Ch12 - Shi Ni (1/2)
Zhou Sheng’s clothes took three days to dry, during which, this guy expressed his outrage at Yu Hao’s self-reflection.
“What self-reflection?” Zhou Sheng said, “How are you going to self-reflect? What the hell did you do wrong? Even if someone should write a self-reflection, it should be me.”
Yu Hao seriously wrote his self-reflection before he sent it to Chen Yekai. He had taken upon all of Zhou Sheng’s faults onto himself, and thought that if he wrote his self-reflection sincerely, the dean might retract the detention punishment she gave Zhou Sheng.
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But his wish was soon shattered. Chen Yekai notified him that on 30th December before the New Year Day’s holiday, the college would send out a notice.
“The Shi guy contacted the media.” Zhou Sheng scrolled through his phone, his screen was filled with topics related to the incident where he and Yu Hao had picked up money without pocketing it, then he continued, “He’s going to report us for stealing and hitting him.”
Yu Hao said, “What will happen?”
“We’ll get scolded by the netizens ba.” Zhou Sheng said indifferently, “It’s not a big deal.”
When Yu Hao was thinking, Zhou Sheng continued, “Shi guy wants to sue us for intentional assault and sue you for theft.”
Yu Hao, “When?”
Zhou Sheng didn’t reply. He continued to scroll through his phone as he read the news.
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“I want to look for Shi Ni.” Yu Hao suddenly said, “Before the 30th, I must talk to her. I’ll talk to her myself.”
Zhou Sheng shifted his attention from his phone to Yu Hao’s face.
It was a Friday. During their grade conference, Yu Hao recited his self-reflection in front of their entire cohort. When he finished, the sports classes that sat at the last few rows suddenly burst into a round of applause, then they instigated all the other students to smack their tables, clap loudly and cheer with them.
The counsellor’s expression instantly turned particularly ugly. Form teacher Chen Yekai stood up immediately and glared at the back rows. He was about to reprimand them when he was met with half a classroom worth of cameras and the shrieks of girls who owned them. Thus, before he could start scolding people, he had blushed furiously and retreated as he hastily sat back down in the midst of a background of laughter.
“Mr. Shi’s family will not accept civil mediation. After New Year’s, the college plans to find a lawyer for you guys.” After the conference was over, Chen Yekai stopped Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng outside the venue and explained, “The lawyer will be responsible for both Yu Hao’s case and Zhou Sheng’s intentional assault.”
Yu Hao said, “Let me do it myself ba, I’ll go to the Legal Aid Center to fill in the application form.”
Chen Yekai waved his hand and drank some water. He frowned deeply and said to Yu Hao, “The dean is very concerned about this matter now, it is no longer a problem that only concerns the two of you. Now that they’re pushing this onto the college too, the dean’s thoughts are: since they’re not willing to talk it out amicably, then she won’t quietly tolerate their accusations either.”
That came as a complete surprise to Yu Hao. Chen Yekai continued, “No one wanted this to happen. I’ve been so busy the past few days my feet hardly touched the ground, and this situation will last for awhile. Don’t be too hard on yourselves over this.”
Chen Yekai hadn’t look for Yu Hao again for several days in a row, as if he was treating him a bit coldly. There were a few times when Yu Hao wanted to talk to Chen Yekai, but Chen Yekai always ignored him. After their conversation today, Yu Hao finally felt at ease.
Zhou Sheng was obedient this time. He said, “Sorry, Chen Laoshi.”
Chen Yekai looked at Zhou Sheng, then patted his shoulder and said, “Do me a favour and we’ll consider your debt repaid.”
Yu Hao immediately said, “Okay!”
“Don’t let your finals be affected, don’t fail, and definitely don’t cheat.” Chen Yekai pointed at Zhou Sheng and said, “This has a lot to do with my job. Zhou Sheng, you’re the only one I’m worried about in your class.”
Zhou Sheng, “……”
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When he was about to leave, Chen Yekai suddenly said, “There should be some evidence regarding the 1.2 million yuan that you guys picked up. That day, Huang Ting was called back to investigate this matter.”
Yu Hao was extremely surprised. He was about to ask some questions when Chen Yekai told them that he had to keep it a secret for now, and that he wasn’t clear on the specifics as well before he turned around and left.
Today was Friday, and it will be Christmas Eve tomorrow. By 3pm, the college had turned a deserted and desolate place. Yu Hao put his last 300 yuan into his pocket and was going to find a part-time job that would pay him daily. He wanted to earn 200 yuan or so and use it as food expenses that would last him till the weekend.
Fu Liqun went to find his girlfriend. The streets were littered with couples. Zhou Sheng glanced around on the subway, and only couples that were embracing each other surrounded them. He said helplessly, “Ai, Christmas is always like this every year, they’re not letting us single dogs live.”
