CoP CH10

In the beginning of his career, Sui Cannong had chosen to become a teacher in an International School because he had assumed that there would be many holidays to his calendar. Of which included winter break, summer break and all the holidays in between such as Christmas, Easter holidays and other celebratory events observed by foreign countries.  The classes were arranged to be in small groups as well, and he had been chalking it all up to be a simple and burdenless job. 

After he had been successfully hired, Sui Cannong found his assumptions to be completely false. 

Not only was the stress of his job not light at all, but the school seemed to organise festivities very frequently. 

For example, it was “Green Day” at school today. A day which neither students nor teachers had to wear their uniforms and suits, but instead could don clothing in green. The school often organised charity events intent on raising awareness. There was Pink Day made in honour of breast cancer, and then Blue Day in lieu of earth day. 

The theme of today’s Green Day centred around environmental protection. The students were only required to attend classes for half the day. Then in the afternoon they are to be headed off to participate in thematic activities prepared by the school. 

Sui Cannong found a military green jacket at home in the morning, but after putting it on, he felt that it was not green enough, so he put on a pair of green canvas shoes.

He thought his appearance was already quite striking, but as soon as he reached the classroom door, he saw Thomas standing at the entrance with a bright grass-green wig on his head, waving excitedly at him.

Sui Cannong felt he had still underestimated the enthusiasm of this British lad.

In the afternoon, the school held a charity fair in the second-floor venue, and each teacher was assigned to oversee a small booth. Thomas and Sui Cannong were assigned to the booth for collecting recyclable bottles.

This meant they had to guard a huge box all afternoon, waiting for students to drop off various plastic bottles they collected from home, and then give donors a small round green sticker in return.

After the two set up the booth, Thomas was already sweating profusely but still refused to take off the wig on his head.

“Sui,” Thomas said whilst panting, “talk to me for a bit to distract me; I’m afraid I won’t last until the kids come in.”

Sui Cannong felt anxious for him: “Can’t you just take it off?”

Thomas shook his head vigorously: “It’ll mess up my hairstyle.”

Sui Cannong had no choice but to take two flyers and fan him with them.

“How about this,” Sui Cannong hesitated for a moment and said, “I’ll casually describe a few people, and you help me analyse whether their psychological states are normal or not.”

Thomas seemed to find the topic interesting and happily agreed.

“One day, you see a person,” Sui Cannong said, “standing by a bridge, looking melancholic while smoking, then suddenly leans over the railing for a long time before straightening up again.”

Thomas pondered for a moment.

“Quite confusing isn’t it? Certainly hard to tell what it is just by these clues,” Thomas analysed. “What if there’s something under the bridge, like a group of ducklings crossing?”

Sui Cannong nodded.

“Then there’s another person,” he continued, “who has a big cut on his forearm, but keeps insisting to others that it’s nothing, just a small injury.”

“However, when no one is around, he secretly smiles at his wound,” Sui Cannong added.

Thomas’s expression became hesitant: “That doesn’t seem quite right. I can understand saying it’s a small injury to avoid worrying others, but why would he smile?”

Sui Cannong continued, “And there’s someone I know who, while eating, takes out his phone to take pictures of his meal, saying he wants to keep a memento because he might never have the chance to eat ever again.”

Thomas frowned deeply.

Sui Cannong: “Now, what if I say that all three people are the same person?”

Thomas was dumbfounded.

Sui Cannong stopped talking; he raised his eyes to look at the door and realised that class had ended at some point, and quite a few students were already entering the venue.

Thomas was a humorous teacher responsible for attracting the students’ attention and encouraging them to participate in the event, while Sui Cannong was in charge of counting the bottles and putting stickers on the students’ chests.

The students were very enthusiastic about participating; some even went to the convenience store to buy a bottle of water just to drink it on the spot for a few extra stickers.

Sui Cannong was quick and managed to intercept a few who attempted to donate thermoses.

Two hours later, a stack of stickers had dwindled to just a small handful, and Sui Cannong’s index and thumb were already covered in glue, while Thomas was nearly melting from the heat.

“Sui,” during a break, Thomas wiped his sweat and hesitantly called out to Sui Cannong, “I just wanted to ask, was that person you described made up, or do you really have a friend like that?”

Before Sui Cannong could respond, Thomas continued worriedly, “If there really is such a person, I think you should talk to him; I question his mental stability. You need to—”

After Sui Cannong returned from the restroom, the two teachers who were taking turns came over. Thomas was feeling very hot and said he wanted to go back to the classroom to rest for a while, so Sui Cannong wandered around nearby by himself.

Then Sui Cannong saw the booth where Ji Ling was located.

Ji Ling was paired with Lin, the art prof, and their booth was quite lively. There was a small sign in front of the booth that said thirty yuan could buy a small hairpin.

The hairpins were handmade by students from the art department, all designed with plants, and it was said that all the proceeds would be donated to environmental charities.

