The Provincial Capital Experimental Middle School was indeed different. The gymnasium had a very standard 400-meter track, with seating surrounding it. Xin Hexue looked around and felt it could seat the entire student body of his school eight times, with room for the Provincial Capital Experimental Middle School student body too.
Moreover, there was actually grass planted inside the red rubber track, a large expanse of green.
Their affiliated school still had the traditional track made of cinders and compacted lime. The lawn was also naturally growing weeds. If you fell on the track, you’d definitely scrape your knees and be taken to the school clinic for antiseptic.
Here, there was even a dedicated indoor basketball gym.
Xin Hexue looked up at the high arched steel roof that resembled a massive steel beast. In comparison, they were little specks under the beast’s shadow.
The gray-white washed concrete walls had a row of rectangular frosted glass windows above, letting natural light into the spacious, bright interior.
Xin Hexue had a weak immune system since childhood. If he wasn’t careful after exercise and got blown by wind or didn’t wipe his sweat in time, he would catch a cold or fever. So, over time, he didn’t much like outdoor sports anymore.
Lu Yang, on the other hand, liked playing basketball, but he wouldn’t drag Xin Hexue into playing. Often, when other classmates invited him to play, he would just stay by his side reading comic books.
He knew Lu Yang was accommodating him.
When the P.E. teacher invited Lu Yang to join the school’s basketball team, Lu Yang wanted to refuse but Xin Hexue encouraged him, saying he could wait for him to finish practice every day before going home together. Anyway, he could do homework anywhere, and by the time Lu Yang finished practice, his homework would be done.
Because of this, Xin Hexue also gained some understanding of basketball. He and Lu Yang sat down in the seating area inside the venue.
This morning was the game between the Provincial Capital Experimental Elementary School and the neighboring No. 11 Middle School.
One side wore black-and-white uniforms, the other cyan-green. Even before the game started, students from each school were already holding banners and cheering. The gym was particularly lively.
Xin Hexue wasn’t very interested in basketball. He only occasionally watched a game or two during Lu Yang’s practice. Most of the time, he used them as background noise for doing homework.
The squeak of sneakers rubbing against the floor and the clang of basketballs hitting the rim mixed with excited voices and the autumn cicadas crying in the plane trees.
And the soft scratching sound of pen on paper.
Lu Yang asked if he wanted ice cream, saying he saw a popsicle stand outside. Xin Hexue was working on a math problem and unconsciously responded with an “Mm.” Lu Yang happily went off to buy ice cream.
A whistle cut through the clear sky!
Suddenly, cries of alarm rose from the surrounding area.
Perhaps it was just such a coincidence. Just as Xin Hexue finished writing the period for his answer and looked up, the basketball on the court rebounded fiercely from the rim and rushed towards him.
Sneakers screeched violently on the wooden floor as someone leaped high with his arms outstretched. His shadow fell, and the basketball landed with a “thud” right after.
He jumped so high.
Xin Hexue’s gaze fell on the person.
It was the boy they had seen across the fence earlier.
Lin Oufei.
His name had appeared in his teammates’ mouths frequently.
And so, the provincial experimental school team had internal strife during the halftime break.
The person who had missed the shot earlier was confronting Lin Oufei, locked in a tense standoff.
Xin Hexue and the others were sitting quite close to the front. Cai Shu said nervously, “Princess, sit closer to me. I’m afraid there might be another flying ball. If it hits you, I can block it. Otherwise, Lu Yang will make me pay dearly for it.”
Other classmates chimed in.
“This trip is really worth it. We even get to see people arguing.”
“Their basketball team really has no team spirit. It’s not as harmonious and friendly as ours.”
The venue was noisy. Xin Hexue saw Lin Oufei staring coldly at the teammate who had made the mistake. Judging from the changing lip movements, it seemed he was “throwing the game.”
It seemed more serious than just lacking team spirit.
The teammate opposite was clearly furious. “Lin Oufei, just because you’re a rich young master, you look down on people. Would I throw a game for a hundred yuan?”
He cursed at Lin Oufei with a vulgar phrase involving “mom”.
This was like a spark thrown into a pile of dry grass, which immediately burst into flames.
