Chapter 70
Chapter 70 – True love and lies (Translated and edited by Xing)
After the two of them headed outside, the awkwardness between them eased a little. Her hands behind her back, Tang Xue sauntered to the public square. This was where they held the flag-raising ceremony every Monday.
A row of poplar trees was planted next to the public square. As memory struck Li Yubing, he walked over and started counting the trees. When he was at the twelfth tree, Tang Xue realized what he was doing and the two of them began examining the tree together.
As a long time had passed, the poplar tree had grown much taller and thicker than before. After searching for a long while, they finally found two distorted images.
A pear and a piece of sugar candy.[1]
This was something that Tang Xue had carved with a tiny knife. When carving, she had no other thoughts than how fun it was. Li Yubing was there as well but he had refused to participate. Tang Xue took an effort to explain, “I heard that trees won’t die from merely having their bark carved.”
She originally wanted to carve their names. However, there were too many strokes and she gave up carving after a few lines. She then substituted a pear (Li) to represent Li Yubing and a piece of sugar candy (Tang) to represent herself.
A child’s drawing and carving skills were nothing to speak of in the first place. Factoring in the poplar tree’s natural growth, the two images were already barely recognizable. They would most likely be completely unrecognizable after another period of time.
As the two of them regarded at the pear and the sugar candy, Tang Xue suddenly lamented, “Li Yubing, say, if Lake City High School had not given you 100,000 yuan then, how do you think things would have turned out now?” After saying this, she turned and gazed at him.
Li Yubing was jolted by her focus on him. “100,000 yuan?”
“You don’t have to hide. Your mom told my dad. In order to lure better students, Lake City High School gave you 100,000 yuan.” After explaining, Tang Xue comforted him, “I can understand that. 100,000 yuan is not a small sum. If it was me, I would have made the same choice.”
So… was this how things played out?
Li Yubing thought of Principal Tang’s hostile stare that day. He finally understood the reason for it.
He thought that Tang Xue would have understood his stance from how he left without saying goodbye. Who knew that she had actually been deceived by a lie all this while.
It had been so many years.
Time is a gentle being. It could soothe hatred and soften resentment. However, there is a cruel side to it as well. It could magnify the ramifications of a misunderstanding and culminate it to a point of no return.
Li Yubing was suddenly afraid to tell the truth.
Tang Xue was a little disappointed at how Li Yubing was unwilling to reply to her. She did not continue the conversation, turned and said, “Let’s head to the field.”
Li Yubing walked beside her silently.
As they walked along, Tang Xue suddenly heard a dog barking. Immediately after this, a large yellow dog dashed out from the school building in the distance. The large dog did not stop barking and appeared extremely fierce.
Tang Xue recognized this dog. It was raised by the gate security grandpa and was usually leashed by a chain. Perhaps since no one was around during the school holiday, it had been let off its leash. It was a ‘Chinese Field Dog’ and its name was ‘Huang Shi’. When she was young, Tang Xue often called it ‘Teacher Huang (Huang Lao Shi)’. Once, her father was even beaten up because of this. From then on, he forbade her to call it ‘Teacher Huang’.
Tang Xue waved to Huang Shi. “Hi, Huang Shi.”
Instead of settling down, Huang Shi became even more aggressive, charging towards her with a “swoosh”. Feeling that Huang Shi did not look friendly, Tang Xue quickly turned and ran in fright. “Hey, hey, hey, Huang Shi, Teacher Huang! Oh gosh, stop chasing me! I’m Tang Xue, not a stranger, have you forgotten?”
Both the human and dog began sprinting all over the place, creating a scene of chaos. Li Yubing felt both amused and worried. He rushed after them with a hand pressed against his forehead.
In the end, Tang Xue was chased up a camphor tree by the dog. She crouched on the tree and locked eyes with Huang Shi.
Huang Shi, “Woof.”
Tang Xue, “Hey, where’s your intelligence as a dog. Look at how I still remember you after so many years. Just because I grew up, you don’t remember me anymore?”
Huang Shi, “Woof, woof, woof.”
Tang Xue, “Even if I’m a stranger, you shouldn’t bite without care. Don’t you know what hospitality is? Be prepared to be stewed if you bite indiscriminately!”
Huang Shi, “Woof, woof, woof.”
Tang Xue, “Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!”
Huang Shi, “…”
Li Yubing walked over to the camphor tree. Huang Shi went towards him with a wagging tail.
Tang Xue was extremely annoyed. Holding onto the tree branch, she said, “Why didn’t it bite you? The two of you are indeed of the same species!”
Li Yubing said, “It’s not hostile towards you. Come down and see?”
Tang Xue pretended to get down and Huang Shi became extremely excited again. He did not stop barking at her.
Tang Xue was very aggrieved.
At this moment, several people ran over from the distance. There was the security gate grandpa, a few teachers, and also… Principal Tang.
They were here to investigate what was going on after being alarmed by Huang Shi’s barking.
When Principal Tang drew closer and saw that it was that rascal Li Yubing, he drew on his might as the principal and thought, here is my opportunity to scold you. He shook his sleeves and was thinking of how to reprimand Li Yubing harshly when a teacher next to him suddenly tugged on his sleeve.
That teacher nudged her chin towards the direction above.
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Principal Tang raised his head and saw his daughter crouching on the tree. She was currently attempting to hide behind a tree branch.
Principal Tang, “…”
Halfway through her movements, Tang Xue suddenly felt that something was wrong. She looked down just in time to meet her father’s eyes.
“Dad…” Tang Xue uttered feebly.
