53 | Neighbor on the Left, You on the Right
Starting next month, I’ll tutor you again.

He was showing off again!

Pang Qian was so angry that her teeth were itchy, and couldn’t wait to give his meal box back to him. “Gu Mingxi, would it kill you to praise me a little?!”

Gu Mingxi couldn’t see what praise Pang Qian deserved, so he blinked and said, “We can’t really say anything from the diagnostic test, so we’ll see when the midterms come around. Pang Pang, you have to try to make it into the top 150 of the year. That’s the only way you’ll have a chance at the top-tier universities.”

Truth be told, at the time, Pang Qian didn’t have much notion of the college entrance exams. She wasn’t like Gu Mingxi, who had Gu Guoxiang to explain all those things to her. She only knew the difference between a bachelor’s and a.s.sociate’s degree. First High wasn’t the best high school either. Of the 440 students in the nine cla.s.ses of the previous senior cla.s.s, 120 got into a top-tier university. The majority of them were students in the advanced humanities cla.s.ses. The next tier of schools admitted more than 150 of their students, and the third tier admitted more than 70 students. The remaining students could only continue on to get their a.s.sociate degrees. There were even some whose scores were so low that they couldn’t even get into unranked universities.

In Pang Qian’s mind, anyone who could get into the four-year universities were amazing. Top 150 in the year? She didn’t even dare to imagine that.

She went to the cafeteria with Gu Mingxi to order and eat their lunch. Afterwards, she went to the sink to clean their meal boxes. Then the two of them returned to the school building. Pang Qian looked to the staircase on the left and said, “I’ll help you carry it to the fourth floor.”

“It’s okay, I can carry it on my own.” Gu Mingxi smiled at her. He shrugged his right shoulder and signaled for Pang Qian to place his meal box there.

Pang Qian felt a bit sad. For the entire, long day, she was only together with Gu Mingxi when they were eating. She would always chatter to him, and he would smile and listen. After lunch, they returned to their own cla.s.srooms and they didn’t even see each other when school ended.

There was no one there to review questions with her during self-study period anymore. Pang Qian really wasn’t used to it.

Gu Mingxi saw how downcast Pang Qian looked, so he asked, “Do you have practice today?”

Pang Qian shook her head, “No.”

Gu Mingxi said, “Then after school, let’s go to the Little Market to sit awhile. I’ll treat you to some food, and then we can go home after eating.”

Pang Qian stared at him, then her eyes bent and she smiled. She nodded, “Okay.”

And so the second year of high school started like this. Gu Mingxi was in the advanced cla.s.s, a.s.sembled with the year’s best teachers and students. The pressure they had on their studies was very high. Spending the whole day writing made Gu Mingxi’s feet hurt, and he could barely straighten his back anymore. He couldn’t help thinking that if Pang Qian were left in this cla.s.s, she’d probably get more and more unhappy.

Xiao Yujing sat next to Gu Mingxi, in the seat that used to be Pang Qian’s. Xiao Yujing didn’t speak much. She spent most of her time reading and working on practice problems. Every once in awhile, she’d take a break, cross her arms, and lie down on her desk. After zoning out a bit, she would nap a little.

With regards to any difficulties Gu Mingxi would face, she simply said, “Just tell me if there’s anything you need help with. If you don’t say anything, I’ll just take it that you’re doing fine.”

So that’s how things worked out. If Gu Mingxi ever asked for any help, she would immediately help him without another word. If he was immersed in his own things, Xiao Yujing just left him alone.

As for Pang Qian in Cla.s.s 7, she was living life almost as a deity.

There weren’t any particularly outstanding students in her cla.s.s. Since Pang Qian wasn’t at the bottom of her cla.s.s, the pressure she felt decreased a lot. Even someone as undisciplined in his studies as Xie Yi was ranked 5th in the cla.s.s. Cla.s.s 7’s students were in different cla.s.sed when they first started school at First High. Inevitably, everyone had their groups and cliques at the start, but after a month, they all got along pretty well. This was made better by the fact that Xie Yi was in their cla.s.s, and he was simply wonderful at gathering all the boys and girls together.

