Soughing wind and rain in dreams

  The teacher's office building has a total of four floors, and the physics group office where Old Li is located is at the westernmost end of the second floor. After standing quietly in the leisure square for a while, Chen Haonan tiptoed and quickly ran up the stairs.

  However, just as he was about to rush up to the second floor, a tall girl suddenly appeared in front of him, and Chen Haonan was startled. He immediately stopped his hasty footsteps. The light in the corridor was a bit dim, but he still clearly saw her bright and beautiful face, as well as her long, flowing hair. What's even stranger is that when the girl saw Chen Haonan, she froze, and the expression on her face wasn't just surprise, but also a kind of special delight and excitement...

  He felt a bit awkward, Chen Haonan quickly took a step back and walked past the girl. In the instant he turned his body sideways, he inadvertently caught her eye, an eye that seemed to have been seen somewhere before, familiar, yet unrecognizable. However, he didn't look back again, but instead headed straight towards the physics department office.

  The office door was slightly ajar, and Chen Haonan tilted his head to glance inside through the window glass. He saw Director Li sitting at her desk, flipping through something. There was no one else in the office. This made Chen Haonan feel a little pleased, so he calmed himself down and gently knocked on the door.

  "Come in!" Old Li immediately responded with a loud voice as soon as he heard the knocking sound "Dong Dong".

  Hearing the teacher's consent, Chen Haonan gently pushed open the door and walked in.

  "Oh, Chen Haonan!" As soon as he saw that it was Chen Haonan who had come in, Old Li stopped what he was doing for a moment and said with a smile. However, he immediately went back to his own business.

  Slowly approaching the teacher's desk, Chen Haonan carefully thought for a moment in his heart and then said softly: "Teacher Li, I have something to tell you..." When he said this, he half lowered his head and didn't dare look directly at the teacher's face.

  As soon as Chen Haonan said this, Old Li immediately put down the lecture notes in his hand and asked: "What's up - you tell me!" His voice was loud and powerful, but it gave people a very kind and gentle feeling.

  "I came to the office wanting to tell you two things..." Chen Haonan involuntarily raised his head slightly and glanced at the class teacher. The encouraging eyes of Teacher Li made his somewhat panicked heart firm up again, so he slowly expressed his intention: "Firstly, I want to resign from the position of 'Study Committee Member' and let other excellent students take over; Secondly, I want to move out of school for a while."

  After finishing speaking, Chen Haonan let out a gentle sigh, but Old Li seemed very calm. He didn't rush to say anything, instead he slowly got up, moved a chair over and gestured for Chen Haonan to sit down. Then, he poured Chen Haonan a cup of water before returning to his original seat.

  Lao Li's series of actions, Chen Haonan's eyes were always tightly fixed on him, following closely, eagerly hoping that the head teacher could give him a reply soon. However, after a good while had passed, Lao Li still didn't make any move, he just leaned against the chair, staring at Chen Haonan. But how could Chen Haonan's anxious heart endure this long wait? …… "What is your opinion, anyway?" He finally broke the silent silence.

  "Then you first tell me why you want to do this?" At this time, Old Li quickly took over Chen Haonan's words and asked back.

  "I, I..." was suddenly asked by the class teacher, and Chen Haonan, who was already a little shy, couldn't help but mumble. But Old Li seemed not to give Chen Haonan even the time to mumble, his words came immediately, and they were very serious: "Haonan, what's wrong with you lately? If there's anything, just say it, your teacher will definitely help if he can..."

  "No, nothing's wrong with me... I'm fine..." Knowing he was lying and talking nonsense, Chen Haonan had long buried his head deeply.

  "What's going on?! You're not even telling me anything?!" Old Li suddenly thundered, his voice like a loud clap of thunder. Although Chen Haonan was visibly shaken, Old Li's own heart was racing too, but nearly six years of teaching had given him a strong intuition that something was seriously wrong with Chen Haonan - he couldn't care about that now. With concern, he looked at Chen Haonan and continued (this time his tone softened), "It's been so many days since school started, I've always seen you looking down, like you'd lost a battle... Not just other teachers have reflected this to me, but even in my physics class, you're always spacing out, staring blankly... Several times I gave you eye signals, and you didn't react at all... And that time I asked you something, you stood up and actually asked me back, 'Teacher, what was the question?' - it left me speechless! ...And some teachers have come to reflect that you often don't turn in your homework on time, especially the language teacher, who said he assigned an essay a week ago and still hasn't collected it... This isn't like you at all! Do you remember what you said during the class cadre election speeches last year? You said 'No matter what you do, you have to do it seriously, even if you fail in the end, you won't regret it.' I remember how your classmates applauded enthusiastically for you, and some even cheered...

