Chapter 42

He had just run out of the school gate when the class monitor, Tang Shaokang, along with a group of class officers, carrying buckets, mops, brooms, and shovels, came out of the teaching building with the head teacher, Wang Yumin. Seeing Feng Yiping's back, one of them asked, "That looks like Feng Yiping, Teacher Wang, should I call him back?"

Wang Yumin shook her head, "Never mind, we have enough people."

She knew that Feng Yiping and Lin Hui were relatives, and guessed that he was probably going to pay a New Year's visit. Of course, whether he was using this as an excuse to avoid labor was a question worth considering.

Just as he arrived, his aunt came out to pour water and, seeing Feng Yiping, called out, "Old Lin, Yiping is here, hurry up and set off the firecrackers."

His uncle, a stout man with a beard, came out with a cigarette in his hand and smiled. His cousin, Lin Rui, followed behind, holding a long string of firecrackers, while Lin Hui, munching on sunflower seeds, trailed behind.

Lin Rui hung the firecrackers on the clothesline in front of the door. Just as Lin Kai Ming was about to light them, Lin Rui snatched the cigarette from his hand, "I'll do it, I'll do it."

He covered one ear, leaned in, and lit the fuse. The firecrackers immediately started popping, and Lin Rui quickly dropped the cigarette, covered both ears, and ran to the side.

"I knew you would do that," Lin Kai Ming said, laughing and putting his hands on his hips.

Inside, his aunt cleared a few dishes from the coffee table and, together with Lin Hui, brought out new dishes filled with sunflower seeds, candy, cookies, and oranges. "Yiping, you can watch TV for a while, I'll go cook."

His uncle asked a few questions about his family and then praised him, "I heard from Lin Hui that you did very well on the exams, with several full marks, and you were the second in the county. Not bad, not bad, you're a good student!"

Feng Yiping humbly responded with phrases like "I did well" and "It was just luck."

Lin Kai Ming then educated Lin Rui, who was peeling an orange, "Learn from your cousin Yiping, don't always think about playing around."

Lin Rui loudly retorted, "But I've made progress, the teacher praised me on my report card!"

Lin Hui mocked him, "You were twenty-first last semester, and now you're twentieth. What a big improvement."

Lin Rui countered, "What about you?"

"I'm eighteenth, better than you!" Lin Hui said, blushing, and her uncle laughed.

"Eighteenth?" Lin Rui said, "Don't think we don't know."

He ran over to Feng Yiping, "Brother Ping, did you give my sister the answers?"

Feng Yiping didn't look at his uncle or Lin Hui, carefully peeling the white threads from the orange segments, "I wish I could, but I never had the chance. The invigilation was so strict, and anyone caught would get a zero. As far as I know, no one dared to cheat or pass answers."

"Hmph!" Lin Rui, though不服气 (unconvinced), wisely didn't continue the argument, knowing he was still the weaker one in front of his sister.

Lunch was very sumptuous, with chicken, duck, pork, beef, and fish. Feng Yiping's favorite was a type of mushroom he couldn't name, which was very fresh.

The three of them drank cola, while Lin Kai Ming drank white wine. He even asked Feng Yiping if he wanted a glass, but his aunt scolded him.

No one ate much rice, as they were full from the dishes.

After lunch, Lin Hui helped her mother clean up and then invited Feng Yiping to go to school. Feng Yiping was playing chess with Lin Kai Ming, "I'll go a bit later, you can go a bit later too. There's nothing to do now, they're probably cleaning everywhere."

Lin Hui thought about it and agreed. Lin Rui volunteered, "I'll go check for you."

Lin Hui tapped him on the head, "If you go, the teacher will think you're trying to hide something."

Lin Kai Ming said, "That's why I tell you not to act on impulse, think more."

Lin Rui, rubbing his head, said dejectedly, "Okay."

After three games of chess, each of them won one, and one was a draw. Then someone came to invite Lin Kai Ming to play mahjong. Lin Kai Ming told Feng Yiping, "You stay and play, and have dinner here tonight."

His aunt asked, "Are you sleepy? Do you want to take a nap in Xiao Rui's room?"

Feng Yiping said no, and they all watched TV for a while. Finding nothing interesting, Lin Rui brought out a game of Chinese checkers, and the three of them played, while his aunt watched "Wanjun."

Lin Hui took the opportunity to openly tease Lin Rui, winning many of the good things he had received during the New Year's visit. Lin Rui, though a good sport, lost badly but didn't cheat.

After dinner, Feng Yiping and Lin Hui slowly returned to school. Xiao Zhijie and Wang Changning were still eating in the corridor. Seeing him, Xiao Zhijie said anxiously, "Why did you come back so late? Teacher Wang has been looking for you, she wants you to see her as soon as you get back!"

"Really?"

"Of course, ask Wang Changning, right Changning?"

