DBTHDCAR Chapter 81

Quarantine was lifted, but exam preparation continued.

Back in February, Ning Xiaobei had already passed J University’s early admission interview and signed the agreement. As long as he hit the city’s first-tier score on the gaokao, he will be officially a J University student.

Fan Xia was the problem. His grades were inconsistent, so he didn’t pass H University’s independent admissions exam. Even though he ranked first in the physical fitness test, it was basically useless. If he still wanted to apply to H University, he could only take the regular college entrance exam without any advantages.

Zhao Jingwen advised him that, to be safe, he should apply to a second-tier police academy in the early admission batch. After graduation, he could take the national police recruitment exam, which had about a 90% acceptance rate, and directly become a police officer with a stable government job—the most practical option. In contrast, H University’s criminal investigation program didn’t guarantee job placement; he would still need to pass the civil service exam, which meant an extra step for little real benefit.

But Fan Xia had completely made up his mind and stubbornly set his sights on H University.

When Ning Xiaobei asked why he was so determined, Fan Xia answered confidently: “The Police Academy was in Pudong, while H University and J University were both in the university town. I want to study there with you.

“What kind of reason is that?”

Even though Ning Xiaobei already knew from the real world that Fan Xia would eventually get into H University’s law program, this reason still sounded far-fetched.

“Ah, I get it…”

Ning Xiaobei put down his book and blinked mischievously.

“Y-you… what do you get?”

Fan Xia’s heart started pounding nervously.

Did he figure it out? Did he really hear what I said that day at the skating rink?

“The Police Academy is basically a ‘monk school’, girls are rarer than giant pandas. There are far more girls in the university town, especially at the Foreign Languages University and Normal University, where the girls are especially pretty. You little pervert, you just want it to be easier to chase a girlfriend in the future, don’t you? Am I right?”

Ning Xiaobei himself didn’t even notice the faint sourness in his tone. Fortunately, Fan Xia didn’t notice either. With righteous indignation in his big, earnest eyes, he thump-smacked Ning Xiaobei on the head with a book.

“Really?”

Ding Zheyang twirled his pen, lifted his head from his book, and let out a cold laugh. “I don’t believe you.”

“Believe it or not. Someone like you, who values girls over friends, has no right to judge us.”

Fan Xia crumpled up a piece of scrap paper and threw it at him.

“Alright, alright, just joking. Happy time is over. Everyone, get back to studying.”

Ning Xiaobei waved his hand and pointed at the three review timetables posted on the dorm wall. These were three separate “100-Day Sprint Plans” he had tailored based on the current academic levels of Fan Xia, Ding Zheyang, and himself.

Ning Xiaobei bragged that as long as they followed the schedule—memorizing vocabulary, reciting formulas, and grinding through practice questions—getting past the first-tier cutoff line would be no problem, and even aiming for top universities wouldn’t be just a dream. Unless they ended up vomiting and having diarrhea on exam day with their brains fried, they could practically be carried into a university gate and still get in.

He even made one for Chang Leyun. Those four A3 sheets, densely packed and printed in all kinds of colors, made Zhao Jingwen break out in goosebumps just looking at them.

Every day was scheduled down to the minute, from waking up at five in the morning to going to bed at midnight. What to do each day was arranged clearly and neatly. Among the three of them, Fan Xia had the weakest foundation, so with the same amount of time, he had to put in twice the effort compared to the others.

Fan Xia was tortured to the point of silent suffering. Even when he slept at night, he had to wear a tape player and listen to real listening comprehension exam recordings. In his dreams, it was all foreigners talking.

Ning Xiaobei said this was a learning method invented by the Japanese. When people sleep, their subconscious is still active, and it can still learn. So he’d be studying even while sleeping, killing two birds with one stone. He even said that there was a Japanese female table tennis player whose mother did exactly this. Every night after her daughter fell asleep, she would lean by her ear and whisper: “Only you can defeat the Chinese team.”

Fan Xia thought this was complete bullshit and more like a ghost story. As if she could defeat the Chinese team, it would be a miracle.

The Japanese really are something… they come up with all kinds of bizarre, torturous methods.

It wasn’t just Fan Xia, even Ning Xiaobei himself would bring vocabulary cards into the bathroom when taking a dump, memorizing words and chemistry formulas while he was at it.

“Xiaobei is ruthless. Jianguo, you’d better behave in the future.”

Zhao Jingwen was afraid that if Ning Jianguo had another heart attack, his son might assign him something like a daily health maintenance plan and force him to follow it strictly. Just thinking about it was terrifying.

