How to Sleep
Fang Chang’an was deep in thought when he felt a tap on his back. He turned around to see Wang Ke leaning over the desk, staring at him with wide, blinking eyes. In a whisper, she said, “You’re amazing!”
Fang Chang’an was momentarily stunned, unsure what she meant. Seeing his confusion, Wang Ke added, “How did you score so high?”
Only then did Fang Chang’an breathe a sigh of relief. He reminded her, “Next time, when you say something like that—especially ‘you’re amazing’—be sure to add a context, like ‘you did great on the test.’ Don’t leave it out.”
The girl blinked in puzzlement. “Why?”
“It’s easy to be misunderstood.”
Fang Chang’an didn’t reflect on his own complicated thoughts at all, but continued, “It’s not that I did especially well. It’s just that everyone did poorly this time. Think about it—in usual times, scores over ninety are common, right? You must have gotten them too.”
Though he had failed to control his score, upon reflection Fang Chang’an was convinced it wasn’t his fault. His score was about what he’d expected—an accurate control—but the rankings had collapsed. The blame, he decided, lay with the others for underperforming, which led him to misjudge.
Who could have predicted the difficulty of this mock test would increase so much? This was the fault of fate, not his own failing!
“But this test was really hard, and you still did so well?” Wang Ke seemed to have discussed this with others. “I heard from Class Three that no one scored over ninety in their class. In ours, it’s only you.”
“That’s all in the past—it doesn’t mean much. I was just lucky,” Fang Chang’an said, modestly. “Are there any questions you don’t understand? I can help.”
Wang Ke hesitated, then nodded and sat up straight, pointing at the last two application problems on her test paper. “I don’t get these last two.”
Fang Chang’an turned around, realized it was inconvenient to help from behind, and simply stood up. “Move in a little, make some room for me.”
“Oh.” Wang Ke slid inside, and Fang Chang’an took her seat to explain. “The second-to-last problem isn’t actually that hard. The key is not to fall into the trap—otherwise you’ll trip up. See, it’s a driving question. First, you have to figure out who drives faster, A or B...”
As he spoke, Fang Chang’an felt something odd, but Wang Ke was entirely unbothered. After all, elementary and middle school tests were full of questions about people racing cars, A driving towards B, B heading to A, cars everywhere.
Wang Ke’s comprehension wasn’t outstanding but not bad either. Fang Chang’an patiently guided her, breaking down the teacher’s possible intentions, and teaching her how to anticipate the logic of test writers.
After finishing the two problems, Fang Chang’an wasn’t in a hurry to return to his seat, and Wang Ke didn’t urge him. Remembering something he had said earlier, she asked, “Are you in the same dorm as Wang Hao?”
“Not only the same dorm—we share a bed.”
“What?” The girl’s eyes widened in shock. She pointed at Fang Chang’an, then at Wang Hao’s desk. “You two sleep together?”
“Yeah, all seventh grade boys share a bed, two to a bed.”
“How do you sleep like that?” she asked sympathetically. “The school beds are so narrow.”
“They’re way too narrow, and Wang Hao’s chubby too.”
Fang Chang’an gestured in the air, outlining Wang Hao’s build, then glanced at the slender girl beside him. “If it were a boy and a girl, it might fit better.”
She didn’t know much about boys and girls, but she understood the difference. She wasn’t offended, just said earnestly, “No way, boys and girls can’t sleep together.”
“That’s not always true. Sometimes they do.”
“Who?” Wang Ke’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“Married people. Don’t they sleep together?”
“Oh, but that’s different—they’re married, and they’re grownups. Only adults can do that.”
“True enough.” Fang Chang’an wanted to tease her further, but just then Shen Mo walked in through the door. He nodded, ending the topic, and changed the subject: “Is there anything fun in your hometown?”
Wang Ke shook her head. “Pretty much like what you described yesterday. Can you climb trees?”
“Uh, kind of, but I can’t go very high.”
Wang Ke looked a little proud. “I can, and I can climb really high. I once found a bird’s nest—unfortunately there were only eggs, no birds, so I left it. I wonder if the chicks have hatched now.”
Shen Mo had just sat down and, overhearing, turned around in fascination, blinking in awe. “You’re amazing!”
Fang Chang’an was speechless. He nodded. “You really are. I’ve never climbed that high. Have you ever caught fish?”
