Chapter 32

When people get awkward, they suddenly get real busy.

Wen Fu looked left, then right, then suddenly reached a hand down behind him and lifted Fei Bolin's schoolbag. 'Would this make it easier?'

Fei Bolin: '...'

Fei Bolin: 'You'd be better off getting off me.'

'Oh.'

Wen Fu quickly climbed down off him.

...And yeah, that was a lot easier.

Fei Bolin pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was 11:40 at night.

He tugged Wen Fu behind him, leaned his upper body out from the Alley Entrance, and scanned the area. Once he made sure nobody had chased after them, he pulled Wen Fu out with him.

The area wasn't exactly lively to begin with, and this late at night it was practically deserted.

The two of them walked slowly for a while. When they reached a bus stop sign, Fei Bolin stopped, got his bearings and figured out what street they were on, then took Wen Fu home by the shortcut from memory.

Once they got home, he didn't get a second to rest. First he dug out the anti-swelling spray he'd picked up for Wen Fu at the pharmacy on the way to school that afternoon and sprayed it on him. Then he went to shower. When he came out and was just about to hurry Wen Fu in next, he saw him squatting in front of the living room sofa, turning over the clothes they'd grabbed from the house and searching through them for something.

'What are you looking for?' Fei Bolin asked as he walked over, towel-drying his hair.

Wen Fu was filthy all over. Earlier, back at the house, he'd been pawing through boxes and climbing through windows, and now there was dust all over him. 'Didn't get my schoolbag back.'

Fei Bolin said, 'Your schoolbag? Oh. That one.'

He remembered Wen Fu did have a schoolbag. It was on the first day he'd transferred into the class. During morning self-study, Wen Fu had come in through the back door, sat down by the next aisle over from him, then taken books out of his bag.

Fei Bolin remembered that bag. It was a huge, ancient denim canvas bag, wider than Wen Fu's whole upper body, with the bottom hanging long and low. One look and you could tell it'd been stretched out of shape ages ago.

Thinking about it now, Wen Fu probably didn't just use that bag for books. In certain situations, he might carry everything he owned in it and run around with it on his back. Like tonight, if he'd been on his own again.

'Forget it if you didn't get it back.' Fei Bolin grabbed his arm and helped him up. 'Anything else in there?'

'No.'

Wen Fu stood up with the motion, and the second he looked up, he saw Fei Bolin's face.

Fei Bolin had just gotten out of the shower. Outside the bathroom it was way colder, and in that short time the color had already drained from his face, leaving it pale. And because he'd just washed up, the scar on his chin, not long after getting the stitches out, stood out even more.

Without thinking, Wen Fu reached out and touched Fei Bolin's chin with his fingertips.

Fei Bolin saw what he was trying to do and didn't dodge. If anything, he even tipped his head back a little on purpose so Wen Fu's hand would land right on the scar.

Wen Fu slowly rubbed along the scar with his fingers, staring at it like he was lost in thought.

Fei Bolin had just been about to ask, 'Feel nice? You crashed into that,' when he heard Wen Fu say slowly, '...Ah.'

Wen Fu took his hand away, and a dark smudge immediately appeared on Fei Bolin's chin.

Wen Fu's hands were too dirty. They were covered in dust.

Fei Bolin darkened and hauled him into the bathroom, gritting out, 'Hurry up and take a shower for me.'

He'd forgotten how much Wen Fu liked showering here, so after he dawdled inside for over half an hour, Fei Bolin had to go knock on the door himself. 'If you don't come out now, there won't be any noodles left.'

A minute later, Wen Fu, freshly washed and changed, felt his way to the kitchen doorway. Fei Bolin was rinsing out a pot. Without even turning his head, he knew Wen Fu was there. 'Your noodles are on the table. Eat, dry your hair, wash up, and sleep. And go put on the jacket from the sofa first.'

Wen Fu vanished from the doorway in one second flat.

Just as Wen Fu, with a towel draped over his head, finished the last bite of Fei Bolin's homemade pea-and-minced-pork noodles, someone grabbed the back of his collar again.

With one hand, Fei Bolin held a basin of wrung-out clothes. With the other, he dragged Wen Fu out onto the balcony. 'Come here and watch me.'

He flicked on the dim bulb on the balcony, lighting up the clothes in the basin, all foamed over from Wen Fu's washing.

Fei Bolin first put the dark jacket and thermal shirt into the washing machine, then turned to Wen Fu and said, 'Big stuff goes in here. Dark with dark, light with light. You can tell dark from light, right?'

Wen Fu nodded.

Fei Bolin pressed the power and program buttons on the washing machine one after another. 'After you pour in the detergent, just press these three buttons. You don't need to mess with anything else. Got it?'

