was a little sense of pity

After searchingand desk but still didn’t find the pen so in erew louder and louder

As she didn’t find the stolen iteuilty yet she still fiercely warned ht this tiet aith it!You’re a thief! A ‘three hand’!” [Nickname for pickpockets]

At the tio between hot and cold, as if sorave the word ‘thief’ onto my forehead

Teacher Zhang exaggeratedly told the other teachers of how I stole yet refused to admit to it My classmates were all determined that I definitely stole the pen When they talked aboutmy name, instead, they all called irls would even intentionally in a not high or low voice call out those tords I could only bow my head down in huh exaggeratedly

The guys weren’t as irls, they didn’t called me “three hands” but whenever they heard someone call out “three hands”, they’d shoot looks at me like sharp swords

For a long time, whenever I heard those tords, I wished that I could immediately die and disappear from this world

Everywhen I woke up, I would feel fear I was afraid of the teacher, afraid ofto school had beco

Who said“People at birth, are naturally good”? Have you seen children ruthlessly torture little ani little bird to death People by nature are brutal and a children’s world is actually filled with cruelness

[Part of the core Confucianisht to children]

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Acaused my mind and body to be completely trampled and humiliated for a second time