DBTHDCAR Chapter 42

“That’s good, that’s good. My grandson really is a model. This is the style a true Shanghai man should have.”

Ning Xiaobei deciding to move to Class 2 on his own caused a huge stir at No. 1 High School. Even Director Hou, who preferred to let things slide, had no choice but to report the matter upward.

A student as outstanding as Ning Xiaobei was taken very seriously by the school.

After reviewing the events, the new principal harshly criticized Yan Bingru for failing to properly manage student relationships, neglecting the psychological and physiological issues of students in puberty, and having flaws in her work. The criticism was also circulated throughout the entire school.

From Chang Leyun’s mom’s perspective, the matter was resolved fairly satisfactorily.

But Ning Xiaobei had no intention of stopping there.

If making a mistake only meant getting scolded, then why would anyone need the police?

“I heard that this teacher, Ms. Yan, when she first graduated, was actually quite popular with her students. But the first batch of students she taught ended up being the class with the lowest high school admission rate in No. 1 High School’s history. Ever since then, she became unusually strict, especially with the girls.”

Back at Jiande Lane for a rare meal, Ning Jianguo chatted with Grandma Ning about Xiaobei’s school affairs. This incident had caused quite a stir recently, and it still hadn’t been resolved. Ning Xiaobei was stubbornly sticking to Class 2.

“Why? Isn’t she a woman herself?”

Grandma Ning frowned, waving her palm-leaf fan, shaking her head. “Back when I studied at the girls’ school, our teachers weren’t this overbearing.”

“Who knows?”

Ning Xiaobei, flushed from eating, reached for the air conditioner remote, only to have Grandma Ning stop him.

“Don’t turn it on yet. It’s only this month. Wait until July or August. Be patient, Xiaobei.”

“All right, Grandma, but it’s already hot in June.”

Ning Xiaobei pouted helplessly.

“Mum, if you bought an air conditioner, you should use it!”

Ning Jianguo laughed and shook his head.

His career had been going well lately. A month ago, with Zhao Jingwen and Wang Yihong’s help, he had successfully secured the contract for the textile school cafeteria, finally giving him some organization to run.

The air conditioner in the main hall was newly bought not long ago. A similar one had been installed in their Workers’ Village apartment this year, and dutiful son Ning Jianguo wanted his mother to enjoy some comfort even in the old-fashioned alley house.

But Grandma Ning treated the thing like mere decoration. Ever since it was installed, it hadn’t been used. If she didn’t turn it on, Xiao Mei naturally wouldn’t dare touch it either. Both were still just using fans.

“Experts on TV say using air conditioning too much is bad for your health. Besides, this house is cool in summer and warm in winter. You’re just wasting money.”

Grandma Ning waved her hand and tossed a piece of fish onto the floor.

Azi zipped over, grabbed it, and happily ate it by the stairs.

“Mum, I heard our neighborhood might be relocated in the next few years…”

Ning Jianguo bit his chopsticks and cautiously glanced at Grandma Ning.

Sure enough, Grandma Ning’s eyelids drooped, and she said displeasedly, “Who told you that?”

“They said they’re going to build a subway…”

“Build a subway? That’s underground! Why do they have to tear down my house? I won’t allow it.”

Grandma Ning couldn’t stand hearing this and immediately put on a fierce expression.

Ning Xiaobei knew this house was her heart and soul. In the real world, Grandma Ning’s reaction to relocation was just as negative. He quickly kicked Ning Jianguo under the table, signaling him to drop the topic.

“Well… I heard from Xiao Sun that the foreign company I work part-time at might be moving to Huzhou.”

Ning Jianguo caught the signal and quickly switched the subject.

“Moving? But Xiao Sun’s wife in Hangzhou just had a son. What will they do? The baby’s so little, he can’t move to Huzhou. Are the young couple supposed to live apart already?”

Grandma Ning asked anxiously.

Of course… just as Ning Xiaobei had feared, the thing he had worried about had indeed happened.

In the real world, Ning Jianguo, who had jumped to a foreign company, faced the same problem.

Because labor and land costs in Shanghai were too high, and the neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces had already begun planning new industrial cities with strong investment incentives, many of the earliest foreign and Hong Kong-Macau-Taiwan companies that had started production in Shanghai were being attracted elsewhere. Numerous new factories were relocating one after another.

On the real world timeline, this foreign-owned shoe factory moved around the middle of 1998.

That year was especially rough. At the beginning of the year, Grandma Ning had fallen seriously ill and remained bedridden afterward. Ning Xiaobei faced enormous pressure in Class 1, with asthma flaring up from time to time.

