The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 435 - 420: New Job

Early the next morning, because she needed to catch the bus, Lu Jingqiu got up just after five o’clock and went downstairs to buy groceries.

She fried a few eggs and chilled some green vegetables.

She cooked a small pot of porridge.

Having prepared everything, she didn’t even have time to eat before she hurried down to catch the bus.

She happened just to run into Sister-in-law Cao from next door.

"Sister-in-law Cao."

"Comrade Lu, you’re also catching the bus?"

"Yes."

"Well that’s just perfect. Now I have a companion from our floor. Which bus are you taking?"

"Number two."

"Oh, I’m on number two as well. Comrade Chen from downstairs takes number one. Come on, let’s hurry, it’s about to leave."

"Oh."

Jingqiu trailed behind Sister-in-law Cao as they both jogged to the factory gate, where Sister-in-law Cao pulled her onto a bus.

With only a few minutes left before departure, everyone rushed to catch the bus. Some still had stuffed buns in their hands, eating as they ran.

When the two of them boarded, there were still seats available. They had been seated for less than a minute when the bus filled up.

On the bus, in addition to the driver, there was an assistant.

Not a fare collector, but someone responsible for arranging the pickup and drop-off of family members, giving directions to the driver.

After the bus started moving, the assistant handed a small notebook to the first row, and it was passed back from one person to the next, with everyone unsure of what exactly they were supposed to mark on it.

It wasn’t until it reached Jingqiu that she realized it was a list of names and work addresses on the bus, with a column for pickup arrangements.

Sister-in-law Cao quickly ticked her mark and then explained to Jingqiu, "If you need a ride back in the afternoon, put a check in the box. If not, draw an X. That way, they can arrange the buses accordingly."

"Oh."

Jingqiu decisively checked the box indicating she needed a pickup.

By then, the assistant had come over, smiling, "Comrade Lu is the family member newly assigned by the community to Chengguan No.1 Middle School, right? Do you need a pickup this afternoon?"

Jingqiu smiled, "Yes, I do need one."

"I’m Sister Chen. This afternoon at your Chengguan No.1 Middle School... Should be around six forty. Wait for us two hundred meters to the right of your main entrance in advance."

"Sure."

The bus departed on time at six-thirty, and on its way to the county town, it didn’t stop and went quite fast.

Since the area directly connected to this factory wasn’t a public bus route in the morning, the traffic was limited to trucks coming out from the factory, or procurement vehicles.

And there weren’t many pedestrians.

It took twenty minutes to reach the outskirts of the county town, where one person got off the bus.

Gradually, one by one, others got off at their respective stops.

Jingqiu got off in the middle of the commute, earlier than Sister-in-law Cao.

After greeting her, Jingqiu went off to work.

When she arrived at the school gates, it was only half-past seven.

Entering the office, she found that the two teachers hadn’t arrived yet.

Jingqiu waited at her desk.

Their office wasn’t big, with three workstations, hers being on the outermost.

It wasn’t until after eight o’clock that Teacher Dong and Master Chen arrived one after the other.

Both were pleasantly surprised to see Jingqiu.

Teacher Dong said with a smile, "Teacher Lu, good morning. You look really nice today."

Master Chen, a male colleague, wasn’t one to give such compliments; he just smiled and said hello.

She thought to herself that the clothes were several years old and said, "It’s my first day at work, and teaching students, so I had to dress appropriately."

Teacher Dong laughed, "When did you get here?"

"I arrived just after seven."

"Just after seven?"

Master Chen quickly explained, "In our school, homeroom teachers must arrive before six-thirty in the morning, subject teachers at seven-thirty, but for us, since we teach physical education and art, we can arrive by eight twenty, as our subjects aren’t scheduled for the first period in the morning. In the afternoon, homeroom teachers finish at six, other teachers at four fifty."

Jingqiu uttered an "oh," now understanding how it worked.

Once everyone was seated, Teacher Dong and Master Chen handed her the teaching books for the first grade. Currently, each of them was responsible for three first-grade classes.

This week, Jingqiu would observe classes, and by next week, she would take over the teaching of all the first-grade classes.

Teacher Dong also gave Jingqiu the teaching plans that had been prepared earlier: "These are the teaching plans I made before. You can refer to them."

