Chapter 27: Calamity
That night, the English teacher slept in the master bedroom. Since it was an old house with limited space—just two bedrooms and a living room—Li Heng and Zhang Zhiyong shared the smaller bedroom.
Listening to the chanting downstairs, where a Taoist priest was mumbling prayers, Zhang Zhiyong tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Suddenly, he jumped up, full of resentment:
“How long is this damn noise going to last? It’s driving me crazy! I really want to go downstairs and kick that damn box over!”
Li Heng, who had weathered many storms, considered this just a drizzle. He closed his eyes and lay flat.
“Just bear with it. This is an old neighborhood, full of residents around here. They won’t keep it up for long. It’ll probably quiet down soon.”
Zhang Zhiyong’s veins bulged as he grabbed his hair in frustration.
“I’m going insane! I can’t take it anymore!”
Li Heng said, “Then go kick the box yourself. I’ll call 110 and 120 for you, and maybe even book you a spot at the crematorium. But you know I’m short on cash—if I can’t get you an urn, don’t blame me. Just endure it, like a fish eating dead meat in the Zijiang River…”
“Stop! Stop! You idiot!” Zhang Zhiyong cursed as he got out of bed to peek out the window. Then he returned to bed, lying flat like him, pretending to rest.
After a while, the restless fool couldn’t hold back and suddenly asked, “Li Heng, do you think the English teacher next door is asleep yet?”
Li Heng opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. “Why do you ask?”
Zhang Zhiyong grinned mischievously. “It’s a long night. I think you shouldn’t waste it here. You should go next door.”
Li Heng was speechless.
Before he could reply, Zhang Zhiyong kept going: “Really! I feel like she feels different about you. How about tonight I go downstairs to the spirit altar and suppress the urn, free up the room for you two…”
“Ouch!” Zhang Zhiyong’s words were cut short as he suddenly appeared on the floor, clutching his backside and groaning in pain.
Fuming, he shouted, “Li Heng, you bastard! Why’d you kick me? Even if you two did something wrong tonight, I’m your brother—I wouldn’t tell a soul! Don’t you trust me?”
Li Heng extended his leg and kicked him again, this time in the face, distorting his mouth.
Seeing this fool still babbling nonsense, Li Heng leisurely sat up.
“If you want to end up like Liu Yejiang, stitched up in a hospital, keep talking.”
“Damn! You’re a man and look decent, yet you have no shame! If I were you, I’d have knocked Zhang Zhiyong out ages ago and jumped into the bed next door!”
Zhang Zhiyong’s bravado weakened, but he still tried to save face as he cautiously returned to bed, making Li Heng laugh out loud.
Side by side again, after about ten minutes, the noise downstairs finally stopped, and the world grew much quieter.
At this moment, Zhang Zhiyong whispered his last bit of encouragement, “I don’t think Teacher Wang would resist you. How about you knock me out first? Don’t worry, as a good brother, I’m ready to be knocked out at times like this.”
Li Heng said, “I’ll just toss you under the bed.”
“Perfect, that’s great! But be quiet, don’t wake me up.”
Wherever this fool was, there was always laughter. The two of them chatted nonsense and only fell asleep very late.
Li Heng slept soundly and when he woke up, it was already past eight in the morning.
Zhang Zhiyong had long been awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.
Seeing this, Li Heng couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you spacing out so early? When did you wake up? Have you freshened up yet?”
“I’ve been awake for a while, but haven’t washed up. Haven’t even peed yet—my bladder’s about to burst!” Zhang Zhiyong squeezed his legs tightly, obviously holding it in.
Li Heng got up, dressing as he asked, “Then why aren’t you going? Waiting to fight me for the bathroom?”
“The English teacher is in the living room. I’m too scared to go.” Zhang Zhiyong kept calling himself “I,” but was actually terrified to be alone in the same space as Wang Runwen.
Li Heng kicked him lightly. “Look at you, such a coward. Pathetic!”
“Hey, watch it! You almost kicked the pee out of me.” Zhang Zhiyong followed behind him, trying to act casual as he hopped into the bathroom.
Wang Runwen asked Li Heng, “What’s wrong with Zhang Zhiyong? Limping like that—did he sprain his ankle last night?”
Li Heng betrayed his buddy without remorse. “It’s because you sat on the sofa in the living room. He was too scared to come out and ended up holding his pee.”
Wang Runwen was taken aback and glanced at the bathroom, where faint sounds of rushing water could be heard.
Two seconds later, she smiled and said, “Hurry up and finish washing. I’ll go buy breakfast.”
“Okay.”
...
Today was February 10th.
The second day of school.
After breakfast, the three didn’t dare to linger and took the bus back to No. 1 High School.
