A Certain Someone ( The On1y One ) Chapter 025 – Capsize

Sheng Wang’s Online, And Bluffing His Way Through.

Yeah, what’s there to panic about?
Sheng Wang didn’t speak.
He was a little shaken, he appeared to be unable to produce an explanation either.

Sheng Mingyang already closed the door downstairs, the keys lightly jingling as he settled it on the cabinet in the entrance hall cabinet. He changed into a pair of soft domestic slippers, and his footsteps were muffled as it travelled from the living room to the kitchen.
A short while later there was the sound of another door opening, and there was another pair of footsteps in the kitchen.
Maybe it was due to the quietude of the night, or maybe because Sheng Wang’s back was against the door, he could vaguely hear Jiang Ou’s voice despite her low volume.

“Why didn’t you say anything when you’re back, everything’s settled?” Jiang Ou asked.
“Not yet, I still have to go back,” Sheng Mingyang said, “it’s a little troublesome.”
“Have you eaten your dinner yet then?”
“Made do with some airplane food, now I’m a little hungry, I wanted to find something to tide me through.”
“There’s chicken soup, let me heat up for you?”
“No, that’s too much noise.”
Sheng Mingyang lowered his voice and said something, probably along the lines of not wanting to disturb Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian who were upstairs. Following that, Jiang Ou’s voice also lowered, and their voices were no longer intelligible, the buzzing of human speech sounding both so near and yet so far.
Sheng Mingyang took something out from the fridge and dealt with his hunger, a short while later they returned to the bedroom, and tranquility was restored to this house once more, everything’s back to normal.

A water droplet dripped down from the hair in front of Jiang Tian’s forehead, he grabbed an end of his towel and rubbed it.
Sheng Wang’s shoulders slowly relaxed, that moment of panic was like flickering lights and shadows, disappearing in a jiffy. He could not figure out a reason, and casually came up with an excuse instead, “My dad’s naggy, if he knew that I’m not asleep yet, I’m definitely getting nagged at — why aren’t you asleep at this timing? Did you delay your sleep because of your homework or getting too caught up with playing?”

Sheng Wang lowered his pitch and copied his dad, that tone of his was remarkably true to him. He walked to the table, and settled the paper down with familiar ease. “If you say that you haven’t finished your homework, he would instantly ask if it’s too difficult or too much, is it that way to everyone or just you? If you say that you’re just revising for the monthly test, he’s gonna ask how’s the revision coming along, are you confident or not. After he asked he would say it’s okay to feel pressure, but not too much, and then start to pour chicken soup down your throat.”

This routine was overly familiar, making its appearance in too many parents. When Jiang Tian got to the later half he couldn’t help but let out a laugh, causing Sheng Wang to start laughing too, “Your head will start buzzing too, right? If it’s you you would panic too.”
Jiang Tian settled that glass of plain water on the desk, and took the towel from his neck to dry his hair. “He’s this talkative?”

“Not really. It’s just that he’s usually too busy to ask, when he gets the rare chance to, he gives it his all, it’s sort of a—” Sheng Wang pursed his lips and deliberated, “compensation, you know?”

The hand drying his hair briefly paused. He shot a glance towards Sheng Wang’s face, only to see the other person busy flipping through to find the pages marked out in the topical exercises, there weren’t any signs that he was emotionally affected when he said that.

“But, Sheng Mingyang is a little different from many parents when it comes to one thing. He actually never did ask much from me in terms of grades, neither would he reprimand me. After forcing chicken soup on me, he would praise me too.” Sheng Wang looked up, mimed at Jiang Tian while holding a page, “Our Sheng Wang is capable, papa trusts you.”
Jiang Tian walked to the corner of the room amidst his grumbles, tossed the towel into the laundry net and straightened up, saying, “Shouldn’t he be saying Wang-zai.”
“……”
Sheng Wang was instantly silenced, a myriad of expressions on his face.
A few seconds later, he pointed at Jiang Tian and squeezed out a single line, “You shut up.”

