Chapter 34: So Silly

Compared to the heat outside, the air-conditioned office was very cool.

The sweat on Cheng Ye’s face had dried, but the mark where his clothes were soaked was still there. The cold air from the air conditioner snuck in from the back of his neck. He sat in the office with his head down, counting money.

He counted it one bill at a time. His movements weren’t slow, but after counting once, he had to confirm it again.

The person in charge pursed his lips. “What, are you afraid our President Wang is going to scam you? It’s only fifty thousand yuan. Who cares about such a small amount of money?”

Cheng Ye cared.

Not only did he count the money repeatedly, but he also had to confirm that every bill was real. After counting, he put it into the bag he carried with him.

Wang Quan watched his actions. He asked Cheng Ye, “How did you know the ore was there?”

Cheng Ye finished counting a stack of money, tied it with a rubber band, and put it in his bag.

“Want to know?” He looked at Wang Quan. “That’ll cost extra.”

The person in charge: “Hey! You kid, have you fallen into a money pit…”

Wang Quan waved his hand. “I’ll give you another thousand.”

Only after the money was in his hand did Cheng Ye speak. “The water. The water over there is different.”

Hearing this, it was the person in charge who got anxious first. “Don’t talk nonsense. What’s different? We checked everything before starting work. We sent every river on this mountain for testing. There’s absolutely nothing different like you said.”

Cheng Ye ignored his shouting, weighed the heavy schoolbag, and stood up. “There’s also an underground river.”

“From where we were just standing, there’s a cave below. Inside the cave, there’s an underground river. The water inside is sour.”

Wang Quan became a little interested. “How did you know there was a cave there?”

“Below is a tea forest. I came here last May Day to pick tea leaves. At that time, an eight-year-old kid accidentally fell into that cave. I was the one who went down to save him. I’ve drunk the water inside.”

“And just based on the water in the underground river, you dared to be certain the ore was in this location?”

“I couldn’t.” Cheng Ye’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “So I was gambling.”

Even if he won first place in the math competition, the prize money was only five hundred yuan. But a single piece of Jiang Shi’s clothing cost over four hundred. This amount of money was too little for him.

Before his things were confiscated, Cheng Ye’s thoughts had always been very simple. He didn’t need to be very rich, just enough to support a precious little bird. He was still young, he had a lot of time. As long as he was willing to work hard, there was nothing he couldn’t achieve.

But reality had dealt him a heavy blow.

He was young, he had time, but no one would wait for him to grow up. No one would give him time.

He had to climb up, climb up without regard for the consequences.

The young man’s eyes were full of unconcealable ambition. Wang Quan laughed. “Weren’t you afraid of losing the gamble?”

“I was afraid.”

Cheng Ye said, “But I’m more afraid of having no money.”

After speaking, he slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and planned to leave. Wang Quan, across from him, spoke again. “I admire your courage and boldness. How about staying and working for me?”

Cheng Ye refused. “No, I have to go back to school.”

He had earned fifty thousand in just half a day, yet he turned around and, like a good student, wanted to go back to school. The whole thing made Wang Quan laugh.

“School? Fine, loving to learn is a good thing. How about this, I’ll sponsor you. After you graduate, come work at my company.”

Cheng Ye still refused. “Someone is already sponsoring me.”

Being rejected repeatedly, Wang Quan’s expression wasn’t very good. Cheng Ye added, “I was just lucky and made the right bet. I don’t know much about mining. I won’t be of any help to you.”

“Besides…” he paused. “The era of getting rich quick from mining is over. President Wang, instead of recruiting me, you should think more about which path to take from now on.”

In the past, the country was poor and heavily developed heavy industry, so coal bosses were indeed sought after. But now that the economy has developed and heavy industry is gradually transforming, scarce resources like coal will definitely be controlled by the state.

Cheng Ye was right. The era of getting rich quick from mining was over. And the new opportunities, it was still unknown who held them in their hands…

Jiang Xue sold a cow and immediately went to town to buy a new mobile phone. When she returned, she was also carrying a newly fluffed cotton quilt.

Jiang Shi and Gao Xinhe had picked a basket of cherries and bayberries. The two of them came back and sat under the pear tree to do their worksheets together. You scratch your head, I scratch my face. They looked at each other, and one’s worksheet was cleaner than the other’s.

Jiang Xue’s face was blocked by the cotton quilt, revealing only her eyes. Seeing the two of them studying seriously, she smiled with relief.

She hung the quilt on the clothesline at the entrance to sun-dry, then took out her phone and said to Jiang Shi, “I bought a new phone. Come and show me how to save phone numbers. In the future, you can call me if anything happens.”

