PCJ – Chapter 26 School starts

After Zhang Shicai drank that bowl of water, he really got better. His fever went down immediately, and his wounds healed very quickly. There was no further deterioration. Apart from losing one eye, Zhang Shicai recovered almost to the level of a normal person. Don’t know if it was the powerful magic of that bowl of water or Zhang Shicai’s strong will to survive.

Zhang Youping and his wife began to worry about their son, Jiaohua. They didn’t want Jiaohua to possess powerful magic. On the contrary, they hoped Jiaohua would be a normal person, leading an ordinary life. The Daoist Masters are awe-inspiring, but being awe-inspiring isn’t always a good thing. Prejudice in the human world is very frightening. Although ordinary people are afraid of the Daoist Masters, in reality, they also invisibly isolate those they fear.

Meizi’ao Elementary School is about to start, and Zhang Jiaohua is about to become a primary school student. But Zhang Youping and his wife worry that carrying a school bag won’t make Jiaohua go to school like a normal person.

Zhang Jiaohua is also full of worries about campus life in Meizi’ao Elementary School. He is not worried about being ostracized by other children on campus, but rather about encountering teachers who are like his master in his dreams, constantly wielding a ruler and trying every means to make crisp rhythms on his palms.

Zhang Jiaohua urinated five times along the way, chased butterflies ten times, circled the Meizi’ao Elementary School gate three times, and was finally dragged to the front of the first-grade teacher Gong Ziyuan by his mother.

“What’s your name?” Gong Ziyuan asked Zhang Jiaohua with a somewhat stiff smile.

Zhang Jiaohua pouted and didn’t make a sound. Although this teacher was not as old as the old Daoist priest, he looked too much like him, with a fake smile that made you think he was very kind. When the ruler hit the palm of your hand, you would know how tough he was.

Seeing that the teacher was educated, Liu Qiaoye quickly answered for Jiaohua, “His name is Zhang Jiaohua.”

“Can’t he speak?” Gong Ziyuan asked displeasedly. A child this old needing his parents to speak for him must have been spoiled. Such children made Gong Ziyuan very uncomfortable.

“He can, he can. Jiaohua, the teacher is asking you a question!” Liu Qiaoye nudged Zhang Jiaohua.

“I’m Zhang Jiaohua.” Zhang Jiaohua said reluctantly.

Gou Lao said with a look of disdain, “What’s your name? Jiaohua? What kind of name is Jiaohua?”

“The name is Jiaohua, Zhang Jiaohua.” Zhang Jiaohua said impatiently.

Gong Ziyuan couldn’t help but chuckle, “This should be a nickname, right? What’s your real name?”

“The real name is also Zhang Jiaohua. Name has been registered in the household registration book on Zhong Yuanjie.” Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t help but curse.

“Hey, no swearing allowed. You must pay attention to civility when studying in school in the future. No swearing.” Gong Ziyuan said seriously.

“You little brat, itching for a fight, huh? How dare you swear in front of the teacher. Wait until I get home, I’ll teach you a lesson.” Liu Qiaoye glared at Jiaohua.

“Okay, your name has already been registered in the household registration book, it’s not easy to change it. If you want to change it, you have to go to the police station. Otherwise, in the future, you can only be called Zhang Jiaohua.” Gong Ziyuan may have felt that having a student named Zhang Jiaohua would damage his image.

“Zhang Jiaohua is fine, a humble name is easy to raise.” Liu Qiaoye said indifferently.

Zhang Jiaohua frowned, unable to resist, and could only silently accept his misfortune.

Since the implementation of the family planning policy, the number of children of appropriate age has been decreasing. In the past, there could be two classes in one grade, but now there are too many students in one class, and opening two classes is a bit too few. Ma Lisong, the principal of Meizi’ao Elementary School, directly decided to squeeze more than sixty little brats into one class.

The classroom was not very big, and accommodating more than sixty children meant squeezing in. Almost all the available space in the classroom was utilized.

