From the moment they sat down for the family dinner, Zhu Xiaocheng began the routine pouring of her hardships.
Grandma Xu used an opera tone to sigh long and short with her. Ms. Du was responsible for sobbing along with her, and Xu Xilin and Dou Xun, the two "enemies" that were trying to pretend that they did not know each other, both had an expression so sour they looked like they were in mourning.
Xu Jin was so annoyed by Zhu Xiaocheng"s truckload of ranting that she was close to losing it. The two kids, along with Xu Jin, emitted a bad mood, the three of them each occupying one corner of the room with their "*low pressure". Dou-dou, who was locked in the bas.e.m.e.nt, frequently let out wolf-like, sky-reaching howls.
*low pressure: the weather one, not the blood one
Dou Xun knew that Zhu Xiaocheng wanted to send him to another place to stay to give the two of them s.p.a.ce to fight without having to consider anything else. To be honest, looking at the foul atmosphere their "home" had, there was really nothing to make him want to stay. After all, after all these years, he was already used to being sent away from home to live.
He had no skills, so he could only comply with all the decisions Do Junliang and Zhu Xiaocheng, the ones who paid for his living expenses, made for him. The ludicrous imaginations of his parents he had once dreamt of when he was young were long numbed to nothing after he was let down over, and over, and over again. Dou Xun originally planned to just stay unceremoniously at Sixth High School for a few months, have a place to stay, and get away to a university as soon as he could. Then he never had to give a f.u.c.k about those two anymore.
Who knew that Zhu Xiaocheng would send him to stay with Xu Xilin"s family!
Dou Xun, just by glancing at Xu Xilin"s expressionless face, knew that from the perspective of hate, they had actually came to a consensus.
But as he wasn"t even going to stay a full semester at Sixth High School, there probably weren"t anyone willing to let him rent an short-term apartment. And as he had just had a fight with Wu Tao and his lackeys, living in the dorms would be a problem, too. With Zhu Xiaocheng"s ranting voice in the background, Dou Xun made up his mind, thinking, "I"ll just get it over with and live in a hotel close to school."
He could stay there however long he wanted, there would be someone to clean the room, and it would fix all three meals for him--perfect.
When Grandma Xu cooed at Dou Xun for him to be at ease here, Dou Xun finally found the chance to speak. "I......"
But before he could say just one more word, Grandma Xu suddenly reached a hand out, stroking the top of his head and then the side of his face.
Her hand was a bit dry and twig-like. When a person reached old age, their skin weren"t going to be as smooth and full anymore. But with good care, it was still pretty fair.
On her pale hand was a firm and brilliant bracelet. The smell of soap emitted from the opening of her sleeve, a hint of old-styled domestic skin care products--the kind women over a decade ago used--intertwined in it. Dou Xun"s nose twitched slightly--it was the same smell his grandma had when she was still alive.
"Is it called *Baiqueling? *Yumeijing? Or that vanishing cream, *Yelaixiang?" Dou Xun"s originally tight-woven thoughts were suddenly hacked open.
*Baiqueling, Yumeijing, Yelaixiang: Names of beauty products.
"Poor thing." Grandma Xu said. "How old are you? Your mother just said that you"re pretty good at studying. "
Dou Xun"s mind had floated to the past, and when a sudden question hit him, he moved his lips slightly. Before he could register what he was being asked, he blushed.
And just like that, he missed the chance to express his opinion. He let the adults decide his staying place for the next while, his brain still a mess.
Xu Xilin waited for Dou Xun and the others to leave before he barged into Xu Jin"s study.
"Let me tell you something, Ms. Xu Jin. I do not agree to this." Xu Xilin said.
Xu Jin took out her wallet silently, taking out a stack of red cash from it.
"Take this and stop annoying me."
Xu Xilin, having principles, resisted the urge to take it. "Pfft, why are you doing this, am I someone that can be bribed by cash? You can adopt an entire orphanage and I"ll be fine, but that...that Do guy just can"t stay!"
Xu Jin looked up at him. "What, you know him?"
"......It was him that I got into a fight with the other day," replied Xu Xilin.
After hearing this, Xu Jin raised her brows slightly, and answered calmly, "That"s quite the karma you two have."
Xu Xilin: "MOM!"
"Xu Xilin, what"s the use of trying to save this afterwards? When I asked you beforehand, you said yes without thinking. And that made me alone and powerless against your grandma, which caused me to be in a pa.s.sive position. The only thing I could do was to give in." Xu Jin sighed. "But now you want to back out of this, great, it"s already too late!"
Xu Xilin: "BUT YOU DIDN"T TELL ME THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BRING THIS ONE HOME!"
