Chapter 6: The Transfer Student.

【006】

Yu Ting arrived home, pushed the door open, and the chatter in the living room stopped abruptly.

Zhao Rufei and Zhang Minhua were opening food containers, emptying the lavish dishes onto plates.

“Little Ting, quickly wash your hands and come eat.” Zhang Minhua called out to him with a smile. “We brought you a feast today!”

The feast consisted of dishes he had never seen before. Zhang Minhua said, “I don’t even know their names, they’re all incredible, free stuff. Eat your fill, I’ll bring more tomorrow.”

Zhao Rufei smiled and gestured, “Did you strike it rich?”

“If I were rich, I’d treat you all to a restaurant… wait, no, the restaurants here couldn’t even make these dishes. They were all prepared by master chefs from France and Italy. If I hadn’t been on good terms with Sister Yang in the kitchen, I wouldn’t have gotten these dishes.” Zhang Minhua suddenly put down her bowl, a smile she couldn’t suppress spreading across her face. “Guess what happened today?”

Zhao Rufei shook her head. Zhang Minhua was utterly tickled. “Today, the Young Master of the Lu family finally agreed to eat, but guess what he ordered? He wanted Egg-Stuffed Pancake!”

Yu Ting’s chopsticks stopped. Two seconds later, he reached past the dishes Zhang Minhua had brought back, picked up a piece of sauteed vegetable, and continued eating.

At the same time, Zhang Minhua was saying, “Those foreign chefs had no idea how to make it, they’d never even heard of it! The butler rushed to send people to the big hotel downtown to find a few master chefs. Hahaha, the kitchen was thrown into utter chaos today, all for a single order of Egg-Stuffed Pancake!”

Zhang Minhua sighed again, “Comparisons are odious. The eggs the family used for the Egg-Stuffed Pancake were some kind of sterile eggs, the first time I’ve ever seen eggs you could eat raw.”

Zhao Rufei’s smile suddenly felt a little sour. She glanced at Yu Ting, put a piece of beef short rib onto his plate. “Eat more meat.”

Zhang Minhua also said, “Yeah, Little Ting, look at you, so thin you can practically see your bones. A healthy body is the foundation of a revolutionary spirit. Only with good health can you have the energy to study.”

Mentioning studying, Zhao Rufei’s face showed pride. She smiled and gestured, “He got first in the grade again this year.”

Zhang Minhua beamed happily. “I always said Little Ting would go far. First place since he was little, it’s just…” She bit her tongue and quickly changed the subject. “In a couple of years, when he gets into a top university, you’ll be taken to the big city to enjoy the good life!”

Zhao Rufei smiled. “It’s not that fast. Making money isn’t easy these days.”

Zhang Minhua chewed her rice. “Computer science is where the money is now. The kid across my door studied computers and graduated last year. His mom says he earns over ten thousand a month!”

The average salary in Lingjiang was only two or three thousand. Zhao Rufei’s eyes widened. “That high?”

“No kidding, and he only went to a technical college! A top university grad would definitely get more. Why not let Little Ting study that in the future?”

Zhao Rufei didn’t seem to mind. “As long as it’s not a maritime-related major, he can study whatever he wants.” She picked up another spare rib, her chopsticks reaching towards Yu Ting. Yu Ting put down his bowl and chopsticks and stood up. “I’m full.”

Yu Ting returned to his room. Zhang Minhua continued the earlier interrupted topic with Zhao Rufei. “You should go to the hospital for a check-up soon. Chest discomfort isn’t normal, you know.”

Zhao Rufei quickly glanced at Yu Ting’s room, signaling her to be quiet. “No rush. Next month, after Ah Ting goes to his competition, I’ll go.”

…

Inside his room, Yu Ting navigated to a webpage on his phone.

They had no computer at home; he used his phone for all his research.

The signal in Yu Ting’s room was weak. The page took a while to load. He typed on the keypad — Homo…

Buzz, buzz.

A call popped up, from overseas.

Yu Ting answered it.

“Brother Ting, you finally picked up!” Li Chengxi said cheerfully. “I saw something perfect for you while shopping. When I come back to China…”

The sky gradually darkened outside the window. Li Chengxi talked for nearly an hour before hanging up.

