The Delinquent Wants to Be His Rival School Grass's Guardian - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An Unknown Family Background “This master doesn’t want to…”

The Science Comprehensive exam was held in the afternoon. The new proctor was likely from the tenth grade and was much more lenient with them. Yan Jun’s group handed in their papers early, grabbed a basketball, and headed to the courts.

By four o’clock, the sun was still lethally hot. A few reckless teenage boys ran and jumped on the playground under the scorching sun, the basketball thudding against the ground. The sound echoed through the quiet campus, sounding particularly piercing.

“Not going.” Without looking at him, Yan Jun raised his hand for a three-pointer; the ball swished through the net.

Lin He retrieved the falling ball and walked to his side thoughtfully, tossing the ball back: “Home stuff again?”

“Boss, what exactly is going on at your house? Can we help?” Yuan Siqi was unwilling to accept that they couldn’t hang out with their brother during such a long break and was trying to figure out how to share his leader’s burdens.

Lin He added: “Exactly. Yan Jun, we’ve known each other for two years, and we haven’t even been to your house! Where do you live?”

“Does it have anything to do with you? Checking my household registration?” Snapping impatiently, Yan Jun ran toward the sidelines like a gust of wind, chasing the ball back in the blink of an eye. “Can’t you guys just play by yourselves? Why do you have to drag me along?”

“…It’s just that I’m afraid if we don’t see each other for too long, you’ll miss me, Boss!” Yuan Siqi grinned cheekily and wanted to press further, but his backside was suddenly met with a light kick. A deep, heavy voice sounded behind him: “Who told you guys you could play ball?”

“Holy shit!” You didn’t even need to listen to know it was the Dean of Students. Yuan Siqi scrambled up in a panic, stood honestly at attention, and lowered his gaze submissively: “Wei… Teacher Chen!”

Chen Guowei, in his forties, was tall and sturdily built, a former PE teacher who was now starting to put on some weight. He had a buzz cut and a pair of sharp, tiger-like eyes that fixed on Yan Jun, following the principle of ‘capturing the leader to catch the bandits’: “Since you’ve handed in your papers, why haven’t you left campus? Making such a racket here… if you don’t want to study, don’t disturb others!”

Yan Jun felt embarrassed by the scolding. His jaw tightened, and he stiffened his neck, saying: “I’m a sports student. I have training later.”

“Training?” Chen Guowei snorted. “I asked the PE teacher, Teacher Zhang, and he told me there is no training these few days.”

Caught in a lie, Yan Jun bit his lip and had no choice but to pack up the basketball and turn toward the bike shed.

Yuan Siqi and Lin He caught up from behind, clicking their tongues: “Viagra (Wei-ge) is so annoying! He’s always targeting you… Boss, don’t take it to heart. Let’s go to the internet cafe and play games, my treat!”

“Maybe tomorrow. I’m covered in sweat right now, not in the mood.” Tossing the basketball into the bike basket, Yan Jun swung his leg over and pedaled out of the shed.

The three of them cycled out of the school gate in a line, getting yelled at by the guard as they passed the barrier: “No riding bikes inside the school!”

They pedaled hard, crossing the road in an instant and speeding along the roadside. Yan Jun stood on the pedals; the humid summer wind blew against the boy’s school uniform, a thin layer of sweat clinging to his lean waist.

His inconspicuous black bicycle made a faint creaking sound as it moved. He pedaled at a steady pace and soon reached a fork in the road, turning right.

“I’m off!” Raising his long arm for a wave, Yan Jun’s lean silhouette disappeared from view before Yuan Siqi could even get an “Hey” out.

…

The journey from school to home was quite long, requiring a thirty-minute bike ride.

The tall, lean youth rode all the way from Chengyang District to Yanjing Lane. The buildings on both sides of the street changed from brand-new high-rises to low, noisy, old residential houses.

He rode along a clear small river for a few hundred meters, turned at a crepe myrtle tree covered in pink flowers, and entered a lane that was neither too wide nor too narrow. Yan Jun’s home was right before his eyes.

Avoiding the old furniture, tires, and foam boxes of plants piled by the roadside, he parked his bike under a red-and-white plastic rain canopy, just as his neighbor, Uncle Wu, returned carrying a toolbox:

“Oh, Xiao Jun! Home so early today?”

“Yeah, final exams today. We leave after we’re done. Uncle, are you off work?”

“Don’t mention it! In this heat, they made me go out to install an air conditioner and wouldn’t even give me a high-altitude work fee! Xiao Jun, you must study hard and get into a good university. Don’t be bitter like your Uncle Wu later… Actually, being bitter is fine, but not making any money is the worst!”

Yan Jun gave a perfunctory “Mhm,” turned away from the scorching afternoon sun, and lifted the door curtain. Sunlight instantly flooded the room, illuminating the crowded but tidy furnishings.

A 1.2-meter-long, three-tier glass counter sat against the threshold at the door, filled with various small snacks. An old grandmother with silver hair lay on a bamboo lounge chair inside the counter. An old radio by her side was playing familiar opera music, a rhythmic chirping that Yan Jun had heard so often he had callouses on his ears: “Grandma, you have the curtain down; the kids will think you’re closed!”

“It’s not even time for school to let out yet!” Grandma waved a large cattail leaf fan, looking lazy and quite comfortable. Suddenly, she opened her clouded eyes and finally realized her grandson was back: “Xiao Jun! Are we making tofu tonight? I want to eat tofu!”

Yan Jun had already squeezed through the narrow hallway into the kitchen: “Tomato sauce tofu or minced meat tofu?”

