chapter 11
Chapter 11
Time passed so quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the New Year was over.
After the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Cheng Yubai and I went back to school, and Dad continued with his mountain produce business.
I was still keeping up with my diary.
Honestly, there wasn’t much to record – every day at home was pretty much the same. Cheng Yubai and I went to school as usual, and Dad got up on time for his business. Life was really quite plain.
This kind of life continued until I was in sixth grade, Cheng Yubai started his second year of high school, and I lost my last baby tooth.
Because of a superstition in the village, all the teeth I’d lost before were either thrown onto the roof or under the bed by Dad and Cheng Yubai. This time was no different.
I immediately went to find Cheng Yubai.
Cheng Yubai took my tooth and, with a very serious expression, told me, “Manman, this is the last time you’ll lose a tooth. Every tooth you have now is unique and will be with you for life. We must take good care of them and never eat sweets recklessly, because they’ll never grow back a third time.”
He made it sound scary, and I listened pretty seriously.
After all, I was a sixth grader now, and I understood clearly: ruining your teeth for a bit of candy and missing out on more delicious things later was definitely not worth it.
That tooth was eventually taken away by Cheng Yubai, and I didn’t know where it went.
I didn’t really care – I was busy with preparations for middle school, immersed in my studies.
It was almost unbelievable.
Dad and Cheng Yubai were both a little surprised. I, who was usually too lazy to even sharpen a pencil, was now actually motivated to study on my own.
Dad was very pleased.
He thought Mom was blessing me from heaven, which was why I had suddenly become so studious. To show his support, Dad rewarded me with ten yuan and took Cheng Yubai and me to eat crispy roast pork on the neighboring street.
The roast pork was really delicious.
The skin was crispy, and the meat inside was fragrant and tender, not dry at all.
I chewed on the pork leg and finally revealed my ultimate goal for working so hard – to get into No. 1 Middle School (comprehensive school) with Cheng Yubai.
The school he attended, No. 1 Middle School, was the only comprehensive school in En County, and also the best. The entrance requirements for middle school were very strict; you had to be ranked among the top two hundred or so in the county to be guaranteed a spot.
There were more than seven thousand elementary students in all of En County. The city had better educational resources and more teachers, so I had some advantages, but I usually hovered around the 500th place. Moving up three hundred spots was obviously very difficult.
But just knowing I wanted to work hard was enough to make Dad overjoyed.
He was always blindly confident in me. At the dinner table, he waved his hand and declared, “Simple, easy! My daughter is so smart, she’ll definitely make it!”
He sounded so certain, as if I wasn’t preparing for the exam but had already passed it.
“I think I can do it too.”
I grinned, hugging my bowl. “Once I get into No. 1 Middle School, I can go to and from school with Cheng Yubai!”
There were lots of stationery shops and dessert shops at the school gate, plus all kinds of little stalls. Cheng Yubai’s pocket money would finally be put to good use.
Cheng Yubai didn’t know I’d already planned out how he’d spend his pocket money in the future. When he heard me say I wanted to go to and from school with him, his eyes softened a lot: “…Manman, the schedules for middle school and high school are different. It’s too early – how will you get up?”
Maybe he was afraid I’d give up, so he quickly added, “But we can still meet in the cafeteria every day at noon.”
Wouldn’t that mean I wouldn’t have to queue up for lunch myself?
My eyes lit up and I nodded vigorously. “Great, great!”
Cheng Yubai pressed his lips together and modestly put a piece of tenderloin in my bowl. When he was happy, his expression was always subtle – only Dad and I could tell.
Thinking about it, I put a piece of meat in his bowl too.
In that instant, the curve of Cheng Yubai’s lips visibly lifted.
He’s always like this.
To me, it’s just something I do in passing, but it can make him happy for a long time. He’s really too easy to please, which makes me seem a bit too carefree in contrast.
I picked up a piece of meat and put it in my mouth, silently deciding that I should treat him better from now on.
After dinner, we followed Dad home.
Maybe the roast pork was just too delicious, because that night, I had a dream: rows and rows of roast pigs stood in front of my bed, dancing, insisting that I join them. I was so exhausted that I didn’t sleep peacefully all night.
On Monday morning, I entered the classroom yawning.
“Lu Manman!”
My deskmate, a girl, saw me come in. Her eyes lit up and she hurriedly waved at me.
I perked up and jogged over to my seat.
“My mom fried some crispy pork this morning and told me to bring you some.”
Guan Qi opened her aluminum lunchbox, smiling at me. “My house is close to school, so it’s still warm. Try it!”
I stuffed my backpack under the desk. “…I feel a bit embarrassed.”
Even as I said that, my hand was already honestly reaching into the lunchbox.
Guan Qi watched me good-naturedly. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Last week you treated me to that expensive cake, and I wasn’t embarrassed at all!”
“I know.”
Without a hint of guilt, I picked up a second piece, happily chewing on the crispy pork, lazily saying, “I’m just being polite. Don’t take it seriously!”
Guan Qi burst out laughing.
She looks gentle and delicate, but her smile is sweet. I’ve always thought she resembles a Hong Kong celebrity-Vivian Chow, the one with the beautiful singing voice.
Actually, the reason I want to get into No. 1 Middle School isn’t because of Cheng Yubai, but because of her-
Guan Qi’s uncle used to be a chef at a big restaurant in Modu.
Recently, he returned to En County and has been negotiating with No. 1 Middle School to take over the cafeteria. I heard things are going smoothly, and if all goes well, he’ll start working right when we begin seventh grade.
Guan Qi said her uncle’s cooking is amazing.
“Last time he came to deliver my homework, he saw our school lunch and said even pigs wouldn’t eat it.”
After Guan Qi said that, we both fell silent.
We’ve been eating food that even pigs wouldn’t touch for years.
It’s enough to make you sigh. It’s not like we don’t pay for our meals, but to save costs, the cafeteria staff are stingy even with salt when cooking, and the rice is always cheap, old stock bought wholesale. How could food like this ever taste good?
Parents have come to the school to complain several times, but nothing ever changes.
There’s nothing we can do-the cafeteria owner is the principal’s younger brother. No matter how bad the food is, he won’t be replaced. The school’s slop buckets are always full to the brim. It’s such a waste.
But Cheng Yubai said that the ones causing the waste aren’t us who don’t eat, but those who make perfectly good ingredients inedible.
I couldn’t agree more.
Guan Qi went to hand in her homework, and I sat at my desk, absentmindedly chewing on the crispy pork.
When she came back, I couldn’t help but ask, “Your uncle’s been out of work for a few months-his cooking skills haven’t gotten rusty, right? What if we get in and he suddenly makes terrible food?”
“No way,” Guan Qi replied confidently. “He cooks at home every day, and my future aunt is a teacher at No. 1 Middle School. Just for her sake, he wouldn’t dare!”
After hearing that, I felt reassured.
Once I get into No. 1 Middle School, I’ll have Guan Qi’s uncle cooking for me, Cheng Yubai helping me queue for food, and Guan Qi eating with me. Life will be just too good.
Thinking about this, my motivation to study shot up another level, so I took out the new workbook I bought yesterday.
Guan Qi looked horrified. “Are you serious?”
I opened the cover, my expression cold. “Don’t disturb me. I’m thinking.”