People say that when parents get older, they start to inexplicably fear their children and become overly cautious around them. Zhao Jingwen felt he was still at least ten or twenty years away from being old, but when facing his lover’s son, he had already felt intimidated more than once.

Five days before the exam, following the affiliated high school’s usual practice, the students were all sent home.

At this stage of review, it was no longer about academic ability; the real test now was mindset. Keeping them locked up at school wouldn’t help at all. It was better to let them go home, relax, eat and drink properly, take care of their health, and head into the exam in high spirits.

Now, in the apartment building, the situation was this: the students were all in great shape mentally, but the parents were the ones starting to get unstable.

Zhao Jingwen’s condition was relatively mild; he would just occasionally give Fan Xia a kind smile. It made Fan Xia suspect that he might have unknowingly committed some huge mistake. Maybe his uncle, because the college entrance exam was so close, couldn’t beat him now; but was planning to settle all accounts after the 9th¹.

The more serious cases were Ning Jianguo and Wang Yihong. It was their first time sending a child into the exam hall. While they kept telling their kids not to be too nervous, they themselves were more anxious than anyone else, eventually reaching the ultimate end of science: superstition.

Starting from last month, the two parents had basically visited every somewhat famous temple in Shanghai and the Jiangsu–Zhejiang region, especially Confucian temples and Wenchang temples. If not for the pandemic making travel inconvenient, they might even have considered going to Qufu; after all, the Confucius Temple there is regarded as the orthodox source.

Once June arrived, the two parents simply stopped working altogether and focused on staying home to accompany their children through exam prep.

Now, the living room of Room 316 in the Workers’ New Village had once again become a senior-year tutoring center. Besides the three kids from the building, Ding Zheyang showed up every morning at seven on his bike to check in. His parents would also drop by from time to time to visit and exchange reassurances with the other parents.

A small blackboard had been set up in the living room, covered with key exam points and common mistakes. The four kids each occupied a corner of a small table. From morning till night, aside from the occasional few minutes of rest or discussion, the only sound was the constant scratch, scratch, scratch of writing.

All the parents gathered downstairs in Room 216. Even when they spoke, they kept their voices low, ‘not daring to speak loudly, for fear of disturbing those upstairs’.

“Jingwen has already bought the groceries. Today’s menu is braised pork ribs, pig brain, stuffed bitter melon, stir-fried greens with mushrooms, and eel soup.”

Ning Jianguo laid out the full menu, ensuring every meal was nutritionally balanced, varied, and most importantly, clean and healthy.

To avoid disturbing the children’s studying, no cooking was done upstairs now. All cooking and boiling water were handled on the second floor.

“For dessert after meals, we’ll have coconut sago. Afternoon tea will be cheesecake with black tea. And for a late-night snack, fermented rice dumplings… ah, wait, no fermented rice, just the dumplings.”

Wang Yihong was in charge of desserts.

“My husband and I went to check out the surroundings yesterday. The situation isn’t very optimistic.”

Ding Zheyang’s mother looked worried. She dipped her finger in water and drew two circles on the wooden Eight Immortals table. “There’s a big shopping mall behind the school. At the entrance, they’ve set up a loudspeaker blasting discount announcements all day long, nonstop. If it’s like that during the exam days, it’ll definitely affect things, especially the foreign language listening test.”

“How can that be allowed? I’ll go figure something out. I’ll make sure they turn it off!”

Zhao Jingwen slapped his thigh hard.

Before he even finished speaking, a sudden burst of crackling firecrackers came from the small square downstairs.

They leaned out the window and saw a noisy scene below; someone was moving in.

“Damn it, where did these new neighbors come from? Don’t they know there are so many exam students in this building? Not just Gaokao candidates, there are also several highschool entrance exam students. And they’re setting off firecrackers at a time like this?”

As Zhao Jingwen spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and went downstairs to argue with them.

Ding Zheyang’s dad, Ding Kai, hurried after him, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket as he ran. “Boss Zhao, don’t start a fight. If it turns into an argument, it’ll only get more troublesome. Let’s reason with them first and talk it out.”

And so, amid this tense yet oddly lively atmosphere, June 7, 2003 finally arrived.

This year’s exam was the same as the 2021 Gaokao, students had to have their temperature checked before entering. If their temperature was above the normal range, there were special isolated exam rooms prepared for them. One classroom would hold only one examinee, with a proctor at both the front and back doors, plus another invigilator patrolling; enjoying the three-against-one premium treatment.

