36. Good Things
Zeng Xiasheng's grandparents had originally planned to have him attend vocational high school, believing it was a waste of money. Instead, they planned to have him apprentice with Wang Guodong for a few years and then go straight to work after graduating from junior high. However, he had a fight with Wang Hui, and Wang Guodong refused to abandon his son in favor of him. Zeng Xiasheng's job at the auto repair shop was completely ruined, and he had to find another way out. His grandmother asked around, and finally, during the Lunar New Year holiday, she heard from a young man returning from out of town who suggested moving south to work in electronics factories. Working diligently, they could earn three to four thousand yuan a month, though most jobs required a high school diploma.
With only six months left before the high school entrance exam, hoping Zeng Xiasheng would get into an affordable public high school was a pipe dream. The elderly, driven to desperation, after days of deliberation, finally gritted their teeth and, driven by the desire for long-term financial security, paid to send him to a vocational high school for another three years.
Jiangming City has nearly thirty vocational high schools, some in prime locations and some with high-quality teaching, but Zeng Xiasheng had no say in choosing one. Grandma, after asking someone, found an old school in the countryside. It was on the verge of closure and merger, and was currently enrolling its last class of independent students. It offered a high school diploma for only half the price of other vocational high school tuition—a great deal.
By the start of his freshman year of high school, Zeng Xiasheng had turned sixteen and was now able to work part-time. He happened to be offered a waiter position at a newly opened hotel in the city center, offering good pay. However, because the school was far away and boarding was mandatory, he could only work on weekends and earned little. After carefully calculating the bills, his grandfather flew into a rage, accusing his grandmother of being short-sighted and throwing away large sums to save a small fortune. He lectured her, concluding with a rebuke of Zeng Xiasheng's possessed nature, saying that if he hadn't gotten into a fight with Wang Hui, nothing would have happened. Zeng Xiasheng hung his head in silence, only irritating the old man even more. The tongs he was using to poke the coal stove caught him off guard and struck him in the thigh, instantly burning through the fabric and into his skin, leaving a two-finger-wide brown scar.
Zeng Xiasheng didn't regret teaching Wang Hui a lesson, and even regretted not completely tearing him apart. But this had nothing to do with his grandparents. The old couple had scrimped their entire lives, saving tens of thousands of yuan for retirement. Not only did they lose it all last year, but now they had to support the culprit for three more years of school. He knew he was in the wrong and never argued. He silently endured his grandparents' beatings and scolding, trying his best to cover his living expenses and textbook fees by working part-time in the cafeteria, and turning over all his waiter wages as a way to pay for his anger.
It was a blessing in disguise. There were not many students in the school, and the work intensity of washing dishes and picking up leftovers in the cafeteria was very low. Zeng Xiasheng had some free time for the first time in his life, but he couldn't concentrate on reading in the classroom and couldn't sleep in the dormitory. He wandered around the school aimlessly every night, not knowing what to do.
She could text Tang Sizhuo, but she was in ninth grade, and her schedules for the high school entrance exam and provincial piano finals overlapped. After careful consideration, Xiao Tong decided to juggle both, keeping her on a tight schedule. Although Tang Sizhuo wrote daily, his messages were brief, often a "good night" followed by a brief summary of the day like "Monthly exam today" or "Auntie fixed the bear's chain." Zeng Xia, fearing the constant chatter would disrupt her rest, would only respond briefly, then, after saying good night, find a corner to sit and stare blankly, flipping through her old messages one by one.
Twenty men lived in the boys' dormitory, converted from an old classroom. Most came from impoverished families, but unlike him, they were not orphans, and had at least some childhoods of playful abandon. After the initial bout of idleness, the boys realized that their teachers, worried about losing their jobs, changing positions, or switching jobs, had little interest in their work and began going out in groups to play online games. Zeng Xiasheng not only had no money to spare, but the thought of internet cafes brought back memories of Tang Sizhuo's tearful eyes as he stood at his school's gate. He lost interest, and finally, bored to death, he was dragged along by several roommates, who also couldn't afford internet access, to play basketball.
He wasn't sure if it was because he was a year older than his classmates, or because he ate too well with Tang Sizhu during his early growth spurts, but his height had grown rapidly, now at least half a head taller than the other boys. Coupled with his physical strength from dismantling cars and carrying goods, Zeng Xiasheng quickly became a beginner and quickly became proficient in the game. He found some joy in the thumping of old basketballs hitting the concrete floor, and even made a few friends he could talk to.
