"Your P.E. teacher is sick, so we'll have physics class this period." When the physics teacher at the podium said this, all the students let out a groan as expected.

"Teacher, you have no originality at all."

"You don't even bother to lie to us properly..."

The P.E. teacher being sick, what a classic excuse. How is this any different from directly saying "This class is mine now"? Too lazy to make something up, huh?

Even Kong Xuan, a deity from the underworld, clicked his tongue knowingly at the cliché.

The physics teacher put down his book, looking helpless. "This time your P.E. teacher really is sick and in the hospital right now. I'm not lying to you."

His tone was sincere, making everyone suddenly feel that it might actually be true.

However, the physics teacher soon declared righteously, "But I did compete with the other teachers for this class period and won, hehe."

Everyone: "..."

As for what illness the P.E. teacher had that required hospitalization, the physics teacher didn't reveal. It wasn't until Yu Zhenzhen inquired about the latest news and came back to tell everyone: "Teacher Zhu seems to be quite seriously ill and is in a coma."

"Coma?" This shocked everyone.

"Yeah, apparently he fell while watching some commotion on his way home. I suspect he might have hit some part of his head. Not sure if he had surgery." Yu Zhenzhen's family had relatives in the school staff, so she knew more than the other students, but still not in great detail. "It's been raining recently, the roads are slippery. Everyone needs to be careful. Hope Teacher Zhu recovers soon..."

Teacher Zhu was a big, sturdy man, but when it comes to such an important part like the head, directly knocking him unconscious from a fall...

"This is too serious, boo hoo."

"Sigh, a very old teacher who taught me in first year high school before, who had been rehired, seems to have also gotten quite severe Alzheimer's. Along with high blood pressure, he's no longer teaching either."

The atmosphere became a bit gloomy for a while.

"Hey, should we go visit Teacher Zhu?"

Someone asked.

"I'll ask Teacher Ji and see if we can send representatives. After all, we don't know his condition yet," said Yu Zhenzhen.

......

When Tan Xiao got home, he saw movers dragging that dragon boat out from his family's courtyard. He went up to them. "What's going on? Exorcising the boat so early?"

"Careful with that corner." Tan Chunying, who was supervising from the side, said in passing, "We're not exorcising this boat."

"What do you mean? The race is cancelled?" Tan Xiao thought the rain really had that big of an impact. "Hasn't the rain lightened up."

Tan Chunying also looked a bit exasperated. "Remember what I said last time about other counties and districts ordering fiberglass dragon boats?"

Tan Xiao nodded.

Tan Chunying: "Well, our district has to use fiberglass ones too now..."

This material was actually a popular choice for new dragon boats nowadays. It was lighter than traditional wooden ones and had good buoyancy. Many dragon boat races used fiberglass boats.

But when competing alongside traditional dragon boats, wouldn't that be unfair? So it caused quite a controversy.

Dragon boat racing, as the name implies, has a competitive nature to it. Even if this time it included elements of folk performance, it should still be relatively fair. New boats compete with new boats, traditional ones with traditional ones.

The new and old factions were unrelenting. Even within each side there were differing opinions.

Some wanted to also use fiberglass dragon boats, feeling that "being several hundred jin lighter than traditional dragon boats, the performance aspect is actually stronger". Opposing views argued "should we really be spending money on this?" and gave various other reasons.

After a heated debate, the organizers said to take a vote to unify - either everyone uses traditional dragon boats, or everyone uses fiberglass.

In the public group vote, the opinions of the younger people overwhelmed the old boat team's decision-makers. Turned out they all felt they should also order fiberglass boat hulls. As long as the dragon heads were the original ones, it should be fine.

Times are progressing, technology is advancing. Historically, they always kept the dragon heads while the boat hulls could be updated and replaced when beyond repair. So why can't they switch to better hulls now?

"So you got paid for your work, right?" Tan Xiao didn't have much feeling about it. After all, maybe 70-80% of dragon boats on the market now were fiberglass. Official competitions had all standardized even more so. Anyway, once painted, the exterior still looked traditional.

For the Tan family, it was just a matter of whether Tan Chunying's efforts were in vain.

"Of course I got paid. When the time comes, I'll go directly exorcise the fiberglass boats." Tan Chunying said.

The movers beside him heard this. "Oh, so the fiberglass ones need exorcising too?"

Tan Chunying affirmed, "Of course they do. No matter the material, they are all dragon boats. Anyway, there will be divination and rituals at the temple. As for these old boat hulls, the work wasn't really wasted. Apparently some will be selected to be sent to folk museums for exhibition."

Tan Xiao helped Tan Chunying send the repaired boat hulls back to the storage area. Several boat hulls restored by different craftsmen were already quietly docked here.

"Looking at them this way, it's hard to tell which team they belong to," Tan Xiao said.

"Of course. Only once the dragon heads are attached do they become true dragon boats," Tan Chunying looked around and said, "It's just that they probably won't have the chance to be fitted with dragon heads and set sail again."

......

After a while, there was still no news of Teacher Zhu waking up.