“Dad, Uncle Zhao, go back. It’s too hot.”

After checking one last time that both his and Fan Xia’s admission ticket, ID card, and stationery were all in order, Ning Xiaobei waved toward Ning Jianguo, who was standing at the gate.

At the school’s main entrance, it was packed with parents seeing their children off. The school was located in the city center, right by a main road with constant traffic, and not even a single tree for shade. Even though it was only June, the weather was already quite hot. Ning Xiaobei worried his father wouldn’t be able to handle it and kept urging them to go home.

“No. Dad will wait right here. When you come out after doing well, the first person you’ll see will be me.”

Ning Jianguo refused to leave. Not just him, Zhao Jingwen, Wang Yihong, and Ding Zheyang’s parents all insisted on staying at the gate, waiting to go home together with them.

“Read the questions carefully. Make sure you write your admission number correctly.”

“If you run into a hard question, skip it first. Don’t panic, whatever you do, don’t panic.”

“Dad will be waiting. I’ll cook something good for you when you get home.”

“After the exam, we’ll take you on a trip, anywhere you want to go!”

Amid the parents’ earnest reminders and blessings, the four kids, full of confidence and ambition, slowly walked into the exam hall.

Come on, this is the battle of youth!

………………

As the heat of summer fades in July, early in the morning, they waited at the entrance of the residential compound, eyes straining as they watched for the mailman to arrive. The moment they caught sight of that flash of green at the gate, the three kids rushed forward impatiently.

“Any mail? Did we get in?”

Ning Jianguo nervously leaned his head out into the corridor.

His heart felt a bit uncomfortable. Could it be another heart attack coming on?

The parents from the other two families were also leaning out of their windows, craning their necks in anxious anticipation.

“We got in!”

Holding three large stacked postal envelopes, Ning Xiaobei excitedly raised them up toward the building. On the covers was an image of hurdler Liu Xiang mid-sprint over a hurdle².

“Dad, Uncle Zhao, Auntie Wang, we got in! We all got in!”

“Fantastic!”

Zhao Jingwen rushed up from behind, grabbed Ning Jianguo around the waist, and lifted him clean off the ground. Ning Jianguo couldn’t help but shout up at the sky.

“Oh dear, oh dear, at your age, making such a racket, what kind of behavior is that? You’re not twenty-year-old lads anymore. Being happy inside is enough, why are you even jumping around?”

Seated in the living room, Grandma Ning turned her head away in disapproval. She said nothing about how her own hand, holding the teacup, had been trembling since morning. As for the TV chattering away beside her, if you asked her what it was saying right now, she wouldn’t be able to tell you a single word.

“Godmother, congratulations! The Ning family finally has a college student!”

Xiao Mei smiled as she took the now-cold tea from the old lady’s hand and replaced it with a hot cup.

“It’s nothing that remarkable.”

Grandma Ning was, as always, blunt. “Mainly it’s because Jianguo’s nephews and nieces in Suzhou are still young. When they’re old enough, they’ll get in too. Xiaobei just takes after me. Back when I graduated from girls’ high school, if my parents hadn’t made me start working early, selling goods at the department store counter, I might’ve been a graduate of St. John’s University Shanghai myself.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. St. John’s losing Grandma was St. John’s regret; Shanghai’s retail industry gaining her was its great honor.

“Ding Zheyang, did you get your admission letter? Ah… we got ours too. It’s nothing, just letting you know. Figured if you hadn’t gotten yours yet, I could comfort you right away. Hahaha…”

Even after getting into college, Fan Xia was still very much himself, cheeky as ever. With his newly bought cellphone, he went around harassing all his good buddies. He even checked in on Lin Ziying. Sure enough, that guy got into Fudan University’s journalism department, and he invited everyone to hang out sometime, said it had been a while and they should catch up.

“Xiaobei, where should we go have fun? How about we go to Beijing together? Last time, after elementary school graduation, I didn’t really get to enjoy the trip. This time we’ll do it properly: Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Prince Gong’s Mansion, and Jingshan Park with that crooked old tree.”

Fan Xia felt like he was Sun Wukong who had been trapped under the Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years; now finally free. The SARS epidemic had also ended, so if he didn’t go all out and have the time of his life, it would practically be a crime against himself.

It was said that Chang Leyun had already planned out her entire summer vacation. Her mother had visited so many temples before, praying for success; now that it had come true, they needed to go back and fulfill their vows one by one. After hosting a teacher-appreciation banquet, the whole family would head to Sichuan, rent a homestay for half a month or even a full month, tour places like Mount Qingcheng and Mount Emei, and only then report to university.

