CH 39

Salary Increment (All Good News...)

"Teacher Parrot, I've won to get you a salary," Mr. Kang repeated with a sense of pride in his voice.

Mr. Kang was brimming with excitement, eager to share some good news with Little Parrot, just to witness the sheer joy on his face.

However, Little Parrot was still standing on the perch, as if he didn’t understand the words at all. He stood in stoic silence with his wings stretched outward, pointing toward the classroom's exit.

The other children in the class opened their eyes wide and watched this scene, thinking that Kangkang was really impressive.

Mr. Kang listened to what the other children were saying, but he didn't care whether they were excited or not, he just looked at Little Parrot in front of him.

Little Parrot stood on the perch, not jumping around happily as he used to, nor flapping his wings, nor coming up to nuzzle him.

He was just like any other bird, indifferent to Mr. Kang and everyone else.

Mr. Kang felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him, and the most uncomfortable thing in the world was probably working hard to fight for someone else's salary, only to tell them excitedly and get no response.

Mr. Kang immediately comforted himself by thinking that maybe Little Parrot didn't understand what salary meant. So he explained again, "From now on, you will receive a monthly internship salary of 1,200 yuan, which you can use to buy food and other necessities."

Of course, the school principal wasn't a fool for giving out this salary. He would use this animal teacher as a selling point for the school. Overall, it was the principal who profited - the capitalist, after all.

Little parrot let out a soft chirp, then spread his wings and flew towards the door.

Kang felt his heart shatter into pieces, and as he turned around, he saw the rest of the class looking at him.

This made Kang even more unhappy. He didn't want to be made a fool of by his classmates, so he walked towards the door.

But as soon as he stepped out, in a place where the others couldn't see, a green figure flew into his arms. The bird opened its wings and fluttered happily in his embrace, making childlike sounds of joy.

"Boss is so amazing, boss is so amazing!"

This was more like it!

Kang snorted and whispered, "What's the big deal? Once you become famous in this area, we'll quit and move to another school, and you'll be indispensable. They'll give us a raise then."

Just then, Ms. Liu happened to come out and overheard what Kang said. She silently retreated back into the classroom. In fact, she came out because she was afraid of the child's heart being hurt.

Now that she thought about it, she realized that the principal's wallet might suffer in the future.

Kang's words were so inspiring that even Ms. Liu wanted to use these methods to get a raise.

At the Art Center on the other side, the owner looked at Xia Sheng, who had come to resign, and said, "The previous incidents were indeed our fault. We have flaws in our management that caused you to suffer."

"We have also worked together for several years, haven't we? We have some feelings for each other. I remember when you first came, your family situation was not good, and we didn't usually hire part-time teachers, but we made an exception for you."

"Now you are doing better and don't need to be with your child all the time. You can come here to work as a full-time teacher."

"No, thank you," Xia Sheng said. "I want to try other careers. Maybe I was too narrow-minded before."

"With the current economic situation and the difficulty of finding a job, if you were a full-time teacher, your salary and benefits would be different," the owner said.

"It's not about the money."

The incident with Mr. Zhang was like a storm that completely changed her way of thinking. She had been calm for several days and decided to take a fresh look at the world.

"Well, how about if you come back, you can have a basic salary plus commission," the owner suggested. He was also devastated because Mr. Zhang had hinted that Xia Sheng had offended him.

At that time, everyone knew that Mrs. Zhang liked Xia Sheng, but now they also knew that Mrs. Zhang was a full-time housewife and did not work. It was Mr. Zhang who made the decisions in their family.

So they were able to make the decision without informing Mrs. Zhang.

But now, Mr. Zhang called and said that it's fine to let Xia Sheng come back. Even more pressing, however, was the matter of Mrs. Zhang - or rather, everyone now addressed her as Ms. Tan.

Ms. Tan has been in the news every day lately --

"Mr. Zhang is ill, and Mrs. Zhang is temporarily taking over as the head of the company."

"Uncovering the identity of Mrs. Zhang, her abilities are no less than Mr. Zhang's."

Not only that, but some news has also started to appear online, saying that Mr. Zhang's previous image of doting on his wife was actually all fake. Then they started from the beginning, and netizens ate up all the gossip. But when reporters asked Ms. Tan, she just said —

"Everything is true."

When asked if they were getting divorced, Ms. Tan laughed and said, "Not for now. He's sick now and needs me, and our relationship hasn't broken down."

People outside just thought that Mrs. Zhang was foolish, but there was a teacher's relative working at her house who said that Mrs. Zhang was actually very hot-tempered at home despite her gentle demeanor outside. She brought her husband back from the hospital and restricted his contact with the outside world, and because he broke his leg, he could only stay at home.

