MM | Chapter 36

Childhood

At this age, waking up in the morning can be a bit awkward for guys.

Sheng Wang instinctively curled up with the blanket. He blinked for a few seconds, suddenly realizing something was off—the blanket rolled over easily, without any tugging from another person.

Where was Jiang Tian???

He was confused for a moment, then sat up. The air conditioner blanket was wrapped around him, and the room was empty—no sign of the other person. He scratched his slightly tousled hair and was about to lift the blanket when the door opened.

Jiang Tian paused upon entering, glanced at the clock, and said, “Awake so early?”

It was just 6 a.m., and though the sky outside was bright, the sunlight was faint, hinting at early autumn.

His hair was slightly damp, his features clear, and as he bent to pick up his uniform jacket from the foot of the bed, there was a refreshing mint scent about him—clearly, he had just washed up.

Sheng Wang responded with a hoarse “Mm,” his voice carrying the nasal tone typical of someone who just woke up.

His hand paused mid-motion to lift the blanket, then silently covered himself back up.

Jiang Tian noticed his actions, seemed to raise an eyebrow slightly, but didn’t react further. He went to the window to pack his bag. Sheng Wang scratched his head again and, searching for something to say, asked, “Did you really sleep? How come you got up without a sound?”

“I slept,” Jiang Tian said, tossing a Chinese textbook into his bag without looking up. “You can black out without drinking?”

Sheng Wang defended himself, “When you’re extremely tired, it feels a bit like being tipsy.”

“Noted.” Jiang Tian thought for a moment, finally turning to give him a look and said, “You call that tipsy?”

He emphasized the word “tipsy.”

“…,” Sheng Wang sat with his legs spread, the blanket wrapped around his waist. He rested his elbows on his knees and slowly rubbed his face out of shape. “A little more than tipsy.”

Last night, someone was desperate to sleep, collapsing as soon as they hit the bed, refusing to move even a step further. They lay on the blanket like they were glued with super glue, impossible to peel off.

When asked, they covered their head with the blanket, and if pressed further, added a pillow. Anyone could leave, but they wouldn’t budge.

Now, waking up, they finally felt embarrassed.

“Why don’t you just forget it?” Sheng Wang suggested.

“Impossible,” Jiang Tian replied bluntly.

Sheng Wang was sulking when he noticed the other half of the bed and the pillow were completely unwrinkled, not at all like someone had slept there.

“Where did you sleep last night?” he asked, puzzled.

Jiang Tian zipped up his bag and put on his jacket before replying irritably, “Where else?”

True.

Sheng Wang felt a bit silly for asking. They were both guys; there was no need to sleep on the floor. Besides, if it had been such a big deal, he would have remembered.

He murmured an “Mm” and lazily lowered his head again.

Jiang Tian gathered Sheng Wang’s used calligraphy sheets, notebooks, and fountain pen, placing them neatly on the corner of the desk. Then he straightened up and said, “Go change and have breakfast?”

Sheng Wang moved his legs and said, “Wait a bit.”

Jiang Tian glanced at him, then looked away without saying anything.

Only then did Sheng Wang realize and wanted to bite his tongue.

The room fell silent for a moment, the morning traffic and birdsong outside suddenly flooding in like a tide.

The air conditioner, which had been off for a while, restarted, and though the room’s temperature hadn’t dropped yet, it felt a bit stuffy.

The curtains fluttered in the breeze, lifting and falling.

“My phone’s on the sink,” Jiang Tian suddenly said, the sound of slippers shuffling as he left the room.

The bathroom door across the hall opened and closed, and Sheng Wang finally released his face, quickly slipping back to his own room.

What on earth was that all about?

He scratched his head and went to the en suite bathroom to brush his teeth, feeling both annoyed and amused amid the gentle vibrations of the electric toothbrush.

Sixteen, right? Who hasn’t done or said something stupid?

