Climbing mountain meaning, sweet candy award

Jiang Song took the children to the clearing to rest and play.

An Huaixu picked up trash along the edges.

Director Zhang stood at the bottom of a relatively steep small path, hesitating for a long time, then took a deep breath and started to climb.

His movements were quite slow. After a few steps, he suddenly heard another set of footsteps behind him. He looked back and saw it was An Huaixu.

Director Zhang: “Teacher An, you don’t need to accompany me. I’ve walked this path so many times, I could go up with my eyes closed.”

An Huaixu bent down to pick up trash from the ground: “No red flag here, I came to do my task.”

Given this, Director Zhang couldn’t say anything more and waited for him to walk alongside him before starting again.

“Above, you can see the apple trees on Nanshan. We all invested money in this apple orchard. If the harvest is good, everyone is happy; if not…”

Director Zhang’s unspoken words were all hidden in his worried expression.

An Huaixu said nothing, continuing to walk with Director Zhang.

That clearing they just left was like a demarcation line.

Below it, the terrain was gentle and easy to climb. Above, the terrain was treacherous, entering a cliff area.

Director Zhang’s physical strength was failing, and he had a leg ailment.

He quickly couldn’t support himself, feeling dizzy and holding onto a tree, he stopped.

“I’ll rest here for a bit. Teacher An, you go ahead and do your task, don’t let me affect—”

As he was speaking, his legs suddenly gave out, his foot slipped, and he tumbled towards the cliff.

An Huaixu threw down the trash bag and pulled him back by the arm.

Director Zhang was not small in stature. He fell heavily against An Huaixu, causing An Huaixu to stumble back several steps due to inertia and the terrain, eventually bumping hard against a jagged rock.

“Ugh!”

It was then that Jiang Song heard the sound and came over.

He stood at the bottom of the path, looking up nervously: “What happened? Are you okay?!”

He waited patiently for a few seconds before An Huaixu replied: “It’s nothing.”

Jiang Song heard his voice was normal and relaxed:

“Okay, time is almost up. I’ll take the children to pick up some trash around here, and then we’ll head back together.”

“Mm.”

An Huaixu finished speaking and helped a pained-looking Director Zhang to sit on the steps.

Director Zhang frowned, stubbornly saying: “Thank you, Teacher An. Is your back okay?”

An Huaixu felt the soreness almost permeating half his body. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

Director Zhang felt guilty: “Oh, I really am… what was I thinking about the trees? Let me recover for a bit, then we’ll go down quickly.”

After speaking, he looked up, his eyes filled with such longing that it almost overflowed.

“Looking back at my past life, when I was still a child, every time I got a beating, I’d run up here.

My dad couldn’t find me, and I’d escape. When I grew into a young man, I worked at the kindergarten with my dad and planted trees with the village chief.

So… Nanshan holds my laughter and my bittersweet tears. I thought I was tied to Nanshan my whole life, but I never expected that now I can’t even climb a mountain anymore.”

Director Zhang gave a bitter laugh: “This should be the last time I climb the mountain. People, you just have to accept your fate.”

Unexpectedly, An Huaixu asked him: “Why accept your fate?”

After speaking, he unceremoniously bent down, carried Director Zhang on his back, and started climbing the steps.

Director Zhang was startled and hastily told him to put him down: “You, you don’t have to do this.”

An Huaixu: “Just doing the task along the way.”

Director Zhang heard this and suddenly laughed: “Xiao Shi was right, you’re hard as a rock on the outside, but actually soft-hearted and kind.”

An Huaixu heard this, his heart skipped a strange beat twice, and even his mood improved.

“He also said about you…” Director Zhang deliberately paused, smiling as he waited for An Huaixu to prompt him.

An Huaixu unconsciously fell into his trap: “Said what?”

Director Zhang recalled a time when he and Shi Yun watched the homeroom teacher’s work records with Director Lin.

Director Lin quickly flipped through, picked up An Huaixu’s book, and indignantly opened it: “Look at him, he’s utterly perfunctory!”

Shi Yun looked over and chuckled, saying casually: “If he wrote something else, then the sun would rise from the west.”

Director Zhang looked and found that An Huaixu, unlike others who wrote effusively with both praise and criticism, had coldly written a single character: ‘None.’

Although Director Lin was familiar with An Huaixu, he showed no favoritism in his work and said with melancholy: “I always feel that Huaixu is still lacking a bit in teaching children.”

Shi Yun propped his chin, saying without hesitation:

“Every teacher has a different teaching method.

