Chapter 001 - Jiang Tian
第001章 江甜

Best Deskmate of the Batch
批次最佳同桌

「The chirping of cicadas that year was louder than any other, the tree branches outside the classroom grew as madly as they could; but no matter what, they could not block the scorching sun.」
「那一年的蝉鸣声比往年都大，教室外的树枝长得极其疯狂;但无论如何，他们都挡不住烈日。

The inter-class breaks were always full of noise in the top floor of Mingli Block in Fuzhong. The study rep of Year 2 Class A drifted from the corridor into the classroom, hollering, “Reporting—our class is getting a new student!”
班间休息总是在抚中明丽街区顶楼充满喧嚣。二年级 A 班的学习代表从走廊飘到教室里，大声喊道：“报告——我们班要迎来一个新学生了！

“The little eunuch from the Respectability room is here to mess with us again,” somebody mocked.
“尊严室的小太监又来惹我们了，”有人嘲笑道。

(t/n: Respectability room: It’s the imperial household department in the Ming Dynasty within the Forbidden City, it was where the eunuchs and palace maids were managed. Essentially, this referred to the teachers as ‘emperors’/ ‘empresses’ to be served, and the poor study rep as a d*ckless eunuch in retrospect)
（t/n：尊室：是明朝紫禁城内的内宫部，是管理太监和宫女的地方。从本质上讲，这把老师称为“皇帝”/“皇后”，回想起来，可怜的学习代表是一个无赖的太监）

“You’re the one who’s a little eunuch, I’m serious.”
“你就是那个小太监，我是认真的。”

“It’s not even midterm or end of term, what is even going to come in?”
“这甚至不是期中或期末，还有什么会进来？”

“It’s a transfer student.”
“这是一个转学生。”

With this said, the ones who were actually awake in the classroom became more alive. “Boy or girl? For sure?”
说到这里，那些在教室里真正醒着的人变得更加活跃起来。“男孩还是女孩？肯定吗？

“Absolutely sure! I just saw him, he’s a guy, quite tidy looking and dashing.” The study rep mulled a little, and added, “Who knows which teacher decided to be a bastard and grabbed the school prince of another campus.”
“绝对肯定！我刚刚看到他，他是一个人，看起来很整洁，很潇敢。研究代表沉思了一下，补充道：“谁知道是哪位老师决定做一个混蛋，抓住了另一个校区的学校王子。

(t/n: I used this term from ‘Daily life of being the campus idol’s fake boyfriend’, mostly because the original term directly translated into ‘school grass’ which isn’t very nice in English. The students also made a joke with this implying that Sheng Wang was literally grass that the teacher picked from another school. Overall, the term ‘school grass’, refers to the hottest guy in school.)
（t/n：我用这个词来自“做校园偶像假男友的日常生活”，主要是因为原来的词直接翻译成“学校草”，这在英语中不太好听。学生们还开了一个玩笑，暗示盛王实际上是老师从另一所学校采摘的草。总的来说，“学校草”这个词指的是学校里最性感的人。

A chorus of jeering and squawking resounded within the classroom, a few girls stole a quick glance at the corner of the last row amidst the chaos. There was a guy resting his head on his table, catching up on his sleep; a hand covered the back of his head, his long digits slightly curved, and his wrist bone jutting out.
教室里响起一阵嘲笑和尖叫声，几个女孩在混乱中偷偷看了一眼最后一排的角落。有一个人把头靠在桌子上，补觉;一只手捂住他的后脑勺，长长的手指微微弯曲，腕骨突出。

The surroundings were really too noisy, he ran his fingers through his short hair, and leaned his head towards a different direction.
周围实在是太吵了，他用手指抚摸着短发，把头靠向了另一个方向。

The girls retracted their gaze, and their voices instantly became much softer. “Where did he transfer from?”
女孩们收回了目光，声音瞬间变得轻柔了许多。“他从哪里转来的？”

The study rep sounded out a name.
研究代表说出了一个名字。

“What’s that? There’s a school like this nearby?”
“那是什么？附近有这样的学校吗？

“I’ve never heard of its name too, but it has to be a key province school, otherwise there’s no way he could transfer into our class.”
“我也没听说过它的名字，但必须是省级重点学校，否则他不可能转入我们班。”

“Wait, let me check.” The boy speaking dug out his phone from the bottom of his table as if he was a thief. “There’s no teacher around right? Help me keep a lookout.”
“等等，让我检查一下。”说话的男孩从桌子底部挖出了手机，就像他是个小偷一样。“周围没有老师，对吧？帮我留意一下。

He speedily searched on his phone, and after he was done he was dumbfounded. “Fuck?”
他飞快地在手机上搜索，搜索完毕后，他傻眼了。“操？”

“What is it?”
“这是什么？”

The boy holding the phone displayed the results for a single round, and the remaining people also went dumb.
拿着手机的男孩展示了单轮的结果，剩下的人也哑了。

Only a long while later then did someone finally come back to their senses. “He’s not from this province? Someone not from this province finished year one and transferred into Jiangsu? Did that handsome guy’s head get stuck between the doors?”
过了很久，终于有人回过神来。“他不是这个省的人？不是本省人读完一年级就转学到江苏？那个帅哥的头卡在门之间吗？

(t/n: Jiangsu is notorious for having the hardest college entrance exams out of all the provinces, to the students, someone transferring in is the same as asking for death.)
（t/n：江苏是出了名的高考是各省最难的，对学生来说，有人转学就等于自找死。

Sheng Wang, whose head was allegedly stuck between the doors, was waiting for orders at the student affairs office.
据称，头被卡在门之间的王盛正在学生事务处等待命令。

The cicadas released its long cries in the heavy shade, he only managed to get a clear listen from the new voice messages sent from his dad after distancing from the windows and stuffing in his earpiece. Three messages in a row, each message a minute long, the usual style of Sheng Mingyang.
蝉在浓重的树荫下发出长长的叫声，他只是在远离窗户并塞进听筒后，才从父亲发送的新语音信息中清晰地听到了。连续三条消息，每条消息一分钟长，盛明阳一贯的风格。

“Your Uncle Xiao-Chen just called me and told me you went upstairs by yourself. Why didn’t you wait for him? New place new classmates, it’s better for someone to guide you—”
“你小陈叔叔刚才给我打电话，告诉我你自己上楼了。你为什么不等他？新地方新同学，还是有人指导你比较好——”

“How’s the atmosphere of the school, is there much of a difference from First High? Even though both are key schools of the province, but after all it’s not just a province—”
“学校的气氛怎么样，和一高有太大区别吗？虽然两所学校都是该省的重点学校，但毕竟它不仅仅是一个省——”

“Have you seen Old Xu yet—”
“你见过老徐了吗——”

The air condition in the student affairs office was a little old, and could only manage local air conditioning, suitable for the middle age and old. Sheng Wang stood at the front of the air outlet, the tip of his hair, slightly dampened by sweat, was blown to the point of being ice cold. His fingers tapped his screen, and cut the voice message off only after listening to the first few bits, rolling his eyes once every message. By the time he rolled his eyes for the third time he was already a little lost.
学生事务处的空调有点旧，只能管理局部空调，适合中老年人使用。盛王站在出风口的前面，头发的发梢，被汗水微微打湿，被吹得冰冷了。他的手指轻敲着屏幕，听完前几点后才切断语音信息，每条消息都会翻一次白眼。等到他第三次翻白眼时，他已经有些迷茫了。

He of course already knew about Uncle Xiao-Chen, that was the driver who sent him to report in. The teaching zone did not allow for cars to enter, and the parking spot was also far apart, Sheng Wang felt that the extra effort was a waste of energy, and decided to might as well let him go back first.
他当然已经知道小陈叔叔的事情了，那是派他报到的司机。教学区不允许汽车进入，停车位也相距较远，盛王觉得多余的力气是浪费精力，决定不如让他先回去。

Then…...
然后。。。。。。

“Who’s Old Xu?”
“谁是老徐？”

“You cut off my voice message again?” Sheng Mingyang instantly replied.
“你又切断了我的语音信息？”盛明阳瞬间回答道。

Sheng Wang fanned himself with his own collars, and pretended that he lost connection.
盛王用自己的衣领给自己扇风，假装断联。

Sheng Mingyang chased after him with a phone call, his tone grudging. “Old Xu is the head of the office, he isn’t very tall, and he looks quite proper, and maybe a little strict. Logically speaking he should be the one fetching you, seen him yet?”
盛明阳一通电话追了上去，语气勉强。“老徐是办公室的负责人，个子不是很高，看起来还挺得体的，可能还有些严厉。”按理说，他应该是来接你的人，见过他了吗？

Sheng Wang recalled according to his descriptions. “I don’t think so. The teacher who brought me upstairs was quite amiable, he kept smiling, it’s just that he looks like a big mouth monkey.”
盛王根据他的描述回忆道。“我不这么认为。带我上楼的老师还挺和蔼可亲的，一直笑着，只是长得像个大嘴猴子。

(t/n: Big Mouth Monkey, the name for Paul Frank in chinese. Google it and see what it’s like. Personally I decided that big mouth monkey would make more sense as a nickname in English than paul frank. )
（t/n：大嘴猴，保罗·弗兰克的中文名字。用谷歌搜索一下，看看它是什么样子。就我个人而言，我认为大嘴猴子作为英语中的昵称比保罗·弗兰克更有意义。)

He’s also short, and his direct gaze only reached Sheng Wang’s shoulders, he had to lean upwards to talk to him. After he settled Sheng Wang here he headed downstairs, saying that he was getting someone to help him carry the new teaching material.
他个子也很矮，直视的目光只到了盛王的肩膀上，他不得不向上俯身才能和他说话。他把盛旺安顿好后，就下楼了，说要找人帮他搬新教材。

Sheng Mingyang’s brain jammed a little. “Oh, kinda there, that’s him.”
盛明阳的脑子有些卡顿。“哦，有点，就是他。”

Sheng Wang: “......”
王盛：“......”

After a thought, he said, “Dad, do you think that I look proper?”
想了想，他说：“爸，你觉得我长得合乎？

Sheng Mingyang wanted to smack him.
盛明阳想打他一巴掌。

As a businessman, his ability to speak human to humans and speak ghost to ghosts was trained to the point of perfection, only here when facing his son then it failed.
作为一名商人，他对人说话、鬼对鬼说话的能力被训练到了完美的地步，只是在这里面对他的儿子时才失败了。

The sound of people came from outside the door, Sheng Wang turned around and glanced. “Monkey—no—Dean Xu is here, I’ll hang up now.”
门外传来人声，盛王转身看了一眼。“猴子——不——徐院长来了，我现在就挂断电话。”

Sheng Mingyang increased his talking speed. “Sure, do well, try to make a good first impression in front of your teachers on your first day, don’t recklessly give them nicknames.”
盛明阳加快了说话速度。“当然，做好，第一天尽量在老师面前给人留下良好的第一印象，不要鲁莽地给他们起绰号。”

“Ok,” Sheng Wang drawled in response.
“好吧，”盛王抽了抽眼回应。

“I’ll get Xiao-Chen to fetch you at night, I should be able to reach home around that time, I’ll show you—”
“我晚上让小陈来接你，到时候我应该能到家了，我带你看看——”

He hesitated a little, and acted as if he was relaxed and casual as he said, “Let’s invite your Auntie Jiang for a meal; it’s that thing your dad discussed with you about last time, alright?”
他有些犹豫，装得像轻松随意一样，说道：“我们请你江阿姨吃顿饭吧;这是你爸爸上次和你讨论的那件事，好吗？

Sheng Wang pursed his lips.
盛王抿了抿唇。

Auntie Jiang’s name was Jiang Ou, and had a son. He never met Jiang Ou herself, he only saw two pictures, and even so he barely put any effort into it.
江阿姨名叫江鸥，有一个儿子。他从未见过江鸥本人，只见了两张照片，即便如此，他也几乎没有付出任何努力。

He had been hearing that name on-and-off for nearly a year now, the frequency went from once every two to three months to nearly every day; he really was getting used to it soon. It had to be said that Sheng Mingyang was a pro at controlling the mood, and fault could not be found with what he was doing. It was to the point that Sheng Wang could not even find a suitable entry point for him to throw a tantrum.
他断断续续地听到这个名字已经将近一年了，频率从每两到三个月一次增加到几乎每天都有;他真的很快就习惯了。不得不说，盛明阳是控制情绪的专家，他的所作所为找不到毛病。以至于盛王连一个合适的切入点都找不到让他发脾气。

Last month, Sheng Mingyang said that he would be twice as busy for the second half of the year, and could barely stay a few days at home. He also said that Jiang Ou ran into some issues with her house and could no longer stay there. Therefore, he wanted to let Jiang Ou move in, and thus she would have a place to stay, and would be able to help take care of Sheng Wang at the same time.
上个月，盛明阳表示，下半年要忙一倍，在家里勉强待几天。他还说，江鸥的房子遇到了一些问题，不能再呆在那里了。所以，他想让江鸥搬进来，这样她就有地方住，同时又能帮忙照顾盛王。

Honestly, taking care was a lie; there was already a lady hired for cleaning and cooking. The issue might not even be real, it was only for the sake of a breakthrough: by the time they really live together could she even still leave?
老实说，照顾是一个谎言;已经雇了一位女士打扫卫生和做饭。这个问题甚至可能不是真的，只是为了突破：等到他们真正住在一起的时候，她还能离开吗？

This issue appeared to be a discussion between them, but in reality before Sheng Wang actually agreed, new items began appearing in his house, everything was prepared to welcome that woman, oh, and that son of hers.
这个问题看似是他们之间的讨论，但实际上，在盛王真正同意之前，他的房子里就开始出现新的物品，一切都准备好迎接那个女人，哦，还有她的那个儿子。

No matter if he showed up for dinner tonight, there was only one outcome.
无论他今晚是否出现吃饭，结果都只有一个。

Sheng Wang’s reply did not come after a long while, Sheng Mingyang called out for him from the other side of the phone.
盛王的回复过了好一会儿才来，盛明阳从电话那头喊了他一声。

Dean Xu, who looked like a big mouth monkey, walked in just at that moment. Sheng Wang immediately hung up after a short pause.
长得像一只大嘴猴的徐院长，就在这时走了进来。盛王停顿了一会儿，立马挂断了电话。

It was a new student reporting in after all, the head of administration Dean Xu was able to maintain his basic benevolence. “You were calling your home? No worries, don’t need to hurry and hang up, informing your family is what you ought to do.”
毕竟是新生报到，行政主管徐院长能够保持基本的仁爱。“你打电话给你家？不用担心，不用着急挂断电话，通知家人才是你应该做的。

Sheng Wang turned his head, his laugh youthful. “Thank you, teacher, I was nearly done anyways.”
盛王转过头，笑得青春洋溢。“谢谢老师，反正我差点就完成了。”

Dean Xu pointed at the teacher behind him and nodded. He said it downstairs just now, that this new transfer student may have looks that spelled trouble for girls, but he seemed to be a good student, and would not overstep in his behaviour.
徐院长指着身后的老师点了点头。他刚才在楼下说，这个新转学生的长相可能给女生带来麻烦，但他看起来是个好学生，他的行为不会越界。

“Come, sit.” Dean Xu pointed at the stack of books newly brought over and said, “This is the teaching material we will theoretically be using this semester, you can take a look.”
“来，坐。”徐院长指着新拿过来的那摞书说：“这是我们这学期理论上要用的教材，你看看吧。

What did he mean by theoretically?
他所说的理论上是什么意思？

Sheng Wang did not understand the meaning of this sentence at the moment. He opened the chemistry book on the top of the pile and flipped through two pages, its content roughly matched up to what he learned before; there was not much of a difference, it should not be a challenge when he has to learn it.
盛王此刻并不明白这句话的意思。他翻开那堆最上面的化学书，翻了两页，内容与他之前学到的内容大致相符;没有太大区别，当他必须学习时，这应该不是一个挑战。

“I’ve read your information, you transferred quite a few times?” Dean Xu said.
“我看过你的资料，你转过来不少次？”徐院长说。

Sheng Wang nodded. “Mm, transferred a few times.” He basically went wherever Sheng Mingyang went.
盛王点点头。“嗯，转了几次。”盛明阳去哪里，他基本上都去哪里。

He did his elementary school in Jiangsu, he transferred two more times between middle school and first year of high school, this was the third time. Thanks to these transfers, he held no special regard for any particular place, he did not stay for long in anywhere at all.
他在江苏读小学，在初中和高一之间又转学了两次，这是第三次。由于这些转移，他对任何特定的地方都没有特别的重视，他根本没有在任何地方停留太久。

“I’ve also seen your results, you are a brilliant student, basically never leaving the top three of the year in your exams. You definitely have the quality, it’s just that there might be a slight tiny difference for the progress on the academic programme between the schools.” Dean Xu used his fingers to demonstrate a difference of less than 1cm, and consoled, “You will more or less run into problems like this when you transfer schools, with a bit of effort you can catch up, no need to be scared.”
“我也看过你的成绩，你是一个优秀的学生，考试基本上从来没有离开过一年的前三名。你绝对有素质，只是两所学校在学术课程上的进展可能略有不同。徐院长用手指示范了不到 1cm 的差异，并安慰道，“你转学或多或少会遇到这样的问题，稍微努力就能赶上，不用害怕。

Student Sheng Wang always had a smooth journey, and never actually did face any fear when it came to academics, there was no way he would be scared. But, he could not act as if he was not humble, so he could only let down the tail that was sticking up behind him. “I did some mental preparation before coming here, I’ll do my best to catch up.”
学生王晟一路走来一帆风顺，在学业上从来没有遇到过任何恐惧，他不可能害怕。但是，他又不能表现得不卑微，只能放下身后伸出的尾巴。“来这里之前我做了一些心理准备，我会尽力追赶。”

Dean Xu looked even more benevolent. “Have you been through subject streaming in your first year?”
徐院长显得更加仁慈。“你第一年经历过主题流媒体吗？”

Sheng Wang said, “No, my school tried a semester of fluid classes.”
盛王说：“没有，我学校试过一个学期的流水课。

(t/n: I am..not sure about the term 'fluid classes' actually. It's just a term I came up with. The one Sheng Wang went to allowed students to choose their subjects, and attended classes according to those subjects as compared to having a single class where everyone takes the same subjects in the same class. This school's version however is probably subject banding + a good dose of elitism.)
（t/n：我是......实际上不确定“流体类”一词。这只是我想出的一个术语。王盛去的那所学校允许学生选择自己的科目，并根据这些科目上课，而不是在同一个班级上同一门课。然而，这所学校的版本可能是主题分级 + 大量的精英主义。

“Oh.” Dean Xu nodded. “Actually, we also have fluid classes, it’s just slightly more special.”
“哦。”徐院长点点头。“其实我们也有流体课，只是稍微特别一点。”

Sheng Wang was a little confused. “Special? How special?”
盛王有些懵。“特别的？有多特别？

“The Class A you are about to enter is the best of year 2 sciences, we shift around every half a term. Isn’t there two major exams in the form of midterms and end of terms? Last three places would go to Class B after every major test, then the top three from then would enter. This is our streamed class.”
“你即将进入的 A 级是二年级最好的科学，我们每半个学期轮班一次。不是有期中考试和期末考试两种主要考试吗？每次重大考试后，最后三名将进入 B 级，然后从那时起的前三名将进入。这是我们的流媒体课程。

Sheng Wang: “......”
王盛：“......”

Simply put, other people’s fluidity was freedom of choice for their subjects, over here for them their fluidity was to let people screw off.
简而言之，其他人的流动性是他们拍摄对象的选择自由，而对他们来说，他们的流动性是让人们搞砸。

Dean Xu was done with scaring little kids, and finally decided to be humane.
徐院长受够了吓唬小孩子，终于决定人性化。

He led Sheng Wang towards Mingli Block through the flower corridors. Sheng Wang could not help to take a few more glances after passing by the wall of honour, as the wall full of expressionless “ID picture” really bore too much similarity to a wanted poster.
他领着盛王穿过花廊，向明丽街区走去。盛王路过荣誉墙后忍不住多看了几眼，因为满墙面无表情的“证件照”，实在是太像一张通缉海报了。

This school’s taste was truly something, he thought.
他想，这所学校的品味确实很不错。

However, Dean Xu tiptoed a little, and preened like a peacock on the spot. He said rather proudly, “There really aren't a lot of Olympiads for year ones, but our performance is still quite decent. Most of the people on this wall will become your classmates, you may familiarise yourself with them in advance.”
不过，徐院长却蹑手蹑脚，当场打扮得像孔雀一样。他相当自豪地说，“第一年的奥运会确实不多，但我们的表现仍然相当不错。这面墙上的大部分人都会成为你的同学，你可以提前熟悉一下。

Sheng Wang was bad with faces, and had no interest in getting to know his classmates in advance; he only remembered a single face.
盛王脸不好，对提前认识同学没有兴趣;他只记得一张脸。

First, it was because the repetition rate of his face was too high, and managed to single handedly turn the wall of honour into a match the puzzle game. Second, was because his surname was Jiang, his full name was Jiang Tian.
首先，是因为他的脸的重复率太高，并设法单枪匹马地将荣誉墙变成了拼图游戏。第二，是因为他姓江，他的全名是江天。

The important part was the second part.
重要的部分是第二部分。

Sheng Wang self admittedly would be an incapable ruler as an emperor; he enjoyed ‘guilt by association’. If he was petty then he was petty, in any case he held no pleasant feelings for anyone with the surname Jiang at all recently.
盛王自己承认，作为皇帝，他将是一个无能的统治者;他喜欢“因关联而有罪”。如果他是小气，那他就是小气，无论如何，他最近对任何姓江的人都没有任何愉快的感觉。

Dean Xu was admiring the wall for the thousandth time, and yet he suddenly pulled a long face. He closed up on that Jiang Tian’s picture, reached out and wiped it for a bit, and angered, “Who doodled hearts on the wall of honour, how dare they disregard the rules!”
徐院长正在欣赏这堵墙，却突然拉了拉一张长脸。他合上那张江天的照片，伸手擦了擦，怒道：“谁在荣誉墙上涂鸦了心，怎么敢无视规则！

Sheng Wang grunted and added fuel to the fire at the side. “And it’s not only one person.”
盛王咕哝一声，在一旁火上浇油。“而且不仅仅是一个人。”

The school photographer’s methods were too unorthodox, still the person in the picture still kept a certain air to it; in Dean Xu’s words he could spell trouble for girls everywhere. But, Sheng Wang felt that cold guys like him have a high chance of ‘B-king’.
学校摄影师的方法太非正统了，照片中的人仍然保持着某种气氛;用徐院长的话说，他可以给各地的女孩子带来麻烦。但是，盛王觉得，像他这样的高冷小伙，'B 王'的几率很大。

(t/n: Bking, or it should be read as B-king, is cn internet slang used to mock/tease people who seemed to appear ‘cool’ for every single action, and the light practically shining out of their asses.)
（t/n：Bking，或者应该读作 B-king，是 cn 网络俚语，用于嘲笑/戏弄那些似乎每一个动作都显得“酷”的人，而且光几乎从他们的屁股里照出来。

He prayed that he would be able to stay further away from this person, to avoid having to fight him the day when he could no longer stand him.
他祈祷自己能够离这个人更远一点，以免在他再也无法忍受他的那一天不得不与他战斗。

However not even five minutes since he made the wish, he was forcibly placed right next to the real life B-king himself. The reason was that he just started and it would be difficult for him, the best solution was to find his deskmate whenever he has questions.
然而，在他许愿后不到五分钟，他就被强行安置在现实生活中的 B-king 本人旁边。原因是他才刚刚起步，对他来说会很困难，最好的解决办法就是在他有问题的时候找到他的同桌。

Dean Xu said, “When you look at the entire batch, you probably can’t find a better deskmate than Jiang Tian.”
徐院长说，“你看整批，大概找不到比江甜更好的同桌了。

The moment his voice stopped, 40+ pairs of eyes all directed their suffocating gazes at him.
话音一停，40+双眼睛全都将窒息的目光投向了他。

Sheng Wang dully gave Big Mouth Monkey a look, and internally said screw you.
盛王呆呆地看了大嘴猴一眼，心里说去。

*re-edited: 22/12/20
*重新编辑：22/12/20

Chapter 002 - A Blow
第002章 一击

This is Your Auntie Jiang’s Son, Call Him Ge
这是你江阿姨的儿子，叫他哥吧

“Teacher, someone’s looking for you.” A girl called out to Dean Xu, and pointed outside the window.
“老师，有人找你。”一个女孩叫了徐院长一声，并指了指窗外。

The hand pressing down on Sheng Wang was finally lifted, Dean Xu nodded at the person looking for him outside the window, saying, “The meeting, right? Coming.”
压在盛王身上的手终于抬了起来，徐院长对着窗外找他的人点了点头，道：“开会吧？来了。

He straightened up, pointed to the earpiece still dangling from Sheng Wang’s ears and said, “Oh yes, today’s reporting is an exception. Tomorrow onwards, things like mobile phones and PSP should not appear in the classroom anymore, if I catch you, hey—”
他直起身子，指着盛王耳边还挂着的听筒说：“哦对了，今天的报道是个例外。明天以后，教室里应该不会再出现手机和 PSP 之类的东西了，如果我抓住你，嘿——”

His pointer finger jabbed twice, and he rummaged through the table of the guy sitting in front at a speed faster than anyone could react.
他的食指刺了两下，他以比任何人反应都快的速度在坐在前面的家伙的桌子上翻找。

“What the fuck!” The guy immediately sprung up, the speed at which he held on to his school bag was as if he had been electrocuted.
“他妈的！”那家伙立刻跳了起来，抓着书包的速度就像触电了一样。

“You think just because you covered it up there’s any use? This is already the second time, Gao Tianyang.” Dean Xu raised his hand, and waved the newly confiscated phone, saying to Sheng Wang, “See this yet, this is a negative example. Also, where’s the discipline rep?”
“你认为仅仅因为你掩盖了它就有什么用吗？这已经是第二次了，高天阳。徐院长抬起手，挥了挥新没收的手机，对盛王说：“你看这个了，这是一个反面例子。另外，纪律代表在哪里？

A girl sitting in the first row stuck her head out. “Here.”
坐在第一排的一个女孩探出头来。“这里。”

“Using a handphone, deduct three points from civility. Swearing, deduct one point.”
“使用手机，从礼貌中扣三分。骂人，扣一分。

“Okay.”
“好的。”

Dean Xu finished a major transaction, and walked away with his spoils in satisfaction.
徐院长完成了一笔大交易，心满意足地带着战利品走开了。

Sheng Wang watched the seize in close distance, his expression a little lost. The guy named Gao Tianyang looked at him, his gaze gradually turning bitter. A few seconds later, Sheng Wang finally reacted and quietly removed his earpiece, and stuffed it into his bag along with his phone, so as to avoid further agitating people.
盛王近距离看着夺取，神色有些失落。那个叫高天阳的家伙看着他，目光渐渐变得苦涩起来。几秒后，盛王终于反应过来，悄悄取下听筒，连同手机一起塞进包里，避免进一步激怒人。

Gao Tianyang was still looking at him.
高天阳还在看着他。

Sheng Wang thought for a bit, and politely consoled him. “Accept fate.”
盛王想了想，礼貌地安慰了他。“接受命运。”

“Fuck.” Gao Tianyang did not keep it up, he looked like he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry as he wiped his face, and said, “It’s fine, it’s not even the first time anymore. Anyway, they check for phones every once in a while, nobody here has ever escaped.”
“操。”高天阳没有坚持下去，他擦着脸一副不知道该笑该哭的样子，说道：“没关系，连第一次都不是了。反正他们每隔一段时间就会检查一下手机，这里没有人逃脱过。

“Oh.” Sheng Wang nodded, and then puzzled, “Then what were you looking at me for?”
“哦。”盛王点点头，然后不解道：“那你看我干什么？

Gao Tianyang: “I’m just curious.”
高天阳：“我只是好奇。

Sheng Wang: “?”
胜王：“？

“We were just talking about it before you entered the classroom, I even Baidu’d your original school. Why have you lost your will to live at such a young age, and transfer into Jiangsu in year two of high school?”
“你进教室之前我们只是谈过，我连你原来的学校都说过了。你怎么这么小就失去了生存的意志，高二就转学到江苏了？

Sheng Wang gave a hollow laugh. “Go ask my dad.”
王盛空洞地笑了起来。“去问问我爸爸。”

Gao Tianyang rubbed his buzzcut, and wanted to gossip for a bit more, but was unfortunately stopped by the school bell. The students sitting sloppily and chattering idly all sat up straight; the people who slept for most of inter-class period all raised their heads, stretched their arms and necks, and dug out a stack of test papers from their tables.
高天阳蹭了蹭自己的嗡嗡声，还想多聊几句闲话，可惜被校铃声拦住了。马虎地坐着，闲喋不休的学生们，都坐直了身子;睡了大半个课间的人，都抬起头，伸了伸胳膊和脖子，从桌子上翻出一摞试卷。

When everyone returned to their seats and no longer clustered in groups, Sheng Wang suddenly stood out way more—because everyone in this class sat! In! Single! Seats! Only him had his table placed right next to someone else’s, a deskmate who slept like the dead.
当大家回到座位上，不再成群结队的时候，王盛突然显得格外醒目了——因为这个班级的每个人都坐着了！在！单！座位！只有他把自己的桌子放在别人的桌子旁边，一个睡得像死人一样的同桌。

Fucking……
他妈的。。。。。。

Sheng Wang just fished out his new teaching material; he held on to his bag, unsure of whether to let it go or not. With extreme awkwardness, he could only twist his head and glared at Jiang Tian.
王盛刚捞出他的新教材;他抓着包，不确定是否该放开它。他尴尬极了，只能扭头瞪了江天一眼。

The deskmate highly suspected to be a B-king probably stayed up all night as a burglar or something, he did not even hear the bell ring. The arm propping him covered a good half of his face, only the lines from his lower jaw bones could be seen from the gap. A white round sleeve t-shirt revealed the curvature of his shoulders and back, rising and dipping lightly with his breathing.
高度怀疑是 B-king 的同桌大概是当窃贼什么的熬夜了，他连铃声都没听到。支撑他的手臂遮住了他半张脸，从缝隙中只能看到他下颌骨的纹路。一件白色圆袖 T 恤露出了肩膀和背部的弧度，随着他的呼吸轻轻起伏。

