Your Teacher Was Unlucky to Meet You

The Director's office at the London Orphanage—actually just a small room sectioned off in the furthest corner. The Director, Susan Brown, stared worriedly at the orphanage's expense ledger.

Christmas was, of course, a joyous, anticipated, and surprise-filled day for the children. But for adults—especially those responsible for supporting an entire orphanage on a meager budget—it was undoubtedly a cause for concern.

For the past few years, the government had been implementing a strategy to reduce the "welfare state," which directly impacted the orphanage's primary source of funding.

And the children in the orphanage, well, you know how growing children can eat more than English Setters with big ears, short noses, and curly tails. A small person could devour two thick slices of bread with fried egg and still claim to be hungry; their appetites were astonishing.

Then there was their growth. These little sprouts were like saplings in spring, growing with the wind, rain, and sun. Their pant legs would often become too short. Although the children in the orphanage weren't entitled to be picky about food or clothing, she still hoped they could have a better life within her capabilities.

They were just children.

And it was winter, too. How could they wear pants that exposed their ankles?

Mrs. Brown anxiously flipped through the ledger, contemplating which expense could be slightly reduced.

Her eyes scanned past the daily major expenses—meat, eggs, milk, rice, and flour. No, that wouldn't do. Children who were growing needed to eat well.

Fruit twice a week? No, that was already scarce enough. The children needed some fruit regularly for their health.

Butter pastries once a week? No, the children already had a difficult life; they deserved something sweet occasionally to lift their spirits.

Heating costs, utilities, clothes, shoes... Mrs. Brown flipped through the ledger several times, sighing as she turned to her recently received salary.

After all, it was Christmas. She had to get the children something small, something they were looking forward to. So when they grew up and remembered their childhood, it wouldn't be entirely bleak.

Mrs. Brown pursed her lips and began counting out bills from the not-so-thick wad of cash.

Paul always fantasized about adventures and always played pirates during games. She'd buy him a pirate hat; Mary was a pretty little girl who loved to fiddle with her blonde hair. A delicate hair clip would suit her better... Mrs. Brown skillfully ticked off each child's gift, quickly finalizing presents for every child in the orphanage.

She stood up, intending to buy the items before the snow got too heavy.

As she reached the door, she suddenly paused. No, there was one more.

She hadn't accounted for Eliana's gift yet.

She was getting old and useless, forgetting little Ellie.

Mrs. Brown turned back and pulled out a few more bills from the remaining thin layer of cash.

She'd buy her a thick rabbit fur hat. The winter was a bit cold this year; she couldn't let her catch a chill.

She paused, then took out two more bills.

She'd buy her a new set of clothes. After all, she was growing into a young lady and studying away from home. Wearing drab clothes all the time would invite ridicule.

She wondered how Eliana was doing at school. Such a small, delicate girl, going to an unfamiliar place—wouldn't she be bullied by other children?

She was careless, too, forgetting to send Ellie a gift in advance. If everyone else got a gift and Eliana didn't, how sad would she be?

Mrs. Brown hurried out of the orphanage's main door—she had to buy the gifts quickly before the post office closed and send them.

She walked down the steps quickly, head down, and then, BANG, she collided with a dark mass.

When did they build such a huge wall at the orphanage entrance?

Why did the government come up with such harebrained ideas every day?

Annoyed, she looked up. Before she could clearly see what this thing was, a familiar, crisp, and energetic voice reached her ears.

"Susan, are you here to pick me up!"

She looked over in shock. Eliana was carrying two large sacks on her back, a large cloth bundle tied to her chest, and holding another in her right hand. Although she was propping herself up with a stick in her left hand, her waist was bent from the load, making her look like a small turtle carrying three mountains.

The little turtle squeaked excitedly, leaning on her stick as she rushed towards her. "Quick, help me! You have no idea how many good things I brought back!"

She yelled towards the orphanage, "Mary, Rebecca, Paul, Oliver—come out and help me!"

