Volume 1: Elementary School 2004-2005 (2)
Jiang Yubai did not allow Lin Zhixia to call him “Little Jiang CEO”.
He said that Lin Zhixia’s behaviour violated the “rule of friendly coexistence between classmates”.
He repeatedly stated that mutual respect is the basis for friendly coexistence between classmates.
Lin Zhixia showed a blank expression: “Is it disrespectful for me to call you Little Jiang CEO? Why?”
Jiang Yubai liked to hear Lin Zhixia say “why” – obviously, this meant that Lin Zhixia also wanted to ask him questions. He explained in a dignified manner: “You and I are in the same class. You call me Little Jiang CEO, but are you my employee? Have I paid you a salary? My name is Jiang Yubai, and you should call me Jiang Yubai.”
Lin Zhixia nodded: “Jiang Yubai.”
Jiang Yubai sat up straight and became more dignified: “Lin Zhixia.”
Lin Zhixia called out again: “Jiang Yubai!”
Jiang Yubai responded again: “Lin Zhixia.”
Lin Zhixia used a nasal tone, squeezing out from her throat: “Jiang Yubai…”
Jiang Yubai lowered his voice: “Lin Zhixia…”
Lin Zhixia leaned back and forth, laughing happily: “Jiang Jiang Jiang Jiang Yubai!”
Jiang Yubai said: “Psycho.”
“You don’t respect me!” Lin Zhixia turned the tables, “You violated the rules of friendly coexistence with your deskmate!”
Jiang Yubai couldn’t argue with Lin Zhixia. His ears turned red. He took out his maths notebook again and browsed through the operations of complex numbers. He stared at line after line of example problems, pretending to be immersed in mathematics and not hearing Lin Zhixia’s voice.
Strangely enough, Lin Zhixia really did fall silent, not saying a word.
She was reading a book.
Jiang Yubai secretly turned his head. He noticed that the book in Lin Zhixia’s hands was titled Quantum Mechanics: The Study of Atoms and Molecules. She had just flipped to a page, and the entire page was filled with dense formulas, with the derivation of a single formula taking up half the page.
Lin Zhixia took notes in the book with a pencil. Her notes were also very strange, messy, disorganised, and might not even be in Chinese.
Jiang Yubai asked her, “Are you writing in Chinese?”
“This is a language I created,” Lin Zhixia answered honestly, “Do you want to learn it? Do you want me to teach you? This language is a primary language based on physics. It cannot be used for communication. It is just used to simplify my learning process.”
A language she created?
What kind of thing is that?
Jiang Yubai suffered another blow.
In the past, Jiang Yubai firmly believed that he was a smart child. Now, his belief shook a little.
Jiang Yubai grabbed a stack of draft paper, his knuckles turning white. He calmly refused: “No need. I don’t want to learn. I don’t like to simplify the learning process. I like complicated things, you wouldn’t understand.”
Lin Zhixia was very confused: “Why?”
Finally, Jiang Yubai heard Lin Zhixia ask “why” again.
Jiang Yubai’s reply was enigmatic: “If I could solve all your problems, I would be a grown-up adult.”
“Many adults are strange,” Lin Zhixia said confidently, “Adults cannot accept that we find out that they have made mistakes, which will make them lose face. Face is more important than the truth. I hate those kinds of adults.”
Jiang Yubai agreed, “And there are lots of kids who pretend to be clueless in front of adults.”
Lin Zhixia concurred, “Exactly! They pretend not to know when they actually do. And when they don’t know, they pretend they do.”
After saying this, she leaned closer to Jiang Yubai: “What about you? Jiang Yubai, do you actually know physics? Have you studied molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons?”
Outside, the sky was bright, with clouds drifting like cotton.
The summer heat was just beginning to fade, and the autumn chill was getting stronger. On such a good sunny day, Jiang Yubai felt like he was in an ice cave. He didn’t want to admit that he knew nothing about physics. He didn’t understand where Lin Zhixia learned so many strange terms… Were they all taught by teachers in school? Is education in China already so strong?
Jiang Yubai regretted wasting three precious years in Singapore.
He lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.
This class was English.
The English teacher is a young female teacher who just graduated from college. Her last name is Zheng, and the classmates call her “sszheng”. Today, Teacher Zheng is going to teach a situational dialogue in the class, and the background takes place in the park. Each large group would select a pair of desk mates to come to the front and demonstrate.
Teacher Zheng said, “Dear students, today to give directions.” [1]
[1] To be honest I don’t know why the English is like that.. I just found it on the raws like that.
But it might be because The broken English in the phrase “dearstudents，todaytogivedirections.” is intentional and reflects how the character, Teacher Zheng, speaks English. In many novels, especially in those written in Chinese, authors sometimes depict characters speaking a foreign language like English with mistakes or awkward phrasing to highlight their non-native proficiency or to add humour to the situation. In this specific case, the broken English shows that Teacher Zheng is trying to teach English but isn’t fully fluent.
Then, she explained herself: “Dear students, today, the teacher will lead everyone to learn how to ask for directions and how to give directions to others. The background of our story takes place in the park. I’ll start by teaching you a few sentence patterns, and we’ll follow along with the tape recorder to read through the text. I will select a pair of classmates in each large group… and let them present to the whole class. Don’t doze off in class, listen carefully.”
Teacher Zheng picked up the chalk and wrote the sentence patterns on the blackboard.
The whole text has a total of eight commonly tested words and four common sentence patterns.