Is he about to sleep till school ends, Sheng Wang said internally.
他是不是要睡到放学了，盛旺在心里说。

Gao Tianyang, the person sitting in front of them, suddenly turned behind as if he suddenly recalled something. He reached out and quickly nudged Jiang Tian, and whispered, “Hey, hey, wake up Tian-ge, it’s self study.”
坐在他们面前的人高天阳，突然转过身来，似乎突然想起了什么。他伸手赶紧推了推江天，低声道：“喂喂，叫醒天歌，这是自学。

He pointed at Jiang Tian and explained at Sheng Wang, “He told me to wake him up when it’s class, so he wouldn’t oversleep.”
他指着江甜，冲着盛王解释道：“他叫我上课的时候叫醒他，这样他就不会睡过头了。

After Gao Tianyang tried for two times, Jiang Tian finally woke up.
高天阳试了两次后，江甜终于醒悟过来。

He grunted “Mn” in a low voice in response, the fingers covering the back of his head curled and uncurled a little, the short black hair stuck out from the gaps between his fingers. His thumb squeezed on the joint of his pointer finger, letting out a light sound of “crack”, then finally lifted his head. After he sat upright, he also rubbed his face.
他低声咕哝了一声“Mn”作为回应，捂在后脑勺上的手指卷曲了又卷曲了一点，黑色的短发从指缝中探出头来。他的拇指捏了捏食指的关节，发出“噼”的一声轻快的声音，然后终于抬起了头。他坐直后，还揉了揉脸。

One could see with the naked eye how hard it was to wake up.
人们可以用肉眼看到醒来是多么困难。

“My god, what did you do last night that made you so drowsy?” Gao Tianyang could not help but ask.
“天哪，你昨晚做了什么，让你这么昏昏欲睡？”高天阳忍不住问道。

“Some trivial thing.” Jiang Tian obviously did not want to speak anymore on that issue, other than sleepiness there was also displeasure between his brows. He fished out a bottle of mineral water from his table, the condensation covering the bottle further dissolving with his fingertips. He unscrewed the cap and took a sip; he finally glanced at Sheng Wang from his peripherals.
“一些小事。”江甜显然不想再谈这个问题了，除了困倦之外，眉宇间还有不悦。他从桌子上捞出一瓶矿泉水，覆盖在瓶子上的冷凝水用指尖进一步溶解。他拧开盖子，喝了一口;他终于从周边看了圣旺一眼。

He frowned and turned his head. Perhaps it was because he just drank iced water, his voice and tone were both cold. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
他皱着眉头，转过头来。或许是因为刚喝了冰水，声音和语气都冰冷。“你是谁？你怎么来了？

Come listen to this nonsense.
来听听这胡说八道。

Sheng Wang already considered him as guilty by association because of his Jiang surname, and after a provocation with this tone, he was made to have further no good impressions. His young master temperament came up, and pointed at the new teaching material on his table with his chin. “I’m new, whatchu gonna do about me sitting here?”
盛王已经因为江姓而认为他有罪，在用这种语气挑衅之后，他又没有好感。他的少爷气质上来，用下巴指了指桌上的新教材。“我是新来的，我坐在这里怎么办？”

Two handsome guys attacking each other was quite the attractive sight, the classmates a few tables in front all turned behind and looked.
两个帅哥互相攻击的景象相当吸引人，前面几桌的同学都转过身来往后看。

The moment Gao Tianyang realised that something was off with the mood, he was the first one to come rushing out to mediate. “No, you were catching up on your sleep so you didn’t know, the teacher made him sit here.”
高天阳意识到情绪不对劲的那一刻，他第一个冲出来调解。“不，你正在补觉所以不知道，老师让他坐在这里。”

“Which teacher?” Jiang Tian asked.
“哪位老师？”江甜问道。

“Who else could it be, it’s Big Mouth.” Gao Tianyang said, “Didn’t you know that he always liked to blindly assign seats? Last time a sentence from him sent my seat to right next to the teacher’s desk, and then he himself forgot the next day, and asked me why didn’t I sit in the perfectly fine rows, and insist on squeezing with the teachers. I really was dogfucked then.”
“还能是谁，是大嘴。”高天阳说：“你不知道他总是喜欢盲目分配座位吗？上次他的一句话把我的座位送到了老师的课桌旁边，然后第二天他自己就忘记了，问我为什么不坐在完美的一排排，坚持和老师们挤在一起。那时我真的了。

Sheng Wang was still coldly standing off against Jiang Tian, the moment he heard Gao Tianyang’s words he turned and stared at him, his face clearly displaying a line of reprimand in capital letters: Why didn’t you say this when Big Mouth Monkey was around?
盛王还冷冷地站在江天面前，听到高天阳的话的那一刻，他转身盯着他，脸上分明露出一行大写的训斥：大嘴猴在的时候，你怎么不说这句话？

A ‘huang-lang-lang’ dragging sound suddenly rang beside Sheng Wang, he followed the sound, only to see Jiang Tian already standing up, carrying his chair, and pulling his single table behind, a distance away from him.
盛王身边突然响起一声'黄浪朗'的拖拽声，他顺着声音一声，只见江天已经站了起来，抬着椅子，拉着身后的单人桌，离他有一段距离。

“What are you doing?” Gao Tianyang asked, bewildered.
“你在做什么？”高天阳疑惑地问道。

“Changing seats.” Jiang Tian did not even take a look, he tilted his head towards Sheng Wang’s direction, and said, “He’s shorter, he’ll sit here, I’ll sit behind.”
“换座位。”江甜看都没看，他歪着头朝盛王的方向说道：“他矮一点，他坐这边，我坐在后面。

Sheng Wang: “Who’s short?”
盛王：“谁矮？

Jiang Tian already sat down on his new seat, he pulled out a thick stack of test papers from the bottom of the table and tossed it on top, then he leaned backwards on his chair, lifting his gaze to look at Sheng Wang. “If not, you’re taller?”
江天已经在新座位上坐下，他从桌底掏出一叠厚厚的试卷扔在上面，然后他向后靠在椅子上，抬起目光看向盛王。“如果没有，你更高吗？”

“......”

At this point, there was no saving Sheng Wang’s bad impression towards this person at all.
至此，盛王对这个人的不良印象根本无法挽救。

He shifted the single table in front of him towards the left a little, aligning itself with the entire row, and also stuffed his bag into the bottom of the table. He just sat down when Gao Tianyang used his pen to tap his desk, turning his head and chatted with a low voice. “Hey, bro.”
他将面前的单人桌向左移动了一点，与整排对齐，还把包塞进了桌子的底部。他刚坐下，高天阳就用笔敲了敲他的书桌，转过头低声聊了起来。“嘿，兄弟。”

“Hm?” Young master Sheng’s displeasure was focused on the perpetrator when he was displeased, he would not misdirect it at uninvolved people.
“嗯？”盛公子不悦的时候，他的不悦就集中在了施暴者身上，他不会误导到没有参与其中的人身上。

Gao Tianyang covered his mouth with his hand, and used an even lower voice, “Don’t take it personally, he usually isn’t like this. Something probably happened to him these two days, his mood isn’t very good.”
高天阳用手捂住嘴，声音更加压低，“别当心，他平时不是这样的。这两天他可能是出了什么事，心情不太好。

Sheng Wang said “Oh” out of politeness, but internally he was thinking that that was none of his goddamn business.
盛王出于礼貌地说了声“哦”，但内心却认为这不关他该死的事。

As compared to the ice cold pestilence behind him, he was more concerned about the other people in class.
比起身后冰冷的瘟疫，他更关心的是班上的其他人。

The reason being that as far as the eye could see, he was the only one with teaching material on the table out of the entire class, other people’s tables were filled with stacks and stacks of test papers. Furthermore, the school bell had rung for so long, and there was not a single teacher in sight.
原因是放眼望去，整个班级中只有他一个人桌上放着教材，别人的桌子上堆满了一摞又一摞的试卷。再者，学校的铃声已经响了这么久，一个老师都看不见。

What’s wrong with this school?
这所学校怎么了？

His gaze swept around once, and before he could even ask, Gao Tianyang the heartwarming jacket spoke spontaneously. “Today’s Saturday, and it’s supplementary time, so it’s self study all day long. You...didn’t bring any test papers?”
他的目光扫了一圈，还没来得及问，暖心袄高天阳就自发地开口了。“今天是周六，又是补课时间，所以整天都是自学。你。。。没带试卷？

Sheng Wang was done as he reminded him. “I literally just came.”
盛王按照他的提醒完成了。“我真的刚刚来。”

“Oh, then what are you revising with?” Gao Tianyang jabbed the brand new teaching material, saying, “Textbooks?”
“哦，那你在修改什么？”高天阳戳了戳崭新的教材，说：“课本？

“Revision?” Sheng Wang repeated, “You said revision?”
“修改？”盛王重复道：“你说修改？

“Yeah.”
“是啊。”

Sheng Wang suddenly had an ominous feeling, he asked dully, “Why do I need to revise?”
盛王忽然有种不祥的预感，他呆滞地问：“我为什么需要修改？

Gao Tianyang said, “Because we are having a test tomorrow.”
高天阳说：“因为我们明天要考。

Sheng Wang: “???”
王盛：“???”

“What are we doing tomorrow?”
“我们明天要做什么？”

“Test.”
“测试。”

Sheng Wang used a gaze that said what is this sleeptalk and looked at him. “Test what? Content from year one?”
盛王用一道说这是什么梦话的目光，看向他。“测试什么？第一年的内容？

“That’s last semester’s final exam, what year one topic would they even test us with.” Gao Tianyang pointed at the teaching material Sheng Wang just received today and said, “They’ll test these.”
“那是上学期的期末考试，他们甚至会用哪一年的主题来测试我们。”高天阳指着盛王今天刚收到的教材说：“他们会测试这些。

Sheng Wang: “......”
王盛：“......”

Say that again?
再说一遍？

Maybe the way he froze up was a little dorky, Gao Tianyang laughed like crazy.
也许是他僵住的样子有点昏昏欲睡，高天阳笑得像疯了一样。

Sheng Wang pointed at the teaching material, and used a completely monotone voice. “Dean Xu told me that this is your new teaching material for this semester.”
盛王指着教材，用了完全单调的声音。“徐院长告诉我，这是你这学期的新教材。”

“Theoretically it is.” Gao Tianyang said, “But we are already done with it. Today’s August 8th, right? We started summer break from July 10th, just ten days, and then we came back for class. We just finished two days ago.”
“理论上是这样。”高天阳说：“可是我们已经完了。今天是8月8日，对吧？我们从7月10日开始放暑假，只有十天，然后我们就回来上课了。我们两天前才结束。

“What subject?”
“什么科目？”

“In any case we are already done with math and physics and chem, language is slightly slower, and English never followed the textbook in the first place.”
“无论如何，我们已经完成了数学、物理和化学，语言稍微慢一些，而且英语从一开始就没有遵循教科书。”

Sheng Wang felt as if he was suffocating. “So I will need to take a test for five subjects that I have never learned before?”
盛王感觉自己好像要窒息了。“所以我需要参加五门我以前从未学过的科目的考试？”

“Yes.”
“是的。”

“Can I take medical leave?”
“我可以请病假吗？”

“Probably not.” Gao Tianyang purposely acted as someone who had been through too much and said, “Friend, you have a long struggle ahead, and you are on your own. When you graduate, all you need to do is to find someone to beat Big Mouth Xu up.”
“可能不会。”高天阳故意装作经历太多的人，说：“朋友，你前面还有很长的斗争，你靠自己。等你毕业了，你只需要找人把徐大嘴揍一顿。

This was overly thrilling, to the extent that till the end of the day, student Sheng Wang was in a state of mental drunkenness; in short, he was completely gone.
这太惊险了，以至于直到一天结束，学生盛王都处于精神醉酒的状态;总之，他彻底消失了。

It was only when the chauffeur, Uncle Xiao-Chen, called his phone, then he realised that self study was over. Most of the people in the classroom already left. Gao Tianyang seemingly spoke to him right before he left, the unpleasant presence behind him also disappeared.
直到司机小陈叔叔拨通了他的电话，他才意识到自学已经结束了。教室里的大多数人已经离开了。高天阳似乎在他离开之前和他说话，他身后那不愉快的存在也消失了。

He received his dad Sheng Mingyang’s call when he was half way home. His dad was truly his flesh and blood dad, a “Mn” was all it took for him to realise that something was wrong.
他在回家的半路上接到了爸爸盛明阳的电话。他的父亲确实是他的骨肉父亲，一个“Mn”就让他意识到出了问题。

“Are you okay? Did something happen to you?” Sheng Mingyang asked.
“你还好吗？你出事了吗？盛明阳问道。

Sheng Wang leaned his head against the car window, lazily sprawling on the car seats behind, and said numbly, “I’ll like to bother you with a request.”
盛王把头靠在车窗上，懒洋洋地趴在后面的汽车座椅上，麻木地说：“我想打扰你一个请求。

“Say it?”
“说出来？”

“I want to quit school.”
“我想辍学。”

“......”

Sheng Mingyang blanked out for a moment, he couldn’t help but laughed. “Aiyoh, is this still my son?”
盛明阳一时茫然，忍不住笑了起来。“哎呀，这还是我儿子吗？”

Sheng Wang had the personality of a peacock spreading its tail open ever since he was a kid; it was only when he was acting unreasonable and shameless then he would say “I can’t do it”, when he got older he never heard that ever again. A sudden reappearance of this tone made Sheng Mingyang a little rueful, even his tone became much gentler. “Come tell your papa, what got you like this?”
王盛从小就有张开尾巴的孔雀性格;只有当他表现得不讲理、无耻时，他才会说“我做不到”，当他长大后，他再也没有听到过这样的话。这语气的突然再次出现，让盛明阳有些惋惜，就连语气也变得温和了许多。“来告诉你爸爸，你怎么会变成这样？”

Sheng Wang let out a “ha”, and was just about to pour out all his complaints, until he heard an indistinct and muffled voice from Sheng Mingyang’s side. It was the low voice of a woman. Sheng Mingyang’s voice also muffled; he probably replied to her while covering the phone.
盛王“哈”了一声，刚要把所有的抱怨都倾诉出来，就听到盛明阳身边传来一个含糊不清、低沉的声音。那是一个女人低沉的声音。盛明阳的声音也低沉了下来;他可能是在捂住电话的时候回复了她。

Sheng Wang stopped, and suddenly his interest waned.
盛王停了下来，突然兴致减弱了。

“Nothing much, I was just saying, I’ll hang up now.” The corner of his mouth tugged as he spoke, his tone still sounding light and carefree.
“没什么大不了的，我只是说，我现在就挂断电话。”说着嘴角一拉，语气依然轻盈无忧。

“Oh, then where are you now?” Sheng Mingyang asked.
“哦，那你现在在哪里？”盛明阳问道。

Sheng Wang turned to look outside the window. The car just went past Green Sun main street, and he could vaguely see a side road the car could turn into in the near distance, a few more moments of driving and they would reach White Horse Alley. A few carts selling snacks stopped at the alley entrance, steaming god knows what, a thin smoke spreaded out at the walls of the alley entrance.
盛王转头看向窗外。车子刚经过绿太阳大街，他隐约看到近处有一条小路，车子可以转入，再开几分钟，他们就会到达白马巷。几辆卖零食的推车停在巷口，热气腾腾的天知道是什么，巷口的墙壁上弥漫着一缕薄烟。

White Horse Alley was where his ancestral home was located, he only stayed there until he was five before he moved away. Before he was eight, he would occasionally make some return with his mom, after he turned eight, his mom passed away, and he never came back.
白马巷是他祖居的地方，他只在那里待到五岁才搬走。在他八岁之前，他偶尔会和妈妈一起回来，八岁后，妈妈去世了，他就再也没有回来过。

The change here was actually quite massive, he also did not have a deep impression of his childhood.
这里的变化其实是相当巨大的，他对自己的童年也没有很深的印象。

But as he watched that cloud of smoke, he surprisingly felt a trace of longing.
但当他看着那团烟雾时，却意外地感受到了一丝思念。

When Xiao-Chen drove the car into the courtyard, Sheng Mingyang was already standing there and waiting.
当小陈把车开进院子的时候，盛明阳已经站在那里等着了。

The sky was ashen blue with a tinge of darkness, some houses already turned on their lights. Sheng Wang left the car with his head lowered, then he heard his dad gently call his pet name. “Wang-zai, this is your Auntie Jiang, this is Auntie Jiang’s son, Jiang Tian. He’s slightly older than you, call him Ge.”
天空是灰蓝色的，带有一丝黑暗，一些房子已经开了灯。盛王低着头下了车，这时他听到爸爸轻轻地叫着他的宠名。“王仔，这是你的江阿姨，这是江阿姨的儿子，江天。”他比你大一点，叫他葛吧。

Jiang who???
江谁???

Sheng Wang blanked out, and abruptly looked up.
盛王茫然，猛地抬起头来。

(I figured that we're already at the bottom of the page so there's no need to insert the note up there ahaha)
（我想我们已经在页面底部了，所以没有必要在那里插入注释啊哈哈）

Translator's notes:
译者注：

Wang-zai: 望仔 in chinese, which is a play on Sheng Wang's/盛望's name and popular brand/logo, 旺仔. It's the picture of the cartoon boy on the home page, and can be found on products like Hot Kid Milk. 仔 is a suffix added on to a name, roughly meaning 'kid'. Both are pronounced in the exact same way, 'wang-zai'.
旺仔：中文中的望仔，是盛望的名字和流行品牌/标志旺仔的玩弄。这是主页上卡通男孩的照片，可以在 Hot Kid Milk 等产品上找到。仔是名字后缀，大致意思是“孩子”。两者的发音完全相同，“wang-zai”。

Ge: 哥 in cn, meaning 'older brother'. HOWEVER people can also call unrelated people 哥 for respect or as terms of familiarity. Throughout the tl, I will be keeping most iterations of 哥 as 'ge' rather than translating to older brother all the time, as the novel will be touching on the ambiguity of this term.
Ge：cn 中的哥，意思是“哥哥”。然而，人们也可以称呼不相关的人为哥，以表示尊重或作为熟悉的称呼。在整个 tl 中，我将把哥的大多数迭代保留为“ge”，而不是一直翻译成哥哥，因为小说将触及这个术语的歧义。

*re-edited: 22/12/20
*重新编辑：22/12/20

Chapter 003 - Tests
第003章 测试

For How Long Do You Intend to Keep My Paper From Me?
你打算把我的论文留给我多久？

The sparsely lit lamps carved out light and shadow in the courtyard, Jiang Tian stood in that patch of shadow. He had a tall stature, and the unique nimble figure of youth, yet he was not overly lanky. He carried his school bag on one shoulder, his thumb hooked onto the black colour strap, and kept his head looking in a different direction.
稀疏的灯在院子里雕刻出光影，江甜站在那片影子里。他身材高挑，有着年轻时特有的灵巧身材，却又不过分瘦长。他单肩扛着书包，拇指钩在黑色带子上，头一直看向不同的方向。

It was only when Sheng Mingyang dragged his son over then he finally turned to face them, and immediately the expression of having eaten spoilt food appeared.
直到盛明阳拖着儿子走过来，他才终于转身面对他们，顿时出现了吃过变质食物的表情。

After seeing the extent of the other person’s unhappiness, Sheng Wang felt a little more invigorated.
看到对方不开心的程度后，盛王感到多了几分精神。

“It’s my fault, I really did not do my part as an elder well. I only just found out that Xiao-Tian(1) is also a year two studying at Fuzhong(2), the two of you are in the same class!” Sheng Mingyang had his arm over his son’s shoulders, and attempted to move Sheng Wang, who was still rooted to the ground, a step forward: “So therefore, did the two of you already meet in the day?”
“这是我的错，我真的没有做好作为长辈的本分。我才知道，小天（1）也是在福中（2）读二年级的，你们两个是同班的！盛明阳搂着儿子的肩膀，试图将还扎根在地的盛王往前移一步：“所以，你们两个白天就已经见过了吗？

Apparently interacting with his own son was not enough, he even looked up at Jiang Tian, as if Jiang Tian would give him the time of day.
显然和自己的亲生儿子互动还不够，他甚至抬头看向江甜，仿佛江甜会给他一天的时间。

Jiang Tian obviously did not respond to him.
江甜显然没有回应他。

It only took a moment’s effort for Jiang Tian to already revert his expression back to a cold one, he looked at Sheng Wang like he was looking at a stranger.
只用了片刻的努力，江甜的表情就已经恢复了冰冷，他看着盛王，就像在看一个陌生人一样。

“Xiao-Tian.” Someone softly called.
“小天。”有人轻声呼唤。

After hearing a woman’s gentle voice, Sheng Wang then remembered that other than Jiang Tian, there was actually a more important person on the scene——
听到一个女人温柔的声音后，盛王这才想起，除了江甜，现场其实还有一个更重要的人——

Jiang Ou stood right next to her son, and was simply dressed. Her style was completely different from what he thought it would be. She was considered to be more willowy among women, yet she was still a good chunk shorter than Jiang Tian. Not only did this juxtaposition make her seem completely harmless, she even gave off a sense of delicate cordiality.
江鸥就站在儿子旁边，穿着简单。她的风格与他想象的完全不同。她在女性中被认为更柳树，但她仍然比江甜矮了一大块。这种并置不仅让她看起来完全无害，甚至还散发出一种细腻的亲切感。

She tugged at her son’s elbow, and quietly said: “Xiao-Tian? Uncle Sheng was asking you something, you are classmates with Xiao-Wang(3), and already met him, right?”
她拉了拉儿子的胳膊肘，轻声说：“小天？盛叔问你一件事，你们和小王（3）是同学，已经见过他了吧？

Jiang Tian turned his head, the space between his brows quickly wrinkled, the expression in that instance was full of his instinctive impatience and resistance. And yet, in the end he was not able to withstand the gaze of his own mom, a moment of rigidity later he turned his head back, and tossed out a neutral line: “Was asleep for the entire day, didn’t notice.”
江甜转过头，眉间迅速皱起，那一阵的表情，充满了本能的不耐烦和抗拒。然而，最终他还是无法承受亲妈的目光，一阵僵硬后他转过头来，抛出一句中性台词：“睡了一整天，没注意到。

Sheng Wang said internally, bullshit, you liar.
盛王内心说，废话，你这个骗子。

If the conversation kept going on, it would only become more awkward. Sheng Mingyang intervened and mediated at the nick of time.
如果谈话继续下去，只会变得更加尴尬。盛明阳在关键时刻介入调解。

He gave a laugh: “It’s the first day of being classmates, it’s only too normal to not remember so many faces. You will slowly become close after you get to be along with each other for a while, we have plenty of time ahead.”
他笑了笑：“这是成为同学的第一天，不记得那么多面孔太正常了。你们相处一段时间后，你们会慢慢变得亲近的，我们前面的时间还很长。

Jiang Tian looked at him expressionlessly, the thumb on his bag strap slipped, and pulled his bag upwards. His attitude seemed as if he was going to leave and walk away the very next second.
江甜面无表情地看着他，包带上的拇指滑落，将包向上拉。他的态度似乎下一秒就要离开并走开。

Just as expected, he opened his mouth and spoke in a low voice: “I’ll go——”
果不其然，他张了张嘴，低声说道：“我去——”

“Go accompany your mom for a meal, wouldn’t you?” Jiang Ou’s gentle voice held a tinge of cautiousness, sounding very much almost like a plea.
“去陪吃顿饭吧？”江鸥温柔的声音中带着一丝谨慎，听起来几乎像是在恳求。

Jiang Tian: “......”
江田：“......”

Sheng Wang thought he almost saw the soul within this person’s flesh suit violently struggle for a bit, and then sullenly lay back down.
盛王以为自己差点看到这个人肉衣里面的灵魂剧烈地挣扎了一会儿，然后闷闷不乐地躺了回去。

He was rejoicing very much in watching other people’s misery, but he soon was unable to rejoice, as after Jiang Ou dealt with her son, she turned and smiled at him.
他看着别人的苦难，很开心，但很快就高兴不了，因为江鸥处理完儿子后，转身对他笑了笑。

It was the first time Sheng Wang got a proper look at this woman’s front view, in the instance she smiled, he suddenly discovered that her looks half resembled his mom’s.
盛王第一次好好看过这个女人的正视，在她微笑的时候，他突然发现她的长相和他妈妈有一半相似。

Maybe the lighting blurred her features, maybe both their cheeks had a light dimple.
也许灯光模糊了她的五官，也许他们的脸颊都有一个浅淡的酒窝。

Or maybe it had been too long, no matter how hard he tried to strengthen it, the colours of the person in his memories faded irreversibly, and was no longer that clear anymore, even to the point that it was gradually blending in with a certain stranger……
又或者说是时间太久了，无论他怎么努力强化，记忆中那个人的颜色都不可逆转地褪去，不再那么清晰，甚至逐渐融入了某个陌生人......

“Xiao-Wang?” Jiang Ou asked him uncertainly.
“小王？”江鸥不确定地问他。

Sheng Wang snapped out of it, he suddenly was no longer in the mood to even give a half hearted excuse, he muttered: “I have gastric, dad, I’m going upstairs first.”
盛王啪的一声说了出来，他顿时连一个半心半意的借口都没了，他嘟囔道：“我有胃了，爸，我先上楼了。

“Hey don’t run away, what about dinner?” Sheng Mingyang did not manage to grab him even though he wanted to, “Didn’t we go through this, are you not going to reward a little face(4) for your dad?”
“哎，别跑了，晚饭呢？”盛明阳想抓住他也没能抓住他，“我们不是经历了这些吗，你不打算给你爸奖励一点面子（4）吗？

Sheng Wang doved indoors with his bag in his hands, and said without looking back: “Your son has tests tomorrow, with not a single subject out of five learned yet, the hell with time for dinner.”
盛王手里拿着包子往室内俯冲，头也不回地说：“你儿子明天要考试，五科一科都没学到，见鬼有吃饭的时间。

The hired lady presented him his slippers, and he shuffled upstairs. When he reached the corner, he could not help but take a single glance outside the window. They were still in the courtyard downstairs, Sheng Mingyang was saying something to Jiang Ou.
雇工的女士把拖鞋递给他，他拖着脚步上楼。当他走到拐角处时，他忍不住看了窗外一眼。他们还在楼下的院子里，盛明阳正在对江鸥说些什么。

It could not be anything but to explain how his son had a young master temper, take it lightly and it would be over, do not take it personally.
只能解释一下他儿子怎么有少爷脾气，掉以轻心就完了，不要放在心上。

Jiang Tian was still trapped in his mother’s grip, and could not leave. He stood in the darkness apathetically, his spare hand holding his phone, his head lowered as he scrolled.
江甜还被母亲困在手里，无法离开。他冷漠地站在黑暗中，另一只手拿着手机，低着头滚动。

He was barely on his phone before it was as if he detected something, and looked upwards unexpectedly, towards him.
他几乎没有在玩手机，就好像发现了什么，出乎意料地向上看向他。

Sheng Wang was startled, and quickly left.
盛王吓了一跳，赶紧离开了。

He placed a sign that said “Do not knock” on his door handle, locked his room from the inside, stuffed in his earpieces and turned the volume higher, high to the point that he would not be able to even hear thunder, then he sat down.
他在门把手上放了一个写着“请勿敲门”的牌子，从里面锁上了房间，塞进耳机，把音量调高，高到连雷声都听不到，然后坐下来。

The new teaching material was laid out in a row across the table, he curled up in his chair, and spun his pen around.
新的教材在桌子上排成一排，他蜷缩在椅子上，转来转去。

The screen on the phone he left at the side lit up for a bit, and lit up yet again. He accumulated a few before he finally reached out to unlock his phone,
他留在一旁的手机屏幕亮了一会儿，然后又亮了起来。他积攒了几张，终于伸手解锁了手机，

The one sending him messages on WeChat was his deskmate from his previous school, he was not super good at studying, but he was upright and loyal, and had natural heroic energy. Sheng Wang often felt that he was not there for school, but was there to ascend Mount Liang.(5) As long as the person was alive, people from all the way in year one to year three were acquaintances with him.
微信给他发信息的是他以前学校的同桌，他学习不是超级好，但为人耿直忠诚，有着天生的英雄气概。盛王常常觉得自己不是来上学的，而是来攀登梁山的。（5）只要这个人还活着，从一年级到三年级，一路走来的人都是他熟人。

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

The sciences exam papers from year 2’s end of semester? What do you want this for? Big boss don’t tell me…...you are already preparing for classes the moment summer vacation started?
二年级学期末的科学试卷？你想要这个是为了什么？大老板别告诉我......暑假开始时你就已经在准备上课了？

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

Wait that doesn’t seem right, why would you even want exam papers for revision?
等等，这似乎不对，你为什么还要试卷进行修改？

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

Big boss?(6) Reply to me.
大老板？（6）回复我。

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

Sheng-ge?
胜哥？

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

Class monitor! Fine, you won’t even look at the messages if I don’t send over the exam pics.
班级班长！好吧，如果我不发送考试照片，你甚至不会看这些消息。

Sheng Wang spun his pen around and jabbed at the screen with one hand——
盛王转了转笔，一只手在屏幕上刺了戳——

Canned:(7)
罐头：（7）

I just saw that.
我刚刚看到了这一点。

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

Pretend, go on and keep pretending. You’re just lazy, and think that it’s too much effort to even send another message, every time you would wait for the messages to accumulate before you would even reply altogether.
假装，继续，继续假装。你只是懒惰，认为发送另一条消息太费力了，每次你都会等待消息累积后再完全回复。

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

See, you are doing it again.
看，你又在做这件事了。

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

Fine, you’re handsome, you can get away with anything. I already acquired the exam questions for you, one copy each for math physics and chemistry, right? Why don’t you want the papers for languages? Why are you practising subjects discrimination.
好吧，你很帅，你可以逃脱任何惩罚。我已经给你拿到了试题，数学、物理和化学各一份，对吧？你为什么不想要语言论文？你为什么要实行科目歧视。

