Recap
“Tutor.” Yu Sheng’s ears were also burning, “Two months are almost here.”
He learned a new trick from the group of people in the class, but he didn’t expect that this person actually fell into the trap and actually looked out when he was told to.
The short-term plan he wrote down seems to only have half a month left, and it has not been realised yet. Yu Sheng leaned against his shoulder, paused for a while, and then continued: “When will you teach me how to do Subject 2? Do you have any plans?”
___
Jin Linkun couldn’t sleep all night and made a very detailed teaching plan on the maths paper.
The air conditioner was turned on for a long time, and Yu Sheng got up thirsty in the middle of the night to drink water. He looked at the plan helplessly as Jin Linkun drove the coach car that was said to be Subject 2 on the paper to the edge of the city.
The next day, Class 7 became lively early in the morning.
The group of people wanted to go everywhere. They are in an extremely relaxed state after just finishing the exams and the ideas won’t stop flowing. Yu Sheng glanced around while eating breakfast. There’s actually someone who wants to go to the amusement park to experience the Pendulum* and the Drop Tower*.
*(
Really carefree.
Lao He holds the financial power this time and is very strict: No to pendulum ride, no to drop tower.
The committee is unwilling to give in: It’s very exciting, why not! We want democracy!
Lao He: Democracy, I asked our funds, and they said no.
After the head teacher, who was rarely authoritarian, rejected it, the group of people could only give up with regrets and then continued to consider other alternatives.
The class monitor didn’t have any special ideas: movie theatre? No, movie theatres should not allow melon seeds to be eaten…KTV? Internet cafe?
Lifestyle committee: I don’t know why, but after our class recently became really passionate about studying, I found that this kind of place suddenly became boring.
The class committee kindly explained to him: It’s probably because we often go to KTVs to memorise words at night and go to Internet cafes to take online classes.
As a result, a group of students who usually go crazy for fun saw all kinds of messy English words popping up in their minds when they saw the KTV sign. They stayed away when they saw the light box of the Internet cafe. They didn’t want to hear foreign teachers speaking English at all.
Lao He also thinks this is a good thing, and is currently considering asking Yu Sheng to be his subject representative to help students with questions that they are not good at in Chinese.
___
If an idea is uncreative, no one will want to go. If an idea is too creative, funding will not be approved. The group of people had a fruitless discussion and finally decided that the whole class would go hiking.
It was a bit different from what he expected. Jin Linkun was a little surprised when he found out: “Is it such a health aware activity?”
“It just so happened that Lao He had discounted cable car tickets.” Yu Sheng stuffed two bags of potato chips into his school bag. Feeling excited, he took out another bag and ate two pieces. “It’s in the neighbouring city, we’ll stay there for a night. The second day is free-for-all, we’ll come back in the evening.”
The mountain they are hiking is in city C next door. Although it is said to be a mountain, it is actually not tall at all. The main peak is only over 500 metres. However, it is quite famous because it is a historical monument that often appears in various poems and ancient texts.
Jin Linkun checked the map and found that there was an amusement park nearby.
Lao He himself is very afraid of the drop tower and the pendulum, but he still maintain his dignity as the head teacher and at the same time gives in to the wishes of his students.
Considering that there is still a family member who wanted to go with him, Yu Sheng picked up his mobile phone and was about to give Lao He a heads up when this group of people had already started to ask in the class: Does Mr. Jin have any classes? If not, let’s invite him along!
Jin Linkun never left the group and was very happy with the enthusiasm of the students: I’m free, let’s go! Thanking everyone for taking care of student Sheng…
Yu Sheng was watching from the side. Before he could finish typing, he grabbed his phone and deleted the last sentence.
The lifestyle committee members are very capable at work. Before they gathered, the bus had already been contacted and the hotel had rooms booked based on the number of people attending.
“A very impromptu trip.”
The class monitor sat by the bus door and looked out the window at the moving street shops with high spirits: “I feel that I am completely free now, unrestrained, and carefree…”
The Sports Committee said quietly from the back row: “Ah, the results are out.”
“What is out?!” The class monitor instantly lost all his cool and turned around on his seat, “Which subject is it? When did it happen? Where did it happen?”
He asked for a long time, only to find that the people in the bus were trying their best to hold back their laughter. When he reacted, he became angry and said: “Is this interesting? You are killing the enemy by one thousand yet losing eight hundred*! It seems that you are not afraid of the results yourselves!”
