6 Chapter Five

◎The guardian deity of Little Painting Town!◎

That evening, Yu Jinyang went home and took out the test papers that had just been handed out from his schoolbag. He wasn't there for lunch break because he was at a meeting of the squadron leaders. Gao Dian said that Li Yingqiao had brought the test papers back for him.

He stared at the roll of paper, which had been wet and dried in the sun, looking all crumpled and rumpled, and fell into deep thought.

Just then, Yu Renjie, looking quite dashing, passed by his room carrying two small barbells. Seeing him motionless, he poked his head out and called out, "Son, what are you thinking about?"

Yu Jinyang snapped out of his daze and looked blankly at his father: "You haven't offended her lately, have you?"

"What the hell am I messing with?" Yu Renjie knew perfectly well who this "she" was. "I've been working diligently lately, okay?"

“I can vouch for you! Your dad has been coming home on time from get off work lately and hasn’t been going out to cause trouble,” Ms. Tang Xiang said, unusually speaking up for him. While applying nail polish, she asked with curiosity and gossip, “Did you and Li Yingqiao have another fight?”

Yu Jinyang turned his head away and continued doing his homework, muttering, "No way."

Tang Xiang sat on the sofa in the living room, stretching out her hands to check if she had applied the makeup evenly. She smiled and continued, "When are you going to change the seating arrangement? It's making my son so worried. But I think Li Yingqiao is actually quite cute. She helps her mother at the shop every day, and she also helps Grandma Chunzhen next door pull up the roller shutter and take out the trash. She has so much energy."

Yu Renjie immediately put down the barbell and said, "If this is what you call cute, then our son is cute enough to be called a landlord! At least twice as cute—"

"..."

Yu Renjie didn't say anything more because both of them were glaring at him.

Tang Xiang tossed the nail polish into the open drawer and continued, "Ah Yang, you're cute now, but you won't be like that when you grow up. You have to grow to 1.8 meters tall no matter what. In a few days, Mom will take you to the hospital for a bone checkup. If it's not good enough, you'll have to get hormone injections. Otherwise, every time I pick you up from school, Mom will be losing at the starting line."

"It's okay, he'll definitely be taller in high school than he is now," Yu Renjie said confidently. But it wasn't so much confidence as acceptance; he'd simply resigned himself to it.

"Nonsense, he's not even 1.4 meters tall now. Do you think 1.4 meters is enough in high school?" Tang Xiang rolled her eyes.

“No, no, that won’t do—it’s ‘Big Brother’ now.”

Tang Xiang then glanced at Yu Renjie from head to toe: "How tall are you at this age?"

Yu Renjie: "Back then, nobody cared about height. We were just glad we could eat our fill. If my brother hadn't been such a glutton, I think I could have grown another 5cm."

Tang Xiang: "..."

Yu Jinyang didn't want to hear them discuss his height, so he buried his head in the desk and muttered, "Don't come to pick me up. It's just a matter of crossing the street. I can walk back by myself."

Tang Xiang suddenly remembered Miao Jia's mother, whom she had met at the market, so she went over, patted her son's head, and asked, "Ah Yang, do you want to learn street dance?"

Yu Jinyang learns street dance to grow taller, and Li Yingqiao learns to sing to benefit humanity, or so she thinks. There's a music store near the entrance of Xiaohua City. After school, she no longer rushes home like a monkey, but instead squats in front of the store listening to music. Then, with the breakfast money her mother gives her, she skips one steamed bun a day, and in a little over half a month, she can buy a cassette tape.

There were so many popular singers back then that she couldn't choose. Jay Chou was already famous all over the country, so she decided to learn from him! Because he was the most popular! She wanted to show off her skills at the New Year's Eve gala next year.

After school that day, the setting sun still lingered on the mountain peaks of Xiaohua Town, its warmth enveloping the entire suburbs.

The children of Class 2, Grade 4 in Xiaohua City finally reached the exciting moment of changing seats. Li Yingqiao was just about to turn around and say a heartfelt goodbye to Yu Jinyang when she saw that the other party had already packed his things cleanly and was eager to welcome his new deskmate.

Li Yingqiao immediately pulled a long face and glared at him fiercely, before the teacher said, "Everyone, sit down," and then announced the new seating order.

She turned around as if wound up, her hands automatically and obediently folded on the table in front of her chest, but her eyes still glared fiercely at Yu Jinyang.

Yu Jinyang ignored her, pretending not to see her at all.

Li Yingqiao nudged him hard with her elbow, her eyes still glaring at him relentlessly, as if she wanted to pierce him with her stare.

Yu Jinyang had been practicing street dance for the past two days and his whole body was sore. Her poking him caused a dull pain in his chest. He hissed and gasped, finally unable to bear it any longer, and looked at her and said, "Stop arguing, okay?"

