Doing It Over Again [Rebirth]

6: Spring Festival

After the results of the midterm exam were released, no one in Class 1 was surprised to see Shen Shao in first place. Anyway, by now they were used to hearing the teacher praise Shen Shao by name. They were numb to it.

The first class of the afternoon was Chinese. After the graded papers were handed out, according to the previously established custom, the teachers would choose two of the best-written essays and read them out loud to the students. This time the essay topic was "My Parents". Among a pile of compositions about how hard their parents worked and how much they cared about their children, Shen Shao's composition stood out. When the teaching group did the grading, they spent a lot of time discussing his essay.

The Chinese teacher of Class 1 was an elder who'd retired but later returned to work. Every time the students stood up to bow and say "Hello teacher" before class, the elderly man would seriously return the bow, then tell the students to sit down.

"Everyone's score improved this time, but there were several knowledge points with a high error rate. You students should pay more attention." Mr. Gu discussed some of the items where mistakes were more common, then turned to the pair of papers he returned yet. "The Chinese subject teachers thought two of the student compositions were especially good. I'll read them to you now. Everyone, do your best to learn and strive to write a strong essay next time."

The first essay was by the Chinese class rep. As Shen Shao listened to it he thought the little girl's writing level was high. The essay was touching, and she was a clearly good kid who was loved by her parents.

"The second composition is by Shen Shao," Mr. Gu picked up the paper and put it down again. He glanced at the students below the podium. "Recently I heard some rumors. Everyone here is a junior high school student, not one of those little kids from second or third grade. You should already know the difference between right and wrong."

The whole class knew Mr. Gu was talking about Shen Shao, so they looked over at him.

Mr. Gu pretended not to see everyone's reaction. He began to read Shen Shao's essay.

"When I saw my mother lying in a cold coffin, I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. The adults told me that if any tears fell during her funeral, she wouldn't be able to walk the path of reincarnation, so I held back my tears.

"The day my dad left, the sun was bright, so bright that as I stood inside the house I could see the sweater under his suit jacket. My mother knitted that sweater for him over several months, but now he was wearing it as he left to find happiness with someone else."

Twelve-year-old children are ignorant in many ways, but they're also kind. The teacher hadn't finished reading the essay, but several of the girls already had red eyes. Even the boys who usually made trouble had heavy hearts. They didn't know what kind of life Shen Shao was living now, but they knew they themselves couldn't live a single day without their parents.

But Shen Shao not only lived that way, he also studied hard, was decent and honest, and treated people warmly. If they gossiped about him behind his back, it would be too cruel.

After Chinese class ended, the atmosphere in the room was solemn. Yang HongQiang hugged Shen Shao's shoulder with reddened eyes and said, "Xiao Shao, in the future my parents will be your parents too. They like you a lot."

Shen Shao looked at Yang HongQiang, smiled, and patted him on the back. "OK, then from now I'll go to your house every day to eat," he said cheerfully.

"No problem. My mom's cooking is that good, OK?" Tang HongQiang gestured with his thumb. He felt better when he saw Shen Shao's cheerful face.

Shen Shao's mood must have spread to the other students. Gradually the atmosphere became more relaxed. However, from that day forward, not many students talked about Shen Shao's parents anymore, and they went home to their parents with more appreciation. After all, their parents were still around, and their dad wasn't nearly as bad as Shen Shao's.