The boy closed his eyes, sat up, and reached out with both hands, pretending he was still blind.
Before long, warm fingertips brushed against his eye sockets, then gently parted his eyelids.
The girl's face was right before him. Though the faint curve of her lips was slight, it was far more noticeable than before.
Evidently, from that single glance when he had first awakened, she already knew he could see.
Because he was her balcony; even if the curtain on that balcony opened by only a sliver, to her it was a brilliant cascade of rainbow.
Getting out of bed and walking over to the washbasin stand—across that short span of the room—Li Zhuiyuan ended up walking with matching arms and legs in an awkward shuffle.
He had no choice but to stop, afraid that walking any further would make him tumble.
He had once worried that when his vision finally returned, he might struggle to readjust. Now that fear had come true.
Li Zhuiyuan knew his ability to learn was exceptionally strong, which had caused him recently to overdevelop and rely too heavily on "memory images."
Right now, his senses were in conflict.
Closing his eyes would allow everything to return to how it was, but in the end, he would have to live with his eyes open.
Steadying his emotions, Li Zhuiyuan gently declined Ah Li's support, carrying the basin with his left hand while bracing himself against the wall with his right.
Reaching the water vat, he set the basin down and looked all around. The early morning plains and countryside were like a vast wash painting.
Having not seen it for so long, it was truly beautiful.
Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt an urge to learn to paint.
Aside from subjects related to corpse retrieval, where he genuinely lacked confidence, when it came to learning anything else, he still had plenty of confidence.
Besides, right beside him was an exceptional little teacher of traditional Chinese painting.
After washing up, with breakfast still a ways off, Li Zhuiyuan played weiqi with Ah Li as usual.
Still without setting up a board, the two made moves by tapping their fingers in midair—only this time, Ah Li no longer had to guide Li Zhuiyuan's finger to place his pieces.
As they played, he even felt he had spare attention to wander, unable to immerse himself fully.
"Ah Li, should we start another game at the same time?"
The girl nodded.
Right there in midair, they began another match.
The original game followed a steady, deliberate style, while the newly opened one was an aggressive, headlong charge.
It felt decent enough; the boy found it quite entertaining, and the girl didn't seem strained either.
In the end, though the format had changed, the outcome remained the same: the boy lost four games with even greater efficiency.
"Breakfast is ready!"
Auntie Liu's voice was truly music to the ears.
Downstairs for the meal, after finishing a bowl of congee and a salted duck egg, Li Zhuiyuan was done in no time. He had come down early, and only now were the others gradually getting up.
Auntie Liu brought over a bag of apples, saying she had bought them on the road.
Li Zhuiyuan picked up a paring knife and sat there peeling apples for everyone.
Tan Wenbin and Runsheng didn't notice anything amiss at all; after saying good morning, each sat down in his spot and began eating.
Li Sanjiang came down. The moment he sat and picked up his chopsticks, he caught sight of his great-grandson peeling an apple, and his eyelids twitched in sheer panic.
Even though his great-grandson hadn't given up on himself after going blind and continued to embrace life with zest—in his eyes, old blind men who had lived in darkness for ten years weren't as agile in daily life as his great-grandson—no matter what, he shouldn't be doing such dangerous, delicate work.
"Xiao Yuanhou, you..."
"Great-Grandpa, my eyes are better. I can see."
The simple statement left Li Sanjiang sitting frozen in place for a long time.
Tan Wenbin and Runsheng were the first to recover their senses, hurrying over to look. But they had already known and believed that Xiao Yuan's eyes would get better, so all they offered was congratulations on recovering from an illness.
Li Sanjiang didn't walk over. He simply watched Xiao Yuan's interactions with the others with rapt attention—interactions that now carried eye contact.
Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, he lowered his head and began shoveling down his congee, slurping every mouthful with extra force and volume.
Some people's emotions are like a dam: droplets of daily life trickle in, habitually repressed and unexpressed, until the reservoir fills to a certain point and the dam finally breaks.
Li Zhuiyuan divided up the apples, carried a plate over, and stood before Liu Yumei.
"Your eyes are healed?"
"Yes, all healed. Grandma, did your trip go smoothly?"
"Smoothly enough. We just ran into a few old friends. Couldn't turn them down, so we had a meal together and got back late."
"As long as it went smoothly."
"Mind your eyes." Liu Yumei stretched. "You're still young. If you rush to ruin your body, you'll regret it later."
"I understand, Grandma."
Li Zhuiyuan walked over to Li Sanjiang. "Great-Grandpa, have an apple."
"Xiao Yuanhou, Great-Grandpa will take you back to the hospital for another checkup."
"No need, Great-Grandpa. Didn't the professor in Shanghai say so? With this condition, once it's healed, it's healed; if it doesn't heal, there's nothing that can be done anyway. I'll just be careful to rest from now on."
"Right. I remember the professor also said you shouldn't strain your mind too much. When you go to school later, take it easy on your studies. Don't work too hard or fret yourself over it. Health comes first; it doesn't matter if your grades are a bit poor."
