Chapter 14

It seemed there really were demons and monsters hiding in that primary school. Lu Tinglan would have to go and see for herself.

That was easy to say, but she was going there to teach. Not wanting to lead the children astray, Lu Tinglan picked up the lesson planner the previous teacher had passed on, went back to her room, lit the oil lamp, and stayed up late preparing.

Early the next morning, Mother Lu woke Lu Tinglan while she was still dreaming. She stared at her in a daze. "Mom, what time is it? I'm so sleepy... Let me sleep a little longer!"

Mother Lu wasn't about to indulge her daughter. "Get moving. The breakfast I set out for you is almost cold. Get ready and go early so you make a good impression on your first day."

Lu Tinglan knew her mother was right, but she was short on sleep. She lay there whimpering, hugging her quilt and refusing to get up.

"I won't eat breakfast. Just let me sleep a little longer..."

Without a shred of mercy, Mother Lu yanked off the quilt. The cold made Lu Tinglan shudder, and she reluctantly crawled out of bed.

As she dressed at a snail's pace, Lu Tinglan grumbled to herself.

The school's ten minutes away at most, and she woke me when it was barely light out. Isn't this way too early? Whatever it is, can't it wait until I've slept a little longer...

Mother Lu could take no more. She reached out and pinched her daughter's cheek, finally silencing the grumbling in her head. "Hurry up!"

The pinch jolted Lu Tinglan fully awake. Once she was dressed, Mother Lu pulled her into the main room.

For the first time, the whole family had gathered around the Lu breakfast table this early in the morning.

"Well, look who's here," Lu Jiancheng called, then added with obvious glee, "Take your time eating. From now on, we'll both have to get up early!"

Ahhh—

Lu Tinglan let out a piercing shriek in her head. The other three Lus looked as though they were in agony.

It was nothing. Their eardrums just weren't feeling too good...

Lu Tinglan wailed inwardly. What did I do to deserve being woken at six in the morning? I can't take it. This dining table looks like an excellent spot, so let me collapse here and sleep forever!

She couldn't bear to think about the bleak life of early mornings ahead. Right now, Lu Tinglan felt as if life had lost all meaning and color.

I can't live like this!

Mother Lu rubbed her nose awkwardly. Wasn't it because the bombshell you dropped kept the whole family up all night that we got up so early...?

Lu Tinglan finished breakfast while nodding off. Seeing that it was about time, she slung her floral cloth bag over her shoulder and prepared to leave for school.

To her surprise, the other three people in the room stood up with her and walked to the door together.

When Lu Tinglan went out, so did they. When she turned right, they turned right too. But that was nothing like the direction they usually took to the fields or to work!

"What are you doing?" Lu Tinglan asked, baffled.

Lu Jiancheng chuckled twice before saying, "I don't have classes for the first two periods. Your big brother will come have a look at the primary school with you."

Mother Lu chimed in, "It's your first day at work. I'm worried!"

Father Lu nodded. Clearly, he felt the same.

Lu Tinglan stamped her foot in her mind. ...My dear mom, dad, and brother, I'm eighteen, not eight! You don't have to follow me everywhere like I'm some giant baby!

The three exchanged glances and saw the same helplessness in one another's eyes. Why else would they be trailing after her like anxious parents? Of course they knew it was strange for the whole family to escort her to work.

It was all because of Lu Tinglan's inner voice. For those children's sake, they had to go to the primary school and meet those two "characters"!

The Lu Family Village primary school stood on a hill. It had once been a temple. After the campaign to destroy the Four Olds, the temple had been torn down, but the rooms were still usable, so they had been turned into a school.

The walk took them across almost half the village. Lu Cuicui was sweeping her yard just then, and she greeted Lu Tinglan warmly when she saw her.

"Where's your whole family off to so early?"

Lu Tinglan smiled and answered over the courtyard wall, "I'm filling in at the primary school for a few days."

Lu Cuicui's expression turned unnatural at once. Lu Tinglan didn't want to say more, so she waved. "Cuicui, it's getting late. I'd better go."

After Lu Tinglan left, Lu Cuicui threw down her broom and kicked at the ground a couple of times in fury.

"Just because she's the village chief's daughter, every good thing falls into her lap? Why did she get that teaching position?"

Her sister-in-law, who had just woken up, pushed open the window and sneered lazily. "Some people are born with a wretched lot. Don't blame others for being blessed. Lu Tinglan isn't just becoming a teacher. I heard the village chief is giving her that university place too! What's the use of studying hard? You still couldn't get a job arranged and had to come back to work the fields for work points."

