Orange Storm chapter 35
Aunt
The bell signaling the end of the lunch break had already rung. Chen Yao got up to fetch a cup of water, and on her way back, she deliberately approached Jiang Xinxin’s seat.
“What are you still looking at?” Chen Yao patted the book in Jiang Xinxin’s hand. “Don’t be so nervous.”
Jiang Xinxin smiled wryly and looked up at Chen Yao. “I feel like there’s still a lot I don’t understand.”
Chen Yao playfully said, “Come on, physics has always been your strong suit. Being too modest is annoying.”
“Really, like this question,” Jiang Xinxin pointed to the test paper, “did you figure it out? I’ve been thinking for a long time and can’t understand it.”
Chen Yao didn’t even look at the question, quickly waving her hand, “No, no, no, if even you can’t figure it out, there’s no way I can.”
She looked around and finally settled her gaze on Fang Xing.
“Ask the top student, Fang Xing!”
Fang Xing was looking down at his phone, seemingly unaware that someone was calling him. It wasn’t until Chen Yao called again at a higher volume that he suddenly looked up, meeting the eyes of the other person.
When he looked up, his face was expressionless, his eyes indifferent. Chen Yao was startled by his sudden reaction, hesitatingly asked, “What… are you doing?”
“…Nothing.” Fang Xing’s response came almost immediately, without hesitation. After a few seconds, his gaze softened, “What’s up?”
“Jiang Xinxin wants to ask you about a problem,” Chen Yao pointed to Jiang Xinxin, who was looking at him anxiously.
Fang Xing smiled, “Which question?”
Jiang Xinxin handed her test paper over, “Question 21, I can’t quite get it.”
Fang Xing looked at it for a moment, took out his own test paper, and explained the steps to her point by point. After finishing, he asked, “Understand?”
Jiang Xinxin nodded repeatedly, “Understood, understood.”
After speaking, Jiang Xinxin hesitated for a moment and asked, “Are you okay?”
Seeing Fang Xing looking at her, Jiang Xinxin hurriedly explained, “I feel like you’re not in a good mood today.”
“It’s nothing.”
Fang Xing’s response came almost the next second, without any hesitation. Jiang Xinxin was stunned for a moment, said, “Oh,” and didn’t speak again.
It wasn’t until he turned away that he lowered his head again to look at his phone’s text messages.
After Zhai Wan finished speaking last night, perhaps afraid that Fang Xing would hang up, she immediately spoke in a rapid-fire manner.
“Please, hear me out first. Auntie really has no other choice. Xiao An is already undergoing chemotherapy, but the effect is not good. Auntie really has no way. Haven’t you seen him lying on the sickbed…”
Her words were accompanied by a sob, sounding very emotional, as if she was trying to control her sadness just to talk to Fang Xing.
“I beg you, Xiao Xing, i and your parents were wrong, but that’s an adult matter. Your brother is innocent—”
Fang Xing immediately interrupted her, “What’s wrong did my mom do?”
He couldn’t contain the sudden surge of anger and, looking at the phone, questioned, “What’s wrong did my mom do?”
Zhai Wan immediately cried again, repeatedly apologizing.
“Sorry, Xiao Xing, it’s all my fault. I’m sorry to your family. I should die. But your brother is innocent. You don’t know how happy he was when he found out he had an older brother…”
For a moment, Fang Xing actually wanted to laugh.
He also wanted to ask, am I not innocent? I’ve lived for almost eighteen years, and suddenly someone tells me, hey, you have a half-brother from your dad’s affair, who is now in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant. Go get tested, after all, the child is innocent.
How noble, how compassionate. Is she from the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris?
But Fang Xing didn’t say any of this. He didn’t even have the patience to listen to the end; he interrupted her directly.
“I don’t have a brother.” he said, “Don’t call again, or I’ll report you.”
After saying that, he immediately hung up the phone and blocked that number. He then called Fang Chenglin.
The call was quickly answered, and Fang Chenglin probably didn’t expect Fang Xing to call him proactively. When he picked up, he sounded very happy.
