She walked out of the lab.
The setting sun was crushed into pieces and scattered across the sky.
Ning Youguang strolled slowly across the UCAS campus toward the parking lot.
She hadn’t had dinner yet, but she wasn’t in any hurry.
Compared to hunger, what lay before her eyes gave her a deeper sense of satisfaction.
A breeze blew the locust blossoms off the branches, fresh fragrance drifting through the air; she stepped on a ground strewn with petals as she passed a small grove.
From a distance, she saw one of her students standing in the trees gesturing at the air, as if running through so moves, or maybe on the phone.
She was pointing hard at the empty space in front of her, fingers flying through one gesture after another, her whole body pacing back and forth.
Even from far away, Ning Youguang could feel how agitated she was.
Ning Youguang slowed her steps and watched for a while. She had intended to turn aside and circle around her to get to the car, but she was quickly spotted.
"Teacher Ning." The girl ended her call, walked out of the grove, and waited for her on the path.
"Li Yanran." Ning Youguang softly called her na and ca up to her.
Before she could ask anything, the girl raised her head to look at her, eyes already reddening.
"Teacher Ning."
Her voice was full of dependence and grievance.
"Did sothing happen?" Relying on her height advantage, Ning Youguang slipped an arm around the shoulders of the student who was half a head shorter and led her to sit on the bench by the path.
"Teacher Ning." Li Yanran lowered her head, tears pattering down, quickly soaking the fair backs of her hands.
"Whatever’s happened, I’m here with you." Ning Youguang looked at her with gentle eyes.
As soon as the words fell, Li Yanran collapsed onto her shoulder and burst into loud sobs.
Ning Youguang said nothing more. She quietly waited until the girl finished crying, then handed her a tissue—"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Li Yanran took the tissue from her hand and wiped the tears from her face. "Teacher, why is it that when my parents should’ve loved properly as a child, they didn’t love ; when they should’ve educated properly, they didn’t bother—and then when I finally managed to grow up with my grandparents, they co back and want to control everything? I really can’t understand it. Who do they think they are? Just because they gave birth to ??"
"You just had a fight with your parents?" Ning Youguang gently offered her another tissue.
"Yeah. I often think, so many famous psychologists and counselors say that a parent’s love should be unconditional. But when I carefully observe my parents, I find that it isn’t." Li Yanran lifted her tear-streaked face and looked at Ning Youguang, who was gazing at her with eyes full of tenderness. The mont her eyes t that clear, gentle look, her tears began to flood again. "A parent’s love is always conditional. For example, if I’m pretty, obedient, get good grades, listen to them, am outstanding—only when I manage all of that do they act like they love so much. Once I’m the opposite, they start being dissatisfied with in every way, judging , scolding —that’s the mild version. They might even curse , insult my dignity, try every possible way to change , to turn into the kind of person they like. If only when I beco what they like will they love , then that love is fundantally conditional. Unconditional love ans that no matter what I’m like, even if I’m bad at studying, a useless loser, unemployed, utterly ordinary and worthless, they would still love . But that’s not how it is. They love my little brother more, because he’s the boy they begged the heavens for over and over—a boy who can support them in their old age, give them a grandson, have his na entered into the family genealogy. I used to envy the way they loved my brother, but now I feel there isn’t much to envy. The love they give him is no different from the love they give . If he were like , just another girl, the love he got would be exactly the sa as mine."
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