Canned:
罐装的：

You’re the discriminatory one here, I won’t have time for this many tonight, got to learn to give and take.
你是这里的歧视者，今晚我没有时间做这么多，必须学会给予和索取。

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

What the heck? One night? What are you(8) doing? And also aren’t you so usually so lazy to the point that you refuse to send messages if you could just send voice messages, what’s up with you today? You actually manually typed two messages.
这到底是什么？一个晚上？你（8）在做什么？而且你不是平时很懒惰，以至于如果你可以发送语音消息，你就拒绝发送消息，你今天是怎么回事？您实际上手动输入了两条消息。

Sheng Wang’s finger hovered above the screen as he ‘tsked’, finally gave up on typing, and sent a voice message over: “This is because I just arrived at this tragedy of a school today, they have a weekly test tomorrow, testing them on everything taught in the first semester of year two. If I don’t embrace Buddha’s leg at the last minute(9) I would get zeroes across all five subjects. No time for language and English, it’s all on fate now, the three subjects math, physics and chem are still worthy of a deathbed struggle.”
王盛的手指悬停在屏幕上方，“啧”了一声，终于放弃了打字，发来了一条语音信息：“这是因为我今天刚到这所学校的悲剧，他们明天每周都会进行考试，测试他们二年级第一学期教的所有内容。如果我在最后一刻不拥抱佛陀的腿（9），我会在所有五个科目中得到零分。没有时间学习语言和英语，现在一切都取决于命运，数学、物理和化学这三门学科仍然值得在临终前奋斗。

StarAniseCrab replied him with eight black man question mark stickers (10), and then sent the three papers over without any further questions, even attaching a single voice message with it.
StarAniseCrab 回复了他八张黑人问号贴纸（10 张），然后将这三张纸寄了过来，没有任何进一步的问题，甚至还附上了一条语音信息。

“No, I don’t think I understand yet. Even if you do one paper for one subject you would still barely score? There’s no way people would test the exact same questions on these papers.”
“不，我想我还不明白。即使你为一门科目写一篇论文，你仍然勉强得分？人们不可能在这些试卷上测试完全相同的问题。

Sheng Wang: “Who said I’m doing the papers”
王盛：“谁说我在做论文”

StarAniseCrab: “Then what are you doing with it?”
StarAniseCrab：“那你拿它做什么？

Sheng Wang: “I’ll highlight the key points according to their score weightage in the tests. There may be a wide range of diversity of questions asked in tests across provinces, but the main difficult points are still somewhat similar. I’ll take a look at which component scores the most, gather them together and huddle them tonight, the cost-performance ratio is better that way.”
王盛：“我会根据他们在考试中的分数权重来突出关键点。跨省考试中提出的问题可能多种多样，但主要难点还是有些相似。我会看看哪个组件得分最高，今晚把它们聚集在一起，这样性价比更好。

StarAniseCrab: “This works too?”
StarAniseCrab：“这也有效？

Sheng Wang: “I already said, this is a deathbed struggle.”
盛王：“我已经说过了，这是一场临终前的斗争。

StarAniseCrab: “What about the rest then?”
StarAniseCrab：“那剩下的呢？

Sheng Wang: “It’s all up to fate.”
盛王：“都是命运。

After replying with that line, the little young master suddenly felt a wave of heartache. He had mixed around in the Jianghu(11) for sixteen and a half years, and yet the day where he had to rely on fate for exams arrived.
回了那句台词后，小少爷顿时感到一阵心痛。他在江湖混迹了十六年半，然而他要靠命运考试的日子来了。

He thought for a bit, and asked Crab: “What is that answer-guessing mnemonic chant again?”
他想了想，问螃蟹：“那猜答案的助记念又是什么？

StarAniseCrab: “Ay, you wait for a bit, I got it noted down on the first page of my notebook, I’ll send a pic to you. My god, I can’t believe I get to see the day you use the answer-guessing mnemonic chant, what a call for universal celebration.”
StarAniseCrab：“哎呀，你等一下，我把它记在了笔记本的第一页上，我会给你发一张照片。天哪，我不敢相信我能看到你使用猜谜助记符圣歌的那一天，这是多么值得普遍庆祝的呼唤。

Twelve plus, midnight, Sheng Wang settled chemistry and physics, his eyes dry and aching. However, his stomach was the one that ached even worse——he was on the verge of starving to death.
十二点多，午夜，盛王沉淀了化学和物理，眼睛干涩而疼痛。然而，他的胃却是更痛的——他已经快要饿死了。

He went two rounds around his room, searched through three snack hoarding spots, and was unable to find any spare food at all. He had no other choice but to open his door.
他绕着房间转了两圈，搜遍了三个零食囤积点，根本找不到任何多余的食物。他别无选择，只能打开门。

As expected, there was a post-it stuck to his door, with 「There’s washed red grapes in the fridge, and matsutake with shredded chicken porridge left heated in the kitchen. Don’t eat the rest at night, it’s bad for your stomach.」written on it.
果然，门上贴着一张便利贴，上面写着「冰箱里有洗过的红葡萄，还有厨房里加热的松茸和鸡丝粥。晚上不要吃剩下的，对胃不好。」上面写着。

This was left behind by the hired lady, Sheng Mingyang was often not home, without a parent making sure, Sheng Wang’s three meals were irregular. Every time the lady did not receive a response from knocking, she would leave some food suitable for eating in the middle of the night, thus providing him some ease whenever he would go down to hunt for food. Eventually, it became an unspoken convention between them.
这是雇来的小姐留下的，盛明阳经常不在家，没有父母的把握，盛旺的三餐不规律。每当这位女士敲门没有得到回应时，她就会在半夜留下一些适合吃的食物，这样每当他下去打猎时，他都会得到一些轻松。最终，这成为了他们之间的一种不言而喻的约定。

With Sheng Mingyang’s schedule, he was definitely asleep by this time.
以盛明阳的日程安排，这个时候他肯定已经睡着了。

Sheng Wang did not even bother with his slippers, he wore his socks and silently went downstairs. Just as he opened the fridge, stuck his head inside and searched for food, he heard Sheng Mingyang’s low speaking voice from the balcony beyond the glass.
盛王连拖鞋都懒得，他穿着袜子，默默地下楼。就在他打开冰箱，把头探进去寻找食物的时候，他听到了玻璃外阳台上传来盛明阳低沉的说话声音。

He stopped for a moment, carried his red grapes and sneaked over. Sheng Mingyang was talking to someone, a hand on his phone, the other pinching the space between his brows, looking like he was extremely sleepy too. Still his tone was tender.
他停了下来，拎着红葡萄偷偷溜了过去。盛明阳正在和人说话，一只手放在手机上，另一只手捏着眉间的空间，看起来自己也困得不可开交。他的语气还是温柔的。

Sheng Mingyang told the person at the other end of the phone: “I’ve asked about the school dorms, he could only apply for it when school starts. Xiao-Tian can’t move over yet for the time being even if he wants to.”
盛明阳告诉电话那头的人：“我问过学校宿舍的事，他只能等开学的时候申请。小天暂时还不能搬过去，就算他想搬过去。

“Yes, moving in here first is better.”
“是啊，先搬进来比较好。”

“Actually, I would be happier if you stay here for the long term, the morning after tomorrow I’ll bring Xiao-Chen over to help you move. You can tell Xiao-Tian that the courtyard is symmetrical, both sides have their own bedrooms, living rooms and bathrooms, he could pretend that the two of us are splitting rent, and we just happen to share the kitchen.”
“其实，如果你长期留在这里，我会更高兴，后天早上我会把小陈带过来帮你搬家。你可以告诉小天，院子是对称的，两边都有自己的卧室、客厅和卫生间，他可以假装我们两个在分租，我们只是碰巧共用厨房。

The mouthful of grapes got stuck in Sheng Wang’s throat, his ear tips even reddened from choking.
那一口葡萄卡在了盛王的喉咙里，他的耳尖甚至因为噎住而红了。

He predicted that the two of them would soon officially move in after this meal, but he did not think that it would be this fast, so fast that he got three nightmares in a row that night.
他预言，这顿饭后，他们两个很快就会正式入住，没想到会这么快，快到当晚他连续做了三个噩梦。

He dreamed of getting chased by blank exam scripts, getting chased by dogs, and getting chased by Jiang Tian.(12)
他梦见被空白的考试稿追，被狗追，被江甜追。(12)

The weekly tests in Fuzhong were organised in a relatively screwed up manner, five subjects in one day, from seven in the morning, all the way to nine at night. The first subject tested was mathematics, possibly out of the desire to help them get their heads clear first thing in the morning.
福中每周的考试组织得比较混乱，一天五科，从早上七点，一直到晚上九点。测试的第一个科目是数学，可能是出于帮助他们早上第一件事就是让头脑清醒的愿望。

The invigilator counted the papers in front, and separated it into a few copies according to groups (13), getting the students sitting in front to pass it behind. Gao Tianyang who sat in front withdrew one copy, passed on the remaining to him, and conveniently asked: “So what do you plan to do?”
监考员清点前面的试卷，并按组（13）分成几份，让坐在前面的学生传到后面。坐在前面的高天阳撤回了一份，剩下的传给了他，方便地问道：“那你打算怎么办？

Sheng Wang gave a bitter laugh: “I’m done for, if nothing works choose C for all, at least better than no marks at all.”
王盛苦笑一声：“我完蛋了，如果没什么效果就全选 C，至少比完全没有标记好。

“You——” Gao Tianyang gave him a look, wanting to say more, but he hesitated, and silently shut up and sat properly under the invigilator’s stare.
“你——”高天阳看了他一眼，想多说什么，却犹豫了一下，默默地闭嘴，在监考员的注视下妥妥地坐了下来。

I what?
我什么？

Sheng Wang perplexed for a moment, but in the very next second, he knew why Gao Tianyang had that look on his face. It was because as he quickly scanned through the paper he discovered……
盛王一时疑惑，但下一秒，他就知道高天阳为什么会露出那种表情。这是因为当他快速浏览报纸时，他发现了......

There was no! Multiple choice questions! In mathematics!
没有！多项选择题！在数学上！

Just as he numbly meditated in silence, he suddenly received two jabs on his shoulder, Jiang Tian’s low, throaty voice came from behind: “You can also try filling in C for all fourteen fill-in-the-blanks questions.”
就在他默默麻木地沉思时，突然肩膀上被了两下刺，身后传来江天低沉、沙哑的声音：“十四道填空题，你也可以试试填 C。

“......”

Are you nuts?
你疯了吗？

Sheng Wang twisted his head and stared him down: “If I want to fill it in that way, then I’ll fill it in that way, it’s none of your business? You had to poke me to say it?”
盛王扭过头，低头盯着他：“如果我想那样填，那我就那样填，不关你的事？你非要戳我才说出来？

Jiang Tian looked at him, and unfolded his palm wide open: “I poked you because I wanted to ask, for how long do you intend to keep my paper from me?”
江天看着他，手掌张开：“我戳你是想问的，你打算瞒着我的纸多久？

Sheng Wang’s mind went blank for a moment: “......Oh, I forgot.”
盛王脑子一瞬空白：“......哦，我忘了。

Footnotes:
脚注：

Jiang Tian’s name ‘Tian’ but with a ‘xiao’ at the front, as an affectionate way to call someone younger than you
江恬的名字“甜”，但前面有一个“晓”，作为对比你年轻的人的亲切称呼

Name for affliated school, kept the hypy to make it more pronounced as a noun
附属学校的名称，保持炒作以使其作为名词更发音

Same case as Xiao-Tian, it’s Sheng Wang’s name turned into an affectionate nickname.
和小天一样，是盛王的名字变成了一个亲切的昵称。

Ah, the ‘face’ of chinese culture. In other words, he was asking his son to give him a little respect by turning up for the dinner.
啊，中国文化的'脸'。换句话说，他是在要求儿子参加晚宴来尊重他。

Mount Liang, a place said to be where heroes of the classic novel, Water Margin, began their journeys, or more broadly, a place where heroes went to.
梁山，据说是经典小说《水浒传》中的英雄们开始旅程的地方，或者更广泛地说，是英雄们去的地方。

Original word: 大佬, something that translates to tycoon/top shot/leader etc etc. Overall though, the meaning of this word has been used to describe someone who’s very powerful + good at what they are doing, therefore I’m using the term ‘big boss’ to kinda convey that he’s super respected by SAC for his abilities, but also boss also came from the idea of ‘boss level monsters’
原词：大佬，翻译过来就是大亨/头号人物/领袖等。总的来说，这个词的含义被用来描述一个非常强大+擅长他们正在做的事情的人，因此我使用“大老板”这个词来表达他的能力受到 SAC 的超级尊重，但老板也来自“老板级怪物”的想法

Sheng Wang’s WeChat name was a reference to his nickname, wang-zai, being that hot milk kid drink, a canned drink
盛王的微信名参考了他的昵称“wang-zai”，是那种热牛奶小子饮料，一种罐装饮料

He uses the respectful ‘you’ here
他在这里使用了尊重的“你”

Chinese proverb for seeking help at the last minute, has desperate energy to it
中国谚语在最后一刻寻求帮助，有绝望的能量

Confused Nick Young, the meme. It’s surprisingly well known in China.
困惑的尼克·杨，模因。它在中国出人意料地广为人知。

Milieu in which wuxia plays out, Sheng Wang was dramatising his experience as a student to one of a Xia, a rogue, in ancient historical drama
在武侠上演的环境中，盛王正在将他作为学生的经历戏剧化到古代历史剧中一个流氓夏的经历

Possibly a pun/foreshadow on how he would get ‘chased’/wooed by Jiang Tian lol
可能是关于他将如何被江甜“追逐”/求爱的双关语/伏笔哈哈

The groups here refer to columns by single row seats
此处的组是指按单排座位排列的列

Chapter 004 - A Small Target
第004章 小目标

Let’s Set You a Small Target
让我们给你设定一个小目标

This had to be the longest ever exam in history.
这一定是历史上最长的考试。

There was still 30 minutes before it was over, after twirling his pen around his pointer finger for two rounds, Sheng Wang settled it on the table. This was just a minor movement, and somehow he still attracted many looks——curious ones, nosey ones, sympathetic ones, and even just casual glances.
距离结束还有30分钟，用笔绕着食指转了两轮后，盛王把它摆在了桌子上。这只是一个小动作，不知怎的，他还是吸引了许多目光——好奇的、爱管闲事的、同情的，甚至只是不经意的目光。

At the age of being teens, rumours always spread quickly, there were no secrets between young people, every little thing could become common knowledge.
十几岁的时候，谣言总是传得很快，年轻人之间没有秘密，每一件小事都可以成为常识。

With one night, it was common knowledge that the hot transfer student in the top class, Class A, was in deep trouble for his five subjects, his scores probably trailed towards single digits, it was the tragedy of the century! Even the invigilator, a teacher from another class, could not help but look at him more than normal.
一夜之间，众所周知，尖子班 A 班的炙手可热的转学生，五科大吃一惊，成绩大概落后于个位数，简直是世纪悲剧！就连监考老师，一个来自另一个班级的老师，也忍不住比平时更看他一眼。

The bell rang right at the last second, the invigilator clapped: “Alright time’s up, put down your pens. Ay, the boy sitting near the window in the first column, quit writing. It’s all Class A students here, is this ten to twenty seconds really that important to you? Spare the students in the other classes, please.”
铃声在最后一秒响起，监考员鼓掌：“好了，时间到了，放下笔。哎呀，坐在第一栏窗边的男孩停止了写作。这里都是 A 班的学生，这十到二十秒对你来说真的那么重要吗？请饶过其他班级的学生。

Muffled laughter came from the people, that student released his pen, his face flushing red, and rubbed at the sweat coming out of his palms.
人们传来低沉的笑声，那个学生松开笔，脸涨得通红，揉了揉手心冒出的汗水。

“What are you so nervous for, isn’t it just the last question. The newbie is even calmer than you are.” The student behind him gave him a kick in his butt, and made a casual joke along the way. Everyone looked at Sheng Wang again.
“你这么紧张干什么，不就是最后一个问题吗？新手比你还要冷静。身后的学生踢了他一脚屁股，一路上随便开了个玩笑。众人又看向盛王。

Teasing like this could not be said to be good natured, but neither was it bad natured. This was only because he was a stranger, his words subconsciously alienated the newbie from the main group when his words were analysed. It was the inevitable beginning that came with every school transferral, Sheng Wang was used to it, and even played along with a laugh: “That’s right.”
这样的调侃不能说是好心，但也不是坏心。这只是因为他是陌生人，他的话在分析他的话时，下意识地疏远了新手和主力群体。这是每次转学都会带来的必然开始，盛王已经习惯了，甚至还笑着陪着玩：“没错。

Nobody expected that reply, and went dumbfounded.
没有人预料到会得到这样的回答，目瞪口呆。

“Don’t be loquacious, last student in every group, collect the papers from the back to the front.” After the invigilator finished, a chorus of chairs moving could be heard.
“别多说话了，每组最后一个学生，从后到前把卷子捡起来。”监考员结束后，可以听到椅子移动的合唱声。

Jiang Tian held on to his script and stood up, two finger tips knocked with a ‘du’ on Sheng Wang’s table, indicating him to hand in his script.
江甜抓着剧本站了起来，两指尖在盛王的桌子上'嘟'着敲了敲，示意他交上剧本。

Sheng Wang shot him a look, just as he was about to stuff his script at him, Gao Tianyang turned behind in the chaos and asked: “Are you okay?”
盛王给他拍了一眼，正要把剧本塞给他，高天阳乱中转身问道：“你没事吧？

“Kinda.” Sheng Wang said.
“金达。”“王盛说。

“Wow you can still smile.” Gao Tianyang gave him a thumbs up: “Your mental fortitude is good, if I end up in a situation like yours, I would probably just shut down.”
“哇，你还能笑。”高天阳对他竖起了大拇指：“你的精神刚毅不错，如果我落得最后落到你这样的境地，估计就关门了。

Going off topic was nothing, at least the pen was constantly moving. Having to suffer through two hours despite knowing nothing at all, that was the real torture.
跑题没什么，至少笔不停地动。在一无所知的情况下不得不忍受两个小时，这才是真正的折磨。

Quite a few students tried to peek, wanting to see exactly how blank Sheng Wang’s paper was. A sense of curiosity was normal, and Gao Tianyang was no exception.
不少学生试图偷看，想看看王盛的论文到底有多空白。好奇感是正常的，高天阳也不例外。

However, no one succeeded, as there was an impatient true · stone-faced top student standing in the way.
然而，没有人成功，因为有一个不耐烦的真·石脸高材生挡在路上。

Before they could catch anything, Jiang Tian already whisked the paper away. As Sheng Wang was about to speak, his hand suddenly emptied. By the time he raised his head and looked over, Jiang Tian was already knocking on Gao Tianyang’s desk.
还没等他们抓到什么，江甜就已经把纸拂走了。盛王正要说话，手突然空了。等他抬起头看过去的时候，江天已经敲响了高天阳的办公桌。

“Take it take it take it.” Gao Tianyang withered, and handed in his paper gloomily.
“拿走吧，拿走吧。”高天阳脸色萎靡，阴沉地递上了纸。

He finally endured through one subject.
他终于忍住了一门课。

Sheng Wang extended his arms and stretched his body. He then stood up with his cup.
盛王伸出双臂，伸展着身体。然后他端着杯子站了起来。

“What are you doing, student?” The invigilator looked at him in confusion.
“学生，你在做什么？”监考员疑惑地看着他。

Sheng Wang was even more confused than him: “I’m getting some water from the back?”
盛王比他更疑惑：“我从后面拿点水？

After he spoke he scanned around the classroom. He suddenly realised that everyone stayed put in their seats, he was the only one prepared to take a break.
说完，他扫视了教室。他突然意识到，每个人都坐在座位上，只有他准备休息一下。

The invigilator placed the collected scripts at the left of the teacher’s desk, and next, he took the leather packet on the right and said: “We’re not done yet, there’s still another paper, did you forget?”
监考员把收集到的剧本放在老师课桌的左边，接下来，他接过右边的皮包说：“我们还没完成，还有一张卷子，你忘了吗？

……

Huh?????
哼？？？？？

Sheng Wang collapsed back into his seat, the invigilator started giving out the new paper after he opened the packet.
盛王瘫倒在座位上，监考员在他打开包后开始分发新试卷。

Gao Tianyang leaned backwards, his back touching his table, and said: “Oh right, was it that you didn’t know? We have two papers for math, the main paper comes first, and is collected after two hours. Next, we have an additional question, which takes another half an hour. Of course, the main paper will be given five minutes before the formal exam.”
高天阳向后靠了靠，背碰着自己的桌子，说道：“哦对了，是你不知道吗？我们有两篇数学试卷，主试卷在前，两个小时后收集。接下来，我们还有一个额外的问题，这还需要半小时。当然，正试前五分钟会给出主试。

He did not get any reply when he was done talking, a look behind, and he saw Student Sheng slouching in his chair, his head turned up, his expression already vexed.
说完没得到任何回应，回头一看，只见盛学生无精打采地坐在椅子上，抬起头，神情已经烦恼了。

“Let me ask just this, how many marks are your maths worth?” Sheng Wang’s tone already showed that he no longer had any vested interest in living.
“我问一下，你的数学值多少分？”盛王的语气已经表明，他已经没有任何活着的既得利益了。

“For the science students, 200 marks, the total for gaokao (1) is only 480 marks, go ahead and process this weightage with your soul.”
“对于理科生来说，200 分，高考 （1） 的总分只有 480 分，继续用你的灵魂处理这个权重。”

“......”

After he looked up for a few seconds, someone pressed a finger against the top of his head.
他抬头看了几秒钟后，有人用一根手指按在了他的头顶上。

Jiang Tian’s voice appeared again: “Get up from the edge of my desk. Take the paper.”
江恬的声音再次出现：“从我的书桌边上起来。拿走报纸。

It felt bizzare to have the top of his head touched by someone. The hairs stood up at Sheng Wang’s neck, he shot upright as if he was a corpse that suddenly sprung up (2). He took his own paper, and tossed the last copy behind him.
被人触摸他的头顶感觉很奇怪。生王的脖子上汗毛竖起，他笔直地射了起来，仿佛是一具突然冒出来的尸体（2）。他拿起自己的纸，把最后一份扔到身后。

With the weirdo in the form of mathematics that laid the foundation for him, the tests ahead of him were no longer a big deal anymore. In the blink of an eye, it was already nine at night.
有了数学形式的怪人为他奠定了基础，摆在他面前的考试不再是什么大问题。转眼间，已经是晚上九点了。

“Jiang Tian, Teacher Wu wants you to go to the office.” After the scripts were collected, a girl sitting next to the window passed the message.
“江天，吴老师要你去办公室。”剧本收集完毕后，坐在窗边的一个女孩传递了信息。

Sheng Wang turned around and looked, and witnessed the pestilence, wanting to leave right there and then initially, furrow his brows after he heard the message: “Now?”
盛王转身一看，目睹了瘟疫，想马上离开，然后听到信息后，最初皱起了眉头：“现在？

“Yeah. He came over the moment the bell rang and said that.” The girl pointed at the corner of the window, “He wants you to go the moment you finished the tests.”
“是的。铃声响起的那一刻，他就过来说了这句话。女孩指着窗角，“他要你一完成测试就走。

Jiang Tian looked like he was rushing for time, he did not look particularly pleased, and yet he dumped his bag and went.
江甜一副在赶时间的样子，看起来并没有特别高兴，却甩着包走了。

The school had coaches at night, and sent day-students(3) back to all over the city, all they needed was to tap their student cards. The pickup time was adjusted according to school ending times for year ones and to threes, on days like this with exams, the bus was similarly adjusted to pick them up at 9.20pm, the students would be left with plenty of time by the time they were done with handing their scripts, packing their bags, and walking to the carpark.
学校晚上有教练，把走读生（3）送回全城，他们只需要刷学生证。接机时间根据一年级和三年级的放学时间进行调整，在这样有考试的日子里，校车也同样调整为晚上 9 点 20 分接他们，当学生完成交稿、收拾行李并步行到停车场时，他们将有足够的时间。

“I’ll be leaving with the school bus, how about you?” Gao Tianyang asked.
“我会乘坐校车离开，你呢？”高天阳问道。

Sheng Wang was refilling his cup at the back of the class: “I’m waiting for someone.”
盛王在班级后面给杯子倒满：“我在等人。

“Sure, I’ll see ya tomorrow then.” He used an ‘er’ sound(4) that he learned from god knows where, and left with his bag. In the end, he was barely gone before he came right back, and said: “Bro, go make a trip to the office in front, Old He is looking for you, I ran into them the moment I left.”
“当然，到时候我明天见。”他用了从天知道从哪里学来的“呃”音（4），然后带着包离开了。最后，他才刚走，就马上回来了，说道：“兄弟，你去前面的办公室走一趟，老何找你，我一走就碰到了他们。

“Which Old He?” Sheng Wang took a sip of water, and asked.
“他是哪位老的？”盛王喝了一口水，问道。

“The homeroom teacher, if not which Old He.” Gao Tianyang said: “Oh right, you haven’t actually got the chance to meet him ever since you arrived. He had something going on and wasn’t in school yesterday, and today he was sent to another class to invigilate, figures that he was finally free now.”(5)
“班主任，如果不是哪个老何。”高天阳道：“哦对了，自从你来到这里之后，你其实就没有机会见到他了。他有事，昨天没在学校，今天他被送到另一个班级接受检查，他现在终于自由了。(5)

Gao Tianyang left the moment he passed the message. Sheng Wang put down his cup, sent a voice message to Uncle Xiao-Chen who came to fetch him, and finally made his way to the office.
高天阳在传递信息的那一刻就离开了。盛王放下杯子，给前来接他的小陈叔叔发了语音信息，终于来到了办公室。

There was a giant office for the year twos, all the main teaching staff were in there, as a teacher usually did not teach only only class, with the exception of Class A. Big Mouth Xu already showed him the way, the main subject teachers for Class A did not take on any other classes, therefore they had their own five-person office to themselves.
二年级有一个巨大的办公室，所有的主要教职员工都在那里，因为老师通常不只教课，除了 A 班。徐大嘴已经给他指路了，A 班的主科老师不接任何其他班，所以他们有自己的五人办公室。

Sheng Wang walked straight ahead, following the corridor.
盛王沿着走廊往前走。

Mingli Block was the territory of the year twos in Fuzhong, with four floors in total, and a few classes on every floor, other than the top floor. The top floor only had Class A, the staff office for Class A, a toilet, and two suspicious looking rooms.(6)
明丽街区是福中二年级的地盘，一共有四层，除了顶层，每层都有几节课。顶楼只有 A 班、A 班的职员办公室、一个厕所和两个看起来可疑的房间。(6)

There was no signage in front of the suspicious room, and it had been locked for the past two days. Sheng Wang could not tell what its purpose was.
可疑房间门前没有任何标牌，这两天一直被锁着。盛王说不清它的用途是什么。

He discovered that there was someone in the corridor as he nearly reached the office. The lamps were not switched on in the two suspicious looking rooms, a swarth of darkness covered the entrance, and two people stood there, talking to each other while their backs faced the corridor railing.
当他快要到达办公室时，他发现走廊里有人。两个看起来可疑的房间里的灯没有打开，一缕黑漆笼罩了入口，两个人站在那里，背对着走廊栏杆互相交谈。

A look was enough to tell him that the one whose back was facing him had to be Jiang Tian, the other one had to logically be Teacher Wu.
一个眼神就足以告诉他，背对着他的那个一定是江天，另一个按理来说一定是吴老师。

Sheng Wang did not have the habit of intruding in other people’s private business, but after all he was rather near, he could not help but to catch some words.
盛王没有打扰别人私事的习惯，但毕竟他比较近，他忍不住抓住了一些话。

“Sure, that’s what we’ll be doing for the exams, I’ll give Dean Xu a call tomorrow.” This was Teacher Wu speaking.
“当然，这就是我们考试要做的事情，我明天给徐院长打个电话。”这是吴老师在说话。

“En.” Jiang Tian’s reply was very simple.
“恩。”江甜的回答很简单。

“Then your dad——”
“那你爸——”

Jiang Tian cut Teacher Wu off just as he opened his mouth: “My matter has nothing to do with him.”
江甜刚开口就打断了吴老师的话：“我的事情和他无关。

As he said that, his voice abruptly turned frosty, emanating an indescribable sense of how completely fed up he sounded. Even Sheng Wang, who had beef with him, did not hear such a bad tone from him.
说着，他的声音突然变得冰冷，散发出一种难以形容的感觉，他听起来是多么的厌倦了。就连和他一起吃牛肉的盛王，也没有听到他这么恶劣的语气。

Teacher Wu did not speak anymore, and patted his shoulder.
吴老师没有再说话，拍了拍他的肩膀。

“Is there anything else teacher?” Jiang Tian was very straight forward with his question.
“老师，还有什么事吗？”江甜的问题很直截了当。

“No more, just these.”
“没有了，只有这些。”

“I’ll go first then.”
“那我先走吧。”

He was about to turn around and go after he finished saying what he said stiffly, when he made eye contact with Sheng Wang. In that moment, Sheng Wang felt a rare and subtle trace of guilt.
他僵硬地说完话就要转身走，这时他和盛王进行了眼神交流。那一刻，盛旺感到了一种难得的、微妙的愧疚。

One only needs to think for a second to realise that a conversation like this was not meant to be eavesdropped on.
人们只需要思考一下，就会意识到这样的对话并不是用来窃听的。

Sheng Wang said almost immediately: “He the Elderly got me to come to the office.”(7)
盛王几乎是立刻就说：“他老人让我来办公室了。(7)

Jiang Tian’s pitch-black pupils stared at Sheng Wang, not showing any signs of whether he bought into his words or not. He stood there for a few seconds, before expressionlessly lifting his legs. When he passed by Sheng Wang, he suddenly lowered his head, placed a hand on Sheng Wang’s shoulders and said indifferently: “Teacher He is barely thirty this year, not at the point of being called He the Elderly yet.”
江恬漆黑的瞳孔盯着盛王，没有任何迹象表明他是否相信他的话。他站在那里几秒钟，然后面无表情地抬起双腿。路过盛王身边时，突然低下头，一只手搭在盛王的肩膀上淡淡道：“何老师今年才三十岁，还没有到称呼何老者的地步。

