Dou Xun hated school.
No matter the curriculum in cla.s.s that was so slow that it was wasting his life, or the same age incommunicable r.e.t.a.r.ds around him, they all made him unreluctant to leave, nor hold any expectations.
Growing up, he never viewed anyone as his equal, and neither did anyone want to take him along with them. A kinder environment would isolate and leave him out, while a more violent one would get him into fights every couple of days.
Everytime Dou Xun arrived at a new environment, he wanted nothing else than to get out immediately, as if the next one would be better. Until his high school career had a small tail left did he barely taste what a student should experience.
But just lightly. Even though Xu Xilin did take him along anywhere he went, he couldn"t join in with the games and girls they were talking about--he didn"t play video games, and girls...except for the ones he occasionally hung out with, he knew none of them. Other people, as if they knew he didn"t understand, never initiated a conversation with him.
But even this skin-deep feeling was coming to an end.
Dou Xun was lost in his heart, yet had no one to talk to. He had developed an indescribable reliance on Xu Xilin, and wished he could just pack him along with him after the exam. But that b.a.s.t.a.r.d not only was born with an underdeveloped brain, he was fooling around all the time. Not even half of his mind was spent on studying. He had no desire for achievement.
Thinking more and more, Dou Xun was even more disappointed in him. So he found another argument that day, picked at it, and got into a fight with Xu Xilin.
After the argument, he quietly went back to his room, opened a full bag of pork jerky, and thought about the meaning of life while eating. He accidentally finished it, but also found his answer. He thought, "I"m going to take another year of high school."
[Xu Xilin"s bratty att.i.tude often made Dou Xun leave in anger.] But arguments were arguments. When the temper went away, Xu Xilin never really kept anything against him. Because Dou Xun was an unknown species of primate mammals, a good-looking human pet with a notable way of thinking. He couldn"t be measured the same way as normal humans.
T/N: I strongly suspect that Priest messed the two names up.
The few days after that, Lao Cheng, Xu Xilin and the others took turns thrice a day to convince Tsai Jing to let them help him out.
When they came back from the 5/1 vacation, Xu Xilin, with Dou Xun, who refused to be unattached to him, attended his first "job".
Tsai Jing worked at McDonald"s on Tuesdays and Sat.u.r.days. Those weren"t open for random people to help out, but all the other days of the week were. He worked as a waiter in a small private restaurant. The small restaurant had loose management, they just had to alert the owner beforehand--after all, the owner was only going to pay for one. He didn"t care if the paycheck was just received by one.
The first day of work was quite fresh to him. Xu Xilin did his job with enthusiasm.
That evening, an eye-catchingly dressed man walked into the small restaurant. His shirt was ironed, and his look was polished carefully. Charming demeanour, without the piled up body fat of the usual middle-aged man or woman. You could even see traces of styling in his hair. Compared to the labor workers and broke students in the store, he seemed out of place.
The man entered the store, and observed around discreetly. He then picked a table in the corner, lifted up his pant legs, and sat down. But not before he wiped the bench and the table with a napkin.
He sat in a graceful posture. As if he wasn"t here to ingest *gutter oil, but to savor a bottle of Lafite.
T/N: illegally recycled waste cooking oil(a food safety scandal that happened a few years back)
Dou Xun walked over expressionlessly. He remembered that Xu Xilin had told him to smile at the customers, so he then forced the fakest smile you could have. He asked stiffly, "What would you like to order today?"
Xu Xilin covered his face behind the counter.
The customer glanced at Xu Xilin from afar, and ordered a few dishes.
This customer must"ve been high maintenance. It was just two dishes in total, but he refused to have parsley in this one, and no scallions in that one. He suddenly asked for less soy sauce in this, but then asked for a small dish of vinegar. Dou Xun had a hand in his pocket, and didn"t even have a pen in the other. He just stood there and listened to the customer"s detailed instructions. He nodded briefly, and turned around and left.
The man stopped him in his tracks. "Can you remember all that, *cla.s.smate?"
T/N: the chinese equivalent of "young man"
"Do you need me to repeat it for you?"
The man was good-natured. He smiled, and didn"t take offense.
But Dou Xun was disturbed by it. Because the people working a part-time job here were around the age of a high schooler, so they didn"t stand out. The man called him "student" the first time he saw him. How did he know he was a student?
Dou Xun entered the back of the restaurant. He reported the man"s order to the kitchen, and turned around to ask Xu Xilin, "Do you know that guy?"
"Um...um, yes, I know. Thank you. Your order will arrive immediately." Xu Xilin had just finished a take out order. He pa.s.sed a confused look to Xu Xilin, "Who?"
Dou Xun eyed the strange male customer in the corner.
Xu XIlin looked up towards the direction of his gaze, and saw the strange customer"s elbows propped up on the table, displaying a discreet business watch on his wrist. The man was looking at him. The man wasn"t embarra.s.sed when he was caught, either. Instead he smiled kindly at him.
Xu Xilin nodded at the man politely. He turned around to say to Dou Xun, "I don"t. The people I know actually speak when they want to."
Although the weird customer had ordered a few dishes, he didn"t eat more than a few bites. He left after barely touching it.
When the evening shift was over, Xu Xilin and Dou Xun, after handing over the work and clocking in for Tsai Jing, walked home together. Xu Xilin, having a stiff back from standing for the whole evening, had rudimentarily understood the importance of "studying well". Just as he was going to converse with Dou Xun about it, he saw the strange middle-aged man that was in the shop awhile ago standing beside a car parked at the intersection.
