Chapter 36: Going to School
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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22 years ago
At 7 years old, in first grade
The morning sun streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a radiant glow on the vase on the dining table.
“Fengfeng! Eat the egg on the table.”
Little Chu Feng walked out of his room, wearing dinosaur pajamas. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the wall clock:
“I’m not hungry, I have to go to school.”
Today was Chu Feng’s first day at the city primary school.
“You can’t go without eating! Children need a glass of milk and an egg in the morning for basic nutrition. Hurry up and eat it!”
Chu Feng’s mom forcefully placed the unappetizing boiled egg into his hand…
“I don’t like this kind of egg.” Little Chu Feng put the boiled egg back on the table:
“I want to eat the kind I saw on TV last time, the one with a tender yolk that flows out when you bite into it.”
“Don’t be so picky!” Chu Feng’s mom tossed the pots and pans into the sink and shouted:
“Hey! Chu Zhenfeng! I’m here busy making breakfast, and you’re just sitting there reading the newspaper with your hands folded? Look at what your son has learned from you, being picky about food!”
Chu Feng’s dad sat quietly on the sofa, pretending not to hear.
Chu Feng’s mom pushed little Chu Feng onto the dining chair:
“Enough, eat quickly and go to school. When I was a child, I used to cook my own meals. I never had someone cook me an egg and beg me to eat it! I’d be overjoyed just to have an egg to eat during the New Year. I get up early every morning to cook for you and your dad, and not a single word of gratitude!”
“If the child doesn’t want to eat, then don’t force him! What’s the point of forcing him to eat this and that every day? If he’s hungry, he’ll find something to eat on his own. Can’t you let things be peaceful for once in the morning?”
Chu Feng’s dad, Chu Zhenfeng, just sat on the sofa reading the newspaper, saying:
“Chu Feng! Don’t listen to your mom, if you don’t want to eat, then don’t eat. A boy should have some backbone.”
“What are you teaching the child every day! You’ve already spoiled him!”
Chu Feng’s mom turned to glare at little Chu Feng: “Are you going to eat or not!”
Chu Feng’s dad: “Chu Feng, don’t eat, don’t listen to your mom.”
Bang.
Little Chu Feng slammed the boiled egg heavily on the table and said lightly:
“I’m full.”
He got down from the dining table and went back to his room to change.
“If you don’t want to eat, then don’t eat anything from now on!”
Chu Feng’s mom picked up the boiled egg and threw it directly into the trash can:
“From now on, you two can go buy your own breakfast! I’m not cooking anymore.”
“…No one asked you to make breakfast anyway.” Chu Feng’s dad leaned back against the soft leather sofa, muttering.
His fingers picked up the gray newspaper and flipped a page, making a rustling sound.
“Oh my!”
Chu Feng’s dad exclaimed, holding the newspaper in his hand.
The legal section on this page reported: Is the West City District about to witness a dismemberment murder case?
Currently, at the sewage outlet in the West City District, a foot was discovered, with both feet bound together with plastic red paper rope in a very peculiar knot. As the remaining parts have not been found, the victim’s identity cannot be determined yet.
It is reported that similar unidentified body parts have been found in other cities before, with the binding method being very similar. The police suspect it may be a dismemberment murder case, but they have not confirmed if it’s a serial crime spree.
If it is a serial killer, the perpetrator is likely to have fled to our city. The police are currently searching for the remaining body parts. The Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau stated that they will vigorously investigate this case while enhancing public security management…
“It’s been quite tumultuous lately,” Chu Feng’s dad leisurely flipped through the newspaper.
Little Chu Feng walked out of his room, about to pick up the small blue backpack his mom had prepared—
“What time do you finish school today?” Chu Feng’s dad reached out to pat little Chu Feng’s head. “Dad will drive to pick you up.”
“Don’t keep driving to pick up the child! The news just reported recently that there are fewer than one million families with cars nationwide. You got a new car, and now you’re flaunting it every day.”
With the sound of running water, Chu Feng’s mom hung the washed dishes on the rack:
“If you go to pick him up, all the parents of his classmates will know that we have a car. If I go to pick him up, then there will be two cars for three people in our family! Are you afraid that others won’t know we have some money? Don’t you understand the principle of keeping a low profile? Just look at how many people have cars now.”
“It’s because you think too much when you’re well-fed!” Chu Feng’s dad impatiently tossed the newspaper onto the table. “There are plenty of people richer than us!”
Chu Feng’s mom: “You could say that if we were in another city. But our city isn’t a first-tier metropolis. Like my friend Yuan Yuan, they married and moved to the capital, where it’s different. I’m just telling you to be careful, there’s nothing wrong with being low-key about wealth.”
“Yes! I’m really sorry to drag you along with me, or else you could have married to the capital, right?”
“What do you mean, Chu Zhenfeng? You want to start a fight with me early in the morning!”
“I didn’t mean anything.”
Little Chu Feng stood at the doorway, wearing his small blue backpack and Adidas sneakers:
“I’m going to school.”
“Hey, wait! Fengfeng, do you want Dad to take you?”
“Oh, now you want me to take you? Weren’t you just saying not to drive and flaunt our wealth?”
