Shen Ziyao woke up in the morning and, as usual, held onto his radio, preparing to head downstairs for a leisurely stroll.
Immediately after he opened the bedroom door, he was greeted by an unexpected sight—two figures, with one lying atop another, upon the sofa.
He had a closer look and realized, to his surprise, that the one on top was his precious grandson. Without a moment’s hesitation, he exclaimed, “Hey, Grandson! Don’t be afraid, Grandpa’s here!” Then, he took large strides towards Zhai Yao, intending to help him get rid of the arm of the “enemy” that was firmly wrapped around his waist.
Zhai Yao heard the commotion, and his eyelashes fluttered slightly as he slowly opened his eyes.
He seemed to have had a dream last night, where Liang Hao, dressed like a pirate, brandished an iron hook in an attempt to hook Zhai Bing and Xiao Lajiao away.
It was only when he had exerted all his strength, trapping Liang Hao underneath himself, that he managed to prevent the latter from succeeding…
“Awake?” A deep voice, tinged with the hoarseness of early morning, sounded in his ears.
Zhai Yao’s attention was drawn to the voice, his realization dawning as he discerned the source of it was actually coming from beneath him.
He lowered his head in stunned silence, his entire body abruptly stiffening. He stared blankly at the face and its cold eyes just inches away, momentarily forgetting to move aside.
The Adam’s apple of the person beneath him bobbed slightly. “Get the hell off.”
Zhai Yao immediately cursed “f*ck”, springing up like a coil and darting to the edge of the sofa, startling Shen Ziyao.
“You f*cking dare to play the hooligan?!”
Zhai Yao’s psychological defence was breached, and he belatedly realized that his previous remark made it seem as if his current state resembled that of a delicate young maiden being harassed by a local ruffian in the street.
Shen Heng first fell silent, then murmured as he repeated, “…I’m playing the hooligan?”
What ground does this person have to make such a bogus accusation and reverse the roles?
As expected, he’s much better behaved when asleep.
Shen Heng flexed his numb hand and waited until the blood flow returned to normal before raising his head, saying to Zhai Yao with a nonchalant demeanour, “Your alcohol tolerance is abysmal. Don’t drink anymore next time.”
“……” Zhai Yao’s face stiffened, feeling somewhat uncertain inside. Shen Heng’s reaction was laden with implications. Could it be that he was the one who played the hooligan and acted indecently towards someone else first?
“You two… What in the world are you guys doing at the crack of the dawn?!” Shen Ziyao also noticed that they didn’t seem to be fighting and glanced back at Shen Heng’s bedroom. “No, but, what’s in there that you guys have to squeeze in here and sleep together?”
Shen Heng quickly put on his shirt to cover the scar on his arm, then gradually slowed down as he buttoned it up, one button at a time.
Perhaps due to extreme fatigue, despite being pressed down by Zhai Yao, he eventually drifted off to slumber, and to his surprise, slept pretty deeply too.
This reaction of his was truly unusual.
“Did you bring me back?” Zhai Yao squinted, giving Shen Heng the once-over.
Shen Heng got up and headed towards the bathroom, tossing a disposable toothbrush and a clean towel to Zhai Yao.
“No, you came here in your own spaceship.”
Zhai Yao looked at Shen Heng, who had an expression signalling an unwillingness to engage with him, and for the first time, he didn’t get angry at his remark.
When it came to this guy, it must be said that while he might have been a bit irritating on regular occasions, he surprisingly was reliable when it mattered.
Zhai Yao took the towel and toothbrush, silently trailing behind Shen Heng into the bathroom, where they proceeded to freshen up standing side by side.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
While rinsing his mouth, Zhai Yao noticed a red mark on his cheek in the mirror, roughly the size of a thumbprint, that he couldn’t rub off.
Drawing closer to the mirror, he furrowed his brows. “Is there a mosquito problem at your place? My face got bitten.”
With the toothbrush still in his mouth, Shen Heng glanced at him sideways and murmured, “Mm,” before adding, “I’ll buy some mosquito coils later.”
After finishing their morning routine, the senior caregiver had already set breakfast on the table. Shen Ziyao hadn’t returned from his morning walk yet, so they ate first before heading to school.
The mood in class today felt askew; something was off—to be precise, it was Hou-ge who wasn’t acting like his usual self.
Normally, Class 10 never had a tradition of attending early morning self-study sessions, and Hou-ge would only walk a loop in the corridor during the first class or the long break between classes as a symbolic gesture.