Fan Xia was insanely jealous.

And the one who arranged all of this? None other than the Ding family, who ran a travel agency.

These two families could now practically be considered in-laws. The relationship between them had grown extremely close and warm, and this time they decided to organize a joint road trip to send the kids off to Sichuan.

Before, both sets of parents guarded against puppy love like it was some kind of flood or wild beast. Now, they wished they could fast-forward four years in the blink of an eye, hoping the two kids would go straight to getting their marriage certificate and ideally have a child right after graduation.

If that wish came true, then wow, four years later, Uncle Zhao’s youngest son would be barely in elementary school and already an uncle. That jump in seniority would be like taking a helicopter straight up.

Ning Xiaobei was now very much looking forward to returning to the real world, to see what kind of lives Ding Zheyang and Chang Leyun would have after all his interference.

One of them surely wouldn’t go to such extremes as ending up in prison this time, right? And the other, would she still remain a sentimental, artsy young woman, staying single?

Unfortunately, ever since he came back from that last failed attempt, no matter what he tried, he couldn’t return to that other world again. He had no idea where things had gone wrong.

Still, everything was moving in a better direction. He firmly believed that the next time he returned, he would be greeted by a completely different world.

A week later, Fan Xia and Ning Xiaobei boarded a train bound for Beijing. Fan Xia had deliberately bought tickets for a 9 p.m. express train—sleep through the night, and they’d arrive at Beijing Railway Station early the next morning. After getting off, they could grab a taxi to the hotel, toss their luggage aside, and head straight out to explore.

The hotel he’d booked was excellent too, right near Shatan Back Street. The Forbidden City and Jingshan Park were both within walking distance, and that famous Nanluoguxiang alley was said to be nearby as well. In short, Fan Xia had done his homework this time. He was determined to make up for all the regrets from their elementary school trip and have a thoroughly satisfying adventure.

“So… why is it that when Xiaobei and I go on a trip, you two have to tag along as well? Don’t you have your own jobs?”

The four-person soft-sleeper compartment swayed gently. While Ning Xiaobei stepped out, Fan Xia put on a kind smile and looked at Zhao Jingwen, who was sitting across from him.

Heaven knew that when he had entered the compartment earlier and saw the two of them already sitting on the lower bunk, he had almost bolted for the door.

“The textile school is on break too. And I’ve never been to Beijing, so I thought I’d take this chance to have a look around. Your uncle’s qipao shop is under renovation lately, so he’s free as well. Xiao Xia, are you unhappy that we came along?”

Ning Jianguo asked as he peeled an apple.

Not only was this his first time going to Beijing, it was also his first time traveling with his son. Thinking about it, he even felt a little ashamed.

Back when he was in the army, the thing he had most looked forward to was going to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony. He used to talk about it often with his squad leader. Now that his squad leader was gone, bringing Xiaobei to see the ceremony could be considered fulfilling his biological father’s long-held wish.

“No, I’m very happy, Uncle Ning. I’m just excited. Traveling with you makes me extremely happy.”

Fan Xia pressed his lips together, clearly not meaning what he said.

Zhao Jingwen glanced at him, snorted coldly, then grabbed him and pulled him out of the compartment to the junction between two carriages.

“What exactly are your intentions toward Xiaobei?”

Zhao Jingwen’s expression was rarely this serious. He had always had sharply defined features, and when he was younger, neighbors and classmates would often tease that he looked like he was from an ethnic minority in Xinjiang. Although he was now half a head shorter than his nephew, when he lowered his brows and stared at someone, he still carried an imposing presence.

“What do you mean by that, Uncle…?”

Fan Xia leaned back against the carriage door, lifted his chin, and looked back at him calmly.

The train had already left the city. Outside the window, the scenery shifted from scattered lights into a dim, distant glow. At that time, trains from Shanghai to Beijing were only regular or express; high-speed rail was still four years away. Travel was still slow.

At the junction between the two carriages, there was only a single dim light, casting a faint glow over the two equally tall men.

Yes, a man.

Fan Xia was no longer that little boy who could only sit on the back of his uncle’s bicycle, sniffling, abandoned by his parents and living under someone else’s roof. Even Zhao Jingwen had to admit that his nephew had grown up, and grown into a particularly striking young man.

He loved this child, just as Ning Jianguo loved Xiaobei.

Since he had fallen in love with someone of the same sex, it meant he was destined not to have children of his own. Fan Xia had become the continuation of his life.

Setting aside differences in skin tone, the uncle and nephew actually looked quite alike.

