Chapter 51: Demonstration

Someone cast a suspicious look and asked the woman who had been robbed, "What exactly was stolen?"

Desperate for help, she told the truth, "I just withdrew five thousand yuan from the bank, put it in a large red wallet, and was on my way to buy groceries when..."

A sixty-year-old woman interrupted in a rough voice, "You must have been targeted! Why else would they rob only you and no one else? What's the point of withdrawing so much money?"

Hiding nothing in front of so many people, the robbed woman replied, "I originally wanted to buy an electric scooter. Two thousand is usually enough for living expenses!"

Complaining for a long time got her nowhere. She couldn't waste any more time and had to chase forward. People were everywhere. She ran and asked along the way, though some had only seen her running without knowing why.

At the end of the road was an asphalt street. The robber had vanished without a trace, and paths branched out in all directions, making it impossible to continue the pursuit...

A grown woman, unable to hold back any longer, squatted on the ground and cried.

A flurry of thoughts passed through my mind. What did such a small amount of money even matter in Mo Liping's eyes? Was it really worth crying over for so long?

Some people urged her to call the police to catch the thief, and others chimed in to support the idea...

However, the robbed woman said, "Five thousand yuan isn't worth making a fuss over. The authorities might not even take the case."

After crying, she felt much better. Although the robber wasn't caught, she was still very grateful to me. She asked for my phone number to keep in touch later, and I watched with my own eyes as she entered me into her contact list...

As the crowd dispersed, the robbed woman invited me to her place, pointing with her finger at the tall building ahead and saying, "Cross the overpass, and it's just a few steps away."

I checked the time. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, and class had already started. I hadn't eaten yet, and my stomach was rumbling with hunger. Unable to worry about all that, I hurriedly waved goodbye.

The robbed woman waved back vigorously, watching me leave like a parting family member...

Unfamiliar with the roads here, I walked and asked directions, struggling greatly before finally managing to run to the classroom door and shout, "Reporting!"

An unfamiliar teacher, displeased to see me arriving only now, told me to stand by the door and continued talking to the students.

Feeling quite depressed, I wondered what kind of teacher this was. She had written a bunch of things on the blackboard, and the students were copying them down, leaving me some space to observe...

She had soft, smooth black hair, looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wore a professional white dress uniform, and had an ordinary appearance, though her high heels were very stylish...

Standing by the door, I noticed the students keeping turning their heads to look at me, unable to focus on their writing!

Taking advantage of the moment, the newly arrived unfamiliar teacher shifted her gaze to my face and asked, "Explain why you are late."

Just as I was about to tell her what had happened, the class bell rang!

Having no need to ask further, the teacher picked up her books, walked past me, and said, "Don't come this late next time!"

I felt deeply aggrieved. I had stopped to help catch a robber, only to end up missing a whole class. I quickly hurried to my seat...

As soon as the gold-worshipping boy saw me arrive, he fled the classroom in fright. Jiang Mei came over, put her arm around my shoulder, and asked, "What happened? You only show up after class is over?"

Expecting to be praised for what I did, I recounted everything that had happened...

Jiang Mei, however, had a different view: "Stay out of such things in the future!"

Mi Nini appeared by my side out of nowhere, fixed her gaze on Jiang Mei, and asked, "Why?"

I don't know where Jiang Mei picked it up, but she spoke with a different tone: "Think about it. The robber is one party involved, and the victim is another. You are just an eyewitness who happened to see it. Once you help out, don't you become a party involved yourself?"

I didn't think it was any grand philosophy, but the monitor's eyes lit up, and she let out an exclamation of newfound respect: "Wow! Jiang Mei, how do you know so much?"

The students gathered around, eager to hear this bizarre logic, opening their eyes wide and asking Jiang Mei to elaborate.

She refused them all, telling them, "You all have smartphones, can't you search it yourselves?" This worked like a charm, and everyone pulled out their phones to look it up.

Some students cried out, "My phone ran out of data!"

I still couldn't make out what was written on the blackboard. Looking at Mi Nini, I asked, "What class was this just now?"