He left without looking back after he spoke.
说完，他头也不回地离开了。

Sheng Wang stopped on the spot for a moment, and by the time he turned back to look there was already nobody at all in the corridor. He “tsked” internally, lifted his foot and stepped into the office. The homeroom teacher’s seat was the first one, there was a name place card on the table, the words “He Jin” written on it.
盛王在原地停了一会儿，等他回头看去，楼道里已经空无一人。他内心“啧啧”了一声，抬起脚步走进了办公室。班主任的座位是第一个，桌子上放着一张名片，上面写着“何进”三个字。

Just as Jiang Tian said, the homeroom teacher looked like someone who’s barely thirty, a goose egg shaped face was adorned with a pair of spectacles, the skin was very pale, and had curly hair that draped across the shoulders. Just a little effort into dressing up and looking good would be no hard matter at all. The only flaw was the thinness that added a little sickliness. (8)
正如江甜所说，班主任看起来就像一个不到三十岁的人，鹅蛋形的脸，戴着一副眼镜，皮肤非常苍白，一头卷发披在肩上。只要稍微努力打扮和看起来漂亮一点，一点也不难。唯一的缺陷是瘦弱增加了一点病态。(8)

That’s right, Teacher He was a female teacher, in charge of teaching Class A physics.
没错，何老师是一名女教师，负责教授 A 班物理。

Sheng Wang recalled the mistake he made earlier on with ‘He the Elderly”, and touched his nose with his pointer finger. This was all that idiot Gao Tianyang’s fault, he seriously called a homeroom teacher like this “Old He”,(9) what was he even thinking.
王盛回忆起自己早前在《何老》中犯的错误，用食指摸了摸鼻子。这都是那个白痴高天阳的错，他认真地称呼这样的班主任为“老何”，（9）他到底在想什么。

“You’re here?” He Jin’s eyes crescented behind her glasses, gentle and cordial.
“你来了？”何瑾的眼眸在眼镜后面弯月，温柔而亲切。

Sheng Wang also smiled back at her: “Is there something the teacher needs me for?”
盛王也回她笑了笑：“老师有什么需要我做的事吗？

“Not much really, it’s just that I wasn’t in school to welcome the new student yesterday, I feel a little bad about that.” She said to Sheng Wang: “And there is also the matter of your progress on academic content.”
“真的没什么，只是昨天我没有在学校迎接新生，我对此感到有点难过。”她对盛王说：“还有你在学术内容上的进步问题。

She used her chin to point behind her, and said: “We’ve already heard from Old Xu, you are a book behind for every subject, it’s my fault for not being in school yesterday, if not I could have helped to file an appeal, you wouldn’t have needed to force yourself for today’s weekly test.”
她用下巴指了指身后，说道：“我们已经听老徐了，你每科都落后一本书，是我昨天没上学的错，要不是我能帮忙上诉，你也没必要强迫自己参加今天的周考。

Sheng Wang was all smiles on the outside but internally he spat out blood, saying to himself why didn’t you say so earlier!
盛王外表满脸笑容，但内心却吐血，自言自语道，你怎么不早点这么说！

He Jin was able to detect the emotional turmoil behind his smile. She was amused, and continued: “It was a little hard for you to endure through the 10+ hours today, wasn’t it?”
何进能够察觉到他微笑背后的情感波动。她被逗乐了，继续说道：“你今天忍受的10+个小时有点辛苦，不是吗？

Sheng Wang humbly said: “It wasn’t just a little.”
盛王谦虚地说：“不只是一点点。

The other teachers were also amused, including Teacher Wu who was speaking to Jiang Tian earlier on: “It’s okay, we know about your situation, we won’t be treating your results for real this time round, five marks ten marks are both normal, don’t feel stressed out.”
其他老师也被逗乐了，包括刚才和江甜说话的吴老师：“没事，你的情况我们知道，这次我们不会真的对待你的成绩，五分十分都是正常的，不要觉得压力过大。

“Hold on, I don’t care about the rest, but it would be too much if he got five to ten marks for language wouldn’t it?”
“等等，其他的我不在乎，但如果他在语言上得到五到十分，那就太过分了，不是吗？”

“It’s a bit much for English too.”
“这对英语来说也有点多。”

The teachers joked around clamorously, the atmosphere in the office lightened up for quite a bit. He Jin took a look at Sheng Wang, as if she was observing if he was nervous, and in the end she concluded that this student was truly unshakable.
老师们吵闹地开玩笑，办公室里的气氛变得轻松了一会儿。何进看了盛王一眼，似乎在观察他是否紧张，最终她断定，这个学生确实是不可动摇的。

She thus decided that she would not bother beating around the bush anymore, and headed straight to the point: “We won’t treat your results seriously this time, but the large gap in progress is an actual problem, and not a small one either. Class A’s syllabus is done very quickly, we have to finish all the content for high school within the first half of the semester, and cannot stop to wait for you. Therefore…...you will likely have to think of a solution on your own, and catch up on what you have missed while following the rest of the class in learning new content.”
于是她决定不再拐弯抹角了，开门见山：“这次我们不会认真对待你的成绩，但进度差距大是实际问题，而且也不小。A 班的教学大纲很快就完成了，我们要在上半学期内完成高中的所有内容，不能停下来等你。因此。。。。。。你可能不得不自己想一个解决方案，并在跟随班上其他人学习新内容的同时赶上你错过的内容。

This was all within Sheng Wang’s expectations, he nodded.
这一切都在盛王的预料之内，他点了点头。

He Jin continued: “Make good use of your spare time, you will definitely run into difficulty, but just grind your teeth and it will pass. During summer break, you have much more free time, our nightly self study only lasts until 8pm, and the night before exams we would not even have night self study, we would give you a holiday.”
何进继续说：“好好利用业余时间，肯定会遇到困难，但只要磨牙就过去了。暑假期间，你们有更多的空闲时间，我们每晚的自习只持续到晚上 8 点，考试前一天晚上我们甚至不会有夜间自习，我们会给你们放假。

It was the first time Sheng Wang heard that break being called a holiday, and let out a hollow laugh.
盛王第一次听到那间休息被叫放假，发出一声空洞的笑声。

The other few teachers laughed along again. He Jin waved her hand and said: “Don’t sound so hollow. Okay let’s continue with proper matters. This time round we won’t take your results seriously, but next week will be yet another weekly test, can I see some progress from you?”
其他几位老师又跟着笑了起来。何瑾摆摆手，说：“别听得那么空洞。好吧，让我们继续处理适当的事情。这一次我们不会认真对待你的结果，但下周将是另一场每周测试，我能看到你的一些进步吗？

“Of course you can.”
“当然可以。”

He Jin made eye contact with the other teachers, and said: “We roughly estimated how much you can catch up within a week, let’s set you a small target.”
何进和其他老师进行了眼神交流，说：“我们大致估计了你们一周内能赶上多少，给你们定个小目标。

Sheng Wang was straightforward with his answer: “Sure, how much?”
盛王直截了当地回答：“当然，多少钱？

“The total marks for physics and chemistry, these two subjects, is 120, we hope that you can hit above 50 after a week. Setting aside the annex question, the total for maths is 160, you should try to get 70. We won’t set anything for language and English, we’ll see how it goes.”
“物理和化学这两门科目的总分是 120 分，我们希望你一周后能达到 50 分以上。抛开附件问题不谈，数学的总分是 160，你应该尽量得到 70。我们不会为语言和英语设定任何东西，我们会看看进展如何。

As He Jin kept talking, she noticed that the expression on this new student’s face was a little odd, and asked: “Are you okay, is this a little too hard?”
何瑾说着说着，注意到这个新生脸上的表情有些奇怪，问道：“你没事吧，这是不是有点太难了？

“No.”
“没有。”

“Then what is it?”
“那是什么？”

Sheng Wang let out a “hm”, and said: “Nothing, let’s keep the target like this for now.”
盛王“嗯”了一声，说道：“没什么，目标就这样暂时留着吧。

The teachers were bewildered for an entire day, in the end during night self study on the next day when the weekly tests were marked, the new student who just got the teaching material the day before got the following scores:
老师们懵了一整天，最后在批改周试的第二天夜间自习中，前一天刚拿到教材的新生拿到了以下成绩：

Chemistry and physics scored a 62 and 68 respectively, an 83 for maths, and his language and English were both a good chunk better than Class A’s average. (10)
化学和物理分别得到 62 分和 68 分，数学得分为 83 分，他的语言和英语都比 A 班的平均水平高出很多。(10)

Translator's notes:
译者注：

-LONG CHUNKY EXPLANATION OF JIANGSU GAOKAO-
-江苏高考长篇大块解读-

Sigh. Okay, so Jiangsu is known for its notoriously difficult gaokao. Different from the majority of the provinces, Jiang su’s total score is 480. The total score is calculated via ‘3 + academic level test + overall quality’. The ‘3’ refers to ‘English, math, and foreign language’, 160 marks for language (+40 marks of extra questions as a humanities student), 160 for maths (+ 40 marks of extra questions as a sciences student). The ‘academic level tests’ consists of the following 7 subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, IT. Anyways the gist is that humanities students have to take history + something else, sciences students have to take physics + pick one from biology and chemistry. Sheng Wang’s class takes physics and chemistry. The number of marks for a paper is like around 150? The text hasn’t stated that yet. But the ‘sciences’ aka physics and chemistry would be recalculated to a total of 120 in gaokao if I’m not wrong?? Will update this again. Basically Sheng Wang didn’t pass but performed way above expectations. Jesus christ this is confusing. I think the score per paper is /150 in his test in this case.
叹息。好吧，所以江苏以其出了名的困难高考而闻名。与大多数省份不同的是，江苏的总分是 480 分。总分通过“3 + 学术水平测试 + 综合素质”计算。“3”是指“英语、数学和外语”，语言 160 分（人文学生额外问题 +40 分），数学 160 分（理科学生额外问题 + 40 分）。“学术水平测试”由以下 7 个科目组成：物理、化学、生物、历史、地理、IT。无论如何，要点是人文学生必须选修历史+其他东西，理科学生必须选修物理+从生物和化学中选一个。王盛的班选修物理和化学。一篇论文的分数大约是 150 分？文本还没有说明这一点。但是，如果我没记错的话，“科学”又名物理和化学将在高考中重新计算为总共 120 个？将再次更新。基本上，王盛没有通过，但表现远远超出预期。耶稣基督，这令人困惑。我认为在这种情况下，他的测试中每篇论文的分数是 /150。

Footnotes:
脚注：

Gaokao: college entrance exams
高考：高考

A chinese idiom
中国成语

Technically the meaning would be “students who do not stay in the school dormitories”, but I figured I might as well make it a noun here.
从技术上讲，它的意思是“不住在学校宿舍的学生”，但我想我不妨在这里把它做成一个名词。

He added an ‘er’ in his original line, which is why i changed the ‘you’ to ‘ya’ to indicate a change in formality/tone
他在原来的台词中添加了一个“er”，这就是为什么我将“you”改为“ya”以表示正式/语气的变化

the ‘him’ used in the text could also be gender neutral
文本中使用的“他”也可以是中性的

So the term used here directly translated into: little black house, or according to baike the black house, originally an internet slang referring to the ‘forbidden zone’ internet forum users would get sent to after they break the rules, implying that this would be the place where they would not be seen or heard. In the context of this usage here, it probably means that it was incredibly shady looking.
所以这里使用的术语直接翻译为：小黑屋，或者根据白克的说法，黑房子，最初是一个网络俚语，指的是用户在违反规则后会被送到的“禁区”互联网论坛，暗示这将是他们不会被看到或听到的地方。在这种用法的上下文中，这可能意味着它看起来非常阴暗。

In chinese, he basically reversed the words for ‘He’ and ‘Old’, thus changing Old He to He the Old person (as an address)
在中文中，他基本上将“他”和“老”的词颠倒过来，从而将“老何”改为“何老人”（作为称呼）

Can you tell how hard I tried to avoid pronouns?
你能说出我有多努力避免代词吗？

Adding “Old” in front of someone’s name is usually meant for men
在某人的名字前面加上“旧”通常是针对男性的

The score per subject was calculated differently from the “total score” mentioned earlier, Jiangsu gaokao runs differently. Also there's a difference between total score and actual score.
每科分数的计算方式与前面提到的“总分”不同，江苏高考跑法不同。总分和实际分之间也存在差异。

Chapter 005 - Moving In
第005章 搬进来

That Bastard Named Jiang Tian Seriously Grew Legs and Escaped.
那个叫江天的混蛋，严重长了腿，逃跑了。

It happened to be Monday again, and the timetable was fine tuned once more. The study rep made a trip to the office during night self study to bring back a brand new timetable, and posted it on the notice board.
恰好又是星期一，时间表再次进行了微调。研究代表在夜间自习期间前往办公室带回一份全新的时间表，并将其张贴在布告栏上。

Sheng Wang squinted at it for a few seconds, tapped Gao Tianyang and asked: “Why are there still subject names for the boxes under night?”
盛王眯着眼睛看了几秒，敲了敲高天阳问道：“为什么夜底的箱子还有主体名？

“Hm? Which two boxes?” Gao Tianyang was busy burying his head and replying to someone on WeChat at the bottom of his table, he did not truly realise what he was asking.
“嗯？哪两个盒子？高天阳忙着埋头在桌底的微信上回复某人，他并没有真正意识到自己在问什么。

“The timetable on the noticeboard.” The pen spinning around in Sheng Wang’s hand stopped, and used the tip to point in that direction: “It says physics for tonight.”
“布告栏上的时间表。”盛王手里转来转去的笔停了下来，用笔尖指了指那个方向：“上面写着今晚的物理。

‘The timetable?”
“时间表？”

“Yup.”
“是的。”

Gao Tianyang looked up, stared at the board infront intently for about three seconds, and violently turned his head back to ask: “You sit in the fucking second last row, you can still see the words on the timetable clearly?”
高天阳抬头，目不转睛地盯着前面的棋盘看了三秒左右，猛地转头问道：“你他妈坐在倒数第二排，还能看清时刻表上的字？

“I sure can.”
“我当然可以。”

“You(1) have a microscope for a face?”
“你（1）有一张显微镜来照脸吗？”

Sheng Wang said slowly and clearly: “Scram.”
盛王缓缓而清晰地说：“Scram。

“No wait, I was just expressing my shock. You can take a look around, you’re the only one in our class who’s not shortsighted do you know that?” Gao Tianyang said.
“不用等了，我只是在表达我的震惊。你可以四处看看，我们班里只有你一个不短视的人，你知道吗？“高天阳说。

Sheng Wang’s head did not even turn, he jabbed his thumb in the direction behind, for some mysterious reason lowered his voice and asked: “Doesn’t it means that he’s not human for not wearing glasses too?”
盛王的头连转都没转，他用拇指朝后面的方向戳了戳，不知为何压低了声音问道：“不就是说他也不戴眼镜就不是人吗？

Gao Tianyang, however, was slow on the uptake and continued to use his normal volume to reply anyway: “Tian-ge happens to not wear it normally that’s all, just look at him when it’s lesson time.”
高天阳却收得慢了，还是继续用平时的音量回怼：“天歌恰好不正常戴就这样了，到了上课时间看看他就行了。

Sheng Wang internally went: the hell with looking, why are you this moronic and speak so loudly for?
盛王内心去：看死了，你怎么这么白痴，这么大声说话？

The good thing was that Jiang Tian was catching up on his sleep during the inter-class period again, and heard nothing at all.
好在，江甜又在课间补觉，根本听不到任何声音。

Sheng Wang was rather bemused, why did this person seem to lack sleep every day as if he was busy staying up being a thief all night, don’t tell him it came from doing questions?
盛王颇为疑惑，为什么这个人好像天天睡不着觉，好像整夜忙熬夜当贼一样，别告诉他是做问题造成的？

As he zoned out, the people at the first few rows exploded into chatters.
当他分心时，前几排的人爆发出叽叽喳喳的声音。

The study rep’s voice drifted over clearly, his tone clearly gossiping: “Really, I don’t know what happened, in any case when I entered the office the teachers were rioting, they went nuts and were super excited, they wouldn’t stop going blah-blah.”
研究代表的声音清晰飘过，语气明显在八卦：“真的，我不知道发生了什么，无论如何，当我进入办公室时，老师们都在骚乱，他们发疯了，超级兴奋，他们不停地胡说八道。

“What were they saying?”
“他们在说什么？”

“I didn’t catch it, when I went in they became normal again.”
“我没有抓住它，当我进去时，它们又恢复正常了。”

“Then the hell did you even mention this for.”
“那你到底是因为这个而提的。”

Gao Tianyang was an active member, when he heard the study rep’s words, he joined in the discussion from two tables away. As a result, after rounding about, the question Sheng Wang asked him at first did not get a reply either.
高天阳是活跃的成员，听到研究代表的话，他从两桌外加入了讨论。结果绕了一圈，盛王刚开始问他的问题也没有得到答复。

However, the answer soon turned up by itself.
然而，答案很快就出现了。

Shortly after the bell for night self study rang, the homeroom teacher He Jin sandwiched a stack of test papers between her arms and entered the classroom. She placed it on the teacher’s desk like it was a matter of course, then pulled the board behind her with a natural ease, saying: “The weekly tests have been marked, we will be going through the paper tonight.”
夜自习铃声响起后不久，班主任何瑾夹着一摞试卷走进了教室。她像理所当然一样把它放在老师的桌子上，然后自然轻松地把黑板拉到身后，说：“每周的考试已经批改好了，我们今晚就要翻卷了。

At this point, Sheng Wang finally knew——
至此，盛王终于知道了——

The night study in this tragedy of a school was never actual self study from the start, it was for class! One subject per day all the way from Monday to Friday, everything was planned out nicely and neatly.
这所学校悲剧中的夜校从一开始就不是真正的自学，而是上课的！从周一到周五，每天一门科目，一切都计划得很好，很整齐。

Then there came the problem…
然后问题来了......

The classes in the day assigned them homework, the three subjects maths physics and chem were simple and straight to the point, each assigned a practice paper. Language was slightly more humane, and did not give an entire paper, only printing two comprehension passages for them. The only one that spared their lives was English, and it was because there was no English lesson that day.
当天的班级给他们布置了作业，数学、物理和化学三门科目简单明了，每门课都布置了一张练习卷。语言稍微人性化一些，没有给出整篇论文，只为他们打印了两篇理解段落。唯一饶了他们一命的就是英语，那是因为那天没有英语课。

Overall, there were eight shitty pieces of paper roughly in total from the few subjects, if there was no self study for night study, when will they get to do these shitty papers???
总的来说，从少数几个科目中大约总共有八张糟糕的纸，如果没有夜校的自习，他们什么时候才能做这些糟糕的论文???

Sheng Wang felt like he could not breathe.
盛王感觉自己无法呼吸。

He Jin finished her opening speech, picked the paper in front of her up, shook it, and said: “All of you would quite like to know how you did, don’t you? I’ll talk about my overall impression first. I think that all of you broke your heads with the summer break.”
何瑾说完开场白，拿起面前的纸，摇了摇，说：“你们都挺想知道你们做得怎么样的，不是吗？先说说我的整体印象。我想你们所有人都因为暑假而伤脑筋。

Everyone was silent, some lips inaudibly moved, probably ridiculing that a break of ten days should not have the guts to call itself a summer break.
大家沉默了，有些嘴唇听不见动了动，大概是在调侃十天的休息时间不该有胆量称自己为暑假。

“The average performance was incomparable to the last few exams last semester, your speed at finishing the questions was slower than before, I knew this the moment I marked the papers. It’s not that you didn’t know how to solve the question, you just didn’t have time to do it properly. Ey, the handwriting at the back for some students were so trembly, so pitiful, I couldn’t bear to mark it as wrong——”
“上学期的最后几次考试的平均表现是无法比拟的，你完成题目的速度比以前慢了，我在批改试卷的那一刻就知道了这一点。不是你不知道怎么解决问题，只是没有时间好好去做。哎呀，后面有些学生的字迹是那么颤抖，太可怜了，我不忍心把它标记为错误——”

Her expression relaxed a little, and scornfully went: “So I just deducted marks, and also erased two points from the overall score.”
她表情放松了几分，轻蔑地说：“所以我只是扣分，还抹了总分两分。

Someone in class did not manage to hold it in, and let out a whine. (2)
班上有人没能忍住，发出一声呜呜声。(2)

He Jin said: “What are you whining for, are you trying to act cute with me? Is there any use to acting cute at all?”
何进说：“你发牢骚干什么，是想跟我装萌吗？装可爱有什么用吗？

Forty plus people dragged their voices and answered: “No use, yiiiiiiiing——”(3)
四十多人拖着声音回答：“没用，yiiiiiiiing——”（3）

Sheng Wang: “......”
王盛：“......”

Was this the result of too much pressure that repressed an entire class of students into cuckoos?
这是压力太大的结果，将整个班级的学生压抑成杜鹃吗？

He Jin was also angered to the point of laughter, but she was unfazed, one could tell that this was not the first time: “I know that this is your old habit, you would become like this every time you return from holiday. I won’t go on anymore, but make sure you somewhat know this in your heart could you?”
何瑾也被气得笑了起来，但她却不为所动，看得出来这已经不是第一次了：“我知道这是你的老习惯了，你每次放假回来都会变成这样。我不会再继续说下去了，但要确保你心里知道这一点，好吗？

The whole class dragged their voices and replied again: “Sure.”
全班同学都拖着声音，再次回答：“当然。

He Jin pointed at them and said: “You bunch of liars.”
何进指着他们说：“你们这群骗子。

The class went into laughter again.
全班同学再次哄堂大笑。

“The nerve to laugh!” He Jin continued: “The class average this time round is lower than last exam’s, certain individuals really put it in their all at dragging the overall score down.”
“笑的勇气！”何进继续说道：“这次的班级平均分比上次考试低，有些人真的全力以赴拖累了总分。

Most people in class had a tacit understanding, they would not look at any particular person at this time, they had to save some face for them no matter how good their relations were. But there were some that could not control themselves, and started wildly looking around.
班上大部分人都有一种默契，这个时候他们不会看任何特定的人，关系再好也要给他们留点面子。但也有一些人无法控制自己，开始疯狂地四处张望。

At that very moment, Sheng Wang felt as if he was under the spotlight, there were at least five to six people looking at him.
就在那一刻，盛王感觉自己仿佛在聚光灯下，至少有五六个人在看着他。

He Jin adjusted her glasses, and said: “What are you looking at? You haven’t even received your scripts back, all you know is to look at the new student! I was about to talk about this. Sheng Wang, he just entered our class on Saturday, he basically did not learn anything tested on the test. But after calculating proportionately according to past cases, both his chem and physics entered grade B, his main three, language math and English scored over 300. If this was gaokao, he could make it for undergraduate courses. He only spent one day, to achieve all these.”
何瑾调整了一下眼镜，说道：“你在看什么？你甚至还没有收到你的剧本，你只知道看看新学生！我正要谈谈这个。王盛，他周六刚进我们班，考试上考的东西基本没学到什么。但根据以往的案例按比例计算后，他的化学和物理都进入了 B 级，他的主修三门，语言数学和英语得分超过 300 分。如果这是高考，他可以进入本科课程。他只用了一天的时间，就实现了这一切。

She raised a single finger, her gaze landed on Sheng Wang, and smiled at him.
她抬起一根手指，目光落在盛王身上，对他笑了笑。

The classroom was silent for three seconds, and then everyone went apeshit.
教室里沉默了三秒钟，然后每个人都大吃一惊。

Forty plus heads turned to look at him at the same time, eighty plus eyes were all on him. Sheng Wang felt as if he was called out.
四十多个人头同时转过头看向他，八十多个眼睛都盯着他。盛王感觉自己好像被叫出来了。

He forcibly lifted the corner of his mouth and let out an empty laugh, the finger spinning his pen around purposely jerked, planning to carry out a strategic dropping of pen. With the effort it takes to pick up a pen, he could stay crouched over and endure until everyone turned back.
他强行扬起嘴角，发出一声空洞的笑声，转来转去的手指故意猛地抽动，打算进行一次策略性的落笔。拿起笔需要付出的努力，他可以蹲下并忍受直到所有人都回头。

In the end he accidentally jerked too hard, the pen swung around two rounds, and flew behind.
最后他不小心猛拉得太用力了，笔甩了两圈，飞到了后面。

He was screwed, he was going to hit the pestilence.
他完蛋了，他要去打瘟疫了。

Sheng Wang turned back in embarrassment, and when he did he was stupefied.
盛王狼狈地回头，一说就愣住了。

Jiang Tian’s nose indeed supported a pair of glasses during lesson time. The lenses were very thin, with Sheng Wang’s limited knowledge, he felt that the degree would not be too high. The smoke-coloured frame was thin and circular, when it was on other people’s faces it made them look scholarly, and yet Jiang Tian was an exception.
江甜的鼻子在上课时间确实支撑着一副眼镜。镜片很薄，以盛王有限的知识，他觉得度数不会太高。烟色的框架又薄又圆，戴在别人的脸上，显得书生风流，江天却是个例外。

The cold white light of the lamp above was reflected in his lenses, adding a layer of seeping coldness over his orbs. He was basically a “I’m displeased” in giant capital letters.
上方灯的冷白光反射在他的镜片上，在他的球体上增添了一层渗透的冰冷。他基本上是一个用大写字母写的“我不高兴”。

That pen tumbled onto his table, the arm that rested on top was marked with a scrawly uneven line, it was especially conspicuous with the contrast of his cold and fair skin.
那支笔滚到他的桌子上，放在上面的手臂上划着一条潦草的凹凸不平的线条，与他冰冷白皙的皮肤形成鲜明对比显得尤为显眼。

His gaze shifted up, he looked at Sheng Wang through his glasses for a few seconds, and then capped his pen.
他的目光向上移动，他透过眼镜看了盛王几秒钟，然后盖上了笔。

“Thank you.” Sheng Wang thought that he was about to pass the pen back, and planned to apologise after he thanked him. Who would have thought that just as he opened his mouth, Jiang Tian placed the recapped pen down right in front of himself with much finality, with absolutely no sign of returning it to him at all.
“谢谢。”盛王以为他要把笔传回去了，打算在他谢过之后再道歉。谁能想到，就在他张开嘴的时候，江甜就把那支重写好的笔放在了自己面前，完全没有还给他的迹象。

“What are you doing?” He asked.
“你在做什么？”他问道。

Jiang Tian’s gaze was already fixed onto the blackboard: “In case you can’t keep your hands to yourself again.”
江甜的目光已经盯着黑板：“万一你再也不能把手放在自己身上了。

Sheng Wang: “???”
王盛：“???”

