After submitting the application to delete the account, Lu Ping thought he had resolved his biggest worry and would surely get a good night’s sleep. But for some reason, he felt uneasy inside. Various dreams came one after another while he slept, but he remembered none of them when he woke up.
On Monday morning, he trudged downstairs listlessly, sporting a pair of deep dark circles under his eyes.
Lu Mom hadn’t set out yet. Seeing her son in such a weary state, she asked tensely, “Pingping, are you feeling unwell?”
“No.” Lu Ping didn’t want his mom overthinking, so he perked up on purpose, flexed his arm, and struck a strongman pose. “I’m perfectly fine!”
It was already November, and the weather had gradually turned chilly. It was freezing when setting out for the morning stall. Lu Mom had put on a thin sweater and thick jacket ahead of time. She stomped her feet and pushed the tricycle out of the small courtyard.
Lu Ping’s tailbone injury had healed, and he wanted to go out with his mom to help at the stall, but Lu Mom wouldn’t allow it.
“Look at those dark circles. Hurry back to bed and lie down a bit longer. That way, you won’t get sleepy in class,” Lu Mom instructed him.
A gust of cold wind blew in, and Lu Mom shivered involuntarily. She quickly put on her gloves and wrapped her scarf around her face.
Lu Ping felt sorry for her. Lately, Lu Mom had been bringing more goods to the stall than usual. Besides selling Glutinous Cakes at the North Shore “CBD,” she would go to other places and keep selling until noon. She did all this to earn more money so they could secure a suitable storefront.
Lu Ping asked, “Mom, how much more do we need for the store?”
Lu Mom didn’t want to say. “You’re just a kid. Focus on your studies. Why ask all these questions?”
Securing a store wasn’t easy. If it was renting, shop contracts had to be signed for two years upfront, with rent paid every six months. Besides the rent, renovations were another big expense… The costs just kept adding up. Mainly, with two kids to raise, even scrimping from every penny, a family of four still spent thousands each month on food, clothing, housing, and transport.
Glutinous Cakes were cheap, and Lu Mom always used real fillings without cutting corners. In the end, she only made three to five yuan profit per cake. She needed to sell at least two thousand a month just to cover the family’s expenses. She handled the morning market, Lu Dad the night market, and the couple took turns at the stalls. Saving money wasn’t fast.
Lu Ping gritted his teeth as an idea surfaced. “Mom, if we’re short on money, could we borrow from someone?”
“Borrow from who? You know our relatives. When we held your upgrade banquet, your uncles and older relatives gave a hundred-yuan red envelope each but brought their whole families to eat…” Lu Mom naturally refused to bow to those relatives who always cried poor.
Lu Ping: “I could ask Shen…”
“—Lu Ping!” Lu Mom cut him off. She rarely called her son by his full name, but whenever she did, it meant she was angry. “Mom may not have gone to school much, but I know that friendships in school days are the purest and most precious. Be friends with Little Shen Classmate wholeheartedly. Don’t go asking to borrow money because of family matters! Money is easy to repay, but favors are hard.”
Money is easy to repay… but favors are hard…
Lu Ping listened in a daze. On one hand, he felt his mom made sense and he shouldn’t borrow from Shen Yuze. On the other, he thought Shen Yuze knew his dreams and pursuits, and if Shen Yuze learned about their family business troubles, he would help willingly.
Seeing her son fall silent, Lu Mom worried she’d spoken too harshly and hurt his good intentions.
She had a soft personality and said gently, “Pingping, you’re still young and don’t understand. Most feelings in this world get thinner the more you use them—classmate bonds, friendships, relatives’ ties, all like that. Only two kinds of feelings don’t follow this rule.”
Lu Ping asked what they were.
Lu Mom answered, “The first is parents’ love for their child, blood ties. You were born in Dad and Mom’s love, and the bigger you grow, the more we love you.” She added, “The second is between husband and wife. Dad loves Mom, Mom loves Dad. The more we go through together, the more we love each other.”
Lu Ping blushed. “…What love or not, Mom, you’re so cheesy.”
