Electronic Nezha

Chapter 18 Wang Zili

"I guessed it." Liu Zhenhua could only manage a weak explanation, then awkwardly pretended to be killed because he didn't know how to play. There's a term called "pretending to be calm," and he was pretending to be uncalm.

This was Liu Zhenhua's first time playing the game, so saying he cheated is inaccurate. If you play chess with someone and secretly rely on AI to help you, that's cheating. Liu Zhenhua himself was cheating.

Just as the fight ended, I rubbed my stiff back and greeted the two of them.

"The two of you seem to be having a lot of fun?" Old Wang's eyes clearly showed a hint of confusion.

I was boiling water to make tea for them when Old Wang waved two bottles of wine in his hand and said, "Stop with the formalities, just start drinking."

It wasn't the first time the two of them had come to my place for a meal. They skillfully moved the dining table from the living room to my room, found their seats, and laid out the food and drinks.

While pouring drinks, Li Ping lowered her voice and said to me, "Are you really planning to give up on training Liu Zhenhua?"

“It’s just a bit of relaxation after dinner—” I shouted into the room in a mock manner, “Liu Zhenhua, it’s time to study.”

Liu Zhenhua shut down the computer, slowly picked up a workbook, and sat down at the table, looking somewhat resentful. Old Wang and Li Ping's sudden attack had completely disrupted the happy daily life of my son, Yuanyuan, and me.

"Do you think he'll settle down if you keep doing this?" Old Wang said. "Fengzi, don't try that 'fight fire with fire' approach. You think he'll study hard once he's sick of playing? Let me tell you, kids Zhenhua's age never get enough of eating and playing games!"

Li Ping also said, "Tell us the truth, what are you really thinking? You've been so dazed these past few days, I thought you were heartbroken. Turns out you've been playing games all the time?"

I chuckled and said, "Why does it feel like Liu Zhenhua is your two sons?"

Li Ping punched me lightly: "Stop grinning like that. At this crucial moment, it's not easy to go up or down. We'll see in another year. If he can't even get into high school, are you really going to let him take over your class? He's ranked over 300th in No. 3 Middle School. It's a bit of a waste to give up on him!"

Old Wang said, "That's right. Back then, there were only a little over 800 people in the whole grade. In my eyes, ranking 300th was considered a top student."

The two of them took turns criticizing me. I knew they meant well, but I couldn't say anything. I couldn't very well call Yuan Yuan out to cook a couple more dishes.

I cheerfully replied, "I know what I'm doing. Let's still aim for '985' and '211' universities."

Old Wang said, "I don't know if you're joking or serious, but don't go too far to the left or too far to the right. Forget about getting into the 300s, but you should still try for a better second-tier university."

I raised my glass and interrupted, saying, "Let's drink, you education expert."

The three of us clinked glasses. Old Wang was a rough fellow, and Li Ping was actually quite feisty. As usual, we split our small glass of liquor into two sips. After the strong liquor went down, the three of us let out a series of hissing sounds. I picked up a slice of garlic sausage and stuffed it into my mouth—Old Wang certainly wouldn't be fooled like my mother when he bought things; there was a row of cooked food vendors near the cold storage entrance, and their skills were all quite good.

"Brother Wang is so considerate. He knew I hadn't eaten well, so he added more food for me."

Old Wang chuckled and said, "Isn't it only right for farmhands to curry favor with the landlord?"

Li Ping said with dissatisfaction, "Old Liu, how did you end up like this? Things were fine before, weren't they?"

I quickly said, "Oh, I forgot to praise the 'goddess'." The things she brought were also to my liking. Compared to having Yuan Yuan go to great lengths to make us breakfast early in the morning, I felt quite happy just eating a piece of bread and drinking a can of milk. Old Wang was right, divorced women know how to care for others.

"No need to praise me, I'm also working for you, it's only right that I show respect to the boss."

I said speechlessly, "All you do is talk about is social issues."

Old Wang waved his hand and said, "Fengzi, how long have we known each other?"

"It's been eight or nine years, hasn't it?"

"Yes, I've given you the best years of my youth. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be counting on you to take care of me in my old age."

"I'm your son!"

"If you have no objections, then it's settled."

Li Ping was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Damn it!" I reached for the bottle.

Old Wang laughed and pressed me down: "No, no, no, if you're willing to give me your stall, I'll call you Dad, that's not out of the question."

Li Ping said, "Then Zhenhua will have to call you brother from now on."

Old Wang glared and said, "Don't you care about first come, first served? I call him brother!"

This time, all three of us laughed. After several rounds of drinks, our conversation broadened to include everything from national affairs to market gossip. As we drank more and our voices grew louder, Liu Zhenhua closed the door to his room.

Li Ping promptly reminded us, "Keep your voice down, it's disturbing the children's learning."

"It's alright," I said.

Old Wang, still limping, closed the door to our room as well. He returned to his seat and suddenly said mysteriously, "Actually, the person in this room most likely to get into a prestigious university is me."

