CH 8

“Peking Union? You mean the medical school in Beijing? Of course, it’s very good. If you can get admitted, your grandfather would feel very happy. He had told us that when he was young, he had always wanted to practice medicine. After he retired from the military and had nothing to do at home, he started to read books on internal medicine…”

Chu Heng carefully put the poached eggs on top of the slices of whole wheat bread and pushed them in front of Chu Mian as the two ate breakfast and chatted about school exams and majors.

“Miēmiē, I tell you, oh. Your father will return to Ronggang next month. There’s a possibility that he’ll find someone to transfer some special teachers to your school. Remember to tell him whether you’ll choose arts or science in the future.”

“Science,” Chu Mian poured oatmeal into the milk bowl, “I want to take the clinical medicine examination of Peking Union Medical College.”

“Clinical medicine… the eight-year program one?” Her nephew’s goal sounded ambitious. Chu Heng was very pleased that he could be so firm about his future direction at this young age, so she asked one more question: “What’s Ronggang’s approximate minimum score line?”

Chu Mian’s voice was calm: “The lowest score this year was six hundred and ninety-seven.”

When the three numbers “697” were arranged in Chu Heng’s mind, she almost smeared jam on her fingers. After years of graduation, she had long been insensitive to college entrance examination scores, but she still had some common sense: “With this score, one can almost go to Tsinghua, right?”

Chu Mian lowered his head and replied: “Students in the 8-year program have to spend the first 2.5 years at Tsinghua before moving onto Peking Union Medical College to complete the last 5.5 years in clinical medicine. The score required to get admitted to the regular courses in Peking Union is almost equal to the average score required to get admitted to the special courses in Tsinghua.”

In other words, if you wanted to be admitted to the clinical medicine program of Peking Union Medical College, then you must score more than the qualifying score of Tsinghua University.

Chu Heng knew that he was already preparing for the college entrance exam target, so she didn’t need to worry too much, but she was silent for a moment and still couldn’t help but ask: “Then shouldn’t your college entrance exam result in science be at least in the top ten in the entire city for it to be more stable?”

Her wavering tone was noticed by Chu Mian, and the teenager looked up and asked in return, “You think I can’t make it?”

“Hmm? Of course, you can,” Chu Heng didn’t want to hurt his self-confidence, so she immediately smiled, “Talent isn’t something that everyone can have, and the pressure of college entrance examinations in Ronggang is relatively small. For you, to get into the city’s top ten is quite simple…”

“It used to be simple,” Chu Mian turned his face away indifferently, “ But that was a long time ago.”

For more than two years since the onset of narcolepsy, Chu Mian had been expecting everyday for his body to recover miraculously to how it used to be after waking up from his dream. The so-called “drowsiness” and “cataplexy” were nothing more than a nightmare that could be forgotten at any time. But day after day, not only did he show no signs of improvement, his academic performance also declined seriously. He had changed from the first place in the whole school outside Ronggang to the bottom of the class, and from a gifted and outstanding student to an alien in the eyes of others.

— Chu Mian, go home if you don’t want to listen to the class, school isn’t a place for you to sleep!

— Look, Chu Mian is sleeping again, hahaha…

— Don’t think you can skip your homework just because you’re smart. You’re the only one in the entire class who can’t keep up with the progress rate, so why don’t you put in some more effort?

— Hey, straight A student, you always sleep during the day, what do you do in the middle of the night?

There were only a handful of doctors in China who were familiar with narcolepsy, and very few people who understood it. Not only did he have to endure the taunts aimed at him before he was diagnosed with narcolepsy, but he did not receive any understanding even after the diagnosis. In the process of being repeatedly pulled into nightmares, Chu Mian had gradually learnt to face the disappointed gazes of everyone all by himself.

“Don’t be anxious, miēmiē, didn’t the doctor say that narcolepsy improves with age?” Chu Heng put down her spoon and her voice returned to its most relaxed state, “Okay, let’s not talk about it anymore. How are you feeling these days in Chengjun, are you adapting?”

“Pretty good. But except for the language class, the other teachers’ lectures are very slow which causes a lot of delay.”

“Have you gotten closer to your classmates?” Chu Heng asked, “Did the classmate who gave you candy that day play with you every day?”

“Haven’t gotten closer,” Chu Mian drank the bowl of milk in one go, and a milky white circle was printed around his light red lips. He took out a tissue to wipe his mouth. Before his aunt could ask for the reason, he took the initiative to add: “and he and I aren’t the same kind of people, we can’t get along.”

He got up, dropped the sentence “I’m going to school”, lifted his school bag and left the house.

