After hanging up the phone, Cheng Xiue looked at Father Cheng. “Shixu says he needs to take a remedial class. His scores on this month’s exam dropped significantly, with each subject down by over ten points. I feel we should transfer him back to No. 1 High School.”
Father Cheng, wearing his glasses and looking at the report card his son had sent to the computer, said worriedly, “Transferring back and forth is even more troublesome.” He pointed at the chemistry score and suggested, “Isn’t Old Zhao a professor at the research institute? Let’s ask him to tutor Shixu in chemistry and biology.”
“I will give him a call then,” Cheng Xiue said while looking for the number. “This way, Shixu won’t be able to go out and play on weekends. His Taekwondo coach mentioned last week that Shixu didn’t show up.” She did not understand what was going on. Her son had always been someone who did not give the elders any reason to worry, and his previous grades were always steadily above the threshold for West University.
“Once the college entrance exam is over, he can go play. Didn’t He Yu’s mother mention a few days ago that Shixu attended a birthday party? It feels like the academic pressure shouldn’t be too high. He probably isn’t used to the teaching pace of the new school. A little tutoring should fix it.”
“Alright.”
In the classroom, Cheng Shixu and Ning Shen were testing each other on ancient poems. The fifty required ancient poems were still relatively easy for him. After all, the office work he did in his previous life often required drafting and checking literary materials, so his memory was quite good. Since he had already memorized them long ago, he easily recited them again.
However, the required classical prose stumped him. “Outside, there are no close relatives to depend on; inside, there is… inside, there is…” Cheng Shixu scrunched up his face. “Inside, there is…” In his previous life, he could never recite The Memorial Expressing Inner Feelings smoothly. It was just too difficult to memorize and the phrasing was very awkward. Classical poems had a rhythm, but memorizing this kind of classical prose was too painful.
Ning Shen took over: “Inside, there is no boy of five feet to answer the door. It means there are no close relatives outside and no young servant to greet visitors at the door.” He asked strangely, “Isn’t this easy to memorize?” He always combined it with the translation, which made memorizing it quite relaxed.
Cheng Shixu held his Chinese textbook, which was densely packed with notes—just like when he studied English, always filled with phonetic guides. “The meaning is simple enough, but reciting the whole thing is painful.”
Ning Shen pressed his textbook down. “Then let us recite Tao Yuanming’s Returning to My Garden and Fields now.”
“Ah? Just kill me.” Cheng Shixu wailed and slumped onto the desk, his face pressed against the cold surface. “In my youth, I lacked the common manners; by nature, I loved the hills and mountains. Mistakenly, I fell into the dust-net…” He recited with no will to live.
After the monthly exam, the head teacher called Cheng Shixu to the office. In his words, he was worried about whether Cheng Shixu was unused to the study environment here and encouraged him to ask teachers immediately if he had any problems. Some subject teachers were also in the office at the time and were very concerned about his declining grades. He was asked so much that he did not know how to respond.
In such a short time, he felt he had already tried his best to recover the lost knowledge, but it still had to come slowly; one cannot become a fat man in one bite. However, there was no way to say this. He still called his mother to ask for a tutor, as chemistry and biology had declined the most. His mother said she would let Uncle Zhao tutor him, so from this week on, he probably would not have time to go to the newspaper office on weekends to check the situation.
Time is tight, and the task is heavy.
Since a professor was tutoring him, Cheng Shixu asked Ning Shen if he wanted to join. Ning Shen’s chemistry and biology grades were quite good—no, that was not quite right. Ning Shen was always in the top three of the grade. His Chinese, math, English, and science subjects were all very good. Rationally speaking, he did not need much tutoring, but as soon as Ning Shen heard he could get some extra help, he excitedly agreed, mumbling that if his grades got even better, he would have more confidence in getting into East University later.
“Then good luck.” Cheng Shixu was actually a relatively rational person. He did not approve of choosing a school for the sake of someone else; it was better to prioritize oneself. What he liked was more important.
