Chapter 01
Waiting for you to break up for a long time
Text/Sui Jian
The rain in Wutong Village had been falling for three days, and the lower parts of the campus had already been flooded with muddy water.
Principal Luo had called all the teachers together for a meeting, asking them to organize the students to stay in the classroom, and not to move around except to eat and go to the toilet.
Lou Jia had just finished arranging the students in his class with his colleagues when the head teacher, Liu Wuguo, ran over in the rain with a broken umbrella: “Teacher Lou!”
“What’s the matter? Director Liu, you’re in a hurry.“ Lou Jia walked quickly out of the door.
”Your younger brother,“ Liu Wuguo took a few breaths, ‘the one who was supposed to help with the class, has arrived and is now in the principal’s office.’
”What?” Lou Jia raised her voice in surprise, and followed Liu Wuguo into the rain. ”Didn’t you say there were no buses because of the rain? How did he get into the village?”
The village is in a remote location, with no direct public transportation. The process of getting in and out of the village is long and complicated, and you need to change transportation constantly, so you have to spend the whole day on the road.
If it rains like it has recently, you never know when you will be able to get into the village.
Lou Jia came here to teach through the school’s provincial-level program to help the mountainous areas of Lam Nam Province two weeks ago. There were three other people in her batch.
The day after the report, the only boy in the team accidentally broke his arm and leg while helping to repair the roof, and he needed to go home to recuperate for a while.
As a result, the part of the course he was responsible for was temporarily left vacant.
The four of them were all assigned by the government according to the teaching requirements declared by the local school, and each of them was responsible for different courses.
In order not to affect the teaching at this stage, Principal Luo also applied for leave for the volunteer teachers again, but there was no news.
Lou Jia was chatting with her good friend Jian Rongrong at the time, and casually mentioned it.
She didn’t expect Jian Rongrong to shake her hand that night. He was the son of Jian Rongrong’s father’s second wife, and her half-brother.
“Siwei? Didn’t he go abroad?” Lou Jia remembered that when they were sophomores, Jian Jiang’s parents divorced, and not long after, Jiang Siwei went to the United States with his mother and cut off contact with them.
“He just went there for a summer vacation, then went to boarding high school on his father’s side, and now he is studying at Jibei University.“ As Jian Rongrong was talking, she remembered something. ‘Oh, I haven’t had a chance to tell you yet, my dad went to the United States on business and made up with Auntie Jiang again. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have known that Jiang Siwei was still in China.’
”Uncle Jian is quite a man, chasing his wife all the way to the United States.” Lou Jia sincerely felt moved.
“Oh, it’s just that, I’ve already sent you Jiang Siwei’s WeChat. I have to go now, so you can talk to him yourself.“
”Okay.”
Luo Jia said hello to Jiang Siwei, and the communication went smoothly.
Jiang Siwei left Jibei five days ago, taking a combination of planes, high-speed trains, trains and buses. Three days ago, he arrived at the county guesthouse, but because of the recent heavy rain and the steep mountain roads, no car in the county was willing to enter the village.
“Liu Laosan, the old man at the village entrance, hasn’t been feeling well lately. His son works in the county, and when he heard about this, he went to the bus station to ask if there was a motorcycle that would be willing to go.” Liu Wuguo clapped his hands. ‘Oh, it just so happened that your classmate was also asking about a ride. The two of them got together and came back together.’
After hearing this, Lou Jia’s eyes went dark and dark. Not to mention how difficult it was to walk these dozens of kilometers of mountain roads, the pouring rain alone was enough to make people tremble with fear.
She went into the office with a dark face.
“Teacher Lou is here,” Principal Luo said with a smile. “You should teach your brother a lesson. He’s got a lot of nerve.”
There were three people in the room, two standing and one sitting. Standing were Principal Luo and his niece Ying Xi, who was also a teacher at the school.
“Yes, I will scold him severely,” Lou Jia replied, her eyes falling on Jiang Siwei, who was sitting between the two of them and wiping his hair with a towel.
He’s really changed a lot.
Jiang Siwei and Lou Jia remembered him as a little boy with black-framed glasses and a student’s haircut.
He was not even as tall as her when he stood up. If they met on the street, Lou Jia wouldn’t be able to recognize him.
“Jiang Siwei.”
Lou Jia used to scold her younger brothers and sisters at home, and she would say whatever she wanted to say, but now she didn’t know how to scold this so-called “younger brother” who was so indirect.
As Jiang Siwei slowly stood up, her gaze went from looking down at him to looking at him at eye level, and then she had to look up a little to see his face clearly.
Lou Jia frowned and said, “Why aren’t you as obedient as you used to be?”
Jiang Siwei, with his messy hair, smiled lightly in the sound of the rain: “Long time no see.”
It had indeed been too long.
It had been so long that even his voice sounded unfamiliar to Lou Jia, but the person in front of her was definitely standing there. Thinking of the past, she relaxed her frown: “After so many years, how come you’ve only grown taller and not wiser? It’s pouring with rain, if you get into an accident on the way, how am I going to explain it to your sister?”
Jiang Siwei touched his head, and as usual, he couldn’t think of a word for a long time.
Principal Luo stepped in to smooth things over: “Okay, okay, Miss Lou, you’d better take your brother to get cleaned up quickly, before he catches a cold.”
Lou Jia noticed his wet clothes for the first time and sighed, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the dormitory first.”
Jiang Siwei quickly picked up his luggage and followed behind. For a moment, he didn’t pay attention to the distance. Lou Jia suddenly turned around when she remembered something, but her line of sight only reached his neck.
The wet clothes outlined the boy’s broad shoulders and narrow waist. His pectoral muscles weren’t very exaggerated, but what flashed in Lou Jia’s eyes was always the little kid who used to silently carry his bag behind him.
The little kid has become a thin-muscled man.
The difference is too great.
Lou Jia felt a little funny and said as they walked, “The conditions here aren’t very good. You’ve seen the environment. If there’s anything you don’t like, you can just tell me. You don’t have to force yourself.”
“No.“ Jiang Siwei lowered his eyebrows and looked at the two shadows at his feet. ‘I think it’s fine.’
”That’s fine.” Lou Jia didn’t say anything else and led the way to the front door of the school building. ‘We have fewer male teachers, so there are only two of you and Mr. Fang in the dormitory for now. He’s not on duty today, so I’ll introduce you to him tomorrow.’
The dormitory was very simple, with bunk beds, concrete floors, and no air conditioning. A brand new floor fan was placed in the space between the two beds.
Lau Ka pointed to the lower bunk bed near the door, “Your bed is here. The beds have all been washed and dried in advance. If you can’t get used to it, I’ll take you to the town to buy a new one when the rain stops.”
“No need. I think it’s all good. I’m not that delicate.” Jiang Siwei put her luggage on the ground next to the bed and suddenly said, “Lau Ka, don’t always treat me like a child. I’ve grown up.”
“I don’t see you as a child. Who has a child who is 1.8 meters tall?“ Lou Jia was a little confused. ‘Also, why are you so rude? I don’t even know how to call you.’
”What kind of sister are you?“ Jiang Siwei’s voice was soft.
”Do you believe I will beat you?“
Jiang Siwei looked at her and then turned away, pretending to organize her luggage. Her voice was still soft: ‘I’m hungry.’
”Sister…”