Three Women in the Cage

Looking at the school uniform that was thrown back, Teacher Wu asked in a panic: "Why did you suddenly want it back? Did they say something to you? Tell me, who did it? I'll go talk to them."

Hearing him say this, Xinxin felt even more aggrieved and said, "It's not just anyone, it's everyone. Everyone is dissatisfied with me. Everyone thinks that I took what I shouldn't have taken, and got what I shouldn't have gotten. You shouldn't be partial to me. I don't deserve these... wooooo."

When Teacher Wu heard that everyone was dissatisfied with his favoritism, he immediately became very angry. Did he need their consent for anything he did? He was so angry.

Even if you are dissatisfied, you can come and argue with me. Why should you vent your dissatisfaction on Xinxin? You made the decision yourself, so why should you care about Xinxin?

Looking at Xinxin crying and feeling wronged, he didn't want to hurt her with his actions. He suppressed his anger and forced a smile to comfort her, "Don't cry, it's all Teacher Wu's fault. It's Teacher Wu's inconsiderateness that has made you feel wronged. I'll leave this school uniform with Teacher Wu for now. You can come and get it when you go back tomorrow, okay?"

Xinxin kept crying with her head down, neither nodding nor shaking her head.

Teacher Wu patted her shoulder and said, "You go back to the classroom first, I'll be there soon."

Xinxin returned to her seat with red eyes. The classroom was very quiet at this time. Everyone lowered their heads and kept silent. The atmosphere was a little depressing.

After a while, Teacher Wu walked in angrily with a gloomy face. Standing at the podium, he said sternly, "I know everyone has complaints about me because of the school uniform and meal card subsidy. But you can come to me and ask why you are collectively targeting Zhang Xin? These are all my decisions. What does she have to do with it? Why are you taking your anger out on her?"

"Don't you just want to know why I do this? Okay, I'll tell you today! Wanqin, a few days ago I asked you to go to Zhang Xin's house to find out what's going on. What did you tell me when you came back? You said they had nothing to eat, that they ate dry greens and sweet potato chips every day, that they only had pork once a year, and that their house was shabby and bare. Don't you know all this yourself?"

"Right? You saw it yourself, I'm not making it up, right? If you knew, why did you join in the bullying? You were her deskmate, and knowing what was going on, not only did you not help her, you even got involved. Do you have any friendship at all? And you, let me ask you, which family of yours can't afford rice? Which family eats vegetable leaves without a drop of oil every day? Is there any? No, you don't have to worry about food or clothing, you don't even know what it means to be hungry and cold."

"Look at Zhang Xin. Even with such a poor family, she still persists in studying hard and always ranks among the top in the class. Can't I support a classmate like her? What about you? Some of you have no worries about food and clothing, but you never study hard in school? You just take your family's money and waste your time every day!"

"Students, how dare you complain about her receiving the subsidy? Why can't I give her some preference? Even strangers can still have a compassionate heart, not to mention I'm her teacher. I understand my students and want to help them. What's wrong with that? If I don't give it to her, how can I give it to you? You're not starving, and you're not taking advantage of the opportunity to study hard. Why do you think the subsidy has anything to do with you? Why do you think it's not okay to give it to Zhang Xin?"

"What's worse is that you're actually arguing over a mere school uniform. Let me ask you, if I give you school uniforms, will you wear them every day? Look at yourselves, who is still wearing school uniforms? Besides Monday, when the national flag is raised, do you wear them on other days?"

"Look at Zhang Xin again. She wears her school uniform almost every day. It's become bleached. Look at her carefully. Why can't I give her a new set? I let her have something to change into. Why can't I do that?"

"You fight for this and that all day long, but why don't you fight for studying? If you have the ability, then fight for studying. If that's the case, I would really think highly of you. But you don't have it, so you keep grabbing these benefits? You are still students now. If you don't have a little compassion even at your age, how can we expect you to be compassionate when you grow up? Put yourself in her shoes. If you were in her situation, would you also hope that others would lend you a hand, even to pull you..."

As Teacher Wu spoke, his eyes became red. He really felt sorry for Zhang Xin, and was also really angry about the students' behavior today.

As he spoke, he took a deep breath, wiped his red eyes with his hands, then turned around and walked out.

He walked to the aisle, looked at the night scene below, rubbed his temples with melancholy, and suddenly felt an indescribable helplessness.

Except for Xinxin who was still sobbing, everyone else in the classroom fell silent instantly.

When Teacher Wu exposed all her embarrassment in front of her classmates, she had already cried with shame and embarrassment, and she couldn't stop crying.

She knew that Teacher Wu did this for her own good. He did this to dispel her classmates' hostility towards her, to bring her closer to her classmates, and to prevent her from being bullied by them.

But, is this naked and ugly thing being put before them in order to win their sympathy?

From now on, what am I in their eyes? Pathetic? Pitiful? A pitiful creature? Can only humbly seek their pity?

Is it true that the little self-respect and pride she had left is gone?

Thinking of this, she finally burst into tears in embarrassment. She couldn't stop crying, she cried with her heart broken, and she cried without any control over her fate.

She cried loudly, crying for her suffering and her helplessness...

Teacher Wu looked at Xinxin crying bitterly, and he knew that he had hurt her in the end...

Helplessness and bitterness made him feel defeated for the first time. Perhaps something was wrong from the beginning. He was too naive, always thinking that he could easily help others with his own strength! But he didn't expect that his ability was limited and he couldn't help anyone at all!

He sighed, some secrets, perhaps they should be secrets from the beginning, and should not be touched easily, because once touched, the consequences will be something you cannot bear.

Since that incident, the classmates' attitude towards Xinxin was no longer hostile, but Xinxin could feel that those hostile eyes had turned into sympathy and pity.

In the end, I became a poor creature. No matter how you try to stop me or how you try to escape, you cannot escape the final outcome.

From then on, she became more and more inferior and sensitive. She deliberately stayed away from them, not wanting them to see her pitifulness. However, those people felt that she seemed to be pitiful all the time.

I don’t know if it was to show his sympathy or to show his superiority, but one day, when the classmate saw Xinxin eating a pack of instant noodles, he suddenly hurried to Xinxin, stuffed a few bills into her hand, and muttered: "Are you out of money? Why are you eating instant noodles? This is all the money I have. Take it, take it all, and buy something nutritious..."

After saying that, he left in a hurry without waiting for Xinxin to refuse.

Xinxin held the money in her hand, stunned for a long time, looking at the receding figure, she murmured softly: "I like to eat raw instant noodles, I still have money in my card, I don't need your money..."

But who would listen to her? She said that they all looked at her with pitiful eyes and pitied her as a poor creature. She felt like a beggar begging for food. People passing by from time to time would throw a few banknotes to her, and then she would pick up the money and express her gratitude humbly...

She no longer had any self-respect or pride, and could no longer hold up her head, which was already low to begin with. She sighed and suffocated, driven by an urge to escape...