"Don"t badger me," Xu Jin said, "I"ve told you countless times before, no matter if it"s to other people, or if it"s to yourself, you don"t back out of a promise. It"s the most basic rule in life. Changing your word over and over again—what is that even?"
Xu Xilin: "I"m not human, I don"t care about embarra.s.sment, can I just be a dog? Woof!"
Xu Jin was shocked speechless by her son"s shamelessness for a second. But she quickly regained her stance, saying coolly, "Complaining to me won"t fix anything. The decision was made by your grandma, my mom, do you think you can handle your grandma?"
Xu Xilin: "......"
"If you can, you do it. If you successfully deal with your grandma, starting from tomorrow, I"ll call you Dad." Ms. Xu Jin spread her hands nonchalantly, beginning to be shameless too, "If you can"t, then stay out of this. Be civil to your cla.s.smate from now on, and stop getting into fights—you"re as tall as a floor now, yet still can"t feel embarra.s.sment!"
Xu Xilin and Xu Jin could be traced to the same origin when it came to being a coward whenever they were facing Grandma Xu. They glared at each other once, both furious but not courageous enough to voice opposition.
And just like that, Dou Xun packed up simple luggage and moved into Xu Xilin"s home.
That same night, Xu Xilin, expressing his silent protest, refused to eat dinner at home and ducked into the McDonalds where Tsai Jing was working a shift at.
"*I can"t bear it." Xu Xilin said.
*I can"t bear it: a quote in ancient chinese
Tsai Jing knew that Xu Xilin was just randomly complaining without a thought, so he gave no comments.
Just by thinking that he had to see Do Xun whenever he looked up at home, Xu Xilin felt like he had a discontent volcano in his chest. But before Tsai Jing, he couldn"t let it out--Xu Xilin never took off his shoes to exhibit his smelly feet in front of girls except for Yu Yiran. For the same reason, he wasn"t used to being crude or cussing in front of Tsai Jing.
It wasn"t that he took Tsai Jing as a girl, but it was just hard for him to put Tsai Jing in the same category as Wu Tao or Lao Cheng or people of that sort in general.
Xu Xilin always unconsciously protected over Tsai Jing, which was something the people that usually played basketball with him was aware of. Don"t judge the *four-eyed Tsai Jing just because he wasn"t even decent at dribbling, letting him guard Xu Xilin always paid off--even though Xu Xilin had gained a skill set of "reasonable" ramming from hanging out with the bunch of hooligans on the basketball team, he was never willing to use it on Tsai Jing.
*four-eyed: wearing gla.s.ses=four eyes
Xu Xilin couldn"t curse out loud, so he scrunched the empty black tea cup in his hand flat, irritated. "No wonder......"
He originally was going to say, "No wonder why Dou Xun always has that provoking att.i.tude--it"s because he was never wanted by anyone ever since he was young after all." But before he could speak that part, he snapped out of it--this was not something appropriate to speak in front of Tsai Jing, so he swallowed that last half of his sentence back.
Tsai Jing waited for a long time for him to finish the sentence, and then gave up and asked, "No wonder what?"
Xu Xilin sighed exaggeratedly, "......No wonder why my eyelids have been twitching for the past two days."
Having made up something in a rush, Xu Xilin felt like his chest was even more stuffy. He was starting to regret coming to find Tsai Jing a bit--even going for a round of CS at the internet cafe with Lao Cheng and the others would be better than this.
When Xu Xilin arrived home that night, he saw Dou Xun sitting at the living room with Grandma Xu. On the coffee table was Grandma Xu"s off key radio. It was dissected, spread wide open. Dou Xun was wiping the dusty parts inside with a small cotton swab dabbed in alcohol.
Dou Xun and Xu Xilin glanced at each other, both feeling like the other was a pain in the a.s.s. So they simultaneously removed their gazes coldly.
Grandma Xu rattled off, "You left for the whole night and never showed up once. You didn"t even greet any of us when you entered the house--you really have matured as you grew up, huh."
Xu Xilin pretended like he hadn"t heard her, asking, "What is this that you two are doing?"
Grandma complained. "The radio isn"t good to use anymore. I asked for so long but no one was willing to fix it for me."
Xu Xilin: "Didn"t we buy a new one for you?"
"The new one looks weird, and I can"t use it......"
Having a feel that she was going to rattle on without end if this continued on, Xu Xilin fled upstairs swiftly.
An annoyed Grandma Xu turned to Dou Xun. "Look at how impatient he is."
Dou Xun didn"t know how to reply to that, and only nodded stiffly. After a while, he felt like he should probably laugh along to that too, but time had pa.s.sed by, and there was no reason to not laugh at the moment and make up for it afterwards. He could only focus on the task on hand, delicately renewing the radio worn down by years of disrepair. Then he put a new battery in, and pushed the radio to Grandma Xu: "Done."