“Well, do I have to go to work? You’re really strange.”
“Just because you have to go to work? And I don’t?”
“Do you want to go or not! Early in the morning, you argue with me like this. How will it help if you’re late for your university, and I have to clock in at eight! If you don’t want to take him, then I will!”
Without saying anything, Chu Feng’s dad walked over briskly, grabbed little Chu Feng, and walked out of the house, slamming the door.
Bang!
The door closed heavily.
Little Chu Feng tiptoed to the elevator.
Contrary to his earlier outburst of slamming the door, his dad lowered his head and gently said to Chu Feng:
“Do you want Dad to pick you up after school? Or do you want to be picked up like when your mom picks you up from kindergarten? You can go to the road next to the school, and then no one will see you.”
Dad’s soft voice whispered in his ear, sometimes Chu Feng felt that the rapid change in adults’ expressions, compared to when they were completely angry, was more terrifying.
Mom was the same way, one second she might be scolding him for being picky about food, the next second she would answer the phone with a sweet voice: “Hello, Mr. Li, hello, hello…”
***
“No need.”
The elevator door opened, and little Chu Feng stepped inside.
Chu Feng’s dad raised an eyebrow, he didn’t expect little Chu Feng to be so indifferent.
Children should be delighted when their dad drives to pick them up, especially when their family has a brand-new Mercedes-Benz sedan. Other classmates who didn’t get picked up by cars looked at them with envy, it was quite impressive.
“Do you really not want Dad to pick you up?”
Little Chu Feng shook his head. “I’m grown up now, I can go home by myself.”
As the elevator descended floor by floor, little Chu Feng’s eyes focused on the changing numbers, without any emotional fluctuations. He had no interest in driving to school, receiving admiring remarks from his classmates, or showing off.
So boring.
“Alright, kids should also learn to be independent.” Dad said. “I’ll drive you to school, but you’ll come back on your own after school.”
The brand-new black Mercedes-Benz stopped in front of him, Dad opened the car door for him, and little Chu Feng got in.
Little Chu Feng took off his backpack and held it in front of him. He leaned against the leather seat behind him. It was something he was used to.
***
West City
In the dilapidated residential building, Room 404.
“Yuyu, you’re going to primary school today. Mommy can’t accompany you, can you go by yourself?”
“Okay.”
Little Yuyu scooped up the fried egg he made from the iron pot, put it on a small plate, took out a steamed bun from the steamer, and ate it. Then he washed the pots and pans.
“Mom, I’m leaving.”
“Okay! Be careful on the way.”
Little Shiyu neatly arranged his pencil, sharpener, notebook, and the documents he might need for school. He put them in his black cloth bag.
Click, he opened the door.
“Oh, and Yuyu, when the teacher assigns seats, you should be smart and occupy the middle seats first. I heard that seats in the back are initially free, and the teacher will adjust them later. If you sit in the middle first, the teacher may not change your seat. Don’t sit in the last row like a fool, understand?”
“Okay.”
Little Shiyu took out the key from his pocket, ready to lock the door.
“Oh, and if you meet Uncle in Room 104 on the first floor, and he invites you to his house, offers you food, or talks to you, just ignore him! Understand? Don’t go near him.”
“Okay.”
Click.
Little Shiyu closed the wooden door, locked the green iron gate, put on his black backpack, and walked down the stairs alone, clattering.
When he reached the third floor—
Creak.
The door of Room 304 opened.
The uncle from the corner store walked out, holding a box of Coca-Cola, ready to put it into the store. He smiled and poked his head out:
“Little Shiyu is going to school~!”
“Uh-huh.”
“First grade? Are you reporting today?”
Little Shiyu nodded again.
“Isn’t your mom going with you?”
Little Shiyu shook his head, eager to leave. Although Mom only warned him not to talk to Uncle in Room 104, he didn’t mention Uncle in Room 304. But Little Shiyu instinctively felt uncomfortable around this person.
The uncle from Room 304 put on slippers and walked with him. Little Shiyu wanted to walk faster, to surpass the uncle, to walk ahead.
But no matter how fast he walked, the uncle followed suit, and the steps of a 7-year-old Little Shiyu couldn’t match those of an adult. In the end, they walked downstairs together, the uncle from Room 304 making small talk:
“Oh, by the way, Little Shiyu, have you seen Little Odd? That’s Uncle’s black and white cat.”
Little Shiyu shook his head.
They walked into the yard, out of the residential building, and about 20 meters to the left was the uncle’s corner store.
Clatter.
“Oh my, I’m really tired. Getting old, can’t move anymore.”
The uncle from Room 304 placed the Coca-Cola in the yard. He wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead.
Little Shiyu could tell that this person’s strength was actually very strong, but he deliberately pretended to be incapable of physical labor.
“I’m going that way.”
Little Shiyu deliberately pointed in the opposite direction of the corner store, indicating that he was going to school first.
Actually, he could go to school from any direction. Little Shiyu turned around and walked to the right—
“Wait.”
Suddenly, someone grabbed his backpack from behind.
The uncle from Room 304 smiled and grabbed Little Shiyu.
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