Chapter 19: A Good Child

Page (1/3)

Zhang Yin parked the car at the school gate and encouraged Wen Xiao. “Good luck on your exam, Young Master.”

Wen Xiao nodded, got out of the car, said goodbye to Zhang Yin, and headed toward the teaching building.

The weather was not particularly cold today, and it was much warmer than the drizzly, overcast Friday. The sky had cleared, and even the clouds were white enough to glow, soft as cotton candy.

Many students nearby were saying goodbye to their parents. After observing them for a moment, Wen Xiao noticed that most of the day students were elementary-school age.

Although Slanert School encouraged full-time boarding to cultivate its students’ independence, it did not impose the same requirements on the younger pupils.

He had never imagined that after returning ten years into the past, he would still have to sit an elementary-school midterm exam.

When he passed the flowerbed in front of the teaching building, Wen Xiao slowed his steps. He was reminded of the first time he had walked past this place, when a little orange cat had poked its head out from the bushes.

Suddenly, Wen Xiao saw an elderly man with snow-white hair standing beneath a tree ahead. A cigarette was clasped between his fingers, but the moment he noticed Wen Xiao looking over, he extinguished it and hid his hand behind his back.

When he smiled, the wrinkles on his face deepened, but his voice was gentle.

“Little classmate, aren’t you going to the classroom?”

Wen Xiao nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a head rising from the bushes in the distance. It looked somewhat familiar.

“Wei Nanxing?”

The name escaped him before he could think. The other boy immediately turned to look at him, like a small animal hiding in the undergrowth.

Wen Xiao had not expected Wei Nanxing to come to school and squat here without anyone knowing what he was doing. Wait...

Was Wei Nanxing still looking for the cats?

“You know Star?” The old man glanced at him. Seeing that Wen Xiao kept staring in Wei Nanxing’s direction, he wore a helpless expression. “Star used to feed several stray cats at the school. Now that they’ve disappeared, he comes here every day hoping to find them.”

Wen Xiao’s guess having been confirmed, his feelings instantly became complicated.

After all, Wei Nanxing did not know that Wen Yu had taken the kitten away. He might still be worrying that something terrible had happened to it, spending all this time searching.

Wen Xiao walked straight up to Wei Nanxing, placed both hands on his shoulders, and pulled him out of the bushes with a little force.

Wei Nanxing cooperated readily. He merely looked at Wen Xiao with some confusion in his eyes.

“The kitten isn’t at school. You won’t find it here.”

The moment Wen Xiao said this, Wei Nanxing looked utterly devastated, as though he had misunderstood something. Wen Xiao had no choice but to explain further.

“My family took the kitten home. It isn’t a stray anymore. It won’t freeze, get soaked in the rain, or go hungry...”

Wei Nanxing’s eyes widened as he looked at him. His hair was so long that it partly covered his eyes, but through the strands, Wen Xiao could see what seemed like light shimmering in those dark pupils.

The old man came over and rubbed Wei Nanxing’s head.

“The kittens have been adopted by kind people. You don’t need to worry anymore. Someone will take good care of them.”

Wei Nanxing nodded firmly, then caught hold of Wen Xiao’s sleeve.

“I... can...”

Wen Xiao looked puzzled, but he had long since grown accustomed to Wei Nanxing speaking this way.

Since Wei Nanxing could not say what he meant, Wen Xiao could only guess.

“You want to come to my house and see the kitten?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Nanxing nodded rapidly.

“I was wondering why this child has seemed so much happier these past few days. It turns out he’s made a good friend at school.” The old man sounded delighted, though his happiness was entirely for Wei Nanxing’s sake.

Wen Xiao wondered when the two of them had become good friends. They had merely crossed paths a few more times because of the kitten.

He did not agree immediately, but neither could he refuse at once.

When he had first been reborn, he had never imagined allowing the young F4 to visit his home. So should he let Wei Nanxing go now?

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

If this had happened before, Wen Xiao would have refused without hesitation. But now, faced with Wei Nanxing’s hopeful gaze and the kindly look in the old man’s eyes, he could not bring himself to do so.

That gaze held warmth for Wei Nanxing—and for him as well.

“If you want to come and see the kitten, you can,” Wen Xiao told himself that he was only doing it for the kitten’s sake.

The calico kitten still had not adapted to the Wen family’s home and was eating very little.

Wei Nanxing had spent more time with the kitten than anyone else. If he came to visit, it might help the kitten. Perhaps it would feel less resistant and frightened in the unfamiliar surroundings.

The moment Wen Xiao agreed, he began to regret it. He watched as the old man removed the leaves Wei Nanxing had picked up while crawling through the bushes, then straightened his clothes and told him to return obediently to his classroom.

Wei Nanxing was clearly very obedient toward him. Yet before leaving, he kept looking back at Wen Xiao, taking one glance with every step, as though he could hardly bear to go.

“Little classmate, Star really likes you,” the old man said.

Wen Xiao hummed in acknowledgment. He knew that the old man had sent Wei Nanxing back first because he wanted to speak with him privately.

But Wen Xiao was only seven. What could anyone possibly want to say to him?

He had already tried to guess the old man’s identity. Judging from his appearance, he certainly was not a member of the Wei family.

Nor did his attitude toward Wei Nanxing resemble that of a butler, driver, or servant. It seemed much more like that of a family member.

Could he be part of the family Wei Nanxing had belonged to before being taken back to the Wei household?

Still, Wen Xiao had no interest in the affairs of the Wei family or Wei Nanxing.

He was just about to find an excuse to leave when the old man gently crouched down in front of him and quietly met his gaze with a pair of cloudy yet gentle eyes.

What he said next made Wen Xiao’s eyes widen.

“But I know that you don’t like him very much. Perhaps you even dislike him a little.” The old man smiled as he spoke, though he sighed at the same time.

