Chapter 66 - 50: Coincidence
Thursday.
6:40 in the morning.
The intersection outside City No.1 Middle School.
This place was called Construction Road. It was usually a wind tunnel, and the morning breeze was a bit chilly.
The sides of the road were lined with breakfast stalls.
Some were pushed on tricycles, others were set up under plastic awnings.
Blue-gray smoke rose from the woks frying dough sticks as hot oil bubbled and rolled.
A crowd had gathered around the vats of soy milk.
Chen Zhuo stood in front of a tricycle cart selling jianbing guozi.
He was wearing his small-sized, dark blue school uniform.
His backpack was slung over his shoulder.
"One set. No cilantro, and go easy on the chili."
Chen Zhuo said.
He pulled two crumpled five-mao bills from his pocket and placed them in the metal box next to the cutting board.
The vendor, holding a wooden spreader, spread the batter across the hot griddle with a SIZZLE.
He cracked an egg on top.
Then skillfully flipped it over.
"Team Leader!"
A voice suddenly boomed from behind him.
It was so loud it startled an old man who was eating jellied tofu nearby.
Chen Zhuo didn’t turn around.
He kept his eyes on the egg on the griddle.
A chubby hand reached over and slapped down on the cart’s counter.
"Boss, give me two sets! Both with double eggs and double crunch! Extra spicy!"
Liu Kai stood panting beside Chen Zhuo.
He was dressed neatly today.
His school uniform was zipped all the way to the top.
A brand-new white shirt was just visible underneath.
He was chubby and had just biked over, his forehead beaded with sweat.
Right after, another hand reached over, squeezing in next to Liu Kai.
"Boss, I’ll have a set too! Add two sausage links!"
Zhao Chen was holding a freshly poured, scalding cup of soy milk, blowing on it to cool it down.
Chen Zhuo turned his head to look at Zhao Chen.
"You’re getting two sets, too?"
"My mom insisted I eat more."
Liu Kai wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.
"She said since we won the award, I need to replenish my energy. I’ve been drinking nothing but chicken soup for the past three days. My mouth is so bland I could spit out a bird."
"Same here."
Zhao Chen slurped his hot soy milk.
"My mom’s been stewing meat for me every day. Now even my burps smell like meat."
A 28-inch roadster bicycle braked beside them.
The brakes must have been old, because they made a piercing, scraping sound.
Wang Yang had one foot on the ground, straddling the bike.
He wasn’t carrying a backpack today.
He was holding a plastic bag with two steamed buns inside.
He looked at Chen Zhuo, Zhao Chen, and Liu Kai.
"You guys are getting breakfast here, too."
Wang Yang walked his bike over.
He kicked down the kickstand and parked the bike securely.
He walked over and stood on Chen Zhuo’s other side.
The jianbing vendor put the wrapped jianbing into a plastic bag and handed it to Chen Zhuo.
Chen Zhuo took it. It was a little hot to the touch.
He didn’t leave.
He stood by the roadside, tore open a corner of the plastic bag, and took a bite.
The crispy cracker made a loud crunch.
"Brother Yang, your hair’s looking good today."
Liu Kai stared at Wang Yang’s head.
Wang Yang’s hair had clearly just been washed and styled with a bit of mousse. It didn’t move an inch in the wind.
"Obviously."
Wang Yang rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed.
"We’re going back to school today, and they’re definitely putting up the honor roll. Got to look sharp."
"Hey, Chen Zhuo! Wang Yang! Zhao Chen! Liu Kai!"
A clear voice called out from across the street.
The four of them turned their heads at the same time.
Across the crosswalk.
Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao were waiting for the light, arm in arm.
Both girls wore high ponytails today.
Nan Xiaoyun had taken off her uniform jacket and tied it around her waist.
Lin Xiao was holding two cups of soy milk with straws in them.
The light turned green.
The two girls ran over quickly.
Their ponytails bounced behind them.
They stopped in front of the breakfast stall, slightly out of breath.
"What are you all doing here?"
Lin Xiao handed one of the soy milks to Nan Xiaoyun.
"It’s on the way,"
Chen Zhuo said, chewing on his jianbing.
"I biked here,"
Wang Yang said, pointing to his roadster.
"My mom insisted I buy jianbing from this specific cart,"
Zhao Chen said just as he took the two enormous jianbing guozi from the vendor, one in each hand.
"Where are Li Hao and Zhang Wei?"
Nan Xiaoyun asked, looking left and right.
"Dunno. They’re in the physics group. Probably not even up yet,"
Liu Kai said indistinctly, his mouth full of jianbing.
Just as he said that,
from around the corner of the intersection,
two boys appeared, arms slung over each other’s shoulders.
Li Hao was holding a half-eaten meat bun.
Zhang Wei had his head down, rummaging through his backpack.
"I forgot my worksheets! First period is physics. Old Zhou is going to kill me."
Zhang Wei was sweating with anxiety.
"It’s fine, you can copy mine," Li Hao said.
They looked up and saw the five people in front of the breakfast stall.
They froze for a second.
Then they picked up their pace and ran over.
"Well, damn."
Li Hao stuffed the last bite of his bun into his mouth.
"What is this, a meeting?"
