Chapter 25

Chapter 26: Kailai Hotel

The little shop by the gate still had a snack stall frying potatoes. At this time of day, when everyone headed to school, the sunlight still slanted down at a seventy-five-degree angle. The newly built classroom building stood before him, but the imposing structure of his memories looked quite ordinary to Su Can now. It was like returning to his elementary school after graduating from high school and finding that the walls that had seemed so tall in childhood now took no more than a jump and a push of the hands to get over.

This was his old school, where he had spent both his middle and high school years. But when the next term began, there was a strong chance he would no longer be here.

When he returned to the classroom, quite a few students had already left. His homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhou, was handing out report cards. It looked as though Su Can had arrived rather late; only a handful of people remained in the room. The moment he appeared, Mr. Zhou could not resist pulling him over and giving him a hard slap on the back of the neck. Su Can grimaced in pain, but he knew his young homeroom teacher's temperament. He often wore his heart on his sleeve. Although he sometimes hit and kicked the students who failed to turn in homework or caused trouble, engaging in a bit of school violence, he was still good-hearted at his core.

Mr. Zhou looked Su Can up and down as though examining a monster, then handed him the report card. "Well, well! How did you pull this off, you little rascal? 645! As far as I'm concerned, you're the biggest dark horse our class has had in three years!"

How could Mr. Zhou not be surprised? He had been downright stunned when he first received the report card. Tang Wu had the highest score in the class at 670. By comparison, the student who usually ranked tenth had scored only 610, yet Su Can had managed an impressive 645 in this exam, putting him squarely in fifth place. It was simply unimaginable that a student who normally hovered around thirtieth or fortieth could surge into the top five in one go. Mr. Zhou hurriedly rubbed the spot on the back of Su Can's neck where he had just slapped him. In his eyes, Su Can was now an extraordinary genius. Those eyes of his, which had never looked particularly remarkable before, now seemed to sparkle with intelligence. He was terribly worried that his excitement just now might have damaged that clever brain.

At that moment, the only other people who knew Su Can's score were a few classmates with middling grades who had just come to collect their report cards. One had just stepped outside the door, only to freeze on the spot. Su Can could feel the eyes of the students in the classroom on him. They were all looking at him like he was a monster.

Boys and girls alike had come for the photograph wearing their white school uniform shirts. The sight filled Su Can with nostalgia. The girls' faces held a delicate rosy flush. Tang Wu was undoubtedly the focus of everyone's attention, as well as the center of the girls in their class. From what he remembered, after they returned to school to collect their admission notices following middle school graduation, Tang Wu had gone out for one last meal with some of the girls. That had also been her final gathering with her middle school classmates. Many of the boys had gotten blind drunk then, knowing that their three-year pursuit of Tang Wu had come to nothing.

Some had even followed her to No. 1 High School to continue pursuing her after starting high school themselves. But that was a later chapter in Tang Wu's legend.

When they posed for the photograph, Tang Wu stood just ahead of him to one side. Mr. Zhou's excitement over his dark horse had faded considerably because a top student he had thought highly of had performed below expectations. Most of his attention had gone to that student, so he had not gone around telling everyone about Su Can. Still, when arranging their positions for the photograph, he placed Su Can in the center of the frame.

This was unexpected. In his memory, Su Can had been at the edge of his middle school graduation photograph, as inconspicuous as ever. He had even closed his eyes just as the flash went off. As a result, when countless middle school classmates later opened the photograph and matched faces to names, the way Su Can looked always left them unable to remember who he actually was.

This time, however, Su Can kept his eyes wide open and smiled confidently. As the shutter clicked, the shifting shadows of the trees swept across his white shirt. Captured on the film was a handsome, sunny, carefree boy with bright, wide eyes.

Once they had collected their graduation certificates and set a date to return to Mr. Zhou for their group photographs, the last stretch of their middle school days came to a forlorn end.

Tang Wu was walking ahead of him, talking to the beautiful twins Cheng Yun and Cheng Lan. Just then, she turned back, her perfectly curved eyes sweeping toward Su Can, and said with affected calm, "There's a group meal in a little while. Aren't you coming?"

Cheng Yun and Cheng Lan looked at Tang Wu in surprise. They were the ones organizing the meal and had planned to coax Tang Wu into coming by whatever means necessary, which would naturally draw a bigger crowd. Several of the class's central boys had already asked them to include Tang Wu. The two girls had been talking to her about it just now, and she had not explicitly agreed. Who could have guessed that she would suddenly turn around and ask Su Can, who was walking behind them?

Su Can usually hovered on the fringes of their circle. His grades were poor, and he was not one of those athletic boys popular with girls. Yet today, Tang Wu had actually invited him. Cheng Yun and Cheng Lan's mouths remained open for quite a while. Still, the two girls felt reassured. By saying that, Tang Wu had indirectly agreed to attend the graduation meal they were organizing.

