For half an hour Princ.i.p.al Zhang"s status was "typing," but she didn"t reply. How indecisive was she? Typing, deleting, then typing again for so long?

"Having a test after only two cla.s.ses really seems a bit..." Ning Tiance"s tone was somewhat constrained.

"When I was a child, I hated tests," I recalled, "but I have to admit that only by undergoing tests did I get a firm grasp on the knowledge. If you want to learn, relying on interest isn"t enough. Our students are of a different nature. They are all special students who need contact with society. They have problems with their common sense. Next cla.s.s, I"m planning on giving them an exploratory quiz to test everyone"s social common sense and legal common sense levels, then focus my teaching. "

Ning Tiance picked up the cup of water that I"d put down on the coffee table and took a sip, then slowly said, "Please be sure to ask me to come with you to your next cla.s.s. I want to see the students" answers."

From his voice he seemed to be smiling, even trying not to laugh. I turned to look at him, but Xiao Ning"s expression was serious. He didn"t seem about to smile at all.

I must have heard wrong.

I waited for a long time without receiving a response from Princ.i.p.al Zhang. I saw another unread message on WeChat, so I switched the interface. Xia Jin had sent it.

Xia Jin: Shen Jianguo, you"re fired. Although you are still in your internship period, the company is discharging you without cause, so according to regulations you will receive a month"s salary as compensation. You received no commission this month, so there will only be the base salary of 800 yuan. I"ll transfer it to you, remember to accept it. There is no need to come to work tomorrow.

It was as if I"d been struck by lightning. I stared at my phone without speaking for a long time.

W-why!

I immediately called Xia Jin. It rang for a long time before he picked up. He shouted into the phone, "Shen Jianguo, do you know that it"s one in the d.a.m.n morning! Some of us have work tomorrow!"

Another voice came from the speaker. It was Xia Jin"s girlfriend. "Xia Jin, it"s the middle of the night, what are you shouting for! Get into the bathroom to take your call!"

Then I heard the rustling sounds of someone rolling out of bed. After a while, I heard Xia Jin roar in a lowered voice, "What do you want at this hour?"

Look, here was my good brother Xia Jin. Even though he didn"t dare to shout under his girlfriend"s despotic rule, he still had to roar quietly to be imposing.

I... was anxious. I"d lost my job. I"d forgotten what time it was.

But I"d already called and woken Xia Jin up. It was better to just get right down to it. "Why did I lose my job? I went to the police bureau today to help with an investigation. I told the company. You aren"t firing me because I took a day off? That"s unreasonable..."

"You"ve only been at work for a week and you"ve already gotten our marketing director arrested," Xia Jin said in a low voice.

"But isn"t it the duty of any normal member of society to report it when he discovers that someone may have committed a crime?" I argued with justice on my side.

"And if you discover one day that our boss has been evading taxes, are you going to report that, too?" Xia Jin asked.

"I"d have to report it!" I nodded repeatedly. "Taxes are the most important form and source of income for our nation"s public finances. Our lives, property, and safety can only be guaranteed through taxes. Every citizen has the duty to pay taxes. With sufficient taxes, the nation can invest more money in public construction and national defense. Only in this way will our country become stronger and our citizens be able to live in peace and enjoy their work, and the money everyone earns truly go into their own pockets. Otherwise, you could be robbed walking down the street. However much money you make, what"s the use?"

"And that"s why you"re fired," Xia Jin said. "I tried to fight for you, but there was nothing I could do. The boss doesn"t feel comfortable having a person like you at our company. All right, I"m going to sleep now. You don"t need to come to work tomorrow. You can sleep in."

I heard the busy signal coming from my phone and felt a little hurt.

"Xiao Ning, I"ve lost my job." I was a little aggrieved. I"d meant to rely on this job to achieve wonders, become a rich man with an income on a level with Xiao Ning"s, but in the end my illusions had gone up in smoke after just seven days.

