Wednesday, November 2nd.
Xinjiang No.1 High School, Xinjiang.
At this moment in front of the door Class 1, Grade 3.
Lin Yuan stood in the corridor watching the rain fall densely outside from the open window, letting his hair rise and fall in the cool autumn wind. The clouds were dark and densely packed overhead and outside was a world of rainy curtains obscuring sight and overwhelming the loud sounds of the packed classrooms.
It was the beginning of November, and the days were starting to get colder.
Lin Yuan shuddered and reached to close the small window, before wiping the small spots of rain in front of him with some hand tissues which he then tossed into the bin outside.
At this moment the loud sounds inside the classroom were brought back. It was lunch break at Xinjiang No.1 High School but the weather had packed everyone together like tight sardines. Glancing at the half-closed door behind him Lin Yuan ruffled his slightly damp hair and returned his gaze to the endless reverie outside.
He is thin with pale skin, long black bangs and a quiet look. He was closer to beautiful than handsome.
His dark eyes especially had a melancholy look to them giving him a lonely temperament.
"Lin Yuan?"
The head teacher Wei Zhong walked over from a distance holding exam papers in his hands .
Lin Yuan turned around upon hearing the voice, looked at him and said inquiringly: "Teacher?"
"What's with that look? I told you to come see me in my office at lunch, don't tell me you forgot?"
"Yes." Lin Yuan replied instantly with a straight face.
"..."
"Okay, I should have expected that." Teacher Wei sighed with exasperation. Then he shook the exam papers in his hand, "Look, these are your exams for English and Chinese from the monthly exam…"
Before he could finish, Lin Yuan reached out both his hands to receive the papers and bowed.
"Thank you."
"Ah, it's okay." After saying that, Teacher Wei suddenly came to his senses and impatiently snatched the papers back. His weathered face darkened and he rubbed the few wisps of hair on his head vigorously.
"What are you talking about kid! I didn't come all the way here to deliver your exams." Then opening the English paper he pointed to the bright red mark at the bottom, "Look at this, 65 points! That's the worst mark in Class 1. And your Chinese is only 100 - well I won't talk about that. Your English is just too low."
Teacher Wei Zhong looked at the boy who was listening quietly with his eyes lowered toward the ground and sighed, he continued with a soft voice.
"Lin Yuan, look, your maths is already the best in the grade and I know you were working hard for the olympiad before, but this year is crucial for you and English is very important for the college exam. Now tell me why you're doing so bad. Is it that you can't follow the lessons, you know your English teacher is also worried, you're so smart but why are your scores so bad? "
The thin boy raised his eyes slightly and saw the genuine concern in Wei Zhong's eyes.
"No, the lessons are very good, it's my own fault."
Wei Zhong patted the boy on his shoulders.
"Lin Yuan, about the olympiad…I know you're disappointed that you didn't make it to the national team but now that's not possible you need to focus on this year. You want to get into Tsinghua university right? You can't have any subjects dragging you down."
"Okay, don't think I'm just nagging you. I'm not telling you to give up on math and science, just spend a little more energy on your weak points alright?"
Lin Yuan's eyes looked very sincere and he nodded seriously. "Yes teacher, I understand."
Actually, he never paid much attention to English before.
He was even surprised that he could always get above 80. This time he really didn't do well.
He had always relied on his math marks as well his high chemistry and physics marks to get the among the top rankings. And most of the last year he had spent working toward the math's olympiad. If he could make it to the national team he would be able to get a guaranteed entrance into any university…
But the college entrance examination was different. If you had a weak subject, your chances of getting into the top universities would be almost zero, and that's if you performed optimally on the day.
Still, he didn't worry too much, as long as he paid a bit more attention he could probably get to a 90 in English before the college exams and then as long as his Chinese improves a bit everything should be fine.
Probably.
Wei Zhong, perhaps seeing that he looked very obedient, finally had a smile on his face, then while smoothing out his sparse hair he remembered something and said "After the parents' meeting yesterday, I actually talked a lot with your mother on the phone. She said she would also help you with your studies. So don't slack off and work hard this year okay."
This time Lin Yuan was really stunned. His eyebrows crossed lightly.
"My mother...she helps me?"
Then, after a brief moment of surprise he smiled.
How can she help? She's never been interested in my studies before.
Teacher Wei Zhong didn't explain much, he only told Lin Yuan to return to his classroom and then left, not before quickly casting a resentful glance at his thick black hair.
Lin Yuan lingered outside for a few moments, glancing down at his exam papers in a slight daze. His mother, Feng Ling never mentioned this before. Their relationship wasn't the type. For some reason there is a slight expectation…
…Childish.
Holding the papers in his hand he returned to the loud classroom with a calm face.
…
…
…
It was only until around 5:30 when Lin Yuan left school.
As a day student, Lin Yuan does not have to attend evening self-study, so he can go home directly after school in the afternoon.
He had left his bicycle at school considering the rain that still hadn't let up, and walked home slowly. Upon reaching his house, he looked up at the bright lights coming from the window and raised his eyebrows in confusion: "Someone is here?"
The place where he lived was a large modern home.
This kind of villa was very popular in a water town like Xinjiang, it wasn't too gaudy but it wasn't like the special antique houses that have been here for many years. It combined the best of both worlds to give an elegant and restrained feeling.
His sister Lin Yuerong graduated from university 4 years ago and is the co-founder of a rising start up game company. This woman has been very busy at work recently and was almost sleeping in the company.
Meanwhile, his mother Feng Ling came from a wealthy family and was the chief financial officer in the family business, a large cosmetic company. She was often out on business trips these days and would rarely be at home, he hadn't seen her in person in almost two weeks.
His father had also passed away many years ago, so according to common sense, as long as Lin Yuan didn't come home, the lights in the house would not be on.
Lin Yuan closed his wet umbrella and quickly put it away into a plastic bag and then opened the door with one hand.
As soon as he entered he took off his coat, hung it on the coat hanger next to the door. The weather had not calmed down in the afternoon and there was a slight wind, so he wiped his face and damp hair lightly with his handkerchief and quickly shuffled through the hallway.
Could it be that my mother really came back specially? Thinking about what the teacher had told him earlier today he couldn't hold back some childish expectations.
Before he entered the room he paused for a brief moment in the hallway, then walked inside.
"...Sister, it's you."
When Lin Yuan saw Lin Yuerong sitting in the living room nonchalantly drinking coffee, he was a little confused.
She was wearing a black business suit with long pants and had her legs crossed sitting on the sofa. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, smoothed her slightly curly short hair, pausing to adjust her pink hair pin, and drank her coffee slowly.
Lin Yuan: "..."
It turns out that I was overthinking it.
Then Lin Yuan didn't say anything, he just calmly stood there.
"Huh? Why isn't he saying anything? Aren't you curious, come on, come on, ask me!"
Lin Yuerong still had a calm look on her face as she ignored him, but her thoughts were racing. She kept putting the coffee mug to her mouth but failed to sip anything.
Lin Yuan glanced at this silly older sister who had an eager look in her eyes despite her stern face, and his eyes curved. He deliberately sighed out loud and then turned around to leave the living room.
Seeing this Lin Yuerong couldn't wait any longer. "Hey wait..."
Bang!