After being reborn, no matter how he chose, he would still choose West University—it was close to home and had the major he liked. Even if Lu Jian had not attended West University in his past life, he would still have chosen it. Wanting to know Lu Jian early and start a relationship early was one thing.
What he feared most was that the words “for you” would later turn into “I have done so much for you.”
In his previous life, his relationship with Lu Jian was indeed very good. He was willing to be well-behaved in front of the “old-fashioned” man because he wanted to keep the relationship for a long time. To be honest, Lu Jian had never taken him to see his family, which made him feel a bit uneasy.
Treating him well did not necessarily mean he was included in the category of a life partner.
During that phone call with He Yu before he died, He Yu said Lu Jian must be playing with him, which was wrong, but it was true that Lu Jian had not let him integrate into his family or fully enter his life.
He saw few of Lu Jian’s friends; most of the time it was just meeting some business partners during dates that Lu Jian would introduce. A man grows up to this age without friends? Impossible.
There was only one friend who boxed, whom he had met a time or two. Jin Yi, it seemed. After his rebirth, he felt he did not know much about Lu Jian. Actually, it could not be blamed on him; Lu Jian said little, so naturally, he knew little.
Sometimes he would deliberately ask if Lu Jian had any interesting stories from his youth to share, but Lu Jian would always shake his head and say, “None.”
How could there be none? He just did not want to say.
So he did not ask again. Knowing Lu Jian was at Experimental High School, he took Lu Jian home to see his parents. When his mother asked, Lu Jian only said he used to attend Experimental High School. When he went into the room and saw the walls covered with award certificates, he teased Lu Jian: “Your grades were very good in the past, right?” So old-fashioned, he probably was well-behaved at home too.
Lu Jian replied, “Yes. I was the top student.”
He naturally understood that to mean the college entrance exam top scorer of Experimental High School.
As a result, having been here for so long without finding anyone, Lu Jian definitely lied to him.
But these were small things; he did not care. It was just that finding no one for so long made him quite annoyed.
He had wanted to take a taxi, but Ning Shen insisted on taking the bus. It was probably because he really had no money at the end of the month and was too embarrassed to keep freeloading off him. He did not point it out and followed him to take the bus.
After more than an hour, they reached their destination. Cheng Shixu got off the bus carrying his backpack. He was not wearing his school uniform today. He had looked up that famous designer from his past life on the internet and found that there was no studio at this time; he figured he had not become famous yet, so he just wore a tracksuit.
“Eh?” Ning Shen suddenly made a sound, attracting Cheng Shixu’s attention. “What is wrong?”
Ning Shen pointed at a boxing gym and said, “Look, isn’t that person the desk-mate of Lu Jian from the vocational school?”
The young man at the entrance of the boxing gym was smoking while wiping the glass, his back toward him. Occasionally he would turn sideways, and Cheng Shixu felt he looked a bit familiar. “But wasn’t his desk-mate pink-haired?” It was the kind of hairstyle where bangs covered half his face—it was very popular at the time and could be seen everywhere on the street.
The young man before him had black hair, and his hairstyle had changed. Until the whole face was exposed to Cheng Shixu’s sight, Cheng Shixu blinked hard twice. “Jin… Yi???”
“That is right, it is him.” Ning Shen studied art and was sensitive to people’s silhouettes. As soon as he saw him, he knew it was the pink-haired desk-mate of Lu Jian. “It is quite normal to change your hairstyle.” Why did he feel a bit familiar?
“Eh, A-Xu, you…” He turned back and saw that the person originally standing beside him was gone. Looking back again, Cheng Shixu had already run to the entrance of the boxing gym. He trotted over, and after seeing Jin Yi’s androgynous face clearly, he still felt it was familiar.
“Jin Yi,” Cheng Shixu called him.