Back in the dorms, those idiots dared to do anything. The dorm leader would often yank the blanket off that lazy Eight-leg Crab to get him up for morning runs, then flee amidst his howls. Another roommate would sit on the bed, calmly saying, “You guys go ahead, I’ll lower the flag and join you.”

So, no need to panic. It’s normal.

The young master told himself.

After washing up, he changed out of his sleep shirt into a clean T-shirt, grabbed his phone, and decided to change his WeChat profile. He swapped his avatar for a big-eyed Wang Zai and changed his nickname to “Sticker,” symbolizing his bed-hogging last night, as a self-mockery.

As soon as he entered the classroom, Gao Tianyang greeted him, “Sheng-ge, you’ve been changing your avatar a lot lately.”

Sheng Wang dropped his bag and replied without thinking, “What are you plotting by keeping such a close eye on me?”

Gao Tianyang defended himself, “I didn’t notice, it was Xiao Lajiao this morning—”

Before he could finish, Pepper kicked his chair.

“Alright, alright,” Gao Tianyang surrendered, “I’m up to no good, I’m stalkinh his WeChat, okay?”

Pepper was already engrossed in her book, ignoring them.

Gao Tianyang continued teasing, “Sheng-ge, you’re handsome, rich, and awesome. Where else can you find someone like that? Wow, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Sheng-ge, why don’t you bend a little and let me experience young love?”

Sheng Wang pretended not to notice Pepper’s reddening ears and calmly told Gao Tianyang, “Get lost.”

The first two classes in the morning were physics with their homeroom teacher, He Jin. But instead of starting the lesson, she took half a class to announce something.

“The city ‘Top Three’ award needs another election. Similar to last time, it’s anonymous voting. I’ll hand out the ballots in a bit, and you can write down your choices. We’ll quickly count the votes. Those who were already elected last time, don’t write their names, okay?” He Jin’s tone was casual, as if Class A had been given an extra spot and they were holding another democratic election.

Sheng Wang exchanged a glance with Jiang Tian, then calmly accepted the voting slip.

He completely understood He Jin’s approach. Although the second year had just begun, and even if Qi Jiahao had done something stupid, as the homeroom teacher, she still had to consider the bigger picture. She couldn’t just point at him and say, “You should distance yourselves and isolate him.”

Such students are always the biggest headache for homeroom teachers.

Not everyone in the class was clueless. After a brief buzz of discussion, they began to vote.

As they were writing names, He Jin suddenly dropped a bombshell.

“There’s one more thing. I’ve mentioned the standards for the other city ‘Top Three’ spots before. Not talking about the class committee spot, I’ll discuss that in a separate meeting. The other two are based on grades and improvement. As everyone knows, Jiang Tian has held the first place in the grade for a long time, and Sheng Wang’s rank has risen rapidly. Logically, these two spots should be theirs. However—”

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s faces. “These two students, being confident and wanting to give more students a chance, have voluntarily given up these two spots.”

The classroom fell silent, and a few seconds later, erupted in chatter.

Over forty pairs of eyes turned to look at them, and for a moment, Sheng Wang felt like a living Lei Feng.

He Jin continued, “With this, the spots move down one place. Li Jia, with the second-highest total score in the grade over two exams and a high vote count last time, will get one of the city ‘Top Three’ spots. Any objections?”

Xiao Lajiao looked up, bewildered.

She hadn’t expected something she had missed out on to fall back into her lap. She let out a long, questioning “Huh?”

Gao Tianyang whistled and started clapping on the desk, and the other students joined in, drawing out their voices, saying, “No objections—”

Among the chorus were a few voices saying, “Damn, I just wrote her name!”

Then there was uproarious laughter.

“Teacher, you should have said earlier!” Song Sirui scratched out the words on his voting slip.

“Aren’t I saying it now?” He Jin replied.

