I'm A Math Idiot, So What? - Chapter 46

Early the next morning, I received an email from the school stating that I had passed the postgraduate recommendation assessment. Since my advisor had already given me a heads-up, I didn’t feel particularly overjoyed; after all, if I failed “The Beauty of Mathematics,” they would just rescind this notification. Also, from the moment I went to bed last night until I woke up this morning, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s ambiguous interactions with a strange woman and Zhang Ziqin’s expression while saying, “The woman kept in the dark is so pitiful,” alternated in my mind, leaving me mentally exhausted and drained.

I thought this matter couldn’t be delayed any longer; I really needed to clarify things with Zhang Ziqin sooner rather than later. But the problem boiled down to the same point: how should I say it?

I struggled for a long time, and the various plans I considered all seemed to differ only in whether to stab Zhang Ziqin’s heart head-on or from behind, making me even more sorrowful. The several rain showers that had occurred last night had washed down quite a few of the half-yellowing leaves. I went out early; the school’s janitorial staff hadn’t had a chance to finish cleaning up. As I stepped on the fallen leaves absentmindedly, someone suddenly patted my shoulder. I turned around, and oh, which little African country is this girl from? The Black Girl smiled at me.

As I focused again, I realized—oh my goodness—this was none other than the Changning University Tycoon, my Chief Best Friend, Wang Ziqi! You went to the western part of our country and got so tanned?! Never mind that for now, I’m just glad you’re back. You have no idea how big of a secret I’ve been bearing!!! I held her hand and looked at her with a sense of grievance. She grasped my hand tightly, looking at me excitedly. Then she said, “Are you my friend?” I replied, “If I ever get involved in a pyramid scheme, you’ll be my first recruit. What about you?” She responded, “Even if one day you become a math teacher, I’d still dare to send my child to your class.” Alright, with that said, it proved we were true friends who shared everything and had each other’s backs.

I was just about to speak, but Wang Ziqi’s eyes sparkled like the bright overhead lights in an interrogation room as she lifted her bangs and asked me, “Now, tell me, what did you see?” I looked at her smooth forehead, dumbfounded, and reached out to touch it: “No pimples, did you grow wiser?”

“Bullshit!” She swatted my hand away, “It says right here in big letters: confess to get leniency, resist to be harshly punished. You traitor to the people, aren’t you going to truthfully confess to the organization?””Stubbornly resisting, sitting on the bottom of the cell for a long time, do you know?” I patted my head and asked her, “So, did you see anything here?” She touched my forehead and replied, “Rebellious bone?” I swatted her hand away, “Didn’t you see the circle of question marks I’ve grown here?” I let my bangs fall and asked as I walked, “Have you had breakfast? Let’s go eat at Sister Ame’s.”

“I’d rather eat the scraps from a single dog than the slop spilled by those licking dogs.” I checked the time and said, “I’ll give you ten minutes. If you don’t get to the point, I’m going to eat by myself.” I pretended to leave, but she grabbed my arm, “Hey, hey! What I just said was a teaser, now I’m going to show you the first episode.” She flipped her nonexistent sleeves and stepped back, looking at me seriously: “Did you not promise me back then that we would stay together forever and not part ways, even living together in a nursing home and helping each other with catheters?” I nodded. Oaths should not be forgotten.

Wang Ziqi began to sing a Min Nan song by my ear with a tone of yearning: “Ah-ha, beloved person, / You only say you love me / Left here alone, my eyes are red—”

I interrupted, “Can I skip the first episode?” She shook her head, “No, the emotional buildup hasn’t been conveyed yet. I’m afraid you won’t get into the second episode.” I picked up a dry branch and pretended to strangle her with it: “Is this okay?” She nodded and said, “Alright. I’ll play you the last episode.”

I replied, “Good, I’m all ears.” Then she started to scold me fiercely: “You’re such a heartless person! Sneaking around right under my nose! If Zhang Ziqin hadn’t told me last night that you have a boyfriend, I would have never known how long I would have been kept in the dark! Come on, play me ‘Green Light,’ no, let’s do ‘Song of the Prairie,’ ah, I have a prairie at home, but Miss Dong keeps popping up! I was gone for just over a month, and you couldn’t stand the loneliness, huh? Is this how I get caught in a love triangle?” I set the dry branch back up: “Last episode, last minute.”

“I want to meet your boyfriend.”

“Where did I get a boyfriend?” Wang Ziqi slapped her thigh: “You won’t cry until you see the coffin! Zhang Ziqin said she caught you living together with your boyfriend!”

I replied, “Catching me living together, so what? I caught Zhang Ziqin’s boyfriend cheating!” Wang Ziqi’s eyes widened, and she reached out: “Don’t try to distract me with that! I know Zhao Xiaoxiao; he wouldn’t dare!”