“Xiao Xing—”
“Did you give her my number?”
Fang Chenglin was caught off guard by the sudden question, subconsciously saying, “What?”
“That woman,” Fang Xing spoke quickly, suppressing the anger in his heart. “Why does she know I’m studying in Shaojiang? Why does she know my phone number?”
“I didn’t!”
Fang Chenglin realized it and immediately shouted, “After you transferred, I never told her anything about you.”
Fang Chenglin fell silent for a few seconds, then spoke somewhat flustered, “maybe she checked my phone—”
Fang Xing couldn’t help but sneer.
Fang Chenglin immediately stopped talking, and after a while, he said, “Did she call you? Just ignore her and don’t answer. I’m currently on a business trip—”
Fang Chenglin paused for a moment, then changed his mind, “Wait until tomorrow, and I’ll return to Chaocheng to talk to her.”
Fang Xing remained silent for a moment before saying, “Do as you please, but don’t bother me.”
After saying this, without waiting for Fang Chenglin to respond, he immediately hung up the phone.
The exercise book on the table was still the same page as before. Fang Xing looked at it for a while, bent down to pick up the pen that had fallen on the ground, and began to recalculate the problem from the beginning.
Let m represent the speed of the car reaching point D as v1…*
Can Fang Chenglin’s words be trusted? Does he really not know that Zhai Wan contacted me?
Let the speed of this small car be v2, the system momentum conservation during the A-D process…
What does Zhai Wan know? My number, my school, or even my address?
mv0 equals mv1 + Mv2, so v2 equals…
If she knows, will she come looking for me again?
Fang Xing’s mind seemed to be splitting, with the solution strategy mixed with various miscellaneous thoughts. After writing the final answer, he turned to look at the explanations and was surprised to find that he got it right.
Really amazing, Fang Xing. Maybe this is what they call a study god.
He smiled briefly, uncharacteristically leaving everything as it was. He threw the pen aside and lay down on the bed.
If Zhai Wan really knows about my school or address and comes to find me again, what about Jiang Zhijin?
Unlike the first time, when he couldn’t stand the gossip, attention at school, the chaotic noise, and the endless accusations and scolding from his parents, so he chose to transfer. But this time, just thinking about Zhai Wan’s possible reappearance, Fang Xing’s first thought was surprisingly about whether it would affect Jiang Zhijin.
Thinking about it, he exhaled lightly and closed his eyes.
His intrusion into Jiang Zhijin’s life was already troublesome enough, and he didn’t want to bring more trouble to him.
However, he underestimated Zhai Wan’s persistence and… madness. Blocking a number was useless. She probably found a way to change many numbers. From last night to now, she sent almost a hundred messages.
Some were apologies, some were pleas for forgiveness, asking Fang Xing to save her child… She even sent many pictures.
A small boy lying on a sickbed, about six or seven years old, wearing a patient gown. He looked very thin and small, with surprisingly large eyes staring straight at the camera.
“Take a look at your brother. Can’t you pity him a little?”
Fang Xing wasn’t on guard, and his breath stopped for a moment when he opened the message.
He took a deep breath, turned off the phone directly, and even took out the SIM card.
Time to change the card.
Until the evening self-study ended, he went out a few minutes later. Jiang Zhijin was already waiting at the door. Seeing him come out, he raised an eyebrow.
“Why did you turn off your phone?”
Fang Xing paused for a moment, answering briefly, “Nothing.”
Jiang Zhijin glanced at him but didn’t say anything more. Only when they got in the car did Jiang Zhijin, while driving slowly, say, “Something’s off, Xiao Xing.”
“What?” Fang Xing asked.
“You,” Jiang Zhijin replied.
After that, Jiang Zhijin smiled and spoke again, “Come on, tell me, what happened?”
Fang Xing turned his head to look at Jiang Zhijin for a while before saying, “You used to tell fortunes, right?”
“No, but I can read yours quite well,” Jiang Zhijin said with a smile, looking straight ahead. “What’s on your mind?”
“…Nothing,” Fang Xing finally said. “My phone ran out of battery.”