*(meaning that if you force a comparison between yourself and others, the person who loses out in this comparison is not just the opponent, but both parties.)
The school committee member smiled brightly and patted him on the shoulder: “It doesn’t matter if you lose eight hundred, we are happy to kill one thousand enemies. Are you happy, monitor?”
A group of people had a chaotic quarrel for a while, but because he was worried that the driver would be too annoyed and drive the bus into a ditch. Lao He, the co-pilot, suppressed the quarrel simply and effectively: “If you really want to chat, we can play continue the phrases*, or recite ancient poems…”
*(This is a Chinese word game, in which players usually must come up with a chengyu that begins with an identical or homophonous character to the one that the previous chengyu ended with.)
“No, no, we’re fine.”
The monitor was so frightened that he immediately returned to his seat and spoke on behalf of the students: “Teacher, it’s like this. Everyone went to bed very late last night and got up too early today. We are all very sleepy…”
A group of people echoed their agreements desperately. In order to prove that everyone was already very sleepy, they closed their eyes and slacken their bodies against their seats.
Jin Linkun didn’t think it was a big deal at all. He and Yu Sheng each had earphones in one ear and are watching with interest for a while. It was a pity that the game of continuing the phrases was cancelled: “Can’t we play? I think this is quite interesting.”
“It’s okay.” Yu Sheng had just agreed to take over the job of the Chinese subject representative under the coercion of the leave request this morning. He raised his hand to cover his eyes briefly, “They will want to play.”
Jin Linkun: “…”
To be honest, he feels that Yu Sheng should not be blamed for the fact that Class 7 is so enthusiastic about studying.
But they really can’t blame the innocent Class 7 students.
For example, the students in the back rows, although except for Yang Fan, did not want to play continue the phrase at all, yet they still sat up straight and took the initiative to raise their hands to participate.
The rules for continuing the phrases game is a bit broader, as long as the tone of the first character is the same as that of the tone of the last character of the previous phrase, it counts. The previous phrase can still be connected. After receiving Duan Lei’s sudden eureka moment of “the light reflecting off the calm waters beautifully”, Yao Qiang’s knowledge reserve reached the limit: “Beautiful – Beautiful scenery, good food and drinks.”
The next person was Yu Sheng, who put one palm flat on his chest as he recited with wisdom: “Drink the northwest wind…”*
*(drink the northwest wind means nothing to eating, to be hungry)
___
Yu Sheng didn’t become angry because of the messy content received by these people, so he continued calmly: “Wind and rain cannot move one if one is as firm as the mountains.”
A bunch of phrases starting with mountains had already popped into Jin Linkun’s mind. He opened his mouth and was about to continue the train, yet when he looked at his child beside him, his train of thought suddenly became knotted and he couldn’t continue right away.
The class monitor pretended to be asleep for a long time and vaguely heard the commotion behind him. He couldn’t help but open his eyes and looked back: “What’s the fuss about?”
The student committee member sat next to him with his eyes closed: “It’s Lao He who suggested continue the phrases game.”
For some reason, the class monitor suddenly had an ominous premonition, “What’s the penalty for losing?”
The student committee said: “Sheng-ge loses his cool.”
“…”
In the silence, the class monitor couldn’t help but tremble: “Is there any difference between this and death?”
“There should be.” The student committee actually couldn’t imagine this scene. He glanced back and continued to sit upright in a position where he would not be implicated. “Teacher Jin has lost three times.”
**(The phrases they played: 水光潋滟晴方好 – 好吃好喝 – 喝西北风 – 风雨不动安如山)
___
They get stuck with this person every time, it seems like he has no gaming experience at all. Yu Sheng didn’t ignore it this time. He let out a sigh, and flicked his forehead: “Why are you distracted?”
Jin Linkun let him hit him honestly and smiled: “I didn’t mean it…”
It’s just that he thought of a phrase, but he thought it seems appropriate but also not really appropriate, so he didn’t say it out loud.
After finally surviving until the game ended again, the group of people quickly returned to their seats. Duan Lei covered Yang Fan’s mouth and was dragged back into his seat. Everyone on the entire bus was quiet.
Yu Sheng sat for a while and turned his head: “What phrase?”