“It’s true.” I showed her the recording I downloaded from Fang Congxin’s cloud storage yesterday. Wang Ziqi skeptically took my phone, and after just a few seconds, she jumped up: “Where is that bastard Zhao Xiaoxiao! I’m going to kill him!”

“Me too.”

“Why don’t we plan a Murder on the Orient Express? Just like that murder case, we’ll invite Zhang Ziqin, and each person gets a stab. That way, the police will find it hard to solve the case unless they have Sherlock Holmes.”

“The Murder on the Orient Express is Poirot’s case.”

“Close enough, right? Hurry, call Zhang Ziqin.”

“Go ahead and call her because she doesn’t know yet.”

“What?” Wang Ziqi’s eyes almost popped out. “I thought she was such a fiery woman, with her own backyard on fire, yet she still has time to eat your gossip with me. Why didn’t you tell her?” I looked at her, my eyes gleaming.

“You found out about this, so you should go tell her.” Wang Ziqi shrunk her neck.“Zhang Ziqin has the deepest feelings for you. When she was scolded by the director for the first time while writing medical records during her internship, she came to you first to cry, which shows she trusts you the most. You should go talk to her; it will make her feel better.”

“Why don’t you go?”

“You go.” I asked, “Are we still the kind of good friends who agreed to support each other through thick and thin, living together in a nursing home and helping with catheters?”

Wang Ziqi looked up at the sky and said, “Couples aren’t like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly their separate ways. If couples can be like this, what about…”

I began to sing: “The mortal world keeps coming and going, all is empty; the sun sets in the west while the moon rises in the east, true emotions cannot fill the void of indifference.”

“Alright, alright.” Wang Ziqi waved her hand, “You can do anything in front of me, just please don’t sing.”

So, we walked in silence towards Sister Mei’s restaurant off campus. When we were together, we rarely went more than two minutes without talking, so by the third minute, I turned to her and asked, “Have you thought of anything?”

After all, Wang Ziqi is the heir of a billion-dollar fortune, well-informed, with the same boldness and insight as her famous mother. I figured her long silence must mean she had a plan.

Sure enough, Wang Ziqi nodded: “I do.” My eyes lit up: “Quick, tell me, what’s the plan?”

“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors; whoever loses goes to talk.”

“…You’re a genius! Why couldn’t I think of such a brilliant idea? Alright, one, two, three!” I put out paper, and Wang Ziqi showed scissors. She moved her scissors to her head and formed a “Yay” gesture. I quickly shook my head: “No, no, that doesn’t count, best two out of three.”

But Wang Ziqi clearly wasn’t as easy to persuade as Fang Congxin. “What’s this best two out of three? How old are you? One round decides it.”

“Do you really have to be so ruthless?” I put my hands on my hips.

Wang Ziqi thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s invite Zhang Ziqin out for karaoke tonight since she likes to sing. You can tell her while she’s having fun singing.”

“It’s us telling her together.” I corrected her. Wang Ziqi ignored my comment and continued: “In the private room, if she wants to cry, scream, or drink, it doesn’t matter. When she’s tired of crying and screaming, she can lie down for a while; if she gets drunk, it’s neither strange nor embarrassing. When she wakes up tomorrow, she will be a new person! Remember, we need to help her from the perspective that men mean nothing.”

I nodded, thumping my chest, “Don’t worry; the idea that men mean nothing is an experience we both share.”

Wang Ziqi raised an eyebrow, “Don’t you have a man?”

“I don’t. After dealing with Zhang Ziqin’s situation, I’ll tell you.”

As we talked and walked, we arrived at Sister Mei’s restaurant. Sister Mei is in her thirties and is still unmarried. The reason she opened this restaurant is quite mystical. A few years ago, troubled by love and aimlessly spending her days with a heartbroken expression while shopping in a mall, she was precisely targeted by a salesperson who handed her a flyer for a meditation class. It advertised testimonials from graduates who claimed that the class was incredibly effective — that after attending just two weeks of lessons, one could let go of romantic entanglements in the mortal world. Sister Mei believed it and went.The meditation class was held far away in Malaysia, where a large number of Buddhist monks were invited to teach about Buddhist principles. The students were required to chant scriptures and meditate early in the morning, which created a very Zen atmosphere. Each student received a handful of peanuts, two large dates, and a cup of plain water to start a whole day of meditation. Although the days were tough, no one dropped out of the class, and no one left. After all, the meditation class was on a deserted island, surrounded by vast sea waters. Without a boat, no one had the strength to swim back home. At the end of the seven-day meditation course, many experienced a moment of enlightenment, bursting into tears. With their stomachs not even full, who would still think about love and romance? Sister Mei also had an epiphany and found a new life goal. Once she reached land, she first ate a large bowl of rice and then gathered her belongings to open this small restaurant around our school, known for its generous portions that kept customers satisfied. In our freshman year, Wang Ziqi and I even worked here, so we knew these insider details. Yes, Wang Ziqi held firm to her dream of journalism and didn’t follow her mother’s plans for her to study business management abroad. Ever since she started college, her mother cut off her allowance. At that time, half of Wang Ziqi’s living expenses came from her working-class father, and the other half came from her part-time job income. She was the richest yet the poorest white-collar beauty I had ever seen in my life. However, later she became a big shot on Bilibili and gradually took on some freelance work, so she could still enjoy her life as a wealthy lady—no, now she was a black rich lady.

