Lu Chengyu could hardly believe his mother could be this generous. In this moment, her behavior made it seem as though she was treating this illegitimate child completely like her own son.
At the dining table, the four of them ate together. Lin Duole sat beside Lu Chengyu, directly across from Lu Tingyu and Song Qian.
The spread was lavish: steamed eggs with broccoli, salt-baked giant chicken legs, stir-fried baby bok choy, crucian carp and tofu soup, sweet and sour pork ribs, and dry-pot griddle pork intestines. Every single dish appealed to the eyes, nose, and palate alike. Looking at the food on the plates, which looked so much like works of art that he was hesitant to pick up his chopsticks, Lin Duole was seeing such dishes for the very first time—they were far more beautiful than anything served in a restaurant.
“Lele, your Uncle Lu mentioned that you only had a bowl of noodles today.” Song Qian served Lin Duole a large bowl of rice, placing it in front of him with a warm smile. “You must be starving by now, right?”
Lin Duole nodded truthfully.
“Here, Lele, try your Auntie Zhao’s cooking.” Song Qian used a pair of serving chopsticks to place a large chicken leg into his bowl, then ladled a bowl of crucian carp soup for him as well.
“Look at you, being so overly enthusiastic that you’re making Lele feel self-conscious,” Lu Tingyu teased his wife with a laugh before looking up at the boy. “Lele, don’t be formal at all. Eat whatever you like.”
Sitting in the middle, Lu Chengyu felt thoroughly uncomfortable. His parents were treating this younger brother with far too much importance.
Pausing briefly, Lu Chengyu assumed the stance of a spoiled young master. With heavy, sweeping movements, he served himself generous portions from every single dish—an act that made Lin Duole, sitting beside him, assume he was angry.
Surprised by his son’s unusual behavior, Lu Tingyu let out a light cough, intending to warn Lu Chengyu.
Catching his father’s hint, Lu Chengyu raised his hand and placed a chicken leg into Lin Duole’s bowl. Putting on an enthusiastic display, his eyes crinkling with a hidden smile, he said, “Here, eat more meat. Eating meat helps you grow faster.”
Even though Lin Duole knew full well that Lu Chengyu’s friendliness in this moment was a front, looking at the smiles on Uncle Lu and Auntie Song’s faces made him feel a bit awkward inside. He could only beam back at Lu Chengyu and reply, “Thank you.”
After dinner, Lu Tingyu accompanied his wife in the living room to watch TV for a while, while Lin Duole followed Lu Chengyu into the bedroom.
The bedroom was exceptionally large, though it lacked a private bathroom. Lu Chengyu grabbed his pajamas to go take a shower outside, only to see Lin Duole staring intently at the bookshelf in the northwest corner.
Sure enough, a second later, Lin Duole called out to stop him: “Lu Chengyu, may I read the books on your shelf?”
“No manners at all,” Lu Chengyu said with a scowl. “Who would want to lend them to you?”
“You’re the one who told me not to call you ‘Brother’,” Lin Duole stated truthfully, genuinely finding this person’s temperament a bit hard to grasp. “Now that I call you by your name, you’re unhappy again.”
“…”
Lu Chengyu ignored him, closing the door as he left to take a shower. Lin Duole shrugged, looked at his departing back, turned to look at the books on the shelf, and could ultimately only let out a sigh.
The next day, Lu Tingyu drove him to the school to handle his enrollment, and Lin Duole successfully entered Jinxian Middle School.
Standing inside the classroom of Class 1, Grade 8, Lin Duole was scrutinized by the entire class. The teacher asked him to introduce himself. Pinching the fabric at the side of his school uniform, he spoke in a calm, composed tone: “Hello everyone, my name is Lin Duole. I am thirteen years old and come from a small village in Henan Province. I am very glad to be standing here today and becoming classmates with all of you. I hope that in the time ahead, we can study hard together and make progress as one.”
When he finished speaking, the students below applauded enthusiastically. Flushing slightly, Lin Duole walked over to take his seat. His desk happened to be right in front of Lu Chengyu’s, and Lu Chengyu’s clear voice drifted over from behind: “I really don’t know what you’re blushing about.”
An unfamiliar boy beside him chimed in as well: “Yeah, what’s a boy got to blush about?”
Hearing that, the young boy’s face seemed to turn even redder.
Lin Duole didn’t know why he was blushing either; standing up on that podium had simply brought on an unexpected wave of nerves.
A female student beside him came to his rescue, turning to Lu Chengyu behind them and saying, “Hey, Lu Chengyu, why are you like this? A new classmate just joined our class—be nicer to him.”
With that, she turned to give Lin Duole a cheerful smile, striking up a conversation: “New classmate, don’t mind him. That’s just how he is—he has a real sharp tongue.”
Lin Duole touched his cheek and shook his head.
“My name is Hao Dongmei.” The girl extended her hand, tilting her head cutely, and said, “I’m your desk mate from now on. If there’s anything you don’t know, feel free to ask me.”
Lin Duole hesitated for a moment, wiped the sweat from his palms onto his pant legs, and shook Hao Dongmei’s hand in return. “Alright, thank you.”
Before Hao Dongmei could say anything more, Xu Mingze behind her patted her shoulder, his voice alarmingly loud: “Hao Dongmei, stop right there! Stop constantly striking up conversations with handsome guys! Don’t even think about puppy love!”
“Who said anything about puppy love!” Hao Dongmei hated being bossed around by Xu Mingze the most, her tone laced with impatience. “Can’t I just look at a handsome guy to feast my eyes?”