Jin Linkun himself felt that this scene was a bit too cliché, so he rubbed the tip of his nose, smiled amusedly and sent him a WeChat message on his mobile phone: The mountains have trees and there are branches on trees, but you know not how much…*
*(The mountains have trees and there are branches on trees, but you know not how much I love thee. 山有木兮木有枝，心悦君兮君不知)
Before he finished typing the rest of the phrase, the child who had already finished reading picked up his phone and sent him a message directly.
——The mountains have trees and the trees have branches.
Thee says say less, he understands.
The bus swayed all the way and finally unloaded a busload of students at the entrance of the scenic spot.
Lao He usually looks quiet, but in fact he is the true champ. He leads the group of students steadily on the small roads, while entertaining and educating, interspersed with historical allusions to various scenic spots. It can be seen at a glance that he has a lot of mountain climbing experience.
The physical committee member has very good physical strength and followed Lao He with vigour all the way. He even turned around and waved to them: “Follow me, comrades. Just exert a bit of strength and we’ll reach the top!”
“Your comrades are working hard!” The class monitor fell a little far away and waved to him from a distance, “You must let Lao He talk about a few more scenic spots, we will be there soon!”
The distance is so far that he has to shout.
Yu Sheng didn’t find it tiring to climb up, but there were a lot of people lagging behind, so he walked at the end with Jin Linkun to avoid losing one or two people while they hiked up.
Jin Linkun was carrying the schoolbags of two people, looking at his child who was holding the branches for several girls while lowering his head to press the cell phone. His eyes curved down and he unscrewed the thermos cup and handed it over.
The mountain is not high, but the road is really not easy to walk. The group of people stumbled and hiked for more than two hours before they climbed all the way to the top of the mountain.
Yao Qiang, a strong man who can fly three thousand miles, held his knees and couldn’t help but sigh: “I probably know how Lao He saved up that discount coupon for the cable car.”
The student committee member and the class monitor supported each other and sat down on the stone in a trance: “We succeeded, we’ve conquered ourselves!”
“I understand now.” Duan Lei took a deep breath, “Last time during the evening self-study, we took the opportunity to escape during a power outage. When the power came back, Lao He didn’t catch up. It turned out that he was conserving his strength and let us go.”
Lao He smiled and clasped his hands behind his back, checking each one over: “Come and sit together, those who brought instant noodles, hand them over. Don’t sit too close to the edge. If you fall out, you won’t need to personally pay for the drop tower anymore…”
They had arranged to gather at 11 o’clock at noon. Not many people had a good meal, so they just ate some snacks on the way. By now, everyone was so hungry that their chests were touching their backs.
The weather is nice today and there is no wind. There was a place selling hot water on the top of the mountain. Lao He went to talk to the people, put the instant noodles of his students together, threw in the seasonings carefully, and cooked a large pot of instant noodles and brought it back.
The lifestyle committee member spread out a piece of plastic paper and placed the cakes, bread, potato chips and other snacks brought by everyone in a circle.
There was delicious food and good company. The group of people relaxed and simply played games while eating.
Truth or dare is always a must in this kind of group activity. The class committee members, who had no creativity at all, took out two packs of special playing cards. Yu Sheng was also pulled over, and the whole class sat in a circle.
The cards were drawn twice before Yu Sheng was chosen.
“I’ll take the dare then.” Yu Sheng put down the cards in his hand, “What do you want me to do?”
The class monitor in charge of appointing the dare sat upright, look at the “Dancing in a Hula Skirt” card in his hand. He cleared his throat and stuffed the card into the crack of a stone without blinking: “Just…just eat a candy.”
“…”
Because Jin Linkun is around, Sheng-ge will have a better temper. The students in Class 7 are more courageous than usual: “Eating candy is not a dare, no!”
“Eat at least one dur-mint, at least a super strong mint!”*
*(I think maybe durian?)
“Class monitor, are you still a man? Why are you releasing so much water*?”
*(放水 means someone would have been able to win a game or competition, but for some reason or another, deliberately loses the game/competition. Usually, this kind of situation happens because of some secret deal, internal relations between teams, players, coaches, etc. or some special tactical arrangements so that one party is favoured over another)
“This is more than just releasing water.” The sports committee member who had just been punished by twisting his butt three times couldn’t help but sigh, “This is obviously releasing a flood…”
After all the fuss, no one really dared to let their Sheng-ge do anything too damaging, so they could only change it into a truth.
The class monitor drew a card from a pile of cards: “Sheng-ge, if you could go back to today a year ago, what would you like to do most?”