When Xie Yi called, a hundred people would answer. Under his direction, even all the students who had never played ping pong before started to play. Xie Yi was a sports fanatic. Even after the China’s team lost in the 2002 World Cup, he kept following it. He and some other boys would constantly talk about it in cla.s.s.

There was a critical game that took place on the National Day (1 Oct). Xie Yi invited everyone to his house to watch it, and even the girls said they wanted to go. Although Pang Qian didn’t understand much about sports, but she had always been interested in Xie Yi. She dragged Zheng Qiaoqiao over and said that the two of them wanted to go. Xie Yi didn’t reject them, naturally.

That was the last day of the holiday break. That day, the second year students happily charged out after cla.s.ses endeed. Pang Qian pulled at Zheng Qiaoqiao and spoke excitedly. Then Zheng Qiaoqiao suddenly said, “Hey, Crab, there’s Gu Mingxi.”

Pang Qian turned and saw Gu Mingxi standing in the corner outside of their cla.s.sroom, with his backpack on his back. She said to Zheng Qiaoqiao, “Go get your bike first and wait for me there. I’ll be there soon.”

The students in Gu Mingxi’s cla.s.s walked down the stairs in a clump. A lot of people looked at him curiously as they pa.s.sed him. Pang Qian walked up to him, face full of excitement, as she asked, “Gu Mingxi, are you looking for me?”

“Where are you guys going?” He already had an idea. “Are you all going out to play together?”

“No, we’re going to Xie Yi’s house to watch a ball game,” Pang Qian said. “I told you before. They have their own separate house. I heard they have a really big living room and their TV is especially big. Watching the game will be very cool.”

Gu Mingxi frowned, “Since when did you like to watch ball games?”

“I…” Pang Qian’s face reddened. She said quietly, “I’m just tagging along for fun.”

Just then, Xie Yi and a few other boys came out. Seeing Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian, he smiled and asked, “Gu Mingxi, Crab’s coming over to my house to watch a game. Do you want to come?”

Gu Mingxi shook his head. “I’m not going. My house is pretty far away, so it’s not convenient to get back home at night.”

Xie Yi smiled and waved his hand. “Alright, then I’ll head off first.”

Pang Qian stared after his receding figure. Gu Mingxi was silent for a bit and then asked, “How are you going to get home later? When the game is over, it’ll be nearly 10 o’clock.”

Pang Qian turned back to him and said, “I’m going to bike. Xie Yi’s house isn’t that far away from mine. A few of the boys are going the same way, so they said they’d see the girls home first.”

Gu Mingxi lowered his eyes and said softly, “It’s not safe for a girl to stay over at a boy’s house that late.”

Pang Qian looked at him strangely. “I used to stay really late at your house all the time.”

He couldn’t refute that.

Pang Qian said, “Alright, I have to go. Why did you come looking for me?”

“It’s nothing.” Gu Mingxi glanced at her. Originally, he wanted to share some news with her, but he’d already decided not to say anything.

That evening was the first time Pang Qian went to Xie Yi’s house. It was a big villa house that stood on its own. You could even call it majestic. Xie Yi’s parents were very welcoming, and they even prepared a sumptuous buffet dinner for twenty-something kids. Pang Qian saw the two dogs that Xie Yi raised, both of them covered in golden fur. When Xie Yi was on the sofa watching the game, the dogs laid down obediently at his feet.

Watching the game with such a large group of people was naturally very lively. Even though Pang Qian didn’t understand any of it, she was still infected with all the fervor of the boys around her. Xie Yi’s TV was ginormous. When the commentator mentioned Hao Haidong, Pang Qian looked to Xie Yi and said, “I know him! Hao Haidong, China’s best striker!”

Xie Yi smiled as he looked at her. “Hey, Crab, you do know a little something.”

Hearing the approval in his voice, Pang Qian felt very pleased with herself.

After the game finished, Pang Qian and Zheng Qiaoqiao rode their bikes home together. There were also two boys that went the same way. When they arrived safely at home, it was already 11 o’clock. Pang Shuisheng still hadn’t slept. Seeing her go into her room, he said, “It’s really too unreasonable for a daughter to come home this late. Hurry and give Mingxi a call. He said to call him when you get back.”