"But you didn"t do anything wrong." Ning Tiance"s voice was firm and mellow, gradually warming my chilled heart. "At least three people have found deliverance through this: Yin Yaqiu, her mother, and Mu Huaitong. If you"d known that you would be fired, would you still have done it?"

"I would," I replied without hesitation.

Justice may be late, but it will never be absent. Even if a day should come when I was utterly penniless, I would still be living be living honorably, without a stain on my conscience.

"So there"s no reason to hesitate. It"s enough to know you haven"t done wrong. Besides, if you weren"t this kind of person, you would have died your first night at 404." Ning Tiance reached out and stroked my head. "Don"t be afraid. As long as I have money, it"s enough."

"Your money isn"t mine…" I muttered, but I was still glad.

Shortly something came along that made me even more glad.

Princ.i.p.al Zhang hadn"t responded for a long time. Now she sent me a transfer of funds!

I received the transfer notification. Madam Zhang had sent me 100,000 yuan! Heavens, why?

Princ.i.p.al Zhang"s message and transfer notice came at the same time: Teacher Shen has already been at work for one month. I am now sending your first month"s commission. During your time teaching at my school, Mr. Saw, Li Yuanyuan, Tan Xiaoming, Tian Bowen, and Mu Huaitong have all graduated in succession. For every graduating student, this school gives the teacher a 20,000 yuan commission. Five students altogether make 100,000 yuan. Please verify and accept.

My face was splitting from smiling. The benefits at our school were amazing! I would follow Princ.i.p.al Zhang my whole life.

Princ.i.p.al Zhang sent another message: Concerning the quiz, I leave that up to your discretion. I respect your teaching method. In the future, I will arrange more cla.s.ses for you. Tomorrow night, Benevolence Middle School, Fourth Cla.s.s, Third Year cla.s.sroom. Please do just as you like.

"Hahaha!" I held Xiao Ning"s neck and laughed. "Xiao Ning, what do you think, if I get all the students to graduate, will the bonus be even larger?"

Ning Tiance smiled and said, "I believe you can do it."

I fell into slumber with that dream in mind. The next day, I went back to my lodgings and sat in front of the computer, wildly searching for test questions, exerting myself to write a set of test papers that would be able to evaluate my students" level of common sense.

During this time an express delivery man knocked on the door. Seeing that I lived in 404, he made a face like he"d seen a ghost. Ah, young people these days, they really were gutless.

The delivery was of some books I had bought. I"d placed the order at the same time as ordering the Const.i.tution and Criminal Law for Mu Huaitong. Those two books were sent to Xiao Ning"s hotel, but for myself, aside from these two, I"d also ordered Comprehensive Law and Citizens" Legal Common Sense. These books were important reference materials for my topic.

After I finished writing, I went out to print thirty copies and got a receipt. Princ.i.p.al Zhang had said that I could be reimbursed for the printing. After returning to the apartment, I went to sleep. At precisely eleven at night I was woken up by my alarm, gathered what I needed to gather, then went out to go to cla.s.s.

When I left my bedroom, I met Teacher Liu, who had returned at some point, in the living room. He jumped when he saw me, immediately shivered, then said, "You... came back... to stay this evening... why?"

"For the past few days I"ve been working overtime at the company. My sleep schedule has been a mess. Today I was fired, so I could only go back home." I could already calmly face the fact that I"d been fired. Mentioning it to Teacher Liu didn"t embarra.s.s me.

"Oh, I see. Your company really has no vision, to lose a talent like yours." Teacher Liu sighed. "If you could always stay at the company, I would be so comf- lonely!"

Heh, Teacher Liu rather liked me. I was glad.

"There"s a cla.s.s tonight, is Teacher Liu coming?" I asked.

"Ah, those students are pretty obedient. I don"t think I need to go." Teacher Liu shook his head. "Teacher Shen"s teaching method is extremely skillful, I have nothing to worry about."