Jiang Shi took her new phone and looked at it, puzzled. “Why did you suddenly buy a phone?”

Jiang Xue ate a cherry and her face wrinkled from the sourness. “Ouch… why is this so sour? Actually, I’ve wanted to buy this phone for a long time. It’s much more convenient to have one. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know if anything happened to you while you’re away. It just so happened that I sold a cow today, got some money, so I bought it.”

Speaking of this made her happy. “The price of cows has been high these past two days. I sold one for over a thousand yuan.” She took out two five-yuan bills from her pocket and stuffed one into each of Jiang Shi’s and Gao Xinhe’s hands. “Pocket money, for you two. Go buy whatever you want to eat.”

Gao Xinhe grinned widely. “Thank you, Auntie Jiang.”

“Oh… it’s nothing, it’s nothing…” Jiang Xue added, “You must be tired from studying all day, right? I’ll stew some pork ribs for you tonight.”

Jiang Shi was too embarrassed to say that he had sat for a whole afternoon and only managed to do two problems.

He saved his own phone number for Jiang Xue, then taught her how to make and answer calls.

The sunlight made the newly fluffed cotton quilt puffy. Jiang Shi asked Jiang Xue, “Is this a new quilt?”

“I had a craftsman specially fluff it for you,” Jiang Xue said. “You’re allergic to the ones at home, so I just had a craftsman make a new one for you. It was just finished these past two days. Change to it tonight and try it out.”

What a joyous occasion. After sleeping for more than two months, Jiang Shi could finally get rid of the bright red wedding quilt.

Looking at the cotton quilt, the more Jiang Shi looked, the more satisfied he was. “How about changing it now? After we change it, we can return the original quilt to them.”

Jiang Xue thought that made sense. She ate two more bayberries and went to change the quilt. The four-piece set was also newly bought by her, inheriting her consistent aesthetic: a mix of brown bears and gray bears.

Jiang Shi was speechless. He stood at the door and watched her change the duvet cover.

Gao Xinhe really couldn’t figure out the answers. Seeing that it was almost dinner time, he felt too embarrassed to stay at Jiang Shi’s house. Ignoring Jiang Xue’s attempts to make him stay, he hugged his worksheet and slipped away.

Jiang Shi continued to work on his worksheet.

He stared at the question for several minutes, then wrote the word “Solution” stroke by stroke, followed by “Let f(x) be.”

He scratched his face. Nothing more came.

Suddenly, a low voice came from behind his ear. “Let f(x) = ax + b, parenthesis, b is not equal to 0.”

Jiang Shi turned his head. Cheng Ye was standing behind him, backlit. The young man’s eyes were deep. His gaze swept over the blank worksheet, and then he laughed. “The result of a whole day’s work?”

Jiang Shi: “…”

He gave Cheng Ye a push. “Did I say you could talk to me?”

Cheng Ye stumbled from the push. “A whole day has passed, and you’re still not over your anger?”

Jiang Shi thought, Is this anger something that’s so easy to get over? But more than being angry, he was curious about something else. “Didn’t you say you were going to work? Why are you back?”

“It was a small job, finished in half a day.” Cheng Ye placed the bag in his hand in front of Jiang Shi. “I bought you a pair of shoes. See if they fit.”

Jiang Shi didn’t look. He threw down the pen in his hand, a little unhappy again. “Why did you buy me something again? I already told you I don’t want it.”

Cheng Ye pretended not to hear. Since Jiang Shi wouldn’t look, he took the shoes out himself. “The weather’s getting warmer, it’s time to change shoes. I bought them according to the size you usually wear. Try them on.”

He squatted in front of Jiang Shi, undid the laces of the new shoes, and placed them by his feet.

Jiang Shi looked down and saw the “NIKE” on the shoes. He moved his gaze up and also saw the “NLKE” on Cheng Ye’s chest.

It’s not like he hadn’t seen the world. He could tell at a glance that the shoes Cheng Ye had bought him were real. But it was precisely because the shoes were real that the English letters on his chest seemed so ridiculous.

“Cheng Ye…” Jiang Shi’s throat was dry. “I don’t want them. You wear them.”

Cheng Ye, who had been sitting with a very straight back just now, was now unceremoniously kneeling on one knee in front of Jiang Shi. He lifted the boy’s pant leg, and the magnolia anklet swayed with his movement.

“It’s not my size. I can’t wear them.”

As he spoke, he held Jiang Shi’s foot and was about to take off his shoe.

Jiang Shi had never been served like this by anyone before. He struggled to pull away from his hand, his voice involuntarily rising. “Cheng Ye! What are you doing!”