After the New Year, the students organized a competition. Zeng Xiasheng didn't win, but he managed a lucky three-pointer, drawing cheers from the crowd. That night, after a shower, he lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. The day's excitement faded, and his body felt like it was floating on a cloud. Outside the window, the early spring breeze rustled, stirring the clouds, and his mind drifted with it, seeking to find a place to rest. After tossing and turning for half the night, Zeng Xiasheng fished his phone out of his pillowcase and, buried under the covers, texted Tang Sizhuo.
They hadn't seen each other since her ninth grade. Perhaps because he felt that scoring a goal wasn't worth mentioning next to Tang Sizhuo's top-notch test scores and dazzling array of trophies, Zeng Xiasheng couldn't figure out why, but he kept cutting and deleting everything. In the end, he didn't mention the basketball game at all, only sending a short, incoherent message wishing Tang Sizhuo good luck in his preliminary round this weekend.
Tang Sizhuo only had time to reply to him after the preliminary round. Not only did she advance without any suspense, but she also brought good news. She said that she would reduce her piano practice and study time by half an hour each from next week, so that she could return to the bedroom around 11 o'clock and chat with him by text message before going to bed.
During winter break, she practiced piano in the morning and studied in the afternoon, with the only half-day off allowed on New Year's Eve. Xiao Tong invited friends to go to South Korea for plastic surgery, leaving on the third day of the Lunar New Year, leaving Sun Changming to look after her at home. Sun Changming's temperament was completely different from Xiao Tong's. He was very kind and always encouraged her, but if Tang Sizhuo relaxed even a little, his smile would cool into disappointment. He would ask her, "When your mother asked you if you wanted to participate in the competition, you agreed and signed up. Why do you feel it's hard now and want to give up? Did your teacher teach you not to give up halfway?"
Although he didn't always hit or scold her, his words only made Tang Sizhuo feel more upset. After Sun Changming persuaded Xiao Tong to reward her with some free time because she had passed the preliminary round with a high score, she felt a strong sense of guilt when faced with her hard-earned free time. It was as if she was a lazy, playful waste who couldn't succeed without being watched and scolded by adults.
Zeng Xiasheng saw that although she had sent him good news, there was not much happiness between the lines. After making sure that she was available to answer the phone, he put on his clothes and went to the corridor to call her. Sure enough, he heard Tang Sizhuo's suppressed sobs.
Tang Sizhuo spoke intermittently for a long time, saying that she had to get up at 5:30 every day to practice the piano. It wasn't that she didn't want to practice the piano, she was really tired, and sometimes her hands couldn't play anymore. It wasn't intentional mistakes. Zeng Xiasheng had never had such extravagant worries before, and he couldn't understand why she had to play the piano. Even if it would give her extra points in the high school entrance exam and the college entrance exam, Tang Sizhuo didn't need it based on her grades. However, he couldn't change Xiao Tong's decision, let alone confront Sun Changming. There was no point in refuting Tang Sizhuo, so he just listened to her quietly. When Tang Sizhuo finally calmed down and gradually stopped crying, Zeng Xiasheng racked his brains to come up with a sentence: "Too much fertilizer will burn the vegetables. Maybe it will grow better if you give it a rest. The exams and the finals will have good results, don't worry."
He sat on the stairs and talked to her for over half an hour. After finally coaxing Tang Sizhuo to bed, he shivered as he made his way to his dorm room. Upon entering, he ran into Li Zhiheng, who was sleeping in the bed across from him. He stood at the door like a ghost, staring at him with a sinister look. Zeng Xiasheng hadn't expected anyone to be awake at this hour, and he cursed in fear. He heard Li Zhiheng whisper, "You've been talking for so long, with your girlfriend? Which class is she from?"
"none of your business."
Zeng Xiasheng pushed him away angrily and walked inside, but was grabbed by Li Zhiheng, who pretended to snatch the phone to look at it.
There weren't many things to do in the countryside, so besides surfing the internet and playing ball, the boys would just get together and chat about girls. They'd talk about who had long legs and who had a thin waist. If there was a sudden chuckle, it was probably someone spreading rumors about how so-and-so in so-and-so's class wasn't a virgin anymore. Zeng Xiasheng would think of Wang Hui whenever he heard these nonsense. It was only because he'd promised Tang Sizhuo they'd try not to fight that he'd always used the excuse of doing laundry to get away and have some quiet time. Li Zhiheng wished he could be the leader of this gang, but Zeng Xiasheng had long disliked him. He pushed him out and growled, "Are you sick?!"
