The sky began to lighten with the whitish color of a fish belly. The early autumn morning air was exceptionally cool and refreshing; taking a deep breath felt like dew seeping into one’s chest.
It woke one up instantly.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Xin Hexue saw that it was still early. He picked up a watering can to water the vegetables and green plants growing on the balcony.
Orange clay pots were lined up neatly in rows. Pepper plants, cherry tomato plants, and little green vegetables grew proudly upward. Pothos hung down, trailing over the edges.
Their green leaves were sprinkled with sunlight, swaying in the wind.
On the balconies of the tube-shaped buildings further away, some households had colorful clothes and quilts airing.
Xin Hexue heard two voices in the kitchen. It was Xin Zhiying and Zhuang Ping speaking in hushed tones.
“I was cleaning a few days ago and found a magazine tucked away in a corner of Tongguang’s bookshelf, the title was ‘Teen Boys and Girls’. It’s all about love and romance, and he hid it.” Xin Zhiying looked nervous, holding her husband’s arm tightly. “Do you think he’s fallen in love?”
The murmuring conversation continued quietly.
Zhuang Ping’s reaction was rather calm, and he reassured his wife. “For a high school student his age, it’s normal to be curious about these things. I haven’t noticed any difference in his usual behavior; he’s probably just reading it. If we as parents overreact, it might backfire. What if it provokes rebellion?”
“Let’s observe a bit more. Whether he has someone he likes or is actually dating, as long as it doesn’t affect his studies and normal life, we shouldn’t interfere.”
He patted the back of his wife’s hand and advised her.
Xin Zhiying also felt Zhuang Ping made some sense, and she relaxed a little, “Children grow up; it really is different. I used to look at them and think they were still the two little kids from childhood. Unconsciously, over ten years have passed.”
“Time waits for no one. The children grow up, and we get old. Look at me, do I have wrinkles at the corners of my eyes already?” Xin Zhiying pointed to the outer corners of her eyes.
Zhuang Ping reached out and held her, “To me, you still look the same as you did back then, the most striking one in the crowd at first glance.”
The usually simple man that was not good with words rarely spoke sweet words.
Xin Hexue had heard that his uncle was assigned to work here right after graduation. On his first day, he injured his hand with a machine in the workshop and was rushed to the factory hospital. Amid the endless stream of people in the emergency room, he immediately spotted Xin Zhiying, who was a trainee nurse at the time.
When he was asked which hand was injured, he couldn’t even tell left from right.
Zhuang Ping fell in love with Xin Zhiying at first sight.
Within a few years, they had Zhuang Tongguang, and later, Xin Hexue.
The two adults were in the kitchen, one picking vegetables, the other preparing to heat the oil and start cooking, chatting and laughing occasionally.
Xin Hexue quietly tiptoed across the corridor and returned from the balcony to the living room.
He poured himself a cup of warm water to drink and noticed that at this hour, Zhuang Tongguang was actually still not up. On previous mornings, Zhuang Tongguang woke up earlier than him.
A flicker of doubt passed through Xin Hexue’s mind. He went forward and knocked on the door, “Big Brother, are you awake?”
Zhuang Tongguang replied from behind the door, “A…awake, I’m changing clothes, I’ll be over soon.”
Xin Hexue wondered whether it was just his imagination, but Zhuang Tongguang’s voice seemed to have a bit of panic.
Hearing that both Xin Hexue and Zhuang Tongguang were awake, Zhuang Ping called out from the kitchen, “Xiao Xue, there’s a 1L carton of milk in the fridge, take it out and drink it later.”
The bedroom door opened at that moment. Zhuang Tongguang’s short hair was messy, and his glasses were slightly askew on his nose. Xin Hexue’s gaze swept over the room; the quilt on his brother’s bed wasn’t folded, bulging like a mountain, as if clothes had been stuffed inside.
“Big Brother, go brush your teeth and wash your face.” Although he didn’t know what was happening, Xin Hexue said understandingly, “I’ll pour the milk.”
“…Mmm, okay.”
Zhuang Tongguang adjusted his glasses on his nose bridge. The look in his eyes behind the lenses evasive.
………
Today, only Xin Hexue and Lin Oufei walked together on the way to school.
Lin Oufei saw the slight upturn of Xin Hexue’s lips and his good mood, and unconsciously smiled as well.
Lu Yang wasn’t with them, presumably still upset with Xin Hexue.
