God's Gift

The next day, Achou appeared outside the classroom as usual, and Chen Qingqiu called out to him again.

"Little girl, do you want to come to school for classes?" Chen Qingqiu stood in the corridor, looking at Ah Chou who kept his head down, and asked patiently.

Ah Chou did not answer immediately. She stepped on the ground and rubbed her feet uncomfortably.

"I see you come to the classroom to attend classes every day, so I think you are willing to go to school. As long as you want to go to class, I will help you go to school."

Ah Chou shook his head and replied in a muffled voice: "They won't allow me to go to school."

Chen Qingqiu looked at Ah Chou and said seriously, "Don't worry about this. Just tell me whether you are willing or not, and I will find a way to deal with the rest."

Ah Chou raised his head and looked at Chen Qingqiu for a long while, with a hint of caution in his eyes, and nodded slowly.

Only then did Chen Qingqiu heave a sigh of relief and smile with satisfaction.

Then he really went to find Achou's parents. I don't know what he said, but Achou's parents actually agreed to let Achou go to school.

Later she found out that Chen Qingqiu had told his parents that he would pay for all of Achou's schooling expenses. Achou's parents were happy to take advantage of such a good man, so they agreed to let Achou go to school.

On the day Ah Chou went to school, Chen Qingqiu handed her the books and pens he had prepared and said to her, "Little girl, I've seen your notes, and they are all very well done. But there are still some things missing. When you have time in the future, come to me and I will make up for it for you."

Ah Chou stood in front of Chen Qingqiu awkwardly and suddenly asked, "Why do you keep calling me little girl?"

Chen Qingqiu didn't expect Ah Chou to ask him this question. He paused for a while before looking at Ah Chou and saying:

"I know your name... but I don't think it's suitable as a name. And I saw that you didn't respond much when others called you, so I secretly thought that you didn't like your name, so I didn't want to call you that."

Somewhere in her heart seemed to be stabbed, and Ah Chou clenched her hands unconsciously. She looked at the brand new books in Chen Qingqiu's hands that she had never owned before, and said to Chen Qingqiu:

"You help me so much, but I have nothing and I can't repay you."

After hearing her words, Chen Qingqiu smiled and asked, "Why do you think I need your return?"

Achou raised his head and stared at Chen Qingqiu silently.

"My whole life..." Chen Qingqiu paused and said, "My life went smoothly in the beginning, and I met only kind people.

"When I was young, I was loved by my parents and elders and received many preferential treatments."

“After I went to school, I met good teachers who taught me carefully and led me onto the right path.”

"The colleagues and seniors I met after I started working were very tolerant and caring, and most of the students I taught were well-behaved and sensible, which saved me a lot of trouble."

Chen Qingqiu recalled the past, and a smile appeared unconsciously on the corner of his mouth. "Looking back carefully, I have received a lot of kindness and help in my life."

After saying this, he looked at Ah Chou and said, "Everything I do now is a return for those favors, so why would I need your return again?"

His eyes fell on Ah Chou, and after looking at him for a while, he said slowly:

"If you are willing to remember my kindness to you and treat others the same way I do in the future, then all I have done will not be in vain."

Achou looked at Chen Qingqiu, but was blinded by the glaring sunlight, so she quickly lowered her head.

-

In the days that followed, Achou attended classes at school like other students, but his life did not get better.

Because of her face, other students also disliked her.

Ah Chou had long been accustomed to disdainful looks and faced his classmates' indifference and ridicule numbly, but the corners of his heart were rotting.

Chen Qingqiu saw everything and asked a friend to send a bottle of liquid foundation from the city and gave it to Achou.

Ah Chou was at a loss holding the bottle of liquid foundation. Chen Qingqiu looked at her gently and said to her, "I don't know if this will work, but you should give it a try."

Achou took the bottle of foundation back home, found a mirror that she rarely used at home, and applied the foundation on her face little by little in front of the mirror. She watched the birthmark on her face gradually fade away, turning it into a face that was completely unfamiliar to her.

She couldn't help but put her hand on the mirror, looking at the completely different self in the mirror. Her eyes gradually turned red, and she finally couldn't help crying.

