Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen

"Students," said Handa, standing up from her seat during lunch, gesturing for the rest of the faculty to remain seated, "you all know that an unfortunate accident happened this morning—and it was all because the students themselves didn't Be careful. The first thing a sports player should do is to carefully check whether the equipment is safe before using it. Even the excellent Miss Ruth has neglected such a simple and basic step, which has taught everyone a lesson. This is the first point. The next thing I want to say is that this afternoon, we want to entertain the guests and hosts.

There is nothing to hide about what happened this morning - we couldn't hide it even if we wanted to - but I ask you not to dwell on it.Our guests are here to have a good time and after knowing that this morning's accident was serious enough to send a student to the hospital, their mood will be affected, which is not necessary to make them think about it when watching sports performances.Please restrain yourself and don't make things serious this morning.Your duty is to make your guests happy and leave the school without any sentimentality. I hope you will do your best. "It's been a morning full of physical, mental and spiritual adjustments. Foro has returned from Silabo Hospital and is starting a routine for the seniors to make it clear that there is one less person in the class. Although Fu Ruo pointed out that at least three of the students were overly nervous when going up the bar or landing, Fu Ruo's strong composure made them accept this change and regained their calm slightly. No one would make a fool of themselves in the afternoon. As soon as Frau had dismissed them, Mrs. Rever took them on a longer lesson.

Ruth dances so well that she has a role in every dance sequence, which now has to be skipped or rearranged. This grueling and thankless work, which lasted until lunchtime, did not seem to be the result.The conversation at the lunch table was almost full of comments: "Should I give you my right hand when Stewart jumped in front of me?" I would like to announce to everyone: Dear friends, the hour just now proved that a person can appear in two places at the same time. The most important adjustment, however, came after both Foro and Mrs. Leaver had completed their corrections.Miss He Ju called Innes over, and then assigned her the vacancy of A Linge.The hospital confirmed Furuo's diagnosis. Ruth's skull was fractured, and she would not be able to start work until several months of recuperation.No one knows how Innes reacted to the news, only that she accepted the offer.This assignment made everyone suddenly relaxed, took it for granted, and the feeling of excitement overwhelmed everyone.So far, Lucy has noticed that no student or staff thinks much.

"For God's sake," said Mrs. Rever sarcastically, the only comment. But Lucy was not so happy.She was troubled by a feeling of uneasiness in her heart, which was very like a kind of mental "indigestion".The turn of events worried her.Accidents happen at the very best and last. carve.Tomorrow, Ruth wouldn't have to go to the gym to practice, and there wouldn't be a set up bar or loose latches in the gym.And early in the morning, there were messy wet footprints on the cement walkway.If the footprints weren't Ruth's: who would have left them? As Miss Luc said, no one would approach the gymnasium early in the morning unless prescribed.

It's possible that the footprints were left by Ruth, who might have had something else before she went to the gym to practice.Lucy couldn't tell if the footprints were heading in the direction of the house, and she didn't recall seeing any on the steps leading up to the house.She just saw the footprints in the shaded corridor and thought Ruth was ahead of her without thinking about it.It is also possible that these footprints appear around the house.Maybe not to the gym at all.Or maybe it wasn't a student's footprint at all. Those faint flat shoe prints may have been left by the servants who got up early in the morning to work.

Nothing is impossible.In addition to the footprints that didn't belong to Ruth, there was one odd thing: twenty minutes after using the super powerful vacuum cleaner, there was still a small metal charm on the floor.And this trinket is falling between the door and the pole that is about to be used.Regardless of the result of the speculation, what is certain is that this thing does not belong to Ruth.Not just because she hadn't been in the gym before Lucy this morning, but because she couldn't possibly have a leather loafer.Lucy knew this because her drudgery this morning was to pack Ruth's things.Originally, this should be Miss Qiao Li's job.But she was too busy preparing for this afternoon's event, so she handed over this responsibility to Miss Wagga.Miss Wagga couldn't assign the students to do it, because all the students were with Mrs. Rever, and this kind of work couldn't be assigned to the lower grades, so Lucy volunteered to take the job, thinking that she could finally be of some use And rejoice.Then, the first thing she did in Room Fourteen, where Ruth lived, was to look through all the shoes in the shoe closet.

The only shoes not in the closet were sneakers, which she must have worn when she went to the gym this morning.But to be sure again, she called O'Donnell when she heard the seniors returning to their dormitory from the gymnasium, and asked her: "You know Ruth well, don't you? Could you take a look at these shoes and let me know if there's any missing so I can pack it?" O'Donnell thought for a moment, then said, yeah, it was all there, "except her sneakers," she added, "which she was wearing." It seems to be no problem. "Aren't there any shoes to send for cleaning?"