After his initial shock, Wen Xiao frowned. Did Wei Nanxing’s family really intend to concern themselves with whether or not he liked him?

“Star is a good child, and so are you. I want to ask you for a favor. Even if you dislike him, could you please not ignore him?”

Wen Xiao had never expected that, so soon after being reborn, an elderly man who looked to be around sixty would ask him for such a favor.

“This child has never had an easy life. Something happened to him when he was young, and he began to stammer. People often made fun of him for it, and little by little, he became less and less able to speak. But he really is a good, obedient child... Could you be his friend?”

“You don’t have to look after him too closely. Just don’t let him be alone all the time.”

Wen Xiao took a step back, his mind a complete mess. He could not understand why this old man he had met for the first time was telling him all this.

The man was telling him how miserable and pitiful Wei Nanxing was, hoping Wen Xiao would pity him and become his friend out of sympathy.

But was friendship some kind of charity? Were people supposed to become friends simply because one of them was unfortunate? Wasn’t that just condescension?

Wen Xiao did not answer. He hurried back to the classroom, the old man’s words circling endlessly in his mind. He disliked F4, but he also knew that he did not dislike the Wei Nanxing standing before him now.

Just then, Wei Nanxing turned around as well. Their eyes met, and Wei Nanxing bashfully turned his head away, burying his face in his desk.

He reminded Wen Xiao of a little rabbit that darted back to its burrow at the slightest rustle in the grass—alert and timid.

Song Jingbai did not know whether he had seen Wen Xiao’s interaction with Wei Nanxing. He asked from beside him, “Are you unhappy again? Did someone upset you this morning?”

“No.” Wen Xiao glanced at Song Jingbai.

The other boy was always smiling whenever he looked at him. Wen Xiao could not imagine what he found so amusing. And after being locked in the music room with him last time, Wen Xiao had realized that the happiness on Song Jingbai’s face was not necessarily genuine.

He was so young, yet already had such a complicated mind. What would happen when he grew up? Wen Xiao silently raised an alarm in his heart and asked in return, “You smile so happily every day. Are there really that many things to be happy about?”

“There are.” Song Jingbai’s smile grew even wider. He propped his elbow on the desk and rested his cheek in his palm, as though seriously considering the question.

“For example, when I come to school and see you, my deskmate, I feel very happy.”

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

“You...” Wen Xiao was utterly stunned by Song Jingbai’s shameless ability to spout blatant lies. Irritated, he said, “Then you’d better stop being happy.”

Because I don’t want to see you either.

Still, when he remembered that Song Jingbai had been the only one at home over the weekend, Wen Xiao could more or less guess why he lived at school.

Even though his parents were never home, Song Jingbai still cared so much about his pride that he had lied to Wen Xiao about it.

Wen Xiao felt as though he had caught the other boy by the tail. His expression grew smug, and he decided not to argue with Song Jingbai anymore.

Song Jingbai took a carton of milk from his desk and pushed it in front of Wen Xiao.

“For you.”

Wen Xiao did not understand what he was trying to do. Then Song Jingbai continued, “Milk helps you grow taller. Don’t you want to grow taller?”

At the mention of growing taller, Wen Xiao was somewhat tempted. But when he saw Song Jingbai smiling as he offered him the milk, he once again felt that the boy must be plotting something.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” Wen Xiao glared at him. He did not believe Song Jingbai had no ulterior motive.

Other children could be foolish, but Song Jingbai could not.

“Didn’t I say it in the music room that day? I want to get to know you better,” Song Jingbai replied.

“You think drinking milk will help us get familiar with each other?”

“Whether drinking milk works or not, you’ll know once you try it. If you won’t drink it, I’ll throw it away.”

Wen Xiao stared at the carton of milk and picked it up, examining it for a long while. When he heard that Song Jingbai intended to throw it away, he suddenly felt reluctant.

The boy had gone out of his way to buy it, yet he had thrown Wen Xiao’s unwanted breakfast into the trash without a second thought after physical education class.

Didn’t he know that wasting food was shameful? Wen Xiao had to say, he had starved to death in his previous life. He looked down equally on anyone who wasted food.

He inserted the straw into the carton and took a sip. The milk had a rich, creamy flavor.

Looking at Song Jingbai, Wen Xiao rolled his eyes.

“I’ll show you that you could drink a hundred cartons and it still wouldn’t work.”

Song Jingbai was not angry in the slightest at being glared at. Instead, his smile grew even wider.

“All right. Even if it doesn’t help with anything else, it will at least help you grow taller.”

The elementary-school midterm exams also required the students to change seats and take their tests in empty classrooms. The seating was not arranged according to rank but was completely random.

Wen Xiao carried his stationery upstairs and discovered that Wei Nanxing was in the same classroom.

Since many students were still present, Wei Nanxing merely glanced at him from a distance before taking his seat. He did not come over to say hello.

This made Wen Xiao think again of what the old man had told him moments earlier.

He had asked Wen Xiao to be Wei Nanxing’s friend...

The first exam was Chinese, with sixty minutes allotted. The invigilating teacher was an unfamiliar female teacher.

Wen Xiao glanced over the paper. The diagrams and the number of questions were both simple: filling in the appropriate characters according to the phonetic clues, arranging words into sentences, true-or-false questions, reading comprehension, and composition.

The moment Wen Xiao saw the composition prompt, he nearly dropped his pen. How was it that he could never escape those two words, no matter where he went?

Composition topic: Friendship.

Wen Xiao finished the paper in twenty minutes, though he spent some time figuring out how to fabricate the composition.

After all, in his memories, he had never made a friend. He could only draw on things he had heard elsewhere or seen in books and on television, beautify them a little, and cobble together something resembling a friendship.

Page (3/3)