“You little brat, spreading bad rumors about your granddad behind his back again?” Grandpa walked out of the kitchen and cleared the living room, spotting the two kids giggled together on the balcony.
“I didn’t!” Lu Chengyu had finally succeeded in teasing Lele to cheer him up, and he continued with a grin, “I was just sharing your heroic exploits back when you were in the army with Lele.”
Hearing the voice, Lin Duole spun around abruptly. Grandpa had long legs and took big strides, reaching them in just two or three steps.
“You little rascal, tricking your old granddad again.” The old man patted Lu Chengyu’s shoulder and said to Lin Duole, “I heard everything! You were telling Lele about me doing square dancing last year.”
“Wow, Grandpa, your hearing is amazing. You could hear us even with the kitchen and balcony so far apart.” Lin Duole enjoyed listening to the playful banter between the old and the young. He felt that this kind of life was warm, lively, and grounded.
“Of course! Your grandpa was a scout back in the day.” Speaking of his younger days, the old man brimmed with grand pride. He stroked his ear, patted his eyes, and said to Lin Duole with a smile, “A scout’s ears are like the ‘Wind-Accompanying Ears,’ and these eyes are just like Sun Wukong’s—the ‘Clairvoyant Eyes’.”
The smile remained on Lin Duole’s face. He genuinely liked this affable elderly man, who treated kids as independent individuals—respectful without being overbearing.
Lin Duole loved listening to him recount those heroic, moving stories of the past, how Chairman Mao commanded legendary battles like the Four Crossings of the Chishui River, and the individual tales of ordinary people amidst the war. He also loved accompanying Grandpa downstairs to the residential courtyard to practice Tai Chi and the Eight-Section Brocade.
In just two short weeks, he and Grandpa had forged a deeply profound “revolutionary friendship.”
During these two weeks, Lu Tingyu also called home frequently to ask about the household. For instance: How was Lele’s English coming along? Was he catching up with his classmates? What dishes had Grandpa cooked recently, and were they to their taste? Was the older brother picking on Lele? Was he dropping Lele off at the tutoring center on time?
Holding the phone, Lin Duole always answered each question patiently. He marveled in his heart at what a magical invention the telephone was—it allowed people to stay in touch with family far away. He wished so badly that his hometown had a phone, too, so he could tell his own grandparents about his recent life.
Over the line, Uncle Lu’s warm greetings filled him with a long-lost sense of comfort. Unlike his past life experiences where warmth was given solely by his mother in a one-way stream, this warmth radiated from many people around him, carrying a different kind of meaningful weight.
When he hung up, he felt a lingering sense of fondness, standing there dazed yet lost in thought.
Lu Chengyu’s brow furrowed slightly. Glancing at the boy who looked soul-absent right after finishing the call with his father, he quipped sarcastically, “If you wanted to keep talking, you shouldn’t have hung up so early. Hanging up now just makes you look like you can’t bear to part.”
Lin Duole picked up on the tsundere tone. Through his time with Lu Chengyu, he had come to realize that the boy loved saying the exact opposite of what he meant. So, the comment above was likely blaming him for hanging up too soon without letting the father and son share a few words.
Lin Duole blushed with embarrassment. It was his first time seeing such a tiny device connect people across vast distances, and he had been deeply awed. Fearing he might disrupt Uncle’s work by talking too long, he had hung up—completely forgetting to let Uncle speak with his own son.
“I’m sorry, I hung up too fast and didn’t let you talk to Uncle Lu,” Lin Duole stole a glance at Lu Chengyu. Seeing his sour expression, he apologized, “You talk to Uncle Lu next time. I won’t say anything.”
“…” Lu Chengyu was genuinely astonished by how this guy usually managed to get full marks on reading comprehension. “It wasn’t easy to temporarily get my dad off my back in daily life—I don’t even want to talk to him.”
“Huh?” Lin Duole was momentarily confused, unsure why Lu Chengyu said that.
“Forget it, a dummy like you wouldn’t understand.” Lu Chengyu frowned, unwilling to elaborate.
Schools in the capital emphasized the well-rounded development of students across moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education. In response to new directives from the Education Bureau, the school significantly increased physical education classes for the eighth grade. Just as Lin Duole faced the massive hurdle of English, another roadblock appeared in the form of PE.
The High School Entrance Examination (Zhongkao) physical tests here featured a wide variety of events: standing long jump, pull-ups, 100-meter dash, boys’ 1000-meter run, shot put, and swimming.
Lu Chengyu had loved playing basketball with friends since elementary school, so his daily physical activity made passing the PE exams a breeze. Lin Duole had no trouble with the standing long jump, sprints, long-distance running, or shot put—skills forged from doing farm work at home since childhood. However, pull-ups and swimming were a different story. Pull-ups could be mastered with time, but swimming was something he had never done before.
On this day, the PE class happened to feature a spot-check on swimming by the coach. With Lu Tingyu away from home, Lin Duole felt anxious about this swimming lesson he had only learned about the day before. Fortunately, Lu Chengyu didn’t leave him to die—he had prepared swimwear and goggles for him at home.
The changing rooms in the gymnasium were segregated by gender. After changing into his swimwear, Lin Duole felt awkward wearing it out. Even though everyone there was male, his shy personality at school, coupled with his traditional upbringing, made him feel an unprecedented resistance toward a sport he had zero experience with.
