Page 277 - updated on July

Yu Jihui: “A Stinking Old Ninth – A Tale of the Coal Capital” (updated on July 2020)

“I don’t think you were a good student at the

school,” she said simply. I was embarrassed. My face

turned red.

Suddenly she stopped speaking and stood up.

She moved around me and sniffed at my whole body,

like a hunting dog.

“What’s wrong with me?” I said in surprise and

looked at her.

“You smoke, don’t you?” suddenly she returned

to speaking Chinese. “That’s a terrible habit.”

“No, I never smoke.” I was only too anxious to

speak in Chinese. I felt a bit relieved.

“You lie! Your clothes have a strong smell of

cigarettes.”

I was dumbstruck and found it hard to vindicate

myself. Most of the teachers in the middle school

where I worked were originally workers of the coal

mine. They only had short-term training as a teacher

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