Chapter 26: Master (1)
Time seemed to stretch. Like a frozen image, it was suddenly still, and all the more vivid.
Under the camphor trees, everyone looked back. Beneath the black head of hair, Lin Zhao Xi saw a pair of eyes.
They belonged to a boy. The dark eyes, under long eyelashes, were clear as water, but hard to see through. Because of his languidly drooping eyelids, he seemed to have no interest in anything in the world.
In spite of that, the boy didn’t leave.
He stood at the edge of the crowd, with one hand in his pocket, the morning sun shining on his face.
Of course, there were a lot of memories influencing that description. But that’s what Lin Zhao Xi saw.
Something Old Lin had said suddenly came to mind.
Everything in the world can happen to anyone. It’s no big deal.
Yeah, she’s not even Old Lin’s daughter anymore, so it’s no big deal to see Pei Zhi again.
The king of mental arithmetic looked at Pei Zhi, his voice full of hostility. “Are primary school students these days all so undisciplined? You shouldn’t interrupt an adult while he’s talking.”
Chibi Pei Zhi did not speak, just looked at him, his eyes calm and indifferent, but the king of mental arithmetic froze.
Even Lin Zhao Xi’s heart thumped. There are people who are born very good at playing games, Pei Zhi is probably such a person. When he was 12 years old, and even more so at 22.
Pei Zhi said, “To be fair, shouldn’t we switch?”
“Switch what?” Asked the king of mental arithmetic.
“I’ll ask the question, and you answer.”
The mental arithmetic king’s face twisted even further, neither agreeing nor retreating.
Pei Zhi didn’t wait, “1.234 × 7.890 + 973.260 – 518 + 3.144 – 1.071.246 equals?”
He asked, then stayed still. The sun fell from the cracks in the leaves onto his face and shoulders.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the park. The students calmly looked at the pale adult, while the crowd’s balance slowly tilted.
The king of mental arithmetic couldn’t go on like this. “Who told you to play like this? Did I say you answered correctly?”
“I can’t be wrong.” Pei Zhi absentmindedly said, lifting the slanted satchel on his back and smiling faintly, with a hint of satire.
“You used a calculator, that’s cheating!”
“It was so simple, I didn’t need it.” Pei Zhi’s voice came from afar through the crowd.
The king of mental arithmetic was so angry, he was about to chase Pei Zhi, but Lin Zhao Xi stepped forward right in front of him.
At the same time, a shrill voice, speaking through a loudspeaker, came from outside of the crowd. “Who allowed you to set up a stall in the park?!”
Frightened, the king of mental arithmetic turned and ran. Lin Zhao Xi happened to be in the way. All she saw before being pushed to the ground was a tall figure running into her, and she fell to the ground with great force.
The sky and earth were spinning. In the blink of an eye, several pairs of black shoes and an old man wielding a loudspeaker scrambled by. The park monitor? She tried to prop herself up, but she hit her knee too hard. Grinding her teeth, she toppled over, her vision darkening.
The scene was chaotic. From time to time, she could hear Lu Zhihao anxiously shouting “Lin Zhaoxi!”, the mental arithmetic king yelling and cursing, and the people chaotically vacating the area.
Someone said, “Why are you touching my things?!”
Someone else said, “He really was a fraud!”
There were disorderly footsteps all around, and the trees swayed. Some pushed and shoved, others refused to budge.
She could subtly hear the small blackboard being pried from the tree.
The surroundings gradually became quiet. Lin Zhao Xi was still lying on her stomach. The king of mental arithmetic had been pulled away by the enthusiastic crowd and sent to the police station.
It was not until after a few minutes that she quietly opened her eyes, and saw a pair of shoes.
An old pair of black espadrilles, the plain and simple kind. Above the shoes were dusty, navy blue trousers, and a crumpled uniform with equally old gold epaulets. Further up, was a young face, clearly only in his thirties, but worn by life’s struggles. He was holding a cigarette. Even though he was smiling, his eyes were as still as an abandoned well.
Lin Zhao Xi was stunned.
The face in front of her was too familiar to her. If she wasn’t mistaken, the man she thought was the old park monitor was her old man, who would steal her pork chops, pour her chicken soup (chicken soup is a Chinese slang for motivational, inspirational stories), always knew who she had a secret crush on, and would annoy her every day. But all that was in the past, her previous life.
Lin Zhao Xi covered her mouth, emotional for a moment. She wanted to cry, but didn’t know why. The moment she saw Old Lin, she knew that she had really gone back to the past.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at Old Lin, while Old Lin, dressed like a park monitor, thoughtfully looked back at her. The probing glint in her father’s eyes unsettled her, waking her up from her reverie.
“Is the ground comfortable?”
Suddenly, she heard Old Lin ask.
Lin Zhao Xi realized that she was still lying on her stomach. She propped herself up with her hands and feet and looked up at Old Lin.
Holding back her emotions, she looked at him carefully again. Although he was not much different from her father back when he was thirty, he felt completely different, like there was a different soul nestled in that body.
Her Old Lin was good-humored and full of life, while the man in front of her was downcast and neglected. Was there even a soul inhabiting that body? The wind might have blown it away, with the smoke that left his mouth. Wait, was he really going to leave, just like that?! Seeing that she was all right, the park monitor who looked exactly like Old Lin puffed a cigarette and turned around.
In that fleeting moment, Lin Zhao Xi did something extremely reckless and absolutely right. She hugged the man’s leg and shouted, “Don’t go!”