Jin Yi stopped wiping the glass, saw Cheng Shixu, and smiled with his lips curled: “Your husband is not here, ha.” These days, when Lu Jian was not working part-time, he was studying in the dormitory every day, which made him look silly.
“You really are Jin Yi.” Cheng Shixu asked excitedly: “So, is Lu Jian really Lu Jian?!” He did not ignore what Ning Shen just said; if the pink-haired guy was Jin Yi, then there was no suspense.
People could look alike and have the same name, but they could not have the same friends too, right? Too many coincidences meant it was not a coincidence.
“What, what, what?” Jin Yi was confused. “Brother Lu is, of course, Brother Lu.” He put his hands on his hips, his eyes falling on Ning Shen on the other side, frowning slightly, and then looked back at Cheng Shixu: “Are you stupid?”
“Do you want to be a boxer?” Cheng Shixu asked.
Jin Yi felt it was inexplicable, but he still nodded: “I am a future boxer who is going to win the gold belt!”
Cheng Shixu said: “You always use a spoon when you eat and cannot use chopsticks, right?”
Jin Yi was shocked: “You know this? Damn Lu Jian, why talk about my background everywhere.” As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Cheng Shixu’s face turn pale instantly, and he took several steps back in disbelief, still being supported by Ning Shen. He said fearfully: “I have a partner, ha, do not you dare target me. I am not interested in your type.”
“So…” What fake Lu Jian? He is the real one.
What about the tattoo? There must be traces of tattoo removal. Why were there no traces on Lu Jian’s right arm?
He did not know how to describe his mood now. It was another case of ups and downs, but this time he did not dare to confirm easily. “What is Lu Jian’s phone number?”
Ning Shen reminded him at the right time: “A-Xu, we are going to be late for tutoring.” He had a strong sense of time and never allowed himself to be late. There were ten minutes left, so walking over now would be just right; delaying one more minute would make them late.
Cheng Shixu calmed down. Yes, they had to go to the tutoring first.
After they left, Jin Yi continued to wipe the glass. When he finished, he washed his gloves and walked into the ring. In the ring, two people were competing fiercely like beasts, their punches sharp and their power astonishing.
A punch went straight for the face, and Lu Jian stepped back. Wearing tight boxing trunks, his bare muscles radiated power and sweat. Before he had time to adjust, he was pushed to the side of the fence by another punch. He cupped his hands: “Thanks to the coach for showing mercy.”
“You are welcome.” The coach bit his glove open: “Jin Yi, come up and have a fight?”
Jin Yi said excitedly: “I will go change my clothes.”
Lu Jian flipped over the fence and jumped down, sweat soaking his hair and sticking to his forehead. His previously permed hair had grown out and no longer had any shape. He took off his gloves: “I am going to take a shower, same place tonight.”
“Hmm. Eh, wait a second.” Jin Yi suddenly remembered: “I met your husband at the door just now.”
Lu Jian subconsciously looked outside. Jin Yi said: “He left early. Lu Jian, did you tell him I could not use chopsticks? Otherwise, how would he know?”
Lu Jian was strange: “Why would I talk to him about this?” He had not seen him for a long time.
He put his gloves back in the locker: “I am going to take a shower.” Walking into the temporary shower room, he stared at his full-arm tattoo in a trance. Why did Cheng Shixu suddenly ask Jin Yi such a question? Could it be that he dreamt about it again?
If he did not have the full-arm tattoo, Cheng Shixu would probably still come every day to solve problems for him like before, right? Those problems were quite difficult; he had not studied for too long, and rote memorization had no effect. Cheng Shixu was very gentle when explaining the problems (limited to when he mistook him for his husband) and explained them very clearly.
Leaving the boxing gym, he went to the hospital ward to visit the dean.
After the surgery, the dean’s health had visibly improved. People have a mentality: when you get a serious illness, if you do not know, you will not be anxious, your mood will be good, and your condition will improve. Once you know your condition, you will immediately start worrying, and the condition will take a sudden turn for the worse.