Li Yingqiao realized, "Are you annoyed with me?"

He didn't speak, pursed his lips, and turned to look at Liang Mei on the podium. His upbringing prevented him from saying anything too harsh, but at this moment, silence spoke louder than words. Li Yingqiao, of course, didn't care whether he disliked him or not.

Little brat.

In her eyes, Yu Jinyang was so much smaller than her, how could an elephant care about an ant spitting at it?

"Yu Miaomiao, if you ever get bullied by that big guy in fifth grade again, don't come looking for me," Li Yingqiao snorted. "You heartless little kitten."

“Li Yingqiao,” he turned to look at her, “have you thought about which junior high school you want to attend? With your current grades, you won’t get into the Experimental Middle School. Do you want to go to Xiancheng No. 2 Middle School?”

Fengtan's educational resources are very backward. After all, it's a small town nestled on the edge of the map, with nothing particularly noteworthy besides its beautiful scenery and fresh air. Most schools were built for compulsory education, without any preferential allocation of educational resources. The entire county has only two key schools—Experimental Middle School (junior high) and Fengtan Middle School (senior high). The other two schools, No. 2 and No. 3, are basically just for students to complete nine years of compulsory education.

Yu Jinyang was clearly determined to get into Tanzhong High School. However, Tanzhong was the only provincial key school in the entire Nanlai City. Getting into Tanzhong meant not only fierce competition with local students, but also fierce competition from students in the other thirteen counties and districts. And Xiaohuacheng had never had a student admitted to Tanzhong, not a single one.

Li Yingqiao never thought about going to Tanzhong High School. Ms. Li Shuli never demanded anything of her in terms of grades, but only asked that she grow up happily and healthily.

She glanced at Yu Jinyang dismissively and said disdainfully, "Mind your own business. Take care of your own little bird first. If you want to go to the bathroom during class, no one will raise their hand for you!"

Yu Miaomiao is so shy, what will he do if he doesn't sit next to her?

Yu Jinyang: "…………"

He swore that if he said another word to her, he would cut his tongue out.

Because of her height, Li Yingqiao was assigned to a table with Gao Dian, who was also in the flag-raising team, and they remained in the last row. Yu Jinyang, on the other hand, sat at a table with Zheng Miaojia, who was also short, and they moved to the first row. Liang Mei didn't seem to want to formally integrate the children from Xiaohua City into the group; even their seats were paired up. Zheng Miaojia had a completely different personality from Li Yingqiao; she always spoke softly, and sometimes Yu Jinyang couldn't hear what she was saying and had to concentrate very hard to understand her.

"Qiaoqiao is going to break into Crazy Harbor tonight, did you know?" Zheng Miaojia said to him, covering her mouth.

Madman's Harbor is the deepest street in Little Painting City, dark and secluded. The cracks in the bluestone slabs reek of the fishy smell of the river, and damp, cold moss climbs the walls. The entire street exudes a chilling, eerie atmosphere that sends shivers down the spines of the living. In the eyes of the adults of Little Painting City, Madman's Harbor serves only as a constant threat—"If you don't go to sleep, the madmen of Madman's Harbor will grab you and lock you up!"

"What is she going to do?" Yu Jinyang asked.

“A couple of days ago, a madman ran out of Crazy Harbor and tried to steal Grandma Chunzhen’s sweet cakes. Grandma was pushed to the ground and broke her coccyx. She’s been in the hospital these past few days, and Aunt Li has been bringing her food. So, Qiaoqiao is planning to go ask for the money tonight.” Zheng Miaojia said with admiration, “She’s truly the guardian angel of our Little Painting Town.”

"Let me make this clear first, don't let my height fool you, I'm just a kid! I'm in fourth grade at Huacheng Elementary School! I have a student ID! If you dare attack me, my mom will definitely not let you get away with it!" Regardless of whether it would work, Li Yingqiao shouted at the empty alley, "Ha! Did you hear me!"

The alley was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Say it! Did you hear that!" she yelled again, seemingly trying to scare someone. Just as she turned around, she saw her annoying former deskmate carrying two bags of trash and walking towards the trash can.

Back then, Little Painting City didn't have garbage sorting. Everyone dumped their garbage at the garbage station in Crazy Harbor. Rotten vegetable leaves, rusty batteries, and snotty tissues were all mixed together and left to rot and stink. Even flies would turn weak at the smell if they accidentally got a whiff of it. So very few people came here, except for those who regularly threw away their garbage every day.

When Li Yingqiao saw Yu Jinyang, it was like an hourglass that had just been set up and was about to count down; she didn't have time to turn it back. Not wanting to lose face in front of her former underling, she gave Yu Jinyang a cold snort and then swaggered into Madman's Harbor.