She had been serious for a while, but finally smiled at this point, then said solemnly, “Additionally, Gao Tianyang’s total score increased by 64, and his rank jumped 78 places, making him the second most improved student in our class. The other city ‘Top Three’ spot goes to him, okay?”

She particularly liked to add “okay” at the end of her sentences, her tone gentle and consultative, but no one dared to say “not okay.” Besides, Gao Tianyang was undoubtedly the most popular person in Class A, so naturally, there were no objections.

Sheng Wang saw the guy in front of him was still teasing Pepper, whistling energetically, only to choke halfway.

He was stunned for a while, then turned to Sheng Wang and said, “Seriously?”

“Stop it,” Sheng Wang said. “Applaud.”

The others joined in clapping, cheering and shouting. Song Sirui even threw a pen cap backward, hitting Gao Tianyang back to his senses.

He covered the back of his head, his face flushed from the teasing, then cupped his hands toward Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian, saying loudly, “Thank you! I concede!”

He Jin rolled her eyes on the spot, and the whole class laughed again.

Thanks to Jiang Tian and Gao Tianyang, Sheng Wang never felt any obvious exclusion or bullying. But it wasn’t until this physics class that he suddenly realized this group had long considered him one of their own.

Isn’t there a saying? When you and certain people are no longer polite to each other, and can share troubles and honors without hesitation, you are friends.

Class A’s final city ‘Top Three’ report included four people: Li Jia, Gao Tianyang, Li Yu from the class committee, and Xu Tianshu, the name of Small Mouth Xu.

Director Xu, holding back laughter, posted the entire grade’s city ‘Top Three’ on the honor wall. Once the list was announced, someone noticed something was wrong—Qi Jiahao wasn’t on it.

This led to some rumors in the grade about Zhai Tao and Qi Jiahao.

However, Sheng Wang didn’t pay attention to these. He never wasted energy on people he didn’t like, and he wasn’t magnanimous. Knowing the other was having a hard time, he felt at ease.

That afternoon, as usual, he followed Jiang Tian to Old Man Ding’s for lunch, only to find the old man seemed a bit off, distracted during the meal, as if he were sulking.

It wasn’t the childish kind of sulking, but the kind where someone is clearly unhappy yet pretends nothing’s wrong.

Sheng Wang usually seemed carefree, but he was actually very sensitive to emotions. He tried probing twice during the meal, but Old Man Ding changed the subject each time. It wasn’t until Jiang Tian put down his chopsticks to wash the dishes that Old Man Ding, with a wrinkled nose, quietly beckoned Sheng Wang over.

“What’s up?” Sheng Wang leaned over and asked softly.

“Nothing,” Old Man Ding said, nodding toward the kitchen, speaking in a low voice. “Don’t let him hear, it’s troubling.”

Was it related to Jiang Tian?

Sheng Wang felt a bit puzzled and slightly worried.

During the lunch break, Old Wu, the math teacher, came as usual to hand out a half-hour practice sheet, but Jiang Tian didn’t get to do it. He had only been writing for five minutes when a teacher from the administration office came to the door, spoke with Old Wu for a bit, and took Jiang Tian away, saying it was for a school network upgrade.

Sheng Wang finished the practice sheet faster than ever, handing it in after 20 minutes, then used the excuse of going to the bathroom to slip out of the school’s west gate.

At noon, Wutongwai was peaceful, with elderly people gathered under the shade, drinking tea, chatting, or playing chess, while everywhere else had the drowsy, lazy feel of summer.

In such an environment, any hint of the unexpected was easily noticed—

Sheng Wang, hurrying to Old Man Ding’s house, nearly bumped into someone at the alley corner.

It was a tall man, whose handsome and well-dressed appearance made it hard to guess his age. But Sheng Wang instinctively felt he was about the same age as Sheng Mingyang, maybe because of a similar aura, or perhaps due to the fatigue in his eyes.

The man apologized absentmindedly and walked away. After a few steps, he shook his head and muttered something to himself.

