Pretending to be a Bad Student - Chapter 1
The Queen of Heishui
“Next stop, Heishui Street. Passengers who are getting off, please prepare to exit through the rear door.”
The bus departed from the suburbs of B City, circled halfway around, and slowly turned into the commercial street. The streets branched out in all directions, crowded with pedestrians.
The automated voice announcer read the words clearly and precisely. It was different from normal Mandarin, it sounded like a machine mimicking a human voice, even the rising inflection at the end of the sentences seemed deliberate.
Xie Yu sat in the corner of the last row, turning his head to glance at the blazing sunlight outside the window. He felt the air-conditioning inside the bus was too cold, yet at the same time, it felt hot.
The bus was already moving slowly. Now, surrounded on all sides by the crowd, its speed dropped to that of an old car. It hit a red light, and the long bus body shook violently before gradually coming to a stop.
Xie Yu held his phone, looking outside while waiting for the other party to pick up.
The phone rang several times before connecting. Familiar and noisy sounds poured out, followed by a woman’s voice. Her voice was louder, easily overpowering the surrounding chaos, bold and slightly hoarse, as if she were arguing with someone.
“Who knows when those six trucks will arrive? There’s no definite news. Those bastards are always pushing things around.”
“One moment they say tomorrow, the next they say the day after. The time keeps changing, and finally, they just tell me they don’t know either… damn it.”
Xie Yu listened calmly as the woman swore.
“Chasing after them? Ha! They don’t even dare answer the phone now, playing hide-and-seek with me. Shit pulled from a bitch’s ass. Why don’t you go out and find out? Who in Heishui Street dares mess with me, Xu Yanmei?”
Seeing the swearing getting increasingly vicious, as if she could shout an eight-hundred-word essay without pausing, Xie Yu finally spoke up, “Aunt Mei.”
All the swearing immediately ceased.
Xu Yanmei waved her hand at others, closed her mouth, and without hesitation, crushed the cigarette clamped between her fingers, pressing it onto the edge of the table. Then she pointed at the phone on the table, the call she had accidentally answered, signaling that this “Six-Truck Late Delivery Meeting” could be dismissed.
After extinguishing the cigarette, she pulled her long legs back from across the simple office desk. Her tone transformed into one that no one had heard before, gentle, unlike the two-ton, raging madwoman from just moments ago.
“We’re just gathering during lunch to chat casually. Nothing serious, just having some fun. Life is so dull; sometimes swearing is good for the mood…”
Xie Yu didn’t expose her, only asked: “Smoking, huh? Is smoking also good for your health?”
Xu Yanmei smelled strongly of nicotine. She lied with her eyes open, thinking that this brat couldn’t possibly get out of the phone, “I didn’t smoke. Ever since you told me not to, I quit. Don’t even bring it up, I’m afraid it will trigger my craving. Don’t provoke me.”
Her act was convincing enough. Whoever provokes whom… that was another story.
Xie Yu listened to her increasingly rough, old smoker’s voice, only when she cursed did her voice suddenly brighten. He could tell even with his toes that her words were true or false.
“You’re on vacation, right? I heard from your mom that you finished your last exam on the 20th. Why haven’t you replied to the messages I sent you?”
Xu Yanmei quickly changed the subject, “How did the exams go? I had to search online for a long time to find these sentences. All of them are so flowery, I almost got sick while looking for them.”
“Face the exam without hesitation, do your best for good results. Let your dreams set sail in the examination hall, let your life roam freely in the ocean of knowledge! Little bastard, good luck on your exams!”
Xie Yu didn’t know why he could recite this completely unoriginal, obviously mass-produced text message word for word, completely out of touch with modern teenagers’ tastes.
The bus drove into a tunnel, shielding them from the blazing sunlight outside. Everything around grew darker.
Xie Yu, dressed entirely in black, blended into the shadows. He leaned back, stretching his two long legs that had been cramped in the limited space. Carelessly, he tugged at a faint smile.
“So why bother asking? You already know my grades. What do you expect me to reply, ‘Thanks for the encouragement, I’ll try not to come in last’?”
Barely two minutes had passed when someone on Xu Yanmei’s side, the so-called “Queen of Heishui Street,” started yelling again.
“You guys are running a rip-off shop, even a wholesale market, but your prices are sky-high. You’re clearly trying to scam people!”
“…What did you just say?” Xu Yanmei, distracted, didn’t hear Xie Yu’s reply. “It’s too damn noisy. And now a bunch of idiots are here trying to trash the shop. Tomorrow, I’ll get a big loudspeaker. I don’t believe I can’t get these bastards under control.”
Xie Yu tightened his grip on the phone slightly. He thought of saying something, then paused twice, but in the end didn’t speak:
“Nothing.”
“I saw your message. I was busy reviewing and forgot to reply.”
“Alright, alright. Sure, our grades aren’t that great, but don’t get discouraged. You can’t admit defeat before the last moment. Who’s afraid of whom, huh?”
As Xu Yanmei spoke, her voice grew louder again. She covered the receiver and yelled at the few stubborn customers accusing her of scamming them.
“…What are you doing, what are you doing! It’s people like you, little bastard, who get scammed. Buy it if you want, don’t if you don’t, just don’t stand here!”
The bus exited the tunnel, and sunlight poured in in waves, stretching all the way to the rear of the vehicle.
Xie Yu squinted slightly, seeing the familiar scenery outside the window. He knew the stop was coming soon.
It was Monday, the third day of summer vacation, and also a workday. The bus wasn’t crowded.
A few students sat in the front rows. The girls had their hair in ponytails. They were neatly dressed, obediently carrying their backpacks, with clean, fair clothes.