The man, after seeing Xu Xilin and Dou Xun, bent down to say something to someone in the car. Then he strode over, and asked Xu Xilin, "Can I have a word or two with you?"
He was too eager, as if he had sinister intentions. Xu Xilin unconsciously leaned towards the guarded Dou Xun, "Do you know me?"
The man laughed. He avoided the question, asking instead, "You"re so busy studying, isn"t your pocket money enough? Why did she let you do this?"
The chummy way the man spoke made Xu Xilin frown.
At his age, it was impossible for him to be taken away and sold like a kid. Two half-grown boys on the road would be avoided by both swindlers and robbers. He"d never met one like this, one that just tried to pick up a conversation with him in the middle of the streets.
An answer to that faintly rose up in his mind.
He said impatiently, "Whatever it is, it"s none of your business, isn"t it?"
The man was nervous. Because based on his observations, Xu Xilin was an outgoing and friendly young man. He could kick up small talk with any customer he liked. But what the man hadn"t predicted was that he didn"t get on Xu Xilin"s good side.
The man, looking at Xu Xilin, asked almost fawningly, "Do you still remember me?"
"I don"t," Xu Xilin pulled Dou Xun over expressionlessly, "Let"s go."
The man froze for a second, but quickly stopped Xu Xilin in his tracks, "Wait, Xiao Lin, you actually still remember Dad, right?"
Xu Xilin was shaken up. He didn"t think that his faint prediction would actually come true.
The man stepped forward, speaking a little hastily, "You were just this big when I left, but you"re so tall now. Dad was abroad all these years, but I really didn"t ignore you. I always thought of you, I sent many gifts...but you probably received none of them. Your mother...wasn"t willing to let me contact you."
Xu Xilin didn"t really have any memories of his father. There wasn"t any love or hate, really. Xu Xilin didn"t instill hate for the other parent in him like some divorced women to make the kid stand on her side, either--she never really mentioned her ex-husband at all.
At first, Xu Xilin was quite nonchalant. If this man really could prove that he was his dad, then he was open to chat. After all, that was still his dad.
But he got disturbed as he listened to more.
This mister might"ve been "related but not a.s.sociated with" Xu Xilin, but it was simple morality to not cause a rift between blood. Even the former lawyer Ms. Xu didn"t say anything bad about her ex-husband. But he, at the first meeting, before even verifying himself, had tattled on Xu Jin discreetly.
Xu Xilin glanced at him once more. He saw that this man was dressed quite nicely. The man said that he was abroad, but wouldn"t he have the money to buy at least one plane ticket back home to visit him?
Xu Xilin slung his backpack onto his shoulder. "What"s your surname?"
"Zheng, yours were the same when you were young--"
"Mr. Zheng," Xu Xilin decided to say in a grown-up way after some considering, "As a shareholder, you already sold all your shares related to the company more than ten years ago. It isn"t logical for you to retain the right to dividends and auditing, don"t you agree?"
The man froze on the spot.
But Xu Xilin quickly lost his cover, and went back to teenager mode. He waved at the man, "Oh, and if i hear you saying bad stuff about my mom again, I"ll kill you. Try me."
Then he left.
Dou Xun glared over his shoulder at the man for him, and quickly caught up.
Signs of early summer were already showing at the time. The sophoras were already showing white, and a faint, twilight aroma was drifting in the dry night wind.
Dou Xun trailed after Xu Xilin silently for a while. He tried to remember what Lao Cheng and the others did to communicate Xu Xilin in similar circ.u.mstances--they"d probably just walk up to him, b.u.mp him lightly on the shoulder and share a look with him or pull him over for a pat. For comforting, that was enough.
So Dou Xun approached him clumsily, imitating Lao Cheng and the others, "lightly" b.u.mping Xu Xilin on the shoulder...but he didn"t imitate them right. He put too much force in it, which made Xu Xilin stumble sideways. It also startled him.
"What are you doing?" Xu Xilin asked, dumbfounded.
Dou Xun: "......"
Dou Xun was indefinitely defeated. He could only pretend that nothing happened, stumbling forward on his own.
It took Xu Xilin three seconds to understand what was going on. He seemed to finally grab a hint that Dou Xun was trying to comfort him. He laughed on the spot, and tossed all thoughts of *Upright and Lop-Sided misters aside.
T/N: "Upright" in CN is p.r.o.nounced the same way as Xu Xilin"s father"s surname.
He jogged a few steps, pounced onto Dou Xun"s back, and held back Dou Xun"s neck with his circled arms. "How are you so teasable, Dou Xian Er?"
Dou Xun was strangled red in the face. Antagonized, he pulled free of Xu XIlin"s embrace. Then the two, poking and shoving and chasing each other around, went home.
When they arrived at the door, Xu Xilin finally stopped, chest heaving. He urged Dou Xun, "Don"t tell anyone what happened today, especially my mom and Grandma."
Dou Xun nodded serenely. Xu Xilin looked at him, and for some reason, he couldn"t hold it back again, He laughed, clutching at the doorframe, unable to stop.
"What are you laughing at," Dou Xun, ears flushed red, expression stony, pushed past Xu Xilin and went into the house, saying malevolently, "Dumba.s.s."