The female class monitor hesitated for a moment, then pointed to a seat in the front row, the honor seat.
Upon seeing Uncle Hua, Yao Nan’s mother’s face lit up with joy. What a coincidence that she ran into Hua Jie’s father, especially since she had planned to invite Hua Jie’s family for dinner that evening. Meeting in the morning was even better.
“Hua Jie’s dad, right?” Yao Nan’s mother took a seat next to him, her enthusiasm matching that of Liao Shanshan’s mother.
“Yes.” Uncle Hua was puzzled as to why so many people were approaching him to chat.
Yao Nan’s mother extended her hand to Uncle Hua without any reservations and introduced herself.
Only then did he realize that she was the one who had bought the furniture he made. Wasn’t she essentially the paying client?
Just as he was about to show more enthusiasm, she immediately began to express her admiration for him, praising his craftsmanship as if it were celestial.
Was he really that impressive?
Uncle Hua was almost bamboozled by her flattery.
In the next five minutes, Yao Nan’s mother lavished him with praise like it cost nothing, leaving Uncle Hua bewildered. She expressed a desire to increase the production speed of the furniture to get more done before the New Year.
The two quickly reached an agreement. Yao Nan’s mother offered a deal where she wouldn’t take a cut from the sales Uncle Hua managed for her, and she would give him a 10% commission on all furniture she made following his designs. In return, she asked that Uncle Hua supply furniture exclusively to Fuyun Furniture until he opened his own shop.
It wasn’t until Yao Nan’s mother warmly said, “Let’s have a nice dinner together later, and we can chat more then,” and returned to Yao Nan’s seat, that Uncle Hua was still processing their conversation.
Ah… Open his own shop before? What Yao Nan’s mother had said… Was he really supposed to open his own furniture store?
Open his own… furniture store…
Uncle Hua fell into deep thought again, suddenly feeling inspired by the conversation.
…
As the time for the parent-teacher meeting was almost upon them, another parent arrived at the classroom door.
But before the class monitor could step forward to greet them, an older man suddenly burst out from the hallway, stopped the parent, and started chatting enthusiastically with them.
Snippets of their conversation drifted into the classroom:
“…this child is really making us proud, always first, so smart!”
“Ah… you’ve been painting recently… oh oh…”
“… soon other schools from the province will definitely want to come, you… ah, really don’t have time?…”
The parents in the classroom asked the female student who was helping pour hot water for the parents:
“Who is that old man?”
“He’s our principal,” the female student replied.
She had never seen a principal like this before—far from stern or intimidating, and even… a bit overly enthusiastic. What was that about?
“Who is that person the principal is holding onto?” another parent asked.
“That’s the parent of the top student in the first year of high school, the parent of our classmate Shen Mo,” the female student replied.
“Wow, studying so well, no wonder the principal is so enthusiastic,” a parent said enviously.
The principal must really care about the school’s matriculation rate, otherwise why would he behave like this.
“It’s really great, being first in the grade.” All the parents watched as Shen Jiaru was held by the principal, receiving various respects and courtesies, enviously wishing they could go home and push their kids to hit the books.
Uncle Hua also perked up, Shen Mo’s dad, huh, and he’s also Hua Jie’s teacher.
Plus, his daughter had specifically instructed him to be polite towards him.
He was contemplating whether to warmly shake Shen’s father’s hand like the principal when Shen Jiaru suddenly glanced over towards the honor seat.
The two elders’ gazes met, and Uncle Hua awkwardly smiled.
“Is that Shen Mo and Hua Jie’s seats?” Shen Jiaru withdrew his hand and asked the student standing next to the principal.
“Yes,” the student quickly replied politely.
“Let’s chat later.” Ignoring the principal’s eager expression, Shen Jiaru nodded and turned to head straight for Uncle Hua.
Under the watchful eyes of other parents, he approached Uncle Hua and extended his hand:
“This must be Hua Jie’s father?”
