I'm A Math Idiot, So What? - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Don’t Let Your Heart Stray (4)

As fellow underachievers, Ke Lu and I bonded instantly.

We’d originally planned to return to the city after lunch with our materials, but Ke Lu’s math tutoring proved even more arduous than mine.

Fang Congxin patiently explained the concepts, while I patiently quelled his rising temper. Before we knew it, dusk had fallen.

To show his gratitude, Grandpa Ke warmly invited us to stay for dinner.

He had to rush back to the city later that evening for a government-sponsored award ceremony honoring outstanding farmer-entrepreneurs. After giving Ke Qiao and Ke Lu detailed instructions on how to treat guests, he hurried off.

Unable to refuse his hospitality, I resigned myself to continuing to devour the descendants of Peppa Pig.

As we ate, Fang Congxin frowned and asked, “Aren’t we forgetting something really important?”

I was gnawing on a pig’s trotter when he said that. It did feel like something was missing. I paused, trotter in hand, and wracked my brain, but my mind was blank. Shaking my head, I went back to gnawing.

Fang Congxin glumly took a bite of food, his expression pained.

Perhaps his mind was also blank, but as a straight-A student, he rarely encountered such mental lapses and seemed quite flustered.

He kept staring at me, making me uneasy. I licked my greasy lips, about to say something, when he blurted out, “Lick them again.”

“Huh?”

He blinked earnestly and repeated, “Lick them again.”

Following his instructions, I stuck out my tongue and licked my lips.

Fang Congxin’s eyes suddenly lit up. “I remember now! At noon, Xiao Q was under the table, gnawing on a pig’s trotter just like you are now. And now Xiao Q is gone!”

Ignoring his ridiculous comparison, I leaped up from my chair and scanned the room. “Xiao Q? Where are you?!”

Fang Congxin grabbed my arm as I bounced up and down, asking, “Let’s think—when was the last time we saw Xiao Q?”

I stared at him blankly. “Did we even bring him out today?”

Fang Congxin: “……”

Ke Lu chimed in, “Everyone’s off work now, and it’s dark. We’re surrounded by farmland. If a little dog like that gets lost, the villagers might snatch him up for meat.”

Thanks for that comforting thought.

Ke Qiao hobbled over on her crutches. “I didn’t notice him at noon. First, describe the dog. Any distinguishing features?”

“A Papillon,” I replied. “Just over two years old. Likes to bark a lot—woof, woof, woof!”

Ke Qiao shot me a silent glance before turning to Fang Congxin. “Add some useful information, would you?”

“You know Papillons, right?” He pulled up a typical photo of a Papillon on his phone. “Xiao Q has brown tips on the decorative fur on his ears and tail, and a round brown patch on his right flank. I last saw him around 5:30 PM, when I was helping Ke Qiao with a function parity example problem. Judging by the number of practice problems we did, that’s about the time.”

It’s seven o’clock now.

Since Xiao Q hasn’t been missing for too long, let’s split up and search.

“Ke Qiao, Ke Lu, you two gather some people and check the buildings indoors. Lin Meng and I will search outside,” Fang Congxin said, pulling me along.

I remembered how Xiao Q’s owner had wept profusely when entrusting Xiao Q to me yesterday, and how I had solemnly vowed that she would see Xiao Q healthy and happy every year when she returned to China.

Now, barely a day later, I’d already lost Xiao Q.

If Fang Congxin hadn’t remembered, I might not have even realized she was missing until I got home. What an irresponsible person I am!

Outside, it was pitch-black.

The countryside lacked the urban glow of constant light.

The base’s streetlights were dim and sparse. I called out “Xiao Q! Xiao Q!” a couple of times, but with such a vast area, where could we even begin to look?

Then I remembered what Ke Lu had said—the villagers nearby might have caught Xiao Q. The more I thought about it, the more desperate my calls became, my voice cracking with tears.

Fang Congxin took my hand. “Lin Meng, let’s not panic. You need to contact Xiao Q’s owner and ask where Xiao Q likes to go.”

“They’re still on the plane to Hong Kong, where they’ll spend the night with her parents before flying to the US. I can’t reach them right now.”

I handed him my phone. “But they gave me Xiao Q’s care log.”

“Here, take a look,” I said, handing Fang Congxin my phone.

Fang Congxin took the phone and began scrutinizing it intently.

I stood beside him, lost and helpless.

Every rustle of grass, every whisper of wind across the plains, ignited a flicker of hope, only to be extinguished by disappointment. This cycle repeated itself, and self-reproach and anxiety hammered at my heart, making it pound fiercely and rapidly.

I gritted my teeth, refusing to succumb to despair, and tried to pull my hand free to search near the riverbank.

But Fang Congxin tugged me back. “Don’t wander off,” he said, still focused on the phone. “I’ll figure this out.”

