Chapter 009: Entering the City to Buy Books

About ten minutes later, the teacher walked slowly to the entrance of the boys’ restroom, asking calmly about what had happened. After all, it was just children being mischievous; nothing serious could have come of it.

The children all pointed fingers at Chen Xiaogui. They had no idea about the relationship between Chen Xiaogui’s father and the school, and simply vented their usual grievances against him.

Huang Juan was especially anxious, seeing that things weren’t moving quickly. She feared Chen Xiaogui might do something to Yang Tian, since Chen Xiaogui was clearly taller and stronger.

Just then, Yang Tian and Chen Xiaogui walked out together, laughing. Yang Tian’s right hand rested on Chen Xiaogui’s left shoulder, while Chen Xiaogui was clutching his stomach.

“What were you two doing in there? Fighting? Should I call your parents to come to school?” The teacher stepped in front of them, sternly. Huang Juan hurried over to Yang Tian, checking if he was hurt, and the other students crowded around.

“Fighting? No, we were discussing whether to organize a ping-pong tournament during the next PE class, with me as host and Yang Tian as referee!” Chen Xiaogui said with a half-smile. In fact, “referee” was a word Yang Tian had just taught him.

“A ping-pong tournament? Weren’t you two supposed to have a showdown between men?” The teacher was taken aback, and the surrounding students were dumbfounded. They had clearly gone to the restroom for a duel, so how did it turn into a ping-pong tournament, and why did they seem so close now?

“A showdown? Teacher, you misunderstood. Yang Tian and I are good friends. How could we possibly fight? Isn’t that right, Yang Tian?” Chen Xiaogui removed his hand from his stomach and turned to Yang Tian with a smile.

“Yes, that’s right, Teacher Zhang. We were just fooling around earlier. We’re good friends!” Yang Tian replied with a slight smile, echoing words he’d just taught Chen Xiaogui.

When they’d entered the restroom, Yang Tian had wasted no words and immediately punched Chen Xiaogui’s big belly. Though he was still a nine-year-old child, his fists had become much harder after two months of summer training. Huang Juan had practiced just for fun, but he’d trained seriously under Huang Biao, following his “master” during the day to learn boxing techniques and routines, and sneaking in strength training at night.

Yang Tian hadn’t used full strength, but it was enough to make Chen Xiaogui grimace in pain. If Yang Tian hadn’t covered his mouth, he would have screamed loud enough to shake the walls.

Yang Tian pressed his left hand over Chen Xiaogui’s mouth, grabbed the straps of his overalls with his right, pushed him to the edge of the urinal, and began his lecture: if Chen Xiaogui didn’t do as he was told, he’d be drowned in the urinal.

Such a display would frighten any child under ten into submission, meek as a lamb.

“I see. Students should help one another and be good friends. Holding a ping-pong tournament next PE class is a good idea. Organize it yourselves, but remember to be safe. All right, disperse now!” Seeing both boys say the same thing, the teacher asked no more. After all, Chen Xiaogui was the village chief’s son—best to avoid trouble.

The surrounding students, finding there was no more excitement to watch, quickly scattered.

Yang Tian patted Chen Xiaogui’s shoulder and walked slowly back to the classroom.

“Xiao Tian, what happened?” Huang Juan asked, puzzled, as she walked beside Yang Tian.

Yang Tian smiled but gave no answer. In his heart, he thought: We have a childhood betrothal, so you’re mine. I won’t let anyone harm you.

“Oh, Xiao Tian, why is Chen Xiaogui crying?” As the classmates dispersed, Chen Xiaogui finally shed tears, though he dared not cry out loud. He just stood there, choking back sobs.

Yang Tian still smiled silently. Not just Chen Xiaogui—even a fifteen-year-old would have been scared to tears by that scene.

Children are like that. After this incident, Chen Xiaogui never dared provoke Yang Tian again. Whenever he saw him, he was always polite.

Yang Tian wasn’t arrogant and continued as before, quietly doing what he should.

This puzzled the other students. But seeing Chen Xiaogui’s respectful attitude toward Yang Tian, they too began to treat Yang Tian with courtesy.

Huang Juan was amazed. But seeing that Yang Tian seemed to have changed, becoming popular with classmates and treating her better than before, she was naturally pleased.

At Chen Xiaogui’s repeated request, the ping-pong tournament was held. Yang Tian, following the standards of twenty-first-century primary schools, organized a rural ping-pong competition for them. Though it didn’t attract the teachers’ attention, it left a deep impression on the children.

After autumn planting was finished, Yang Tian decided to take a trip into town to buy books and materials about boxing and combat, as well as some simple fitness equipment.

But most importantly, he wanted to check the market in Binhai City in 1991. He remembered that autumn harvest that year was unusually terrible—not just in Daliushu Village, but across the entire Jianghuai region, yields were pitifully low. As a result, grain prices in the city were sure to rise.

So Yang Tian came up with a temporary plan: rather than watching his family struggle through the second half of the year and having a poor New Year, it was better to persuade his parents to try something new and make a big profit this year.

But first, he needed to learn about the market in Binhai City to figure out the best approach.

What he needed now was a way to get money from Yang Bao and his wife for his trip to buy books. Actually, that wasn’t the difficult part. The real challenge was convincing them to let a nine-year-old go into town alone.

This idea had been growing in Yang Tian’s mind for a while. Though it was difficult, he steeled himself and barged into Yang Bao and his wife’s room.

“Oh, Xiao Tian, do you need something?” Yang Bao and his wife were sitting on stools discussing autumn planting when Yang Tian walked in, smiling. Li Xiuying opened her arms, inviting him to sit in her lap, and asked with a smile.

“Mom, Dad, could you give me some money? I want to go into town this weekend to buy some school supplies!” Yang Tian lied, knowing that if he said he was going to buy books on combat and fitness equipment, his parents would be displeased. In the countryside, everything except studying was considered unworthy; for a child, nothing but studying was proper.

“Are you going alone? Maybe your dad should go with you!” Li Xiuying and Yang Bao exchanged a glance, then asked, surprised.

“No need. There’s plenty of work in the fields these days. Just take me to the bus station—I can manage by myself!” Yang Tian nodded firmly.

“How much do you need?” Li Xiuying and Yang Bao were stunned for a moment, then relaxed. The city wasn’t far, and the bus driver was a villager—they could ask him to keep an eye on Yang Tian.

“Fifty yuan!” Yang Tian gritted his teeth and spoke softly. Fifty yuan was no small sum at the time, especially for a rural family, when rice in Binhai City cost only forty cents a pound.

But Yang Tian had calculated everything. Without that much money, he couldn’t accomplish what he planned once he got to the city.

ps: First, upon waking this morning, I saw the book review section bustling. Readers had mixed opinions about the internet café episode, and I felt a bit nervous, but soon a hint of joy. The lively review section meant readers were paying attention and caring about the book. Thank you all for your support!

Second, before 1995 was the era of x86 and MSDOS; Microsoft’s Windows hadn’t yet been released in China. Yet many people call this year the origin of Chinese internet cafés. Before then, internet cafés were so rare as to be nonexistent.

Still, a few foresighted individuals saw the fierce development of overseas internet cafés. Early “internet cafés” were just a couple of PCs placed there... After repeated discussions, I consulted “A Study of China’s Internet Café Industry.”

Third, since there’s controversy, I’ll revise the story by changing internet use to buying books. I wish everyone happy reading!