“You, you…” Pointing at her, Principal Tang found himself at a loss for words. “What are you doing?!”
“Dad, Huang Shi almost bit me to death.” Tang Xue decided to strike first and play the role of a victim in order to make her life easier.
Hearing this, the gate security cuffed Huang Shi on the head and quickly re-leashed it.
Principal Tang felt that having a conversation where one person was on the ground and the other was on the tree was too strange. Thus, he said gruffly, “Come down first. The two of you, come to my office.”
The two of them forlornly followed Principal Tang to his office. Principal Tang took the opportunity to give them a strict lecture to straighten them out. Li Yubing, in particular, was made out to be a good-for-nothing. This was the first time in Li Yubing’s life that he had been lectured so badly, to the point that he did not dare to defend himself.
If it was not for the fact that Principal Tang was usually against corporal punishments for students, he might very well have taken out the cane that instant. He needed to cane this naughty rascal for bringing his precious daughter astray in order to feel better.
To be honest, Tang Xue felt that what they had done was not a major issue. They had visited their alma mater as they took pride in it and were not there to vandalize. The most they did was to climb the school wall. Her father was most likely making a mountain out of a molehill in order to get even for his personal grudge.
When he was done with being scolded, Tang Xue tossed Li Yubing a comforting glance before he left.
After Li Yubing walked out of Principal Tang’s office, he stared blankly into the bright sunlight outside.
He did not mind being scolded by Principal Tang. He was more worried about another issue.
……
After Li Yubing left, Tang Xue spied two tangerines sitting on her father’s office table. She perched on one edge of the table and spoke as she peeled the tangerine. “Dad, calm down. Do you want some tangerine?” After saying this, she held out some of the peeled tangerines towards him charmingly.
Principal Tang did not take it. He said, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to.”
“Dad,” Tang Xue started eating the tangerine herself. “All along, you always feel that you’re an open-minded parent. Why are you trying to control your daughter’s friends?”
“Don’t be ignorant of good intentions.” Principal Tang glared at her. “I’m just afraid that you’re being tricked.”
Tang Xue was unconcerned. “Please trust your daughter once in a while.”
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Principal Tang gave a disdainful “humph”, showing his obvious skepticism.
Tang Xue lingered in her father’s office for a while. After she finished the tangerine, Principal Tang chased her out as he needed to attend a meeting.
Before she left, she swiped the other tangerine as well. This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.
——
Tang Xue walked out of the school’s main gate and saw Li Yubing waiting at the entrance. That rascal had his two hands in his pockets, appearing bored out of his mind as he scuffed the floor with the tip of his shoe. Tang Xue walked over and planned to give him a fright. However, he suddenly turned and saw her.
Her hands were already up and contorted into claws. She lowered them embarrassedly and passed the other tangerine to him.
Li Yubing quirked his lips and accepted the tangerine.
“Are you all right?” Tang Xue asked. She felt that Li Yubing seemed a little down but could understand why. After all, who would feel good after being scolded?
Li Yubing peeled the tangerine, tore off a segment and stuffed it into her mouth. “I’m fine.”
The refreshingly sweet taste of tangerine spread in Tang Xue’s mouth. She felt that this tangerine was even sweeter than the previous one.
“If you’re fine, why aren’t you smiling?” Tang Xue asked him while tasting the tangerine.
Li Yubing forced out a smile. “I just want to say…” He suddenly stopped and did not continue.
Tang Xue felt even stranger. “Mm? What do you want to say?”
Li Yubing spoke, “My train is leaving at 9 am tomorrow. Can you come and send me off?”
Tang Xue grinned, her eyes creasing into two crescents. She teased him with the tangerine still in her mouth. “I’ll come if you call me ‘daddy’.”
Li Yubing knocked her head.
——
The next day, Tang Xue brought along some snacks when she went to the train station. She somehow found herself liking the feeling of bringing Li Yubing food.
The two of them sat in the waiting hall. Li Yubing was lost in some unknown thoughts and did not say a single word.
Tang Xue felt that he was being a little strange. It seemed like he was troubled by something.
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She cocked her head to one side, looked at him, and spoke in a breezy tone. “What’s wrong with you? It can’t possibly be that you’re still upset over yesterday, are you? Wait, just how do you compete with such poor mental resilience?”
Li Yubing snapped out of his thoughts, shook his head and replied, “It’s nothing.”
“How about I show you a magic trick?”
Li Yubing did not know whether to laugh or cry. “It’s fine… I’m curious about something.”
“What thing? Do share.”
“If you discover that someone has lied to you for, mmm—let’s say—numerous years, what would you do?”
Tang Xue narrowed her eyes. “I would chase after that person to the ends of the world with my Nine Ring Golden Machete.”
Nine Ring Golden Machete. Source: Baidu
Li Yubing’s brows ticked as he tried not to visualize that image.
After Tang Xue finished speaking, she peered at Li Yubing curiously. “Why? Did someone lie to you?”
Li Yubing gave a non-committal reply. He lowered his head and looked at his watch. “It’s time to go in.”
They stood up. Tang Xue said, “Go in quickly. Compete well and don’t embarrass daddy.”
Li Yubing prodded her head. “You’re simply asking for a beating.”
“Also, take care of yourself,” Tang Xue added.
Amidst a wave of warmth, Li Yubing felt his heart twinge. He terribly wanted to hug her but ultimately managed to rein in this urge.
He pulled his luggage along with him past the ticket gantry and gave her a wave.
“What is wrong with Dog…” Tang Xue mumbled as she watched his leaving figure.
Translator’s Notes:
[1] More explanation on Li Yubing and Tang Xue’s n