This question is pretty standard. Most people’s answers are to buy a lottery ticket and let their family buy a house quickly. If they have a partner, the standard answer is undoubtedly to meet them as soon as possible. If they are a person who can gossip, probably no one will listen. The truth is life-threatening.
The class monitor saved his life and breathed a sigh of relief.
Jin Linkun also listened intently, while adding honey to the red date tea for his little friend in a healthy way, and secretly put two wolfberries in it.
It was late November last year.
Yu Sheng lowered his head and looked at the schedule reminder on his phone’s calendar, and the answer exceeded everyone’s expectations: “Practice boxing for two days, and then go to a maths competition.”
Monitor: “…”
Student Committee: “…”
Class 7 students: “…”
A group of people were so shocked by this idea that they didn’t dare to speak out. Lao He is very appreciative and adjusted his glasses: “Okay, classmate Yu Sheng. It just so happens that your maths teacher also wants you to work part-time as his subject representative. You don’t have to do anything else, as long as you take the time to guide the students on a topic they aren’t good at, it will enhance their enthusiasm and interest in mathematics…”
Yu Sheng didn’t elaborate much. He was a little thirsty after eating snacks. He was about to take the thermos cup from Jin Linkun’s hand and drink some water when no matter how hard he tugged he couldn’t get it over: “You won’t let me drink?”
“Here.” Jin Linkun came to his senses quickly, installed the filter and handed it to him, “It’s hot, drink slowly.”
Yu Sheng was not in a hurry at first, so he took a few sips and stuffed it back into his hand, and continued to play the game with the group of people.
A warm hand quietly reached over and touched his fingertips.
Yu Sheng changed his hand to support himself, held the hand, and leaned back against his shoulders.
Others don’t know why Yu Sheng wants to participate in a mathematics competition, but Jin Linkun knows.
Their birthdays are just two months apart. His little friend seems indifferent to his upcoming nineteen-year-old every year, but in fact, he always remembers it better than anyone else.
In fact, it has long since passed, but this feeling of being purely and unquestionably protected and cared for seems to make one’s hearts race no matter when it is.
The questions went around a few more times.
This group of people took the opportunity to make a fuss, asking about the first kiss between the class monitor and his girlfriend, asking the sports committee which girl in the next class he had a crush on, and even uncovered several dark stories about Lao He’s youth. They were very happy.
Jin Linkun also joined in, he secretly held hands with Yu Sheng behind his back, sneakily touching the back of his hand when they drew cards together, and finally got picked once.
Jin Linkun was actually quite interested in the challenge. Jin Linkun was going to work behind closed doors with their class monitor to punish him by wearing pyjamas. However, Yu Sheng saw through it at a glance and he could only regretfully give up on this potentially life-threatening idea.
The monitor became very skilled, so he changed to a truth card, drew a card and asked him: “Teacher Jin, if you want to meet someone you like, what clothes will you wear?”
The shadow left by the man in black was too deep. Duan Lei raised his hand and quietly interjected: “I know this. A black shirt.”
Jin Linkun: “…”
Jin Linkun is actually not a person who will die if he doesn’t wear a black shirt.
After frequenting No. 3 High School, Jin Linkun had already changed the way he dresses appropriately, and directly gave Yu Sheng the rights to give him his attire of the day. Hearing this, he lowered his head and took a closer look: “Khaki jacket, white hoodie, jeans… “
The students in Class 7 immediately realised something was wrong: “Isn’t that what you are wearing today?”
“What a cheater.”
The sports committee of their class is a normal teenager who has been single for many years. He strongly disagrees with Teacher Jin’s behaviour of not taking love seriously: “That’s the person you like! Can’t you change into something that the person you like will think you look good in?”
Jin Linkun touched the tip of his nose and glanced sideways at Yu Sheng. He was about to throw out a few words casually like, “It’s enough to have your own charm” and “If they like me, they’ll like anything I wear.” His family’s little friend next to him had already sat up, and ended the topic simply: “It looks good.”
Sports Committee: “…”
Monitor: “…”
The whole class was quiet for a brief moment. Lao He look very calm and repeatedly emphasised: “I have told you, you’re his tutor, tutor. You can’t have an open puppy love now…”
“Really weird.”
Yao Qiang lay on the stone table and finished the last mouthful of instant noodles: “My logic tells me that this is very shocking news.”