Because Zhang Jiaohua didn’t please Gong Ziyuan, he was directly arranged to sit in the last row. This was quite in line with Zhang Jiaohua’s intentions. If the teacher wanted to hit his palms, he had to overcome mountains and rivers.

Zhang Jiujin is a year older than Zhang Jiaohua, but he just started school this year. He was arranged to sit on the same bench as Zhang Jiaohua by Gong Ziyuan.

“I won’t sit on the same bench as Jiaohua. My parents said I should stay away from Jiaohua.” Zhang Jiujin cried and refused to sit on the same bench as Zhang Jiaohua.

Gong Ziyuan was somewhat puzzled, “Don’t make a scene. The seating arrangement is made by the teacher. If you don’t behave, you’ll have to stand during class.”

“My parents said I shouldn’t be too close to Jiaohua. Even if you make me stand during class, I still want to stay away from Zhang Jiaohua.” Zhang Jiujin was also stubborn.

Gong Ziyuan was somewhat annoyed and had to temporarily arrange another seat for Zhang Jiujin. Although it was also in the last row, Zhang Jiujin happily sat down in his new seat and gave Zhang Jiaohua a disdainful look.

Gong Ziyuan wanted to arrange another child to sit with Zhang Jiaohua, but who knew that none of the children in the class were willing to sit with Zhang Jiaohua.

“There’s a problem!” Gong Ziyuan realized that something was wrong, even though he was a bit slow. But how could a seven-year-old child have such treatment? Logically, such a big child shouldn’t have done anything outrageous.

“Can someone tell me why nobody wants to sit with Zhang Jiaohua?” Gong Ziyuan asked loudly.

“I know.” Zhang Jiujin smacked his lips and swallowed the piece of candy in his mouth.

“Zhang Jiujin, no eating in class in the future. Well, tell me, why doesn’t anyone want to sit with Zhang Jiaohua?” Gong Ziyuan glanced at Zhang Jiaohua, but found that Zhang Jiaohua was very calm, holding a pencil and drawing on paper, as if there was only him in the classroom. It was indeed strange.

“Jiaohua is a jinx! Anyone who gets too close to him will have bad luck.” Zhang Jiujin recounted what happened when Zhang Jiaohua was herding cows. Six children went to herd cows together, and as a result, the other five children all drowned, while Zhang Jiaohua was the only survivor.

Although Gong Ziyuan had only been transferred to Meizi’ao to teach the first grade this semester, he naturally heard about such a big event in Meizi’ao Village. Unexpectedly, the survivor was in his class.

“In that case, this has nothing to do with Zhang Jiaohua at all. Why do you all want to push all the responsibility onto him? In the future, Zhang Jiaohua is your classmate, you can’t discriminate against him. Nor can you isolate him.” Gong Ziyuan sighed, feudal superstition in rural areas was still too serious. He didn’t expect such a big child to become a victim of feudal superstition.

“Teacher, Jiaohua can see ghosts. Everyone in the village knows that, although Jinhu and the others are dead, they still haunt Jiaohua. If you don’t believe it, you can ask Jiaohua himself.” Zhang Jiujin said jokingly.

Gong Ziyuan was somewhat skeptical. As a teacher, how could he believe in such strange and supernatural things? Gong Ziyuan looked at Zhang Jiaohua, “Zhang Jiaohua, do you see Jinhu, Fugui, and other companions?”

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t expect someone to call him, so he didn’t react immediately.

“Zhang Jiaohua.” Gong Ziyuan continued to call out.

Zhang Jiujin stood up, walked to Zhang Jiaohua’s desk, and knocked on it heavily, “Jiaohua, the teacher is calling you!”

Zhang Jiaohua raised his head in surprise, looking at Gong Ziyuan strangely.

“Zhang Jiaohua, Zhang Jiujin said you can see Jinhu, Fugui, and other companions, is that true? Can you still see them now?” Gong Ziyuan asked.

“I used to be able to see them. Recently, I don’t know where they’ve gone.” Zhang Jiaohua suddenly remembered that he hadn’t seen Jinhu and the others for so long.