I’ve been on TV.
Even though my mom bought me a phone, I don’t spend much time online. Most of the time, I’m either playing games or searching for study materials.
On Saturday, I reported to the Taekwondo class again. As soon as I walked in, my senior brother waved me over.
He was sitting on a plastic stool in his Taekwondo uniform, holding up his phone to me. “Wow, Princess, is this you?”
Because I have fair skin and was quite shy and afraid of pain when I first joined, my senior brother started calling me Little Princess.
I’m not fond of this nickname at all, but there’s nothing I can do about this group of guys. Honestly, I’d rather they call me Boar Prince than a princess with no masculinity.
“What do you mean, me?” I pulled over a plastic stool and sat next to him, taking his phone to look.
On the phone screen were screenshots from a variety show. I didn’t expect the video of me accompanying Yuan Ziyi to the audition would be aired. When I opened it, I saw myself in the pictures. One showed me standing with my hands behind my back, tilting my head to listen to Yuan Ziyi, and a few others showed me playing the piano.
There were some comments on the screenshots, one particularly offensive: [What is this, Beauty and the Beast?]
?
I handed the phone back to my senior brother, a bit worried about whether Yuan Ziyi would see this.
She hadn’t been to class all week. I called her house to ask if she was okay, but her mom answered and said she couldn’t come to the phone right now.
I wanted to ask if Yuan Ziyi was sick, but her mom hung up before I could say anything.
My senior brother held the phone, asking me, “This is you, right? Wow, who’s the girl next to you? She looks like a female baboon, hahaha.”
“Don’t say that, she’s my friend.” I stood up from the stool, carrying my Taekwondo uniform to the changing room. “I’m going to change.”
The Taekwondo class shares a changing room with other classes, and it’s a bit out of the way, at the end of the corridor.
The guys, knowing the girls wouldn’t come this way, usually left the changing room door open.
The changing room wasn’t well-ventilated, and with the weather being hot, it was filled with the sour smell of sweat and feet. As soon as I reached the door, a wave of heat mixed with the boys’ body odor almost knocked me over.
Near the door was a pair of shoes with two slightly yellowed socks draped over them.
Ugh… I carefully avoided the shoes and moved inside, hanging my bag on a hook and starting to change.
Nearby, two boys from the Latin dance class were chatting as they changed into their practice clothes. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but they were talking so loudly that I overheard them saying a girl from the dance class made it through the ‘Gardenia Star’ auditions.
Hearing about the show made me think of my poor desk mate, Yuan Ziyi. I wondered how she was doing. I’d call her again tonight when I got home.
Sitting on a bench, I took off my shoes and slipped out of my pants to put on my training clothes. I’m a bit short, so the pants were long, and I had to roll them up and pin them.
The two boys had finished changing, and since it wasn’t time for class yet, they continued chatting in the changing room.
“I heard Chen Guoguo is going to the finals. Our teacher is taking her. I wonder if we’ll get a day off then.”
“I watched the show the other day. Seriously, anyone who pays the registration fee can join the auditions. Did you see that lady in the silver dress? Hahaha…”
I guessed they were talking about Yuan Ziyi, which made me a bit unhappy.
But I couldn’t control what they said. Feeling a bit frustrated, I tied my belt and stuffed my clothes into the bag, standing on tiptoe to place it on top of the locker.
We Taekwondo students don’t have our own lockers, so we have to put our clothes on top of the lockers or scatter them around.
The two boys were quite tall and kindly offered to help me with my clothes.
“Thanks, I can reach it.” I declined their help, placed the bag, and prepared to leave.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
One of the boys grabbed my arm, looking closely at my face. “You’re Cheng Yueguang from the Taekwondo class, right? I’m from the class next door, Zheng Jie, and this is Liu Chengyu.”
“Oh…” I had overheard them badmouthing Yuan Ziyi, so I wasn’t too keen on talking to them. I pulled my arm free from Zheng Jie and headed out, muttering, “I’m going to class.”
Zheng Jie cheerfully followed me out, “We’re heading to class too. Let’s go together.”
Who wants to walk with him? I rolled my eyes.
Zheng Jie kept talking behind me, “Cheng Yueguang, those shoes you’re wearing are limited edition, right? They’re hard to get. How did you manage to buy them?”
