Small Parting
Pang Pang, I’m going to be moving soon.
In all of Pang Qian’s memories, she had never ranked last in her cla.s.s. The worst point she’d ever gotten to was that midterm exam in junior high, when she was 41st.
During the cla.s.s break, she put on a thick face and went to Cla.s.s 8 to see Xie Yi. She asked him about Cla.s.s 8’s test scores. Miserably, she found out that if she were in Cla.s.s 8, she would have been ranked in the last 8 or 9.
Even though, in both cases, it was still the bottom of the cla.s.s, being 9th from the bottom and being last were just different!
After school, Pang Qian stood at the bulletin board in the middle of the campus, staring at a bulletin that was posted several months ago, the color already a bit faded from the sun. She stared at the red college examination results, muttering to herself.
Gu Mingxi stood next to her and looked for awhile. Not understanding her intention, he asked, “Pang Pang, what are you doing?”
“Be quiet! I’m going to forget how many I counted!” Pang Qian said, irritated. She continued whispering for awhile. Then she asked Gu Mingxi, “Look, this bulletin lists all the students from the last year that got into university, right?”
Gu Mingxi looked at the tiny black print on the red bulletin. He nodded, “Yeah, even for the junior colleges.”
“Then I’m doomed.” Pang Qian deflated. She said, “Suppose that the last graduating year had eight cla.s.ses. Each cla.s.s has 50 students, which means there are 400 students total. But this list only has 376 people!”
Gu Mingxi’s lips twitched as he looked at her. Pang Qian covered her face with her hands. “Who said that getting into a top high school guarantees that you get into university?! Gu Mingxi, it seems like I won’t be able to get into university in the future!”
“How can that be,” Gu Mingxi comforted her. “This was just a diagnostic a.s.sessment. Did you not study at all over summer break?”
Pang Qian looked at him as he was a monster, “You studied over summer break?”
“I did practice math problems and memorized English.” Gu Mingxi sighed. “If you didn’t study or practice, then it’s to be expected that you would do poorly on the diagnostic a.s.sessment. Don’t worry, when lessons start, you’ll catch back up. If there’s anything you don’t understand, I’ll explain it.”
Hearing this, Pang Qian felt slightly better. She sat next to Gu Mingxi, she lived next door to Gu Mingxi. It was like having a free tutor. If she ran into something she didn’t understand, she didn’t have to worry at all.
When Pang Qian returned home, she handed her test results to Pang Shuisheng, who actually felt that his daughter hadn’t performed that poorly. He figured that the students at a top school would all be very exceptional. Their exams would definitely be harder than at a general school, so the fact that Pang Qian scored more than 70 or 80 points already gave him great satisfaction.
Pang Qian, of course, didn’t tell her father what her cla.s.s ranking was after the exam. The evening of the parent-teacher meeting, she slipped out and went over to Gu Mingxi’s house, waiting anxiously for Pang Shuisheng to return.
She pestered and rambled at Gu Mingxi until Li Han opened the door to their house, her voice drifting in from the living room.
Pang Qian’s face paled in that instant. She sprawled onto Gu Mingxi’s bed, burying her head in his pillow, pretending to be dead. “Gu Mingxi, farewell.”
Pang Qian gloomily returned home. When Gu Mingxi walked out to the living room, he heard his parents talking in their room.
A bit later, Gu Guoxiang walked out and called Gu Mingxi into his study.
He sat down behind his desk, but didn’t tell Gu Mingxi to sit down, letting him stand there in front of him.
Gu Guoxiang thought for a moment, then opened his mouth to say, “Mingxi, I heard your mom say that on this a.s.sessment, you came in 4th in the year?”
“Mm,” Gu Mingxi nodded. “I didn’t do well on the Chinese portion, the essays… I nearly didn’t finish writing it. I also didn’t do well on physics, I got a lot of questions wrong.”
“Why were you unable to finish writing the essay?”
“Writing with my foot isn’t fast enough.” Gu Mingxi lowered his head, before lifting it back up. “But I’ll practice more, Dad. Next time, I won’t be as slow.”
Gu Guoxiang stared at his son, then said, “In the future, society will write things out less and less. For the most part, everyone will type with computers.”
Gu Mingxi, “?”
Gu Guoxiang stood up, “Sit down. I’ll teach you how to use a computer.”
