147. Seeking Out a Patron

Fang Changan returned home and, as usual, first pinned his award certificate to the wall. Fang Yanran and Fang Changming also brought back their own certificates; Fang Yanran had placed second in her class, and Fang Changming had placed fourth.

The three siblings' certificates already covered half the wall behind the sofa. Looking at them, Fang Yanran felt a bit troubled and asked, "What will we do if there are too many certificates later and no more room to hang them?"

Cong Rong smiled, "Our house has plenty of walls. We can fit as many as we get."

To her, this was a source of joy even greater than a bountiful harvest.

"Oh, I forgot!" Fang Yanran suddenly seemed to recall something and knitted her little brows in annoyance. "We shouldn't have pinned these to the wall. We should have waited until tomorrow to show them to Dad."

"It’s the same if you tell your father when we get there."

Cong Rong looked over the certificates again, especially Fang Changan’s, which showed him taking first place in both his class and the entire grade. She then said, "Alright, don't be too proud. Let's eat first. After that, tidy up and check if you've left anything behind."

Fang Changming and Fang Yanran had never even been to the county seat before. Being about to travel to a big city thousands of miles away, they both felt curious and excited, and had begun packing days in advance.

Cong Rong had also been preparing for days. Aside from clothing, she packed shelled peanuts, fried cicada nymphs, homemade chili oil, several blocks of fermented bean curd that Fang Lujun had specifically requested, pickled vegetables and radish greens, soybean paste, dry flatbreads, and more—mostly things that were readily available at home but hard to buy elsewhere.

Once everything was packed, the luggage for the trip to Wenzhou consisted of one schoolbag each for the three siblings, one suitcase for Cong Rong, and two large cloth bags.

The next morning, after breakfast, Fang Luyong drove the three-wheeler to take the four of them to town. There, they went to a large supermarket to buy more food—mostly instant noodles, along with biscuits and ham sausages to eat on the train.

The train ride would take sixteen or seventeen hours. It departed after four in the afternoon and would only arrive by noon the next day.

At the bus stop in front of the train station, a bus heading to the city was waiting. The exterior looked old, and the inside was even older, with dirty stains on the seat cushions. Fang Changan felt somewhat uncomfortable, but there was no other choice; they had to take it.

There were not many people on the bus, so the four of them chose seats near the front. After seeing them off, Fang Luyong turned back to go home. Fang Changan sat for a moment, told his mother, and hopped off to buy a jin of melon seeds and a jin of oranges from a roadside vendor before returning.

Although Cong Rong hated spending money, she was worried the three children would have a hard time on such a long train ride, so she said nothing.

The fare from the town to the city was five yuan. Before the bus departed, the middle-aged conductress, carrying a small bag, came up to collect the money. For the four of them, Cong Rong first offered ten yuan. The woman refused, demanding seventeen and a half, to which Cong Rong also did not agree.

After the conductress finished selling tickets to everyone else, Cong Rong paid an additional five yuan. As for how it was calculated, no one was checking anyway. With the bus about to leave, the woman grumbled, "You can just get off then," but ultimately took the five yuan. She muttered as she marked two tickets. When Cong Rong asked for three, the conductress impatiently snapped, "Two or three, you’re four people sitting there anyway. No one is going to check, don't worry."

Marking two tickets meant ten yuan, but she had collected fifteen. It was clear where the other five yuan went. Since Cong Rong got what she wanted, she didn't say anything more.

As the bus began to move slowly, Fang Changan remembered that his mother and younger sister were prone to motion sickness, so he had them sit by the windows. Fang Changming sat with their mother, and he looked after Yanran, having brought extra plastic bags from home just in case.

Motion sickness has objective physical factors, but psychological factors also play a significant role. If someone experiences it for the first time due to fatigue or an empty stomach, they are highly likely to suffer from it again.

