Chapter 264: Chapter 264: Sending Beef Jerky, Trouble Brews

This time, Gu Qinghuan sent a total of thirty jin of beef jerky to the little villa, for everyone there to share. She also sent ten jin each to the Xiao, Fang, and Xu Lei families, and didn’t forget about Zhang Zheng and He Qiang either. Basically, she made sure to take care of all the families she was familiar with.

The only one she didn’t send to was Wang Xiaowei, since it was inconvenient to mail things to her. Considering Wang was working for others and didn’t have much say in her own life, Gu Qinghuan decided not to bother her.

Every family got ten jin—why not more? Mainly because this stuff has a shelf life. She made it herself without preservatives, so if she sent too much at once, it might spoil before they could finish it, which would be a waste. Ten jin of beef jerky is already quite a lot—a big package.

After dividing it up, there were seventy jin left. Gu Qinghuan sent thirty jin to Xu Huaian at the address he’d used to write to her before. She figured he might need to share with his comrades, so she sent extra.

There were forty jin left at home. Gu Qinghuan gave ten jin to Zhong Zijun and another ten to Ji Linhai—she didn’t want to play favorites. The remaining twenty jin she kept at home for the family to enjoy slowly. Sometimes the kids got hungry and could have a snack, and she herself liked this kind of treat.

This time, she didn’t send any to her eldest uncle’s family. She’d sent plenty last time, and sending things too often would draw too much attention, which wasn’t good.

She brought ten jin of beef jerky to her dorm. Before it even had a chance to warm up, she ran into Lin Xiaomeng, that little bandit, who insisted on buying some from her.

No matter what, Lin Xiaomeng demanded five jin of beef jerky.

Gu Qinghuan could only say she’d bought it outside for three yuan a jin, and that it was just a chance purchase—she didn’t know the details.

Even so, Lin Xiaomeng insisted on buying it from her, pulling out fifteen yuan on the spot and taking five jin of beef jerky.

Gu Qinghuan was speechless. Was it about the money? Her labor was the most valuable part—cutting and roasting the beef had exhausted her, and her hands were still shaking.

Forget it, let her have it.

But it seemed Lin Xiaomeng had come into some money lately, to be so generous—spending fifteen yuan just for a bit of beef jerky.

In fact, Lin Xiaomeng had recently made a windfall. The wheat and rice she’d grown in her space had been harvested. After keeping enough for her own family, she sold the rest on the black market. Grain was in high demand these days, so the price was good, and she made a tidy profit—basically money for nothing.

She decided she’d focus on reselling grain for profit in the future. Other ways of making money were hit-or-miss, but the grain she grew was hers to keep. The space was big; as long as she worked hard and reclaimed more land to plant, the harvest would be reliable.

Lin Xiaomeng had it all planned out: she’d save the money she earned, and use her husband Xu Huaizhi’s salary for household expenses. When times got better, she’d use her savings to buy a house in the capital—buy as many as she could, and maybe become a rich lady someday.

Meanwhile, Gu Qinghuan continued her tough life as a teacher.

But some people clearly weren’t going to let her off the hook.

She could clearly feel that everyone was deliberately avoiding her today, whispering behind her back, acting all mysterious, and looking at her with contempt. But she was busy and didn’t pay much attention.

At lunch, Lin Xiaomeng warned her, “Be careful. Someone’s stirring up trouble behind your back about that meal you treated everyone to last time!”

Gu Qinghuan was calm. She hadn’t done anything wrong. When the time came, things would sort themselves out.

By the afternoon, the issue had blown up. Right after class, Principal Chen called her in for a talk.

Principal Chen didn’t make things difficult for her, but got straight to the point.

“Teacher Gu, I won’t beat around the bush. Some teachers have reported that you privately hired students to work for you, and treated them to a meal as payment. They say this is a serious issue of conduct. They also mentioned your family background—your mother and maternal family were labeled as counter-revolutionaries, ‘stinking intellectuals,’ and sent to the cowshed.”

“Principal Chen, I admit the kids did help me out, but it was without my knowledge. When I found out, I treated them to a meal to thank them. I don’t think that’s a conduct issue—it’s just kindness between teacher and students, nothing more. As for my family, yes, my mother and grandparents were sent down, but I never thought they did anything wrong. Their only fault was being highly educated and knowing too much. If you need to take action against me for this, I have nothing more to say.”

Gu Qinghuan explained herself calmly, waiting for Principal Chen’s decision. The innocent have nothing to fear, and she didn’t want to say anything unnecessary. It wasn’t like she had to be a teacher—if it came to it, she could go back to Xujiatun and sell eels, which paid better anyway.

