Call Me Daddy

The next day, when Su Aobai stood on the podium, none of the children in the class were absent. Even the students who didn’t want to study and ran away 2 days ago obediently sat in their seats. However, they kept their heads down, glancing left and right, not daring to meet his gaze, probably feeling a bit embarrassed.

In fact, these children really didn’t want to sit in the classroom and study. Firstly, they didn’t like studying, and secondly, they felt very proud when they walked out of the classroom the day before yesterday.

Now, sitting back in their seats meekly felt like they were traitors, lacking any steadfastness.

But who could resist Teacher Su’s enticing stories? After class yesterday, they couldn’t wait to pull their classmates who had heard the story to retell it to them.

The result was a noisy mess of chatter, making their ears buzz. One would say this, another would correct them, saying they got it wrong, and then tell another part. The content was not as clear as the few words from Chu Ni. Although Chu Ni conveyed the gist correctly, the process was missing, and it wasn’t exciting at all.

Watching the classmates in the classroom excitedly talk about how wonderful Teacher Su’s story was, they scratched their heads anxiously, wishing they had been in the classroom at that time.

In order to hear the story, they had no choice but to “endure the humiliation” and sit in the classroom today.

Su Aobai chuckled inwardly. Even such young kids cared about their pride.

He didn’t expose why they suddenly came back, and instead continued from the end of yesterday’s story.

Today, he talked about ‘All four seas bowing down, all underworld creatures being removed from records.’

When Su Aobai narrated how Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in the underworld, erasing all monkey-like creatures from the Book of Life and Death, the children’s faces below flushed with excitement, wishing they could call that monkey “Monkey Brother!” right then and there!

Some kids even thought that if Sun Wukong really existed, during the Anti-Japanese War, they would have let Monkey Brother kill off those Japanese soldiers.

Unfortunately, just when they were most excited, the story reached the part where the Heavenly Emperor, shocked that such a bold monkey demon existed in the lower realm, on the advice of other immortals, recruited him and appointed him as the Bimawen, then abruptly stopped.

(T/N: Bimawen/ “To Assist Horse Temperament” = A minor post overseeing the celestial horse stables. Monkey is given this position in chapter four by the Heavenly Emperor.)

And then? And then? Everyone was anxiously asking.

“That’s all for today. We’ll continue the rest tomorrow.”

As soon as Su Aobai finished speaking, he saw that the few kids who had just returned to the classroom today were getting restless again.

“We agreed before that if you want to hear the story, you must study hard and complete your homework diligently. If any student listens to the story but fails to do this, they will be punished and not allowed to listen to the story for the next 3 days.”

These words frightened those restless children back into compliance.

Today, although they heard the story, it was clear the teacher wouldn’t repeat the part they missed yesterday. The apprenticeship process must have been very exciting, and they regretted not hearing it. If they couldn’t listen to the story for the next three days, wouldn’t they fall far behind again?

With such a captivating story enticing them, studying didn’t seem so painful anymore.

So, they obediently stayed in the classroom.

When class began, they suddenly felt that studying wasn’t that difficult. Today’s math lesson was about adding and subtracting the candies they received during the New Year. In language class, they learned some new characters, including the written forms of numerals and some food-related characters. Even the few students who were usually most impatient found the lessons quite enjoyable.

Only a few children who truly didn’t like studying secretly vowed that after finishing this story, they would go out and play and never study again.

However, ‘Journey to the West’ was a long story, and when it ended, a new story would start.

Thus, throughout their elementary school years, they alternated between suffering and happiness. By the time they finished elementary school, they looked back and realized they had learned so much knowledge. Listening to many stories had broadened their horizons and enriched their cultural knowledge.

They had also developed the habit of paying attention in class and completing their homework on time. From the beginning of elementary school, their lives had taken a different path.

However, this teaching method might only be applicable to that particular era. The world the children were exposed to was very small, and most of the adults around them were uneducated. Therefore, Su Aobai could entice them to learn with exciting stories, making it their most enjoyable entertainment.

In later generations, children could see the world through mobile phones and computers, had toys, and amusement parks. Stories like ‘Journey to the West’ were already familiar to them from TV shows they watched since childhood, making them harder to entertain.

Of course, all these were stories for later.

***

In the blink of an eye, Su Aobai had been back for several months, and the semester was almost over.

One day, he took half a day off and carefully dressed up at home.