Most of the students in the class were listening attentively. Jiang Yubai was absent-minded, and Lin Zhixia looked out the window. She found a sparrow perched on a branch, jumping around. The locust tree was in bloom, and the flowers hadn’t yet withered. The sparrows were running between the petals and leaves. She couldn’t help but wonder, what is the difference between sparrows, locust trees, and the world as I see it?
Lin Zhixia thought: Yes, I know that the world I see is not the original appearance of this world – my eyes can only recognize a limited number of colours, my olfactory cells are even worse than those of mice, and my ears can’t hear infrasound and ultrasound. But those things exist objectively. In this vast universe, my consciousness…
She tilted her head and began to think about “consciousness”.
“You are distracted.” Jiang Yubai reminded her.
Lin Zhixia nodded: “Yes, I am distracted.”
Jiang Yubai immediately asked her: “What are you thinking about again?”
Lin Zhixia lay down on the desk and suggested, “Close your eyes, and I’ll tell you.”
She was very young, with a tender voice and eyes that were watery like a little rabbit’s, her thick eyelashes casting shadows. Her suggestion carried no authority, yet Jiang Yubai chose to obey.
He closed his eyes in this English class and heard Lin Zhixia slowly say: “Have you ever thought about where you come from? When you close your eyes, can you feel your true self? I often think, I am me, but who exactly am I? This question has troubled me for a long time, I don’t understand.”
Jiang Yubai was completely confused by her words. He could only stammer, “You… are you, a unique you.”
He and Lin Zhixia talked so much, so naturally it attracted the attention of Teacher Zheng.
Teacher Zheng wiped her hands with a towel. Her fingernails were painted a bright pink. She pointed a finger at Jiang Yubai: “Oh? You must be the new transfer student in our class. Perfect, you and your desk mate can come up and demonstrate for everyone how to ask for directions in the park. I noticed you were a bit sleepy just now, right?”
No.
Jiang Yubai wasn’t sleepy at all.
At this moment, he was more alert than ever.
Because his home court has arrived. [2]
[2] The phrase “他的主场来了” literally translates to “his home court has arrived” in English, but in this context, it’s an idiom meaning “his moment has come” or “this is his area of expertise”. It means that Jiang Yubai is now in a situation where he feels confident, capable, and in control—much like an athlete who is most comfortable and confident when playing on their home court.
He stood up steadily, walking to the front, receiving the attention of the entire class.
Lin Zhixia followed behind Jiang Yubai, keenly sensing that he wasn’t up to anything good. Because he looked back at her twice, more anxious than a soldier on a battlefield, as if worried she might run away at the last moment.
Lin Zhixia didn’t quite understand the situation and thought that Jiang Yubai might not be very good at English, hoping she could help him out.
Oh, so that’s it! Lin Zhixia believed she had figured out the problem.
Lin Zhixia asked without waiting for Jiang Yubai to speak: “?”
Teacher Zheng translated for the class, “Oh? Not bad, our classmate Lin Zhixia has used a phrase: I am a little turned around, meaning ‘I’m lost.’ Lin Zhixia says she’s lost and asks Jiang Yubai to tell her if there’s a subway station nearby.”
Jiang Yubai responded, “Sure. You here your destination is.”
Lin Zhixia smiled and said, “Ny thanks. A few nutes ago I walked ae…”
“Alright, alright,” Teacher Zheng interrupted, “Why are you two acting like you’re putting on a play? But, Lin Zhixia did use a phrase that everyone should note: walk across the park and walk through the park both mean that someone walked through the park. Now, what’s the difference between the prepositions across and through in the context of a park? Does anyone know?”
Jiang Yubai raised his hand on the spot.
Teacher Zheng nodded in agreement, “Jiang Yubai, go ahead.”
Jiang Yubai answered seriously, “When we use across as a preposition, it means Lin Zhixia walked straight through the park without paying attention to the scenery. Through is generally more commonly used.”
“Right,” Teacher Zheng nodded repeatedly, “Okay, you two can go back to your seats now.”
********
Since the age of four, Jiang Yubai had been taught English one-on-one by a foreign tutor. His first teacher was British. Later, his mother hired three Americans. The four tutors formed an English teaching group dedicated to educating Jiang Yubai.
So, how well did Jiang Yubai learn English? He thought it was just average, nothing special. The combined education from American and British teachers sometimes made him confuse American English and British English expressions.
He thought Lin Zhixia’s accent wasn’t bad. Not perfect, but decent.
He asked Lin Zhixia: “How did you learn your pronunciation?”
Lin Zhixia answered as a matter of course: “Me? I learned it with a tape recorder.”
“A tape recorder?” Jiang Yubai was surprised.
He tried to hold back, but couldn’t: “Impossible. Don’t lie to me.”
Lin Zhixia scratched her head: “Really, why would I lie to you? When I study foreign languages, I just buy books from the bookstore, go home and listen to tapes, and watch videos online. Anything I’ve seen, if I want to remember it, I’ll never forget it. I’ll always remember it.”
Never forget, always remember.
Jiang Yubai sighed: “Are you a genius?”
Lin Zhixia propped her face with one hand and whispered to him: “When I was seven years old, my mother took me to take an IQ test at the City Center Hospital. They were doing an event at thaat time, so it was free. That year my IQ was 174… The doctor said that this number will continue to rise. What is your IQ, am I smarter than you?”
Jiang Yubai grabbed a stack of scratch paper and suddenly covered his face with it.
The classmates around him all turned to look, staring blankly at what Jiang Yubai was doing.
Jiang Yubai replied calmly, “I’m fine.”
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