“Slow down, I don’t mean anything by it, just want to be friends.”
Couldn’t he tell I didn’t want to talk to him?
I quickly reached the Taekwondo class entrance. One of my senior brothers was leaning against the door chatting with someone. When he saw me, he greeted me with a smile, “Little Princess, why are you here so early today?”
“We were just talking about you, and here you are.” Another senior brother draped an arm around my shoulder and led me into the classroom.
We’re all students of similar age, so any news spreads like wildfire in the class. Knowing I was on TV, they all asked me how it felt.
“Were you nervous? Wow, if I’d known I could be on TV, I would have joined in the fun too.”
They gathered around, chattering away, while I sat on a plastic stool in the middle, looking up at them as they chatted excitedly.
The name “Chen Guoguo” came up a lot. They said she was beautiful and might become a big star after the show.
My senior brother looked wistful, saying he hadn’t confessed to Chen Guoguo yet and feared he wouldn’t get the chance.
The others laughed, egging him on to confess to Chen Guoguo after class.
“No matter what, don’t leave any regrets. Imagine, when Chen Guoguo becomes famous, at least you can say you confessed to a big star.”
“Besides, what if she likes you too, and you two end up together?”
My senior brother’s face turned red, and the pimples on his cheeks seemed to flare up. He punched the guy closest to him, “Get lost, stop talking nonsense.”
The coach came in and saw us gathered around chatting. He shouted energetically, “What are you all doing here? Have you mastered the moves I taught you last week? You have five minutes to review. In five minutes, I’ll check, and anyone with incorrect moves will do 100 push-ups.”
I let out a wail and jumped up from the stool, randomly picking a lucky senior brother to help me go over the moves.
After narrowly passing the coach’s inspection, I spent the morning kicking sandbags at the Taekwondo gym. By noon, I headed home with bruised legs and a bottle of liniment given to me by a senior brother in my pocket.
There was only one SUV parked in the yard. My parents’ work cars weren’t there. I clutched the liniment in my pocket and pouted as I knocked on Tang Shi’s door.
Tang Shi opened the door for me. He seemed to have just come in from outside, carrying a warmth with him.
The living room was cool with the air conditioning set low. Tang Shi and I changed shoes at the door, and I asked him, “Where did you go?”
“To a tutoring class.”
Aunt Tang was sitting on the sofa watching TV, and Tang Shi glanced at her.
I knew Tang Shi was lying. He would never obediently go to a tutoring class, more likely he went to an internet cafe to play games.
I took off my sun protection jacket and hung it on the coat rack, bending down to get our slippers from the cabinet. Tang Shi reached out and wiped my neck, rubbing his fingers together. “Did you run back? Your neck is all sweaty.”
“Yueguang.” Aunt Tang leaned on the sofa. She was wearing a three-quarter sleeve linen shirt today, revealing a slender arm with a jade bracelet on her wrist.
She pressed a button on the remote, pausing the program on TV, and waved me over to sit next to her. “Auntie saw you on TV.”
“My classmates saw it too. They said a lot of people online are looking for the Piano Prince.”
Tang Shi followed behind me, talking as he ruffled my hair. “Piano Prince? More like the Snot Prince.”
I turned and punched him in the ribs, not using much force. “You’re the snot one.”
Aunt Tang laughed and told us to wash our hands and get ready to eat.
She had made stuffed pancakes. Tang Shi took a bite and then refused to eat more, saying they were too salty.
“Mom, can’t you taste the filling next time you make it?”
Aunt Tang tidied her hair, apologetically saying, “I followed the recipe book. What should I do if it’s salty? How about I make some tonkotsu ramen for you and Yueguang?”
Tang Shi was really inconsiderate. At my house, if my mom cooked, no matter how inedible it was, my dad and I would have to praise her and finish it all.
Besides, Aunt Tang’s cooking was so good, Tang Shi was really spoiled by her.
Sometimes my mom would say Aunt Tang was pitiful. She said Aunt Tang was quite pretty but never dressed up or went to beauty salons.
Aunt Tang was a very traditional housewife, gentle and always putting family first. My mom thought that wasn’t right. She said women must love themselves, have their own careers and hobbies, and should be a little selfish when necessary, not always thinking about giving to the family.
I thought my mom was absolutely right.
“Auntie, don’t bother making noodles.”