But now, he was already standing at the podium, wearing a dejected expression with furrowed brows and drooping eyes, sighing heavily before attempting to speak multiple times.
Song Kai shot him several glances before he couldn’t bear it and shout, “Hou-ge, is it that the school can’t continue anymore? Did the principal get arrested?”
“Nonsense! The principal is fine; it’s Director Liu.”
“Oh crap, Director Liu got arrested?!” Song Kai was shocked at first, then he narrowed his eyes and solemnly said, “Corruption, right? I bet he must’ve embezzled.”
“This kid, can’t you wish for others’ well-being instead of always thinking about the worst-case scenario?” Hou-ge slapped the podium, gesturing for the class to quiet down, and cleared his throat. “Director Liu attended a meeting at the district office yesterday. Next week, several schools in our district are having a joint sports competition, and each class must participate in it!”
“Ah——???” Upon hearing the news, the whole class chorused, their voices elongated.
“Is Old Liu crazy? We’re already in the second year of high school, why are we having a sports competition!”
“Even if we’re not into studies, we don’t want to do sports either.”
“Teacher, I want to apply for a leave that day!”
Hou-ge wore a “I knew it” expression, then sighed helplessly. “I know you guys aren’t interested in the sports competition, but Director Liu has already boasted that while our students may not excel in academics, they’re quite good at running. Saying how they often compete in races with the academic affairs teachers and have gained plenty of experience.”
“This has nothing to do with whether we’re good at running or not. Anyway, I’m not participating.”
“Me neither, it’s not like I’m the one who bragged about it.”
“On what grounds does he make decisions for us?”
“Director Liu is gonna lose face this time!”
Hou-ge also silently cursed Director Liu in his heart for constantly throwing difficult tasks at them, the homeroom teachers. However, he couldn’t express his dissatisfaction openly and could only say, “Anyway, I’ve already informed you all. Everyone must register for the competition. The class monitor will do a tally after class and deliver it to my office before school ends.”
After saying that, he slipped away amidst a chorus of complaints.
…
During the long break, Song Kai, holding onto the registration forms, approached everyone as if he were an insurance sales agent, before finally asking Zhai Yao and Shen Heng.
“Yao-ge, Boss, have a look at this…”
“Not participating.” Zhai Yao stood up, intending to leave.
Shen Heng also remained engrossed in his book, flipping through pages and ignoring Song Kai’s presence the entire time.
“Then how about you just fill in a segment randomly for now? We can sort out the details later, just for the sake of it.” Song Kai had always had a good relationship with Hou-ge, so he still persuaded for the latter’s sake. “How about the 800-metre race, Yao-ge?”
Zhai Yao stood still and made a motion of holding a cigarette between his lips expressionlessly. “Is there a segment for lung exercise? If so, count me in.”
Song Kai chuckled awkwardly. “You don’t tease me. If that’s the case, I’ll sign up for the spicy strip snack-eating segment.”
Zhai Yao nodded slightly. “You have a future.” Then he left the classroom without looking back.
Song Kai smacked his lips together, then, once Zhai Yao had walked away, he sneakily stole a glance at Shen Heng. Not daring enough to engage in prolonged conversation with him, he could only heave deep sighs and wander off to try his luck elsewhere.
This class monitor role of his… he simply couldn’t bear to carry on with it for even one more day.
In the general office, Director Liu leaned dejectedly on his swivel chair, hugging his enamel thermos tightly with a pitiful demeanour.
This thermos was given to him by the district when he first started working. Back then, he felt that his work was finally being recognized. However, he later discovered that it was just a spare thermos left over because a teacher didn’t show up. No one wanted the spare thermos, so they conveniently gave it to him.
Then, in the remaining decades of his educational career, he never received any awards again.
The deputy director sat on the sofa next to him, enduring for a while, but ultimately unable to hold back any longer. He complained, “Just look at yourself, still so impulsive and letting your emotions get the better of you, even at your age. Don’t you understand these kids? Are they the type who will obediently cooperate?”
“How overconfident of me—” Director Liu closed his eyes with a heavy heart, released a deep sigh, then suddenly opened his eyes wide and stood up abruptly.
“But how could the director of 2nd High School act so surly towards me?! They’re just a mediocre municipal key school, not even a provincial one! What’s there to be proud of?!”
“The director of 2nd High School was merely stating facts,” the deputy director said. “Speaking frankly, these kids of ours are all carefully selected ‘elites’ from various schools, lazy and full of indifference. Each one of them is a troublemaker.”
“Even if that’s the case!” Director Liu slammed himself back into his chair, angrily unscrewed the thermos and took a sip of tea, then spat the tea leaves back into the thermos. “Only I can scold my students.”
