Shen Mo raised his eyebrows slightly.
-- Interesting. He hadn't even gone upstairs to apologize, but the other party came downstairs to offer a gift first.
The female teacher looked gentle and graceful, with fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, which were slightly curved, and a polite smile on her face.
Seeing that neither Shen Mo nor Cheng Laoshi were accepting the jar, she gently placed the pottery jar aside and said kindly, "The rice and vegetables are all washed. If you find it to your liking, I'll bring down some more later. There are many students, so I made more…"
Her gentle explanation made people feel close and also hinted that the porridge was "clean" and had not been tampered with, which was very thoughtful.
Shen Mo felt that the other party was a very cautious person.
But it was right to be cautious. After all, she was leading a group of junior high school students. Now that they had encountered strangers by accident, it was better to avoid making enemies as much as possible.
"Thank you." Shen Mo took the jar and said a few words to ease the tension. "We just arrived in Yangzhou and are just looking for a temporary place to stay. We won't stay long."
Cheng Laoshi also explained, "We are here in Yangzhou to find someone. We didn't expect such a heavy fog in the city. My home is on Jiangyang Road. Don't worry, we are really not bad people."
The female teacher's gaze swept over Shen Mo and Cheng Laoshi's faces, then glanced at Tan Xiao, who was panting while carrying luggage not far away, without asking further.
She smiled politely and said, "We are also here temporarily. Please go ahead. I still have students to take care of. I'll go up now."
When the female teacher went upstairs, several students were craning their necks to look, seemingly afraid that the teacher would encounter difficulties downstairs.
Seeing the teacher return safe and sound, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Cheng Wei, who was downstairs, saw this scene and sighed repeatedly, saying to Shen Mo with a worried look, "Xiao Shen, the world is too chaotic now. We are all compatriots. If we meet again in the future, we must help each other."
Shen Mo nodded. "That's right."
He wasn't just saying that. He really felt that it was stupid for a group of people to fight amongst themselves after a disaster.
Cheng Laoshi sighed a few more times. Perhaps the scene touched a nerve, reminding him of his own students whose lives and deaths were unknown, and he felt a little sad.
"Go inside and rest," Shen Mo said, pointing to the dormitory on the first floor.
Cheng Laoshi waved his hand. With an unsettled mind, he couldn't rest. He went over to help Tan Xiao unpack.
Tan Xiao had just piled up his luggage in a mess. The old man was more meticulous than him, sorting and placing things properly. At least the food couldn't be placed together with smelly shoes.
Shen Mo watched for a while but didn't intervene. He picked up the jar and went to Bai Youwei's dormitory.
The vegetable porridge was cooked until it was soft and fragrant. As soon as Shen Mo entered the room, Bai Youwei smelled it.
Her clear and bright eyes lit up, and she said, "I'm hungry."
Shen Mo: "…"
After "feeding" her for two days, this was the first time he heard her take the initiative to say she was hungry.
It seemed that instant noodles and biscuits were indeed not good enough for her.
"The teacher upstairs sent it." Shen Mo brought the pottery jar to the table. He was thinking about where to find a spoon when he found a small wooden spoon hanging on the handle of the jar.
That female teacher was indeed very thoughtful.
The pottery jar was small, a bit like a Chinese medicine jar used for decocting medicine. The porridge inside was probably enough for two people.
Bai Youwei took out a pack of wet wipes, pulled out one to wipe the spoon, and ate the porridge straight from the jar.
She ate one spoonful after another, without saying a word, and was very focused on eating.
"Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?" Shen Mo asked with a smile.
"Heh, how would she dare?" Bai Youwei's lips curled up like a smug cat. "A woman, living in such a place with a group of children, must be worried every day. If something happens, she would be too busy running away to cause trouble."
Shen Mo smiled.
Bai Youwei's words were exactly what he was thinking.
"Hmm… This porridge is really well made." Bai Youwei's cheeks were puffed up as she asked, "Hey, is it possible that one of her students is sick?"
Shen Mo was slightly stunned. "Why do you say that?"