  Listening to Lao Ban's gentle and soft words, Chen Haonan just nodded slightly and slowly closed his eyes, as if his whole heart had returned to that election meeting. Seeing Chen Haonan calm down a lot at this moment, Old Li smiled slightly and asked again: "Do you still remember Lin Tao, that little rascal?"

  "Didn't he transfer out this semester?" Chen Haonan replied immediately.

  Old Li smiled again and said, "That little rascal was our class's 'old troublemaker' when he first entered school. He often didn't hand in his homework, especially English. It had been more than two months since the start of school, but he had only handed in his homework twice... The English teacher must have analyzed the pros and cons with him many times, I don't know how much effort was wasted - whenever you talked to him, that little rascal would be very honest and well-behaved, but as soon as he turned around, his old habits would return. But in the end, that little rascal was finally tamed by you, and for the sake of completing the homework collection task, you spent every day grinding away with him... Several times when I went to check on the dorms, I passed by the teaching building and saw that our class's lights were still on. I thought it must be some student who had forgotten to turn them off - but when I climbed up to the floor, I found you grinding away with Lin Tao doing his homework... Honestly, your method was quite effective. That little rascal's grades improved quickly later on, and in last semester's final exams, he even managed to squeeze into our class's top twenty! " Old Li paused here, then looked at Chen Haonan a few times before suddenly asking warmly, "Is something wrong at home? - Tell me about it, maybe the teacher can offer some advice?" When saying this, Old Li's voice was very soft but extremely clear. His eyes also revealed expectation, encouragement, longing, and anticipation, perhaps many more things.

  After listening to the class teacher's words, Chen Haonan's eyes quickly welled up with tears, but he still tried his best to control his emotions and said: "It's like this, my dad is sick. As soon as I calm down, all I can think of is my dad being tortured by illness...I also want to do well, but I just can't muster up the spirit, not even a bit of confidence..."

  "Is your father ill? What's wrong with him? Is it serious?" Old Li's heart was suddenly hooked, and a string of questions came out immediately.

  The class teacher's consecutive questions came quickly and went quickly, but Chen Haonan could no longer hold back his emotions. The tears that had been rolling in his eyes suddenly turned into tear drops and poured out continuously... But he never cried out loud.

  Seeing Chen Haonan like this, Old Li seemed to have a number in his heart. He tried hard to restrain himself from thinking further and just stared at him without saying a word. Suddenly, Old Li felt a chill in the corner of his eye, he hurriedly turned his head - his fingers quickly wiped away the tears. Of course, Chen Haonan did not notice these quick movements at all.

  Chen Haonan was originally not one to easily shed tears, but after his father fell ill, crying became a frequent occurrence for him. Despite this, he had his own special way of dealing with it - his tears would flow quietly, and no matter how bitter or painful he felt inside, he would never let himself cry out loud, nor would he do so in front of others. He suppressed himself like this because he was afraid, afraid that others would see him crying and sympathize with him, pity him... More importantly, he deeply understood the saying "A man has tears but does not easily shed them"!

  However, when he burst into tears in front of his class teacher and almost lost his voice, Chen Haonan himself was also very surprised. Soon, he closed the floodgate of tears. Old Li handed him a tissue, Chen Haonan gently took it over, quickly wiped away his tears, and slowly opened his mouth: "My dad has stomach cancer, it's already in the late stage, maybe..." As soon as he said this, tears welled up again in his eyes, but were quickly suppressed by him.

