Chapter 41

Part Two: The Allure of Business - Chapter 41: Class assignments

There were only two people in the office, yet neither could settle down to read the materials. Apart from Zhang Ke flirting with Xu Si through his glances and expressions, the recruitment ad had appeared in the newspaper yesterday, and today the phone rang nonstop with inquiries. Zhang Ke had Xu Si answer the calls and tell every applicant to send a résumé to the office first. Interviews would be arranged together after screening; individual applicants would not be received in the meantime.

Four or five years later, this recruitment procedure would become perfectly ordinary. But in 1994, when restrictions on the movement of personnel had yet to be lifted and the state assigned jobs to university and vocational secondary school graduates, such a procedure seemed quite professional, at least in Haizhou.

When the setting sun hung over a corner of the Clock Tower's eaves, Xu Si looked at the sunset filling the view beyond the glass curtain wall and could not help stretching. Although it all felt unreal, and although she was still very uncertain about her future, sitting in this quiet office with Zhang Ke gave her no cause for unease. She turned back to look at Zhang Ke, whose upper body was almost sprawled across the desk. He was concentrating on translating English materials on digital communications. The golden sunset shone on his face, and only then did she notice the clearly defined contours of his lean face, his expression of resolve that boys his age lacked, and his straight bearing. He really was a handsome young man.

"Would you like to come to my place for dinner?" Xu Si walked over to Zhang Ke and looked at the neat running script on the writing paper, its strokes possessing a strength and composure ordinary boys lacked.

Zhang Ke looked up at Xu Si. Even dressed in old-fashioned clothes and wearing black tortoiseshell-framed glasses, she had lost none of her beauty, at least in his eyes. He smiled. "If Uncle Xu doesn't prepare anything special, I'll go..." He reached into his pocket and took out two banknotes. "I still have twenty yuan. Why don't we buy some groceries before going to your place?"

"Then you might as well not come. How could we let you pay for the groceries?" Xu Si gave him a push and turned away. Her family was buried in debt, scrimping on food and clothing to repay it. Zhang Ke's consideration made her feel sad about her family's straitened circumstances.

"Sister Xu Si..."

"Mm?"

Seeing that Xu Si had not turned around, Zhang Ke called to her again. "Sister Xu Si, things will get better soon."

Xu Si let out a gentle breath, as though trying to breathe out all the gloom in her heart.

Before deciding whether to go to Xu Si's home for dinner, Zhang Ke called home. Judging by his mother's tone over the phone, she seemed very unhappy that he had practically forgotten his way home during the three-day break. Zhang Ke put down the phone with a shudder and told Xu Si, "My mom doesn't sound happy. I'd better hurry home and tread carefully..."

Seeing his exaggerated alarm, Xu Si burst out laughing. "You're afraid of your mom?"

"Wouldn't life be boring if there wasn't anyone worth fearing and respecting? I'm afraid of my mom now. Maybe I'll be afraid of you later."

"Afraid of me? Why would you be afraid of..." Xu Si suddenly stopped. Blushing, she reached over to pinch Zhang Ke. "You never miss a chance to take liberties with me."

When he hurried home, his mother did indeed look displeased. Before she could lose her temper, Zhang Ke quickly said, "Ugh, I'm exhausted. That English tutor Sister Wanqing found for me is so strict. Giving me materials this difficult to translate..." He rummaged through his shoulder bag for the English materials he had brought home to translate and held them out to his mother. "How is a junior high student supposed to translate this?"

"You went for English tutoring?" Liang Gezhen looked frustrated. Her son had been nowhere to be seen during the three-day break, and just when her anger had built up enough for a thorough scolding, this left her unable to vent it. She saw the slips of paper tucked among the materials, covered in Chinese characters. "Why didn't you mention it last night? Why would Zhitong's mother suddenly find you an English teacher?"

"The English teacher is Sister Wanqing's friend. I mentioned to Sister Wanqing that English was the only subject where I scored a few points below Tang Jing in the high school entrance exam. That's why Tang Jing ranked first in the West District and I ranked third. Sister Wanqing said English was very important and I couldn't afford not to learn it properly. She even wants to send me abroad to study as soon as I graduate from high school, so I need to build a solid foundation now."

Liang Gezhen believed Zhang Ke's nonsense and said with a smile, "How can we put her to so much trouble? Whether or not you go abroad, you must learn English properly." She was also very keen on the idea of Zhang Ke going abroad. These days, sending officials' children abroad had become very fashionable, and they were leaving at increasingly younger ages. If your children did not study abroad, you could hardly hold your head up in those circles.

Zhang Ke thought he would mention it to Sister Wanqing when he called Zhitong that evening, so she would not give him away. He put his shoulder bag on the corner cabinet and was about to run into the kitchen to see what there was to eat.

"Ke, Tang Jing called five or six times looking for you. She even came over especially and waited an hour. She's been looking for you all day. Shouldn't you call her back?"

"Huh?" Zhang Ke turned back in surprise. "Didn't she say what it was about?"

"Wasn't the school supposed to post the class lists for the arts and science streams today? Tang Jing wanted you to go back to school with her to check the lists, but you were nowhere to be found. Do you know which class you're in?"

"Oh, I forgot about that." Zhang Ke merely said he had forgotten. There was no need to make a special trip back to school to check, especially since school officially started tomorrow and he would find out then anyway. If he was unhappy with the result, he could simply request a transfer. "I'll find out by asking Tang Jing."

Zhang Ke picked up the phone on the corner cabinet and called Tang Jing back. She had spent all day trying to track him down without success and might well be sulking now. He seemed to remember that when they spoke on the phone the night before last, Tang Jing had mentioned going back to school together to check the class lists, but he had not agreed. The phone rang only once before someone picked up.

"Zhang Ke, I've been looking for you all day. Do you know which class you're in?" Tang Jing asked eagerly on the other end.

"Which class are you in?"

"Class Ten."

"Then I'm in Class Ten too."

"Huh? How did you know?" Tang Jing found this rather incredible. A moment later, she thought she had figured out the reason. "Oh, I told Du Fei not to tell you!"

"I haven't spoken to him yet. I guessed."

"How did you guess right again?" Tang Jing asked in surprise.

"What's so hard to guess? I also know Du Fei's in Class Ten. You're Mayor Tang's daughter, Du Fei's Secretary Du's son, and I'm Secretary-General Zhang's son. All three of us chose the arts stream, so naturally we ended up in the arts class with the best teachers..." At this point, Zhang Ke felt a tightness inside. He had actually guessed he would be in Class Ten from the excitement Tang Jing could not suppress in her voice. Only afterward had he thought that the school might take such things into account. Before his life had reloaded, Zhang Ke and Tang Jing had been assigned to Class Twelve, where most of the students had gained admission by paying negotiated fees. Although they sat one in front of the other, right up until Tang Jing graduated from high school and went abroad, she had never once faced him and spoken to him, or even looked him straight in the eye. That was also when he had begun living with a different personality. Strictly speaking, a full eleven years had passed before he saw Tang Jing again. It truly left him sighing.

"Hello? Zhang Ke, are you still listening..."

"Oh, I'm listening." Zhang Ke gathered his wandering thoughts. "Whatever it is, let's talk tomorrow. We'll be in the same class from now on anyway..."

Zhang Ke did not call Du Fei. To escape his father Du Xiaoshan's restrictions, the boy had chosen to board at school and was probably hanging around in the dormitory now.