Tan Wenbin, who was drinking congee nearby, suddenly felt an ache in his jaw.
"All right, Great-Grandpa. I'll contact Uncle Tan and have him take me to handle the enrollment paperwork soon."
"Mm, Officer Tan is a good man." Li Sanjiang lit a cigarette for himself, then called out "Zhuangzhuang" and tossed a cigarette over to him.
"Great-Grandpa, before starting school, should we notify my grandpa and grandma?"
"You think Han Hou and Guiying Hou don't already know?"
"They already know?"
"The day after we transferred your hukou, I went over to their house and told them everything. Guiying Hou cried her heart out. Han Hou didn't cry, but he was terribly heartbroken too."
Only now did Li Zhuiyuan realize why, after his household registration was transferred, the frequency of Li Weihan and Cui Guiying visiting him had dropped so sharply. They had only come once recently, back when he was still blind; afraid of worrying them, he had worn a blindfold and pretended to play "ghost-catching."
Looking back now, his grandparents had probably been terrified that coming here to see him would cause them to lose control and break into loud sobs.
"Your grandparents needed some time to catch their breath too. This hit them the hardest. Don't blame them. Even though they have plenty of grandchildren, you're the one they favor most."
"Great-Grandpa, I understand."
"They wanted to hand over all the money your mother sent before, saying it was for your tuition and what not, but I chewed them out and sent them packing, heh. I told them: since you're in my household registry now, providing for you is my job. In any case, Han Hou isn't losing out—when he cares for me in my old age and sees me off, all my family assets will still go to his grandson."
"Great-Grandpa will live to be a hundred and twenty."
"Haha, alright then. Now that your eyes are healed, once your enrollment is settled, I'll call your grandparents over for a meal together. You'll still be living with me, your great-grandpa."
Just then, Li Zhuiyuan's ears twitched. Turning toward the edge of the courtyard, he spotted the man who had moonlighted as a storyteller yesterday—Yu Shu.
He recalled Yu Shu telling Tan Yunlong yesterday that he would be leaving today. He hadn't expected the man to show up here early in the morning.
Though he knew in his heart that this person posed little real danger, Yu Shu's presence and movements still made Li Zhuiyuan feel uneasy, because there was a chance he might pry into the things Li Zhuiyuan had done in the past.
Auntie Liu, holding her congee bowl, stood up first. Walking to the courtyard steps, she looked at the newcomer and asked, "Lost your way?"
Yu Shu smiled, pulled out his folding fan, fluttered it, and answered, "Not at all. I came on purpose to beg a bite to eat."
Auntie Liu said impatiently, "There's only plain home cooking here."
"A poor itinerant performer wandering the world—isn't home cooking exactly what he eats? What right do I have to sit in fancy restaurant booths every day?"
Hearing the commotion, Li Sanjiang stood up, an apple clamped between his teeth, and looked over. Seeing the visitor, he immediately walked up with a smile. "A rare guest, a rare guest! Come, sit in the courtyard, sit in the courtyard."
Though Li Sanjiang didn't know the man's exact identity, anyone who had the police bustling around after him was either a criminal or a dignitary.
Yu Shu shook Li Sanjiang's hand but remained standing where he was.
At this moment, Liu Yumei, seated in the courtyard sipping tea, spoke up. "Ah Ting, who is it?"
Yu Shu chimed in of his own accord, "An itinerant storyteller traveling the world."
"Then give us a piece."
"Right away. Please be patient for a moment."
Yu Shu turned and walked back. Soon after, he wheeled over a small cart laden with his trade gear.
Li Sanjiang was utterly baffled and asked in wonder, "What's all this about?"
Setting up his stage, Yu Shu smiled and replied, "If you want to earn a meal, you have to sell a bit of craft."
"It's just a single meal, no need for all this trouble."
"Otherwise wouldn't I be no different from a beggar?"
"Fair enough." Understanding his meaning, Li Sanjiang turned his head and shouted, "Runsheng, Zhuangzhuang, come lend a hand."
Runsheng and Tan Wenbin had noticed the visitor long ago, but remembering Xiao Yuan's remark yesterday that this man might belong to the same trade, both were looking at Li Zhuiyuan.
"Brother Runsheng, Brother Binbin, go help."
Runsheng and Tan Wenbin stepped forward to help set up the stage and hang the banner.
Yu Shu didn't set up facing south from the north; instead, he set it up facing east from the west—directly facing Liu Yumei, who sat there sipping tea, and that east room.
Li Sanjiang asked, "How about I treat this as booking the whole show myself? I can go call more folks from the village so you don't end up performing to an empty yard."
Yu Shu shook his head in refusal. "The price was agreed upon: just a single meal. Besides, there are plenty of people here; it's quite lively."
Then, Yu Shu's gaze landed on Li Zhuiyuan. He couldn't help smiling. "Your eyes are healed?"
"Yes, healed."
