MM | Chapter 2

Blow

“Teacher, someone is looking for you,” a girl called out to Director Xu, pointing outside the window.

The hand pressing down on Sheng Wang’s shoulder finally released him. Director Xu nodded to the person outside and said, “A meeting, right? I’ll be there.”

He straightened up and pointed at the earphones Sheng Wang hadn’t removed, saying, “Today is an exception because it’s the first day. Starting tomorrow, no phones, earphones, or PSPs in the classroom. If I catch you, hey—”

He pointed his index finger twice, then swiftly reached into the desk of the boy in front.

“Damn!” The boy jumped up immediately, covering his backpack as if he’d touched an electric switch.

“Covering it helps? This is the second time, Gao Tianyang.” Director Xu held up the freshly confiscated phone and shook it at Sheng Wang. “See that? This is a negative example. Also, where’s the discipline committee rep?”

A girl in the front row poked her head out, “Here.”

“Playing with a phone, deduct 3 points for civility. Swearing, deduct 1 point.”

“Oh.”

Director Xu, satisfied with his big haul, walked away with his spoils.

Sheng Wang, having witnessed the capture up close, looked a bit bewildered. The boy named Gao Tianyang looked at him with growing resentment. After a few seconds, Sheng Wang finally reacted, silently taking off his earphones and tucking them along with his phone into his bag to avoid provoking anyone.

Gao Tianyang still looked at him.

Sheng Wang thought for a moment and politely comforted him, “My condolences.”

“Shit.” Gao Tianyang couldn’t help but laugh, wiping his face, “It’s okay, it’s not the first time. They check phones every so often. Who here hasn’t been caught?”

“Oh.” Sheng Wang nodded, then wondered, “Then why are you looking at me?”

Gao Tianyang: “Just curious.”

Sheng Wang: “?”

“Before you came in, we were talking about you. I even Googled your old school. Why transfer to Jiangsu in your second year?”

Sheng Wang chuckled dryly, “Ask my dad.”

Gao Tianyang rubbed his buzz cut, wanting to gossip more, but the bell rang suddenly. The students lounging around chatting straightened up, and those who had been napping stretched and pulled out a stack of papers from their desks.

When everyone returned to their seats, no longer clustered together, Sheng Wang felt conspicuously out of place—because everyone in this class had single desks, except him. His desk was paired with another, and his deskmate was sleeping like a corpse.

What the hell…

Sheng Wang had just pulled out his new textbook, unsure whether to put his backpack down or not. Feeling incredibly awkward, he could only turn to glare at Jiang Tian.

This suspected Bking of a deskmate might have stayed up all night doing something shady, as he hadn’t even heard the bell. His arm covered most of his face, only the line of his jaw visible through the gap. The white crew-neck T-shirt outlined the curve of his hunched shoulders and back, rising and falling gently with his breathing.

Is he planning to sleep until school ends? Sheng Wang thought.

In front, Gao Tianyang suddenly remembered something and turned around, quickly nudging Jiang Tian, whispering, “Wake up, Tian-ge, it’s self-study.”

He pointed at Jiang Tian and explained to Sheng Wang, “He asked me to wake him up for class so he wouldn’t oversleep.”

Sheng Wang raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised. He thought this deskmate was one of those who slept all day but aced every exam.

Gao Tianyang called twice, and Jiang Tian finally woke up.

He responded with a low “hmm,” his fingers curling slightly at the back of his head, black hair sticking out between them. He pinched his thumb against his index finger joint with a slight crack, then lifted his head. After sitting up straight, he rubbed his face.

It was visibly a struggle to wake up.

“Wow, what did you do last night to be this tired?” Gao Tianyang couldn’t help but ask.

“Just some trivial stuff.” Jiang Tian clearly didn’t want to elaborate, his brow furrowed with both drowsiness and irritation. He reached into his desk for a bottle of mineral water, the condensation on it melting slightly in his hand. He took a sip, finally glancing at Sheng Wang.

With a frown, he turned his head. Perhaps due to the cold water, his voice and tone were both chilly, “Who are you, and why are you sitting here?”

Listen to this nonsense.

Sheng Wang, already annoyed at being seated next to someone named Jiang, had even less of a good impression after hearing that tone. His young master’s temper flared, and he pointed at the new textbook on the desk with his chin, “I’m new here, just sitting here. What about it?”

Handsome guys bickering might be quite entertaining, as several students in the front rows turned their heads.

Sensing the tension, Gao Tianyang quickly intervened, “No, you were napping earlier, so you didn’t know. The teacher put him here.”

“Which teacher?” Jiang Tian asked.

“Who else, Big Mouth,” Gao Tianyang said. “He loves randomly assigning seats. Last time, he moved my desk next to the podium, and the next day he forgot and asked why I wasn’t sitting in the classroom. I was like, what the hell?”

Sheng Wang was glaring at Jiang Tian when he heard this, and he turned to stare at Gao Tianyang, his face practically screaming: Why didn’t you say anything when Big Mouth Monkey was here?

Suddenly, there was the sound of dragging, and Sheng Wang looked over to see Jiang Tian standing up, moving his chair and pulling his single desk back a bit.

“What are you doing?” Gao Tianyang asked, puzzled.

“Adjusting seats.” Jiang Tian didn’t even glance over, just tilted his head slightly towards Sheng Wang, “He’s shorter, so he sits here. I’ll sit in the back.”

