Later, as the elderly couple’s health declined, they were forced to close down Yuan Yuan Cram School, and he visited less and more frequently.
In the final days of their lives, the two elderly folks loved basking in the sun on the rooftop every day. They enjoyed the lively scenes at Wuchuan Road Stadium each day and, of course, also liked the football team students who used to train on the field early in the morning.
"The grandparents watched us play?" The students were completely stunned.
"Who hasn’t seen you? You were always making a racket training at the stadium early in the morning," Old Chen said with some annoyance. "It’s just that the two elders had good temperaments and, being old, enjoyed the liveliness. Back then, they even mentioned that once they got better, if you still had matches, they’d like to be invited. As retired teachers, they wanted to support their school’s students in person."
The boys fell completely silent, even feeling a bit happy. They had never imagined that they weren’t just barging into a stranger’s home and "running wild." It turned out the teacher’s grandparents had liked them too—though this fondness was probably similar to seeing a kitten frolicking downstairs and wanting to pet it.
"But you lot, one after another, just gave up!"
Changing the subject abruptly, Old Chen took an angry swig of wine from the jar and continued.
After the football team disbanded, the elderly couple’s health deteriorated day by day.
When the two elders fell seriously ill and passed away one after the other, he finally met Lin Wanxing at their gravesite.
"Was it you who asked our teacher to teach us?" Zheng Feiyang asked.
"At that time, I really hadn’t thought of you. When I met your teacher, I couldn’t understand why such a pitiful girl existed." Old Chen took another sip of wine, his voice growing very quiet. "Do you think something like that could happen in this world? Your grandparents pass away, but your parents don’t even inform you. Not only do you miss the chance to mourn, they don’t even let you attend the funeral. All you can do is kneel secretly in front of your grandparents’ grave, so pained and numb you can’t even cry."
"What exactly happened?"
"I don’t know," Old Chen said.
"You’ve been talking for so long and still don’t know? This is maddening!" Qin Ao was practically hopping with frustration.
"What happened to our teacher?"
"I don’t know the specifics, but something big must have happened to Wanxing, something her parents found so shameful they didn’t even want to mention their daughter," Old Chen sighed.
The students’ hearts sank; they couldn’t comprehend it at all. "Shameful???"
"Don’t ask me, I really don’t know why. I wanted to ask you all." Old Chen shook his head. "All I know is that the two elders were most worried about Wanxing. Before they died, they longed to see their granddaughter one last time but never could. Wanxing’s parents hid the truth from the elderly couple, claiming their granddaughter was busy with school and couldn’t come. The nurse on duty said that in their final moments, the elders kept repeating one phrase: ‘Our Xingxing must be well.’"
Beneath the dense shadows of the pine trees.
Though the spring sun was warm and gentle, standing before the two elders’ graves, everyone could almost feel the biting chill of that day.
The elderly, unable to let go of their worries in the hospital room; the girl, alone and helpless at the graveside.
The cold rain, the slick stone steps.
Lin Wanxing knelt alone before the grave in the end, like a white flower pinned to a lapel—so fragile it seemed it would shatter at the slightest touch."The elderly couple donated all their money, but they left you that building at No. 17 Wutong Road where you lived to Wanxing. I know your Teacher Lin doesn't care about money at all, but I'd bet anything that building is her only remaining connection to this world. So I kept advising her to take it easy, to keep living no matter what happens. I even helped her handle the inheritance matters, telling her that no matter how tough things get outside, it's always better to come home."
Recalling some things Lin Wanxing had said, that period was indeed the most difficult time of her life. Though it was hard, she still managed to bargain with fate in an almost cheeky way, asking for more time to keep going.
"Thank you," Wang Fa said very seriously.
Old Chen waved his hand dismissively.
"So when the teacher returned to Hongjing, you wanted to give her something to do, which is why you had her teach us?" Fu Xinshu asked.
"Actually, if it weren't for Old Jiang's son's suggestion, we wouldn't have thought of it," Teacher Qian sighed deeply beside them.
"Coach Jiang's son?" Wang Fa was surprised.
"Yes."
"Does he know Lin Wanxing?"
"He probably doesn't know Wanxing, but Old Jiang's son Jiang Xun also attended our Hongjing No. 8 Middle School and took classes from the elderly couple." Teacher Qian glanced at Coach Jiang's tombstone and took over from Old Chen to explain what happened next.
After Jiang Lei passed away, they brought him back from Yongchuan to Hongjing for burial. On the day of the funeral, all their old colleagues from the physical education department came. Old Chen happened to mention the elderly couple in the neighboring gravesite and his encounter with Lin Wanxing.
Perhaps that was the moment when heaven took pity. The speaker might not have intended anything, but the listener took it to heart.
A few days later, Jiang Xun approached them with the suggestion to have Lin Wanxing coach the football team students.
For Old Chen, finding something for Lin Wanxing to do to distract her was a great idea.
So they immediately agreed. He both persuaded Lin Wanxing to find a job and arranged with the executive vice principal for her to stay at the school.
But how exactly to get Lin Wanxing to educate these stubborn football team brats—this really stumped both the rough-and-ready physical education teachers and Coach Jiang's son. Although the elderly couple had mentioned "wanting to see the students play together," using that as a reason to make Lin Wanxing do it would clearly be emotional manipulation.
"Were all those fancy tricks your ideas?" Qin Ao couldn't help asking.
"Don't underestimate our 'gang.' How does that saying go? 'Curiosity is the ladder of human progress'?" Old Chen smacked his lips.
"It's 'books'," Feng Suo corrected.
"Well, that's the general idea anyway."
Their "gang" discussed for a long time and finally chose the approach most likely to spark curiosity from many options, allowing students to gradually interact with Lin Wanxing.
