Pei Ling didn’t even use the bathroom. He went straight outside.
Ning Li used the bathroom absentmindedly, thinking to himself: Pei Ling seemed a little taller than him. He had to be around 180 centimeters, right?
What a pain.
Ning Li had always known about Pei Ling. His family lived right next door, and the two families were neighbors. On their way to school in the mornings, Ning Li would occasionally run into him, but Pei Ling never looked him in the eye. Ning Li had no intention of fawning over someone who treated him coldly, much less taking the initiative to speak to him.
Still, no matter how unfamiliar they were, they were neighbors, and their relationship with the people around them was not cold. Ning Li knew what all the children on the street were like.
Ning Li himself was probably quite famous too. After all, Yang Guifang often beat him with feather dusters and bamboo canes, and he frequently escaped into the street, where the neighbors would stop Yang Guifang and try to persuade her not to hit him.
As for Pei Ling… Ning Li knew that Pei Ling’s mother was beautiful. You could also tell from the dazzling jewelry she wore, never the same set two days in a row, that Pei Ling’s family was far better-off than theirs.
Pei Ling had always been good at school, and he studied all kinds of things. When Ning Li was in elementary school, he could sometimes hear a piano coming from next door. Whenever she heard it, Yang Guifang would inevitably grow envious, then lecture him. “Just look at Pei Ling. He practices the piano as soon as he gets home from school. His mom says he only just started learning, so how can he play so well? It sounds wonderful. If you were even half as outstanding as Pei Ling, I wouldn’t say another word.”
Back then, Ning Li had been very indignant and talked back. “Pei Ling can play the piano because his mom sent him to lessons. You won’t send me to lessons, so how am I supposed to be outstanding?”
Yang Guifang had thought he had a point and actually sent him to piano lessons. After a semester, Ning Li could only play a few children’s songs, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Two Tigers, and Down by the Bridge in Front of the Gate. Meanwhile, Pei Ling was playing C-major sonatas, Bach, and Beethoven next door as casually as anything. His playing was smooth and beautiful, reducing Ning Li to absolute rubble.
The gap in talent was enough to make anyone despair, but Ning Li himself had no psychological scars from it. Yang Guifang, however, had faced reality. She sheepishly ended Ning Li’s piano lessons, then gave him a beating after they got home. He had learned only a few children’s songs in half a year, clearly without putting any effort into it. What a waste of an expensive semester of tuition.
Ning Li had always been that kind of person. He didn’t like putting in effort and never took anything seriously. Ambition was a burden to him, something he could set down at any moment.
Meanwhile, Yang Guifang wanted her son to become a success, and he carried the heaviest hopes his parents had placed on him.
Everyone could see how outstanding Pei Ling was, but he really was in poor health and was frequently hospitalized. He was two years older than Ning Li and had started school a year earlier, but he and Ning Li were both high school seniors because Pei Ling had taken several leaves of absence.
When Pei Ling took another leave of absence last March, Yang Guifang went to visit him. After she came home, she quietly told Ning Li, “You may be a little stupid, but at least you’re in good physical shape. Keep it that way.”
Ning Li asked what illness Pei Ling had, that it was serious enough to keep him hospitalized for over a month without returning. It wasn’t that he was concerned about Pei Ling. He simply wanted the gossip.
Yang Guifang lowered her voice and told him, “I heard they cut out part of his liver. He’s had an abdominal drainage tube hanging off him the whole time. It’s frightening. He’s only eighteen.”
Ning Li said, “Even if you cut out half a liver, it can grow back.”
Too young to understand sorrow, he continued cheerfully, “That’s great. If cutting out a little liver lets me take a year off school, I could do that too. It’ll grow back anyway.”
Those words enraged Yang Guifang. She grabbed the back-scratcher and whacked him repeatedly, making his none-too-bright head look even more foolish.
In the past, Ning Li had been immersed only in his own world. Now, he could see all sorts of things outside it, and Pei Ling stood out in particularly vivid colors.
Pei Ling had attended excellent schools in elementary and middle school. He had only performed disastrously on the high school entrance exam because he fell ill, which had landed him at the same school as Ning Li. During these three years, whenever he came to school for an exam instead of recovering at home, he was guaranteed the number-one spot in the entire school.
Yang Guifang used him as an example to motivate Ning Li. Back then, Ning Li had been indifferent and said with a hint of sarcasm, “What’s so impressive about being number one in Dongling? If he’s got what it takes, let him try taking the exam at First High School. He might end up coming in last.”
Of course, he knew that was impossible, but he had to save face. He had always been like that. Even while wasting away like a lazy fish, he still had to put on a brave front and take a jab at someone else.
Because Yang Guifang was always mentioning Pei Ling and clearly adored him, practically wishing she could trade children and raise a different one, Ning Li had developed some hostility toward Pei Ling. It was the sort of embarrassing instinctive possessiveness a child felt when competing with someone for his mother’s attention, despite being a bona fide lazy fish.
It wasn’t hostility toward Pei Ling’s excellence. Ning Li had no desire to compete with him. It was simply because Pei Ling’s excellence had taken up too much of Yang Guifang’s attention.
