Chapter 30: Amicability (1)
\”No way!\”
This time, the person who refused was Old Lin.
They were in front of an old tangyuan place by the park. Beside them, the plastic curtain gently swayed.
Standing only as tall as Old Lin’s elbow, she carried her bag, looking up at the lanky, dark-skinned old man. Then, she turned to the tangyuan stand. \”Master, invite your apprentice to a meal, for me to formally acknowledge you as my master.\”
\”Kid, let\’s get things straight.\” Old Lin clasped his hands behind his back, suddenly toning down and speaking in a drawl, reminding her of her father.
\”Please speak, Master.\”
\”While I’m speaking, answer only yes or no.\”
\”Okay.\”
\”You’ve been pestering me from the moment we met.”
Lin Zhao Xi was just about to argue when Old Lin’s frigid eyes drifted over. She could only change her words, grudgingly spitting out, \”Yes.”
\”You said you’re pestering me because I’m quick with calculations. You think I’m good at math, so you want to learn from me. You want me to teach you, as a master would teach a disciple.”
\”Yes.\”
\”But I didn\’t promise to teach you math.”
\”Yes.\”
\”So I was never your master.”
\”… Yes.”
\”Then, there shouldn’t be a teacher appreciation banquet at all! I don\’t need to treat you to dinner.\”
“…”
Your point is, you don\’t want to pay for my dinner? Lin Zhao Xi facepalmed, almost dissolving into laughter. because I took a picture of Lin Chaosu\’s face. She nonchalantly took Old Lin by the arm and lead him, not to the stand, but to the steps before it, and sat down.
Old Lin didn\’t want to, he truly couldn’t stand her. But, he very reluctantly sat down on the ground, legs uncomfortably bent.
\”Master.\”
\”I am not your master.\”
\”Uncle.\”
\”I\’m not your uncle.\”
\”Dad.\”
“…”
Old Lin silently reached for another cigarette.
By this time, although the sky wasn’t yet dark, the streetlights were lighting up one after another. Shadowed by the hazy moonlight, Lin Zhao Xi couldn’t make out Old Lin’s expression. It might have been too rash, calling him dad. But after so many years of joking around with Old Lin, it was difficult to change the way she reacted. Old habits die hard…
She grabbed her bag and retrieved the Olympiad book, flipping to the page with the folded corner. Under the sky’s and the stand’s dim illumination, she pointed to a question marked with five stars and asked Old Lin, \”I can\’t find this question’s answer. Can you teach me?\”
Old Lin, without even looking at it, quietly said, \”Tell me why you\’re pestering me,\” he said quietly.
\”I want to learn math.\”
\”Tell me the truth.\”
\”I\’m going to participate in the Math Olympiad next week. That exam will decide who’ll enter the Math Olympiad Summer Program and compete for the Cup… if I don’t make it…” she trailed off.
\”You don’t need to add cliffhangers to the story, I wasn’t very interested in the first place.\”
\”The Summer Program is my last chance. If I don’t get in, the only school within reach will be Red Star Middle School, a terrible school…If I stay there, I… I\’m done for. So I, I want to enter the Summer Program and then, be recommended to the Experimental School’s Zhong Shu* class, the best liberal arts class in the city.\”
*Qian Zhong Shu was a renowned literary scholar.
\”Aren’t you forgetting something?\”
\”Huh?\”
\”Only the provincial champion can be admitted to that liberal arts class without taking the admission exam. Yet, An Ning\’s elementary school mathematics curriculum has always been garbage.\”
\”Wow, is there anything you don’t know? Just a while ago, you answered such a difficult question so quickly! You really remind me of the cool monk in ‘Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils’.\” Lin Zhao Xi feigned ignorance, sneakily licking his boots while she explained why she was clinging to Old Lin.
Old Lin’s face plainly said, ‘F*ck, she talks too much’, but he didn’t doubt her.
Suspicions gone, he stuck a smoke between his lips and stood up, patting the dirt off his backside, and walked away, as if he didn’t know her.
Lin Zhao Xi gazed at her father\’s back. Old Lin was firm, he\’d only stuck around to find out why she, a loli, would be throwing a tantrum in front of him.
Now that he knew the reason, a reason that was quite boring, of course he’d leave.
The sky was getting darker and darker. It was time for her to go back.
\”Master, do you live in Zhuan Zhu lane, No. 284?\” Lin Zhao Xi shouted over the din of cars on the traffic-choked street.
Old Lin jerked back with a shocked expression.
The answer was clear.
Her birthday was on February 20, and the numbers 220 and 284 were an amicable pair*. That is why Lin Zhao Xi was sure Old Lin would rent that house – a mathematician\’s sentiment.
*Amicable numbers are two different numbers related in such a way that the sum of the proper divisors of each is equal to the other number. – Wikipedia
She jumped up with her bag on her back. \”See you tomorrow!\” She yelled, waving the exercise book in her hand.
Then, without giving him a chance to catch her, she turned tail and ran.
The city\’s glow faded in the distance, and the stars rose. Everything was going to be fine.
She thought.
