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nChapter 245 – A Perfect New World (IX)

nThe next day, Chi Xiaochi was taken to school by Lou Ying.

nThe class teacher was not surprised to see Lou Ying coming.

nThe class teacher has made several home visits in the past and is well aware of the behaviour of Chi Xiaochi’s parents.

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nAt the beginning of the first year, the class teacher asks parents to be involved in the teaching process by checking and signing their child’s daily homework.

nHowever, Chi Xiaochi corrects all his own work and signs it in his own name.

nThis information was passed on from the teacher to the class teacher, who then spoke to Chi Xiaochi.

nChi Xiaochi explained that his parents had said that they were busy as hell every day and that if he, as a son, had any conscience, he should not bother them with this kind of **.

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nSo the class teacher took the matter up with his parents during a home visit.

nAs a result, the Chi Family parents, as if learning of the incident for the first time, apologised to the teacher and scolded Chi Xiaochi profusely at the same time.

nChi Xiaochi, who was sitting on the sidelines, rolled his eyes silently, making the class teacher think badly of him for a moment, thinking he was lying.

nAs a result, when Chi Xiaochi’s work was handed in again, the experienced teacher could immediately see that it was a hard copy of an adult’s handwriting.

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nSo on the second home visit, the class teacher deliberately pushed hard, asking Chi Family if their parents were not going to be involved in Chi Xiaochi’s education, and if they were not, then there was no need for the school to spend more time on their education.

nAs a result, the next morning, Chi Xiaochi’s seat was empty.

nHe was beaten up by his parents for “embarrassing the family”.

nHe went to the hospital and found out that he had broken a bone in his left arm. He took half a day off work and did not appear in class in a crude cast until the afternoon.

nThe class teacher felt that something was not right and tried to find out what was going on. He eventually found out from Chi Xiaochi’s primary school classmates that Chi Xiaochi’s parents had never bothered with his homework since he was a child and only cared about how his grades were and whether he would embarrass them.

nWhen the class teacher was informed of the situation, she regretted it but could not bring herself to apologise to Chi Xiaochi.

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nWhen the time has passed, there is no need to apologise.

nWhat the class teacher regrets most is that after that incident, Chi Xiaochi has not been so interested in reading.

nHe was smart enough to be a businessman with enough capital, but he didn’t want to invest any more in “learning”.

nAfter this incident, a name called ” Lou Ying ” began to appear in his homework book.

nAnd at the parent-teacher conference half a month later, the class teacher noticed that among the many tired faces of middle-aged people, there was one more proper and quiet high school student.

nThe class teacher called out to him after the break.

nThe teenager said gently, “Hello teacher, my name is Lou Ying and I am Xiaochi’s neighbour.”

nThe class teacher kept thinking that the name “Lou Ying” looked familiar, and when she met the person, she remembered that this was one of the city’s top three students last year, and that her photo had been in the local newspaper.

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nHe was wearing a dark grey jumper and holding a book in which he had jotted down many relevant notes.

nAt a young age, he already has a calm and gentle temperament that is rare in adults.

nHe tore off a page and swiped a number on it: “Teacher, this is my phone number. In the past, Xiaochi wouldn’t talk to me about his difficulties. In future, if something happens, I’ll manage him.”

nAfter Chi Xiaochi left the classroom yesterday for no reason, Lou Ying quickly called the class teacher and took the blame, saying that he was hit by a car at noon, but he only had a cut and sent a text message to Chi Xiaochi at the hospital, saying that he would be back later in the evening. He thought he had been seriously injured and was overly worried, causing a misunderstanding and delaying the teacher’s work.

nToday, he came to see Chi Xiaochi off to school, which is a great way to demonstrate his good attitude.

nHe knocked on the class teacher’s office with Chi Xiaochi’s bag on his back, dragging him with him, and began with an apology.

nThe class teacher knew they were close, and seeing that Lou Ying’s hand was really bandaged, the original eight-point letter went up to a ten.