Nanchu No. 1 Middle School's labor union, colleagues, etc. had all gone to visit in waves. Rumors said Teacher Zhu might become a vegetable.

As a P.E. teacher, Teacher Zhu was inherently adored by many students. Plus, he had a quite cheerful personality. This time, many students were very worried.

After getting permission from his family and doctors, the school also selected a few student representatives from the classes Teacher Zhu taught to go together with the visiting teachers.

Tan Xiao was one of them. He went with Lin Yang.

Kong Xuan was quite unhappy about not being chosen, even though he was also a school sports meet event champion.

"So naive, Kong Xuan," Lin Yang said, "Can your event compare in prestige to ours?"

Kong Xuan: "..."

He knew he should have signed up for the 5000 meters!

Tan Xiao went to the hospital with Teacher Ji's group. They could only look at Teacher Zhu through the glass. Worried that the patient might have hay fever, they didn't bring any flower bouquets. The teachers brought some fruits and red envelopes.

Although Teacher Zhu hadn't woken up, his wife and parents took turns keeping vigil at the hospital. Right now, his wife was on watch.

"How is Little Zhu doing now?" Ji Huiming asked.

"Actually the situation is much better now. Sometimes he is conscious, his hands move, his eyes move, and sometimes he even makes sounds, like 'yo-he, yo-he'. I think he must also be trying hard to wake up." The teacher's wife said with difficulty, "But he just doesn't wake up, so the doctors also suggested we talk to him more."

Can't keep talking next to him all the time, so we recorded it and play it on loop.

"That's much better than before, he will definitely wake up soon." Ji Huiming immediately suggested that they, as colleagues and students, should also record a segment.

"I'm also thinking if we can record the sounds of class or students. He's at the school every day, this will definitely be very helpful too." The teacher's wife quickly brought over the voice recorder. Ji Huiming was about to suggest it even if she didn't mention it.

"Sigh, I also recorded some news about the dragon boat race for him. I said 'Old Zhu, the dragon boat race you've been looking forward to is coming up soon, if you don't wake up you'll miss it.'" The teacher's wife handed the voice recorder to Ji Huiming, saying, "He, well, just went to watch people practicing dragon boat and fell, at his age..."

Hearing the teacher's wife's distressed words, Tan Xiao recalled something and asked doubtfully: "We heard before that Teacher Zhu fell on his way home at night?"

"Yes, that's right." The teacher's wife didn't feel anything was off.

"How can people still be practicing dragon boat at night?" Tan Xiao felt it was very strange. "Didn't they really emphasize safety this time?"

Because Tan Chunying was also participating, Tan Xiao was quite familiar with the rules. Logically speaking, everyone should be practicing more at the reservoir.

"Maybe some people were practicing secretly. We found out from the last moments he posted, he said he saw people practicing." The teacher's wife said dejectedly.

While Tan Xiao was still puzzled, Teacher Zhu's parents came to the hospital to take over the shift. They were holding a red envelope in their hands.

This wasn't to give to themselves. Inside were tea leaves and rice. They asked the nurse to help put it under Zhu Dayong's pillow.

Facing Ji Huiming's curious gaze, Teacher Zhu's father said embarrassedly: "This is what relatives said, that putting it there can calm the soul and ward off evil. I heard him making 'yo-he yo-he' sounds in his dreams sometimes, he must be scared."

Teacher Zhu's father and mother were both intellectuals and normally wouldn't use these kind of folk calming methods. But because their son had been in a coma for so long, when others said this or that was effective, they tried everything without a second thought.

Even the nurses weren't surprised by these kinds of requests. There were even family members who asked to put talismans.

Teacher Zhu's father felt a bit sheepish after saying it, afraid that his son's colleagues would find it strange. In fact, after Ji Huiming heard it, he immediately pointed at Tan Xiao: "Oh, for this matter, it's better to ask our classmate. This is the new generation inheritor of Nanchu shamans."

Tan Xiao was still wearing his school uniform. He slowly said: "Using tea leaves and rice is correct, but it shouldn't be put under the pillow. Teacher Zhu is more like he lost his soul, rather than needing to calm his soul. Just need to find it back."

"Mm, tell us how to find it? Uncle, sometimes these kinds of methods are really very mystical and effective. Every year, the teachers of the senior third years also organize a group to pray for blessings for the students, it's quite effective." Ji Huiming even gave Tan Xiao an encouraging look. Good kid, well said.

-- Medically, everything that could be done had been done. At times like this, the patient's family is also psychologically tormented. Sometimes being able to comfort them is not bad.

"Because it happened by the water, sacrificial offerings need to be brought to the water to perform a ritual. Then scatter the tea leaves and rice while calling for his soul. Keep calling until you reach the bed of the soul-lost person. No matter what happens along the way, don't turn back." As Tan Xiao spoke, he thought that Teacher Zhu was really unlucky, this was definitely soul loss.

When he heard that Teacher Zhu saw people practicing dragon boat at night, he already felt something was off. Then carefully recalling and observing, he felt this really wasn't ordinary unconsciousness.