Liyun No. 1 High School was a rural school, and its comprehensive results were mediocre. The performance of students in Cla.s.s 5, the worst in the school, could be imagined.

It was the early nineties. The economy of Liyun Town was barely getting on track, culture values and ethics were lagging behind, and the munic.i.p.al government's capability was not enough. Naturally, in such a land, the darkness was abundant and its inhabitants thriving. The Jiangs dared to enter Lin Jingzhe's home and take away his inheritance in a broad daylight—that's how bad the public security at the time was.

The “big brothers” and their followers, who sauntered through the town, playing, drinking, and having fun with women, enjoyed a wonderful life under the fiction of law and order that existed in name only. Lin Jingzhe witnessed the rising dust clouds when this superstructure collapsed, and its wreckage, but he couldn't deny it was impressive in its prime.

Most of the youths in Cla.s.s 5 had given up on the college entrance examination. While the other students were quietly staying in their cla.s.srooms studying, some of them gathered near the toilets on the corridor's end to watch the excitement. As soon as Lin Jingzhe appeared behind Gao Sheng and Hu Yu, he was treated like a hero returning in triumph—

The group of rebellious, jovial young men rushed to clap him on the shoulders and back, praising him enthusiastically.

“Dude, you're way too bada.s.s!”

“This grandfather wanted to scold Li Yurong like that since 800 years ago!”

“Yeah, what f.u.c.king English, her p.r.o.nunciation is totally off and she says it's a f.u.c.king London accent…”

The students in Cla.s.s 1 felt themselves to be superior and tended to not interact with students from other cla.s.ses. Hu Yu was afraid that for Lin Jingzhe, one of the top students, coming in contact with her unruly children would be too much of a “culture shock,” so she intended to shoo them away. However, to her surprise, the boy didn't reject or despise these students with poor grades. In the face with a lot of teasing, he gave as good as he got. He even revealed a disdainful sneer on his face and pounded the ringleader on the shoulder, saying, “We're graduating soon, you think I'm scared of that shrew?”

The other boy was stunned for a moment, then the smile on his face became much more sincere. He pushed away a few of his followers blocking the way and hooked an arm around Lin Jingzhe's shoulders. He said, his voice fond, “Guys, Lin Jingzhe is all right. My name is Deng Mai and from now on, we're buddies.”

He was tall and swarthy, but his regular facial features made him look handsome and das.h.i.+ng, even if not in a conventional way. How could Lin Jingzhe not recognize him? In the future, Deng Mai would fare the best out of the Cla.s.s 5 students. He didn't continue to study but started working right after graduating from high school, like Gao Sheng. However, unlike him, he didn't follow a “big brother” but opened a bar instead. Later, nearly all bars in Liyun Town and neighboring towns were under his name. Lin Jingzhe had a good impression of him because this person attached great importance to friends.h.i.+p and often went to visit Hu Yu. After Gao Sheng's death sentence Deng Mai, like Lin Jingzhe, concealed the news of Hu Yu pa.s.sing away so Gao Sheng wouldn't suffer additionally.

Lin Jingzhe always felt grateful for that.

Sometimes, when he used to remember his youth, he thought he was a thoughtless, ungrateful a.s.s, and always regretted his past behavior. At that time, he couldn't accept the fact that he was transferred to Cla.s.s 5 and maintained a provocative att.i.tude towards everyone. He refused to a.s.sociate with the students who, he believed, were “not on the right track,” and never thought how sad Hu Yu would feel because of that.

People didn't know the preciousness of what they had until they lost it.

By this time of the year, almost the whole coursework of the third-year students was reviewing what they'd learned until now. Lin Jingzhe turned on the desk lamp, opened the math textbook and started to look through it quickly.

There was a thick stack of textbooks at his elbow, of all subjects.

What questions appeared in this year's college entrance examination? Over twenty years pa.s.sed since he took it, and he'd long forgotten. However, he still had vague memories of some questions—the ones that were fiendishly hard for a high school student.

