Orange Storm chapter 5
Little Dark Face
Fang Xing remained silent for a long time.
Jiang Zhijin waited for a while, beginning to wonder if he had been too impolite. Just as he hesitated about changing the topic, Fang Xing finally spoke up.
“I went to do a good deed like Lei Feng.”
“…Huh?”
Fang Xing’s tone was very calm. “I encountered a child having an asthma attack, and his mother asked me for help. I took him to the hospital, which took more than an hour. By the time I returned to school, the exam was almost over.”
He explained it briefly, but it sounded credible—because no one could come up with a reason that sounded so much like a primary school essay. So, it seemed more like the truth.
However, Fang Xing’s mood was clearly not good when he spoke about it. Besides the fact that it affected his exam, there must have been other reasons.
Jiang Zhijin didn’t ask further and said, “You’re really a Lei Feng—Li’s Courtyard, right? Let me make a call and check if there’s a reservation.”
“…I was just joking.” Fang Xing seemed a bit exasperated. “Let’s eat something casual; we still need to go to the supermarket later.”
Jiang Zhijin glanced at Fang Xing, who immediately added, “No need to be polite. I had a big breakfast, and I won’t be able to eat much even if you take me to a state banquet. Thanks, Uncle Jiang—”
Jiang Zhijin interrupted him, “If you call me that again, I might actually hit you. I’m only ten years older than you, trying to act young?”
Fang Xing sighed, “Fine. If you want, I’ll call you Ge.”
Jiang Ge, how imposing and dominant.
But in the end, Jiang Zhijin agreed, “Sure.”
In the end, the two found a Yunnan restaurant nearby after navigating and had lunch. After eating, they went to the adjacent Carrefour. The supermarket was crowded on the weekend, and Jiang Zhijin originally intended to see what Fang Xing lacked for school. Unexpectedly, after Fang Xing circled around, he ended up grabbing two bags of bread.
He really didn’t want to order takeout again so early.
Jiang Zhijin remained silent when Fang Xing picked up items. After a few steps, he suddenly realized, “I think my fridge only has alcohol left.”
“Not necessarily,” Fang Xing said. “There are still two eggs.”
… No wonder the kid ordered takeout early in the morning.
Jiang Zhijin couldn’t help but smile, “I can cook, really. I’m just too lazy to do it. If you don’t believe me, I’ll cook dinner for you tonight.”
Fang Xing glanced at Jiang Zhijin’s left hand wrapped in gauze and finally replied, “Forget it.”
Although Jiang Zhijin exuded an unreliable vibe since they met, Fang Xing understood that the other person was living well alone. His sudden arrival had added trouble to someone else’s life.
He was afraid of causing trouble and feared causing inconvenience to others.
Jiang Zhijin didn’t insist and grabbed two boxes of biscuits and milk, throwing them into the shopping cart.
When they went back to the bar to pick up things, the bar’s door was already open. Zhou Hong and Gu Xun were inside, cleaning up. They had also moved Fang Xing’s luggage behind the bar.
Seeing Jiang Zhijin, Zhou Hong immediately rushed over with a loud voice that could be heard for miles.
“Jiang Ge, is your hand better? I’ve found out that those few guys are from Chang’an Street. When they come out, I’ll find someone—”
Jiang Zhijin nodded, interrupting him, “Finding people, having another mass brawl, and then going to the police station again might lead to detention. It might even be a good idea for everyone to get detained together.”
Zhou Hong was speechless, and after a while, he managed to say, “Damn, then forget it?”
Jiang Zhijin patted his shoulder, “I’ll handle it myself. Don’t bother.”
Gu Xun, who was behind, took the opportunity to interject with a smile, “Okay, Zhou Er has thought of a hundred ways to block them on Tuesday, and now you’ve blocked him back.”
“Stop talking nonsense, Gu Xun!”
While Zhou Hong and Gu Xun were arguing in the front, Jiang Zhijin turned to talk to Fang Xing.
“You’ve met Gu Xun and Zhou Hong last night. They’re my buddies. I’ve known them since I just retired, and they’ve been working at this bar.”
Not my employees, not my friends, but “my buddies.”
“I didn’t own this bar originally; I worked here. Later, the boss wanted to return to his hometown, and he gave me a good price. I happened to have saved some money, so I took over.”
Hearing this, Zhou Hong couldn’t help but interject, “When Jiang Ge first came to the bar, I thought he was just a little white face—no, he was a bit dark at that time, a little dark face. He didn’t look like someone who had been a soldier. But one day, the bar had an event with a lot of people. Someone came in to take advantage of the girls, and Jiang Ge went up and subdued him with a move. If he had broken that idiot’s hand, it would have been awesome!”