Teacher An just isn’t good at expressing himself and is a bit strict with the children, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Besides, he definitely knows what he’s doing in his heart, so don’t worry.”

Director Lin thought the same thing.

“Maybe over time, he’ll adapt.”

Director Zhang closed An Huaixu’s book, and seeing Shi Yun grinning foolishly, he asked curiously:

“Hey Xiao Shi, ever since the first class with the senior class, I’ve noticed you seem to understand Teacher An very well.”

Shi Yun cupped his chin, asking them in surprise: “You…?”

Director Lin choked on his tea, coughing as he exchanged glances with Director Zhang.

Director Lin: “Huaixu, I’m also familiar with his way of doing things now. If it weren’t for that…”

He shook his head, looking profound: “This boy’s heart is deep and very hard to understand!”

Shi Yun became interested and shared with them about An Huaixu’s inability to express emotions with his mouth.

“Actually, Teacher An is quite nice. Cold on the outside, warm on the inside. His gentleness towards children is hidden in his actions.

He’s multi-talented, plays the piano beautifully, cooks well. He’s handsome, has a good physique, and…”

Director Zhang finished, then teased: “Teacher An, Xiao Shi is truly your big fan now.”

An Huaixu curved his lips, smiling as he looked ahead: “We’re here.”

He stepped onto the highest stair, and the view before him suddenly opened up—green trees lined both sides, and the cliff scenery was vast and endless.

Almost without Director Zhang saying anything, An Huaixu immediately recognized where Nanshan was.

Nanshan apple trees covered half the mountainside, bright red fruits nestled among the green.

Two or three villagers moved through the narrow paths between the trees, their faces radiating genuine smiles.

Director Zhang slowly dismounted from An Huaixu’s back, stood at the edge, and looked out, a mix of indescribable joy and sadness intertwining in his heart.

Ten minutes later, Jiang Song saw Director Zhang on An Huaixu’s back and immediately understood the situation: “I’ll take him.”

An Huaixu immediately handed the trash bag to Jiang Song and started walking down the mountain.

Jiang Song looked at the trash bag in his hand, gave a helpless laugh, and after confirming that all the children had gone down, he followed.

The children gathered around Director Zhang:

“Director, what happened to you?”

“I know! Director is tired!”

“Director, this is a wild fruit I just picked, for you to eat!”

Director Zhang took it, patted Lucky’s head: “Director just wanted to show you all how strong Teacher An is! It’s nothing, relax!”

Lucky nodded and ran off to play.

Meanwhile, with Shi Yun.

Shi Yun was also leading the senior class down the mountain.

He and Qiao Yu walked at the front of the team, with Qiao Li bouncing somewhat impatiently around them.

Qiao Li frowned and pulled Qiao Yu’s hand: “Let’s walk faster.”

Qiao Yu pulled him closer, soothing: “Don’t rush, look at the scenery here, it’s so…”

Qiao Li exclaimed, interrupting him: “If we don’t go now, we won’t be first again!”

With that, he ran ahead.
Qiao Yu was used to this behavior, sighed, dropped his hand, and didn’t bother.

Shi Yun: “Why isn’t Teacher Qiao chasing after him?”

Qiao Yu, addressed by Shi Yun, gave an embarrassed smile:

“This child has been overly competitive since he was small.

Yesterday, he wasn’t first in pulling radishes, and our team ranking was last, so he’s having a hard time accepting it.

Me chasing after him won’t help; he’ll understand once he experiences it.”

Shi Yun heard that Qiao Yu somewhat misunderstood Qiao Li’s mentality.

“Children are in a stage of growth, and being competitive is normal.

Teacher Qiao, as his parent and also a teacher, you should show respect and understanding, and establish the right mindset for the child.”

Qiao Yu paused, pondering Shi Yun’s words.

Shi Yun curved his lips into a smile, pushed his shoulder: “Go on, and by the way, we’re not ranked by speed today, but by—”

He gestured to the trash bag in Qiao Yu’s hand.

Qiao Yu understood the meaning in Shi Yun’s words, thanked him, and quickly chased after: “Qiao Li, wait for Dad!”

Qi Guang walked up beside Shi Yun: “This student of mine, he was very good at his studies in school, just a bit rigid.

I thought he would improve after entering society, getting married and having children, but I didn’t expect… I don’t know whether to praise him for being consistent or scold him for being a blockhead.”

A few minutes later, Qiao Yu coaxed him for a bit, and Qiao Li slowly calmed down.

Qiao Yu carried him on his back to a relatively thick tree fork not far away to pick wild fruits to eat.

“Dad, I can’t reach!”