With some apprehension, but also expectation, Gu Mingxi sat down at Gu Guoxiang’s desk. Gu Guoxiang bent over and unplugged the keyboard and mouse. He moved them from the top of the desk to the floor, and then plugged them back in. He pointed to a b.u.t.ton on the main cha.s.sis and said, “Press this, it’s the power b.u.t.ton.”
Gu Mingxi reached his foot out and pressed the power b.u.t.ton with his big toe. The blue indicator light lit up right away, and the whirring of the fan inside the cha.s.sis also sounded. The Windows 98 system prompt popped up on the screen, and then it jumped to the desktop. Gu Guoxiang said, “I’ll teach you how to type. We’ll put the keyboard and the mouse on the ground for now. When you get used to it, we’ll order a custom computer desk that’s lower to the ground. Just like you do homework on your desk, you can type on your desk.”
Gu Mingxi was a bit excited, watching Gu Guoxiang crouching on the ground, pressing the b.u.t.tons on the mouse. A white page opened, and he hit the keys on the keyboard, causing a line of words to appear on the screen.
“This is called the Intelligent ABC method. As long as you know the pinyin, you can type it out. Since you’re using your feet, you can’t practice the correct fingering. If you want to type quickly, you can only practice diligently.”
Gu Mingxi nodded. Gu Guoxiang pointed, and he would try to tap the right keys with his big toe.
The keyboard was very low on the ground. Since Gu Mingxi was already pretty clueless about the keyboard arrangement, in order to see it more clearly, he had to bend down pretty low. And because his toe was a lot wider than fingers, when he pressed the keys, several letters would pop up on the screen. Gu Guoxiang taught him how to delete.
After explaining it to him, Gu Mingxi learned how to type with his toes, albeit very slowly. The feeling of the keys popping back up was so interesting. He bent his head down and carefully familiarized himself with that feeling, and then watched as the words he wanted to write popped up on the screen. He felt very happy.
Gu Guoxiang stood at the side, watching for a bit. He turned around and pulled out a book from his bookshelf, then placed it on the desk. “This book is an introduction to computers. When you have time, you can look through it. In the future, you should spend one hour each night to practice using the computer. I’ll teach you all the commonly used software.”
Gu Mingxi nodded. “Dad, I’ll definitely learn it!”
Gu Guoxiang pat his shoulder, “But you have to promise me, you can’t play games. And on your next test, you have to be sure to score in the top 3.”
Gu Mingxi lifted his up to look at him. With clenched teeth and a nod of his head, “I promise.”
—-
Pang Qian didn’t really part from Gu Mingxi forever. She was still alive. She was only greatly scolded by Pang Shuisheng.
When their lessons really started up, Pang Qian realized that the subjects in high school had gotten much harder. In math, they started with functions. This had originally been Pang Qian’s weak point, and she didn’t really understand it well.
And so, Gu Mingxi’s tasks increased a lot. He wanted to ensure that Pang Qian understood all the new math and science material. He also wanted to encourage her to practice and study her English more. Aside from that, he also had to take care of his own studies, to practice his writing speed, and do other practice exercises.
He knew his father had high demands of him. Just getting into university wasn’t enough. Gu Guoxiang clearly wanted Gu Mingxi to get into a top university. Getting into one of the 985 would be best, but at the least, a 211.
That is, Project 985 and 211 schools. 985 is a set of (currently?) 39 world cla.s.s universities, and 211 has 116 schools…that meet certain high standards, etc. You can Wiki it for more info.
Gu Mingxi started to feel that there just wasn’t enough time. Pang Qian would come over every evening to do homework together. And he was also responsible for explaining things to her. Before she came over, he would quickly eat dinner and spend an hour practicing the computer. After she left, he would busy himself with his own matters. He often didn’t sleep until after midnight.
And he would wake up the next morning at 6 o’clock.
This kind of life was very tiring, but it was also full and productive. It’s just that sometimes, Gu Mingxi would feel a bit at a loss. For example, when Zhou Nanzhong and w.a.n.g Song talked about the NBA or La Liga, Gu Mingxi would find himself surprised that he hadn’t watched ball games in a long time. Forget about watching the games, he even had to let go of the 6 o’clock sports news that he used to watch every night, so that he could practice using the computer.
