Power and Wealth
Chapter 1544 – Teacher Jiang was knocked into
Morning.
It’s a little after seven.
Been busy for over an hour.
Outside the university auditorium, Sun Ruhua, Zhao Meng, and Lei Haidong were chatting and drinking water while casually laying out tablecloths.
“How many leaders are coming today?”
“I heard quite a few.”
“Yeah, many leaders also graduated from our university.”
“Teacher Jiang said leaders from our city’s education bureau will also be coming.”
“Oh, then we should go out and greet them later.”
“Definitely, but the leaders probably won’t arrive too early, just a little after seven.”
“That’s right. Leaders always arrive fashionably late otherwise it would seem too cheap.”
They chatted freely, and when they saw nothing much to do, they all found chairs to sit down. Meanwhile, Dong Xuebing came out of the auditorium, carried out the last few chairs, and then took a deep breath. The items were not light, and he was pretty tired. At this time, Teacher Jiang also came over with a few students carrying decorative flowers placed on the tables. Soon, there was nothing left to do here.
Jiang Min smiled at them. “Are you all tired?”
Lei Haidong grinned. “Teacher Jiang, we’re not tired. It’s mostly Xuebing, who has been busy. My arm hasn’t been feeling well these days. Zhao Meng caught a cold, and Sun Ruhua is a girl, so we felt a bit embarrassed and couldn’t help much.”
Jiang Min said, “It’s okay. I’m just glad you all came.”
Zhao Meng laughed. “If you call us, we’ll come, Teacher Jiang.”
Jiang Min took out a tissue and handed it to Dong Xuebing. “Wipe your sweat. You look exhausted.”
Dong Xuebing took it and wiped his forehead. “Heh, it’s nothing.”
“Xuebing, you’ve worked hard,” Lei Haidong said to Dong Xuebing.
Dong Xuebing smiled gracefully. Lei Haidong’s tone hinted at authority, as if Sun Ruhua and Zhao Meng were his classmates while Dong Xuebing was his subordinate. Sun Ruhua and Zhao Meng didn’t care, probably considering it natural. Jiang Min glanced at Lei Haidong but didn’t say anything.
“The banner fell.”
“Couldn’t reach it.”
“Can any male student help?”
Several female students shouted at the entrance of the auditorium.
Jiang Min went up to inquire about the situation as soon as she saw it, and Dong Xuebing followed suit, looking up and climbing up to help them secure the banner.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Which faculty are you from, classmate?”
“I graduated three years ago, hehe.”
While speaking, Dong Xuebing climbed down from the ladder.
Jiang Min immediately went up to support him, “I shouldn’t have called you earlier. It’s the teacher’s fault. They only see you busy.” Glancing at the trio of Lei Haidong in the distance, Teacher Jiang probably didn’t know what to say, so she could only shake her head. She felt like Dong Xuebing was being taken advantage of.
Dong Xuebing didn’t mind and said, “Why blame yourself? I’m not here to stroll around and watch. I’m here to help you, Teacher Jiang.”
Jiang Min said, “I thought the students in your class would have a good relationship, and I wanted you to communicate more.”
Dong Xuebing replied, “You know I didn’t talk to anyone in the class before, except for a few words with Yao Cui. I didn’t have any friends.”
“Your tolerance is quite admirable.”
“Haha, it’s all about practice.”
“It’s a good thing. It shows growth.”
Dong Xuebing smiled faintly, not responding. He had indeed grown, but he was still the same Dong Xuebing. Even though he had matured to some extent, his maturity was limited. He didn’t get angry because he had the tolerance to endure it; in fact, the fundamental reason was that Dong Xuebing didn’t really care about Sun Ruhua, Zhao Meng, and Lei Haidong. He did things his way, unaffected by others’ opinions or actions. Whether they talked or not had nothing to do with him. The only person in this school he cared about and valued was probably Teacher Jiang Min.
“Is there anything else to do?” Dong Xuebing asked.
Teacher Jiang glanced around. “Almost everything is done. Nothing much left.” She looked at her watch. “The anniversary celebration hasn’t started yet. You can take a break in the auditorium for a while.”
Dong Xuebing asked, “What about you?”
“I’ll go outside to check. We still need to welcome the leaders later.”
“Okay then. I won’t join the welcoming. Just let me know if you need anything.”
“Alright. Take a rest for a while. Don’t go back in the afternoon. I will treat you all to dinner.”
After saying that, Teacher Jiang turned and left. Dong Xuebing glanced in the direction of Lei Haidong and the others, seeing them chatting happily without even looking at Dong Xuebing’s direction. So, he didn’t bother going over and instead lit a cigarette.
After smoking, he casually entered the auditorium, showed his pass at the entrance, and went inside. Oh, there was a rehearsal going on stage. The first program was a dance performance, with several university students dancing gracefully to music accompaniment. They were all young girls and looked quite attractive. Dong Xuebing, who had a weakness for women, naturally narrowed his eyes and sat back in the last row of the auditorium, enjoying their performance.