After a whole day in school, Lin Jingzhe didn't find any of the problems they reviewed in cla.s.s familiar. As expected, it was impossible to count on the teachers to chance upon the right problems. He decided to take matters into his own hands.

After returning home and spending some time by his grandfather's coffin, he went to Xinhua Bookstore. After browsing through the section with preparatory textbooks, he bought the ones he judged to be the most difficult.

Then, he went to Gao Sheng's house. As soon as he arrived, he began to study hard.

Anyone who'd picked up his studies after years of break would find out that their once extensive knowledge imperceptibly slipped away. Except for the English which he'd often used, Lin Jingzhe needed to put in all his effort to reacquaint himself with other subjects.

Gao Sheng, who was sitting next to him, had problems to finish his homework. He gave up on it and said, “Can we take a break? You know, I called you to my house for dinner!”

Lin Jingzhe stopped writing and looked at him, frowning. He tapped his pen on the table, then said, “Come here, I'll explain this problem to you.”

Gao Sheng looked at the book under Lin Jingzhe's palm—the formulas he could see were so far beyond what he knew it might've as well been a language of aliens. He felt rising terror mixed with panic but didn't have the guts to refuse so he unconsciously obeyed and s.h.i.+fted closer.

“Look at this tetrahedron. DE bisects SC into two equal parts…”

Lin Jingzhe spoke slowly; he was teaching and reviewing at the same time. He'd already gone through voice change and now, his voice was clearer and more resonant than ever. It shocked Hu Yu, who was about to enter the room, a little.

While Gao Sheng was b.u.mbling his way through the math problem, his attention fell on Lin Jingzhe. The desk lamp illuminated the young man's thin, finely boned face, with long and thick eyelashes. His eyebrows were wrinkling slightly, and his expression was cold, but it didn't detract from his good looks.

Gao Sheng was a bit confused. Right now, Lin Jingzhe's temperament seemed to be different from the past and it made him feel unfamiliar.

It wasn't a temperament that belonged in their small Liyun Town. Gao Sheng felt that since he picked him up in the morning, Lin Jingzhe showed varying degrees of indifference to everyone except him and his mother.

Although Lin Jingzhe always kept people at arm's length, it wasn't the same. Gao Sheng knew his friend very well—behind the strong facade, Lin Jingzhe was a timid, shy teenager with an inferiority complex. He tried to hide it hard, but he still exposed it from time to time. Today, it was as if that side of him had completely disappeared.

“Take a break.” Hu Yu watched at the door for a while, but Lin Jingzhe didn't seem to have lost heart because of today's events. Relieved, she came in with two soup bowls. As she put them on the table, she happened to glance at the textbook the teenagers were using. She asked, bemused, “This isn't included in the scope of material required by the school, is it? Aren't these problems too difficult to do for review?”

Lin Jingzhe looked at the bowl placed in front of him. It was about the size of a small washbasin and was heaped with food. There was even a large ham hock sticking out.

In Gao Sheng's bowl, there was but a small pig trotter, most of which was bone.

In recent years, the quality of life of ordinary citizens wasn't high. Hu Yu didn't have a formal teaching certification, so she wasn't a.s.signed a room at the teacher's dormitory, and her work benefits were poor. Gao Sheng's father was a migrant worker and wasn't here. Mother and son rented a small set of rooms near the school. With Hu Yu's meager salary, meat was a luxury.

Lin Jingzhe felt bitter.

Although Hu Yu wasn't a certified teacher, she'd been teaching for many years and by rights, she should get the same treatment as the others. However, since the beginning of the last year, the name of this veteran teacher was not included in the quota of Liyun No. 1 High School's teachers sent to the Bureau of Education. Li Yurong, who took over as English teacher of the second grade, was listed instead.

