Distant Scenery

Girls in their adolescence always like to daydream. Perhaps it was about distant and unattainable landscapes, or princess castles in a fantasy world, or perhaps it was simply about longing for a beautiful future, and the desire to spend the rest of their lives with the one they loved.

In the early morning, it was the beginning of all things beautiful. Every day was a new beginning, and the small joys of the morning could make a person happy for the entire day. She wanted to go shopping, she wanted to travel, but in the end, Jian Yun could only obediently stay in the classroom.

Uninteresting teachers, boring lessons, and meaningless and jumbled knowledge chipped away at what should have been the best time of the morning. Glancing at her balding teacher, and noticing that he wasn't paying attention to her, Jian Yun leaned onto her desk, secretly watching the person next to her.

"?" Ren gave her a confused look. It was just an ordinary glance, but Jian Yun laughed happily, as if she had found a treasured item.

Unfortunately, happiness was fleeting. A chalk head hit her head abruptly.

"Jian Yun, stand up!" The balding teacher, who looked lifeless while teaching, was surprisingly loud while punishing students, trying to use his volume to show his dignity as a teacher.

Looking at the ferocious teacher, Jian Yun looked nervous. Usually, she was a good student who listened attentively in class, but today, she had become absentminded and had been caught.

The balding teacher didn't look at Jian Yun, but instead surveyed the surroundings. Looking at the listless students in the class, he snorted, "I know that many of you in this class have secretly started dating. Although I know that with your family's conditions, you'll probably never enter the central area in your lifetime, I still advise you all to focus on your studies. Otherwise, when you grow up, you'll only be able to stay in the impoverished area like your parents, and never even see what a big city looks like."

It was an extremely insulting statement, but the students didn't feel much from it. They continued to sleep, and continue to be absentminded. It was simply because everyone had gotten used to it.

Not seeing the fearful expressions he had expected from the students, the balding teacher felt inexplicably annoyed, as if his fist had landed on cotton. He rolled his eyes, and focused his gaze on Jian Yun.

"Jian Yun, right? If I remember correctly, your father only works in a factory in the suburbs. Do you know how hard they work to send you to school? They're poor their whole lives just to see the big city, but here you are, spacing out in class? As expected, children from those who have no ability are also useless, and they will never see the sights of the city no matter how hard they try."

"Maybe your parents even had to pull some strings to get you into this garbage school. I say, it's better if you guys went to the factory with your parents to screw on screws. At least it'll make your families less poor."

The teacher's words were like needles, piercing Jian Yun's heart. Especially when she was standing alone, she felt like everyone in the class was watching her, as if she were some rare animal. She bit her lip, and lowered her head, not allowing herself to cry. Her original good mood had completely vanished.

"But teacher, if you're so excellent, why are you still stuck in our garbage school after 50 years? Doesn't that prove that you're the 'useless' person you described?" Looking at Jian Yun, who was silently standing beside her, Ren sighed, and could only answer for her.

"You brat! Is that how you talk to your teacher?" It was obvious that Ren's words had hit a sore spot for the balding teacher. He immediately grabbed the glass cup on his desk and wanted to throw it at him. But then he thought about how much that cup had cost him and immediately felt reluctant. He could only angrily curse, "You ill-mannered brat, as expected, there's nothing good in this garbage school."

Ren didn't care about the teacher's insults. He wasn't going to have any contact with this person in the future anyway. However, Jian Yun, who was beside him, looked at him with watery eyes.

He couldn't help but say a few more words. "Hmm, it's indeed a garbage school, but teacher, why are you here? Do you think the schools in the city center are too far from your home? Or is it that you don't like their meager salaries? Surely it isn't that they don't want you, right?"

Taking the opportunity, he pulled at Jian Yun, who was still standing, and had her sit down. Ren himself stood up, his eyes sincere, as if he were really a well-behaved child worried about the teacher.

"You…" The balding teacher was so angry that he gasped for air before calming down. "I'm just dedicating myself to education. If there weren't teachers like us, what would you guys become in the future?"

Seeing that there was something to watch, the students in the class stopped sleeping, and started whispering. "No way, no way, no one would really think that standing on the podium makes you a real teacher, right? He can't even recognize all the words in the textbook. And he didn't even recognize Ren's name before."

"Speaking of which, what is he even teaching? How to Bake a Crispy Insole? Oh, so he used to be a barbecue chef."

Although the students seemed to be whispering quietly, they didn't bother to hide their volume. The balding teacher's face turned red then white, like a chameleon. Just when Ren thought that he might pass out, he finally calmed down, and with a sour expression, walked out of the classroom, probably to report him to the school leadership.

"Tch, so boring." Seeing the teacher leave in defeat, the chatter in the classroom became even more unrestrained. No one cared about what they had just said.

This was the school that Ren was currently in, and it was also a common scene in suburban schools. The teachers teaching here were basically castoffs who couldn't stay in the central area. They hadn't learned their professionalism, but still thought they had seen the world and looked down on their students with a condescending attitude.

The knowledge that the school taught wasn't proper liberal arts knowledge either. It was basically just some shallow knowledge to help the students secure a job in the future. As for whether or not they learned it, it wasn't their concern. Anyway, they would still get subsidies from Shenzhou. So, the purpose of opening a school was already achieved.

Therefore, the students here basically had a 'lay down and do nothing' attitude. They hadn't been to the central area, or seen the outside world, so they might as well enjoy the best and most carefree time of their lives.

"Thank you..." After Ren sat down, Jian Yun tugged on his sleeve, and whispered quietly.

"This is to repay you for writing my homework."

"But you've already bought me breakfast."

"That was an advance for your next homework."

"..." The sunlight fell on Jian Yun's face. The light made her slightly squint her eyes. The tears that were still swirling in her eyes blurred her vision, and she couldn't see Ren clearly.

Perhaps what she wanted wasn't some distant scenery, or a noble castle.