The next moment, Yu Shu snapped open his fan and fluttered it for a breeze, but his fingertips tapped erratically against the fan's ribs.
The eyes were the spring of physiognomy; now that his eyes were cured and could see, that spring was active once more.
The boy knew he was divining his face.
Yesterday the man had asked if he had always had the surname Li, and had even asked Great-Grandpa if Li Zhuiyuan was his biological great-grandson.
Li Zhuiyuan decided to calculate back, mounting a counter-divination.
Just as he was about to do so, Liu Yumei's voice drifted over: "Xiao Yuan, come brew Grandma some tea."
"Coming, Grandma."
Li Zhuiyuan turned and walked over to brew tea.
Seeing this, Yu Shu froze visibly. Then he folded his fan and rapped it three times against his own forehead—striking hard enough to leave the skin reddened.
Next, he began his storytelling.
Today's tale was still set in the Tang dynasty and still centered on Li Shimin, yet leaned toward folklore rather than orthodox history. It recounted a time when Li Shimin had fallen into grave danger and was rescued by Shaolin monks, ultimately overcoming his foes with the help of the monks and various figures of the jianghu.
With just one man, one table, one chair, one fan, and one gavel, he not only brought the story vividly to life, but once again used vocal mimicry to recreate the sweeping clamor of armored steeds, clashing spears, and bloody battlefield slaughter.
Li Sanjiang was utterly enraptured.
Runsheng and Tan Wenbin drifted between being mesmerized and snapping back to their senses, only to fall under the spell again after brief moments of lucidity.
Li Zhuiyuan sat by Liu Yumei's side the entire time, keeping her company as she drank her tea.
This performance went on without pause for a full two hours.
When it concluded, Yu Shu tapped his fan and bowed low.
"Good! Well done!" Li Sanjiang took the lead in applauding.
Runsheng and Tan Wenbin clapped vigorously as well, though as they clapped, they kept turning their heads to glance at Xiao Yuan.
Li Sanjiang said to Auntie Liu, "Ting Hou, whip up something nice for lunch. Mr. Yu and I will have a proper drink together."
Liu Yumei spoke up. "Ah Ting, give him a bite to eat."
"Right!"
Auntie Liu went into the kitchen. As though prepared long in advance, she quickly carried out a bowl of cold congee leftover from the morning and a small dish of pickled vegetables—just those two, without even a salted duck egg.
Li Sanjiang said in displeasure, "How can that do? It's not like we don't have food at home."
To his surprise, Yu Shu took the bowl willingly, dumped the pickles from the dish into the congee, picked up the chopsticks, sat right down on the ground, and began gulping it down in huge mouthfuls.
Between bites he praised, "Wonderful! In sweltering heat like this, cold congee hits the spot."
Frowning, Li Sanjiang wanted to persuade him further, but the man had emptied the large bowl of congee in the blink of an eye. He could only say, "Once you digest a bit, Mr. Yu, we can later..."
"Old Master Li, I've eaten." Yu Shu stood, handed the bowl and chopsticks back to Auntie Liu, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Old Master Li, by trade rules, entering a door to perform requires first paying respects to the host family's ancestors. Does your home have any?"
"No ancestral tablets, but quite a few portraits of immortals."
"Then please lead me to pay my respects."
"Please, this way."
Li Sanjiang led Yu Shu into the small room next to the kitchen, which was filled with portraits of various deities. The sheer variety gave even Yu Shu a start.
Li Sanjiang began introducing each god and Buddha one by one, and Yu Shu bowed before every single one.
When he heard Li Sanjiang introduce a portrait of Confucius as the Primeval Lord of Heaven, Yu Shu's eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
It even threw him completely off, leaving him unsure whether to perform Daoist or Confucian rites.
In the end, with no other choice, he simply bowed twice.
Coming out, Yu Shu walked straight up to Liu Yumei and said, "By rule, respects must be paid."
Liu Yumei shook her head helplessly and said to Li Zhuiyuan, "I shouldn't have had that meal."
Yu Shu bowed lower. "Respects ought to be paid."
At last, Liu Yumei gave a nod. "Go on, then."
Yu Shu pushed open the door to the east room and stepped inside.
Li Zhuiyuan left his seat and glanced at Grandma Liu. Seeing her head bowed without any reaction, the boy took a few steps toward the doorway, just enough to see Yu Shu kneeling before the offering table inside, performing the full ceremonial prostrations.
Truth be told, even when people kowtowed nowadays, their forms were all over the place; most simply went through the motions out of token respect, caring little for precision.
Yet Yu Shu performed standard grand prostrations. At first his expression was solemn, but after three full bows, his face twisted with sorrow, and tears streamed down his cheeks.
When the rites concluded, Yu Shu did not rush out. Instead, he wiped away his tears and composed himself.
He knew the boy was watching by the door, yet he made no attempt to conceal it.
In certain places, people willingly strip away their disguises to reveal themselves as open and clean.