All old people were nostalgic. Grandma Xu was extremely pleased, holding Dou Xun"s hands in hers, asking him all sorts of things.
Xu Xilin was originally worried that Dou Xun, this heartless b.a.s.t.a.r.d, would speak rudely to his grandma. Using the chance of going to the fridge for a drink, he listened to them for the whole way. The surprising result was that Dou Xun was actually quite good-mannered, answering every single question he was asked. He never once showed that he was going to bite.
"Everything has its subduer." Xu Xilin was rea.s.sured. Grandma was indeed Grandma, a vanquisher of enemy territory, one that can settle all seas. Unbeatable.
Dou Xun was absolutely silent in the Xu household--he wouldn"t leave his his room unless someone called him to.
Three days later, the first midterm exam was finished.
No matter a small or large test, the free study period in the afternoon after exams was always the most wild and undisciplined. Half of the cla.s.s was comparing their answers, while the other half was chatting loudly.
In the chaos, Qilixiang somehow was on "menopause" again, and stormed inside to lecture at them, "Look at what state you all are in! In all of the cla.s.s, only thirty six people turned in yesterday"s homework this morning, and three people still haven"t turned it in now! Who taught you that midterm exams meant that you didn"t have to turn in homework? If you even dare to treat my cla.s.s like this, how about other subjects? What are you all trying to do!"
After a moment of silence, a few people leisurely stood up.
Qilixiang, fuming, questioned them one by one. "What is it with you?"
The first person answered, "I did finish it, but I forgot to bring it this morning even though I wasn"t late."
Qilixiang: "if you can"t even remember to bring your homework, what can you remember? Get home and bring it!"
The second one was more devilish, and used the time while Qilixiang was lecturing the first person to sneak out his half-finished physics paper, filling all the remaining answers in randomly, not looking at the questions at all. Making sure that there were words under every single question, he faked an illusion of finished but forgotten to turned in homework.
When Qilixiang approached, he submitted it willingly before she even asked for it. "I"m sorry, missus, I forgot to turn it in this morning."
Qilixiang s.n.a.t.c.hed the paper over. Glancing at the tornado-blazed handwriting, she instantly knew what this was. "Who are you trying to fool! Stand at the back, now!"
At the same moment, Tsai Jing lightly poked at Xu Xilin under the desk, and then pointed at the back.
Xu Xilin turned back, and immediately snickered to himself. In the stranded corner of the cla.s.sroom, Dou Xun stood there straight as a pen, an "I don"t give a f.u.c.k" written in bold letters across his face.
Qilixiang, in three inch heels, stomped over. "What is the problem with you, then?"
Not willing to abstain himself to using lame excuses, he looked back calmly at her. "I just didn"t do it."
Flabbergasted, Qilixiang asked, "Why didn"t you do it?"
"Because I"ve seen most of the questions on it on other practice books." Dou Xun replied.
In high school sciences, the "sea of questions" tactic was unavoidable. Seeing a question just once was impossible--some people were still unable to do a question even though they encountered it everyday. Qilixiang had never heard someone use such outrageous reasons to refuse homework. She was so furious she was close to stuttering, "Repet.i.tion is......Repet.i.tion is a way of learning! It"s to make sure the information is firmly built in your mind, to help you find out parts you missed......"
Dou Xun spoke another even more outrageous sentence, carelessly interrupting her.
"Missus," he said, "Repet.i.tion isn"t learning, it"s training a dog."
The more than thirty dogs in the cla.s.s went into silence for a second. Then they heard the trainer thundering, "Get your parents here now, right now! If your dad won"t come, then get your mom!"
Dou Xun casually said, "My mom"s being a nun in America."
"GO STAND OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW!" Qilixiang roared.
Glancing at Qilixiang only once, Dou Xun packed his things, and left out of the back door, grabbing his backpack with him. He even civilly closed the back door when he left.
Enraged, Qilixiang fumed, staying right where she was for a minute. Then she stormed out, chasing after him, anger radiating off her.
Lao Cheng turned back, and remarked at Xu Xilin, "d.a.m.n, what a tough guy."
Xu Xilin didn"t bother to reply him. He was busy calling Xu Jin under the table.
"If you use your phone in cla.s.s again, I"ll make you bring an IC card to school instead." Xu Jin spoke.
"*Lao Fo Ye, your servant has something to report." Xu Xilin"s gaze scanned around the cla.s.s as if he feld exposed. "The great Dou Xun has rebuked the teacher because he didn"t do homework. He was just dragged out to the execution ground, and his head"s close to becoming unattached to his body, so do you think you need to come and collect his body?"
*Lao Fo Ye: Emperor"s mom(empress dowager)
Xu Jin"s side of the phone went silent for two seconds. Then she breathed a long sigh and said, "I got it."