[124] Review

On the first day, they took exams in math and politics; on the second day, Chinese and geography; on the third day, English and history; and on the fourth day, biology. Among these subjects, Chang’an Fang was most worried about English, so he unusually did not hand in his paper early that day, carefully checking it several times.

There was a twenty-minute break between the two exams. After submitting his paper and leaving the classroom, many students had not even left the room before starting to discuss the questions.

Chang’an Fang glanced towards Class Two and Class Three but didn’t see Shen Mo or Ke Wang. He stretched in the corridor and chatted casually with a few classmates from his own class. Then he heard a familiar clear and sweet voice politely and obediently say, "Hello, Uncle!"

Immediately after came another sweet voice—Ke Wang’s—saying the same thing.

Chang’an turned his head and saw Shen Mo, Ke Wang, Zheng Lili, and Liu Bei chatting among the crowd in the hallway. Approaching them was Lu Jun Fang.

Along with Lu Jun was Lu Guo Fang, probably worried Lu Jun would not find them, so he came together.

Lu Guo Fang recognized Shen Mo and was surprised she greeted them so proactively. At first, he did not realize she was addressing Lu Jun since, as a teacher, he often encountered students on the street greeting him, whether he knew them or not. He instinctively nodded and replied, “Oh, hello, hello.”

Shen Mo and Ke Wang both paused for a moment. Luckily Shen Mo had met Lu Guo Fang before and quickly smiled sweetly at him, then pointed towards Chang’an Fang and said, “He’s over there.”

Lu Guo Fang and Lu Jun had already spotted Chang’an and smiled with a nod before walking over.

Lu Jun Fang had just gotten off the train this morning and hadn’t had time to go home. Before boarding, he had taken care to groom himself, getting a haircut and changing into a newer black padded jacket. On his feet, he wore leather shoes with pale yellow fur showing at the opening, looking much more spirited than before he left for work.

Chang’an Fang figured his father had returned but hadn’t expected him to come directly to school. Feeling pleasantly surprised, he walked over and called out, “Dad, Uncle.”

“Hey.”

Both Lu Guo and Lu Jun replied. Lu Jun examined his son, noticing he seemed taller, and asked, “Have you finished your exams?”

“Just finished English. History is next.”

“Once you’re done, come over to your uncle’s place and we’ll eat together.”

“Okay.”

Lu Jun had been away from home for three months, so naturally, he was very happy to see his son again. However, he was not good at expressing himself and felt a little nervous under the gaze of a group of students. After a brief exchange, he said, “Alright, let’s go.”

Lu Guo wanted to ask about Chang’an’s exam performance but, hearing his brother’s words, decided to wait until lunch. He said, “Okay, we’ll head back first. Come over after your exams.”

Chang’an agreed and watched as his father and uncle left. When someone nearby asked, he smiled and said, “My dad just came back from work.”

When Lu Jun and Lu Guo left, Shen Mo and Ke Wang politely greeted them once more. Only then did Zheng Lili and Liu Bei quietly ask, “Is that Chang’an Fang’s dad?”

They knew his uncle was a teacher but had never met Lu Jun.

After receiving confirmation, Liu Bei asked, “Have you met him before?”

Ke Wang replied, “During the holidays, the National Day break, Shen Mo, Wang Yuwei, a few boys including Chen Yu and Zhou Yifei, and I went to Chang’an’s house to play.”

Shen Mo added, “We picked corn, roasted sweet potatoes, and caught fish. I even caught one, right, Ke Wang?”

Ke Wang nodded, confirming she indeed caught a fish.

Liu Bei asked in surprise, “You went down into the water too?”

“Yes, they blocked both sides and poured out the water inside so we could go down. We caught a lot of fish.”

Shen Mo gestured with her hands, “A whole basin full, right, Ke Wang?”

“Mm-hmm,” Ke Wang nodded dutifully, confirming again.

“We don’t have a river in our village. Sometimes the boys go to other villages where there’s a river to fish. I’ve never been,” Liu Bei said with a hint of envy.

Shen Mo enthusiastically said, “Next summer vacation, let’s go together. The river near Chang’an’s house is so long, we definitely won’t run out of fish.”

Liu Bei thought for a moment and said, “Alright, if you’re going next year, I’ll come too.”

Zheng Lili chimed in, “Me too.”

“Great, we’ll go together.”

Shen Mo was completely unaware that she was soon to transfer schools and happily made plans with her classmates for the summer vacation.

History was Chang’an’s strongest subject. Apart from English, all his subjects were strengths. He finished the history exam in half an hour, reviewed it once, left a two-point margin for the grader, and reluctantly gave himself a 98 before packing up and submitting the paper.

After several days of exams, those in the same classroom had grown accustomed to his speed. Being first in the entire school, he had the luxury of a bit of arrogance.

Chang’an purposely passed by the classrooms of Class Two and Class Three, using this method to let Shen Mo and Ke Wang know that he had left first, so they wouldn’t worry if they couldn’t find him after finishing their exams.

Unfortunately, he walked slowly but never saw the two girls look up.

The thrill of submitting early was only half as sweet.

Arriving at his uncle’s house, Xu Jing was not invigilating that day and was busy in the kitchen with Lu Guo. Changqing Fang hadn’t yet started vacation, and Danran Fang hadn’t finished school. Chang’an chatted idly with his father and had a meal with them. Knowing he had no exams in the afternoon, Lu Jun and Lu Guo took Chang’an to the street to buy a television.