Finally, Yu Shu rubbed his face hard, forcing a smile. He stepped out and came before Liu Yumei once more. Just as he was about to speak, Liu Yumei cut him off:
"If you're done paying respects, go."
"Yes."
Yu Shu gave an acknowledgment, packed his things onto the cart, and wheeled it away. Li Sanjiang personally saw him off to the village entrance.
Sighing, Liu Yumei rose with a despondent expression and stepped into the room. Sitting before the offering table, she swept her gaze across the ancestral tablets, some old and some new.
"They still remember you all, it seems."
Pausing, she added with resentment,
"Yet who among you remembers Ah Li?"
...
Tan Wenbin had returned home the day before yesterday, weeping bitter tears at his departure as if it were a final parting between life and death.
It had prompted Li Sanjiang to tease, "Well now, the lad's got talent. In the future, anyone needing a professional mourner should hire you; you're guaranteed to cry to the host's complete satisfaction."
After hugging Runsheng and Li Sanjiang, Tan Wenbin wanted to hug Li Zhuiyuan too—until the boy handed him three more exercise notebooks: one for math, one for physics, and one for chemistry.
Tan Wenbin didn't go through with the hug, but he wailed even louder.
When he left, thunder rumbled and rain poured. Runsheng had ridden a tricycle to ferry him home; though both wore raincoats, they were still thoroughly drenched and disheveled.
Today, the sun shone bright. Tan Yunlong had specially taken leave from work, driving a Santana over to pick up Li Zhuiyuan for school enrollment.
Li Zhuiyuan said goodbye to his family members one by one. Li Sanjiang, deeply comforted, urged him, "Xiao Yuanhou, remember your great-grandpa's words: just listen casually in class, and by no means strain your brain. Your eyes are what matters, you hear?"
Standing nearby and hearing this, Tan Yunlong couldn't help rubbing his jaw.
Li Sanjiang also produced a bag filled with candies and small biscuits. "Here, take this and share it with your little classmates."
Li Zhuiyuan took it.
"Don't be afraid. If anyone bullies you at school, come back and tell your great-grandpa. Great-Grandpa will back you up and go find him at the school."
Tan Yunlong couldn't resist interjecting, "Don't worry, Uncle Li, no one's going to bully Xiao Yuan. Besides, Binbin is there too."
Li Sanjiang retorted, "Zhuangzhuang goes to high school, not primary school."
Tan Yunlong could only nod, saying nothing more.
Runsheng brought out a fountain pen and handed it over. He worked as a helper and farmed the fields for Li Sanjiang, and having just received his first month's wages the day before yesterday, he had spent it all on this pen.
After buying the pen, he discovered he had no money left for ink; in the end, Li Sanjiang found out and marched him back to the shop to demand an explanation, forcing the shopkeeper to throw in a bottle of ink for free.
Liu Yumei gave a red envelope. This time, instead of stuffing a thick wad of cash inside, it was very thin—just a single bill as a token of goodwill.
Li Zhuiyuan accepted it.
Ah Li had prepared nothing, and she seemed to realize this as well.
She was anxious, yet didn't know how to express it; the emotion was too complex for her, neither happiness nor anger.
The boy walked up to the girl and said, "Ah Li, when I get back from school, you can help me write my homework."
The girl's eyes lit up.
Waving his final goodbyes to the family, Li Zhuiyuan called out to Li Sanjiang, "Great-Grandpa, I'm going to high school! I'll take the college entrance exam next year!"
"Yes, yes, yes, my Xiao Yuanhou is the greatest!"
"Hehehe..." Beside him, Liu Yumei chuckled. Evidently, the old fellow hadn't taken it in at all, assuming it was just childish babble.
Following Tan Yunlong along the path out to the village road, Li Zhuiyuan climbed into the car, only to discover there was another driver inside.
The driver wasn't young and looked quite old; on his scalp, the outskirts were powerless to support the center—he was balding on top.
Tan Yunlong asked with a smile, "Your great-grandpa still doesn't believe you're going to high school?"
"Mm. Once the enrollment papers are done, I'll just show them to him. By the way, Uncle Tan, this car..."
"I haven't misappropriated a police cruiser—this car belongs to the school."
"Ahem, ahem..." The driver began coughing.
Tan Yunlong pointed at the driver and said, "Xiao Yuan, let me introduce you. This is Principal Wu."
The driver immediately turned around and extended a hand to Li Zhuiyuan, giving it a shake. "Wu Xinhan. Student Li Zhuiyuan, welcome to our school."
"Principal Grandpa, thank you for your trouble."
"Don't mention it. You can just call me Grandpa, no need to add Principal."
"Then please just call me Xiao Yuan."
"Ah, wonderful, wonderful."
When Tan Yunlong had first called to inquire about enrollment, the school administration had only suffered a minor shock.
Some people did know about the Special Class for the Gifted Young, but in these years, news channels were blocked and information flowed slowly. Even the teachers with higher academic degrees had only vaguely heard of it, knowing merely that such children were generally child prodigies.