nHe said to Chi Xiaochi, “Be careful from now on, don’t skip class without a reason. There are still a few days left before summer vacation, if you run away like this again and something happens, your whole summer vacation will be wasted, do you hear me?”

nChi Xiaochi looked down at the bandage that Lou Ying had tied around her fingertips and let out an ‘ahh’.

nThe class teacher asked, “Have you done your homework yet.”

nChi Xiaochi was just about to open his mouth and say ‘no’ when Lou Ying pulled open his bag and took out seven copies of his homework.

nThe class teacher was now completely satisfied: “Don’t give it to me. Give it to the class representatives of each subject.”

nChi Xiaochi followed Lou Ying out of the office, clutching the workbooks and flipping through them one by one.

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n”I contacted your classmates yesterday after you fell asleep and asked about the homework.” Lou Ying walked ahead and inclined her head to ask him, “Does the handwriting look like it?”

nChi Xiaochi imagines what she saw last night after she fell asleep.

n– Lou Ying sits under a desk lamp, calling his desk mate, answering with one hand, copying the exercises on the board with the other, making only short syllables of “hmm” and “hmm” so as not to wake his sleeping self.

nChi Xiaochi closes the book, “Room for improvement.”

nLou Ying paused in the corridor, turned back to the sound of the morning reading and asked with a smile, “Is that an affirmation of me?”

nChi Xiaochi opened his mouth.

nThe man in front of him, with this face, was saying things that the Lou brother he remembered would never say at all.

nLou Ying did not talk that much, he was mostly quiet, introspective and calm, and his words were mostly complimentary, encouraging and tolerant, like a light that gently enveloped Chi Xiaochi.

nHis kindness to Chi Xiaochi is like the sun, for the sun does not ask for anything in return.

nNow, this light still hangs over Chi Xiaochi, but if anything, it holds him a little, pulls him a little, hugs him a little, trying to make him aware of his presence at all times, trying to tell him to care for him.

nChi Xiaochi wondered if this was his brother Lou.

n…… was not what he expected, but, unexpectedly, it was not bad.

nChi Xiaochi took the bag and flung it on his back, narrowing his eyes at him, “Wanna know?”

nLou Ying was stunned.

nThe tone of voice reminded him of the Chi Xiaochi who had been so vigorous when he did not know his identity.

nLou Ying looked back with a subtle sigh of relief: “Of course.”

nChi Xiaochi walked past him, “Think for yourself.”

nLou Ying smiled, “I’ll hand in an answer to Mr. Chi after school today, okay?”

nChi Xiaochi : “Don’t pick me up after school, and take care of your hands. If old Huang sees you again, he’ll be suspicious.”

nOld Huang is his class teacher.

nLou Ying nodded tamely, “Yes, I remember. Mr. Ji, can I go now.”

nChi Xiaochi waved his hand with a flourish, “Go ahead.”

nAfter saying goodbye to the real Lou Ying, Chi Xiaochi walked into the classroom with the system Lou Ying.

nHe pretends Lou Ying is not there and Lou Ying pretends he is not there.

nSitting in the classroom, Chi Xiaochi gradually tasted the benefits of youth.

nHe can spend as much time as he likes in a language lesson thinking about his thoughts.

nTime seems so slow, so long, life divided into regular 45-minute increments, three-quarters of a turn of the dial.

nChi Xiaochi drawing the layout of Zhu Shoucheng’s room from memory in her textbook.

nThe class was about Wen 言 Wen and was so bored that when my tablemate got tired of playing with a stainless steel water glass reflecting the light from the window, he turned his head and saw Chi Xiaochi drawing enthusiastically, so he asked him, “What are you drawing?”

nChi Xiaochi said calmly, “The old king’s latissimus dorsi.”

nWang is a passionate language teacher on stage, with a waist of 1.6 metres and the distinctive abs of a middle-aged man shaking with his movements.

nThe table lost all interest at once.

nHe idled for a while and then said, “What did you do yesterday?”

nChi Xiaochi says, “I found myself reborn.”