Teacher Liu"s recognition made me very happy. He was an old teacher. For him to say such a thing meant I was doing well.

I got excited and took out the test papers I"d prepared to show them to Teacher Liu. "Teacher Liu, this is an exploratory test I"ve prepared, I"m planning to have the students take it tonight. Please have a look."

"A... test..." Teacher Liu took the test papers with trembling hands and swallowed. "You want to... give the students a test?"

"Right! Without testing, how can you evaluate the students" level of study?" I said naturally. "Doesn"t Teacher Liu give tests?"

"I teach language. It"s all right as long as there"s no problem with communication. You can see the students" level without a test." Teacher Liu read the examination paper carefully. "You"re testing... law?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Mu Huaitong graduated, right? Before she left, I noticed that her legal common sense was quite flimsy. I more or less teach ideology and morals, and law is the baseline of morality and so a part of my subject. Establishing a correct world view requires knowledge of the law. So before we parted, I decided to send her two volumes of law. I think she should like them."

Teacher Liu exclaimed, "You even got Mu Huaitong to graduate? And she"s our school"s number one fierce... problem student. She"s on a par with Duan Youlian. She managed to set aside her obsession and graduate?"

When I saw that there was still some time, I explained the matter of Manager Lu in simple terms. "In fact, the incident has not been resolved yet. Manager Lu"s confession alone isn"t enough to prosecute him with. It will still take some concrete evidence. But the testimony is enough to detain him."

"So that"s it. You found Yin Yaqiu"s bones... " Teacher Liu thought, then once again took out his notebook and handed it to me. "I think... this notebook is better off with Teacher Shen. If it"s with you, perhaps one day I will also be able to leave the school."

I stared at the notebook, not knowing what to do. This notebook was being pa.s.sed back and worth between Teacher Liu and me. If he wanted it back again later, I would be really embarra.s.sed!

"Remember, this notebook absolutely must not be exposed to sunlight. Please take care to remember this time. Also, don"t get your blood on it, or put down any spells or talisman designs for exorcising ghosts that Ning-tianshi tells you in it." Teacher Liu said seriously to me, "This is a notebook made with human skin, handed down from the Republican period. The notebook"s owner was skinned alive and made into a book. He survived being skinned and ran around screaming to find his skin. At last he was taken for a monster and beaten to death."

"That"s..." I hadn"t expected there to be such a heavy history to this notebook. What a sinful age!

"This notebook was made with my... my ancestor"s skin, so I value it very much." Teacher Liu focused on me and said, "I"ve always thought that as long as this notebook was in the world, my ancestor couldn"t rest in peace, always experiencing the pain of being skinned. Giving it to Teacher Shen was at first because I wanted to help you maintain order, but now, I hope Teacher Shen will be able to help... my ancestor."

Although what Teacher Liu said about his ancestor"s suffering was nonsense, I still solemnly took the notebook out of his hands. "Teacher Liu can be a.s.sured that from now on there will only be righteous things recorded in this book. I will be sure record all the beautiful scenes I"ve seen and heard of in this new era. That should be able to give your ancestor peace.

"Even though this is a notebook that was created through pain, I am willing to use it to record happiness. "

Teacher Liu paused, staring blankly at the notebook, then suddenly began to laugh with a trace of desolation. While he laughed, he wept, saying, "So this is it, this is it, hahaha! I"m wrong, I"ve been wrong all along! Returning one evil for another only leads to greater sin. The only thing that could ever wash away evil is goodness."

With his cold fingers, he gently covered my hands holding the notebook. "On the day that this book is full of happiness, my ancestor will cast off his pain. Please use your kind eyes to see, to write justly. These clouded eyes of mine can only see sin. I can"t write about happiness."

I didn"t understand what Teacher Liu meant, but I would definitely perform the task he had entrusted to me. "OK, set your mind at ease, Teacher Liu. There are so many people in society now. The notebook will be full within a month."