Yang Jian spoke with Zhang Fen for quite a while, all of it ordinary family chatter.
"Son, I heard there was some chemical leak in Dachang City last time, with terrible pollution and a huge commotion. Is that true?" Zhang Fen asked mysteriously. "How come I heard it was practically a war? Planes and armored vehicles were all sent over there."
Yang Jian had no idea where his mother had heard all this messy gossip.
Even talk of war had surfaced. Could it be that someone online specialized in spreading this kind of fake news?
"It wasn't a war. I don't know exactly what happened either. School was suspended at the time, and my classmates and I were evacuated from Dachang City to shelter outside the city," Yang Jian lied.
Zhang Fen suddenly understood. "No wonder I could never get through to you on the phone. All the information came through official notices. Now I hear Dachang City has returned to normal. So what's this? Why didn't you go back to school? Why did you come all the way to J City?"
"Mom, I can't go to school anymore. The schools have all shut down. Even if I wanted to study, I couldn't," Yang Jian said helplessly.
"How can that be? Aren't the authorities doing anything?" Zhang Fen asked in surprise.
"They can't handle it. There are too many schools and students to arrange. Unless I transfer somewhere else, but I missed the college entrance exam. Even if I transferred, I'd have to repeat a year. So I've temporarily dropped out and will wait for next year's notice."
"That's true. You still can't fall behind in your studies. If you have to repeat a year, then repeat a year," Zhang Fen said with a nod.
"By the way, a classmate