Grandma smacked her lips excitedly: “Crab roe tofu!”

Yan Jun was checking the flour stock in the kitchen. Hearing this, he stood up straight and sighed helplessly: Great, she wants crab roe tofu! This old lady… now he had to run to the supermarket to buy salted duck eggs for her.

By the time he finished his inventory and walked out, Grandma had placed the large fan over her chest and fallen asleep again.

The dark door curtain was turned translucent blue by the sunlight. Yan Jun, his forehead covered in sweat, quietly approached. Seeing her eyes closed and hearing her soft snoring… his gaze silently moved to the metal cookie tin inside the glass counter. It was filled with miscellaneous paper bills, mostly small denominations like two or five yuan.

Holding his breath, he silently reached out his hand, intending to take a ten-yuan bill. Just as his fingers were about to touch the money, Grandma suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze incredibly clear, and she struck his hand:

“You little brat, trying to steal my money again! Whose monkey are you? How did your parents teach you? See if I don’t hit you!”

Yan Jun jumped from the strike and shouted in frustration: “Grandma, it’s me, Xiao Jun! I’m taking money to buy groceries to make you crab roe tofu!”

“Who is Xiao Jun? Don’t know him! Don’t you think you’re stealing my money!”

Rushing out the door as if his hair were on fire, Yan Jun rubbed his sore arm gloomily and resigned himself to riding his bike toward the end of the street.

Uncle Wu, on the second floor, laughed at him: “Trying to take your grandma’s money again? I tell you kids, why don’t you ever learn?”

Pedaling away dejectedly, Yan Jun remained silent and vanished around the corner in an instant.

…

Four days later, the final exam results were out.

Early in the morning, after finishing his chores at home, Yan Jun rode his bike to school to get his report card, yawning all the way. When he entered the school gate, several teachers were posting the rank lists on the bulletin board.

A crowd of students had already gathered, layered three rows deep, as if seeing the results a second earlier would move them up a few spots. He let out a disdainful “Tsk” and rode straight past them. When he walked into the classroom, half the seats were empty.

The homeroom teacher, Luo Siyin, hadn’t arrived yet, which gave him a chance to catch up on sleep. Yan Jun skillfully pushed his seat back, slumped onto the desk, and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.

By the time Yuan Siqi patted him awake, a small, middle-aged woman was standing on the podium with a sharp gaze, holding a grade sheet.

Unsurprisingly, he had performed as usual.

Yuan Siqi was eighth from the bottom, and Lin He was thirty-first from the bottom, six of one, half a dozen of the other, nothing much to see. Yan Jun boredly flipped to the front of the list. Sure enough, the one at the top was still the unshakeable You Xinyao, Fuxing No. 2’s genius “Study God” girl.

Second place was also a total lack of suspense: Qin Yize. His Math and Science Comprehensive scores were 13 points lower than You Xinyao’s.

Ren Yandong, who often hung out with them, was a bit worse, at 35th place. But considering his nickname “Sleeping God,” this result was actually quite commendable.

Tsk, we’re both ‘Sleeping Gods,’ so how come he gets high scores? …He didn’t cheat, did he?

Yan Jun thought maliciously.

After distributing the report cards, the holiday homework for each subject followed. Looking at the growing pile of papers and exercise books on his desk, Yan Jun let out an indifferent yawn and stuffed them all into his desk drawer with a flick of his hand, feeling only impatience.

At ten o’clock sharp, after the homeroom teacher finished lecturing about holiday precautions, the vacation finally officially began.

The group of them hurried to the basketball court to play one last game of their junior year. Under the blazing sun, as the departing students bustled about, Yan Jun made five consecutive three-pointers under their occasional gazes.

Sports students from other classes were attracted by the action, tossed their bags aside, and joined in. The eight people split into four-on-four. Yuan Siqi said: “It would be great if we had two more people!”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone rushed over from not far away, shouting loudly: “Add me, add me!”

Everyone turned to look; it was the famous “Sleeping God” of the Rocket Class, Ren Yandong.

This kid had a bright personality without the stuffiness of top students, and he was tall—fully 187cm. He had been recruited into the school basketball team in tenth grade and was a well-deserved center.

As a shooting guard, Yan Jun had played ball with him for a year, so they had some rapport. Seeing the guy rushing over urgently like a big macaque, he couldn’t help but sneer: “What’s the rush?”

“How can I not be in a rush!” Ren Yandong stopped in front of him, panting, his handsome face flushed from running: “I heard you guys playing ball the day of the Science Comprehensive exam! My heart was itching so much I wanted to join immediately. But by the time I finished and came out, damn, you guys were already gone!”

“Don’t blame me, blame Viagra, he chased us off.” Yan Jun dribbled the ball steadily and asked: “Just you?”

“Yep, just me!” After saying that, Ren Yandong seemed to remember something and pointed back over his shoulder: “Wait, maybe one more!”

[The two of them were focusing on discussing something; one tall and one short, their silhouettes looked like what the internet calls the ‘most adorable height difference’ they looked quite well-matched.]

Ren Yandong said brightly: “Qin Yize is also pretty good at basketball! He’s a point guard, plays very smart!” After speaking, he raised his arm and waved vigorously: “Qin Yize, stop talking about the questions and come play—Ow!”

Ren Yandong jumped in pain: “Dare, dare, dare! Ow, Yan Jun, let go! Don’t you know how strong your grip is?”

As the two of them met eyes, Qin Yize curled his lips and gave Yan Jun a leisurely, self-satisfied smile.

Fuck…!

Yan Jun instantly felt that he had been looked down upon by him once again.