At the school gate, Li Heng and Zhang Zhiyong parted ways with the English teacher. They headed to their classroom on the third floor to report to their homeroom teacher, Wang Qi, and collect their registration forms.
The classroom was nearly empty, except for the short homeroom teacher Wang Qi, who stood by the door holding a cigarette, waiting for students to register.
Called short because he really was—barely 5’2”.
Yet he commanded authority naturally, and his presence intimidated the class, especially the girls.
When the two appeared at the hallway entrance, Wang Qi flicked ashes with his pinky and pointed at the attendance sheet.
“Come sign your names.”
While Li Heng signed, Wang Qi praised him kindly, saying his handwriting was improving and becoming more stylish.
But when it was Zhang Zhiyong’s turn, the teacher’s expression changed instantly. He scolded in a low voice:
“What’s this scribble? Even a ghost’s handwriting is better than yours. If you write like this on the college entrance exam, your neatness score will be zero.”
Usually playful and careless, Zhang Zhiyong neither dared to argue nor get angry. He obediently erased and carefully rewrote each character.
Just then, two familiar faces appeared at the hallway entrance—Sun Manning and Liu Li.
From afar and up close, Sun Manning’s defining feature was her cleanliness. She gave off an impression purer than clear mountain spring water, very comforting.
Tall and barefoot, she stood about 5’7”. Normally, her height would prevent her from sitting in the front row, as many boys and girls in the class were shorter.
But her father was the principal of No. 1 High School.
And their homeroom teacher Wang Qi was a strict meritocrat.
According to Wang Qi’s rules, the class rearranged seats twice each semester: once after midterms and once after finals (or before a new semester). The top ten students chose their seats first, in order of their ranks.
What did this mean?
It meant the first and second place students—usually Maizui and Song Yu, who alternated top spots—could sit anywhere they liked among the 64 seats. If they picked a seat, everyone else had to move.
Second place had 63 seats to choose from, and so on.
Sun Manning was excellent in Chinese and English but weaker in math. So she always chose to sit next to the school’s top math student, Li Heng, aiming to improve her skills.
Because of this, gossip spread that she secretly liked Li Heng.
In contrast, Liu Li was good at Chinese, math, and social studies, but his English was terribly poor.
How bad? Let’s just say passing was a miracle every time, and teachers were exasperated.
According to the history teacher, Liu Li was a promising candidate for Tsinghua or Peking University, but English was his downfall.
Liu Li was about 5’8”, with prominent cheekbones, neither fat nor thin, but looked listless.
What people talked about most was his unwavering crush—not on the prettiest Song Yu, not on the dazzling Xiao Han, not on the genius Maizui, but solely on Chen Lijun.
No!
Since senior year, when Liu Yejiang exposed him in class, his crush had turned from secret to open—and it was painful.
After the four signed their names, Wang Qi tore off their registration forms and handed them back, reminding them:
“Hurry to pay your fees and collect your books. Be back in the classroom before 7 pm. Tonight, we’ll rearrange seats.”
For students these days, as long as it was within school, the homeroom teacher’s orders were almost like imperial decrees. The four responded immediately and rushed to the finance office.
On the way, Li Heng casually asked Sun Manning, “You live at school, right? Why didn’t you pay yesterday and only now?”
Sun Manning replied, “I was waiting for you. Believe it or not?”
Her words stopped the playful pushing between Liu Li and Zhang Zhiyong, who both turned to her with eyes full of gossip.
Though rumors said she had a crush on him, in their past lives, she had never confessed or even hinted at it.
So he felt quite at ease.
Li Heng calmly said, “I don’t believe it. If I did, I’d think you’re crazy.”
Unexpectedly, Sun Manning pointed to the balcony on the third floor across the way.
“I really saw you and Zhang Zhiyong come to school from the balcony. That’s when I came down.”
Liu Li tilted his head and joked, “I thought you were purposely waiting for me by the snack stand. Looks like I was overthinking.”
He and Sun Manning had met earlier at the snack stand and went up to the third floor together.
Sun Manning said, “If you were half as handsome as Li Heng, I wouldn’t mind stealing your fate away from Chen Lijun.”
“Hey! Just joke around, why bring her up? I’m not hungry anymore.” Chen Lijun was Liu Li’s torment. Whenever mentioned, Liu Li would scratch his head shyly and fearfully, still secretly hopeful.
Anyway, Chen Lijun seemed like a queen high above him, able to control all his emotions with a single glance.
No one understood his devotion, but all respected and admired him.
At the payment window, there were three counters. Probably because yesterday was crowded, now there were only about ten people in line.
The four chatted happily while waiting, and soon it was their turn.
[Author’s Note: Please support with monthly votes! Keep reading!
Already updated 3,000 words.
Next chapter at noon tomorrow.]