Yu Ting saved Li Chengxi’s number and clicked back onto the webpage. The “Homo” in the search bar was still there.

This wasn’t the first time Yu Ting had heard the word homosexual.

In Yu Ting’s middle school, there had been a male physics teacher who taught brilliantly. He wore glasses and was always gentle.

Then one day, that teacher never came back to school.

Rumor had it he was fired. He was homosexual, and while traveling with his same-sex partner, other teachers from the school had run into them.

It caused a huge stir in the school. Back then, it was very popular in class to push one boy into another, then a crowd would roar with laughter, egging them on to kiss.

Those two boys usually cooperated by exaggeratedly puckering their lips. Just before touching, both would gag simultaneously, pushing each other away with utter disgust, wiping their lips dramatically, and spitting with deliberately sweetened tones. “Ugh, ugh, disgusting! Tranny, get lost!”

This would set off another round of whistles and laughter throughout the room.

Yu Ting hadn’t laughed.

The male teacher taught well; he really liked his physics class.

He only felt that they had lost a good teacher.

Today, hearing the word homosexual from Lu Jue’s mouth again, a distant and unfamiliar word seemed to suddenly come to life.

Just then, a buzzing hum sounded in the room. Yu Ting searched for a mosquito for a while but couldn’t find one, so he ignored it. The room lights weren’t on yet. He pushed open the window.

It had been raining on and off since evening, and now it had completely stopped. There was no moon, only the occasional glimmer of one or two stars.

Yu Ting sat back down in his chair and turned on the desk lamp.

The soft, milky yellow light fell onto the phone screen. Yu Ting deleted the words in the search bar and typed a new line — Precautions for being friends with a homosexual.

The answers spanned many pages. It wasn’t until Zhao Rufei knocked on the door, “It’s late, you should sleep. Study more tomorrow,” that Yu Ting put away his phone and went out to shower.

His mind had absorbed too much unfamiliar information. After showering, Yu Ting lay in bed, staring at the top of the mosquito net for a long moment. Finally, he grabbed his phone, drafted a text message, selected “Lu” as the recipient, and pressed send.

~

A chime sounded from the phone. Lu Jue’s expression visibly shifted. He picked up his phone and opened the text.

【Next time we meet, I’ll treat you to a Salted Ice Pop.】

The coldness in Lu Jue’s eyes disappeared. Though it lasted only an instant, the young man across from him still caught it.

The young man secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Mr. Lu agreed to let you attend school. I’ve investigated. Lingjiang No. 2 High School is top-tier among public schools, but the best high school is a private one. Perhaps you’d like to review this private school’s materials before deciding?”

Lu Jue’s fingertips rubbed over the words “next time we meet,” a subtle, ambiguous smile on his face. “Is he afraid a public school isn’t as easy to monitor me in as a private one?”

The young man quickly explained, “You misunderstand. That was my own initiative. Aside from agreeing to your request, Mr. Lu raised no other conditions.”

Lu Jue fell silent. After a few seconds, he lifted his eyes indifferently. “Is Special Assistant Xu still here because there are other things you need to instruct me on?”

Beads of sweat formed on Xu Ling’s forehead. As expected of Mr. Lu’s son. Only 17 years old, yet his pressure was suffocating. He bowed, ready to leave, but before going, he couldn’t resist stealing a glance at the phone in Lu Jue’s hand.

An ordinary phone in both build and quality, not one Lu Jue would normally use.

But Xu Ling didn’t dwell on it, nor did he dare to.

His duty was simply to look after and monitor this young master who was a ticking time bomb.

As long as Lu Jue didn’t cause trouble or go crazy during this period, he would be grateful enough.

“Oh, right.” Suddenly, Lu Jue smiled and called out to him. “Special Assistant Xu.”

Xu Ling was drenched in cold sweat. He took a deep breath and turned back with a smiling face. “Is there anything else?”

Lu Jue’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You came all this way. Handling only my transfer would be a waste of your talents.”

Xu Ling’s eyelids twitched several times in succession. A thought struck him — the task he was about to be given now, this was actually the real reason Lu Jue had called him here, wasn’t it?

He quickly nodded. “Understood. I’ll handle it immediately.”

