They All Say I've Met a Ghost

29

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Teacher Liu, who hadn't planned to attend the class initially, changed his mind after I had put away the notebook, saying he had decided to see the results of the test.

He kindly said to me, "I only ever taught the students how to speak. I never verified the results of my teaching. This idea of yours is a good one. I have some pens for you here. You can give them to the students."

"Teacher Liu is really thoughtful. I'd nearly forgotten that the students might not have pens. If they don't have pens, how can they take a test?"

I smiled at Teacher Liu in tacit understanding and boarded the school bus with my examination papers and pens.

After working for a month, I had finally established a friendly relationship with my colleague. This was a big step forward in my career.

The driver saw Teacher Liu and me get on the bus with our arms around each other's shoulders and made an expression like he'd just seen a ghost. Probably it was because Teacher Liu seldom had physical contact with people.

My mood was very good. Seeing the driver, I greeted him energetically. "Sir, you've driven me so many times, but I still don't know what I should call you."

"My name is Qi Dazhuang," the driver said concisely.

"Qi-dage! Is it all right if I call you that from now on?"

"Whatever you want." The driver started the bus. He seemed not to want to communicate with me.

The driver just had a reticent nature. I was used it. I chatted with Teacher Liu about my school days, telling him how I’d studied English word lists every morning and evening, memorized an ancient poem every week, copied a page of model characters every day.

Listening to this, Teacher Liu slapped his thigh. "My teaching methods are really behind the times. I didn't know practices like these existed. Although this type of education isn't suitable for our students — we might cut back on quizzes, unit exams, monthly exams, mid-term exams, and final exams — they should at least understand the rules before we let them go."

"Right!" I nodded. "Afterwards, we can't let the students graduate casually like Mu Huaitong. They'll have to pass a graduation exam first."

"Well..."

"Yes? Does Teacher Liu have a different suggestion?"

"No, no, I fully support Teacher Shen's teaching methods!"

The driver slammed on the brakes. There was no seat in front of me to block my momentum, so I flew forward. Fortunately, I had practiced Taekwondo and was in excellent physical condition. I grabbed the pole in time to avoid getting hurt by the abrupt stop.

"Qi-dage, what is it?" I asked, horrified.

"Avoiding a cat." The driver turned his head slowly. The streetlights reflected in his eyes looked unexpectedly green. "So there is something you're afraid of."

"How could there be a person who isn't afraid of anything? I'm afraid of lots of things. I'm afraid of being bald, of having no money, of not being able to find a job. There's plenty of things."

The driver looked at me for a moment, silently turned around, and started the bus again.

I didn't dare to sit in the front row seat anymore. I ran behind Teacher Liu and grabbed the back of the seat, terrified that the driver would make another sudden stop.

"Teacher Shen, Xiao Qi didn't mean anything by it. Don't be angry." Teacher Liu hurriedly started to mediate the situation.

"It's OK, I'm not angry." I waved my hand.