“Don’t brag about such a violent thing,” Jiang Zhijin said as he walked inside. “Fang Xing is still a minor.”
Fang Xing gave him a sidelong glance, “I’m 17.” Just two months away from turning 18.
“Yeah,” Jiang Zhijin said. “Still a minor.”
Fang Xing: “…”
Beside them, Gu Xun had a peculiarly low sense of humor and was almost breathless from laughter.
For dinner, the four of them temporarily closed the bar and went to a Chongqing hot pot restaurant across the street. They ordered a spicy pot and sweated profusely in the September weather.
After finishing dinner, they opened the bar again.
Jiang Zhijin’s “Cloud Seven” wasn’t the typical kind of bar with DJs spinning discs on top while a chaotic crowd danced below. Sometimes there would be live singing, and other times lazy English songs played in the background. The tables were widely spaced, providing a sense of security, making it suitable for post-work relaxation or a casual drink with friends. Jiang Zhijin watched for a while, asked Zhou Hong and Gu Xun to take over, and then took Fang Xing with him.
The reason was that Fang Xing would start school the next night and needed to rest early.
However, even with that, by the time they got back home, Fang Xing had finished his evening routine, and it was already around ten o’clock.
He freshened up first. When he came out of the bathroom, Jiang Zhijin was still smoking in the living room. The TV was on, and Jiang Zhijin casually flipped through the channels. Hearing the movement behind him, he turned back and asked Fang Xing if he wanted to watch TV for a while.
Fang Xing declined, saying he needed to organize his things.
He did go back to his room to pack. Hanging up each piece of clothing one by one, placing shoes under the bed, and packing everything for school—textbooks, pencil case, notebooks, error collections, and some miscellaneous papers.
Among them was the comprehensive exam from the last time, the one he missed.
The teacher scolded him for half an hour before giving him the paper. He had taken the exam himself. Chemistry was a bit difficult this time; he made two mistakes. There was a multiple-choice question wrong in physics. In a 300-point exam, he scored 281.
Fang Xing looked at it for a while, then decided to keep it, placing it on the bed.
What Fang Xing said to Jiang Zhijin today was all true. He did indeed take someone to the hospital that day—a child with a sudden asthma attack and heart problems.
When everyone was waiting outside the exam room before the start of the comprehensive exam, in front of the entire school, that child’s mother knelt down in front of Fang Xing, insisting on pulling her child down with her.
At that time, how many people were there around, on the upper and lower floors? Two or three hundred, maybe four or five hundred? Fang Xing didn’t pay attention because the child had an asthma attack later and was scared. He took them to the hospital.
“Begging you, Fang Xing, Auntie is kneeling down to beg you.”
“An’an, come and beg your brother! Do you want to call him brother? Kneel down and beg him!”
Fang Xing turned over, let out a long sigh.
It seemed to be raining again outside, but upon closer listening, it was just the wind on the top floor.
The next day, Jiang Zhijin and Fang Xing didn’t go out much.Jiang Zhijin couldn’t cook due to his injured hand, so they went to a small vegetable restaurant near the entrance of the community for dinner. By the time they finished, it was already half-past six. Jiang Zhijin drove Fang Xing to school.
Initially, Fang Xing wanted to walk by himself, but Jiang Zhijin insisted on giving him a ride, stating that it was Fang Xing’s first day of classes.
It made Fang Xing sound like a three-year-old ready to attend kindergarten.
When they arrived at the school gate, Fang Xing got out of the car, closed the door, and thought for a moment. He then walked to Jiang Zhijin’s window, slightly bent down, and said to Jiang Zhijin inside the car, “I’m going in.”
“Go ahead, I’ll pick you up tonight.” Jiang Zhijin said, then suddenly reached out, straightening the school uniform collar that had been pulled askew by Fang Xing’s backpack.
Jiang Zhijin was quite fast, and Fang Xing could only feel the touch of his hand near his neck, the warmth of his fingertips brushing against his neck. In the next second, Jiang Zhijin had already pulled his hand back.
“Study well and make progress every day, Fang Xing.”
…This guy really treats me like a three-year-old.
Fang Xing frowned, straightened up, and walked into the school without looking back.
It was the time when students were returning to school, and people of all kinds, wearing uniforms from the first to the third year, mixed together, filling the school. Fang Xing went to the administrative building to find Tang Yi and received his textbooks.
That day, there were other teachers in the office. Tang Yi sat behind the desk, discussing teaching progress with another teacher. Fang Xing stood at the door, knocked twice, and Tang Yi looked up, immediately smiling, “The high school senior uniform looks good after all—come in.” After that, he pointed to the new books on his desk. “Your books, let’s move them to the classroom together later.”