The following program was a comic dialogue and a group singing performance. Unfortunately, the programs were cut short, and the next one started quickly due to time constraints.
“Hey, you, come over here.”
“Calling you, the one in sportswear.”
A middle-aged man with graying hair called out from nearby.
Dong Xuebing looked over and saw him looking at him. “Me?”
A student called out to the middle-aged man from a distance, “Principal Wang, we still need a few more people. The equipment is old and heavy.”
“I know.” Principal Wang continued to wave at Dong Xuebing. “Stop watching the rehearsal. Come over and help with moving things.”
Dong Xuebing responded with an “oh” and withdrew his gaze indifferently, not acknowledging him, and continued to sit there, savoring the rehearsal.
Seeing this, Principal Wang became annoyed and said, “I called you, didn’t you hear? Everyone else is busy, but you’re just slacking off, right? Hurry up and come over.”
Dong Xuebing recognized him as one of the vice Principals of the university. He had held the same position during Dong Xuebing’s student term. Judging from his hands-on directing, he hadn’t been promoted in the past three years. Dong Xuebing had limited contact with this vice Principal. He only saw him speaking a few times at school meetings. It was said that he had a bad temper and a mediocre reputation. Dong Xuebing didn’t have an awful impression of him, nor did he have a good one. Hearing him yell like this, Dong Xuebing chose to ignore him selectively, as if he hadn’t seen him at all.
Principal Wang felt embarrassed. He couldn’t even command a student. Unable to bear it, he coldly pointed at Dong Xuebing’s face and asked, “Which department are you from?”
Still, Dong Xuebing remained silent.
Many students around were astonished, looking at Dong Xuebing in surprise.
Over there, someone loudly said, “Principal Wang, we found people, and everything has been moved.”
Principal Wang’s stern gaze finally glanced at Dong Xuebing before he turned and went backstage.
Dong Xuebing shook his head inwardly, thinking, “You even want me to help you move things? Am I a laborer?” Dong Xuebing only cared about Teacher Jiang. If Teacher Jiang asked for something, he would do it without hesitation. Whatever he did was reasonable. But Principal Wang, who are you? Do we have any relationship? I’m here to help my Teacher and join the anniversary celebration. I’m not here to be ordered around by you.
The choir came down from the stage.
One of the boys blinked at Dong Xuebing and whispered, “Bro, that’s Principal Wang.”
“I know,” Dong Xuebing smiled. “I’ve been out of school for three years. Why would I care about him?”
Immediately, some of the boys and girls burst into laughter. “So you’re a senior, huh? Then it’s okay. Principal Wang is nothing special. He loves bossing people around.”
A girl said, “Yeah, before our rehearsal today, he even got us to hang up banners.”
Dozens of people gradually sat down behind the auditorium. “Senior, which department were you in before?”
“Computer Science,” Dong Xuebing replied.
Someone exclaimed, “We’re also in Computer Science!”
Another person said, “Who was your previous class teacher?”
“Jiang Min, who taught Advanced Mathematics,” Dong Xuebing answered.
A boy laughed, “What a coincidence! Teacher Jiang currently teaches our class.”
Dong Xuebing was taken aback. So, they were Teacher Jiang’s students. He smiled, his face showing kindness. “I see. Then you guys are fortunate.”
“Exactly, Teacher Jiang is great.”
“Yeah, she often cooks for us herself. Haha, but the pot in the staff office is too small. Every time, it’s only enough for five or six people. We always have to fight over it.”
“Teacher Jiang can be a bit scary when she’s angry.”
“Hehe, Dongzi, it’s your fault for always annoying Teacher.”
Dong Xuebing chatted with everyone. They were all his juniors, and he felt a sense of familiarity with them.
Half an hour passed.
An hour passed.
The rehearsal ended.
Looking at the time, it was already nine o’clock.
Teacher Jiang’s class students had already left, and Dong Xuebing estimated that everyone who needed to enter the venue should have already done so. The leaders who arrived early might also be arriving soon. It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to continue sitting here. He got up, straightened his clothes, and saw several school staff members clearing up. Dong Xuebing followed them and some members of the student union out. Outside, Lei Haidong and the others were nowhere to be seen, probably going to the school gate with Teacher Jiang. Not seeing anyone, Dong Xuebing subconsciously took out a cigarette, not intending to go outside.
Suddenly, the sound of commotion came from the direction of the school gate.
Dong Xuebing glanced over there, but it was too far, and he couldn’t see anything.
However, not long after, there was a sudden burst of discussion beside him, as if someone had received a phone call.
“There’s trouble at the gate.”
“What happened?”
“A teacher was knocked down by a leader’s car.”
“Is it serious?”
“I don’t know. Xiao Liang is at the gate, and he said the teacher fell and hasn’t gotten up for a while.”
“Let’s go quickly and see what happened. What kind of leader can’t even drive properly?”
“Which teacher is it? Is it from our department?”
“No, it seems to be a teacher from the Computer Science department who teaches Advanced Mathematics. I can’t remember the name, but others call her Teacher Jiang.”
What?
Teacher Jiang was hit.