Chapter 15
Chen Jingshen turned to the counter for something. When he came back, the backpack on the table buzzed.
Yu Fan arched a brow. He had not expected a model student like Chen Jingshen to bring a phone to school.
Chen Jingshen pulled it out. The caller ID said “Mom.”
Yu Fan saw his shoulder tense for a beat. Chen Jingshen lowered his eyes to the screen and did not answer.
Yu Fan chalked it up to that post-rebellion guilt when a good kid gets a call from home. Although, this kid’s version of “guilty” looked different from other people’s.
“Pick up. Worst case, you get your a** handed to you,” Yu Fan said. He got to his feet, voice dry. “I am heading out.”
He had just taken a step when someone caught his jacket.
Yu Fan looked back, frowning. “What now?”
A plastic bag appeared in front of him, the one Chen Jingshen had just bought.
“Eat on the way back,” Chen Jingshen said.
Yu Fan took it on reflex. He was about to say “no” when Chen Jingshen answered the call and murmured a quiet “Mm.”
Yu Fan: “…”
No one was home when Yu Fan got back. That was normal. Half the month, Yu Kaiming disappeared with his unreliable friends to “find work.” The rest of the days he was either drinking in bars or betting on games. Even if he came home, it was always after midnight.
If luck was good, they would not even bump into each other once in a month.
The living room table was a disaster. Empty bottles and greasy boxes littered the surface and the floor. The air reeked.
Yu Fan did not blink. He grabbed a trash bag, stuffed everything inside, took it to the dumpster by the gate, and came back.
His phone rang on the table.
[s]: Home yet?
Yu Fan stared at the avatar for a few seconds before he remembered who that was. Chen Jingshen had changed his profile picture.
Yu Fan tapped it open. A full-grown Doberman stared back. Corded muscle, sleek coat, collar and metal muzzle on. Take it to the rival school and a couple howls would clear a block.
This delicate guy owned a dog like that?
Not worried about being dragged around?
Yu Fan opened the keyboard, typed two letters, then paused. Why was he even reporting this like a roll call. They were not close.
He tossed the phone on the bed and went to shower.
His fingers went looking for the bandage out of habit, then stopped. Chen Jingshen was ridiculous, who carried waterproof bandages around.
The bandaged hand flicked a knob. Hot water came down.
Afterward, towel on his hair, Yu Fan pried open the plastic bag with his free hand. Two sandwiches and a bottle of lactose-free milk sat inside.
He tore one sandwich open and took a bite, thumbed his phone, then tapped the dog.
[-]: Home. What.
[s]: Sprint to Gaokao pp. 3–4; Physics Please Help p. 13; memorize “Chen Qing Biao” and do Classical Reading on p. 27 of the Chinese workbook…
[s]: Weekend homework.
Yu Fan: “…”
I should reply: I am an idiot.
Monday. After flag-raising they headed back. First period was supposed to be physics, but the teacher had an errand and swapped it with the afternoon self-study.
Zhuang Fangqin sat up front to keep watch. Hu Pang appeared at the doorway with his hands behind his back.
The two locked eyes and nodded.
Hu Pang leaned into the room and scanned the rows. The class had been reshuffled; Yu Fan sat against the wall this week.
Yu Fan slouched half into the plaster. He met the gaze, and even gave a nod back.
“What are you nodding for. Did I say hello to you?” Hu Pang snapped. “Out. Now.”
“…”
Yu Fan poked Chen Jingshen. “Move. I need to go.”
Chen Jingshen rose, giving him space. As Yu Fan brushed past, he muttered, “If Fat Tiger asks you out there, do not admit anything.”
In the hall, Hu Pang ran a hand over his scalp. “Last Friday. Black internet café by the back gate. The one in front who ran like the wind. That was you.”
Zhuang Fangqin had followed, worry all over her face. She shot the man beside her a glare.
“I—” Yu Fan began.
“Do not try to weasel out of it,” Hu Pang barked. “I did not see the others clearly, but I know you. I have chased that back of yours too many times. Now, ten years from now, twenty years from now, even if I am old, slow, and demented, if you flash past me I will know it is you.”
“Not that serious,” Yu Fan said.
“You think running helps? You can run from the monk but not the temple. No matter how far you run, you still show up Monday morning,” Hu Pang said. “I already checked with a few students who were there—”
“No need. It was me,” Yu Fan said. “Director, breathe. You will pop something.”
“…”
Hu Pang unscrewed his thermos, took a drink, and peered over the rim. “One more mark and you are on disciplinary probation. Do you understand that goes on your record for life?”
Yu Fan leaned on the wall. “Does it.”
“Watch your tone. Stand up straight,” Zhuang Fangqin cut in. She turned to Hu Pang. “He was wrong, but I do not think this deserves a formal mark. Probation will follow him forever. We should give him a chance to correct himself.”
“I have given him enough chances,” Hu Pang said. “Yu Fan, did I or did I not give you a chance to stop on Friday night? And you. You nearly broke the long-distance world record.”
His volume rose until the class inside started peeking out.
Yu Fan told the truth. “Too far. Did not hear.”
“…”
He did not really want to mark the kid. He coughed into his fist. “Here is the deal. Tell me who you were pulling, then write a three-thousand-character reflection and we will let this go.”
“No one. You saw wrong,” Yu Fan said.
“Do not play dumb. I saw it,” Hu Pang said, bluffing. “If I am not mistaken, that was Wang Lu’an.”
Wang Lu’an: “???”
Yu Fan scowled. “I said no.”
“Fine. You have ten minutes until the bell. Think it over,” Hu Pang said. “If you really want probation, keep being stubborn.”
“It was me,” a voice said behind them.