Even so, Ning Li never directed that hostility at Pei Ling. After all, Pei Ling was one of the sick and infirm, and Ning Li couldn’t possibly bully him. He even felt rather pleased with himself for avoiding Pei Ling’s gaze, afraid that his healthy person’s eyes and robust physique might make Pei Ling feel inferior.
He was so considerate. Even if he remained a lazy fish with no great achievements for the rest of his life, he could still consider himself a good person.
That was how naive Ning Li had been back then.
Now, Ning Li’s heart was both calm and stirred. Looking at Pei Ling again, a competitive spirit that had never existed before had put down roots in his heart and was slowly growing.
So naturally, he thought next that he would make Pei Ling his goal.
He would take first place in the entire school.
When school let out that afternoon, Ning Li charged out of the classroom as usual. The feeling of being the first person in the entire hallway to come out put him in an excellent mood.
He quickened his pace and rushed toward the stairs, accidentally colliding with a boy who had just come out of the classroom.
Ning Li came to an abrupt stop. Seeing out of the corner of his eye that someone was coming out, he said without even looking up, “Sorry.”
Then he hurried past the person and ran down the stairs.
The person Ning Li had bumped into was naturally Pei Ling. He was somewhat frail, and the collision sent his back into the wall. A sharp pain shot from his shoulder blade, making Pei Ling frown slightly. His eyes followed Ning Li, and he saw Ning Li practically leaping down the stairs two at a time.
Pei Ling: “…”
Although they had always been in the same school building, even on the same floor, their classrooms right next door to each other, the two rarely met. When Pei Ling occasionally delivered teaching materials to a teacher and happened to pass the back door of Ning Li’s classroom, a casual glance inside would always reveal Ning Li sleeping.
Pei Ling walked to the balcony and looked down. By coincidence, he saw Ning Li running around energetically and being the first to charge out of the school gates.
*
After dinner, Yang Guifang gave Ning Li fifty yuan. Ning Li held the money and froze for a moment before asking, “What are you giving me money for?”
Yang Guifang pretended to be composed. “You’ve learned to wash dishes and mop the floor, so I can’t be stingy either. Here’s fifty yuan. Buy whatever you want to eat.”
Ning Li said, “Oh. Thanks, Mom. I’ll put it to good use.”
Yang Guifang looked eager to ask something, then held herself back and casually asked, “What are you planning to use the money for?”
Ning Li thought for a moment and said, “Workbooks.”
As he spoke, he held out his hand to Yang Guifang. “Give me another hundred yuan.”
Yang Guifang: “! What for? Why do you need so much money?”
Ning Li said, “I’m buying workbooks. I need them for every subject. I’m going to surpass Pei Ling within a month.”
Yang Guifang was stunned, wondering if there was something wrong with her ears. “What? You’re going to surpass Pei Ling? What kind of dream are you having? What have you ever been better than him at, from childhood until now?”
Ning Li: “…”
He knew it was true. If this had been the old him, he wouldn’t have felt a thing. But now, hearing those words gave Ning Li the feeling that his heart was being twisted by a knife.
As soon as Yang Guifang finished speaking, Ning Li’s fair face flushed red. His eyes reddened too, and tears quickly gathered until they filled his eyes.
“I…” Ning Li’s voice caught. He turned his head away and said flatly, “I’ll surpass him.”
Yang Guifang: “…”
She panicked at once. Scrambling, she dug through her pockets and pulled out a fifty, a twenty, and a ten. “All right, all right, I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you eighty for now, and make up the other twenty later. Is that okay?”
Ning Li murmured, “Mm.” He lowered his head and gently wiped away the tears with his slender fingers. With his other hand, he took the money, turned around, changed his shoes, and headed out.
From Yang Guifang’s angle, all she could see was Ning Li’s face still flushed red, the color reaching all the way down his neck, as if some silent pain were throbbing inside him.
Yang Guifang had never thought that saying those things would hurt Ning Li, but now a faint sense of guilt rose in her heart. Before she could say anything else, Ning Li had already left, gently closing the door behind him.
Yang Guifang: “…”
Ning Li knew he had lost control, but he couldn’t help it. His skin was fair, and his face was full of blood vessels. The slightest emotional agitation made him flush, turning his entire body red like a boiled shrimp.
He wiped his tears and glanced at the sky. The summer sun always set late, and even now, the faint afterglow of sunset still lay lightly scattered across the horizon. Golden-red light shone from afar, blurring the flush on his face.
His heart lightened again. Just as he was about to take a step forward, he heard a muffled thud. He turned his head and saw Pei Ling.
He pulled back the foot he had just lifted and turned toward Pei Ling. Afraid Yang Guifang might hear, he lowered his voice and said, “Do you believe I can surpass you and take first place in the entire grade?”
Pei Ling glanced at him, slipped his keys into his pocket, and said, “I believe you.”
Ning Li let out a “heh.” “You’re just humoring me.”
Pei Ling: “…”
He turned and walked away.
Ning Li lowered his voice. “This is a declaration of war. Once I take first place in the grade, there’ll be no place for you anymore. I’m going to take back everything I’ve lost with these two hands, one thing at a time. This is the revenge of a lazy fish.”
Pei Ling was already far away, but that didn’t stop Ning Li from saying all that nonsense.
Pei Ling had excellent hearing and heard every word. His footsteps faltered, but he resisted the urge to look back.