Cheng Ye applied a little force, and the slender ankle was held firmly in his hand, unable to move an inch. His fingertips pressed on the Achilles tendon. He looked up at Jiang Shi, seemingly puzzled. “Changing your shoes.”

Who talks about changing someone’s shoes in such a calm and casual way?

A cloud-like blush rose to the tips of Jiang Shi’s ears. “Y-you let go. I’ll do it myself, I’ll do it myself, okay?”

Cheng Ye let go with some regret.

Seeing him still kneeling, Jiang Shi kicked his knee with the tip of his foot. “You’re blocking me. Move over a bit.”

Cheng Ye shifted back a little, his eyes fixed on the swaying magnolia.

Under his gaze, Jiang Shi tried on the shoes. They fit perfectly and were very breathable. He suspected that Cheng Ye had spent all his wages on buying these shoes.

“I didn’t.” Seeing that his pant leg had covered the magnolia, Cheng Ye withdrew his gaze. “I didn’t use it all up. There’s still some left.”

Seeing his honest appearance, Jiang Shi was afraid he would be cheated outside. “If you have money, don’t just think about buying things for me. Buy some for yourself too.”

“I did.” Cheng Ye pointed to the T-shirt he was wearing. “Ten yuan for three. They fit well.”

“Then how much were these shoes?”

Cheng Ye looked at his face and, based on his expression, weighed the price. “One hundred and eighty.”

Actually, it was three hundred and fifty.

Jiang Shi looked at him like he was looking at a 250¹.

He thought, It’s a good thing I have a soft heart. If it were someone else, Cheng Ye would probably be scammed out of everything, down to his underwear.

“Don’t spend money recklessly next time, you hear? I don’t want anything from you.”

Cheng Ye didn’t speak.

Jiang Shi glared at him. “Ask for my opinion before you buy things.”

Cheng Ye was reluctant. “I’ll try my best.”

“What ‘try my best’? It’s a must!” Jiang Shi pinched his ear. “It’s not like I don’t have things. It’s not like my mom doesn’t give me money. Why buy so many things?”

Cheng Ye squatted like a big dog and looked up at him. “They look good. You look good in them.”

“Can looking good be eaten as a meal?”

He couldn’t, but Jiang Shi could.

When Jiang Shi dressed well, he could eat two extra bowls of rice.

Just after the May Day holiday ended, Chen Yi called Cheng Ye to her office.

Her expression was not good. She looked at the young man in front of her, was silent for a long time, and finally sighed slowly. “Regarding the math competition, after a unanimous discussion among the school leaders, everyone feels that you are not quite suitable, so your qualification to participate has been canceled.”

Cheng Ye didn’t ask why, as if he had already guessed this result. “I understand.”

Chen Yi comforted him. “Don’t worry, I’ll go and fight for it with the school again. With such good grades, how could you suddenly be unsuitable…”

“It’s okay, teacher.” Cheng Ye said, “If it’s not suitable, then it’s not suitable. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first.”

Ever since his goods were confiscated last time, Cheng Ye knew this was just the beginning. But he didn’t feel much about it. On the way back, he even strolled to the tuck shop to buy Jiang Shi his favorite little bread.

Jiang Shi had been very serious in class these past few days. Although he didn’t understand much, at least he didn’t doze off in class anymore.

When Cheng Ye returned, he was biting his pen and working on a physics problem. He mumbled his way through it for a long time, but when he looked back at what he’d done, his mind was a blank.

He was engrossed in his work with his head down when suddenly a hand reached over and pulled the pen from his mouth. “Don’t bite the pen. It’s dirty.”

A freshly baked little bread was stuffed into Jiang Shi’s hand. He tore open the packaging, took a bite, and asked Cheng Ye, “What did the teacher want with you just now?”

Cheng Ye took his worksheet and sat back down in his own seat. “Nothing. Come over, I’ll teach you.”

Jiang Shi went over, chewing on his bread.

“First like this… then like this… understand?”

Jiang Shi was confused. “Not really.”

Cheng Ye explained it again.

Jiang Shi: “…”

“Still don’t get it?”

“…”

A very light laugh.

“Little young master, how are you so silly?²“

---

TL Note:

1. 二百五 (èrbǎiwǔ) – Two hundred and fifty: A very common slang term for an idiot or a fool. ↩︎
2. 怎麽笨笨的 (zěnme bènbèn de) – How are you so silly/a little dumb?: The use of 笨笨 (bènbèn), a reduplication of the word for “stupid,” softens the meaning. Instead of being a harsh insult, it becomes an affectionate and teasing comment, like calling a loved one “silly.” ↩︎