Over these few months, the affection levels of the two children had increased. The little girl’s affection level had reached 79. When it broke 75, he received the second system reward; a thousand sets of children’s clothing. These included styles for both boys and girls, in sizes for children aged 3 to 12, with various designs, enough for the two children to wear new clothes frequently until they grew up.

However, being too flashy would attract attention. Up to now, Su Aobai had only given each child two sets of ready-made clothes, claiming they were sent by his relatives in Ning City. Any more than that might arouse suspicion.

The remaining clothes were still in the space, and Su Aobai had no time to deal with them. He had an idea in mind, but the timing wasn’t right yet.

In contrast, his son’s affection level increased more slowly, from 72 to 74, still a bit away from the next threshold.

Su Aobai watched his son’s resentful gaze while doing extra homework and seriously doubted his deception had been seen through.

But he wouldn’t admit it. My acting is so good; how could a little kid see through it?

“How do I look?” Su Aobai adjusted his collar. Since the mirror at home was too small to see his entire reflection, he asked his wife to check his appearance.

“Very spirited,” Jiang Lianmei answered confidently.

Today, Su Aobai wore his best white shirt. The temperature in late December was very low, so he layered a sweater over his shirt, showing the shirt’s collar, and topped it off with a six or seven-tenths new dark gray wool coat that his father had given him.

He paired this with indigo work pants and black cotton shoes since he didn’t have any leather shoes.

This outfit, with its mix of simplicity and respectability, embodied a stylishness unique to that era.

Su Aobai dipped his comb in water and neatly parted his hair to the side. With his thick eyebrows and big eyes, he looked very spirited, almost like a leader. Only the frayed edges of his sleeves and his cotton shoes indicated his modest economic conditions.

That was intentional on his part.

Everything was ready. Before leaving, Su Aobai glanced at the thick stack of supplementary teaching materials on the table.

These were provided by the system and further refined by him. The first revised materials were for grades one to three. He spent several days transcribing multiple copies of each book, keeping the most heavily marked original and sending the others to various publishers.

Several months passed with no response from the publishers, so Su Aobai didn’t send out the revised materials for grades four and five.

He was confident in the content of the textbooks because they were the most refined versions from the hundred practice books rewarded by the system. These were the most essential extracts from multiple books, further combined with his own teaching experience to ensure each supplementary textbook was suitable for current students.

He might have misjudged the situation, as publishers didn’t prioritize such supplementary materials in the year or two before the college entrance examination was reinstated.

However, Su Aobai didn’t feel disappointed. He shared some of these revised notes with the other teachers at the school, except for Wang Fangfang. As a result, the students’ performance had significantly improved compared to before.

Especially the first and second graders, whom he mainly taught, exhibited a completely different spirit and demeanor.

***

Su Aobai still needed to borrow a bicycle from his father-in-law, and Jiang Lianmei decided to go with him. There was no farm work to be done, and their son was at school. She wanted to take their daughter to visit her parents and chat with her mother and sisters-in-law.

From a distance, they saw that the area around their home was unusually lively. Many villagers braved the light snow to watch the commotion.

As they got closer, they realized that the excitement wasn’t at the Jiang household but next door at the Yu family’s house.

Yu Zhicheng, the most accomplished member of the Yu family, had returned with his wife and children. A military truck had picked them up from the train station, loaded with bags and packages, almost filling the truck bed, as if they were moving back for good.

The arrival of the military truck attracted a lot of attention. Many children who had never seen such a large vehicle called their friends to follow it to the Yu household.

Yu Zhicheng got off the truck with a crutch, startling both his family and the gathered villagers. Fortunately, he quickly explained that he had been injured while on a mission. His leg could recover fully, but it was no longer suited for the high-intensity training of the military, so his superiors arranged for his transfer.

Because he held a relatively high rank in the military and was discharged due to an injury after earning commendations, he was assigned to Fengyang County based on his preferences. He was now the deputy director of the Fengyang County Public Security Bureau, as well as the head of the Xifeng Town police station and the director of the armed forces department.

Hongqi Commune fell under the jurisdiction of Xifeng Town.

Once Yu Zhicheng recovered and took up his post, he would be their leader, possibly outranking even the commune director.

For a while, the Yu family basked in praise and flattery. Who wouldn’t want to be on good terms with a leader? Previously, Yu Zhicheng had been stationed far away, but now he was close by, and everyone was a fellow villager. There might be times when they needed his help in the future.

The rest of the Yu family welcomed this flattery, but Yu Zhicheng and his wife, Fan Yunxiang, remained serious and aloof. The villagers didn’t mind, thinking that such demeanor befitted a leader.