She's not getting a divorce just because if she did, there's a high probability that she wouldn't get a share of the family property, and she had no job, so she wouldn't be able to get custody of the children.

The Art Center was shocked to hear all of this. It was hard to imagine that the woman who was outgoing and generous outside would be so cold and abusive to her already injured husband at home.

But even with all the busyness going on, Mrs. Zhang had time to think about one issue.

"Has Teacher Xia returned?"

"If she comes back, give me a call."

"Resign? Didn't you talk to her about the compensation?"

So the Art Center went as far as to invite Xia Sheng to come back.

They offered crazy compensation in terms of salary, allowances, meal allowances, travel quotas, and family vacations.

"As long as you're willing to come back, we can talk about the salary and all the other benefits. You'll even get a travel allowance, and you can choose any family vacation you like," said the owner.

Xia Sheng shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's really not about money or compensation."

The owner didn't believe her. There was nothing in this world that wasn't about money. If it was a money problem, it just meant that they weren't offering enough.

"Well, if you come back, we'll still keep all the previous benefits. I'll also give you a basic salary of 8,000 yuan, and you'll get 50% of each student's earnings."

"It’s at least this amount in a month —" the owner said, taking out a pen and listing everything he had previously mentioned before calculating the total and handing it to Xia Sheng.

Xia Sheng took a quick glance at the paper, but the next second she was at a loss for words.

She coughed twice and set down the note, saying, "It's really not about the money. I'm just very confused right now. I don't know what I want to do."

"And, Ms. Tan brought her piano over to our center, asking you to play it."

The owner thought that Mrs. Zhang was being too kind to Xia Sheng.

Little did he know that it was Xia Sheng who had inadvertently helped her solve her two biggest problems.

One, Xia Sheng had told her the truth and trusted her, allowing her to end the torment in her heart over the past few years. She had married the man not only because of his modest talents but also because of his good looks, like a clear spring.

But time was a pig feed, and the man had become fat, developed a beer belly, and his personality had become greasy and arrogant. She no longer wanted to be with him, and every day she either went to practice piano or went to the gym.

However, the other party still loved her as before, and she had been bearing the torment in her heart all this time.

And now, all of this has come to an end.

The second is that Xia Sheng directly broke the other party's leg, which gave her a great opportunity to seize power. The cold violence between the couple was not considered violence, and she did not want a divorce. She could rely on the law to delay until she got what she wanted before getting a divorce.

Ms. Tan had always loved beautiful women, and now this beauty not only could play the piano but could also fight. She had also helped her so much, and besides, she didn't really care about the money she was using now.

For these reasons, Ms. Tan put a lot of pressure on the Art Center.

The Art Center owner discreetly took Xia Sheng aside and confided, "When Ms. Tan delivered the piano, we secured it in the piano room and haven't dared to use it since. But if you return, we'll hand over the key to you, and you alone will hold it."

Xia Sheng still remembered the feeling of playing that piano before.

"I don't know if they bumped into anything when they moved it over. If you have time, could you help me take a look, Teacher Xia?" the owner said.

Xia Sheng nodded.

For the past few days, Xia Sheng hadn't touched the piano, and it wasn't just due to the critical assessments from the two maestros hired by Mr. Zhang.

She thought that she suddenly realized that her love for the piano seemed to stem from her mother's denial and oppression of her gender.

Playing the piano was like her biggest rebellion against her mother.

Xia Sheng sat in front of the piano and began to play again.

The music started slow and gradually quickened, as if a sword was getting closer and closer, ready to cut through everything. The owner of the center couldn't help but step back, as if trying to leave the room.

However, the music continued.

Every note carried an unstoppable momentum, causing the owner to shiver in fear. Why? Xia Sheng had always preferred gentle and lyrical pieces, but how was it possible for her to play such a murderous tune?

As the song came to an end, the owner stood outside the door, watching as Xia Sheng stood up and walked out.

For some reason, he felt like the unnatural aura that had surrounded her had disappeared, leaving her like a sharp sword unsheathed.

Xia Sheng walked up to him and said, "Give me the key."

The owner looked at her and handed over the key.

It wasn't until she had left that the owner came back to his senses. The doors to the other practice rooms opened one by one as curious onlookers poked their heads out.

"Boss, who was playing just now?"

The owner was at a loss for words. "Xia Sheng."

Xia Sheng left the Art Center and walked in the sunshine, taking a deep breath.

She found her way again!