Even before entering the restaurant, we could hear Sister Mei’s loud scolding voice from a distance. If that voice could take physical form, it would almost pierce through the roof. “Old Lin! How many times have I told you! When purchasing items, you must be vigilant; the rice you showed me and the rice you sold me are not the same! Look at this, is this new rice?” I gestured to Wang Ziqi with my chin and said, “Poor Old Lin.”

“Old Lin too, after so many years, still gets cheated when buying things.” I kicked her lightly and said, “He has poor hearing; there’s always something inconvenient.” Wang Ziqi went to the front desk to fill a cup with water and said, “By the way, when I last visited Old Lin’s place, his fan didn’t seem to be working well.”“I kept forgetting to buy it.”

“Don’t worry about it; I already delivered it. Sister Ame even replaced Old Lin’s cooling mat.”

I chuckled and said, “And not long ago, I conned Old Lin out of a hearing aid.” After saying this, I casually found a seat and shouted toward the kitchen, “Sister Mei! Stop scolding! Old Lin can’t hear! Quickly serve us two bowls of shrimp porridge!”

Old Lin poked his head out from the glass window and winked at us, “I can hear.”

Sister Mei continued to shout, “You need to pay for this rice!”

“Ah? You want me to cook this rice? Fine,” Old Lin said.

Wang Ziqi and I laughed so hard that we nearly fell over, giving Old Lin a thumbs-up. Sister Mei glared at us from afar, “You two, just wait.”

Of course, we waited, and then Old Lin secretly brought us two tea eggs.

“The biggest double yolk one,” Old Lin tried to say quietly, but his volume reached the kitchen.

“Can’t these two heartless little rascals choke on their food? It’s been ages since they came here,” Sister Mei shouted.

I made an OK gesture to Old Lin, and he smiled as he walked away.

Before long, two bowls of shrimp porridge were served. I was engrossed in eating the egg when I caught a glimpse of the shrimp porridge and nearly choked on half the egg yolk for a while.

Wow, Wang Ziqi’s bowl of shrimp porridge was so big that it looked like it could be used for washing hair; how could you even see the porridge in that? It was overflowing with shrimp! Old Lin, you really favored one over the other! You should have brought them together; why do I have this watery broth with not a single shrimp shell in it?

I slammed the table and looked up, only to see that the person wearing a red apron wasn’t Old Lin but a handsome young man with striking features.

Before I could say a word, I heard Wang Ziqi across from me launching an all-out verbal assault on him: “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be studying at school instead of working here?”“Is it time to make money now?! Studying should be your top priority!” I couldn’t swallow the half egg yolk anymore. Oh my gosh, Wang Ziqi had ditched school with me back in the day, and when the final exams came around, she mistakenly called our main teacher by the wrong surname! I would believe this coming from anyone, but Wang Ziqi saying it was like a madam advising a girl to turn over a new leaf; it was just too shameless! The part-time student who was being scolded stood straight and silent, showing neither remorse nor defiance, with a pair of clear eyes fixed intently on Wang Ziqi. At that moment, I felt a warm sensation rising within me. I thought, it must be because I was now a shining star, like an exceptionally bright light bulb. I rubbed my hands together and said, “Hey, little brother—”

“Beast, put down those filthy thoughts in your head.” What did I just say? Do I really look like a spoiled rich kid teasing a servant girl? “Little brother, do you have WeChat—” Wang Ziqi lunged forward to cover my mouth. “Give Electric Number Mother a call—”

Wang Ziqi glared at him. “Hurry and leave.” The little brother looked at me and obediently walked away. I picked up Wang Ziqi’s enormous bowl and scooped half a bowl of shrimp into my own. “Sister Mei always hires people like you who eat from both sides; this restaurant will be finished off by you lot eventually.” As I scooped, my radar picked up on something unusual, and I turned to see the little brother staring intently at the big bowl in my hands. Oh, someone is protective, huh? I reluctantly put the bowl down. “Who is that?”

“My brother.”

“That brother you can marry despite having different parents?” I tapped my rice bowl. “What qualifications do some people have to criticize me when they’ve gotten themselves into a mess of romantic troubles and didn’t even voluntarily explain it to the organization? You beast! You can’t even spare underage kids!”

“He’s eighteen.”

“Wah wah wah, I can!”