Since ancient times, it was usually Jiang Tian who told people to shut up, it was an extremely rare sight for someone to say this to him. He raised an eyebrow, and nodded, indicating that he could grudgingly play along.
Sheng Wang was very satisfied.

He pulled open the chair and sat down. He asked Jiang Tian, topical exercise in hand, “Eh, have you tried similar question types to these two?”

Fuzhong did not have a recommended set of guidebooks, it was all up to the teachers of each class to recommend some to students according to their capabilities.
The few teachers of Class A all did not recommend an excessive amount of doing questions, there has to be a certain degree of being well-read, but there was no need for constant repetition. When they recommended them, they would sometimes talk about various pros and cons of different guidebooks, and got them to pick it themselves

Guide books usually had the same sort of content, they differed along the lines of the compilation as well as level of expertise in the questions. The teachers all said that getting a couple of them was enough, weighing the pros and cons, there was no need to do every single question.
Therefore for some challenging questions, just because a student had encountered them doesn’t mean that the other student did too.

Jiang Tian swept a look at the book at his hands, and sat down at the window sill as if he was minding his own business.
Sheng Wang waited for an eternity and yet there was still no reply. He kicked at Jiang Tian’s slipper, “Oi.”
Oi went deaf.

Sheng Wang kicked again, “Jiang Tian.”
Jiang Tian also went deaf.

Sheng Wang: “……top student?”
The top student was still deaf.

Sheng Wang lowered the hand holding the book and dangled, he propped against the knee and began sighing.
“Don’t keep your mouth shut anymore, open your golden mouth already.” He was already very familiar with this sequence of events, when he spoke he was completely carefree, “Fine, I’m sorry, I’m in the wrong.”

Jiang Tian finally recovered his hearing, he stuck his hand out. “Let me take a look.”
Sheng Wang pressed the book into his hands, and motioned with his lips, “Question 12, 13, I marked an asterisk beside it.”

“I’ve done it before,” Jiang Tian only needed a single look to know, “the last part?”
“Mn, I’m a little lost.” Sheng Wang said, “I got stuck after I wrote down the formula.”
“It’s normal to get stuck, the last question was a little out of syllabus, you need to cal a bit.” Jiang Tian said.
“What ‘cal’? Which ‘cal’ are you talking about?” Sheng Wang did not realise yet.
“The cal in calculus.” Jiang Tian said.
“Hold on.” Sheng Wang asked, “Is it the same calculus I’m thinking of? The one in university?”
“Yes.”

“……”
There’s a ‘what the fuck’ stuck in Sheng Wang’s throat.

“There’s not enough time tonight, so don’t need to look through it.” Jiang Tian was blunt, “At least, it isn’t getting tested for this monthly test. The other classes are still rushing through the syllabus, but at the moment they aren’t as deep in as Classes AB yet.”
“At least? That means it’s getting tested in the future?” Sheng Wang asked.
“As long as it appeared in gaokao before, the school dares to test it” As Jiang Tian spoke he flipped through the answer analysis behind. He said, “This left out too many points, why did you buy this one?”

“This book was more cohesive in terms of connecting basic knowledge to challenging points, it’s better for self study.” Sheng Wang said, completely done, “Please show some understanding for a citizen of Les Misérables. Still, this book is indeed lacking in difficult questions, they just brushed past it. In any case I’m done with this book, I’ll buy another book to make up for it next time round.”

After some thoughts, Jiang Tian settled the book down and walked to the front of the wardrobe. He opened a door, pulled open a storage box and searched around. He took a collection with a blue cover, passed it to him and said, “This book delves deeper.”

