585. Return to High School
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Lin Nan and Chen Yao’s high school was nestled right in the heart of a Small County (Realm) that’s seen better days. The surrounding neighborhoods were so old that even the elevators had aged out of existence.
The greenery on the sidewalks was ridiculously tall, creating a shady canopy that made the whole street feel a few degrees cooler and much more comfortable as they arrived.
It just so happened to be school time. Trying to blend in with a crowd of high school students in uniforms, Chen Yao and Lin Nan thought they could sneak by. But they were quickly caught by the security guard at the entrance.
“Hey you! What are you doing back here?!”
The beer-belly security guard grabbed Chen Yao’s arm with a cheerful grin, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket. “Aren’t you supposed to be graduated?”
Chen Yao was no stranger to tardiness and skipping classes back in high school, and this security guard acted like they were old pals now.
“Brother Wang, I just wanted to come back and see the teacher.” Chen Yao waved off the offered smoke, shaking his head. “Haven’t smoked in ages.”
“Quitting, huh? If you want to see the teacher, just call him. If he lets you in, I’ll let you go. Gotta stick to the rules.”
Brother Wang kept a firm grip on Chen Yao at the guard booth’s entrance and glanced at Lin Nan, who was trailing behind him. “Oh? Is this your girlfriend? Pretty cute.”
Lin Nan was actually pretty familiar with the guard too; she’d accompanied Chen Yao on many their truancies, and had been caught more times than she could count. But with her drastic change in appearance, Brother Wang didn’t recognize her.
“Yep, my girlfriend, we were in the same class back in high school.” Chen Yao leaned against the guard post, reminiscing about the swarm of students hustling through the small gate, and feeling a wave of nostalgia wash over him.
Back in freshman year, he was such a slacker, but thankfully, he found his footing in senior year—thanks to Lin Nan’s encouragement to hit the books, he barely scraped into a university.
“Let’s skip calling the teacher. I want to surprise him.” Chen Yao looked up at Brother Wang and pleaded, “Can’t you just let this slide?”
“No way! Get lost!”
Brother Wang booted him in the backside. “Out you go! Don’t make me screw up!”
Dusting himself off, Chen Yao sheepishly led Lin Nan away from the school entrance. But rather than leaving, they strolled along the school wall until they ducked into a neighboring residential area.
Navigating the place like a pro, he rummaged through a junk shop and found a few old tires. Stacking them up, he confidently hopped up to sit on the wall.
Meanwhile, Lin Nan glanced around, making sure they weren’t being watched. Though spotting a security camera made her rethink things. But thinking quickly, she copied Chen Yao’s climbing technique—using a little ‘magic’ of her own to float gracefully up to the wall.
On the other side of the wall was the school’s teaching building. There was a two-meter gap between the wall and the building, providing a nice little hideaway, far from the eyes of students.
Once down, Chen Yao swaggered toward the administration building like he owned the place.
Lin Nan lagged slightly behind, taking in the newly renovated schoolyard filled with the sweet scent of youth, surrounded by a canopy of trees and a new spacious indoor sports facility through the wide-open doors.
“Remember when you tried jumping from that flower bed to the stage over there, but ended up face-planting and crying like a baby?” Chen Yao pointed at the stage across the yard, laughing at Lin Nan’s not-so-glorious past.
“Don’t remember!”
Lin Nan shot back with a pout. “Do you remember the time you stepped on the soccer ball and broke your own foot?”
“Actually, I don’t recall that at all!”
The administration building loomed behind the stage, and both of them were quite familiar with it. Chen Yao often found himself in the principal’s office facing demerits, while Lin Nan always managed to waltz into the class teacher’s office for free snacks.
“Hey! Long Ge!”
As they stepped into the admin building, a tall, skinny teacher approached, and Chen Yao waved without a second thought.
The teacher adjusted his glasses, then, recognizing Chen Yao, smacked him on the back of the head. “What brings you back? Trying to annoy me?”
That was Long Ge, Chen Yao’s math teacher and the head of the administration office, who always seemed to have it out for him. They had quite the heated rivalry back in the day, making for lively classroom antics.
“Where’s your little sidekick?” Long Ge remembered Chen Yao always had a shy, short person trailing after him.
Lin Nan shrank back behind Chen Yao.
While Chen Yao and Long Ge joked around, Lin Nan saw him as a ticking time bomb and froze in place.
“She’s still on vacation.” Chen Yao quickly concocted an excuse.
But Long Ge’s attention drifted to Lin Nan, and his expression brightened. He patted Chen Yao on the shoulder, grinning like mad. “Look at you, bringing your girlfriend! What’s wrong with her taste? How did she end up with you?”
Chen Yao couldn’t help but wonder why people always said Lin Nan had bad taste. It confused him! “Hey, I’ve been a good student since senior year! And I’m decent-looking! She has good taste!”
“Come on, I’ve got no classes this afternoon. Let’s head to the office; I need some documents sorted. You can help!”
Ignoring Chen Yao completely, Long Ge grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward the office.
“I want to see the class teacher! I heard he got divorced?” Chen Yao struggled, but didn’t want to pull too hard.
At that, Long Ge sighed and let go of Chen Yao’s arm, leaning against the wall. “He’s not teaching anymore. He’s out there selling stuff on the street.”
“Seriously?”
“Guess divorce hit him hard.” Long Ge shook his head, sounding forlorn. “His ex-wife thought he wasn’t making enough as a teacher, so now he’s selling trinkets or something. Apparently makes about ten thousand a month.”
Chen Yao turned to Lin Nan, both of them wide-eyed at each other.
“But couldn’t he just open a tutoring school?”
“He doesn’t want to teach anymore,” Long Ge said, patting Chen Yao on the shoulder. “If you want to catch him, go find him after 7 PM at the walking street. You might just run into him.”
With a few more words exchanged, Long Ge disappeared into the nearby office, leaving Chen Yao and Lin Nan exchanging concerned glances.
Seriously, he’s over forty and yet making such bizarre life choices?
Around two o’clock, the school bell rang, signaling the start of classes.
“Let’s hop over the wall again,” Chen Yao scratched his head. What started as a typical visit to a teacher had turned into a comedy of errors.
Lin Nan nodded, concern for their former class teacher etched on her face.
Thinking back, she remembered during the buzz of the “street market economy,” there had been plenty of news about people quitting their jobs to sell goods. But seeing it happen up close felt surreal.
I mean, a stable job, a government position—even if the pay is less—has to be better than selling stuff on the street, right?