Lin Oufei threw the basketball, grabbed the other party’s collar, and the two started fighting.
As a result, both were taken off the court and replaced by substitutes. The coach gave them a stern scolding. Since it happened close to where Xin Hexue and the others were sitting, they could hear clearly. It seemed like the coach’s spit might even spray over to them.
Xin Hexue and Cai Shu switched seats, moving farther away.
“Whatever, I’m quitting the team anyway.”
Lin Oufei’s eyes held contempt.
His tone was carefree and indifferent, but his expression was sour. He sat down next to the spot where the team’s bags were, tilted his head back and gulped down some water, wiped off his sweat with a towel, and actually pulled out a workbook from his bag and started working on it.
When he took it out, Xin Hexue saw the cover.
“Primary School Student Mathematical Olympiad Coaching.”
Xin Hexue lowered his eyes in thought. He glanced at the basketball on the court, then peeked at his own bag containing Lu Yang’s math test paper with 34 points.
Lu Yang came back happily holding an ice cream cone. “Xin Hexue, come try this. I haven’t seen this brand in Lingzhou City.”
The tip of Lin Oufei’s pen paused, and he looked back at them.
“I bought you vanilla flavor.”
Lu Yang sat down excitedly, squeezing Cai Shu out.
“I won’t lend you my homework to copy anymore.” Xin Hexue said.
“What?!” Lu Yang shouted.
Xin Hexue pursed his lips together and said firmly, “Starting from now.”
Lu Yang protested, “Why?”
Xin Hexue said seriously, “I’m afraid you’ll end up selling ice cream in the future.”
Pushing an icebox cart under the blazing sun.
Lu Yang crossed his legs, peeling the wrapper as he spoke, “That’s great? Then I’ll save the best ice cream for you every day. You’ll have endless ice cream.”
Seeing that Lu Yang didn’t understand the seriousness at all, Xin Hexue used a different analogy. “If you don’t study hard, you’ll end up picking garbage… Mm.”
He licked the vanilla cream from his lips.
“Tasty.”
Xin Hexue held the ice cream cone.
Lu Yang laughed: “Then I’ll pick garbage, build a scrap collection station, and wait for fools to sell me Maotai bottles.”
“Then I’ll still buy you ice cream.”
………
“Primary School Student Mathematical Olympiad Coaching”….
The large characters were printed on the blue cover. The title page had a flamboyant signature written on it.
[Lin Oufei, Provincial Experimental Third Grade, Class One.]
Xin Hexue looked at this cardboard box in confusion, then rummaged through it. Sure enough, the books underneath weren’t his either.
“Uncle.” He ran to the living room where Zhuang Ping was moving a sofa in. “There’s a cardboard box that was moved by mistake. It’s not ours. Is someone else moving today?”
The application Xin Zhiying had submitted long ago was finally approved. They could finally move from the original one-bedroom-one-living-room apartment to a three-bedroom-one-living-room layout. Taking advantage of the last day of the National Day holiday, they moved into a new tube-shaped apartment building. It wasn’t far from the original one, just around the corner, so it was still convenient to visit neighbors and friends.
But there was still some distance. If they moved by themselves, they wouldn’t be able to finish even by nightfall. Small items were fine, but there were large pieces of furniture. Xin Hexue and Zhuang Tongguang, being children, couldn’t be counted on for heavy lifting. Xin Zhiying happened to be on hospital duty that day, so Zhuang Ping asked a few colleagues for help. Their good neighbor Lu Guoxing also came to help, and they borrowed a truck from the factory for moving goods, so they could hopefully get it done sooner.
“Which cardboard box?”
Zhuang Ping was puzzled.
Xin Hexue said, “The one Big Brother and I packed together, with the photo albums and comic books.”
“This one now isn’t ours.”
Lu Guoxing and Zhuang Ping had just placed the sofa against the wall. Suddenly, Lu Guoxing slapped his forehead. “Oh, did uncle move the wrong thing for your family? Just now I saw a few cardboard boxes downstairs and thought they were all yours.”
He had only carried one up so far and planned to move the rest on the next trip.
“Oh, don’t worry.” Zhuang Ping wiped his sweat. “I think our next-door neighbor might also be moving in today. Later, you and Tongguang go ask them if we moved each other’s things by mistake.”
