Chapter 10 (2)

  Lin Yuxiang

  A week of military training, dazed and confused, under the scorching sun, without a drop of rain. Shinan No. 3 Middle School is the pilot school for military training, so all the strict rules are concentrated here, and the students of the ten classes are like Kuafu, chasing the sun. Three hours of practice, fifteen minutes of rest, people are numb and have no sense of awareness. Female students keep falling down, being supported to rest by the side of the road. Yuexiang scratched once, couldn't help it, was scolded by the instructor, and even the only fifteen minutes were taken away. The last day of military training is the school's final inspection. Meixuan often complains in class that this time will be a loss of face, and the fact proves that the students of Class 1 (3) indeed lose face, when walking in step, the team looks like the European coastline, the leaders on the rostrum shake their heads. As a result, this shame did not last long, was continuously refreshed by several classes behind, the head-shaking on the rostrum got tired, and eventually sat back to watch the clouds rise, too lazy to shake again.

  Finally, thanks to the selfless help of other classes, Class 3 unexpectedly won a third prize. The instructor was sent off and the subject teachers were welcomed. Time may not be able to be returned, but it can be made up for. On the first double rest day, there were over ten practice papers for each subject, which had to make up for the time wasted on military training. When returning home, Yuxiang took the wrong bus again and arrived home when it was already dark. Lin's father and mother were calling around looking for him everywhere. Lin's mother was so great that she didn't even go out to play mahjong, waiting for her son to return home. After seeing her son, her anxiety was relieved, but she couldn't help running out to watch people playing mahjong. Yuxiang was filling in those papers when Lin's father came in and asked about his studies. Yuxiang was annoyed and the two of them had a big argument, not speaking to each other. After calming down, Yuxiang realized that this would cut off their financial resources, so he went to make amends, but Lin's father still had lingering anger and the two almost argued again. At dinner time, Yuxiang saw the pickled vegetables in the corner of the cupboard and his heart softened. He gave his father a piece of meat, and the two finally made up. The next morning, they were about to set off, and Lin's father sent Yuxiang all the way to the station, waiting outside until the bus started. Yuxiang saw his father pushing a broken bicycle with a weathered face and felt a pang in his heart. Lin's father's wish was for Yuxiang to be admitted to a key university, and at this moment, Yuxiang's determination became particularly firm - he must get into Tsinghua University. This firm determination was shaken off by the bumps of the public bus, and when they arrived at Sanzhong Middle School in the south of the city, it had almost disappeared.

  Xie Jingyuan was left alone in the bedroom, still reading a book. Yu Xiang asked: "Why did you come so early?"

  "I didn't go back."

  "Why don't you go back?"

  To save money.

  Yu Xiang couldn't ask any more questions and changed the subject: "Then, have you finished your homework?"

  "Alright!" Xie Jingyuan replied as he pulled out his exercise book: "I want to ask you a math question."

  Yu Xiang covered up his nervousness with a loud voice, saying "Go ahead and ask." Xie Jingyuan handed over the paper, Yu Xiang pretended to look at the question, but in reality he didn't understand it at all, only thinking of how to bluff his way through. After planning, he exclaimed: "Wow, this is such a strange question, it involves so much knowledge...". Yu Xiang read out the conditions, waiting for Xie Jingyuan to nod and say he understood, then he would add a sentence "I think so too." But Xie Jingyuan's expression was like an unopenable safe deposit box, leaving Yu Xiang speechless.

  "After a moment of silence, Xie Jingyuan said: 'Is it that inside there is something involved - to the extent that we have not taught before?'"

  Yǔ Xiǎng was about to use the words to retreat, but Xiè Jǐng Yuān preempted him and said them first. He had no choice but to resort to personal attacks: "No way! That's right, there must have been a mistake, a condition was missed!"

  Xie Jingyuan nodded and said, "Well, I think that's probably it." Yu Xiang was relieved to have escaped a disaster and didn't dare get close to Xie Jingyuan again. Xie Jingyuan didn't care where Yu Xiang was and asked, "I still have one more question." Yu Xiang listened as the words came out one by one, and he could only regret that he couldn't stuff the words back into Xie Jingyuan's mouth. Just then, the door burst open, and Qian Rong walked in carrying a bag. Yu Xiang found a scapegoat and quickly said, "Xie Jingyuan, ask Qian Rong." Qian Rong shook his head and said, "How could I do that? Ah, right, Yu Xiang, have you finished your homework?" Yu Xiang replied, "There are still a few blank spaces..." "No problem, let me copy it!" Yu Xiang handed over his own paper to Qian Rong and asked, "You were originally from which middle school?"