Ning Jianguo, with aging parents above him and children below, couldn’t leave Shanghai to follow the company. He could only resign.

Later, Uncle Zhao helped him find some temporary work, but none of it lasted long. He also once partnered with an apprentice to start a small factory, producing molds for others, but it ultimately failed, and the invested funds were lost.

Now, with Ning Jianguo’s foresight, he avoided repeating past mistakes, but poor Xiao Sun had no choice… the tide of events was beyond his control.

“It seems the plan is for the baby to grow up a little first. Then the bride will take the child back to her parents’ home in Hangzhou. Xiao Sun will live in the company dorm and visit his wife and child in Hangzhou on weekends. Here in Shanghai… he’ll only be able to come back during holidays.”

Ning Jianguo’s tone carried a note of relief.

If he had let his head get hot back then and agreed to go to the foreign company with Xiao Sun, then now he’d be another one abandoning his family.

“But Xiao Bei, during this period, Dad won’t be able to come home every day to cook for you.”

Ning Jianguo turned to Ning Xiaobei, speaking with guilt.

In just a month, summer vacation would start. Ning Jianguo had already coordinated with the leaders of the textile school: they planned to renovate the cafeteria’s kitchen over the break. During that time, he would basically be tied up on the construction site every day, and how Ning Xiaobei would eat would become a real concern.

“Dad, Uncle Zhao said that during the summer vacation, Fan Xia and I could go help out at his shop and see the world a bit.”

Thinking about the upcoming vacation, Ning Xiaobei grew unusually excited.

“Help out? You two little rascals, don’t help and make things worse, and don’t mess up Uncle Zhao’s business, alright?”

Ning Jianguo said this, but in his heart, he agreed.

He himself had joined the army at seventeen, leaving Shanghai for the frozen wastelands of Heilongjiang. By the time Xiao Bei and Fan Xia finished summer vacation, they’d be in the second year of middle school, around fourteen or fifteen. Old enough to get a glimpse of the world, so a little exposure would be good.

Besides, there would be sales staff at the shop looking after them, so at least someone could watch the two kids while they ate and rested.

A full two months of summer vacation, no matter how much Ning Xiaobei loved studying, he couldn’t spend every day buried in books. And he definitely wasn’t going to spend two months playing on his Little Tyrant console like Fan Xia suggested.

Uncle Zhao’s idea was much better. Summer was the busiest season for the clothing store, and one salesperson couldn’t handle it alone. Rather than hiring a couple of temporary helpers, it made more sense to let Ning Xiaobei and Fan Xia pitch in.

First, it would be a kind of social practice and they could earn some pocket money. Second, Ning Xiaobei could keep an eye on Fan Xia every day, making sure that a long vacation didn’t let his friend’s focus wander, otherwise, all the hard-earned school grades would go up in smoke.

Ning Xiaobei felt like he had Conan’s body but a dad’s mindset.

Now that Fan Xia had finally earned the honor of being his deskmate, he came to school full of energy every day, though technically it was a  special seat added temporarily in Class 2.

No matter how the grade leader or the academic director tried to persuade him, Ning Xiaobei refused to return to Class 1. He wasn’t giving anyone face.

The only condition for him going back to Class 1 was simple: Yan Bingru had to apologize to Chang Leyun in front of the entire class and promise not to retaliate against her in any way.

Even Director Hou, the always reasonable director, knew that this was a challenge to a teacher’s authority and dignity, and it made one wonder if Ning Xiaobei was getting a little spoiled by favoritism, lacking basic respect for teachers and elders.

“Respect is always mutual. Since Yan Bingru won’t agree, I’ll just put down roots in Class 2. Honestly, it doesn’t matter where I study.”

Ning Xiaobei smiled faintly, opened his book, and shut out Director Hou’s gaze.

“Director, don’t worry. You can leave Ning Xiaobei and the rest of these Class 1 students to me. I promise I’ll protect them like national treasure pandas. I won’t let them suffer even a bit in our Class 2.”

Teacher Sui, Class 2’s homeroom teacher, beamed as he looked at the new special seat students and then turned to escort Director Hou out of the classroom.

If anyone benefited most from this whole incident, it was definitely Sui Jun. He welcomed this stroke of luck with open arms.

Mr. Sui was thirty-five, a chemistry teacher, but tall and well-built, people often mistook him for a PE teacher. He had been Class 2’s homeroom teacher for years, in other words, the ‘Forever Second Homeroom Teacher’ of the school.

If his students did poorly, they’d be sent to Class 3, and his bonus would be cut. If they did well and were sent to Class 1, it would look like he had just made a wedding dress for someone else, like a husband stuck between his mother-in-law and his bride, liked by neither side.