Chapter 26: Master (1)
Time seemed to stretch. Like a frozen image, it was suddenly still, and all the more vivid.
Under the camphor trees, everyone looked back. Beneath the black head of hair, Lin Zhao Xi saw a pair of eyes.
They belonged to a boy. The dark eyes, under long eyelashes, were clear as water, but hard to see through. Because of his languidly drooping eyelids, he seemed to have no interest in anything in the world.
In spite of that, the boy didn’t leave.
He stood at the edge of the crowd, with one hand in his pocket, the morning sun shining on his face.
Of course, there were a lot of memories influencing that description. But that’s what Lin Zhao Xi saw.
Something Old Lin had said suddenly came to mind.
Everything in the world can happen to anyone. It’s no big deal.
Yeah, she’s not even Old Lin’s daughter anymore, so it’s no big deal to see Pei Zhi again.
The king of mental arithmetic looked at Pei Zhi, his voice full of hostility. “Are primary school students these days all so undisciplined? You shouldn’t interrupt an adult while he’s talking.”
Chibi Pei Zhi did not speak, just looked at him, his eyes calm and indifferent, but the king of mental arithmetic froze.
Even Lin Zhao Xi’s heart thumped. There are people who are born very good at playing games, Pei Zhi is probably such a person. When he was 12 years old, and even more so at 22.
Pei Zhi said, “To be fair, shouldn’t we switch?”
“Switch what?” Asked the king of mental arithmetic.
“I’ll ask the question, and you answer.”
The mental arithmetic king’s face twisted even further, neither agreeing nor retreating.
Pei Zhi didn’t wait, “1.234 × 7.890 + 973.260 – 518 + 3.144 – 1.071.246 equals?”
He asked, then stayed still. The sun fell from the cracks in the leaves onto his face and shoulders.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the park. The students calmly looked at the pale adult, while the crowd’s balance slowly tilted.
The king of mental arithmetic couldn’t go on like this. “Who told you to play like this? Did I say you answered correctly?”
“I can’t be wrong.” Pei Zhi absentmindedly said, lifting the slanted satchel on his back and smiling faintly, with a hint of satire.
“You used a calculator, that’s cheating!”
“It was so simple, I didn’t need it.” Pei Zhi’s voice came from afar through the crowd.
The king of mental arithmetic was so angry, he was about to chase Pei Zhi, but Lin Zhao Xi stepped forward right in front of him.
At the same time, a shrill voice, speaking through a loudspeaker, came from outside of the crowd. “Who allowed you to set up a stall in the park?!”
Frightened, the king of mental arithmetic turned and ran. Lin Zhao Xi happened to be in the way. All she saw before being pushed to the ground was a tall figure running into her, and she fell to the ground with great force.
The sky and earth were spinning. In the blink of an eye, several pairs of black shoes and an old man wielding a loudspeaker scrambled by. The park monitor? She tried to prop herself up, but she hit her knee too hard. Grinding her teeth, she toppled over, her vision darkening.
The scene was chaotic. From time to time, she could hear Lu Zhihao anxiously shouting “Lin Zhaoxi!”, the mental arithmetic king yelling and cursing, and the people chaotically vacating the area.
Someone said, “Why are you touching my things?!”
Someone else said, “He really was a fraud!”
There were disorderly footsteps all around, and the trees swayed. Some pushed and shoved, others refused to budge.
She could subtly hear the small blackboard being pried from the tree.
The surroundings gradually became quiet. Lin Zhao Xi was still lying on her stomach. The king of mental arithmetic had been pulled away by the enthusiastic crowd and sent to the police station.
It was not until after a few minutes that she quietly opened her eyes, and saw a pair of shoes.
An old pair of black espadrilles, the plain and simple kind. Above the shoes were dusty, navy blue trousers, and a crumpled uniform with equally old gold epaulets. Further up, was a young face, clearly only in his thirties, but worn by life’s struggles. He was holding a cigarette. Even though he was smiling, his eyes were as still as an abandoned well.
Lin Zhao Xi was stunned.
The face in front of her was too familiar to her. If she wasn’t mistaken, the man she thought was the old park monitor was her old man, who would steal her pork chops, pour her chicken soup (chicken soup is a Chinese slang for motivational, inspirational stories), always knew who she had a secret crush on, and would annoy her every day. But all that was in the past, her previous life.
Lin Zhao Xi covered her mouth, emotional for a moment. She wanted to cry, but didn’t know why. The moment she saw Old Lin, she knew that she had really gone back to the past.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at Old Lin, while Old Lin, dressed like a park monitor, thoughtfully looked back at her. The probing glint in her father’s eyes unsettled her, waking her up from her reverie.
“Is the ground comfortable?”
Suddenly, she heard Old Lin ask.
Lin Zhao Xi realized that she was still lying on her stomach. She propped herself up with her hands and feet and looked up at Old Lin.
Holding back her emotions, she looked at him carefully again. Although he was not much different from her father back when he was thirty, he felt completely different, like there was a different soul nestled in that body.
Her Old Lin was good-humored and full of life, while the man in front of her was downcast and neglected. Was there even a soul inhabiting that body? The wind might have blown it away, with the smoke that left his mouth. Wait, was he really going to leave, just like that?! Seeing that she was all right, the park monitor who looked exactly like Old Lin puffed a cigarette and turned around.
In that fleeting moment, Lin Zhao Xi did something extremely reckless and absolutely right. She hugged the man’s leg and shouted, “Don’t go!”