I picked up a stuffed pancake with my chopsticks and took a big bite. It was a bit salty, but not to the point of being inedible. I said, “It’s really good, Auntie. Thank you for your hard work.”
Aunt Tang patted my face. “Good boy, it’s okay, Auntie will make noodles for you.”
She took away the basket of pancakes from the table and also removed the small plate of pancakes in front of me.
I kicked Tang Shi under the table, saying he didn’t know how lucky he was.
Tang Shi said, “What do you know? Women should be like this. My mom doesn’t need to work, so what’s wrong with cooking a few more meals?”
Tang Shi was completely wrong. My dad always said women are treasures, needing understanding and care. They go through a lot giving birth, like passing through the gates of hell.
Men must cherish women because they don’t have to bear children, so they must protect the women who can, and not take their sacrifices for granted.
But I couldn’t reason with Tang Shi. He always thought he was right.
Aunt Tang quickly made the ramen and urged Tang Shi and me to eat quickly so we could take a nap.
She pushed the bowl with more char siu in front of me, affectionately ruffling my hair, telling me to eat more to grow taller.
I bent down to bite the char siu, and suddenly a pair of chopsticks reached over, with Tang Shi unceremoniously grabbing the char siu from my bowl and stuffing it into his mouth right in front of me.
His mouth was so big, he swallowed three pieces of my char siu in one go.
Aunt Tang was both angry and helpless, scolding him, “You’re such a big boy, how can you snatch food from your brother?”
“Exactly,” I mimicked Aunt Tang’s tone, muttering, “Can’t you let your brother have some?”
“Let him what?” Tang Shi transferred the vegetables from his bowl to mine, looking like he was doing me a favor. “You’re so chubby, eat less meat.”
???
See, this is the infuriating thing about guys. They claim their actions are for your own good, but really, they’re just after your char siu.
After eating, I wanted to help Aunt Tang with the dishes, but she shooed me out of the kitchen. “No need, go take a nap. Don’t miss your afternoon class.”
At four in the afternoon, I had a piano lesson. Piano lessons were dull and it was easy to fall asleep. Aunt Tang ushered me upstairs, so I had no choice but to follow Tang Shi up to rest.
Tang Shi’s room had the window open, and the breeze blowing in was hot.
The room was really warm. Tang Shi cursed as he entered, taking off his shirt and tossing it aside, searching everywhere for the air conditioner remote.
I closed the window and drew the curtains on the sunny side.
The room darkened immediately. Tang Shi turned on the air conditioner, then ran to the bathroom, turning on the faucet to splash water over himself, coming out with wet hair.
I guessed he would deliberately use my clothes to wipe his face, so I quickly climbed onto the bed, sitting with my legs curled up and taking off my socks.
As soon as I took off one, Tang Shi stood by the bed, laughing at me. “Cheng Yueguang, how old are you, still wearing such childish socks.”
I had picked out the socks myself, with a big Spider-Man head on them. I wiggled the foot still wearing a sock, mocking him for not understanding anything.
“Peter Parker will never go out of style.”
“Alright, alright,” Tang Shi climbed onto the bed too, lying down beside me. “I really can’t with you. Are you eight years old this year?”
I balled up my socks and placed them on my slippers, lying down next to him with a yawn.
Tang Shi wasn’t sleepy, watching videos on his phone with the volume turned up.
I urged him to be kind, but he didn’t listen. Seeing me yawning with my eyes closed, he even brought the phone speaker close to my ear to annoy me.
“Cheng Yueguang, I told you you’re a little chubby, and you didn’t believe me. Look at this shot, your face is all chubby.”
I opened one eye to look and saw that the video on his phone was the segment of me and Yuan Ziyi at the audition.
Yuan Ziyi was introducing herself to the judges with her hands behind her back, while I stood beside her, looking bored, puffing my cheeks and glancing around.
We didn’t know the audition video would be aired. Watching Yuan Ziyi through the screen, I realized her outfit was indeed a bit hard to describe.
The camera tends to magnify people’s flaws. In reality, Yuan Ziyi looked fine, but on camera, she appeared like a silver-clad giantess with lips as red as if she’d just eaten two pounds of children.
“…”
Looking at Tang Shi’s phone, I couldn’t help but say, “Although it’s not nice to say, it’s really hard on the eyes…”