Chapter 9: CH 9

Early morning on the second day, after Lu Rong finished preparing breakfast, he called Fang Qing. Fang Qing was lazing about in her blanket, unwilling to get up. Lu Rong set an alarm clock, reminding her that Ji Tong would come later today. He then left a memo in the kitchen, telling her that he had left the porridge in the pot, and a fried egg was in the electric pan. After that he took his bag and went out.

Old Wang was smoking in front of their house.

Lu Rong pulled his cigarette butt and stepped on it. “Don’t smoke in front of a minor.” Then he picked up the cigarette and returned it to him. “Please don’t throw trash in front of my house.”

Old Wang, “Why are you so picky with everything?!” he said while trying to peer in.

Lu Rong turned to lock the door, cutting off his line of sight, then went down on his own.

Old Wang followed him all the way as he cautiously inquired, “There was someone in your house yesterday? Your mom is really in a situation?”

Lu Rong looked at his watch, and narrated with [1] broadcast tone. ”Everyday, at this time, Chen Yulian would start her work day. During the school rush hour, the students of Chengnan High arrive one after another. They habitually visit her stall to buy a rice ball with tenderloin, grilled sausage, pork floss, and bone-and-flesh filling covered in barbeque sauce along with a bag of warm and sweet soymilk as their breakfast. Chen Yulian has filled the empty stomachs of more than three thousand Chengnan High students with her hands while also providing an unending flow of wealth to her little family.”

Old Wang, “…”

Lu Rong, “And what everyone didn’t know is the busy time now is far from all Chen Yulian’s work. She woke up at 3 AM to prepare, purchasing ingredients from the farmers market, then used a big wooden bucket to steam the glutinous rice. She pulled the cart to transport the coal stove and wooden bucket to the school gate. She has gone through such days for eleven years.”

Old Wang, “…”

Lu Rong walked through the corridor full of miscellaneous things. He took the key to open the shared storage.  Although the two or three square metre room was full of miscellaneous things, everything was kept in order. Near the right side of the wall, there was a space about one square metre, just enough to put his Ji’An style female bicycle and Fang Qing’s bright red, cool mountain bike.

Lu Rong pushed his Ji’An style bicycle out. He picked it up without any change of expression, then lifted it over his head, carefully shielding his bicycle while navigating through the corridor. When he put his bicycle down, the tire bounced on the cement. Lu Rong straddled the seat, naturally sat on his bicycle and prepared to leave in one push.

Old Wang hurriedly grasped his backseat. “There is a reason why I don’t work properly, didn’t I encounter an emotional crisis right now?! I saw it last night. You accompanied a man down, that Bentley owner.”

Lu Rong admitted, “That was half past seven.”

Old Wang had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, Lu Rong narrated with leisurely broadcast tone again. “By half past seven, S City is dark. Thousands of household windows are lit up, alluring smells drift from those windows. It is a time to enjoy gathering with family after a full day of work. At this time, Chen Yulian still stands in the night with a small coal stove in front of her. On Wednesday night, two classes of students are sitting in warm classrooms, learning mathematics and biology. These top-notch olympiad classes are let out one hour later. Chen Yulian decides to wait. She knows, one hour later, there would be a small rush hour, and there would be no other vendor available beside her…”

Old Wang, “…F*ck, I know! I know! I will make skewers properly, okay! Is it good?! A family that despises the poor and loves the rich?!”

Fang Qing and that Bentley together had stabbed his self-esteem.

Lu Rong laughed lightly, “Not only despise the poor and love the rich, we also despise the lazy and love the diligent, despise the filthy and love the clean, despise the proud and love the modest, despise the ugly and love the pretty, despise the bald and love the lush-haired. This is human nature.”

Old Wang gloomily took out the cigarette again, after being side-eyed by Lu Rong, he hurriedly covered the cigarette case. He followed Lu Rong dejectedly, then he raised his head full of hope again. “So your mother’s matter is fixed? It can’t be. Your mother and that Bentley (owner), are they equals?

Lu Rong dignifiedly answered, “This is love.”

Old Wang withered.

Lu Rong patted his shoulder. “There are plenty of fish in the sea. I saw there were many of Lin Chi Ling’s [2] posters pasted in your room, it is not like it has to be my mother. As long as you learn from Chen Yulian, you will be able to get married in the end.”

Old Wang, “…”

Lu Rong, “You are heartbroken, I’ll let you have a few days of holiday. Two days later, we will sell a new product, earning money. You are an adult already, what kind of grand love will you have?.”

Old Wang drooped, stopping his steps, letting Lu Rong walk to the Chengnan High gate. He stood in place observing Chen Yulian, realizing this middle-aged lady was very enthusiastic when grilling. The image of Chen Yulian waiting in the dark, the Chen Yulian preparing at dawn, the Chen Yulian that wore a bikini in Maldives flashed through his brain…

Chen Yulian put her hands on her hip, yelling, “What are you looking at?!”

Old Wang was so frightened that he didn’t dare to think and look anymore, he just slipped away. He wouldn’t work today anyway, Lu Rong had said that he had a few days holiday.