This was Fang Yanran's first time on a bus. Fang Changan wanted to help her overcome her motion sickness, so after they started moving, he peeled melon seeds for her and told her interesting stories about the fun places in the city and where they were currently on the route.

The little girl was so preoccupied with the snacks and stories that she didn't think about her motion sickness. The first half of the trip went smoothly, but the two-hour journey was quite long. In the second half, she began to feel slightly unwell, so Fang Changan let her rest her head on his lap to sleep.

Because of the excitement of their first long trip, both Fang Yanran and Fang Changming had woken up early, so they were indeed tired. Yanran was small and didn't feel cramped in the seat, so she closed her eyes and slept on her older brother's lap.

Cong Rong had started feeling unwell shortly after boarding. Fang Changan had Fang Changming peel an orange for her, but she only ate two segments before losing her appetite. She rested her head on the back of the seat in front of her, trying to sleep, though she mostly couldn't.

After the bus left the town, people waited by the roadside from time to time, waving when they saw the bus. They would pay according to their destination and distance, and the seats gradually filled up.

When another passenger boarded, the conductress, whether to "uphold justice" or simply because she felt Cong Rong hadn't paid enough, shouted at her, "Hey, you four, let the three children give up a seat."

Because of her motion sickness, Cong Rong hadn't actually been asleep. She lifted her head and said indignantly, "We bought tickets too, why should we give up our seats?"

The conductress retorted, "Where did you buy them? You four only bought three tickets. Let two kids sit together and free up a seat for someone else."

Fang Changan smiled and said, "Auntie, that’s not how it works. We paid fifteen yuan for the four of us, which covers two adult tickets and two child tickets—four tickets in total. According to regulations, child tickets are half-price, but they are still tickets just like the adult ones, just as standing room and seats cost the same price."

"Even though you only gave us two tickets, everyone saw us pay the fifteen yuan. You wouldn't deny that, would you?"

The conductress hadn't expected a child to speak so methodically, and the way he said that last sentence seemed to imply something. She had only been venting her frustration and asserting her authority, but hearing him speak like this, she decided to act as if she couldn't be bothered to argue. She waved her hand dismissively and said, "Fine, fine, you three children... I'll give you a stool, you can sit on that."

Saying this, she skillfully produced a folding stool and gave it to the middle-aged man who had just boarded, telling him to sit in the aisle.

Although many conductresses skimmed off the top in those days—a practice that was something of an open secret—it would be troublesome if it were openly exposed. There was no need to push it, especially since she hadn't actually lost her seat.

The man who had just boarded was used to auxiliary seats in the aisle and didn't say anything. He took the stool, sat down, and smiled at Fang Changan, saying, "You’re a sharp kid! You’ll definitely go far when you grow up."

Seeing that the matter had settled, and with the bus turning a corner, Cong Rong felt the tightness in her chest and went back to resting her eyes, saying nothing more.

Fang Yanran had been woken up by the noise. Dazed, she looked at her brother and asked, "Big Brother, are we there yet?"

"Almost. Sleep a little longer and we'll be there."

Fang Changan held half an orange, fed her a segment, and patted her head to let her sleep again. He then looked at the man sitting next to him and smiled shyly, "Sir, you're too kind. I was just stating the facts."

The man laughed, "How are your grades? Where do you go to school?"

"Huangnan Town No. 2 Middle School. My grades are alright; I’ve never placed lower than second."

"Hey, you’re quite the braggart, aren't you?"

The man paused for a moment before realizing what he meant and burst into laughter. The journey was boring, and many other passengers were listening, so they started laughing too. Someone asked, "Does that mean you get first place every time?"

Fang Changan smiled but didn't answer.

The man sitting in the aisle asked, "Hey, what's your name?"

Fang Changan smiled, "Fang Changan."

"Oh?"

The man paused again, looking him up and down. "Fang Changan from No. 2 Middle School? You weren't bragging then! My son goes to No. 2 Middle School too. I’ve heard him mention you. You’re *that* Fang Changan?"

