Quite a few female teachers had secretly fallen for Wei Fuping, but he had never responded.
Miao Beiqi thought Wei Fuping was just too picky. Once, he joked, "Fuping, it's really a case of the dry dying of thirst while the wet are flooded. What kind of person do you actually like?"
At that moment, Wei Fuping, going against his usual calmness, rubbed his hands and chuckled, "It's more fun for an old cow to eat young grass. Beiqi, you don't understand that kind of pleasure."
Miao Beiqi really didn't understand. He just thought Wei Fuping was joking. After all, in his mind, Wei Fuping had always been a steady person who could do everything perfectly.
Watching the teachers around them get married and have children one by one, and even Miao Beiqi had started a family and a career, Wei Fuping still remained single.
Slowly, Miao Beiqi stopped persuading Wei Fuping to find someone to marry soon.
Wei Fuping had saved up quite a lot of bonuses over the years. At that time, the housing prices in Beicheng were low, so he bought a one - bedroom apartment.
Miao Beiqi began to understand that Wei Fuping really didn't want to get married.
But what puzzled Miao Beiqi was that although Wei Fuping lived alone and had no other major expenses except for his love of drinking, he had no savings at all.
Later, Miao Beiqi found out that Wei Fuping was addicted to gambling. As soon as he got his salary, he would take it to the casino and lose every penny.
Fortunately, at that time, Wei Fuping still knew his limits. He didn't get mad because of his losses. He only played small - stakes games.
Miao Beiqi had advised Wei Fuping more than once to stop in time and stay away from gambling. He really didn't want the once - promising Wei Fuping to turn into a gambler.
Wei Fuping listened to Miao Beiqi's advice and really quit gambling. He went to work quietly and obediently.
Miao Beiqi thought Wei Fuping had truly repented. Just then, Miao Beiqi's wife was about to give birth, so all his attention was on his wife, and he ignored Wei Fuping.
Without Miao Beiqi's supervision, Wei Fuping soon relapsed.
When Miao Beiqi finished dealing with his family affairs and returned to school, he accidentally heard the news that Wei Fuping had been fired.
He shook the teacher's shoulder in disbelief, muttering repeatedly, "It's impossible. He's so excellent. How could he be fired?"
The teacher who told him the news, seeing it was Miao Beiqi, patted his shoulder comfortingly and said meaningfully, "I heard this from the principal by chance. Most likely, Lao Wei did something bad and was reported."
Miao Beiqi rushed to the principal's office in a hurry.
When the principal saw Miao Beiqi, he guessed what he was here for and immediately motioned for him to sit down.
Miao Beiqi would never forget what the principal said to him that day.
"Beiqi, I know you and Wei Fuping have a good relationship, but this time I had no choice. How could I be willing to fire such an excellent teacher?" The principal leaned back in his swivel chair and shook his head helplessly.
From the principal's account, Miao Beiqi learned the truth.
It turned out that Wei Fuping's gambling addiction was getting worse. He always lost more than he won, and slowly, his debts snowballed.
He had asked the finance department to advance his salary more than once. The finance department didn't dare to agree easily and asked the principal for advice.
When the principal heard it was Wei Fuping, he made an exception and advanced him half a year's salary to help him out of his immediate difficulties.
But Wei Fuping became even more excessive. In just one month, he asked to advance his salary again.
The principal was a bit angry with Wei Fuping's arrogant attitude and firmly refused his request.
He thought Wei Fuping would stop there, but unexpectedly, Wei Fuping openly ran a private tutoring class and charged high fees.
When the parents saw that the teacher running the tutoring class was Wei Fuping and thought of his reputation, they all tried their best to get their children into his class, afraid of falling behind others.
It had to be said that Wei Fuping still had a great influence. For a while, his tutoring class was booming.
However, this was not the real reason for Wei Fuping's dismissal. The real reason was that someone from a competing school secretly took pictures of Wei Fuping gambling in the casino and threatened the principal to fire Wei Fuping immediately, or they would make the video public.
To protect the school's reputation and prevent the situation from getting worse, the principal had to make the painful decision to let Wei Fuping go.
Miao Beiqi walked out of the principal's office like a lost soul. He got on his bike and pedaled desperately in the direction of Wei Fuping's home.
He needed a reasonable explanation. He didn't believe that Wei Fuping was such a person who refused to mend his ways.
When he arrived at Wei Fuping's home, Wei Fuping was giving lessons to the students who came for tutoring.
Miao Beiqi silently sat on the sofa and waited.
Students came and went in waves. It wasn't until after ten o'clock that Wei Fuping finally stopped.
"Why? Why on earth did you do this?" Miao Beiqi lowered his head and asked hoarsely.
Wei Fuping looked more haggard, and his eyes were no longer as pure as before. He whistled and showed off to Miao Beiqi rather proudly, "What's the big deal? I can earn three or five thousand yuan a day from running this tutoring class. It's great. Why don't you quit your job and come and work with me!"
Miao Beiqi felt that the Wei Fuping in front of him was very strange. He was no longer high - spirited and upward - looking.
Now, Wei Fuping seemed like a common peddler to Miao Beiqi, vulgar and snobbish.
This realization made Miao Beiqi very sad, but he still chose to deceive himself and believe that Wei Fuping would eventually turn over a new leaf.
Because their previous encounter had been so dramatic, even though Miao Beiqi knew about Wei Fuping's unknown bad habits later, he just regarded them as a momentary lapse.
In the years after Wei Fuping's death, Miao Beiqi often thought of that time in his midnight dreams.
He had asked himself more than once that if he hadn't seen Wei Fuping through rose - colored glasses back then, would Wei Fuping not have taken that path of no return and been separated from him by death.
However, the dead were gone. No matter how deep his remorse was, it was of no use.
The news that Wei Fuping had been fired from Qingyang Middle School gradually spread. The parents tacitly stopped sending their children to Wei Fuping and instead chose more popular teachers.
If Wei Fuping had stopped there and quit gambling, the money he earned from running the tutoring class would have been enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life.
But human frailty completely pushed Wei Fuping onto a dead end.