Chapter Thirty-Two: Who Is Li Bufan With?

In the end, Wei Xiaofan could not refuse Wei Xiaoping’s parents and had no choice but to carry the parcel back to his dormitory.

On the bus ride back, Wei Xiaofan gazed at the large bundle on his lap, feeling a twinge of discomfort in his heart. It seemed to him as though he had exchanged his friendship for this bag of food.

That evening, Wei Xiaoping and his parents discussed the plan to visit Wei Xiaofan’s home and meet his parents the following weekend.

The three of them—father, mother, and son—sat together, analyzing Wei Xiaofan’s character. Then, based on his temperament, they tried to infer what his father might be like. In their view, a son’s character often resembles that of his father; so by understanding Wei Xiaofan, they could roughly deduce his father’s nature. There might be differences, of course, but they were unlikely to be great.

It was possible, of course, that Wei Xiaofan had inherited his mother’s temperament. However, since his mother had passed away, their focus turned to studying the likely character of his father.

Wei Xiaoping said, “Over these past two years of friendship with Wei Xiaofan, I’ve noticed that he has a strong sense of loyalty and is always willing to help classmates. He will agree without hesitation to any favor within his ability, but he rarely takes the initiative—meaning, if a classmate is in trouble and doesn’t ask for help, he won’t offer it on his own. He’s also very proud, yet harbors deep feelings of inferiority. That might be because of his family circumstances. Among everyone in our class, only he and one other classmate come from the countryside; the rest are all city kids, either children of workers or officials. The families of most of our classmates are far better off than Wei Xiaofan’s and that other rural student’s. You can see it just from how the city kids dress compared to Wei Xiaofan.”

“I remember when Wei Xiaofan first arrived at school—he wore clothes that looked like they’d been made over from adult hand-me-downs. So, Mom, Dad, imagine if your son, instead of being me, was Wei Xiaofan, and was the only country kid among all these city children, the only one dressed the worst, eating the worst food. How would you feel? Every mealtime, in the dorm, everyone else either brings ready-made food from the supermarket at home or buys nutritious meals from the cafeteria. Only Wei Xiaofan, trying to ease his family’s burden, saves money by eating rice mixed with chili sauce or pickled vegetables, or steams rice with soybeans or other dried vegetables brought from home. Maybe once or twice a week, he’ll buy a nutritious meal from the cafeteria. How would you feel? In such an environment, it’s only natural that he’d feel inferior—he can hardly help it. If he hadn’t come here to study, or if he’d stayed in his rural hometown, he might not feel this way, because in the countryside most people are on equal footing and no one stands out.”

Hearing their son analyze Wei Xiaofan’s rural character in such detail, Wei Yongqiang and Wei Nipeng were astonished.

“Tell me, Yongqiang, does our son take after you or me? When did he become so different?” Wei Nipeng asked with a smile.

“He’s a blend of us both! But wait, when I was in middle school, I didn’t have such analytical skills! Nipeng, did you have this sort of insight back then?”

“Oh, please! Back in middle school, my essays were terrible, and I didn’t even know what ‘personality’ meant,” said Wei Nipeng.

“Son, since we’re planning to visit Wei Xiaofan’s father next weekend, why don’t you try to deduce his character based on what you know of Wei Xiaofan? What should we do to get along with him?” Wei Yongqiang asked.

“I don’t know! You’re the adults here—especially you, Dad, with all your business experience—and you’re asking me, a kid?” Wei Xiaoping replied.

“How about this: when we talk to Wei Xiaofan’s father, let’s focus on topics related to the countryside. Since we’re from the countryside too, we’ll have common ground, and he’ll feel like we’re kindred spirits. I’ve heard that the key to a good conversation is finding topics you both care about; that way, the other person feels valued and is more willing to open up,” suggested Wei Nipeng.

“That’s a good idea, Mom! But I think I’ll ask my future old classmate, Wei Xiaofan, directly at school—find out what his father likes, and we’ll have a better idea what to expect,” said Wei Xiaoping.

“Most of the time, when we make these kinds of visits, we already have a plan in our minds—what we’ll say, what we’ll do. But when the moment comes, things rarely go according to plan. Unexpected things happen, and we have to adjust. So as long as we’re prepared, we can adapt as needed,” said Wei Yongqiang.

“I agree with Dad!” Wei Xiaoping chimed in.

Since the school’s model student selection contest would be held next week, and hoping to do well, Wei Xiaoping planned to return to school early the next day to study with Wei Xiaofan.

Around noon, Wei Nipeng also asked Wei Xiaoping to carry a parcel back to school, just like the one she had given Wei Xiaofan the day before.

The contents were exactly the same as those given to Wei Xiaofan.

Wei Xiaoping understood why his mother did this.

He and Wei Xiaofan shared the same dormitory, with their beds and lockers side by side. This way, when Wei Xiaofan saw that Wei Xiaoping had brought back the same items he had received, he would know that Wei Xiaoping’s parents treated them equally—at least for now. This would ease any awkwardness in Wei Xiaofan’s mind.

“Mom and Dad really think of everything—even this detail! Even though Wei Xiaofan may not feel exactly as they imagine, since he’s just my classmate, they still went to the trouble,” thought Wei Xiaoping as he gazed out the window on the bus ride back to school.

As the bus approached the stop near the school, it pulled over beside a small restaurant. It was lunchtime, and the place was packed.

Wei Xiaoping, curious, glanced into the restaurant to see if he recognized anyone eating inside.

When he looked through the window facing the street, he spotted two somewhat familiar faces sitting at a table by the glass, waiting for the waiter to bring their food.

Wei Xiaoping saw that there were still five or six people ahead of him in line to get off the bus—he had about ten seconds to keep watching those two.

He looked again, scrutinizing the faces, and suddenly remembered: one was Zheng Li Bufan, the other was a student from a different class in his year—a son of a city official, reputed to be a top student as well.

“How strange! Why would such an outstanding student be spending time with someone like Zheng Li Bufan? And Zheng Li Bufan only transferred to Liangzhi High not long ago!” Wei Xiaoping wondered.

As the bus started moving again, he turned his gaze away and mulled over what he had just seen.

“Maybe Zheng Li Bufan already knew that student. After all, his father is a real estate developer and the richest man in Junmin Gongjian Gonghe City. As a developer, his father would often have dealings with city officials, and through repeated business and social events, their families might dine together, and the children would naturally get to know each other. So, perhaps it’s not so surprising after all,” Wei Xiaoping thought to himself.