Chapter 30: Sugar Fried Noodles
Mi Yang’s house was not as big as the Bai’s, but the bed was much larger than his.
In Cheng Qing’s words, it was prepared in advance, so that when Mi Yang grew taller in the future, he could continue to use it without wasting it.
When Cheng Qing saw Mi Yang bring Bai Luochuan back, she specially made a bowl of black sesame paste for each of them that night. Mi Yang twitched his nose and said, “Mom, I want to eat fried noodles, the kind with lots of sugar…”
Cheng Qing poked his forehead with her finger. “No picky eating.”
Mi Yang stuck out his tongue and was about to give up when he heard Bai Luochuan say from the side, “Auntie Cheng, I want to eat it too.”
Since the little guest had spoken, of course Cheng Qing went to make them a bowl of hot fried noodles with a lot of brown sugar. You could smell the fragrance from a distance. Mi Yang stood on his tiptoes, waiting, so happy he was about to hum a song. Bai Luochuan secretly leaned close to his ear and whispered, “What are fried noodles?”
Mi Yang gestured to him, “It’s when you fry flour until it’s cooked, golden brown, and fragrant. Then you add roasted white sesame seeds and white sugar, and mix it with boiling water. It’s similar to sesame paste, very fine and smooth, but much more delicious than sesame paste.” He thought for a moment and added with a smile, “You can also add brown sugar. Both are very delicious.”
Bai Luochuan was a little expectant.
After a short while, Cheng Qing had made a small bowl and brought it to them. When she placed it on the table, she reminded them, “Be careful, this is very hot, especially you, Yangyang. You burned your tongue last time.”
The two children, each with a small spoon, ate the sweet fried noodles with relish. Mi Yang had a more technical way of eating. He used his spoon to scoop from the outermost circle of the bowl, taking a thin half-spoonful, blew on it, and then ate it all in one go. It was hot and sweet, and his mouth was full of fragrance.
Bai Luochuan imitated him and also ate half a small bowl, thinking that it was indeed much more delicious than sesame paste.
Cheng Qing watched them eat from the side and shook her head with a smile. Her Mi Yang was usually obedient, but sometimes he could be a little picky, especially when it came to food. For example, he would always eat the white sesame seeds first, and only after they were all gone would he eat the black ones.
The fried noodles were filling, and Mi Yang and the others couldn’t finish the other two small bowls of sesame paste. They only managed to finish one bowl together. Cheng Qing then took the remaining small bowl to Mi Zehai.
She had prepared separate quilts for the two children, for fear that they would fight over them at night and get cold stomachs. She also fluffed up a pillow for Bai Luochuan and said with a smile, “Luochuan is so good, not picky about where he sleeps at all. When Yangyang sleeps elsewhere, he has to bring his own pillow, otherwise he’ll toss and turn for half the night and can’t fall asleep.”
Bai Luochuan nodded. “I’m not picky.”
He had a habit of being serious in front of elders, answering questions like a little adult, with full concentration. Mi Yang, watching from the side, was amused. After Cheng Qing closed the door and left, Mi Yang stretched out his foot and touched him on the bed. “Hey, why are you always so nervous when you see my mom?”
Bai Luochuan tilted his head. “Am I?”
Mi Yang imitated him and tilted his head, smiling. “Yes, you even have a translator’s accent.”
A few days ago, Mrs. Bai had found an English teacher for them to practice their oral English. To create an immersive environment, she had even used a VCD player to show them old foreign movies. When she translated for them, she would also adopt the persona of the gentlemen in the movies, with a very formal tone.
Bai Luochuan also started to laugh. He touched Mi Yang’s hand. “They’re not the same as you.”
Mi Yang turned to look at him, his gaze meeting Bai Luochuan’s. He pulled his hand back, touched the tip of his nose, and said vaguely, “Let’s go to sleep. We have to go to school tomorrow.”
Bai Luochuan then lay down on the small pillow just like his, rolled over and snuggled a couple of times, and fell asleep quietly.
The next day at school, Bai Luochuan held Mi Yang’s hand and walked him to the third grade.
After Mi Yang went in and sat down, Tang Xiao said to him, “Hey, kid, you’re so close with Bai Luochuan?”
Mi Yang nodded, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Tang Xiao was an active person. He swayed back and forth, looking at the door for a while. When he couldn’t see Bai Luochuan’s figure anymore, he clicked his tongue and said, bored, “Nothing. Just seeing you two holding hands and going to school like little kids.”
Mi Yang said, “I’m seven years old.”