“Is there something wrong?” He Jin asked at the desk.
“有什么问题吗？”何进在书桌前问道。

Sheng Wang could not make himself do such a stupid thing like complaining to the teacher, he could only turn back and smiled at He Jin: “Nothing’s wrong, teacher. Dean Xu told me to learn more from Jiang Tian, so I was just asking when I will pass the tests.”
盛王不能让自己做出这种向老师抱怨这种愚蠢的事情，他只能回头对何进笑道：“没事，老师。徐院长让我多跟江天学，所以我只是问我什么时候能通过考试。

The students in class immediately guffawed, and stopped staring at him.
班上的同学们立刻大吃一惊，不再盯着他看。

He Jin also burst into laughter. “Indeed, if we look at the total score, you are still not passing your three sciences yet. Still, you are already not that far off, you just need to strengthen your foundations. By reaching this level in a single night, it shows that you have a very, very strong learning ability.”
何进也哈哈大笑起来。“确实，如果我们看总分，你仍然没有通过你的三门科学。不过，你已经不远了，你只需要加强你的基础。在一晚上就达到这个水平，说明你有非常非常强的学习能力。

She used two “very” to praise him, Sheng Wang shamelessly added internally: You are right.
她用两个“非常”来夸他，盛王厚颜无耻地在内心补充道：你说得对。

“However the three sciences all happen to be like this, it is easy to score for your foundational knowledge, but when it reaches a certain level, just increasing a single point is incredibly difficult.”
“不过三科恰好都是这样，基础知识打分很容易，但到了一定程度，光是增加一分就难上加难了。”

As He Jin spoke, she sorted the scripts in her hands according to groups, and passed it to the first person in the group, getting them to find their own scripts and pass it down.
何瑾一边说着，一边把手里的剧本按组分拣，传给群里的第一人，让他们找到自己的剧本，传下去。

By the time it reached Sheng Wang there were only two scripts, one belonging to him and one to Jiang Tian. The learning ability that he proved with his single day of effort was enough to let his peacock tail spread wide open in front of the teacher and most of his classmates, but when he saw Jiang Tian’s score, he immediately shut his tail. (4)
到了盛王手中，只有两份剧本，一份属于他，一份属于江天。他用一天的努力证明的学习能力，足以让自己的孔雀尾巴在老师和大部分同学面前张开，但当他看到江甜的分数时，他立马闭上了尾巴。(4)

Because Jiang Tian scored full marks.
因为江甜考了满分。

Fuck.
他妈的。

Sheng Wang muttered soundlessly, and then he waved the script in his hand at Jiang Tian: “Want your script? Pass my pen to me, I’ll pass the paper to you, you pass me the money with a hand and I’ll pass you the goods with the other.”(5)
盛王无声地嘟囔了一声，然后他朝江恬挥了挥手中的剧本：“想要你的剧本吗？把我的笔递给我，我把纸递给你，你用一只手把钱递给我，我用另一只手把货物递给你。(5)

Jiang Tian scanned over the script once: “I’m broke.”
江甜扫视了剧本一次：“我破产了。

After he spoke, the full-pointer removed his glasses, dug out the stack of papers assigned in the day, and used the pen he confiscated along the way to do his work.
说完，满指针摘下眼镜，翻出当天分配的那叠纸，用沿途没收的笔干活。

Sheng Wang was completely stifled.
盛王被彻底扼杀了。

Going through the paper was more annoying for the teacher, but for the students they did not suffer as much. The students of Class A were known for mis-behaving, there were two sets of paper on nearly everyone’s desk, one set would be the one that they just received from their test, the other would be homework.
翻阅试卷对老师来说更烦人，但对学生来说，他们并没有那么痛苦。A 班的学生以行为不端而闻名，几乎每个人的桌子上都有两套纸，一套是他们刚刚从考试中收到的，另一套是家庭作业。

As He Jin went through the answers in front, the students behind constantly switched between two pens. When they reached the part where they made a mistake they would use a red pen to do corrections, otherwise they all buried their heads in their assignments.
当何进在前面翻阅答案时，后面的学生则在两支笔之间不断切换。到了犯错的部分，他们会用红笔进行批改，否则他们都埋头做作业。

They were relatively well-trained in switching between the two tasks, one could see they were all old foxes.
他们在两项任务之间切换训练得比较好，看得出来他们都是老狐狸。

Sheng Wang scanned around, the words “If life forced my hand” (6) escaped from his mouth in a mutter, and then he stuck his hand into his desk and dug out his homework.
盛王扫视四周，“如果生活逼着我的手”（6）这句话在喃喃自语中从嘴里逸出，然后他把手伸进课桌里，翻出了作业。

Night self study ended at 8pm, Gao Tianyang and co yelled “Yessssss" as if they got a super good cut of the pie, and then scurried outside, their bags in their clutches.
晚上8点晚上自习结束，高天阳等人大喊“好”，好像分了超级好的馅饼，然后匆匆跑到外面，手里揪着包。

Sheng Wang zipped up his school bag. Just as he was about to call Uncle Xiao-chen, he received a call from Sheng Mingyang instead.
盛王拉上书包的拉链。正当他准备给小陈叔叔打电话时，却接到了盛明阳的电话。

“What?” Sheng Wang was baffled for a moment before he finally remembered that today was the day that Sheng Mingyang would be letting Jiang Ou and Jiang Tian move in. Which was to say that from tonight onwards, the ancestral home at White Horse Alley would have two more people in its courtyard.
“什么？”盛王疑惑了片刻，才终于想起来，今天是盛明阳要让江鸥和江甜搬进来的日子。也就是说，从今晚开始，白马巷的祖屋院子里又多了两个人。

Just as expected, Sheng Mingyang pacified his son with a couple of lines across the phone before he went straight to the main topic: “Night self study just ended, right? Xiao-Chen is nearly reaching the school entrance, go get Xiao-Tian and come back together.
不出所料，盛明阳隔着电话安抚了儿子几句，才直奔正题：“夜自习刚结束吧？小陈快到学校门口了，去接小天，一起回来。

Bleh.
呜。

The little young master spat, internally saying that if he wanted to bring him he should do it himself, it’s none of his goddamn business. He even specially urged him to do so, making it seem like he would grow legs and escape or something.
小少爷吐了口唾沫，心里说，要带他来就自己动手，不关他该死的事。他甚至特意催促他这样做，让他看起来像是长腿逃跑什么的。

The phone call got on his nerves, Sheng Wang was irritated: “He’s sitting right behind me, if you want anything go find him yourself.” After he spoke he turned to pass his phone to the back, only to see that the table behind was completely empty. That bastard named Jiang Tian seriously grew legs and escaped.
电话让他很紧张，盛王被激怒了：“他就坐在我身后，有什么想要的就自己去找他。说完，他转身把手机递到后面，却发现后面的桌子已经空无一人。那个叫江甜的混蛋，严重长腿，逃跑了。

Footnotes:
脚注：

The respectful ‘You’ is used here
这里使用了恭敬的“你”

The word used here was 嘤, internet slang for a cutesy sound of crying
这里使用的词是嘤，网络俚语，意为可爱的哭声

Said onomatopoeia of crying noise
哭声的拟声词

Direct translation of the metaphor, it basically means that he’s preening
直接翻译这个比喻，基本上意味着他在打扮

Comes from saying as directly translated, it means a secure exchange where both parties will adhere to their promises
直接翻译过来，意思是双方都信守承诺的安全交换

Possibly a reference to apparently elementary/middle school recommended reading, a translation of the poem “If life deceives you” by Pushkin.
可能参考了显然是小学/中学推荐的阅读，是普希金的诗歌“如果生活欺骗你”的翻译。

Chapter 006 - To Catch Someone
第006章 抓人

Where Are You Going? Don’t You Know How to Open the Door?
你去哪儿？你不知道怎么开门吗？

“Hello, is this Xiao-Tian? I’m your Uncle Sheng.” The person on the other side on the phone, Sheng Mingyang, thought that it was already a different person, and immediately was much more polite.
“你好，是小天吗？我是你的盛叔叔。电话那头的盛明阳以为已经是变人了，立刻客气了许多。

Sheng Wang checked around, his mouth moved: “Hello Uncle Sheng, I’m your son Sheng Wang.”
盛王环顾四周，嘴角动了动：“盛叔叔好，我是你的儿子盛旺。

Sheng Mingyang: “......”
盛明阳：《......》

“Goddamn it.” Sheng Mingyang asked, annoyed: “Didn’t you say that you will pass the phone to Xiao-Tian?”
“该死的。”盛明阳恼怒地问道：“你不是说要把电话传给小天吗？

“I did, but he disappeared.”
“我做到了，但他消失了。”

“What do you mean?” Sheng Mingyang was clearly baffled, “What do you mean by disappeared?”
“你什么意思？”盛明阳显然是一头雾水，“你说的消失是什么意思？

“In any case he isn’t in the classroom now.”
“无论如何，他现在不在教室里。”

On the other side, Sheng Mingyang removed his phone from his ears and murmured something to someone else, and then told Sheng Wang: “Wait for a bit before you hang up, I’ll get your Auntie Jiang to ask.”
另一边，盛明阳把手机从耳边拔下来，对别人嘟囔了些什么，然后告诉盛旺：“等一会儿再挂断，我让你江阿姨问问。

Sheng Wang rolled his eyes, and tossed his phone onto the table.
盛王翻了个白眼，把手机扔到了桌子上。

Previously, there were some students who were walking towards him, appearing like they wanted to chat with him about the test. They pulled the brakes the moment they saw that he was on the phone, bid farewell to him and left.
此前，有一些学生向他走来，看起来是想和他聊聊考试的事情。他们一看到他在打电话就踩下刹车，告别他离开了。

In the sheer span of a few minutes, there was only Sheng Wang left in the classroom.
短短几分钟的时间跨度，教室里只剩下盛王。

He played with his bag straps in extreme boredom, listening to the chatter of people slowly fade into the distance like lowering of tides, from the corridor to the staircase, and then completely disappearing. The entire top floor was filled with silence.
他无聊极了，玩弄着包带，听着人们的喋喋不休像潮水一样慢慢消失在远方，从走廊到楼梯，然后完全消失。整个顶楼都充满了寂静。

He looked at the phone screen that displayed “in call”, and suddenly recalled that it was like this when he was young for a while too. Back then his mom just passed away, possibly out of fear that he would be left to his own thoughts, Sheng Mingyang was determined to fetch him from school everyday.
他看着显示“通话中”的手机屏幕，突然回想起自己年轻时也有一段时间是这样的。当年妈妈刚去世，可能是怕他自己想，盛明阳决心每天接他放学。

The crucial time period in business was always busy and chaotic, Sheng Mingyang was often late, Sheng Wang just did his homework as he waited. By the time Sheng Mingyang finally rushed over, he would have already completed his homework and every student had left, and Sheng Mingyang could carry his bag and apologise profusely with “Wang-zai” here and “Wang-zai” there.
生意的关键时间段总是忙碌而混乱，盛明阳经常迟到，盛王只是一边等待一边做功课。等盛明阳终于赶过来的时候，他已经写完了作业，每个学生都走了，盛明阳可以拎着书包，和这边的“王仔”，那边的“王仔”一起深深地道歉。

Afterwards, there was Xiao-Chen the chauffeur, did Sheng Wang need not to wait so often anymore. Later, Sheng Mingyang rarely called him “Wang-zai” after quite a few protests from him.
之后，有小陈司机，盛王不用再等那么久了吗？后来，盛明阳在受到他的多次抗议后，很少叫他“王仔”。

The corridor suddenly clicked with the “du-du-du” of high heels, Sheng Wang came back to himself and looked in that direction. A figure with long hair flitted past the windows, from the bearing alone one could tell that it was their English teacher, Yang Jing.
走廊里突然咔嚓一声高跟鞋的“嘟嘟嘟”一声响起，盛王回过神来，朝那个方向看去。一个留着长发的人影从窗户飞过，光从方位就可以看出是他们的英语老师杨静。

It had been three days since Sheng Wang arrived, he did not attend a single English lesson, and it was this teacher that left the deepest impression on him. This was because the old foxes, Class A, changed colours whenever they spoke of the “Jing” (1), the moment they hear the words “Jing-jie(2) is looking for you”, they would visibly pale in teror.
盛王来到已经三天了，他没有上过一节英语课，给他留下最深刻印象的就是这位老师。这是因为甲班老狐狸每当说到“静”（1）时都会变色，当它们听到“静洁（2）在找你”这句话时，它们就会明显地脸色苍白。

From their words alone, Sheng Wang thought that the one who taught them English was a Yaksha. (3)
单从他们的话，盛王就认为教他们英语的是夜叉。(3)

It was later when he saw her then he realised it was not a Yaksha. Yang Jing was tall and willowy, her features were not much to speak of. Her cheek bones were a little high, but she would definitely be the most outstanding one when placed in a crowd.
后来当他看到她时，他才意识到那不是夜叉。杨静身材高大，柳树状，五官没什么好说的。她的颧骨有些高，但放在人群中绝对是最出众的那一个。

Du-du-du.
杜杜杜。

Yang Jing walked past the door and came back again, her chin lifted up and she knocked.
杨静走过门又回来，下巴抬起来敲了敲。

“Jing——” Sheng Wang was brainwashed for too long, and almost let a “Jing-jie” escape his mouth, luckily he stopped in time: “Teacher Yang.”
“静——”盛王被洗脑太久了，差点让一个“静杰”漏出嘴里，幸好他及时停了下来：“杨老师。

“En.” Yang Jing asked: “You’re still here? What for?”
“恩。”杨静问道：“你还在？干什么？

She spoke quickly and her chin was always slightly pointed up, a perfectly normal sentence felt like an interrogation when it came from her mouth.
她语速很快，下巴总是微微向上，一句完全正常的话，从她嘴里说出来，感觉就像是在审问。

However, Sheng Wang was never scared of teachers, he smiled and said: “I’m waiting for someone.”
不过，盛王从不怕老师，他笑着说：“我在等人。

“Oh.” Yang Qing shot a glance at his table, “How bold of you, you really just place your phone right under my nose?”
“哦。”杨青看了一眼自己的桌子，“你胆子真大，你真的就把手机放在我眼皮子底下？

Sheng Wang was stumped, he grabbed his phone and wordlessly passed it to her.
盛王被难住了，他抓起手机，无言地递给了她。

To act like he was well-behaved was one of the young master’s top tricks, Yang Jing raised her long and thin eyebrow, took a look around the empty classroom first, and then sized him up again: “What are you giving it to me for, my surname isn’t Xu. Go give it to the admin office yourself.”
装得乖巧是少爷的绝招之一，杨静挑了挑细长的眉毛，先是环顾了空荡荡的教室，然后又打量了一下他：“你给我干什么，我不是姓徐。自己去给行政办公室吧。

After she spoke, she left with her high heels clacking.
说完，她高跟鞋咔嚓咔嚓地离开了。

Sheng Wang settled his phone on the desk, just as he was about to let go, the person inside let out a “Hello”.
盛王将手机放在桌子上，刚要松手，里面的人发出了一声“你好”。

“Am here, speak.” Sheng Wang answered half-heartedly.
“我在这里，说话。”盛王半心半意地回答。

“Jiang Ou called him.”
“江鸥叫他来的。”

“Called who?” Sheng Wang nearly did not catch what he was asking, he then went “Oh” and said: “It’s Jiang Tian, right, he brought his phone? I never would have guessed that he’s the daring kind too.”
“叫谁？”盛王差点没听懂他在问什么，然后“哦”一声说：“是江天，对吧，他带了手机？我从来没想过他也是那种大胆的人。

Sheng Mingyang said, completely done: “Who are you trying to speak bad of with your talk? Call him ge next time.”
盛明阳说，彻底说完了：“你说话是想说谁的坏话？下次叫他 ge。

“No way, don’t even think about it.” There was no one around, Sheng Wang was explicit with his reply.
“没办法，想都别想。”周围没有人，盛王的回答很明确。

Sheng Mingyang was still quite the pro when it came to dealing with his own son, Sheng Wang refused to call him that, so he changed the address himself first: “Jiang Ou said that your older brother has been summoned to the office by a teacher.”
盛明阳在对付自己的亲儿子方面还是挺亲的，盛王不肯这么称呼他，于是他自己先换了地址：“江鸥说，你哥哥已经被老师叫到办公室了。

What the……
什么。。。。。。

Sheng Wang silently swore.
盛王默默发誓。

“You think that I wouldn’t know what you said even if you didn’t sound it?” Sheng Mingyang teased him, “Fine, you come back with Uncle Xiao-Chen first.”
“你以为你不发声我也不知道你说了什么？”盛明阳调侃他，“好，你先跟小陈叔叔回来。

“Oh, I don’t need to wait anymore?” Sheng Wang asked emotionlessly.
“哦，我不需要再等了？”盛王面无表情地问道。

He vaguely heard what Jiang Ou said softly on the other side: “It’s probably an olympiad or something else, it’s like this in the past too, by the time he reached home it was usually eleven. Quick, don’t keep Xiao-Wang hanging anymore, let him come back already.”
他隐约听到江鸥在另一边轻声说道：“大概是奥林匹克运动会什么的，过去也是这样，到家的时候一般都是十一点。快，别再让小王上吊了，让他回来吧。

Who’s the teacher that was so powerful so as to waste time with him till eleven? Sheng Wang carried his bag, and was puzzled as he went towards the entrance.
谁是这么厉害的老师，竟然和他一起浪费时间到十一点？盛王拎着包，疑惑地朝着门口走去。

“Sure then, come back first. I’ll get Xiao-Chen to make another trip later.” Sheng Mingyang said, and urged again: “Make sure to let your older brother know before you leave.”
“当然，你先回来吧。我稍后会让小陈再去一次。盛明阳说着，又催促道：“走之前一定要让哥哥知道。

In your dreams.
在你的梦中。

Sheng Wang switched off the lights in the classroom with a “pop”, and hung up without a second word.
盛王“啪”的一声关掉了教室的灯，二话不说就挂断了。

Walking past the office was a compulsory part of the journey downstairs, he said in your dreams earlier on, but when he walked past he still deigned himself to cast a glance inside, only to see that all five heads were buried in work in the office. In front of them was either test papers or the teaching plan. As for the Jiang Tian who was summoned to the office or so the legend foretold, not a single trace of him was to be found.
走过办公室是下楼旅程的必经之路，他刚才在你的梦中说过，但当他走过时，他仍然屈尊地向里面看了一眼，只见五个脑袋都埋在办公室里工作。摆在他们面前的不是试卷，就是教学计划。至于传说中被召到办公室的江天，却找不到他的踪迹。

Sheng Wang paused in his steps, his head full of question marks: Do certain people not bother making sure he gets his alibi straight before he starts making up bullshit? Isn’t he worried about getting exposed? Or…...he really is not in this office, but in another place?
盛王脚步停顿了一下，满脑子都是问号：难道有些人在他开始编废话之前，不费心确保他弄清楚不在场证明吗？他不担心被曝光吗？或。。。。。。他真的不在这个办公室，而是在另一个地方？

He looked left and right. He initially wanted to ask the teacher, but Uncle Xiao-Chen already sent a message, saying that he was at the school entrance, he could not park for long there.
他左顾右盼。他本来想问问老师，但小陈叔已经发来信息，说自己在学校门口，不能在那里停太久。

Therefore he hesitated a few seconds, and decided to continue downstairs anyways.
因此，他犹豫了几秒钟，决定还是继续下楼。

The key school(4) within the city did not consist of Fuzhong alone, but most of them sat in the outskirts, far from the urban district and far from the people, all looking like they were dying to religiously seclude themselves.
城内重点学校（4）并非只有福中，而是大多坐镇郊区，远离城区，远离百姓，一副死神隐居的样子。

Fuzhong was the rare exception. It was built early, and somehow managed to acquire a fortunately situated piece of land in the middle of the urban district, the moment it was built it stayed there for 130 years. Eventually as the surroundings gradually bustled and flourished, they surrounded the school and living area with a huge patch of woods, separating them from the noise.
福忠是罕见的例外。它建得很早，并以某种方式设法在城区中心获得了一块幸运的土地，在建成的那一刻，它就在那里呆了 130 年。最终，随着周围逐渐繁华和繁荣，他们用一大片树林包围了学校和生活区，将他们与喧嚣隔开。

The school named that patch of woods and greenery “Garden of Conduct”, the students called them “Magpie Bridge.” (5)
学校将那片树林和绿色植物命名为“行为花园”，学生们称它们为“喜鹊桥”。(5)

Adult couples of human society would cross the roads, hand in hand, the pre-maturely dating young couples(6) of the temple, in order to avoid being caught and exposed, could only cross the mud in the woods. At night, they were really more like ghosts.
人类社会的成年夫妇会手牵手过马路，庙里早熟的年轻夫妇（6）为了避免被抓到和暴露，只能在树林里穿过泥泞。到了晚上，他们真的更像是鬼魂。

The three days Sheng Wang was here, he already got spooked for quite a few times by these hauntings.
盛王来的三天，他已经被这些闹鬼吓坏了好几次了。

There were a few residential zones right outside the school gates, what constituted as residents were very simple, just three kinds——staff, students, and those who rented to accompany their child for school.(7)
校门外有几个居民区，居民的构成很简单，只有三种——教职员工、学生和租来陪孩子上学的人。(7)

Sheng Wang left the school gates as he walked along the haunted road, and saw Uncle Xiao-Chen gesture at him after he rolled down the car window.
盛王走在闹鬼的路上走着，离开了校门，看到小陈叔叔摇下车窗后向他打了个手势。

He stood at the school gates and waited for Xiao-Chen to turn the car around, when he suddenly heard the sound of people talking from the residential block nearby. The lamp here appeared to be spoilt, and flickered non-stop.
他站在校门口，等小陈掉头，突然听到附近居民区传来人说话的声音。这里的灯似乎已经变质了，不停地闪烁着。

Sheng Wang vaguely spotted two figures, one following the other in exiting from the block, and turning into another road.
盛王隐约发现了两个人影，一个跟着另一个从街区出来，拐进了另一条路。

“The street lamps are a little short-circuited, it’s quite dark. How about I accompany you there?”
“路灯有点短路，天色相当暗。我陪你去怎么样？

“No need.”
“不用了。”

He dimly heard a conversation like this, but it was muffled through the fence around the area and the traffic. He only felt that the person who replied had a cold tone, and it was familiar for some reason.
他隐约听到了这样的对话，但隔着周围的栅栏和车流，声音被低沉了。他只觉得回答的人语气冰冷，不知为何很熟悉。

“Xiao-Wang.” Uncle Xiao-Chen called him.
“小王。”小陈叔叔给他打电话。

Sheng Wang answered, lifted his foot and walked towards the car.
盛王应了一声，抬起脚朝车子走去。

Out of the corner of his eyes, the figure beneath the residential block seemingly looked back, but perhaps it was just an illusion from the overlapping shadows from the trees. Sheng Wang sat at the back, his head against the window, and wanted to take a nap.
他眼角余光，住宅楼下的身影似乎回头看了一眼，但也许这只是树影重叠的幻觉。盛王坐在后面，头靠在窗户上，想睡个午觉。

When the lights in his vision blurred together, then did he realise why that voice was so familiar. It was because it sounded a little like Jiang Tian, but yet it could not really be true, why would Jiang Tian go there?
当他视野中的灯光模糊在一起时，他才意识到为什么那个声音如此熟悉。因为听起来有点像江天，但又不可能是真的，江天为什么要去那里？

Sheng Wang woke up for a bit, then slowly gave in to drowsiness once more, and did not think too much of it.
盛王醒了一会儿，然后又慢慢地屈服于睡意，没有多想。

After all, no matter if it was Jiang Ou or Jiang Tian, although they may be living under the same roof, they were only Sheng Mingyang’s guests, and had nothing to do with him.
毕竟，不管是江鸥还是江天，虽然他们可能住在同一个屋檐下，但他们只是盛明阳的客人，与他没有任何关系。

Despite the new people moving in, there were no major changes to his home, what changed were the details.
尽管有新人搬进来，但他的家并没有发生重大变化，变化的是细节。

When Sheng Wang entered, Sheng Mingyang and Jiang Ou stood at the door, looking like they had been waiting for a long time. The housekeeper who was usually there was the one who was already gone instead.
盛王进来的时候，盛明阳和江鸥站在门口，一副等了很久的样子。平时在那里的管家却已经走了。

He did not even look up, opened the shoe cabinet, only to see that there was an extra row of unfamiliar looking shoes. One part was nearly the same type as sports shoes he owned, the other was women’s shoes.
他头也不抬，打开鞋柜，只见多出一排长相陌生的鞋子。一部分与他拥有的运动鞋几乎相同，另一部分是女鞋。

Ever since his mom passed away, things like these had not appeared in the house for a long long time.
自从他妈妈去世后，家里已经很久没有出现过这样的事情了。

“Your slippers are right here.” Sheng Mingyang bent over and passed his slippers to him, “I already prepared it for you.”
“你的拖鞋就在这里。”盛明阳弯下腰，把拖鞋递给他，“我已经给你准备好了。

Sheng Wang lowered his eyelids and stood in front of the cabinet for a while, then closed the door again, busying himself with untying his shoelaces.
盛王垂下眼皮，在柜子前站了一会儿，然后又关上了门，忙着解鞋带。

“You were still fine on the phone just now, why are you so closed off the moment you enter the doors?” Sheng Mingyang patted Jiang Ou’s shoulder, adjusted the material of his trousers, and half squatted in front of Sheng Wang, asking: “I was on the phone with Old Xu, oh, your Dean, just now. He said that my son did quite well in school, the teachers in class all like you very much, and I hear that your tests yesterday went quite well?”
“刚才你打电话还没事，怎么一进门就这么封闭？”盛明阳拍了拍江鸥的肩膀，调整了裤子的材质，半蹲在盛王面前，问道：“我刚才和老徐通电话，哦，你的院长。他说我儿子在学校表现还挺好的，班上的老师都很喜欢你，听说你昨天的考试还挺好的？

After hearing this, Sheng Wang’s fingers, which were previously occupied with changing his shoes, paused.
听后，盛王之前忙于换鞋的手指顿了顿。

He lifted his head and gave Sheng Mingyang a glance, straightened up, carried the bag on his shoulder and said: “It’s quite fine, I failed three subjects.”
他抬起头看了盛明阳一眼，直起身子，把包扛在肩上说：“还好，我三科不及格。

After that he sped past them and went upstairs.
之后，他飞驰从他们身边走过，上了楼。

Sheng Mingyang and Jiang Ou both looked at each other in dismay, and stood rigidly in awkwardness.
盛明阳和江鸥都沮丧地对视一眼，尴尬地僵硬地站着。

“I already told you it’s better if I’m not standing here.” Jiang Ou said.
“我已经告诉过你了，我最好不要站在这里。”江鸥说。

“He will have to get used to this one way or another.” Sheng Mingyang heard the bedroom door on the second door close with a “bang”, and sighed: “This kid is all harsh words but deep down he’s soft, he can rationally tell who’s good and who’s bad, it isn’t that he’s out to get you, he’s just……”
“他将不得不以一种或另一种方式习惯这一点。”盛明阳听到第二扇门上的卧室门“砰”的一声关上，感叹道：“这小子都是狠话但内心深处却是柔软的，他能理性分辨谁好谁坏，不是他出来抓你，他只是......”

“He just misses his mom, I understand.” Jiang Ou said.
“他只是想念他的妈妈，我理解。”江鸥说。

She peered at the kitchen, and said to Sheng Mingyang: “I won’t be bringing the porridge to him then, you should do it.”
她凝视着厨房，对盛明阳说：“到时候我就不给他送粥了，你还是这么做吧。

“He’s probably still angry for now, he wouldn’t open the door for me.” Sheng Mingyang let out a fake laugh, and said: “Who do you think the sign that says do not knock on the door is for? Warm the porridge and leave it there first, he would come down to eat when he’s hungry.”
“他现在可能还在生气，他不会给我开门。”盛明阳假笑一声，道：“你觉得不敲门的牌子是给谁看的？把粥烧热，先放在那里，饿了他就下来吃。

“I feel like the way you and Xiao-Wang interact have some issues……” Jiang Ou could not help but say.
“我感觉你和小王的互动方式有些问题......”江鸥忍不住说道。

“Nah, we already got along like this for so many years.” Sheng Mingyang said, not sounding pleased.
“不，我们已经这样相处了这么多年。”盛明阳说道，听起来并不高兴。

Jiang Ou looked upstairs in concern.
江鸥关切地看向楼上。

“Don’t look, it’s not a big deal if he doesn’t cry.” Sheng Mingyang said in all confidence.
“别看，他不哭也没什么大不了的。”盛明阳满怀信心地说道。

Jiang Ou: “???”
江 或：“???”

Second floor bedroom, Sheng Wang was entirely clueless about his father’s words.
二楼卧室，盛王对父亲的话一无所知。

He dug out a packet of melon seeds from the snack cabinet, curled up beside the table, and munched on it as he listened to Crab ramble on in voice messages.
他从零食柜里翻出一包瓜子，蜷缩在桌子旁边，一边咀嚼着，一边听着螃蟹在语音留言中喋喋不休。

StarAniseCrab: “That grandson got full marks? So what if it’s fu-full marks? Did you not score many full marks in the past? After you get through the books thoroughly, full marks are as easy as abc!”
StarAniseCrab：“那个孙子满分了？那么如果是满分呢？你过去没有得到很多满分吗？读完书后，满分就像 abc 一样容易！

Sheng Wang swept away melon seed shells on his hand, and answered: “Don’t stutter, you can say it properly.”
盛王拂去手上的瓜子壳，回答道：“别结巴，你好好说吧。

“Say it properly?” Crab whimpered: “I will go kowtow in front of my ancestors if I ever score full marks in any life I live in. Still, you scored this much with a only day of studying, can you imagine the possibilities with a week?”
“说得好吗？”螃蟹呜咽道：“我生活的任何一生，如果能考满分，我都会在祖先面前磕头。不过，你只学习了一天就考了这么多，你能想象一周的可能性吗？

“Did you drink?”
“你喝了吗？”

“I didn’t.”
“我没有。”

“Then why are you speaking like you’re drunk.” Sheng Wang said: “All my marks are free marks, the kind that anyone can score after going through the teaching material once, if I can score full marks with a week of studying, then what’s the point of me going to school?”
“那你怎么说话像喝醉了一样。”王盛说：“我所有的分数都是免费分数，是任何人都看完一次教材就能考的那种，如果我学习一周就能考满分，那我上学有什么意义呢？

“Why do I never realise that there’s so many free marks?” Crab aggrieved.
“为什么我从来没有意识到有这么多免费分数？”螃蟹委屈。

“You’re blind.”
“你瞎了。”

“Fine, do you still want any papers? I can go ask the year twos again.” Crab was always eager to help.
“好吧，你还要文件吗？我可以再去问二年级的学生了。螃蟹总是乐于助人。

Sheng Wang flipped through the assignments he received, and said: “For now, no need. I bought a few assessment books, I’ll do them first.”
盛王翻了翻接到的作业，说道：“暂时不用了。我买了几本测评书，我先做一下。

He managed to finish off two comprehension passages for language as well as the foundational questions for the three sciences, math physics and chem, during night self study. The remaining he planned to slowly grind his way through while learning them, slowly chip away at it at night. In the end, the chipping away took two hours straight.
在夜间自学中，他成功完成了两篇语言理解文章以及数学、物理和化学三门科学的基础问题。剩下的他打算在学习它们的同时慢慢磨练，在晚上慢慢削掉它。最后，削球连续花了两个小时。

Crab was probably doing questions too, he felt a little like he did not want to be left out. He popped up and asked Sheng Wang: “Sheng-ge, how’s it going Sheng-ge, do you feel like you are one with the heavens all your arteries and veins are unblocked everything’s flowing like cloud and water and you got everything down at one go?”(8)
螃蟹可能也在做问题，他觉得自己有点不想被排除在外。他突然出现，问盛王：“盛哥，怎么样了，盛哥，你是不是觉得你和天合一，你所有的动脉和静脉都畅通无阻，一切都像云水一样流动，你一下子把所有东西都搞定了？(8)

Sheng Wang let out a dry laugh, and said: “I can’t do it”
盛王发出一声干笑，说：“我做不到”

Crab: “Huh? How?”
螃蟹：“嗯？怎么样？

Sheng Wang was also despondent.
盛王也感到沮丧。

He was usually a very good self-learner, even though this may make him sound shameless, but he was pretty self-aware. There were three things spreaded across the table in front of him, on the left was the teaching material, the centre the test paper, and on the right the assessment books.
他通常是一个非常好的自学者，尽管这可能让他听起来无耻，但他非常有自我意识。他面前的桌子上铺着三样东西，左边是教材，中间是试卷，右边是测评书。

He always looked at the question on the test first, circled out what piece of information was he getting tested on, speedily read through the relevant portion in the teaching material, next go to the right to get a feel of the question with two similar question types, and then attempt the question on the test.
他总是先看试题，圈出自己要考的是什么信息，快速通读教材中的相关部分，然后往右边看两类相似题型的题目，然后试题题。

With this series of steps, with more deduction, he would be able to solve similar questions.
通过这一系列步骤，加上更多的推理，他将能够解决类似的问题。

He quickly finished most of the assignments with this method, and yet only the last question for physics was still blank, as he was unable to find a corresponding question type.
他很快就用这种方法完成了大部分作业，但只有物理的最后一道题仍然是空白的，因为他无法找到相应的题型。

“Really? It can’t be?” Crab said, “Send a pic of the question to me.”
“真的吗？不可能？螃蟹说：“把问题的照片发给我。

“What, you’re helping me solve it?”
“什么，你在帮我解决？”

