Chapter 10 (3)

  Lin Yuxiao smiled and interjected, "I was just thinking of it when you mentioned it. What a coincidence! I happen to have this book with me. I also brought a few others, take a look." He then took out the books one by one. Qian Rongzhen looked at them intently, and saw that they included "The Will to Power", "Ben Jonson and Drummond of Hawthornden", "Psychological Types and Their Mental Dynamics", and "On David Hume's Death". Lin Yuxiao had brought these books just for show, and he himself had never read them. The book "Jokes" was something he had only flipped through during military training in the bathroom, and the story "The Beast's Alias" was the first one in that book, which Lin Yuxiao had only read that much of. He didn't expect it to come in handy, and sighed at how sometimes reading a little can be more useful than reading a lot.

  Qian Rongzhen's arrogance was reduced by half, thinking that Lin Yuxiao was truly well-read, but not wanting to admit it, he struggled to say: "I've flipped through these books at home, my house even has two study rooms. I've been reading since I was young, and last time Zhao Lihong came to my house, she saw the two big study rooms and was so envious that she said her 'Four Steps Study' couldn't compare." Lin Yuxiao suspected he was talking nonsense, but couldn't get Zhao Lihong to come and verify it, and didn't have any evidence to refute him, so he put on a surprised expression.

  Qian Rongzhen asked: "What about you?"

  Yu Xiang said, "My family has only one study room, but there are many books inside. They're all... these few identical books. Tough to chew through!"

  Qian Rong said: "Just reading books can't be called a great scholar, I have seen many writers, listening to them speak is an artistic enjoyment, fruition of art, understand?"

  Yu Xiang has already forgotten the kindness of his benefactor, and there is a look of disdain in his eyes. Qian Rongkuo talks about his father's conversations with writers, as if all the writers in the world have had interviews with Old Man Qian, even ancient ones like Wu Zhenzi can't avoid it. A cold voice says: "Your English is quite good."

  "Of course. The most important thing about English is vocabulary, you people are often satisfied with textbooks, it's really narcissistic. I read foreign classics without translation."

  Yu Xiang couldn't understand "narcissism", but he knew in his heart that it definitely wasn't a good word. The most painful thing in the conversation was knowing that he had been scolded, but not knowing what he had been scolded as. Yu Xiang searched through all the English vocabulary he had learned throughout his life, and hated that he couldn't find a suitable word to retort with, and was at a loss for words.

  Qian Rong also said: "I was born with a personality that is beyond the ordinary, and all the teachers at school called me a genius!"

  Yu Xiang didn't understand the meaning of "outsider" again, so he just flipped through the book without speaking. That one English idiom was like two arrows shot from behind, leaving Yu Xiang defenseless. The two had a fierce battle, with no clear winner or loser, and finally turned their spearheads towards Xie Jingyuan, who was reading English: "What about you?"

  Xie Jingyuan raised his head and asked: "What's wrong with me?"

  "How many books does your family have?"

  Xie Jingyuan asked: "Hidden books? Including language and math textbooks?"

  Yu Xiang: "No, it's just this...this..." He held up the book "Western Learning and the Fissures in Late Qing Thought" to show Xie Jingyuan.

  Xie Jingyuan pushed his glasses and shook his head: "There's no such book in our house. My dad always says that people who read idle books are people with no prospects."

  These words enraged both Yu Xiang and Qian Rong at the same time. They joined forces to rebuke Xie Jingyuan: "How can you say such a thing?"

  Xie Jingyuan repeatedly quoted famous sayings: "My teacher also said that the few books in class can't be finished, and the extracurricular books except for reference books should not be touched. Reading this kind of book will make your mind wild and you won't learn real knowledge."

  Qian Rong glanced at Yu Xiang, seeing that he didn't intend to argue back, thought it would be beneath him to quarrel with such a bookworm, and casually said: "Many people are like this, thinking they're right, that's just human nature." This remark didn't have a specific addressee, and neither Yu Xiang nor Xie Jingyuan responded.

  Qian Rong suddenly said: "Ah! I moved house and forgot my wife! Yu Xiang, where were we?" Yu Xiang disgustedly said: "I don't know."

  Qian Rong wouldn't let it go and said: "Maybe... right, is that referring to how I learned English?"

  Yu Xiang didn't dare say another word, fearing that Qian Rong would again hide in the foreign language to scold him. He spoke with Xie Jingyuan: "What book are you reading?"