Fortunately, there was plenty of time in between. Moreover, because Li Zhuiyuan had been blind for a while, fearing it might delay his enrollment, Tan Yunlong had prudently provided Li Zhuiyuan's student records to the school beforehand in hopes of securing some flexibility.
The school then mobilized its network of connections to investigate. They even dispatched two physical education teachers by train to Beijing. Those two teachers did not disappoint and actually tracked down the place. But when they presented the name and credentials to inquire and revealed that this student named "Li Zhuiyuan" was headed off to attend high school, they were chased down and beaten by a pack of venerable old professors.
Luckily, it was PE teachers who had been sent—fit and fast on their feet. Otherwise, it would have genuinely counted as a workplace injury.
Still, the detailed information was finally secured, and after that, the administrative offices exploded completely.
Though none of them understood why such a student had inexplicably come to a rural township to attend high school, it didn't matter. To the school, he was practically a top gaokao scorer delivered right to their doorstep.
Had Tan Yunlong not fiercely guarded Li Zhuiyuan's address and warned the school not to disturb him, Wu Xinhan would have brought a delegation over long ago.
The car rolled into the school and pulled up in front of the administration building.
A crowd of teachers rushed out at once, their eyes gleaming with anticipation and curiosity. They harbored none of the administration's utilitarian ambitions; having grown turnips for half their lives, they simply wanted to see what a golden nugget sprouted from the soil looked like.
Among the crowd were Pan Zi and Lei Zi.
The two of them had failed to do their summer homework and had been summoned to the office for a severe dressing-down by their homeroom teacher.
They had expected a protracted ordeal, but no sooner had the scolding begun than the teachers in the office shouted, "He's here! He's here!"—whereupon their homeroom teacher dismissed them back to their classroom.
The two brothers felt quite lucky. Lingering where they were, they wanted to see which dignitary had arrived to bail them out.
Pan Zi said, "The principal drove the car! The principal's even opening the back door!"
Lei Zi said, "Must be some official coming for an inspection, right?"
Pan Zi said, "Shouldn't be—they didn't give us advance notice to do a deep cleaning."
Then, they saw Li Zhuiyuan step out of the car.
"That kid looks kind of familiar."
"Yeah, I feel like I've seen him somewhere."
"Brother Pan Zi, Brother Lei Zi!" Li Zhuiyuan waved and greeted them.
In an instant, the eyes of the teachers and school leadership snapped toward the two of them, including their homeroom teacher's.
The psychological pressure was overwhelming. Pan Zi and Lei Zi didn't even dare call back; burying their heads, they bolted straight for their classroom.
"Uh..." Li Zhuiyuan was a little bewildered.
The boy had started school young, but he was unfamiliar with conventional campus life and had thought Pan Zi and Lei Zi had waited here specifically for him.
"You know them?" Principal Wu asked warmly.
"They're my cousins."
"Mm, good."
Principal Wu made a mental note, planning to ask their homeroom teacher about their academic performance shortly. After all, if they shared a bloodline, some of that genius might rub off—surely the brains of an entire extended family wouldn't have grown on just one person.
Li Zhuiyuan was ushered into... the small conference hall.
Originally he was supposed to be brought to the principal's office, but it was too cramped to accommodate so many people.
Along the way, the teachers around them began chattering.
"Is he really that young?"
"Being that young is what makes him a child prodigy!"
"Is it genuine or fake?"
"Who knows? There's a test anyway, so we'll see the results."
"Once he's enrolled, whose class does he join?"
The moment that question was raised, the twelfth-grade homeroom teachers in the crowd cast cold glances at one another.
In particular, the veteran ones radiated an air of "who else but me?" They were nearing retirement, and teachers at that stage truly feared nothing, daring to slam the table even before the principal.
The younger homeroom teachers took a more philosophical view, knowing they stood no chance.
Among them was a homeroom teacher named Sun Qing, who taught Chinese literature and led a standard class—the very class Tan Wenbin was in.
"Xiao Yuan, let me introduce you. This is Director Liu from the Education Bureau, this is..."
Wu Xinhan guided Li Zhuiyuan through the introductions one by one.
Li Zhuiyuan felt no stage fright, greeting each person politely of his own accord.
Back in the Special Class for the Gifted Young, the old professors had valued him deeply, first because he was well-rounded—even if he wasn't first in everything, he ranked near the top in every subject without the stark imbalances other students showed; and second, because he was normal. Interacting with him felt just like interacting with a completely ordinary child.
Once the formalities were finished, they arrived at the final, crucial step.
"Xiao Yuan, these are exam papers written by our school's own teachers. Take a look and pick some to work on, alright?"
The words were phrased diplomatically and politely, but everyone present held their breath instinctively.
Hearing about someone a hundred times was nothing compared to seeing them once. Going to all this trouble ultimately required seeing true ability here—and that was precisely the school's objective.
These papers had been newly drafted by the teachers of each subject group, leaving no chance of a leak, so the results would be indisputably authentic.