Sheng Wang received the book, but his attention wasn’t in his hands, but in the wardrobe.
Jiang Tian’s wardrobe was very strange, the horizontal bar was full of clothes hangers, but not a single piece of clothing. There were two boxes below, one contained a transparent storage box, the other held a suitcase.
The suitcase was open, the clothes Jiang Tian often wore were all inside, in neat folded stacks. It was so neat that as long as he closed the suitcase, the owner of these belongings could make a swift and clean departure, leaving not a single trace behind.
“You……” Sheng Wang was stumped for several moments. He looked up at Jiang Tian, “Why are you packing your luggage?”
He suddenly recalled what he had dimly heard at the start — Sheng Mingyang said before that Jiang Tian wanted to stay in the school, it was just that the school hadn’t opened applications for dormitory stay that he made to stay back then.

Back then he wished for nothing more than for Jiang Tian to leave, but now he suddenly went back on his words.
He did not know precisely when it was on which day which moment that he changed his mind, he only knew that the instance he saw the suitcase, an indescribable feeling welled up in him.

It was like the summer he experienced as a kid, everytime he was having the time of his life playing in the theme park in the outer edges of the city, there would be all sorts of phone calls made to Sheng Mingyang’s phone. His joys screeched to a top, and he had to obediently follow the adult home.
Even though he knew that he would be able to go again soon, he would still feel disappointment in that moment.
……It was the type of disappointment that would be forgotten as long as he was full of mirth, but would suddenly well up in a moment of a single turn.

“Are you leaving?” Sheng Wang asked.
Jiang Tian followed his gaze that landed on the suitcase, for that few seconds he did not talk. A few moments later, he said, “I didn’t start packing, it’s always like this.”

These words sounded even more like he was deliberately coldly alienating him, Jiang Tian paused before adding on, “Personal habit.”
“Persona habit?” Sheng Wang came back to his senses, “Don’t tell me you’re like this in your own home too?”
“Mm.” Jiang Tian nodded, with a neutral look on his face.
“Why? Was it mysophobia, or OCD or something?”
“Convenient.” Jiang Tian said.

He didn’t actually want to discuss this particular topic, Sheng Wang could tell, and did not keep asking. He opened the collection Jiang Tian gave him, inside was unexpectedly clean. Other than some red circles drawn around some symbols in some questions, there weren’t any marks at all.

“You didn’t do it?” Sheng Wang changed the topic.
“I didn’t directly write on it.” Jiang Tian said, “Go ahead and use it, looking at those with circles will do.”

There was no doubt about Sheng Wang’s capability, but with Jiang Tian trimmings that got rid of unnecessary parts and kept the key points, his revision was incredibly efficient, and his speed was faster than ever before.
On the first day ever since he transferred to Fuzhong, he slept before 1am.

He thought that this was a good sign, foretelling that this monthly test would be smooth sailing, but when he came to that bridge, he ended up capsizing.

The monthly exam in Fuzhong was more formal than the weekly test. It was split between two days, the first day was language and mathematics, the second day was English and the two electives. Sheng Wang capsized on the second morning.

The exam starts at 8am, he followed his usual habits and was already seated there seven in the morning. As he was sufficiently prepared, he was in a relatively relaxed state of mind, such that he did not notice that something was amiss in certain things.

Around 7.20am, an unfamiliar boy stuck his head in and asked, “Sheng Wang’s here, right?”
Sheng Wang looked up from his notebook.
That boy waved at him, saying, “The English teacher’s looking for you.”

Sheng Wang tossed the notebook into the desk, got up and went to the door, asking, “Jing-jie’s looking for me? What for?”
“I don’t know.” That boy said, “About the English Olympiad or something? She told you to get a new test to do.”
“Now?” Sheng Wang asked.
“Yeah.”

He turned to look at the wall clock at the back of the class, made sure that there was enough time, and prepared to go upstairs without any doubts.
That boy interrupted, “Not upstairs, she’s by the printing room.”
He pointed in the direction of Road #3, “It’s the one in front of the Garden of Conduct.”