Xin Hexue ran out to the third-floor corridor.
The weather was good today, and the corridor bathed in sunlight. The passageway and balconies were filled with vegetable potted plants, pepper plants and lucky bamboo lush and green.
He looked downstairs and sure enough, there were two trucks loaded with furniture parked below.
A woman was instructing several workers to move the furniture upstairs. “These are all made of rosewood, the sofa is genuine leather, handle them carefully!”
She had permed lamb-wool curls and was wearing a long purple floral dress. With arched eyebrows, cherry lips, and fair skin, she had a traditionally gentle and graceful appearance.
“This tea set is made of Yixing clay! Worker brothers, please handle it with care!”
He had never seen this auntie before.
The value behind the expensive items she mentioned seemed very far away from this ordinary power plant residential compound.
“Xin Hexue.”
Someone called him from behind.
Xin Hexue turned around. It was Lin Oufei.
“You know me?”
He was puzzled how the other party knew his name.
Lin Oufei’s shirt was impeccably ironed, and he had a khaki sweater vest over it. His eyes were dark, narrow and slightly upturned, staring at him.
“Your family might have moved the wrong things.”
Lin Oufei stepped aside and Xin Hexue saw the cardboard box at the doorstep of the new neighbor.
Clearly, the two families had swapped items by mistake.
Xin Hexue apologized and said, “Wait a moment, I’ll ask my brother to help move your family’s box back.”
This was just an interlude during the move. Both families had just moved into new homes and were very bus. They greeted each other as neighbors, invited each other for a meal when they had time later, and exchanged pleasantries.
Xin Hexue also learned that the auntie was Lin Oufei’s mother. Like him, he took his mother’s surname.
As for Lin Oufei’s father, he was only briefly mentioned. Auntie Lin just said he was in the provincial capital. Because of her work transfer, Auntie Lin moved with her child to this power plant due to an administrative position, and was starting work tomorrow.
Zhuang Tongguang said to Xin Hexue, “You go take a bath first tonight.”
This unit had a separate small bathroom. Although the area was small, at least they didn’t have to go to the public bathhouse to shower anymore.
In the evening, Lin Ouefei’s mother made a phone call at a nearby phone booth, and she ate her meal with tears ever since. Lin Oufei’s eyes were somber, tired of the daily repeated tears. He soon put down his bowl and chopsticks. “Mom, I’m full.”
Mother Lin wiped her tears and said softly. “Won’t you eat more? Xiaofei, don’t worry. Our stay here is only temporary. Once your father settles things over there, he will definitely come for us. He definitely won’t forget that we, mother and son, are waiting for him.”
Lin Oufei frowned. The words of rebuttal reached his lips, but he swallowed them back upon seeing his mother’s red-rimmed eyes. “I’m going to study.”
Mother Lin nodded. “You’ve changed schools. Don’t let your studies fall behind. Who knows how poor the teaching quality is here? Mom will find you a tutor in a couple of days. Your older brother previously won a gold medal in the Math Olympiad, that’s why Dad likes him so much. You need to strive for success too, win some honor for Mom…”
The response was the sound of the bedroom door closing.
Lin Oufei leaned against the door, his face hidden in shadow.
After a long time, he took a photo out of his trouser pocket.
The back was printed with “Lingzhou Power Plant Kindergarten, Wild Goose Class Graduation Photo.” He flipped it over.
The edges of the photo paper had wavy cuts. It was color film, but the shooting equipment was poor, resulting in low saturation and a yellowish base.
Because of this, the cheap blue princess dress in the middle stood out even more.
Among the mistakenly moved cardboard boxes was a photo album. He had taken this photo out.
Lin Oufei held it under the desk lamp to examine it.
The child who was the center of everyone’s attention was wearing a puffy, wavy-skirted dress and a small crown.
He has exceptionally long, dark eyelashes. Below the delicate nose tip, pink lips that looked very soft were curled upwards happily, revealing his dimples.
‘Princess?’
He stared at this smile for a long time, then concluded with a frown, “Such an annoying smile.”
Lin Oufei stuffed the stolen princess into a fairy tale book.