Pang Qian frowned. “Why would I call him? What time is it already? His parents are already asleep.”

Pang Shuisheng figured the same, so he just said, “Alright. Then hurry and wash up and go to bed. I’ll give him a call tomorrow morning.”

The next day, Pang Shuisheng forgot about this already, but the house phone rang.

He picked it up, and it was Gu Mingxi.

“Uncle, did Pang Qian get home safely last night?”

Pang Shuisheng felt a bit apologetic. “She did, she got back at 11. It was late, so we didn’t give you a call.”

Gu Mingxi’s tone changed from tired to relieved. “Oh, that’s fine, Uncle. I just wanted to check in.”

Gu Mingxi put down the phone and walked quietly to the bathroom to wash up.

Li Han was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. And Gu Guoxiang had, once again, not returned home.

When it was time to eat, Gu Mingxi said to Li Han, “Mom, give Dad a call.”

Li Han’s voice was cold. “What’s the point in calling. We’ve already said all there is to say, so what’s the point of bringing unhappiness on ourselves?”

Gu Mingxi, “But…”

“Mingxi, that’s enough.” Li Han looked at him and reached out her hand to pat his head. “I’ve already decided. I don’t want to be so tired anymore either.”

Gu Mingxi lowered his head and let out a light breath.

When the autumn wind started blowing, it was time for the mideterm exams. Pang Qian’s grades dropped quite a bit. She was only 38th in her cla.s.s.

She and Gu Mingxi sat on the bench in the park. Gu Mingxi had her take out all her exam papers for him to see. He bent to the side so that both his feet were up on the bench, and then looked over Pang Qian’s test papers one by one.

He really understood Pang Qian too well. She was a typical student, only studying when under high pressure and supervision. In their third year of junior high, when she went to Gu Mingxi’s house to study and do homework, her grades were steady and even rose up. When their second year of junior high ended, in order to go to the comic convention over break, she went crazy studying. She even got into the top 10 in their cla.s.s. After they graduated from junior high, in order for her dad to change their house to a bigger one and continue being Gu Mingxi’s neighbor, she also put in a lot of effort in her studies to get into a good high school.

Although she was always at the bottom of her cla.s.s in the first year of high school, under Gu Mingxi’s constant supervision, her grades were at least stable. But now, after just a semester of year 2, there was no one to watch over her. Pang Qian’s habits changed back. As Gu Mingxi looked over her test papers, his frown grew deeper and deeper.

Pang Qian didn’t agree with Gu Mingxi. She wasn’t at the bottom of her cla.s.s, and she felt pretty satisfied with her ranking. Of course Gu Mingxi didn’t think this way. He was completely familiar with Pang Qian, and looking over her tests, he knew what her weakness was – where she didn’t understand at all, where she sort of understood something. She didn’t memorize her English. Did she just guess… He understood it all.

He said with seriousness, “Starting next month, I’ll tutor you again.”

Pang Qian looked at him, baffled. “How?”

Gu Mingxi stared at her, “Devil’s tutoring.”

At the start of December, the pair of young adults that lived across from Pang Qian in Apt. 502 moved out. They were both new recruits to the metals company. They moved in just after the new year, so they’d been living there for nearly a year. Every morning, they would take the shuttle bus with Jin Ai’hua to get to the factory to work. Reportedly, they were performing well at work so the company arranged for them to move into the new apartments next to the factory.

Pang Qian asked her dad who would live in 502. Pang s.h.i.+usheng winked at her and said, “You’ll find out later.”

A week later, their next door neighbors moved in. It was the weekend so Pang Qian slept in. Then she heard the sounds of the neighbors moving in and the discussions between some men.

Wrapped up in a thick coat, she snuck over to check out the neighbors. 502’s door was open, and there were some male workers moving furniture inside the house. Suddenly, someone came out from the door. Pang Qian saw him and nearly scared silly.

“Pang Pang, you get up really late.” The youth wore a long down jacket, two puffy sleeves hanging at his sides, as he leaned against the doorframe and smiled at Pang Qian.