Song Sirui was Lin Duole’s front-row classmate. After spending time together, the two had grown quite close. Waiting outside the changing stall for Lin Duole, he saw Lele hesitantly pulling back the curtain, peeking left and right. “Lele, what are you dawdling for? Once you’re changed, let’s go. The coach is going to rush us in a minute.”
“I… I don’t know how to swim,” Lin Duole said pensively. “How about you help me ask the coach for leave and explain my situation?”
“That won’t work, Lele,” Song Sirui walked over and pulled him along. “This swimming coach is really fierce. Without a leave note approved by the homeroom teacher, he won’t accept any explanation. Hurry up and come with me.”
Left with no choice, Lin Duole dragged himself to the pool. By then, the boys had mostly lined up. Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Duole caught a glance of Lu Chengyu standing in the same row nearby. Lu Chengyu was quietly looking over at him too; their eyes met briefly before looking away in opposite directions.
Coach Wu announced the instructions from the front: “Line up by student ID first, four people per group. Then we’ll test row by row—first the 50-meter freestyle, followed by the 200-meter individual medley. Class reps, keep time and record the scores in real time.”
As soon as he finished, the students stood in proper formation.
Lin Duole was in the last group. When it was their turn to enter the water, he took a deep breath on the poolside, weakly raised his hand, and said, “Reporting, Coach… I-I don’t know how to swim yet.”
“What’s the situation?!” The coach swept his sharp gaze over, assuming this was another student trying to slack off.
Bare-chested, Lin Duole’s breathing grew tense. “I just transferred here from a rural village. I haven’t learned how to swim before.”
Coach Wu understood immediately. Nodding, he confirmed he indeed hadn’t seen this student before, realizing it was likely true. Only then did his expression soften: “Then you need to get your parents to take this seriously as soon as you get home. Have them sign you up for swimming lessons or hire a private tutor. The assessment is coming up in the first semester of ninth grade—there’s less than a year left!”
Lin Duole nodded and said, “Understood. Thank you, Teacher.”
Once both tests ended, the coach read out the times from his stopwatch while the physical education committee member compiled the scores. When everything was settled, the boys gathered around nearby, excitedly checking the score sheet.
“Whoa, we’ve got two beasts in our class! Qin Hao pulled a 2:03.32, and Lu Chengyu got a 2:06.14. They are way too cracked!”
“Seriously! My 300 meters takes over four minutes—they took half my time!”
“Damn, I bet they were mermaids in their past lives! Someone stole their first kiss and turned them into humans!”
“Hahaha, hearing you say that is cracking me up!”
“Hahaha, bro, did you read too many Little Mermaid fairy tales when you were a kid?”
Listening to his classmates’ banter, Lin Duole’s gaze drifted toward Lu Chengyu from time to time. Meanwhile, in the middle of messing around with Xu Mingze, Lu Chengyu would also inadvertently glance over and meet Lin Duole’s eyes.
After finally enduring until school was dismissed, the students changed into their uniforms in the locker room, threw on their backpacks, and rushed toward the school gate. Honoring their prior agreement not to let classmates discover they lived in the same place, Lin Duole maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far, stealthily tailing Lu Chengyu.
Outside the school gates, heading toward the pedestrian bridge, commuters heading home after work crossed the street against the traffic lights, walking through the crowd carrying shoulder bags or document folders. Lin Duole navigated through the oncoming surge of people to chase after the familiar figure ahead. Yet, in the span of waiting for a single red light, the figure vanished into the grand evening commute.
Unable to find that familiar back, Lin Duole stopped, looking around in vain. Hanging his head in disappointment, he walked to the bus stop to catch a ride home, contemplating how he should bring it up to him once he got back.
Uncle Lu had mentioned on the phone last time that his business trip would take another two weeks. Lin Duole’s urgent need to develop swimming skills couldn’t wait. Besides, signing up for classes or hiring a private tutor for a physical skill course was too expensive; he really didn’t want Uncle Lu spending more money on him. The only hassle-free solution was to have Lu Chengyu teach him hand-in-hand.
But would Lu Chengyu easily agree to his request?
Lin Duole frowned. He didn’t know yet, but he had to at least give it a try.
While lost in thought, the bus at his stop had already closed its doors and was speeding away. Frustrated with his own distraction, Lin Duole could only wait for the next one.
As he stood there clutching the straps of his backpack, a hand reached out from behind and clapped heavily on his shoulder. Lin Duole turned his head back to look—it was none other than Lu Chengyu, the very person he was looking for.
The moment he turned around, the fleeting daze and stiffness in his body were unmistakably clear. Lu Chengyu saw it plain as day, pursed his lips, and asked: “You look totally out of it—who are you thinking about now?”
“Thinking about you,” Lin Duole said. Realizing Lu Chengyu hadn’t left after all, he smiled with a hint of playful mischief as he thought of what he was about to ask.
“Ew~” Lu Chengyu patted his own shoulder, acting as if he was getting goosebumps. “Don’t gross me out.”
After spending time together, Lin Duole knew this guy was all bark and no bite; he wouldn’t actually mind a joke like this. Instead, after glancing left and right to ensure no one they knew was around, he smiled and said:
“Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Spit it out!”
Lin Duole took a step forward, slinging his arm around Lu Chengyu’s shoulder, and said cheerfully, “I don’t know how to swim, and Uncle Lu isn’t home. Can you teach me how to swim?”
“No wonder you were staring at me like a creep during PE class,” Lu Chengyu looked at him and exaggerated dramatically. “So you were waiting for this all along!”