Teacher Jonah tried to persuade her, but Teacher Alex was responsible.
The two were at an impasse. Whitaker Scarlett was about to say something when Carson called from the window:
“Teacher Alex… Oh, hello, Teacher Jonah!”
He brought Whitaker Scarlett lunch from the cafeteria. It showed Carson’s good upbringing; his emotional intelligence was higher than that of his peers, and he remembered to bring Teacher Alex lunch as well. Whitaker Scarlett still had to answer questions and was afraid of staining the papers, so Carson brought buns without soup.
“Teacher Alex, you’ve worked hard. I brought you some too.”
Teacher Alex insisted on giving Carson meal tickets, but Teacher Jonah interjected, “Teacher Alex, just eat. I’ve heard about Carson recommending a junior high school graduate to enroll in the school. How much inconvenience has this caused to your teaching tasks today? Eating Carson’s two buns is nothing!”
Teacher Alex refused to listen, stuffing the meal tickets into Carson’s hand before accepting the buns.
“Scarlett, come over and eat the buns before continuing with the exam.”
Only after hearing Teacher Alex’s words did Whitaker Scarlett put down her pen. She had been facing away from the office door. As soon as she turned around, Teacher Jonah was stunned.
He had never seen such a beautiful girl.
Teacher Jonah was neither too high nor too low in his position. After a few years of work, he had his eye on the newly arrived Teacher Alex. Teacher Alex had fair skin, a round face, crescent eyes, and a very approachable smile. Even when she wasn’t smiling, she wasn’t intimidating. Teacher Jonah had decided that the young female teacher was thin-skinned. Since Teacher Alex was assigned to County East High School, he had been pursuing her—but Teacher Alex and Whitaker Scarlett together were simply incomparable.
Teacher Jonah’s breathing quickened.
Whitaker Scarlett put down her papers and went to wash her hands, and Teacher Jonah’s gaze followed her closely.
Teacher Alex coughed lightly, and Teacher Jonah snapped out of it. He didn’t ask Teacher Alex to eat and left the office in a bit of a fluster.
Whitaker Scarlett ate the buns and continued with the papers. Carson, afraid of affecting her exam, didn’t stay long. He saw that Whitaker Scarlett looked very calm. This exam didn’t seem to put much pressure on her… Were the questions that easy?
Carson left with questions in his mind.
Whitaker Scarlett finished all the papers at 2:30 p.m. and handed them to Teacher Alex.
“Teacher Alex, when will I know the results?”
Teacher Alex thought, with so many blanks on your English paper, there’s no way you’ll pass. English is the easiest subject for students to score in. However, Whitaker Scarlett’s attitude during the exam was very serious, and she didn’t cause any trouble, so Teacher Alex didn’t dislike her.
“Leave your home address. Doesn’t Carson know you? If you pass, Carson will let you know.”
What else could she do?
In Wellwater village in 1983, even the village head’s house didn’t have a telephone.
Whitaker Scarlett nodded. “Thank you, Teacher Alex. Goodbye, Teacher Alex.”
She wanted to say goodbye to Carson, but his class was having a test. Whitaker Scarlett waved to Carson from afar and went home.
Anyway, if she passed County East High School exam, she would have plenty of opportunities to thank Carson.
Whitaker Scarlett took the exam by herself and returned home quietly by herself.
She was wearing new clothes, but everyone else in the family was wearing old ones. Whitaker Scarlett went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought some clothes, planning to make clothes at home. People in the countryside now wore clothes made by tailors. Young girls and young wives all had this skill; buying fabric and making clothes was a way to save money, and few people would buy ready-made clothes. In the past, even clothes were purchased with coupons. Without cloth coupons, you couldn’t buy clothes even if you had money… Even dual-income families weren’t extravagant enough to make clothes for the whole family all the time; the economy didn’t allow it, and they couldn’t save that many cloth coupons.
Now things were better; various coupons had been gradually abolished in the state.
Those that hadn’t been abolished weren’t strictly enforced anymore. Cloth could be bought without cloth coupons, but the price was higher. Whitaker Scarlett didn’t buy any fancy silks and satins; it wasn’t about showing off wealth but practicality in the countryside. A meter of worker-peasant blue cloth cost only 19 Dollars, while a meter of Serge cloth, a wool blend, was 20 cents more expensive than worker-peasant blue cloth. Whitaker Scarlett brought home a pile of cloth, and sure enough, no one asked her about the exam; they all said she was wasting money.
