Chapter 1

When I walked into the campus, the bell for the end of class happened to ring, and after seven years, this elementary school still looked the same.

I had not informed anyone.

Now that the confidentiality period for the national project had ended, my first thought was to come back and see my wife and child.

Seven years, a full seven years, and I could only learn about them through family letters forwarded by the organization.

My daughter should be in fifth grade this year.

I followed my memory toward the teaching building, and just as I turned the corner, I heard a woman’s sharp voice.

“Chen Nuan!”

“Stand properly!”

My steps stopped.

Chen Nuan was my daughter’s name.

I quickened my pace by two steps and leaned out to look.

At the classroom door, a woman in her forties wore a floral dress, had permed curls, and held a stack of test papers in her hand.

In front of her stood a thin little girl with a ponytail, wearing a washed-out school uniform and keeping her head lowered.

“Tell me the truth.”

“You got another perfect score in math on this monthly exam, so how did you do it?”

The girl raised her head.

“Teacher, I did it myself.”

“You did it yourself?”

The woman slapped the test paper until it made sharp smacking sounds.

“Chen Nuan, you think I don’t know what kind of family you come from?”

“Your mom delivers takeout, your dad ran off for seven years, and you can’t even afford tutoring classes, yet you got a perfect score?”

The girl bit her lip and said nothing.

“I’ve taught for twenty-seven years, so what kind of student haven’t I seen?”

The woman leaned closer.

“Whose paper did you copy?”

“Say it!”

“I didn’t copy.”

“You still say you didn’t copy?”

The woman sneered and turned toward the classroom.

“Li Hao, come out!”

A chubby boy ran out with an expression that showed he was enjoying the drama.

“Li Hao, your mother is a senior teacher transferred from a key elementary school, and you’ve taken Olympiad math classes since you were little, so how much did you score on this math test?”

Li Hao scratched his head.

“Eighty-two.”

The woman turned back and stared at my daughter.

“Li Hao got eighty-two, and you got one hundred.”

“Tell me how you scored that.”

“Are you smarter than Li Hao?”

My daughter raised her head, and her eyes were red, but she forced herself not to let the tears fall.

“Teacher, I really didn’t copy.”

“Still being stubborn!”

The woman grabbed my daughter’s arm and dragged her two steps outward.

“Stand here!”

“Stand in the hallway!”

“Let your whole class see what a liar looks like!”

“Let them see what shameless means!”

My daughter stumbled two steps, then stood still.

The students coming and going in the hallway all stopped to watch, and several teachers also poked their heads out from the office, but no one came over to ask a single question.

“I’m telling you, Chen Nuan,” the woman said while pointing at her nose.

“Someone like you is still useless even if you copy your way to a perfect score.”

“Don’t even dream about No. 1 Middle School, because it would already be good enough if you could get into a vocational school.”

“IQ is something fixed from birth, and your mother already lost at the starting line when she gave birth to you, so just accept your fate!”

My daughter finally cried.

Her tears fell one by one onto the floor, but she bit her lip and made no sound.

“Why are you crying?”

“You still have the nerve to cry?”

The woman raised her hand.

I rushed over.

“What are you doing?”

I knocked the woman’s arm aside and shielded my daughter behind me.

The woman was startled by me and backed away two steps, then looked me up and down.

“Who are you?”

I ignored her and lowered my head to look at my daughter.

Seven years.

When I left, she had just learned how to walk, and she clung to my leg, refusing to let go, crying and calling me Dad.

I squatted down and promised her that Daddy would come back very soon, and when I came back, I would take her to the amusement park.

That “very soon” became seven years.

She had become far too thin, with almost no flesh on her face, and even her cheekbones protruded.

Her lips were cracked, and there were frostbite scars on the backs of her hands.

“Nuan Nuan?”

My daughter raised her head and stared at me in a daze.

“Dad?”

Her voice trembled, and she could not believe it.

“It’s me.”

“Dad is back.”

I reached out, wanting to touch her face, but she shrank back a little, as if she did not recognize me.

The woman beside us came back to her senses and spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“Oh, I see now, so the father who ran away has come back.”

“You’re Chen Nuan’s parent, right?”

“Perfect timing, because I was just looking for you.”

I straightened up and looked at her.

“Your daughter has taken four monthly exams this semester, and she got full marks all four times, so do you think that’s normal?”

I said nothing.

“I won’t waste words with you, because you know it in your own heart.”

“Go home and advise your daughter not to dream anymore, and have her honestly attend a vocational school, learn a skill, and be able to support herself in the future.”

“No. 1 Middle School isn’t the kind of place she should be thinking about.”

She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and slapped it into my hand.

“This is the parent meeting notice, and it’s at two tomorrow afternoon, so don’t be late.”

“We’ll talk about your daughter at the meeting.”

After saying that, she turned and entered the classroom, then closed the door.

The hallway quieted down.

I lowered my head to look at my daughter.

“Nuan Nuan.”

She looked up at me, and in her eyes was the unfamiliarity of seven years apart, along with grievance and a little expectation.

“Dad, did you really come back?”

“I really came back.”

She finally could not hold back anymore, threw herself into my arms, and burst into loud sobs.