Tang Xiao turned to look at him. Mi Yang, while taking out his pencil case and textbooks, put on a serious and earnest expression. “The teacher told us that when we go home, we should wear our little yellow hats, hold hands, and cross the road and go home together.”
The older kids like Tang Xiao, who were around ten years old, would at most wear a little yellow hat. They would run wild after school. Seeing such an obedient child, he couldn’t help but take a couple more glances and reached out to pinch Mi Yang’s face again. Mi Yang blocked his hand. Seeing Tang Xiao about to raise his eyebrows, he quickly said, “Did you finish the test paper Teacher Wang gave out yesterday? She’s going to check it in class today.”
Tang Xiao immediately withdrew his hand, rummaged through his schoolbag, and, not surprisingly, took out a blank test paper.
The little fatty sitting at the front desk also had a worried look on his face. He turned back to look at them. “Brother Xiao, did you do that paper yesterday? I was so busy watching cartoons that I forgot.”
Tang Xiao turned to look at Mi Yang. The little fatty also looked at Mi Yang with an expectant expression.
Mi Yang: “…”
Mi Yang took out his own homework from his schoolbag and placed it on the desk. The two of them then leaned over and started to copy furiously.
Mi Yang watched with a sense of nostalgia. When he was in school in Shanhai Town, several people would also share the homework, and good brothers would copy from each other to finish it. But in this life, with Bai Luochuan as his partner, he himself was fast at writing, which was understandable since he wasn’t a real child. But the young master Bai was like he was on a cheat code. Mi Yang felt that if he hadn’t been reborn, he would never have been able to catch up to this person. His learning speed was too terrifying.
The Chinese language class representative also came over, asking for the text that was supposed to be copied yesterday. Tang Xiao cursed, then looked up at Mi Yang. “Why don’t you help me write some?”
Mi Yang had been writing a lot with his left hand lately, and his handwriting was gradually improving. After all, he had many years of foundation. Whatever he thought in his mind, his brushstrokes would slowly turn. Hearing Tang Xiao say that, Mi Yang said “oh” and slowly started to write. The characters under his pen also began to take shape and have corners.
Tang Xiao: “…No, this is too good. Write it a bit worse.”
When Tang Xiao said that, Mi Yang looked up, deliberately putting on an expression of “why,” “I don’t understand,” and “this is already my worst handwriting.” His eyes were so clean and confused that after asking twice, Tang Xiao himself was too embarrassed to say anything more.
Tang Xiao was a little disappointed.
His little deskmate’s handwriting was too good, so he couldn’t do his homework for him, because it would be obvious at a glance.
Someone called out from outside the door, “Mi Yang, someone is looking for you!”
Mi Yang looked up and only saw a figure. He stood up and walked out. Tang Xiao was in a hurry to copy and didn’t get up, just making a little space for him and continuing to bury his head in his homework.
After Mi Yang went out, he saw Bai Luochuan. He was holding a small green frog water bottle and handed it to Mi Yang. “Honey water, Auntie Wu prepared it. You forgot to take it.” He said, then glanced into Mi Yang’s classroom, a little wary. “What are they doing? Did they take your things?”
Mi Yang took the water bottle and shook his head. “No, they haven’t finished their homework.”
He didn’t say the rest, but the young master Bai could understand. He was already finishing up the second-grade problems these past few days and was catching up to the third grade. When he looked at the two who were copying homework, his gaze was somewhat contemptuous. He reminded Mi Yang, “If anyone bullies you, you run downstairs and find me, you hear?”
Mi Yang didn’t think anyone was bullying him, but he still nodded in agreement. Only then did Bai Luochuan leave.
The first class was math. The class representative had brought in a large stack of test papers in advance. Someone whispered, “What’s this? Holy crap, don’t tell me the midterm exam results are out?!”
The class representative nodded with a tragic expression.
After the midterm exam was the parent-teacher conference. This score was quite important for the children. If their ranking dropped, they would be punished.
The little fatty at the front desk copied for a while, then couldn’t help but look up at the desk, too worried to continue writing. Tang Xiao didn’t have as many worries as he did and wrote furiously, finishing in a short while.
There were twenty minutes for pre-class preparation. The class monitor was already sitting on the podium, maintaining order. Seeing that everyone was still talking, she tapped the desk and said seriously, “Stop talking!”
Tang Xiao was the first to sit up straight.
Mi Yang looked at him with some surprise. Tang Xiao leaned over and whispered to him, “Do you think our class monitor is pretty?”