Wang Ke shook her head. “My house is far from the river. Have you?”
“I did last year. My dad took us—we used a tricycle pump, drained a long stretch of water, and filled a huge basin with fish—this big.” He spread his arms. “We couldn’t eat them all, so we gave them away to everyone.”
He was describing last summer, when they pumped water from the river to irrigate the southern fields. He recounted it vividly, especially how delicious the fried fish were, leaving the two girls nearly drooling.
Wang Ke gazed at him longingly. “Can I come to your house next time?”
Shen Mo grew excited as well. “Me too!”
“It just rained, so there’s no need to pump water now. If we do it again, it’ll be next summer—probably during vacation,” Fang Chang’an said, thinking aloud. “How will I contact you? Do you have a phone at home?”
Shen Mo nodded. “We do.”
Wang Ke said, “We have one too.”
“Write your numbers down, then. My house doesn’t have a phone yet, but if we catch fish, I’ll call you from the neighbor’s.”
“Okay.”
The two girls wrote their home numbers on a slip of paper. Fang Chang’an memorized them, then tucked the paper into his book.
“Can you remember them?” Shen Mo recalled his impressive memory when reciting poetry that morning; memorizing phone numbers should be easy.
“More or less.” Temporary memory was no challenge. Fang Chang’an repeated the numbers in his mind and smiled. “I’ll keep reviewing them so I won’t forget.”
Wang Ke suddenly recalled something important. “Is your house far?”
“It’s a little over five miles from here—by bike, less than half an hour.”
“My house is over six miles from here! That’s so far!”
Shen Mo said gallantly, “We have a car. I can pick you up, and then we’ll go together.”
Wang Ke nodded eagerly. “What kind of car?”
“Just a car.”
“A sedan?”
“Yeah.”
Wang Ke blinked in amazement. “Your family must be rich.”
Fang Chang’an secretly curled his lip and said nothing. The slow decline of Huangnanji had many causes, but as the town mayor, Shen Baoguo couldn’t escape blame. Fang Chang’an didn’t know much about these things—even the fact that two successive village chiefs in Majia Gou were punished for embezzlement was something a classmate who worked in the city tax bureau told him after college. People at the town and county levels had also faced legal consequences, but that was after 2010.
After chatting about childhood fun, Wang Ke leaned in and whispered to Shen Mo, “He and Wang Hao sleep together. One bed.”
“What?” Shen Mo’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”
Fang Chang’an rolled his eyes, baffled by their thought process. “All seventh grade boys do. Next year, when we move dorms, we’ll each have our own bed.”
“So you really share a bed with Wang Hao?” Shen Mo pressed, curious.
Fang Chang’an didn’t want to answer.
Shen Mo turned to Wang Ke. “Do you girls do that?”
Wang Ke shook her head. “Not me, and not the girls in my class either.”
Hearing this, Fang Chang’an was so frustrated his whole body trembled. In the heat of summer, he broke into a cold sweat, hands and feet chilled. Could this society get any worse? What do boys have to do to satisfy you? Tears welled up despite himself—everywhere in this country, boys endured oppression. When would men truly stand tall?
Shen Mo noticed his odd smile and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Fang Chang’an shook his head. “Nothing.”
But the girls’ curiosity was not satisfied. “So how do you two sleep?” Wang Ke asked, eyes wide.
Fang Chang’an thought for a moment. “Why don’t you scoot over and I’ll show you?”
“No, no!” The two girls shook their heads, then glanced at each other, a little embarrassed. Wang Ke asked, “Do you both sleep at the same end?”
“Of course not. There’s not enough room.”
“Then you sleep facing Wang Hao’s feet?” Wang Ke giggled mischievously, clearly amused.
Shen Mo glanced at Fang Chang’an’s feet and, worried for Wang Hao, asked, “Do your feet smell?”
“Want a whiff?” Fang Chang’an pretended to raise his foot.
Shen Mo squealed, “No, no, I don’t want to smell it!”
Half the class looked over. Realizing her voice had been too loud, Shen Mo ducked down, as if to hide under the desk. Fang Chang’an found it funny, stood up, and patted her on the shoulder. “All right, all right, they don’t smell. Let me back in.”
Shen Mo cautiously peeked up to make sure no one was looking anymore, then stood and let him through.