Although this part of Heishui Street was considered commercial, the cost of living was low, and “prosperous” wouldn’t be the word to describe it. Even compared to suburban developments, the streets and buildings were old and run-down. But this cheap lifestyle and culture attracted many people without high spending power, especially middle and high school students.
Xie Yu’s gaze lingered on a transparent glass pendant with a hint of pink, hanging from a girl’s hair tie. Light passed through it, making it glitter.
“Here we are, time to get off!” The girl flicked her ponytail and held onto the pole as she stood. “Last time I had stir-fried rice cakes was here. I’ll take you guys there.”
At the same time.
“Next stop: Heishui Street South Station. Passengers getting off, please exit through the rear door. Thank you for your cooperation.”
The bus slowed to a stop, and the moment the doors opened, a hot blast of air rushed in.
Xu Yanmei thought she had misheard, “Brat, where are you? Did I just hear them announce Heishui Street?”
Xie Yu stood and got off the bus. “Comrade Xu Yanmei, I’ll be at Guangmao Gate in ten minutes. You better think about how to get rid of that smoke smell, how to explain yourself to me, and maybe also think about the promises you made to me back then. Bring your head up and come see me.”
Xu Yanmei glanced back at the ashtray full of cigarette butts on her desk: “….”
“Sister Mei, what’s wrong? Why the long face?”
Xu Yanmei pushed open the door and stepped out, rolling up her sleeves as she joined the shopkeepers in the warehouse. “Don’t mention it… I’m dying of worry.”
Xu Yanmei ran a clothing wholesale market on Heishui Street. She had been in the clothing business for over a decade. She started by setting up a stall at the street corner with a few girlfriends, then gradually took over a proper shop. Eventually, she leased two floors in the Guangmao Building in the center of Heishui Street, floors that housed hundreds of small shops, forming a full-fledged “wholesale market.”
As the market owner, Sister Mei’s reputation in Heishui Street was loud and clear. She was not just well-known but also famously righteous, a true woman of valor.
“Worried, really? I don’t know… your smile looks like it’s barely holding on,” one of the shopkeepers commented.
“What nonsense are you talking about? By the way, do you have some perfume or something? Spray it on me. Little Yu’s coming soon, and I smell like smoke. If he catches me like this, he’ll definitely give me a lecture,” Xu Yanmei replied.
The shopkeeper straightened up and brushed dust off his pants. “Oh, that’s your precious kid? Look at you, all scared… I have some perfume; I’ll find it for you.”
“Scared? Of course! Our little Yu is a good kid,” Xu Yanmei said softly, applying force with her hands as she sliced open a tied-up sack with a small knife, muttering to herself, “I can’t ruin him.”
“…He’s not even your biological kid; he’s just your adopted son.”
“What good kid? My son’s in the same class as Xie Yu. That boy’s a troublemaker. His grades are terrible, no one dares to sit next to him, and I think he’s like the top dog of the school. Only Sister Mei treats him like a precious gem. Normally, I barely even swear in front of him.”
“I heard he cheated to get into high school. Otherwise, with his grades, there’s no way he’d get in. Not that Second High is anything special, but even a bottom-tier general high school is still a general high school.”
“Alright, alright, enough gossip. Let’s get back to work.”
By the time Xu Yanmei finished untying the ropes, the gossiping staff had already dispersed, each standing behind their three-to-four-foot-wide stalls, calling out energetically.
“Two for 99! Two for 99! Miss it today, wait until next year! All down jackets off-season, clearing stock at a loss!”
“Walk around, take a look, two for 99!”
Xu Yanmei walked past, leaving a trail of strong perfume scent. “I’m stepping out. Call me if anything happens. And if any idiot gets out of line, don’t try reasoning with them, just scold them, got it? Reasoning is for people who understand, not for idiots.”
Xie Yu took a detour, visiting three grocery stores before finally finding a loudspeaker with a megaphone.
Red and white, it was dug out from under a pile of miscellaneous goods. The store owner, despite the dust covering it, demonstrated that it still worked perfectly. They plugged it in on the spot and immediately played a song: “Damn Tenderness.”
The megaphone was indeed powerful, deafeningly so.
Xie Yu’s ears hurt from the noise. He dug into his pocket for money and said, “Alright, how much?”
The store owner was closer to the megaphone and didn’t hear Xie Yu’s words at all. Brushing off the dust with his sleeve, he strained his voice to advertise, yelling at a pitch that seemed impossible for someone his age:
“Durable! If it’s no good, return guaranteed! Return guaranteed!”
“How much?”
“Quality guaranteed! Any problem, just come find me! This little shop doesn’t change its name or identity! Jianxing Grocery!”
“….”
A hand stretched out horizontally in front of the old man, long, bony fingers with neatly trimmed nails.
Xie Yu pressed the power button expressionlessly. At last, the noise stopped: “How much?”
“Tw…twenty-five.”
The old man gestured “2,” then “5,” and said, “Want it? If yes, I’ll pack it up for you.”
Before Xie Yu could nod, the old man had already grabbed a plastic bag and shoved the megaphone inside. Fast as lightning, he also pulled out several mysterious slips of paper from a thick stack on the table and stuffed them into the bag.
Gynecology hospital, painless abortion.
Men’s blessing, second one at half price.
Running a grocery store wasn’t enough; he was also in charge of distributing flyers. Xie Yu gained a new appreciation for the initiative and business skills of the people on Heishui Street.
The old man didn’t stop there, he threw in a few more flyers, all different colors, apparently all unique.
Side business, side business. Responding to the Party’s call, actively working toward a moderately prosperous society, striving to get rich… Here’s your change, keep it. Welcome back next time.