Chapter 16: Apologies

 

“Apologize to Teacher He!” Yan Ruiping shouted angrily.

Wan Kun didn’t speak. His eyes rested on He Lijun’s face, and her heart pounded.

Seeing his silence, Yan’s expression faltered. He raised the mop to strike again.

“Wan Kun!” He Lijun suddenly called out. Yan paused and turned his head toward her.

Her expression serious, she looked at Wan Kun.

“Tell me—what you did today, was it wrong?”

Wan Kun remained silent.

“You—” Yan started to protest.

“Teacher Yan,” He Lijun interrupted, “let me say a few words to him.”

Yan, his throat hoarse from scolding, nodded and stepped aside with Hu Fei. Hu handed him a teapot, and Yan gulped down a few cups.

He Lijun looked Wan Kun in the eye. “If you don’t want to attend class, you can sleep in the back, or even skip. But once you enter the classroom, you are a student. You are obligated to listen. You have no right to disrupt your classmates. I will let today pass, but if it happens again, I will ask you not to attend my class.”

Wan Kun quietly lowered his head.

His eyes were like black flames—fearless, mischievous, with a hidden smirk. He Lijun felt her words and her heart split apart.

She was essentially pleading for him.

Yes. Both of them knew it. He Lijun didn’t make him apologize because she sensed that, with Hu Fei and Yan nearby, he would never do it.

Other teachers might not realize, but she knew how stubborn he was—like a stone hammered repeatedly on a construction site. His patience had no limits.

While Yan and Hu waited with tea, He Lijun briefly scolded the two boys and said,

“Let today be over. I hope this won’t happen again. The teachers still have confidence in you. You may leave now.”

Wan Kun smirked, said nothing, and turned to leave with Wu Yueming, backpacks slung over their shoulders.

“Hey—hey—” Yan was unprepared for this. He Lijun stepped in front of him.

“Teacher Yan, let it go this time.”

Hu Fei added, “If you don’t discipline them properly, they’ll repeat this next time. If they think you’re easy to bully, your class will never go smoothly.”

He Lijun said, “I’ll give them one chance. If it happens again, I won’t spare them.”

The two male teachers exchanged glances and sighed. Yan said, “You ladies are always too soft. With these types, you can’t be soft. This is just minor mischief. You haven’t even seen how ruthless he can be.”

He Lijun lowered her head as she walked down the corridor beside them, staring at the gray cement floor.

“…Really?” she murmured.

Back in her office, she sat at her desk, feeling exhausted.

A soft knock at the door made her turn. Wu Wei stood there, eyes glistening with tears.

“Oh dear,” He Lijun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Wu Wei, come in. What’s wrong?”

“Teacher…” Wu Wei stepped in, face puffy, tears and snot running. “It’s all my fault.”

“What’s your fault?”

“If I hadn’t misread the question in class…”

She couldn’t help smiling at the memory of “ascending the tower alone,” but held back for Wu Wei’s sake.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“But—”

“Come, stop crying.” She patted his chubby shoulder. “Don’t dwell on small things. You’re grown up, and yet you cry so easily.”

Wu Wei sniffled and held back his tears.

“All right. Go have a good meal and forget about it.”

“Okay, Teacher. I’ll go now.”

“Good… wait!” She suddenly remembered something and called him back. Wu Wei turned.

“What’s up, Teacher?”

“You—” She glanced around. Hu Fei hadn’t returned. Liu Ying was reading. Peng Qian was shopping online. She stood and said, “Come, step out with me.”

They walked to the corridor. He Lijun whispered, “Has Wan Kun bothered you?”

At the mention of Wan Kun, Wu Wei shrank back.

He looked like a little puffball bird, his neck disappearing into a mound of soft flesh.

“No… not yet.”

“Not yet.”

He Lijun, ever the attentive teacher, asked the key question:

“Has Wan Kun ever caused you trouble before?”

Wu Wei hesitated. “Not exactly trouble.”

He Lijun recalled Wan Kun’s gaze in class—like a lion staring at a clueless zebra on the grasslands, deciding whether to attack on a whim.

“Wu Wei, if he ever bothers you, tell me immediately,” she said, feeling like a mafia boss issuing a protective warning.

She wasn’t sure if it would work…

Wu Wei sniffled and nodded.

