Ning Li came home with a pile of workbooks and test papers.
In his previous life, he could not exactly be called muddleheaded, but he had been a good-for-nothing all the same.
He had never liked studying, from childhood through high school. He had gotten into a vocational college, one with a terrible reputation and astronomical tuition fees, paid once a year at thirty thousand yuan.
As soon as they entered the school, their homeroom teacher had spoken to them bluntly: “You people are the trash of society, defective products that don’t meet the standards. Only this school was willing to accept you, giving you somewhere to go so you wouldn’t end up as street punks. You ought to be grateful.”
The high tuition fees were for managing a group of trash like them.
Even then, he had vaguely sensed the starkly different fates that studying could bring.
But he had remained cynical and carefree, never considering learning any practical skills. He had a handsome face, a sweet mouth, and a way with words, so he had actually done quite well at school. Someone had even recruited him to model for an online shop selling trendy brands, and he had earned a handsome wage.
After the college entrance examination, Yang Guifang and Ning He had no great expectations of him. They often muttered that, well, at least being safe and healthy was a blessing, and that someone else’s child had gotten a PhD only to leap from a building because of the pressure. Their son was at least still healthy and whole.
Since he was only attending vocational college, they had started worrying about Ning Li’s future early on. Ning Li had continued to respond with a grin: “What’s there to worry about? I’ll just live at home and be your housekeeper. I’ll wait on you, and you can pay me a salary.”
Yang Guifang had flown into a rage. “Isn’t that just leeching off your parents? You good-for-nothing brat, how can you have no ambition at all!”
Ning He had stamped his feet and slapped the table beside them. “If you don’t work hard while you’re young, you’ll regret it when you’re old1！！！”
Ning Li: “With my parents here, why would I travel far from home?”
He might really have been intending to live off his parents back then, but he had not been entirely determined about it. He simply had not wanted to think about the future so early, the way they did.
At least he had been happy in those days. The school was terrible, and he was studying fashion design. The classes were so easy that he could practically get away with not attending, and skipping class was effortless.
Because of that, the school’s atmosphere was somewhat disreputable. In the one year he spent as a freshman, he heard about several senior girls taking leaves of absence after getting pregnant by their boyfriends from outside the school, as well as senior boys juggling several girlfriends and causing chaos. The stories were never the same, and there was gossip to hear every day.
Ning Li had a handsome face. Although he was not particularly tall at only 178 centimeters, his proportions were excellent. As a model for trendy brands, he was very good at striking handsome poses, and modeling had trained his bearing as well. He really could fool people at a glance. Plenty of girls pursued him, including even some senior girls.
Ning Li had originally intended to follow the crowd and date someone, just to pass the long stretches of time. But he had gotten hung up on what type of girl he liked.
He had not yet figured things out in that regard. Thinking about it alone was not enough, he needed some kind of plan, so he had given it serious consideration.
He had never liked a member of the opposite sex, from childhood until then. He could chat with his female classmates casually, rambling about anything and everything, and their conversations were always pleasant. He did not dislike being around girls, and as long as he wanted to, he could always make them happy.
But he simply never developed that kind of feeling.
So what kind of girl did he actually like? He had no reference point.
He began to find it troublesome, and thus politely declined romance.
As a result, he went all four years without getting a girlfriend, devoting himself entirely to that part-time job.
After graduation, he had indeed saved up a great deal of money, almost enough to recoup his tuition in full.
He had even proudly told Yang Guifang, “See? I’m doing great, aren’t I? Who else can save up over a hundred thousand yuan right after graduating?”
Yang Guifang had looked at him with a deeply helpless expression. He had not understood it then, but only realized later that he had been like a frog at the bottom of a well. Seeing the patch of sky above the well, he had thought it vast and beautiful, never knowing that the frogs outside possessed a sky tens of thousands of times broader than his.
He remembered that Yang Guifang had mentioned Pei Ling then. She had asked, “Do you know how Pei Ling is doing now?”
At the sound of Pei Ling’s name, Ning Li had reacted as though startled, saying agitatedly, “Why are you bringing him up?”
Yang Guifang had sighed. “Yes, well, I saw his mother’s social media. He made five million yuan in his second year of college. Five million at twenty-two, while you’re smug over saving a hundred-something thousand.”
Ning Li had been deeply indignant. “What did he do to make that much? It wasn’t something covered by the criminal code, was it? I suggest the police investigate him thoroughly.”
Yang Guifang had said, “He wrote some software and sold it for five million, plus patent royalties. Do you know what patent royalties are?”
Ning Li: “……”
Ning Li had asked, “What’s he doing now?”
Yang Guifang had replied, “He started a company. He’s the boss now.”
Ning Li: “.”
Ning Li had not wanted to hear any more. “All right, stop talking. You should at least look at his family background. Can we even compare ourselves to him? I’m just an ordinary person. The dividing line between a genius and an ordinary person is amniotic fluid.”
Looking back now, aside from his poor health, Pei Ling’s future really had been smooth sailing.