Gu Mingxi recalled some things Pang Qian said to him in junior high, about Xie Yi. At the time, Pang Qian sat in front of Xie Yi, so she’d become good friends with him. When she came over to Gu Mingxi’s to do homework, she’d tell him about Xie Yi. He had a lot of hobbies. Aside from ping pong, violin, and comics, he also like raising dogs, playing games, and playing cards.
According to Xie Yi, every day when he got home from school, he would play games. Then he would eat and then go out to walk the dog. When he came back, he would start his homework. Usually, he’d finish by 9 o’clock. Then he would practice violin for a bit, read some comics, and then go to sleep.
Gu Mingxi asked Pang Qian, “Xie Yi practices violin that late? Aren’t the neighbors bothered by the noise?”
Pang Qian looked at him with eyes that said, “You really don’t know about this world.” She said, “Xie Yi lives in a villa, it’s detached from other houses. He said that the room where he practices violin was specially soundproofed, so that no one outside could hear.”
That was how Xie Yi’s life was, carefree and unrestrained, happy and spontaneous. He didn’t seem to spend much time studying, but his test results were never bad.
Gu Mingxi couldn’t imagine living that kind of life. He knew that he wasn’t dumb. In fact, he was pretty smart. When it came to studying, that was something that came easily to him. But he also knew that in order to stay at the top of the cla.s.s, he needed to be more diligent, more hard working.
After Pang Qian joined the ping pong team, every Tuesday and Thursday, she had to practice at school for an hour.
Gu Mingxi would wait for her so they could go home together. He didn’t want to wait in the cla.s.sroom, so he would always go to the gym. A large group of people would be there pa.s.sionately playing ping pong. Gu Mingxi sat off to the side, taking advantage of the time to study English.
Pang Qian knew a girl on the ping pong team. The one who eliminated her in the tryout compet.i.tion. Her name was Zheng Qiaoqiao, from Cla.s.s 5. Her name sounded cute, but she was mature and prudent.
Zheng Qiaoqiao and Pang Qian were practice partners, so naturally, she took note of Gu Mingxi. When they weren’t at the ping pong table, the two girls stood at the side chatting.
Zheng Qiaoqiao asked Pang Qian, “What’s your relationship with Gu Mingxi?”
In the first month of school, Gu Mingxi’s name was already known throughout the school. He didn’t have arms, but he had excellent grades and was also handsome.
Pang Qian said, “He’s my deskmate.”
“Your deskmate has to wait for you to finish practice?”
“We’re neighbors, and I have to accompany him home.” The more they interacted, the more Pang Qian liked Zheng Qiaoqiao. She felt like a sister. She said, “He doesn’t have arms, so taking the bus home isn’t very convenient.”
“That’s true.” Zheng Qiaoqiao looked at Gu Mingxi from afar. He sat by himself on a chair, his English book spread open on his lap, as he closed his eyes memorizing the words. She couldn’t help but ask, “He looks very studious, always sitting their studying. Is that all he does, study?”
“Of course not!” Pang Qian said. “Gu Mingxi’s actually very interesting.”
“How so?”
Zheng Qiaoqiao asked this, but Pang Qian actually didn’t know how to answer. She said, “In any case, when you spend time with him, it’s not boring at all.”
Just then, Xie Yi walked up to the two of them. “You’re not practicing. You’re even chatting here, being lazy!”
Pang Qian said, “There are no tables.”
“If there are no tables, you should tell me, and I’ll get one for you.” Xie Yi was covered in sweat from practicing, his face also flushed from all the exercise. He said to Pang Qian, “Crab, you’re my disciple. Of course I’ll cover for you.”
Pang Qian giggled, her fingers twisting at the hem of her shirt.
The coach called Xie Yi over, and he ran off. He was 16 years old, still young and not quite mature yet. He was taller than Gu Mingxi. His face was refined, like a piece of jade. His facial features were flawless, along with his figure. It was as if all the best qualities were collected together and graced onto one person.
Pang Qian’s eyes trailed after Xie Yi, and only turned away after he’d left the gym with the coach. Zheng Qiaoqiao looked at her for a moment, then asked, “And what’s your relationship with Xie Yi?”
“We went to the same primary school and junior high.” Pang Qian’s face reddened as she rushed to explain, “We were in the same cla.s.s in junior high. I sat in front of him.”
“Hey, Crab–” Because Xie Yi called Pang Qian “Crab,” all the other team members followed and did the same. Zheng Qiaoqiao said, “Do you like Xie Yi?”
