Chapter 147: Switching classes
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Ren Xiaosu walked out of the classroom and was surprised to see a large group of middle-aged people standing behind the homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher deliberated for a moment before saying, “These are some of the parents of your classmates. It’s like this: Everyone has mentioned how you might have brought in germs from outside the stronghold, so it’s everyone’s wish that you consider transferring to another school.”
Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Transfer? Transfer to where?” With this matter exposed, there probably wouldn’t be another school willing to accept him, right?
A male student’s parent said, “If no schools are willing to accept you, you should stop going to school. It won’t be very nice if everyone’s safety gets affected all because of one person.”
Ren Xiaosu gave a mental sigh. All of this was probably within Yang Xiaojin’s expectations, so it was no wonder she said the stronghold held a subconscious ostracism of the refugees and that it would be even harsher than he could imagine.
Only when he saw these parents appearing here that he realized why his classmates had all kept quiet when they saw him. They had probably gone home last night and told their parents about this, resulting in the parents immediately deciding to come down to school together so they could force him to drop out of school.
To these parents, Ren Xiaosu was nothing but a refugee. With so many of them stepping forward regarding this matter, the school would have no choice but to accede to their demands.
Nowadays, as long as you dared to make a scene, there wasn’t anything that couldn’t be solved.
Ren Xiaosu looked at the parents and said, “And if I don’t want to transfer schools?”
Honestly, these parents would’ve been dead if this were the wilderness. The rules of the wilderness were much simpler than in here. It was much more direct!
However, the parents did not care about Ren Xiaosu. They looked at the homeroom teacher and said loudly, “If you people don’t make him transfer schools, how are you going to answer for it when an epidemic spreads? Furthermore, all of the resulting medical expenses will have to be borne by you. If you don’t compensate, we’ll sue you in court!”
Ren Xiaosu was contemplating this. He had once encountered the term “court” while studying in the town’s school and knew it was a place that presided over justice and fairness. However, there was never a place like that in town.
He never could have expected that the first time a term like “court” would get associated with him would be over a lousy matter like this.
The students had quietly walked out of the classroom as well. They were watching the conversation happening over here because they were also hoping to find out how this matter would get resolved.
The 12th grade homeroom teacher was in a pickle. The teacher of the Academic Affairs Office yesterday had told him before that Ren Xiaosu was related to Lu Yuan. Who could have thought that the student enrolled by Lu Yuan would turn out to be a refugee?
The homeroom teacher thought that maybe he should pass the buck. He said softly to the parents, “This student’s admission was arranged for by Lu Yuan. Why don’t you all go and speak to him instead?”
The parents looked at one another. They did not know about this prior to being told. If they had known that Ren Xiaosu was enrolled in school by Lu Yuan, they probably wouldn’t have taken on such a threatening tone.
But before they thought of how to handle it, a person suddenly squeezed through the crowd of people. When Ren Xiaosu turned around to see who it was, he discovered it was Jiang Wu.
Jiang Wu looked at the parents and said, “What are you trying to do?”
“We’re not trying anything.” A parent said, “We can’t possibly have our children attend school with a refugee, can we?”
“Why not?” Jiang Wu got so angry her face flushed red. “Aren’t all of us people? Who says a refugee will definitely spread diseases? Did any of your children get sick after returning home last night?”
The parents seemed to back off a little at the mention of this. “They didn’t, but I’ve heard people in the stronghold fell sick.”
“You heard?” Jiang Wu raised her voice a little. “Just because you heard about something gives you the right to destroy the future of a student?”
“What future does a refugee have?” The parents were also beginning to get angry. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m a teacher of this school!” Jiang Wu said.
Ren Xiaosu’s homeroom teacher had already stopped speaking. He was so happy someone had stepped in for him.
A parent said, “Since you’re a teacher, why are you arguing with us over a refugee?”
“I don’t know about any refugees or stronghold residents.” Jiang Wu stood her ground and said, “All I know is that he is a student!”
As Ren Xiaosu watched, he suddenly felt that Jiang Wu was stubbornly cute and even a little silly.
But if it weren’t for this persistence and steadfastness, Ren Xiaosu would not have helped her when they were still wandering in the wilderness. If it weren’t for Ren Xiaosu’s help, Jiang Wu and her students would probably have died out there.
Ren Xiaosu felt a little touched, because he had finally seen something positive in someone in this troubled world.
Before that, there was also Wang Fugui and Xiaoyu.
Chen Wudi would probably count as half, while there was no need to mention Yan Liuyuan. What Yan Liuyuan and he had was as good as a sibling relationship.
A parent suddenly said, “Since you’re protective of him, why don’t you let him go to your class?”
Jiang Wu said without any hesitation, “That was what I came over for. I’ll go and apply for Ren Xiaosu to transfer to our class right away.”
A voice sounded from the crowd. “I’m also going with you to apply to transfer to your class.”
Ren Xiaosu turned to look and was astounded to discover it was Yang Xiaojin who had spoken.
When one of the parents heard Jiang Wu say that, they sneered. “As a teacher, you’re really irresponsible about what you say. You might be willing to let him into your class, but will your students’ parents allow it?”
Jiang Wu hesitated for a moment before saying in a soft voice, “My students no longer have parents. All I need to do is seek their consent.”
This point hit Jiang Wu’s soft spot. The happiness her students experienced after escaping from death had slowly turned into longing for their families. This was a pain that could never be separated from any disasters. All they could do was to hide it within themselves until the pain slowly lessened.
Suddenly, a hubbub occurred beyond the crowd. Twenty-something students walked next to Jiang Wu. “Teacher, you don’t need our consent to let Ren Xiaosu join our class. We’ll support you and support Ren Xiaosu as well.”
The other students from the other class muttered, “Why are you guys siding with a refugee so much?”
One of Jiang Wu’s students said in a serious tone, “Side with him? We’re not siding with or helping him. And he doesn’t need our help either. You people are utterly clueless about the outside world. I find it to be really sad.”
In the eyes of Jiang Wu’s students, they were merely standing up for Ren Xiaosu out of gratitude. If not for him, they would not even be here sitting in class and attending school.
The number of people who made the getaway was in the thousands. But how many of them made it to Stronghold 109?
What they remembered most about the escape was what Jiang Wu had said to them, “As long as we follow that young man, we’ll definitely get there.”
In the end, they did manage to survive.
All of the students’ parents standing in the corridor were stunned. This had turned out far too different from what they had imagined.