When she finished, Principal Chen nervously got up and closed the door.

“Xiao Gu, I know you feel wronged, but walls have ears—don’t say things like that! I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said, and you shouldn’t say it again.”

Principal Chen was also an intellectual, and for years he’d been walking on eggshells, afraid that one wrong word would get him labeled a reactionary. In his heart, he sympathized with intellectuals and believed most were innocent, but the times were hard and everyone was walking a tightrope.

He also believed that any family that could raise someone as outstanding as Gu Qinghuan couldn’t be bad.

“I understand. Thank you, Principal Chen.” Gu Qinghuan appreciated his kindness—he was a rare good person.

“Don’t thank me yet. I know you’ve been wronged. Where there are people, there’s gossip, and rumors spread easily. Without investigation, there’s no right to speak. I’ve already looked into it with the kids. They were so scared you’d be punished that they cried and pleaded for you, insisting it was all their own doing and had nothing to do with you. I have to say, Teacher Gu, you really have a special charm. You haven’t been with them long, but you’ve already won their hearts. If only we had more teachers like you. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you.”

Gu Qinghuan felt a warmth in her heart—such lovely kids.

But she didn’t interrupt; she knew Principal Chen had more to say.

Sure enough—

“But now the rumors are everywhere, and your mother’s situation is a fact. If we keep you as homeroom teacher, it might cause an uproar. I really hate to lose you—teachers like you are rare. But to calm things down, I’ll have to remove you as homeroom teacher, just to give everyone an explanation. You’ll still teach their classes, though. Is that okay?” Principal Chen’s tone was gentle, almost pleading.

Gu Qinghuan was a little upset—after all, she’d done nothing wrong, but was being punished because of others’ gossip. In her past life, she would never have put up with this—if one place didn’t want her, another would. But she also understood that by keeping her, Principal Chen was taking a risk. She could ignore those who treated her badly, but she couldn’t ignore the principal who was bending over backwards to keep her.

Fine. She hadn’t wanted to be homeroom teacher anyway—it was forced on her. Now she’d have less work, though she felt a bit sorry for the kids, having to switch teachers so soon. At least she could still teach Chinese.

“Alright, as long as you can handle the others, I have no objections. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll accept whatever the school decides.” Gu Qinghuan nodded.

Principal Chen finally relaxed and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep things under control. Just focus on teaching.”

Before leaving, Gu Qinghuan casually asked, “Principal Chen, was it Wan Rong who reported me?”

Principal Chen didn’t answer, but Gu Qinghuan could tell from his expression that it was indeed Wan Rong. In this small school, she was the only one Gu Qinghuan had ever offended.

Whether or not she could stay homeroom teacher didn’t matter that much to her. But being put in such a passive position by someone else was definitely upsetting. Deep down, Gu Qinghuan was someone who always paid back a grudge. Wan Rong had better hope she never got the chance.

When Lin Muyang found out, he tried hard to explain to Principal Chen that Gu Qinghuan had done nothing wrong, and that the real problem was with those twisting the truth. But it was too late—the decision was made.

He thought Gu Qinghuan would be upset, but she ended up comforting him, looking perfectly fine.

Principal Chen brought Gu Qinghuan and Lin Muyang to the class to announce the news: Gu Qinghuan would no longer be their homeroom teacher, and Lin Muyang would take over again, but Gu Qinghuan would still teach their classes.

The disappointment in the children’s eyes was obvious. Kids back then weren’t like those in later generations—they didn’t have a voice or the courage to question the teachers’ decisions. They were used to obeying the school and teachers, so they could only feel sad in their hearts, not daring to ask why.

Wang Qingchuan and the other kids who had helped thought it was their fault Gu Qinghuan was removed, and felt both sad and guilty, wiping away tears in secret.

After Principal Chen left, Wang Qingchuan couldn’t hold it in anymore and slipped out.

“Principal Chen, didn’t we already explain? It wasn’t Teacher Gu’s fault—she didn’t know anything. We did it all on our own. Why is she still being punished?” Wang Qingchuan asked through tears.

He was nervous and scared to question the principal, but he had to know.

Gu Qinghuan caught up just in time to hear this, and was deeply moved—her efforts had been worth it.

“Principal Chen, you go ahead. I’ll explain things to him,” Gu Qinghuan said, motioning for the principal to leave. This wasn’t something that could be cleared up in a few words.

“Alright, Xiao Gu, talk to the child.”"