“Have you had a girlfriend before?” Yu Hao couldn’t help but ask.
Zhou Sheng reluctantly answered, “Sort of. In any case, I wasn’t wanted in the end.” As he spoke he became refreshed again. He leaned over and said to Yu Hao, “That girl’s legs are really long, did you see her?”
This had confirmed Yu Hao’s speculation: Zhou Sheng was indeed a straight guy who would rather break than bend.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Yu Hao took a look and said, “Really pretty.”
Even though he likes guys, he could understand why guys liked beautiful girls. There were a lot of girls who — after they seriously tidied themselves up — emitted an air similar to that of a tranquil harbour. When you’re by her side, there would be no wind or rain, and you need not feel vexed; all tempestuous waves would morph into two people, one family — and within it, all you had to bear were tiny, trivial annoyances and the little joys in life.
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Yu Hao nodded and said, “When I was tutoring Shi Ni, she would often exchange voice messages with her classmate. They liked coming to this shop a lot.” It has been a week since Zhou Sheng beat Mr. Shi up until his whole face was covered in blood; the other party should be less vigilant now, so Yu Hao wanted to take his chances and see if he could bump into her.
The sky gradually darkened. Yu Hao brought his student ID along as he went to a pizza shop to ask some questions and got a job distributing leaflets. Coincidentally, the manager was around. He gave Yu Hao his name card and asked him to come over tomorrow to collect the leaflets. Zhou Sheng wore an expression on his face that said “you can do that?”.
“That’s all?” Zhou Sheng asked in disbelief.
“Yeah.” Yu Hao answered, “But the pay isn’t much, it’s only 40 a day.”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Zhou Sheng had never worked before. He only stood at a side and watched how Yu Hao managed to get a part-time job so easily. Yu Hao said, “It’s really little. Just do the math, if you work here for 30 days, you’d only earn 1200 yuan.”
Yu Hao would have to stand in the cold winds all day, from 10am in the morning until the sky was dark, yet the money he earned would only be enough for him to buy one cup of coffee; Ying city’s per capita income this year was 3500 yuan. Zhou Sheng suddenly nudged Yu Hao and motioned for him to look. Within the flower cafe, Shi Ni had indeed arrived with a bunch of her classmates.
Yu Hao quickly motioned to Zhou Sheng to ask him not to meddle, then lowered his head as he wanted to send a message to Shi Ni. But while doing so, he realised that he had been blacklisted.
He opened the door to go in, walked to the cashier and looked up at their desserts. He bought two slices of tiramisu that he knew Shi Ni liked — this had costed him quite a bit of money — before he got a waiter to deliver it over. Afterwards, he sat quite a distance away as he looked at her in silence.
Shi Ni was talking to another girl when the waiter delivered the tiramisu over, then the two of them saw Yu Hao.
The two primary school students were wearing their school uniforms. Yu Hao opened up a magazine and drank a cup of free water without raising his head to look at them.
“Nini wants to ask, ‘what on earth do you want?’” The other primary school student had come over and sat opposite Yu Hao.
Yu Hao gazed at the primary school student; a primary six student could already be considered a “teenager”.
“I want to talk to her.” Yu Hao said, “Nothing more.”
“I know you.” That primary school student said, “You’re her English teacher. She asked me to apologise to you in private.”
When Yu Hao heard that, he was thoroughly stunned. That girl quickly said, “My name is Xiaoxiao. I’ll transfer you the money for the cakes through WeChat.”
As she spoke, the girl took her phone out and wanted to transfer money to Yu Hao. Yu Hao refused and asked, “Is Nini okay?”
“Don’t ask anymore.” Xiaoxiao said, “Her father is going to……forget it, in any case……”
She looked at Yu Hao and said, “We’re leaving. Don’t follow her anymore.”
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“I’ll leave.” Yu Hao said as he stood up, “The two of you should stay and have fun.”
Xiaoxiao raised her head to look at Yu Hao, then suddenly asked, “Are you going to take her father to court?”
Yu Hao hesitated, “I don’t want to, but I have no choice. I must. I’ll leave now.”
Xiaoxiao said to Yu Hao, “Let’s exchange contacts ba.”
Yu Hao took the initiative to add Xiaoxiao’s QQ, then Xiaoxiao said again, “I’ll leave you my number.”
When he left the flower cafe, he turned around to take a look. Shi Ni had raised her head up too and their eyes met.
“You see, I got something. We didn’t make this trip in vain.”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
“Un, that is a breakthrough.”
Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng held their chopsticks as they waited for their Mala Xiangguo1 at Mei Shi Hui. Zhou Sheng scrolled through Xiaoxiao’s QQ as he listened to Yu Hao’s narration, then said, “Why do I have a strange feeling about this?”
Yu Hao said, “Right? I thought it was weird from the start.”