“I told you I was not wrong,” Hu Pang said, pleased as he turned. “Wang Lu’an, you come out—”
“…”
“?”
Two minutes later, staring at the boy now standing at his side, Hu Pang’s head hurt worse than after a marathon.
“Chen Jingshen, what is going on,” he asked weakly.
Chen Jingshen glanced at the figure leaning against the wall. Yu Fan looked away and said nothing.
So much for the warning he had just delivered.
“Is someone threatening you to take the blame,” Hu Pang asked.
“No,” Chen Jingshen said. “Director, the one holding hands with him was me.”
Yu Fan snapped back around. “Who the f*** held hands with you.”
“You held me,” Chen Jingshen said. “By the hand.”
“Grab,” Yu Fan ground out. “It is called a grab.”
“…”
“…”
“All right,” Hu Pang cut in, face complicated. “Chen Jingshen, what were you doing at a black café.”
“Watching an online class,” Chen Jingshen said.
“…”
“And actually, Yu Fan was there to watch a class too,” Chen Jingshen added.
“…”
“?”
Yu Fan looked over. Same expressionless face, no seams.
So that is the advantage of a deadpan. You can lie and not twitch.
“What class, Yu Fan,” Hu Pang asked.
“‘The Sine Rule and the Cosine Rule, concepts.’ Lecturer,” Yu Fan said, blank as a board, “you. In a very handsome suit.”
Hu Pang left.
Before he did, he rubbed his small flat nose with pride and shyness. “Recorded years ago. Did not expect anyone still watching. It is a basic unit, quite suitable for you. Making up gaps outside school is good, but choose the right place. If you want to watch again, use the computer in my office. Do not go to the black café. One more time and there will be consequences. Understood?”
Watching him go, Yu Fan felt a weird, child-lying-to-a-kindergarten-teacher guilt.
He turned to head back in when Zhuang Fangqin stopped them. “Hold it.”
Her eyes went from one face to the other. “After school, both of you meet me at the track.”
Chen Jingshen halted. Yu Fan paused. “Why?”
“Practice. The school sports meet is Thursday. We are short two runners for the 4×400 relay,” Zhuang Fangqin said. “You two can run. You are filling in.”
“…”
“You two get caught and only have to run the 4×400. I didn’t get caught and I have to run three fu**king thousand. Where’s the fu**king justice?” Wang Lu’an howled at the sky.
He remembered he had company and glanced over. “Uh, sorry if the swearing scared you, Chen Jingshen.”
“It did not,” Chen Jingshen said.
“Here comes Fangqin,” Yu Fan said mildly. “Go ahead. Be louder. Make sure she hears you.”
“Forget it.”
Half the class was in the meet, clumping around the lanes. Other classes crowded the adjacent straights. It was a scene.
Last year their class finished dead last in grade ranking. Zhuang Fangqin had never gotten over the humiliation. This time she had vowed to climb out of the basement.
Step one was tracking down every boy who had dodged last year and assigning events.
She started the relay group and called them over to practice the handoff.
Yu Fan’s gaze slid sideways. Chen Jingshen was kneeling to tie his shoes. Jacket off, school T-shirt clung to his back, shoulders and blades traced in white cotton.
This guy gasped after two sprints. Relay?
Chen Jingshen rose and Yu Fan looked away, fast.
Whatever. Not his problem. He had asked for it.
They only had one male sports-track kid in the class. He took first leg. The class monitor second. Chen Jingshen third. Yu Fan anchored.
When Chen Jingshen took the baton, Wang Lu’an’s head swiveled with him. “Hey, Chen Jingshen’s pace is decent. Not slow. Makes sense though. He kept up with Yu Fan that night.”
Zhang Xianjing who had just watched a parade of flaring nostrils and gleaming foreheads, “The key point is that he does not look ugly when he runs.”
“Yu Fan does not look ugly either,” Wang Lu’an said.
“Exactly. Have you noticed,” Zhang Xianjing’s eyes curved, “how many girls have drifted over to our lanes?”
Yu Fan said nothing. He jogged onto the track, reached back, and opened his hand.
Chen Jingshen slapped the baton in. Yu Fan took one long stride and went, a strip of wind.
“Not bad, scholar,” Wang Lu’an said, hooking an arm over Chen Jingshen’s shoulder. “You are fast.”
Chen Jingshen frowned and did not shake him off. “Thank you.”
“Water?” Wang Lu’an offered.
“No.” Chen Jingshen’s eyes were on the far straight.
Wang Lu’an followed the look. His brother was flying, hair blown back, face stupidly handsome.
“Wang Lu’an, see the girl by the finish line,” Zhang Xianjing nudged him.
Chen Jingshen glanced almost involuntarily.
“Fourth class, right? I have heard of her. Pretty,” Wang Lu’an said.
“Am I pretty or is she?” Zhang Xianjing asked, eyes narrowing.
“You, you, you,” Wang Lu’an said. “So what about her?”
“Watch,” Zhang Xianjing said, certain. “That water is for Yu Fan.”
Yu Fan stopped at the line. Sure enough, the girl stepped forward with a bottle.
He did not notice. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and walked straight past them.
“D***, Yu Fan, you are—” Wang Lu’an started, sticking up a thumb. “But wait, behind you—”
“If you cannot run, do not,” Yu Fan said, frowning.
“?”
“Three thousand is tough, sure. But Fangqin said if I do not run, I have to hand out water to the athletes. I mean, where are you going?”
Wang Lu’an watched, dumbstruck, as Yu Fan strode past him and kept going.
He turned and froze.
The guy who had not even sounded winded at the line was now on the grass, looking like he had just floored ten bulls.
“I can run, but my legs are a little weak,” Chen Jingshen said. “Help me up?”
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