I couldn’t imagine how analyzing the log files would reveal a solution, but his confidence temporarily soothed my frayed nerves.

I remained by his side, letting him hold my hand.

This wasn’t about taking advantage. I just needed a shred of strength to get through this ordeal.

After a while, Fang Congxin called Ke Qiao and asked her to check the feed warehouse behind the office immediately.

Shortly after, Ke Qiao called back with good news: Xiao Q had been found.

Apparently, Xiao Q had slipped into the warehouse when the workers opened the door, and they’d closed it without noticing when they left for the day. The warehouse was in a remote part of the compound, which explained why we hadn’t heard Xiao Q’s cries for help earlier.

Hearing Xiao Q’s barking over the phone felt like heavenly music, bringing tears to my eyes.

With a weight lifted from my heart, I steadied my nerves and asked Fang Congxin, “How did you know Xiao Q went there?”

“It’s in the log. Xiao Q has a thing for powdery stuff. He once tore open a flour sack and played with it.”

“Dogs, like humans, have predictable behavioral patterns.”

“When Grandpa Ke gave us the tour, I remember the feed warehouse being directly opposite the office.”

“We were studying in the office earlier. I bet Xiao Q saw the workers open the warehouse and snuck in.”

“You’re practically Sherlock Holmes,” I said, genuinely impressed.

He grinned. “Just lucky I guessed right on the first try.”

“What if we don’t find Xiao Q there?” I asked.

He shook his head, his expression growing hazy.

“You were so confident earlier that you’d solve this,” I pointed out.

He shrugged. “If we find him, we’ll solve it one way. If we don’t, we’ll solve it another.”

“What’s the ‘don’t’ solution?”

He raised an eyebrow, looking at me. “Seppuku as an apology?”

I patted my chest and said, “Thank goodness we found it. Otherwise, I’d have been in real trouble.”

Fang Congxin chuckled.

The evening breeze gently lifted his soft hair for a moment before it settled softly back down. “If it weren’t for you today, I wouldn’t have known what to do. I was so scared I almost cried.”

“Mm, I could tell. But you didn’t cry.”

“Because crying doesn’t solve anything.”

Relaxing after the tension, I plopped down on the withered grass beside the dirt road, a foxtail grass between my teeth. Country nights are truly beautiful, I thought. The night sky was like elegant black velvet, studded with countless stars that glittered like tiny, crushed diamonds. Nearby, the symphony of katydids and frogs filled the air, punctuated by the rustling of the breeze through the grass.

Fang Congxin sat down beside me, and we shared a moment of quiet contemplation. Our legs pressed side-by-side, though his feet extended far beyond mine. He’s so tall, I mused. If the sky ever falls, he’d be the one to hold it up.

Suddenly, Fang Congxin said, “Crying might not solve problems, but it can sometimes help. And there’s nothing wrong with shedding a few tears now and then.”

“Lin Meng, did you cry back then?”

I snapped out of my reverie, realizing he meant during the incident. My fidgeting feet stilled involuntarily.

“I don’t remember,” I said.

Fang Congxin pondered for a long moment. “You’re lying. You cried.”

“As if you saw me.”

“I heard you with my own ears.”

“When?”

“During early morning study hall. I got there early. You were there early too.”

“I was copying homework.”

“I was there so you could copy my homework.”

He tossed off the reply casually.

I glanced at him, and he grinned. “Can’t I just be an early riser?”

His smile faded into the breeze. “I heard you crying in the bathroom.”

I frowned at him. “What kind of weird fetish is that? Why were you hiding in the girls’ restroom to listen to me cry?”

Fang Congxin tilted his head. “Because you were crying so loudly. I could hear you from upstairs.”

“Bullshit. I cry very ladylike.”

I shot him a sideways glare, but seeing his barely-there smirk, I didn’t care anymore. “Well, I only cried that one time,” I said. “Can’t I even cry a little when I’m stressed?”

“You can come to me next time you want to cry,” he said. “I’ve already heard you cry anyway, so I don’t care if you embarrass yourself in front of me.”

Pah! What kind of wish is that?

Hoping I’d cry?

Fang Congxin propped himself up on his hands behind him, half-reclining as he gazed at the vast sky. “Even after all this time, even with so much warmth and so many people to rely on, remembering those days still makes you feel wronged sometimes, doesn’t it? Makes you want to cry, right?”

I scrambled to my feet, retorting, “If Big Sister Heart-to-Heart ever wants me to run their emotional hotline, they’d better pay me.”

What’s wrong with this guy? I didn’t cry when Xiao Q was lost, but now that Xiao Q’s back, he’s trying to make me tear up?

Halfway up, Fang Congxin tugged me down, and I tumbled beside him.