Lu Guo had a classmate selling TVs on the street, so they went there and finally bought a 21-inch Haier color TV for 800 yuan, along with a pot-lid antenna.

It was already 2004, and domestic TVs had basically captured the local market through price wars. The next step was to move toward higher-end products.

Chang’an silently pondered whether brands like Gree, Haier, Changhong, and Midea had stocks and how their value was appreciating. Unfortunately, he knew little about this and dared not decide rashly. Even if they could make money, it likely wouldn’t match Maotai’s returns. Given that, he thought it better to put all bets on Maotai.

So as not to regret later, he could only sigh, “Youth never knows the fragrance of fine liquor.”

Soon, Lu Yong would come by tricycle to pick up his second brother. After buying the TV, Chang’an returned to school alone, imagining the reactions of his younger siblings upon seeing the big color TV, a smile naturally spreading across his face as he walked.

There was still a biology exam the next day, which Chang’an was not very worried about. Returning to the dormitory, he grabbed a biology book and rode his bike to Shen Chengyan’s house.

He couldn’t study in the classroom or dorm since there was no desk there, so he had been coming here every afternoon to use the desk.

There were guests at Shen’s house—a man and a woman. The man was the same one who had brought Ma Zude last time, and the woman seemed to be his wife, appearing quite familiar with both Shen Chengyan and Cheng Mengfei. They were playing cards, and laughter could be heard from the yard.

Shen Chengyan and Cheng Mengfei no longer treated Chang’an like an outsider, showing none of the initial politeness. Seeing him arrive, Shen Chengyan barely greeted him, waving him upstairs to study. Cheng Mengfei smiled and said, “Close the door so it won’t be noisy for you.”

Chang’an smiled and nodded, going upstairs. He heard the man downstairs ask, “Who’s this kid? He looks familiar.”

“Fei Fei’s student. You saw him once when school started... pair of fours!”

“Oh, three threes!”

“Get lost! I have a pair of fours, what do you have, three of a kind?”

“You think I don’t have a pair of twos?”

Then came Cheng Mengfei’s voice: “You two, keep your voices down. Your voices have never been quiet, and your cards have never been big.”

Chang’an went into the study, closed the door, spread out his biology book, glanced at the bookshelf, and pulled out the second volume of the school edition of *The Golden Lotus* from Mengmei Pavilion. He opened it to the last page he had read and began reading slowly by the bookshelf.

After just two pages, footsteps sounded outside. Chang’an quickly put the book back and instead pulled out *Camel Xiangzi* from the upper shelf.

Just as he opened *Camel Xiangzi*, the study door was pushed open. Shen Mo’s delicate, pretty face peeked in, her bright eyes scanning him before she smiled mischievously, opened the door fully, and then closed it behind her.

She put her textbooks on her side of the desk and, somewhat smugly, curled her lips and said, “I knew you’d be here.”

“Yes, you’re the smartest.”

Chang’an sat down at his desk with *Camel Xiangzi*. Shen Mo wrinkled her nose and asked, “Have you finished reviewing?”

“No, I’m waiting for you.”

“How did you know I’d come?”

“Because you know I would.”

The little girl wrinkled her nose again, then closed his book, turned sideways to face him, and said seriously, “I’ll quiz you, then you quiz me.”

She opened the biology book, her delicate, adorable face solemn and serious as she asked, “What do living things need to survive?”

“Nutrition.”

“What can living things do? What do most living things inhale and exhale?”

“Respiration, oxygen, carbon dioxide.”

“No, say it again. That’s rote memorization. You should be more complete; otherwise, if I ask a different question, you won’t know.”

“...Living things can respire; most living things inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.”

“What else can living things do?”

“Grow and reproduce.”

“Say it again.”

“Living things can grow and reproduce.”

...

If she weren’t so pretty, Chang’an thought he wouldn’t last even a minute with this review method.

They quizzed each other and checked for gaps, occasionally getting distracted. Shen Mo asked, “Has your dad come home?”

Chang’an answered and casually asked, “Have your parents returned?”

“In five days. Mom said she’d be back on the morning of the 25th.”

The Shen family usually returned home for a while each year, and during summer vacation, they would take Shen Mo with them. But this year, because some industries were relocating back to the province (not allowed to be in the city), there were many affairs to handle, so they hadn’t come home earlier.

Chang’an nodded in understanding and glanced at Shen Mo’s expression, which showed no abnormality. Could it be she still didn’t know about her impending transfer?

He couldn’t ask directly, so he circled the topic: “How do you think you did on the exams?”

“I think pretty well.”

Shen Mo spoke without false modesty, a bit happily. “But maybe everyone else did well too; maybe the test was too easy.”

Chang’an laughed, “Don’t look at me. I can’t tell because every test seems easy to me.”

The little girl wrinkled her nose and gave him a cute eye roll, showing she didn’t want to pay attention.

Chang’an smiled and added, “You don’t have to improve too much. If you move up one rank this time and surpass Shan Shan Mao, you’ll be third in our class. By the midterm next semester, you can surpass Liu Bei and be second, and by the final exam, you’ll pass me and be first.”

The girl gave him a sideways glance and then softly “hmph”ed, “If I surpass you, I will sooner or later.”

She was talking about class rankings, which Cheng Mengfei always wrote on a red sheet after midterm and final exams, listing students from top to bottom.

Chang’an laughed, “Alright, I look forward to that day.”