Chapter 7
Life as a volunteer teacher was tough, but it was truly fulfilling.
Each day was filled with the bright smiles of children and their eager. curious eyes. Before I knew it, more than half a year had passed. But then, a letter arrived, shattering the peace.
The envelope was sealed with a bright red wax stamp, featuring the word wedding. Inside was a gold–embossed wedding invitation. In the photo, Sofia was wearing a dress, her head rested on Antonio’s shoulder.
The wedding ring on her finger stung my eyes.
From what she wrote, their relationship seemed incredibly sweet.
“Grace, Antonio insisted on sending you wedding candies. He said since you’ve known each other for over twenty years, he hopes you’ll wish him. happiness.”
I handed out the candies to the children, slipped the invitation under a wobbly desk to steady it, and then turned back to teach them a new nursery rhyme.
“The jujube tree blooms, yet no swallow returns to build its nest…”
On the day of Antonio’s wedding, I was taking my students to the county for a writing competition. In the waiting area, the television was broadcasting news about his wedding to Sofia.
“The new head of the Jenkins Group ties the knot today.”
“Sofia Jenkins announces the launch of a charitable foundation at the
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wedding.”
“The first batch of donated supplies is expected to arrive in border regions.
later today…”
The screen then cuts to Antonio giving his wedding speech. As he spoke, he kept reaching for his left wrist, and it caught the host’s attention. Smiling, he touched the faded red string bracelet around his wrist and said. “It’s a reminder of the past days.”
I recognized it instantly–it was the red string bracelet I had made for him before he enlisted. I had once imagined that he might have kept it. But I never expected he would still be wearing it on his wedding day.
After the competi
truck delive
trembli
when I returned to school, I happened to see the
donated supplies drive off. The village chief,
me a letter.
Parrish, the driver insisted this letter be given to you
pened the envelope, feeling confused. In the letter, there was just one sentence, written by Antonio.
“Education is the ladder to enlightenment.”
Snowflakes melted on the paper, and the ink blurred in the cold air of the plateau.
It reminded me of the ink stains in the love letters he used to write to me.
during a call with my parents, I found out that the Jenkins Group under investigation for its criminal activities. Antonio, as the legal resentative, had been arrested and sent to prison.
Chapter 7
I searched online for news about the Jenkins Group and found reports. dating back two months.
“The Jenkins Group embroiled in scandal, Ben Jenkins suddenly fell ill and slipped into a coma.”
“Sofia Jenkins fled with the money but was caught at the airport.”
“Antonio Kaufman turned himself in and provided crucial evidence in multiple cases. His cooperation reduced his sentence from ten years to five.”
***
I turned off my phone, rubbed my sore eyes, and then opened my lesson planner to write tomorrow’s lesson plan, “In life, it’s important to have principles and a clear conscience.”
I don’t know when, but a small wooden cabin was built on the hillside near the school.
Since then, the school’s storage room started receiving all kinds of anonymous packages–clothes, food, and all sorts of other things. The kids joked that the storage room had begun growing ‘pasta.”
One day, while I was teaching, the principal lifted the classroom curtain and exclaimed, “Ms. Parrish! The storage room has grown pasta again!”
The kids eagerly opened the mysterious packages. Inside a worn military canvas bag were over thirty pairs of sheepskin gloves, arranged neatly by size, and at the bottom, a bottle of cough syrup that was about to expire. I started coughing the night before. Seemed like the mountain wind spilled
my secrets.
“It must be from the man in the cabin!”
Chapter 7
I looked toward the hill where the small wooden door was slightly ajar. The flickering light of a butter lamp glowed softly in the morning mist.