Right now, they were powerless to do anything. Lin Jingzhe knew that to change this situation, making money as soon as possible was imperative. In his mind, he went over his plan once again and only then managed to calm his frustration. When he looked at Hu Yu, his face was much softer. Dividing the ham hock into two pieces, he said, “The review papers and books suggested by the school are too easy. I think depending just on them is not enough.”

He wanted to give half of the ham hock to Gao Sheng, but before he moved his chopsticks, his own bowl sank—Gao Sheng dropped half of his pig trotter into it, then began to wolf down the rest of his food.

Speechless, Lin Jingzhe tried to reciprocate, but Gao Sheng covered his bowl and leaned away. “Eat it yourself, you're way too thin.”

It puzzled Hu Yu why Lin Jingzhe felt he needed to get more textbooks. “The teachers in our school carefully thought over what books and review materials are necessary. As long as you go through them diligently, you should be sufficiently prepared for the college entrance exam.”

She picked up the math textbook and looked through it. As she read the first few pages, her eyebrows wrinkled. “This material is not covered by the curriculum. These problems won't appear on the exam.”

She grew up in the countryside and graduated from Lin Munic.i.p.al College. Lin City was the farthest she'd ever been from home. Naturally, she had no idea how big the world outside was.

Lin Jingzhe had long pa.s.sed the age when he felt the need to prove himself right by arguing. Since this topic came up, he might as well use it as an opportunity to propel his plans and get Hu Yu on board, so to speak. “My grandfather told me that the students of Qunnan No. 1 High School use this set of textbooks.”

Qunnan No. 1 High School? That place?

Hu Yu's eyes widened. If Liyun No. 1 High School was the best school in Liyun Town, then Qunnan No. 1 High School was the most prestigious in the whole Qunnan Province. Every year, Qunnan No. 1 High School's students' university enrollment rate was almost five times higher than that of Liyun No. 1 High School.

That's why Hu Yu, who was well aware it was not easy to get into university, had always been in awe of that school. She held the textbook more carefully and asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, and these books here too.” Lin Jingzhe pushed the stack of books he'd already looked through to her. “Our school's curriculum and learning objectives seem to be different from theirs.”

Well, that was obvious, it was Qunnan No. 1 High School after all! How could it be the same as our school? Hu Yu thought, a little guiltily.

Lin Jingzhe's words were a revelation to her. Was the difference between the two schools' university enrollment rate so big because of the obsolete curriculum and too limited scope of material?

She didn't doubt Lin Jingzhe's grandfather's information. Jiang Jiping was the most learned and cultured man she'd ever seen and had the highest social status of the elderly in town. It was only natural he was aware of the state of affairs in the provincial capital.

The future of students is at stake. Once that thought flashed in Hu Yu's mind, this matter became a pressing issue. Not bothering to collect the empty bowls, she grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down the t.i.tles of Lin Jingzhe's textbooks. Then she turned around and rushed out of the house to investigate.

Gao Sheng's hands trembled so hard he nearly dropped the bowl. “Jingzhe, buddy, you want to kill me!”

Once Hu Yu left, Lin Jingzhe's expression became detached again. He glanced at Gao Cheng's face full of grievances and asked in exasperation, “Li Yurong looks down her nose on Teacher Hu and tries her best to humiliate her. Have you never thought of fighting back?”

Gao Sheng's face changed. He stopped kidding around, and his eyes filled with anguish.

Lin Jingzhe knocked on the table. “Now that you've made up your mind, come here, I'll teach you how to solve the next problem.”

While the teenager who in the last life strayed off the right path felt his blood stirring, the Jiang family wasn't faring well. After Jiang Run told his mother what happened today, she flew into a rage.

“A demerit?!”

These past few days, Jiang Xiaoyun was so busy with making sure her son would get the admission spot she didn't have time to attend her father's mourning ceremonies. She spent so much money on this and now, so close to the time when university admissions start, the school gave Jiang Run a demerit?!