“Alright, alright, you’re protective of your own children.” The deputy director shook his head. “But do these kids support you? Just now, the homeroom teachers of the second year’s Classes 1 to 6 came to me, saying that no one signed up for the competition and asking you to come up with ideas. Oh, I guess the homeroom teachers from Classes 7 to 10 are on their way here too.”
“They must register! They absolutely must!” Director Liu pounded the table with a loud “bang,” causing a scene. “Anyone who doesn’t participate will be marked down! Consequently, the homeroom teachers will have their salaries deducted!”
“Fine, then you can expect backlash and wait to be drowned in spit.” The deputy director, who originally came to borrow the printer, returned to his own office after finishing organizing the printed materials, washing his hands of the matter.
Director Liu flopped back into his chair like a deflated balloon, grabbing a book at random to cover his face.
He couldn’t even close his eyes now—whenever he did, he could always imagine how the directors of other schools looked at him during the meeting: sympathy, helplessness, schadenfreude…
“Old Liu-ah, you’re also a graduate of a prestigious school. What exactly were you thinking when you decided to take over 9th High School, that hellhole of a mess?”
“Speaking of which, didn’t that problematic student from 8th High School transfer to your school? That kid is particularly bad, causing fights and troubles without any restraint. He’s simply a born troublemaker.”
“Haha, it’s fine. After all, Old Liu has so many problems now that nothing else really bothers him. Too many problems, on the contrary, are no longer considered as a problem anymore, right, Old Liu?”
“But the kids from your 9th High School are truly worrying. Just the other day, I saw a few of them loitering sneakily around the back gate of our school, clearly up to no good. I had to chase them away.”
“Yeah, how come those students of yours don’t have a single redeeming quality or positive attribute to them?”
“Who said they don’t have any!” Director Liu interjected, angrily twirling his fountain pen with a darkened expression. “The students at our 9th High School are fast runners, each one of them nimble and quick on their feet, totally impossible to catch!”
Snicker—
A laugh escaped from one of the teachers.
Director Liu turned to flip an eye at him. “Don’t laugh too soon. At least, among the five aspects of education—moral, cognitive, physical, artistic, and practical—we at least excel in physical education, which counts for something.”
“Perfect! This year’s sports competition will be jointly organized by several schools in our district. We’ll see how your 9th High School performs then!”
“Yeah, we’ll finally get to see the cream of the crop among these people.”
“Hmph.” Director Liu wore a fake smile on his face. “Just you wait and see!”
…
The recollection abruptly halted, and Director Liu sighed deeply once more.
“How overconfident of me—Oh, how utterly overconfident of me—”
He slowly composed himself and lifted his wrist to check the time.
Class was almost over.
Director Liu rose to his feet after collecting his thoughts, mustered his spirits, and as was customary, made his way to the restroom to apprehend any students smoking.
…
*
At noon after school, Zhai Yao ran into Xie Ziming and Luo Le at the school gate.
The two were squatting under a tree, each holding a cigarette, looking hella like real thugs.
No, that wasn’t right.
It should be said that two thugs were squatting under a tree, looking hella like Xie Ziming and Luo Le.
Upon noticing Zhai Yao’s presence, Xie Ziming waved at him from across the street, then both him and Luo Le stubbed out their cigarettes and walked over to him.
Luo Le, seeing only Zhai Yao, asked, “Where’s Shen Heng?”
“No idea.” Zhai Yao sized them up. “What are you guys here for?”
Xie Ziming hesitated to admit to Zhai Yao that he and Luo Le had actually planned beforehand to visit 9th High School for some fun and to witness the scene of Zhai Yao and Shen Heng being desk mates, so he simply said, “Just missed you, so thought I’d swing by to see you!”
Xie Ziming slung his arm around Zhai Yao’s shoulder. “My brother just transferred schools. At the very least, I had to come and show some support for you. So, are there any blind fools causing trouble for my brother?”
Zhai Yao thought to himself that there wasn’t any, but if he had to count, it would only be the short-sighted Shen Heng.
Xie Ziming: “Let’s go, let’s find a place to eat! Afterwards, we can go to the internet café to play games. It’s cooling there!”
Luo Le: “Deal, I’ll give Shen Heng a call.”
…
The author has something to say:
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Dont worry directory, I’m sure you’ll be proud of them 😆
Oh my… potent you say 😳
Did he give him a hickey? And call it mosquito bite
I think it was due to pinching his face (it was on his cheek)