“You jest!” Crab said, “I’m seeking help from the audience. There’s a couple of pretty smart seniors living next dorm over, let me go ask them.”
“你开玩笑！”克拉布说：“我正在寻求观众的帮助。宿舍隔壁住着几个很聪明的高年级学生，让我去问问他们。

Sheng Wang sent a picture to him, and directly went online on his computer to search too.
盛王发了一张图片给他，直接在电脑上也上网搜索。

Around half an hour later, Crab came back with his tail between his legs: “The seniors turned on the torch light and went to solve the question on their stomachs. As they tried they kept yelling at me, saying that I’m out to get them, if they can’t solve it by tonight, they won’t be able to get any rest.”
大约半个小时后，螃蟹夹着尾巴回来了：“学长们打开火炬，趴着去解题。当他们尝试时，他们一直对我大喊大叫，说我是出去抓他们的，如果他们今晚不能解决，他们就无法休息。

Sheng Wang bit his lips as he glared at the computer screen, and did not reply.
盛王咬着嘴唇瞪着电脑屏幕，没有回答。

Crab sent three messages in a row again, and in the end he went straight for a voice message.
螃蟹又连发了三条消息，最后他直奔语音消息。

The moment he got to Sheng Wang he asked: “How is it?”
一到盛旺身边，他就问：“怎么样？

Sheng Wang went reticently: “I found something that looks kinda similar.”
盛王沉默地说：“我发现了一个看起来有点相似的东西。

Crab: “Oh! Then it’s fine already, just do it!”
螃蟹：“哦！那已经没事了，就去做吧！

“The hell with doing it, it’s an olympiad question.”
“做这件事到底是什么，这是一个奥林匹克问题。”

Crab: “...... Why is your homework so hardcore?”
螃蟹：“......你的作业怎么这么硬核？

Wasn’t it a little too screwed up to get someone who did not even learn the content to do an olympiad question?
让一个连内容都没学过的人来做奥林匹克问题，是不是有点太搞砸了？

“I’ll hang up first, I need to go down for some ice water to calm down.” Sheng Wang spoke, cutting off the voice message and grumbled on his way down.
“我先挂断电话，我需要下去喝点冰水冷静下来。”盛王说话，打断了语音信息，咕哝着往下走。

The living room was already dark, with only the light at the entrance being left on. He shot a look at the clock before realising that it was already 11pm. He brought out a bottle of ice water from the fridge and went upstairs, leaned against the window and chugged two mouthfuls. Just as he prepared to return and chip away at the question, he suddenly spotted someone standing next to the street lamp outside the courtyard.
客厅已经很黑了，只有入口处的灯还亮着。他看了一眼时钟，才意识到已经是晚上 11 点了。他从冰箱里拿出一瓶冰水上楼，靠在窗户上大口喝了两口。正当他准备回去削去这个问题时，他突然发现院外的路灯旁边站着一个人。

That person carried a bag on the shoulders, and was on the phone.
那个人肩上扛着一个包，正在打电话。

Maybe it was the street lamp being bright enough, maybe it was his eyesight that was good enough. Sheng Wang could see the irritation and vexation on the person’s face all the way through the window pane and across the courtyard.
也许是路灯够亮，也许是他的视力足够好。盛王透过窗玻璃，隔着院子，都能看到那人脸上的恼怒和恼怒。

Who’s on the other side on the phone that caused so much anger?
电话那头是谁引起了如此多的愤怒？

Sheng Wang was a little curious. He saw Jiang Tian tap the screen once, and stuffed his phone into his pants’ pocket with a cold look on his face. Yet, he did not immediately enter the courtyard, but rather he stood out there by himself for quite a bit, before turning to look at the building.
盛王有些好奇。他看到江甜轻点了一次屏幕，一脸冰冷地把手机塞进了裤兜里。然而，他并没有立即进入院子，而是独自站在那里很长一段时间，然后转身看向这座建筑。

Sheng Wang closed the curtains on instinct in order to shield himself, only after closing the curtains then he realised that this was more obvious instead.
盛王本能地拉上了窗帘，以保护自己，直到拉上窗帘后，他才意识到这反而更明显。

Fine whatever this was too dumb.
好吧，不管怎样，这太愚蠢了。

After some thinking he opened the curtains again, and unabashedly looked outside the window, only to see that Jiang Tian had already turned around, and was walking in the opposite direction.
想了想，他又拉开窗帘，毫不掩饰地看向窗外，只见江甜已经转过身来，正朝相反的方向走去。

“Eh?” Sheng Wang was dumbfounded.
“嗯？”盛王傻眼了。

By the time he realised, he already opened the window, and yelled at the person outside the courtyard: “Where are you going? Don’t you know how to open the door?”
等他意识到时，他已经打开了窗户，对院外的人吼道：“你要去哪里？你不知道怎么开门吗？

The commotion was a little bit loud. When he was done, the bedroom window downstairs also opened.
骚动有点大。说完，楼下卧室的窗户也打开了。

Sheng Mingyang stuck his head out and looked at him: “Who are you talking to?”
盛明阳探出头来，看着他：“你在跟谁说话？

Without needing Sheng Wang’s reply, he immediately realised: “Jiang Tian?”
不用盛王的回复，他立刻意识到：“江天？

“If not who else? A thief?” Sheng Wang said.
“如果不是，还有谁？小偷？“王盛说。

But he soon came to regret it.
但他很快就后悔了。

Two minutes later, Jiang Tian who initially planned to leave was dragged into the living room by his mom and Sheng Mingyang, and was besieged at the intersection of the first and second floor.
两分钟后，原本打算离开的江甜被妈妈和盛明阳拖进客厅，被围困在一楼和二楼的路口。

Young master Sheng Wang cracked open the door, wanting to watch the show. Just as he revealed a single eye he directly met Jiang Tian’s icy gaze. With some thought, he silently shut the door once more.
少爷盛王破门而入，想要看戏。就在他露出一只眼睛的时候，直接对上了江天冰冷的目光。想了想，他又默默地关上了门。

Footnotes:
脚注：

This character contained the character for ‘green’ in chinese, basically they spoke of ‘green’ and their faces paled/turned white accordingly.
这个字在中文中包含“绿色”的字符，基本上他们说的是“绿色”，他们的脸相应地变得苍白/变白。

Jie: suffix indicating ‘older sister’, this is a very casual and disrespectful way of addressing a teacher, thus a nickname the students would use amongst themselves and not say it directly to the teacher’s face
杰：后缀表示“姐姐”，这是一种非常随意和不尊重老师的称呼方式，因此学生们会在自己之间使用这个昵称，而不是直接当着老师的面说出来

A scary looking spirit in both hindu and buddhist mythology
印度教和佛教神话中看起来很可怕的灵魂

Key schools are schools distinguished from ordinary schools by academic reputation and are generally allocated more resources by the state, both Sheng Wang’s present and previous schools are this. Will change tl back in chapter 1 to reflect this.
重点学校是以学术声誉区别于普通学校的学校，一般由国家分配更多的资源，盛旺现在和以前的学校都是这样。将在第 1 章中更改 tl 以反映这一点。

Magpie bridge: the one that the cowherd and the weaving maid reunites every lunar seventh month seventh day aka chinese valentines
喜鹊桥：每年农历七月七重逢的喜鹊桥，又名七日七

Pre-mature dating aka dating while still in school, the narration also sarcastically called this place a temple but it should be noted it isn’t one, just a figurative way of saying that they aren’t allowed to date, just like monks. Also, early dating is heavily frowned upon in chinese schools and they would actively break couples up/inform parents and guardians etc etc for some.
过早约会又名在学校时约会，旁白还讽刺地称这个地方为寺庙，但应该注意的是，它不是寺庙，只是一种比喻的方式，说他们不被允许约会，就像僧侣一样。此外，早期约会在中文学校中是非常不受欢迎的，他们会积极地拆散情侣/通知父母和监护人等。

Peidu (accompany to study): some parents (usually moms) would accompany their kids to locations near favourable schools for the sake of their studies, quite common for abroad too.
佩都（陪读书）：一些家长（通常是妈妈）为了学习，会陪孩子去好学校附近的地方，这在国外也很常见。

The following idioms used here, in a row: “Oneness of heaven and humanity”, “Six pulses are all unclogged”, “moving clouds and flowing water” “do everything at one go/to flow smoothly”, basically, he was asking: did everything come easily for Sheng Wang/if he made much progress
这里用到的以下成语，一连串：“天人合一”、“六脉俱通”、“动云流水”、“事事一气呵成/要顺畅”，基本上，他是在问：盛王来得容易吗/如果他进步多了

Chapter 007 - Post-it Note
第007章 便利贴

These were the Steps for Solving the Last Physics Question
这些是解决最后一个物理问题的步骤

By the time the whole hullabaloo was over, it was already midnight.
当整个呼拉巴卢结束时，已经是午夜了。

Who knew what Sheng Mingyang and Jiang Ou resorted to, in any case they managed to get Jiang Tian to stay. Sheng Wang listened through his bedroom door, but whatever he caught was incoherent . Still, he deduced from what he witnessed before and figured that it was once again Jiang Ou who acted pitiful. As long as Jiang Ou put on that pleading yet wary look of hers, Jiang Tian would not bear to be too harsh.
谁知道盛明阳和江鸥采取了什么手段，无论如何，他们还是设法让江天留下来。盛王隔着卧室门听着，但听到什么都语无伦次。尽管如此，他还是从之前的目睹中推断出来，认为又是江鸥行得可怜。只要江鸥摆出她那种恳求又警惕的神情，江甜就不忍心太苛刻。

Footsteps came upstairs in bits and pieces, Sheng Wang was still leaning against the door when he heard Sheng Mingyang say: “Xiao-Tian, you can stay in this bedroom.”
楼上有零零碎碎的脚步声传来，盛王还靠在门上，就听到盛明阳说：“小天，你住这间卧室吧。

There was an independent bathroom and study opposite Sheng Wang’s room, the ‘this bedroom’ in his dad’s words was right next to him. Though the house was quite not quite new, it did get a complete renovation at one point and had decent soundproofing. Regardless, with the rooms stuck right next to each other and even sharing a wall, they more or less could somewhat hear each other.
盛王的房间对面有一个独立的卫生间和书房，他爸爸话中的“这间卧室”就在他旁边。虽然这所房子还不是很新，但它确实有一次进行了全面翻新，并且隔音效果不错。无论如何，由于房间紧挨着，甚至共用一堵墙，他们或多或少可以听到对方的声音。

Sheng Wang felt like his private territory was invaded, a tinge of awkwardness mixed in with his resentment.
盛王感觉自己的私人领地被侵犯了，怨恨中夹杂着一丝尴尬。

His phone suddenly vibrated. Sheng Wang listlessly swiped on his phone; Crab was still updating him on the two seniors’ progress.
他的手机突然震动起来。盛王无精打采地刷手机;克拉布仍在向他通报两位前辈的最新进展。

StarAniseCrab:
八角蟹：

Good news, they finally solved the first part. I even managed to feel their fervor all the way from the other side of the wall, then their dorm got a warning from the teacher on patrol.
好消息，他们终于解决了第一部分。我什至设法从墙的另一边感受到了他们的热情，然后他们的宿舍收到了巡逻老师的警告。

StarAniseCrab: Hey, still awake?
StarAniseCrab：嘿，还醒着？

StarAniseCrab: ??
八角蟹：？？

Sheng Wang brought the phone near his lips: “It’s not even that late yet, I’m still up.”
盛王把手机凑到唇边：“还没那么晚，我还在起床。

StarAniseCrab: It’s already 12.30am ge. How ‘bout you? How’s your progress?
StarAniseCrab：现在已经是凌晨 12 点 30 分了。你怎么样？你的进步如何？

Canned: “Didn’t get the chance to.”
罐头：“没机会。

StarAniseCrab: Huh? Then what have you been doing all these while?
StarAniseCrab：嗯？那你这段时间都在做什么？

Canned: “Witnessing a family soap opera.”(1)
罐头：“目睹一部家庭肥皂剧。(1)

Crab was his previous dormitory roommate after all, they were quite tight and he roughly knew about his situation at home. The phone, once vibrating non-stop, suddenly went quiet for a while. Much later, Crab cautiously asked: What’s the situation now?
螃蟹毕竟是他以前的宿舍室友，他们关系比较紧，他对自己在家里的情况也大致了解。手机，曾经不停地振动，突然安静了一会儿。很久以后，螃蟹小心翼翼地问道：现在情况如何？

Sheng Wang held down the voice message button, let go of it a few seconds later, and decided to type instead.
盛王按住语音留言按钮，几秒钟后松开了，决定打字。

Crab received a voice message filled with silence. He sent a long chain of question marks in response.
螃蟹收到了一条充满沉默的语音信息。他发出了一长串问号作为回应。

Sheng Wang did not bother with an explanation. He slumped against the door and typed on his t9 keyboard: A woman about to become my stepmother moved in with her son, her son lives right to me, I
盛王懒得解释。他瘫坐在门上，在他的 t9 键盘上打字：一个即将成为我继母的女人搬来和她的儿子住在一起，她的儿子就住在我身边，我

I what? There was not much point in saying this to other people, and it was a little prissy. It was mostly because that it was prissy, it did not match his suave image. As Sheng Wang thought so, he deleted the words he already typed out, and voice messaged: “Nothing much, it’s just that there’s this grandson(2) living next door to me now, and I have to call him ge out of politeness.”
我什么？对其他人说这句话没有多大意义，而且有点挑剔。主要是因为它很挑剔，与他温文尔雅的形象不符。盛王一边这么想，一边删掉了已经打出来的字，语音留言道：“没什么，只是现在我隔壁住着这个孙子（2），出于客气，我不得不叫他哥。

His words were ambiguous, Crab thought that it was some one-of-a-kind relative,(3) and was instantly relieved.
他的话含糊不清，螃蟹以为是某种独一无二的亲戚，（3）顿时松了口气。

StarAniseCrab: Then did you call him?
StarAniseCrab：那你给他打电话了吗？

Canned: “Impossible, I’ve always lacked manners.”
罐头：“不可能，我一直缺乏礼貌。

StarAniseCrab: Hahaha then chase him out.
StarAniseCrab：哈哈哈，然后把他赶出去。

Canned: “I totally want to. Don’t you own a dog? Lend it to me later, I’ll bring the dog to that room and let it piss all over, let’s see who can even stay there.”
罐头：“我完全想。你没有养狗吗？等会儿借给我，我把狗带到那个房间里，让它尿得满身都是，让我们看看谁还能呆在那里。

StarAniseCrab: Fuck, stop describing, I can nearly smell it.
StarAniseCrab：操，别再描述了，我几乎能闻到它的味道。

Sheng Wang cheered up. He got a kick out of his words, yet he suddenly recalled the way Jiang Tian looked as he stood by himself outside the courtyard, the street lamp stretching out his shadows. Quite proud, but a little...lonely.
盛王振作起来。他的话被踢了一跳，但他突然想起了江甜独自站在院子外的样子，路灯将他的影子伸出来。相当自豪，但有点......孤独。

The young master ‘tsked’, and continued: “Whatever, it’s too troublesome. As long as he doesn’t try to talk to me, and not affect my studying, it will be fine. Out of sight out of mind. I’m going back to my questions now.”
少爷'啧啧'了一声，继续说道：“随便，太麻烦了。只要他不试图和我说话，不影响我的学习，就没事了。离久情疏。我现在要回到我的问题上。

StarAniseCrab: Eh? Hold on.
StarAniseCrab：嗯？坚持。

StarAniseCrab: Speaking of doing questions I suddenly just remembered, if you are made to call him ge, then the grandson next door should be older than you, right?
StarAniseCrab：说到做题我突然想起来，如果你让他叫哥，那隔壁的孙子应该比你大吧？

StarAniseCrab: He’s at least year two onwards, right? How about you try showing that question to him, if he could solve it that’s just fine, if he couldn’t you could embarrass him.
StarAniseCrab：他至少已经二年级了，对吧？你试着把这个问题展示给他看，如果他能解决，那很好，如果他不能，你可能会让他难堪。

This train of thought was truly a little audacious, Sheng Wang was so floored by him, he replied with zero hesitation: You’re embarrassing me.
这趟思路确实有些大胆，盛王被他打得太惊呆了，他毫不犹豫地回答：你让我难堪。

Canned: I’m going offline!
罐头：我要下线了！

The last sentence was a little harsh, StarAniseCrab chickened out, and quiet down as expected.
最后一句话有些刺耳，StarAniseCrab 退缩了，果然安静下来。

After Sheng Mingyang arranged Jiang Tian’s accommodation, his footsteps hesitated briefly before he stopped outside Sheng Wang’s door, and called out in a soft voice: “Son?” His voice was not loud, nor did he knock on the door, like he was afraid of disturbing people.
盛明阳安排好江天的住宿后，脚步稍作犹疑，才停在盛旺的门外，轻声喊道：“儿子？他的声音并不大，也没有敲门，像是怕打扰人。

Sheng Wang was actually standing right behind the door, the father and son were only separated by a single wooden board. He heard everything loud and clear, and yet he did not reply.
盛王居然就站在门后，父子俩只隔着一块木板。他听到了一切响亮而清晰的声音，但他没有回答。

“Son?” Sheng Mingyang called out once more.
“儿子？”盛明阳再次喊道。

Sheng Wang still did not respond.
盛王还是没有回应。

A while later, he heard Sheng Mingyang say to Jiang Ou in a low voice: “It’s already been more than an hour, he’s probably asleep.”
过了一会儿，他听到盛明阳低声对江鸥说：“已经一个多小时了，他估计睡着了。

“Really?” Jiang Ou was a little unsure.
“真的吗？”江鸥有些不确定。

“He should be.” Sheng Mingyang estimated the time with the wall clock, and mumbled: “It’s almost one, let’s go down first.”
“他应该是。”盛明阳用挂钟估计了一下时间，喃喃道：“快一点了，我们先下去吧。

Deliberately lightened footsteps retreated away from the room, and went down along the stairs.
故意放轻的脚步声从房间里退开，沿着楼梯走下去。

Sheng Wang dimly heard his dad say: “I have to catch the morning flight tomorrow, help me take care for a bit.”
盛王隐隐约约听到爸爸说：“我明天还要赶早班机，帮我照顾一下。

Sheng Wang only returned to the table after any movement downstairs completely disappeared. He pushed his book aside as he sat on the table, his feet on the edge of the chair, the test paper spreading on his lap. He stared down at it for ten minutes, his head a complete mess without a single clear train of thought at all.
盛王在楼下的任何动静完全消失后，才回到了桌子上。他把书推到一边，坐在桌子上，双脚放在椅子边缘，试卷铺在腿上。他低头盯着它看了十分钟，脑袋一团糟，根本没有一个清晰的思路。

He raised his head, his upper body slightly leaned back.
他抬起头，上半身微微向后倾斜。

From this angle, he could see half of the window next room over. The light specifically that came from a desk lamp was reflected onto the glass through the curtains. With this, it appeared that Jiang Tian was probably rushing his homework too.
从这个角度，他可以看到隔壁房间的一半窗户。特别是来自台灯的光通过窗帘反射到玻璃上。这样看来，江甜估计也在赶作业了。

He wondered if his physics was completed……
他想知道他的物理学是否已经完成......

He should probably be done, he was already doing practice papers during night self study, if he was still stuck on that he would be doing a disservice to the name of top student.
他可能应该完成，他已经在夜间自习时做练习卷了，如果他仍然坚持下去，他将对尖子生的名声造成伤害。

What if he also did not know how to solve the last question?
如果他也不知道如何解决最后一个问题怎么办？

But that person scored full marks.
但那个人却考了满分。

There was probably a Crab residing in his head, going blah blah blah and endlessly debating him non-stop.
他的脑子里可能住着一只螃蟹，胡说八道，不停地与他争论不休。

Test paper or face, he had to pick between one. (4)
试卷或脸，他必须在其中之一之间做出选择。(4)

The pen in Sheng Wang’s hand spun for n rounds, he finally slapped it on the table: I choose face.
盛王手里的笔转了 n 圈，终于一拍在桌子上：我选面子。

Five minutes later, the young master dragged along the face that met its demise and stood in front of the door next to his. He lifted his hand three times before he grudgingly knocked on the door.
五分钟后，少爷拖着那张遇死的脸，站在了他旁边的门前。他举起手三次，才勉强敲了敲门。

“Who?” Jiang Tian’s voice ranged behind the door, it was chilly.
“谁？”江甜的声音在门后响起，冷淡的。

This person, even when living under another person's roof, had zero intention to act carefully and cower, a “Who” was asked with so much audacity, Sheng Wang was nearly blown back into his room with the force of it. His left foot shifted before he kept it back again, and chose to strategically act deaf as he held onto the door frame.
这个人，即使住在别人的屋檐下，也没有小心翼翼、畏缩的意思，一个“谁”被如此大胆地问到，盛王差点被它的力量吹回自己的房间。他的左脚移动了一下，然后又把它放回原处，并选择在抓住门框时策略性地表现得充耳不闻。

With not a single response heard, Jiang Tian shuffled over in his slippers. The door handle clicked and the door half opened.
没有听到任何回应，江甜穿着拖鞋拖着脚走了过来。门把手咔哒一声，门半开。

He evidently did not expect the visitor to be Sheng Wang, and was startled. Perhaps he held a grudge for him getting dragged inside, his expression was not friendly, looking like he had a toothache or an ache in general.
他显然没想到来访者是盛王，吓了一跳。也许是对他被拖进去怀恨在心，他的表情并不友好，看起来他牙痛或全身疼痛。

“What’s with your look?” Sheng Wang said.
“你的样子怎么样？”“王盛说。

“Out with it.” Jiang Tian obviously did not want to chat.
“出去吧。”江甜显然不想聊天。

Sheng Wang’s mouth opened, he stuck out his hand and said: “Return my pen.”
盛王张开嘴，伸出手说：“还我的笔。

Jiang Tian looked at him expressionlessly for two seconds, and went back into his room.
江甜面无表情地看了他两秒，然后回到了自己的房间。

The moment the door was vacated, Sheng Wang turned his head and swatted at his own mouth.
门空出来的那一刻，盛王转过头，拍了拍自己的嘴。

Are you a coward handsome guy, I’m asking if you are a coward?! He viciously mocked himself on the inside, and yet in the instant Jiang Tian went back to the door he returned back to his lazy idling self.
你是懦夫帅哥吗，我问你是不是胆小鬼？！他内心恶狠狠地嘲讽自己，然而在江甜回到门口的那一刻，他又回到了懒惰、无所事事的自己。

Jiang Tian handed the pen over to him, and asked again: “Is there anything else?”
江天把笔递给他，又问：“还有什么吗？

“Just this.” Sheng Wang said.
“就这个。”“王盛说。

Jiang Tian nodded, and closed his door without a second word.
江甜点点头，二话不说就关上了门。

“.......”

Sheng Wang stared at the pen in his hand for a few seconds, and slowly stuck out a middle finger at the room door. He then scrambled back to his room to continue the showdown against the physics paper.
盛王盯着手中的笔看了几秒，缓缓在房间门口伸出了一根中指。然后他匆匆忙忙地回到自己的房间，继续与物理论文的对决。

A smooth sailing student like him certainly did make mistakes before, but this was the first time he did not even know how to start. Students his type all have a bad habit, if they could not logically fill up the paper they would lose sleep over it.
像他这样一帆风顺的学生，以前确实犯过错误，但这是他第一次甚至不知道该如何开始。他这种类型的学生都有一个坏习惯，如果他们不能逻辑地填满试卷，他们就会为此失眠。

He switched between many trains of thought, every time he would cross them out after he was halfway through with a method. People who practiced enough would have instincts like this——they may not arrive at the right conclusion, but just one glance and the wrong ones were obvious enough.
他在许多思路之间切换，每次他都会在用一种方法完成一半后将它们划掉。练够了的人，才会有这样的直觉——未必能得出正确的结论，但只是看一眼，错的就足够明显了。

Sheng Wang was sunken in the whirlpool of errors. After twenty minutes of distress, he finally tossed his pen aside.
盛王陷入了失误的漩涡中。苦恼了二十分钟，他终于把笔扔到了一边。

All his attention was on tiny balls, water droplets and viscosity, only when he got up then he heard movement outside the door. He wondered if Jiang Tian left his room.
他所有的注意力都集中在小球、水滴和粘度上，直到他站起来时，他才听到门外有动静。他想知道江甜是否离开了他的房间。

Did he come out for a stroll after driving himself insane with studying?
他是不是在学习中发疯后出来散步的？

Sheng Wang hesisted momentarily, and went to grab his door handle once more.
盛王犹豫了一下，又去抓门把手。

Humid air came gushing at him the moment he opened the door. Sheng Wang was briefly swept away, before he noticed that Jiang Tian just left the bathroom opposite his room. He changed into an oversized gray short-sleeve shirt, his half dried black hair was neatly combed to the back. It was evident that he just showered.
当他打开门的那一刻，潮湿的空气向他涌来。盛王短暂地被卷走，才注意到江甜刚刚离开了自己房间对面的卫生间。他换上了一件超大号的灰色短袖衬衫，半干的黑发整齐地梳到后面。很明显，他只是洗了个澡。

He held the towel in his hand, shook his head to get rid of the water in his ears, then looked up towards Sheng Wang, and asked: “You still need something?”
他手里拿着毛巾，摇摇头把耳里的水甩掉，然后抬头看向盛王，问道：“你还需要什么？

Sheng Wang turned on his heels, and went straight for the stairs: “I’m going down for some water, you just go and shower.”
盛王转身，径直朝楼梯走去：“我下去喝点水，你去洗澡就行了。

He dug out a bottle of ice water, twisted the cap open, realised that it was undrinkable, and could only go back upstairs and back into his room with his tail between his legs.
他翻出一瓶冰水，拧开瓶盖，意识到是不能喝的，只能夹着尾巴回到楼上回到自己的房间。

Sheng Wang pressed the bottle to his forehead, and slumped over the table for a while, till drowsiness nearly started coming for him, then did he finally managed to convince himself——They were definitely going to be sharing the same house for the near future, they could not keep this awkwardness up forever, there had to be a way out for them.
盛王把瓶子按在额头上，瘫坐在桌子上一会儿，直到睡意快要来了，这才终于说服了自己——他们肯定要在不久的将来住在同一个房子里，他们不能一直保持这种尴尬，他们必须有一条出路。

This physics question would be that way out.
这个物理问题就是这样。

Sheng Wang stood up for the third time, and determinedly grabbed the paper with him this time round. Either go big or go home.
盛王第三次站了起来，这次坚决地和他一起抢了纸。要么做大，要么回家。

He was finally mentally prepared and was about to go knock on the door next to his. Yet, the moment his door opened, Jiang Tian was already leaning against the wall next to him. His left hand was half-heartedly occupied with drying his hair with a towel, his right hand was holding his phone, his eyes lowered as he swiped at his screen, poker-faced as usual.
他终于做好了心理准备，准备去敲他旁边的门。然而，当他的门打开的那一刻，江甜已经靠在了旁边的墙上。他的左手半心半意地用毛巾擦干头发，右手拿着手机，眼睛低垂着刷屏，像往常一样扑克脸。

“Why are you at my door?” Sheng Wang was startled.
“你怎么在我家门口？”盛王吓了一跳。

“Waiting for the rabbit by the tree stump.” (5)
“在树桩边等兔子。”(5)

Sheng Wang: “.......”
王盛：《.......》

If it was not for the fact that he did not look very happy either, Sheng Wang would have suspected that he was joking.
如果不是他看起来也不太开心，盛王早就怀疑他在开玩笑了。

Jiang Tian placed the phone back in his pocket, and asked: “You already went in and out for quite a couple of times, what exactly do you want?”
江甜把手机放回口袋里，问道：“你已经进进出出了好几次了，你到底想要什么？

Sheng Wang hid the test paper in his hand right behind him, and did not manage to squeeze out a single word even after a long while. In the end he said a: “Is that any of your business?” before shutting the door.
盛王将手中的试卷藏在身后，过了半天也没能挤出一个字。最后他说：“这关你的事吗？

A man’s face is bigger than the sky.
男人的脸比天还大。

Sheng Wang for the first time ever deeply related to this statement. He gave up on that question at last, and collapsed onto the bed in frustration. Right before he slept, he could not help but recall that in the moment he closed his door, Jiang Tian seemed like he took a brief glance at his fingers. He did not know if he saw his paper.
王盛有史以来第一次深深地与这句话产生了共鸣。他终于放弃了这个问题，沮丧地瘫倒在床上。就在睡觉之前，他不禁回想起，在他关上门的那一刻，江甜似乎短暂地瞥了一眼他的手指。他不知道他是否看到了他的报纸。

Sheng Wang was woken up by the soul-searching alarm clock at 6.10am. He dragged himself out with much difficulty.
王盛在早上6点10分被反省的闹钟吵醒。他好不容易把自己拖了出来。

His room came with his own bathroom, and did not need to go opposite to fight for a slot with Jiang Tian. Therefore he did not waste much time on washing up and getting himself dressed. It was only when he finally got everything together and went downstairs with his bag then he realised that he was the one who woke up the latest.
他的房间自带卫生间，不需要去对面和江天争一个名额。因此，他没有浪费太多时间洗漱和穿衣服。直到他终于把所有东西都收拾好，拎着包下楼时，他才意识到他才是最晚醒来的人。

Back then when he got up, the only moving living creatures in the house were him and the housekeeping lady.
当年他起床时，屋子里动的活物只有他和管家小姐。

He was a little unused to the abrupt increase in population, the morning temper on his face was a giant capitalised word, “confused”. He only came back to himself when Jiang Ou came out of the kitchen with a bowl in her hands.
他有点不习惯人口的突然增加，他脸上的晨怒是一个巨大的大写词，“困惑”。直到江鸥手里拿着碗从厨房出来时，他才回过神来。

Jiang Tian was currently changing his shoes at the entryway. It appeared that he woke up earlier than a chicken, probably for the sake of minimising unneeded interactions, and thus avoiding having to go to school together with Sheng Wang.
江甜目前正在玄关处换鞋。看来他比鸡醒得早，可能是为了尽量减少不必要的互动，从而避免和盛王一起上学。

