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Chapter 29 p2: Surprise

A few people in Mi Yang’s class were also selected to participate in the competition. It was said that it was with the fourth grade. The homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, had specially selected a few students with good math scores to send. They usually didn’t attend classes in the afternoon, and everyone looked at them with envy, thinking that the students who went to study for the math Olympiad were particularly smart. Mi Yang had done a test paper when he skipped a grade, and his score was excellent, but he had not been selected by Teacher Wang.

But apparently, the math teacher who had taught him for a month before felt it was a pity and couldn’t help but have Bai Luochuan send him a test paper.

Mi Yang held the test paper and looked at it. Primary school math Olympiad was not difficult, and many of the problems were quite familiar, bringing back many old memories. After getting the paper, he buried his head and started to answer the questions.

Mi Yang remembered that if he won first place in a math Olympiad competition, many schools would give a small cash prize. His entire fortune now was just a few coins, which didn’t even add up to two yuan. He was still very interested in the prize money.

Bai Luochuan looked at him and said, “Little Good Boy, are you going to participate in the competition too?”

Mi Yang said vaguely, “Not necessarily.”

He wasn’t sure about the competition, but after he finished these problems, maybe in another six months, if he performed well in class, he could skip another grade. It would be good when he got to middle school. He didn’t tell Bai Luochuan about this. In his plan, according to his original memory, their family should be returning to Shanhai Town in two years. Bai Luochuan should be leaving even earlier than him. After all, Mrs. Bai wouldn’t let her only son study here forever.

The thought of being separated later made Mi Yang feel a little reluctant.

He was a bit distracted while writing the last few problems. After he finally finished, he washed up and climbed into bed, pushing the young master Bai, who was lying there playing a game console, to get up and talk to him.

Bai Luochuan was still looking down at the game console and said casually, “What’s wrong?”

Mi Yang looked at him, opened his mouth, and changed what he was about to say. “What if, in the future, we’re not in the same school? We can write letters, right?”

Bai Luochuan immediately put down the game console in his hand, not caring about the half-finished game of Tetris. He looked up at him and frowned. “Where are you going again?”

Mi Yang said, “It’s not necessarily me. What if you go back to Shanghai to study?”

Bai Luochuan snorted, not as wary as before. He picked up the game console and continued to play. “I’m not going back.”

Mi Yang said, “What if?”

Bai Luochuan said decisively, “Impossible.”

Mi Yang: “Then if my parents take me back to my hometown, and we’re not in the same school, I’ll write to you. How about we be pen pals? I heard from Tang Xiao that it’s very popular in the higher grades to find pen pals in magazines and write to each other. It’s quite nice.”

Bai Luochuan put down the game console again and got to the point. “Who is Tang Xiao?”

Mi Yang: “He’s my new deskmate. No, I wasn’t talking about Tang Xiao. I was talking about writing letters.”

Bai Luochuan said, “I’m not writing. And don’t learn from that Tang Xiao. What’s so good about writing letters? You’re with me.” He thought for a moment and added, “You can use the phone at home to call your parents. When we go to boarding school in middle school, I’ll have my mom bring me a mobile phone, and I’ll let you call home every night.”

Mi Yang: “…”

Mi Yang thought to himself, You’ve planned this quite well, a five-year plan in one go.

Mi Yang couldn’t get through to him and couldn’t be bothered to argue. These were not things he could decide at the moment anyway. He would just take it one step at a time.

On Monday evening, Wei Xian returned early.

Mi Yang had promised the young master Bai that he would do his homework with him. Seeing Mr. Wei return early, he exchanged a look with Bai Luochuan, then jumped off the chair at the desk and ran back to the bedroom to get something.

Bai Luochuan went forward to help the teacher with his things. “Grandpa Wei, I have a gift for you in a bit. Don’t open your eyes yet.”

Wei Xian was familiar with the two of them, so he closed his eyes and let the child lead him in, following his instructions to lift his feet and step. He felt that he had entered the study where they usually had their lessons and couldn’t help but ask, “What gift? Why are you two suddenly giving me something? Don’t tell me you didn’t do the homework I left for you?”

Bai Luochuan said, “How could that be? I’ve finished it all, and Little Good Boy and I even checked each other’s work.”