  Qian Rong put on a proud expression and said: "A private middle school. Ha, they even want me to do this kind of test paper."

  "What's wrong with this test paper?"

  Qian Rong disdainfully said: "I have at least read 10,000 books, going to do this kind of test is too wasteful of my talent."

  Yu Xiang's heart skipped a beat, thinking that this kind of pride was something he had in middle school, but later unintentionally ground it down. This proud personality is like a long chopstick, although it looks very high and different from the others, but unfortunately, it can't be paired with other chopsticks, and eventually, it will be ground down to the same height as other chopsticks, otherwise, it will be discarded. Qian Rong's golden chopstick is too valuable to be thrown away, so it has been kept until now.

  Qian Rong copied the history test paper and said, "Look at this paper, it's so superficial, not new at all. Have you heard of the 'Know Nothing Party' in the United States? You haven't heard of it, have you? Have you heard of the 'Stubborn Party'? The history book introduces Cixi but doesn't mention the 'Stubborn Party', the editor is not even as good as me."

  Yu Xiang was touched by his words, opened the cabinet and rummaged through it for half a day, finally pulling out a book. He waved it around and asked: "Have you read this book? 'Charming Words' by Wu Zhenpu."

  Qian Rongzuo rushed over with a look of great interest, saying: "Oh! Wu Zhen's book, I've seen it before! My dad seems to have had dealings with him."

  Yu Xiang's face changed greatly, and he asked: "What does your dad do?"

  Qian Rong was just waiting for this sentence and said: "My dad is the manager of Dong Rong Consulting Company, and he has dealings with many writers!"

  Yǔ Xiáng asked: "What is Dong Rong?"

  Qian Rong's arrogance suddenly dropped by half, and he said: "It's a consulting company, haven't you heard of it? What kind of insight. Let me take a look at the book!" After finishing speaking, he took the book himself, looked at the cover, and saw that there was a "Qing" character in front of "Wu Zhenren". He was shocked and quickly tried to salvage the situation: "How can there be another Wu Zhenren? My dad knows one too, a writer from Shanghai, I think he's from the Writers' Association, and he writes."

  Yu Xiang fulfilled his words and snatched back the book, opening it to say: "Didn't you say 'Stubborn Party'? There's a joke here, listen up."

  A monkey, a dog, a pig and a horse were born together. They discussed taking on another name, but unfortunately none of them had any ink or writing instruments to write with, so they couldn't think of anything. They agreed to go into the city, and whatever character they saw first would be their new name.

  The agreement was made, and the dog ran off immediately. Entering the city, it arrived at a certain temple and saw the sign "Transforming the Ignorant". The dog said: "This is my new name!"

  The horse arrived next, raised its head but didn't see anything, then lowered its head and saw four characters on a stele below: "Deep Roots and Firm Foundation". The horse said: "I think this is a good name for me."

  After a while, the monkey jumped up and pointed to the sign "No Bias No Party", saying: "This will be my new name."

  Half a day later, the pig finally arrived slowly. It looked around but didn't see anything. The three animals laughed at it.

  The pig asked: "Have you all decided on your names?" They replied that they had. The pig said: "Why didn't you tell me?!" They told the pig their new names.

  The pig smiled and said: "From now on, names are usually two or three characters long. Who uses four characters?!". The others were taken aback.

  The pig continued: "No harm done! Why don't each of you give me one character from your name? That way I'll get a three-character name, and you'll all still have three characters too."

  The three beasts were overjoyed and consulted with each other, saying: "Since he begged for our leftovers, we can only give him a single character from each of us." So the dog took the character '顽', the horse took the character '固', and the monkey took the character '党'. The pig's nickname was then called '顽固党'.

  Qian Rongdao: "I've heard this joke before, I don't remember where it was from, let me think for a moment... Ah, can't remember. But definitely heard it before!"