With one less annoying person around, and Xin Hexue seemingly unaffected, Lin Oufei felt that Lu Yang’s status was just so-so.
Thinking this, his mood improved even more.
Lin Oufei handed the cassette tape recorder to Xin Hexue; he had said he wanted to borrow it this morning.
“But, what do you need it for?”
Xin Hexue looked down and fiddled with it, “Mine fell on the floor when I got up this morning and broke. Uncle is finding someone to repair it, to see if it can be fixed. I’ll borrow yours for today.”
He inserted a blank tape, pressed the record button, waited for the tape to run blank for three seconds, then tested the microphone built into the player: “Ah, ah, one, two, three.”
Then he listened to the test recording.
Xin Hexue said happily, “Yours seems to record more clearly than mine.”
‘Is such a small thing worth being so happy about?’
Lin Oufei didn’t realize a smile had appeared on his face, “Then take it and use it. I have another one at home.”
“Thank you.” Xin Hexue smiled at him, “Perfect, I’ll use it to record the ancient poems Lu Yan must memorize for the Chinese high school entrance exam.”
“…”
The corners of Lin Oufei’s mouth straightened back into a cold, straight line.
“You two made up?”
Xin Hexue was still fiddling with the pocket-sized tape recorder and didn’t notice Lin Oufei’s unusual reaction. “Hmm, he apologized to me last night. Lu Yang said he’s going to apply as a sports specialty student and strive to join the same high school as us.”
Getting in as a sports specialty student wasn’t that simple either. Lu Yang played basketball. To go the specialty student route and aim for a key municipal school, he had to obtain district and municipal level awards to strengthen his application before submitting the Lingzhou City No.1 High School specialty student application form next April.
These competitions were mainly concentrated in the first semester of the third year. By the second semester, it would be time to sprint for the academic subjects and also take the sports selection test at the high school he applied to; by then it would be too late.
So their basketball team had to achieve results this autumn.
To win a place in the city’s middle school basketball tournament in November, the basketball team had already started intensive training.
“Lu Yang now has to arrive at school at 6 AM, train for an hour and a half, and also do specialized training from 4 to 6 PM.” Xin Hexue said, “So he won’t be able to walk to and from school with us anymore.”
Lin Oufei said flatly, “Okay.”
He glanced at the tape recorder again, sighed slightly, but finally offered sincere blessings: “He should do his best. I hope he can get in.”
………
Lu Yang began days of truly burning the midnight oil.
He arrived at school at 6 AM every day. After training ended at 7:30, he changed out of his basketball jersey back into his school uniform in the bathroom before returning to the classroom.
If he could, he would have loved to sprint home for a shower; his back was all sweaty.
Xin Hexue would dislike him for smelling like sweat.
He dried himself with a towel and stuffed the jersey and towel into a zippered bag.
He couldn’t help dozing off during the first class after morning reading. His chin was propped up on his hand, and his head kept bobbing up and down.
Lin Oufei immediately jabbed the metal tip of a compass into Lu Yan’s arm, and the latter almost cried out in class.
“What are you doing?!”
He lowered his voice, his face fierce.
Across the aisle, Lin Oufei had his elbow on the desk, a note unfolded on it.
He tilted his head slightly, indicating a direction to Lu Yang.
Lu Yang looked up in that direction.
Xin Hexue was smiling at him with slightly curved eyes, but his smile was not friendly. Lu Yang could almost see a small tail with a black heart at the tip emerging behind him, swaying, the tip aimed at him threateningly.
Lu Yang immediately sat up straight.
‘Xin Hexue, Xin Hexue, Xin Hexue…’
He silently repeated the name three times in his heart, like taking a powerful tranquilizer, and stared intently at the blackboard.
He didn’t idle during breaks either. Because he had to go for training at 4 PM, he not only missed one class but also had the same amount of homework.
Lu Yang had always been one to procrastinate and do his homework at home, but now he had to start doing homework at school during the day, like the good students. It was a rather novel experience for him.
He didn’t even rest while going to the bathroom.
“turn off, turn off, T-U-R-N O-F-F, close…”
He read along with Xin Hexue in his earphones.
He kept chanting, repeating again and again like a broken record.
“Lu Yang, have you turned over a new leaf?” Zeng Zishi next to him recognized what he was saying, “You’re actually memorizing English vocabulary?”
Lu Yang washed his hands and pulled out the left earphone, “What? How did you know Xin Hexue specially recorded the high school entrance exam vocabulary for me?”