Even Pang Qian wasn’t sure of her feelings for Xie Yi.
At first, she admired him. She thought he was handsome and smart, and had a great personality. He was the most special boy that Pang Qian had ever met. Pang Qian knew that she liked Xie Yi, but she’d always thought that it was the same kind of “like” you felt toward a celebrity. Pang Qian didn’t dare to carry any illusions about Xie Yi. Although she’d read many comics about Cinderellas and Prince Charmings, she never had the unrealistic thought that Xie Yi would like her that way.
But then, after Pang Qian became more familiar with Xie Yi, she gradually realized that he wasn’t someone very hard to become close to. He may look very cool, but he treated Pang Qian very amiably. And so, Pang Qian carefully put aside her thoughts and watched him quietly from the side.
With regards to Zheng Qiaoqiao’s question, of course Pang Qian wouldn’t admit to that. As if she had heard some funny anecdote, Pang Qian laughed out loud and said, “Yeah, definitely. I like Xie Yi. All the girls on the ping pong team like Xie Yi, right!”
After practice, Pang Qian picked up her backpack and walked to the side. Gu Mingxi was still sitting there, head down, book in his lap. Pang Qian walked over to him, and was surprised to find that he had actually fallen asleep.
It was very noisy in the gym. Whenever someone made a good play, they’d shout out. And the bystanders would also cheer. But even in such a place, Gu Mingxi fell asleep.
Pang Qian reached out to pat him on the shoulder, startling Gu Mingxi, who jolted awake, the book in his lap falling to the ground. Seeing his confused, half-awake expression, she asked, “What do you do at night that you’re sleeping here?”
Gu Mingxi ignored the glances from the side. He lifted his right leg up and rubbed at his eyes. “I only slept four hours last night, I’m really sleepy.”
“Four hours?!” Pang Qian exclaimed. “What were you doing?”
“I was working on a practice exam. It was too hard, so I unintentionally worked on it until 1 o’clock.”
Pang Qian said, “Gu Mingxi, you’re becoming more hopeless. I’m not going over to your house today. Sleep earlier.”
“No,” Gu Mingxi looked up at her. Resolute, he said, “The midterm exams are coming up soon.”
Pang Qian responded, “It’s just once. Your eyes don’t even look like they’ll stay open.”
She helped Gu Mingxi put his things away into his backpack. Then she helped him put it onto his shoulders, pulling out his sleeves and tidying him up.
Gu Mingxi still shook his head, “No.”
“Why?”
“Pang Pang, I’m going to be moving soon.” He didn’t answer her question directly, only quietly saying, “Come over tonight. Tonight’s homework is a bit hard. If I don’t explain it to you, I’m afraid you won’t be able to do it.”
Pang Qian was silent. She pulled on her backpack and the two of them left the gym together. Then she asked, “Then what if you don’t sleep enough?”
“It’s okay,” Gu Mingxi said. “I can sleep a bit on the bus ride back.”
When they got to the school gate, a bike quickly pa.s.sed them. It was a professional bike, with the handles very low. Xie Yi turned around in his seat and waved at Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi, “Bye bye!”
It was the middle of October, and the temperature outside had dropped a lot. But Xie Yi still wore shorts. His coat was tied around his waist, occasionally flying up as the bike traveled. He was riding very quickly, and before Pang Qian could even say goodbye, Xie Yi had already disappeared with the wind.
She wouldn’t say things like “Xie Yi was so cool” in front of Gu Mingxi, like she used to in junior high. She just foolishly looked after the youth who disappeared around the corner. After a moment, she finally came back to her senses, “Let’s go, Gu Mingxi.”
On the bus, they found seats. Gu Mingxi said he would sleep for a bit. Pang Qian, who was also tired from practice, leaned on his shoulder and also closed her eyes.
She didn’t find this at all inappropriate. As the bus drove, she quickly fell asleep against Gu Mingxi’s shoulder. And Gu Mingxi slowly opened his eyes.
He looked the window at the busy, evening street. Everyone was in a hurry, their faces revealing tired expressions. Gu Mingxi knew, he was just like them.
Although it was indeed a bit saddening, but that was how life was. How many people could live as carefree and unrestrained as Xie Yi?
Especially him, Gu Mingxi. His life’s biggest goal was actually just to live a regular life like everyone else.
Xie Yi was special, but Gu Mingxi didn’t want to be special at all.
