Whispering To You

Fencing class on Saturday morning.

Cheng Yin sat in the car, drained and beaten.

She really couldn’t figure out why she had to go to the club.

Cheng Yin is not a learning material since she was a child, her parents did not have any expectations for her to get into a good university, they wanted to train her in the arts, even if she was not talented, she still could cultivate her character.

She used to learn to play the piano, but was almost forced to move because of complaints from neighbors.
 She has also explored painting, but the teacher saw her drawing shadows with a ruler and politely told her parents that the child’s talent might not be in painting.
Until she reached junior high school, Cheng’s parents finally gave up on the arts, and heard from a colleague that a relative’s son got into an Ivy League college with his excellent fencing skills, and immediately sent Cheng Yin to a fencing club.

    At first, Cheng’s parents took turns accompanying their child to study every day.

    But after a few years, Cheng Yin’s best result was only the 48th place in the club league and the 79th place in the city of individual competition.

This kind of performance, not to mention the Ivy League, can’t even climb up the melon vine.

T/N: Ivy League 常青藤 (Chángqīngténg), 瓜菜藤 (Guā cài téng), the same téng (藤).

 Mom and Dad may be tired, or maybe they gave up. Then, Cheng Yin went to the club a little less frequently. In the second year of high school, they basically went two or three times a week, and now in the third year of high school, it’s only once a week.
Cheng Sheng stopped the car and tapped Cheng Yin’s forehead.

    “Go in by yourself. Don’t be lazy. I’ll pick you up at noon.”

Cheng Yin got out of the car with her backpack and didn’t say a word.

    Since Cheng Sheng drove her here, it was nearly twenty minutes earlier than before.

    In the coach’s locker room, the two male coaches just changed their clothes and came out.

“Do you know why Chen Yan didn’t take part in this tournament?” A bearded coach lowered his voice and said, “My senior brother said, according to internal information, he seems to have been dismissed from the national team.”
Another coach’s eyes widened, and his mouth puckered like a goldfish. “Dismissed? Really? What’s the reason?”

    “I don’t know.” The bearded coach said, “My senior brother also heard it from someone. There was no specific reason spread out.”

    The two sighed for a while, and when they passed the lounge, the bearded man saw Cheng Yin from afar and waved at her.

    “Ah Yin, so early today?”

This bearded man was Cheng Yin’s coach and was also the person responsible for Cheng Yin’s ability to write that amazing essay.
He was always chanting in Cheng Yin’s ear about how Chen Yan was, hoping that his students would take Chen Yan as an example. People like Cheng Yin, who go in with her left ear and out with her right, even though she has never seen one of Chen Yan’s matches, but she could count Chen Yan’s achievements.

As for other things, that is Cheng Yin’s own work of art.

Cheng Yin sat on a high stool, wiggling her legs, and said, “Teacher, you are very handsome today.”

The bearded man smiled warmly, “You’re here so early today?”

    “Well, my brother sent me here. What did you just talk about?”

    “Nothing.” The bearded man sat next to Cheng Yin, took out two boxes of milk from his bag, inserted a straw and handed a bottle to her. “Tired of senior year?”
 Cheng Yin bit the straw and nodded. “Exhausted.”

The bearded man also drank the milk and said, “Did you make progress in your studies?”

    Cheng Yin blushed slightly and avoided answering, “I got a perfect score in my essay at the end of last semester.”

    “So great? Let me see.”

    Cheng Yin frowned: “I lost the test paper.”

The bearded man laughed dryly and Cheng Yin said discontentedly, “You must believe me, the topic is my idol. I wrote about Chen Yan.”

    The bearded man almost spit out a mouthful of milk. “Why did you write about him?”
“Wasn’t you always saying he was great?” Cheng Yin said, “I wrote essays on him as an example. The teacher said the writing was inspirational and good.”

    Bearded man: “……”

You have not seen his match and you dare to write about him. Besides, you are a bit of a poisonous little girl. After you wrote, they expelled him from the national team.

Cheng Yin said again, “By the way, our class came a new student, also called Chen Yan, do you say it’s a coincidence?”

    The bearded man scratched his head. “This name is quite common.”

    “Yes, people with the same name, how come the difference is so big?” Cheng Yin lowered her head and looked at her legs, “Another person is a world champion, and he is a nail man, a smoking and drinking nail man.”
 The bearded man didn’t want to talk to Cheng Yin any further.

She is always like this. As soon as she comes to class, she talks about the sky and the earth and says whatever comes to mind. Don’t think the bearded man doesn’t know that she just wants to stall for time.

    “Okay, let’s go to class.”

    In the blink of an eye, another two weeks had passed and Cheng Yin was already getting used to the life of senior year.

In order to squeeze in more time for revision, the teachers were racing to teach new lessons one by one, and the homework assigned every day was piled up into a mountain.

    Cheng Yin gradually felt overwhelmed.
 Although she has never used much effort.
On the contrary, Cheng Yin’s desk mate Chen Yan, as if on vacation, he came to the classroom every morning to show his face, and within three classes, he would disappear.

