Chapter 203: Solitude

Chapter 203

The elective course time was the same as the regular classes, two periods with a 10-minute break in between.

During the break, Xiao Qi went to the bathroom and saw the next classroom having a lively opera appreciation class, with a group of students chatting with the smiling teacher.

When she returned to her Japanese class, it was even quieter. Perhaps the students had gone out for a walk or to the bathroom. At first glance, there was only a shriveled old man sitting in front of the lectern, giving an extremely lonely feeling.

Yes, there is something called loneliness.

Xiao Qi had seen this feeling in the village's elderly receiving government aid. When Xiao Qi was in elementary school, the school organized students to visit these elderly to bring them warmth. Xiao Qi went with a group of students to one elderly man's home. It was empty and dark. The old man who came out was hunched over and never smiled the whole time, looking very mean.

It was said his wife had passed away early, and he had two daughters. One married far away and basically never came back. The other one's whereabouts were unknown, so only the old man was left. The village had applied for government aid for him, giving 150 yuan per month.

Xiao Qi went out of curiosity, thinking she could skip class and have fun with the other students and teachers.

When they arrived and she saw the old man, when they were leaving, she saw the old man sitting at the door, expressionless, looking into the distance.

That scene left a deep impression on young Xiao Qi. That winter, she heard that the old man had died, alone in his home, and was only discovered after several days.

When she had nightmares as a child, she would often dream of a dark old house with an expressionless old man sitting in front, despite the warm sunshine, the old man had no warmth at all, just sitting there blankly.

That feeling was truly lonely.

This was also one of the reasons why people often mocked her father, Su Youfu. In the village, not having a son meant you would have no one to take care of you in old age, like cutting off descendants.

Xiao Qi hadn't had that dream or thought about that elderly man on government aid for a long time. But at this moment, she strangely saw that feeling in this foreign teacher.

She inexplicably felt very distressed.

What would a person experience from childhood to adolescence to adulthood to middle age and then old age?

The bell rang signaling class was over. Xiao Qi didn't think more and opened her textbook to continue listening to the lesson.

Yamamoto also stood up on time to start class. By now there were even fewer people in the classroom, making it emptier, because it was so quiet that the teacher's voice echoed. Because it was quiet, occasionally laughter could be heard from the next classroom, and the resonant singing of opera...

Yamamoto did not take attendance. He only looked at test scores.

He continued teaching.

He had never thought he would become a teacher. In Japan, working in a company was a very good profession.

He used to be just a company employee. The company made generators and had nothing to do with teaching.

He made it through university relying on the sponsorship of an uncle through marriage, so he cherished hard-won educational opportunities.

But now the classroom was empty, and of the few students present, very few were earnestly studying. Most had some recreational reading on their desks, and few were properly listening to the lesson.

Yamamoto didn't know whether it was the world that had changed, or he had fallen behind.

He continued teaching.

His hands grew colder and colder.

He was actually waiting, waiting for that last remaining student to leave too.

Then the bell rang signaling the end of class.

He froze for a moment, standing at the lectern somewhat lost.

Just then he saw that last student stand up and say to him, “Goodbye Yamamoto. Your lesson was excellent, very educational for me.”

She said it in Japanese.

It was pretty good, though slightly clumsy, but admirable nonetheless.

After speaking, Xiao Qi packed up preparing to leave. Glancing back, she was shocked to find no one there—had the others left that swiftly?

She smiled at Yamamoto again before departing.

And the classroom was finally left with just Yamamoto.

He sat in the empty classroom, loneliness enshrouding him once more.

Yet just before, it seemed he had temporarily emerged from it for a spell.

Xiao Qi walked along thinking she hadn’t completed her jogging task for the day and had better hurry back to the dorm to jog.

She also still had mooncakes in the dorm. She had actually tired of the sweet pastries...she would never have imagined that possible before.

She dashed along at a brisk clip brimming with energy.

Suddenly that familiar mechanical voice sounded by her ear: “Host worked hard learning with a positive attitude, bringing a glimmer of hope and positivity to a withered and desperate soul. Rewarding host language sensitivity buff for 30 days.”

Xiao Qi’s footsteps gradually stopped.

She didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad.

She had possessed language sensitivity buff before for ten days. She felt like having supernatural aid when learning languages at the time, speaking exceptionally smoothly.

From experiencing buffs a few times, she also grasped some patterns—she had to maximize usage and practice of the buff during the effective period. Even after it disappeared, some residue and sensation would linger.

Language sensitivity buff really was extremely helpful, precisely what she needed now.

What would an anguished and desperate soul be like?

Xiao Qi seemed to have superimposed the blurry silhouettes of Teacher Yamamoto and the Five-Guarantee householder old man from Gumu Village, gradually becoming somewhat clearer.

They were probably still somewhat different.

There was no longer any vitality in the eyes of the Five-Guarantee householder old man, but there appeared to be some kind of persistence on Teacher Yamamoto...