nTablemate: “Bull**. So tell me what the next lottery numbers are?”

nChi Xiaochi: “You’re such a low-class person, can’t you have some high class pursuits? For example, ask me about the essay question in our college entrance exams that year. That’s all I can remember.”

nThe same table: “If I had money, I’d buy two Wen vouchers, one for Peking University and one for Peking University. I can attack and defend.”

nFor the first time, Chi Xiaochi realised that his tablemate was a talent.

nBefore Lou’s brother died, he used to play with Lou Ying and look at his peers like they were a bunch of little chickens.

nAfter Lou’s death, nothing was left in his heart, and a thousand thousand people went before him, few of whom ever really crossed his heart.

nAfter a friendly introductory session, the two began the traditional folk classroom entertainment, futsal.

nChi Xiaochi is the circle side and the table is the fork side.

nChi Xiaochi : “I haven’t seen you talk to me before and I thought you were annoying me.”

nThe same table said, “Just kidding, what guy in the class doesn’t annoy you.”

nChi Xiaochi: “Why? Because I’m handsome?”

nTablemate: “Roll.”

nThe same table: “…… you don’t have a number in your own mind. The boys in our class have a crush on a girl, and a girl says she has a crush on someone, asks who it is, and answers, you. Fuck, you’re at least half the people in our school green.”

nChi Xiaochi : “At the risk of asking, am I green to you.”

nTablemate: “No. I just quite like myself at the moment.”

nChi Xiaochi pursed her lips in amusement, “So you don’t hate me?”

n”It’s not annoying now.” The tablemate said honestly, “Because I found out you’re a psycho too.”

nChi Xiaochi gave a courtesy smile and connected the five circles on the punched grid.

nTheir short-lived friendship was declared broken.

nThe early summer heat is slowly building up in the classrooms.

nAfter the final exams, the classes were distracting, and even though they knew that the first major turning point in their lives was a year away, most of the young minds refused to settle down.

nThe old king on the podium pulled the white towel to wipe his sweat.

nHe was drenched and sweaty, but that didn’t stop him from reprimanding the students who were writing on the stage: “Is that writing made by a hen’s claw? Is this Chinese Wen or English Wen?”

nHa-ha laughter came from the classroom.

nThe electric fan is going out again, spinning breathlessly.

nAfter the bell rang, the boys could not stand the heat and poured out for air. Chi Xiaochi and his new friend ran to the kiosk that had just opened and bridged the friendship with an old popsicle, bringing back a bottle of iced water for Lao Wang on the way.

nYoung schoolboys eat ice cream in big gulps, biting, chewing and swallowing as if there was a fire in their bodies that they were eager to put out.

nOld Wang sat at the podium and scared them, “Eat, eat, later call your class teacher to see and buy one for everyone.”

nA bottle of ice water is wrapped tightly in the old king’s wet white towel.

nLou Ying looked at what was happening in front of her and smiled softly.

nEven as he looked at the information he was querying at hand, he could not hide the smile on his lips.

nZhu Shoucheng’s son, who has an extremely glamorous job, works for a well-known pharmaceutical company and is currently a pharmaceutical sales manager.

nBased on the various signs of activity in the market, this pharmaceutical company may be preparing to list on the New York Stock Exchange and take advantage of this to bring in fresh blood and talent for its US branch.

nZhu Shoucheng’s son, Zhu Zhixing, had planned to submit an application to work in the United States, but because of his father’s sudden “accident”, he had to pass up the opportunity in view of his father’s advanced age.

nLou Ying spent half a day combing through their company’s vast business database.

nHe then easily accessed Zhu Zhixing’s work computer and clicked on the work plan he was writing for his trip to the United States, making fine and perfect changes and additions to many details.

nIn the past, Chi Xiaochi always did the tasks himself.

nThis time, Lou Ying wants to take Chi Xiaochi’s place and complete the revenge for both of them.

nBy the time he had finished revising, Chi Xiaochi had also finished school.

nChi Xiaochi walked up to the school entrance and was surprised to find that Lou Ying was indeed not outside.

