Chapter Thirty-One: The Stormy Night (01)

  The dark night has quietly descended again... What a peaceful and serene night it is, but hidden in its peace and serenity are the omens of a stormy rain.

  After saying goodbye to Yu Fen and Yu Na, Chen Haonan returned to the classroom. At this time, the evening self-study was about to begin. However, unlike usual Sunday evenings, tonight's class had an unusually high attendance, with almost no one absent. Chen Haonan found it a bit strange, but he didn't think much of it and simply looked around before taking out his English textbook to review vocabulary.

  After a while, Zeng Shaoyang, who sat at the same table, gently pulled Chen Haonan's sleeve. This boy, not very tall, with small eyes and a standard short haircut, was also like Chen Haonan, rarely speaking in class. Seeing Chen Haonan turn around, he immediately leaned over, lowering his voice to ask: "Chen Haonan, are you taking liberal arts or science?"

  "What?! We're going to be divided into departments already?! How can it be so fast?! Didn't they say we would be divided after the mid-term exams?!" Chen Haonan was caught off guard and was extremely surprised, but he still kept his voice very low.

  "This morning, the class teacher said that because the college entrance examination was brought forward by one month, the school decided to let each of our grade 2 classes conduct subject division after National Day holiday - he asked us to think carefully about it during this period..." Zeng Shaoyang said softly.

  "Oh!" Chen Haonan responded mechanically.

  Then Zeng Shao Yang added: "Our class is a science class, if you want to take liberal arts, you have to go to another class - are you choosing liberal arts or science?"

  "I haven't thought about it yet, let's talk about it later... How about you? What are you going to choose?" Chen Haonan asked back.

  "It should be science, but I still need to discuss it with my family - shh! The teacher is coming." Zeng Shaoyang was saying this when Old Li suddenly rushed into the classroom. He quickly reminded Chen Haonan and lightly poked his back with his finger.

  Old Li stood on the platform and looked around at the bottom, found that Chen Haonan had returned, and walked straight to his front, and lightly knocked twice on his desk. Chen Haonan immediately remembered what his mother had told him before returning to school in the afternoon, without any hesitation, he followed Old Li out of the classroom.

  Old Li stopped in his tracks on the landing. He turned around, just about to speak, but Chen Haonan beat him to it: "Teacher, I heard from my mom that you went to see my dad and bought a lot of things for us. Thank you so much for your trouble..."

  "Oh, don't mention it, nothing's the matter!" Old Li hurriedly covered up and said, "I was passing by your house that day, so I just dropped by to take a look..."

  Chen Haonan was puzzled as soon as he heard it: tens of miles apart, how could Lao Ban pass by Qingtun? After careful consideration, he guessed that the head teacher must have said so on purpose, but he didn't say anything else, just looking at Old Li with infinite gratitude in his eyes.

  "After National Day holiday, we will have to choose our arts or science streams. Have you considered the issue of choosing your subjects?" Old Li seemed not to notice Chen Haonan's expression and directly entered his topic.

  "I haven't thought about it yet, I need to discuss it with my family." Chen Haonan spoke the truth, but his heart was a bit flustered.

  "You'd better think carefully about it," Old Li noticed that Haonan was a bit tense, and hurriedly added with concern, "Discussing with family members is very important, but ultimately you have to make your own decision. The choice of liberal arts or science has a great impact on your future employment... I see that your scores in mathematics, physics, and chemistry are not bad, so the probability of choosing science should be relatively high - the career path for science students is much broader than that of liberal arts students!"

  "Teacher, I know this, I will consider it carefully, let you worry!" Chen Haonan still didn't have a clue about the liberal arts and science elective courses, so he could only respond to Old Li like this.

  "This is what we should do as a human being, no worries or not...” Old Li said humbly. Then, his tone suddenly changed, and he asked with concern: "Has your father's condition improved? - Didn't I tell you to stay at home and accompany your father more, why did you come back today?"

  Chen Haonan didn't expect the old teacher to ask about his father again, and he felt grateful in his heart. But his father's thin and weak figure suddenly appeared in his mind. He took a light breath and said truthfully: "Dad is still the same, but thinner than before, it's heartbreaking to see him like that. Last night he told me a lot of nonsense, as if entrusting me with something, I didn't quite understand, and my heart felt uncomfortable..."

  When Chen Haonan said this, Old Li's heart suddenly shook - he knew it was not good, but he still comforted Chen Haonan and said: "It's okay, good people have their own blessings. Moreover, as adults, we always instruct children to do this and that... Your father hopes you will become talented, hopes you will have a bright future, he is afraid you will learn bad things!"

  "I also know what Dad means, but I'm afraid..." Chen Haonan said, suddenly remembering his uncle's reminder from last night, and he couldn't help but burst into tears.

  "Don't worry, your dad will be fine!" Old Li gently patted Chen Haonan's shoulder and smiled slightly, saying, "Now what you can do is to study hard, get good grades, and your dad will be happy for you..."

  "I know this, but..."

  Seeing Chen Haonan's expression was not quite right, Old Li hurriedly interrupted his words and said: "Don't think too much, your dad will be fine. This period of time is a test for you. As long as you get through these stormy days, there will definitely be a rainbow hanging high in the sky afterwards!" Old Li patted Chen Haonan's shoulder again and urged him to say: "You go back to the classroom first, read some books, do some exercises, and after returning to the dormitory, have a good sleep and prepare for tomorrow's challenge..."

  "Then I'll go back." Chen Haonan said, turning around and going back to the classroom.

  As he watched Chen Haonan turn and leave, Old Li felt a strange pain in his heart, a feeling of tears that he had not experienced for a long time suddenly came again, tears slowly flowed down his cheeks... He quickly wiped away the tears.

  Suddenly, Old Li thought of that warm home and his happy and lovely son, so he went down from the teaching building and walked towards the teachers' residential building.

  Tonight's night sky is beautiful, with stars all over the sky, twinkling and shining like a mischievous child winking bright eyes, giving people a great feeling. A while ago, the potted landscapes newly placed in the campus also bloomed quietly in this night, emitting a faint fragrance——However, Old Li just walked hastily, not paying attention to such a wonderful night scene at all, his mind was all about Chen Haonan's affairs...