“Isn’t there a printing room upstairs?” Sheng Wang was a little confused, “Why go to the one in front of Road #3?”
He only discovered later that the two suspicious looking rooms beside the top floor’s office were filled with printers, specifically for Class A teachers to print test papers in during competition season.

That boy shook his head, “I don’t know why either, maybe the printer spoiled or something. Just go already, I’m heading to my exam venue.”
After he spoke he went to the end of the corridor.
Sheng Wang muttered, and did not delay anymore. He sped downstairs.

In order to save time, he took a shortcut. He decided to cut through the Garden of Conduct, but this shortcut was where he messed up. He was ambushed by two boys in the path in the garden, the two of them didn’t wear school uniforms or the school tag, they exuded the aura of a diseased chicken all over. One look and it was clear they weren’t from Fuzhong, more like some bum loafing around in a random corner.

Crew Cut scratched his head, saying, “Eh, you’re Sheng Wang, right? You know why I’m here today?”
He probably wanted to intimidate him first, when Sheng Wang replied with a “I don’t know”, he would tell him as he stirred trouble.
Unexpectedly, Sheng Wang didn’t play right into his hands. He nodded, and calmly said, “I know.”
The crew cut was stumped, and then asked viciously, “You know? Oh, then tell me, what am I here to do?”
Sheng Wang grinned, and then his face instantly darkened as his knee jerked upwards, “You’re here for a beating.”

Crew Cut howled, and kneeled down as he covered his crotch. He instantly lost all fighting power, and spasmed as he curled up into a ball. The other person upon seeing him cursed out a ‘fuck’, and his fist shot towards Sheng Wang with a gust of wind.
Sheng Wang said internally, his luck with exams was truly something, he had to fight every time there was one. To think he made a declaration everyday that he was totally weak and helpless.

Even though he managed to get rid of right at the start, Sheng Wang could not quickly get away either.
He stood off against the other person in the Garden of Conduct for a very long time before he finally managed to shake him off. The other person had bruises all over, and his nose bled. Sheng Wang’s uniform was stained with mud, and the side of his cheek got scratched by the tree.

He delivered a last kick to the other person, took off his uniform and madly sprinted straight towards Mingli Block. No matter how he rushed he was still late by 12 minutes in the end.

“Reporting in.” When Sheng Wang entered the classroom, the invigilator’s eyes nearly bulged out of the sockets with a glare. Asking, with a stern look on the face, “It’s the monthly exam and you’re still late?! What were you doing?”
The English listening comprehension was already at the last part, Sheng Wang wiped at the side of his face and said, “I went to the doctor.”
The invigilator was stunned, “Huh? What’s wrong with you?”
“It’s my brain.” Sheng Wang said, and asked, “Reporting, may I return back to my seat?”
The invigilator, either out of anger or shock, did not speak despite opening the mouth. Sheng Wang entered anyway.

The shitty event this morning caused a simmering pot of anger to boil inside of him, he couldn’t be bothered to act obedient.

He messily stuffed his uniform into his drawer, grabbed a pen and began looking through the paper.
There were a total of 20 marks for 20 questions for listening comprehension, he improved his score by 60 marks last exam, but now with this he dropped by a third.

What the balls shitting fuck.
Sheng Wang cursed in his head, and began a magical journey.

The first section of conversation was all independent, a set of dialogue for one question, he couldn’t deal with them for the moment. Therefore, he flipped to the second page straight away, and began sorting out his thoughts.
The second section contained dialogue that served as the basis for two to three questions. He grabbed his pen and immediately underlined repeated terms in the question, the wording for the two to three questions was enough for him to roughly guess the content of the dialogue. Coupled with nouns that appeared at higher frequency, he could figure out the main points in the dialogue. With this as a foundation to guess the answers, his rate of accuracy became much higher.

He finished the last 15 questions with this method, and flipped back to the first page. He sighed, and began to bluff.

TO BE CONTINUED.