Li Zhiheng stumbled a few steps and demanded fiercely, "I'm just asking if you're Qiu Shishi. Don't even think about trying to steal my favor behind my back!"
Zeng Xiasheng got furious when he heard these three words. He hadn't known such a person existed before, but only found out here that there was a girl in the kindergarten teacher class who was his junior high school classmate. Because she was pretty and had a good personality, many boys were jealous of her and dragged him into it. They suspected that his old junior high school acquaintance could get ahead at any time, even though the two of them had never even exchanged a word.
Li Zhiheng was the only son in his family for three generations, born after four older sisters. He had always been a wanton and arrogant child. His family was well-off, and his parents could afford to send him to a private high school, or at least a decent vocational school. He had come to the countryside specifically to escape the constraints of his family and have fun, so he was much more generous than others.
Zeng Xiasheng didn't know exactly how much living expenses he had, but he was definitely not on the same level as the other students at this school. The girls who came here couldn't possibly come from good families. Li Zhiheng blended in like a leopard among a flock of sheep, often staying out all night and seemingly changing girlfriends every week.
Only Qiu Shishi refused to buy his story, even though Li Zhiheng showered the girls' dormitory with gifts like they were free. At the start of the next semester, Li Zhiheng made a grand gesture, laying out flowers and candles on the floor and confessing his love to Qiu Shishi with a cosmetics gift box he said was worth over a thousand yuan. However, the romance fell through, leaving him embarrassed and humiliated. From then on, he acted like a mad dog, biting everyone he met.
Zeng Xiasheng was too lazy to argue with him. Seeing that some of his roommates who were awakened got up and tried to separate the fight, he walked around Li Zhiheng and was about to go inside, but was unexpectedly hit by his punch, which grazed his jaw.
"I'm asking you a question! You're just washing dishes and picking up leftovers, and you're laughing at me, aren't you?"
You can't fight. There's no point fighting with a madman. Zeng Xiasheng closed his eyes, trying to suppress his anger. After giving Li Zhiheng a warning glare, he went back to his bed and lay down.
However, the troubles never ended. A few days later, he really ran into Qiu Shishi on the playground.
Whether it was hypoglycemia or something else, Zeng Xiasheng sat dazed on the podium. He watched her run a lap, then walk toward the edge, her pace getting slower and slower until she suddenly collapsed. Many students gathered around her. Zeng Xiasheng initially tried to avoid any further interference, but when he noticed the boys squeezing in to hug her had their hands on her chest, he jumped down from the podium, pushed through the crowd, picked up Qiu Shishi, and walked away to the clinic at the school gate.
He had little contact with his female classmates, and although many of them came with him, Zeng Xiasheng couldn't figure out who were her true friends. Vocational school was full of love, hate, and vengeance, so he didn't dare leave. He sat by the bed and stared outside. Only after Qiu Shishi regained consciousness did he get up and leave without a word.
Although he clearly had no dirty thoughts, Zeng Xiasheng returned to the dormitory, but after thinking about it over and over again, he felt inexplicably guilty.
He had never dared to hug Tang Sizhuo. When they were little, he was afraid his arms wouldn't be strong enough and he'd drop her. As an adult, he was afraid she'd see his evasive gaze and flushed face, so he always carried her silently from behind. He bent down to smell her body, faintly sensing the scent of women's shampoo. He immediately got up, took a shower, and scrubbed all his clothes, but he still couldn't calm down. Thinking of Li Zhiheng's madness, he felt even more caught in the middle of a complicated situation, unable to explain himself.
After nightfall, Zeng Xiasheng became increasingly irritable. For the first time, he took the initiative to send a text message to Tang Sizhuo, asking her if she was free to call him.
Tang Sizhuo called at 11 o'clock sharp. He seemed to be in a good mood because of the call. His voice was soft and he asked him with a hint of smile, "What's the matter?"
Zeng Xiasheng swallowed, his heart pounding. He spoke with difficulty, hesitatingly recounting what had happened. Then, breathlessly, he pressed his lips against the receiver, awaiting the other party's decision.
"It's good news," Tang Sizhuo said. She seemed a little confused and jokingly speculated, "You called me to tell me this? You want me to praise you?"
The anger in Zeng Xiasheng's chest suddenly dissipated, and his heart fell back into his flesh and blood, but he felt empty and uncomfortable.
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