The corner of Mi Yang’s mouth twitched. He felt that this little kid’s thoughts were very dangerous. This was really puppy love in the third grade of elementary school.
Tang Xiao answered his own question, saying happily, “I think she’s the prettiest in our class.”
The little girl who was the class monitor was trying hard to maintain order. Hearing Tang Xiao still whispering, she immediately made an example of him. “Tang Xiao, why are you still talking!” Then, the little girl crisply took out a piece of chalk and wrote Tang Xiao’s name on the blackboard.
The whole class fell silent in an instant.
Mi Yang tilted his head to look at him. The passion in Tang Xiao’s eyes instantly cooled down. That little bit of affection was mercilessly nipped in the bud by having his name written down.
Tang Xiao snorted coldly. “Ugly.”
Without a word, the little girl who was the class monitor wrote a symbol after Tang Xiao’s name on the blackboard, which instantly became “Tang Xiao X2.”
By now, Tang Xiao’s love had completely turned to hate. He no longer thought the little class monitor was pretty at all.
When Teacher Wang came to class, she first glanced at the blackboard, then called Tang Xiao’s name and had him stand for the lecture. Then, she began to call out scores and names one by one for everyone to come up and get their test papers.
There were three students in the class who got a perfect score in math. Mi Yang was the last one to go up and get his. The others all received a couple of words of praise. When it came to Mi Yang, Teacher Wang just nodded and said, “Not bad.”
Mi Yang himself didn’t feel anything, but the little fatty in the front seat muttered, “Why is Old Lady Wang always like this? She doesn’t praise you even if you do well. If it were the class monitor, she would have praised her to the skies!”
Only then did Mi Yang realize that it seemed to be true. He looked up at Teacher Wang. It seemed that from the very beginning when he had eaten that sesame seed cake at the school gate, this old lady had had a considerable opinion of him, especially since he had skipped a grade and come to her class. She had always treated him with marginalization.
Mi Yang didn’t think too much of it. Deep down, he still treated re-attending elementary school as an interesting journey and had a relatively relaxed attitude.
Within a day, the midterm exam results were all handed out. Although Mi Yang had deliberately made a few spelling mistakes, he still got first place. His deskmate, Tang Xiao, although he didn’t seem to study much, still ranked in the top five. The little fatty in the front desk, however, had a long face. He had gotten 36th place, out of 40 students in the class, ranking near the bottom.
During the break, Teacher Wang specially held a small class meeting. She told them that there would be a parent-teacher conference on Friday afternoon and that they should go home and inform their parents. She said sternly, “I don’t care about the other subjects, but you will take your math test papers home and have your parents sign them, you hear me? Some students, it seems, won’t improve without a push. Look at the scores you got. Are you making your parents proud?”
The little fatty’s face was pale. After Teacher Wang left, he turned to Tang Xiao. “What should I do? I only got 5 in math. I’m afraid my dad will beat me to death.” He looked at Tang Xiao with an expectant expression. “Brother Xiao, why don’t you sign for me?”
Tang Xiao picked up a pen and wrote his name with a flourish. The handwriting was so ugly that the little fatty’s cheeks twitched. The little fatty then turned to the newly crowned first-place student in the class and said tentatively, “Why don’t you, Mi Yang, sign for me?”
This time, Tang Xiao also thought it was a good idea and nodded. “Mi Yang, you write it. His handwriting is good.”
The little fatty was instantly revived, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Right, right! Mi Yang, just help me sign…” He racked his brains, then suddenly realized that after ten years of calling him “dad,” he didn’t remember his father’s full name. He scratched his head, and an idea flashed in his mind. “Hey, how about this, you help me sign a name… just sign ‘Daddy’!”
Mi Yang: “…”
Go away. My mom doesn’t let me play with idiots.
The youngest first-place student in the class sternly refused this job of being a sudden father. The little fatty could only go back with a long face and think of a solution himself.
Compared to the homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, the teachers of the other subjects liked Mi Yang much more, and he received a lot of praise within a day.
After receiving a “Three-Good Student” award certificate, on the way home from school, he was not surprised to see that the young master Bai also had an award certificate in his hand. Bai Luochuan had one more than him, an “Excellent Class Cadre” award certificate. They were rolled up together and casually placed in his schoolbag. He seemed to like Mi Yang’s though. He looked at it for a while and said, “The third grade’s award certificates are red.”
Mi Yang said, “Hmm?”
The young master Bai put it down and said, “It’s pretty.”
