Chapter 9 – Living in School

translator: xiin
editors: baumkuchen & butter

Song Yu returned home. When Grandma Meng saw that he’d come back safely, she asked him a few questions, but didn’t say much else.

After washing up and going to his room, he laid down on the quilt that carried a light jasmine fragrance.

Song Yu had received a reply from his mother in A City.

[ That’s good then. Is Yuyu accustomed to life in Jing City? ] 

Song Yu typed. [ Yes, I quite like Jing City. ] 

After thinking for a moment, Song Yu added, [ Mom, I want to live at school when it starts. ] 

There was one month until school started. Living in the dorms was a relatively important step.

He soon received a reply from Mother Song.

[ Living in the dormitories? How come you want to live there? ] 

Song Yu replied, [ I want to experience the liveliness of high school. ] 

These words made Mother Song feel incredible heartache, [ In that case, I’ll discuss it with your grandmother and have her contact the school to make arrangements. ] 

Song Yu smiled.

[ Thank you, mom. ] 

Song Yu wasn’t very sleepy yet, so he played on his cell phone for a while.

He’d added Ma Xiaoding on QQ. This yellow-skinned kid’s spiritual world was very rich.

His internet handle was ‘Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well¹Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well – this is an internet meme that refers to the horror/thriller novel Ring (リング, Ringu), a Japanese mystery horror novel by Koji Suzuki first published in 1991, combined with an Chinese idiom ‘when drinking water, don’t forget who dug the well’. The original meaning of the idiom was to be grateful to those who helped you succeed.’, and his profile image was Yamamura Sadako with her hair over her face.

Song Yu was very certain that he’d been beaten up quite a few times for this profile image.

His personal signature was even more immature: I can climb out of a TV, but can’t climb into your heart.

Song Yu: “… Amazing.”

It was quite impressive that he was able to send out such an independent temperament across the internet with simply his profile image and personal signature.

Ma Xiaoding had just added him. He was very excited and first sent out an emoticon to test the waters.

After discovering Song Yu’s online name, he was really shocked.

[ Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well: F*ck me, Brother Yu, your name is really 666²666 – amazing, badass, impressive. ] 

Song Yu’s name was something he’d come up with at random. Originally, he’d wanted to be more moderate, but then he thought about how he was now a 15 year old teenager and there was no better time to act young and immature. So he’d changed it to ‘Your Husband, Brother Yu’. This was his username from a game he used to play and had been specifically used to flirt with girls.

Song Yu looked at his Sadako profile image. His face was expressionless.

[ Your Husband, Brother Yu: Not as 6 as yours. ] 

[ Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well: [cute][cute]³cute cute – cute expression emoticons ] 

Ma Xiaoding soon sent over another message.

[ Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well: No way! I still feel that Brother Yu’s name is better. If I don’t purposely rename it, I’d really think that I was talking to my own husband! ] 

Song Yu laughed out loud.

[ Your Husband, Brother Yu: Then you should hurry up and rename it, I’m begging you. Don’t act gay with me. ] 

[ Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well: ??? [aggrieved] Brother Yu, you’re hating on me. ] 

Fortunately, Ma Xiaoding wasn’t really looking for him just because he was idle.

As a native of Jing City, he naturally knew more about the city than Song Yu did. He chattered on and shared a lot of general knowledge with him.

First, he sent over a group invitation.

[ Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well: Brother Yu, this is the new group chat for new students at Jingcheng No.1 High School. You can join it. ] 

Then, he sent over a website address.

[ Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well: Brother Yu, this is Jingcheng No.1 High School’s social forum set up by the campus club. You can go in and take a look at the environment there. I find it pretty fun. ] 

Song Yu wasn’t very interested in the new student group, but he was really idle and had nothing to do right now, so he clicked into Ma Xiaoding’s link and used his QQ to register for an account. He was really only doing it because he was too bored, so he didn’t even change his name when signing up.

The link went straight to the forums. Pinned at the top were all answers to typical freshman questions, and all kinds of school seniors were very active there.

There were a lot of meaningless posts.

[ No.1 High School’s school flower & school grass⁴school flower & school grass – chinese slang terms for ‘most beautiful girl in school’ and ‘hottest guy in school’ selection ] 

[ New students, report your name, height and address. Let’s meet up before school starts, do you dare to come play? ] 

[ Urgent urgent urgent! Honor of Kings 5v5 is short one person, a big boss who can carry four noobs. We currently have four noobs and are just waiting for a big boss! Hurry! ]  

[ Can any fellow brother with big balls tell me when the second canteen is open during summer vacation ahh! ] 

Song Yu skimmed through the posts. The bright Jing City moonlight shone in through the window and the small insects in the garden were chirping. He leaned against the pillow, his gaze lowered, smiling as he looked through the threads.