“It ran out of battery after going to school?” Jiang Zhijin glanced at him. “Playing with your phone all day at school, Mr. Study god?”
Fang Xing nodded. “Yes, that’s how a study god acts.”
Jiang Zhijin laughed heartily and didn’t ask further.
He knew Fang Xing was doing well academically, not just because he was intelligent but also because he worked hard enough. During self-study at home, Fang Xing could go for several hours without touching his phone, let alone during school.
But Fang Xing didn’t want to talk about it, so Jiang Zhijin didn’t ask.
In the next two days, Fang Xing kept his phone turned off as much as possible. Except for the short period just before the evening self-study to receive messages from Jiang Zhijin, he would turn it on for about ten minutes.
He didn’t have time to get a new SIM card outside of school, so he had to wait until the weekend.
On Friday afternoon, the entire senior year had a physics test.
As it was for selecting candidates for the provincial competition, this test was quite formal. They even deliberately shuffled all the students and rearranged the exam rooms, similar to the monthly exams. After the morning classes, everyone started preparing the exam rooms.
The only good thing about the exam was probably that during such times, the school’s management of students would be more relaxed. Chen Yao ordered milk tea delivery during the lunch break and went to pick it up at the school gate.
“Every time, we have to hand it over through the iron gate, like delivering it to a prison.”
Chen Yao sighed. Beside her, Jiang Xinxin smiled, lowering her voice, “Being able to drink it is already good. Speak softly.”
If it were a normal day, the two of them would probably be scolded by the gatekeeper, but this time there was someone talking to the gatekeeper, and he didn’t have time to care about these two girls violating school rules. Jiang Xinxin and Chen Yao stood in a corner, basking in the sun, waiting for the delivery.
The conversation at the gate was a bit loud. Jiang Xinxin couldn’t help glancing in that direction.
Outside the gate was a woman in her thirties, thin and weak, dressed plainly without makeup. She looked a bit tired, but her pretty facial features were still visible. She was talking to the gatekeeper inside.
“Excuse me, is there a high school senior named Fang Xing in your school? In which class is he?”
Jiang Xinxin was stunned and looked over there.
The gatekeeper was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, standing inside with his hands behind his back, talking incessantly, “We can’t casually reveal information about students. What’s your relationship with him?”
“I am his aunt. I have an urgent matter to find him. His younger brother is sick. Can you let me in to look for him?”
The woman’s tone was gentle, and her face was full of anxiety that she couldn’t hide. The gatekeeper paused for a moment, then lowered his voice, “Wait a moment. Let me make a call to see if there is such a person.”
Usually, parents who wanted to meet their children during school hours had to call the class teacher first. The class teacher would then call the gatekeeper, and only then could they allow someone in. But the woman seemed in a hurry, so the gatekeeper decided to make a call on her behalf.
Chen Yao also heard what the woman said and turned to Jiang Xinxin, whispering, “Didn’t Fang Xing transfer here? Why is there still an aunt looking for him, specifically coming over to find him?”
Jiang Xinxin pursed her lips and didn’t speak, watching the woman at the gate.
The woman had completely ignored her appearance and sat on the ground at the entrance, looking very exhausted. Her phone in her bag had been ringing continuously since earlier. It seemed someone had been calling her, but she hung up every time.
For some reason, Jiang Xinxin felt something was off. When the gatekeeper went into the communication room, she suddenly followed.
The gatekeeper was startled. “What are you doing—waiting for a food delivery, violating school rules?”
Jiang Xinxin smiled at him, looked back at the entrance, and said in a low voice, “Uncle, the aunt just now came to find Fang Xing, right?”
“Fang Xing is in our class,” Jiang Xinxin paused and said in a low voice, “Why don’t you call the class teacher, and I’ll go inform him?”
The gatekeeper was confused, “Since he’s in your class, it’s perfect. Lead her to find your classmate. Which class are you in?”
Jiang Xinxin insisted, “It’s really not necessary. I’ll go find my classmate first. It’ll be quick.”
After some hesitation, the gatekeeper waved his hand, “Go ahead.”