A lifetime arranged

"Hello, is this Teacher Qin's home? This is Tang Qianxing from the town Party committee..."

Qin Huai picked up the phone, only to hear a completely unfamiliar voice. He did know the name Tang Qianxing, though: the Party secretary of Qingshan Town. Whenever Li Qin's older brother, Li Linjian, dropped by for a chat, most of the conversation revolved around this town Party secretary...

But why was the most important man in Qingshan Town calling his home? And this was the very first call on the phone they had only had installed today...

"Oh, Secretary Tang. Hello, hello..." Qin Huai tried to keep his voice from sounding too stiff...

The post office was directly administered by the county. Tang Qianxing wanted to launch a project to connect every village in Qingshan Town and was discussing it with the head of the post office when he happened to glance at this year's list of new landline subscribers in Qingshan Town. Qin Huai's family was last on the list, with installation scheduled for today...

Tang Qianxing asked the technician handling the installation, learned that it was finished, and called...

After Qin Huai exchanged a few words with Tang Qianxing, he handed the phone to Qin An. Both Qin Huai and Li Qin were puzzled. What could a Party secretary of his standing have to discuss with a child? They had heard Qin Xiangshan mention taking Qin An to dinner with Secretary Tang, but how had they become close enough for him to call Qin An directly?

A little later, Qin An hung up. "Secretary Tang asked me to dinner. I said yes..."

"Go ahead. It's good to get to know more people..." Qin Huai took it in stride...

Li Qin had nothing to say either. Although she found it odd, she was very proud that Secretary Tang thought highly of her son...

"Oh, I heard you got a phone installed. Not bad, not bad..."

The man who walked in was Liu Mingqing, a neighbor in the same building. With a toothpick in his mouth, he hummed a tune and sat down on the sofa without being invited...

"Yes, now we neighbors can call each other and such..." Li Qin frowned, then quickly smoothed her brow. After all, today was a rare happy occasion, even if Liu Mingqing was behaving very rudely...

"Call each other for what? We're all in the same building. Give a shout and everyone can hear you perfectly. Even husbands and wives have to be careful when they're at it-you can hear it right through the walls..." Liu Mingqing snickered...

"Liu Mingqing, have you got nothing better to do? Go do whatever you need to do. We've got things to attend to..." Qin Huai was displeased and bluntly told him to leave...

Liu Mingqing and Qin Huai had never quite gotten along. One year, there had been only one outstanding teacher award available, and Qin Huai had beaten Liu Mingqing to it. Liu Mingqing had held a grudge ever since, often making snide remarks. Who knew what dumb luck had come his way, but last year he had actually been transferred to County No. 2 Middle School as a high school teacher, earning far more than Qin Huai. Now he had his chance, and whenever he could, he would say, "Oh, thank goodness Teacher Qin won that outstanding teacher award that year. If I'd won it, I might never have had the chance to move on to No. 2 Middle School..."

"What could your family possibly have to attend to?" Liu Mingqing did not shamelessly insist on staying seated. He had only wanted to irritate Qin Huai a little. He stood up. "Oh, Qin An's here too. I'm just about to meet Director Li from the School District. Come along and get yourself something nice to eat. There's nothing much worth eating at home..."

"What a shame. Secretary Tang has invited me to dinner, so I won't get the chance to meet Director Li..." Qin An said with a smile...

"What Secretary Tang?" Liu Mingqing froze...

"How many Secretary Tangs are there in Qingshan Town? The one from the town Party committee, of course. Why don't you come along and get yourself a meal, Uncle Liu? The food might not be all that good, but that Director Li of yours might be dying to get over there..." Qin An had little liking for Liu Mingqing. This sort of man could truly be called a petty vulgarian; even calling him a snob was giving him too much credit...

"You're just a child. What nonsense are you talking..." Liu Mingqing could not hide his embarrassment...

Qin An could not be bothered with him either and walked out on his own...

"Look... just look at this child of yours! Is this how you raise him?" Left standing there by Qin An, Liu Mingqing was furious...