  Old Li's head suddenly rang out with a loud "boom", and his body couldn't help but tremble. Although he had guessed before Chen Haonan spoke that Chen's father was likely to have contracted a serious illness, he still hoped that he was just being paranoid, hoping that Chen's father only had a very ordinary disease, best of all just a minor cold. However, the two words "stomach cancer" squeezed out from Chen Haonan's mouth - his voice was so small, but Old Li was shocked, his heart suddenly paralyzed: he knew how terrible cancer was, with hundreds of thousands of people dying from it every day around the world, but what could he say at this time?

  Old Li finally came to his senses after a while, and he forced out a smile, comforting him by saying: "Hao Nan, don't be too anxious either. Now that science and technology are developing so fast, it's changing every day - one day is a big step... I think your dad's illness won't be a big problem, it'll get better after a while... Hao Nan, just don't worry too much..." The more Old Li spoke, the more desolate he felt in his heart. He knew he was talking nonsense, but he had to say something.

  "Teacher, don't comfort me! I know cancer is one of the biggest killers in today's society, and the success rate of curing late-stage cancer patients is almost zero..." At this time, Chen Haonan had already lifted his head, and a special light burst out from his eyes. He continued to say: "I'm uneasy, not just because Dad is about to leave me, but more importantly, I've been misunderstanding him all along. I always made him angry and irritated, and often disobeyed him, but I never... never made him happy..." As he said this, tears welled up in his eyes again.

  "Don't be too hard on yourself," Old Li hastily interrupted, "If your dad heard you say that, he would definitely be moved, and he would be delighted to have a son like you. He would smile and pat your shoulder, saying: 'Son, you've grown up...'"

  "Hope so!" Chen Haonan couldn't help but chuckle softly after being teased by his teacher. However, he was well aware that a few simple words wouldn't truly make his father happy, and he also knew that in his father's eyes, he would always be an immature child. After tormenting himself for a while, Chen Haonan slowly said: "Teacher Li, I know my grades have been dropping rapidly lately, so I plan to rent a place outside of school for a while, calm down, and improve my academic performance - I don't want Dad to worry more about me because of this. Also, I'd like to resign from the position of study committee member and let other responsible classmates take over, I'm afraid that if I continue to serve, there will be even more mistakes, which would harm many of my classmates..."

  "Alright, let you rest for a while and let other classmates take your place first." At this time, Old Li glanced at Chen Haonan and quickly agreed to his request. However, Old Li immediately made a "tsk" sound, he intentionally furrowed his brow, and then said: "Haonan, you little guy kicked such a big 'hot potato' to me, you should recommend someone for me!" As he spoke, he chuckled.

  "Huh? You want me to recommend someone? Who am I supposed to recommend?" Chen Haonan was extremely surprised, he didn't expect the class teacher to pass him a "hot potato" as well.

  "Who else should I recommend if not you? - Who made you give me a difficult problem?" Old Li smiled and soon hinted to Xing, "You think which classmate can take on the task, just recommend that one, however - those who are already class cadres must be excluded!"

  "Why can't we recommend someone who is already a class cadre?" Chen Haonan found it a bit strange.

  "That's definitely not going to work!" Old Li shook his head and said, "If one person holds two positions, he'll be flying high, what if 'dictatorship' appears? I don't want our class to have a 'warlord mixed war'..." He deliberately laughed "heh heh" jokingly, but also pretended to be serious - he wanted to see who Chen Haonan would recommend.

  "Then it's Li Qiyue," Chen Haonan bit his lip, tilted his head and thought for a while before saying, "That girl is quite good at studying - you know that too. Moreover, she's also very enthusiastic, many classmates in the class like her, and several times she even helped me collect homework!"

  Old Li couldn't help but laugh, he never thought that Chen Haonan would think of the same thing as him. Li Qiyue becoming the study committee chair is really a no-brainer, she's very enthusiastic and her academic performance is excellent, especially in math, not to mention in class 211, even in the whole grade, there are only a few people who dare not admit it. However, whether Li Qiyue is willing to become the study committee chair has become a problem. Thinking of this, Old Li immediately asked: "Will Li Qiyue be willing to become the study committee chair? She never wanted to be a class cadre, last year when she first came, letting her be vice class leader was also rejected by her..."

  "Don't worry about this, I've talked to Li Qiyuan about it and I think she'll agree..."

  "Ah, you little scoundrel, you were prepared for this! You had already agreed with Li Qiyun earlier, and yet you were still pretending to be innocent in front of me!" Old Li said as he stood up and gently patted Chen Haonan on the back.