This was the real world. The life of a high school teenager should be carefree and colorful.

It was just that the book <Gentle Control> had given Xie Sui the darkest and most obscure part of school life.

Being oppressed in class, cold violence, injustice.

“It shouldn’t be like this for you.”

Song Yu muttered softly.

Xie Sui was such a good teenager. At this age, he shouldn’t have to bear those insults and abuse.

He would be a popular figure in school who had excellent grades and good looks.

A lot of people would have secret crushes on him.

His name would be written down by young girls in their scented diaries.

He would be a good student in the eyes of the teachers, and when their eyes landed on his face during class questions, their gazes would always hold affirmation and a smile.

He would receive respect from the learning slags and a group of people would be chattering around him every time there was an exam.

Living brightly with confidence and excellence.

This was the high school life that he should have.

*

Grandma Meng contacted the headmaster of Jingcheng No.1 High School and explained Song Yu’s situation as well as how he wanted to live at school. She learned from Ma Xiaoding that Song Yu loved learning, and also asked about what he needed to prepare for the start of high school.

After receiving an earnest and serious answer from the headmaster, Grandma Meng was satisfied and purchased a pile of books and exercise questions, sending them over to Song Yu’s room. She was also particularly gentle as she instructed, “Yuyu, do your best, but don’t tire yourself out too much.”

Song Yu sat on the bed and looked at the two stacks of books on the ground with a stiff expression. He reluctantly pulled up the corners of his lips, “Thank you, grandma.”

Don’t worry, grandma, he definitely wouldn’t tire himself out.

Song Yu’s high school knowledge had all been forgotten during the summer vacation when he graduated from senior three. Picking it all back up again was very painful.

Although he didn’t want to become a learning bully, getting results that would cause him to be at the bottom rankings was really disgraceful.

Song Yu wasn’t able to calm down at home, so he simply decided to go and look for Xie Sui. Before leaving, he even packed up a textbook and a test paper.

Xie Sui’s current job was at a milk tea shop.

The milk tea shop was very busy at this time. Basically, there were girls drinking milk tea in groups of twos and threes, but their gazes constantly drifted over toward Xie Sui.

They’d probably come for the eyecandy. He was tall, with long legs and a cold and abstinent aura. Glancing at him in the hot weather was probably more effective than air conditioning.

Song Yu ordered a glass of lemonade and sat by the window. He pulled out his math paper and picked up his pen as though embarking on a deep vendetta.

He got stuck on a permutation and combination problem. Song Yu had forgotten the formula and was in a languid, lazy mood. He didn’t even have the heart to use his cell phone and look it up on Baidu, simply pulling out a napkin to write out a six-digit permutation and combination.

He wasn’t able to fill up an entire napkin, so he pulled out another one.

The shop slowly emptied out.

Xie Sui noticed that Song Yu’s lemonade had already reached the bottom, so he brought over another cup.

Song Yu didn’t notice his approach. He was currently focused on solving the problem.

Song Yu’s eyelashes were curled up like a baby’s. The sun shone through the camphor trees outside on the street and landed on his face, which carried a kind of strange sense of good behavior.

Xie Sui saw that he was very serious and went to glance at the test paper

After seeing the question clearly, Xie Sui fell into a thoughtful silence.

“720.”

A cool voice sounded out over his head.

Song Yu’s pen stopped, and he was even a little upset at being interrupted, “I was about to figure it out. You’ve interrupted my thinking.”

Xie Sui: “……”

Can your simple and basic algorithm even be considered as thinking?

—

Butter’s Thoughts:
XS: Don’t worry, in the future, I’ll help you think
SY: Don’t worry, in the future, I’ll solve your problems

xiin: … school terms @_@

• 1
  Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well – this is an internet meme that refers to the horror/thriller novel Ring (リング, Ringu), a Japanese mystery horror novel by Koji Suzuki first published in 1991, combined with an Chinese idiom ‘when drinking water, don’t forget who dug the well’. The original meaning of the idiom was to be grateful to those who helped you succeed.
• 2
  666 – amazing, badass, impressive
• 3
  cute cute – cute expression emoticons
• 4
  school flower & school grass – chinese slang terms for ‘most beautiful girl in school’ and ‘hottest guy in school’