Chapter 277 - Life Is Fair?

All throughout the discussion until almost the time of the dismissal of the class, Sofia's attention was not on her teacher. But, she did not also engage in chitchat either. 

Her eyes trained at the front and stared at the scribbled words on the whiteboard. She was just pretending to listen to her teacher while thinking of suitable arrangements to let her friends grow.

'Personal growth, career growth, financial growth...' Sofia sighed deeply once more. 

Her seatmate give her a strange look and whispered, "That is your 11th sigh. Sofia, if you have difficult problems, you can talk to me. I'm a good listener! You are obviously bothered by something. If you don't let that out, it will suffocate you!"

"I'm fine. There is no difficult problem. I'm just nervous about tomorrow. It's our first time to do the shooting," Sofia quickly found an alibi. "Thanks!" she added with a small smile.

Her seatmate nodded her head and looked convinced. 

In fact, Sofia's troubles that caused her to sigh in deep frustration were not about the growth of her members. Something about growth is nothing to her. She was certain that they would grow together whether it is as a team or as an individual. She would not doubt her capability.

However, no matter how she forced herself to dismiss the foreboding feeling about the small book in her teacher's desk, there is a silent voice in her head that kept bothering her. As if the silent voice was telling her, 'Be careful!' Or something more.

'I won't cancel my plans for tomorrow. I won't,' Sofia mentally said as if she was also addressing the silent voice within her. As if the source of that silent voice could hear her thoughts...

Sofia could somehow foresee the effect of her plans for tomorrow. The day they operate their business, it won't just be a wind that would blow mildly and make its presence known to the corporate world. No. Rather, their operation would be like a hurricane that would urge different kinds of attention from every meticulous competitor. 

In such an underdeveloped district, she was sure that what will happen tomorrow would alert potential enemies.

However, she also knew that this was the price that they had to face. Just like the sea, since she intends to do a big wave and swoop all the profits for her business, it is impossible not to stir the water in their surrounding. After all, every action has corresponding consequences.

"Let's end the discussion here. Tomorrow, be sure to prepare for the test," the teacher declared. 

After bidding their goodbyes, the students hastily left the room. But, Sofia did not walk out with them. She just stood next to her chair and waited until every single classmate were out.

"Miss Su, do you have concerns?" her teacher questioned. She was holding the small book in her left hand and the set of keys in her right hand.

"Ma'am, about the test tomorrow," Sofia spoke softly. 

"What about it? This is the last test before the final exam," the teacher stated.

"Ma'am, I intend not to come to class tomorrow. There is a responsibility that I had to finish. Is it okay to do the test next week?" Sofia asked. Her tone was polite but her words made her teacher look at her with disbelief.

"You intend?! Miss Su, no one has ever used that words as an introduction for an excuse to absent," the teacher chuckled after recovering from her momentary surprised.

"It's not an excuse. I won't be here tomorrow, Ma'am," Sofia replied with a clear meaning of her intention. She was not asking for any permission to be absent from the class. She was just merely informing her teacher that she can't attend or take her test tomorrow.

"Ohh... o-okay. Well, I will prepare a different set of questions for next week. It will be a harder test than tomorrow," the teacher said. 

"Thank you for your understanding, ma'am. Good night!" Sofia smiled. She was about to walk out of the door when she heard her teacher speak again.

"I'm rather curious about that responsibility that you would do tomorrow, Miss Su. Share some details with me while we walk to the gate?" her teacher said. 

They walked side by side and stepped outside. Sofia waited until the teacher finished locking their classroom door. 

"I have an important job tomorrow, ma'am. It will be finished beyond 9 PM," Sofia simply replied not giving any details of her business. She could promote their services but, she did not intend to reveal that she owned the business.

"Ohh, I see... I see... All of you in my night class section is really hard working. Hang in there, you will soon graduate," the teacher expressed feeling sympathetic to all her student's situations. "Do you feel like life is unfair, Miss Su?" she suddenly asked.

"In what context, Ma'am?" Sofia immediately answered her teacher's question with another one. If it was about having advantages, surely, Sofia had every experience she needed that it was indeed unfair for others.

"You know, some students are born with all support. They don't need to work. On the other hand, you need to work beyond 9 PM while schooling. Do you feel that life is unfair?" the teacher elaborated.

'Ahhh...' Sofia smiled and look up at the sky. With the darkness of the night, all the stars looked so bright. She stared for a moment and thought, 'It turns out, she wants to assess my emotional state.'

If it was probably the original Sofia, the teen would definitely confirm and agree with how unfair life is. Yet, her? It's but a completely different perspective.

"If it's about time management and the ability to earn money while studying, I think... life is pretty fair, ma'am. Those who learned skills earlier will no longer suffer when they get older. And those who did not learn such skills earlier will find it hard to survive in life as they get older," Sofia mumbled.

"Pretty fair? Hmmn... why do you say so?" the teacher asked further.

"I know a girl who is so rich that she grow up dependent on the money of her parents. She did not need to do anything at all," Sofia paused as she tried to form the scenario on her mind.

"Hmmn," the teacher hummed and waited for her to continue.

"But something happened to her parents and they lost their money. Because she was too dependent and did not learn any skills, she lived a hard life now. It was a real struggle," Sofia made up.

"Poor girl," the teacher mumbled and shook her head.

"Given her situation, I couldn't help but wonder, Ma'am. Which is really fair? And which is unfair? Is it unfair that her parents made her dependent on their money which caused her to have a hard life? If that is the case, then I have to be thankful for getting the opportunity to learn to be independent at an early age. In the future, it won't be hard for me to deal with life," Sofia finished.

For a while, only the sound of crickets in their surrounding could be heard. The teacher was also lost in her words. She did not expect that Sofia would give her such meaningful response.

"What I mean is... life is unfair for everyone and that makes it fair. Because we all experience situations that are hard to deal. And when it comes to learning the right skills to live, life is actually fair. Hardships are inevitable. No one is exempted from it," Sofia continued since her teacher did not make a sound.

Then, she added in her thoughts, 'Even the richest man who looked like he has a perfect life would also have his fair share of hardship. Sometimes, they are just dealing with their hardship in silence. There is no such thing as perfect life in this world.'

"Miss Su, you've made me speechless! The way you see things is far beyond your age! I'm impressed by your maturity," the teacher finally spoke.

"I've watched videos that talk about philosophy in life, Ma'am. They are everywhere on the internet. They also have a quite interesting discussion," Sofia stated. They have reached the exit gate and her teacher's car was already a few steps away from them.

"This talk is very interesting, Miss Su. Since you found those videos, continue watching, okay? They are meant to inspire youths like you," the teacher stated. "Here is my ride. Where do you live? I'll share you a ride."

"Thank you for the offer, Ma'am. But, I'm just on that building. Take care," Sofia pointed to her apartment a few meters across the street.

"Then, I'll see you next week. Good luck on your job tomorrow!" the teacher smiled at Sofia before she pulled the car door open and went inside.

Sofia waved her hand and waited until the car drove off. 

Not long after, she crossed the pedestrian lane and slowly walked towards her apartment.

She made a quick stop at Claire's unit to check if her friend was already there. But, when she made a turn, she noticed that all the lights in the room were switched off. 'Strange. She's not yet here?'

Sofia checked her phone, however, the screen flashed a notification and indicated that she was low battery before it turned off.

"Did they go somewhere else after going to the intersection street? Or is she asleep now?" she wondered and finally moved her feet towards her unit.