Li Zhuiyuan sat down, picked up a pen, and began working through the questions.
Initially, the school leaders and bureau officials intended to watch for a brief moment before stepping outside for a cigarette; after all, with papers covering so many subjects, even picking and choosing would take who knew how long.
Soon, however, everyone froze in place.
The first paper Li Zhuiyuan tackled was mathematics. With practically no pause for thought, his eyes swept down the page as he penned the answers. It even produced the bizarre spectacle where his hand was still writing the answer to the previous problem while his eyes had already moved on to the subsequent one.
None of those present were illiterate, but who had ever seen someone take a math test where the speed of solving problems was bottlenecked by how fast the hand could write?
In truth, Li Zhuiyuan did it deliberately.
He knew he had to perform exceptionally well so that his future school life could be relaxed and unconstrained, preventing mundane schoolwork from interfering with his retrieval of dead-flippers.
Having finished the math paper, Li Zhuiyuan proceeded straight to physics.
Wu Xinhan voiced the thoughts of all onlookers: "Quick, grade it."
The teachers of the math department set to grading, quick red checkmarks appearing one after another.
The onlookers watched, waiting for an "X" to appear, but none did.
Meanwhile, the math teachers making the checkmarks felt waves of shock. They had written the test themselves and knew that while the layout mimicked the gaokao, its difficulty far exceeded standard college entrance exam problems. Gaokao exams were tiered, containing giveaway questions, basic questions, and differentiator questions.
Their test could never be photocopied and handed out to normal twelfth graders, as it would easily shatter the students' morale.
The head of the math department looked at the school and bureau leaders and announced, "Everything correct."
In reality, there were minor issues—for instance, two open-ended questions utilized methods beyond the high school curriculum, which might lead to point deductions during formal grading. But such quibbles weren't worth bringing up now; a simple reminder later would suffice, as easy as reminding students not to forget writing "Solution" on regular tests.
Relieved smiles spread across the faces of Wu Xinhan and the other administrators as they shook hands with the bureau officials; at last, the weight in their chests was lifted.
The teachers kept gasping. Though he had only completed one math paper so far, educators knew exactly what this signified.
A young teacher couldn't help teasing, "If I taught him, would teaching other students feel completely flavorless afterwards?"
Some teachers laughed, while another shot back playfully, "As if he needs you to teach him!"
After swiftly polishing off the physics and chemistry papers, Li Zhuiyuan continued with the rest.
No one interrupted or stopped him; since he was willing to do them all, everyone was delighted to see the complete results.
He worked conscientiously through the Chinese paper as well, following the prompt to write a formulaic essay with graceful prose and rigorous structure.
In short, he made sure he had no weak subjects, so that he could freely take leave from any class.
The only section skipped was English listening comprehension. This wasn't Li Zhuiyuan's choice; rather, observing his blistering speed, the English teachers took the initiative to skip it, unwilling to waste everyone's time waiting for an audio recording to play.
Once everything was done, Li Zhuiyuan set down his pen and rubbed his wrist. Seeing this, Wu Xinhan personally reached over to help massage it.
Working through these problems didn't strain his brain, only his hand; this amount of calculation fell far short of reading feng shui or inspecting atmospheric omens once.
The papers were soon graded. Even with the essay, the Chinese department teachers could find no flaws, and despite his speed, his handwriting was genuinely beautiful.
Many teachers took off their glasses to wipe them clean. Today, everyone had thoroughly experienced what it meant to be awed by a true child prodigy.
Tan Yunlong was perhaps the calmest person in the room. He hadn't worried in the slightest about the boy's entrance testing; after all, this boy had already given him multiple shocks involving homicide cases.
Principal Wu bent down and asked with a beaming smile, "Come, Xiao Yuan, let me introduce several of our outstanding twelfth-grade homeroom teachers."
A student like this naturally had to be placed under senior, experienced homeroom teachers.
Well, though Principal Wu had no idea what use seniority and experience would even be for the boy before him.
Li Zhuiyuan turned back to Tan Yunlong and asked, "Uncle Tan, which class is Brother Binbin in?"
Tan Yunlong wanted desperately to laugh, but he held it in.
He then shifted his gaze toward his son's homeroom teacher, Sun Qing—an old acquaintance.
Other parents were lucky to see the homeroom teacher once a year at parent-teacher conferences; thanks to his son's enthusiastic promotion, he practically saw her every month.
At times he even worried too many visits would spark gossip, forcing him and his wife to take turns.
"Xiao Yuan, regarding class selection..."
Before Principal Wu could finish, Li Zhuiyuan stood up and walked over to the young Sun Qing.
"Hello, Teacher. I'll be in your care from now on."
With that, Li Zhuiyuan gave Sun Qing a bow.
"Teacher, what is your surname?"
Tan Yunlong chimed in, "Sun Qing. Teacher Sun."
Sun Qing cast a grateful glance at Tan Yunlong.