"Yes, I heard that too," Wang Changning said, his head down, eating.

"Is that so?" Feng Yiping jumped over and pressed Wang Changning's head, "Wang Changning, you're turning bad too!"

Wang Changning laughed and jumped away, pointing at Xiao Zhijie with his spoon, "He said it, not me."

Feng Yiping imitated a Hong Kong movie gesture, moving his hands, trying to make a "click" sound, but failed. He then walked towards Xiao Zhijie, "Alright, let's go find Teacher Wang together, and see what she wants."

Xiao Zhijie backed away, "Alright, alright, I was just trying to trick you. Who made you so unbrotherly, running off to eat and drink without telling me, and making us clean all day."

"What cleaning? I didn't know!" Feng Yiping feigned ignorance.

"Didn't know? You ran so fast then," Xiao Zhijie said angrily.

"Exactly, stop pretending," Wang Changning joined in, standing with Xiao Zhijie.

Alright, they were ganging up on him, so he couldn't admit it. "I just wanted to finish the New Year's visit early and come back, but they had some things to do, so I had to stay."

"Really?"

"More real than gold!" Feng Yiping said firmly.

"What did you help with?" Wang Changning asked.

"Helping to eat all the good food," Feng Yiping said, laughing, and then ran off.

Xiao Zhijie and Wang Changning felt teased and wouldn't let it go. They put their bowls in a classmate's hand and chased after him.

Seeing he couldn't escape, Feng Yiping had to admit defeat and pulled out a tin of fermented black beans and fish from his backpack, "See, how could I forget you guys with good food?"

This was a rare treat. He then took out two sausages and gave one to each of them, "Is this not brotherly enough?"

Xiao Zhijie ignored his words and just stared at his backpack. Wang Changning peeled the sausage and took a big bite, "Don't look, whatever is in your backpack, we'll share it."

"Sure, sure, Feng Yiping, you keep it for us. Let's eat this fish, and have some meat," Xiao Zhijie said.

It was indeed relaxing to occasionally forget his mental age and act like a kid. A little scheming, a bit of laziness, and avoiding collective labor gave him a sense of secret pleasure he hadn't felt in years.

Feng Yiping skipped back to the classroom, humming softly, "We are the common people, today we are truly happy..."

In the evening, the self-study period was, as expected, taken over by the head teacher, Wang Yumin, who emphasized the urgency of studying, "One semester has passed, and the high school entrance exam is one step closer. Every day from now on is precious, so you must quickly get out of the New Year's mood and focus on your studies."

Then, she criticized some students who had used various ways to avoid labor, and seemed to glance at Feng Yiping. Feng Yiping looked innocent, wide-eyed, as if to say, "Teacher, what are you talking about?"

It seemed many students hadn't fully returned from the New Year's mood. On the ninth day of the first month, the vice-principal dragged out over twenty students who were sleeping in, and a female teacher found four more from the girls' dormitory.

This record broke the previous one from three years ago, when the first run after the Spring Festival had more students sleeping in.

Clearly, this was to set an example and make everyone quickly get back into the school routine. After the run and morning self-study, these students were still standing in the playground as punishment, including the four girls.

Girls, being more sensitive, couldn't even lift their heads, and one of them was crying pitifully.

Many students, especially the boys, felt sympathetic. But no matter how much they sympathized or felt heartache, the vice-principal was unyielding, saying, "Cry if you want, but you'll stand for as long as you're supposed to."

The effect was immediate. From the first class, no one looked lazy.

However, it wasn't just the students who were still in the New Year's mood. In the first class of the afternoon, which was math, the math teacher's first words were, "Please turn to page three cakes!"

After a brief silence, the students burst into laughter. It was clear the math teacher had played a lot of mahjong during the Spring Festival.

The teacher laughed too, and made an excuse, "It's the first class of the New Year, I'm just trying to lighten the mood. Please turn to page thirty."

In the evening self-study, Wang Yumin took over again, reviewing the test papers. This was a way to help everyone review and pick up what they had forgotten during the Spring Festival.

Feng Yiping's essay was read again as an example. When she read the part where he wrote that someone looked very anxious and very sorry, Wang Yumin paused, and the classroom fell silent. Then, some students started to giggle, and soon the whole class was laughing.

The students laughed and looked at Feng Yiping, who could only laugh awkwardly. He felt that the head teacher was definitely doing this on purpose.

Sure enough, after self-study, many students gathered around him. Xiao Zhijie said, "Feng Yiping, why do you look so anxious and so sorry?"

The students around him laughed again. In the corner of his eye, Feng Yiping saw Huang Jingping laughing on her desk.

Feng Yiping laughed too, not at all annoyed. After all, these were just poor kids, not eating well, not sleeping well, and studying day and night. It was rare for them to have a moment of relaxation.

If he could, Feng Yiping would create more such moments to help everyone relax.

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