Urban Super Medical Saint-Chapter 410 - 409: Seeking Justice
Since Baiyun Mountain Town's Third Primary School was a newly built school and with school starting in just another month or so, the matter of assigning teachers and students to classes, as well as the final touch-ups to some school facilities, all needed to be thoroughly finalized in these last few weeks. Consequently, these days the headmaster and deputy headmaster, as part of the administrative staff, were basically busy at school all the time.
Some teachers also came to the new school from time to time to look around.
The town of Baiyun Mountain wasn't very large, and the rural schools that were consolidated into the Third Primary School were basically all from the villages on the eastern side of the town. Many of the teachers mostly knew each other.
As Xu Suya entered the school, she did bump into quite a number of familiar teachers from other villages along the way.
In the past, these teachers would definitely have greeted her with a smile, but today, each of them looked at her with eyes filled with pity and regret. This made Xu Suya feel very uncomfortable.
On her way to the headmaster's office, Xu Suya saw Deputy Headmaster Liu from a distance.
In the past, Deputy Headmaster Liu would have certainly exchanged pleasantries upon seeing her, but this time, as soon as he saw her, he immediately turned away. Xu Suya caught on right away to what Ge Dongmei had said was true, and immediately chased after him, calling out, "Deputy Headmaster Liu, Deputy Headmaster Liu."
Deputy Headmaster Liu, seeing that Xu Suya was calling after him, had no choice but to stop in his tracks. Pretending to be confused, he said, "Ah, it's Teacher Xu. What brings you here today?"
"Deputy Headmaster Liu, I heard that the list of teachers has come out, but my name isn't on it. Is that true?" Xu Suya cut straight to the chase.
"Well, you see, Teacher Xu, let me explain. Our Baiyun Mountain Town is quite impoverished and backward, and some parents do not value their children's education as much as city dwellers do, especially here where there's a stronger preference for boys over girls. It was still alright when the elementary schools were in the villages—going to school was convenient, education was compulsory, and only a nominal fee for books was required, so the parents allowed their children to attend. Now that the students are to be centralized here in the town, while it is beneficial for standardizing education and improving the educational level, it has also meant a greater distance for the children to travel. As a result, some parents who favor boys over girls simply choose to keep their daughters at home for now, saying they'll let them attend school when they're older and able to commute by themselves. Therefore, the actual number of students is not as high as expected, and since the county education bureau has kindly assigned some teachers who graduated from formal teacher training schools to help our town's primary school, the demand for temporary teachers isn't as high as anticipated. So please..." Deputy Headmaster Liu, seeing that Xu Suya was directly asking about the teacher list, knew he couldn't avoid this question and reluctantly began to explain, showing difficulty on his face.
"So, I'm not on the list, am I?" Xu Suya didn't wait for Deputy Headmaster Liu to finish his sentence before she asked, her face showing anger and vexation.
"That's the case, indeed your name is not there. But rest assured, once the school is on track next year, and we have more students, there will definitely be arrangements..." Deputy Headmaster Liu nodded, then hurriedly added.
"Deputy Headmaster Liu, don't bother talking about next year. I just want to know why, out of so many people, I was the one left off the list. Don't talk to me about the greater good—I understand all that," Xu Suya demanded, her eyes welling up with anger and grievance.
After so many years of hard and thankless labor teaching in a mountain village, even during times when the town couldn't afford to pay her salary, she never uttered a word of complaint. But what was the outcome now?
Not being given a formal position is one thing, but now, to deny her even the qualification of a substitute teacher without discussion—that would naturally bring grievances to Xu Suya's heart.
"Teacher Xu, I understand you are a good teacher, but please try to understand our difficulties," said Deputy Headmaster Liu, seeing the moisture in Xu Suya's eyes. His expression was very awkward, and his gaze could not meet hers directly.
"Then I only have one question. If what I heard was just rumors and not true, I can wait a year," Xu Suya said, taking a deep breath.
"Okay, ask your question," Deputy Headmaster Liu didn't expect Xu Suya to be so reasonable and was secretly relieved. He nodded and urged her on.
"I heard that Hu Meilin made it onto the teacher's list. Is that true?" Xu Suya took another deep breath, trying her best to remain calm.
"That's... well..." Deputy Headmaster Liu's face changed, and he stumbled over his words.
"Deputy Headmaster Liu, you mentioned that the county has distributed new teachers who graduated from formal teacher training programs, which is a good thing. If there's really no need for additional substitute teachers, I accept that, since after all, I'm not a formally trained teacher. But can you tell me, considering many rural, privately-hired teachers made it onto the list, even Hu Meilin, why am I not included?" Xu Suya wiped the corners of her eyes and looked directly at Deputy Headmaster Liu.
"Teacher Xu, I'm just the deputy headmaster responsible for personnel management, but I can't single-handedly decide these specific personnel arrangements," Deputy Headmaster Liu naturally couldn't answer Xu Suya's question and could only respond with a bitter smile.
"All right then, I'll go to Headmaster Ding!" Seeing that Deputy Headmaster Liu had said this much, Xu Suya realized it was useless to question her and headed straight for the headmaster's office.
"This Xu Suya, this Xu Suya," Deputy Headmaster Liu wanted to chase after her to stop her, but in the end, he just shook his head and gave up.
What good would chasing her do anyway? The situation was such a mess to begin with; he had no idea how to face Xu Suya, such a good teacher.
"It's Teacher Xu, please take a seat. What can I help you with?" Headmaster Ding, being the official headmaster, was far more confident. Despite knowing what the issue likely was as he saw Xu Suya come in with a displeased face, he still asked in a calm manner, unlike Deputy Headmaster Liu, who had turned and walked away upon seeing Xu Suya.
"Headmaster Ding, I've come to inquire about the teacher list," Xu Suya said, her anger present but trying to stay levelheaded as she sat down in the office.
Because she was a teacher of the people, not a shrew!
"Teacher Xu, since you came to ask about this, you obviously know the specifics, so I won't harp on the obvious. Here, I can only make you one promise: next year I will definitely arrange a substitute teacher position for you. However, this year's list from the county education bureau is already set, and it can't be changed," Headmaster Ding explained straightforwardly, as there simply was no way to sugarcoat such matters.
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Because the facts were clear as day!
A high school graduate, who had been a rural teacher for over a decade and repeatedly recognized as an outstanding teacher, was now being compared to someone like Hu Meilin, who had only a junior high school education, had briefly been a rural teacher, and was known for being lazy—Headmaster Ding truly couldn't bring himself to say such a thing was fair.
No matter what, he was also a teacher of the people!
Of course, he couldn't tell Xu Suya that Hu Meilin was someone entrusted to him by Chen, the chief of the personnel office at the county education bureau.
Headmaster Ding was a teacher of the people, indeed, but as a leader with a certain status, he understood the rules of the officialdom.
ps: Sorry, I got caught up with something yesterday and only managed to produce one chapter. The remaining two chapters will likely be uploaded by this evening. My apologies.