After two periods, during PE class, Lu Rong said to Li Nanbian, “I am going out to do something, so I won’t attend PE class. If the teacher asks, help me ward it off.”

Li Nanbian often did this for him and said “No problem.” He then asked, “Where are you going?”

“Cafeteria.”

“Why are you going there?” Even though he failed in literature, Li Nanbian still attached importance to male chauvinism, he kept the saying ‘a nobleman stays clear of the kitchen’ deeply in his mind.

Lu Rong answered carelessly, “Yesterday Lao Yan and I didn’t get a fish cake after queueing for half a day.”

Li Nanbian filled with indignation, “How can that happen!”

Lu Rong explained how Ji Wenfeng worked together with the head teacher to cut in line and how the student in front bought four without integrity.

Li Nanbian said angrily, “How can he be so wicked?”

Lu Rong was not as angry as when it happened, he was a bit excited now. “This cake has a potential market.”

Li Nanbian had followed Lu Rong for so long, with Lu Rong’s one sentence, he faintly understood. “How, by reselling?”

He could only think of being the middleman, reselling the fish cake like tickets during Chinese New Year.

Lu Rong darted to look at him. Li Nanbian showed a rare embarrassed expression while scratching his head. “If I was there that day, I would offer 10 yuan for a piece, asking the student in front whether he would sell or not!

“10 yuan a piece, even I wouldn’t want to,” answered Lu Rong.

Li Nanbian held his hand. “I bought it for you!”

Lu Rong, “…”

Li Nanbian pestered Lu Rong about the fish cakes, but Lu Rong nonchalantly answered, “You will know when the time comes–what happened in front there?”

Beside their class eight was the convenient second building stairs. Once on the exercise field, it was easy to escape through there. But the first building was now crowded, full of people. Students who clearly could move about were not hurrying up. They all stood under the stairs bustling, even busier than the market, as if waiting to watch an interesting play.

“What happened there?” asked Lu Rong.

Li Nanbian raised his eyebrows. “It’s that musical fountain.”

Lu Rong, “What?”

Li Nanbian reacted, then explained it to Lu Rong with a smile. “That is the rich second generation you had just talked about, he had moved to class one. Wasn’t the musical fountain taken out when he came? We call him “musical fountain” privately.”

Lu Rong, “…”

Lu Rong looked at the congestion in front. “Is it necessary to go that far?”

Li Nanbian answered, “Isn’t it? I heard he was chosen as the class monitor.”

The circumstances in class one Were peculiar. To put it in words, they were “wealthy and respectable”. In a famous high school like Chengnan, students could be admitted through privileges and money, but it was more expensive than normal high schools. People who could use privileges to get into class one had to be very influential in S City.

In order to ensure class one level and entrance rate, the school put all its best students into class one to be the crown prince’s study companions. Liang Wendao was in class one, it proved that students of class one were not simple, they either have money, or privileges, or they have to be a genius.

It was not easy to choose a class monitor in this complicated student hierarchy. Class one still didn’t have a class monitor after a half year of school.

Finally, yesterday, a rich second generation who donated a 100 million yuan suddenly arrived. Coincidentally, there was a class meeting on Wednesday afternoon. On this occasion, the teacher in charge of class one decided to choose a class monitor to replace the previous temporary class monitor.

Class teacher, “Nominate first, then vote, as usual.”

Liang Wendao, “I nominate myself.”

Zhao Yiheng, “Zhao Yiheng.”

Student A, “I nominate Ji Wenfeng!”

Student B, “I nominate Ji Wenfeng!”

Student C, “Ji Wenfeng!”

……

Lu Rong clicked his tongue after hearing this.

Li Nanbian, “Comrades in class one were such a letdown! It was a mess. Moreover, let me finish, when they voted, it was even more of a mess!”

……

After nomination, the class teacher let all the candidates give a speech on the platform. Other students, no matter whether they volunteered or were nominated by others, even if they were faking it, still would make a speech of how they will try their best for the sake of the class. Liang Wendao even used an exaggerated phrase like willing to sacrifice himself.

Then Ji Wenfeng came up for his speech, the theme was: I don’t want to.

Lu Rong, “…Crazy.”

Li nanbian, “Even worse, his vote was the highest.”

Lu Rong, “Why does class one have no integrity?”

As if answering his question, just after he finished talking, there was a scream at the nearby building one stairs.

Ji Wenfeng appeared at the corner of the stairs with his hands in his pockets. He was expressionless, but his features portrayed “extremely refined” perfectly. The awfully ugly school uniform, when worn on his body, could fetch a fair price of 2599 with thousands of sales per month.

Li Nanbian said in Lu Rong’s ear lightly, “Because he is handsome.”

Lu Rong shook his head, heartbroken for the students’ fickleness, “All the girls chose him, what about the boys?”

Li Nanbian, “Didn’t you see there were quite a lot of boys in the crowd?”

Lu Rong, “Gay attracts gay.”

[1] a chinese gourmet broadcast

[2] a Taiwanese model and actress