CH 16

Programs to subsidize schools and students weren’t unheard of. The Education Bureau had special funds for scholarships, and there were also alumni who gave back to their alma mater after they became successful. Although the overall amount wasn’t much, top students received a few hundred yuan each semester. But the teaching director had never seen something like this. They not only wanted to transfer the student to another school, they also selected Jiang Xiao by name. The tuition, fees, and living expenses were all included, not only in junior high school, but also in the next three years of senior high school. They even wanted to send Jiang Xiao directly to college, but didn’t need him to pay for anything. Wasn’t that strange?

He thought Jiang Xiao must have been born under a lucky star and wanted to tell the fortune tellers to take some credit. Otherwise he couldn’t explain it.

Of course Jiang Xiao knew the reason, but he wasn’t about to tell the teacher about the grudges of his last life.

“I know, Mr. Li,” he said. “Thank you for being concerned about me. I’ll study hard in No. 3 Junior High.”

Teacher Li, the teaching director, looked at him. A slight smile appeared on his serious face.

“Go to morning self-study and finish memorizing the lesson.” He waved to Jiang Xiao. “Also, I’ll take a closer look at your ranking in the monthly exam. Come talk to me when you’re in the top 200.”

Jiang Xiao: “… Teacher Li, you’re asking a bit much.”

He’d made great progress in the most recent mid-term examination and entered the top 500 of his grade. But the higher the ranking, the more difficult it was for him to advance. Jiang Xiao had only been studying hard for a few months.

“Don’t be silly.” The teaching director glanced at him. “If you think it’s demanding, you should study harder. Don’t be distracted by all this nonsense!”

He watched as Jiang Xiao ran to the door of Class 15. He stood in place for a while, then went back to the office with his hands clasped behind his back.

“So what happened?” Vice Principal Chen asked him.

“I sent him back.” The teaching director reluctantly lifted his triangular-shaped eyes. His face was still drooping. It wasn’t a good expression. “The child doesn’t want to go. Don’t force him.”

The vice principal was unhappy with his stubbornness, so he began to lecture him. “He’s never seen the world before. He’s just a naïve student. Are you naïve, too? How can he refuse a thing like this? Go on and call him back.”

The teaching director had been at this school a long time, and he didn’t feel the need to back down to anyone. He sat motionless in his chair and stopped the head teacher who was ready to fetch Jiang Xiao. This time his tone was much firmer.

“This thing is completely up to him. If Jiang Xiao says he isn’t willing, can’t he make his own decision?”

Seeing that the two men were going to quarrel, Lin ChengYu stepped in.

“It’s okay. I’d better talk to Classmate Jiang.”

He was rejected from the start by Jiang Xiao. That was unexpected, and he was somewhat at a loss. He didn’t know the right way to handle Jiang Xiao at this age.

Jiang Xiao had been to Liujiang twice, so he thought Jiang Xiao wouldn’t have a problem with living there. But after a while, Lin ChengYu came up with some excuses for him.

“He’s young and he can’t accept leaving his hometown yet. He doesn’t trust us, and that’s normal,” Lin ChengYu said with a sincere expression on his face. “I’m about the same age as him. This project came about because I proposed it. I’ll go talk to him myself.”

When he said that, some of the tension in the room eased up. It seemed that Lin ChengYu was an unusually good young man. He had a maturity that ordinary people couldn’t match. Vice President Chen praised him on the spot.

But the teaching director had been at this school for nearly thirty years. He’d seen all kinds of teenage girls and boys. At this age, most teens couldn’t hide their feelings well. What was going on in their minds was written on their faces. That was true with only a few exceptions. For example, some students seemed disobedient on the surface, and their grades weren’t very good, but their behavior actually had a bottom line, and they would refuse to do bad things. While some students looked good on the surface, but secretly were full of evil schemes.

It was the latter type that reminded him of Lin ChengYu.