—

The next day, as usual, Yu Ting was the first to arrive at school. He reviewed vocabulary for a while before students gradually began to arrive.

Yu Ting’s seat was in the sixth row. The two girls sitting in front of him were eating breakfast and chatting before the bell rang.

“I’m not lying, he was really expelled! My brother is in their class, their QQ group chat is going insane!”

“I still don’t believe it. That so-and-so’s uncle is the vice principal. Last year, he beat a guy so badly he was hospitalized, and he wasn’t even expelled.”

“Just wait for the announcement! Their whole group was expelled!”

“Yeah, I hope they’re all really expelled. When I run into them after school, honestly, I’m kinda scared…”

During the mid-morning exercise break, the announcement came.

After the students finished their exercises, Zheng Derong, with a grave expression, stepped onto the podium.

The position of Grade 11 Class 3 was at the very edge of the sports field. Just beyond an iron mesh fence was the school gate.

Yu Ting stood at the very end of the boys’ line. Just as Zheng Derong finished reading the long list of expelled names, a boy in the neighboring line suddenly tapped the boy in front of him, his voice a suppressed gasp. “Holy crap, look! Rolls-Royce Phantom! Holy crap, holy crap! It’s an actual Phantom!”

The boy in front glanced towards the school gate and cursed a string of exclamations. “Even cooler than in the magazines! Whose car is that? Too damn rich, holy crap!”

The two chatted about the car for a bit. Zheng Derong’s list of disciplinary announcements was soon finished.

At this moment, Zheng Derong’s expression was exceptionally relaxed. He made his concluding summary with great vigor. “No. 2 High School is a cradle of knowledge. We cultivate students, not thugs! Everyone, remember their lessons well and put your minds on your studies. Today, you take pride in No. 2 High; tomorrow, No. 2 High will take pride in you!”

On the way back to the classroom after the exercises dispersed, everyone was discussing the group of students who had been expelled that day.

Yu Ting had just entered the classroom when Teacher Ding, the math teacher, stopped him at the door. “Yu Ting, go to my desk and bring the test papers to hand out first. We’ll go over them next period.”

The classroom instantly erupted in wails. “Old Ding, you grade papers faster than a rocket!”

Old Ding laughed heartily. “Don’t worry, your class did quite well this time. Even had two perfect scores!”

Yu Ting’s deskmate looked at him with reverence. “One’s gotta be God Ting for sure!”

Yu Ting didn’t reply and went to the office.

The teachers’ offices were all on the second floor. The principal’s office was at the very end of the second-floor corridor.

Just as Yu Ting reached the second floor, he glimpsed from a distance the Class 3 homeroom teacher, Zheng Derong, and a young man entering the principal’s office.

The door to the teachers’ office was wide open. Yu Ting stopped and rapped lightly on it twice.

Hearing the sound, several teachers all smiled warmly and beckoned him in.

Yu Ting went to Teacher Ding’s desk to get the test papers. Returning to the classroom, he handed them out, then took his own paper back to his seat.

At the very top of the paper, a bright red score was marked: 145.

Out of a perfect 150, he hadn’t gotten full marks this time.

The day before the exam, he had run off to the secret cave on the beach to read. A strong wind had blown in, and the next day he was feverish and dizzy. He hadn’t had time to finish one problem.

His deskmate stole a glance at Yu Ting’s paper. Seeing the 145, his mouth dropped open. Yu Ting had no reaction. He opened his pencil case, took out a pen, and before the class bell rang, filled in the previously blank question.

A few minutes into class, the sound of unfamiliar footsteps came from outside, soon stopping at the doorway of Grade 11 Class 3. Old Ding saw the principal and hurriedly put down his chalk to go over.

“Who’s that?”

“Transfer student? Kinda handsome…”

Whispers spread through the classroom. Yu Ting, head down, was working on a newly purchased problem set, automatically blocking out all noise.

Suddenly, a familiar voice broke his concentration.

“Lu Jue.”

The pen tip halted. Yu Ting slightly raised his head and saw a familiar person standing on the teacher’s platform, the principal beside him beaming with smiles.

Their eyes met. Lu Jue’s lips curved slightly. He spoke only towards Yu Ting: “Looking forward to your guidance.”