The noisy orphanage seemed to fall silent for a moment, then, as if a switch had been flipped, a row of perfectly aligned heads peeked out from the doorway.

"Eliana!"

"Eliana's back!"

The children erupted in a sudden, intense cheer, like a flock of little birds, and rushed out of the yard.

Eliana, like Genghis Khan reviewing his troops, grabbed each of the boisterous monkeys swarming around her. "Come, come, everyone gets a share. Take these inside for me."

She began assigning carrying tasks on the spot.

"Paul, you're the biggest. Carry three pumpkins. Oh, you have space in your mouth too, so take a piece of cloth."

"Mary, you're a little girl, take it easy. Carry three bolts of cloth. Oh, your neck is long, so hang this on it too."

She stuffed things into their arms. The children, like ants carrying food, held up large and small supplies, eagerly running into the orphanage.

The children with slightly lighter loads were reluctant to leave, crowding around Eliana and chattering.

"Elly, Elly, is your school fun?"

"Is studying tiring? I find studying twice a week very tiring. How many times do you have dictation tests at your middle school?"

"We missed you. Do you miss us at school?"

"Did anyone bully you?"

"What? Someone bullied Eliana?" Little Paul, who had just finished putting things in the kitchen and run back out, happened to overhear this. "Who dares bully Captain Paul's person?"

Chirping, quacking, the small courtyard was like a place where three hundred ducks had been released; it was incredibly lively.

Eliana was rarely patient—she used to be annoyed by these chattering brats, but after not seeing them for a while, she actually missed them—she leaned down and answered them one by one.

"It's fun."

"I'm not tired, the schoolwork is pretty easy. We don't even have seven essays a week. I can't write essays every day even if I wanted to."

The little girl who had asked the question said innocently, "Are the essays easy?"

Eliana said dismissively, "They're quite simple. I've never gotten anything other than the highest score."

The little girl gasped, "Then I want to write essays every day and get high scores too."

Eliana patted her head appreciatively, "Okay!"

"Ellie, Ellie, what about me? You haven't said if you missed us yet."

Another little sprout pounced, hugging Eliana's leg and shaking it back and forth.

"Let me think, let me think—" Eliana casually fed her a piece of dried fish, "Look, I brought you gifts."

She touched the patch on the little sprout's elbow and then pulled a thick piece of fabric from her large bag, "I'll make you new clothes when the time comes!"

A wave of joyful cheers erupted, as if Christmas had arrived early in this small clearing.

"Excuse me—Miss Christmas—" Mrs. Brown couldn't stand it any longer and spoke up, "May I be so bold as to ask, I vaguely remember, you're going to Hogwarts Full-time Middle School, not Hogwarts Full-time Factory, right?"

Eliana, who was busy taking things out of her bag, paused. For some reason, a bad premonition flashed through her mind, as if she was about to have bad luck.

She looked confusedly at her overflowing bags and packages, feeling like she had achieved great victories and was the pillar of her family, and that she should be receiving accolades now. Why would she be punished?

It must be a hallucination!

She proudly lifted her chin, "Yes, Susan, but our school is really good."

Mrs. Brown took a deep breath, "So good that they sent you so many pumpkins?"

Eliana stretched her neck proudly, "I grew these pumpkins myself! I was punished..."

She almost revealed that she had been punished with community service. To save face, she forcefully twisted the story and said, "I was assigned to do labor duty, which is to take care of the school's vegetable garden. These are the fruits of my labor. The administrator allowed me to bring them back. Those biscuits were also given to me by him!"

Mrs. Brown remained noncommittal, her face cold as she continued, "This fish, you can't have raised it yourself, can you?"

"This dried fish, I used the knowledge I learned to catch it from the pond next to the school. Since the school is willing to teach us this knowledge, doesn't that implicitly mean they allow us to catch fish?"

Eliana was quite indignant.

