I'm A Math Idiot, So What? - Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Guard Against Greed and Anger (5)

The moment the transfer was complete, Fang Congxin’s call came.

Thinking he was just chasing after the money again, I hung up and sent him a WeChat message: “Money’s transferred. Check later.”

But the phone rang again.

Worried there might be some mistake with the amount, I reluctantly answered.

“Where are you?” he demanded the instant I picked up.

I wanted to say, I’m at an underground loan shark, getting a nude loan. What’s it to you? But I couldn’t bring myself to say such a thing. When someone reaches this point, even cruel words seem impossible to utter.

I answered truthfully, “I’m almost at the hospital.”

“Lin Meng, I’m sorry. Let’s make up.”

I wanted to retort, Is your apology like the airport’s announcement of a flight delay? You’re the male lead who apologizes with the least burden I’ve ever seen.

Instead, I simply said, “No.”

“Lin Meng, I—” He paused, his voice hoarse, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t like me anymore. Let’s just make up.”

I felt that if I had any self-respect, any calcium in my bones, I should have coldly, resolutely, and karmically delivered another “No.” But his choked-up voice, like a dandelion seed carried by the wind, lodged in my throat, and the word wouldn’t come out.

Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to say “Okay” either.

I wasn’t particularly keen on my sisters calling me Mumu Muxi at the moment.

The name sounded too Japanese, and I’m quite patriotic.

In that split second of hesitation, a motorcycle whizzed past, narrowly missing me. Instinctively, I flinched to the side, lost my grip, and plop—my phone tumbled into a sewer grate.

I immediately crouched down and peered into the sewer. Thankfully, it was dry. But my phone was face-up, so I couldn’t see if Fang Congxin’s call had disconnected.

I shouted into the sewer, “Let me think it over.

Did you hear me? I said let me think it over.

I’m not saying I’m not angry anymore, nor am I forgiving you, and it certainly isn’t a hint that we can get back together.

I just need a little more time to think.”

A father and his three- or four-year-old son walked by.

The child tugged on his father’s hand and asked in a sweet, childlike voice, “Daddy, what’s Big Sister doing?”

The father scratched his head. “She’s probably talking to the Earth.”

“Why is she lying down like that to talk?”

“The Earth is old and hard of hearing. You have to speak like that for it to understand.”

“Oh, I get it! Just like Grandpa Ke, right?”

To preserve the child’s innocence, I chimed in, “Earth, take care of yourself!”

Then, feeling quite embarrassed, I asked the father, “Do you live in this neighborhood?”

“Excuse me, could the property management office help me with something?”

By the time I got my phone back, over an hour had passed.

I pressed the power button and found it was dead. Thinking Fang Congxin might be anxiously waiting for my call, I sat down in the security room to charge it for a while.

But after charging for ages, it still wouldn’t turn on. It must have been damaged in the fall. I had no choice but to take the bus to a repair shop first.

I couldn’t remember Fang Congxin’s phone number, but I figured I could borrow someone else’s phone, log into WeChat, and let him know.

However, after all that fuss, the dandelion lodged in my throat lost its soothing effect. Instead, the first lawyer’s letter I’d ever received resurfaced, clogging my heart again.

Whether he’d heard me say “Let me think about it” earlier didn’t matter. If he hadn’t, he hadn’t.

I’d already shown him I was thinking about it through my actions.

Besides, after simping for so long, it was only fair he got to play my summoned beast, waiting for my commands for a change.

The phone couldn’t be fixed right away, so I had to come back the next day.

Part of me was desperate to see if Fang Congxin had called, while another part felt like this was fate teaching me a lesson about my uncontrollable urge to cling to others. Torn between these conflicting emotions, I arrived at the hospital.

When I entered the ward, Teacher Fan was there too.

Yuan Chongfeng looked even weaker than yesterday. Teacher Fan explained it was the pain from the surgical scar as the anesthesia wore off.

She also said the cause of the accident had been investigated.

It turned out a student in Yuan Chongfeng’s class had been acting strangely recently, hiding on the rooftop to smoke.

The rooftop had inherent safety risks, and the door was locked.

Yuan Chongfeng spotted the student climbing up from the main platform and, feeling as light as a swallow, decided to climb up himself. He misstepped and fell.

The school had taken every precaution, but how could they have foreseen a teacher leading by example in violating the rules?

So, I heard that once Yuan Chongfeng recovered, he would have to return to school to receive his first-ever disciplinary punishment and write a profound self-criticism to be read at the faculty meeting.

Sitting beside Yuan Chongfeng, I said, “Brother Fengfeng, I’m a pro at writing self-criticisms. Want me to help you with yours?”

Yuan Chongfeng blinked weakly.

I said, “I’ve got a lot of debts lately. One yuan per character. Deal?”

Like a sloth from Zootopia, Yuan Chongfeng slowly asked, “Do~ you~ have~ a~ heart~?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

Yuan Chongfeng said, “Fang Congxin came looking for you earlier.”

I studied his face to confirm he wasn’t lying. “What did he want?”

“An apology letter.”

I glanced at Teacher Fan, who sat cross-legged beside me, silent as a meditating monk.

Where’s your sense of professional ethics, for crying out loud?!

Yuan Chongfeng grinned, relishing the drama. “You two had a fight, didn’t you?”

Ugh, I suddenly feel like calling Uncle Yuan to wish him an early Happy New Year—

“He said to call him back.”

“That’s all?”

Yuan Chongfeng chuckled. “Why are you young folks fighting? If I were you, I’d be too busy enjoying the sweetness of it all.”

As he spoke, his eyes flickered toward Teacher Fan, who remained in her meditative posture.