The surrounding crowd burst into a chorus of laughter—it was all filled with good intentions, without any mocking jeers. Lin Duole smiled as well, gradually blending into this class community. Looking at him, Hao Dongmei blushed and playfully stuck out her tongue.
As school approached dismissal, Lin Duole heeded Uncle Lu’s instructions and took the bus home together with Lu Chengyu.
Midway through the journey, a heavy downpour began. Lin Duole hadn’t brought an umbrella and didn’t know which stop to get off at, so he followed closely behind Lu Chengyu’s footsteps. Squeezed into a corner by the crowded commuters, Lu Chengyu held onto the handrail, shielding him within his arms.
“At school, you are not allowed to tell anyone that we know each other,” Lu Chengyu warned, leaning close to his ear.
Lin Duole remained silent, and Lu Chengyu continued, “And don’t get off the bus together with me either. Don’t let anyone know we live together.”
Lin Duole nodded, obediently agreeing to every requirement the person before him laid out, even though he didn’t understand why Lu Chengyu insisted on this.
The two returned home one after the other, separated by about half an hour. Seeing Lin Duole enter the door, Lu Tingyu rushed over anxiously and asked, “Lele, why are you only getting back now? Did you get caught in the rain? Didn’t I tell your brother to bring you home?”
“Where’s Chengyu?” After expressing his concern for Lin Duole, Lu Tingyu began looking for his son. “Where did Lu Chengyu go?”
Lu Chengyu walked out of his bedroom with a dry towel over his head. Before getting off the bus, he had forced his umbrella into Lin Duole’s hands and dashed into the rain himself.
“I told you to bring your younger brother home—how could you just leave on your own first?” Without asking for the full context, Lu Tingyu immediately scolded his son harshly.
Song Qian hadn’t expected Lu Tingyu to speak to him like that either, and quickly spoke up in her son’s defense: “Chengyu came back first, but he got soaked in the rain too, didn’t he? Doesn’t Lele have an umbrella in his hand? Why are you in such a rush without asking about what actually happened?”
“Uncle, it was my fault. I didn’t bring an umbrella and wanted to walk around outside a bit longer, so Brother Chengyu gave me his umbrella,” Lin Duole lied to cover for Lu Chengyu.
Hearing this, Lu Tingyu’s expression instantly softened quite a bit. Turning to his son, he said, “In the future, if your younger brother wants to look around a bit more, you should accompany him so you won’t end up getting soaked yourself.”
“It looks like Lele knows how to take the bus now anyway,” Song Qian mediated smoothingly. “In the future, having one umbrella each will solve everything. Our son isn’t a servant—why demand that of him?”
Choked up by his wife’s words, Lu Tingyu went silent. Lin Duole chimed in as well: “Auntie Song is right. I know how to take the bus now, so returning on my own in the future won’t be a problem.”
Lu Chengyu didn’t defend himself once throughout the entire exchange. He simply watched the farce come to an end, glaring fiercely at Lin Duole—a look that seemed to say, Wipe that smug look off your face.
Lin Duole finally understood why Lu Chengyu had given him those instructions on the bus.
After attending classes in Class 1 for a while, Lin Duole gradually came to realize just how vast the gap was between a mountain village and a big city. In his rural town, he had been ranked first, but here in the city, his grades were practically the most unremarkable among the entire group.
On the class ranking for this term’s midterm exam, he ranked 48th. There were 50 students in the class in total, and one student had been absent on sick leave for the exam—which meant that, for all intents and purposes, he was legitimately second to last.
And Lu Chengyu? He was actually ranked second from the top in the entire class.
Lin Duole was deeply perplexed. He hadn’t expected Lu Chengyu’s grades to be that good. Whenever he observed him at home, the other boy was either playing video games or watching soccer matches in the living room, hardly ever studying or reading. Yet someone who barely studied placed second in class, while someone who worked diligently and strove hard every single day ended up near the very bottom.
The whole thing felt like a joke.
Looking at his dismal report card, Lin Duole began searching for the cause. It was glaringly obvious that his English was extraordinarily weak compared to his classmates.
That wasn’t entirely his fault, though. Children in Beijing received bilingual education from a very young age, whereas he had only started learning the 26 English letters upon entering middle school. Now in Grade 8, this was only his second academic year touching the language, making it impossible to compete with native Beijing students his age.
Lin Duole made up his mind that from now on, he had to study vocabulary diligently and make up for his poor grammar.
At the dinner table, the adults had learned about the midterm results. Lu Tingyu placed some food into Lin Duole’s bowl to comfort him: “Lele, don’t be discouraged. It’s only natural that you need a period of time to adapt after just moving here to study. Take advantage of this semester to slowly catch up on what you don’t know. Who knows, when you enter Grade 9 next academic year, you might be number one again.”
Lin Duole kept his head down, letting out a soft “Mm” as a response.
“Lele is a hard-working, good child. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask your Brother Chengyu. Although your Brother Chengyu isn’t particularly diligent, his grades are decent enough, so he should be able to tutor you.” Song Qian’s smile was impeccably graceful as always. She had gradually noticed that her husband’s bias toward Lele clearly outweighed his affection for his own son—even though her own son was equally outstanding, and effortlessly so.
Hearing this, Lin Duole felt so ashamed that he didn’t even dare raise his head.
After that day, Lin Duole always clutched a small English dictionary in his hands, carrying it wherever he went to memorize words whenever he had a spare moment. Even before going to sleep at night, lying in bed, he would recite a few sentences.
One night, Lu Chengyu couldn’t take it any longer. Tiptoeing over to Lin Duole’s bedside and seeing him buried under the covers softly reciting English, he yanked the blanket away and said in a thoroughly impatient voice: “Are you ever going to stop? Are you going to let me sleep or not?!”