  Chen Haonan also smiled along with him...

  After a while, Old Li turned around and instructed: "Let Li Qiyuan be the study committee member then. You go tell her first, just say it's my intention. I'll announce it in class after a few days - but sometimes you have to help out that girl!"

  "Alright, I know this one!" Chen Haonan replied readily.

  "Alright then!" At this time, Old Li smiled and glanced at his watch, saying "It's getting late, the evening self-study session has been over for a while now. You should hurry back to your dorm or you'll be locked out by the dorm supervisor..."

  When the head teacher urged him to return to his dormitory, Chen Haonan suddenly remembered that there was still one thing he hadn't finished, so he hurriedly asked: "Teacher, what about my off-campus accommodation (according to the school rules of Yan Nan S Middle School, students who want to live off-campus must obtain the consent of their head teacher and provide a written certificate from the head teacher; otherwise, the school's general affairs department will not handle it - Chen Haonan was waiting for the head teacher's written certificate)?"

  "This is non-negotiable, I will never agree to it no matter what!" Old Li's eyebrows furrowed and he immediately became serious, this time without any pretence.

  The class teacher's words undoubtedly hit Chen Haonan, he looked at Old Li with confusion and asked almost word by word: "Then why?" When asking this question, Chen Haonan's eyes were tightly fixed on Old Li, hoping that the class teacher could give him a clear and sufficient reason.

  "It's not going to work, no matter what! There's no 'why' about it!" Old Li's words were brief and stern. He intentionally raised his voice because he felt that Chen Haonan was in the dominant position, while he himself was at a disadvantage, and to persuade him to give up this idea, he had to turn the tables first.

  "How can Zhu Bo (a student in Class 211) rent a place outside?" Chen Haonan hastily brought out the facts to refute Old Li, but his tone was still well-controlled.

  In Class 211, except for a few classmates who lived in Linfeng Town, Zhu Bo was the only one who rented outside the school. Old Li had guessed early on that Chen Haonan would use Zhu Bo as an example to make his point, and seeing this good fellow being led onto the line, he couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement in his heart. So, the response came out immediately: "Zhu Bo rented outside the school because he got hepatitis, didn't you know that?"

  Lao Li's counter-question made Chen Haonan quickly lower his head, and he could only reply in a low voice: "I know I know, but I..."

  Seeing his "scheme" taking effect, Old Li hurriedly seized the opportunity to launch a psychological attack on Chen Haonan: "Haonan, you should know that 'hepatitis' is contagious. Zhu Bo was afraid of infecting other classmates, so he suggested moving out of school. How could I not approve? Moreover, it's not safe outside the school either. Linfeng Town is a terrible place with many hoodlums who often fight and cause trouble. There are also some hidden dangers, what if they get addicted to something and do something bad when they're short on money... Think about it, if I agreed to let you move out and something happened, how could I explain it to your parents? ... Besides, can you really calm down by moving out of school? You'll still be thinking wildly... Wanting to calm down isn't something that can be achieved just by changing places. The most important thing is for you to adjust yourself... Why don't you just move into my house instead?"

  Listening to the class teacher's words, Chen Haonan lowered his head and remained silent, not saying a word. However, when Old Li finally said "Why don't you just move in with me?", it suddenly made Chen Haonan anxious, and he quickly refused: "No need for that, first of all, I would definitely be bothering you and Teacher Wang (Chen Haonan and many classmates called Old Li's wife this); secondly, as you said, the most important thing to adjust one's mood is to rely on oneself - I think I can only rely on my own efforts..." As he spoke, he occasionally smiled faintly.

  "You can think that way and I'll be at ease," Old Li patted Chen Haonan's shoulder affectionately, smiled and said, "You should know that your father will only be happy if you study well. Which parent doesn't hope their children turn out well? ... Good people will have good fortune, heaven will bless your father." As he spoke, Old Li involuntarily raised his hand again, glanced at his watch and saw it was 10:25, then urged Chen Haonan to say: "You'd better get back to the dorm quickly, in five minutes the dorm gate will be locked..."

  Then Chen Haonan bid farewell to the head teacher and hastily left the office.