Chapter 32: Poetry and the Distant Horizon

An Chen sat upright and quiet at the heated brick bed’s table, carefully copying new characters from his textbook, stroke by stroke. The afternoon sun slanted through the window eaves, casting a gentle light across his small figure. Somewhere, a tiny fly had found its way inside, buzzing softly as it circled above his head.

He kept his eyes fixed on the book, undisturbed by anything around him. Even the laughter and voices of his mother at the front gate could not distract him.

“Jixiang, An Chen isn’t in his room; he’s doing homework on the kang in mine.”

At the mention of the name “Jixiang,” An Chen jumped down reactively, unsure what to do. At that very moment, there was a knock at the door.

“An Chen, are you in there?”

Li Jixiang knocked twice more.

An Chen hesitated, deciding not to answer. He stared anxiously at the door handle, fearing Li Jixiang would come in.

“I know you’re in there, so I’m coming in!”

How could today go by without visiting An Chen, the most popular kid around?

Li Jixiang pushed the door open and peered inside. On the right side was the kang with schoolbooks and stationery on the table. Only a green canvas backpack lay on the mat; there was no sign of anyone.

Her popularity points increased rapidly—no doubt, An Chen was hiding behind the door, childish as ever!

Not wanting to expose him, Li Jixiang turned her head and called out loudly toward An Chen’s mother, “An Chen’s not in here!”

“Impossible. There’s no way the house is empty.” The main gate wasn’t fastened, the second door wasn’t locked. Even for someone as young as An Chen, he wouldn’t run off without locking up, and besides, he never played outside alone—without An Ning, he’d only bounce a ball in the yard at most.

“Really, he’s not here. Look for yourself.”

Li Jixiang stepped aside to let An Chen’s mother in.

With a bang, An Chen’s mother flung the door open. Before her rounded figure could enter, a cry of pain came from behind the door.

“Heavens above, why were you behind the door?”

An Chen clutched his nose, tears welling up from the pain. His mother, distressed, pulled him into her arms to check if he was hurt.

But An Chen stubbornly refused to let go of his nose. He was afraid Li Jixiang would see the purple medicine smeared all over his face.

Unable to win against his stubbornness, his mother let him be.

“Jixiang, I’m fine. Go home. I’ll look presentable in a couple of days…”

With his nose covered, An Chen sounded like a little child.

“Who’s here to see if you look good? I’m here to check your homework. Just because you’ve scored a hundred a few times doesn’t mean you can get cocky. Hurry and show me, or I won’t talk to you anymore.”

Li Jixiang tried hard not to laugh, her face all seriousness.

“I’m not cocky.”

An Chen let go, climbed back onto the kang, and pulled his backpack over. He took out his freshly finished math homework and handed it to Li Jixiang with both hands, respectfully.

“You haven’t done anything wrong, so why can’t you look up? Boys should stand tall and be upright, full of integrity. Even if you make a mistake, you mustn’t cower. A real man takes responsibility for his actions! Do you know what it means to be a real man?”

“My dad is a real man…”

“Oh, An Chen, that’s not what your sister Jixiang meant.”

Thinking her son misunderstood, his mother wanted to help, but then realized she couldn’t explain it herself. She decided to leave them to their “academic discussion” and went outside to wait for An Chen’s father.

Before leaving that morning, she’d told him to make sure his mother-in-law and the little devil nephew left that day, not a day or even an hour longer.

Since An Chen’s father wasn’t home, she guessed he was likely taking the old lady to the bus station.

“My dad isn’t a real man?”

An Chen looked up, anxious, his earlier worries about his appearance forgotten.

“Well, your dad counts as a real man, but I mean the sort who cultivates himself, manages his family, and brings peace to the world.”

Explaining lofty life principles to a first-grader seemed a bit much, so Li Jixiang stopped herself. Then she finally noticed the purple patch right in the middle of An Chen’s nose—flattened and round, like the makeup of a comedic character in an opera, paired with his double-lidded little eyes and sharp gaze, making for an irresistibly funny sight.

Li Jixiang was secretly delighted, though her expression turned even more stern.

An Chen’s mother had certainly been generous with the medicine—she’d dabbed it on as if it belonged to someone else.

“…My mom borrowed the medicine from Auntie Ding next door.”

Noticing where Li Jixiang was looking, An Chen puffed out his cheeks and explained. Seeing she wasn’t laughing at him, he relaxed.

Of course—it was someone else’s medicine!

She skimmed through An Chen’s math homework, then picked up his language book. Not only were all his answers correct, but his handwriting was also neat and beautiful.

The golden millet must truly work wonders!

“Very good, keep it up.”

Li Jixiang still wasn’t used to sitting sideways on the kang, so she jumped down to stretch her limbs. She asked An Chen why he fought his cousin. An Chen set down his pencil; his anger flared again.

An Xu had thrown a tantrum and chased after Li Jixiang outside, but An Ning dragged him back. He kept cursing, and when An Chen told him to stop, they started fighting…

“So did you lose?”

“I didn’t lose. I just used too much force and fell off the kang.”

An Chen rubbed his pencil awkwardly.

An Chen had fought for her sake. Li Jixiang was touched.

Looking at his childish, endearing face, she felt she must help him—a lesson in the gentleman’s art of arguing without fists, and the main character’s essential skill: verbal sparring.

“What do you want to be when you grow up? What’s your dream?”

Li Jixiang’s question caught An Chen off guard. He blinked and thought for a moment.

“I… I want to be a movie projectionist, so I can watch movies every day! Or maybe a buyer for the supply cooperative—my classmate’s dad is one, and they have everything at home! Oh, and I want to be a driver too, because driving looks cool…”

There it was—the legendary dream of wanting to become whatever seemed good at the moment.

Of course! Don’t all children have a thousand dreams?

“Hold on! An Chen, what I mean is, aside from those, have you ever thought about becoming someone respected, someone who contributes to society?”

Li Jixiang began to guide him gently.

“The future will change in many ways. Life will get better, but it all depends on knowledge and culture. Put another way, we study now so tomorrow can be brighter, for our country’s future. You’re so clever now—you can’t let it go to waste.

Cheese is power! No, wait—knowledge is power!”

An Chen blinked, looking confused but determined to appear as if he understood.

Li Jixiang grew exasperated and got straight to the point.

“I mean you should have a grander goal! Like being a teacher, a doctor, or a policeman. Or, even better, leading the way as a scientist.”

Life is not just about getting by—it contains poetry and distant dreams. Li Jixiang simply wanted An Chen to know that the age of knowledge had arrived.