When Pei JiYu reached the age for primary school, Pei ZiJun was prepared to send him to a private one where the fee cost more than 200,000 yuan a year.
Jiang QingRi laughed in horror, “Two hundred thousand? It’s more than enough for an ordinary child to graduate from high school.”
Jiang QingRi continued, “No, no, no, choose another one.”
To that, Pei ZiJun replied, “I can still afford such an amount of money.”
She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of spending money. I just…” She didn’t know how to phrase it.
After a while, she lowered her voice, “I just hope that JiYu could be an ordinary person.”
Pei ZiJun then asked, “How can we know that he would not be ordinary? Even if he went to a private primary school, he might not end up as someone extraordinary in the future.”
After hearing that, she became silent.
She had met a devilish kid who lived nearby. He was young and had a beautiful face like an angel. However, he often yelled at the nanny and driver without much care.
Whenever he met a neighbor though, he would be polite without any sign of arrogance at all.
Was it normal to divide people and treat them differently? Perhaps it was, but she hoped that JiYu would never end up like that, thinking that he was more superior than others.
She wanted her child to know that no matter what kind of status and family background one had, that person was no different from another.
In the end, little JiYu enrolled in an ordinary primary school.
As he was really tall, he sat in the last row. There were 29 students in the class, and because others sat in pairs, he sat alone.
MeiXin and XiaoShan, who sat in front of him, were constantly quarreling. So, in the middle of the table, they drew a deep line with a ballpoint pen. If either of them accidentally crossed the line, the other side would not hesitate to pinch the other.
With a hand supporting his chin, little JiYu would watch them bicker back and forth. He could literally keep his eyes on them for the whole class.
The white and big magnolia flower outside the classroom had also blossomed. As little JiYu looked at the lonely newly blossomed flower, he wondered when he would have a tablemate.
One morning, after JiYu was promoted to the second grade, he sat in his seat and overheard MeiXin and XiaoShan in front of him. It was strange that when he was promoted to the second grade, he still ended up sitting alone in the last row, while MeiXin and XiaoShan were seated in the row in front of him. MeiXin asked XiaoShan, “Did you know that a student will be transferred to our class today?”
MeiXin was the class monitor, so she was the first to know anything new in the class.
Thinking that he was going to have a tablemate at last, JiYu couldn’t sit still.
JiYu thought: What kind of person will the transfer student be? Male or female? Taller or shorter? How should I talk to him when he/she was sitting next to me?
JiYu was too nervous. He clutched the edge of his clothes tightly, and his palms were drenched in sweat.
People then came over and surrounded MeiXin.
Someone asked, “Where does the transfer student come from? Male or female?”
Another also took the opportunity to complain, “It must be a girl. There are too many boys and too few girls in our class. Our Yang is flourishing while the Yin is declining <sup>1</sup> In Chinese, males are said to have Yang while females are said to have Yin. Essentially Yin and Yang is a concept of dualism that describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world. .”
A boy cut in, “Personally, it’s better if the student is a boy and could play football. Then, we can form a football team and see whether the group of boys in the first class would still dare to be that arrogant.”
For some time, there was quite a ruckus and MeiXin was so annoyed that she murmured angrily, “Don’t ask me, I don’t know anything. I also haven’t seen the transfer student.”
At a corner, XiaoShan laughed, “So there are times when you don’t know too.”
MeiXin turned her head and glared at him. Just as she was about to open her mouth, she saw the door of the classroom opening and the headteacher came in.
All of a sudden, the noisy classroom quieted down. Everyone closed their mouths and rushed back to their seats.
Pei JiYu looked up and saw a boy behind the headteacher. He would be his new deskmate.
The teacher pushed the boy to the front and introduced him to the whole class, “This is Lu QingFan. From today onwards, let’s get along with each other.”
The teacher also said to Lu QingFan, “Lu QingFan, come and introduce yourself to the rest.”
In an instant, more than 20 pairs of big black eyes looked at Lu QingFan.
Seeing him for the first time, it was obvious that he was not from a well-off family. His school uniform was old and dirty and did not fit very well. As children grew up fast, his ankles and wrists were almost visible.
Despite being about the same height as Pei JiYu, he was also sallow and emaciated with a pair of stubborn-looking dark eyes.
He stood upright with his back taut and his lips pursed as if he were facing an enemy.
After a while, he opened his mouth. His voice was a little hoarse and low, unlike the crisp and soft tone of ordinary children. “My name is Lu QingFan.” After this sentence, he was no longer willing to speak further.
The teacher had no choice but to point to the empty seat in the last row and said to him, “You can sit there.”
Pei JiYu noticed that Lu QingFan’s hair was like grass gnawed by a donkey, uneven and in a mess.
However, for some reason unknown to him, JiYu smiled happily.
For an instant, Lu QingFan’s gaze was also like an arrow that shot towards him.
*Translator’s Notes:
Hi, the author had not updated this story since 2012 so I guess this is the end T^T
Here, I would like to say that I am really thankful for those who had helped me whether for editing or proofreading (mako, Anna, jlycen, Shika) as I would not have been able to do it without them! I also appreciate all of you readers who read and/or leave comments (ɔ◔‿◔)ɔ ♥ I had fun translating this story and I hope that you all had enjoyed it too! Stay safe guys and I hope that I could see you all again in my future translated works (ﾉŎꇴŎ)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆
1
In Chinese, males are said to have Yang while females are said to have Yin. Essentially Yin and Yang is a concept of dualism that describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world.