The birthmark that had been weighing on her heart so heavily that it made her breathless disappeared at this moment. For the first time, she felt so light, so light that it seemed to be lifted up.

But Achou's happiness did not last long. When her father called her from outside, she did not hear him. So he came into the room, looked at Achou's pale face, and smashed the bottle of foundation in disgust.

Ah Chou looked at the remnants of liquid foundation on the ground with trembling hands, and his heart seemed to break along with it.

He broke it, just like crushing Ah Chou to the ground, letting her fall back into the mud and be buried in the dust.

Ah Chou picked up the broken glass on the ground, walked to Chen Qingqiu's house with them in his hands in a daze, and knocked on Chen Qingqiu's door.

"I'm sorry, teacher." She looked at Chen Qingqiu, who was well-dressed, with tears on his face still unwiped, and kept apologizing.

Chen Qingqiu looked at Ah Chou for a long time, and finally just patted her shoulder gently, saying in a gentle voice: "It doesn't matter, since there is no way to eliminate it, let's think of other ways."

He brought Achou into the house, asked Achou to sit down, and took out a box of paint and a paintbrush.

"Teacher, what are you doing?" Ah Chou was distracted by Chen Qingqiu's actions, and his voice sounded a little confused.

Chen Qingqiu looked at Ah Chou, a smile appeared on his face, he waved the paintbrush in his hand and said, "Think of a way."

Ah Chou didn't quite understand what Chen Qingqiu meant, but she still sat there obediently, allowing Chen Qingqiu to dip the paintbrush in black paint and paint on the birthmark on her face.

The autumn afternoon sun shone through the narrow windows and fell on the concrete floor inside the house. The dust floating in the air danced in the sun, like countless elves jumping around Chen Qingqiu.

Achou stared at Chen Qingqiu blankly, gradually becoming distracted.

Until Chen Qingqiu put down the paintbrush, took a mirror, and placed it in front of Ah Chou, "Take a look."

Ah Chou came back to his senses, his eyes focused on the mirror and he saw himself in the mirror.

The pattern that made her extremely disgusted still remained on her face, but Chen Qingqiu painted it along the lines and turned it into a bird with spread wings.

It was no longer ugly, it changed its appearance on her face, and instantly made her face look better.

“Look…” Chen Qingqiu studied Ah Chou’s face, his eyes clear and gentle: “In fact, you are very beautiful, but this mask blocked your original appearance and deceived everyone.”

Ah Chou opened his mouth, his voice was hoarse, and he slowly raised his hand to stroke the piece. It turned out that just by changing its appearance, she would be different.

Chen Qingqiu sighed and continued, "In fact, everyone in the world has a thousand faces and is different. But under this appearance, they are all the same scarlet flesh and blood, and white bones. Everyone is the same, but we have trapped ourselves."

"Compared to the body that will eventually decay, the soul is the final destination."

"But such appearance has brought you suffering." Chen Qingqiu fell silent again when he said this. He sat in front of Achou, looking at Achou's face, with a hint of melancholy in his eyes, as if he was also sad for Achou.

Ah Chou looked at Chen Qingqiu for a long time, then turned his gaze back to the mirror, looked at the bird with its wings spread on his face, and asked, "Teacher, why is it a bird?"

"This is the Blue Bird." Chen Qingqiu was brought back to his senses by Ah Chou's words. He looked at Ah Chou and smiled slightly. "The Blue Bird is the messenger of the Queen Mother of the West. The Queen Mother of the West lives in the Penglai Fairy Mountain, but there is no road to Penglai. Only the Blue Bird can cross the Penglai Mountain and bring hope to the human world."

Chen Qingqiu turned his head and looked at the mountains surrounding Lijia Village with a distant gaze and sighed slowly.

“Everyone likes to compare flowers to women, and admires women for being as delicate and beautiful as flowers, but I don’t want to paint it as a flower.”

"I know this place is not very good for girls." Chen Qingqiu pointed to the mountains outside the window and said to Ah Chou:

“So you must become a free bluebird, spread your wings and fly high, fly over these mountains and leave this place.”