“Cheesy? That’s exactly right!” Lu Mom laughed. “You, a seventeen-year-old Xiao Wusun, where would you understand love!”
After Lu Mom left for the stall, Lu Ping returned to the bedroom, closed his eyes, and lay down for a while.
He couldn’t sleep. His mind replayed his mom’s words over and over.
One moment he thought, Really can’t borrow from Shen Yuze? The next, Is love really that magical?
He was seventeen, right at the age when hearts first stirred. The school cracked down hard on puppy love; if boys and girls got too close, the homeroom teacher would call them in for a talk. But Lu Ping had never been moved by any girl classmate. As for female celebrities, he could appreciate them, but it was just “appreciation”…
So, what exactly was love?
Would the taste of love feel more comfortable and at ease than being with Shen Yuze?
…
Traffic was backed up today, and the bus from North Shore to South Shore was delayed quite a bit.
Lu Ping jumped off the bus and rushed into campus just as the morning self-study prep bell rang. He thought the other students would be rushing to the Teaching Building like him, but for some reason, a crowd gathered in front of it. Everyone stared up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.
Lu Ping: “?” Was everyone so leisurely? Not afraid of being late?
He followed their gazes—and there on the open ground in front of No. 1 High School’s Teaching Building stood an enormous electronic screen. It was said to be extremely power-hungry, so it stayed off year-round, its only use blocking the sun on super bright days.
Since enrolling, Lu Ping had seen it turn on three times: “Welcome new students to Jiaojiang No. 1 Middle School,” “Happy holidays, students,” and “College entrance exam success reports.” In short, without a big event, the principal wouldn’t spend the extra electricity.
But today, the screen was on! Not only on, it displayed Shen Yuze’s photo, announcing he had won the Jiaojiang City English Speech Contest championship!
Lu Ping: “…”
No. 1 High School had beaten their arch-rival Experimental Middle School, and the principal’s “joy” was overflowing. He even activated this money-burning screen to broadcast the good news to the world.
But whether Shen Yuze would be “joyful” seeing his photo blown up so huge and hung so high was another story.
From what Lu Ping knew of him… yeah, that guy was definitely going to scowl.
Just imagining Shen Yuze shocked and pissed off made Lu Ping want to laugh.
The students clustered under the screen gossiped: “Shen Yuze is so ‘dragon’!” “He got full marks on the English monthly exam before, and now the speech contest championship.” “I heard Experimental Middle School is pissed. They’re cursing on their school’s space wall!” “Huh? I heard it’s poaching? Someone wants Shen Yuze’s contact info…”
Lu Ping walked past these gossiping classmates with his head held high. Though everyone praised Shen Yuze, Lu Ping felt proud as if it were his own achievement, even more so than Shen Yuze himself.
When he entered the class, classmates were buzzing about the weekend English contest. Chen Miaomiao, having been there live, naturally flexed her little broadcaster skills, recounting every detail of the event. She had great eloquence; a simple matter became an epic tale from her lips. Several girls gathered around her, hanging on every word, not even daring to breathe.
What was originally an 80% thrilling event became 100% after her embellishments, and gradually, more people crowded around.
“No way, right?” one girl objected. “Shen Yuze got perfect scores from judges twice?”
“What’s impossible? Didn’t he get full marks on the monthly exam too? If you don’t believe me…” Chen Miaomiao’s eyes darted, and she pointed at Lu Ping on the crowd’s edge. “Ask Lu Ping if you don’t! He was there too. If not for him, we wouldn’t have snagged fifth-row seats!”
Instantly, all the girls’ gazes landed on Lu Ping.
Lu Ping had never been stared at by so many girls before. The old him would’ve ducked his head in embarrassment, but now he was different. He answered proudly, “Yes! Shen Yuze is just that excellent!”
His pride practically overflowed from his eyes.
The entire morning self-study, no one focused on reading. Notes flew around the class; many regretted not going to watch live and could only imagine Shen Yuze dominating through others’ tales.
As morning self-study neared its end, Shen Yuze, the “late privilege holder,” finally arrived. The whole class’s gazes shone on him like little spotlights. Some guy shouted, “Welcome back, Dragon King!” and everyone burst into applause.