However, Vice President Chen had already given him directions. This was a distinguished guest. No matter what he was up to, the teaching director couldn’t go and stop him.

After this bit of wrangling, the morning self-study period was almost over.

Lin ChengYu went to find Jiang Xiao by himself. He had a remarkably handsome face. In Class 15 and Class 14 next door, aside from Jiang Xiao, there weren’t many students seriously doing morning self-study. They were all chatting with each other. But Lin ChengYu came over, stood by the window, and waved to Jiang Xiao with a smile. When the chatter in the class suddenly died down, the silence was terrifying.

He certainly was good-looking.

At this time, Jiang Xiao was the only one earnestly memorizing《Memorial on Sending Out the Troops》: “The late Emperor had yet to complete his great undertaking before he passed away. Today the Empire is divided into three, and Yi Province is in dire straits. Now is the autumn of life or death….”

The whole classroom went quiet. Jiang Xiao, who was focused on studying, noticed something strange once silence descended. He lifted his head and saw the cause, Lin ChengYu.

This was his autumn of life and death.

Like a ghost that lingered on.

If he didn’t go out, this person probably wouldn’t leave. The students in the classroom stared and began to whisper at him.

Frowning, Jiang Xiao put the book down and immediately went out.

Lin ChengYu stood outside the classroom, watching as Jiang Xiao came to meet him in the morning sunlight. Jiang Xiao had refused him twice before, but he didn’t mind. The sky was clear and he was in a good mood again.

“Hello, Classmate Jiang. I wanted to talk to you again about the scholarship from Yongjiang.” He extended his hand to Jiang Xiao. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Lin ChengYu. I’m from Liujiang City, Huaihai Province. I’m about the same age as you.”

Jiang Xiao didn’t shake his hand. He didn’t like being watched by the entire class. Even the people of Class 14 next door were craning their necks to look. He wasn’t a monkey.

He turned his head, reached out and rapped on the glass. He gave a few words of warning to the Class 15 students who liked to watch: “Sit down and study. You don’t need to write a gossip column.”

Jiang Xiao was tall. Even if he studied hard and behaved in class lately, he still had a deterrent effect on Class 15 from the days when he used to get into trouble.

So those who ought to sit down sat down, and the whispering died away.

After intimidating his classmates, he turned around and tugged Lin ChengYu over to the hallway. He didn’t notice that Lin ChengYu, who was pulled by him for a while, immediately smiled and seemed very pleased.

He watched Jiang Xiao harden up and menace others, a small tiger with its teeth bared, the fierce look of a little milk dog. He thought it particularly cute, and now when Jiang Xiao took the initiative to pull his hand, it was even more adorable.

But Jiang Xiao just tugged his sleeve. He didn’t touch his arm at all, and after pulling him to the corridor immediately released his hand and never touched him again.

“What do you want from me? If it’s still about making me go to Liujiang, there’s no need to talk about it. You might as well leave.”

His tone wasn’t very friendly, but as long as Lin ChengYu saw him, he was in a good mood. He asked in a soft voice, “Can you tell me why not? Do you have any concerns?”

“No reason,” Jiang Xiao said. “I just don’t want to go.”

“Is it because you don’t know the junior high in Liujiang? Trust me, it’s a good school,” Lin ChengYu tried to boil the frog in warm water. “If you like, I’ll take you to see Huayang International School in Liujiang this weekend, and then you can think about it. Of course, you can also go with your mom. The junior high department of the school automatically sends its graduates to the senior high. Its acceptance rate for the college entrance examination over the years is one of the best in the province. You have such a bright future, and your mom will be happy to see it. It’s better not to make a decision of this magnitude too quickly. It won’t hurt anything to look it over.”

Jiang Xiao glanced at him, then pointed to the window in the hallway, gesturing for him to look.

Lin ChengYu didn’t know what he meant, so he looked carefully and saw the school slogan written on the wall of the school building opposite—Today I’m proud of No. 3 Junior High, and tomorrow No. 3 Junior High will be proud of me.