“Do you have a pen?” she asked.

“Pen?” Wu Wei blinked.

“Yes.”

“I have one.” Wu Wei handed her a ballpoint pen.

“Paper?”

He dug out a notebook. She flipped it open and scribbled a string of numbers.

“What’s this?” Wu Wei asked.

“My phone number,” she said, returning the pen. “If Wan Kun or Wu Yueming bother you, call me.”

Wu Wei was so touched he almost cried again. She steadied him:

“Go back and put away your weekly journal.”

“Okay!”

Wu Wei wasn’t the fastest worker. It took until after school for him to submit the journal. He Lijun, worn out from the day, put it in her bag to grade at home.

---

Two hours later.

He Lijun sat at her desk, glancing at the goldfish blowing bubbles, then at the notebook.

The handwriting looked familiar. The signature, too.

Hadn’t he left?

Why did he submit the journal? Was it to annoy her?

She snorted. The fish, startled, wriggled, tail pointed at her. She flipped the notebook open to the first page. In the bottom right, Wan Kun’s handwriting, unusually restrained, read three words:

“I’m sorry.”

He Lijun was speechless, staring at those words. She picked up her pen to write comments, but her arm stiffened. She couldn’t think of anything to write. Finally, she closed the notebook and burst out laughing.

“You little rascal…” she said, writing eight words in the journal:

“Study well, improve every day.”

---

The next day at school, Wan Kun didn’t show up. He Lijun called Wu Wei to hand out the journals.

Wu Wei came to the office, smiling from ear to ear. Seeing He Lijun, his eyes sparkled like he was seeing a deity. She felt a little embarrassed as she handed him the journals.

Wu Wei rummaged through his bag, pulled out a small box, and placed it on her desk. Holding the journal, he said,

“Teacher, this is a specialty from my hometown. My mom made it and asked me to give you some.”

“Specialty?” He Lijun opened the box. Inside were six small dumplings wrapped in green leaves, with soft white glutinous rice peeking out—looking like sweet treats.

“Have one, Teacher,” Wu Wei said expectantly.

He Lijun picked one up and tried it.

Honestly, the taste was… odd.

The rice was glutinous, but there was filling too. Halfway through, she discovered the green center, chewed, and it tasted like grass.

“How is it?” Wu Wei asked. “My mom made them last night.”

She looked at him. “Hmm, quite good.”

“Then, Teacher, I’ll pick up the box tonight.”

“…Hmm.”

After Wu Wei left, Peng Qian peered at the box.

“Wow, Teacher, you got something nice?”

He Lijun handed it to her. “Here, try one.”

Peng Qian, always interested in food, slid over, took a bite, and frowned.

“What’s this? Smells funny.”

He Lijun shook her head. “Not sure. Said it’s a specialty.”

Hu Fei entered. She handed the box to him.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“A student gave it to me.”

“Which student?”

“Wu Wei from your class.”

“Oh, the little chubby one,” Peng Qian added.

Hu Fei nodded. “Good student. Studious… just a little too honest.”

He Lijun smiled.

“He studies seriously,” she said.

“Yes, most diligent in Class 6. He’ll have a bright future,” Hu Fei added.

“By the way, Teacher He,” Hu Fei remembered something, “come with me. I need to discuss something.”

Outside, he asked, “Have you decided about Teacher Li?”

“Huh?” He Lijun frowned. “Which Li teacher?”

“Li Changjia, from Yuying High School. Didn’t he tell you about the tutoring?” Hu Fei lowered his voice.

He Lijun sighed. She had forgotten amidst everything that had happened recently.

“You forgot,” Hu Fei guessed.

“Too busy before, didn’t think of it,” she admitted.

“So, are you going?”

“Yes,” she said firmly.

Hu Fei paused. “Already decided?”

“Yes.”

A few days ago, she might have hesitated. Now, she couldn’t afford to. If Wan Kun didn’t return her money soon, her own life would suffer.

She might as well embrace reality—and money—fully.

“All right, I’ll tell Teacher Li. He’ll be happy,” Hu Fei said.

Thoughts:

This chapter focuses on He Lijun’s authority, compassion, and growing trust with her students. Wan Kun’s subtle apology, Wu Wei’s heartfelt gesture, and the tutoring decision highlight her balance between strictness, care, and pragmatism in her life and career.