Is this some kind of a joke? Getting the school's official admission spot wasn't easy. Every year, Liyun No. 1 High School got a quota of students who could be admitted to Qunnan University on recommendation. Many parents were panting after it, but the conditions were extremely harsh: not only the student had to have excellent academic performance, exemplary conduct, and receive the munic.i.p.al honor, but their school record had to be absolutely spotless.

Jiang Xiaoyun had already given the board of education the money for them to award Jiang Run the t.i.tle of the “three-good” student. Now that he got a demerit, all of her efforts were wasted.

“How is this possible?!” Jiang Xiaoyun was apoplectic with rage. “Teacher Li already received the money. She promised to help you!”

Jiang Run burst out crying, overcame by desperation. He kept thinking about the demerit until the school ended but Li Yurong ran away after cla.s.s and he had no chance to beg her for help.

Though Li Yurong received Jiang Xiaoyun's money, she did this privately and she only promised to help smooth Jiang Run's way through school. As for the precious admission spot? Jiang Xiaoyun wasn't the only one who wanted to get it—the princ.i.p.al didn't even know how many “gifts” from the parents he received. It was impossible to expect him to lock horns with the vice-princ.i.p.al over Jiang Run's matter.

After she listened to Jiang Run's narration, Jiang Xiaoyun started to swear. “Lin Jingzhe again! That motherless little b.a.s.t.a.r.d had definitely done it on purpose!”

Jiang Run's father, who watched from the sidelines smoking a cigarette, frowned. “How can you say this? It was clearly our son who started—”

“You shut up!” Jiang Xiaoyun hated Lin Jingzhe mainly because of the antiques—today's matter was just an opportunity for her to give vent to her feelings. At her scream, Jiang Run's father, who never had any standing in the family, closed his mouth out of force of habit.

He was an elementary school teacher, and his temper was mild and meek. How could he fight with Jiang Xiaoyun? When his wife saw him turn away and lit another cigarette, and be of no help at all, she wanted to scold him again. Fortunately for him, the ringing telephone on the side table interrupted her.

Jiang Xiaoyun picked it up. When she spoke, her voice was deferential and syrupy. “Oh, it's Section Head w.a.n.g! About that matter, yes, you can rest a.s.sured, you're the only person who is worthy to have them. Please wait for a few days and I'll present them to you personally!”

She put down the receiver and felt an incoming headache.

When it rains, it pours. Not only the problem of the admission spot needed to be solved as fast as possible but she also had the matter of Lin Jingzhe's antiques hanging over her head.

The man who called a moment ago was a section head in the Provincial Bureau of Land and Resources and was in charge of the land-use planning. A few years ago, Jiang Xiaoyun and her younger brother, Jiang Zhi (Lin Jingzhe's maternal uncle), set up a real estate agency, but while it didn't make them lose money, it didn't become successful either. After they called in some favors and, with great difficulty, got acquainted with Section Head w.a.n.g, it was like getting to know G.o.d of Wealth. However, it was a relations.h.i.+p based on ‘you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' principle.

This G.o.d of Wealth had a hobby of collecting antiques. This made Jiang Xiaoyun notice the value of her father's collection of antiques. Thanks to them, they succeeded in getting Section Head w.a.n.g's support. But, they were “running on credit” for several months now and the other party was getting impatient. He began to openly ask about when he would get the antiques was promised.

Jiang Xiaoyun's heart was palpitating from anxiety. She swallowed hard a few times but couldn't think of a solution. Finally, she gritted her teeth and slammed her hand on the table.

“Liu De, bring me the telephone book from the study.”

Taken aback, her husband asked, “Who are you going to call?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan spat out, “My sister.”

Her elder sister, Lin Jingzhe's mother, remarried soon after her divorce and moved away to the provincial capital. It just so happened her second husband was in real estate business.

Chapter 4 >>

Gao Sheng is not the ML.

Doeas anyone remember telephone books?