“I think he’s too confident around me,” I said. “He takes it for granted that I like him. I need to knock him down a peg to assert my position.”

“Maybe he’s actually just insecure,” Yuan Chongfeng suggested.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Between him and me, isn’t it obvious who’s more insecure?”

“There’s no such thing as ‘obvious’ in matters of the heart. Everyone wants something different. Some seek beauty, others intelligence, still others money…”

After a moment’s thought, I said, “Brother Fengfeng, you sound so weak. Could you please hurry up and reveal my special trait?”

“Beauty, brains, money—none of that has anything to do with me.”

Yuan Chongfeng couldn’t help but laugh, though the sound was laced with pain, twisting his face as he said, “Isn’t that exactly what I’m trying to figure out?”

“Well, have you figured it out yet?”

“Lin Meng, don’t you realize how amazing you are? You’re optimistic, kind, resilient, generous, insightful, witty, and fun—what’s not to love about you?”

I figured Yuan Chongfeng must have hit his head hard. How else could he call me “generous” after I’d just charged him one yuan per word for writing his apology letter?

Still, flattery was always welcome. I rubbed my nose and asked, “Really? I’m way out of his league, right?”

“Exactly! Besides being handsome, smart, and from a wealthy family, what else does he have?” I could tell Yuan Chongfeng’s all-night talk with my mom had leveled up his fighting spirit. His arguments came in waves, almost overwhelming me.

Originally, I had no intention of intruding on his private time with Teacher Fan. But since Yuan Chongfeng still had fight in him, I felt relieved and prepared to leave. No sooner had I stepped out of the hospital room than a swarm of students burst in, shoving me back inside.

Among them was Ke Lu, grinning at me without a care in the world. “Hey, Sis, you’re here too!”

Seeing the young man’s good spirits eased my mind, so I stayed and chatted for a while longer.

It turned out Yuan Chongfeng had been serving as Assistant Class Advisor for some time and was quite popular. A slightly long-haired student was being forced to kneel and apologize by the others—probably the one who started the smoking incident on the platform.

His appearance involuntarily reminded me of Yellow Hair from high school. I wondered if Yellow Hair ever suddenly thought of me like this.

Listening to their chatter, it seemed this boy’s parents were going through a divorce. But he seemed to have already received a round of comforting, his expression not overly grim.

Lying in bed, Yuan Chongfeng quipped with his usual sharp wit, “It’s better for parents to divorce early. When my folks split, I was too young to even understand, so it didn’t hurt. My biological mother never came back for me, but I don’t resent her too much. After all, she gave me life, giving me the chance to witness the beauty of this world.”

A clamor erupted as the long-haired boy said something else.

The crowd grew so boisterous they nearly lifted the ceiling, showing no sympathy whatsoever for Yuan Chongfeng.

A young nurse knocked on the door. “Quiet down! This is a hospital.”

Silence lasted about ten seconds before the uproar resumed.

I found myself longing to be the gentle Lei Chuifeng again.

I could definitely dance the seaweed dance better than he could.

Lost in thought, Ke Lu squeezed through the crowd. “Big Sister, what are you thinking about?”

“Wondering what to have for lunch,” I replied.

“My big sister said she’s sending you a box of vacuum-packed braised pork trotters. Don’t forget to pick it up.”

“With pork prices so high lately, that’s quite a gift.”

Ke Lu said, “My big sister always says debts must be repaid. She told me to thank you for calling her.”

He paused. “Speaking of debts, Big Sister, I just saw that pretty young lady Grandpa Ke used to support downstairs.”

“Oh?”

“She has such a tragic background. She was an excellent student, but her family was too poor. Her father wouldn’t let her continue her education.”

Thank goodness it was Teacher Feng—you know Teacher Feng, right?

She used to be one of the founders of a volunteer teaching program in Beijing. When Big Sister sent her a letter asking for help, Teacher Feng personally went there and spent a long time talking to her father, promising to find a way to cover her tuition. Only then did Big Sister resume her studies.

Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last. After a while, her father stopped letting her go to school again.

In the end, Teacher Feng took my grandpa along with her. They apparently signed an agreement with the father, smoothed over a lot of ruffled feathers, and took Big Sister to a completely new place to start over.

By then, she had already missed half of her senior year of high school. But she worked incredibly hard and got into Changning University’s most prestigious computer science program, even securing a substantial scholarship.

My grandpa often used her story to lecture me, saying Big Sister was the first recipient of aid who managed to repay all her loans and financial support before graduating from university.

Big Sister still writes to my grandpa every now and then, updating him on her studies. Once, when she heard he wasn’t feeling well, she brought him a whole pile of health supplements.

“Seriously, girls these days are just too amazing. It puts us guys under so much pressure, you know?”

I listened silently until he finished, then asked, “Was that girl named Tong Xiao?”

Ke Lu slapped his thigh. “Wow, Big Sister, your connections are incredible! You even guessed that!”

The world really is too small.

I never imagined that Tong Xiao’s “sugar daddy” was Grandpa Ke. Given his connection to Grandma Fang, it made perfect sense that Fang Congxin had tutored Tong Xiao during her senior year of high school. That’s probably how they met.

So Tong Xiao wasn’t the Snow White with a doting father; she was a Cinderella, dusting off the ashes of a fallen family.

The prince, however, was too dense and tried to fit the glass slipper on my foot.

I thought of Cinderella’s stepsisters desperately trying to cram their chubby feet into the glass slipper and reflexively touched my own foot, wincing.

I wonder if Ke Qiao’s pig’s trotters have arrived yet. They say ‘eat what you lack,’ so I need to get some nourishment.