"Teacher Sun, let's head back to class for lessons." Li Zhuiyuan reached out and took Teacher Sun's hand.
He didn't think twice about it; this was a privilege he had earned through his own capabilities, and it would be a waste not to use it.
While the veteran homeroom teachers remained in a state of stunned disbelief, Wu Xinhan was the first to react, smiling: "Teacher Sun, Xiao Yuan is our school's treasure. This is an assignment the school is entrusting to you—you must take good care of him."
"Please rest assured, Principal. I will."
Holding Li Zhuiyuan's hand, Sun Qing walked out. The pressure was immense, and she hardly dared linger any longer.
No sooner had they stepped out of the small conference hall than fierce arguments erupted from within.
Tan Yunlong also came jogging out and said, "Xiao Yuan, Uncle will come pick you up after school tonight to have dinner at our house."
"No need, Uncle, I'll eat at home."
"All right then." Tan Yunlong patted the boy's shoulder and walked toward the school gate.
Entering the academic building, they climbed the stairs.
Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Sun Qing's palm was burning hot and slick with sweat.
In truth, Sun Qing's head was still spinning even now. This was a large high school with more than a dozen classes per grade.
A few nights ago, lying in bed with her husband before falling asleep, she had indulged in idle fantasies about how wonderful it would be if this child joined her class. Yet she truly hadn't expected the birthday peach of good fortune to actually land right in front of her.
Distracted by her whirling thoughts, Sun Qing missed a step while climbing the stairs; fortunately, she planted a hand against the step in time to steady herself. Otherwise, she would have dragged the child prodigy the principal had just entrusted to her tumbling down the staircase.
Sun Qing's eyes watered instantly with lingering dread.
"Teacher Sun, could I be deskmates with Brother Binbin... with classmate Tan Wenbin?"
"Uh, all right."
Having agreed, Sun Qing frowned slightly, feeling something was amiss, though she couldn't pinpoint what it was for the moment.
Only when they reached the doorway of Class 13, Grade 12 did Sun Qing realize what was off—and Li Zhuiyuan realized it too.
For he saw that Tan Wenbin's desk stood isolated from the rest of the class, pinned directly against the teacher's podium.
With his back to the door, Tan Wenbin didn't realize Li Zhuiyuan had arrived at first; he was absorbed in solving problems.
The teachers had all run off to watch the spectacle, leaving nearly the entire twelfth grade on self-study for this period.
Sensing an odd shift in the classroom atmosphere, Tan Wenbin turned his head, seeing first his homeroom teacher, then Li Zhuiyuan. Instantly, his face lit up in a broad grin. Completely heedless of whether it was appropriate given their ages, and caring not a whit about looking foolish, he waved his hand and hollered,
"Brother Xiao Yuan!"
Sun Qing reflexively glared at Tan Wenbin. The student wasn't bad at heart, but he was prone to causing trouble and had far too extroverted a personality.
Yet after glaring for a moment, her gaze softened—after all, she had basked in his reflected glory today.
"Class, let me introduce our new classmate."
Li Zhuiyuan stepped onto the podium, wearing a textbook bashful smile.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Li Zhuiyuan. Please look out for me in the days ahead."
Sun Qing pointed to the front row by the door. "Tan Wenbin, move your desk here. You and Xiao Yuan will be deskmates."
"Yes, Teacher!"
Tan Wenbin shifted his desk into place. Because he was tall, he took the inner seat against the wall, while Li Zhuiyuan sat on the outer side.
In truth, Li Zhuiyuan had wanted to sit in the corner of the back row—the feng shui there was good.
But he knew that was impossible.
"Tan Wenbin, come out and help Xiao Yuan fetch his textbooks."
"Right away, Teacher!"
What followed was an unpretentious, routine school day.
The teacher lectured at the front, while Li Zhuiyuan sat below flipping through textbooks; he needed to review the high school syllabus once more.
During class, other teachers would feign passing by just to peek in at him.
Between classes, students from other classes who had caught wind of the news gathered around as well.
Li Zhuiyuan simply leafed through his books in silence, showing no sign of extroversion, and with Tan Wenbin around, no one could bother him.
At lunchtime, Tan Wenbin insisted the school cafeteria was atrocious and took him out to a small eatery, bringing along an extra person—Zheng Haiyang, the boy who had been bullied last time.
His parents were both seafarers and away from home year-round, making him quite introverted.
Over lunch, Tan Wenbin mentioned that both the homeroom teacher and the principal had pulled him aside for talks, charging him with taking good care of Xiao Yuan.
Returning to the classroom after lunch brought what was nominally noon self-study, though in practice it was scheduled as a Chinese class, followed by a twenty-five-minute nap, and then regular classes resumed.
The teachers granted Li Zhuiyuan immense latitude; for instance, during English class, when Li Zhuiyuan flipped through a physics textbook right under the teacher's nose, she pretended not to notice.
By the end of the second afternoon period, Li Zhuiyuan had finished leafing through all the textbooks.