In fact, Sheng Wang thought of that himself too, as he brushed his teeth he was contemplating how to stagger the timings in which they enter school with. But when the other person did exactly that, he was slightly annoyed. He was in the Jianghu for sixteen years, even though he did not form any deep connections due to the frequent moving, he always had a good relation with people in general.
其实，王盛自己也想到了这一点，他一边刷牙，一边思考着如何错开他们入学的时间。但当对方这么做时，他却略显恼火。他在江湖一干就是十六年，虽然由于频繁搬家，没有形成什么深厚的人脉，但他与一般人总是关系很好。

Jiang Tian was the first one to be this repulsed by him.
江甜是第一个被他如此排斥的人。

While he zoned out, the phone Jiang Tian left on the shoe cabinet vibrated a few times in a row, he straightened up, grabbed the phone and took a look.
当他分心时，江甜留在鞋柜上的手机连续震动了几下，他直起身子，抓起手机看了一眼。

In that instance, the look on his face subtly changed, both stiff and a little hesitant.
那时，他脸上的神色发生了微妙的变化，既僵硬又有些犹豫。

Next, his fingers quickly tapped on the screen, wore the other pair of shoes and said without even looking up: “Ji Huanyu transferred money to me, I just transferred it to you.”
接下来，他的手指飞快地敲了敲屏幕，穿上另一双鞋头也不抬地说：“季欢宇给我转钱了，我刚才转给你。

Sheng Wang was bewildered before he realised that Jiang Tian’s words were aimed at his mom.
盛王一头雾水，才意识到江甜的话是针对他妈妈的。

Jiang Ou’s hand that was scooping porridge for Sheng Wang stopped, she looked up at the wall clock and asked in astonishment: “What day is it today? He transferred money to you at six plus o’clock?”
江鸥给盛旺舀粥的手停了下来，她抬头看向挂钟，惊讶地问道：“今天是哪一天？他在六点多的时候给你转账了？

Jiang Tian’s movement paused, Sheng Wang saw his brows furrow, as if he was extremely against this topic.
江恬的动作顿了顿，盛王看到他眉头紧锁，似乎极度反对这个话题。

“No, I was just saying.” Jiang Ou sensed her son’s displeasure, and immediately changed the topic: “Are you heading to school now? You’re not waiting for Xiao-Wang?”
“不，我只是说。”江鸥察觉到儿子的不悦，立刻转移了话题：“你现在要去上学了吗？你不是在等小王吗？

“Mm, I have something on.” Jiang Tian lied straight through his teeth, and left without a single glance back.
“嗯，我有东西。”江甜直咬牙切齿地撒谎，头也不回一看就走了。

Sheng Wang was still under the influence of low blood sugar from having just woken up, his reactions were a little slow. His brain was still stuck on the part with “Ji Huanyu”. He thought that this name was somewhat familiar for some reason, like he heard it from somewhere before.
盛王还受到刚醒来的低血糖影响，反应有些迟钝。他的脑子还卡在了“季欢宇”的那部分。他觉得这个名字不知为何有些熟悉，就像他之前从哪里听说过的一样。

Only when he reflexively received the bowl, and got his tongue burned by the first mouthful then he abruptly remembered. Sheng Mingyang once mentioned a very long time ago that Jiang Ou’s ex-husband was named Ji Huanyu.
只有当他条件反射地接过碗，第一口就烫伤了舌头时，他才突然想起来。盛明阳很早之前就曾提到过，江鸥的前夫名叫季欢宇。

Wasn’t that…...Jiang Tian’s father then?
不是吗......那么江天的父亲呢？

According to Sheng Mingyang, when Jiang Ou divorced her ex-husband it was all very peaceful, there were no particularly violent conflicts, neither were there any disgraceful back and forths. Despite their son’s young age, he was mature to the point of being precocious, he did not even try to stop them at all.
据盛明阳透露，江鸥和前夫离婚的时候，一切都很平静，没有特别激烈的矛盾，也没有什么不光彩的来回。尽管他们的儿子年纪小，但他已经成熟到早熟的地步，他甚至根本没有试图阻止他们。

And so the people who lived together for 13 years went their own ways. Ji Huanyu went overseas with his friend for a business venture, Jiang Ou raised her son, and their lives no longer intersected.
就这样，一起生活了 13 年的人们各走各的路。纪欢宇和朋友出国经商，江鸥抚养儿子，他们的生活不再有交集。

Sheng Wang did not know what was the exact situation like, but for now at least, Ji Huanyu still remembered to transfer money to his son at regular intervals, and Jiang Ou did not display any resentment or grievance. That was already the best out of a bad situation. Yet, from Jiang Tian’s reaction, he did not seem to like his dad very much? He even...loathed him a little?
盛王不知道具体情况如何，但至少目前，季欢宇还记得定期给儿子转账，江鸥也没有表现出任何怨恨和委屈。这已经是糟糕情况中最好的了。然而，从江甜的反应来看，他似乎不太喜欢自己的父亲？他甚至......有点厌恶他？

Ultimately though, that had nothing to do with Sheng Wang. He only vaguely thought about it, and then left it at the back of his mind.
但最终，这与盛王无关。他只是隐约想了想，然后就留在了脑海深处。

He never did intend to accept Jiang Ou’s attempt to become close to him, but he still could not do a thing like to hit someone when they are smiling at you. Thus, that breakfast was particularly hard to get through, and he endured it like he was having his last meal.
他从来不打算接受江鸥试图接近他，但他仍然不能做任何事情，比如在别人对你微笑的时候打他们。因此，那顿早餐特别难吃，他忍得不亦乐乎，就像吃最后一顿饭一样。

He finally forced the porridge down with much difficulty, and left after saying goodbye without looking up.
他终于好不容易把粥逼了下去，头也不抬就告别了。

Xiao-Chen coincidentally arrived from sending Sheng Mingyang to the airport, and managed to fetch Sheng Wang on the dot. From the front seat, he asked in puzzlement: “Sheng-ge told me to bring both you and Xiao-Jiang to school, where is he?”
小陈刚好从送盛明阳去机场赶来，并设法当点接到了盛旺。在前排座位上，他不解地问道：“笙歌叫我带你和小江去学校，他在哪里？

“Long gone.” Sheng Wang rolled his eyes, and urged: “Let’s go already uncle, I still have a question I need rescuing for.”
“早就不见了。”盛王翻了个白眼，催促道：“我们走吧，叔叔，我还有个问题需要抢救。

Classes for year twos at Fuzhong start at 7am, but most students would arrive in class twenty minutes earlier, those who had to rush their homework rushed, those who were checking their answers against each other checked.
福中二年级的课程从早上7点开始，但大多数学生会提前20分钟到课，那些必须赶作业的学生匆匆忙忙，那些正在互相检查答案的学生被检查。

Sheng Wang always entered class on the dot as the school bell rang in his previous school, today was the first time round he was this enthusiastic.
王晟在以前的学校里，总是在校铃响起的时候准时上课，今天是他第一次这么热情。

The classroom was as noisy as a market, not a single person was properly staying put in their seats, if the person in front was not already putting their head together with the person behind, they would go across tables to find a helper even further away. There were even more unruly ones who roamed everywhere, like enjoying a water banquet. (6)
教室里像市场一样嘈杂，没有一个人能正确地坐在座位上，如果前面的人还没有和后面的人一起把头凑在一起，他们就会穿过桌子去找更远的帮手。还有更桀骜不驯的，到处游荡，像享受一场水宴。(6)

The person in front of him, Gao Tianyang, was a member of the water banquet. At that moment, he had scuttled all the way to the group on the other side of the class. As for the one behind Sheng Wang...forget about it.
眼前这个人，高天阳，是水宴的成员。就在这时，他已经一路冲向了班级另一边的那群人。至于盛王背后的那个......算了吧。

In short, he had nobody to gather with.
简而言之，他没有人可以聚会。

Just as he was holding the paper and fretting, Jiang Tian’s chair behind him suddenly made a noise, and a tall figure stood up next. When he walked past him, his fingers tapped on Sheng Wang’s table with a ‘du’.
正当他拿着纸烦躁的时候，身后江天的椅子突然发出一声巨响，紧接着站了起来一个高大的身影。当他从他身边走过时，他的手指在盛王的桌子上敲了敲，“嘟”了一声。

What?
什么？

Sheng Wang was baffled, but Jiang Tian did not even stop in his steps, and went out of the front door straight to the office.
盛王一头雾水，但江甜的脚步连脚步都没停下，从前门直奔办公室。

Until his figure finally disappeared from the corridor, then did he realise that there was a post-it the size of a palm on his desk. A bunch of formulas and steps were written on it.
直到他的身影终于从走廊上消失，他才意识到他的桌子上放着一张手掌大小的便利贴。上面写着一堆公式和步骤。

Sheng Wang spent a few hours last night chipping away at the question, at that instant he knew that these were the steps for solving the last question in the physics paper.
王盛昨晚花了几个小时削减了这个问题，那一刻他知道，这就是解决物理试卷最后一道题的步骤。

Only, other than this, the bottom of the post also contained a single line. The handwriting was thin but untidy: Next time, please mind your own business and don't open your big mouth.
只是，除此之外，帖子的底部还包含一行。字迹单薄却不整齐：下次，请管好自己的事，不要张大嘴巴。

Footnotes:
脚注：

Ethical play as explained by baike, a type of realistic story telling on tv etc etc, basically your soap operas.
baike 解释的道德游戏，一种在电视上讲述现实故事等，基本上是你的肥皂剧。

To call someone older/your age/most people really your "grandson" is an insult 99% of the time, unless they are truly their grandson lmaoo
称某人年长/你同龄/大多数人真的是你的“孙子”，99% 的情况下都是一种侮辱，除非他们真的是他们的孙子 lmaoo

It means ‘top quality’ originally, but internet slang could also use this to mean ‘outrageous/annoying on the extreme’
它最初的意思是“顶级品质”，但网络俚语也可以用它来表示“极端令人发指/烦人”

The ‘face’ of chinese culture again, or dignity really
中国文化的“面子”，还是真正的尊严

Idiom used here: to guard a tree stump, waiting for rabbits. To wait idly for opportunities. Basically, Jiang Tian fully expected Sheng Wang to come out and was waiting for/ambushing him lol
这里使用的成语：守护树桩，等待兔子。无所事事地等待机会。基本上，江甜完全预料到盛王会出来，并在等待/伏击他哈哈

The term used was three words like this in chinese: “water-flowing banquet”, or “Water banquet”, a type of banquet where the dishes are continuously served one after another. Try relating that to continuously approaching one table to another for answers to the homework.
使用的中文术语是这样的三个词：“水流宴”，或“水宴”，一种菜肴一个接一个地连续上桌的宴会。试着把它与不断接近一张桌子到另一张桌子来寻找家庭作业的答案联系起来。

Chapter 008 - Petty
第008章 小气

You Are Doing This on Purpose Aren’t You???
你是故意这样做的，不是吗???

All I did was give you a shout at a critical time, do you really have to go so far that you even hold a grudge now?
我所做的只是在关键时刻给你喊一声，你现在真的要走得太远，连记仇都记仇吗？

Sheng Wang glared at that last line for a while, wanting to throw the post-it back straight away. However, out of his respect of knowledge, he lowered his hand after raising it, smoothened out the crumpled up post-it, dug out his phone and took a picture of the solution.
王盛瞪了最后一行，想把便利贴马上扔回去。不过，出于对知识的尊重，他举起后放下了手，把皱巴巴的便利贴抹平了，翻出手机拍了一张解。

Just as he stuffed his phone back into his desk, Jiang Tian returned from the office, a thick and heavy book in his hand.
就在他把手机塞回办公桌的时候，江甜从办公室回来了，手里拿着一本厚重的书。

He did not manage to get a clear look at the title. Sheng Wang only aimed for the exact moment Jiang Tian returned to his seat, and threw the crumpled ball of paper behind him.
他没能清楚地看到标题。盛王只瞄准了江甜回到座位的那一刻，将皱巴巴的纸团扔到了身后。

Jiang Tian stood at his seat, his tall figure casting a shadow. He casually placed the book onto the table, opened that crumpled post-it note and looked. An extra new line was added at the bottom of the note: ——
江甜站在座位上，高大的身影投下阴影。他随手把书放在桌子上，打开那张皱巴巴的便利贴，看了看。在注释底部添加了额外的新行：——

Do you think I really care for that answer of yours?
你认为我真的在乎你的这个答案吗？

He scanned through this line of doggy-crawl handwriting, crushed the note and chucked it into his desk. He then pulled out his chair to sit down, and shot a question at the back of a certain someone’s head, asking plainly: “Then what did you take out your phone for?”
他扫视了这行狗爬行的字迹，把纸条压碎，扔进了他的桌子上。然后他拉出椅子坐下，朝某个人的后脑勺射了一个问题，平淡地问道：“那你拿出手机干什么？

After he spoke, the tip of the ears on the person in front of him gradually reddened.
他说完，眼前人的耳尖渐渐红了起来。

Fuck.
他妈的。

Sheng Wang closed his eyes on the pretense of keeping his poise, and felt that his face was utterly destroyed.
盛王假装保持镇定闭上了眼睛，感觉自己的脸被彻底摧毁了。

In an ultimate moment of embarrassment, there was always that one angel or two out to save the day.
在最尴尬的时刻，总有一两个天使出来拯救世界。

The angel’s name was Gao Tianyang, he just came back from the water banquet. He scampered to Jiang Tian’s desk and spoke: “You’re finally back at last, quick, lemme take a look at the last question for physics! I got three different answers after checking with everyone else, nobody is quite sure of what the last answer is.”
天使名叫高天阳，刚从水宴回来。他冲到江天的书桌前开口：“你终于回来了，快，让我看看物理的最后一道题！在与其他人核实后，我得到了三个不同的答案，没有人完全确定最后一个答案是什么。

His volume summoned a bunch of people, and they all descended upon Jiang Tian.
他的卷子召唤了一堆人，他们都降临到了江天的身上。

Class A students had a relatively high average rate of correct answers, if A did not know the answer B would, if B got it wrong A would have definitely gotten it right. To sum it up, under normal circumstances two different students only needed to compare their answers and the answer key would basically be out. If a question managed to cause an entire group of people like this to even feel unsure, then it was truly too difficult.
A 班学生的平均答对率比较高，如果 A 不知道答案 B 会答对，如果 B 答错了，A 肯定会答对。综上所述，一般情况下，两个不同的学生只需要比较他们的答案，答案基本上就出来了。如果一个问题能够让像这样的一整群人感到不确定，那真的太难了。

Yet, Sheng Wang still felt the disparity from their words——
然而，盛王还是从他们的话中感受到了差距——

His previous teacher also did assign them olympiad questions, but the ones who could solve it were the minority, and Sheng Wang was one of them. Yet, in this class, all they yammered on about was the last part, indicating that most people did fine for the first two parts.
他以前的老师也确实给他们布置了奥林匹克题，但能解的却是少数，盛王就是其中之一。然而，在这堂课上，他们喋喋不休的只是最后一部分，这表明大多数人在前两部分都做得很好。

Sheng Wang shifted his seat, and opened up a path for the students flocking there. He internally went: as expected of Class A whose average score for physics is 104marks.
盛王挪了挪座位，为蜂拥而至的学生开辟了一条道路。他内部去了：正如预期的那样，物理平均分是 104 分的 A 级。

Just as he lamented, the scholars of Class A howled: “What the fuck——it can’t be, this is already the fourth answer!”
就在他感叹的时候，A 班的书生们嚎叫起来：“他妈的——不可能，这已经是第四个答案了！

Gao Tianyang was at a loss with his paper in his hand: “Then should I change my answer or not?”
高天阳手里拿着纸子不知所措：“那我该不改答案？

“Up to you.”
“由你决定。”

Even though Jiang Tian was damn good, there were more than forty people in this class, when he was the only one with this answer, odds of him being wrong was really much higher.
江甜虽然该死的优秀，但这个班级有四十多人，当只有他一个人有这个答案的时候，他错的几率真的要高很多。

Students who made it into Class A would easily be the top student in any other class, they more or less were a little conceited. It would be too much to ask from them for them to easily accept that their answers were wrong.
进入 A 班的学生很容易成为其他班级的尖子生，他们或多或少有点自负。要求他们轻易接受他们的答案是错误的，那就太过分了。

And so just as the crowd came in like the tide, after some gabbling, they also receded like the tide, the number of people who changed their answers was less than ten.
于是就在人群如潮水般涌入时，经过一番喋喋不休，他们也如潮水般退去，改变答案的人数不到十人。

Jiang Tian did not mind that his answer was not commonly accepted, he merely clearly disliked the feeling of being surrounded by people. As the crowd dispersed, his tightly knit brows finally relaxed a little.
江甜并不介意自己的回答不被普遍接受，他只是明显不喜欢被人包围的感觉。随着人群散去，他紧握的眉头终于放松了几分。

Before Gao Tianyang went back to his seat he took a quick look at the book in his hand: “A Guide to Lyrical Writing?(1) You bought this yourself?”
高天阳还没回到座位上，快速看了一眼手中的书：“抒情写作指南？（1）这个是你自己买的？

“Why would I even buy this.” Jiang Tian shoved it into his desk without even flipping the book open, “I got it from the office.”
“我为什么要买这个。”江甜连书都没翻开就塞进办公桌，“我从办公室弄来的。

Gao Tianyang was lost for a bit before he suddenly realised: “Oh, did Beckon Money give it to you?”
高天阳愣了一下，才恍然大悟：“哦，招财给你的吗？

The “Beckon Money” from his words was a slightly plump female teacher with a round face, she was in charge of teaching Class A language. Due to her cat-like lips that made her look like a maneki-neko, she got such a wealthy sounding nickname.
“从他话里听出来的”招手钱“，是一位略显丰满、圆脸的女老师，她负责教甲班语文。由于她像猫一样的嘴唇让她看起来像招财猫，她得到了一个听起来如此富有的绰号。

“What did she give you for?” Gao Tianyang asked.
“她给你干什么？”高天阳问道。

Jiang Tian was completely uninterested in chit chatting, and ended the conversation with three words: “I don’t know.”
江甜对闲聊完全不感兴趣，用三个字结束了谈话：“不知道。

Gao Tianyang said an “Oh”, and finally properly went back to his seat.
高天阳“哦”了一声，终于妥妥的回到了座位上。

Their year had five periods of class each in the morning and afternoon, this morning Class A had two periods of math, one period of chemistry, and two periods of language. For the afternoon, there would be a PE lesson right in between physics and English.
他们一年级上午和下午各上五节课，今天上午 A 班有两节数学课，一节化学课，两节语言课。下午，将有一节介于物理和英语之间的体育课。

Other than physics as they already went through the paper during night self study, the other subjects were basically all going through the weekly test.
除了物理，因为他们在夜间自学中已经完成了试卷，其他科目基本上都在通过每周的测试。

For the first three periods, both Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian became infamous,(2) the former was because of his super strong study ability, the latter was because he was that good.
前三个时期，盛王和江天都声名狼藉，（2）前者是因为他超强的学习能力，后者是因为他那么优秀。

In this weekly test, Jiang Tian only lost three marks in total from his three sciences——he missed out an answer for ‘select the correct answer(s)” in chemistry, and missed out a “solved” for maths.(3)
在这次每周的考试中，江甜的三门科学总共只丢了3分——化学“选择正确答案”一题，数学一门“已解”。(3)

The two teachers praised them as they could, and praised them when they could, somehow forcing down 130 plus minutes of soup of forgetfulness(4) straight. Only when the language teacher Beckon Money entered then did the situation change.
两位老师尽可能地表扬他们，尽可能地表扬他们，不知何故，强行喝了 130 多分钟的健忘汤（4）。只有当语言老师 Beckon Money 进来时，情况才发生了变化。

It changed mostly Jiang Tian’s half of the situation.
这主要改变了江天的一半局面。

Beckon Money(5) got the first student of every group to pass the paper down to the back, she herself held on to the teacher’s desk as she summarised the situation for this week’s test: “The total score for language is 160, our class’ average is 109, do you know what this means? This means you only scored 5 points higher than physics, that has a total of 120 points. Are you kidding me?”
Beckon Money（5）让每组第一个学生把试卷传到后面，她自己扶着老师的桌子，总结了本周考试的情况：“语言总分是 160 分，我们班的平均分是 109 分，你知道这意味着什么吗？这意味着你的分数只比物理高出 5 分，总共有 120 分。你在开玩笑吗？

The whole class was as quiet as chickens. (6)
整个班级都安静得像鸡一样。(6)

The top students who were as threatening as can be with all fangs and claws when it came to the three sciences could only keep their tails between their legs whenever they were confronted by Zhao Cai and Yang Jing.
那些在三科面前威风凛凛的尖子们，每当遇到赵才和杨静时，都只能把尾巴夹在两腿之间。

In all honesty, as the top class, they weren’t too unbalanced in their proficiency for various subjects, otherwise their total score(7) would not fare well either. Comparatively still, their results for language and English were not as outstanding, and even drove their teachers up the wall once in a while.
老实说，作为顶尖班，他们在各科的熟练程度上并没有太不平衡，否则他们的总分（7）也不会太好。相比之下，他们的语言和英语成绩并不那么出色，甚至偶尔会把老师逼到墙上。

“Yes, the test now is a little harder than usual, it was too easy for your essays to go off topic, the overall score for the second comprehension passage across the entire year is very low, as for poetry appreciation...forget about it. I never held any hopes for your poetry appreciation, but you can’t just make things up?”
“是啊，现在的考比平时难一点，你的作文太容易跑题了，全年第二理解篇的总分很低，至于诗词鉴赏......算了吧。我从来没对你的诗歌欣赏抱有任何希望，但你不能胡编造吗？

“Now, I will heavily commend the new student. Even though he just transferred here and was behind, his foundation is very good. I recall he did not lose a single point for poetry appreciation as well as comprehension, his essay was also very well written——”
“现在，我将大力赞扬这位新生。虽然他刚转学到这里，落后了，但他的基础非常好。我记得他在诗歌欣赏和理解上没有丢一分，他的文章也写得很好——”

Everyone likes good looking guys, even more so for good looking guys who are good at studies. Beckon Money was not stingy at all when it came to praises, the moment she praised an entire paragraph came out.
大家都喜欢好看的男生，对于好学的好看男生更是如此。招手钱在夸奖方面一点也不吝啬，她夸奖的那一刻，就出了整整一段。

Sheng Wang’s soul was dancing, yet his face maintained a basic level of meekness and calmness. He leaned back against his chair, the pen between his middle finger and ring finger tipped up and down, and lightly tapped on his test.
盛王的灵魂在跳动，但他的脸上却保持着基本的温顺和平静。他靠在椅子上，中指和无名指之间的笔上下倾斜，轻轻敲击他的测试。

Just as he was feeling good from head to toe from all the praising, Beckon Money suddenly added a line: “It’s just that that handwriting of yours still needs some work. You don’t need to make it particularly pretty or anything, you only need to try your best to make sure they are upright, and not crawling.”
正当他从头到脚都被所有的赞美所吸引时，招手突然补充了一句：“只是你的那笔笔迹还需要一些工作。你不需要把它弄得特别漂亮什么的，你只需要尽力确保它们是直立的，而不是爬行的。

Sheng Wang: “.......”
王盛：《.......》

The guys in class started cackling, the girls were slightly more reserved, some lowered their heads and laughed till their faces turned red, and then sneakily turned back to look at him amidst the chaos.
班上的男生们开始咯咯笑起来，女生们稍微矜持一些，有的低着头笑到脸都红了，然后在一片混乱中偷偷回头看他。

Beckon Money thumped the table: “What are you laughing for? You have the gall to laugh? Just this essay alone, I would dare say that out of the entire class only his and the rep’s works could be counted as scoring well, what are the others even made of? And also some students need to watch out, the question was asking for you to write lyrically, can you please add a little more emotion into your words? Don’t make them as dry as your formulas, can you please fluff(8) it up a bit? I won’t specifically be calling anyone out, right Jiang Tian?”
招手钱拍桌子：“你笑什么？你有胆量笑吗？仅凭这篇文章，我敢说，在整个班级中，只有他和代表的作品可以算得上得分，其他的还有什么？还有一些学生需要注意，问题是要求你写抒情的，你能在你的文字中多加一点情感吗？不要让它们像你的配方奶粉一样干燥，你能把它弄松一点（8）吗？我不会特意叫谁出来的，对吧，江天？

Sheng Wang suddenly recalled the “A Guide to Lyrical Writing” that Jiang Tian brought back in the morning, and could not help but laugh. The whole class cackled again.
盛王突然回想起江甜早上带回来的《抒情写作指南》，忍不住笑了起来。全班同学又咯咯笑起来。

He slightly turned his head to look, the reprimanded person in question appeared to be unaffected, nobody knew if he was truly aloof or he could not let go of his dignity and was pretending to be aloof.
他微微转过头看去，被训斥的人似乎没有受到影响，谁也不知道他是真的高高在上，还是放不下尊严，装作高高在上。

After Beckon Money attacked everyone with precision for ten minutes, she finally started going through the answers. Even as she went through the answers, she did not neglect dragging certain students out to attack them again.
在招来金钱精确攻击了所有人十分钟后，她终于开始研究答案。即使在她翻阅答案的同时，她也没有忘记将某些学生拖出来再次攻击他们。

As she reached the comprehension passage, she looked up and scanned around, and called: “Jiang Tian.”
当她到达领悟通道时，她抬头扫视了周围，叫道：“江天。

Sheng Wang heard the chair scraping against the floor as it moved. The person behind him stood up.
盛王听到椅子移动时刮擦着地板。身后的人站了起来。

“Look at the first question, what do you think is the correct answer?” Beckon Money questioned.
“看第一道题，你觉得正确答案是什么？”招手钱质问道。

With a period down Sheng Wang already figured out this teacher’s style, she would call on whoever got the question wrong.
过了一段时间，盛王已经想通了这位老师的作风，谁答错了，她就叫谁。

Maybe it was out of the need to respond to that post-it note earlier on, or maybe he was merely opening his peacock feathers again, Sheng Wang shifted his paper to the left a little for some mysterious reason.
也许是出于之前回复那张便利贴的需要，也许只是他再次打开了孔雀羽毛，盛王出于某种神秘的原因将他的纸向左移动了一点。

He got everything correct for this comprehension passage, Jiang Tian would be able to see the right answer if he lowered his eyes, as long as he was not blind, he should see that the right answer for the first question was C.
他把这段理解段落都答对了，江甜垂下眼睛就能看清正确答案，只要他不瞎，他应该看到第一道题的正确答案是 C。

Sheng Wang sent a glance to Jiang Tian, and coincidentally met his eyes too. He instantaneously sat up straight, and yet he felt slightly relieved on the inside——this meant that Jiang Tian saw the paper.
盛王看了江天一眼，也巧合地对上了他的目光。他瞬间坐直了身子，心里却微微松了口气——这说明江天看到了那张纸。

Instead, in the next second, he heard Jiang Tian say: “A.”
而是下一秒，就听到江甜说：“啊。

Sheng Wang: “???”
王盛：“???”

Beckon Money’s eyes narrowed as expected: “You’re choosing A? Take a look and tell me which one you should choose again?”
招手钱果然眯起眼睛：“你选 A？看看，告诉我你应该再选择哪一个？

Sheng Wang shifted his paper even more to the left, and yet he heard Jiang Tian correct himself, even more undisturbed: “D.”
盛王把纸子往左边移了，却听见江甜纠正自己，更不慌不忙：“D。

He could not resist and turned back, this good’s original answer, “B”, was marked with a cross.
他忍不住回头，这好原本的答案“B”，被打了一个叉。

Sheng Wang: “......”
王盛：“......”