"No, except for winter hockey shoes, which we shine ourselves." It seems right.Ruth wore her school-issued sneakers in the morning.That rosette of twisted metal wire couldn't have come from Ruth's shoe. So where did it come from? Lucy, who has always been sloppy in organizing her things, carefully packed Ruth's things and asked herself: where? She kept asking herself when she was getting ready to change for the afternoon banquet . Lucy put the rosettes into a small drawer in the closet, looked at the boring clothes she had brought, and didn't know which one to choose, which would be suitable for the luncheon held in the garden this afternoon.Looking out of the second window in the room—the one that looked out on the garden—she could see the juniors busily setting up tables, wicker chairs, and parasols.They are as busy as ants, but they decorate the three sides of the atrium lawn with a joyful atmosphere.The sun shines on their bodies, and the delicate and changeable lines on the screen are like paintings by famous masters.

But when Lucy looked down at the scene, she remembered the past, and felt a pang of heartache, but couldn't understand why she felt this way.For her, only one thing was clear.Tonight she must go to Handa with rosettes.After all the excitement had passed, and when Handa had had time to calm down and think, the problem—if there was one—should be handed back to Handa to deal with.Lucy herself, to save Handa a headache the last time, had thrown the red booklet into the water.This time, it was time to fulfill my responsibilities.This rosette has nothing to do with her. No.Nothing to do with her, of course nothing to do with her.

She finally settled on a blue linen dress with a thin red belt, which looked enough to have stepped out of Hanover Square in London, and should please the country parents.She brushed the suede shoes with the brush which Mrs. Maurth had kindly sent, and went downstairs to see if she could be of any help. Starting at two o'clock in the afternoon, some guests came. They first went to Handa's office to say hello, and then they were dragged away by their excited children.The fathers touched the medical equipment in the consulting room with suspicion, the mothers inspected the beds in the bedroom, and the uncles and elders who loved gardening visited the roses in Jidi's garden.Lucy played the "matching game" and tried to put together pairs of couples and students.She found herself involuntarily looking for the Innes, but the thought of seeing them again was mixed with joy.She asked herself: Why worry? There is nothing to worry about in the world, is there? Of course not.Everything is so beautiful.