"Current Affairs and Politics. Everything written up there must be copied down; it will be on the exam!"

I hadn't learned anything and was just about to take out my book to copy when Jiang Mei stopped me: "Don't bother copying. When we get back, I'll just send you a few screenshots on my phone!"

That made sense; Current Affairs and Politics relied entirely on memorization. However, I had never seen this teacher before, so I casually asked, "..."

The monitor scolded in a low voice, "Is your brain having a landslide? It's still the same political science teacher!"

Landslide or not, it was my first time seeing her, so I asked what her name was.

Mi Nini shouted, "Dead pig! You don't even know Teacher Jiang? Her name is Jiang Chengyuan, understand?"

Though scolded a bit, I was quite happy inside. At least I now knew who this person was. At that moment, my eyes swept over Jiang Mei's left hand and I asked, "Did you find the bracelet?"

"No, not yet!" Her reply was hesitant; she definitely had something to hide.

Mi Nini also had an idea and asked, "Did you ask your mom when you got back?"

"No, I didn't! We had lunch outside at noon, so I haven't had a chance to ask yet."

I solemnly declared, "You must ask carefully; losing it could cause a lot of trouble!"

Jiang Mei took it to heart but remained silent. Another female student came over and asked, "What bracelet?"

Mi Nini glanced at me and, seeing that I didn't want to talk, kept quiet as well. Instead, Jiang Mei answered, "Don't ask. Losing things is frustrating enough; I'm trying to figure it out."

"What does it look like? I'll help you look for it!"

"You can't help; the bracelet was lost at home, where are you going to help look?"

The female student realized she was intruding and quietly walked away. I was the one feeling the most depressed. This was no ordinary bracelet; losing it meant it was gone for good. Yet I couldn't tell them the truth—if they knew, wouldn't things become even more troublesome? I still had to remind her once more, "Make sure you search carefully when you get home; it might have been put away by your mother."

Mi Nini had something to add as well: "When I lent it to you, I vouched for you. But you've been the only one wearing it, and I've only seen it once. If it's lost, you'll have to pay for it!"

I thought to myself: How could she ever afford to pay for it? It was such a valuable item; even I wouldn't dare claim it. When the time came, I'd still have to find a way to return it to Mo Liping.

...

The class bell rang, playing the same old tune. Having grown accustomed to it, it didn't sound very pleasant anymore. Only that woman's voice deeply fascinated me; who on earth was she? I really wanted to see her true face.

The students scrambled in a flurry back to their seats, though a few swaggered around the doorway.

This behavior left me baffled. A moment later, a teacher wearing sportswear walked in. He had a stubbly black beard, stood 1.65 meters tall, and looked to be about forty. Standing by the podium, he said, "Students, leave your backpacks in the classroom. Follow me for this PE class!"

This teacher's image had never been good in my mind. The black beard on his face looked so ugly; it annoyed me just looking at it!

The students put their backpacks inside their desk compartments and obediently followed him out...

Just like the rest, I entered the campus sports ground and approached the horizontal and parallel bars.

The PE teacher stopped, holding a notebook and a pen, and looked at the students. "Today's task is to flip up onto the horizontal bar and come back down—that counts as finished! Those who can't flip up can practice during your free time. I'll call out names, and you'll go first!"

Mi Nini piped up, "Teacher, you should demonstrate first so we can follow along."

After pondering for a moment, the PE teacher handed the notebook and pen in his hand to me...

I took them and glanced down. There were no words in the notebook, and it wasn't easy to flip through the pages.

Gripping the horizontal bar with both hands and facing the students, the PE teacher explained, "You must grip it like this, not like that, to prevent slipping and falling when you flip up."

Suspending himself by his hands from the highest bar, he bent slightly, lowered his head, flipped his legs up and over, pushed his arms high, and landed after a single flip, saying, "Do it just like this!"

Many male and female students had complaints, especially Jiang Mei: "You never taught us before, and suddenly you expect us to flip up. Who can possibly do that?"