  English.

  Qian Rong heard and said: "You can't learn English well like this! I have a book 'Gone with the Wind', I'll lend it to you. You must not wrinkle or crease it, after you finish reading this book, your English will be half as good as mine, Understand?"

  Xie Jingyuan disdainfully said: "I won't look at it. You look yourself."

  Qian Rongyi laughed and said: "Shit! That's nonsense! I went to see it myself, and it turns out that in this era, there are still people like a block of stone!"

  Yu Xiang Shou Zhu Dai Tu Ban Tian, finally met a word that he understood himself, and didn't want to miss the opportunity to show off, saying: "What's like a stone, you can't impose your views on others!"

  Xie Jingyuan was deeply moved when he heard Yu Xiang defending his honor, and fearing that the two would come to blows, said: "Forget it! Forget it!"

  Yu Xiang and another person ran to the neighboring room to find Yu Xiong. Yu Xiong was writing at his desk, saw Yu Xiang coming in, and quickly put things away. Yu Xiang said straight out: "There are two mentally ill people in our dormitory, one who reads books every day is a bookworm, another thinks he's Li Ao, bragging all day, thinking he understands but actually doesn't, how can such people exist in this world!"

  Yu Xiong smiled and said: "Can't take it anymore? The best part is yet to come."

  Yu Xiang, still seething with anger, said: "Who does he think he is?" Having said what needed to be said, Yu Xiang's pent-up resentment was finally vented. While it's impossible to win a direct confrontation, kicking someone from behind can also bring joy; the difference being that when you kick someone from behind, they will feel pain. But Yu Xiang's words were like hitting someone through a wall, or rather, like beating a person who couldn't fight back in life, and then disturbing their corpse after death - it was a kind of pleasure derived from flogging a dead body.

  Yu Xiang's spiritual whipping was over, and a kind of unbeatable fighting spirit surged up in his heart. He couldn't bear to let go, so he went on to whip the corpse of his ancestor eight generations ago: "He just relied on his dad's company, what a dog relying on human power." After thoroughly whipping him, his heart felt a sense of confusion and emptiness.

  At night self-study, Yu Xiang didn't dare to sing, a week of military training was really a huge change. Yao Shuqin, who sat behind Yu Xiang, somehow cheated her way into becoming a discipline committee member, specializing in recording discipline. Once someone becomes an official, their waist can straighten up a lot. People who haven't become officials are like a group of wild dogs, while the official position is like a chain, once someone from the wild dog group becomes an official, they suddenly turn into a domesticated dog and have the capital and identity to bark loudly at other wild dogs. Yao Shuqin appeared calm on the surface but secretly kept writing down Yu Xiang's name, with the crime of being too loud. If it were a one-on-one fight, the wild dog and domesticated dog should be evenly matched, but the wild dog often can't win against the domesticated dog because the domesticated dog has an owner. Yu Xiang didn't even have the courage to fight back, only knowing how to scold in private.

  It's been over a week since Yu Xiang arrived at Nan San Middle School, and he already feels like he can't bear this kind of life. There isn't even anyone to talk to. Other dormitories are more lively after lights out than before, and the inspectors seem as powerful as the emperor Guangxu. Occasionally, they'll intervene in a dormitory that's being too rowdy. The school is furious about this, and every night, someone from the political education department comes to supervise. If they catch anyone not following the rules, they make them write a self-criticism essay. Most students are very good at writing essays these days, especially those from the 90s who excel at using clichés and empty words. They're not afraid of writing self-criticisms. So, the political education department publishes the names of students who don't follow the rules every day, which is surprisingly effective. After that, discipline improves a lot, but as soon as the teachers leave, the dormitories become noisy again. The school doesn't know this and still praises the students for their improved sense of discipline in the weekly summaries. The quietest dormitory in the whole school is room 205's second dormitory. Yu Xiang has been holding back a lot of words every night, waiting to say them to someone in his dreams. However, his insomnia is getting worse and worse. Luckily, he usually falls asleep by 11 pm. One day, he almost didn't sleep at all, and the next day, he was so sleepy that it felt like a tiger pouncing on him. But people often fall asleep easily after being angry, and this night, Yu Xiang fell asleep especially early. The next morning, he woke up at dawn and thought about waking everyone else up, but suddenly, he had a vengeful feeling and hoped they would all be late.