Eight people.
The eight students from City No.1 Middle School who had participated in the provincial science competition.
At this intersection, at 6:45 on a Thursday morning.
All of them were gathered.
There had been no prior arrangement.
It was just that this school district only had a few main roads.
It was just that the breakfast stalls at this intersection were the cheapest.
It was just that on the very same day, they had all finished their three-day break and returned to this familiar path to school.
Chen Zhuo swallowed the last bite of his jianbing.
He crumpled the plastic bag into a ball and tossed it into a roadside trash can.
He dusted off his hands.
He looked at the seven second- and third-year middle school students.
"Let’s go."
He said.
Wang Yang walked his bicycle at the very front.
Liu Kai gnawed on his second jianbing guozi as he walked.
Zhao Chen walked beside Liu Kai, holding his soy milk and chewing on a grilled sausage.
Li Hao and Zhang Wei were discussing last night’s Serie A match.
Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao walked behind, whispering about which brand of shampoo smelled the best.
Chen Zhuo walked in the middle.
They followed the sidewalk along Construction Road.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves of the roadside trees, casting dappled spots of light on the concrete ground.
More and more students in City No.1 Middle School uniforms appeared on the road.
They walked in groups and clusters.
Most people didn’t notice this group of eight.
They were just an ordinary group of students in the morning rush.
Five boys and two girls.
And wedged in the middle was a boy who looked a little short.
They were five hundred meters from the main school gate.
A stationery shop on the side of the road was opening up.
The owner was using a long bamboo pole to push up the rolling metal door.
Wang Yang’s pace slowed.
Pushing his bike, his palms began to sweat.
He turned his head and glanced at Chen Zhuo, who was walking beside him.
Chen Zhuo had his hands stuffed in his uniform pockets, his expression calm as he watched the road ahead.
"Team Leader," Wang Yang called out softly.
"Hm?"
"Are you nervous?"
"Not nervous."
"I am."
Wang Yang swallowed hard.
His gaze went past the crowd in front of them, and he could just faintly make out the large iron gates of City No.1 Middle School.
"I’m nervous, too."
Liu Kai wrapped the remaining half of his jianbing in its plastic bag and stuffed it into the side pocket of his backpack.
He wiped the grease from his mouth haphazardly with the back of his hand.
He tugged at the collar of the new shirt he had put on specially for today.
Zhao Chen crushed his empty soy milk cup, tossed it into a distant roadside trash can, and then rubbed his sweaty palms.
Behind them, Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao also fell silent.
The physics group’s Li Hao and Zhang Wei stopped their discussion about soccer.
They were all second- and third-year middle school students.
They had been at City No.1 Middle School for nearly two or three years.
They knew all too well what a first-place provincial award meant at this school.
It was the kind of thing that got you mentioned in official red-header documents and praised at an all-school assembly.
What’s more, every single one of them had won an award this time.
And what’s more, among them was the provincial first-place winner with perfect scores in two subjects.
Three hundred meters to the school gate.
The flow of people started to thicken.
Students walking their bicycles formed long lines.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out up ahead.
A few second-year students on bikes stopped a few dozen meters outside the gate.
They didn’t go in.
Instead, they balanced with one foot on the ground, heads tilted up, looking toward the school gate.
Wang Yang stood on his tiptoes.
He saw it.
Directly above the school gate, stretched between the two large pillars, was a huge, brand-new banner—red with yellow text.
It was a little too far to make out the words.
But its vibrant red color, under the morning sun, burned like fire.
"It’s up."
Wang Yang’s hands tightened on his bicycle’s handlebars.
"The banner is up."
Liu Kai took a deep breath.
His chubby body straightened up, ramrod straight.
They kept walking forward.
Two hundred meters to the school gate.
A large crowd was gathered in front of the notice board on the wall to the left.
Usually, it was just plastered with disciplinary notices or the cafeteria menu.
Today, a huge sheet of red paper was posted there.
The red paper stretched from the very top of the notice board all the way down to the bottom of the glass pane.
Many students were crowded around it.
They were packed three layers deep.
Those at the front were reading it aloud, and those at the back were listening.
"Warmest congratulations to the eight students from our school who all won awards in the Provincial Science Olympiad."
A clear female voice drifted out from the crowd.
"Mathematics, First Prize: Wang Yang."
"Mathematics, Second Prize: Nan Xiaoyun, Lin Xiao."
"Mathematics, Third Prize: Zhao Chen, Liu Kai."
"Physics, Second Prize: Li Hao, Zhang Wei."
A series of low gasps rippled through the crowd.
"Holy shit, every single one of them won? All those top students from Classes 1, 2, and 3 got awards?"
"Wang Yang actually got first in the province? That kid’s math isn’t usually *that* amazing."
"They got two provincial second-place prizes in physics, too. Old Zhou must be losing his mind with joy."
Wang Yang heard his name.
His feet stopped moving entirely.
He felt like his heartbeat was deafening.
Like someone was beating a drum inside his chest.
The seven people ahead of him had all stopped.
They were standing less than twenty meters from the notice board.
They stared blankly at the red poster.
They watched the crowd of classmates gathered in front of it, discussing their names.
An intense feeling of unreality washed over them.