Wen Fu nodded again.

Fei Bolin turned to the socks and underwear separated in the basin. He picked up one of Wen Fu's socks first, turned on the faucet at the sink, spread the sock open, and carefully rubbed every soapy spot under the water from top to bottom. 'Small stuff gets washed like this. Rinse all the soap out clean, or when it dries and you wear it, it'll be stiff. Understand?'

Wen Fu still nodded in that half-understanding way.

Fei Bolin handed him the other sock. 'Wash it. Show me.'

Wen Fu copied Fei Bolin's method and scrubbed the sock clean.

Once Fei Bolin saw it was washed well enough, he took it from him and hung it on the drying rack. Then he turned and saw Wen Fu bent over the sink, seriously scrubbing his own underwear.

It made Fei Bolin want to laugh. The corner of his mouth lifted soundlessly. Pretty self-aware, huh.

The School Uniform had to be worn again tomorrow morning, so there wasn't time to wash it a second time. Luckily, it had only gotten dusty. After Fei Bolin wiped it down with a cloth, it looked basically as good as new.

As for Wen Fu's other hoodie, the one that looked fine from far away but up close was covered in old stains, Fei Bolin figured he might as well not keep it.

Still, he didn't throw it out. He just folded it and put it in a less-used spot in the wardrobe.

After all that chaos, the two of them went to sleep at one and got up at six. The next morning they sleepily crowded into the bathroom together to wash their faces and brush their teeth, and on the way to School, Fei Bolin still didn't forget to pick up breakfast for Xie Yining and the others.

Wen Fu followed Fei Bolin around in a daze in front of the breakfast stall until Fei Bolin finally grabbed him. 'You go to the classroom first. See if Xie Yining needs you to get anything ready.'

The first event on the morning of day one of the Campus Sports Meet was the boys' 50-Meter Race. Unless something unexpected happened, Wen Fu was up first thing in the morning, and the class monitor had to take him to draw lots, line up, and get his number tag.

Robot Wen Fu, who'd been wandering around aimlessly the whole time, finally had a target and headed for the classroom.

Sure enough, after morning assembly, the senior year students and repeat-year cram department went back to the Teaching Building for class, while the first- and second-years stayed behind for the formation march. Once that was done, Xie Yining and the PE committee member took Wen Fu to draw lots and pick up his number.

There were six boys in Wen Fu's heat. Two were from Hanyang Class, and the other four, including Wen Fu, were all from the General Class.

When Xie Yining said Wen Fu's name to the registrar, several people from Hanyang Class nearby all turned to look.

The name Wen Fu had already gotten a little famous around the grade the weekend the results from the City-wide Joint Exam came out.

Especially in Department A.

Department A already knew Fei Bolin's name well enough for the two Hanyang science classes to have heard it like thunder. Everyone thought one surprise in their year was enough, but then this joint exam happened, and Wen Fu seemed to appear out of nowhere. A score somewhere around five-eighty wasn't that rare, but when a teacher brought Class 6's score sheet into class and passed it around, everyone was stunned: Wen Fu's five-eighty came with a Chinese score of only sixty-seven.

Word was the Department A teaching group had even held a special meeting just because of these two students. Nobody knew what was discussed.

Now that they'd finally seen the guy in person, the people from Department A couldn't help sizing Wen Fu up again and again.

The first thing people noticed, naturally, was his face. Fair enough. Wen Fu's face would draw eyes anywhere. His features were too striking, especially those lashes, black as raven feathers.

But his expression was so cold, and his whole presence so distant, that nobody really felt the urge to get close.

Even with all those obvious looks landing on him one after another, he just kept his eyes down and stayed silent. He wrote his name in the register, then turned and left with his class monitor.

Before long, people noticed his shoes too.

They were the plainest black-and-white canvas shoes, washed so many times the color had started to fade.

Showing up to a 50-Meter Race in canvas shoes either meant you didn't respect the race or you didn't respect your opponents.

Wen Fu couldn't hear what everyone else was thinking. There was only one reason he was wearing canvas shoes: his other pair of skate shoes had been scrubbed clean by Fei Bolin last night.

Only after washing them did the two of them realize there was still a 50-Meter Race this morning.

At the time, Fei Bolin had just taught him how to clean shoes. The two of them were squatting face-to-face on the balcony with the shoe-washing basin between them, the skate shoes still floating in the water. Cold wind swept across the balcony. The dim yellow bulb overhead kept flickering. Wen Fu's eyes flickered too. The two of them stared at each other for ages before Wen Fu said, 'I can wear the other pair.'

Fei Bolin searched through his own shoes, but not a single pair fit Wen Fu, so that was that.