“Ah, hello, Mr. Shen,” Uncle Hua stood up and shook his hand.
One a hand of an artist.
The other a hand of a carpenter.
“Please have a seat.”
“You too.”
“…”
“…”
Neither father was particularly eloquent, each with his own awkwardness and discomfort.
They sat facing each other for a while, wanting to speak but not knowing how to start a conversation.
So, they both adjusted their seats again, facing forward.
In front of them was a cabinet, dull and uninspiring.
Awkward and anxious.
It was Uncle Hua who first broke the silence with a smile, turning to Shen Jiaru and saying:
“Shen Mo is a good kid, sensible and smart. Hua Jie’s improvement in her studies owes a lot to his help.”
“Hua Jie is also outstanding, with remarkable talent. She’s spirited, willing to put in the effort, and it’s truly not easy to be so grounded,” Shen Jiaru hurriedly responded.
“Ah, we’ll have to trouble Mr. Shen to continue guiding her in the future.” Uncle Hua wanted to continue praising Shen Mo, but realizing he knew very little about the boy, he couldn’t find the words to do so.
After all, it wouldn’t be appropriate to simply comment on the boy’s good looks; that would be too informal.
Shen Jiaru, however, was different. Once Uncle Hua opened up the conversation, he became quite effusive:
“Kids like Hua Jie are extremely rare.”
“Her foundation in painting is exceptionally solid. It’s clear she paints very seriously, dedicating a lot of time and effort.”
“Moreover, her sensitivity to color is high, her emotions are nuanced, and her observational skills are strong. She has the potential to greatly express herself through her paintings in the future. Not every artist can achieve this, and I have high hopes for Hua Jie.”
“Parents must support her painting, providing her with the best environment.”
“But no worries, I will dedicate my effort to teaching her. Basically, there shouldn’t be any problems as long as the parents support and acknowledge her efforts.”
“When I first assigned her homework, I initially thought…”
As Uncle Hua watched Shen Jiaru’s eyes grow increasingly bright, he began to feel a sense of unreality.
It was as if he were in a dream.
Was this man really talking about his own daughter?
That goofy, naive, and adorably silly daughter?
The daughter who at 3 still wet her pants, at 5 secretly ate the wallpaper behind the bed, and at 8 chased stray dogs through the streets?
And how could Mr. Shen’s eyes be shining like that?
There was a godlike aura about him, this passion, this infectiousness…
Why did he start to feel a surge of enthusiasm?
What was this urge to wave little flags and cheer for his daughter about?
As the two were deep in conversation, the homeroom teacher walked in.
Shen Jiaru raised an eyebrow, paused his speech, and patted Uncle Hua on the shoulder, saying:
“Old Hua, you’ve really got a knack for this, your daughter is taught very well.”
“Thank you, Shen Mo is quite good too.” Uncle Hua’s cheeks warmed, and his ears suspiciously reddened.
Compared to Shen Jiaru’s praise, his compliments for Shen Mo felt exceedingly perfunctory, merely polite niceties.
A brilliant first-place genius, diminished to almost pitiful in the conversation between the two fathers.
The parents sitting in the back row had noticed since sitting down: Liao Shanshan’s mother, Yao Nan’s mother, and Shen Mo’s dad, who was respected by the principal yet indifferent to him, all showed goodwill towards Uncle Hua.
They couldn’t help but speculate: What’s the story with Hua’s father? He suddenly seemed quite mysterious.
When Ms. Liang stood at the podium to introduce the teaching philosophy of No. 1 High School, discuss current educational thoughts, and inspire parents to collaborate in education, a class monitor, instructed by the principal, ran to the school’s art studio to find Hua Jie.
Uncle Hua had only been at the school for a short while for the parent-teacher meeting, but he felt dizzy, as if his social status had soared, and he was rediscovering the joy of his youth when he was the “king of kids.”
What? A midlife crisis? Non-existent.