Now, with Ning Xiaobei arriving, everything changed!

As the old saying goes, “A phoenix will not perch on any tree but the parasol tree, will not eat anything but bamboo seeds, will not drink from anything but sweet spring water”. Class 2 was that parasol tree, attracting a phoenix!

Mr. Sui had an unusual confidence in his own charm.

“From now until the final exam, I’m going to put you all through intensive extra lessons.”

Watching Teacher Sui and Director Hou leave the classroom, Ning Xiaobei put down his book and turned to Fan Xia and Chang Leyun, who sat diagonally across from him.

“Even though we’re in Class 2, the exam rankings are still calculated across the entire grade. You two need to maintain your previous positions from Class 1 or even do better than you did there. Move up a few spots, and then you’ll have proven yourselves right.”

“Got it, Boss! I won’t let you down!”

Fan Xia clenched his pen, raised a determined fist, and felt his whole body fill with fighting spirit.

In the past, whether it was exams or studying, he’d always been pushed by others. This time was different. Fan Xia couldn’t wait to prove himself through his results, to prove that he hadn’t chosen the wrong person to follow.

“Xiaobei, Xiaoxia, thanks for helping me like this. I won’t let you down either.”

Chang Leyun turned to them, her face full of gratitude.

Ning Xiaobei had only moved down to Class 2 to stand up for her, so of course she wouldn’t stay in Class 1. The very next day, she packed up her books and stationery and came to Class 2 to study alongside Fan Xia.

Though they all now sat in the back row of Class 2, jokingly called the trash bin reserves in their special seats, she believed they would turn these seats into something truly special, creating a legend in the history of Class 2 at No. 1 High School.

“Just thinking about it makes me mad. Lin Ziying, that traitor, that turncoat. Greedy little villain, chasing wealth and status. I even used to consider him a brother, and now he betrays us like this…”

Fan Xia twisted his knuckles viciously as he spoke.

“Boss, after you left, Lin Ziying became the top student in Class 1. That’s right, he did it for that reason. That’s why he didn’t come with us to Class 2.”

“Lin Ziying’s dad is the chairman of the parents’ committee. Do you really think he’d let his son just jump over to Class 2?”

Ning Xiaobei said, half laughing, half exasperated.

Not every father is like Ning Jianguo or Fan Jian. Ning Jianguo didn’t micromanage Ning Xiaobei’s studies out of trust, while Fan Jian’s controlling style would have been worse than not controlling at all.

“Fan Xia, Lin Ziying told me he’s acting as our undercover agent in Class 1. Whenever there’s any stir from Yan Bingru’s side, he lets us know,” Chang Leyun reassured.

“Hmph, at least he has some conscience,” Fan Xia muttered, wrinkling his nose.

Ning Xiaobei smiled faintly and glanced down toward the courtyard.

The sun blazed overhead, making the concrete shine like glass. Only under the banana trees in the garden was there a patch of green shade, looking cool and inviting.

………………

Events often unfold in ways people don’t expect. Just as Ning Xiaobei and the others were preparing for their final exams, ready to prove themselves with outstanding scores and put Yan Bingru in her place, an anonymous tip arrived at the district education bureau where No. 1 High School was located.

A parent had reported that the Class 1 homeroom teacher at this key school was accepting gifts from students’ families on a large scale, corrupting professional ethics and damaging school discipline. The anonymous letter was not only sent to the education bureau but also to the society mailbox of a well-known local newspaper.

More than a year after the No. 1 High School students’ mass poisoning incident, the prestigious school was once again thrust into the eye of public opinion.

But that wasn’t even the most shocking part. What no one expected was that, after inquiries by the parent committee and school officials, the anonymous tip didn’t come from the parents of Ning Xiaobei or Chang Leyun, the ones currently at odds with Yan Bingru, but from the father of Ding Zheyang, the former Class 1 vice monitor who had once been the center of attention.

Along with the complaint, Mr. Ding included receipts from the past year showing payments to hire housekeepers for Yan Bingru, as well as detailed lists of all gifts given at various festivals, all densely written on a standard sheet of paper.

The list didn’t just include gifts from the Ding family; it also contained proof of gifts from several other students’ parents in the class, parents who had previously asked the teacher to look after their kids. Counting them up, there were more than a dozen.

With this evidence, no matter how much the school wanted to protect their teacher, Teacher Yan had to be temporarily suspended and investigated.

“Why would they suddenly report her? They were the ones giving the gifts in the first place,” people wondered.