Whenever Ning Li thought of that, he felt terrible. His mindset had changed completely. The cheerful Ning Li who had never cared much about gains or losses was gone. The current version of him was sick.
Just imagining that Pei Ling would be countless times better off than him in the future was enough to keep him awake and unable to sleep at night.
For now, though, he could only avoid thinking about the future. As long as he beat Pei Ling at this stage, that would be enough. Was that not a victory in its own way? Though admittedly, it was a little too much like Ah Q.
When he carried the huge bag of books home, Yang Guifang kept staring at him. Ning Li asked as though nothing was wrong, “What is it?”
The usually forceful Yang Guifang became a little sheepish. “Nothing.”
Ning Li gave her a sweet smile. “Mom, I want glutinous rice. Soy-sauce glutinous rice stir-fried with shiitake mushrooms, ham sausage, and carrots.”
As soon as Yang Guifang heard that, she said, “That’s too much trouble. I don’t want to make it.”
Ning Li pleaded, “Mom, I want it. Please, please, I’m begging you!”
Yang Guifang: “……”
She could not withstand him. She glanced at the thick workbooks in his bag and softened. “Fine, I’ll make it for you, but you have to take out the trash.”
Ning Li had never done something like that before. He had always been that lazy, contributing nothing to the family beyond eating, drinking, and using the bathroom.
This time, however, Ning Li said nothing. He put down the bag, tied up the garbage bag, and went outside to throw it away.
The trash can was not far from his home. After throwing out the garbage, he was about to head back when his sharp eyes caught sight of a figure standing behind the wall. The streetlights had already come on, stretching the figure’s shadow long and slender.
Ning Li paused, then walked over as if possessed. The figure behind the shadow slowly came into view. It was Pei Ling.
Pei Ling wore a black T-shirt and black trousers. Even beneath the warm yellow light, his skin looked pale. He was leaning half against the wall, a slender Lady’s Cigarette held between his fingers. It was already lit, and wisps of light smoke curled upward, blurring his excessively handsome features and adding a touch of coldness between his brows.
By the time Ning Li approached, Pei Ling had already raised his gaze and met Ning Li’s eyes. He paused, his expression unchanged, but the exposed lines of his arm trembled almost imperceptibly. He straightened and walked outward as though nothing had happened, letting the arm holding the cigarette drop naturally before gently crushing the lit cigarette in his palm.
He carried out the entire process so naturally that there was not the slightest embarrassment at being caught. He did not even spare Ning Li another glance, just as usual, and started walking toward home.
As he passed Ning Li, Ning Li called out, “Wait.”
Pei Ling stopped and turned his eyes slightly toward him. His posture was relaxed, but his dark gaze was deep, and the focus of his attention made it seem even blacker as it settled on Ning Li.
Ning Li said with some excitement, “I saw it. You were smoking.”
Pei Ling stared at him silently, seemingly considering what he wanted.
Ning Li misunderstood. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell on you. I just didn’t expect you to smoke, and to smoke Lady’s Cigarettes, no less.”
Pei Ling, who had been coldly refusing to look at him properly, suddenly spoke. “Is there something you want?”
Ning Li: “……Nothing. I just wanted to say that smoking is bad for your health.”
Pei Ling replied, “Mm.”
Then he left. His legs were long, and he took long strides, so he soon disappeared from sight.
Watching his tall, slender back, Ning Li thought happily, He doesn’t smoke. Isn’t that another win for me?
Sometimes happiness really was that simple. Humming a little tune, Ning Li went home.
Only after Pei Ling returned to his room did he throw the cigarette, crushed into a ball in his palm, into the trash can. He lowered his eyes slightly toward the round burn on his palm, and his somewhat pale lips gently pressed against the scorching mark, a consolation that was better than nothing.
*
The next day, the results of the in-class test were handed back.
Jiang Zhi immediately leaned over to look at Ning Li’s test paper. The moment he saw it, his eyes widened. “65 points!?”
Ning Li laughed heartily. “Hahahaha.”
Jiang Zhi: “……”
Jiang Zhi: “Didn’t you say you’d get a perfect score?”
Ning Li puffed out his chest and said calmly, “Just because I say I’ll get a perfect score, does that make it true? If I say I’m Qin Shi Huang, does that make me Qin Shi Huang?”
Jiang Zhi: “？”
He nearly fainted. He had actually thought Ning Li could get a perfect score.
Ning Li glanced at Jiang Zhi’s test paper. He had scored 31 points.
High school coursework was not easy to catch up on, so his initial goal had been to surpass Jiang Zhi. He was measuring himself against one person at a time, and for now, Jiang Zhi was the only one in his sights. He worked hard to ignore everyone else so it would not hurt quite so much.
Surpass the people within his field of vision. That was his strategy.
Jiang Zhi asked him, “Are you really going to study hard and improve every day? What school are you planning to get into?”
Ning Li thought about it, then said with a solemn expression, “Those who seek great things keep them in their hearts and carry them out through their actions. Great things are accomplished through secrecy, and ruined by words2.”
Jiang Zhi: “……”
How had a traitor like you emerged from among us illiterates！！！