“Xiao Lu, you are visiting me again. How is your study?”
Lu Jian was embarrassed to say he did not attend high school. He poured a glass of water and helped the dean up: “It is alright.”
The dean smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening, his expression very kind: “You were good at studying when you were a child. Every time we had exams at the orphanage, you were always the first. You should study hard in your senior year; you do not have to visit me often.”
Mentioning these, Lu Jian felt a bit embarrassed. The orphanage had even ceremoniously awarded him a “Top Student” certificate. But now, he really felt ashamed of the dean’s expectations: “Hmm.”
“Study hard; you are the most promising child in our orphanage. I am waiting for you to set an example for the other children.”
Lu Jian said in a low voice: “I will, Dean.”
Coming out of the hospital, Lu Jian returned to school to prepare to go over those problems again. He still had to go to the arena at night, and there was not much time. He did not expect to see a long-lost figure at the door of the dormitory.
“Lu Jian. You are not a wealthy second-generation heir; you grew up in the Sunshine Orphanage, right?”
Cheng Shixu got straight to the point. After seeing Jin Yi, he had to admit, even if he did not want to: Lu Jian is Lu Jian. He asked He Yu to do something he had not done in his previous life—investigate Lu Jian.
Lu Jian walked over to open the door: “So what? Why are you here again? Did not you say you did not know me?” Before he finished, he was grabbed by the shoulders. Cheng Shixu’s body heat passed from his shoulders, carrying a faint fragrance. He frowned and pushed him away: “I said, I am not gay. Besides, did not you say you recognized the wrong person before? Why are you still pestering me? Treating me as a substitute for him?!”
“You lied to me; I have not even finished talking to you yet.” What wealthy second-generation, what happy family, what college entrance top scorer—it was all a lie. He grabbed Lu Jian tightly and said: “You have two dimples on your waist, a black birthmark on your buttocks, your areolas are pink, there is a mole under your shark muscle, and you are especially ticklish.”
He grabbed Lu Jian’s full-arm tattoo: “Only this tattoo, I do not know why it is there.”
The more Lu Jian heard, the more terrified he became: “How do you know so clearly?”
Cheng Shixu said unhappily: “I did not recognize the wrong person. Your desk-mate is Jin Yi; he cannot use chopsticks. With so many coincidences, I just did not recognize the wrong person!” He took out the necklace he had redeemed from his pocket: “This necklace, you said in my dream that it was very important to you. So, you pawned it to raise the surgical fees for the orphanage dean, right?”
Lu Jian held the door, his eyes gloomy. Just as he was about to speak, Cheng Shixu said again: “Lu Jian, I did not come to pester you; I just came to confirm.” After Cheng Shixu finished speaking, he turned and left, leaving him in the same place as before, feeling confused.
How is it different again? Before, when he mistook him for the other, his voice was practically pinched until it smoked; after realizing his mistake, he put away his gentleness. Now, he came to confirm he was him, but his expression had become very heavy, looking like he was very angry.
Cheng Shixu was indeed very angry. His mood was particularly chaotic now. Lu Jian had lied to him about many things. Why lie about being a wealthy heir? Why lie about having a happy family? Why lie about being a top scorer?
It turns out he is an orphan, so he had no way to take him to see his parents.
After knowing this, he did not feel relieved; instead, the frustration of being deceived came wave after wave, choking his chest with pain. No matter what happened in his previous life, he only pretended to be a bit well-behaved and had not lied to Lu Jian about anything, but Lu Jian had lied to him about so much.
Ring ring ring~
“Hello…”
Cheng Xiue was originally calling to ask how the tutoring with Old Zhao was going. As soon as the call was connected, she heard her son’s listless voice: “What is wrong with you? Were you bullied?”
Cheng Shixu said languidly: “Mom, I do not want to stay at Experimental High School anymore; I want to transfer back to No. 1 High School.”