Middle age is actually pretty great!
Lost in his reverie, Ms. Liang’s speech ended, and she began announcing the results.
After this segment, they quickly moved on to sharing experiences of improved students. Pre-arranged speeches by the class president followed, and Ms. Liang clapped her hands, smiling as she brought in Hua Jie, who had just been called back from outside by the principal.
“…” Hua Jie’s hands were still sticky with paint, and her impromptu draft at the door was a bit rough.
She stood in front of the podium, subdued her shyness and nervousness, took a few deep breaths, and then smiled:
“Good morning, parents. I just came from the art studio, so I’m a bit rushed, sorry.”
“The teacher asked me to share some of my experiences on improving. Actually, the main reason I’ve improved so much is that I played too wildly during the summer vacation of ninth grade and forgot almost everything I had learned before.”
Her words made the parents chuckle, instantly lightening the previously solemn and dry atmosphere in the classroom.
Everyone noticed that Hua Jie was not as stiff as the class president who had shared before her. Although her words were not flowery, they seemed more natural and effortless.
In her speech, she conveyed her points with a composure and intelligence that had a charm the other kids lacked.
Parents whispered among themselves, quickly piecing things together.
Hua Jie was the girl who had made a meteoric rise from the bottom of the class to the eighth position, the one who had painted the school walls, the daughter of the father who had drawn much attention earlier.
“…Everyone’s situation is different, and brain development also has its specificities. There are those with good memory, those with poor memory, those who can focus easily, those who can’t, those with strong short-term memory, those with good long-term memory, those with strong rational thinking abilities… and those with quick comprehension, smart enough to sometimes cut corners, who dislike rote learning of questions and formulas… Some students themselves lack the ability to analyze their personal characteristics, so they need parents to help identify their conditions, and then find the learning methods that suit them best…”
Hua Jie spoke confidently on stage.
She didn’t resort to clichés, knowing those weren’t what the parents were really interested in.
The gratitude towards the school teachers had already been expressed by the class president.
Thus, she introduced some basic methodologies based on advanced learning concepts from the future, combined with her experience teaching art online, applying differentiated instruction techniques.
She hoped to truly inspire some parents not to merely force students to study through harsh methods but to use adult cognitive abilities to help students learn more efficiently.
Initially, the parents were curious about who this eloquent, neither humble nor arrogant, smart girl was, what kind of background her family had, whether her father was an official, or if she came from a scholarly family that could nurture such a child, and so forth.
But as they listened more, they became increasingly captivated, starting to search their children’s desks for paper and pens to take notes.
Some parents, not having written for a long time, forgot how to write certain characters and resorted to taking notes in pinyin, hiding their writings for fear others might see their mistakes.
Every child’s academic performance is a matter of great concern for parents.
But this generation of parents, having not been exposed to any specific educational methods, mostly fumbled through parenthood based on their own parents’ experiences, usually resorting to punitive or reward-based education, unable to think of any other approaches.
They hadn’t even heard of specific educational philosophies.
Many insightful parents even experienced moments of enlightenment.
Even the homeroom teacher, Ms. Liang, standing in the audience, showed a look of surprise.
On this day, she gained a new understanding of this little girl named Hua Jie in her class.
Amazement.
This child had so much stored up in her brain, had she grown up on books? Even she felt educated by the pointers given.
Watching the parents diligently taking notes, muttering under their breath as they absorbed the information, Ms. Liang also felt compelled to jot down some points.
Meanwhile, Shen Jiaru and Uncle Hua were each in their own states of contentment. Shen, with one arm resting on the windowsill, sat sideways, his gaze fixed intently on his apprentice, his eyes filling with more and more satisfaction and admiration.
Uncle Hua, on the other hand, sat with his legs crossed, his arms casually resting on the table, looking at his daughter with a face full of happiness, his complexion flushed as if intoxicated, his spirit content and seemingly floating on air.