He decided that starting tomorrow, he would bring Wei Zhengdao's books into class to read.
The third and fourth periods were both mathematics. Li Zhuiyuan slumped over his desk and fell asleep.
It wasn't that he disrespected the teacher; rather, he understood that trying to play an enthusiastic part all day would be exhausting. It was far better to establish an unspoken understanding from the outset, making things easy for everyone.
At first, the classmates assumed there would be drama to watch, since Teacher Yan's fiery temper was notorious.
Yet as the math teacher lectured, upon noticing the little student in the front row fast asleep, he actually thoughtfully draped his own jacket over him.
At the same time, an affectionate smile broke across his face.
Halfway through the fourth period, Teacher Yan wrote three problems on the blackboard for the students to solve, then stepped down and gently patted Li Zhuiyuan awake.
Li Zhuiyuan sat up, glanced at the blackboard problems, picked up his pen, and swiftly jotted down the solutions.
Seeing this, Teacher Yan swallowed hard, rubbed his hands together, and asked in a low whisper, "Xiao Yuan, are you interested in participating in the Math Olympiad competition?"
"Sure, Teacher, I'll participate."
Flushed with excitement, Teacher Yan thanked his student repeatedly: "Thank you, thank you."
When fourth period ended, it was time for dinner, followed by evening self-study.
Li Zhuiyuan looked at Tan Wenbin. "Brother Binbin, I'm heading home."
Tan Wenbin blinked in surprise. "Wait, skipping evening self-study on your very first day?"
"Mm."
"Uh, I mean, don't you want to fully experience a day in the life of a twelfth grader?"
"Not particularly. I told Brother Runsheng to pick me up at this hour."
Books and stationery could be left in the desk, so Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the classroom empty-handed.
Along the way, many students stared at him, feeling as though a primary schooler had infiltrated high school territory.
Li Zhuiyuan felt much the same.
Only when he stepped out of the academic building did Li Zhuiyuan recall that he had forgotten to drop by the classrooms of Pan Zi, Ying Zi, and Lei Zi to say hello.
Never mind, he could go tomorrow.
"Brother Xiao Yuan, wait for me!"
Li Zhuiyuan halted and turned around to see Tan Wenbin sprinting toward him with a backpack slung over his shoulders.
"Brother Binbin, I'm going home."
"I'm going home too."
"I'm going to Great-Grandpa's house."
"I'm going to Zhuangzhuang's house."
"You're ditching class. Aren't you afraid Uncle Tan will beat you?"
Li Zhuiyuan had seen the class schedule; morning and evening self-studies here had period numbers assigned, meaning they were practically regular classes taught by teachers.
"It's fine. My dad would love nothing more than for me to stick to you like glue."
"Did you report it to Uncle Tan?"
"When we get back, I'll call him from Aunt Zhang's store."
"Oh."
Li Zhuiyuan gave an acknowledgment and continued toward the school gate.
Tan Wenbin trailed behind with a beaming grin, looking especially jubilant and carefree as he glanced at the students who had to head right back to class after dinner.
Stepping out the school gate, Li Zhuiyuan began scanning for Runsheng's tricycle, but couldn't find it.
"Hey, did Runsheng forget to pick you up?" Tan Wenbin stood on tiptoe, peering in all directions.
"Brother Runsheng probably parked further away. Let's cross the street first."
"Is he out of his mind? Why wouldn't he pick you up right at the gate?"
"There are too many people at the gate."
"Too many people? What kind of excuse is that?"
Crossing the street and steering clear of the surging crowd of students and vendors, Li Zhuiyuan spotted Runsheng jumping and waving his arms outside an alley mouth to the northwest.
As they approached, Tan Wenbin couldn't resist griping, "Why didn't you just park at the edge of Uncle Li's courtyard to pick us up?"
Then Tan Wenbin shut his mouth.
Because sitting in the back of the tricycle parked in the alley was a girl in a red dress.
Though this spot was secluded, it was only so in comparison to the school gate; passersby still walked past from time to time.
Sitting on the bench in the tricycle's bed, the girl was like a skittish young deer; her resolve and strain were plain to see.
Li Zhuiyuan climbed into the cart. The girl immediately reached out of her own accord and clasped the boy's hand, only then settling into complete tranquility.
Tan Wenbin stood beside the cart, momentarily unsure whether he should get on.
Still smarting from the earlier mockery, Runsheng cast a sidelong glance at him and remarked, "You're surplus to requirements."
"Tomorrow I'll have my dad bring my bicycle over."
"Brother Binbin, get on," Li Zhuiyuan said. He had already noticed that Ah Li's resistance to familiar faces from home was no longer so strong.
"All right, Brother Xiao Yuan." Tan Wenbin climbed aboard, perching on the very edge.
"Homeward bound!"
Runsheng pedaled the tricycle, steering out of the alley and heading west toward home.
On the cart, the vibrant youth of the boys and girls flushed the evening clouds red with envy, ushering down the setting sun.
Chapter 50