In fact, almost all the textbooks for the second semester of the senior year had already been covered. The entire year of the senior high was devoted to intense review, and both Chaocheng and Shaojiang used the People’s Education Edition textbooks, with the same content and teaching progress. So Tang Yi didn’t bother to give Fang Xing new textbooks; what he received were stacks of exercise books, workbooks, and papers.
Even so, there were still two piles of them.
It was almost 7 o’clock, and Tang Yi and Fang Xing each carried a stack of books, heading towards the classroom.
“Our class originally had 45 people, plus you, there are now 46. The senior year is essential for study, but relationships with classmates also need to be handled well, after all, it’s an entire year. If there are any conflicts, talk to the teachers first, don’t handle them yourself, and don’t act recklessly. If you have any problems with your studies, you can directly approach the teachers for each subject, and if you can’t find the teachers from our class, the ones from other classes will also help you…”
From the administrative building to the teaching building, Tang Yi spoke all the way without stopping for a minute.
When they reached the third floor and the bell rang, Tang Yi finally stopped talking and led Fang Xing to the classroom at the end of the left corridor.
The silver-white iron door was half-open, with a sign hanging on it that had a white background and blue letters, stating: “Senior Three (Science) Class 3.”
Although the bell had rung, the inside was still bustling with activity, like a vegetable market. People were talking, others were reciting—someone was loudly reciting the “Tengwang Pavilion Preface,” and they had just reached the line, “The setting sun and a solitary goose take flight, and the autumn water stretches endlessly under the boundless sky.” Tang Yi went inside, stood on the podium, and knocked on the table twice, and the noise immediately subsided.
“All right, quiet down for a moment. Let me introduce a new classmate to you.”
Now, everyone’s gaze in the classroom turned to Fang Xing.
Fang Xing felt like he was being watched by more than forty people at once, feeling a bit like a monkey in a zoo. If Tang Yi asked him to introduce himself, he might want to die.
Fortunately, Tang Yi didn’t go that route and introduced him himself.
“Fang Xing, just transferred from another province. He’s now a member of our class. Sit over there, next to Xu Hang.”
Although Fang Xing didn’t know who Xu Hang was, he followed Tang Yi’s finger, and there was only an empty seat in that direction. He walked over with his books, settled down, and Tang Yi’s voice resumed.
“Stop looking around; studying is not as active as you all seem. The usual routine, start by memorizing the book for half an hour, then discuss the last test paper.”
The classroom became lively again, and the voices of those reciting books became even louder, with Fang Xing’s desk partner making the most noise. He was reciting a poem by Li Qingzhao, “Drunken Flowers in the Shade,” shouting it out as if it were “Man Jiang Hong.” Fang Xing took out his textbook, but before he could open it, the commotion next to him stopped.
Fang Xing raised his eyes, and the other person was looking at him. His hair was a bit long, testing the boundaries of the high school student’s appearance standards, and he had carefully styled it.
What was this person’s name again? Xu Hang?
Before Fang Xing could recall, the other person had already lowered his voice to speak.
“Hey, I’m Xu Hang. What’s your name? I was playing on my phone when Tang Monk was talking just now.”
That was too honest.
Fang Xing replied, “Fang Xing. Fang from ‘fang’ (square), and Xing from ‘cangjie’ (Cangjie).”
Xu Hang responded with an “Oh” and after a while, asked again, “Who’s Cangjie? Your friend?”
“…Yeah.” Fang Xing glanced at him and answered, “He was my former classmate.”
Xu Hang said another “Oh” and then asked, “Why did you transfer to senior year? And across provinces, that must have been quite a hassle. But it’s okay; if you don’t understand anything, you can ask me—”
“You! I haven’t settled the score with you for the last monthly Chinese exam where you barely passed.” Tang Yi appeared out of nowhere, not knowing when he had snuck up behind Xu Hang. “Also, what’s up with your hair? It’s long enough to tie into a braid. Tomorrow at noon, I’ll give you an hour off to go get a haircut.”
Xu Hang was frightened enough to lower his head and continued vigorously reciting “Thin mist, thick clouds, melancholy all day long” repeatedly.
Tang Yi went to look at Fang Xing again. “Get to know your classmates after class. Study well.”
Fang Xing nodded softly, opened his textbook, and Tang Yi went off to attend to others.
Outside the window, the daylight was still bright, and there was the noisy sound of reading around him. The new exercise books were piled on the desk, and Fang Xing took a deep breath, inhaling the unique scent of fresh ink from the new books.
In a completely new city, his senior year had begun.