【024】Two Squirrels

Zhang Lu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised her head. It seemed as though she had mustered all her courage just to look up, and in that instant, it was spent. Still, she stammered softly, “Teacher, could I not be the vice class monitor?”

Cheng Mengfei asked, “Why?”

Zhang Lu lowered her head again and said nothing. Cheng Mengfei simply waited. After a while, Zhang Lu finally whispered, “My grades aren’t good.”

Fang Chang’an hadn’t noticed her scores from the last class, but she certainly wasn’t among the top students.

Cheng Mengfei smiled. “Good grades are only necessary for the study monitor. The vice class monitor doesn’t need that. Besides, you already hold a key, which means you’re responsible for part of the class’s affairs. You’re already acting as vice class monitor, and this will look good on your record in the future. Besides, just because your grades aren’t good now, doesn’t mean they won’t improve. If you think your grades are lacking, you should work hard, not give up on the position. That’s the right approach, do you understand?”

Zhang Lu fell silent again.

Cheng Mengfei smiled and continued, “And besides, there’s still the head class monitor. He’ll keep an eye on things. You just have to assist. If anything ever comes up, you can always come to me, all right?”

Zhang Lu remained silent for a while, and seeing that the teacher didn’t say anything more, she finally looked up, a little apprehensive, and nodded.

Cheng Mengfei smiled. “That’s the spirit. You two head back now. I’ll have a word with Fang Chang’an.”

Shen Mo glanced curiously at Fang Chang’an, wondering what her aunt wanted to say, but left the office with Zhang Lu. Only then did Cheng Mengfei turn to Fang Chang’an with a smile. “I read your essay. You must really love reading, don’t you?”

Fang Chang’an looked a little embarrassed and nodded.

“What kind of books do you like?”

Fang Chang’an paused, then replied, “I read whatever books I can find.”

Cheng Mengfei also paused, then broke into a smile. “Bookshops are running a business, you know, not a library…”

She sighed faintly. There was no library in town. The school had a small one, but it was nothing more than a display—locked up on the fourth floor, only opened when the authorities came to inspect. Most students didn’t even know it existed.

She composed herself and smiled. “If you ever want to read something, just tell me. I have plenty of books at home.”

She hesitated, perhaps realizing it would be hard for him to know exactly what to ask for, and added, “Why don’t you come to my house sometime?”

Fang Chang’an hesitated, then looked grateful and said quietly, “Thank you, Teacher Cheng. I’ll definitely come.”

“Good.” Cheng Mengfei saw he didn’t refuse and smiled. “Come tomorrow at noon. Bring Shen Mo along.”

“Uh…”

Fang Chang’an showed just the right amount of surprise and confusion, as if he had no idea why Shen Mo was being invited. He seemed about to decline, but Cheng Mengfei had already taken out a stack of test papers, clearly preparing to continue grading them. “All right, off you go.”

Fang Chang’an could only say, “Okay, then I’ll head back.”

“Mm.”

Fang Chang’an left the office. The next class hadn’t started yet; many students were leaning on the railings in the corridor, looking downstairs, chatting and laughing. As he passed Class One’s classroom, the middle window suddenly slid open and Fang Dianqiu poked her head out, waving at him. “Fang Chang’an!”

“Oh, you’re sitting here?” Since it was her class, he didn’t let her call him uncle. He walked closer. Fang Dianqiu asked, “Where were you?”

“Called by the homeroom teacher. What’s up?”

“Did your class get your test papers back?”

“Math, last period. We just got them.”

Fang Dianqiu blinked curiously. “How did you do?”

“How did you do?”

She pointed to the paper on her desk. “Chinese, seventy-two. What about you?”

“We haven’t gotten our Chinese papers yet.”

“How about math, then?”

“A bit better than your Chinese.”

Fang Chang’an didn’t want to discourage her, but his little niece’s curiosity was relentless. She pretended to be angry and threatened to hit him. “I’m asking how much!”

“Ninety-two.”

“That high?” Fang Dianqiu’s voice jumped, and when her classmates looked over, she quickly shrank back. Fang Chang’an rolled his eyes. “Are you a turtle?”

She glared at him, then, seeing her classmates weren’t too interested, noticed instead that a few who’d overheard Fang Chang’an’s score were now staring at him. She asked, “Really? Didn’t everyone say the test was hard? How did you get such a high score?”