Sheng Wang: “Who’s short?”

Jiang Tian had already sat down in his new spot, pulling out a thick stack of papers and tossing them on the desk. Then he leaned back in his chair, looking at Sheng Wang, “Or are you taller than me?”

“…”

At this point, Sheng Wang’s impression of him was irreparably ruined.

He moved his single desk to the left, aligning it with the row, and stuffed his backpack into the desk. Just as he sat down, Gao Tianyang tapped his desk with a pen and turned to whisper, “Hey, buddy.”

“Yeah?” Young Master Sheng wasn’t one to take his frustration out on unrelated people.

Gao Tianyang covered his mouth and whispered even lower, “Don’t take it to heart. He’s not usually like this. Maybe something’s bothering him these days, and he’s in a bad mood.”

Out of courtesy, Sheng Wang replied with an “oh,” but he thought to himself, not my problem.

Compared to the ice-cold plague god behind him, he was more concerned about the other students in the classroom.

Because looking around, he was the only one with textbooks on his desk. Everyone else had stacks of papers. And despite the bell ringing for a while, no teacher had shown up.

What’s with this school?

He scanned the room, but before he could voice his doubts, the ever-considerate Gao Tianyang spoke up, “It’s Saturday today, and during the extra class period, it’s all self-study. Didn’t you… bring any papers?”

Sheng Wang reminded him irritably, “I just got here today.”

“Oh, then what are you going to use to review?” Gao Tianyang poked at the brand-new textbook, “The textbook?”

“Review?” Sheng Wang repeated, “You mean review?”

“Yeah.”

Sheng Wang suddenly had a bad feeling. He asked dryly, “Why are we reviewing?”

Gao Tianyang said, “Because there’s an exam tomorrow.”

Sheng Wang: “???”

“What’s happening tomorrow?”

“Exam.”

Sheng Wang looked at him like he was speaking nonsense, “Exam on what? Grade 10 material?”

“That was the last final exam. We’re not testing on grade 10 material now.” Gao Tianyang pointed at the textbook Sheng Wang had just received, “We’re testing on this.”

Sheng Wang: “…”

Say that again?

Maybe his stunned expression was cute, because Gao Tianyang burst out laughing.

Sheng Wang pointed at the textbook, speaking in a flat voice, “Director Xu told me this is your new textbook for the semester.”

“In theory, yes,” Gao Tianyang said, “but we’ve already finished it. Today is August 8th, right? We went on summer break on July 10th, had ten days off, and then came back for classes. We finished it in the first couple of days.”

“Which subjects?”

“Well, math, physics, and chemistry are done. Chinese is a bit slower, and English doesn’t really follow the textbook.”

Sheng Wang felt suffocated, “So tomorrow I’m supposed to take exams on five subjects I’ve never studied?”

“Yes.”

“Can I take a leave?”

“Probably not.” Gao Tianyang pretended to be world-weary, “Friend, the road is long. Take care of yourself. Once you graduate, just find someone to beat up Big Mouth Xu.”

This was all too overwhelming. Throughout the day, Sheng Wang remained in a state of mental haze, or as he called it, “very drunk.”

It wasn’t until Uncle Xiao Chen, the driver, called his phone that he realized self-study had ended, and the classroom was almost empty. Gao Tianyang seemed to have said goodbye before leaving, and the annoying one was nowhere to be seen.

On the way, he received a call from his dad, Sheng Mingyang. A father knows his son well, and with just one “hmm,” he sensed something was wrong.

“What happened? Did something come up?” Sheng Mingyang asked.

Sheng Wang leaned his head against the car window, lazily slumped in the back seat, and said numbly, “I have a request. Can you help me with it?”

“Go ahead.”

“I want to drop out.”

“…”

Sheng Mingyang was taken aback, then couldn’t help but laugh, “Oh wow, is this still my son?”

Sheng Wang had always been the peacock type, never saying “no” since he grew up, except when he was a kid throwing tantrums. Hearing this tone now, Sheng Mingyang felt a bit sentimental, his voice softening, “Tell me, what happened?”

Sheng Wang chuckled, ready to spill his grievances, but then he heard a muffled voice next to Sheng Mingyang, a woman’s low question. Sheng Mingyang’s voice also suddenly became muffled, probably covering the phone to reply to her.

Sheng Wang paused, suddenly losing interest.

“Nothing, just talking. I’m hanging up.” He spoke with a smile, sounding cheerful.

“Oh, where are you now?” Sheng Mingyang asked.

Sheng Wang glanced out the window. The car was passing Qingyang Street, and in the distance, he could see a turn leading to Baima Lane. A bit further, there were some snack carts at the alley entrance, steaming something that created a thin mist along the wall.

Baima Lane was where his family’s old ancestral home was. He had lived there until he was five, moving out afterward. Until he was eight, he would occasionally visit with his mom. After she passed away when he was eight, he hadn’t been back.

The area had changed a lot, and his childhood memories weren’t very clear. But seeing that mist, he felt a bit nostalgic.

When Xiao Chen drove into the courtyard, Sheng Mingyang was already there waiting.

The sky was a dim blue-gray, with some houses already lit up. Sheng Wang got out of the car, hearing his dad warmly say, “Wangzai, this is your Aunt Jiang. And this is her son, Jiang Tian. He’s a bit older, call him brother.”

Jiang who???

Sheng Wang froze, suddenly looking up.