They were hardly going to read too much into it. The idea that Tang Wu had taken a liking to Su Can was practically impossible. Tang Wu was a girl with extremely high standards. Besides, she would definitely be attending First Middle School next term, while whether Su Can could even stay at Third Middle School was still unknown. The gap between them was enormous. If someone said Tang Wu had developed feelings for Su Can, they would probably go jump in the river on the spot.

Looking into Tang Wu's bright eyes, Su Can's heart gave a sudden thump. The class monitor, who had always been so aloof and proud, had actually taken the initiative to invite him to a group meal. This was undoubtedly something he would never even have dared dream of before. But Su Can knew that Tang Wu was sensitive at heart, far less cold than she appeared. She probably felt a little reluctant to part, thinking they truly would never see one another again. Su Can found that rather interesting. He shook his head and said politely, "I have something to take care of at home. Go ahead without me. Have fun, and happy graduation!"

All three girls froze, especially Cheng Lan and Cheng Yun, whose lips parted in disbelief. Quite a few of the class's star boys, including Dong Qingyun, Gao Xiaoshan, and Liao Hai, were vying to attend this graduation meal. What was more, Tang Wu had invited him personally, yet Su Can had actually refused. This boy really was a little different.

Tang Wu gave a quiet "Oh," showing no visible change in emotion. Only deep in her eyes did a trace of displeasure pass, along with a little disappointment.

Perhaps this graduation signaled the different destinies and paths that lay ahead for different people, scattering them to the ends of the earth, never to meet again.

Life was often like that, leaving no time for sorrow.

Kailai Hotel. In those days, luxury cars such as BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes were uncommon in Xiahai City. The nicer sedans were generally Honda Accords, Buicks, Volkswagens, and Fords. Even outside Kailai Hotel, the most upscale hotel in Xiahai City, the parked cars were only Accords and Passat B4s.

Early that morning, his mother, Zeng Ke, and his father, Su Licheng, had moved the display cabinets into the shop. The interior renovations were also ready, and all the fixtures were in place. All that remained was for the stock to arrive and the day to come when they officially opened for business.

His mother and father looked bright and refreshed. As they entered Kailai Hotel with Su Can, the attendant at the entrance greeted the couple with particularly animated expressions. Clearly, their bearing had made the attendant think they might be important people.

The hotel's interior was resplendent. At a table in the lobby, his eldest uncle and the others had all arrived. His younger uncle, his younger uncle's wife, his younger cousin Zeng Yuan, his older cousin Zeng Na, and his eldest uncle's wife were all seated. Everyone immediately smiled when Su Can and his parents arrived. Ordinarily, their lateness would inevitably have brought displeased looks from his eldest aunt and older cousin, but today they did not seem to mind. His aunt Yin Shuying actually looked excited. She even stepped away from the table to greet his mother, Zeng Ke. "Oh, now the two of you can finally put your minds at ease! My goodness, your Su Can is a boy, after all. Once boys mature and start applying themselves, they can do amazingly well."

Only his younger uncle Zeng Zhaoding's family, who had also just arrived, looked somewhat puzzled. Watching their sister-in-law Yin Shuying act so warmly and excitedly, they could not make sense of it. Just what had put Zeng Ke and Su Licheng's minds at ease?

At the time, Zeng Ke had only called his eldest uncle's family to share the good news about Su Can's high school entrance exam. As for his younger uncle, he would probably have preferred to hear how much more his company had made and how much he would receive in dividends.

His younger cousin at the table was still thinking of sharing his older cousin's troubles and using him as a shield. He had done terribly on his final exams this time. Coming here today, he had been counting on having Su Can to cushion the blow, certain that Su Can's grades could not possibly be much better. If everyone wanted to criticize someone, they would probably take it out on Su Can. That had left him in rather good spirits, but judging by the situation, something seemed wrong.

Why did his older cousin Zeng Na, who usually disdained Su Can, have such a strange expression now, looking him up and down as though she were meeting him for the first time?

His younger uncle Zeng Zhaoding was extremely good at reading expressions. He glanced at his sister-in-law, whose attitude had changed dramatically, and at Su Can's family, then asked, "What happened? Have you got the shop up and running? That fast?"

"Getting the shop running is nothing!" His aunt chuckled, somewhat agitated and excited. It was clear that she was genuinely happy for Su Can. "Su Can's high school entrance exam results are out. You'll never guess how much he scored!"

His younger uncle Zeng Zhaoding gave a soft grunt. "Oh, really? They're out? How much did he get? Did he make it into No. 3 Middle School?" He, too, was moved by the celebratory atmosphere, and his tone grew a little more relaxed.

"Never mind No. 3 Middle School. With this score, even No. 1 High School would be no problem." His eldest uncle, who had not spoken until then, lost his usual composure and spoke up first, then murmured, "645 points. Your score is more than twenty points higher than Zeng Na's was back then."