Wei Xian smiled. “Little Good Boy checked your work again? You have to work harder, or you won’t be able to catch up!”

Bai Luochuan said confidently, “I can catch up!”

Just as he was speaking, Mi Yang returned. He placed the book on Wei Xian’s desk, then stepped aside and gestured to Bai Luochuan. Bai Luochuan then said, “Grandpa Wei, okay, you can open your eyes and see.”

Wei Xian opened his eyes and looked around. He was indeed in the study, but upon careful inspection, nothing new had been added, not even the small ornaments on the desk had been changed. The book he had left on the desk before he left was also still there—his gaze swept past the book, then quickly returned, his eyes fixed on it. It was placed there so naturally that it almost made him think that the book was supposed to be like that.

Wei Xian’s first reaction was that he hadn’t noticed anything, but then he realized that the book had been repaired. He was overjoyed. “This is?”

Bai Luochuan said proudly, “Mi Yang repaired the book for you. It’s very sturdy!”

Wei Xian had only seen the cover, and it looked slightly different from before. But when he heard them say that, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly went over to take a look. When he opened it, he was worried that there would be transparent tape or something on it, but there wasn’t. The pages were flat and clean, and the whole book felt a bit thicker and more solid, the kind that felt very reassuring in his hands. He suddenly let out a “huh” and weighed the book in his hand. “Why is it heavier?”

Mi Yang said, “It’s probably the glue. I glued the loose pages back in.”

Hearing him say that, Wei Xian quickly picked it up and examined it carefully, focusing on the center seam. It was true. The new glue was applied very evenly. If he hadn’t looked closely, he wouldn’t have noticed that it was newly applied. He reached out and touched it. The glue was already dry, the two ends were neat, and the spine was firm. The reinforcement was very well done. Wei Xian couldn’t help but run his fingers back and forth over it. After feeling the cover, he flipped through the inside and saw that the dirty marks inside were also gone. He was pleasantly surprised. “It’s become so much cleaner. The ink spots from before are all gone!”

Mi Yang stood by with a smile and didn’t say anything. Bai Luochuan puffed out his little chest. “Of course, Little Good Boy wiped it for a whole day!”

Wei Xian kept saying, “Good, good, this is really great.” This book was his most treasured one; otherwise, he wouldn’t have carried it with him all the time. He was extremely satisfied with the repair, especially after closing the book. The new glue and the previously yellowed pages merged together without looking abrupt at all. Except for being a little stiff, it was as if it had always been like that.

After his excitement subsided, he suddenly remembered what Bai Luochuan had said earlier and turned his head to ask, “What? You said Little Good Boy did this?” He had been with the two children for a long time and had also started to call him that. He quickly turned his head and asked again, “Did you really repair this?”

Mi Yang rubbed the tip of his nose and nodded. “Yes. Do you think it’s okay, Grandpa Wei?”

Wei Xian thought it was more than okay. He knew a few bookbinders, but they always made it too white, which he disliked. These books had been with him for many years, and they had been weathered by time together. After being repaired half-white and half-yellow, they looked particularly ugly. But Mi Yang’s work was a pleasant surprise. He beckoned for Mi Yang to come over, held his hands, and bent down to ask him, “Little Good Boy, tell the teacher, how did you do it?”

Mi Yang looked up at him. “I saw it on TV. I practiced a few times at home and repaired a lot of things! The TV also taught how to make little rabbit lanterns, assemble building blocks, and build houses with matchsticks. It was all very interesting.” His gaze fell on the book. “But repairing books is the most fun. It’s like assembling building blocks. You fill in the glue, realign it bit by bit, and you can play for a very long time, and you can also help others.”

This was the excuse he had prepared in advance. He had made two little rabbit lanterns for Bai Luochuan to play with before, and they were still in the corner of the study. The little things made from Lego bricks were also piled in the corner. Wei Xian had seen all of these.

Wei Xian had indeed seen Mi Yang’s handicrafts. He had once played with them with paper airplanes during a break in class. The designs were complex, but Mi Yang basically learned them in one go. For things that required memory, repetition, and patience, this child showed a talent that was beyond ordinary.