“See?” Jiang Xiao gave him a smile. “I’m a rigid person. I really don’t care about seeing the world. I’m willing to stay here in No. 3 Junior High and do my best. Is that a problem?”

Lin ChengYu didn’t expect his smooth words would be rejected so stubbornly. In his last life, Jiang Xiao had fallen in love with him at first sight. Lin ChengYu didn’t have to say anything to make it happen. The situation was different now, and Lin ChengYu’s habits of thought couldn’t change all at once.

He thought that by meeting this time, even if Jiang Xiao didn’t immediately fall for him, he would at least have some good feelings for him like in his last life. Then he could push the boat along the current and there wouldn’t be a problem. Who would have thought he’d get stuck right at the beginning.

But he didn’t get frustrated easily.

“XiaoXiao… I mean, Classmate Jiang. You might not believe me right now. In fact it’s normal for you to have some doubts when you receive a scholarship so suddenly.” Lin ChengYu sighed, then his eyes locked on Jiang Xiao and he was sincere as never before. “I didn’t want to talk about it because I was afraid it would be hard for you to remember. Yes, there are indeed some reasons behind this project. I actually knew you a long time ago, and I came here especially for you. Your father often traveled to Liujiang to transport goods when he was alive. I knew him, but no one thought he would die so unexpectedly. The reason I came here is because I truly want to take care of you and your family. Jiang Xiao, I’m sorry I came so late. I made you suffer so much, but not anymore.”

He wasn’t actually lying when he said any of this. Every sentence was true when you looked at it. But when the words were taken together it seemed like the Lin family and Jiang Xiao’s father had some kind of relationship. A lot of words were vague and depended on interpretation. If Jiang Xiao really was an ordinary fifteen-year-old junior high student whose family was suffering from hardship, Lin ChengYu’s façade would be very deceptive. Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiao easily might feel closer to Lin ChengYu and trust him.

But Jiang Xiao didn’t. He knew Lin ChengYu too well.

Jiang Xiao was the person who taught Lin ChengYu how to use such plausible-sounding words. Jiang Xiao had been striving in society for many years. And he took the most essential and useful things he’d learned from his losses and lessons outside to teach Lin ChengYu. They say that talking to people in the business world is like talking to the devil, and now Lin ChengYu was using this trick against him. Jiang Xiao’s face only contained indifference.

“Oh,” he replied. “Thanks a lot. When I was a child my dad taught me that a man should stand tall in the world and earn things with his own two hands. He would never accept false charity. Please go back to where you came from.”

After he said this he leaned slightly closer to Lin ChengYu and squinted. “I never heard that my father had any acquaintances in Liujiang…. Are you trying to abduct me?”

TL Notes:

Five chapters remain for this teaser….

""

stubbornness – 油盐不进 – unwillingness to add oil and salt – sticking to one’s own opinion and unwilling to change

Memorial on Sending Out the Troops – 出师表 – Chū Shī Biǎo – A famous work by genius statesman and military strategist Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮). I adapted the translation from Wikipedia.

the autumn of life or death – 危急存亡之秋 – These words by Zhuge Liang became an idiom meaning the most critical moment for a nation, an extremely dangerous emergency

like a ghost that lingered on – 阴魂不散 – the ghost of X inexorably hangs on, murder cries for vengeance, the haunting ghost of X remains at large, the soul is unwilling to leave

write a gossip column – from 八我的卦 – my eight trigrams (used for divination) – to gossip about a person

fierce look of a little milk dog – 奶凶奶凶的 – the milk is fierce, milk fierce milk fierce – Internet slang referring to the angry look of a soft cute little milk dog (an unweaned puppy; a young, clingy, cute, and sunny boy)

false charity – 嗟来之食 – food handed out in contempt, a meal offered from pity mixed with contempt, something rudely offered