"Uh..."

Fang Changan didn't expect such a coincidence. "What’s your son's name?"

"Wang Cheng. You wouldn't know him, though; he's in a regular class." The man spoke of his son with a sense of "wishing iron could become steel." "If he had even half your grades, I could die without regrets."

Fang Changan was stunned. He actually knew Wang Cheng; he was one of the two boys from the same village as Wang Ke.

The man continued, "There are three kids from our village at your school. Only one girl is in the key class. They say she’s in your class, too—Wang Ke. Do you know her?"

Fang Changan smiled, "I do. She sits right behind me."

"What a coincidence!" The man was bored and had just been looking for someone to chat with. He hadn't expected to find a connection, so he got excited and slapped his thigh. "Let me tell you, when it comes to Wang Ke, she’s supposed to call me 'Uncle.' Her father and I are cousins, though not very close—our grandfathers were brothers."

"That’s still a blood relative," Fang Changan smiled. "By that logic, I should call you 'Uncle' too."

"Hey, you kid! You see a pretty girl and you're in such a rush to claim family ties?" The man wasn't angry, just surprised that someone so young could be so composed. His thick skin reminded him of himself when he was younger.

"It's not about being in a rush. Wang Ke is about my age. Since she calls you 'Uncle,' it means you're older than her father, which likely makes you older than my father. Those younger than my father are 'Uncles,' and those older are 'Great Uncles.' Isn't that the logic?"

Fang Changan was just bored and chatting.

"Eh, that makes sense. That makes sense."

Fang Changan was the top university prospect in the whole school. In a parent's eyes, such a student was a perfect model without flaws. The man had only been joking and never thought he was capable of puppy love, so he just responded with a laugh.

The other passengers on the bus found the "reunion" between the man and the boy quite interesting. Especially after hearing the man confirm that Fang Changan consistently ranked first in the school, the conductress, who had just had a friction with the mother and children, looked at him with much kinder eyes.

"Wang Ke's grades are pretty good too, right? Out of the three from our village at No. 2, she’s the only one in the key class."

"Yes, her grades are very good, and she’s constantly improving."

Fang Changan didn't disclose her exact rank. Placing twelfth in a key class was already strong, but with him, the top student in the school, "the pearl in front," mentioning it might make it seem mediocre, so it was better to just praise her directly.

Hearing the top student say this, the man’s face lit up with undisguised joy. He became even more enthusiastic, "That’s right! Let me tell you, Wang Ke has been ambitious and sensible since she was a child, and she’s beautiful, too. All the boys in our village loved following her around. Even now that they’re in different schools, they still go looking for her on Sundays."

"But that girl is sensible and loves to study. She mostly stays home reading and doesn't hang out with those boys."

Fang Changan nodded and asked, "Sir, which schools do those people go to? What are their names?"

"No. 1 Middle School, No. 3 Middle School—there are quite a few. Li Meng, Wang Chao, Wang Lan, they’re all in that group." The man was clearly someone who loved to chat and didn't think much of it. After answering, he asked with a laugh, "Why do you ask?"

Fang Changan smiled, "Just curious. We’re students now, and studying is the most important thing. If I have the chance, I should share this wisdom with them so they study hard and don't let their parents down."

The man hadn't expected such a reply and couldn't tell if the boy was being a bit bookish or joking. He dismissed it as a joke and laughed, "You kid! Alright! Sensible! If you see them, you really should teach them a lesson."

Fang Changan nodded, "I think so too."

The man was used to chatting, and even though Fang Changan’s grades were good, he still saw him as just a child. His words were mostly in jest, including the three names he had mentioned. In reality, only one of them had any interest in Wang Ke; the others were just dragged along as cover or for moral support.

However, Fang Changan didn't think much of it either. He had just been chatting to pass the time, never imagining how his offhand comments would eventually influence the three young people whose names had been mentioned.