You are doing this on purpose aren’t you???(9)
你是故意这样做的，不是吗???(9)

Footnotes:
脚注：

A type of essay requiring the students to express their ~feelings~. I would say emotional writing but apparently lyrical writing is already an “official” term.
一种要求学生表达他们的~感受~的论文。我会说情感写作，但显然抒情写作已经是一个“官方”术语。

Yes I am aware of the meaning, the original text’s phrasing also had a negative connotation.
是的，我知道它的意思，原文的措辞也有负面含义。

Apparently they need to write that, or they get marks deducted. Supposedly it was to show that this was where they put down their workings.
显然他们需要写出来，否则他们会被扣分。据说这是为了表明这是他们放下工作的地方。

A potion that makes one forget their past live, fed to you by Meng Po in the underworld before you can proceed to your next life, meaning that the students are completely going ????????. Can also be used to refer to words that mystify people.
一种让人忘记前世的药水，在你进入下辈子之前，孟婆在阴间喂给你，这意味着学生们将彻底????????.也可以用来指使人困惑的词语。

I will unfortunately stick to beckon money being a proper noun here because i did the same for big mouth xu/dean xu previously...cries
不幸的是，我将坚持在这里将钱作为专有名词，因为我之前对大嘴徐/徐院长做了同样的事情......哭

I would use mice if I intend to localise this a bit more, but chicken??? CHICKEN???? Either ways they are Quiet. Edit: it came from internet slang (sigh) that supposedly describes fans being quiet as hell when their idols don't perform as expected. alternate origin also includes: prostitutes being quiet as hell whenever the police busts their den or something
如果我打算更多地定位它，我会使用老鼠，但鸡肉???鸡？？？？无论哪种方式，他们都是安静的。编辑：它来自网络俚语（叹息），据说描述了当他们的偶像表现不如预期时，粉丝们会安静得要命。替代起源还包括：每当警察捣毁她们的巢穴或其他东西时，都会安静得像地狱一样

Calculation of eng+lang+math as one, + 3 sciences + some quality/value thing (which is an overall rating of all their subjects)
将 eng+lang+math 计算为一，+ 3 门科学 + 一些质量/价值的东西（这是他们所有科目的总体评分）

Respectful you is used here, she’s being sarcastic
这里用了尊重你，她是在讽刺

Respectful you is used here, Sheng Wang was being sarcastic
敬你在这里用，盛王在讽刺

Chapter 009 - Dine and Dash
第009章 用餐和冲刺

Come and Pay Ransom for That Dine and Dasher Boy of Yours
快来为你的那个美食和潇洒的男孩支付赎金吧

The classes in the morning flew by.
早上的课过得很快。

When Beckon Money got to the last model essay, Gao Tianyang suddenly reclined. His back touched Sheng Wang’s desk as he whispered: “Beckon Money never drags her lessons.”
当招财说到最后一篇模范作文时，高天阳突然向前倾斜。他的背碰到了盛王的桌子，低声说：“招手钱从来不拖她的课。

“Hm?” Sheng Wang leaned forward, and asked in confusion: “Class ends on top, so what?”
“嗯？”盛王身体前倾，疑惑地问：“上课结束，那又怎样？

“Then we can head to the canteen on the dot,” Gao Tianyang stated, “Friendly reminder, you should identify the general direction to the canteen, and sprint the moment the bell rings. This is how you can still get a hold of the edible stuff in the canteen.”
“那我们就可以在点上前往食堂了，”高天阳说道，“友情提醒，你要确定食堂的大致方向，在铃声响起的那一刻冲刺。这样你仍然可以买到食堂里的可食用的东西。

A question mark slowly appeared on Sheng Wang’s face, “Why do I need to run? Didn’t we only need to walk just yesterday?”
盛王的脸上缓缓浮现出一个问号，“我为什么需要跑？我们不是昨天才需要走路吗？

“Like you said, that was yesterday,” Gao Tianyang sighed, “From today onwards, our good days are over, because the year ones finally entered school. Now there’s twice the number of people fighting for food.”
“就像你说的，那是昨天的事了，”高天阳叹了口气，“从今天开始，我们的好日子就结束了，因为一年级终于入学了。现在为食物而战的人数增加了一倍。

Gao Tianyang wagged his finger, “Life is full of hardships, after experiencing this just once, you would know that that bunch of year one monsters can run faster than dogs.”
高天阳摇了摇手指，“人生多苦，只经历过一次，你就知道，那群一年级的怪物，跑得比狗还快。

Before Sheng Wang could reply, Beckon Money suddenly thumped her desk, “Gao Tianyang!”
还没等盛王回答，招财突然拍了拍她的桌子，“高天阳！

Sheng Wang touched his nose as he sat up straight, the person ahead of him already standing up in embarrassment.
盛王摸了摸鼻子，坐直了身子，前面的人已经尴尬地站了起来。

“Try to vy for attention with me, aren’t you?” Beckon Money asked curtly,“What are you blah-blahing about? You even had to drag Sheng Wang in.”
“试着和我争夺注意力，不是吗？”招手钱生硬地问道，“你胡说八道什么？你甚至要把盛王拖进来。

Gao Tianyang scratched his head: “Nothing much really.”
高天阳挠了挠头：“没什么，真的。

“You think you’re coaxing a ghost?” Beckon Money jerked her head as she propped against the desk, “The time is almost up anyways, come, share with us what you said just now.”
“你以为你在哄鬼？”招手钱靠在桌子上摇了摇头，“反正时间快到了，来和我们分享你刚才说的话。

Gao Tianyang moved his lips, the spitting image of a mosquito’s whine.
高天阳动了动嘴唇，吐出蚊子呜呜声的画面。

“You got a toothache?” Beckon Money said, “Repeat it three times! We end class whenever you are done, if not, we'll just wait this out.”
“你牙痛了？”招手钱说：“重复三遍！只要你结束了，我们就会结束课程，如果没有，我们就等着结束。

Forty plus heads whipped around, Gao Tianyang boomed, “I said, that bunch of year one monsters can run faster than dogs!”
四十多个脑袋甩来甩去，高天阳轰隆一声，“我说了，那群一年级的怪物，跑得比狗还快！

Beckon Money: “......”
招手钱：“......”

Sheng Wang internally thought that this punishment was quite something.
盛王内心认为，这个惩罚相当了不起。

Beckon Money pointed at Gao Tianyang, “Shut up and sit down. Copy the three model essays today once, and hand it in during night self study. And then—lesson’s over!”
招财指着高天阳，“闭嘴坐下。今天抄一次三篇范文，晚上自习时交上。然后——课程结束了！

After she spoke, the slightly round female teacher deftly sidestepped and opened up a path.
她说完，微圆的女老师灵巧地避开了一条路。

Only the chorus of chairs scraping against the floor could be heard. The classroom was basically empty before Sheng Wang even stood up.
只能听到椅子刮擦地板的合唱声。教室里基本上空无一人，盛王还没站起来。

The scholars of Class A shot towards the stairs like avalanche and tsunami. Around more than half way through, the school bell rang, and more people joined the group, a majestic sight as they all madly ran for the canteen.
A 班的书生们像雪崩和海啸一样朝着楼梯射去。大约进行到一半多时，学校的铃声响起，更多的人也加入了这群人，他们都疯狂地向食堂跑去，景象威严。

What legendary level of starving wolves is this?
这是什么传说中的饿狼？

Sheng Wang was left gaping, and that was when he heard Beckon Money raise her voice: “Eh? Why aren’t the two of you running?”
盛王目瞪口呆，这时他听到招钱提高了声音：“蒯？你们两个怎么不跑？

“The...two of us?” Sheng Wang only noticed the “two” behind him when he turned around.
“这......我们两个人？盛王转身才注意到身后的“二”。

Not only did Jiang Tian not rocket off, he was even doing a practice paper.
江甜不仅没有火箭飞下，他甚至还在做练习卷。

Beckon Money could not help but feel moved when she saw a corner of the script, “Yo, did the sun come out from the west today? You’re really doing your corrections so seriously? Let me see, which question are you stuck on that it’s taking you so long. Is there anything you don’t know?”
招财看到剧本的一角，不禁心动，“哟，今天太阳是不是从西边出来了？你真的这么认真地做你的纠正？让我看看，你卡在哪个问题上，花了你这么长时间。有什么你不知道的吗？

“Nope,” Jiang Tian crooked his left index finger and touched his nose, yet the pen in his right hand did not stop, the speed of writing even increased.
“没有，”江甜歪了歪左手食指，摸了摸鼻子，右手的笔却没有停下来，写字的速度甚至加快了。

According to relevant experts, touching your nose is a sign of guilty conscience.
据相关专家介绍，摸鼻子是良心愧疚的表现。

Sheng Wang snuck a look, heh, it’s a physics paper.
盛王偷偷看了一眼，呵呵，这是一篇物理论文。

Beckon Money stepped down from the teaching platform (1), Jiang Tian at the very same moment also substituted in and simplified the final equation. His pen marked the final statement with a full stop, and swiftly stuffed the paper into his desk. He stood up before Beckon Money reached him, and said,“I’m going to eat now, teacher.”
招手钱从教学台上走下来（1），江甜也同时代入并简化了最终的方程式。他的笔在最后的陈述上打了一个句号，然后迅速地把纸塞进了他的桌子上。在招手钱走到他面前之前，他站了起来，说：“我现在要吃饭了，老师。

After he spoke, he immediately left the classroom.
说完，他立即离开了教室。

Sheng Wang let out an “Um”, and also waved at Beckon Money, “I’ll be heading downstairs too, teacher.”
盛王“嗯”了一声，也对招钱挥了挥手，“我也下楼了，老师。

“Oh sure, go ahead,” Beckon Money was baffled by both of them, and in the blink of an eye, the two teens exited one after another.
“哦，当然，去吧，”招手钱被他们俩弄得一头雾水，眨眼间，两个少年相继退出了。

“Did they see a ghost or something, why were they leaving so fast?” She mumbled. She walked to Jiang Tian’s table and peered. A corner of the paper was sticking out from the bottom of the desk, Jiang Tian’s concluding statement was written on it: We can thus tell that the ball received equal force, and was travelling at a constant velocity of Vt on a straight line.
“他们是不是看到了鬼什么的，为什么这么快就走了？”她喃喃自语。她走到江甜的桌子前，凝视着。一张纸的一角从桌子底部伸出来，上面写着江天的结论：由此我们可以看出，球受到的力是相等的，并且以 Vt 的恒定速度在一条直线上行进。

Beckon Money: “……”
招手钱：“......”

She dashed to the backdoor with a bow-and-arrow-step(2), and roared, “Jiang Tian! Show yourself at my office for a face to face chat during night self study!”
她弓箭步一冲向后门（2），怒吼道：“江天！在夜间自学期间，在我的办公室进行面对面的交谈！

The spacious uniform of teens briefly flashed at the corner of the stairs, and soon vanished.
青少年宽大的制服在楼梯拐角处短暂闪过，很快就消失了。

The air condition was especially strong in the classroom. Sheng Wang only realised that he ran away too quickly, and forgot to even take off the school jacket by the time he dilly-dallied his way to the first floor. The person doing a physics paper in the middle of language class wasn’t even him, who exactly was he following after and what for.
教室里的空调特别强。盛王才意识到自己跑得太快了，当他蹒跚地走到一楼时，连校服都忘了脱。在语言课上做物理论文的人甚至不是他，他到底在追谁，为了什么。

He did not really feel it yet after he just went down, but the moment the sun reared its ugly head, sweat belatedly started steaming from him. Sheng Wang could not stand it a second longer, he took off the jacket and grabbed it instead.
刚下山后，他还没有真正感觉到，但当太阳抬起丑陋的头的那一刻，他开始冒出迟来的汗水。盛王再也受不了了，他脱下外套，抓住了它。

Jiang Tian was a few steps ahead of him.
江甜领先他几步。

It was as if this person could not sweat or anything, he did not even take off the uniform, he merely rolled his sleeves till the elbow. A student frequently bent over their desk would easily end up with a hunchback if they were not careful, and yet there was not a single thing wrong with him. He stood tall and straight, like a walking stick of ice-cream under the sun.
就好像这个人不会出汗什么的，他甚至没有脱掉制服，他只是把袖子卷到肘部。一个经常弯腰在课桌前的学生，一不小心就很容易驼背，但他没有一点问题。他站得又高又直，就像阳光下的一根冰淇淋手杖。

Good looking guys always attract attention no matter where they go, not to mention it was two of them this time round.
帅哥无论走到哪里总能吸引眼球，更何况这次是两个人。

Quite the number of groups of girls all turned to look at them when they walked past, and jostled each other with stifled giggles. A couple of them were not careful, and were almost pushed into Sheng Wang by their friends who were teasing them.
当她们走过时，有相当多的女孩都转过身来看她们，并互相推挤，发出压抑的咯咯笑声。他们几个人不小心，差点被调侃他们的朋友推到盛王身上。

Sheng Wang sidestepped, and smiled at them amidst non-stop apologies of “I’m sorry”, and then caught up with Jiang Tian in two steps.
盛王侧开了一身，在不停地道歉“对不起”中对他们笑了笑，然后两步追上了江甜。

“Oi, any tissue?” He asked as he wiped at the sweat gathering on his forehead.
“哎呀，有纸巾吗？”他一边擦着额头上积聚的汗水，一边问道。

The fountain at the school parade square was not switched on. Jiang Tian descended along the steps of the fountain, and turned a deaf ear.
学校游行广场的喷泉没有打开。江天沿着喷泉的台阶走下来，充耳不闻。

“I’m talking to you,” he said again.
“我在和你说话，”他又说。

Jiang Tian remained selectively deaf.
江甜仍然选择性聋子。

Sheng Wang “tsked”, and peeved: “I only ran down with you because I was implicated by you, why won’t you even spare me a piece of tissue?”
盛王“啧啧”了一声，怒道：“我只是因为被你牵连了才和你一起跑下去，你怎么连一张纸巾都不饶我？

Jiang Tian finally responded this time round, he said: “Learn how to address someone properly first before you come asking me for tissues.”
江甜这次终于回应了，他说：“在你来找我要纸巾之前，先学会如何正确称呼某人。

Sheng Wang stared at the back of his head in annoyance, his mouth wordlessly moved, before he unwillingly dragged his voice: “Student Jiang Tian, can you please lend me a piece of tissue, polite enough yet?”
盛王恼怒地盯着后脑勺，嘴角无言地动了动，才不甘心地拖了拖声音：“江天同学，能不能请借给我一张纸巾，够客气了吗？

It was only then Jiang Tian finally dug out a packet of tissues from his school uniform’s pocket and tossed it to him. Sheng Wang reached out to catch it, and took a piece to wipe his sweat.
这时，江甜终于从校服口袋里掏出一包纸巾，扔给了他。盛王伸手接住，拿了一块擦了擦汗水。

“Can we still make it in time with our speed?” Sheng Wang looked all around him, as compared to the hurrying crowd, the two of them were truly a whole other sight altogether.
“我们能以我们的速度赶上吗？”盛王环顾四周，与匆匆忙忙的人群相比，他们两个人简直是另一番景象。

In all honesty he did not want to eat with Jiang Tian at all. It was clear with the naked eye alone that Jiang Tian did not want him to tag along either, just imagining that scenario was awkward enough to the point of suffocation. Yet the competitive spirit of boys was ever present for some mysterious reason, in a situation like this, it seemed like whoever backed out first lost. Sheng Wang did not want to be the one who chickened out, and so he forced himself to walk shoulders to shoulders with Jiang Tian……
老实说，他根本不想和江甜一起吃饭。光是肉眼就能看出，江甜也不希望他跟着走，光是想象那一幕就已经尴尬到窒息了。然而，男孩们的竞争精神一直存在，出于某种神秘的原因，在这种情况下，似乎谁先退出，谁就输了。盛王不想成为那个退缩的人，于是他强迫自己与江田并肩而行......

Two minutes later, he realised that he was getting further and further away from the canteen.
两分钟后，他意识到自己离食堂越来越远了。

“Hold on, the canteen’s over there, are you not going to eat?” Sheng Wang asked.
“等一下，食堂就在那边，你不吃饭吗？”盛王问道。

“You can eat the plates if you go to the canteen at this time,” Jiang Tian shot a glance at him, “If you want to you can go there yourself.”
“这个时候去食堂就可以吃盘子了，”江甜看了他一眼，“如果你愿意的话，你可以自己去。

Sheng Wang certainly did not want to eat plates. He followed Jiang Tian bypassing the basketball court and a small half of the ‘Garden of Conduct’, and entered a convenience store at the side of the school’s west gate.
盛王当然不想吃盘子。他跟着江甜绕过篮球场和'行为花园'的一小半个，进入了学校西门边的一家便利店。

There were three convenience stores located within Fuzhong’s campus, one was close to the canteen, the other next to the dormitories, and the one right here.
福中校园内有三家便利店，一家靠近食堂，一家靠近宿舍，一家就在这里。

The shop’s name was ‘Xi Le’, from the colour scheme of the area above the entrance it appeared to be copying ‘C-Store’,(3) everything about it screamed that it was about to get a crack down by the 315 for being a knock-off. (4)
这家店的名字是“习乐”，从入口上方区域的配色方案来看，它似乎是在抄袭“C-Store”，（3）它的一切都尖叫着，它即将被 315 打击，因为它是仿冒品。(4)

This shop was in the direct opposite direction of the canteen, and it could barely be counted as near to the teaching blocks, so there were hardly any students around at noon.
这家店正对着食堂，离教学楼近也算不上，所以中午周围几乎没有学生。

The boss’ name was Zhao Su, he was a tall and thin middle-aged man, his eyes were slightly bugged out like a praying mantis. When he peered over the top of his thick glasses, he was the image of shrewdness.
老板叫赵素，是个高瘦的中年男子，眼睛像螳螂一样微微窜出。当他透过厚厚的眼镜往上看时，他就是精明的形象。

“No more food in the canteen?” Boss Zhao asked.
“食堂里没有食物了？”赵老板问道。

Sheng Wang nodded, “We’re too late.”
盛王点点头，“我们来不及了。

“There—” He pointed at the side of the counter with his lips(5), “we have cooked food and dimsum and oden and all, pick what you want, my hands aren’t free at the moment.”
“那里——”他用嘴唇指了指柜台的一侧（5），“我们已经做好了食物，还有点心和关东煮等等，你想要什么就选吧，我的手现在还没有空着。

A giant basket with washed cucumbers sat on the table, at the side was a stack of newly opened disposable paper boxes, and also a roll of cling wrap.
桌子上放着一个装有洗过的黄瓜的大篮子，旁边是一摞新打开的一次性纸盒，还有一卷保鲜膜。

Some strange looking person was curled up opposite his table. That person looked like he was in his fifties, was scrawny looking, and his upper back stooped like a prawn. He appeared to be a hunchback.
一个长相奇怪的人蜷缩在他的桌子对面。那个人看起来五十多岁，看起来骨瘦如柴，上背部像大虾一样弯着腰。他似乎是一个驼背。

He wore a white singlet, and there were two moth-bitten holes at the back. Below was a pair of greyish blue cotton shorts, the needle-thin legs that stuck out were tanned bronze. He was all bones.
他穿着一件白色的背心，后面有两个被虫蛀的洞。下面是一条灰蓝色的棉质短裤，伸出来的针细腿是鞣制的青铜色。他全是骨头。

As if he was ashamed of how he looked, when Sheng Wang entered, he retreated behind the shelves. Maybe he was afraid of scaring people. Yet, when he saw Jiang Tian, he grinned. Meaningless noise came out of his mouth, and gesticulated with his hands.
似乎对自己的长相感到羞愧，盛王进来后，退到了书架后面。也许是怕吓唬人吧。然而，当他看到江天时，却咧嘴一笑。毫无意义的声音从他的嘴里发出，用手比划着。

Sheng Wang let out a light ‘ah’ internally. The man was mute.
盛王心里轻轻地“啊”了一声。那个人哑巴。

Jiang Tian nodded at the mute, he was not very warm either. Still, the mute was rather happy, and gesticulated at Boss Zhao again.
江甜对哑巴点了点头，他也不是很温暖。尽管如此，哑巴还是挺高兴的，再次向赵老板打了个手势。

His gestures were clearly not proper sign language, he was purely running on instincts. In any case Sheng Wang understood none of that. However, Boss Zhao did.
他的手势显然不是正确的手语，他纯粹是凭直觉奔跑。无论如何，盛王对此一无所知。然而，赵老板却做到了。

He said: “Yeah yeah yeah, he really is quite tall, nowadays kids shoot up like it’s nothing. Don’t gesture anymore, wear your gloves first. I’ve already been waiting for half the day.”
他说：“是的是是的，他真的很高，现在的孩子们像没什么一样射门。不要再打手势了，先戴上手套。我已经等了半天了。

The mute instantly behaved, and earnestly wore his gloves. Boss Zhao placed the cucumber into the box after some selection, and he would help him wrap it up in cling wrap. He was not a particularly nimble helper, but he was a helper nonetheless.
哑巴立即表现得很开心，认真地戴上了手套。赵老板挑选一番后，把黄瓜放进盒子里，他会帮他用保鲜膜包起来。他不是一个特别灵活的帮手，但他仍然是一个帮手。

After observing a round, Sheng Wang felt that either Jiang Tian was a frequent visitor, or he knew Boss Zhao and the mute at the start.
观察了一轮，盛王觉得要么是江甜是常客，要么是一开始就认识赵老板和哑巴。

As he zoned out, Jiang Tian suddenly said to him: “You can eat here first, I’ll be leaving.”
当他分心时，江天突然对他说：“你先在这里吃饭吧，我就走了。

“Wh….you’re not eating?” Before Sheng Wang knew it, the convenience store’s glass door chimed with a ding-dong, and Jiang Tian’s figure had already disappeared beyond the door.
“你不吃东西？”盛王不知不觉间，便利店的玻璃门响起叮咚声，江甜的身影早已消失在门外。

“He doesn’t eat here,” Boss Zhao casually pointed behind, “he eats outside of school.”
“他在这里不吃饭，”赵老板随口指了指身后，“他在校外吃饭。

Sheng Wang was more confused than before. Fuzhong required a permission slip to leave campus in the day. He did not see any teacher signing Jiang Tian’s slip at all.
盛王比之前更加迷茫了。福忠需要一张许可单才能在白天离开校园。他根本没有看到任何老师在江天的单子上签字。

“Outside of school where?” he asked.
“校外在哪里？”

“In the family zone,” Boss Zhao spoke with the harshness of a senior speaking down, “What, you can’t eat by yourself? Why do you bother about him? You don’t have long for noon break, quickly go back to class after you eat.”
“在家庭区，”赵老板带着前辈低声说话的严厉，“什么，你不能自己吃饭？你为什么要为他烦恼？你中午休息时间不长，吃完饭赶紧回去上课。

Sheng Wang recalled the stack of papers he had to do, and stopped talking. He got two dishes and sat down with a dining plate. The sparrow may be small, but all the vital organs are there. (6) Even though this shop looked like a knock-off, it had everything a convenience store ought to have, most importantly the food was surprisingly good too.
盛王回想起自己要做的那摞文件，不再说话。他拿了两道菜，端着餐盘坐下。麻雀可能很小，但所有的重要器官都在那里。（6） 虽然这家店看起来像是仿冒品，但它拥有便利店应有的一切，最重要的是食物也出奇的好。

Sheng Wang was not picky with his food for once, and ate it all without complaints. He placed the dining plate back at the return area, and slightly revised his opinion on Jiang Tian. At least, he brought Sheng Wang to this shop, he did not have to squeeze with people, nor did he have to starve.
盛王一次对食物不挑剔，毫无怨言地吃光了。他将餐盘放回归区，稍微修改了对江天的看法。至少，他把盛王带到了这家店，不用和人挤在一起，也不用挨饿。

“You’re done?” Boss Zhao removed his gloves and asked, “How’s the taste, is it better than the canteen?”
“你说完了？”赵老板摘下手套，问道：“味道怎么样，比食堂好吃吗？

Sheng Wang was very generous when it comes to praises, he flattered: “It’s even comparable to my home’s.”
盛王在夸奖时非常大方，他奉承道：“甚至能和我家的相媲美。

Boss Zhao laughed out loud, he was very pleased by the sweet talk. When the laughter stopped, he stuck out his hand and said to Sheng Wang, “Money.”
赵老板笑出了声，他被甜言蜜语弄得很欣慰。笑声停了，他伸出手对盛王说：“钱。

“Oh right, I almost forgot.” Sheng Wang’s smile hung on his face as he felt around in his pocket, and as he smiled his face eventually turned pale.
“哦，对了，我差点忘了。”盛王的笑容挂在他的脸上，他在口袋里摸了摸，微笑着，脸色最终变得苍白。

Boss Zhao asked perceptively, “Anything wrong?”
赵老板敏锐地问道：“有什么事吗？

Sheng Wang gave an empty laugh, “I forgot my money.”
盛王空笑一声，“我忘了钱。

He did not have cash, his phone was also stuffed in the bag inside his desk, he was penniless.
他没有现金，手机也塞在办公桌里的包里，身无分文。

Boss Zhao grabbed his hand on the spot, “That won’t do, you can’t leave if you can’t pay.”
赵老板当场抓住他的手，“那不行，付不起就走不了。

“How about you put it on my tab first, I’ll pay you back together with tomorrow’s lunch?” Sheng Wang suggested.
“要不你先把它放在我的标签上，我明天的午餐一起还给你？”盛王建议道。

“No way,” Boss Zhao rejected.
“没办法，”赵老板拒绝了。

“Then I’ll quickly go back to class and get it?”
“那我赶紧回课去拿？”

Boss Zhao said once more, “No way.”
赵老板又说了一遍：“没办法。

“Be a little flexible with me.”
“对我灵活一点。”

“No.”
“没有。”

“Why are you so stingy!”
“你怎么这么小气！”

As noon break was about to end right before his very eyes, Sheng Wang who was trapped felt like breaking down.
正午休息时间就在他眼前结束，被困的盛王感觉要崩溃了。

The boss thought for a bit, “It’s urgent? Sure then.”
老板想了想，“紧急吗？当然可以。

He dug out his phone and called someone after finding a certain number, he then placed it on the table with speaker mode turned on.
他翻出手机，找到某个号码后给人打电话，然后打开扬声器模式，把手机放在桌子上。

The dialing tone rang for a good while before the phone was finally picked up, Jiang Tian’s voice rang out from the phone, “Is there anything you need, Zhao-shu?” (7)
拨号音响了好一会儿，电话终于被接起，电话里响起了江甜的声音，“赵姝，你有什么需要吗？(7)

Boss Zhao said, “Yes, bring money here for a bit, and pay ransom for that little dine and dasher boy of yours.”
赵老板说：“是啊，拿钱过来一会儿，给你那个小饭打小子付赎金。

Jiang Tian went silent momentarily. Next thing, he hung up with a click.
江甜沉默了一会儿。接下来，他咔嚓一声挂断了电话。

Footnotes:
脚注：

The teacher’s desk was actually elevated on a platform at the front of the class. Fun fact: the raws have been referring to that area as ‘platform’ for most of the text
老师的课桌实际上高架在教室前面的一个平台上。有趣的事实：在大部分文本中，原始人一直将该区域称为“平台”

Dance step
舞步

Sigh here we go: “C-store”’s cn name is 喜士多, “xi shi duo” which sounds like “many good things/news”, however imo it looks like a knock-off 7-11, and also also it apparently has an english name called C-store, probably short for convenience store. Xi Le also means joy and I decided to retain the name in this form instead, because it really is way more generic as a name.
叹息吧：“C-store”的 cn 名是喜士多，“习士多”，听起来像“很多好事/新闻”，但看起来像山寨版 7-11，而且它显然有一个英文名叫 C-store，可能是便利店的缩写。习乐也有喜悦的意思，我决定保留这种形式的名字，因为它作为一个名字确实更通用。

315 - world consumers’ rights day
315 - 世界消费者权益日

I can easily visualise using the lips to point in a certain direction, kinda like using your thumb but with the corner of the lips instead. Is this universal? At least some research tells me it may not be. Also found this video on it lmaoo
我可以很容易地想象用嘴唇指向某个方向，有点像用拇指，但用嘴角代替。这是普遍的吗？至少一些研究告诉我，可能不是。还在上面找到了这个视频 lmaoo

Chinese saying for though something may be small, the details are complete/sufficient
中国俗语说，虽然某件事可能很小，但细节是完整的/足够的

'Shu' as a suffix is Uncle
“Shu”作为后缀是叔叔

Chapter 010 - WeChat Account
第010章 微信账号

You and . Are Now Friends, You May Start Chatting
你和 .现在是朋友，你们可以开始聊天了

The moment Boss Zhao looked up after he kept his phone, he heard that dine and dasher say in all seriousness, “Just kill the hostage.”
赵老板收好手机后抬起头的那一刻，就听见那个饭和冲刺严肃地说：“杀了人质就行了。

The boss was amused, “That won’t do, I’m just a small business, I can’t afford to kill this particular hostage.”
老板被逗乐了，“那不行，我只是个小生意，我杀不起这个人质。

Sheng Wang looked up and let out a long sigh of “ah—”, and sat down on the floor hugging his head.
盛王抬头“啊——”长长地叹了口气，抱着头坐在地板上。

He was never willing to go outdoors under the sun, his skin was a shade of pale comparable to Jiang Tian’s. The moment he even felt a trace of embarrassment it was especially obvious. The boss wanted to laugh even more when he saw the back of his neck reddened all the way to the tip of his ears, “Ay, is it really that bad?”
他从来不愿意在阳光下到户外去，他的皮肤是与江天相媲美的苍白。当他甚至感到一丝尴尬的那一刻，就显得尤为明显。老板看到他的后颈一直红到耳尖，更想笑了，“哎，真的有那么糟糕吗？

Sheng Wang let out a sarcastic laugh, and said, muffled, “I have a thin skin.”
盛王发出一声讽刺的笑声，闷声说道：“我脸皮薄。

Fortunately Crab did not hear that line coming out from him, or else he would spit at him.
幸运的是，螃蟹没有听到他说出那句话，否则他会向他吐口水。

When this handsome guy chooses to be thick skinned, he’s absolutely undefeated, when needed he could act unreasonable and shameless without even changing his face, “thin skinned” when applied on him was already an act of shamelessness in itself. Although the rate of his awkward moments these two days were really a little too high.
当这个帅哥选择脸皮厚的时候，他绝对不败，需要的时候他可以表现得不讲理无耻，甚至不变脸，“脸皮薄”涂在他身上，本身就已经是一种无耻的行为。虽然这两天他尴尬时刻的发生率确实有点太高了。

After much searching, it was still Jiang Tian’s fault.
经过多方寻找，还是江天的错。

That ten plus minutes felt like a century. Boss Zhao gave his shoe a kick, “You can stand up now, the person paying has arrived.”
那十多分钟感觉就像一个世纪。赵老板踢了踢鞋，“你现在站起来吧，付钱的人到了。

Sheng Wang immediately stood up the moment he heard.
盛王一听，立刻站了起来。

He stuck his head out and peered, Jiang Tian was turning in from the path in ‘Garden of Conduct’. The glass door with the sensors opened with a ding-dong. Sheng Wang, leaning against the counter, had his eyes downcast and pretended to look dignified. The flush on his neck and ears had already long faded when he stood up, his pretense really did look legit.
他探出头一看，江天正从'行为花园'的小路转过来。带有传感器的玻璃门叮咚一声打开了。盛王靠在柜台上，垂着眼睛，假装一副端庄的样子。当他站起来时，他脖子和耳朵上的红晕早已褪去，他的伪装看起来确实是合法的。

“You sure are capable.” he heard Jiang Tian say.
“你确实有能力。”他听到江天说道。

Sheng Wang looked up at him, and gave a dry laugh, “I was in too much of a hurry when I left, didn’t expect to leave both my wallet and brains behind too.”
盛王抬头看着他，干笑一声，“我走的时候太着急了，没想到钱包和脑子都丢了。

He was a loyal purporter of the belief: ‘If I apologise quickly enough, nobody would bear to fight me’. Along that face of his which had an extreme ability to cause someone to lose their train of thoughts, it had never gone wrong for so many years.
他是这一信念的忠实拥护者：“如果我道歉得足够快，没有人会忍心与我战斗”。他那张具有使人失去思路的极端能力的脸庞，这么多年来从未出错过。

Who would have thought that Jiang Tian was not receptive to that technique at all. After he listened to his sincere self mockery, Jiang Tian scathingly went, “I also didn’t expect to have to chauffeur someone around when they want to eat.”
谁能想到，江甜根本就不接受那术。听完他真诚的自嘲后，江甜狠狠地说，“我也没想到，有人想吃饭，还要开车到身边。

Sheng Wang: “......”
王盛：“......”