Mrs. Brown was not fooled. She pointed to the thick stack of fabric, "What about this? You couldn't have spun this in class, could you? Even if you were a reincarnated spinning machine, you couldn't have spun this much all at once!"

Eliana: ...

She felt like a shrimp now, fiddling with her antennae and making up lies.

"This, this is because the curtains in our classroom are going to be replaced. I thought it would be a waste to throw away the old ones since they aren't broken, so I took them back."

Since she had taken them, the underground classroom would have to get new ones. Well, it was mostly the same, just a slight change in order.

"Don't worry, Susan. The teacher in charge of this classroom likes me a lot. He'll cover for me, just like you do."

Eliana patted her chest with confidence.

If worst came to worst, she could cut up the remaining three bed curtains and transform them into new ones. After all, at Hogwarts, it was just a matter of a spell.

She didn't really care if her bed had curtains or not. She was the only one in the dormitory without bed curtains, which was practically the same as having them—since everyone else was inside their own curtains and couldn't see her anyway.

Mrs. Brown was stunned for a long time, and then she managed to squeeze out from between her lips, "Meeting you... your teachers are really unlucky."

Eliana stomped her foot angrily, "How so! Susan, do you think it was unlucky for you to pick me up back then?"

"Well, not exactly. I'm quite glad," Mrs. Brown replied instinctively.

Eliana's mood immediately improved. She raised her head and happily scurried over to Mrs. Brown, wanting a hug.

Mrs. Brown smiled at her, looking very loving.

For some reason, Eliana felt her smile was a bit cold, but the warm atmosphere made her think she was overthinking it. She happily reached out to link arms with Mrs. Brown.

"Let's go inside quickly. Do you have any more chores to do? I'll help you... Ow!!"

She yelped, clutching her head and jumping up. She cried out in shock and grievance, "Susan, why did you hit me?"

Mrs. Brown sneered and rolled up her sleeves, revealing her lean but strong arms.

"I hit you!"

This pale and thin woman suddenly erupted with astonishing strength. She lunged like a lioness, pinning Eliana under her claws and then repeatedly spanking her on the bottom.

"Do you think I'm stupid? You're telling me the school gave you the old curtains because they were getting new ones? Then what about the sofa covers you had underneath? Did they give you those too because they were getting rid of them? What kind of school is so generous? It would go bankrupt before it could even admit you!"

"I know you! Huh? I bet you found an empty classroom or something that wasn't used often, and you just helped yourself to it! Your school is indeed good, letting a rat like you into the granary!"

Eliana cried out in pain as she was being spanked.

The children who had been watching were stunned. They started crying and came forward, trying to rescue Eliana.

"Everyone stand still!"

Mrs. Brown roared, her eyes scanning the children sharply like an eagle's.

"Eliana Rich, I overlooked that you've lost your previous memories, and perhaps forgotten some basic principles—and to all of you, I'll take this opportunity to emphasize together—other people's belongings, regardless of whether they are useful or redundant, are still other people's!"

"You are not allowed to touch them, let alone take them, no matter how many reasons you have—unless you have permission! I do not wish for even a single thief to appear in our orphanage!"

She said sternly, "Yes, the orphanage's funds are not very abundant, and perhaps you worry about this, but this is a matter for us adults; you don't need to help in this way! Rest assured, as long as I, Susan Brown, am the Director of the orphanage, I will never let you starve!"

"Everyone, take the cloth you have to the laundry room."

"Eliana, you wash all these cloths clean, then bring them back to school undamaged and tell the teacher you brought them home simply to help the school with cleaning and express your gratitude to the school—"

She looked at the other children who were silently rolling up their sleeves and said coldly, "No one else is allowed to help her. This is Eliana's punishment."

"After you finish washing, Eliana, you will go to the Detention Room and stay for one night. You must reflect carefully on your behavior."

Having been publicly spanked, Eliana was like a dejected duckling, pouting her swollen bottom as she shuffled towards the laundry room in the backyard.

"Okay, Susan."

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