People in the alley: A woman dressed as a man shouldn't be foolishly filial, Zhuang Chaoying

He paced back and forth in his office, pondering for a long time before slowly speaking: "Teachers, alright, starting today, please check the students' schoolbags and prevent them from bringing these kinds of books to school, thus eliminating the problem at its source. Although this method is somewhat simple and crude, it's the only way for now."

Teacher Wang nodded thoughtfully and agreed, "We can only do as Director Zhuang says, that's how it should be done! After all, there are requirements from above, and we need to have a countermeasure."

Zhuang Chaoying was disturbed by the teachers' heated argument, and her head was buzzing.

He then realized that being the dean of students was no easy job; not only did he have to manage students, but he also had to balance the different opinions among teachers.

Zhuang Chaoying waved her hand: "Disperse, teachers. Go back to your classrooms and check on your students. Do a surprise inspection! Don't give them too much time to hide."

After the teachers left, Zhuang Chaoying sat alone in the empty office, looking at the pile of confiscated magazines and novels.

,,,,

"Ring ring ring!" The school bell rang, signaling the end of the school term.

The students excitedly dashed out of the school gate.

Zhuang Chaoying carried her briefcase and followed behind the students.

When I got home, I saw Ah Ling bent over, vigorously scrubbing clothes in the washbasin, while Tu Nan and Xiao Ting were obediently helping by handing her hangers and laundry detergent. "Teacher Zhuang!"

Zhuang Chaoying responded, her gaze lingering on Huang Ling. "Hey, Xiao Song."

Huang Ling looked up, a few strands of hair on her forehead damp with sweat and clinging to her cheeks. "Chao Ying's back! The rice's steaming. Go fry some eggs and make some soup."

"Okay, I'll go cook."

Zhuang Chaoying put down her briefcase, turned around and walked towards the kitchen: "Engineer Lin got off work quite early today!"

Lin Wufeng was carefully picking vegetable leaves when he heard the question. He looked up and smiled, "What is Teacher Zhuang doing today?"

As Zhuang Chaoying answered, she took eggs out of the basket. "A-Ling said she'd fry some eggs and make a soup."

In the front yard, Song Ying was holding several magazines, her eyes sparkling. "Sister Ling, books these days are really different, they're so good! Things I couldn't understand before, after reading these books, suddenly make sense!"

Huang Ling's hands kept moving as she skillfully rubbed the clothes. "I've finished reading all the magazines Tu Nan borrowed, as well as Chao Ying's books."

"Sister Ling, you're amazing!"

Tu Nan was standing by the pool, carefully washing clothes. Hearing Song Ying's words, he turned around and said, "Aunt Song, these books were recommended to our class by our teacher. They are all very good books. Our teacher also encouraged us to submit articles to magazines and make pen pals. But I thought my dad is a writer, so I can just communicate with him directly."

Song Ying stared at Tu Nan in shock, her mouth slightly agape. "Wow, Tu Nan, the magazine your teacher recommended is really good! I always thought Tu Nan wanted another boy, and I was even thinking, wouldn't it be better to have a boy and a girl? Turns out it has another meaning, a grand ambition."

Lin Wufeng nodded and looked at Zhuang Chaoying. "Teacher Zhuang, the name Tu Nan is really meaningful."

Zhuang Chaoying stirred the eggs in the bowl, the egg liquid mixing together under the stirring of the chopsticks. "This is the name given to me by my father-in-law, taken from 'Free and Easy Wandering', 'The journey south is unpredictable, and the changes are like the Kunpeng.'"

"Teacher Zhuang, your father-in-law is no ordinary person. Tu Nan's current thoughts are exactly like this." Lin Wufeng said, giving a thumbs up.

Zhuang Chaoying stood beside Lin Wufeng. "I don't care how advanced his ideas are; the most important thing is to be practical."

He was always worried that Tu Nan was too immersed in those grand ideals and novel ideas, and neglected that real life requires being down-to-earth.

These past two days, Zhuang Chaoying has been attending meetings all the time at work.