Chapter 30: Amicability (1)
\”No way!\”
This time, the person who refused was Old Lin.
They were in front of an old tangyuan place by the park. Beside them, the plastic curtain gently swayed.
Standing only as tall as Old Lin’s elbow, she carried her bag, looking up at the lanky, dark-skinned old man. Then, she turned to the tangyuan stand. \”Master, invite your apprentice to a meal, for me to formally acknowledge you as my master.\”
\”Kid, let\’s get things straight.\” Old Lin clasped his hands behind his back, suddenly toning down and speaking in a drawl, reminding her of her father.
\”Please speak, Master.\”
\”While I’m speaking, answer only yes or no.\”
\”Okay.\”
\”You’ve been pestering me from the moment we met.”
Lin Zhao Xi was just about to argue when Old Lin’s frigid eyes drifted over. She could only change her words, grudgingly spitting out, \”Yes.”
\”You said you’re pestering me because I’m quick with calculations. You think I’m good at math, so you want to learn from me. You want me to teach you, as a master would teach a disciple.”
\”Yes.\”
\”But I didn\’t promise to teach you math.”
\”Yes.\”
\”So I was never your master.”
\”… Yes.”
\”Then, there shouldn’t be a teacher appreciation banquet at all! I don\’t need to treat you to dinner.\”
“…”
Your point is, you don\’t want to pay for my dinner? Lin Zhao Xi facepalmed, almost dissolving into laughter. because I took a picture of Lin Chaosu\’s face. She nonchalantly took Old Lin by the arm and lead him, not to the stand, but to the steps before it, and sat down.
Old Lin didn\’t want to, he truly couldn’t stand her. But, he very reluctantly sat down on the ground, legs uncomfortably bent.
\”Master.\”
\”I am not your master.\”
\”Uncle.\”
\”I\’m not your uncle.\”
\”Dad.\”
“…”
Old Lin silently reached for another cigarette.
By this time, although the sky wasn’t yet dark, the streetlights were lighting up one after another. Shadowed by the hazy moonlight, Lin Zhao Xi couldn’t make out Old Lin’s expression. It might have been too rash, calling him dad. But after so many years of joking around with Old Lin, it was difficult to change the way she reacted. Old habits die hard…
She grabbed her bag and retrieved the Olympiad book, flipping to the page with the folded corner. Under the sky’s and the stand’s dim illumination, she pointed to a question marked with five stars and asked Old Lin, \”I can\’t find this question’s answer. Can you teach me?\”
Old Lin, without even looking at it, quietly said, \”Tell me why you\’re pestering me,\” he said quietly.
\”I want to learn math.\”
\”Tell me the truth.\”
\”I\’m going to participate in the Math Olympiad next week. That exam will decide who’ll enter the Math Olympiad Summer Program and compete for the Cup… if I don’t make it…” she trailed off.
\”You don’t need to add cliffhangers to the story, I wasn’t very interested in the first place.\”
\”The Summer Program is my last chance. If I don’t get in, the only school within reach will be Red Star Middle School, a terrible school…If I stay there, I… I\’m done for. So I, I want to enter the Summer Program and then, be recommended to the Experimental School’s Zhong Shu* class, the best liberal arts class in the city.\”
*Qian Zhong Shu was a renowned literary scholar.
\”Aren’t you forgetting something?\”
\”Huh?\”
\”Only the provincial champion can be admitted to that liberal arts class without taking the admission exam. Yet, An Ning\’s elementary school mathematics curriculum has always been garbage.\”
\”Wow, is there anything you don’t know? Just a while ago, you answered such a difficult question so quickly! You really remind me of the cool monk in ‘Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils’.\” Lin Zhao Xi feigned ignorance, sneakily licking his boots while she explained why she was clinging to Old Lin.
Old Lin’s face plainly said, ‘F*ck, she talks too much’, but he didn’t doubt her.
Suspicions gone, he stuck a smoke between his lips and stood up, patting the dirt off his backside, and walked away, as if he didn’t know her.
Lin Zhao Xi gazed at her father\’s back. Old Lin was firm, he\’d only stuck around to find out why she, a loli, would be throwing a tantrum in front of him.
Now that he knew the reason, a reason that was quite boring, of course he’d leave.
The sky was getting darker and darker. It was time for her to go back.
\”Master, do you live in Zhuan Zhu lane, No. 284?\” Lin Zhao Xi shouted over the din of cars on the traffic-choked street.
Old Lin jerked back with a shocked expression.
The answer was clear.
Her birthday was on February 20, and the numbers 220 and 284 were an amicable pair*. That is why Lin Zhao Xi was sure Old Lin would rent that house – a mathematician\’s sentiment.
*Amicable numbers are two different numbers related in such a way that the sum of the proper divisors of each is equal to the other number. – Wikipedia
She jumped up with her bag on her back. \”See you tomorrow!\” She yelled, waving the exercise book in her hand.
Then, without giving him a chance to catch her, she turned tail and ran.
The city\’s glow faded in the distance, and the stars rose. Everything was going to be fine.
She thought.