After the final exams, Fan Xia had improved four ranks compared to the last monthly test, now firmly within the top ten of the grade, proof that Ning Xiaobei’s intensive tutoring had paid off.

Fan Xia’s mother, who lived all the way in Shenzhen, flew to Shanghai to reward her son. She booked a suite at the Jinjiang Hotel, spending the weekend taking him around Shanghai and nearby areas for food, entertainment, and fun, then left in a hurry, leaving a few thousand yuan in pocket money as a reward.

Upon hearing this, Ning Xiaobei thought perhaps Fan Xia’s mother was the real footless bird, never truly staying for anyone, even her own son.

“They spend money on gifts, spend money to buy their child class leadership positions, all ultimately to improve their child’s grades. If you spend thousands, even tens of thousands, and in the end it all goes down the drain, your child’s rank actually falls behind, wouldn’t you be upset?” Ning Xiaobei said with a smile.

These parents had assumed that their child’s main competition was in Class 1, so they tried desperately to curry favor with Class 1’s homeroom teacher.

But when the final exam results came out, everyone was shocked, the Class Two students had pulled off an incredible feat: one-third of the class’s students scored in the top 50 of the grade across three subjects.

This completely upended the previous rankings, shattering the invincible myth of the Golden Class 1.

When the news reached Class 2, the entire class erupted, and Teacher Sui Jun practically wanted to rush down to personally congratulate Ning Xiaobei and Fan Xia.

It turned out that the voluntary descent of Class 1 students had greatly stimulated the motivation of Class 2 students.

Especially Chang Leyun, who had originally been promoted from Class 2 to Class 1 but then returned. How could her former classmates not feel envious? They wanted to challenge her and test their own abilities.

And it wasn’t just the students who were stirred, so were the teachers.

Although the school had assigned the best teachers to Class 1, the teachers qualified to teach at No. 1 High School were all highly capable.

The teachers in Class 2 weren’t happy being treated as second-rate either. They put all their energy into teaching their students, wanting to prove that they could teach Class 1 students just as well.

As it turned out, human potential is limitless. Even students of slightly ordinary talent could achieve real progress through their effort, the unbreakable Golden Class One myth was shattered, and the forever second finally got its redemption!

“Class 1, we’re back.”

Led by Ning Xiaobei, the three kids stepped into Class 1 with their backpacks.

The previously noisy classroom fell silent.

Teacher Sui, now the newly appointed homeroom teacher of Class 1, walked in with them, reaching the podium and leading the applause.

At first, the clapping was sparse, then it grew louder and louder, until it almost shook the roof off.

“Ning Xiaobei, you’re amazing!”

“Fan Xia, so cool!”

“Chang Leyun, beautiful!”

The students screamed, expressing their admiration for the three in the simplest, most heartfelt way.

Only one person kept his head down, silent, that was Geng Enhua, who had bullied Chang Leyun before.

Ever since that incident, all the girls in the class had turned against him. Even his few close male friends, intimidated by Lin Ziying’s authority, stopped associating with him. Now, in Class 1, he was lonelier than Ding Zheyang.

But it didn’t last long, he wouldn’t remain in Class 1 for much longer. His final exam scores had dropped sharply. With the new, completely shaken grade ranking, he might even be sent straight to Class 3.

“Ning Xiaobei, come sit!”

Lin Ziying, still in the front row, stood up and pointed to an empty seat beside him. “It’s been empty this whole time, only you deserve to sit here!”

Ning Xiaobei and Fan Xia exchanged a glance, then, together with Chang Leyun, walked to the back of the classroom and took the special seats in the last row.

“Keep dreaming. The boss is my deskmate. You just be your lonely self.”

Fan Xia draped an arm over Ning Xiaobei’s shoulder, lifted his chin proudly, and said to Lin Ziying, “Grades have nothing to do with seats. Even if we sit in the very last row, we can still score in the top ten of the grade and be number one in the whole year!”

The words were like a thunderclap, stunning the entire class. Even Sui Jun was left speechless.

Fan Xia was extremely satisfied with his show-off moment.

Wasn’t this even more Chow Yun-fat than 《God of Gamblers》, more domineering than 《The Storm Riders》?

He glanced at Ding Zheyang, sitting in the row just ahead, then leaned forward and patted his shoulder.

“Ding Zheyang… tell your dad, well done.”

Ding Zheyang’s skinny shoulders trembled violently. He turned to look at the three spirited students behind him. A flash of light glinted behind his thick glasses.

………………

Author’s Note:

Bye-bye, Teacher Yan~~

Now, it’s time for a new adventure!

====================