nHe knew full well that Lou Ying was inside him, that his voice would ring in his ears whenever he called out, but the feeling was still not quite the same as actually seeing him.

nHe wanted to see more of Lou Ying, the real one, the one he could touch.

nBut he immediately began to laugh at his own pretensions.

nThe table’s home is in the same direction as his, at least 800 metres up the same road.

nThis is the first time Chi Xiaochi has tried to go home with someone since she was eight years old.

nInstead of rushing home to see Lou, catching up on homework and then playing games and watching movies with him, Chi Xiaochi was able to take his time and chat about boredom and pass the time.

nHe and his desk-mate walked slowly along the alleyway, moving forward, kicking a stone all the way from the school entrance.

nWithout Lou Ying’s reminder, he was unaware that the person who had just called him a little disappointed was sitting on a bicycle, looking at him with a quiet smile from the other side of the lane.

nIn the past, Lou Ying had the ambition to make her own bicycle out of scrap material.

nNow he has spent a whole day compiling information about Zhu Shoucheng’s son, revising and adjusting his work plan and finding all the tools to make the bike he never had the chance to make before.

nChi Xiaochi doesn’t want him to pick it up, but he wants to see Xiaochi early and doesn’t want to spoil the new friendship he has forged today.

nSo he snuck in without Chi Xiaochi’s knowledge.

nThe entrance to the alley is narrow and Chi Xiaochi and his new friends soon disappear at that end.

nThe teenager rides a bicycle, following the path of Chi Xiaochi’s movements at the other end, ringing the bell, avoiding pedestrians returning from their evening market shopping, stopping in front of the next alleyway, doing the brakes with one foot, waiting for Chi Xiaochi to appear.

nAbout four minutes later, Chi Xiaochi appeared at the end of the alley.

nHe had bought a salt water lolly and was biting into one end, tilting his head to say something to the table beside him.

nLou Ying could only see the side of his face.

nAfter he disappears once more, Lou Ying sets off once more, waiting for a goodbye at the next junction.

nThe next time Chi Xiaochi reappears, he will be alone.

nHis tablemate went home while he stood in front of the bin at the end of the alley with a mostly eaten salt water lolly in his mouth, sucking faster.

nLou Ying was wondering what he was doing when Chi Xiaochi threw the plastic shell of his finished lollipop into the rubbish bin and ran off in a frenzy.

n…… He wanted to get home early and see Brother Lou.

nLou Ying vaguely guessed what was going on, and the tip of her heart felt like it had been dipped in a little honey, so sweet that it softened.

nChi Xiaochi is not slow, and Lou Ying even needs to speed up to make sure he passes the same alley parallel to him, to get a glimpse of his side face.

nTwo men at sunset, one running over there, one chasing over here, just to catch a glimpse of the slightly sweaty side face in the same alleyway.

nLou Ying himself felt he was being silly and inefficient, calculating that by maximising efficiency he should have ridden over and driven Chi Xiaochi home after she had been separated from her classmates, creating more opportunities to spend time together.

nEmotions, however, do not seem to exist as a reasonable formula for calculation.

nHe wanted to watch him from afar, guessing what was going on in the man’s mind at the other end of the lane.

nAs I thought about it, my heart was like a sunset with a hairy edge in the sky, wonderfully melting with him.

nChi Xiaochi arrived at the silo a little earlier than Lou Ying.

nNoticing that Lou Ying’s house was still dark and the lights were on, Chi Xiaochi thought better of it and went up.

nHe had a lot of experience with this. His parents wouldn’t bother him if he didn’t come home one night, but if he stayed at Lou Ying’s house for two days in a row and didn’t come back to report, they’d say something like, “Why don’t you just move out when other people’s houses are so nice?

nLittle did he know that he would have bad luck and see a ghost at the door.

nZhu Shoucheng sits at his family’s dining table, the almond-coloured light spilling onto his face, reflecting his smile in a warm, bright and false way.

n”……Xiaochi, why are you back so late?”

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