Chapter 13.3

Philosophy of Life

 Fang Rong completed her errand quickly and soon came back with the food. She helped her grandma set the table, laid out the dishes, and invited the guests to eat.

The food that was made by Mrs. Xu herself was very fragrant, and also very delicious. While eating, Fang Rong did not forget to also watch the T.V series still being played.

“Sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have watched the snow or the moon with her, and talked about the philosophy of life from poems and odes. From now on, I will only watch the snow and moon with you, and only discuss the philosophy of life from poems and odes with you.”

Fang Rong rolled her eyes vigorously at the T.V.

Bo Ziren had never watched a popular T.V series, making her childhood memories in this area zero. So this string of lines now, made her feel stunned.

Fang Rong thought of something and turned towards Bo Ziren.

“Sister, would you talk about the philosophy of life with Teacher Cheng?”

“I don’t know much about philosophy,” Bo Ziren answered truthfully.

“Really?” Fang Rong asked, a bit surprised. “Then how did you fall in love with Teacher Cheng? It must be stressful. Before talking together you need to speak about the history of philosophy.”

Without giving the girl a chance to further elaborate, Mrs. Xu interrupted her talkative granddaughter.

“What do you know? There is a lot to talk about between lovers.”

“I understand,” said Fang Rong. “Grandma, I’ve seen more romantic dramas than you can recognize. Just chat with the guests and get in touch.”

Bo Ziren looked down at her white rice and rolled her eyes. Her thoughts whirled back to the lines from the love drama, causing her eyes to stray back to the T.V.

“Sister, you seem to be very interested in this T.V series. Haven’t you seen it?” Fang Rong sucked on a finger. “Isn’t this a memory of your generation?”

“When I was a kid, I didn’t watch T.V series very much.”

“Are you a nerd?”

Mrs. Xu coughed, and Fang Rong quickly added, “Sure enough, Teacher Cheng and Sister are on the same planet.”

Bo Ziren said, “Actually I am not—”

“You eat this.”

Cheng Jingbo moved a plate of clear vegetables to the center, interrupting her chance to continue explaining.

Bo Ziren immediately understood that if she said any more, she would cause a new misunderstanding. It was better to just say less.

Mrs. Xu took this opportunity to begin talking about her students and praised Cheng Jingbo for how clever he had been in her class. She claimed he deserved to be a role model for everyone. She also mentioned how his thin appearance had been a topic of conversation for the cafeteria ladies who pitied him and sometimes snuck him an extra poached egg.

“Ah grandma, you have told this story eight hundred times already. Surely Sister already knows it by now,” Fang Rong sneered. “Can you tell us a new story? Like who he liked back in school or if you ever caught him with someone when you were his teacher.”

“No,” Mrs. Xu said, recalling the past. Her voice held a tinge of regret. “He has always had no distractions, so how could he have behaved so indecently? At that time I thought I was very fortunate that he was such a good seedling. He studied well, grew well, and was never corrupted by the colorful world. But thinking about it now makes it seem very boring.”

“I don’t really have much to talk about,” Cheng Jingbo admitted.

“However, I do remember an interesting thing,” Mrs. Xu continued. “He had a classmate once, a fat boy, who cried bitterly when I changed their tables. He asked me, ‘teacher, why did you separate us? We want to stay sitting together’, and there were tears sliding down his nose and eyes. The boy then stubbornly grabbed his arm to prevent him from switching seats, and Cheng Jingbo said that as long as they were in the same classroom together, it would be fine.” Mrs. Xu smiled cheerfully.

Fang Rong beat the table happily, and hurriedly asked Cheng Jingbo, “I want to hear the full version of this sad relationship between you and the little fat man.”

Bo Ziren’s chopsticks almost slipped out of her hand, and she turned her head to look at Cheng Jingbo.

“He just found it convenient to sit next to me so he could copy my homework. I meant that as long as we were in the same classroom, I would be able to pass my book to him. It’s not what you think,” said Cheng Jingbo, and he flicked a piece of fish onto Fang Rong’s plate.

Fang Rong stopped talking.

“But there was more to it. When he was sitting next to you, you fed him snacks. He was getting fatter and fatter by the day,” Mrs. Xu added.

“Why is elder sister so thin?” Fang Rong asked. “Doesn’t Teacher Cheng feed her?”

“How can girls get fat by eating snacks?” asked Mrs. Xu. “Besides, your sister is also under a lot of academic pressure, and falling in love is not easy.”

“Grandma, I know all about it,” Fang Rong said with a long voice, her tone earnest but firm. “Adults are always very tired when they fall in love. There is essential work that needs to be done day after day.”

Bo Ziren felt powerless in her inability to explain. She decided to ignore it completely, but then Cheng Jingbo piped up.

“You need strength to study, don’t you?” he said as he added two more pieces of fish to Fang Rong’s plate.

“Did you forget that I don’t like fish? Why do you keep giving me more? Fang Rong asked. “You are not your usual calm self today. You’re giving off the feeling of someone with something to hide. Do you think I know too much?”

Cheng Jingbo paused for a moment, then said innocently, “You do know so much. Are you being taught by the novels you’ve wrapped in craft paper and concealed in coursebook covers? The ones that are now hidden in the small drawer?” 

“What!?” Old lady Xu scolded. “Fang Rong, it’s no wonder you’ve been speaking all this nonsense. You haven’t been studying hard enough then. I’ll be checking these books one by one later.”

Fang Rong’s expression held a look of pain and betrayal. She sent a quick glance at the seemingly kind and harmless Cheng Jingbo, before muttering something dark under her breath.

Cheng Jingbo turned to look at Bo Ziren.

“Eat more, you should gain a few kilos for your health.”

Bo Ziren had been sitting quietly sipping her soup under the warm glow of the incandescent lamp hanging above them. But with these surprising words of concern, she looked down into her bowl and felt as if her heart might just splash into it.