"We can't keep this boy in line... He spends all day following his second uncle around. Didn't he say a few days ago that he was having dinner with Director Mo from the County Education Commission? I was there too, and Director Mo did praise him. The way I see it, you just can't praise him. One word of praise and he stops taking you seriously, Uncle Liu, let alone me and Li Qin... Ah, we can't keep him in line..." Sighing away, Qin Huai nudged Li Qin, whose eyes were creased with a smile, off to cook...

Qin An borrowed Li Xinlan's bicycle to go to Qi Mei's restaurant. He had not been taking Li Xinlan to school lately, but Tu Gang had stopped harassing her. Her attitude toward Qin An had improved considerably. At least she was willing to lend him the bicycle she carefully wiped clean every time he rode it...

"I heard from your second uncle. Was it your idea to sign a dispatch contract with the County Education Commission?" Tang Qianxing placed a chopstickful of shredded meat in Qin An's bowl. "How does that little head of yours work? We only had a vague idea ourselves, but once you pointed it out, we finally understood how it could work..."

"Caigentan says, 'Yang Xiu was killed by Cao Cao for displaying his talents; Wei Dan's tomb was dug up by Zhong Yao for keeping his fine work to himself... Thus wise men conceal their brilliance, and men of the highest virtue remain modest about their merits and share their gifts...' Ah, I just love showing off my talents too much. I'll have to be more careful from now on. Otherwise, if you get jealous and think you're grown adults who can't even measure up to a child, you might pull down my pants and give me a good spanking. I couldn't take that..." Qin An slipped into cheekiness with practiced ease. He was young, after all. When something could not be explained, a few jokes would get him past it, and other people would not press too hard...

"This boy!" Tang Qianxing and Qi Mei exchanged smiles, both very fond of Qin An. Junzi silently spat in disdain off to the side. He had seen how ruthless Qin An was when beating people up, and how he had both threatened and coaxed Tu Gang. Neither his methods nor his mettle was lacking, yet here he was pretending to be innocent and adorable. It gave Junzi goosebumps all over...

"Qingshan Town has fine mountains, fine waters, and fine people!" Tang Qianxing said with some feeling...

Qin An looked up, keenly sensing something. "Uncle Tang, are you moving to another post?"

Tang Qianxing paused. This boy was unusually perceptive. He had merely let a hint of reluctance to leave Qingshan Town creep into his voice, and Qin An had made that connection...

"Yes, I'm moving up a step. It's good news..." Tang Qianxing's transfer to the county Party committee had been confirmed, though few people knew yet. He had no qualms about telling Qin An, knowing the boy was very tight-lipped. At most, he would tell Qin Xiangshan, which would not matter...

"What about Auntie Qi?" Now Qin An understood why Qi Mei had seemed preoccupied from the moment he walked in...

"I'm not his wife. If I were, they could sort out a job transfer for me along the way..." There was a sour note in Qi Mei's voice. Usually she could hold it in, but now that Tang Qianxing was leaving, she could no longer quite suppress what was weighing on her...

Tang Qianxing sighed too, clearly troubled by the matter...

"I remember a story. When Frandi, the governor of California, was still the mayor of a small town, he met Yulina, the owner of a coffee shop. Yulina became Frandi's lover. Whenever he had a break from official duties, Frandi would go to Yulina's coffee shop to drink the coffee she brewed herself. No matter how busy he was, he always made time to sit in her shop, and no matter how late it was, Yulina always had hot coffee ready... Frandi's political career went smoothly, and he rose step by step. Wherever he took up a post, Yulina opened a coffee shop there. By the time he became governor, Yulina's coffee shops were all over California. Both of them had become prominent figures in American high society, but one thing never changed: in Yulina's coffee shop, there was always a pot of hot coffee she had brewed herself, waiting for Frandi..." Qin An smiled. "That coffee shop was called Starbucks..."

"Is that where Starbucks came from? What nonsense..." Tang Qianxing knew a thing or two and recognized the brand, which had only officially entered China in 1999...

But the story left Qi Mei feeling warm and tender inside. Her gaze at Tang Qianxing brimmed with affection, and she thought, Wouldn't it be lovely to spend a lifetime like this, like Frandi and Yulina?

Seeing Qi Mei's expression, Qin An sighed. He had made the story up, but he feared this might count as arranging the course of Qi Mei's entire life. It probably also counted as helping Tang Qianxing solve a major problem...