But Wei Xian still hadn’t expected him to go as far as repairing a book. With a hint of curiosity, he asked Mi Yang to teach him a couple of tricks. “How did you get rid of the ink? Tell the teacher. I usually like to use a fountain pen, and I’ve accidentally gotten it on things a few times.”

Mi Yang mixed some hot water and demonstrated with the soapy water he had prepared earlier. Wei Xian seriously learned a couple of tricks, but it was too detail-oriented. His hands were large, and when he used tweezers to wipe with a cotton ball, it kept shaking. After half a day, his back ached. After trying it himself and finding it not easy, he praised the two children even more, saying that they were thoughtful and that it was not easy.

Wei Xian stroked the repaired book and praised it endlessly. “Really good. Little Good Boy’s patience is too precious. He’s even more focused than those jade carving apprentices. If you hadn’t told me, I would have thought it had been taken apart and reassembled. The repair is too good. Was this glued with a thin stick? Was it done on the inside too?”

Mi Yang heard him and nodded along. “Yes.”

Bai Luochuan’s eyes darted around, and he also followed, “That’s right.”

The two of them had a little secret. They exchanged a look and laughed secretly.

The better a book is repaired, the less noticeable it is. Therefore, Wei Xian only felt that it was more solid and that the loose pages had been glued back. He thought Mi Yang hadn’t taken his book apart, but had only filled in some glue. It was only later, when he showed it off to a friend at the National Library and was asked about Mi Yang’s whereabouts, that he learned how well the book had been repaired. But that was many years later.

And now, Wei Xian was just immersed in the joy of his treasure being repaired, still praising Mi Yang. “I saw it from the beginning. Little Good Boy has a talent for playing with building blocks. At such a young age, his hands are very steady, especially his meticulousness. He’s even more skilled than a girl.”

Before Mi Yang could answer, Bai Luochuan frowned. “Mi Yang is a boy.”

Wei Xian smiled. “I was just making an analogy.”

Bai Luochuan insisted, “He’s a boy.”

Mr. Wei stopped teasing them and nodded in agreement. Bibliophiles like him rarely had material desires. If they did, it was mostly for their books. Wei Xian stroked his repaired book, looked at the little Mi Yang, and said with some embarrassment, “Little Good Boy, if you’re not busy with your schoolwork, could you help the teacher maintain my other books? I’ll give you money.”

As he said this, Wei Xian himself felt a sense of guilt for employing child labor and quickly added, “Or is there something you want? The teacher can trade with you.”

Mi Yang shook his head, indicating that he didn’t want anything, and asked him, “Grandpa Wei, is there a school where I can learn this kind of handicraft? I want to continue playing with this in the future.”

Wei Xian thought for a moment and smiled. “There is. When you go to university in the future, there are majors like library science and archival science. A very good friend of mine is a university professor who teaches this, specializing in ancient book restoration. Are you really interested in this?” Seeing the child nod seriously, he also chuckled. “Okay, I’ll help you ask around later and have a teacher teach you in advance. A person must first have a hobby to be interested in something and be able to delve into it.”

Wei Xian was very happy and immediately wrote a letter to that old friend. Because he was so happy today, he couldn’t help but brag about the little guy he was teaching in the letter, praising him to the skies.

Mi Yang didn’t have high hopes for this. He leaned on the desk, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Wei Xian, and said in a low voice, “Grandpa Wei, then when you see my parents, can you praise me in front of them? Just praise my handicrafts as being particularly good.”

Wei Xian nodded with a smile. “Okay.”

Mi Yang also chuckled. He had repaired this book, first because his skills were itching, and second to prepare for many years later, to persuade his parents in advance. There was no one more authoritative to speak on his behalf than Grandpa Wei!

After he finished speaking, Bai Luochuan, as he was sitting back down to do his homework, whispered to him, “You finished the repairs early, so you’ll stay and sleep with me, right?”

He said this in a declarative tone, but Mi Yang didn’t listen to him and shook his head. “No, I’ve been here for several days. My mom is going to come looking for me.”

The young master Bai’s brow was about to furrow. Mi Yang flicked him on the forehead and said with a grin, “Why don’t you come back with me? You can sleep at my house tonight.”

The child opposite him immediately went from cloudy to sunny and said happily, “Okay!”