And he almost slept through those three classes, except for Zhang Yuehai’s class, where he would give some face and pretend to listen to the class.

Cheng Yin found it strange that the serious teachers in their classes never mentioned Chen Yan, as if he did not exist.

Later, Cheng Yin thought it was understandable.

If she is a teacher, and encounters this kind of nail Chen Yan, with such a poor attitude, she certainly won’t care either.

On this day at noon, Cheng Yin watched Chen Yan wake up from his sleep, and knead his shoulders, then got up and left the classroom.

    Everyone knew that Chen Yan had finished his “study” for the day.
Cheng Yin looked at his back and sighed: “Even when my child can make soy sauce, he won’t be able to get into college.”

    Xie Ying turned around and said with disgust: “You have time to worry about others here. You might as well worry about yourself, next week’s monthly exam. Have you finished memorizing the words? Can you do the conic curved? Does the chemical formula work?”

    Cheng Yin: “……”

For this monthly exam, teachers are paying more attention to it, and examining the content of new lessons during this period.

    After finishing this monthly exam, the senior class will enter a full round of review.

Xie Ying does not have the habit of reviewing before the exam, but tomorrow will be the monthly exam, and Cheng Yin does not even know where to flip the pages of the textbook, so she was kind enough to give her a list of exam content, from the exact formula and vocabulary.
Cheng Yin was amazed at the brain structure of the god of learning, and at the same time did not forget that she can benefit from it.

She looked at her sleeping desk mate, took out a draft paper, and carefully transcribed a copy.

But Chen Yan was sleeping soundly, and Cheng Yin was too embarrassed to wake him up, and the man was tall, and once he lay down on the table, it was occupied tightly.

    Cheng Yin looked left and right and finally slipped the paper into Chen Yan’s bag.

    She cleared her throat and took out her language textbook to start the morning reading.

A few minutes later, a girl with a book, with her head held high, walked into the classroom and patrolled the four directions.
 Then, she fixed her gaze on Chen Yan, and then walked over at a firm pace.

    It’s over. It’s a student from the school inspector’s office.

    Since senior year started half a month earlier, the school didn’t care much about school rules and discipline. But this week, the entire school officially opened, various inspections began one after another. This is the person who came over to check the school uniform.

    Cheng Yin did not dare to make a big move, and could only quietly pat Chen Yan’s thigh, but that person was sleeping like a dead pig, and did not react at all.

    “Classmate.”

Too late, the girl had already stood in front of Chen Yan, raising her chin and tapping Chen Yan’s desk with the tip of her pen, “Classmate, wake up.”
Cheng Yin silently lighted candle for Chen Yan.

The inspector’s office is notorious for not understanding the person who is caught and will report to the education office.

    But Chen Yan still did not respond.

    The girl was a little impatient and looked at Cheng Yin. “What’s his name?”

    Brother, I’m sorry.

    “His name is Cheng ……”

The word ‘Sheng’ has not been said, and Chen Yan suddenly raised his head, his eyes half opened, and his gaze swept from Cheng Yin’s face, and finally looked at the inspector’s girl.

    “What’s wrong?”
The girl’s face flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    “You. Why aren’t you wearing your school uniform?”

    Chen Yan said, “Didn’t have my size and told me to wait for the next batch.”

    The girl nodded her head and spread the book in front of him.

    “Then register your name.”

    Chen Yan took the pen, turned it around on his fingertips, and asked with a smile, “You blame me for this, too?”

The girl couldn’t say anything in time, so Chen Yan bowed his head and wrote his name, then returned the book to her.
 The girl took the book and walked away. Cheng Yin looked at her back. Her heart was angry and she couldn’t help but grunt coldly.

She was not so nice when she caught her last time in front of the school.

 Cheng Yin was knocked on the forehead.

She glared at Chen Yan. “What are you doing?”

    Chen Yan had slept enough and was in good spirits.

    “My surname is Chen, with a front nasal sound, not a back nasal sound. How did you learn your language?”

Cheng Yin said in disdained: “My language was so poor that I got a perfect score in the essay, and you? Have you ever gotten a forty on an essay?”
 Chen Yan shook his head: “Never.”

But I’ve always scored full marks in essays.

Cheng Yin no longer pay attention to Chen Yan, picked up the book and read, looks like a school bully.

In the last few minutes of the morning reading class, students are tired of reading, and the sound in the classroom is gradually reduced.

    A boy in the front row of the classroom suddenly lying on the table wailing. Immediately after, the surrounding students all gathered around.

    Cheng Yin looked up and saw that Qiu Qizheng was in trouble.
She hastily stood up. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! What’s wrong with Qiu Qizheng?”

Xie Ying stretched her neck to look forward. “Sick, I guess.”

    Cheng Yin immediately ran towards the front row and accidentally kicked Chen Yan’s stool in a panic.
   “Sick? Where are you sick? Is it serious?”
Chen Yan lifted his head and squinted at the movement in front of him.
       Cheng Yin like ants on a hot pot, squatting next to Qiu Qizheng asking questions. Even his desk mate is not as active as her.