The track field was looping the Campus Sports Meet background music on repeat. When Wen Fu got back to Class 6's area, the class committee had moved over some desks, chairs, and sports equipment to claim space and set up a makeshift resting spot for Class 6.

Fei Bolin and Su Haoran had been sent to the School store to buy water and communal snacks for the class area, so they didn't make it back in time to watch Wen Fu race.

Later, according to Xie Yining, the race went like this: Wen Fu had been placed in the outermost lane. Xie Yining had linked arms with Lu Yuqiu, and the two of them deliberately ran to the nearest spot outside the track to cheer him on. They were encouraging him while telling him not to get nervous, that nobody expected him to place no matter what, that participation was what mattered, and he just had to do his best—

Before she'd even finished, the judge blew the whistle and fired the gun somewhere. The last word was still in Xie Yining's mouth, not even out yet, when whoosh—Wen Fu vanished right in front of her.

Then, like the next second had only just arrived, the whistle sounded from the field for the champion crossing the finish line.

She and Lu Yuqiu rushed over to check the judge's timer. Wen Fu's time was 6.67 seconds. He'd broken the school record.

And that was exactly when Fei Bolin and Su Haoran came back.

Xie Yining was holding the energy drink she'd bought for Wen Fu with her own money. Before the race, she'd planned to give it to him after he ran and comfort him a little. After the race, she'd planned to give it to him to congratulate him instead. Either way, the drink still hadn't been delivered, and in the blink of an eye, Wen Fu had disappeared.

She made a full lap around the track and only when she got back to where she'd started did she spot Wen Fu sitting in a chair in Class 6's area, head lowered, legs spread wide, stuffing himself with the bags of Talent Show she'd bought.

That stuff was pure sugar. Once you started, it was addictive. It really was soft, but it didn't fill you up or take up much room. Unless you ate a lot of it.

By the time Xie Yining walked over, Wen Fu had already finished two bags, going at nearly one bite per piece without stopping.

She crouched in front of him with the drink and grinned. 'Wen Fu?'

In the middle of his very busy eating, Wen Fu lifted his eyes to look at her.

Still chew chew chewing.

Xie Yining said, 'You ran a six sixty-seven.'

Wen Fu blinked once.

Chew chew chew.

Xie Yining held out the drink. 'Congrats.'

Wen Fu sped up the chew chew chewing.

Finally he swallowed the bread, reached out for the drink, and then, one second before his hand touched the bottle, paused and said softly, 'Thanks.'

Xie Yining burst out laughing as she stood up. 'You're welcome. Eat slow.'

Wen Fu didn't say anything else, and Xie Yining didn't bother him either. After delivering the drink, she spotted Fei Bolin and Su Haoran coming over in the distance and hurried over, grabbed both of them, pointed at Wen Fu, and muttered, 'He broke the record.'

Su Haoran had no idea what she meant. 'What record? Bread-eating record?'

'No. The other one.' Xie Yining's eyes were shining. She held up six fingers. 'Six sixty-seven. The school 50-meter record. It's ours now.'

'Holy shit!' Su Haoran couldn't help grinning. His eyes swung toward Wen Fu and lit right up. 'He broke it?'

Xie Yining said, 'Who else would it be?'

Su Haoran immediately moved to go make friends.

'What are you doing?' Xie Yining stopped him. 'Can't you see he's wholeheartedly committed to eating bread right now?'

She dragged Su Haoran back and held up eight fingers, all mysterious about it. 'He ate twenty-eight of them!'

'Holy shit!' Su Haoran's voice jumped up another notch.

Fei Bolin had wanted to go over too, but seeing how seriously Wen Fu was eating, he stayed where he was.

The three of them stood there with their arms folded, watching in silence as Wen Fu finished a third bag of Talent Show and opened a fourth.

After watching for a bit, Xie Yining suddenly asked, 'Don't you think Wen Fu looks like a certain animal?'

Su Haoran got curious. 'What animal?'

Fei Bolin arched a brow. He'd just been about to ask if she also thought Wen Fu looked like a stray cat when he heard Xie Yining say:

'Taotie.'

Fei Bolin: '...'

Su Haoran: '...'

The two of them gave Xie Yining a thumbs-up at the same time.

-

That night, Rongyi High School's forum exploded.

Every active user on the front page kept bumping threads about that guy who'd 'broken the school's 50-meter record' and 'scored sixty-seven in Chinese and still got a total of five-eighty.'

Very quickly, a forum legend with the ID '@OneIsNotZero' coined a line for this guy that would get passed around No.1 High School for years to come:

Among horses, Red Hare. At No.1 High School, Wen Fu.