Lynn just thought that he wanted to visit a nearby city and it happened to be a change of mood, so he got up and said hello to Rongshan.
The two of them changed into inconspicuous casual clothes and went down the mountain. They first hailed a taxi at the foot of the mountain and went to the city station, and then transferred to the intercity shuttle bus.
Along the way, John acted very naturally, without any urgency.
When he came across a stall selling local oranges on the roadside, he got out of the car and weighed a bag, peeled one open and handed it to Lynn. He talked about how everyone liked to eat orange popsicles when they were at Vanguard Camp.
When the car passed the cross-river bridge, Lynn was still eating oranges and chatting with John.
My eyes swept across the slightly gray river surface outside the window and the rows of old-style tube buildings on the shore, and my voice became quieter unconsciously.
After getting out of the car, the two of them walked along the somewhat cracked cement road.
There was a hardware store with a faded sign on the corner, a low wall with red paint on the roadside but it had not been moved, and a cold wind carrying the smell of river water blowing in the face.
Lynn The half-leaf orange in his hand stopped at his mouth, and his steps became slower and slower.
It looked familiar to him.
Those images that I thought were blurred two lifetimes ago are rejoined with incomparable clarity with every brick that I step on.
John noticed that the people around him became quiet, so he also slowed down and walked side by side with him.
He didn't ask whether it was a surprise or not, nor did he take the initiative to reveal the answer to the mystery.
Until he turned a corner with briquettes piled up, Lynn came to a complete stop in front of a residential building.
He turned his head and looked at John in disbelief. "John, how could you..."
"I want to take you to see it."
John looked into his eyes with a smile on his face.
Lynn moved his lips, but before he could ask any more questions, a harsh quarrel suddenly erupted from a half-open security door on the second floor.
"You still have the nerve to mention your hometown? If you hadn't ignored me all day long, how could our family be like this?"
The woman's voice was sharp, and the resentment in her tone had obviously been pent-up for a long time.
"I don't care? What's the snack and drink for that old family? Now even the children's grades have dropped like this, and the class teacher's phone calls are all on my mobile phone. What do you do for food at home every day!"
The man's roar followed, causing the voice-activated lights in the corridor to light up.
It was a marital rift that had been building up for too long, and a few failed exam papers were just an excuse to hit the gun.
Lynn was frozen in place, as if he had been nailed to the cement floor.
After a few seconds, the security door was suddenly opened.
A pair of young men and women with livid faces walked out one after another, still blaming each other.
Those two faces, no matter how many years have passed, Lynn will never admit they are wrong.
Behind them, a little boy carrying a worn-out backpack and wearing a large school uniform slowly moved out of the door.
The child looked about eight or nine years old and was small and thin.
His parents were still arguing loudly above his head. He was holding on to the schoolbag strap on his chest, hanging his head very low, and his thin shoulders instinctively flinched with every loud curse from the adults.
He neither cried nor made a fuss and pulled on his parents' clothes to ask for some attention.
He just stood close to the wall, breathing very lightly, trying his best to shrink himself into the shadows, for fear that if he made any movement, the two groups of anger that had nowhere to vent would be drawn to himself.
Lynn Looking at that little figure, his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and he couldn't utter even a single word.
He suddenly felt a little dazed, as if he was back to his childhood again.
Being so small and small, he struggled in the hysterical Stormfront of the adults. He could only count the dust on the ground and waited fearfully for everything to end.
A warm palm gently rested on Lynn's shoulder.
John took half a step forward and stood quietly beside him, using her body to block the rushing river wind for him.
The couple in the corridor did not hit the child, but cursed and dragged the boy downstairs:
"Let's go to school! Let's see how we can hold our heads up in front of the teacher!"
Lynn breathed slightly and raised his feet to follow.
John didn't say a word, tacitly accompanying him at a distance that would not be noticed, and followed the family of three into the elementary school not far away.
I just read this point early, and it's very quiet in Campus.
The door to the teacher's office on the first floor was ajar.
Lynn and John stood under the shadow of the trees outside the corridor. Through the windows, they could clearly see what was going on inside.
The couple, who just wanted to bite off a piece of each other's flesh on the road, immediately changed their guns as soon as they entered the office.
"Teacher Wang, we send our children to school for your education!"
The man patted the test paper on his desk, spittle flying everywhere, "It's only been half a semester, and your grades have dropped like this. How do your teachers usually teach?"
The woman also helped:
"That's right, we are usually busy at work, and our grandparents are too old to take care of them, so they all point to the school. It's better for you to go to your parents whenever something goes wrong. Then why should we pay tuition?"
The young head teacher was sitting behind his desk, his face a little pale, but he still held back his anger and explained:
"Two parents, this child Lynn is usually very smart, but he has been distracted in class recently. He gets nervous and trembles when talking a little louder. I want to communicate with you whether there is something happening at home that has affected the child recently..."
"What do you mean? You can't teach students well and you blame our family?"
The man immediately exploded and slammed the table, "You teachers are just shirking your responsibilities like this?"
The head teacher's chest heaved violently due to this nonsense, and he stood up to defend his students. "I'm not shirking responsibility, I feel sorry for the state of my children at school!"
"Stop doing this! I think there is something wrong with your teaching!"
The quarrel in the office became louder and louder, causing several teachers passing by to look around.
In the corner next to the office door, Little Lynn still maintains the same posture as he did in the corridor just now.
He lowered his head, staring at the tips of his unglued sneakers, and the words "his grades dropped," "he failed to teach well," and "shameful" filled his ears.
He didn't dare to look up at the teacher, let alone defend himself. He just felt that all the chaos and quarrels in the room were all caused by his stupidity.
Lynn stood outside the window and watched this scene quietly.
He looked at the young teacher in the office who was trying to protect his students, but was forced to turn red by the unreasonable parents, and then looked at the child in the corner who took all the blame on himself.
Through a glass window, he finally saw clearly the child back then and himself standing on the podium at the same moment.
In the office, another older teacher couldn't stand it anymore. He walked in and patted Little Lynn on the shoulder, whispering to him to go back to the classroom first and not to stand here and listen.
Little Lynn, as if he had received an amnesty, nodded in panic, turned around, pushed open the door and walked out as if he was running away.
Lynn and John retreated to the corner of the corridor.
Little Lynn walked along the corridor to his class.
When he passed by the door of the next class, several senior students who came out to make fun after class recognized him, pointed in the direction of the office and burst into laughter:
"Look, they are arguing in the office again, and it's so loud every time!"
Cheers echoed in the corridor.
Little Lynn's body froze for a moment and he didn't protest. He just buried his head deeper and almost jogged to walk through this corridor.
Looking at the thin figure escaping hastily, Lynn did not stop where he was this time.
He unclenched his clenched fists, took steps, and followed directly along the corridor.