Having been Jiang Lei's "informants" for so long, they understood the students very well.
Knowing Chen Jianghe liked to "steal" footballs from the equipment room to play, they left a "100 Free Ball Rentals Card" in Chen Jianghe's desk.
Understanding that Qin Ao was the team's most difficult troublemaker who only listened to Fu Xinshu, they created a small crossword puzzle to make the students seek out Fu Xinshu together with Lin Wanxing.
But for Jiang Xun, who wanted to fulfill his father's wish, reorganizing the team wasn't the main goal of the plan.What he truly wanted was for Lin Wanxing to guide these students in studying diligently and getting into university—that was the real way to choose a new life.
It just so happened that the Yuan Yuan Cram School had been vacant for some time, as if it were a twist of fate. They handed the "treasure map" to Fu Xinshu, directing the students to the Yuan Yuan Cram School.
"Wanxing is truly clever. She even specially brought me a copy of 'Crossword Puzzles,' which made me break out in a cold sweat!" Qian Jianjun said.
"Of course, our teacher had already identified you. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have found you so quickly!" Yu Ming said with a hint of pride.
"But she’s also far more independent than we expected."
Qian Jianjun looked at the students they had observed for two years and sighed. "Even after entrusting you to her, she didn’t fully follow our wishes by having you focus solely on studying and exams. She genuinely cared about educating you, aiming to cultivate you into independent individuals and encouraging you to pursue what you truly want to do."
"Your Teacher Lin is truly a remarkable young woman," Teacher Qian concluded.
And so, the story of Teachers Chen and Qian unfolded roughly like this.
It began with Old Chen’s compassion for Lin Wanxing and continued with Jiang Xun’s desire to fulfill his late father’s wishes.
Here, in Phoenix Cemetery, beneath the dense shade, two graves held the unfulfilled aspirations of those who had passed.
Though separated by life and death, their concern remained unbroken by the divide.
As time flowed, they eventually received a response from fate at a certain intersecting moment.
Whether it was Lin Wanxing or the students, under such arrangements, they all experienced a period of joyful and fulfilling days.
The ending of this story should have been the students graduating smoothly, with Lin Wanxing sending them off to university campuses.
But her sudden departure shattered this peaceful scene entirely.
Wang Fa wasn’t sure whether his presence had influenced Lin Wanxing’s decision to leave.
It was at this moment that he suddenly realized: if Lin Wanxing and the students were meticulously brought together, then what about him?
Chapter 118: The Letter
"Who left the message for Lin Wanxing on the blackboard downstairs about me not taking the job at Yongchuan Evergrande?" Wang Fa asked.
"That was Old Chen who secretly wrote it."
"How did you know about this?"
"Ah, you didn’t know? Old Jiang’s son is the deputy manager of Yongchuan Evergrande Club!"
Wang Fa thought, why would I know? How could I possibly have known?
Only now did he feel a sense of absurdity.
He hadn’t left—had he been betrayed by the higher-ups at Yongchuan Evergrande?
[email protected]
Yydsmx0716
The email was registered by Jiang Xun using his authority. After learning that Wang Fa was leaving, Old Chen secretly wrote it on the blackboard at Yuan Yuan Cram School. Lin Wanxing logged into the email, saw the internal messages from Yongchuan Evergrande Club, and thus uncovered his lie, realizing he had never actually joined Yongchuan Evergrande.
He had previously guessed that someone must have wanted to help Lin Wanxing and the students keep him there by exposing his story.
Later, Lin Wanxing often used that email to record many things, so he never inquired further.
But what if there was more to it than that?
Wang Fa asked for Jiang Xun’s contact information. Teachers Chen and Qian agreed to pass along the message, telling him to wait for a call. As for why Lin Wanxing had left, neither teacher had any idea.Finally, the two teachers kept Wen Chengye behind for a few private words.
Wang Fa took the email address and password written by Old Chen and led the students back to the rooftop at 17 Wutong Road.
Far from the mountains and forests, the weather was clear and fine.
Sunlight streamed through the window frames, dust dancing in the beams, making Yuan Yuan Cram School feel warm and stuffy.
This was still the classroom they knew so well, yet because of the deeply buried stories, every piece of furniture seemed different from before.
The students were so quiet that none of them felt like speaking.
Wang Fa sat at the back of the classroom, where the desks and chairs still bore arithmetic scribbles left by students long ago.
He used to come and listen when Lin Wanxing taught the students. There was a period in the afternoon when the corner of the classroom was perfect for napping, especially accompanied by Lin Wanxing's calm and clear voice. He would read novels left by her grandparents, and Lin Wanxing never minded—in fact, she would even recommend her favorites to him.
Looking back now, those days truly felt like a dream.
There was also an old computer in the classroom that Lin Wanxing usually used for teaching. Qi Liang opened the official website of Yongchuan Evergrande Club and entered the email address and password.
The inbox contained only a few scattered emails, but the drafts folder was full.
Clicking through them one by one, they found Lin Wanxing’s records of their daily lives.
Although Coach Jiang had passed away, she seemed to know exactly what the late Coach Jiang would have most wanted to see.
The students’ schoolwork, their matches, the plants on the rooftop, moments spent teasing stray cats…
Lin Wanxing wasn’t a professional photographer, but she always captured many adorable and quirky angles. She had selected plenty of interesting moments to document: lettuce grown in foam boxes, soccer socks hung neatly in a row, and even close-up shots of the boys making funny faces at the camera.
In the past, the students would have surely teased Lin Wanxing about her photography skills. But now, these seemed to be all the memories she had left them.
The entire classroom was exceptionally quiet, with only the faint sounds of clicking and scrolling.
Occasionally, Wang Fa could spot himself in some of the photos, mostly in profile or from behind.
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