Today, Ji Ling was wearing a light green shirt, and on his head was a green bean sprout hairpin. He was quietly counting the money in his hands, like a plant undergoing photosynthesis.

Sui Cannong paused for a moment.

–

Ji Ling said to the student in front of him, “That’ll be ninety yuan in total.”

These small accessories were very popular among girls, and Ji Ling and Lin had spent the entire afternoon just collecting money. Lin had said she was a bit thirsty and had gone to get some water, leaving Ji Ling to watch the booth alone.

Ji Ling neatly put away the change in his hands when he heard a voice say, “Business is pretty good.”

He turned his head in confusion and saw Sui Cannong standing in front of him, looking curiously at the few remaining hairpins on the booth.

Ji Ling was taken aback and heard Sui Cannong ask, “Is your hand any better?”

Ji Ling replied softly, “It’s alright now.”

Sui Cannong nodded and looked at the hairpins on the booth for a moment.

“They’re all very exquisite,” Sui Cannong said with a smile, “I’d like to join in too. Do you still have that bean sprout on your head?”

Ji Ling reached up to touch his head and realised that Sui Cannong had been meaning that he wanted to buy a hairpin.

Ji Ling searched the booth for a while, shook his head, and said, “The bean sprout hairpin is sold out. We still have other designs, like this banana, and corn and carrot.”

Sui Cannong said, “No worries, I’ll just take a look.”

Ji Ling hesitated for a moment and then said, “Or if you don’t mind, I can give you the one on my head.”

Sui Cannong was taken aback for a moment and said, “Sure, but I don’t have change. Can I pay with WeChat?”

Ji Ling nodded and brought over the printed QR code from the table. Sui Cannong took out his phone from his pocket and began to scan the code. While he was paying, Ji Ling took off the bean sprout hairpin from his head and held it in his palm.

However, the next second, Sui Cannong put down his phone and bent down directly, leaning his head towards Ji Ling, indicating for Ji Ling to help him put it on.

Ji Ling’s hand trembled slightly.

Sui Cannong was about half a head taller than Ji Ling, and once he bent down, Ji Ling could easily pin the hairpin into Sui Cannong’s hair. He carefully fixed the hairpin on Sui Cannong’s head and gently brushed aside some hair with his hand.

Then he pulled back his hand.

Sui Cannong shook his head and took out his phone to take a picture of his head, unable to hold back a laugh.

“Why not come visit my and Thomas’s booth too?” he asked casually, “Do you have any empty plastic bottles? One bottle can be exchanged for a sticker.”

Ji Ling thought for a moment and said, “I should have some.”

“But in my classroom, I might have to go back to get it,” he said.

Sui Cannong replied, “Okay, then I’ll wander around a bit and wait for you at my booth later.”

Ji Ling had taken a bottle of water from the cafeteria at noon, and he remembered that the bottle should still be on his desk.

He actually felt a bit regretful because he had bought a bottle of orange juice at the convenience store in the morning, but after drinking it, he had thrown the bottle away.

Just as Ji Ling walked out of the activity area and hadn’t had time to go upstairs, he saw Lin and another female teacher in the corridor.

They were standing by the window in the corridor, next to a chair. Lin was pointing outside the window, looking anxious while talking to the other female teacher about something.

Ji Ling felt that they seemed to be facing some difficulty and asked, “What’s wrong?”

As soon as Lin saw Ji Ling, she immediately showed an expression as if she had grasped a lifeline: “Ji, can you help us with something?”

Ji Ling got a rough idea of what had happened.

There had originally been a long string of triangular flags hanging in the window, each decorated with eco-related drawings made by eighth-grade art students, which were to be photographed later.

However, for some reason, a passing student had opened the window, and with the wind outside, the flags were not secured properly. One end of the string loosened, and the whole string was blown outside, hanging on a tree branch.

Both female teachers were slightly petite, and although they had brought a chair, they couldn’t reach far enough even after standing on it.

Ji Ling first stepped onto the chair and reached out, only to find that it was still a bit too far.

He shook his head and said, “I’ll try first, but you still need to find something longer, like a measuring tape or a broom.”

The two responded and hurriedly walked away. Ji Ling looked up and furrowed his brow.

The wind outside was quite strong, and the flags were very light. Ji Ling felt that if it continued to blow like this, those carefully made flags might soon be blown away.

But these were the students’ hard work.

Ji Ling hesitated for a moment, then tentatively leaned his body out of the window.

He reached out, trying hard to grab a corner of the flag on the branch, but he was still a bit short. He pursed his lips and leaned out a little more.

Then Ji Ling suddenly heard a voice: “What are you doing?”

Ji Ling was taken aback, turned his face, and found that Sui Cannong had suddenly appeared behind him, staring at him.

Ji Ling couldn’t tell if it was his illusion, but he felt that Sui Cannong’s expression seemed a bit unpleasant.