When the midterm exams came, Pang Qian made a bit of progress on her scores. She came out 6th from the bottom.
Xie Yi told her that her scores would have put her closer to the middle ranks in Cla.s.s 8, definitely not so near the bottom. Pang Qian also went to ask Zheng Qiaoqiao, who said that Pang Qian’s scores would have definitely put her into the middle ranks in Cla.s.s 5.
Pang Qian became all the more sure that she was able to enter the scary Cla.s.s 2 because of Gu Mingxi.
Gu Mingxi tested 3rd in their year.
Although he wouldn’t say it himself, Pang Qian knew that he was a bit disappointed with that ranking. Gu Mingxi already put forth a great effort, but he still didn’t perform better than Xiao Yujing and Wu Min.
Xiao Yujing was an oddity in Cla.s.s 2. She wasn’t cold towards others, and she always had a smile on her face. She was courteous and polite to others. But in the cla.s.s, she was very clearly not popular.
Pang Qian felt that the boys stayed away from her because her scores were too good, and it made them feel pressured. As for why the girls stayed away from her, it was very simple. Xiao Yujing’s looks were pretty good, she dressed fashionably, and she looked very elegant. If you add her amazing grades and “better than you” vibe on top of that, who could handle being friends with her?
Xiao Yujing was actually very indifferent to it all. She would stay by herself all day long, never talking to anyone besides her deskmate. She sat at her desk all day, doing who knows what.
Once, Pang Qian pretended to casually pa.s.s by her desk. She (PQ) glanced over to see what she (XY) was doing, and was scared to death.
Xiao Yujing was actually reading an English novel.
Pang Qian told Gu Mingxi about it, on the verge of tears. “Cla.s.s 2 is too scary! Everyone’s from a different planet! I want to change cla.s.ses!”
—-
At the end of November, Pang Qian became aware that it was getting very bustling over in Apt. 502. Every day, a lot of people would go there. Then one day, Pang Qian saw a technician taking apart the air conditioner next door.
When she went to Gu Mingxi’s room to work on homework, she discovered that it was a lot messier.
Gu Mingxi told her that he’d be moving soon, so he was organizing his things.
Their family moved on a weekend morning in the middle of December.
Because Gu Guoxiang had to move for work related reasons, the company sent people to help them move. A moving truck from the metals company stopped at the bottom of the building, and workers from the factory came up the stairs. They helped move the household belongings and appliances down. Li Han had also packed cases of clothing and other items they’d need to use.
It was noisy outside all morning long, but Pang Qian was still sleeping inside her room. It had gotten pretty cold recently. With all the cold air, sleeping in the warmth of her blankets was still the best.
Pang Shuisheng went next door to help out. Jin Ai’hua came into Pang Qian’s room, “Qian Qian, Mingxi’s looking for you.”
Pang Qian pulled her head into her blankets and said, “Tell him that I’m sleeping.”
“What time is it, and you’re still sleeping? Mingxi’s moving away. Aren’t you going to talk to him!”
“What’s there to talk about? I’ll see him again at school in a few days!” Pang Qian popped her head back out. “So annoying! I’m trying to sleep!”
In the afternoon, it quieted down next door. Pang Shuisheng moved a large cardboard box into Pang Qian’s room. “You’re still sleeping?!” He put the box down on her floor. “Hey, Mingxi said he had some things to give to you. He said you’d like it.”
Pang Qian sat up right away, “Where’s Gu Mingxi?”
“They’ve all gone downstairs. The car’s going to leave soon.”
Pang Qian pushed off her blankets and ran to the master bedroom’s balcony in her cotton sweater.
She opened the window and spread out on the railing, the cold wind suddenly stinging her cheeks. She looked down at the large truck and the people putting in the last few boxes. She saw Gu Mingxi, who was being helped onto the truck by a worker. The truck was very tall, so someone had to help you up into it. Someone lifted Gu Mingxi up into the truck, where he sat at the window. He suddenly looked up towards the fifth floor.
Pang Qian didn’t know what to think. In that instant, she crouched down, hiding herself behind the railing.
Then the sound of a large truck engine came. When she heard the sound head off into the distance, Pang Qian finally stood back up. She watched as the truck drove Gu Mingxi out of the Golden Compound.
She stared for awhile. When Pang Shuisheng brought out a coat for her, he realized that his daughter had already started crying.