Today, the school issued a brand new sports jacket to the first years. The main color was ink black and white and the collar and cuffs were embellished with lemon yellow stripes. The fabric was a bit smooth, the texture was close to that of a windbreaker. The students, who were tired of wearing “Smurfs” in the past, were very satisfied with the Chengjun school uniform. Chu Mian put on the jacket to confirm the size. He used to only wear uniform shirts in the past and felt weird to wear this loose tracksuit now. The sleeves were always a little uncomfortable when writing.

“Our school emblem is actually not a horse!” Yu Ran was surprised by this newly discovered detail, “What’s this? It’s triangle-shaped… Diūgē, you look! Our school emblem is a Zòngzi!”

Fang Zhao stared at the emblem on the school uniform and retorted: “How could it be Zòngzi! This… this is obviously more like Shòutáo!”

The two of them started a heated discussion about this trivial matter, and the sound of their voices filled Chu Mian’s ears when he had accidentally fallen asleep, causing him to dream that he had turned into a ball of stuffing, stuffed inside the crowded rice grains to make a rice ball.

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The reason for the history teacher’s constant attention towards this direction of the window was actually because of Yu Ran, who was seated in front of him.

In the first history class, Yu Ran had successfully attracted the attention of the teacher. The male teacher was young, wore glasses, had a gentle demeanor, and had a kind face and voice, however, the most distinguishing feature was his long and slender arms. The classmates sitting in the front row couldn’t help but sigh when they saw it: “Teacher, your arms are so long, you can definitely touch the floor directly, right?”

“Of course,” The history teacher readily straightened his legs and bent down, and his fingers touched the ground without much effort.

Yu Ran couldn’t help but sigh when he saw it: “Wow! Then if your phone falls into the toilet, you can definitely fish it out directly!”

Just as he finished speaking, the teacher’s phone slipped out of his pants pocket and fell onto the podium. The screen shattered after rolling twice with “click, click”.

Yu Ran immediately covered his crow's mouth.

From the first class, the history teacher had remembered Yu Ran’s name and often asked him questions. Yu Ran was also very supportive. If he could answer, he would answer. If he couldn’t answer, he would make up some random answer. He would sometimes catch the teacher stammering or have brief mental lapse, then lead the other students into making a ruckus. The atmosphere in the history class was always lively from beginning to end, and there was basically no one who wanted to skip it.

“What were the two sets of contradictions that accompanied the central administrative system in ancient China? Yu Ran, you get up and say.”

“Well… the country and the people, industry and agriculture… right?” Yu Ran watched the teacher’s increasingly surprised expression, “Well… I don’t know!”

“You don’t even know this? Isn’t the question I asked something taught in middle school?”

“To tell the truth Xuan gē, I’ve long forgotten middle school knowledge,” Yu Ran said sincerely, “But don’t worry, I still remember ‘Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing‘…”

“You, you, you. Quickly sit down and repent!”

Every time Yu Ran made the history teacher exasperated, his exasperated expression made the students laugh happily, and in a harmonious atmosphere in the classroom, only Chu Mian’s brows furrowed more and more tightly.

From his childhood, his experience in class was always very disciplined; very few people would answer the teacher loudly without raising their hands, and no one would talk to the teacher about anything other than their studies. The students also strictly abided by classroom discipline and listened to lectures intently. But now? Obviously, it was an experimental class but many of the students around him had a loose attitude, casually talking, laughing, and doing mischief… Some students even wanted to go to the toilet in the middle of the class, refusing to endure until after class. The key problem was that the young teacher on the podium, indulged them over and over again, and the relationship between teachers and students was too frivolous.

Chu Mian was indeed dissatisfied with this type of classroom style in his heart, but he understood the reasoning that since he was here, he might as well stay and make the best of it, so he was forced to ignore everyone and expressionlessly bow his head to study by himself.

“Students, second and third classes in the afternoon will be spent on cleaning up the class. I’ll now assign everyone’s tasks,” After the history class, the homeroom teacher came in with the school’s arrangement notice in her hand and announced, “From Group 1 and 2, girls will sweep the floor, and boys will mop the floor; Group 3 and 4 will follow the arrangement of the class president; Group 5 will be responsible for the front and rear doors and windows; and the boys from the Class Committee will be responsible for cleaning the four fans.”

Yu Ran, who was a Sports Committee member, went to ask the class president who were the classmates who would be cooperating with him in cleaning up this time, and Xiang Xuehua told him that there were only two boys in the Class Committee, one was himself and the other was Chu Mian, the Student Committee member.

“Oh,” Yu Ran pursed his lips and asked Xiang Xuehua for a new rag.

Chu Mian didn’t care about the Class Committee members list, he only cared about doing his work in a disciplined manner. After stepping on the desk and he quickly finished wiping the two ceiling fans of the front row, Chu Mian found that Yu Ran was still wiping the first one in the back row. The reason for the inefficiency was probably that he was not tall enough. Standing on the desk, Yu Ran had to stand on tiptoe and straighten his arms but only after a few wipes, his body would wobble and then he had to start again.