After all, Innes got the teaching position of Alingo, and today is her moment of victory after all. Under the field pea fence at the corner, Lucy met them unexpectedly, and Innes walked between the parents, the three of them were holding hands, their faces glowing.It wasn't the listless look she had a week ago, but it was a timely replacement. She looked tired, but at peace, as if the internal struggle had subsided, and for better or for worse, a conclusion had been drawn. "You know them," she said to Miss Ping, "but you never mentioned them to me." Lucy felt as if meeting an old acquaintance.I couldn't believe that I and the Inneses had just spent an hour at the coffee table on a summer morning.She felt as if she had known them all her life, and believed that they both thought as she did.They were really happy to see her.They remembered the topics they had talked about last time, and recalled some of Lucy's ideas, with an enthusiastic attitude, as if to show that Lucy was not only an important person in their pace of life, but a part of their pace of life.Lucy, who had always been in the company of the cold literary people, felt at once warm at this moment. Innes left the three of them to prepare for this afternoon's opening program—the sports show—and Lucy accompanied the Innes and his wife to the gym. "Mary looks bad," her mother said. ?” Lucy hesitated for a moment, she didn't know how much Innes had said. "She told us about the accident that morning and how she got the job at Allinger because of it. I don't think she's happy about getting a job because of someone else's misfortune, but there must be something else going on." Lucy thought it would be helpful to have more facts for the couple, and it always helps if—well, anyway. "Early on, everyone thought she must be the one who would get the job. I think it was quite a shock to her when that didn't turn out to be the case." "I understand, yes." Mrs. Innes said slowly, and Lucy felt that there was no need to explain any more. Her mother fully understood what Innes was suffering at this moment. "I don't think she'd approve of me telling you this, so—" "No, we won't mention it," said Mrs. Innes. "The little piece of the garden is pretty, and the part I've made is never a garden. Look at those lovely yellow roses." A group of people arrived at the entrance of the gymnasium, and Lucy took them upstairs to see the vacuum cleaner—she couldn't help but think of the rosette—then found her group in the auditorium, and the afternoon's activities officially started. Lucy's seat is next to each other in the first row.From the seat, Lucy looked down at the confident faces full of emotion, and waited intently for Fu Ruo's 151 orders. "Don't worry," she heard a senior student say, "Furuo will help us to the end." Her eyes were full of confidence.This is their test, and they come to meet it tremblingly, but with Furuo, she will endure to the end. Only then did she understand the love in Handa's eyes when she went to the gymnasium with Handa last time.That had been two weeks ago, and at that point there was possessive care and pride in Handa's eyes.Autumn is coming, and maple reds will fall, but thanks to the two weeks spent at Lai's College, everything will have a new meaning in Lucy's eyes.The four disciples will go to work in Manchester, Thomas will try to stay sober in Abbes, Wales, Dexter will go to Lingo Abbey to take good care of the children, and many others will go to their own homes.If in just a few days, she has such feelings for this group of students, then after experiencing the students' growth, progress, struggle, failure, success and other processes, Handa's feelings for watching them enter a new life, More indisputably, no wonder she gazed at the students as if she were her own daughters—a group of accomplished daughters. They were ready, and the nervous look on their faces was gone, and they calmed down.The applause to celebrate their successful performance broke the silence, warmed their hearts, and made the whole event more human. "What a charming combination," said the luxurious old woman with long-handled glasses sitting next to Lucy (whose family is this? She can't be the student's parents, right?), turning around and asking kindly: "Tell me Me, are they selected?" "I don't understand you," whispered Lucy. "I mean, did all the seniors play?" "You mean, is it only the elite who will perform? Oh, no. The whole class will perform together." "Really? It's really good, and it's fascinating, and it's quite exciting." Lucy wondered: Does she think we're going to pay off all the freckled students so they don't show up in the afternoon? But the grand old lady was right.Apart from watching a troupe of two-year-olds perform, there is nothing that attracts more attention than this group of skilled youngsters performing on stage.The twined ropes are lowered from near the roof, the window ladder is straight, and the seniors have mastered these equipment with precision.When they put the ropes and ladders aside and lifted the bars to perform the balance beam, the applause was particularly loud, and the spectacular scene attracted everyone's attention. The grounds looked different from what she had seen this morning, shrouded in the mysterious green shadow of the roof.It seemed to be shining with golden light, and it was full of life. The roof reflected the sunlight, and it fell on the shallow logs, as if it had been covered with light.In the dim light, she looked at the bar, then searched to see who was now standing where Ruth had been found that morning.Who's carrying the bar on the right end of the field? It's Innes. "Go!" Fu Ruo gave a command, and the eight young bodies jumped onto the high bar.They sat on it for a while, then got up harmoniously, with one foot forward and one foot behind, two groups of two stood facing each other on both sides of the high bar. Lucy hoped frantically that Innes would not pass out.Her face was not only pale, it was a miserable green.Stewart, who was opposite her, wanted to start to move, but saw that Innes was not ready yet, so he waited.But Innes stood still, seemingly unable to control his muscles.Stewart gave her a highly suggestive wink, but Innes still didn't move.They exchanged silent messages, and Stewart continued, delivering a perfect performance under the circumstances.All of Raines' classmates were focused on keeping her in a standing position on the high bars so that she wouldn't drag the show down and not let her jump off the floor until she landed with the others.The dead stillness and focus on her made her painfully awkward, and while she stood the others felt nothing but bewildered sympathy.Poor, everyone thought, she was not well. Must be so excited.Her face was almost a miserable green.Poor Innes, poor! Stewart finished the action and looked at Innes waiting.Slowly, the two sat down on the bar, turned to face the bar, and then jumped to the ground. There was a warm applause.As usual, the English are more polite to the sportsman who loses than to the easy winner.Again they express their affection and admiration. They understand that it takes infinite courage to keep themselves on the high bar when they are immobilized. But the emotion of pity did not move Innes.Lucy wondered if she could hear the applause at this moment.She closed herself in a small world, out of reach of anyone's comfort.Lucy could hardly bear to look at her. The uproar of the next show overshadowed her failure, bringing the tragedy to a close.Innes is in position with the others, mechanically delivering a flawless performance.By the big jump at the end, really, Innes was so good that Lucy wondered if she wanted to break her neck in front of all the audience.Judging from Furuo's expression, she also had the same idea; but Innes' performance was restrained and perfect, so she couldn't say anything.All of Innes' movements, no matter how breath-taking, are always self-made and perfect.Because she seems to be going all out, so no matter how difficult the movement is, she won't be troubled.Finally, when all the students finished the last unrestrained performance, held their breath, lined up, and stood in the middle of the empty field with smiles, just like they did at the beginning, all the guests stood up and applauded unanimously. Since Lucy was sitting on the farthest side of the first row and by the door, she was the first to walk out of the auditorium, just in time to see Innes apologizing to Frau. Fu Ruo paused for a moment, and then moved on, as if she had no interest in hearing what Innes had to say. But as she walked, she casually raised a hand and patted Innes on the shoulder in a friendly way.