The Sports committee gradually came back to his senses: “But I’m not even surprised at all. I even think it’s natural.”
Duan Lei has been comforting himself with the old friend he met at first sight for a long time. Finally, he feels that he has made it to the day when the clouds are cleared and he is liberated. He feels so happy that he is almost a little sad: “Congratulations, come on, everyone, let’s raise your instant noodle soup, from now onwards, we shall all be a family……”
It was obviously supposed to be a bombshell, but everyone felt as if it should have been the case a long time ago.
It’s like a maths problem that has never been solved. It seemed difficult for a long time, but when they finally see the detailed solution, it is simple and straightforward.
It suddenly dawned on them that it didn’t even seem like it was a big fuss at all.
Everyone likes these two people, and these two people like each other. No matter how you look at it, it is a big happy thing.
The topic didn’t even stay here for long before it turned to new and exciting gossip.
The whole class sat on the top of the mountain and played all afternoon, grabbing a bowl of instant noodles and sharing it all.
Each person didn’t even get a big mouthful of noodles, there were ham sausage segments hidden in it that came from who knows where.
The simplest, mundane, yet least forgettable day in their youths.
It’s cool on the top of the mountain, but the view is great.
Although it has already entered winter, most of the trees on the mountain have lost their leaves and are bare. But standing on the broad flat terrain and looking down, the field of view is still so wide that it makes people feel that their minds have suddenly broadened.
The Sports Committee and the others regained their energy after eating. They couldn’t help but run to the observation pavilion to play around. They spread their hands to their mouths and shouted loudly: “Ah——”
The boy’s voice rang out in the mountains, and several faint echoes came back.
The class monitor had almost rested, and became interested. He remembered the inspirational video for the college entrance examination that he had watched recently, and sat in the pavilion and shouted with them: “Sports—Committee—”
The sports committee waved his hand: “What are you doing!”
The class monitor was ready to cheer him on: “Which—school—do—you—want—to—go—?”
The sports committee replied very happily: “I–don’t—know—”
“…”
The group of people looked at the class monitor who was in the midst of the reply, and were shaking with laughter.
In the first half of their senior year of high school, although they have noticed the urgency of my studies and the increasing expectations around them, many things are not yet fully understood.
They just know that they have to work hard to climb up, climb higher, and higher.
Lao He was not in a hurry, and followed his students, grabbing the last bowl of instant noodle soup with a smile: “It doesn’t matter, there is still time. Your goals for next semester will be almost clear. Then we will climb Mount Tai to watch the sunrise, and then shout once more.”
The group of exhausted classmates quickly reacted and tried their best to persuade Lao He: “No, no, no, teacher, we can shout now.”
The class monitor pressed his chest and urged the sports committee: “Hurry up, hurry up! Tell me that you want to go to Tsinghua University! You want to go to Peking University! You want to go to Harbin Buddhist College!”
The sports committee was far away and had no idea what was going on. He was still waving happily: “Why! I don’t like Harbin!”
The monitor was extremely worried, “Then it’s New Oriental! You pick one first, be good…”
Everyone wanted to laugh when they heard it, but couldn’t help but want to cry when they thought about Mount Tai. Their expressions were so twisted that they fell into confusion.
Yu Sheng sat on the edge of the pavilion, eating potato chips and watching the excitement, and couldn’t help but smile.
Jin Linkun touched the back of his hand and lowered his voice: “Where do you want to go?”
This question was asked once during the summer camp. At that time, Yu Sheng had not completed the first round of review and did not answer him immediately.
Yu Sheng actually didn’t think about it carefully and took a shrimp cracker from his hand: “I don’t know, why do you ask?”
Jin Linkun thought very far: “If the recruiters from the admissions office comes to the door, I will know who to let in.”
Duan Lei, who had just been busy sending messages to his good friend, thought he was finally liberated: “…”
___
T/N: This chapter is really fun though tough to translate especially the metaphors and phrases. But I love the entire hiking trip.
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Update: 2 days later~
- After becoming enemies with the lord god
- Blog
- Completed
- Don't talk to me!
- Dropped
- Ghost Marriage
- Hunger Academy
- I opened a safe house in the Infinite Stream
- Notices
- Ongoing
- The Dragon Lord is Weak and Helpless but Has a Big Appetite [Interstellar]
- Want to ascend? Then fall in love.
- What can I do, I'm not human.
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