Chu Mian didn’t say a word, and after properly washing the rag, he stood up on the desk and started to wipe the last ceiling fan in the back row.

He was wiping the dust, and suddenly felt that the desktop under his feet was knocked twice. He looked down to see Yu Ran looking up at him from the bottom.

“Come down, I’m in charge of this side of the fans,” Yu Ran’s tone was unyielding.

Chu Mian wasn’t fazed, and said condescendingly: “I can wipe it.”

“The class president assigned you to wipe the front two and me to wipe the back two, but now you’ve wiped three of them, is it appropriate?” Yu Ran strained his neck, and said very reluctantly, “Don’t do my work, I don’t want to owe you.”

Chu Mian felt that the other party’s words were quite familiar, and after pondering for a few seconds, it seemed that he had said the same thing the day before yesterday. So he suddenly realized that Yu Ran was deliberately looking for trouble.

Chu Mian didn’t expect that the other party would still hold a grudge even though two days had already passed since the little incident. Chu Mian didn’t know whether to call Yu Ran calculating or unreasonable, so he had to say in a deep voice: “By the time you finish wiping one, I can wipe two of them. Why can’t you see where the problem lies?”

“There is no need for you to finish it for me,” Yu Ran refused to give up, “Since you’ve finished your part of the job, you should just go to the side to rest and not come over to get in the way.”

The other party’s commanding tone made Chu Mian lose his patience and he took a deep breath and he said, “Can’t you see that the mopping team have been waiting at the door for so long already? Only after we finish wiping the fan and move the desk away can they come over. So, who the hell is in the way, Yu Ran?”

The two of them, one standing at a high and another at a low position, were in a stalemate, and they felt each other’s hostility the moment their eyes met in midair. Chu Mian didn’t want to waste time with him, so he glanced at Yu Ran lightly, before turning his head to continue wiping the fan blades.

Just as Yu Ran’s gaze moved to the top of Chu Mian’s head, his expression suddenly changed, and he said loudly, “Don’t raise your hand!”

Chu Mian stopped his movements subconsciously, and when he lowered his head again, he saw Yu Ran was striding towards the back door of the classroom. He grabbed the short-haired girl who was cleaning up the wall, and quickly turned off the switch of the ceiling fan.

Suddenly, a gust of wind passed by his ears, and Chu Mian looked up to find that the fan blades slowly turned for a few moments before returning to stillness.

“What are you doing? It’s dangerous, don’t you know?” Yu Ran had not restrained his volume, and the questioning voice attracted the attention of the surrounding students.

The short-haired girl didn’t dare to raise her eyes to look at him, and hurriedly apologized: “I’m sorry! I didn’t know that the switch was so loose… I just wanted to tear off the tape on it’s top… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Chu Mian jumped off the desk quickly, landed safely, walked over and touched Yu Ran lightly with his elbow, and whispered, “I’m fine.”

Then he looked at the girl with a gentle attitude, “It doesn’t matter, you go on.”

Yu Ran sighed and instructed her, “Be careful in the future.”

The girl’s back stiffened, thinking that Yu Ran was threatening her with something, and she nodded hurriedly in fright.

Since Chu Mian had already come down from the desk, he didn’t bother to climb it up again, lest Yu Ran start ranting at him again. He threw the rag into the basin, went out to the bathroom to wash his hands, and went downstairs to buy an eraser in passing.

In the shop, Chu Mian saw several boys from his class. One of them always hung out with Yu Ran. He had an impression of the other party.

“Hey, what a coincidence,” Fang Zhao saw him and took the initiative to greet him, “Chu Mian, did you oversleep at noon and didn’t eat? Are you okay now?”

“Quite okay,” Chu Mian smiled drily at him and casually took a bottle of pure milk from the shelf.

“Why don’t we wake you up at noon, it’s easier to get sleepy when you’re hungry,” Fang Zhao decided so, and didn’t give Chu Mian a chance to refuse and after a pause, he casually mentioned: “Yu Ran was very concerned about you while we were eating. He originally wanted to bring you something to eat, but he was afraid it wouldn’t suit your taste, so he didn’t.”

The milk on the shelf jingled and banged several bottles. Chu Mian cleared his throat and quickly put them in order. He didn’t look back, and asked Fang Zhao as if nothing had happened: “Is Yu Ran very generous? ”

Fang Zhao didn’t think twice: “Of course, he shares his snacks with me.”

“Only with you?”

“Well, it’s because right now he’s more familiar with me… What’s wrong?” Fang Zhao thought about the reason why Chu Mian asked the question, “Oh, you also want to eat, huh. Then I’ll remind him to give it to you first the next time.”

