Chapter 8 (1)

  Lin Yuxiang let out a deep breath, his two sweaty hands clenched together, and said angrily: "I've had enough."

  "Have you arrived in Nanjing?" Susan asked.

  "No, I'm going to the bathroom."

  "Weren't we going to Nanjing?" Susan looked puzzled.

  Lin Yuxiang found that clever girls who act silly are much more lovely than foolish girls who become clever.

  Susan suddenly came to herself, stuck out her tongue and said: "Sorry, am I very silly?"

  "A little bit."

  "Are you going?" Susan asked.

  "Let's go for a walk."

  "I'm not going out, it's too cold outside."

  Lin Yuxiang had thought Susan was inviting him to the restroom, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Since he'd already spoken up, he had to go down and freeze even if nothing was wrong. More than half of the people in the car had gone, leaving behind those who were easily suspected of having endocrine problems or relieving themselves on the spot.

  A large empty space appeared under the car, and it was unclear where it came from. The heavy fog made it impossible to tell which direction to go. Several tour guides had been silent for a long time, but finally, they found an opportunity to show off their skills and excitedly led everyone to the restroom.

  In the daze, I saw a long line in front of me and knew that was the women's restroom. This situation is easy to understand - if there were only one toilet stall, ten men could use it together, but two women couldn't.

  Next to the restroom was a 24-hour convenience store, where everything was overpriced due to its proximity to the restroom. Lin Yuxiang wanted to buy a bottle of milk, but when he saw the price tag of 12 yuan and only had 10 yuan on him, he felt extremely distressed. In the end, he decided to swallow his pride and haggle with the store clerk.

  Lin's mother was skilled at haggling, and according to her theory, a 12-yuan bottle of milk should be bargained down from 1.2 yuan. However, Lin Yuxiang was not good at this and couldn't even get the price lowered slightly, let alone significantly.

  "Uncle, how about ten yuan?"

  Lin Yuxiang thought this knife was ruthless and wouldn't succeed, so he left some wise words to prepare for a comeback. Unexpectedly, the waiter agreed in one breath. Lin Yuxiang regretted too late, hugging a bottle of milk back to the car, suddenly feeling the warmth of spring inside the vehicle.

  At this time, the sky was a little brighter. Lin Yuxiang looked down and saw that a Lincoln car from the county education commission had stopped, and he couldn't help but be greatly surprised, thinking that even gods like them needed to use the restroom. Looking more closely inside, two gods in the back row were sleeping with their heads thrown back. The Lincoln was indeed steady as could be expected of both people and cars. The TV station had already started its day's work, with cameras aimed at the women's restroom door. Lin Yuxiang seemed to have already heard the report from a few days later: "Students entered the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in an orderly fashion."

  The car finally started after a long time.

  The road only felt the surroundings gradually brightening. The Education Bureau's car seemed to be afraid of the light and ran off somewhere. The distant mountains and green water on both sides were more flavorful than steel and concrete, but unfortunately, this mountain had no connection with patriotism. Lin Yuxiang suddenly thought that if he could hold hands with Susan on the mountain, then...he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Susan, who smiled faintly and turned her head to look out the window.

  ……

  The next morning, Lin Yuxiang opened his eyes to look at the ceiling. The content of patriotism yesterday can be ignored, and the memory stops after arriving in Nanjing and parting with Susan. This trip only left a good teacher in my memory, a song called "Youth Without Regret", a regret that was about to be grasped, a toilet set in the underworld, several green hills, several green waters, several farmhouses, and most directly, several wooden ducks.

  After a while, Lin Yuxiang received a call. He said "hello" for half a day, but the other end only had a faint breath.

  "Hello, is this Lin Yuxiang? I am ——"

  Lin Yuxiang's heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice, and he agreed to meet Susan on the big bridge an hour later. He was overjoyed and spent the next hour primping and preening like Mulan returning home. When it was time, he hailed a rickshaw and headed to the bridge. The old driver struggled to pedal up the slope, going three steps forward and one step back. Lin Yuxiang worried that at this rate, they'd never arrive, so he got out and paid the fare, then ran up onto the bridge. Taking in the expansive view, his mood lifted, and he thought Susan must have invited him on a picnic to clear the air. As he pondered how to reveal his true feelings without arousing her suspicion, like a master assassin leaving no trace, he suddenly spotted Susan standing on the bridge, her hair fluttering in the gentle breeze.

  "Did you sleep well last night?" Susan asked.

  "Good...good!" Lin Yuxiang didn't dare look directly and muttered "A river of winter water flows eastward".

  Susan didn't say anything, picked up a stack of books from the ground and mischievously said: "Oh my, it's so heavy——"

  Lin Yuxiang wanted to go and help, Susan handed the book over to him and said: "Okay, these are all the exercises I've done - don't laugh at me, it's just exam-oriented education, no choice but to do exercises. Remember, they're very useful for exams, some of the questions I added a five-star mark, these questions need to be taken seriously. In order to get into a slightly better school, I had to do this, doing it like an idiot, you won't laugh at me, right? Well - I'm leaving, see you later."

  After finishing speaking, he hailed a tricycle and waved goodbye.

  Lin Yuxiang stood there in a daze, thinking about what to say next, but from start to finish, he only said one word: "good". He looked down at the stack of tutoring books in his hand and was surprised to find a letter on top. He was so excited that he almost threw the book into the river, leaving the letter behind.

  Hello. I'm sorry for not replying to the previous letters. Don't be too obsessed with education, or you'll end up losing out in the end. These books can help improve your scores a bit. You're a very smart boy, and I believe you will definitely get into the municipal key school. Let's meet again there.