Two seconds later.

"Ah—ah—!"

A scream shattered the silence of the small town, followed by a chorus of barking dogs echoing through the alleyways.

"Woof woof woof woof woof!"

Then Yu Jinyang saw Tank Comrade speed out of the alley with a "whoosh" like a rocket. It was the first time he had witnessed the speed Tank could unleash in a desperate situation. The dog couldn't catch up with her at all.

But he was shouting—

"Yu Miaomiao!! Help!!"

She's terrified of dogs!

Undeterred by her first failed attempt to collect the debt, Li Yingqiao went all out for the second time, wearing various gloves, knee pads, and even her mother's electric scooter helmet, as well as bait—Yu Miaomiao.

“You go in first, I’ll follow right behind you,” Li Yingqiao said with a righteous air.

"Why should I go first?" Yu Jinyang put his hands in his pockets, indicating that if she didn't go first, he wouldn't go first either.

"Follow closely behind, don't you understand? You go in and I'll follow you in right away."

Yu Jinyang said bluntly, "Li Yingqiao, I came here with good intentions, and you're just using me as a human cushion, aren't you?"

Li Yingqiao exclaimed, adopting a tone she'd picked up from somewhere, "Why say that? It's really hurtful."

Just as Yu Jinyang was about to speak, Li Yingqiao dropped the pretense and coldly retorted, "Are you going to come in or not? You only respond to force, right?"

Yu Jinyang: "...I can't run as fast as you, what if I get bitten by a dog?"

Li Yingqiao: "Get vaccinated."

Yu Jinyang turned and left almost without hesitation.

Li Yingqiao slammed her foot against the wall, blocking his way, but Yu Jinyang was equally stubborn. The occasional stench of decay wafting from the garbage dump made them both involuntarily cover their noses, until eventually they simply blocked the way, neither willing to give way. As they stood their ground, a sound broke the silence of the alley—first the clatter of slippers, then a rustling sound like someone rummaging through plastic bags.

The two peeked over to take a look—

The disheveled madman clutched half a moldy cake left over from some kid's birthday party in his left hand and a dead goldfish in his right. He swallowed the cake and the dead fish whole, leaving traces of blood at the corners of his mouth. His body was covered in wounds, and his toes curled up on the ground. He would occasionally scratch the back of his foot with his big toe.

Noticing the two children's gazes, he suddenly looked up, paused for a few seconds, and then grinned at them—his black teeth were stained with dirty blood and had goldfish scales stuck in them.

"Oh my god!"

Startled, Li Yingqiao turned and ran away.

Yu Jinyang was also shocked, but what shocked him was that Li Yingqiao ran away for a moment and then came back in a flash, as if to get something he had forgotten. He grabbed him by the back of his knees and carried him away in his arms.

Yu Jinyang: "………………"

For the first time in his life, he began searching his mind for profanities.

Grandpa's legs.

When will I finally grow taller?!

***

That evening, Li Yingqiao returned to the grocery store still somewhat shaken, clinging to Li Shuli's waist and refusing to let go, even sticking to her while she cooked.

These past few days, Li Shuli has been busy driving a refrigerated truck for the school and delivering meals to Grandma Chunzhen at the hospital. She's been so busy that she hasn't been able to pay much attention to her daughter. She would only say a few words to her absentmindedly before sending her off to mind the shop.

Li Yingqiao had only turned on the TV for two minutes when a customer came into the shop. He was dressed in a suit and tie, looking very smart and presentable—a style rarely seen in the small art market. Apart from Uncle Yu occasionally dressing like that, most middle-aged men here wore vests, shorts, and slippers. The man asked Li Yingqiao for a pack of cigarettes, something that was also rarely bought.

Li Yingqiao skillfully retrieved cigarettes from the shelf and handed them to him. The other person smiled gently at her and asked, "Where's your mother?"

Li Yingqiao gestured with her chin toward the small kitchen behind the warehouse: "They're cooking for me."

The man deftly pulled money out of his wallet and gave it to her. "What grade are you in?"

“Four…” Li Yingqiao stared at him suspiciously, “Why are you asking so many questions?”

The man chuckled. "I also know your name is Li Yingqiao, and your nickname is Tank, isn't it?"

Looking at the man's regular features, Li Yingqiao felt a sense of doubt. She stared intently at the unfamiliar man and asked, "Who are you?"

The man suddenly shushed him, "Don't let your mom hear this."

[Author's Note]

See you on Friday!

The elementary school episode is almost over; next up is the middle and high school episode.

[Stand-up ear rabbit head][Stand-up ear rabbit head][Stand-up ear rabbit head]

100 small red envelopes to thank everyone for watching on time.