Su Aobai and his wife Jiang Lianmei could hear Old Lady Yu’s laughter from over ten meters away. She deliberately raised her voice like a crowing rooster, as if wanting everyone to hear her.

The couple exchanged a glance, realizing that Old Lady Yu might be trying to show off to her parents next door.

In the past, the most respected person in the team was Jiang Dajun, the former brigade leader. But now, with Yu Zhicheng’s glorious return, everything was uncertain. The Jiang family and the Yu family had an old grudge, so hearing the lively commotion next door must have been upsetting for Jiang Dajun.

***

“Zhicheng is the most successful in our brigade. I knew it since he was a child,” someone said.

“That’s right. You all used to praise the old brigade leader’s son-in-law, but no matter how good he is, he’s just a teacher without a permanent position. He can’t compare to Zhicheng,” added another.

Old Lady Yu felt immensely proud as she listened to everyone’s compliments, especially when they belittled the Jiang family’s son-in-law to elevate her own son. If the Jiang family had better foresight, their daughter could have married her younger son and become the sister-in-law of a great leader.

She was already planning for her second son to help out her other two sons, hoping they could all become leaders in the police station or the militia, making the Jiang family regret even more.

“I disagree. I think Uncle Dajun’s son-in-law is very good. I didn’t receive much education, but I admire scholars like him,” Yu Zhicheng said, frowning at the disparaging remarks.

He maintained a serious and righteous expression. Though he hadn’t interacted much with Su Aobai, he didn’t like seeing others being elevated by belittling someone else.

Su Aobai and Jiang Lianmei also heard these conversations.

Su Aobai looked at the tall, upright figure in the crowd. To be honest, he wasn’t in a good mood.

Yu Zhicheng and the original Su Aobai were two completely different kinds of people. Yu Zhicheng was upright, loyal, and cared for his wife and children. He didn’t blindly obey his unreasonable mother, instead taking matters into his own hands to resolve conflicts between his wife and mother decisively.

Yu Zhicheng’s presence starkly contrasted with the original Su Aobai, reminding Su Aobai of those who had always looked down on him in every world he had been in, those who had trampled him underfoot and looked down from above.

However, Su Aobai knew that Yu Zhicheng was different from those people.

Yu Zhicheng and the original owner had no interactions. Their comparison was due to their similar family structures; one being happy and harmonious, the other falling apart, not because Yu Zhicheng had plotted against him.

From an outsider’s perspective, Su Aobai even admired that man to some extent.

But now, being the one constantly compared to Yu Zhicheng by others, inevitably stirred some complex emotions in him.

“Do you think he’s better than me?” At the back of the crowd, Su Aobai asked sourly.

“I think you’re better than him,” Jiang Lianmei replied without hesitation.

“For example?” Su Aobai slightly raised his chin, a barely noticeable smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Jiang Lianmei fell silent, which made Su Aobai’s mood instantly drop, and he felt a bit irritated.

“There are too many ways you’re better than him. Do I need to list them all?” Her next words quickly lifted his spirits.

“You look better than him. You tell me and the kids all kinds of interesting stories. You help me take care of the children. When I’m sick, you cook and do the laundry for me… Most importantly, you are my husband. In my heart, you are better than anyone else.”

After speaking, Jiang Lianmei, overcoming the shyness of being affectionate in public, held Su Aobai’s hand, hiding it under her thick cotton coat.

He was thoroughly satisfied. In his past lives, the women who had any relationship with him were always attracted to another man, as if bewitched, willingly sharing that man with other outstanding women.

This made Su Aobai feel defeated and emotionally insecure. He needed Jiang Lianmei’s straightforward and passionate love and affirmation. At this moment, he fully embraced his current identity, feeling that this might be who he was in one of his past lives.

Su Aobai gently squeezed his wife’s soft hand. “You are the same in my heart.”

Both Jiang Lianmei and Fan Yunxiang, being an educated youth married to locals, were often compared. In Su Aobai’s heart, Jiang Lianmei was far more endearing than Fan Yunxiang.

They exchanged a smile, sharing a harmonious moment that no one else could intrude upon.

They didn’t disturb the lively chatting crowd but went straight into the Jiang household next door.

***

When Su Aobai came out, pushing the bicycle, Jiang Lianmei handed their daughter to her mother and ran to catch up, adjusting his collar.

“Wait for me to come back.”

Under his wife’s encouraging gaze, Su Aobai, facing the light snow, rode the bicycle to the county education bureau.