The principal, looking serious, walked into the meeting room with the latest document in hand. The topic of discussion was the sensitive issue of normal interactions between male and female students. Inside the meeting room, the teachers expressed their opinions and debated endlessly.

Finally, the principal decided that two teachers would work in a group, squatting in the bicycle shed with notebooks in hand every day to keep a close watch on students' early romantic relationships.

Zhuang Chaoying groaned upon hearing the decision, knowing she would have to work overtime again that night and wouldn't be able to go home early; she would have to stay at the bike shed.

That day, Zhuang Chaoying deliberately walked to a secluded place after get off work. After looking around to make sure no one was paying attention, he bought two boxes of exquisite chicken cakes from the system shop in his mind.

Carrying the net bag, I felt a little lighter and headed home.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Huang Ling standing at the door shelling edamame, glancing into the house every now and then.

"Ah Ling!"

Huang Ling was staring into the room when she was startled by Zhuang Chaoying's sudden shout. Her hand trembled, and the edamame she was holding fell to the ground.

"Chao Ying, what did you do to scare me!"

Huang Ling bent down to pick up the fallen edamame.

Zhuang Chaoying walked to the tap in the yard, washed her hands, and shook off the water droplets: "Ah Ling, what are you looking at? Why don't you come inside?"

Huang Ling raised her eyebrows slightly and unconsciously moved closer to Zhuang Chaoying, while deliberately lowering her voice: "Look inside, Shanshan is here. She's been coming over to borrow magazines from Tu Nan a lot lately."

Zhuang Chaoying looked into the house in the direction Huang Ling pointed, and saw Wu Shanshan and Zhuang Tunan talking inside: "Ah Ling, Shanshan must like our Tunan."

Huang Ling, as if she had found a kindred spirit, moved closer to him and nodded gently: "Chao Ying, even you noticed, I think so too."

Zhuang Chaoying put her arm around Huang Ling's shoulder and said softly in a tone of someone who had been through it all: "We've all been through this period. The children are in puberty now, and it's normal for them to be curious about the opposite sex and these things."

This is the stirring of youth; they are at a time when they are still somewhat naive and confused, and parental involvement is actually not a good thing.

They seem to be good friends for now, so let's not interfere too much. Let's observe for now, and if anything unusual happens, I'll have a proper talk with Tu Nan.

Huang Ling rested her head on Zhuang Chaoying's shoulder, her gaze still fixed on the two children in the room.

Just then, voices came from inside the room. "Wu Shanshan, I found my math notes from the second year of junior high."

Wu Shanshan took the notebook with both hands, a smile on her face: "Thank you, Tu Nan, I'll return it to you after I've finished reading it."

"No need, no rush. You can ask me any questions you have."

Holding her notebook, Wu Shanshan politely greeted Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling, "Teacher Zhuang, Aunt Huang, I'm going back now!" After saying that, she turned and ran out of the yard.

Zhuang Chaoying watched Shanshan's departing figure, then looked thoughtfully at Huang Ling: "Ling, aren't you worried about Xiaoting and Dongzhe?"

Huang Ling continued shelling edamame: "I'm not worried about Xiaoting and Dongzhe. I know that kid Dongzhe all too well. He just wants to copy Xiaoting's homework. Besides, Xiaoting doesn't even like that mischievous boy Dongzhe."

Zhuang Chaoying smiled upon hearing Huang Ling's words: "We'll talk about the future later."

Zhuang Tunan returned to the room, sat at his desk, and immersed himself once again in the world of books.

A moment later, Lin Dongzhe ran over and pleaded, "Brother Tu Nan, I beg you, let's go play ball."

Zhuang Tunan didn't even look up, his eyes fixed on the book in his hands: "Go by yourself, I want to read!"

Lin Dongzhe was unwilling to be rejected like this, so he stood in the room and continued to plead pitifully: "Boss, have pity on me, please come play ball with me!"

"Brother Tunan!"

Lin Dongzhe's shouts grew louder and louder. Xiaoting, whose head was throbbing from the noise, stood up impatiently and pulled Lin Dongzhe outside.

"I'll play ball with you! Stop yelling!"