“…not like that,” Chu Mian pursed his lips, and after hesitating a bit, he asked Fang Zhao, “He gave me a lot of candies before. What do you think is appropriate for me to buy him?”

“What ‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’ are you talking about? It’s not like you’re buying him a present,” Fang Zhao said matter-of-factly, “Yu Ran shouldn’t be picky. I see that he doesn’t eat the same food every day, and he even made a snack schedule for next week.”

Chu Mian nodded and then chose a bucket of Star Cup on the recommendation of the shop owner.

“Can you give it to him for me?” Chu Mian asked.

Fang Zhao felt puzzled, “What will happen if you give it to him personally?”

It was true that nothing would happen, but Chu Mian just didn’t want to be the one to take the initiative to reconcile.

After all, he didn’t do anything wrong. Of course, he also didn’t think it was Yu Ran who was in the wrong. It was just that the two of them had different principles, and friction was inevitable. So it would be better if the two of them overcame this awkward phase so that they have a quiet and peaceful time in the future. He didn’t want to deal with interpersonal relations, and waste his precious study time.

Although Fang Zhao clearly didn’t understand why Chu Mian was beating around the bush, he still agreed to carry the bucket of Star Cups and put it on Yu Ran’s desk while the other party was away.

In the classroom, the desks and chairs had already been returned to their original positions after the cleaning up was completed. Yu Ran saw the bucket of chocolate biscuit chips and thought it was forgotten here by someone, so he held it up and asked who the owner was. Fang Zhao pulled Yu Ran aside and quietly told him that it was from Chu Mian.

Yu Ran looked at Chu Mian’s seat and found that the other party was sleeping on the desk.

“He was awake just now,” Fang Zhao once again sighed at Chu Mian’s speed at falling asleep.

Without saying anything, Yu Ran went back to his seat and put the Star Cup on the ground, then twisted most of his body, and gently said “Hey” to Chu Mian.

Chu Mian didn’t move, his face buried deep in his arms, and he seemed to be sleeping very heavily.

Yu Ran opened the lid of the Star Cup, took out a few and placed them in the corner of Chu Mian’s desk.

The school leader came to inspect the results of the cleaning, after which the students resumed their classes. Chu Mian was still lying on the desktop, half of his face peeking out from his arm, silently opening his eyes to look at Yu Ran’s back.

Usually, during class, Yu Ran could never sit still. One moment he would tilt his head, moving from side to side as he read the words written on the blackboard, and then the next moment, he would twist his upper body out of his seat to borrow correction tape from someone, often blocking Chu Mian’s line of sight. Only when facing the vigorous and resolute Language teacher would he quietly sit up straight.

“Too much time was lost in checking hygiene earlier, so we won’t do Silent Reading today but a pop quiz instead,” Language Teacher Wang stood on the podium and looked at the faces of all the students, “Yu Ran, get up. I’ll ask you about the notes at the bottom of the pages of your book first.”

Yu Ran sighed and stood up with a bitter expression on his face.

“In the phrase ‘separation of the distant through another country’, how did the author use the word ‘separation’?”

Yu Ran stammered, “Separation, separation.”

“What?” Teacher Wang raised her voice, and her demeanor was so stern, both in voice and countenance that Yu Ran was too scared to speak.

The nearby students tried to remind Yu Ran but due to the long distance, it was difficult for them to convey the answer. Chu Mian felt that Yu Ran was wasting too much time trying to answer the question and delaying the class time, so he opened his mouth and prompted: “He used a noun as a verb.”

Chu Mian had thought his volume was just the right amount; the result was that Yu Ran didn’t respond, but Teacher Wang, who had a keen sense of hearing, heard him: “Chu Mian, you love to remind him so much, then you get up and answer for him, what is the use of ‘separation’?”

Chu Mian got up and said without thinking: “He’s using a noun as a verb. It means to separate using something.”

“And ‘distant’?”

“He uses an adjective where a noun should go. It refers to a distant land.”

Teacher Wang asked him seven or eight notes in the book one after another, and Chu Mian answered them smoothly, not a word different from the textbook.

“Yu Ran, and all the students who didn’t get asked any questions today, in the future, you should be as proficient as Chu Mian when you stand up in the future. You can’t hesitate to answer questions and form a conditioned reflex enough to have that kind of speed. Keep in mind, okay?”

Everyone nodded one after another, and Teacher Wang asked the two of them to sit down and started the lecture.

Chu Mian lowered his head to take notes carefully, and suddenly heard a “dādā” sound coming from the slight movement in front of him, and raised his eyes to catch a glimpse of a few more Star Cups in the corner of his desk.

He moved his gaze upwards, and noticed Yu Ran’s hand, which was hanging in the air, and had not been withdrawn yet… was making a “V” for victory at him.