Sheng Wang thought it sounded like “stubborn old man.”

He couldn’t help but glance back. The man had already reached the other end of the alley and turned a corner, disappearing from view.

Stubborn old man? Who was he talking about?

Sheng Wang muttered to himself, puzzled, and continued walking. When he saw the gate of Old Man Ding’s courtyard, he suddenly realized that the man seemed to have come from that direction.

Carrying his doubts, he stepped into the courtyard and indeed found the old man sitting by the bedroom door, head down and withdrawn.

The bamboo chair creaked with age, and Old Man Ding, wearing reading glasses, held a vintage photo album, muttering to himself.

“Grandpa?” Sheng Wang approached quietly.

Old Man Ding was startled. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be napping at school?”

“I didn’t sleep. I finished the practice sheet early,” Sheng Wang said. “What are you looking at?”

He glanced down. The old man was looking at a page with four photos. One was a large group photo with several adults and seven or eight children. The photo had been damaged by moisture, its surface marred, making the faces unrecognizable. The other three seemed to be of the same little boy.

“Old photos, from years ago. You kids don’t develop photos anymore,” Old Man Ding muttered.

Sheng Wang pointed at the three photos. “Who’s this? Looks familiar.”

“These are two people,” Old Man Ding said grumpily.

“Huh?” Sheng Wang, seeing the old man didn’t mind, bent down for a closer look. He finally noticed the boy had differences. In two photos, his mouth naturally curved slightly, hinting at a smile, while in the other, his lips were pressed into a straight line. The photos were also from different times.

After looking for a while, he actually saw a bit of Jiang Tian in that straight line. Hesitantly, he pointed at the photo and asked, “Is this Jiang Tian?”

“Mm!” Old Man Ding smiled and nodded.

The boy in the photo was about five or six years old, his features not fully developed, but already very handsome, especially his eyes. He stood by a door, looking at a cat perched on a low courtyard wall.

Sheng Wang looked a few more times and finally recognized it from the markings. It was the cat in Jiang Tian’s WeChat avatar, just much smaller.

“He was young then,” Old Man Ding said.

Since this was Jiang Tian, the other two photos of a boy who looked like him…

Sheng Wang guessed, “Is this Jiang Tian’s dad?”

Old Man Ding’s smile vanished instantly, his cheeks sagging, making his age apparent. He looked down for a while, sighed, and said, “Mm, his father, Ji Huanyu.”

Sheng Wang felt a bit awkward. From the tone, it was clear Old Man Ding didn’t like Jiang Tian’s dad.

The old man poked at the photo, saying, “This Ji Huanyu, he’s really something. Poor Xiao Tian.”

Sheng Wang’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. “Did he have a tough childhood?”

“Not good, like a wanderer,” Old Man Ding said. “When he was little, Xiao Ji… Ji Huanyu and Xiao Jiang were both busy, so busy they were never around, and left him here to live with his grandma. You know, when people get old, their health is unpredictable.”

He tapped his temple. “His grandma wasn’t quite right here, a bit senile, sometimes good, sometimes not. There were days she forgot to cook all day. Xiao Tian was too young to manage. I couldn’t stand it, so I had him come over every day, brought him some food, and he ate with his grandma.”

“Later, his grandma completely lost her clarity, didn’t recognize people, kept mistaking him for someone else’s child, and locked him out. You can’t blame her, she’s old. Xiao Tian would come to me.”

“He was shy, didn’t want to say he had nowhere to go. But I could tell, I knew.” Old Man Ding said, “Every time, I’d say I needed a little help, then let him stay here to sleep.”

“After a couple of years, he was sent away to live with his dad,” Old Man Ding said. “His parents worked in different cities, taking turns. Whoever was free would take him, and he never stayed long anywhere.”

“I just saw him moving his things from one place to another, like he didn’t belong to anyone, and nowhere kept him.”