I said, "Yeah, I also missed Tsinghua University by about 400 points."

Old Wang said seriously, "It's true! When I was in my second year of high school, the admissions offices of Xiamen University and Zhejiang University came to our school to find me and offered me special admissions."

I was taken aback when I heard him speak so convincingly, and said, "Are you bragging?"

Old Wang suddenly turned to me and said, "You know I'm a sports student, right?"

"know."

"Did you know that I won the national high school triple jump championship?"

Li Ping and I exchanged a glance. Although we were laymen, we understood the weight of the word "national". Even if you were the best at picking teeth and rolling your eyes in the country, you were still not to be underestimated!

"Are you bragging?" I repeated my words a second time.

"Go ahead and check. Wang Zili, a senior high school student from Chishuigou Middle School in X County, X City, X Province, broke the record and won the national triple jump championship. My record was broken two years later."

Neither Li Ping nor I took out our phones to check, because we both noticed the difference in Lao Wang at that moment; there was something intense and passionate in his eyes.

Old Wang leaned back in his chair, picked his teeth with a toothpick, and said to me with a flushed face, "The other day I told you that I received seven or eight love letters from girls every month when I was in school, and that's true. Back then, to use Uncle Benshan's words, I was a pretty handsome young man. I was a big shot wherever I went. Shy girls would blush for half a day if they said a word to me, and I was probably so happy when I got home."

I re-examined Old Wang. Years of exposure to the elements made him look older than his actual age—Old Wang was two years older than me. When we weren't very close, Liu Zhenhua called him "Uncle" casually, but it became a habit later. His hair was still relatively thick, but it was declining. He had a belly around his waist, and he spoke to people with a meek and submissive demeanor. By all accounts, he seemed like a middle-aged loser who was having a rough time. But as he talked about his past, I could vaguely discern some possibilities that he might have had a glorious past—Old Wang's facial features were still angular, and he was tall and broad-shouldered. Because of his disability, Old Wang never wore shorts, but his long legs were actually quite striking.

"And then?" Li Ping asked.

"The autumn after I won the championship, the school held a sports meet. I hadn't planned to sign up, but I did anyway. I was just being vain. I wanted to hear cheers and shouts, and I wanted to leave a record that the younger students could never break. When the competition was about to start, I realized that I hadn't brought my shoes, so I borrowed a pair from the school team. They were a size smaller than mine. I thought to myself that this was fine, as it would limit my performance and prevent the younger students from being embarrassed."

Old Wang picked up his glass and downed the wine in one gulp, then continued, "I felt suffocated as soon as I put those shoes on, but I didn't think much of it. When it was my turn to jump, all eyes in the school were on me, and the girls were all ready to scream. As soon as the referee gave the signal, I took my run-up as usual, but as soon as I jumped, I felt something was wrong—the shoes made my feet swell up really high. When my body was in the air, I knew something was wrong. I twisted my ankle when I jumped, and when my right foot landed, my whole body was deformed. Then everyone on the playground heard a 'bang'."

Li Ping asked in surprise, "You fell?"

"No, I'd rather it was a fall, and that sound was the explosion of my right Achilles tendon after it hit the ground."

Li Ping covered her mouth. I was taking small sips of the wine, and I felt that the wine was both bitter and spicy as it went down my throat.

"Have you ever heard of someone bursting their Achilles tendon in a long jump?" Old Wang, reeking of alcohol, suddenly smiled. "The sound I made was so loud that the sprinters thought it was the starting gun, and they all false-started. Isn't that hilarious?"

I put down my wine glass, reached out and put my arm around his arm, pulling him closer to me.

If it weren't for that, things would have been fine. But when I hugged him, Old Wang started crying like an old ox.

Li Ping's eyes also reddened, and she downed a large glass of wine by herself.

Old Wang pushed me away, wiped away his tears, and said, "Medical conditions and consultations back then were far inferior to what they are now. Actually, if we had gone to Beijing immediately, there would have been hope for recovery, at least he wouldn't have been crippled. But we're just a farming family, and the doctor in the county said the child was definitely ruined, so we just had him stitched up..."

"Then the schools that want to specially recruit you—" Li Ping realized she had said something pointless and stopped herself in time.

Old Wang patted me on the shoulder and said, "Fengzi, I dropped out of high school and started working in society. I've done jobs like waiter, handing out flyers, and washing cars on the street. I'm uneducated and a cripple, so I was bullied wherever I went. It wasn't until I followed you that I felt like a normal person."

I pried his hand away and said, "Stop talking nonsense."

"Really!" Old Wang clung to him like a spring. "You may seem unreliable, but you have a warm heart. Promise me, I'll follow you wherever you go!"

"You follow me even when I go to the toilet?"

Old Wang, though his eyes were blurry with drunkenness, said firmly, "Follow me!"

The Achilles tendon exploding upon landing is a true story from a friend of mine. Fortunately, he's not a sports professional, and he recovered very well. A big thank you to the fifth student from the Wuliang Mountain dormitory for becoming the patron of this book.

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(End of this chapter)