Although Zhao Jingwen often joked that his nephew was a little brother from Africa, in truth, Fan Xia’s features were also sharply defined. When he didn’t smile, he even looked a bit cold and severe.

Zhao Jingwen remembered it clearly; when he first took this little dark-skinned kid back from that bastard of a father, his body had been covered in bruises, patches of blue and purple everywhere. Some were from his father’s beatings; others from fights he’d gotten into with other children.

Back then, Fan Xia would press his lips tight, clench his small fists, and look at the world with defiance; as if that was the only way he knew to protect himself. Like a little black wild beast, he was hostile toward everything around him, including his own uncle.

Bottom of the class. Addicted to fighting. In four years of elementary school, he transferred three times.

The last time Zhao Jingwen went to handle his transfer, the principal had said it to his face: “Uncle of Fan Xia, you should know that even primary school has grade retention. At his rate, even if he barely makes it into middle school, what can he do after graduation? He’ll just become the dregs of society, someone of no use to the country. You might as well just find any school to let him finish the nine years of compulsory education. A child like him has no hope.”

Those words had filled Zhao Jingwen with both righteous anger and deep shame.

Now, thinking back on it, he wished he could drag Fan Xia right in front of that principal, slap his admission letter from H University of Political Science and Law onto that old man’s face, and make him see that he had raised him well. He had turned that little monster, that little wild beast, into a university student!

But even Zhao Jingwen had to admit that while he had played a part in Fan Xia’s change, the greatest credit belonged to another child—without Xiaobei, there would be no Fan Xia today. It was Xiaobei who had pulled him out of the mud, who had become the light in his life.

“Don’t play dumb. It’s useless to pretend in front of me.”

Actually, at a moment like this, they should’ve each taken out a cigarette and blown a few clouds of smoke to ease the tense atmosphere; that would’ve felt more like a proper man-to-man talk. But first, this was a non-smoking carriage, and second, because Xiaobei had asthma as a child, both he and Ning Jianguo had long since quit smoking. As for Fan Xia, the kid neither knew how to smoke nor was he allowed to, so the two of them could only stare at each other and talk.

“Your feelings for Xiaobei… is it liking him?”

On the other side of the corridor, inside the restroom, a hand resting on the door handle suddenly froze.

“Of course I like him. He’s my boss, my buddy, my former classmate, my current neighbor, how could I not like him?”

Ning Xiaobei lowered his head.

The air in the restroom was terrible. Someone had secretly smoked in there earlier, and the smell still lingered. He didn’t have asthma attacks anymore, but instead had become especially sensitive to the smell of cigarettes. His throat itched slightly.

But right now, he couldn’t step out.

“Is that so? Just that?”

Zhao Jingwen let out a cold laugh. “You think I’m blind? You clearly like him. The way you look at Xiaobei is exactly the same as how I looked at his father back when I first entered the factory.”

It was the kind of liking where you wished you could swallow him whole, knead him into your flesh, and fuse him into your blood.

The yellow light fell across the young man’s face, where the last traces of boyishness were fading, illuminating the short stubble on his chin and the canine teeth that gleamed with a cold, pale sheen.

“Uncle… are you not allowing it?”

There was even a trace of aggression in his tone.

“If you ever wrong Xiaobei…”

I’d rather give up on you as my nephew than let Jianguo be hurt.

“Uncle, I’m not Fan Jian, and I’m not my mother.”

People often say a nephew takes after his uncle; these two really did have the exact same temperament.

Their footsteps gradually faded away. With a click, the restroom door opened.

Back in the compartment, the three of them sat together, eating fruit, the atmosphere peaceful.

“Why did you take so long in the restroom?”

Ning Jianguo asked.

Thinking of where that conversation had taken place just now, Zhao Jingwen and Fan Xia both stiffened slightly.

“The restroom here was occupied the whole time, so I went to the next carriage. On the way back, I almost went the wrong way.”

Ning Xiaobei leaned against Ning Jianguo and picked at fruit with a toothpick.

The uncle and nephew quietly let out a breath of relief.

Along the railway, the train lights stretched into a long orange-red line, heading steadily north.

………………

Author’s Note:

Finally finished writing the high school arc, I’m so done.

Now they can openly fall in love!!

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『dapotaturs note: Next – The Future of the Future Arc ♥』

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1
In China, the Gaokao typically takes place on June 7–9
2
In the early 2000s, exam admission envelopes often featured Liu Xiang, a national sports icon after his Olympic gold medal success, symbolizing striving and victory