Chen Yan tapped Xie Ying’s stool.
Xie Ying turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”

    Chen Yan pointed to Qiu Qizheng: “Cheng Yin’s boyfriend?”

    Xie Ying shook her head. “Huh? No way. That’s not possible. They don’t know each other well.”

    Chen Yan raised his eyebrows slightly. “Crush?”

Xie Ying: “That I don’t know.”

    Qiu Qi was being helped by a few boys, with Cheng Yin following behind.

Chen Yan looked at her anxious look and got up to follow her out.

    “What are you doing? There’s still a class going on.” Xie Ying turned around and said, “The teacher will be here soon!”
Chen Yan did not turn his head back, Xie Ying muttered and turned back.

Outside the classroom, Xie Changxing saw Cheng Yin following, so he turned around and said, “Cheng Yin, go back, he has acute appendicitis, we have to send him to the hospital. It’s useless for you to follow.”

Cheng Yin stopped and asked, “So, are you still going back to school?”

Xie Changxing said as they descended the stairs, “I can’t say, ah, it may be necessary to operate.”

    Although Cheng Yin did not follow, her heart was still hanging on Qiu Qizheng.

She shouted at them, “Qiu Qizheng, you must be well!”

    Qiu Qizheng, who was suffering from pain, was moved and felt less pain in his stomach.
Immediately after, she shouted again: “You must come back tomorrow for the exam! Otherwise, I’ll be at the bottom of the list! I’m begging you!”

    Qiu Qizheng: “……”

Then, thank you.

When the figures of several boys completely disappeared in the stairwell, Cheng Yin did not want to go back to class and sat down on the stairs, holding her face in worry.

What should she do? Qiu Qizheng seems to be quite sick. If he doesn’t come to the exam tomorrow, Cheng Yin will be finished.

    Cheng Yin was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice a person standing behind her.

    “What are you thinking about again?” Chen Yan leaned against the wall and looked down at Cheng Yin.
 Cheng Yin sighed and said nothing.

It is impossible to avoid it, and when the results of the monthly exams come out, Chen Yan will know what her actual level is.

But Cheng Yin does not care anymore, the life is more important than the face.

Chen Yan saw she said nothing, so squatted down and whispered: “Afraid if he does not come to the test and you will be at the bottom of the class?”

    Cheng Yin: “……”

If you want to talk, just talk. Why are you so close? Why is your voice so low? You can’t talk properly!

Cheng Yin twisted her head back to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan can only see Cheng Yin’s slightly red cheeks at this angle.

Anyway, he heard it all, and Cheng Yin wasn’t going to pretend anymore.

    “I promised my brother to fight in the next exam.”

    Strive to improve one place and reach the third from the bottom.

If it is really impossible, it is okay to keep the bottom two with no regression.

    “And what happens if you don’t make it?”

Cheng Yin’s voice is getting lower and lower, but also with a crying accent: “I was the only one in our village who went to high school. My brother dropped out of school and worked in order to pay for my education, and if I’m at the bottom, he will not give me food to eat.”
Chen Yan: “……”

Knowing that Cheng Yin was playing miserably, Chen Yan looked at his watch and did not want to continue to be her audience, so he turned around and was about to leave.

    Cheng Yin looked at his back and suddenly remembered one thing.

Although it seems not very good to say this, but she really forgot that Chen Yan still exists.

That’s a nail man who didn’t even pass the college entrance exam for five years!

    “Brother! Don’t go!”

Cheng Yin suddenly called Chen Yan, eyes tearful, looking at him with desperation.
“Didn’t you acknowledge me as your sister?”

    Chen Yan: “……”

The two people stared at each other in silence for a long time, and Cheng Yin transmitted a feeling of ‘if you don’t help me, it’s a crime of injustice’ with her eyes.

Chen Yan felt that if things go on like this, it will be out of his control, so he pulled his leg and left.

However, he only pulled one leg, and she caught the second leg.

Cheng Yin sat on the stairs, hugging his calf, looking at him pitifully.
 Chen Yan: “……”

He pulled his leg, but the little girl’s strength was quite strong.

    “Let go.”

    “I’m not letting go.” Cheng Yin said while pulling harder, “You said it yourself, I recognized my ancestors.”

    Chen Yan: “……”

Cheng Yin: “I even called you brother. Can you bear to see me go home and get beaten?”

This incident tells Chen Yan, don’t tease little girls even if they are young, you will suffer retribution.
What can Chen Yan do? Can’t say to a young girl under 18 years old ‘I don’t care, I just want to score better than you’.

After some private consideration, Chen Yan never dreamed that he would one day make such a promise.

    “You promise?”

“…… I promise!”

    Chen Yan walked to the parking lot, reaching for his keys. He felt a note folded in all four sides in his bag.

    He slowly unfolded it, and the beautiful font on it looked familiar.
A whole sheet of important notes for the exam, neat, beautiful and clean.

It seems to be written seriously, but Chen Yan feels that something is not right.

It was only when he got into the car and started the engine that he suddenly remembered that the formula on that note was not even written with a root sign.

This level of the fight is really ‘strive to improve one place and reach the third from the bottom.’

Don’t take the exam and just give up.