013 Family Forum
Old Li's messages are always so unserious.
Although Li Zheng still didn't know what "steady process" and "ergodic theorem" were, he could vaguely feel the power of this phrase.
He even started looking forward to learning these two concepts sooner.
Li Zheng put down the sticky note and with a mere swipe of his hand, picked up three large bills from the shoe cabinet. Then, he grabbed another sticky note to write a reply to his father, stroke by stroke.
His handwriting was practiced using his father's old copybooks.
Judging by the writing alone, you could say they were carved from the same mold, truly identical.
"Old Li, the money has been received."
"200 for the basketball, 100 for school supplies."
"Lately, study materials have been running tight, please understand."
"Besides, I'm having trouble with chemistry, any suggestions?"
"——Li Zheng"
"2018.10.11, 07:10"
He stuck the reply on the door, feeling satisfied before heading out.
Posting and replying to notes were considered a tradition in Li Zheng's home.
His father, Li Yi, had to get up at 5 a.m. daily to prepare for surgeries at the hospital, while his mother was constantly on business trips all over the country. It was common for the family not to see each other for a week.
Fortunately, all three of them had independent personalities and accepted this situation as a matter of course.
Interestingly, at some point, his father had started leaving "posts and messages" at the door.
Then Li Zheng and his mother began replying and adding their own posts.
Unconsciously, the door notes became their unique family communication method.
Even with the advent of WeChat, the family continued to enjoy this practice.
Perhaps it was only through these writings they could feel each other's warmth.
However, this time, Li Zheng was lying.
He had spent more than 130 yuan on school supplies on the way, and he hadn't bought the basketball.
There was no helping it, as his study efficiency improved, the consumption rate of study materials also increased.
After all this, Li Zheng arrived at the school gate at 7:40, a full 40 minutes later than usual.
As he parked his bicycle, he grit his teeth in frustration.
His early morning solitary word memorization session was gone.
He would need to make up for it during breaks.
With this determination, Li Zheng carried his enormously packed backpack and walked hurriedly toward the school gate with his head down.
It was peak time for students entering the school, with four weekly duty students stationed on either side and the dean standing in the middle.
Li Zheng buried his head even lower amidst the crowd and walked even faster.
No good.
It's Sun Xiubin.
Don't talk to her.
Don't even look at her.
If you make eye contact and start chatting, you're done for.
Forget about completing the "single subject enthusiast" task, even keeping today's vitality would be at risk.
Just walk past like a passerby, as usual.
On the other side, Sun Xiubin was nodding to the students who greeted her in a bow.
She was also pointing out faults in passing.
"You, you, and you, your hair needs cutting, it's hard to tell if you're a boy or girl."
"What's that stuck on your uniform? Tear it off, tear it off."
"This parent here, even if you're wearing your child's uniform, you can't come in... oh, Liu Xin, you need a haircut too... never mind, keep it."
Bathed in the morning light, although Sun Xiubin was a strict person, she had a smile on her face.
To her, these reminders were not scoldings but acts of care.
With the city-level model high school evaluation looming, school discipline and atmosphere couldn't afford even the slightest negligence—not a single small issue.
At this moment, a boy's figure stood out in the crowd.
He walked like a race walker on double speed, head down, wriggling his way forward.
Judging by his backpack, he seemed to be on his way for a hike.
More importantly, he deliberately avoided her, with a sneaky expression.
"You, you, you, you, you!!! Stop!!" Sun Xiubin even cracked her voice, "Li Zheng!!! Come here to me!!!"
Li Zheng froze.
How did she notice...
If he had known, he wouldn't have provoked Teacher Hu yesterday.
But after all, the entire school was within Sun Xiubin's domain, and Li Zheng had nowhere to escape.
He had no choice but to straighten up and walk over to Sun Xiubin.
His immediate task was to contain the damage.
He had to resolve this quickly, minimizing the loss of vitality value.
"Good morning, teacher," Li Zheng bowed swiftly.
"No, no, no, I'm not good. You are," Sun Xiubin pointed at Li Zheng and said, "What are you doing here?"
Even for someone like Sun Xiubin, she hadn't been this angry since the crackdown on early romances.
The students entering school paused to watch.
Even the weekly duty students were beaming with excitement.
The students without uniforms or with secretly painted nails took the opportunity to slip inside.
Li Zheng, however, was at a loss for words with the question.
I'm of course here to attend school.
But from the dean's slightly sarcastic Beijinger accent.
Was he implying I came here to perform crosstalk?
Should I respond with a "What do you think?"
Seeing Li Zheng's innocent expression, Sun Xiubin was so mad her liver trembled, she circled around and fiercely patted his enormous backpack, questioning: "Going camping?"
"Oh, this," Li Zheng nodded, "It's all study-related stuff."
"Study-related? Let me see," Sun Xiubin beckoned, "Inspect the backpack!"
Li Zheng bit his lip in frustration.
Morning self-study time was already wasted.
Now they had to check his backpack.
"Dean, it took me a long time to pack it," Li Zheng replied reluctantly.
Stuffing so many materials inside was tough.
"Hurry up," Sun Xiubin urged, "Other students would talk about respecting personal privacy, but your excuse is something new."
At this moment, a female weekly duty student quickly approached: "Let me... Dean..."
Li Zheng glanced up and realized it was the girl he had played ball with yesterday, just an ordinary student.
After winking at him vigorously, she went behind him and unzipped his backpack.
She glanced inside for a moment before saying to Sun Xiubin: "Dean, it really is all study materials..."
"You call that inspecting a backpack? A cat could dig more vigorously," Sun Xiubin scolded, "Don't waste time, take everything out."
Li Zheng realized that with such a person, resisting would only waste more time.
Cooperate, resolve it quickly, and make her shut up for good.
Li Zheng then took off his backpack: "I'll do it myself, so it's easier to repack later."
With that, he carefully placed the backpack on the ground, taking out bundles of materials one by one, categorizing them, and laying them flat on the ground.
Chemistry ①.
Chemistry ① Teacher's Teaching Book.
Chemistry ① Master Teacher Courseware.
High School Essential Questions (Chemistry).
High School Chemistry Olympiad.
Five-Year College Entrance Examination Three-Year Simulation (College Entrance Chemistry).
...
As the piles of books laid out flat on the ground.
The air fell silent.
At first, the students were just watching for fun, then came surprise, followed by fear.
Eventually, there was only silence.
But this was just the beginning.
Next, Li Zheng took out a stack of brand-new notebooks.
A large bundle of scratch paper.
A box of the famously luxurious Morninglight pen refills.
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
Li Zheng still hadn't stopped.
"It really took a lot of effort to pack all this," Li Zheng was sweating.
Seeing the sweat drip onto the ground, the students felt a pang of sympathy.
Thinking about how he would have to pack it all back again.
They even felt a bit sorry for him.
Sun Xiubin was also stunned.
In her decades of teaching, she had never seen such a person.