"Thank you. It’s my first time teaching, and I really need the guidance from experienced seniors like you."

Teacher Chen laughed and said, "I wouldn’t call myself a predecessor, we’ve been teaching for only two years as well. This is mine, for your reference. Here is the first year’s curriculum, one class on Tuesday morning. Two classes on Wednesday afternoon, one on Thursday morning, and one in the afternoon, none on Friday. Currently, the first-years are on the third lesson of color theory."

Lu Jingqiu said, "Each class gets one art lesson a week, then."

Teacher Dong said, "That’s right, one for physical education, one for music. These already take up quite a bit of the schedule. However, by the second and third years of high school, most of the PE classes get squeezed out. The PE teachers are often idle, along with the music teachers, and our art lessons take up space too."

"Oh."

Indeed, physical education wasn’t given much importance at that time, and it wasn’t included in the high school exams.

Teacher Chen taught a senior class, and had one lesson that morning.

Lu Jingqiu followed and sat in the back to observe.

Teacher Dong had a class in the afternoon, and she went along as well.

That day, Lu Jingqiu sat through two lessons and drafted a teaching plan.

Teacher Dong and Teacher Chen helped her review it, pointing out the key aspects of the lesson.

After the lessons, she also met with the head of the first-year teachers.

At noon, she had lunch in the school cafeteria.

Teachers had their own window for service, and Lu Jingqiu followed Teacher Dong, occasionally getting to know a few other teachers.

The two of them were relatively free that day, having only one class each.

But Lu Jingqiu had studied all day and left work at four thirty in the afternoon.

Seeing that she wasn’t leaving, Teacher Dong asked with confusion why Lu Jingqiu was waiting, as she was expecting a ride that would come to pick her up, sometime after six, almost seven.

"They arrange transportation for family members at your factory? That’s quite nice."

"Yes, pick-up and drop-off every day."

"Okay, we’ll be going now. See you tomorrow, Teacher Lu."

"See you tomorrow."

While waiting for her ride at school, Lu Jingqiu looked through her textbooks and studied the teaching plans of the two teachers.

She thought about their teaching styles in the classroom today and imagined her own teaching style, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.

Soon it was six thirty, and Lu Jingqiu picked up her bag to leave.

Sister Chen was punctual as she said, arriving at six forty on the dot.

She got on the vehicle and saw Sister-in-law Cao.

Sister-in-law Cao waved to her, "You’ve been waiting for over forty minutes, right?"

Lu Jingqiu shrugged helplessly, "Sister-in-law, I finished school at just after four."

"Ah, just after four? Aren’t teachers supposed to finish at six?"

"We, the elective teachers, finish at four thirty. Arriving at the school at eight twenty in the morning is fine."

"Then you have to wait a long time every day."

"I’m planning to take the bus tomorrow."

"Taking the bus is also an option. At least you don’t have to wait that long, but it does cost money."

It’s still better than waiting that long.

When the car arrived at the factory, it was already seven thirty.

Jiang Nanzhou was at the gate waiting for her with their child.

"Mom."

"Xiao Cheng, how was your day at school?"

"Mom, how was your day at school?"

Lu Jingqiu smiled, "Mom learned from her seniors at school all day and listened to lessons."

"I did too, I followed the teacher in learning AOE, and we also learned to sing."

"Xiao Cheng is so clever."

When there were fewer people around, Jiang Nanzhou took her hand and asked, "Are you tired?"

Lu Jingqiu gave him a mournful look, as if she would lean into her husband’s arms if they weren’t on the street.

"Tired, not really, art lessons are scarce. The issue is waking up too early; I’m planning to take the bus tomorrow."

"From tomorrow on, let’s not cook in the morning but eat in the canteen instead. Cooking doesn’t guarantee a meal as varied as the canteen’s, and this way, we won’t have to get up so early and hustle."

"Taking the bus is fine. I just found out today, we, the elective teachers, arrive at school at eight twenty in the morning and leave at four thirty in the afternoon."

Jiang Nanzhou raised his eyebrows, "Four thirty? You waited for two hours?"

"Yes."

Jiang Nanzhou tenderly touched his wife’s head.

That evening, he prepared the dinner so his wife could have a good rest.