Fang Chang’an shrugged. “I don’t know either.”

Fang Dianqiu trusted his honesty. “Anyone in your class score higher?”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t seem so.”

She gave him a thumbs-up. “Impressive!”

Fang Chang’an laughed. “If I weren’t impressive, how could I be your uncle? All right, I’m off.”

She waved, then called after him, “What’s that in your hand?”

“A form!”

“I can see it’s a form!”

By now he had disappeared from the window. Fang Dianqiu pouted and closed it. Her deskmate immediately leaned over. “Who is he? So smart?”

“He’s my neighbor, lives right across from us. We grew up together.”

“Childhood sweethearts?” Her deskmate, a round-faced girl with round glasses, teased with a grin.

If someone else had teased her like that, Fang Dianqiu might have blushed. But with Fang Chang’an, she didn’t care and didn’t respond, just muttered, “I didn’t expect him to score so high. Ninety-two… How did he manage that? I doubt I could even get seventy.”

Fang Chang’an returned to his own classroom. Shen Mo, Wang Ke, and Zheng Lili were all gone, and he didn’t go back to his seat, but started recording names from the first row, beginning with Xu Yang.

“Class monitor, what’s this for?” asked Zhou Xiaoyan, who shared a desk with Xu Yang.

“Cleaning duty. Each row is a group, responsible for cleaning on a certain day.”

“Oh.”

After copying the names from the first row, Fang Chang’an saw Shen Mo returning. He handed the form to a girl in the second row. “Write your own name, then pass it on. Everyone needs to sign, but don’t write too big, or there won’t be enough space.”

When he returned to his seat, Shen Mo was waiting for him to go in first. He didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down. Only then did she sit.

“Where’ve you all been?” he asked curiously.

“Bathroom,” Shen Mo answered softly.

“Oh.”

Fang Chang’an acknowledged her, thinking that was fast. Before he could say more, the third period—history—began.

The first lesson covered the origins of Chinese civilization. The teacher was a middle-aged woman. Though the weather wasn’t cool yet, she wore leather boots and pants, cutting a rather fashionable figure.

Fang Chang’an vaguely remembered her—her temper wasn’t great. He recalled how, in some class, she had kicked a boy so hard he hit the wall, leaving him traumatized. Ever since, he’d studied history with particular diligence; throughout his three years of junior high, he’d always scored above ninety in history, even achieving full marks several times.

After history class, the cleaning duty sign-up sheet made its way to Fang Chang’an. He wrote his name and was about to pass it to Shen Mo when he felt something brush against his sleeve. Looking down, he saw a slender, fair hand quietly placing a Daliyuan custard pie in the desk cubby before slipping away.

He turned to look at Shen Mo. The girl glanced at him shyly and whispered, “For you.”

Fang Chang’an smiled and whispered back, “Thank you.”

Seeing he didn’t refuse, Shen Mo broke into a radiant smile and took up the cleaning duty sheet, signing her name with a fountain pen. She must have been well-trained from a young age—in both listening and writing, her posture was upright, back straight, composed and graceful, a little lady in every way.

Thanks to her reminder, Fang Chang’an recalled he still had two candies. He thought about giving her one, but changed his mind—didn’t want to create an obligation, which might dilute the budding friendship between classmates.

There’s a fact about social interaction that’s often overlooked or misunderstood: the quickest way to build closeness is not by helping someone, but by letting them help you.

Yesterday’s candy was a gesture, a signal. The second could wait until a moment when it wouldn’t come across as “returning a favor.”

Socializing requires skill. Some people value equal give-and-take; others value warmth and kindness. For those like Cheng Mengfei and Shen Mo, blessed with comfort and compassion, warmth is the key.

For Fang Chang’an, given his situation and ambitions, it was hard not to be calculating, but he wasn’t purely so. In both past and present, he had a fondness for this aunt and niece—though of a different nature—and genuinely wanted to foster good relations.

He’d only had five fried buns and a carton of milk for breakfast. The buns from that shop were a little bigger than usual, and certainly a better deal than the school cafeteria, but at his age, with a fast metabolism, he was already hungry.

Shen Mo finished signing and passed the sheet a