“Then I’ll move again, eeh—”

Qiao Yu accidentally tripped on a tree branch, stumbled a few steps, and landed butt-first in the grass.

Luckily, Qiao Li reacted quickly and grabbed a sturdy branch above his head, otherwise he would have also gone tumbling to eat grass with him.

Qiao Li panicked: “Da-Dad!”

Shi Yun and Qi Guang immediately reined in their wide grins and quickly ran to rescue them.

At 4:30 PM, all teams arrived one after another.

An Huaixu’s team was a bit slower overall because he was carrying Director Zhang.

Shi Yun was chatting with Pin Chi when he saw Director Zhang, instantly startled. He quickly ran over and asked softly: “What happened?”

Nearby, the silent An Huaixu watched Shi Yun intently.

Director Zhang patted Shi Yun’s shoulder and told everyone: “Everyone, put the trash you collected into one bag and bring it to me.”

Director Zhang quickly finished weighing and announced the rankings:

“Regardless of the amount of trash, its significance to us is as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Congratulations to the three teams, you are all tied for first place.”

Qiao Yu patted Qiao Li’s head: “Sometimes happiness is most important, you don’t always have to differentiate between first and second.”

Qiao Li nodded heavily, his clear eyes looking at Qiao Yu: “Dad, I still want to eat that wild fruit.”

Qiao Yu: “Okay, I’ll take you next time.”

The village chief: “In this task, all of you were the best. I have a gift for you.”

After speaking, the village chief turned and pushed his small cart over.
On the cart was nothing else but an apple sapling.

“Before that, I have a question—what did you experience in this lesson?”

Qiao Li was the first to raise his hand: “Don’t litter.”

Qi Miao followed closely: “Protect plants and trees.”

Wei Tian Si: “It was hard.”

Guaiguai: “The fruits on the tree, hehe, were delicious.”

Pin Chi covered Guaiguai’s mouth: “Sorry, the village idiot got out.”

Lucky: “I am a child who is wanted.”

An Shuqi: “Mm… everyone is alive.”
An Huaixu corrected him: “That’s called life; cherish life.”

The village chief listened to the myriad answers, smiled, and picked up the small sapling: “It seems everyone was deeply touched.

Regardless, being able to articulate it means growth. This apple tree sapling is nature’s reward to you. I hope you will always remember today.”

Weizi Yu, being closest to the village chief, reached out and took it.

“Thank you, Village Chief.”

The children called out happily: “Thank you, Village Chief!”

The village chief: “What are you waiting for? Go plant it!”

Everyone bid farewell to the village chief and eagerly got into the tricycles.

The village chief, with his hands behind his back, watched them depart from the foot of the mountain, his expression quite pleased:

“This is… hope.”

They returned to the kindergarten.

The children planted the sapling in a sunny spot and happily watered it.

An Shuqi’s cheek was smudged with dirt as he earnestly patted the soil on both sides with his small hands: “Grow up fast~”

Jiang Nian Yu: “Be good~”

Guaiguai poked his head out of a dirt pit, confused: “Who called me?”

Shi Yun smiled as he rose from beside the children, walked towards the lounge, and muttered: “I always feel like I’ve forgotten something…”

A few seconds later, he froze in place, hastily picked up his phone, and indeed saw a chorus of wails in the bullet comments.

[Help, I feel like a crazy concubine in the cold palace.]

“I’m so sorry, I got busy and forgot.”

[So there’s a reason Teacher Shi gets scared by cameras so many times…]

[At this very moment, a dying An Shi shipper lets out a wail: Hungry, food.]

The data team leader made a gesture to Shi Yun.

Shi Yun nodded, and just happened to see that sentence, mistakenly thinking the person’s name was An Shi, and politely replied:

“Sister An Shi, if you’re hungry, you can go eat. I’m also going to close the live stream now.”

After Shi Yun spoke, under the guidance of the data team leader, he closed the live stream, and the phone screen suddenly went black.

Shi Yun hurried indoors: “Team Leader Xiao, how is Director Zhang doing?”

The data team leader shook his head: “You go in first, Director Lin has something to tell you.”

As Shi Yun entered, everyone in the room immediately turned their gaze to him.

He paused, thinking he had interrupted their conversation, and smiled apologetically, stooping to leave again.

Director Lin called him: “Xiao Shi, come and sit.”

Shi Yun sat next to Director Lin.

Director Lin frowned, clearly looking somewhat troubled.

“It’s like this, Director Zhang, due to his leg condition, cannot complete physically demanding tasks.

You need to take over a portion of the director’s work, acting as the main force.”