Zeng Zishi: “…”
Now he knew :).
Lin Oufei, who had just entered the bathroom: “…”
After training ended at 6 PM, Lu Yang hurriedly passed by his own home, ran to the tube-shaped building at the next street corner, and shouted upstairs, “Xin Hexue!”
Hearing the footsteps, Lin Oufei walked out onto the corridor and looked down.
Lu Yang had taken over the stone stools and table where the old grandpas usually played chess, and Xin Hexue sat opposite him.
Dictating words stroke by stroke.
Lu Yang bought small cookies for Xin Hexue with today’s pocket money. “My dad drives a taxi now, so my mom cut my allowance. I can’t afford three colored ice creams anymore.”
Xin Hexue didn’t actually care much about having ice cream every day, but he still said with a serious expression, “Then from now until the high school entrance exam, you owe me one three colored ice cream every day. I’m starting to keep accounts. If one day you get all the dictation correct, I might generously waive one.”
Lu Yang remembered and nodded seriously, “Mmm.”
Xin Hexue gave today’s exercise book to Lu Yang.
“Today’s math, physics, and chemistry problems are all in there. After finishing the school-assigned homework, do this one. The answers are at the back. Correct it yourself after you finish.”
The problems in the exercise book were all ones he had selected targeting Lu Yang’s leaky foundations. They would gradually increase in difficulty later.
The smell of cooking wafted from the tube-shaped buildings, and the lights in the stairwells came on. Xin Hexue said goodbye to Lu Yang, “We’ll go over the questions you get wrong after morning reading tomorrow.”
When he went upstairs, he saw Lin Oufei standing in the corridor, moving a pot of evergreen back inside.
Wouldn’t it be better to just leave the potted plant in the corridor?
Did he need to move it in and out every day?
Xin Hexue returned home and gathered his clothes, intending to take a bath before dinner. He casually asked Zhuang Tongguang, “Big Brother, why did you hang two school uniform pants today?”
The blue uniform pants of No.1 High School.
Zhuang Tongguang choked on his water, coughing violently in a loss of composure. After recovering, he explained, “I was doing calligraphy homework for school, accidentally spilled ink, and got them dirty.”
‘Strange…’
Xin Hexue didn’t think much of it. He took his change of clothes, and went into the bathroom.
………
Zhu Cuifeng came home today and brought Lu Yang a new pair of basketball shoes. It was an expensive foreign brand, costing a thousand yuan, equivalent to Lu Guoxing’s previous monthly salary.
She told Lu Yang to try them to see if they fit. “The person at the sports store said these are good for training in.”
She also gave Lu Guoxing a watch. It was six hundred and eighty yuan, one he had thought was too expensive and had talked about for years but was unwilling to buy.
Zhu Cuifeng put it on his wrist, “When you’re out driving the taxi, remember that Lu Yang and I are waiting for you to come home for dinner.”
The Lu father and son were so moved their eyes welled up, embracing each other and crying.
The hardship and pain brought by both being laid off had temporarily come to an end. They were wholeheartedly welcoming the challenges of a new life together.
Lu Yang finished his school homework first, then carefully took out the exercise book Xin Hexue had given him and worked on it seriously.
The problems in the exercise book were all ones Xin Hexue had picked out from his own past homework, workbooks, and textbook problems, based on Lu Yang’s weak knowledge points. Then, like clipping newspaper articles, he glued them into the notebook.
Lu Yang knew Xin Hexue had always had a good habit of organizing and storing things. When selling their elementary school textbooks and workbooks to the scrap station before, the materials Xin Hexue brought out were even sorted and categorized.
The answers for each problem were tucked at the back of the exercise book, not glued in, but cut to the size of sticky notes.
They were Xin Hexue’s past answers, no different from the standard answers. His elegant handwriting hitting the scoring points.
Lu Yang corrected his own answers, then honestly copied Xin Hexue’s answers with a red pen.
While correcting his thought process against Xin Hexue’s answers, Lu Yang suddenly laughed out loud, “Hehe… hehe…”
He placed Xin Hexue’s answer sheet over his own copied handwriting.
Closed the exercise book.
Then fell back onto the bed in a star shape. Lu Yang had a sweet dream that night.
In the dream, Xin Hexue asked him, “Who is the most obedient good little dog?”
Me! Me! Me!
Lu Yang’s throat tightened for some reason, and he couldn’t speak.
In his anxiety, he burst out with a series of barks.