"If you ask me, you should've dropped out long ago and gotten married. You'd have saved us years of wasted grain!"

Those words cut straight to the heart. Lu Cuicui clenched and unclenched her fists, seething inside. But with her pregnant sister-in-law, she didn't dare talk back. All she could do was quietly nurse a grudge against the village chief's family.

Meanwhile, the four Lus arrived at the school.

The production brigade's primary school had three teachers in total, including its principal, Qin Shujie. One of the others was Liu Cuilan's son, Lu Xiaohu. Lu Tinglan was taking the place of the teacher who had become pregnant.

Each teacher was responsible for two grades. Qin Shujie taught the older children, Lu Xiaohu taught third and fourth grade, and Lu Tinglan had the two grades that had only recently started school.

When the primary school was first established and had fewer pupils, Qin Shujie had taught them all by himself. He taught conscientiously, and after so many classes had passed through his hands, not a single student had a bad word to say about him.

Of all the educated youths who had come over the years, Qin Shujie was the only one who had become part of village life. In all her years, Lu Tinglan had never heard a bad word about him either. That good reputation, built up over time, made it all the easier for him to do bad things.

When they reached the school halfway up the mountainside, the other two teachers were already seated in the office. They greeted Lu Tinglan enthusiastically.

But when he saw the whole family sweeping in behind her, the younger Lu Xiaohu couldn't control himself. Disgust showed plainly on his face.

Qin Shujie gave his arm what he thought was a discreet nudge. Only then did Lu Xiaohu force his expression back to normal.

Lu Tinglan was already assessing them in her head. Well, one's an old fox and the other's rash as a bull. They complement each other perfectly. No wonder they became a pair of adulterers.

A strange burst of coughing sounded behind Lu Tinglan.

The Lus shook their heads inwardly. No, no. Two men getting together was too much of a shock for old-fashioned people like us. We can't take it in just yet!

None of the four looked at the pair opposite them. The atmosphere grew subtly awkward.

Awkward or not, Qin Shujie kept smiling. He personally led Lu Tinglan to the classroom, speaking to her with great familiarity. "Of all the high school graduates in the village, you were the one I wanted most. I'm truly glad you came!"

Lu Xiaohu came over too, wearing a friendly smile. "I'll introduce you to the students."

There were fifteen children in first grade and twenty in second, all in one classroom. When Lu Tinglan followed Qin Shujie inside, every child looked at her curiously with bright, dark eyes.

They were all from the same village. Lu Tinglan was more than ten years older than they were, and while some might not know her well, at least her face was familiar. As Lu Xiaohu introduced the children, she committed their faces to memory one by one. Then she told them simply to call her "Teacher Lu." Without saying anything more, she began the lesson.

Seeing the two scoundrels putting on such a convincing show in front of everyone, the Lus, who had come to see what they could find out, put aside their detective ambitions for the moment. They exchanged a look and left the school.

Once the three of them were gone, not only did Qin Shujie and Lu Xiaohu relax, but Lu Tinglan could breathe easier too.

The school had few classrooms, so both grades had to stay in the same room. When Lu Tinglan taught one class, the pupils in the other had to turn their backs and work on exercises she had assigned beforehand.

The primary school's schedule was fairly considerate. After two lessons, the teachers took all the pupils out for an activity period.

They called it an activity period, but it really meant taking the pupils somewhere else to earn work points. There wasn't much fieldwork in winter, so each child was given a small basket to fill with pig fodder. A full basket earned two work points.

It wasn't much work. The quick-handed children could finish in half a period, then spend the remaining time running wild on the mountain.

The pupils probably knew this little mountain better than their own homes. Lu Tinglan took the chance to slack off, lying on the bare grass with her eyes narrowed as she pretended to doze.

Suddenly, an unidentified lump flew in from a distance and landed with a soft splat on her stomach. Lu Tinglan looked closely. It was a sodden clump of mud!

Mud didn't do much damage, but the insult landed hard. Lu Tinglan's clean clothes were filthy in an instant. Worse, a group of girls from fourth and fifth grade had gathered nearby and were laughing freely at the sight of her.

"Teacher Lu's a dirty little bundle!"

"Doesn't she look like a piglet that fell into a mud pit?"

"She couldn't even dodge something that obvious. She's so stupid!"

An ordinary young woman might have been so humiliated that she ran home crying to her parents. But Lu Tinglan was no ordinary woman. She strode over and seized the culprit.

Furious, Lu Tinglan wiped hard at the mud on her clothes. Then she looked at the girl before her, who was dressed in an overly "mature and gaudy" fashion, and demanded, "Who gave you the nerve to bully me like this?"