He rolled over to face me, his eyes shining brighter than the stars in the sky or the diamonds scattered across the heavens. “Lin Meng, am I not good to you?”

Caught off guard by his sudden question, I blinked up at the sky. “You’re alright, I guess.”

“Then why, on the day you got your tooth pulled, did you thank Sister Xu, Brother Sun, and everyone else, but not me? It got me in trouble with the Director!”

“Of course I left you out on purpose,” I shot back. “So the Director would bully you. How often do I get to witness such a glorious spectacle in my lifetime?”

Fang Congxin shot me a sidelong glance. “You see it every day. Isn’t that all you do—ride my back all the time?”

“If you keep spitting blood and lies, you’ll get anemia,” I retorted.

Fang Congxin chuckled lazily, then flicked a stray strand of hair that had floated into the air. “If you don’t want to talk about me, fine. I just wanted to tell you—they’re good to you, Lin Meng, not because of your hands.”

He looked straight at me, his eyes brimming with tenderness. “It’s because you deserve it.”

He probably didn’t realize that the reason I hadn’t mentioned him earlier was because he was the last person in the world I wanted to treat me specially because of my past.

And now, he was telling me so gently that their kindness stemmed from my inherent worthiness.

This is just terrible, I thought.

Someone had just doused a tiny spark of affection with a bucket of gasoline, and now I was watching a raging wildfire consume the entire landscape.

Hey, 911, are you there?

Quick, save this lost lamb before I’m roasted alive!

The lost lamb, having uneasily admired the countryside night scenery with the hunter for a while, brushed off its rear and returned to base.

At the base entrance, Xiao Q, filthy as ever, bounded out to greet me, showering me with fine dust as it pounced excitedly.

I’d only had Xiao Q for a day, yet she was already so affectionate. And I hadn’t even noticed when I lost her. I rubbed her dirty little face affectionately, muttering several apologies.

Fang Congxin, standing beside me, tried to console me. “Xiao Q’s so eager probably because your clothes are covered in pork trotter crumbs. Don’t feel bad about being so callous and indifferent—just keep doing what you’re doing.” I kicked him away.

Then we took Xiao Q for a bath.

Ke Qiao and Ke Lu, who usually only cared about pigs, couldn’t resist the spectacle of a beautiful Xiao Q getting bathed and crowded around to watch.

Truth be told, I didn’t know how to bathe a dog. Luckily, Fang Congxin was experienced, and Xiao Q seemed to adore him. With all four of us working together, she only clung to Fang Congxin.

Ke Lu came in a close second.

“Young master here is so handsome,” Ke Lu boasted, puffing out his chest. “Everyone loves me—people and dogs alike!”

Ke Qiao and I, temporarily tired of Xiao Q’s little slut act, stepped outside.

Standing outside in the breeze, Ke Qiao nodded toward my hand with her chin. “Ever tried to off yourself?”

I shook my head. “An accident.”

“What about your leg?”

“About the same as yours, I guess.”

“Your left hand doesn’t grip very well.”

“And you can’t walk on your right leg.”

We stood in the wind for a while, the conversation feeling strangely like a scene from a Wong Kar-wai film. Feigning seriousness, we exchanged a knowing smile and said, “Let’s be friends.”

“Ever feel really helpless because of it?” I asked.

“The worst part is everyone stares at me with such strange eyes.”

I nodded in deep agreement. “You look like you were probably in an accident.”

“Oh, I’ve got it even worse. I have to keep explaining to people that this wasn’t a suicide attempt. I mean, who tries to kill themselves and ends up with a scar this ugly?”

“Exactly! But everyone assumes the worst, just like you did. Except they don’t ask directly like you did. They just give me these pitying looks, and I can’t stand it!”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! I hate that more than anything!”

Our conversation suddenly morphed into a roast session for the disabled, like a bizarre Wang Jiawei film scene.

By the time Fang Congxin emerged, cradling Xiao Q, Ke Qiao and I were already chatting like long-lost friends, lamenting our late acquaintance.

Fang Congxin held up Xiao Q’s paw and said, “Look at your mom, Xiao Q. She’s having such a relaxing time.”

I shook Xiao Q’s paw. “Xiao Q, Xiao Q, did Daddy’s bath smell good?”

The moment I said that, I felt something was off, but Fang Congxin didn’t seem to notice. Cradling Xiao Q, he cooed in a soft, babyish voice, “It’s windy outside. Let’s go inside so you don’t catch a cold right after your bath.”

After taking a few steps, he turned back and shouted at me, “Aren’t you coming in? I said it’s windy out! How can you tutor if you catch a cold?”

Humans are inferior to dogs, humans are inferior to dogs.

Fang Congxin’s Memo: I want to give her the best in the world, as long as she doesn’t have those red-rimmed eyes.

That doesn’t contradict my promise to let her cry whenever she wants, does it?